Caution: Spoilers for TSITP 

By: Harper Bartley

Everyone loves a good sit down binge show, but what are teenagers sitting down to watch nowadays? Fountain Inn high schoolers were asked what their favorite show is, and why.

The Summer I Turned Pretty is a popular show with three full seasons you can stream on Prime Video. Recently, one episode has been coming out per week, every Wednesday. 

The finale was released on Wednesday, September 17th. The main character, Belly, is in a love triangle with two brothers: Conrad and Jeremiah. People are taking sides on who they want Belly to end up with. 

“I hate Jeremiah, team Conrad for life,” freshman Camryn Davis said. 

 On Wednesday, we found out that Belly ended up with Conrad. Most people are happy, but some still wanted Belly to end up with Jeremiah.

Outerbanks is a very well known TV show on Netflix with 4 seasons. The 5th season is planned to come out in 2026. The TV show is about 6 teenagers who go on adventures for treasure.

 “I hope they will track him (Groff) down and take the blue crown and use it to bring JJ back,” freshman Imani Webb said. 

 People are eager to watch the last season and find out how the Pogues get revenge and find the treasure.

The famous Netflix show, “Wednesday” released part 1 on August 6, 2025, and the final part was released on September 3, 2025. Students seem to be really happy with the new season. 

“It was the best season,” Mariah Austin, 9th grader, said. 

 Wednesday is about a teenager attending a school for outcasts, while she tries to solve a mystery. 

“I thought the new season was great, they added a ton of new characters,which made the plot more interesting from season one,” Ellis Terrell, 9th grade, said.

One more show teenagers are interested in is another Netflix series, “My Life with the Walter Boys.”

 A whole new season was released on August 28, 2025. The show is about a teenage girl who moves into a new town with a big family, after her family gets into a car accident. It is another show with a love triangle between two brothers, Cole, and Alex.

 People are again, taking sides. 

“I’m a little happy with the new season, but I’m indeed not the biggest fan of Alex," Davis said.

 There are only two seasons out, and we are expecting a 3rd in 2026. People can’t wait to see the ending.

Everyone is excited about these new episodes. If you haven’t seen these shows, you absolutely need to.

By Kimora Moore

Paige Bueckers had an elite college career as she helped the Huskies win their twelfth  National championship at Uconn( University of Connecticut). Her senior year, Bueckers  was the overall No. 1 pick in the 2025 WNBA draft. She recently won the 2025 WNBA rookie of the year award, and set rookie records for the Dallas Wings.

Bueckers had a dramatic impact on women's college basketball. According to ESPN, “Bueckers made history by becoming the first freshman women to earn Associated Press Player of the year." 

“Others love basketball but I live basketball,” Bueckers said.
According to Fox sports, “she enjoyed the team oriented environment and the strong relationships with her teammates, along with the competitive aspect of the sport”

Bueckers is one of the greatest due to her intense training routine. She’s always in the gym, working on her shooting, ball handling, and foot work; plus she’s big on watching films to study her opponents and figure out how to beat them. 

It's not just about basketball skills, she also focuses  on her strength and conditioning so she can stay in top shape and avoid another injury like the one that she faced in 2022 and that was a major setback for her.

Buecker's basketball career all started when she was 5. She started getting noticed in middle school at Hopkins West Middle in Hopkins, Minnesota. She was known for her basketball talent. She was moved up to varsity her 8th grade year. By the time she was a Junior in high school she was already the No.1 recruit for Geno Auriemma, the head coach of the Uconn women's basketball team. 

By Giovanii Ariedi Dos Santos
“After a whole decade on the market, it remains one of the greatest video games of all time.” – Guinness World Records.
Grand Theft Auto V (also called GTA 5) is one of the most fun and crazy games I’ve ever played. It came out in 2013, but people are still playing it like it’s new. It was made by Rockstar Games, its the fifth main game in the GTA series and changed open world games forever.
In GTA V, you play as three different characters Michael, Franklin, and Trevor who live in Los Santos, a fake version of LA in California. you can switch between them anytime and that makes the story way more interesting. The missions are are really fun, the city looks super real, and you can do almost whatever you want. Drive fast cars, fly planes, rob banks, or just explore the huge map.
There's also GTA Online, which is what most people play now. It’s the best way to play the game. You can play with your friends, do heists, start businesses, and buy cool stuff like houses, cars, and even tanks. Rockstar keeps updating it all the time, so theres always new stuff to do.
The game's graphics, voice acting, and story are all really good. According to Metacritic, it scored 97 out of 100, which is super high. It also won Game of the Year at the 2013 Spike Video Game Awards and Best Narrative at the 2014 BAFTA Game Awards.
Even though it’s really good, the game does have a few things that aren’t perfect. Some missions can get boring if you play for too long. it’s pretty violent, so it’s not for everyone. And a lot of people were mad that Rockstar never added more single-player story missions after the main game ended, and went to GTA online, which is more pay-to-play like getting new weapons and money.
There are other open-world games like Red Dead Redemption 2 or Cyberpunk 2077, but I still think GTA V is the best. Its funny, wild, and there's always something happening. You're doing missions or just messing around, it never gets boring.
As of February 2025, GTA V has sold over 210 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling video games ever. It even set a Guinness World Record for making $800 million in just one day when it first came out. Even 10 years later, millions of people still play it like GTA Online, which gets new updates all the time.
Final Score: 9 out of 10. Overall, the whole score is GTA V is an amazing game. It's full of action, fun, and just crazy things. If you like open-world games, then this is the best game to play. 

By Julia Hoffman and Blakely Stoddard

Homework affects students in different ways. Some students may feel as though homework is a good idea, and that it helps to exercise their knowledge. Other students feel like homework is a burden and just another thing to put on their to-do lists. Lots of students have after-school activities that could take up time, and can cause a lot of stress. Between sports, extracurriculars, and attempting to have family time, students may have a difficult time completing homework. It takes time-management to be able to balance it outside of school.

Abby Grace Pope, freshman, stated homework impacts her negatively because she has activities after school and it causes her stress if she has to get homework done. 

“Having homework to do after extracurricular activities is not ideal.” Pope told us. 

According to a report performed by Stanford University, 56% of students consider homework to be their primary source of stress. 

 “When I get back from games late at night, homework isn’t what I want to do after I’ve been at school all day.” Pope said.

Arden Jackson mentions she has mixed feelings about having homework. 

 “Homework is beneficial, but not to the extensive amount that some teachers give in classes I have.” Jackson stated.

This is direct evidence that teachers are overworking students. On the other hand, this is also proof that students may not feel as negatively about homework as expected. Typically, when people think of homework or just school in general, they tend to have a negative reaction. But, as you can see, some students also view homework as beneficial.

According to an article published by the University of California, “the average high school student in a class doing homework outperformed 69% of the students in a non- homework class.”

So, while homework may stress students out and consume time, it is beneficial to their academic success.

We asked Mrs. Sudduth her opinions on homework. 

“I think homework can be both beneficial and non-beneficial. I think it's based on how it's used. It allows students to practice what they have learned, solidify their learning. Homework also has a negative stigma because a lot of kids don’t have time or see it as valuable.”

“I do not assign homework in my class unless students abuse time management and do not use class time wisely to complete work. I understand that students have extra curriculars, jobs, and can be busy with their families, so it is not always a priority to complete homework in AP level classes. Because of this, I try to build in time in class so it's one less thing for students to worry about.” Sudduth stated.

From what was collected, homework is one of the main stress factors for students. However, homework can be beneficial when it comes to your academic success. All students that were interviewed for this piece are in all honors level classes. So maybe the good grades are worth the pressure after all.

By Danika Steadman

Music’s origin is almost as ancient as humanity itself, with its roots likely tracing back to prehistoric times when humans used rhythmic sounds and vocalizations to communicate and express emotions. The first recorded artist, if you can call them that, was Enheduanna, a high priestess from ancient Sumer around 2300 BCE, who composed hymns and poems. Music really started to gain popularity in the medieval period with the rise of troubadours and minstrels in Europe, but it was the invention of the printing press in the 15th century that truly spread music far and wide, making it accessible to the masses. The real question is; “Does Music Help Students Focus During Schools?”

“Yes, 1000%” says Sophomore Emma Croy. 

“Yes, because being able to tune out everybody really helps relax your brain” states Senior Allison Keeney.

We can't just say yes and call it a day, we need more input and evidence.

 Music has been a way to cope and help people focus for years, it’s not a recent generation thing.

“When I was in 3rd grade, when I would do my homework I would listen to classical music to try and help me focus,” said Keeney.

 Throughout the years many new genres and artists have appeared and gained popularity. 

“I find that less upbeat music helps you to focus and sometimes even relax and not stress about work” states Sophomore Ava Suarez when asked about her opinion on which genre/tempo helps her focus most effectively. 

Within the topic of popular artists in this century, Taylor Swift, Drake, Chappell Roan, Bruno Mars, Playboy Carti and The Weekend are all good examples of common artists used to help people focus.

“If I had to pick probably Lauren Daigle, Adele, Frank Sinatra, Eellie Holcomb, and Zach Bryan because they helped me through a lot of tough times” says Croy when asked which artists she would recommend to people. In Croy’s case she likes to listen to calmer, more mellow artists to help her focus but everybody has their own preferences.

Personally I listen to music everyday at school and it helps me be able to lock into my work at school and keeps me calm when Ii'm feeling stressed or overworked, same goes for many of my peers, when i'm walking the halls I see so many students with one or even two headphones in because sometimes people want to be able to jam out between classes. When school gets brought into the question a lot of people like to raise eyebrows because a lot of people think schools should ban phones, me and my peers feel as if that is a very poor decision because without our own personal music sometimes people won't be able to focus properly and/or want to focus because they will feel as if they are being striped of their rights. 

In conclusion, music has been a way for students to be able to take a deep breath and work on their independent work in peace and is something that is sacred and a proven helpful way for students to focus in school.

By Alivia Booker

Who would be your last phone call? Who would be the last person you would text in the place of an emergency? Students are worried that, with all the school shootings, they should be able to have their phones. Without their phones, the last thing they could say to their parents is “Goodnight”.

  Kaiyla Atkins is worried about the school's shooting lists and shootings that have been going around. Atkins said, “ I don’t want my last words to my mom to be, What’s for dinner”.

 Phones don't just hold the power of connection, they also have the feature of spreading news.

  Atkins questions, “How would I know if something is going on in the school or with my parents?” If something goes wrong, students will be more vulnerable and scared without their phones in case of an emergency. 

Because of this simple fact, they will have no idea what is going on. Students should not have to worry about these things. But who is to blame Atkins when there is no reason for this rule?

  Atkins also said “Why should everyone be punished due to a few 100 kids who can’t get off their phones? There are better ways to handle phones than a ban.” 

phone rules have already been in place, and adding a ban won't change things. Taking away phones is not gonna keep kids off the internet, and it wont make their grades go up.

   Atkins not the one with these concerns. Kalei Tharpe also said “It's very unfair to take our phones away, especially with all that's been happening, it's just gonna make it worse” 

While we can try to fix things, sometimes we break them further. Sometimes, we don't even know why we try to fix things.

Tharpe is trying to make sense of this rule but still has questions. She asks, “Why are we forcing something that is already enforced?” The school is scared and worried about the the wrong thing. Fear is a compelling thing, Atkins and Tharpe are both concerned about what could or would happen without phones in school.

Tharpe said  “taking phones out of school can do more bad than good, because what if someone threatens  the school on the internet and none of us know about it?”

  Atkins and Tharpe have made great points about how they feel about the Phone policy coming out in January.

  Students fear that something could happen and they wouldn't be able to tell their parents “ I love you.” Students are scared of the transition from getting out a pencil to hearing gunshots. But at the cost of a little more class time.

By Rielly Lemieux

Ragtag kids that don't belong anywhere, they are noisy, they break things, they vandalize and they're all around reckless. These are all things skateboarders are thought to be. They are always looked down on and are always being put in a bad light, however this is mostly untrue. While there are a few bad apples in the bunch most people just want to see their community grow and foster the next generation of skaters. 

A huge example of this is my friend Nolan Castleberry as well as other well known people such as Tony Hawk or Rodney Mullen. Nolan has been actually skateboarding much longer than I have and warmly welcomed me into the sport he even showed me things to improve on or talk about in the subject so naturally when wanting to ask questions I went to him. My question was simple and easy, who is the person who inspires you to skate and what is the skate trick they do. 

Nolan is in the twelfth grade and has been skating for so long he doesn't remember but started learning tricks around 2 years ago. “I enjoy skating because it's something to get away from everything else and it's fun.” Nolan says. We have gone to multiple skateparks together and every time, especially when I was new, he wasn't afraid to put down his board and show me how to skate. People like him are the staple of the communities. There have been multiple times I've been stopped because there was a spot that hadn’t been cleaned (for those that don't know, skateboards can fly out from beneath you from little things like cracks, pebbles, sticks, and more).

Everyone is also incredibly friendly. For an example there was a man at the skatepark “Poe Mill” that had lost his foot in a train incident. He openly told me his story and the lessons he learned from that experience. Even super popular people like Tony Hawk have given so much to the generation of upcoming skateboarders, such as opening around 500 different skateparks for skaters all around the world and in places that are specifically low income areas so people have somewhere to go when the world is crashing down on them. 

On Tony Hawk's Instagram, he said: 

“As a skater you learn self discipline. There’s no one telling you what to do. There’s nobody pushing you to land a trick. Nothing happens if you don’t learn eggplants today. Nothing happens to you if you don’t make a kickflip down some stairs. It doesn’t matter, but you push yourself to do it anyway. When you have that sort of mentality, that drive, you can take that into any other discipline, any other industry, any other culture, and succeed because you learned how to do that through skateboarding." 

That's the reality of skateboarding, it is so much more than just a sport, it's a community of all the people who feel they can't fit in anywhere else. That's what the “ragtag misfits that are destructive and noisy,” stand for. 

By Devi Kaspar

Students and teachers of Fountain Inn High School can attest to the power of music, but, what exactly

are they listening to? From rock to country, everybody has different tastes, but you’d be surprised at how many people’s styles overlap. In this article, students and teachers will admit their styles, and stop hiding what they listen to.

Students and faculty at FIHS have revealed their inner thoughts through their music taste. Now, the public gets to know the other half of their peers. “I don’t really tell people my music taste, because they won’t know what I mean when they ask me what I like...” One student reported, when asked about her style compared to most people’s. But, most people’s music tastes actually align more frequently than you would think.

Oftentimes students will say that their music taste is too vague to find, or too ‘out of the ordinary’

but that isn’t always the case. Even teachers can attest to the surprising overlap between generations. Between a teenage high school girl and a theater teacher, there are overlaps.

Veronica Rogers, when asked about her music style and what she listens to, said this, “I listen to a variety, typically indie folk, folk pop...” Many of you might not resonate with those genre titles, but you may recognize popular songs in that category. For example, Noah Kahan is folk pop, ‘Fast Car’ by Tracy Chapman is summarized as purely folk. Rogers also named a specific band, Sammy Rae and the Friends. Many people would know the items listed prior, but for those who don’t, Alanna Wood-Parks has shared another genre with us, metal. Wood-Parks, in response to her music taste, said, “(I listen to) Mostly metal and rock. And hip-hop too, but mostly metal and rock.” Wood-Parks said that some of her favorite

bands and musical artists were Peirce the Veil, Body Snatcher, Avenged Sevenfold, Five Finger Death Punch, and Korn. These are some of the more popular metal bands, but even so, there are other genres of music not listed here. Aaliayah Jackson mentioned her favorite genres as well, “I’d say K-Pop, indie... kinda like calm music, but also some upbeat songs.” Jackson’s music style is not so far from the average, when combined with a mix of other genres.

Ask your neighbor, or your friend, teacher, great granny, whoever, what their music style is. You’ll get a different answer from everyone. But, the more you ask around, the more you’ll notice the overlaps in judgment and taste. Music is in all growing things, music is the soundtrack of life. The soundtrack of Fountain Inn High School. So what does yours sound like?