A Day in the Life of a Spring Hill Student: Commonalities Among the Student Body by Cassidy Huey
HWith the upcoming school year and many new students attending Spring Hill, it makes me wonder how students of all ages navigate their lives throughout the school. Everyone has a different view on how they should spend their high school years, and in this article, to discover similarities and differences between regular students at Spring Hill, I have interviewed a couple students to gain their perspective on this topic, and even gathered opinions and observations from various students of all different backgrounds. Let’s go ahead and begin with how students typically get ready for school in the morning. The way you prepare for the day in the morning can have a significant effect on the way that your overall day unfolds, so in order to get a basic idea of what some students typically do on their mornings before school, questions such as what time they arrive at Spring Hill and when they normally wake up were asked. “I usually wake up, eat breakfast, get dressed, and do my makeup. I leave the house somewhere around 7:50 each day,” describes Greyson Ashely, a member of the exercise science academy. A majority of the responses I had received contained a similar structure to how Greyson described her morning, only varying here and there with different early-morning tasks that the students completed daily. Now, when students get to school, how do they spend their time? We all know of the A day and B day schedule that is set up at each of the high schools in District 5, and the responses I received tended to have gravitated towards a specific day that each student preferred. However, there were some responses I received that didn’t have a preference for A day’s or B day’s. “I'm not sure whether I like A or B days better, but on A days I like fitness and English, and on B days I like Human Growth and Development, AP Human Geography, and Fundamentals of Web Design,” states Prisha Regmi, another member of the exercise science academy. There is always a reason why students have favorite classes, and when asked why she enjoyed these particular classes, Prisha explained, “I love to run the ellipticals with my friends, and I love to read. My Human Growth and Development class is actually really interesting. AP Human is a good core subject, and in my Fundamentals of Web Design class, I have a few of my friends.” One of the most student-loved activities in high school are the clubs that are offered after school and during lunch, some even taking field trips to places outside of the district. A couple of the most popular clubs among the student body are Student Council and Multimedia Gaming Club. In the collected interviews, I actually found that all of the students I asked are in at least 2 clubs each, further backing up just how involved the students tend to be in Spring Hill’s clubs. “I’m in HOSA, Fencing, Model UN, Multimedia Gaming Club, Mock Trial, and Student Council. I’m just a regular club member in all of the clubs,” Greyson disclosed. This was probably the response I received with the highest number of clubs one student is actively participating in. Being able to visually see what clubs each student is interested in can really give an insight to some of their hobbies and interests. Furthermore, when asked about what extracurricular activities students wished were offered at Spring Hill, the majority of the responses stated that they would like to have music classes and some extracurricular activities like sports. “Violin!! I loved orchestra, and it was my favorite class, and I have been taking a break from lessons, but it would be awesome if SHHS had it so I could do what I love to do at school. Also, I wish they had track because I love to run, and I can't do it because I can't go to IHS every day after school for practice,” stated Prisha, who has been playing in an orchestra for around 9.5 years. With all of the information that I have gathered from the various interviews, it is safe to conclude that students do typically have a daily routine that they follow, and there are many visible similarities between the way that students spend their school time, and free time. As we know, it is finally autumn in South Carolina, so in light of the fall season, I asked some questions regarding the recurring season. “I think the best parts of autumn are watching the delicate leaves change color, and the worst may be the varying temperatures (one day will be super hot, the next super cold),” expressed Greyson, who goes on to explain her enjoyment of the autumn season. Out of all the students I interviewed, there seemed to be the most interest in autumn more than any other season, and this could be because of the mental image that students gather about autumn. “When I think of fall, my first thought is sweaters and Halloween,” describes Prisha, who also emphasizes some trips she is planning to take during Thanksgiving and winter break. With the changing of seasons, students participate in different activities for each one, and based on the responses, the majority of students stay inside during autumn, while also attending a variety of events regarding Halloween, and other autumn festivities. Spring Hill is an applicant school where students from all over can attend and study. Through the responses I had received in my interviews of students around campus, I was able to discover a common interest among the student body, that being the enjoyment students gain from working with others through the sponsored clubs. Students also tend to be really academically focused in particular classes and courses of study that they find the most interesting. Overall, to conclude my findings, most students at Spring Hill are involved in clubs where they can express themselves, and be youth-inspired based on their particular club interests. Students all have varying interests when it comes to extracurricular activities and their classes they are taking for the school year, which creates individuality among the student body.
Hispanic Heritage Month: Are You Celebrating? by Sofia Segura
Hispanic heritage month is celebrated from September fifteenth to October fifteenth and is centered around celebrating and recognizing how Hispanic Americans influenced American history, culture, and invention. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people don’t know that Hispanic heritage month exists, and therefore, also are less aware of all of the incredible people who have made vast contributions to the development of the United States. It’s important to spread awareness of the month and encourage people to take the time to honor the month properly. How should people celebrate Hispanic heritage month? Education. Learn about the plight of Hispanics in America, their culture, and how it has become intertwined with America’s more significant identity, the inventions and contributions of Hispanic artists and scientists, find organizations that support Hispanics, and invest in them with your time or money. Examining the recently trendy “clean girl” aesthetic, it becomes obvious that it has roots in Hispanic culture. The repackaging and rebranding of this trend as a look for white, skinny, models, robs Hispanics of valuable parts of their culture that they were previously mocked and shamed for. When Hispanics across America were wearing their hair slicked back and in buns paired with chic hoop earrings, they were seen as “ghetto” or “dirty” and largely undesirable. Now, to be faced with the same aesthetic being praised because white people started doing it is such a slight at Hispanics. Without people being able to recognize the true roots of that look, they continue to fail Hispanics by not calling attention to the hypocrisy of a lot of modern trends. Knowing Hispanic culture allows people to hold each other accountable. This trend is not a one-time thing, so much of our popular and trending culture is built off of Hispanic culture. Taking one step further, this problem also runs deeper than cultural trends. Many people don't know about bigger movements that Hispanic Americans have had to pioneer, the Chicano Civil rights movement--a movement centered around civil and labor rights for Mexicans in the United States. The movement wanted to garner attention and implement laws to protect Mexicans from harmful and discriminatory working conditions. This social and political movement left a lasting impact on the working environment for many people, specifically migrant farmers, today. Yet, people don't even know this movement exists. This calls for us to question: why? The lack of education is astounding. How can we do better as a society to ensure that huge stories, people, and cultures aren’t falling through the cracks of our history? Everyone has a personal responsibility to inform and educate themselves when public schooling falls short. If you are looking for a call to action, this is it. Do your research, discover those parts of history that are forgotten by many, celebrate those who deserve to be celebrated, do your part to guarantee the history of Hispanics is not forgotten.
School Info to Know
Note to readers: If you've made it this far, you should go to Mrs. Gilliam's classroom (C219) during class change to grab a piece of delicious candy! Use the code phrase "It's spooky season" for the candy of your choice!
Where Does Halloween Come From? By Killian Evans
Today, Halloween, is a day of imagination and exploration. It sits proudly upon its date, October 31st, and cherishes the appeal that it brings to many individuals around the world. It’s correlated to be a day where you get to dress up in your preferred mask or outfit and explore the wonders that it has to offer. One of its most well known traditions is to go trick or treating with your parents or friends, stopping by each house in your neighborhood hoping for a sugary delight. However, you've most likely become too mature for that, so you now may find yourself at a well decorated party or haunted house, dancing among other goblins, goals, those alike. How did we get here though? What did we come so far from that we are now running through corn mazes laughing and giggling while winter sits right around the corner? I prefer to think that most people are roughly aware of Halloween's history and its Celtic origin, so I'll try to keep this short. The Celts lived 2,000 years ago mostly in what is today Ireland, and they had a traditional festival that occurred on the night before the beginning of winter; they called it Samhain. The Celts believed that on this night, October 31st, the dead were capable of coming into the land of the living. These so-called “ghosts” would damage their crops and cause unwelcome issues. However, the Celts believed another thing; they believed that their druid's power to predict the future was at its peak during this time. These predictions were very important to the Celtic people because they provided a comforting presence throughout the winter. In order to celebrate this event, the Celts would build large bonfires and burnt animals and crops in sacrifice to their deities. The Celtic people also dressed themselves in costumes consisting of animal skins and heads as they tried to tell each other their fortunes. Although Ireland and areas close to it are the origin place of Halloween, the holiday is not exclusively celebrated there. Today it is largely celebrated in the UK, US, Canada, Ireland, Portugal, and a few other countries, but at what point did all this spreading begin? Well, in 43 A.D. the Roman empire had conquered a majority of the Celtic lands, and over the course of 400 years, they began to combine two of their festivals with Samhain. The first Roman festival that they combined with Samhain was Feralia, a festival that occurred on a late October day. The Romans spent this day commemorating the dead. Samhain was then combined with the romans day to honor Pomona, their goddess of fruit and trees. It is likely that the tradition of bobbing apples originates back to Pomona considering that her symbol is an apple. By the 9th century Christianity began to gradually blend with and supplant older Celtic rites. The Church made November 2nd all souls day, a day to honor the dead, in 1000 A.D. It’s believed that the church was trying to replace Samhain with their own celebration. During this commemoration, people would light bonfires, walk in parades, and dress up as angels, demons, and devils (rather similar to Samhain). This event was also referred to as All-Hallows/All-Hallowsmas. The night before (the night of Samhain) would be referred to as All-Hallows Eve, later labeled Halloween. The celebration of Halloween was then brought to America during its colonization, primarily in Maryland and the South. Some of the first celebrations of Halloween in America were called play parties, where common activities were dancing, singing and fortune telling. Halloween only really blew up in America during the 19th century when the US was flooded with new immigrants, in particular the Irish. At the time thousands of Irish men and women were leaving Ireland due to the ongoing famine. When they came to America, they brought their celebration of Halloween with them and greatly popularized it. Once again, America borrowed from European traditions and started to dress up in costumes while going around and asking for food and money. Today this is by far one of the most popular Halloween traditions called “Trick or Treating.” Later on, America began to mold Halloween away from ghosts and witchcraft and more towards community. People began to have parties for both children and adults, during these parties they would play games, eat food, and dress up in costumes, and because of the ongoing efforts to remove anything “grotesque” and “frightening” from Halloween, it began to lose its superstitious and religious overtones. During the 1920s and 1930s Halloween became a much more community focused holiday. Parades and town wide parties began to spring up, but so did vandalism. By 1950 towns began to successfully reduce the amount of vandalism and the old tradition of Trick-or-Treating was reanimated from its forgotten spot in history. This caused Halloween to become much more focused towards the youth and with the ongoing “baby boom,” Halloween parties left the town centers and moved onto classrooms and homes, and as children wandered around their neighborhoods in their costumes households began to give them inexpensive treats in order to prevent and mischievous tricks from being played on them.