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February: think about that month for a bit, let it settle in. It’s the worst month in existence! Coming in the new year with a “new year new me” mentality, then being bombarded with the worst holiday known to man…Valentine's Day. American capitalism profits off small-minded Americans making them think this day is more special than any other day to be the best person to your significant other. Now that I sound like a pessimist, I will express the logical part of hating Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day didn’t even originate from being a cute day about romance. It started with a man's decapitation. Many believe that Saint Valentine was a Roman priest that performed secret wedding ceremonies that were against the law. That law prohibited young men from getting married because unmarried men made “better soldiers”. So I guess in a sense Saint Valentine was a hopeless romantic and got killed because of it but that doesn’t excuse how Valentine’s Day is a stupid holiday. Valentine’s Day used to be sweet and lovely when we were children; it was like a pre-Halloween without walking around in the cold dressed up like zombies. Getting candy from friends and innocent crushes was the dream. But now it’s like an unbeatable contest that everyone is losing at. And maybe it’s always been that way: we were just too young to realize it! Valentine’s is a make or break for most couples. The commercial holiday already has its downsides with the cheap chocolate and flowers combo, but what makes it truly unbearable is social media and the pressure from others to be the best. The craving to post your relationship for everyone to see is one thing, but the thousands of Snapchat and Instagram stories showing off “how much your partner means to you” is another add to the materialistic world we live in. Valentine’s Day makes everything so surface level. If someone didn’t get the most expensive thing then their relationship isn’t valuable enough. And if you don’t post your relationship then people will think you’ve broken up or you guys don’t really care about one another. Valentine’s Day is a double edged sword. V-Day isn’t good for couples or the environment. On average every Valentine’s Day “more than 250 million roses are produced for Valentine’s, emitting approximately 360,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.” (vox.com) Also “in the weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day, gold jewelry sales generate 34 million tons of waste.” (buzzfeed) Buying expensive gifts isn’t going to help your boring relationships, it’s only going to destroy the planet more. The anti-singles holiday makes everyone feel worse about themselves. Not only does the gift giving holiday and new year kiss make singles feel even more out of the loop with the rest of their coupled up friends, they also have to endure this fake holiday. Singles already feel worthless but a holiday strictly about love is their own personal hell. Valentine’s Day sucks for everyone; couples, singles, the planet, even the guy it was named after. So stop celebrating this fake holiday and leave it to the cheesy Hallmark movies.

We put out a poll on our Instagram asking East students about their favorite ski/snowboarding resorts in Colorado. The following are the most popular. #1 Winter park It is no surprise that Winter park is students' favorite resort since it is so close to Denver—just 67.5 miles from East. Winter Park is fairly large, covering 3,081 acres of skiable terrain. The peak is located 11,220 feet from sea level, over twice as high as Denver. The mountain can be divided into seven different regions, including the notorious Mary Jane. There is something for everyone at Winter Park, making it attractive for all levels of skiers. For instance, the resort has a unique region called The Cirque, which is extreme backcountry terrain that is still within the patrolled area. Yet, the main and most popular region is full of flat, groomed terrain. It also is scattered with a staggering 7 terrain parks, each varying in size and type of features. Winter Park receives over 344.6 inches of snow annually, making powder days quite frequent. The resort mentions recently being “voted as North America’s #1 ski resort by USA Today readers” on the website and claims to be “Colorado’s longest continually run ski resort.” Winter park is quite close to Denver considering its somewhat large size and has very attractive features for all leaves of both skiers and boarders. #2 Copper Just past Winter Park is Copper mountain, 80 miles away from East. Copper is notorious for the other activities located on the mountain, including tubing, zip lining, snowshoeing, ice skating, and the mountain even has a roller coaster. The resort is far from small with 2,500 acres of skiing terrain and has quite a high elevation—12,313 feet at its peak. Similar to winter park, Copper has a wide variety of terrain and can be enjoyed by all levels of skiers. More advanced skiers can enjoy the rare experience of cat skiing, skiers are taken up Tucker mountain via snowcat, with no extra fees. #3 Vail Vail mountain is a bit farther away but still relatively close to Denver: 100 miles from East. Vail is a huge resort, the fourth largest in North America, at a whopping 5,317 acres and 31 lifts. The resort claims over 354 inches of snowfall every year. However, Vail is stereotypically very crowded and you might find yourself spending more time in lift lines than skiing. At times it is only the main lifts that are crowded, but the back bowls can get backed up to. During the pandemic, videos circulated the internet of lift lines stretching hundreds of yards up the run in the back bowls. Additionally, both the food and the lift tickets are exceptionally expensive. While few would recommend doing a day trip to vail on a Saturday, it can be a great place to ski on weekdays where there are fewer people; the absurd amount of terrain and variety in the type of runs make it impossible to get bored. # 4 Crested Butte Crested Butte is no day trip from Denver: the resort is 230 miles away from East. The resort is smaller compared to the others on the list with only 1,537 acres of skiable terrain. Yet due to the long drive, lift lines are minimal compared to resorts closer to Denver. However, Crested butte might not be the best place for all skiers. More than one-third of the runs are double black diamonds, and the resort only has 17 greens. The mountain is known for its challenging terrain and beautiful landscape. #5 Aspen Snowmass Aspen Snowmass is one resort, encompassing four different mountains: Aspen Mountain, Snowmass, Buttermilk, and Highlands. Snowmass is a more traditional ski mountain with 3,332 acres and a variety of terrain. Buttermilk is a simple, smaller mountain with lots of beginner terrain, and only 470 acres of terrain. Buttermilk also hosts the X-Games every year. Aspen Mountain and Highlands are much more difficult mountains. Aspen Mountain has zero green runs— not a single beginner trail in all 673 acres. Highlands is notorious for its exceptionally steep terrain, including the famous Highlands bowl.

Many teenagers and young adults are terrified of getting flu shots and bleeding from their paper cuts, but when it comes to witnessing a serial killer melt the bones of victims in acid, teenagers are seemingly fine. Nausea and gag reflex apparently dissipate the moment Netflix opens, and the ruggedly handsome Evan Peters appears as Dahmer — a less handsome cannibal. Who would've thought that a docu-series detailing the horrific killings of 17 people would be so binge-worthy? Well, Netflix sure did: a total of 701.37 million hours of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story have been streamed since its release on September 21st. The sick lives of psychos are oddly fascinating and surprisingly relatable. For those who aren’t privy to the world of serial killers, Jeffrey Dahmer is widely regarded as an individual who committed horrific, unthinkable crimes. Born in 1960, Dahmer was brought into a household run by two neglectful parents; his mother suffered from depression and attempted suicide multiple times, while his father was largely absent as a response. The ten-episode series walks the audience through his disheartening childhood as Dahmer learns that loved ones aren’t always reliable. His main reason for killing and consuming his victims? He was frightened that they would leave him just as his parents had. Over the course of high school, Dahmer was diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, schizotypal personality disorder, and psychotic disorder. He exhibited intense interest in nothing but taxidermy, dead animals, and other queer boys. He was also characterized as an outcast who often enjoyed chugging a bottle of scotch and other alcohol in his morning history class. Not to scare anyone, but if a classmate starts showing pictures of murdered dogs (with a scent of Budweiser on his breath), please contact an East faculty member. Now, one might inquire as to why it is acceptable to compare Dahmer to any other living (or dead) individual. Any true crime enthusiast knows that all criminals have a motive for their crimes, no matter the scale. The docu-series seems to re-humanize Dahmer as not only a neglected boy but a man who carried generational trauma and fear of loss. Despite being aware of the heartbreak Dahmer put dozens of families through, viewers have responded with a resounding sigh. A cannibalistic serial killer is not the ideal candidate to receive loads of sympathy, although Dahmer is stirring up just that. Now, why would a high schooler care about Dahmer's impacts on the average Joe? What are those impacts? What are some lessons to be learned? First off, sympathy is not as simple as one might assume — it can be found in the depths of hate. Next time there is juicy gossip circling, maybe take a step back and re-examine all perspectives. However, don’t forget that crimes like murder (hopefully not an issue at East) are never justified. Second, if worries about a loved one leaving appear, remember that murder will not keep them close. Show your appreciation and dedication to their presence without “pulling a Dahmer.” And third, please don’t eat others.

CU Boulder Football has a history of excellence, talent, and winning. 716-520 is a phenomenal overall record from the past 130 years they have played football at the school. With that being headlined by their national championship win in 1990. Since 2000 they have had six years of a winning record which is horrible. 13 million dollars of revenue and reaching over 5.6 million fans each year would make you think the Football team would be good. We can't say they are good though CU is ranked the third-worst football team in the entire FBS, according to Ralphie Report.Com. Buffzone.com states the Buffs have been outscored 87-229, averaging 14.5 points and less than 300 yards per game. At the same time, opponents average 38.17 points and almost 500 yards per game on them. CU Boulders leading passer this year is true freshman Owen McCowen with 600 passing yards, two touchdown passes, two interceptions, and a Qbr of 110. Owen has shown great potential and poise for a true freshman quarterback, but potential doesn't translate to wins for the buffs. With limited arm strength and overall not a tremendous amount of confidence in him from the coaching staff, they haven't been able to rely on him. That didn't help when they just fired their head coach Karl Dorell and bought him out for 8.7 million dollars having the assistant coach Mike Sanford Jr. come in as interim head coach. One problem the Buffs have been having is recruitment. They are ranked 53 in this year's 2022 recruiting class, which has been a recurring theme. CU\ is bringing in zero five or four-star recruits which isn't an issue for some schools, but it is for the buffs. This is because they don't have the staff to mold these players into the stars they can be. Schools like Tulane, Illinois, and others are ranked top 25 without having any notable recruits. What's the problem, then? We can chalk that up to coaching in the Karl Dorell era; the school went 8-15 while overhauling the entire Buffs coaching staff because they were so bad. It's really pathetic to look at what CU has and the fans who show out every game but they just can't put it together. They did end up getting a courageous win over Cal with fans storming the field after the first victory over the season. Rick George a CU Buff student and fan has this to say about the start of the season. ¨We have not come close to meeting expectations for this season and it's very disappointing to watch them play¨. As Rick stated it's hard to watch the buffs because we just want them to be good. The Buffs have no potential for the rest of this year. They need to get their minds right for next season and try to improve. Luckily with a new coaching staff coming in and some new recruits next year, there is only up from here for the CU Buffs.

In 1942, 400 East High School students were drafted to fight in World War II. Out of those who left, only 100 made it back. “These boys wanted to go to war, they wanted to stand up for their country,” said Dick Nelson, the author of Flights of Angels. In January 1942, American soldiers were sent to Europe to fight Germany, Italy, and Japan. At that time, Germany was invading many European countries as well as imprisoning and murdering Jewish in concentration camps. By 1945, 400,000 Americans had died in the war, 300 of those being students that came from East. Students today face many problems, but nothing compared to losing 300 friends so unexpectedly. Once the East students heard about the war many were eager to fight for their country. If a person was 17 or 18 years old and male, they were drafted. While half of these students were glad to go, others went against their will. East students left behind their friends, teachers, and homes when they became soldiers. It wasn’t only students who went to war at that time, but teachers too. In 1942, sixteen teachers served in the nation's armed forces. The yearbook of 1942 quotes, “To these teachers go all the best wishes from the faculty and the student body.” During the war, the highschool held many patriotic assemblies and events. These events were appreciated because the war encouraged a strong patriotism among the majority of students. In our divided time, not everyone shares that kind of enthusiasm for our government, though we might all be patriotic in our own way. This is another one of the many differences between East High School now and East in the early 1940s. During the war, there were shortages of many items, including resources that East students relied upon. “Families who lived on farms had it easier than the East families who lived in the city,” Nelson says. Farm families had all their food right in front of them whereas city families had to buy everything from the store, which was often low on food and goods. Nelson remembers having to make his butter by hand. In addition, paper was scarce, which made it impossible to print an East yearbook in 1943. Students that were not eligible to go or who were not selected, including all of the girls, were left behind having to live an everyday life when they had no idea if their friends, siblings, or teachers had died that day. This was hard for the left-behind students, so they decided to find ways that they could help. One way girls helped was by volunteering in hospitals, which was called candy striping. So many doctors and nurses were needed in the war to help soldiers, so hospitals were short-staffed. Another way the students helped was by knitting socks for the soldiers in class. As the 1942 yearbook states, “Mrs. Anderson’s office was besieged by almost hysterical girls who wanted to start a motor corps, do red cross work- anything.” The school allowed the students to start many new clubs such as red cross club, knitting, and fundraising. They ended up knitting many socks and clothes for soldiers and raising at least $45,000 for soldiers and soldiers' families. The patriotic assemblies that the school held were called “Salute to America” and included presentations of the pledge of allegiance and the Gettysburg address. As the writers of the East 1942 yearbook wrote, “And inside each of us is something new, a new feeling of esprit de corps, a new sense of having a place, of being needed.”

In your next AP biology, AP psychology, or AP language class, take a look at the student on your left and then the student on your right. Do either of these students look different from you? Most likely not. Have you ever thought about the lack of diversity in your advanced placement classes? “I think APs and honors are less diverse because, for generations, minorities have been told they're not smart enough, they don't have the work ethic, and they're not equal to their white counterparts, and this thought process has been so deeply rooted in the minority.” Elijah Gross, a junior at East high school, expressed his experiences about being one of the only black students in his honors courses and how he strongly believes APs and Honors classes at East high school lack diversity. So why do our schools promote diversity, but when walking into specific classrooms, it's the complete opposite? The wage gap and the justice system continuously let minorities down, and, to a certain extent, schools are still continuing the trend of minorities not experiencing what white students are given. Currently, in Thomas Anderson's advanced placement psychology class, there are 116 students taking the class, and there are only 35 students of color. Students are constantly encouraged to take rigorous courses by counselors and parents, but it seems to be only white students who see these promotions. The “achievement gap” has separated people in jobs and schools. Minorities have been told that because of the color of their skin, they will automatically make less money and that the potential they hold is less than their white peers. Due to these stereotypes haunting generations, black students underperform because society gives them no hope for their future. If society continuously told you your culture doesn't make it as far as others in life, what would you do in school? Not only is society bringing minorities down, causing students to underperform, but students aren’t motivated to join a class where their peers and even teachers don’t look like them. East experiences a great amount of Homophily: the tendency for humans to associate themselves with others who have similar backgrounds and views on life. It lets people feel a certain comfort in the world and who they surround themselves with. According to a transcript about Brown vs. Board of Education, it states if a student of color has one educator who shares similar characteristics by the time they end 3rd-4th grade, the likelihood of them going on to college increases by 13 percent. Because of the psychology behind the term homophily, you will create better connections with people who look like you. That being said, who would want to feel so alone in a class of 35 students, where you are one of two students who identify as a different race than white? Tatum Blakesly said, “if I were in a white-dominating class, I would feel like I had more pressure on me. Not only would I be the only minority in the class, but I would also be in an advanced class. I would feel like I’d have to prove something.” Her friend, Camille Haynes, replied to that comment explaining the reason she is not in advanced placement classes at East is that she would never feel comfortable because no one would understand her. So next time you are in one of your AP classes, look to the student on your left and then the student on your right. Do they look like you?

After a historic season, The Denver East Hockey team hopes to have a promising season but with the loss of the seniors and the star goalie, it is a challenge to return to glory. Coming off a 64-7-1 record and seven seniors left for college this year will be tough to get back to the place they were at. This season the team has high expectations to defend the title and perform well at nationals. With the loss of the star goalie Noel Friedman, who went to play at Northstar, it’s a prep school in Minnesota to try to further his hockey skills to make it to a higher level. Northstar is a AAA hockey team that travels around the country and competes with other programs. With him leaving and the seniors include Kayden Dunham, Colby Asheim, Connor Smithburger, Alex Larchenko, Ben Pedigo, Benjamin Kluza, and former captain Conor Hase. Senior goalie, Sam Cozart tells us “ Even though we lost some key guys, I expect us to make another championship run. Once we start to form chemistry between the new guys and the veterans, this team certainly has what it takes to win another championship.” This fall season they have gone 12-7 with the leading scores this year being Zeke Romero with 10 goals this fall season, Jack Paterson 15 goals, Nicholas Chadd 13 goals, and Aiden Yourkin with 13 goals. With Captain Zeke Romero on injury reserve not likely to come back for months. Role-players will need to step up to fill the scoring void. However the angels have help on the way, Joe Capra last year's player of the year will return in the winter to provide reinforcement. Cozart says “ I don't know if a high school team will ever be as good as we were last year. We had high-end talent everywhere on the roster, which is a rarity in high school hockey in Colorado. There is no reason we shouldn't be a championship contender again this year but it will require more of a grind than it did last year.” The fans want a back-to-back championship but it will take work. With the winter season starting soon all eyes will be set on the team hoping they return back to glory.

This year, the East golf team is having a breakout season with the new talent and the upperclassmen guiding the way for the freshman. They are currently ranked 13th in the state and 1st in the DPS region. They have won four league matches, and they are sending two kids to state to compete for east, Elijah a 9th grader, and Oliver a 12th grader. East Head Coach, Mr. Hornecker, was asked about the new freshman on his new team; he said, "we had five freshmen make the varsity team this year, which is super impressive, and actually, we had 16 freshman tryouts those were kind of some high numbers Elijah J., Alex K., Keegan H., Mason M. and Rama N. who are all five freshmen that are very very talented." Mr. Hornecker has been coaching at East for 14 years, the school needed a girl's golf coach, and they knew he played college golf, so they asked him to interview for the position. The program has never changed; it's the same coaching method. The only thing that has changed is the introduction of the 6 a.m. practices before school for varsity. Practice consists of some players playing nine holes and others hitting the driving range, but it is hard to get all 9 in when you have school in 2 hours, so they roughly get around seven holes. The highest ranked freshmen on the team are Elijah and Alex; Alex is homeschooled but competes as an East athlete. Recently, in the last DPS invite, the team won. Alex was 1st with a score of 78 at Kennedy golf course. Mr. Hornecker sent Elijah, the other freshman, to compete at regionals. Elijah qualified for state alongside Oliver, with Elijah shooting 75 to qualify for state. Since the start of the 2022 golf season, East has been looking very good with the freshman phenoms and the help of the upperclassmen. With states coming up they hope to perform well, and to show what the East golf team has become. After this season, while they will lose some upperclassmen, they have a very bright future for the years to come.

Whether this is your first year at East or your last, you might be unaware of the official attendance policy at East. You are not alone, it seems barely anyone in the building knows the official policy and this may be the reason why it is so consistently ignored. However, this year teachers and administration are cracking down on tardies and absences. Although it is unknown whether or not it has been updated for the 2022-2023 school year, the attendance policy on the East website states that, “When a student has 5 or more days of excused absences the attendance clerk will contact the dean to see if there is a significant concern regarding the students’ attendance.” For many that may seem very dramatic, 5 days out of the 160 in the year isn’t a lot. Though the consistency with which this is enforced varies case by case, it’s still a scary concept. Especially when Mr. Anderson informed parents at the beginning of the year that they would be receiving home visits if their child’s attendance fell too low, it’s unknown whether or not this is being enforced. Faith from the attendance office says that the requirements for an attendance contract “varies case by case”. But still, the concept of an attendance contract for many students is daunting. It’s not just the administration that makes low attendance a concern, but teachers especially. When students miss school for reasons out of their control, they’re missing valuable information being taught in class and oftentimes fall behind. While some teachers are understanding and patient, not all of them are the same. When I missed a couple weeks of school last year due to health issues, many of my teachers were very understanding, but there were still the few that would make catching up on work much more difficult than it needed to be. But what about students with disabilities? Or chronic illnesses that cause them to miss school? Is this policy fair? Are teachers fair? Student Chelsi Evans doesn’t think so. Chelsi suffers from ulcerative colitis, autoimmune hepatitis, and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC). Last year, Chelsi was only able to be in school for three months of the year, the other time she was out for medical reasons. This affected her grades greatly and made school a lot more stressful in an already very stressful situation. When asked how teachers respond when she misses so much school, she replied “They don’t really know what to do. East is so big and they have so many students to keep track of that it’s hard for them to focus on certain students.” Teachers at East are in charge of many more students than other schools and Faith in the attendance office is solely in charge of the attendance of every student at East, almost 3,000 kids. This is very hard for anyone to manage alone. Chelsi also said that extensions on work would make school work much easier for her. Chelsi says, “I feel like they made the policy for students that are more able to go to school and don’t really consider the rest of us.” She believes that not only is the attendance policy unfair, but East’s size makes things extremely difficult as well. As teachers have more students they are responsible for, ones that miss a lot of school slip through the cracks. When asked if she feels she is at an unfair disadvantage, Chelsi replied instantly, “Oh yeah. It sucks.” Chelsi is not alone. According to the DPS website, 12.1% of the students in our district have disabilities, not including those with chronic illness. When asked if she thinks the attendance policy is effective and fair, Faith said, “I believe we are doing the best we can with what we have.” The question of whether East’s attendance policy is fair is a complicated one. But it’s clear that there are students at a great disadvantage who do not feel that East is doing enough to support them.

Did you know that Cheesman Park wasn’t always a park? It was actually established as a cemetery in 1858, but by the 1890’s it was barely used as a cemetery anymore. 5,000 bodies used to be buried there, and now 2,000 bodies remain underneath the surface of Cheesman. The remaining bodies are unclaimed, either because their families didn’t have the money to relocate them, or no family or anyone who knew the deceased lived in Denver. Congress granted Denver the ability to change Cheesman from a cemetery to a park in January 1890. Denver Mayor Robert W. Speer wanted to enhance the beauty of Cheesman Park while it was still a cemetery, but the city did not have the money to do so. He encouraged residents to donate to the cause but had little success until the children of Walter Scott Cheesman donated $100,000 for a park pavilion. Therefore, the park was renamed from Denver City Cemetery to Cheesman Park. With so many bodies unclaimed, (and Denver wanting a corpse-free park,) the City of Denver hired E.P McGovern to help relocate the caskets to a more permanent home. McGovern and 18 of his employees were told to dig up and relocate the 5,000 bodies. They were paid $1.50 per relocated casket. In the first days of the transfers, this seemed like a great idea to all. If they got all the bodies moved and nothing went wrong, they would have roughly $9,500 by the time they finished. The process was going smoothly, until the Denver Republican newspaper wrote an article that changed everything. McGovern realized that the more bodies he moved, the more money would be made. Allegedly, instead of putting each body in its own individual casket, they split the bodies up into portions and put them into children's sized caskets (making more money with each casket). After this horrible scam was discovered, McGovern’s contract was pulled. This presented a new problem: the job was partially unfinished. And headstones had been removed while many bodies remained. Denver never hired anyone else to finish what McGovern’s work. Instead, the city left the remaining bodies and started to level the ground in order to start the process of building the park. The Denver Post states that four skeletons were found by people doing irrigation work in the park in 2010. In 2008, two rows of coffins were found by crews working near the Botanic Gardens. Bones and sometimes whole skeletons are sometimes still found. Before the Homecoming Dance at East, most people go to Cheesman Park to take pictures with their friends. Most of the students do not know about the horrifying history of the park. Cheesman is a beautiful park that many love, but it comes with a haunted past.

With the 2022-2023 school year, East High School has introduced a new phone policy and, as a result, a plethora of controversy has surfaced. As many individuals know, on September 22nd, the East community was rattled by the active shooter threat. Many students had to leave belongings, such as their cell phones behind, as a result of this new phone policy. Stowing phones in bins and shoe hangers have become a common practice in classrooms, which has caused many communication and safety issues among parents and their children. Is our new phone policy safe in this day in age? This topic was discussed with a handful of East students to get the most raw responses and opinions. Biz Levin, a junior at East was stuck in the bathroom in the midst of this terrifying experience, and she stressed that the “only comfort was the communication with my mom and friends,” she follows this statement with, “it’s not okay to take away peoples only communication with their families. It’s unsafe and unfair.” Biz mentioned that law enforcement didn’t sweep the area she was in and without her phone, she wouldn’t have been able to communicate with law enforcement to inform them where she was. Should the phone policy be taken away fully or just handled differently? Junior Skye Vacanti brought up the idea of only taking students' phones away if it becomes an issue or distraction with that specific student. Letting students keep their belongings will allow a sense of responsibility and will make students feel safer and more in control in situations such as lockdowns. Looking further into the cons of the phone policy is vital in perfecting it and finally finding a happy medium for both students and teachers. Considering our age, students should be trusted and capable of handling belongings such as phones in a school environment. Under different circumstances, the confiscation of phones is understandable and even respectable, but considering the amount of threats East has gotten and the terrifying events that took place on September 22nd, East needs to prioritize the safest option that will benefit student’s safety. Phones have definitely actively changed how students learn in school, as well as how teachers teach. It is no secret that they are an inconvenience, especially to administrators. However, phones are not the only factor in a student's fragile education. Active shooter as well as bomb threats have rampaged highschools and might just outweigh the inconvenince of telling students to “put their phone away” ten times in a class period.

East’s Theater Department has consisted of Shakespeare and other notable writers for as long as most remember. For theater enthusiasts, the classics are a necessity for developing their skills and resume, however, for inexperienced theater viewers, they can get quite boring. Reading the classics in English class is enough, no need to put on a two-hour production as well. For the first time in East’s recent history, there will be a student-written and directed (with assistance from Deborah Voss) play: senior Conrad Branch is the culprit who broke the trend. His self-written play titled Red Ink is already making history and making some students do a double-take. Murder mysteries, “friendly” competition, and the classic whodunnit trope are just the starting points for Conrad. The play follows a narrative of the infamous Clue characters and other renowned fictional detectives like Nancy Drew and Nate the Great, who work together to solve a murder. The odd mix of characters and seven (that’s right – seven) murder mystery narratives make Conrad’s play a must-see for all East students: snoozing won’t be an option with all this anticipation. Conrad sat down for an interview with the East Spotlight and offered insight into the creative process and struggles of creating a play: When producing a piece of work for thousands of teenagers to critique, there are bound to be many complaints. Do you feel pressure from your peers in terms of the success of your play? “I was most nervous for the actors to see it. Although now it’s odd because it’s a little less of mine and a little more of the whole cast. I guess the feedback will go to us as a whole now.” Who helped you along the way? Was this purely a student-driven passion project or did someone in your life encourage you to write a play? “Ms. Voss and I have been meeting frequently ever since the beginning, although she has given me a lot of liberty to do whatever I want, which feels nice. Noah Kaplan, the former speech teacher at East, also helped me tremendously in making my play a more fluid narrative and narrowing down my ideas.” What is one tip you have for students who want to see their scripts and ideas come to life? “Believe in yourself. Just because you don’t have the world's greatest script right now, doesn’t mean you're not the world's greatest writer. Writers tell many stories, the first one doesn’t have to be perfect — there will always be future chances.” Come out and support East’s Theater Department by purchasing tickets. Opening night of Red Ink is on the 25th of October and everyone involved is absolutely buzzing. From Nancy Drew to Jack the Ripper, this play and its characters will have everyone gripping the edge of their seats until the final curtain closes.