By Rochely Rivera
East High School’s senior council and class advisors have launched a fundraising campaign this month, which is the Hot Chocolate stand. The initiative, which began October 16 and is going to continue for as long as it is cold outside. Students and staff can purchase hot chocolate for $1 in the mornings, at certain school events, and soon to be during family group. It aims to significantly reduce the cost of certain events Seniors have going on this year, to give an opportunity to the people who may not be able to afford it. According to Ms. Williams, the benefits of this fundraiser (and others that we'll do throughout the year) is to reduce the cost of the Senior Trip and pay for other events that the Class of 2025 would like to do together. For example, some of the funds we raised helped pay for the items that were available at the Senior Sunrise, which cost nothing for seniors to attend. We are also planning a service project during this holiday season and will use some money that we raised to help families in need during the holidays. Some upcoming fundraisers are:
As this fundraising event continues to unfold, the senior council and class advisors plan to hold further information about other fundraisers.
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By Yailin A. Cepin Leon
Students and staff participated in a fun-filled assembly on Friday, October 26th, honoring Hispanic Heritage. Many People don’t know much about Hispanic Heritage Month, and why we celebrate it at East. Hispanic Heritage Month is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 because according to Wikipedia, many Latin American countries achieved their independence between these dates. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala and Costa Rica achieved their independence on September 15th, and were followed by Mexico on the 16th, Chile on the 18th, and Belize on September 21st. It is celebrated from the 15th of September to the 15th of October to pay tribute to the fundamental contributions that the Latin community has had in the growth and strengthening of their democracy. Junior Emily Galindo is helping plan Hispanic Heritage Month at East and I asked her several questions. Why is Hispanic Heritage Month important at East High School? Galindo said, “At East, 40% of students are made up of Latinos, so it is important to honor the different Hispanic cultures and nations that East is made up of.” What are the activities that are carried out? She said, “Last year Miss Pérez carried out an activity where students performed with flags of their country, dances such as Salsa bachata and Merengue were also performed. The dances were performed by Latino students from East. I participated in those dances. We danced Salsa Pala Voy. This year at the half day, Friday the 25th, we will have an hour full of activities in the auditorium where a group of students will dance to a mix of different genres of music, others will read poems, the school band will play. You will see a catwalk and a flag parade.” This year, the event is planned by Miss Torres and the Hispanic student committee. Junior Vanesa Camacho is also participating in planning for Hispanic Heritage Month. Camacho says, “I am going to recite a poem written by me related to my country, I am going to dance, I am going to model, and I am going to do the flag parade representing Cuba.” She says it is important to celebrate Hispanic heritage, “because we remember the history of our past and we continue to be relevant to the culture of our Latin American countries.” Thank you for celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month! Celebrando el Mes de la Herencia Hispana en East Por Yailin A. Cepin Leon Mucha gente no sabe mucho sobre el Mes de la Herencia Hispana y por qué lo celebramos en East. El Mes de la Herencia Hispana se celebra del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre porque según Wikipedia, muchos países latinoamericanos lograron su independencia entre estas fechas. Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Guatemala y Costa Rica lograron su independencia el 15 de septiembre, seguidos por México el 16, Chile el 18 y Belice el 21 de septiembre. Se celebra del 15 de septiembre al 15 de octubre para rendir homenaje a los aportes fundamentales que ha tenido la comunidad latina en el crecimiento y fortalecimiento de su democracia. La estudiante de tercer año, Emily Galindo, está ayudando a planificar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana en East y le hice varias preguntas. ¿Por qué es importante el Mes de la Herencia Hispana en East High School? Galindo dijo: “En East, el 40% de los estudiantes son latinos, por lo que es importante honrar las diferentes culturas y naciones hispanas que componen East”. ¿Cuáles son las actividades que se realizan? Dijo: “El año pasado en el colaborativo Miss Pérez realizó una actividad donde los estudiantes actuaron con banderas de su país, también se presentaron bailes como Salsa bachata y Merengue. Los bailes fueron realizados por estudiantes latinos del Este. Yo participé en esos bailes. Bailamos Salsa Pa”lla Voy. Este año al mediodía, viernes 25, tendremos una hora llena de actividades en el auditorio donde un grupo de estudiantes bailará una mezcla de diferentes géneros musicales, otros leerán poemas, tocará la banda del colegio, tendremos una pasarela y un desfile de banderas”. Este año, el evento está planeado por la señorita Torres y el comité de estudiantes hispanos. La estudiante del tercer año Vanesa Camacho también participa en la planificación del Mes de la Herencia Hispana. Camacho dice “voy a recitar un poema escrito por mí relacionado con mi país, voy a bailar, voy a modelar y voy a hacer el desfile de la bandera representando a Cuba. Ella dice es importante que celebrar la herencia hispana, “porque recordamos la historia de nuestro pasado y seguimos siendo relevantes para la cultura de nuestros países latinoamericanos.” ¡Gracias por celebrar el Mes de la Herencia Hispana! By Kimya Hampton
Becoming a Junior or Senior in high school the big focus is always college and the SAT’s. But are they really that important still? Not everyone agrees. The SAT was created in 1926 to see what level of education high school students had before entering college and to determine if students can handle their freshman year of college. After 2020, many colleges stop requiring the SAT because it was hard for those to study online and then also transition from taking the test on paper to taking it on the computer. Many people still believe that they are important because scoring high will get you into great colleges and many scholarships. Another population of high school students believe that SATs aren’t important because they don’t determine how smart they are. High School senior AliYana Robison didn’t take the SAT and the reason she stated was, “I didn’t need it. The college I want to go to doesn't require it.” Another high school senior, Jessica Conrow stated, “I think SATs are dumb but my dad forced me to take it again to get a higher score than last time. I don’t know what college I want to go to, and I don't know what I want to go for.” There are so many different opinions from everyone, and I feel like it depends on if the student wants to go to college and what college they’re going to. In my opinion I don’t think the SAT really determines how smart a student is. To score high, you’d have to study for the test. No matter how smart you are, studying for it will help you score higher. Us highschoolers like to learn and write about things that relate to our lives and the test has texts that are long and boring to read. Since it’s uninteresting it’s hard for students to focus and understand what they’re reading. Overall, the SATs can be helpful but it’s also stressful and may raise your anxiety level. Having to study, sit for a three-hour test, and then wait weeks for the results to come back. Those who take it hope to get a score of at least 1,000 but finding out you didn’t score that high is very upsetting. For those wanting to get into an Ivy league college I do suggest studying and taking the test. Depending on your goals in the future, you can choose what’s right for you. By Ali’Yana Robinson
The spooky holiday is upon us... Halloween! The children are all ready to dress up in their princess, monsters, and vampire costumes. Ready to fill up their buckets with tons and tons of candy. But can adults join the fun? Halloween specifically is intended for children, but should teens or even adults dress up in a costume and go around getting free candy without getting judged walking the streets of their neighborhood? Is trick or treating for everyone or is there a cut off age? 9th grade English teacher Mr. Jones doesn't think so. He's a 23-year-old who shared, “I still trick or treat because it's fun” and he continues the tradition because “who says that I shouldn’t? Anyone of any age should be allowed to participate in trick-or-treat; Halloween is not just a child’s event.” I mean is he wrong? Some adults disagree. Ms. Conroy believes after the age of 12 it's time to close that chapter in people's lives of going trick or treating. Once they hit the teen years, they should be going to parties or helping the adults pass out the candy. I decided to go around the school and ask the teachers and staff and ten of the people I asked more than half agreed. No matter how you celebrate, holiday spirit is important. Mr. Jones is still deciding on his costume and states, “My girlfriend wants to dress up as Chucky and his girlfriend, so we may do that.” By Zyiona Beasley
We are at the halfway point of the marking period, and upperclassmen have deadlines coming up. You should be working on your college applications and have gotten some feedback and had it reviewed by a teacher or a counselor such as Mr. Vann, Mrs. Gilbert or Ms. Burnell. Another thing to know when applying is your essay should be a minimum of 650 words or what the word limit is for the prompt for your college applications. If you are applying now you are considered as an early decision and the first group of people applying by the first deadline of that college which is most likely Nov-Dec 1st. The other type of decision is a regular decision where you apply around Dec-Jan 1st and hear back from your college will be around early to late spring. A very important thing to remember is that the FAFSA has opened nationwide, however here in New York State, it doesn’t open until December 1st. Please also know that the FAFSA is not a first come first serve basis. Everyone will get a piece of the pie meaning you will get money if you apply within the timeframe. Some resources that can help you throughout the college application process would be Upward Bound (The College Prep Center) where you can visit Ben and Michael, and they will help you with your essays too or anything else you may need help with on your application. Also, another resource you can use is the Hillside program or StepToCollege. Scholars be sure to have made a Common App account. Not all colleges use it for their application process, but most do, so have one just in case. Also make an account in advance, and make sure that you have your SSN as well because it will make everything easier when it’s time to do it and you can’t apply to the FAFSA without it. A final thing is scholarships. Depending on what you are applying for, the higher your grade and GPA is, the more money you’ll receive. The two main differences with scholarships are that they can be merit scholarships that are based on academics, achievements and other things or you can apply to grants which you can receive from what you achieve in school and how your GPA is. Need-based scholarships however are determined by your FAFSA results. Some scholarship websites that you can use are Scholarships.com, Niche.com, and Bold.org. Good luck on those applications! By Nye’Asia Jones
The spookiest time of the year is here, so what do we tread to fear… As we know Halloween is October 31st and there is a lot that goes on: people decorating, carving pumpkins, buying costumes and candy. But people might forget about the scary movies that inspire them to dress up as them in the first place. Over the years I’ve seen people dress up as Michael Meyers, Freddy Krueger, Jason, Pennywise, and Ghostface which are all from movies many of us have seen. Have you noticed that every Halloween, they are streaming the same classic scary movies? Streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, prime video, HBO Max, Paramount+ and Tubi stream everything horror around Halloween such as Chucky collection, Scream collection, Halloween collection, Nightmare on Elm Street and they all have a deadline on these streaming services until October 31st. So, I asked my cousins, friends, teachers and many others what their favorite scary movie was because around the time of Halloween all the good scary movies are streaming. Many of my friends said that Scream is their favorite scary movie, which is very understandable because the Ghostface costume is also very popular during Halloween and is a good classic scary movie. Others also said that they liked the Terrifier but from most people they were indecisive on what their favorite scary movie was, which is understandable because there are lots of great Horror movies to even keep up with. Overall, this is the feedback I ended up getting from my peers and teachers and family. Personally, I’d probably go with the Halloween collection because you can never beat a classic horror movie and Halloween was definitely made for Halloween. Happy Halloween and happy scaring! By Mo’nasia Burrows
Since Halloween is right around the corner, people always have an opinion about what the worst candies are. This seems controversial so I wanted to explore further. According to Candy store.com, it reported on the 25 worst candies. Their top 3 worst candies were Good & Plenty Jellybeans, Bit-O-Honey, and Smarties. But my question was, do our students and staff at East agree? Out of one hundred and twenty-two students and staff at East High School who participated in a survey that I made, East High students and staff say that the top three worst candies are Black Licorice, Dots, and Circus Peanuts. Out of all the candies they could have selected, most participants selected that black licorice and circus peanuts. They were the worst by far. According to the survey results, the percentage of people who dislike Black licorice is 92.2% and for the circus peanuts It was 91%. These percentages are based on one hundred twenty-two people who participated in the survey. So as you trick-or-treat this year, what candies won’t you pick out of the candy basket this Halloween? By Jayla Lewis
Many people enjoy visiting haunted houses, pumpkin patches, and apple picking in the fall. Here is a list of fall activities that I found for you to do in Rochester this fall season: Powers Farm Market, A fall festival at Wickham Farm, The Fall weekends at Long Acre Farms, Harvest Fest at Stokoe Farms, Fall Foliage Trolley rides, The Great Pumpkin Farm’s Fall Festival, Halloweenfest at the Farm, Haunted Leising Manor & Forbidden Forest, Trunk or Treat, Halloween at the Market. “Autumn in Rochester offers a variety of unique seasonal activities such as scenic train rides, lead-peeping in arboretums, fall bird migrations, and ghost walks from pretty to paranormal,” said Debi Bower the Author of the article Autumn in Rochester. Bower names a few fun ideas to do in October and she also describes what those ideas are like and what to do. The events that are leading up to this event is that they want to have people go out and enjoy the spooky season. Most of these fall activities happen at night or during the evenings. For these activities people love to get scared, make apple pie or carve pumpkins. I believe these activities are meant for people to have fun during the month of October that’s filled with spookiness and joy. These fall activities can occur in the neighborhoods, communities, cities and towns. The spooky season can turn out good because most people like the October fun activities they can bring you closer with your family and friends and you can enjoy the fall, cozy and chill night. By Tiayanna Rivera
The smell of rain, wind blows, seasons change, leaves start to form shades of red, brown, orange, and yellow. Fall is near which means Halloween comes up, with our blankets covered and hot cocoa in our cups. So, what is Halloween to you? To me Halloween is about the joy that it brings to us, where everyone can meet and become anything or anyone they aspire to be, and the many activities you can participate in. Some of us might know the famous saying “Trick or Treat.” It's the feeling of excitement to dress up and eat candy that is held within our baggies, pumpkins or pillowcases in our hands, the laughter filling the streets following with children going house to house. Now let's backtrack to what Halloween is. Halloween is a holiday celebrated each year on October 31. The word Halloween comes from “All Hallows Eve” being the evening before Christian holy days of All Hallows Day later contributed to Halloween. Halloween originated with the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain- a pagan religious celebration to welcome the harvest at the end of summer season where individuals would light bonfires and wear costumes to cast away any ghosts and evil spirits. They believed that the bridge between the living and the dead would eventually split apart. Halloween, and the way it has been practiced, has changed over time. Starting In the 1800s, Halloween wasn't as what we know now. There were more tricks instead of treats. Common Halloween tricks included placing farmers' wagons and livestock on barn roofs, rotting vegetables on backyards, gardens and tripping over outhouses. In the late 1920s, friends, neighbors, and partners danced the night away to scary stories set to swing music (a style of jazz) along to macabre melodies about ghosts, goblins and so forth. Halloween isn’t “Halloween” without the parties. Halloween parties in the early 20th century included games such as “Pumpkin Ring Toss” and “Bobbing for Apples.” According to History.com, Trick-or-Treating became widespread during the 1940s and 1950s. As time passes by Halloween has continued to adapt and grow while maintaining its core themes to the community and celebration while also evolving to fit modern society. While society was once known for tricks we all know “Trick or Treating” and the evolution of activities, songs and movies we all know today. Halloween has brought many unique aspects into our lives. East High senior Jazmehier Cordell Webb Walker stated Halloween has made him happy throughout the years because it's a chance for him to become someone he's not, feeling free from the only day you can be weird or odd without judgment, becoming a little kid again full of nostalgia and hope. Senior Isaiah Delgado said Halloween is “a time of innocence and joy full of celebration.” It is a season of time where he feels amazing inside, having the sense of “childlike wonder”. In other words, Halloween has a large impact in our lives, to the activities we grow up with, to costumes being made, movies created, songs we play for the cold but warming fall ahead of us and the experiences we hold in our hearts. So next time you think about Halloween, think of the memories you share, the nostalgic feeling and the joy Halloween brings us. By Mikayla Colon
If there’s anything that East can't get enough of, it’s football. And for the first time in years, East’s football season has returned with cheerleaders, thanks to Arin Resseguie of the athletics department. Resseguie knew that there hadn’t been cheerleaders for football (only basketball) for a long time, and she decided to bring it back this year after being encouraged by many students and staff. Cassandra Vann, also of the athletics department, helped her recruit members. The cheerleading team has been in development since last school year, when the recruitment process started. Andrea Johnson, one of the captains, told me, “Over the summer, she posted videos in Google Classroom for us to do… this year is like an audition for next year, to show [Resseguie] that you wanna be here.” For the young women on the team, it’s been a good opportunity to learn new skills, skills that Resseguie loves teaching them. It’s also a great social experience. There’s companionship among the ladies, which is evident in how well they work together during their performances. In preparation for next year, Resseguie’s ladies will still be honing their skills even when the current football season ends. They’re training to become a competitive cheer squad, and the cheerleaders seem pretty ‘in it to win it’, too. “Definitely,” Johnson told me when I asked if she planned to cheer next year. “Why do it just once? I’m gonna have all the skills, I’m gonna be a great stunter. And I wanna learn tumbling. I get to learn it for free at school, so I might as well take it.” Resseguie seems pumped too. “Even though I haven’t coached in sixteen years, I still feel like basics are basics. I got this.” Shine on, East High Cheerleaders! |
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