“It's important to celebrate Mother's day because you are showing your appreciation to your mothers, to show respect, love, and honor,” said freshman Alyssa Duro.

Being a mother is a demanding task and it is common for people not to celebrate the holiday. That is, until they are faced with motherhood themselves.

“I guess being a mom now makes me wish I had celebrated my mom more growing up. It's a perfect day to show your appreciation, but I have a feeling I did the absolute minimum as a kid,” said modern history teacher Mrs. Townsend.

Although it can be assumed, some mothers do not want to be celebrated as they have grown to love the various things their children already do every day for them. This means they do not need a special day of celebration to know they are valued.

“I'm not one who likes attention or being focused upon, so I don't really feel the need to celebrate my being a mom. For me, the best satisfaction and feelings of fulfillment are the everyday "little" things that I appreciate more," said group communication and leadership teacher Mrs. Ly. "Knowing my children are happy, and healthy, and show appreciation for me and their family through their actions. That's more meaningful for me than a single day.”

Every year, our student government works very hard to prepare engaging spirit weeks, amazing assembly performances, and competitive games amongst the four classes. As the school year comes to close, the new student council members voted by Aiea High students will have their Induction Ceremony on April 28, 2022.

“The student council induction ceremony is a time to make a commitment to serve the class. Both the class advisors and the class council members have to be willing to make sacrifices and give up a lot of their personal time to make events happen, so the induction ceremony is a way of saying, I will do my best to serve my class,” said 2010-2014 student council advisor Ms.Tanimoto.

Knowing the responsibility and stress that goes hand in hand with being a student council member, Ms.Tanimoto gives a piece of advice from her past experience.

“Don't give up when it gets difficult. Find ways to work around or through the problems. The ones who don't give up are the ones that will succeed in the end. It's not the talent or the skill that will take you places. It's the heart that will get you to where you want to be,” she said.

Returning student council members realize the importance of the induction ceremony, and also know it is a privilege and a time to honor those who previously worked in council.

“As a student council officer, I believe it makes a great evening to acknowledge the incoming and outgoing officers, as well as hear from the presidents and take in the advice they give us,” said 2022-2023 secretary Ace Christian Collado.

With this advice and guidance, student council members try their best to make the school year fun and productive. However, there are some things that student council members would like to see changed in the coming years.

“A big change I hope to see next year are full assemblies. I haven’t had one since my freshman year, and I’m almost a senior now! I miss the loud spirit and hype surrounding the entire gym,” said 2022-2023 second vice president Brody Coon.

Despite the challenges that had to be faced, Brody and his council want their class to know there are many activities in store for them next year.

“All we’ve briefly talked about recently are ideas of where to go for our Senior Sneak Off next year. Expect plenty of events to come during our senior year though,” said Coon.

With so many events to come, it is the student council’s responsibility to boost class participation and engagement. Currently, several ideas are being proposed to create engaging events for all 'Aiea students.

“Student council reminds me a lot of a business as we engage in marketing, sales, and advertising. I would like to engage with my class more next year, by hosting fun events. I think more events will boost class pride and engagement,” said 2022-2023 treasurer Malia Speyer.

We wish the elected student council members the very best and have high hopes for the following school year.

Identity theft is a huge problem and it has been for a while. In 2020 people saw the highest identity theft rate so far. It’s much easier than it should be for people to get their hands on your personal information. Some common ways are looking through your trash for your account numbers or social security numbers, getting you to send personal information through email, stealing account numbers from businesses or medical offices, and stealing a wallet/purse for personal information.

A newer way that people should look out for is credit card skimming. Credit card skimming is where someone attaches devices on machines that you insert your card into and reads and gathers your personal information. This device works by reading the magnetic strip and thus getting your full name, card number, and expiration date.

Some people may not check where they insert their card because they are in a rush or simply not thinking to pay attention. English teacher Ms. Chang says that sometimes she does think of checking the slot, because she’s often rushing and it occasionally slips her mind.

March 11, 2022 at Rainbow Wahine Stadium marked the day of a new NCAA Softball Homerun Record by Jocelyn Alo. The record was previously held by another Oklahoma Sooner Lauren Chamberlain with a total of 95 homeruns in 2015.

At the age of 4, she started playing softball. Her father Levi Alo would take her to Hauula Park to practice where her training consisted of 1000 swings daily. As the years went by Jocelyn had an outstanding high school career.

Alo attended Kahuku High School, where she also became a state champion for wrestling as a sophomore. She then transferred to Campbell High School where her softball career consisted of being a back-to-back state champion. In the 2017 OIA state tournament, Alo racked up a total of 17 at-bats but was intentionally walked a total of 13 times because of her powerful swing. Alo was a two time Gatorade Player of the Year as well as receiving multiple Outstanding Player Awards throughout her high school career.

She is currently a redshirt senior at the University of Oklahoma. When she tied the record in February 2022, she was walked 15 times within 6 games. March 10 to March 12, the Sooners came to 'Oahu for the Rainbow Wahine Classic, where they swept the tournament by winning all four of their games. Baylor, California and UH all were a part of the tournament.

Alo and her team also had a softball clinic at the field she started for younger girls. She gave a speech to them about how she always wanted to inspire younger Hawaii girls to continue playing and strive for anything because everything is possible.

“It’s a very inspirational event that happened because it gives girls that want to play more motivation to work hard and be the best,” said freshman Taja Souza.

Alo, a local girl, continues to motivate everyone not just for the work ethic and skills, but also her story and upbringing as well.“Having the mindset that anything is possible when given my best efforts,” said freshman Cayleigh Naito.

The night Jocelyn hit her record-breaking hit, the stadium reached full capacity. Roughly two dozen of Alo’s family members, some of the Campbell softball players, attended the event. Most attendees had their phones out at every at-bat, knowing the record was going be broken.

Ashley Murphy, UH’s pitcher of the game, gave an outside pitch to Alo and she took it, which went over the right-center field fence. This was a special moment not just for Alo, but for all her supporters that see her as a hometown hero.

To many locals and visitors alike, Hawaii is known for breathtaking views, but getting a little deeper into what most locals know the place we call home best for, has to be the ono grinds.

Not all locals are into all of our local snacks. There are good varieties of snacks that are not enjoyed as much by locals rather than they are tourists. Local was asked about what his least favorite local snack was.

“Macadamia nuts covered in chocolate,” said sophomore Kaimana Lale-Saole about favorite snacks.

Macadamia nuts are native to Australia, which were first planted in Hawaii around 1881. Chocolate-covered macadamia nuts are just one of Hawaii's greatest snacks accessible in grocery stores, convenience stores, and even airport stores. These macadamia nuts have been one of the in things since 1927. Founder Mamoru Takitani came up with the recipe while still a well-guarded secret using fresh, whole milk to create a rich and smooth chocolate. Known for their sweet, rich flavor, macadamia nuts quickly became popular among sugar barons who came to the islands to start the sugar industry.

Sugary sweet candies are yet another one of our favorites. Most of our candies are made strictly from roots or stems of plants that may or may not be sweet and just takes some mixing & experience involved. Senior Quinn Kojima's favorite type of local snack is li hing mui seeds.

Imagine waking up to life-changing news that is affecting the entire world. For athletes, sports defines them. Without sports, there are no athletes.

“Due to Covid, it showed me not to take playing softball for granted and that I should take advantage of the season we will have even if it’s not what I'm used to,” said senior Jernie Padasdao.

With the decline in Covid cases, and the transition from Tier 2 to Tier 3, some spring sports have partially opened up by providing students with the opportunity to participate in less than 10 games.

“I think the season will be very difficult due to Covid. From the way we’re allowed to practice and play games to the way we’re just in the dugout,” said Padasdao.

Sports are a way that people can create endless friendships that can last a lifetime. Making these friendships can shape you into a better person.

“Softball has impacted me because I created friendships with people I am still friends with until this day,” said senior Mikayla Gonzalez.

Even though athletes could not participate in sports they still found ways to stay in shape, such as lifting weights at home, going for a run, hitting into a net at home, or even escaping reality by playing sports video games.

“Softball is also the reason I might get into a college, such as Highline College,” said Gonzalez.

In the past year, students have had the opportunity to try new foods they may have not gotten the chance to, or they have ordered takeout from a restaurant they never really thought about giving a try.

“I want to go to Chick-fil-A because people hype it up so much all over social media that it makes me crave but we don’t have any on the island, so it makes me want to try it even more,” said senior Jessa Rosario.

We all have those types of foods that give us nostalgia from our childhood and remind us of something special that may have happened as a kid. It helps us remember good times that we have spent with people whether it be with friends or family.

“Some foods that give me nostalgia of my childhood are palusami, Goldfish, and chicken nuggets,” said senior Fa’amumu Lefti. “These foods remind me of barbeques with the family on a warm sunny day, or just coming home from school and watching my favorite TV shows.”

Being #1 in a sense, is usually seen as a good thing, as in first place for a sport, or winning a gold medal, but sometimes being at the top, or near the top, can be a bad thing.

The state of Hawai’i has been ranked #2 for teen vaping, according to various trusted sources, including the Department of Health. This is when being one of the top is not a good thing.

Aiea High School is highly affected by this issue due to the fact that there are vape stores in close proximity to the school. In addition, some adults are also known to buy young kids devices from these vape stores that don’t advertise the dangerous chemicals that can be found in the vapors of the devices. These chemicals, according to www.healthyhawaii.com, are arsenic, lead, chromium, benzene, cadmium, nickel, and the highly-addictive nicotine.

Softball has grown over the 100 years it's been around. Before the season started on March 3, our varsity softball played scrimmages against Punahou, Castle and Kailua to prepare for the upcoming season. The team has come to a minor change this season, but senior Rachelle Strom-Okimoto is confident that with the change they still can succeed this season. “Going back to D2 this season may be a minor setback for our varsity softball but if they keep a humble mindset and “thug it out and play with passion,” like senior Rachelle Strom-Okimoto.

Besides the scrimmages, the team practices 2-3 days a week. Practices consist of their normal hitting cycle, which is basically one live hitter about 10-20 balls, while the hitter is hitting there will be a couple players baserunning off of the hit and to get their jumps. Since there is a live hitter and live baserunner, the rest of the players who aren't hitting or baserunning, will be fielding in their normal defensive position.

“My main drive is to get the team into a humble set of mind from going back down to D2 this could be the best season ever if we just thug it out and play with passion,” said Okimoto.

Their first game was on March 3 against Nanakuli. The final score was 14-16 Nanakuli. Senior Kehaunani Arke started ‘Aiea off on the mound with senior Jada Valenciano behind the plate for Arke. Freshman Trinity Caporus Santos had a dinger in the bottom of the first where she scored two runs with junior Mikayla Gonzalez on the bases.

“My first varsity game being a freshman was a little nerve racking, but as I approached the plate I cleared my head, took a breathe, and knew it was just another regular game,” said Caporus-Santos.

Hey there pilots, you might be wondering who I am. I’m pilot Hunderdknight. Today, we’re going over one of the Titans and one of the jump kits. I suggest doing the first mission of the single player campaign. In this, you can compete against AI (Artificial Intelligence) in a timed run.

The first titan is Ion. Ion is the easiest piloted titan but he has a downfall to him - he runs out of energy quickly because of abilities. The good thing is that his energy will recharge. His abilities like tripwire takes energy to use. Next ability is the vortex shield, which can block incoming gunfire and release it back at the enemy. Ion’s weapon is a splitter rifle, like a machine gun; but when you look down the sites of it, it turns into an auto shotgun. The jump kit that I like is the grapple jump kit, which is one of seven jump kits that you can use. It's easy to use, you can get on rooftops and you can scare your enemies with it.

In Titanfall 1 there are only three titans that you can pilot. In Titanfall 2 there are seven titans that you can pilot. Titanfall 1 does not have a story, while in Titanfall 2 there is a story. Titanfall 1 and Titanfall 2 can be played on PS4 and Xbox One. I prefer to play Titanfall 2 more than Titanfall 1. When you embark, you have control of your titan, and when you disembark you go back to being a pilot. You can only embark your own titan. The 3D-type of graphics in Titanfall 2 are better than the graphics in Titanfall 1.

There are many game modes in Titanfall 1 and 2. My favorite mode is Frontier Defense, which is where you have to defend the harvester. You’ll have to play to find out what is being harvested.

The campaign takes place on the planet Typhon. You play as rifleman Jack Cooper, who was linked to titan BT 7274. Their adventure starts as they are trying to group up with another military force. Once they got to the place no one was there so they had to find a dead guy to get a time travel glove.

I would recommend this game if you like to play action packed video games. It is not like a “run of the mill” video games like “Call of Duty” series that come out with a new video game every year.