​By Kermarie Principe Caceres
 
East High specializes in making all races feel included. The school is having its annual Black History Month assembly on Tuesday, February 26th, where people dance to their roots songs, they write and recite poems and so much more!
Black History Month is one of the most honorable nationwide celebrations. It recognize the history of the African Americans who fought and protested for a new world, significantly for America for all races, skin colors and cultures. The precursor of Black History Month is “Negro History Week” launched by Dr. Carter G Woodson. There are numerous past contributors that made significant changes in sciences and medicine, laws and politics, sports, entertainment and arts that are famously known today, such as Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, Muhammad Ali, W.E.B. Du Bois and Malcolm X. These are only few of the many contributors who bravely stood up to unfairness and racism. Presently, there’s President Barack Obama who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He also along with other long influencers encourage different kinds of people to stand up to racially unjust laws and to expand diversity.
There were influencers who protested nonviolently when others wanted to get their rightful political and social freedom by “any means necessary.” For example Malcolm X wanted to act violently because he thought it was going to have a faster result but Martin Luther King Jr. thought that protesting nonviolently would be more effective and that’s why they disagreed on how to get “equal rights.” They were people choosing how they wanted to make a change.
Black History Month is a celebration during which people remember their loved ones, ancestors and African American freedom right influencers. The month is meant to pay a tribute to them, who struggle with adversity to achieve a goal for themselves and others.

​By Nagely Perez Calderon
 
Seniors Exit Interviews are going to be taking place on March 19th and 20th. The Senior Exit Interview is a graduation requirement for all seniors. The interviewers will give you feedback on how well you present yourself on interviews from a professional perspective which can help you later on in life. You can also develop networks and meet people for internship or a job.
In order to get ready all seniors should have a cover letter and resume ready no later than March 12th. Support and English teachers will be doing practice in class for all seniors to prepare for the interview. Top things seniors should focus on practicing are a firm handshake, introducing yourself, eye contact, and speaking clearly. Seniors should dress to leave a good impression on the interviewers. This means no gum chewing, no extra jewelry, no crazy makeup, no long nails, no cleavage showing, and no hats.
All interviews will be 20 minutes long. If for some reason some seniors don’t get the chance to participate in the seniors exit interview during the scheduled time, makeups interviews will be a couple weeks later. This does not mean senior should skip the interview to have more time. According to counselor Mrs. Gilbert, “seniors should go on the actual Seniors Exit Interview because they will get a great experience and will also have the chance to do it along with their classmates.”  Seniors Exit Interview will be happening in the school library. Students should go see their counselors to find out more information about what time and date your interview is taking place.

​By Clairissa Moore
 
It is safe to say that East High’s library is massively underutilized. There are resources available that I didn’t even know of until I interviewed Ms. Bartnick for this article. Did you know that we have a large collection of DVDs that students and staff can check out? Prefer to listen to a book? We also have audiobooks that can be checked out. Prefer to read online? We have eBooks that you can read on your personal device or school computer. Need some resources for a project or paper? You can access online databases full of resources that you won't find on the web. Have some downtime and in the mood for a little light reading? We have a variety of magazines covering various topics like sports, news, fashion, beauty, culinary, gaming, music and more available in the library. Want to browse some old yearbooks to see what your favorite teacher looked like years ago or do you have a relative that attend East that you want to look up? We have an East yearbook archive dating back to the early 1900's you can browse.
Upon doing my own research (aka wandering along the shelves), I discovered multiple SAT/ACT prep books, classic novels reimagined as manga-style graphic novels, and art books ranging from how-to’s to a tour through a famous artist’s work.
The East High Library is ever-expanding, so if there’s a book you want to read that isn’t there, all you have to do is ask Ms. Bartnick, and you’ll be notified the day it’s there.  The library contains a world of information that we just walk past every day.  We should all make time to check it out.

​By Jaylon McCrea
Wearing your hair in different ways can be very unique at times. Many people who come from different cultures and races use their hair to express themselves and how they feel. Just like graffiti, wearing your natural hair is very beautiful, but it’s often vandalized with people’s biases and critiques.
Many African-American women and men are often judged for wearing their natural hair, whether it’s a nicely styled afro or dreadlocks.
African-African men are also often criticized for wearing their hair in dreadlocks to job interviews. According to a shocking court decision in Alabama, a man was denied a job because of his dreadlocks and filed a lawsuit claiming that if dreadlocks don’t fit into a company’s grooming policy, the policy is “based on stereotypes and inherently discriminatory,” according to NBC news.  However, the court ruled that “traits in a person’s appearance that are tied to their culture but are otherwise changeable are not protected and can be used to deny job offers.”
Recently in New Jersey, high school wrestler Andrew Johnson was forced to cut his dreads off before the match. If he failed to comply with these rules then he would have to forfeit the match resulting in him taking a loss, instead he cut his dreads. Despite him doing this he showed resilience as he did not back down and won the match. This has been an ongoing issue for years which has to stop, and start being addressed more often. Never should one, especially of any race feel as they cannot express themselves whether it’s pure clothing or even hairstyles
Not only do different hairstyles represent a person's character, it’s an artistic movement which you can be extremely creative and artistic with using hair as a platform.

​By Lynnola Christman
Groundhog Day happened on Saturday February 2nd, 2019. At 7:25 am, Punxsutawney Phil was pulled out from his burrow and didn’t see his shadow, predicting that we will have an early spring. This is only the 19th time he didn’t see his shadow over the course of 133 years. The predictions aren’t always correct, but it would be nice to finally put the winter coats away sooner than expected.
The first official Groundhog Day was in the year 1887 according to npr.org. Groundhog Day was based off of the pagan holiday, Candlemas. Candlemas was when clergy would have candles to help determine how long and cold winter was going to be. Before the Germans came to America, they selected the hedgehog to predict the weather. When they came to America, they carried on with the tradition but switched the animal to the groundhog. The one famous groundhog is Punxsutawney Phil, but as time went on, all across North America people had their own groundhogs.
Punxsutawney Phil correctly predicted that there was going to be an early spring nearly half of the 19th early spring predictions. According to livescience.com, Punxsutawney Phil was only correct about 39% of the time. A meteorologist, named Tom Roche, said "Even if you flip a coin, you'll still be right close to half of the time that's a 50 percent accuracy rate. So you'll be better off flipping a coin than going by the groundhog's predictions."

​By Wilson Rivera
With only about four months left until graduation, all college applications should be in, and seniors should have an idea of where they will be going in the coming fall. Acceptance letters are coming and financial aid packages are not far behind. One big looming problem with the college process is the cost.
Most students cannot pay thousands of dollars over the course of four or more years; even with the financial aid packages that the colleges give them after completing the FAFSA and TAP, they still usually will not have enough money to pay for college. The only choice that most students think they have is to just take out enormous amounts of loans, which will gain a lot of interest over the course of their life.
The best way to get the remaining money needed for college is just applying for scholarships. Unlike taking out loans from the bank, you won’t have to pay back the scholarships. Once you get the money, it is yours to use towards college. Some scholarships require essays and others don’t. Just because you don’t feel like writing one or two essays doesn’t mean to stop looking at scholarships.
“As a college-bound senior, you should explore your options in terms of scholarships. There are billions of dollars available in scholarships, so do your research, because there's something out there for everyone!” Ms. Kankam explained.
Some are available to Latinx/Hispanic students, African-American students, LGBTQ+ students, and even for people who are left-handed. You can try RACF.org to find thousands of local scholarships, you can ask your counselor for help, or even go to the College Prep Center at B110 where new scholarships are posted every Friday. Keep that cost and stress down and apply now.

​By Taniya Gaines
On Monday February 4th, the seniors in the TLI program started their paid internships at local elementary schools as teachers’ assistants. These internships allow teenagers to gain real life experience in a teaching environment while still being in high school.
For the most part, the TLI students are enjoying their time working and forming relationship with the students. “I really like my teacher and my students. I have built relationships with my students and I’m getting ready to start teaching small group lessons,” says TLI senior Deya Flores.
TLI senior Shaffiria Dortch says, “The best part about my internship is figuring out the different ways the students in F104 learn. I had to learn to adjust the way I explained things depending on the students’ needs.”
I also have been working with 1st grade students at school 28. During my first week I made it my goal to learn everyone’s name and one thing about them. During small group projects I got to know more about the students and have built relationships with most of the students. When the teacher is busy working with other students I had to take initiative and help out the other students who needed help.
Throughout our Internships we will be expected to teach small or whole group lessons to the students. The seniors are excited to see how much they will grow throughout their internships from now until June.

​By Rachael White
TLI internships are now in full swing. There are 17 seniors currently in the Teaching and Learning Institute out on internships. They are working with teachers within the Rochester City School District to get hands-on teaching experience working with students.  These amazing students have the opportunity to work with seasoned teachers in classrooms and to learn about classroom management, the latest teaching techniques and building confidence in their ability to work with students. The TLI program director Mrs. Delehanty says students “gain a new appreciation of being a teacher as well as the experience of making a difference in others.”
Not only do these students gain valuable skills, they are also paid for their work in the schools. It is not all fun and games. There is a lot of work and responsibility involved with the internships. Mrs. Delehanty says, “We look at the ABC’s which is Attendance, Behavior, and Citizenship.” Students must also make up work from any classes that they miss at East High School.  Keeping up with the requirements of the internship and their regular school responsibilities can be challenging. They would tell you that it is worth it though, to have the experience as well as to get paid for it. If you see one of these students, say hello and ask them about their experiences.

​By Jasmine Thomas
If you’re still wondering what to get your lovely sweet beautiful lady for Valentine’s Day, continue your eyes to the rest of this article. First you must know important things about your little lady. What’s her favorite color, favorite animal, what type of person she is, what does she adore?
When picking the perfect flower, first you need to know whether she’s allergic to any and then pick one you think best represents her. There are a number of flowers to choose from so don’t go only choosing that Beauty and the Beast rose. There are beautiful orchids, great smiling sunflowers, lovely stargazer lilies and the ones I can never seem to pronounce correctly no matter how many times I say it, chrysanthemums. So always have an open mind when getting flowers for your lovely lady, always think which flower you can put her lovely face on and say “this is the type of lady she is.”
Now going to get a gift for her shouldn’t be hard. Females like to be comfortable and relaxed. Comfy blankets, comfy home slippers, teddy bears, chocolates, scented goods for body and shower. If she enjoys watching movies you can give her dvds, maybe some nice wine, hot chocolate or coffee. But ladies don’t forget that guys also love gifts. So don’t be selfish thinking only you can be spoiled getting everything. Get you sweet charming guy something, sometimes even a home cooked dinner and watching the game can suit him just enough. Getting gifts for a lady can be a little more work than getting a gift for a guy but at the end of the day both should be happy for what they received.