A Day in the Life of a Student-Athlete

Written by: Sarah Riley 

As many of the students of Sparta High know, there is a large number of student-athletes at Sparta High School. However, what non-athletes may not know is how athlete schedules differ from the average student. Below some of your possible questions and curiosities can be answered by a few of Sparta’s talented student-athletes.

Special thanks to Cameron Riley (senior) and Mikayla Flanz (sophomore) for their participation in this interview.

Q: What sport or sports do you play?

CR: Basketball

MF: Soccer, swimming, and track.

Q: What made you want to play the sport or sports that do you?

CR: I enjoy watching basketball and grew fond of playing it when I was younger. I love being part of a team, competition, and basketball was the best fit for me.

MF:  I’ve played soccer since I was four, and I want to play it in college. Track and swim are just to keep me in shape for soccer.

Q: Do you play your sport(s) with any friends? Have you made friends through your playing?

CR: Through playing on different teams growing up, I have developed relationships with other kids regionally, nationally, and internationally.

MF: Yes and yes.

Q: How do you balance your athletic schedule with your academic schedule? Does it work well for you?

CR: I set myself times to do certain things, I keep myself organized, and I make sure I get done what I need to get done. Yes, it works well for me.

MF: It depends on the day; I have a certain routine for when I play sports and do homework. You just have to like what you’re doing in order for it to not be as much as a struggle.

Q: Has there ever been a time for you when it felt like a struggle to manage school and sports?

CR: Yes, I had to play a game at Chatham before during a weekday, and after I got home at 10:30, I still had homework to do.

MF: Yes, specifically during the period of adjustment at the beginning of the soccer season in the school. There was one time when some of us failed a test together and lost miserably in a game later.

Q: Do you have any other hobbies besides the sport(s) you play?

CR: Pass it Along, hanging out with friends, watching sports, and DECA.

MF: I like making art, reading, and hiking.

Q: Would you say that playing a sport or sports has improved your life and/or your high school experience?

CR: Yes, it has defined and improved my life.

MF: You make a lot of friends and can escape from your schoolwork, so it makes high school more bearable and you can have fun too.

Q: Do you plan to play when you’re no longer in high school?

CR: Yes, I’m committed to playing basketball at Bates College.

MF: Yes, I really want to play in college, possibly at Brown or Dartmouth.

Q: Do you have any advice for other student-athletes on how to manage their daily schedules?

CR: Plan your work and work your plan. If not, a very busy schedule can overwhelm you.

MF: Do your homework and study; manage your time.

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Book Review: Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold

Written by: Chloe Maher

Morgan Matson’s Revenge, Ice Cream, and Other Things Best Served Cold trilogy, written under her pseudonym, Katie Finn, is perfect for fans of sunny stress-free days. It takes place with a premise akin to that of Nantucket Blue, albeit in a beautiful little seaside town rather than Hamptons. The main character, Gemma, is absolutely heartbroken; her practically perfect, social justice warrior boyfriend, Teddy, breaks up with her out of nowhere. To make matters worse, Gemma’s mother and stepfather travel to Europe for the whole summer and forget to invite Gemma. She is stuck slumming it in the Hamptons with her screenwriter father and his insane producer boss, best friend, and perpetual dieter. However, when Gemma sets off to the Hamptons she encounters Hallie James, whom she was once best friends with but cruelly betrayed when the pair were children. Gemma immediately feels overwhelmingly guilty as her sordid past comes rushing back. It doesn’t help that Hallie’s older brother is all grown up and Gemma’s looking to get over her ex. She assumes the name of her best friend, Sophie in the hope that she can somehow make it up to Hallie by being a good friend to her, as Gemma knows Hallie absolutely wouldn’t speak to her if she knew who she really was. Little does she know, Hallie isn’t as clueless as she seems. The series depicts family dynamics and the duo’s numerous trysts as they try to get the best of one another, getting them both into the most ridiculous situations. Pure fun and drama, it’s definitely recommended for fans of Gossip Girl and Pretty Little Liars.

Source: Amazon

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Sparta's Student Stress Poll- The Results

Written by: Olivia Giralt

  Students of Sparta High School received a poll asking them about their stress involving school. Students were not required to answer all questions.  

Students were first asked to rate their level of stress during the first marking period, 1 being the least stressful and 5 being the most. Approximately 42% of students rated their stress as a 4, 29% rated their stress as a 3, 26% rated their stress as a 5, and 1% rated their stress as a 2. No students had rated their stress as a 1.

For the next question, students were asked if they usually feel stressed when attending school. 80.7% of students said yes and 19.3% of students said no.

For the final question, students were asked about what best helps them deal with stress. 34.5% of students said listening to music, 27.6% of students said hanging out with friends, 15.5% of students said working out, 12.1% of students said other, and 10.3% of students sharing their feelings. No students said that writing in a journal had helped them deal with stress.

Do you feel like these results accurately represent the stress level at SHS? 

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2018- A Year in Memes

Written by: Emily Opresnick 

Each year, the memes get better and better. From tide pods to moths, 2018 brought a lot of hilarious and iconic memes. The following are the best memes from 2018.

Somebody Toucha My Spaget

Somebody Toucha My Spaget refers to a clip from the 1939 cartoon The Three Bears. The one bear walks into the house saying the line, “Somebody toucha my spaget.”

Source: Know Your Meme

Tide Pods

The year started with a tide pod eating craze that concerned many parents and sparked memes about the “forbidden snack.”

Source: iFunny

Change My Mind

YouTuber Steven Crowder asked the public to change his mind on “Male Privilege.” The internet used his statement to voice their opinions and thus it became a meme.

Source: Imgflip

Grus Plan

Gru's Plan is a meme template from the film “Despicable Me,” where Gru expresses his plan followed by him looking at the final stage of the plan in confusion.

Source: Instagram

Evil Patrick

The meme of Evil Patrick refers to Patrick Star from Spongebob Squarepants with a menacing grin on his face. It is used to reflect any devilish or scheming thoughts in meme-form.

Source: Vice

Yodeling Boy

Mason Ramsey went viral for singing “Lovesick Blues.” His performance made him an internet sensation and a meme in 2018.

Source: New York Magazine

Is This a Pigeon

“Is this a Pigeon?” is a line from The Brave Fighter of Sun Fighbird, where a character questions if the butterfly is a pigeon. People began to replace “pigeon” and the butterfly with other things to expression confusion.

Source: BBC

Howard the Alien

Howard the Alien refers to several YouTube videos about an Alien dancing to “Money Longer,” by Lil Uzi Vert.

Source: Youtube

Weird / Odd Flex but Ok

This saying became a popular meme in 2018, used to show when something is strange but it makes sense.

Source: Reddit

Let Me Guess, Your Home?

This meme refers to a scene in Avengers: Infinity War where Thanos is showing Dr. Strange his home in which he grew up. The meme is made by changing the background and/or text.

Source: Instagram

This is So Sad-- Alexa Play Despacito

The catchphrase, “This is so sad-- Alexa, play Despacito,” became a meme in 2018. It refers to a conversation with Amazon's Alexa, telling it to play the song "Despacito" for a humorful effect during a sad time.

Source: Know Your Meme

Bongo Cat

StrayRogues’s doodle of a cat became an internet sensation. Many parodies and remixes emerged depicting the cat playing different songs and instruments.

Source: Know Your Meme

Moth

A series of memes surfaced about moths in 2018. They joked about how moths are strongly attracted to lamps.

Source: Inverse

Let's Get This Bread

In 2018, let's get this bread became a phrase to express success.

Source: Know Your Meme

I Don't Feel So Good

The release of Avengers: Infinity War in April provoked several memes with objects disintegrating. Most captioned with “I don't feel so good,” alluding to a scene in the movie between Tony Stark and Spider-Man.

Source: Know Your Meme

Kowalski, Analysis

Kowalski is a character from the film “Madagascar.” This meme is a reaction to when something is confusing.

Source: Know Your Meme

Surprised Pikachu

This reaction meme became popular in 2018. It is used to reflect shock with something that would be obvious.

Source: Twitter

They Did Surgery on a Grape

A video was released from Edward Hospital, demonstrating how the da Vinci Surgical System can be used to peel a grape. Instagram user @simpledorito posted a screenshot of the video with the caption, “They did surgery on a grape,” making the phrase go viral.

Source: Reddit

Johny Johny

BillionSupriseToys uploaded a video about a boy Johny eating sugar and his father caught him. This nursery rhyme became a meme, provoking several renditions and parodies of the song.

Source: YouTube

Thanos Car

Thanos Car refers to a purple truck that resembles Thanos, the villain in Avengers: Infinity War. This image prompted a series of memes containing purple objects and the word “Thanos” in front of it.

Source: Memepedia

2018 was, let's just say, an interesting year for the Internet. We can't wait for all the virtual laughs 2019 will bring us!

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Movie Review: Mary Poppins Returns

Written by: Lauren Groff 

Disney has brought magic back to the big screen with Mary Poppins Returns. The original Mary Poppins film featured golden Hollywood actors Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke, so the revival of such an iconic film brings about extremely high expectations. Evidently, director Rob Marshall does not disappoint. According to Hollywood Reporter, the film is set to break $100 million in earnings. Andrews passes the magic umbrella to Emily Blunt as ageless Mary Poppins, and Broadway fiend Lin-Manuel Miranda fulfills the role of Jack- a new character, apprentice for Bert (Van Dyke). While Mary Poppins appears once again as herself, Jack is introduced as her n new sidekick.

Emily Blunt (Mary Poppins) and Lin Manuel Miranda (Jack)

Source: ABC News

The film is threaded with references to the both the Broadway musical and the original screenplay. Many of the details are an explicit nod to more memorable details; upon her return, Mary reminding the grown Michael to “close his mouth”, as she did in the original movie. However, some of the more minute details are only recognizable to true fans or those who are familiar with the Broadway soundtrack. While Julie Andrews does not appear in the new film, Dick Van Dyke makes a cameo at the end of the film as the banker who saves the Banks house.

Source: Variety.com

Source: Forbes

As a former cast member of Mary Poppins the Musical, I can affirm that Mary Poppins Returns was an undisputed success. With beautiful animation and vivid colors, the film returned to the screen even more magical than before and will become a new-age classic for younger generations.

Source: CNET

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Tips & Tricks For a Productive 2019

Written by: Lauren Groff 

New Year’s Resolution may only last for a small amount of time, but there's hope for all of us! Instilling these short and simple habits in your everyday life will lead to a more productive and stress-free year, and they’re a lot easier to follow than a strictly-set “resolution.”

Pack your lunch the night before

If you do not buy lunch at school, packing your lunch the night before-- and storing it in the refrigerator if necessary-- saves a LOT of time in the morning. This way, you can catch a few extra minutes of sleep and put a little more thought into what you’re eating the next day.

Write down deadlines in a planner

This may be the most classic organization tip of all, but writing deadlines down is a good way to keep them from slipping into the depths of your mind. Before you know it, that project will be due in a matter of days… NOT weeks!

Bring a phone charger to school

Your Chromebook has a port that allows for an iPhone charger. If you forget to charge your phone at night, or if you have a game later and need to power up, plugging your phone into your Chromebook during the day is a great power-booster.

Keep your Student ID in a clear phone case

Rather than worrying about losing your small plastic ID or having to constantly search for it in your backpack, securing it in your clear phone case is a great way to keep it safe. As long as the barcode is visible, you will be able to scan in and out with your ID without having to remove it from your phone.

Start collecting quarters

Collecting loose change-especially the quarters- is a simple way to treat yourself later. Every time you go out to eat, set aside the quarters and put them in a small pouch or wallet in your backpack. Shortly, you will have a stash of quarters for the school store or vending machine whenever you’re in need of a snack or drink during the day.

Keep a sweatshirt in your locker

Spartans, you know better than anyone the inconstant climate of SHS. Save yourself the chills and keep a sweater or sweatshirt in the top shelf of the locker- You’ll be thanking yourself when you find yourself shivering in the chemistry wing!

Prepare for finals all year round

At the end of each marking period, empty out each of your subject folders. Set aside any important tests or quizzes and file them together for later in the year. That way, in addition to a finals study guide, you will have all of your significant assignments from throughout the year to study from and you won’t be cramming in June! Additionally, you’ll have a MUCH lighter backpack by scrapping old papers.

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