By: Malila Straw

Autumn Gronwold is one of the most interesting, complex, and generally one of the greatest people you will ever meet. She cares for everyone and knows how to do it while showing kindness to herself and reaching all of her goals. Among other things this is why Autumn Gronwold’s class thought her to be most deserving and crowned her Homecoming Queen 2021.

Autumn Gronwold has always been an A student, she’s in the AP and honors classes, she letters in academics, she participates in activities and sports. Autumn has big goals to become an OBGYN after graduating from NDSU in Biology and Spanish and then continuing on to a specialized medical school. She also plans to continue her experience by interning with a phlebotomist in the area while she attends NDSU. She has had and will continue to have great academic goals and achievements and she does it all while keeping herself mentally healthy. Autumn talks about her past issues with her mental health saying, “I have had to put in quite a bit of work in the past few years to learn that my mental health is just as much of a priority as anything else.” She says learning to love her for her and acknowledging her own good and achievements has been the greatest step to moving forward and loving herself. She also says that those experiences, among others, are what make her such a complex person today. She says she uses her experiences to “Be a kinder and more understanding person in my day to day life.” She used her hardships to create an understanding and compassionate person that deserves the Homecoming crown.

Coronation took place Sunday Oct. 3, the entire Homecoming court was on stage, given a balloon and told to look out for that gold confetti. “I was genuinely surprised when I popped my balloon, I didn’t really think I would win. Not because I didn’t feel deserving, but because it’s hard to fathom that in a school our size, you could be chosen for something like that.” Autumn had an incredible experience just on the Homecoming court and in her recalition of the events that night it was incredibly surprising and she was incredibly thankful. Everyone can see that Autumn is very deserving of this award but in her mind, “I do believe that I have worked for and fought for all that I have earned and am proud of all that I still continue to do and the people I impact; I also know that everyone else that was on the court and countless others are a great representation of our community and school.”

Autumn strives for the community and her school in loving, fighting for and promoting diversity and love to all. “Moorhead as a whole is growing and gaining a variety of new people and it’s apparent in our school system when we take in account the many clubs and activities the school offers.” Autumn loves learning about new cultures, people and inclusiveness and loves that our school amplifies that. She also knows and loves how much her graduating class has done for those movements. Her graduating class (2022) opens important dialogue on important topics and created clubs like BIPOC and PSA to address injustice. She says, “People feel super strongly and want the school to be better for not only us but those who come after us.”

Autumn Gronwold is one incredible person that has promoted change, well-being and overall is the greatest example of the soul and heart of the graduating class of 2022.

By: Chase Schmidt

In 2019, the Moorhead High counselors and social workers saw a problem within our school. They noticed there was nowhere for students in need to have access to free supplies and food. On that day, they decided to try to fix this problem. And their solution was the Spud Closet. Flash forward two years and the Spud Closet has never been more vital to our students.

In the Spud Closet, you will find school supplies, food, personal hygiene products, and more. It is free, confidential, and completely anonymous. If someone were to need items from the Spud Closet, how would they access that? Mrs. Erickson, who oversees the Spud Closet, stated, “If a student would like to access the Closet they should talk to their counselor or a trusted staff member.”

There are many kinds of items found in the Closet.

“There is clothing of all types. We have winter jackets, hats, gloves, jeans, leggings, sweatshirts, t-shirts, and some dress clothes,” says Erickson. “We also have personal hygiene items like shampoo and conditioner, lotion, body wash, toothbrushes, and toothpaste.”

Erickson also noted that there is a good supply of food staples, including pasta, soup, and snack items.

“We also carry a small amount of dog and cat food, as well as some household items like towels and crockpots,” says Erickson. “We have school supplies and art sketch books as well. We have a number of "weekend food bags" if a student needs food to take home over a weekend.” However, the Closet does need donations to work.

The Spud Closet is always in need of donations. If you or someone you know has used clothing (must be in good condition), non-perishable food items, or personal hygiene products, it would be greatly appreciated if you donated them to the cause. One item that is always overlooked is laundry detergent. This is a basic necessity for all students and it is rarely donated. If you want to do more than donate, there are options for that as well.

Students who are members of the National Honor Society are placed in charge of restocking the closet. They do many fundraisers in order to finance the Closet so they can afford new items.

By: Sam Laid

Of three of the vaccines available, there are some slight differences. The Pfizer vaccine showed a 95% effective rate in its Phase three. That was back in December of 2020. In April of this year, it fell to a 91.3% efficiency. The Moderna vaccine also had a 95% effective rate back in December. However, 6 months later, it had a 90% efficiency. Johnson and Johnson had a 72% efficiency overall. This percentage shows in FDA analysis back in February. They all seem to have the same effect on protecting against Covid-19. The Pfizer vaccine is two doses, three weeks apart. The Moderna vaccine is two doses, four weeks apart. The Johnson and Johnson vaccine is one dose. There is no clear “winner” between these three vaccines. So if you do plan to get the vaccine, it is encouraged by experts that you get the one available to you.

Moorhead High school has had vaccine clinics set up in the past for students. If a student wanted to get a vaccine or had questions about the topic, they could get in touch with the health office. The vaccine is offered to anyone over the age of twelve. According to the school nurse, Jill Roaldson, in the next month or so, people in the age group five to twelve should be able to get the vaccine.

It is not mandated that you get the vaccine; however, wearing a mask in the school is. At the low risk area, no masks are needed. If it is a substantial risk area (yellow), masks are also not needed, but definitely recommended. Once we get into the high risk area, that is when masks are needed. Which is where we are right now according to the CDC Covid tracker. While case counts remained low over the summer months, an uptick in infections prompted the school board to approve a mask mandate at all MAPS schools to start the year.

These are the MAPS school guidelines for Covid-19. If you are to get Covid-19, you will have to notify the health office and quarantine for ten days. For symptomatic students and staff, the quarantine would start the first day of your symptoms. You would then return the eleventh day, after your ten days of quarantine are done. However, if you were tested for Covid-19 and you had no symptoms at all, you would start your quarantine the day you tested positive. Still being quarantined for those ten days. Provided that you have Covid and were around your household, you yourself would stay home for ten days. Your family however, would need to stay home for fourteen days. Those who come in close contact with someone who tests positive would need to quarantine and produce a negative test result before returning to school. The exception to the rule is for those who are already vaccinated. Roaldson says that “breakthrough” cases are rare for those who are vaccinated.