No Place Like Home: Angel Gonzalez’s Inevitable Return to McCaskey
Image credit: Tim Mercandetti When he was a senior at JP McCaskey High School, Angel Gonzalez made a promise to himself. “I said, ‘you know what, the goal is not to come back, it’s to go off to something else.’” Angel shared. “And then I came right back – and I think it was perfect.” Angel’s biggest dream in high school was to become a … Continue reading No Place Like Home: Angel Gonzalez’s Inevitable Return to McCaskey
Melissa Blessing-Hartley, Caretaker of the JP IMC Safe Haven
Image credit: Rose Carlson For some, spending all day working in the library might be boring, but Ms. Blessing-Hartley, known to many simply as Ms. Blessing, loves her job. She is one of several friendly faces at the front desk of JP’s IMC. Although many initially assume that she is a librarian, Ms. Blessing describes her role as the library’s para-professional. “The librarians are the … Continue reading Melissa Blessing-Hartley, Caretaker of the JP IMC Safe Haven
Jadyn Torres on Music and the Strength of the McCaskey Community
Left to right: Julio Morales, Diego David, and Jadyn Torres before a performance of Newsies. (Image credit: Rose Carlson) The hundreds of community members who came to see McCaskey’s production of Newsies gave it nothing but glowing reviews. After two years of upheaval and pandemic-induced cancellations, the show was a jubilant symbol of our celebrated music program’s rebirth. Everyone was captivated by the performance of … Continue reading Jadyn Torres on Music and the Strength of the McCaskey Community
Mr. Nelson Teaches Confidence Through Art
Note: The above image is an edited photo of Mr. Nelson, made by a student as part of a halloween project in fall 2021. Art shapes McCaskey in so many ways, whether that be performance arts such as theater and music, or visual arts like drawing and painting. Mr. Nelson is one of the few visual art teachers at McCaskey. He teaches Drawing and Painting … Continue reading Mr. Nelson Teaches Confidence Through Art
Kanye’s Misunderstood Genius
Kanye West has been receiving a lot of backlash in recent years, from his political viewpoints to his messy divorce from his soon-to-be-ex-wife Kim Kardashian. On February 16th, West released his documentary on Netflix where his life story is narrated by decades worth of unreleased and rare footage that documents how he has become so illustrious in today’s generation. The series of events that took … Continue reading Kanye’s Misunderstood Genius
Russian Skater Caught Up in Olympics Doping Scandal
15-year-old Russian figure skater, Kamilla Valieva, tested positive for a banned drug, Trimetazidine, before the Beijing Olympics, according to a statement from the International Testing Agency. The drug is said to improve endurance by helping the heart work better. Russia is currently serving a multi-year ban from the Olympics that was an effect of being involved in a previous drug scandal. However, if granted special … Continue reading Russian Skater Caught Up in Olympics Doping Scandal
An Overview of the 2022 Winter Olympics
The month of February for many of the world’s best athletes, was spent overseas in Beijing, China at the winter olympic games. The world’s best athletes showed up and gave it their all to show off all of their hard work. The games took place from February fourth through February twentieth. While a lot of different countries did really well and came out and gave … Continue reading An Overview of the 2022 Winter Olympics
Empathy for Apathy
Apathy is a word that gets thrown around a lot in politics, particularly when trying to explain the cruelty of someone’s actions, but the term itself might be inaccurate. Empathy is considered to be what makes or breaks communication, but how often do people mask their true feelings towards someone in order to protect the emotions of all involved? Would that be considered empathy or … Continue reading Empathy for Apathy
From Kanye to McCaskey: The Line Between Humor and Harassment
There’s a fine line between humor and harassment. Because the internet allows for instantaneous dissemination of information, often anonymously and with no fact-checking, there is great potential for abuses of power. And when these abuses are excused as “funny,” it’s even more difficult to enforce accountability for perpetrators. The recent controversy between Kanye West and Kim Kardashian exemplifies this problem of the digital age. Although … Continue reading From Kanye to McCaskey: The Line Between Humor and Harassment
Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
On February 21st, 2022, Putin initiated his attack on Ukraine. What would seem as Russia’s president having an episode, would have a deadly outcome. His statement was that a “Full-scale invasion” was underway. The main focus is to take Kyiv as their own. Putin’s reasons were to “protect” the citizens from their government, which he characterized as “fascist”, and to help the people fight back … Continue reading Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine
Pokémon Arceus: A Legendary New Take
Released back in January “Pokémon Legends Arceus” is the most recent game in the series and is easily the most ambitious Pokemon game to date. It’s completely switched up, taking familiar elements both gameplay wise and story wise and completely flipping them on the head. It has a level of harshness in story and difficulty that has never been seen before in the series.. Pokémon … Continue reading Pokémon Arceus: A Legendary New Take
Busting the Myths of Homeschooling
Homeschooling—what comes to mind? Most likely, you’ve heard at least one of the myths surrounding homeschooling, but as someone who has been homeschooled from kindergarten to eleventh grade, I can testify that a lot of those myths and stereotypes aren’t true. Being in public school this year has certainly been different, but both options have pros and cons. With more parents looking at other options … Continue reading Busting the Myths of Homeschooling
The Severity of Kanye West’s Irresponsibility
When a person close to you says that they have become a “free thinker”, it probably fills you with dread. Kanye West’s family might feel the same. The horrible truth of mental illness is obscured, because the noise Kanye is making is much more interesting to pay attention to. The constant fashion updates, unhinged rants, and arguments with former friends are certainly a spectacle, but … Continue reading The Severity of Kanye West’s Irresponsibility
And the World Will Know: “Newsies” Brings Musical Theater Back to McCaskey
During the week of March 14, McCaskey’s performing arts department, under the direction of Reynolds Middle School Teacher Kristin Wolanin, will be presenting Disney’s Newsies. “Preparing this show has been such an amazing experience,” said senior Jadyn Torres, who plays the lead role of Jack Kelly along with Zachary White. “Our cast is filled with the most insanely talented kids and I’m so excited for … Continue reading And the World Will Know: “Newsies” Brings Musical Theater Back to McCaskey
Standardized Teachers
Educators and their students struggle with burnout now more than ever as the systemic problems with our education system have been exposed during the pandemic. The days drag with the sense of forced productivity and kids are in desperate need of compassion and understanding. Teachers face student after student whose faces reflect the pain of learning in unprecedented times of war, COVID, and nationwide school … Continue reading Standardized Teachers
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