February 20, 2019. Littleton High School received a surprise visit by Pawnee, Indiana, municipal employees Ron Swanson and Leslie Knope on Tuesday of the school's Winter Carnival week. When asked about rumors that she is forming an exploratory committee for a possible 2020 run at the White House, Ms Knope refused comment, referring questions to Mr Swanson. When pressed, Mr Swanson would only say that his views on government were well known in the heartland of America.

Austin Hastings ~ February 17, 2019

On Saturday the 16th, the Littleton Varsity Cheer Team along with the Daisy Bronson team traveled to Pinkerton Academy for the Astro Blast competition. Lead by Coach Cook, the team left the school around 6:45 A.M. with the bus booming to the sound of the Pitch Perfect soundtracks. Kayley Quinones said that "playing pitch perfect is sort of a tradition".

The ride down to Pinkerton took about two hours in which the team spent their time vlogging, bopping to the music, and generally being excited. In a heartbeat, like a bird fleeing from a storm, my eagerness left behind a cold and unpleasant sense of nervousness and nausea. When the bus careened to a stop, the coaches rushed us out of the bus with instructions to take only the bare necessities for the competition.

Coach Cook ushered us into a dark concrete stairwell to the basement. Wall to wall, there were middle school cheerleaders. Packed shoulder to shoulder and pom-pom to pom-pom, it was like 150 technicolor sardines in a drab grey can. Pressing through them, our teams made our way to the deepest corner of the tunnel where we waited for roll call to be taken. Once we had our kit together, we were lead up a thin and winding flight of stairs to the competition gym where we all sat together on the hardwood bleachers.

For a while, both teams sat together, watching other middle school teams perform their routines on the floor. But then, like the Pied Piper of Hamelin, the middle school cheer coach Ms. Fullam cheerfully brought her team behind the bleachers to warm up. The varsity patiently watched opposing teams perform for a few minutes. All of a sudden, with a flash of lights and a fanfare of pop music, the DBMS team appeared in the spotlights of the red carpet. There was an air of expectation throughout the crowd when the team ran out onto the matted floor. Coach Fullam's team made quite an impression on the audience, radiating confidence and showmanship. For an overall score, taking into account jumps, volume, tumbling, stunting skills and dancing, the team got third place with a score of 65.4. The team representing Presentation of Mary School got second place with a score of 66.6.

Our varsity team was able to kick back and chill out on the bleachers in a state of relative comfort and tranquility. But alas and alack, that wouldn't last. Coach Cook gave us a warning, and we gathered ourselves for warm-ups. With tension building, we walked back into the semi-darkness of the warm-up zone. We were only given five minutes to warm up and stretch, so we had to speed through quietly and confidently.

After a tense warm up, we walked out to the red carpet. As we walked, I remarked to Senior Sam Martin that my nerves were making it difficult to breathe. Mr. Martin replied that he felt like he'd eaten "a cereal bowl full of asbestos". As the team that went before us made their way off of the floor, the MC sauntered over to where we were waiting on the red carpet. After exchanging some conversation with Junior Tori Fullam, she introduced our team over the loudspeakers and invited us to perform any pregame tradition we desired to.

Getting into a circle, the team leaned in, joined arms and swayed from left to right quietly chanting “LVC”. The swaying began to accelerate, while we crescendoed and the audience clapped along. My fears shrank and disappeared as my volume continued to rise. I could feel the energy and the power flowing through my body and I knew that we were going to nail it.

Standing on the mats, there was only the moment. No past, no future, only the roar of the crowd and the glare of the spotlights. The crowd started to go quiet, and Tori Fullam gave voice to the "Five six seven eight" that cued the start of the routine. In a flash, we were near to the end. Things seemed to fly by with barely a hitch. There were a few hiccups but for the most part, stuff went great. The audience was clapping enthusiastically as we did the final movements of the dance. As we slammed onto the mats, the gymnasium reverberated with the applause and screams of the crowd.

With sighs of relief and a few nervous laughs, the team stood up and made its way back to the bleachers. The special thing about going back to the bleachers was that team members had to sit through another team's performance before their score was announced. If their score beat the day's record, then they could go sit in the leader's lounge. For those of you who don't know what the leader's lounge is, it is a comfortable and padded section of the room for the highest scoring team to relax and watch the other teams.

Like a harbinger of doom, the MC walked out to the spotlight and announced that the team Littleton had to beat was Mascenic Regional High School with a 73.4. She placed special emphasis on the fact that there was a .4 at the end of the 73. And then, as the audience held its breath she announced that Littleton had scored only a 73.2. Immediately, a groan arose from our section as we hesitantly and heartbrokenly applauded the victors. Our team was barred from the leader's lounge by a mere .3 percent which understandably left the team quite aggravated and unhappy.

However, in a monumental show of good sportsmanship, the Mascenic and Littleton teams went out to lunch to try and make amends for a harsh rivalry between last year and now. The luncheon went great, sparking new friendships and connections between the teams that will help to curb the unhealthy part of the inter-school rivalry. Under the leadership of Coach Cook and Coach Sparks, the high school is adding and removing bits and pieces to the routine hoping to earn a higher score during the upcoming Preliminary competition. For anyone interested, the Preliminary competition will take place on Sunday, March 3, at Pinkerton Academy Derry, NH.

Madeline Carbonneau ~ February 18, 2019

Valentine’s Day. What do you think of when you hear those two words? A time for love? Chocolates? That’s what many people think of, not the origin or reasons we have Valentine’s Day. Do you even know the origin of Valentine’s Day? A lot of holidays have origins that you would never know about. For example, Easter is the day that Jesus supposedly rose from the dead, and it has been commercialized into colorful eggs and cute bunnies. What would you expect Valentine's Day to truly represent? Let’s find out what the dark origins are for this holiday of love.

February 14, Valentine’s Day. The day that three different St. Valentines died. Ironically, none of them showed any signs of being romantic at all in their lives, and none of them were related. One was African, one was Roman, and one was Umbrian. All of them died in the third century. So, now let’s focus on St. Valentine, who was a bishop of Terni in Italy, the Roman one. He was the last of the three Valentines to be killed. He was known for healing people, one of the old stories was that he was able to heal and help a blind girl see again. However, it is just a story. He was also Catholic, which meant he had some power. This is why we know who he was. He was held in jail cells because he tried to help Christians escape from them. You are probably thinking, how does this relate to love? Well, according to old records St. Valentine was the first to send a “valentine” greeting card to his jailer’s daughter who he fell in love with, however, something tells me that he wasn't only kind to her because he liked her if you know what I’m saying.

One other thing that you think of on Valentine's Day is Cupid. Cupid is the Greek god Eros, who is the god of love. He was renamed ‘Cupid’ by the Romans. In the old tales about the mythology of the Greek gods and goddesses, they talked about how Eros (Cupid) carried around a bow with arrows that were gold and supposedly filled with desire. Whoever he shot with these arrows would fall in love with the person of his choice. He also carried leaden arrows that were for diversion. These arrows had to hit his target in the heart, so he was good at aiming. In one of the old tales, Eros shot a golden arrow through Apollo’s heart causing him to fall in love with a mortal and shot a leaden arrow at the mortal so that she would hate him. He had “fun” with his job.

How do these tie together? You take the concept of love letters, making people fall in love, and a prisoner’s name and you get Valentine’s Day. I guess that this romantic holiday doesn’t have much of a romantic start. However, it sure is celebrated romantically.

Cole Jacques ~ February 18, 2019

Winter Carnival is a school-wide activity with games, challenges, a lot of people, and a great amount of noise. This, however, is not for everyone, and there is an option to not participate in the activities. Introverts prefer to keep to themselves in the library or other spaces. For these people who don't want to participate, their only other option is to get work done that they missed. But what if someone has turned in all of their work and has nothing else to do?

People who don't want to participate in Winter Carnival should get to have fun too but in their own ways. Such as playing assorted games, or talking to friends. Not having to stay quiet and just work because they don't have the same idea of fun as everyone else. Devin, a junior, says “ I don’t like Winter Carnival. There's not much to do because I'm all caught up in my school work. So instead of coming to school to be bored and do nothing, I just stay home and take the absences.”

Students would rather take an absence than participate in Winter Carnival. It's not just about people who simply don’t want to be there, but people who have anxiety over it. Anxiety disorders are a big deal of why many people don’t participate in Winter Carnival.