The CHIEF February 2022

CHIEF PONTIAC TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL The

FEB, 2022

FILM, LITERATURE, & MUSIC Read reviews on some of the most popular movies, books, and albums

UPPERCLASS ACTS

Check out which PTHS seniors are this month's Upperclass Acts

Boys Basketball Update By: Jack Demopoulos

The Pontiac Indians have had a fairly nice start to the basketball season, posting a very even record of 10-10 throughout the season so far. Now, we cannot talk about the Indians without talking about the upsetting loss against Prairie Central- what an exciting game to say the least! Riley Weber hitting the three pointer to tie the game and sending it to overtime made everyone go insane in the gymnasium. Of course, getting the loss is very unfortunate, but the team showed that wasn’t just something that came out of nowhere by beating Coal City in a very convincing fashion by over thirty-three points! To say the least, I expect very good things from this year's basketball team. I and many others want to see our sports teams succeed and I think they all have great potential.

Faces in the Crowd By: Hannah Ricketts

Second semester is in full swing, and exciting things are happening all over the school! The school musical, Bye, Bye Birdie! , is picking up the pace, preparing for the performances in March. Also, the last of the Boys’ and Girls’ basketball home games are approaching quickly! Everyone’s schedule is picking up pace, but four more students have been keeping up with everything and continue to work hard! Beginning with English class, Abraham Jean Jacques has been recognized for his positive attitude and motivation to learn! He is known to be a “classroom leader,” participating in discussions and excelling in his work; Abe worked hard during the recent difficult poetry unit. Daniel Hernandez-Aguirre was recognized in Global Studies this month for his respectful, positive attitude. He is known for being a “kind, considerate, and thoughtful” student. Daniel works enthusiastically and is always willing to offer support to his peers. Next up, Addison Shaw has shown what “hard work” looks like in Math class this month. She is highly motivated and comes into class with a ready-to-work attitude every day. It is said that Addison is a great team player and often offers to explain things to her peers. Finally, last but not least, Michelle Stevenson has been recognized in Science class this month for her excellent start to her freshman year in Biology. She is an exemplary leader and works well with others, always trying to help others to “advance their collective learning.” Michelle said, “Finding out that I was a chosen face in the crowd specifically for science was amazing! Science is my favorite subject, and I’m glad the teacher recognizes my hard work!” All of these students have been doing an amazing job, as we all know it can be difficult to keep track of everything at times. You all have done something to prove yourself to your teachers and have earned this recognition. Congratulations for standing out in the crowd!

Scholastic Bowl Update By: Jasmine White

In the past month, the Scholastic Bowl had a couple matches, including two major competitions that were in the conference. One match was on January 20th and it was the first virtual match that included a new way to do Scholastic Bowl. This new way included phones for a buzzer using a website and computers for video and audio through Zoom. Varsity and Junior Varsity had done well, winning several matches that night. The second match on the 29th was at IVC. The varsity Scholastic Bowl team went to the tournament and got 4th place out of ten schools. Let’s wish the team luck for their upcoming February matches!

For the month of February, Mr. McElwee has given us some interesting facts! Fact #1: On the day Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, a photographer named Robert Landsberg was out on the scene only four miles away. With his distance not being far enough to survive the eruption, Landsberg decided to live his last moments by taking some final shots of the volcano. Once the smoke grew closer to him, he rewound his film and laid on his camera to protect it. Thanks to his pictures, scientists could better understand the eruption of the volcano! Fact #2: Throwback to the year 1999 when many tech companies and banks had to redesign their faulty code programming on their computers so that the date and time could be correctly tracked. They feared that systems would go from ”99” to “00,” instead of the year 2000, which could’ve potentially caused glitches and shutdowns to occur. Thousands of hours were put in by people to work on fixing this dreaded error.

Random Facts W I T H B I G MAC By: Emma O'Lone

Upperclass Acts

Zoe Noles

NAME: Zoe Noles

MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Every single act of service I have been involved with for Key Club.

NICKNAMES: Zo

PET PEEVES: I HATE when people say “no offense” thinking that it will make what they say not offensive. Also, people who drive under the speed limit.

ROLE MODEL(S): My sisters

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Key Club, National Honors Society

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: I love to give advice.

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Movies/TV shows, social media, and astrology

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? I would travel the world, buy a home, and donate to Cal’s Angels. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? I would want a tent, a lighter, and a big enough supply of Chipotle to last my entire time on the island. LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Don’t waste your time worrying about what others might think or say. Your opinion of yourself will forever be the most important.”

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I am moving to Alaska, and plan to get my degree online!

FAVORITE MOVIE: I love all of the Spiderman movies.

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Sleep on the Floor” by The Lumineers

FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mr. Mac/ Rhet III

FAVORITE AUTHOR: Colleen Hoover

Upperclass Acts

Emma Dewald

NAME: Emma Dewald

NICKNAMES: Dewaldo, E2

MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: Being able to break a minute on my 100 free race during our Sectional meet

ROLE MODEL(S): My parents and Grandpa

PET PEEVES: When people chew with their mouth open or chew loudly.

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Swimming, Marching Band, Jazz Band, Key Club, Student Council, NHS, Tri-M

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: They will remember that I eat ice cream fast and am very gullible. HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? I would take my family on a vacation to Mexico, buy a home, and then donate the rest of the money to Welcome Home Haiti for homes to be built for families in need in Haiti. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? Devotional, paddleboard, and my water bottle LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Enjoy and cherish every day in school, because it will go by very fast. Stay involved and attend as many school events that you can. When you make it to graduation day, you want to be happy with what you have done and who you have become.”

FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: I loved being one of the drum majors to lead the band on to the field for the home football games.

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Sports Medicine, Music, Esthiology

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I am planning to attend Cedarville University in Ohio majoring in Sports Medicine to become an athletic trainer.

FAVORITE MOVIE: Any Marvel movie

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Always Stay Humble and Kind” by Tim McGraw

FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mr. Schickel/Band

FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK: Garth Stein’s The Art of Racing in the Rain

Film

Review

By Vanessa Kapper

Movie Review: The Unforgiveable

Sandra Bullock and her tremendous acting is showcased throughout the Netflix movie, The Unforgivable . After being released from prison with a sentence of twenty years, Ruth Slater faces not only getting used to living in the real world again, but most importantly trying to find her long lost little sister who she was forced to leave behind to complete her sentence. The Unforgivable is for older audiences as it is a drama that can be very emotional. This movie focuses on very important themes that become more evident as the movie progresses. Sandra Bullock is one of my favorite actresses who has shown much passion in all of her work, such as Bird Box, Gravity, Premonition , and more. I couldn’t imagine anyone else more perfect to play this difficult role. If you are interested in watching a movie with a perspective you are most likely not used to seeing, I highly recommend The Unforgivable.

Music

Review

By Mason Christianson

Album Review: Hot Fuss

Seldom has there been a single quite as well-received and critically praised as Mr. Brightside by the Killers. The instrumentation is full and nostalgic, the vocal performance is grandiose, and the lyrics are so terribly relatable. However, the subsequent album the band released in 2004 would become one of the best rock albums of all time. Hot Fuss will remain in the rock canon for decades to come because of the original sound and the great musicians making up the band. First, the sound of Hot Fuss is very diverse throughout the run time. Tracks range from instrumentations including bright, clean-sounding trumpets to distorted synths. The sounds create a flow of music that the listener can get lost in and never stay consistently engaged. Another great part about the album’s sound is the nostalgic feel. Throughout the runtime of the record, listeners will be filled with childlike wonder and a sense of that carefree spirit. The songs are so catchy and upbeat, so listeners won’t want to turn the album off. Another reason the album is so good is due to the musicians that make up The Killers. Brendan Flowers, the band’s frontman, lead songwriter, and keyboardist, is maybe one of the best songwriters of all time. The songs have such fun melodies and the instruments are not just accompaniment--they have a purpose in the song. The bassist, Mark Stoermer, plays the bass with such velocity to propel the songs forward. Dave Keuning has such an aggressive feel to his guitar playing that makes the album feel more rock n roll. The drums are also so powerful and unique with the toms and cymbal choices which proves how creative Ronnie Vanucci Jr. is as a drummer. Overall, The Killers put themselves on the rock and roll map with their first album due to their catchy and punchy sound. Hot Fuss is proof that indie rock can be just as compact and powerful as metal and heavy rock.

Literature

Review

By Aubreigh Carmack

In this story, teen Lara Jean Covey writes love letters to all her crushes, but never sends them. Her sister finds the letters and decides to mail them out. When boys all over the school start to talk to her about them, she gets super embarrassed. One of the letters went to her enemy’s boyfriend, Peter Kavinsky. Peter and his girlfriend get in a huge fight and break up. He sees the letter as an opportunity to get back at her. Read the rest of the book to see what happens next. I think this book is really good because it has a mix of drama and romance to the perfect extent. I would definitely recommend this book to people who like non- realistic but true love stories. 9/10 in my book. The book was also made into a major motion picture released in 2018. Book Review: To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Ham

Unpopular Opinion

Ava Nollen: Editor-in-Chief The Chief Staff

By: Sam Kelly

Aubreigh Carmack Mason Christianson Jack Demopoulos Brieaunna Duck Lydia Grampp Vanessa Kapper Sam Kelly Zoe Noles Emma O'Lone Paige Olson Olivia Schickel Conrad Skryzpiec Jasmine White

Contrary to popular belief, coffee is genuinely disgusting. The taste is cruel enough to get me quarantined for five days (according to the CDC), and the thought of how it is made just leaves me scratching my head. The first person to discover coffee really thought, “Hmmm, look at these beans, let me make some brown water so I can pretend to be better than everyone else in my workplace!” I personally don’t understand why people started drinking coffee and specifically Dunkin’ coffee as every drink there is the exact same and nothing at all can change my mind. Overall with every coffee drink that I have tried, no matter how much flavoring or sugar is in the drink, the disgusting skunk spray flavor finds its way through and makes me want to throw my drink out the window. All types of coffee gets a 1/10 for me as they always manage to smell good, but the taste is unredeemable. (Disclaimer: The author’s views do not reflect those of The Chief or customers in the long lines at Dunkin’).

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