To try and make North Cross a more egalitarian school, along with many other schools in the nation, we host an annual powderpuff football game. This is a football game where the girls play instead of the boys.
Two players from the boy’s varsity football team took on the role of the head coach assisted by their teammates. By teaching the girls the ins and outs of flag football, the girls were ready to take on their classmates. This year Kam Johnson ‘24 was the head coach for the Freshman and Sophomore team. “[I’m excited] to show what we worked on in practice. We worked really hard and were ready to beat the upperclassmen,” Johnson said with a passionate feeling toward his team. The Junior and Senior team was coached by Cross Thompson ‘22. “[The underclassmen] really stand no chance, we’re winning, that’s all,” Thompson said, feeling very confident about his team. The underclass(wo)men have their quarterback, Deja Garrison 24’, taking them in a strong direction with her speed and tenacity. “I’m excited for all of the fun. Whenever someone scores it’s really hype” Garrison said Flavia Daniels 23’, the 6-foot German exchange student led the upperclassmen with her agility, strength and speed by being their quarterback. “I don’t know [why I was chosen], I can throw the ball good and Lambert saw me running and was like ‘Flavia’s the fastest so she’s the quarterback,’ Daniels said. She was fired up to be part of a sport she’s never played before, “I’m excited for the game and for people to watch us. I’m not a football player, I’ve never had a game like this.” The defense sisters Teea Hash 24’ and Alexis Hash 22’ will be going head-on against each other. “Our team’s biggest strengths are running the ball and our defense,” Teea said, reflecting on her team. “I love being able to play with the kids that I’ve been in high school with for the past four years,” Alexis said. On the sidelines, we had the best cheerleaders, college counselor Julie Avvatsmark and SCA Advisor Susan Wenk. They made the cheering uplifting for everyone. “I am so excited to have Powderpuff back because with covid we were not able to do Powderpuff,” Wenk said with fire in her heart and passion in her eyes. The upperclass girls may have won the game 21-14, but the more important victory was the way all girls won respect for playing. What does Powderpuff mean to you? According to Gridiron Queendom, in 1945, the first ever Powderpuff Football game was played. The name “Powderpuff” was given to the games from a makeup product that girls used at the time. Although the games are much more “glammed up” than the guys’ football games, by having more stylish uniforms, no padding or gear, and lots and lots of glitter; it is a chance for girls to take on a male dominated sport. Although female sports tend to be more glamorized, here at North Cross the upper school takes charge and makes it as competitive as possible. “The games give girls the opportunity to play a male dominated sport,” Alexis Teter ‘23 said. With our amazing student body, the game is treated just the same as almost any varsity sport would. “People tend to put a lot of effort into the game,” Flavia Daniels ‘23, the quarterback for the upper school team. The student section was beyond supportive of the athletes. By yelling and screaming at either the referees or when their team got a touchdown; the crowd was always cheering. Throughout the week leading up to the game, there was a lot of smack talk between the upper and underclassmen. “There is healthy competition,” Ned Tower ‘24 said, “which brings the upper and underclassmen together, at the end of the day we are all on the same team.” According to some upper schoolers, this year’s game was far more intense than the games in the previous years. With most of the girls participating in varsity sports, the competition this year was relentless. “I don’t think people really held back in the game,” Maria Krotov ‘23 said. With all of the students, coaches, and teachers cheering on the players, the field had this supportive yet brutal energy flowing throughout the whole game. “It was super brutal,” Danny Phung ‘24 said. “I could feel the intensity and excitement through the spectators and coaches.” Despite the ruthlessness displayed among the girls, the game really does bring the entire upper school closer together. ”Nothing is a one gender sport,” Adoria Sanders ‘22 said, “you do what you put your mind to.” This shows even more that women are just as capable to play an intense game of football as men are.
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By Hania Raza This lecture was very informative, and I learned a lot from listening to Leonard Pitts Jr. speak. The main topic of his lecture was America’s gravest crisis, the misinformation crisis, where knowable facts are denied. This crisis has existed for many decades, but the degree to which it is affecting our lives is much higher today. The misinformation crisis feeds other crises and makes them worse. If it is not solved, none of the other crises will be either because, when we cannot agree on facts, we cannot solve our problems with debate. Mr. Pitts mentioned four examples of this: COVID-19, racial reckoning, climate change and political polarization. All of these major crises have been made worse by ignorant people who preach to the ill informed. He also provided reasons for why this crisis has become so immense only now by explaining the “perfect storm,” which caused it. The “perfect storm” is made from distrust of authority, internet and social media, journalistic cowardice and miseducation of the American student. Towards the end of his lecture, Mr. Pitts talked about some of the possible solutions. For example, no one should use social media as a source for news, and everyone should make their assumptions fit the facts. This event reminded me of one of the senior speeches last year, where the topic of “The Double Standard of Mainstream Media” was discussed. I would recommend this lecture to anyone, as it is very relevant right now. By Ani Eagan Hi Mr. Pitts, I am a white high school student at North Cross School and in our journalism class, our teacher shared your article, I enjoyed reading it a lot and thought it was interesting, so I figured I would send you an email giving my opinion. I don’t really find learning about topics such as slavery to have “traumatized” me at all. I think it’s very important to learn about these things and learn about the mistakes that have been made in the past, as they are the grounds on which today’s mistakes are being made. While the things that happened are awful, kids learning about them is important, as they did in fact happen, and as a kid who learned about slavery and the discrimination on race in our history, it hasn’t “traumatized” me at all. It frustrates me when I hear adults say things like this, especially when they are white, because we are not the ones that this has had a large impact on, and simply being ignorant to it doesn’t make it go away. As someone with some childhood trauma and issues with anxiety now, none of that came from things I learned in school, and simply leaving things that happened out of history when teaching it to children, isn’t teaching history right. I definitely think schools should be teaching about slavery, and of course, that it was wrong. It’s important for kids to hear about mistakes that were made and hear the full story. Thanks, Ani Eagan
By Chloe Hunt '21 “Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore and that’s what this is all about. To use a favorite term that all of you people really came up with, we will stop the steal...You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength and you have to be strong...we’re going to try and give them the kind of pride and boldness that they need to take back our country.” Those are the words of Donald Trump speaking to the Save America rioters before they stormed the Capitol. He continued to tell his supporters they must “fight like hell” because otherwise, they would “not have a country anymore.” Likewise, Rudy Giuliani, one of Trump’s loyal followers, made it clear to rioters that the fight had just begun. “Let’s have trial by combat,” Giuliani said. “I’m willing to stake my reputation, the President is willing to stake his reputation, on the fact that we’re going to find criminality there.” Rhetoric has repercussions, and as President-elect Joe Biden said, “At their best, the words of a president can inspire. At their worst, they can incite.” Wednesday, January 6, Trump incited thousands to storm the Capitol in a deadly siege. Windows were smashed. Lawmakers feared for their lives, and some of their offices were terrorized. Confederate flags filled the operational heart of our democracy. Nooses were erected outside of the building. Protestors brought weapons, seemingly prepared for battle. White supremacists and conspiracy theorists donning Trump merch gallivanted through the Capitol, leaving threats, stealing mail and other items, and assaulting officers. Considering that Trump tear-gassed peaceful protestors for a photo-op and reinstated the law that mandated 10-year prison sentences for vandalizing Confederate monuments, you would think that his response to the siege would have been brutal. After all, he stands firmly for “law and order,” right? He also tweeted messages during BLM protests saying, “when the looting starts, the shooting starts,” so you would think that he would not want to see the Capitol Building terrorized, right? No. Instead he put out a video message – a one minute video message – that affirmed his supporters’ mission. He stated that the election was rigged, and both sides know it. He briefly said “go home,” but he also said to these mobsters that they were great people, and “we love you.” Nowhere in his speech before the siege did he say “protest peacefully.” We have known who Trump is for some time, for years in fact: an egotistical maniac, a liar, somebody who lost the 2020 election not because people loved Biden, but because people wanted somebody who was not Trump. Trump’s rhetoric proves dangerous time and time again, and finally, the walls are closing in as White House staffers resign and the possibility of invoking the 25th becomes more likely. After this devastating event, many Republican legislators have flip-flopped and decided that they do not support Trump’s assault on democracy. Two anomalies are local: Representative Ben Cline and Representative Morgan Griffith. Cline and Griffith continue to contest the election results, even signing their names to lawsuits to overturn legitimate votes. They continue to support these baseless claims and echo the rhetoric that is dangerous and deadly. This is why I, alongside other constituents in the area, ask both Representative Cline and Representative Griffith to resign. Both lawmakers have proved they cannot uphold their responsibilities to the Constitution, and by feeding into Trump’s sore-loser, delusional, narcissistic rhetoric, they support the violence and chaos like we saw on January 6th. I was a fan of Biden from the beginning. When people asked my why, I brought up his experience and policies. I also reminded others that he is a moderate and with that, he could hopefully bring together people from all sides.
One thing, though, that I found myself and other Biden supporters saying was that he is "presidential." He looks very presidential, or he acts very presidential. When you see him, you think president. These statements, essentially, are somewhat problematic. In comparison to President Donald Trump, Joe Biden is very presidential. He does not angrily tweet, and when he speaks, we see the typical suave of a politician. With his glittering smile, he seems to assure prospective voters that the future of America is hopeful. So what could be problematic about saying that he is presidential? During the 2016 election when I fervently campaigned for Hillary, knocking doors and making phone calls, I often heard this counterargument: Hillary just is not presidential enough. And when I debated with Democrats and Republicans about Joe Biden's female opponents, I heard these exact words: Elizabeth Warren and Kamala Harris just aren't presidential. Neither is Amy Klobuchar. As a female with a deep interest in politics, I am sick of hearing that females are not presidential enough. Perhaps we get this message because history shows us that old white men are presidential, but enough is enough. It is the 21st century. Is the country finally ready for a female leader? Kamala Harris marks a pivotal milestone in our country's effort to include women in the political sphere. I am very excited for all that Joe has to offer, but in the 2024 election, I know that I will be casting my vote for a woman. By Chloe Hunt Thread: "if you take men out of politics" It seems as if every pressing issue in society is reflected through this problematic, partisan schism that reaps consequences for all involved. As we see Black Lives Matter finally enter the limelight, Republicans emphasize the "burning and looting" of cities whereas Democrats, for the sake of simplicity, embrace defunding or abolishing the police.
I fall somewhere in the middle, leaning to the Democrats. It is not effective to bring up the "burning and looting" as an anti-BLM argument. After centuries of systemic racism including slavery (obviously), Jim Crow laws, redlining, police brutality, and the NEW Jim Crow, people are angry, rightfully. It does not help when the President tear gasses peaceful protestors for a photo, either. However, hard-fast slogans like "abolish the police" and "defund the police" are often misconstrued by the other side. For that reason, we should not be so quick to jump to catchy slogans; instead, it is much more important to focus on upstream solutions. Defunding the police, in essence, is a great idea. Diverting funds in order to tackle crime prevention will be great in the long run, but caution is advised. "Defunding the police" looks like education equity and infrastructure. Instead of defund, let us use the world reallocate or fund diversion. When Republicans see the word abolish or defund, we will make no progress, and with an issue this important, we cannot afford that. Throughout the school year, I know that I am not alone when experiencing FOMO. We see our friends gleefully hanging out, and if we are not there, for most, a feeling of isolation consumes us. Perhaps it is a question of: why was I not invited? Why did my parents not let me go out? Why do I have so much homework? Why did I say I didn’t want to go? We all gravitate towards people in some respect. Whether you are an introvert and you recharge at home alone or an extrovert who thrives on social interaction, our lives are, in fact, grounded by the people around us. If you stick to the notion that you are an introvert who is comfortable away from people, perhaps think about the time you spend on social media. In that sense, people are ever present in your life as you scroll through their profiles absentmindedly or check their stories on Snapchat. Amid tragic deaths and fumbling leadership, there is a silver lining to the pandemic and our “new normal.” I, among others whom I have talked to, have discovered the comfort of isolation. Last summer, if I was in town, I could not possibly imagine spending the day cooped up in my house. What would I do?! What about all my friends? Like most, I would seek out the sun or the water, or maybe just hang out with friends. A normal summer surely seems appetizing right about now, yet, I am much happier in my home than I have ever been. By that, I mean that I have become much more resourceful, relaxed, and goal-oriented. Usually, if I spent more than half of the day at my house, that was a bad sign. Somehow, if I was at home during summer, I was doing something wrong. Now, though, I happily wake up, drink my coffee, and spend the day pursuing existing passions or finding new ones. In regards to FOMO, I see lots of tantalizing Snapchat stories. Friends, classmates, and acquaintances from across the region are proactively flaunting their ability to hang out with large groups of people without any immediate repercussions. I, thankfully, have been advised by my parents not to do so, but now, I do not envy them. I do not envy them for a couple reasons. Obviously I do not want to get sick, but, secondly, I would rather be alone, at least for a little while. I think that my friends and classmates would not be socializing if their parents did not allow it, and if they did not have FOMO. There are many ways to stay in touch with friends digitally, and perhaps it is not the same and as rebellious as going out at night, but, I do sincerely think that a lot of the mid-pandemic parties are rooted in one’s desire to not miss out. None of us want to think of ourselves as excluded or missing out on something valuable. However, the seniors who thought they were going to be “missing out” ended up going to the beach as a large unit and contracting Covid-19. They did not just infect themselves, but they also wreaked havoc on the others’ lives. At this time, I urge my fellow students to not succumb to this pervasive idea of FOMO. We will see our friends either in the classroom or on Zoom soon enough, and as this virus spreads, the FOMO-driven socialization is contributing to your complicity throughout the pandemic. Chloe Hunt '21 |
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