TRANSGENDERACCEPTANCE:
Do people really believe that it’s what’s on the
‘inside’ that counts?
As laws and regulations change, acceptance of different sexualities, genders, and identities expand. While people fight to be recognized as ‘normal,’ many obstacles stand in their way. Is anything really getting better? cont’d on page 6 Volume 55, Issue 1
November 2, 2015
V iceThe your school. your voice.
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Young quiz bowl team off to a strong start
Black College Tour chance to research opportunitiesArin DampierBusiness Manager
The Black College Tour 2015, October 26-30, is led by social studies teacher Judith Hightower every year. The tour takes bus loads of students to different black colleges around the United States. This year the tour will be traveling to Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., visiting nine colleges in four days. Students who have gone in the previous years found it to be a great experi-ence.
“It was fun, I think it’s a good experi-ence for all different races, and teaches you
of the diversity of the different schools,” said senior Parris Davis.
The purpose of the black college tour is to make students aware of an alternative to mainstream schools they’ve grown up hear-ing about, like MSU or U of M. Most histori-cal black colleges and universities (HBCU) started as small schools that provided a way for African Americans to get an education, and over time grew into colleges. HBCU tours have been going on at Everett for over 25 years, and Hightower loves them.
“The tour opens so many students’ eyes about how many options for schools there are, and what they have to offer,” said High-
tower. “(They also learn about) things have happened they have never heard of.”
Hightower also wants students to know it’s not only for African American students.
“HBCU tours aren’t just for African American students, these schools are so diverse, they push for diversity; many even have white recruiters,” said Hightower.
Some students that go on the tour, aren’t even from Michigan. On many occa-sions students, parents or grandparents hear of Everett’s black college tour, and fly their children or grandchildren here to go on the tour, or drive and meet the tour at its first destination.
The tour is a history lesson, as well. During last year’s tour, the students went to North Carolina and visited the site of the very first counter-top sit-in, which has now been turned into a museum. It had an emo-tional effect on many of the students.
“Most of the students walked out with tears in their eyes, and a new experience in their hearts,” said Hightower.
This year the cost of the trip is $400, a bargain for a five-night trip. Students are only responsible for paying for their dinners. They will attend the trip while school is still in session, not on spring break. They will eat on the campus at some of the schools they
attend, to get a feel of what campus life is like. The tour visits about three schools a day, depending on how far the schools are from each other, and how big the campus is.
One advantage of historical black col-leges is that they are known to have smaller class sizes. Instead of being in a class with 400-500 students, students would be in a class of 50-100. If you like more one-on-one learning, maybe a HBCU could be the place for you.
Anyone interested in attending this year’s HBCU Tour should contact Hight-ower in room 207 for information on how to register.
Ali AljaziReporter
The Quiz Bowl team had its first meet September 23, and came away with three wins against Waverly, Eastern and Grand Ledge. The scores were 100-55, 100-85, and 125-120, respectively, with the last being a comeback from a 70-point Grand Ledge lead.
Quiz Bowl co-captain Andrew Drumhell-er said he “expected the team to win all three.” Quiz Bowl Coach Benton Billings had also an-ticipated the same outcome.
The team continues to practice for its next meet, where they will be playing Holt, Okemos, and East Lansing. Coach Billings has high hopes for his team.
“The next meet will have us playing bet-ter teams, but we can definitely beat all three,” said Billings.
In the past Okemos has always been Ev-
erett’s biggest competitor, winning their last three meetups.
“Okemos has been tough, but I am ready for them. We have gotten better and it is time to beat them,” said Drumheller.
The greater goal for the team is to win the WKAR QuizBusters tournament, and receive $5000 in scholarship money to MSU for each player. Last year the team was eliminated in the round of 16.
“Our team has the potential to win the tournament. We will be facing Saline, which is a very tough team, but we will put up a good fight and we can win,” said Billings.
The new team does face an issue with ex-perience because there are only two returning players for their third year.
“The lack of experience on the team is a disadvantage, which means the team will have more work to do at practice,” said Drumheller. “Saline is very good from what I’ve seen and
will challenge us.” A new recruit for the team, Sean Potter,
believes experience is important to the new players.
“The returning players are ready, but the new recruits need work,” said Potter. “It takes experience to know when to buzz in. It takes confidence, which comes with experience. But I can see that we are improving as first-year players. Beating Saline is possible, but we need to work hard during and outside of practice.”
Whether or not the team is victorious against Saline, Billings is confident his team will do well and improve for next year.
“There is a lot of potential in the new team,” said Billings. “This is the first team I’ve had with only two experienced players, which puts us in a rebuilding process. This season will primarily be a learning experience. I expect great things for this year’s team and even more for the next.”
Administration changes hall sweep routine
Briana VazquezReporter
September 29 was a big day. It was the first time this year, and the first time anyone could recall, that administration conducted a first hour hall sweep. It caught many people, even teachers, off guard.
At 7:35, the hall sweep was called, and around 300 students were ordered to report to the cafeteria.
“It looked as if we were having lunch early in the morning; [the cafeteria] so full it looked like a regular lunch hour,” said assis-tant Principal Marcelle Carruthers.
A d m i n i s t r a t i o n wants to encourage stu-dents to be on time, and the hall sweeps first hour are a way to help stu-dents realize that even being five minutes late matters.
“Tardiness is a big issue in general but the majority of [tardies] are coming from first hour,” said Carruthers. “We want students to see what we see every morning.”
Normally in hall sweeps, students are released. That was not the case this time. Students were held in the cafeteria for their whole first hour.
Some students think that hall sweeps en-courage other students to go to class, which clears the hallways and helps other students make it to class.
“It helps the students by getting every-one to class on time,” said sophomore Jalisa Jones.
Administration said that point of keep-
ing students so long was so that their parents became aware of the problem as well.
“I received a couple calls and spoke with some parents, after I explained the situation they understood and were okay with it,” said Carruthers.
Administration is attempting to lessen the issue of tardiness and absences, and also clear the halls so classes aren’t being dis-rupted.
“Every minute you are not in class, you are losing instruction. Each time a student walks into classes late, they interrupt the edu-cational environment and disrupt the teacher trying to teach,” said Principal Susan Cheadle Holt.
The amount of hall sweeps done will all depend on the stu-dents. If tardiness de-creases, so will the hall sweeps. Administration understands that some students have situations they cannot control, but they also see many stu-
dents just standing around first hour. They want to work on decreasing the amount of students skipping class and standing in the hallways.
“We would rather not do them at all, but students are always roaming the halls,” said public safety officer John Pentecost.
Some students feel like hall sweeps are solely for punishing students, but administra-tion said that that is not the case.
“There is no one to blame, we just want to work with parents and students,” said Car-ruthers.
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Quiz bowl meets for a practice session Monday afternoon. During practice the members play against each other in trivia categories to gain experience for meets. topics usually consist of Geography, literature, and history.
“Every minute you are not in class, you are losing instruction. Each time a student walks into classes late, they interrupt
the educational environment and
disrupt the teacher trying to teach.” -Principal Susan Cheadle Holt.
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Arin Dampier and Ruth BecerrilBusiness Manager and Opinion Editor
This year, priority schools coordi-nator Dee Halstead ran and organized homecoming, pep rally, and spirit week. Together, she and administra-tion changed the rules to run for h o m e c o m i n g . Halstead and the student council also changed the themes for spirit week. Instead of the usual Twin day Tuesday and Wacky Wednes-day, there was Camo day, Ca-reer Day, and Disney Day. Some stu-dents liked the change, saying that it spiced up the week. Others weren’t so open to the change.
“I feel like they made the themes hard to do,” said senior Shania Far-quhar.
In previous years, running for
homecoming did not come with many strings attached, just a teacher recom-mendation. Now to even qualify, stu-dents need a teacher recommendation and a record of never having been sus-pended throughout their years at Ever-ett. To run, students also had to peti-
tion for signatures from their peers. These changes were announced at the class meetings held during the first week of school. Many students felt upset about the changes. However, the sus-pension requirement was the change that caused the most up-
roar among the students.“I think it’s stupid and unneces-
sary. You shouldn’t judge something like this on someone’s past. Everyone makes mistakes,” said junior Arielle Echols.
Students were also required to have a yearly GPA of at least 2.0, which
some students do side with.Most of the requirement changes
were made so that the students on homecoming court would be a more positive representation of Everett.
Assistant Prin-cipal Marcelle Carruthers also stated that a new regulation for hav-ing good citizenship in your classes may be implemented to run for 2015 winter homecoming. This regulation will weed out students who have bad classroom participation and behavior.
As the weeks went on, students realized there were even more require-ments. After many student had started their petitions, administration made an announcement that you could only get signatures from your grade, and that they should get as many signatures as they could. Students were then car-
rying five or six sheets of signatures around.
When finally given the homecom-ing ballots second hour, students dis-covered that not everyone who col-
lected signatures were on the bal-lot. For the junior class, only three people were on the ballot: Alma Holt, Da’money Trevi-no, and Deshawn Portee. Since there was only one lady candidate running, it took the suspense out of finding out who would win at the pep assembly.
Many students who did petition for the court were upset to find out that they did not make the requirements, af-ter all the work they put into it.
“Running for homecoming should be fun,” said junior Kurstina Simmons. The fact that only one girl was on the ballot upset many of the other girls
who ran. Students are beginning to voice
their opinions more and more about how they believe their homecoming is being ruined by the school’s new rules.
Another rule that has some stu-dents upset is the ban on students be-ing allowed to boo 9th graders, or any grades at all. Staff said that they will be watching to make sure all students are participating in a proper and friendly way. Some upperclassmen disagree with this change, because they remember it happening to them as freshmen.
“Given the fact this is the first year Everett has had these guidelines the staff will be watching to see how the new rules work, and revisit the deci-sion before winter homecoming,” said Carruthers. Students understand the reasons behind the changes, but are worried about what is in store for fu-ture events.
“Where are we having pep rally during the winter? We can’t be outside in the cold nor can we all fit in the gym,” said senior Elma Ramic.
Homecoming changes shake up students
toP leFt to riGht: seniors cheer for their class, chanting 16’. the seniors run across the field. Juniors chant for their class, 17’. Seniors Cortoria Jones and Carson Lazano cheer together during the Project Unify cheer routine. 2015 homecoming court poses together before the pep rally. Mr. and Mrs. Freshmen Ishmeal Johnson and Abigail Clisch, King and Queen MacQuinn norris and oceana trevino, Mr. and Mrs. Junior Da’money Trevino and Elma Holt, and Mr. and Mrs. Sophomore Daiveon Robinson and Jalisa Jones.
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“Those who want to run for homecoming
should be good role models.”
-junior Kurstina Simmons.
“They were put into place to raise the standards of Everett and
it’s students.” -Assistant
Principal Marcelle Carruthers.
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Dan TranOnline Editor
October is a busy month of competi-tion for athletes, but the football team aren’t the only ‘team’ who are competing. For the marching band, the Grand Ledge exhibi-tion is the most important day of the whole school year, besides the parade in Washing-ton D.C. next semester.
Every year in Grand Ledge, the Ev-erett High School Marching Band faces off against other Michigan high schools in an exhibition to see which school can call themselves the masters of half-time enter-tainment.
The bands watch their peers’ shows, before they flaunted their own hard work in the form of their four piece show titled “The Soundtrack of Our Lives.” To wrap up the whole exhibition, Michigan State University’s Spartan Marching Band held
their show for all to see.The day before Grand Ledge, the
marching band held a tough rehearsal, refin-ing every part of the show from the music, parade sequence, and marching. Tensions were higher than normal, and everyone felt the pressure, especially the drum majors Charles Timms II and Alexa Muethel and director Penny Filonczuk. Despite the hard day though, the band pulled through and fo-cused on making the Grand Ledge show the best it could be.
At 4:00 on September 30th, the band departed Everett for Grand Ledge. It was a double edged sword for the band seniors, who were led to perform their full show at Grand Ledge for the last time in their high school careers. Senior Alexa Muethel marched in Grand Ledge as a flute player for three years, and lead the band as Drum Major her final year. She is also first chair flute in Everett’s symphonic band.
“It’s kind of bittersweet to know it’s my last time, but I’m glad to have done it for four years,” said Muethel.
Several school bands ranging from Wa-
verly and Holt, to Leslie and Jackson attend-ed Grand Ledge’s exhibition. Many schools performed before Everett’s arrival, and many more were waiting their for their turn
to go. Many different bands ranging from humble 50 member bands to massive 150 member ones held their shows on Grand Ledge’s football field. Sophomore Saxo-phone Section Leader Simone Harris en-joyed watching the shows of other schools and was amazed at the sheer number of some of the bands at Grand Ledge.
“Something that stood out was how big they were. All these bands have so many people because students in those areas aren't afraid to put in the work for marching band,” said Harris, “Students don't realize that the marching band is a very respected group of people, and we have more oppor-tunities than other after school activities”
This year’s show at Grand Ledge was considered not only the best run of the full show according to the observing drum ma-jors and director, but also the best Everett has done in years according to Grand Ledge judges.
Marching band shows off in Grand Ledge
the everett Viking Marching band performs their show “the soundtrack of our lives” in their turn at the Grand ledge exhibition. the band put months of hard work into this one performance, which judges said was the best everett has done in years.
Honor Society fall blood drive a successStherlyne Osterne
Reporter
On October 16th, the annual fall blood drive was held in the activity room. It began at 9:30A.M., students in National Honor So-ciety (NHS) hosted the event. The National Honor Society is a student organization that inducts members with high grade point averages. Becoming a member encourages the students to volunteer and do things that will benefit the community. One of the big-gest events hosted by NHS are blood drives. Blood drives happen about three to four times a year.
Students who are under the age of 17 needed a permission slip signed by the par-ent or guardian to be allowed into the activ-ity room and donate blood.
“We have people come in , they give us a photo ID to donate blood,” said senior and NHS member Phuong-Vi Dang.
This blood drive had about 20 people who came down to donate but only 13 good units were taken. Some teachers and the Principal came down to donate.
“People need blood, and if I ever need-ed blood I would hope that someone would be kind enough to give blood for me,” said English teacher Christi McGonigal Cross.
Although the staff are always quite busy, a few of them made the time to go donate.
“I am lucky enough to have an intern to cover for me so I can donate,” said Cross.
The students and Red Cross staff work
together to make the process of donating easier.
“You go down to the activity room sign in with the NHS members and wait for a nurse. Then you fill out a questionnaire and small physical, and then donate if able to,” said senior NHS president ZaQuan Calla-han.
The NHS member all have different roles for the blood drive. Some work reg-istration, helping students and staff start the waiting process. Others ensure that the donors get snacks and water after donating, and write students passes back to class af-ter they have waited a sufficient amount of time. Most NHS members are runners, and go around the school trying to find donors.
“I was going to the classrooms and see if people were interested in donating blood,” said Senior and NHS member Eric Bengel.
Although many students are turned away from donating due to weight or nutri-tion restrictions, many students still attempt to donate blood. Some students say they like to give back to the community, and others just find the donation experience exciting.
“I always try to donate, I like to feel like I’m making a difference”, said senior Jason Sailor.
No matter the intention behind donat-ing, the blood drive is a great opportunity for students to give back to the community. Any student of age who is interested in donating should talk to NHS coordinator Stephanie Robinson in room 101 or a NHS member for details on the next blood drive.
Senior Jason Sailor waits for the nurse to wrap his arm after dona-tion. the donation process usu-ally takes about 10-15 minutes, depending on how quickly the do-nor’s blood flows. Drinking water and eating a diet high in iron can decrease waiting time.
nhs members put up various signs and posters so that donors would be able to locate the blood drive. nhs members also went to classrooms and lunches asking people to go donate.
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VoiceThe
OPINION
3900 stabler roadlansing, Mi 48910 (517)[email protected]
THE STAFF
EDITORSAlexa Johnson (Editor-in-Chief)Katrina Turner (News)Ruth Becerril (Opinion)Alexa Johnson (Features)Salma Torres (Entertainment)Erin Arnold (Sports)Raquel Adkins (Photo Story)Dan Tran (Online)Arin Dampier (Business Manager)Isaiah Garrett (Multi-Media Editor)
REPORTERSAli AljaziKaitlyn Brown-HatchettLexis DawsonDeqa Husein Linda LeeYicheng LiBebeto Nyongobela Angelica OrdiwayStherlyne OsterneSein SanKylie SkuseKira Thatcher Julia TominskiDennis Truman-ParkerBriana Vazquez
ADVISOR Chad Sanders
Mission StatementThe Voice is a monthly publication of Everett High School. It is published the second Wednesday of each month by the fourth hour Newspaper class. The Voice is distributed free of charge to every student and staff member at Everett. The current issue is always available on the counter of the main office. Subscriptions are also available for $15/year. The Voice is an award-winning mem-ber of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association. Letters to the editor are accepted at the discretion of the editorial board. Forms of speech not protected by the First Amendment will not be published. Letters must be signed by the author, and will be edited for quality. Direct all questions to room 313. We can be contacted via email at [email protected]
The Lansing School District is com-mitted to a policy of providing equal opportunities to all qualified people regardless of economic or social status and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethic origin, national origin, creed, religion, political belief, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, age, veteran status, or physical or mental ability.
OUR VOICE:
Sein SanReporter
Everett High School has recently start-ed doing first hour hall sweeps. Many stu-dents that were caught in the sweep didn’t understand why the administrators started doing it. Hall sweeps first hour is unfair to students because there are students who ar-rived to school late but still are rushing to get to class. I know this because I got caught in the very first one they did. I was five min-utes late to my first hour, and I had to go to the cafeteria. There were a lot of people in there, and I’m sure that half of those kids would rather be in class then to be in the cafeteria all hour.
First hour hall sweeps are wrong be-cause many students get to school late, and sometimes it's out of their control.
“First hour hall sweep are ridiculous, I feel like we are already late, why make us miss like the entire hour," said sophomore Dallas Robinson. Students who were caught in the sweep sat in the cafeteria for all of first hour.
Phone calls were sent out to parents, to inform them of their student’ tardiness. However, many parents already know and are actually part of the reason that students are late to school. Some parents work in the morning, and car troubles can also be a rea-son that a student is late.
“Sometimes I’m late in the morning because I have to wait for my car to warm up, otherwise it will stall,” said senior Kayla Dennings.
Being kept out of class can have a nega-tive effect on student attendance and grades. Students caught in hall sweeps miss lessons. Repeatedly missing class can cause students to need summer school, to make up the credits they missed.
“I feel there shouldn’t be first hour hall sweep because two tardies make an absence and ten absences equal a fail,” said sopho-more Martaysia McClane.
On the other hand, some students agree with having the first hour hall sweep, and they even agree with involving the parents.
“Parents want our grades to be good and they want us to be successful, I feel you can’t be successful without your parents’ help,” said sophomore Andrea Kent.
Some parents don’t care about their child’s education, and usually if the parents don’t care the student doesn't care either. Some students just stand in the hallways, these are the students that are a problem. However, first hour hall sweeps mainly hurt the kids who actually do want to be in class and learn.
“I was parked in the very back of the student parking lot, I was on my way to Mr. Billings’ class less than a few minutes late and I got hall swept, I found it ridiculous that they held us all hour,” said Dennings, who is usually not late to class, and found the hall sweep very unfair.
A solution that can please both sides is to do the hall sweeps around ten minutes into class. This way, students who are actu-ally trying to get to class but are caught in hallway traffic or crowds will be able to be in class. Meanwhile the students who are actu-ally the problem who are around wandering the halls, the students that don’t bother to be in class, are the ones caught in the sweeps. This could eliminate the amount of stu-dents with good attendance getting caught in sweeps, and increase the effectiveness of the sweeps altogether.
There’s nothing like getting your schedule that you waited all summer to receive, and be-ing disappointed when your entire schedule is messed up and all of your classes are wrong. This year, we had a new software system, and although it was supposed to make things more efficient, things definitely were confusing and a pain.
Normally, we usually have a whole week in August to go up and see counselors to fix problems and classes. This year, we had two days to fix the schedule. We had to put in a request form and hope that our classes were fixed. What if that paper was lost? Or thrown away? In addition to that, we could have only come in between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. for those two days to sit in a confusing line and wait for your name to be called.
There wasn’t a very good announcement letting students know that they could only change the schedules during those two days. Some said they got letters in the mail, others said they did not. The counseling center had an impossible task. How can you expect to get every student’s’ schedule changed when we have about 1,800 student enrolled with only 3.5 counselors in only two days? You can’t.
Students were still having problems even after school had started, and it was very dif-ficult to get called down, and even emails or phone calls back. They should have given more time to allow students to come in and speak to their counselors, and should have been more understanding. It wasn’t the student’s fault for scheduling problems, and the counseling cen-ter could have been more lenient.
To make it easier on counselors and stu-dents, the schedules for next year should be put online. Students should fill out a form to choose what classes they want so no items are messed up. If a class is full, students should get an email or an alternate form of automated response so that they have time to choose a different class. Schedules can make or break a student’s year, and there should not be so many issues surrounding them.
Scheduling mess ups are unacceptable
First hour hall sweeps counter-productive, should be stopped
Pep rally changes ruin beloved traditions
Antonio BermudezGuest Reporter
This year’s homecoming and pep rally had some major differences from previous years and many students were not happy.
One big change was that the pep rally took place in the football stadium, due to the large number of students this year. Since their dance was not made for perfor-mance on grass, the dance company was unable to perform. Dance company spent many hours practicing to perform at the pep rally, they even started to create it over the summer. The dance could have been modified to be performed over the grass, but the dancers were notified too late.
“I hated that we couldn’t perform this year, the tradition was kind of ruined and we weren’t able to show you the new changes we have made,” said senior Chloe Anderson.
The seniors were also limited to what they could do. In previous years the senior class would “steal” items from teachers and carry them while running into the pep rally. This year’s seniors were definitely uphold-ing the tradition, “stealing’” various items such as plants, flags, chairs, diagrams, and even a gumball machine.
“I was honestly upset because it’s tra-dition, every year a student always takes El-liott’s trees for pep rally,” said senior Jason Sailor.
Normally seniors run out onto the court with music playing. Since the pep rally was held on the field, seniors were a bit scattered and upset that they weren’t al-lowed to have music.
“We were supposed to enter through the gates but they made us run all the way around and by the time we got into the sta-dium we were all tired, so our run was not as successful as it should’ve been,” said se-nior Albrya Walker.
Homecoming Court was also different. As usual there was a Mr. and Mrs. Fresh-men, Sophomore, and Junior. Then there were four nominees for homecoming queen and king, and the winners usually get an-nounced at game at halftime. This year, the runner ups dropped out due to restrictions on running. This resulted in Homecom-ing King and Queen also being crowned Mr.and Mrs. Senior.
“Usually they announce the winner at the game and have multiple senior couples dressed up. The competition part is what makes homecoming so nail biting and in-teresting,” said senior Ana Guerrero.
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Kylie SkuseReporter
Andrew Jarman isn’t normal. At least, not according to society’s standard of the word. But to Jarman, it is the world that is abnor-mal. Jarman grew up with a normal household in Australia, with a normal family, on a nor-mal street, with normal neighbors. He went to school with normal students. But Jarman knew something was different with his seem-ingly normal life.
“I always felt different but I never had a word for what I was feeling, until around the age of 17-18 when I found out about the word ‘transgender’ and looked into it more and real-ized it suited me perfectly. I am transgender,” said Jarman, who is now a freshman in col-lege.
Transgender. It’s a strange word to many, most don’t even know what it means. It’s not a word that often comes up in casual conversa-tions. For Jarman it was hard to ‘come out’ to
his friends and family in fear they would not accept him.
“I told my partner first, then my friends.. then most of my family. I haven’t told my dad yet though because of something my mum said when I came out to her,” said Jarman, who only recently told his family and friends how he felt towards his own gender
Jarman knows his choice to become a boy is a hard one for everyone in his life to com-pletely accept but he hopes that one day that will no longer be the case.
“My friends completely accept me and nearly all of my family accepts me,” he said.
Though many of Jarman’s loved ones claim they accept him, not all of them are tell-ing the complete truth.
“My mum says she accepts me yet she continually makes me hate myself and makes me feel like I’m not a human being. She also hurts my feelings and once compared me to autistic people because of the way I am…,” said Jarman.
Jarman hopes that when he’s older, and has more financial stability, he can get the sur-gical change to physically become a boy. Even though gay marriage in America has been legal-ized, that is not the case for Jarman, who lives in Australia. Right now, he is legally a woman. He can marry his partner, who is male, while he is still biologically female. But if he wants to have surgery to become male, he will no longer be able to have that freedom or be recognized as a male citizen. Jarman is not the only one who finds reason to disagree.
“It makes sense to legalize gay and transgender rights because more orphans are adopted, and more family structures exist. Emotionally, the participants are healthier and more love is given without shame. In terms of humanity, people living as themselves cre-ate more of a united community,” said parent Marci Peyton.
Despite such laws in other parts of the world, when asked, ten out of ten people, interviewed agreed to the principle of equal
rights. “I don’t understand why we wouldn’t
treat members of that community the same as anyone else,” said journalism teacher Chad Sanders.
Jarman knows he isn’t the only one who feels this way; in fact, it is estimated that the LGBTQ community takes up 20% of the world population.
“You are never alone, I don’t want to see another news item saying a teen has hurt or
worse, killed themselves, because they couldn’t be accepted. You deserve life, you deserve happiness. Everyone does, and that includes you,” said Jarman.
Still, not everyone agrees with this differ-ent type of normal, nor the possibility that it could become part of theirs, however, with a little more time and positive influence, those people can come to better understand the meaning of transgender. And for Andrew Jar-man, that’s a start.
“Everyone should have the right to be free to be who they are. People use freedom to hurt others when it should be used to cultivate yourself
and it stems from problems from someone else,” English teacher Jennifer Leroy.
“Being transgender doesn’t affect anyone else really, even when it to family or friends. If you’re not transgender why would you care if others are? It doesn’t affect you,” said sophomore Alex Wudyka.
“Every individual deserves to be treated with dignity and respect and with the same rights as any other human being,” said Math teacher
Bethann Barron.
FEATURES
Freshmen VS G o a l s
Tony Stone
Cyerria Smith
• Graduate college• Play in the NFL• Take care of my mom
• Maintain a 4.0• Have no drama• Turn in all work and be to class on time
We asked Everett staff and students about their views on transgender rights
• Graduate high school• Go to college and win a championship• Go to the NBA
while attitudes are changing, Transgender people still face obstacles
• Get a doctorate degree in the medical field• Be an airplane pilot• Go into sociology
Ishmeal Johnson • Obtain a doctorate of Veterinary Medicine from Michigan State University• Have a nice family and income•Make my parents proud
Jamyrin Jackson
Bianca Ponce-Quintana
Celaina Boylan-Castilla
• Graduate high school• Graduate College • Become a pediatrician
Senior
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FEATURESIsaiah Garrett
Multi-Media Editor
benton Billings has been a Viking for the past 20 years. As a history teacher, one thing he wants every Viking to know, is that Vikings never actually had horns on
their helmets. So, myth busted.Billings teaches AP European History, Sociol-
ogy and Government. He encourages students to think outside the box of society’s standard thinking and get their own pair of “sociological glasses.” He also coaches the JV baseball team and Quiz Bowl, pushing students to exercise not only their bodies but their minds.
“My two hobbies in life are trivia and baseball and I am the luckiest guy in the whole world because I get to coach them both here at Everett,” said Bill-ings.
When Billings was a little kid he always knew what he wanted to grow up to be. While his peers aspired to be firefighters, doctors or lawyers, Billings wanted to be a teacher. His Mother was a teacher herself and was his own kindergarten teacher. Al-though she was an elementary school teacher, Bill-ings teaches high school because he “clicks” with them better. He considered teaching as low as el-ementary school but felt he would play too many games with them and as high as college but it just wasn’t right. High school students are the just-right porridge for Billings.
“I just like working with the high school kids,” said Billings.
Billings knows government. He used to be a staff member for Senator Debbie Stabenow when she was a state senator. Billings also studied political science in college. He said he wanted to have experi-ence first-hand with government works rather than
teaching something that he just learned from read-ing a book.
History has always been an interest for Billings. His love for all the social sciences along with his life experience in government makes his classes more than just reading from a textbook and learning ma-terial. You get interesting and fun stories to go with the learning to create a casual learning experience.
Working for Debbie Stabenow allowed Billings to achieve his goal of being a teacher by landing a teaching job at Sexton High School in 1995. His stay with the Big Reds was short as an administrator moved from Sexton to Everett, bringing along a few young teachers including Billings.
With November 23, 2015 marking his 20-year anniversary at Everett, Billings plans on throwing himself a party celebrating all the time teaching over the years.
“I’m not gonna teach anywhere else,” said Bill-ings. “I started here and I’m gonna retire here.”
Billings plans on being a teacher at Everett for another nine more years before retiring and mov-ing up north, where he hopes to work in a bookstore and also coach a little league baseball team. No matter where he ends up, Billings will find a way to con-tinue to pursue his love for history and baseball.
Raquel AdkinsReporter
sophomore Kasandra Stadel wanted classes that were more hands-on than what she was
getting. She also wanted to have more one-on-one time with teach-ers. Soon after the year began, she found what she was looking for, and became a member of the Everett New Tech High class of 2018.
“My best friend told me that the learning situation [in New Tech] was better,” said Stadel.
Stadel started the school year with regular high school, but af-ter talking to math teacher Sheila Orr and social studies teacher Tim Walker, she decided to go through with it.
She got onto the school's website and got the application to enroll in New Tech. After tons of paperwork she submitted her ap-plication.
After just three days she was called down to the counseling cen-ter and got switched over to New Tech.
According to Stadel, “there are only 21 kids in my class at the moment. There are like 100 spots open [for sophomore New Tech classes].”
Stadel enjoys her New Tech classes more than regular high school. She gets to do more work on the computer and tablets. She also gets cool classes like environ-mental art, a class that mixes art with science. According to prin-ciple Susan Cheadle-Holt, you can still sign be transferred into New Tech and as far as she knows there is no cut off date.
“I would recommend others to switch into New Tech,” said Stadel.
Stadel sees New Tech as a new beginning and a great new way for students to be able to learn.
“I am happy I got switched [into New Tech],” said Stadel.
This month’s Featured Vikings: Mr. Billings, Kasandra Stadel
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Isaiah GarrettMulti-Media Editor
On September 9, Apple held a keynote unveiling their new prod-ucts, the iPad Pro, Apple TV, and iPhone 6S. They also gave a look into WatchOS, the operating system on the Apple Watch. There are tons of new features to each of these Apple devices.
iPhone 6S, the iPhone 6 successor, has a better camera and a new technology called 3D touch, which increases the speed at which actions can be done. The device also comes in an all-new rose gold color which gives the phone more of a variety to choose from when purchasing. Other students, after being informed about the new 3D touch feature, think that having this on their phone would make the experience at school a whole ton better.
“It will make shortcuts and make it simpler to access things,” said senior Antonio Bermudez.
The update allows users to peek into certain applications without opening the full app. Examples were peeking into an important email from a teacher about that late assignment or sneaking that quick text in when you’re supposed to be read-ing a book in math class.
The new front-facing camera has an all new 5-MP sensor which allows for more crisp, fun selfies. This camera update might make the iPhone 6S the ultimate selfie smartphone.
Even with the improvements, some students believe that there are other smartphones with better cameras to choose from.
“The HTC eye has a 13-MP camera,” said senior Austin Reed. Although the HTC eye does have a 13-MP front-facing camera, others say that it doesn’t have that good look of an iPhone selfie.
Also added to the features of the new iPhone are Live Photos, which create a GIF while not doing anything differ-ent while taking a picture. These Live Photos would make a whole new type of selfie or action shot in the school envi-ronment.
“We’d get that awesome touchdown,” said sophomore Collin Matthews. In the event of trying to shoot an “awe-
some touchdown” you have to get it at the right moment, but with Live Photos if you get a shot around the time of the touchdown you get an awesome playback of the whole action shot.
On Friday September 25, Apple will release their new phones in the United States. Everyone will be able to take their crisp selfies and peek into that important email and enjoy the new look of the rose gold color option.
ENTERTAINMENT
Salma TorresEntertainment Editor
This past summer was filled with viral moments, celebrations, and lots of hot topics. Before the 2014-2015 school year ended, lots of people were talking about the new season of Orange is the New Black (OITNB). The new season was released June 12 and Twitter was go-ing crazy for Ruby Rose, the actress who plays Stella Carlin in OITNB.
Senior Kiara Caston was one of the students who went going crazy over Rose
and was excited for the new season.“She’s hot, she’s attractive, she has
a good personality, and plus she likes animals and I love animals,” said senior Kiara Caston.
Caston said that if she had the chance to marry Carlin she would. Thanks to the United States Supreme Court, if that day ever comes, she can. On June 26, history was made when the United States legalized gay marriage.
There were a lot of people who happily accepted this news, and although many were excited about the change, some found the choice morally wrong.
“It happened out of nowhere so I think it took people by surprise,” said
senior Casey Hicks. “I think it showed a lot of people’s true colors because some people just never voiced their opinion on it so you just thought they were neutral; but once it finally became legalized a lot of people got upset.”
Legalizing gay marriage wasn’t the only thing the United States did this
summer. The Wom-en’s Soccer team brought home the World Cup. Senior Celaina Boylan-Cas-tilla was excited that they made it to the finals.
“It’s amazing for a women’s team
to make it that far. They were actually re-ally really good, so it was nice to see a home team pull that far through.”
Although when the World Cup start-ed Boylan-Castilla didn’t think they’d
make it to the final.“I knew they’d make it far because
of how well they were playing but then they made it to the final and it was re-
ally cool.”The USWNT ended up winning 5-2
against Japan in the final.
Summer events that went viral
iPhone 6S brings new features, improved cameraC
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ENTERTAINMENT
Four fun Fall DIY ideas
Things you will need: mason jar, fake leaves, mod podge (or water mixed with glue), and a paint brush (a sponge works too).
First, coat the mason jar in mod podge. Next put on the fake leaves, and coat again with a layer of mod podge when the first layer dries. Let it sit for 24 hours, and then you have a candle holder that’ll hold tea candles.
Things you will need: cinnamon, ginger, cloves, nut-meg, and measuring cups in ¼ teaspoon, ½ teaspoon, and 1 teaspoon.
Mix together 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, ½ teaspoon of nutmeg, ½ teaspoon of ginger, and ¼ teaspoon of cloves. Now add to your favorite coffee.
Things you will need: a melon baller, room tempera-ture apples, cake pop sticks, a baking sheet, a stove top pot, and caramel chips that melt. Optional: sprinkles or candy to put on the apples, and wrappers.
First, using the melon baller, scoop out bits of apple, but don’t cut the apples. Then, place them on a baking sheet and stick the cake pop sticks into them. Follow the direc-tions on the package to melt the caramel. Let it cool for long enough for the caramel to thicken a little, then dip the apples in caramel. Set on a surface and wait for it to harden. Don’t put them in the fridge, the caramel could come off. Wrappers and decorations are optional. Dip them in the sprinkles or other decorations when they aren’t completely cooled but not boiling. After they cool, you can put them on wrappers to serve and enjoy.
Do you have a favorite fall treat or tradition? Share it with us at [email protected]!
Kaitlyn Brown-HatchettReporter
Fall is here, there’s Pumpkin Spice everything and the smells of fall are leaking from every candle store.
When you think of fall you probably think of everything from Back to
School, to Halloween, and even Thanksgiving. Here’s a few
D.I.Y. ideas to make fall a little more fun.All materials should be available at
craft stores, grocery stores, and some Targets. Do a little research before trying to get the items just to be sure the store you go to has what you need. Other than that, Amazon should sell most of the items needed.
Nail artThings you will need: Your choice of a nail polish,
clear top coat, glitter nail polish, sponge (for alternate look), and a spare piece of paper.
First, paint your nails with one coat of the base color, let dry. When dry, paint a second coat of the same color. Wait until the second coat of paint is tacky, then lightly sprinkle glitter onto your nails over the piece of paper. Cover your nails in top coat to finish. To clean up, pick up the paper fold it a little, and pour the leftover glitter back into the container.
Another style is to put a bit of polish onto the tip of a makeup sponge, and dab the tip of your nail until you reach your desired affect. Coat with top coat after for a long last-ing look (shown below).
Halloween Candle
pumpkin spice latte
Mini caramel apples
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SPORTS
Dan Tran Online Editor
The varsity football team kicked off the season in Akron, Ohio against St. Vincent-St. Mary. On August 29, many students and parents traveled all the way to St. Vincent-St. Mary’s home field, cheering on their fellow Vi-kings in their first game of the year.
Horns chimed, drums rolled thunderously, and cymbals resonated through-out the stands as the Everett Marching Band played. Everett fans screamed and hollered in the stands, cheering on the team. “Go Ever-ett go!” echoed from the fans as they clapped along to the fight song. A select number of parents debated the referees when the Irish were awarded touchdowns.
Before the start of the game, the Everett marching band greeted their fellow musicians from St. Vincent- St. Mary. The two greeted each other heartily even though they cheered for opposing sides. Junior Drum Major Charles Timms II had the pleasure of being one of the first to say hi to the Fighting Irish Marching Band.
“Meeting the Irish was a great opportuni-ty for the Viking Marching band,” said Timms II, “I was feeling their vibe. Like they had a good vibe and they were kind. I like how they greeted us with smiles and hugs. They made us feel really welcome to their school.”
St. Vincent-St. Mary Irish got an early lead in the first two quarters. Things started picking up for the Vikings third quar-
ter, but the two touchdown lead from the Irish was too much.The first game of the season concluded with an Everett loss with the final score of 34-20. Much of the varsity team con-sists of newer players, coming from JV. Senior LB/FS Dennis Parker, said that experience may have been the issue regarding the out-come of the game.
“I think we did good, but I think the younger guys struggled, like most of the fresh-man and sophomores,” said Parker. “They struggled with the strategy. Varsity’s strategy is a lot more complicated.”
A loss is always disappointing but Senior DL Devin Sinclair keeps his chin up despite the outcome in Akron.
“Personally I feel like we played our hearts out and put everything we could into it. I’m proud of each and every one of the guys on the team,” said Sinclair, “Even with the loss I feel like it pulled us closer as a team.
Besides the game in Akron, the Varsity Team was also able to visit the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton free of charge. Head Coach Marcelle Carruthers felt that the trip was an excellent opportunity and that the play-ers represented themselves well.
“(This was an) outstanding trip. It was set up by a former football player from Lansing Eastern named Kaleb Thornhill. Coach Key-ton coached him in high school. Our young men knew him because he works the football camp in Michigan State,” said Carruthers. “It was a great, great visit. (The team) did a great job representing Everett High School.”
Year’s first football game a fun opportunity
Julia TominskiReporter
The girls’ Lansing Legacy swim team is starting off with a good season so far. The team may get last in every meet, but that has more to do with the size of the team than their strength.
Usually a swim team has 20-30 people, but Lansing Legacy only has 15 swimmers. The more people you have on a team, the more swimmers you can put in races, and the more points your team gets. Having 15 people on a team means less points and the girls have to be even faster than what they should be.
In addition, not everyone is always at the meets, which means that the team has even less swimmers to race. Also, half of the team are freshmen or brand new to the sport. Adjusting to the busy and committed schedule takes some getting used to. Getting used to being on a committed team for the first time is hard for those who haven’t been on a serious team before.
Not all meets are serious, but some swim meets are really important, like the first real meet at Holt September 12. That was a chance to show Coach Nate Burchfield what the girls can do.
“I have great confidence in this team, they just really need to work hard-er,” said Burchfield.
Even though the team isn’t winning on paper, the swimmers say the experi-ence has been worthwhile.
“This team is really close,” said freshman Timia Edmond. “We’re a great team there’s just limited of us.”
The team showed their strengths on Thursday, October 1 against Mason. Julia Tominski won her heat of the 50
freestyle, her first win at a dual meet. Timia Edmond had her best time this season in the 200 IM, with 3:34. In two weeks the girls start “hell week,” where the girls push themselves the hardest for CAAC’s, but Edmond isn’t worrying about the girls at all.
“We’re a strong bunch of girls,” said Edmond. “We will push ourselves to get better so by the time CAACs come, the girls will be ready.”
Yicheng LiReporter
Toan Tran, a sophomore at Everett High School, can still remember the first day he joined the cross country team last year.
“At first, it was actually my friend who talked me into joining in the (cross country) team.And I think it is great to get a chance to hang out,” said Tran.
Indeed, Cross Country is a great method of entertainment: courses always with beauti-ful views, free trip all around the city. How-ever, the sport of cross country is more than recreation. The loss of breath, the aching stomach and the dehydration makes this sport more like a training of mind.
“At the last mile of all three, when all the physical conditions go against yourself, you must fight with the eager to stop in your body, and that is when the true race just begins,” said Tran.
Besides the race itself, with continuous
meets twice a week on average during the whole September, this is also a test for all the team members.
“Exhausting as they are, we can also have a chance to hang out with our friends, especial-ly when all the courses have beautiful views,” said sophomore Joi Thurman.
When asked to describe the cross team, most of the athletes gave the same answer, “family.”
“Maybe this is what people always say about their team, but I can really feel the con-nection between us. We are always open to each other,” said Phuong-Vi Dang.
“Family” isn’t just a metaphor to this team; there are three pairs of siblings who run cross country, and hence the sense of family may explain the amount of jokes they like to play.
“If you want to learn gossip, you should join in the cross country team. But I am glad that we know what is the boundary and that we love each other after all,” said Thurman.
a few members of the cross country team warm up for a invitational meet at leslie high school. a typical warm-up consists of about 20 exercises including stretches and run outs.
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new Tech freshmen Julia Tominski swims the backstroke in a meet against ionia. although the girls fought tirelessly, they lost by a few points.
Family: teammates find second home
Girls’ swim team goes strong against the odds
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SPORTSThe Rundown:Everything you need to know about fall sports
Dennis Parker Reporter
As the fall sports season comes to an end, all the teams prepare for the tough-est part of the season. Performing well in their biggest games can make or break their postseason. All of the teams at Everett practice hard in attempts to make it to the final games. Here is a quick breakdown of the fall sports season.
This year's varsity football team had a rough time coming together as a “family”. After work-ing and training together however, they are be-ginning to mesh together nicely with the under-classmen late in the season.
“It's a lot of seniors and most of them didn't take it seriously,” said senior linebacker Le’Andre Wright.
Although some of the boys do like to goof off, they know that there is a time and a place for
everything and are committed to their team.“We've been through thick and thin, which is
bringing us together,” said Wright.They have been progressing in working as a
team. They've encountered weaknesses, but have also developed many strengths.
“Our offense and defense are really start-ing to buckle down and our special teams come in handy,” said senior defensive lineman Nick Sada.
The volleyball team only has one win so far, but things are looking up.
“Our first game started off a little rough. As we work together and get to know each other we have been getting better,” said senior Victoria Guardiola.
Other volleyball players agree with Guardiola, but see places where the team could improve.
“I think we have a lot of potential, but we’re not as focused as we should be,” said senior Paula Jones.
The cross country team is running a lot more in meets and also at practice. This year’s group is really pulling to-gether as a team.
“I really think this year’s team is probably my favor-ite of my three years running Cross Country. Everyone is friendly and I really feel at home,” said senior Noria Yoder.
The seniors athletes say that they are really close to one another.
“My fellow senior runners are all my friends. They're not all that fast, but definitely determined,” said Yoder.
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Cross Country
This year the varsity soccer team started their season 1-8, but the players are hoping they can make a strong fin-ish.
“I feel like the team is pretty good . We just need to work on things and work harder at practice,” said junior Gabriel Cruz-Torres.
Although the team members get along fine, they want to work on winning more games.
“I think we could have done better this season,” said junior Gabriel Cruz-Torres.
Volleyball
Boys’Soccer
Senior D’Andre Taylor runs the ball closer to the endzone attempting to get a first down. The boys worked hard against East Lansing, but lost with a of score 27-20.
Senior Victoria Guardiola and Junior Jada Page jump to block the ball incoming ball. the girls fought hard, but lost against east lansing.
Girls’Swimming
Due to the lack of swimmers, the swim team can’t rack up enough points to come away with a win. Although they don't have enough swimmers, they try to keep their heads above the water. To do so the swimmers focus on individual goals, rather than team wins.
“I think that it's a great sport to compete and build your strength while having fun,” said senior Charm Per-kins.
Many of the team members really like the sport and think it's a great way to spend their free time.
“I enjoy it very much, and have been swimming for a very long time,” said freshman Lucy McLelland.
the girls’ swim team poses for a picture in the locker room before a meet.
the boys varsity soccer team waits to play lansing Catholic. they went on to win 5-4 in the penalty shoot out.
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sophomore timmy houser pushes to a strong finish at the Lansing Catholic invite. houser is running a 5k race, typical for the cross country team.
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PHOTO STORy
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