Opinion

Best Electives

by Jocelyn Coburn & Samantha Hunt

The Titan Times recently asked upperclassmen to complete a google survey about their favorite electives. The google survey that was sent out received 31 responses with some of the top favorites being Street Law, Guitar Lab, and 21st Century Leadership.

The feedback from this survey can help underclassmen choose which elective they would like to enroll in during course selection.

Senior Rylee Hammit said, “I enjoyed having Mrs. Mrowka as a teacher [Journalism]. Very kind and accommodating. Mr. King's street law class is very interesting and has to do with my future career in law. Accounting is a good class for budgeting skills and learning debits and credits.”

Junior Theo Young said, “I love Marine Biology, robotics, and programming is fun to experience. Marine Biology is an interest of mine, while Programming is what I want to do when I am older, so overall, those are just my general interests.”

Shown above: Period 4 History of Modern Music

Photo by Mr Jackson

Best Elective: History of Modern Music

by Nick McCarthy

PHS has many electives for students to choose from, including art classes, technology classes. Students have the ability to select what they want to take, which they could either really enjoy or not. One of those electives that is considered one of the best by many students is History of Modern Music with Mr Jackson.

History of Modern Music is a class about the transformation of classic 50’s rock, to modern times. Most of the music is American and British. Students can learn about the early stars of music like Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly and many others. Students can also learn about different types of music like Rock & Roll, Soul, R&B, and many others.

Senior Scott Alther, who is currently taking the class, said, “I really like the class. I never thought that I would ever like these songs that we listen to in class. The class is so interesting.” He also told the Titan Times, “I would recommend this class to anyone who has interest in music or who wants to learn about the history of it”.

Senior Ryan Conway, who is also taking the class, said, “ I like the class a lot, It's very interesting and fun. I like how I can find new music and see what I like”. He also told the Titan Times, “I would recommend this class to anyone, if they like music. Also Mr Jackson is a great teacher.”

The Titan Times also interviewed Mr Jackson, about his favorite part of the class. “sharing new music with people who haven’t heard it before. Also hearing what students play in class because I like hearing what students like to listen to.” He also said, “Students should take the class, if they want to learn about the history of music or want to share their favorite music.”

Some of the activities that the class has is listening to students ' favorite music every day in class, also listening to some of Mr Jackson’s favorite songs, doing album reviews, and going over the styles of each genre. They occasionally will also play Guess That Tune, where you will get a random song, and you have to guess the artist and song title.

The Picture of the Winter Olympics, followed by Portland after beating Gonzaga, and the Seahawks lifting the Lombardi trophy.

Photos by WSLS 10, CNN, and Ridestore

Sports: A Month In Review

by Ryder Nugent

After 28 long days of February it is time to recap on the best of the month from the Sports world.

On February 8th 2026 the Seattle Seahawks took down the New England Patriots 29-13 in Santa Clara, California to earn their 2nd Super Bowl Title. The Seahawks had run through the Patriots in this game, holding the Patriots to 0 points at halftime and only 331 total yards of offense combined the whole game (78 at halftime). A main contributor to these stats is the Seahawks defensive line. The Seahawks defense recorded 6 sacks and 3 turnovers in the 4 quarters of this game. They also hit Patriots quarterback Drake Maye and tore up the Patriots O-line leading to Drake Maye being uncomfortable in the pocket and making panic decisions that caused losses of yards of turnovers.

The #6 ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs just lost to Portland? Yes on February 4th 2026 The 9-13 Portland Pilots had taken down one of the best teams in the country at home as 22.5 point underdogs. Portland won this game because of how much the players stepped up, key players include Joel Foxwell who put up 27 points 4 rebounds and 8 assists, James O’Donnell who put up 16 points 3 rebounds and 2 assists, and Jermaine Ballisager Webb who put up 13 points 9 rebounds and 5 assists. The stats proved that Portland earned their win, they shot 59% for FG’s (compared to Gonzaga’s 40%) shot 43% percent from 3 compared to Gonzaga’s 33% they were 80% from the free throw line compared to Gonzaga’s 69% 22 assists compared to Gonzaga’s 19 and 40 points in the paint compared to Gonzaga’s 26.

The 2026 Winter Olympics were held in Milan. There were 16 sports that competed in the Olympics, including Alpine Skiing, Figure Skating, Freestyle Skiing, Nordic Combined, Biathlon, Bobsleigh, Ice Hockey, Cross Country Skiing, Curling, Luge, Short Track Speed Skating, Skeleton, Ski Jumping, Ski Mountaineering, Snowboarding, and Speed Skating. This Olympics meant something to PHS because alumni Kris Horn competed as a bobsled driver for the United States!

School Start Times Too Early For Students?

by Kyla Williamson

Students have to wake up early for school which can be challenging. Many kids are exhausted before school even starts which can affect the students' learning. They may even fall behind in classes because they are just too tired to do the work so early

High school usually starts around 7:30-8:00. That means teens have to wake up early which disrupts their sleep schedule. Teenagers usually don't get enough sleep as it is but early school times make it worse. It's much harder for teens to fall asleep early at night compared to adults and kids. On average teens get about 6 hours of sleep. They should be getting 8-10 hours. This means teens aren't getting the recommended amount of sleep per night, which can have many effects on them, like being stressed and overwhelmed. According to the website National Institutes of Health most of the time the very first class of the day students do not get much done, meaning more homework for them at night leading to staying up and the cycle just repeats.

Having later start times can help teens feel more refreshed and less tired at school, helping them get more done and pay attention to the lesson being taught. The high school could change to start at 8:30 like elementary school, only problem is when would the elementary school start? The elementary school students could switch with our start time. The younger students don't have as much trouble waking up early in the morning and also don't need as much sleep as teenagers do.

Not having enough sleep can also affect your health like being sleep deprived which can weaken the immune system leading to sicker kids. Not enough sleep can lead to stress,mood swings, headaches and not enough energy to get things done. It is important that teens get enough sleep so they can be physically healthy.

It is proven by many experts that students with more sleep perform better on tests and classwork than students who have to wake up early and lack the recommended amount of sleep. For everyone's benefit, changing the school start times to 8:30 would help grades a lot and will show better results due to this 1 hour change. Overall, having a later start time would benefit many but it could also have an effect on after school sports and jobs making it hard to balance both school and extracurricular activities.

AI Concerns in Schools

by Skyler Stahl and Aleah Adams

As Artificial Intelligence systems like ChatGPT become more popular in schools, many teachers and parents are raising concerns about cheating and misinformation and whether students are relying so hard on technology.

AI programs can quickly generate essays, answers, and explanations, which can be helpful for studying purposes. However, some teachers worry that students may use these tools to complete assignments without fully understanding the material.

In the Pembroke High School student handbook it states how “presenting as one’s own, the words, works, or opinions of others without proper acknowledgement” and “borrowing the sequence of ideas, the arrangement of material, or the pattern of thought of others without proper acknowledgment” are serious offenses.

Consequences for these violations increase with each offense. A first offense results in a teacher student conference, a zero on the assignment with no opportunity to make it up, parent notification, and administrative documentation.

A second offense includes the same academic penalties along with a conference between parents and administrators, a ten point deduction from the students term grade, and removal from leadership roles for the rest of the school year.

By a third offense, students still face the same academic consequences while they also lose credit for the course and become unable to participate in any athletics or extracurricular activities for the remainder of the school year.

Despite these concerns, some teachers still believe that students can still use AI responsibly in schools. When used properly, tools like ChatGPT can help students brainstorm ideas or understand difficult concepts.

Page updated

Report abuse