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Winter Games recap

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By Shea Sullivan

    The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, came to an end on February 25. History was made by many, surprises occurred and the Olympic spirit struck the world.

    Starting at the opening ceremonies, North and South Korea marched in together under a unified Korea flag for the first time since the countries have been divided. North and South Korea also competed together as one hockey team, which brought hope to both countries despite losing in the first game.

    Russia walked in under the Olympic flag, not permitted to wear any patriotic colors, and they were listed as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” (OAR) as punishment for doping in 2014.

    Moving on to the medal count, Norway dominated the Olympics winning a total of 39 medals, the most medals ever won by a country at a single Winter Olympics, bleacher report stated.

    Germany came in second, winning a total of 31 medals. Germany was expected to win the most gold medals, and they did, but Norway tied with them, both winning 14 gold medals.

    Canada finished third in the medal count, winning 29 total medals, 11 which were gold. The United States finished behind Canada, winning 23 total medals, 9 gold.

    Shockingly, the Olympic Athletes from Russia won 17 medals, but only two of them were gold. Those two gold medals were won in hockey and women’s figure skating.

    In hockey, the United States women’s team beat Canada in a shocking upset for the first time in 20 years. The game went into overtime and the United States eventually scored in a shootout, securing the gold.

    These Winter Olympics were not the best for the United States in figure skating. The U.S. only won bronze in the team event and bronze in ice dance thanks to Maia and Alex Shibutani.

    However, this U.S. figure skating team broke history multiple times despite only winning two bronze medals.

    Mirai Nagasu became the first American woman to land the triple axel at the Olympics, Nathan Chen became the first person to land five quads in a program, Vincent Zhou landed the first quad lutz at the Olympics, the Shibutanis were the first pair of Asian descent to medal in ice dance and Adam Rippon was one of the first openly gay men to win a medal in figure skating.

    Yet the most history breaking story the US might remember from these is Olympics is finally winning cross country skiing gold. Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall became the first Americans to ever win this event at the Olympics.

    Snowboard big air make its Olympic debut in PyeongChang. In the men’s event, Canadian Sebastien Toutant took gold, with American Kyle Mack earning silver. American Jamie Anderson also took silver in the women’s event.

    Lindsey Vonn was the favorite to take the gold in downhill skiing and win a medal in the combined event; however, it did not work out that way. Vonn finished third in downhill and was disqualified in the combined.

    Mikaela Shiffrin was victorious in the giant slalom and also took home a silver in the combined event.

    One of the biggest shocks of the Olympics was made by the Czech Republic’s Ester Ledecka. Ledecka became the first athlete to medal in two different sports at the Olympics, but even more astonishing, she won gold in both events: super-G and snowboarding parallel giant slalom.

    Curling caught the world’s attention at these Olympics. Curling has been a medal event in the Olympics since 1998, but it never seemed to catch attention until it arrived in PyeongChang.

    The United States has not won a gold in only four events at the Winter Olympics, curling was one until these Olympics. The men’s US curling team defeated the favorites, Sweden, in the gold medal match. Sweden, however, won in the women’s event with South Korea taking silver.

    The host country historically does better at their own Olympic, and South Korea definitely did. This was their most successful Olympics, winning 17 medals, 5 of which were gold.

    However, the Olympics are not just about winning medals. They are about the world putting their difference aside and coming together, even if that means playing just one hockey game.

    

    

    

Front/Home, News

Wage Hope message spread throughout district

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indiantrail2
Indian Trail’s Academic Integration Specialist, Nancy Marquette, teaches a coding lesson to the fourth grade students while showcasing her support for the anti-bullying campaign. (Photo courtesy of John Lacoste)

By Bayley Patterson

     Kimpton Middle School’s student ambassador group rallied to stop bullying by bringing to life the “WAGE HOPE” campaign.
     With the guidance of assistant principal, Mike Love, the anti-bullying campaign, WAGE HOPE was created to send a positive message to all students and staff at Kimpton Middle School.  Be kind to one another–that’s the focus students and staff are taking.
     “At the start of the year we challenged [students] to take some type of action against bullying.  The kids came up with the idea of a t-shirt, wrote the message, found the graphics, etc,” Susan Palchesko, Kimpton Principal said.
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Above is the message Galioto and Johnson-Bowers chose for the back of the t-shirts.  The main photo featured above is the front image. (Photo Credit: Bayley Patterson)
     Students wanted the blue t-shirts to reflect their theme, so with the help of a corporate sponsor, they were able to make the shirts affordable and available to everyone at a price point of $3.
     The driving force behind these t-shirts were two eighth graders–Taylor Galioto and Casey Johnson-Bowers.
     “They chose to color royal blue because this color represents the anti-bullying movement.  Many of our staff and students purchased the shirts, and we have had several Stomp Out Bullying Days at Kimpton,” Palchesko said.
     Superintendent Tom Bratten liked the idea so much and felt the message was too powerful to ignore, so he expanded it district-wide by offering the blue t-shirts to all staff members in the district.
     “I got wind of [what Kimpton was doing] and decided this is something that we all need to rally behind…not just on a month that celebrates stopping bullying, but as a district initiative to do so ALL the time,” Bratten said.
     Bratte
n will designate days for staff to showcase the anti-bullying message with their shirts–today is one of them.  A sea of blue can be seen in each of the school buildings throughout the district.
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High school staff members gathered after school today to show their support for the anti-bullying campaign.   (Photo Credit: Lindsey Ryan)

 

High school teachers gathered at the end of the day for a quick photo displaying their unity with the anti-bullying message.  Lebron James even made a quick appearance with his shirt–well sort of. His cardboard figure was carried to the gym by staff from the guidance department.

     Future plans for Kimpton’s WAGE HOPE include a week-long campaign where students and administrators are preparing different activities.

 

Indian Trail
Indian Trail students gathered during a morning assembly involving the University of Akron Children’s Concert Society featuring Brazilian Music played during Carnivale. Throughout the day, the message was all about anti-bullying. (Photo courtesy of John Lacoste)
     “We are purchasing blue wristbands that say ‘WAGE HOPE.’  Each time a student, thro

ugh his/her actions or words wages hope for another person, they are to pass that bracelet along to them, and challenge them to do the same,” Palchesko said.

Messages from the campaign could not be more powerful, especially during these past few weeks with the latest school shootings and copycats across the nation and local communities acting out.
     Bratten said, “No child, nor adult should feel alone and powerless.  Bullying is a choice and a human decision, and we have the ability to stop it as human beings. We need to rally around one another as a collective family to support one another and put a stop to it.”
Entertainment, Front/Home, Reviews

‘Black Panther’ review

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By Oliva Alesnik

‘Black Panther’ is the newest Marvel superhero movie everyone is flocking to theaters to see.

‘Black Panther’ first made an appearance in the July 1966 ‘Fantastic Four’ comic book #52 and the ‘Captain America: Civil War’ movie in 2016. After positive remarks, producers Kevin Feige and David J. Grant decided to give Black Panther his own movie.

The storyline is fairly generic: After the death of his father, T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman, returns home to the African nation of Wakanda. An imposter by the name of Erik Killmonger, played by Michael B. Jordan, comes to steal T’Challa’s throne.

With the help of his sister Shuri, played by Letitia Wright, love interest Nakia, played by Lupita Nyong’o, and bodyguard Okoye, played by Danai Gurira, the Black Panther is unstoppable.

The whole movie leads up to the last fight between T’Challa, aka Black Panther, and Erik Killmonger.

Kendrick Lamar produced the soundtrack for this movie and worked with various artists including SZA, Khalis, Swae Lee, Travis Scott, and The Weeknd. This album is available on Spotify, App Music, YouTube and Soundcloud.

I personally loved this movie: Cultural representation has been increasing lately, and with this movie, it really hit home. Growing up, the girls in superhero movies were white, and society sent the message that you are only beautiful and powerful if you look like them.

Marvel used their resources to make a masterpiece. Young black girls all over America are drawn to this film. I was captivated because the movie shows black women as powerful, beautiful and graceful.

This movie encompassed my culture on many levels. My ancestors are from Africa, and Americans don’t often address this side of culture. The movie shows how you can be any color, come from any part of the world and be any age to be a hero.

My personal rating is a 9.5/10.

Front/Home, Sports, Sports Opinion

2018 NBA All-Star Game

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By Evan Bainbridge

The 2018 NBA All-Star game was done a little differently than in years past. Instead of doing an East vs West game (which is how it is usually done), the NBA decided to switch it up and have two team captains draft their teams for the game this year.

On January 25, team captain, Lebron James, from the Cleveland Cavaliers, and team captain, Stephen Curry, from the Golden State Warriors drafted their teams. James got the first pick in the draft and selected Kevin Durant, from the Golden State Warriors.

Each team was composed of 12 players, and the team captains selected players back and forth until their rosters were filled. The teams, for the first time ever, were made up of players from both the Eastern and Western Conferences.

“I loved the new format they used this year. It made the game a lot more fun and competitive. The only thing that they could have improved would have been televising the All-Star draft,” sophomore Matthew Duffy said.

Much talk has been going on about next year’s game already, and the NBA thinks they will be doing the same format with the team captains, but they will make the draft on TV because everyone wanted to see it. People were tired of seeing the same old East and West teams, so this mix up was a nice way of seeing something that has never been seen before.

The game took place on Sunday, Feb. 18 in Los Angeles, California. The starters for Team Lebron were James, Durant, Kyrie Irving (Boston), Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City) and Anthony Davis (New Orleans). The starters for Team Stephen were Curry, James Harden (Houston), Demar DeRozan (Toronto), Giannis Antetokounmpo (Milwaukee) and Joel Embiid (Philadelphia).

The final score of the game was 148-145 in favor of Team Lebron. At the end of the game, the winning team selected an MVP of the game, and team captain, Lebron James himself won that honor. James ended the game with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists, and he also scored the game-winning bucket at the end to put his team up three points.