In this issue

#Tippy Strong - Alivia Simpson

Sweetheart Proposals - Lauren Schumacher

J.A.G. to D.C. - Nicole Keller

Fall Sports Wrap Up - Alexa Orozco

Children's Show - Alexa Orozco

Blankets for babies - Mackenzie Edstrom

PHS Halloween - Quincey Hess

Why vote? - Quincey Hess

#Tippy Strong

Alivia Simpson

As you may know PHS staff and students wore green and yellow to show their support for the four children that were hit, when loading a bus to go to school. Sophomore, Lindsey Weldon, states “ I thought it was a great idea to have people wear Tippy's colors. I think that it showed them that other schools do care about what happens with their school. I really like how much support PHS gave because it shows that people are really supportive about things that are tragic.”

6 year old twins and 9 year old passed away. 11 year old was airlifted to Fort Wayne. The children were all students at Tippecanoe Valley Middle School. Sophomore Ivan Winkle states “It’s sad knowing that we have people in our country that can’t drive without texting. It also sad that people can’t follow the law. Those kids probably lived a happy and fun life.”

This all happened in a blink of an eye, no family deserves to lose a family member. Remember never forget to ask how someone’s day is and never forget to tell a family member or friend that you love them. Be thankful for every student at PHS! Also, if you are wanting to give some support to the 11 year old boy that survived, click here gofundme.com/maverik-medical-bills-and-relief.

Sweetheart Proposals

Lauren Schumacher

Tomorrow night hundreds of PHS students will attend Sweetheart. It’s sure to be a fun evening for everyone, but some people went above-and-beyond before the dance even started with adorable proposals! We asked you to send in stories and photos of someone popping the question - these are a few of our favorite replies.

Senior Britney Klotz shared that her date, senior Hunter Paton, is “really into fishing… So I picked up some gummy worms from the store along with a tackle box and wrote ‘would you want to TACKLE sweetheart with me?’ on the lid, and drew a little guy in a boat fishing in the corner. That next Tuesday I came into first hour with it and right before we started the math lesson, I got up and said, ‘Hunter I have something for you’ and he was so confused because I just handed him a random box. But after he opened it, he got this big smile on his face because he had no idea I was going to ask him.”

Junior Alexandra Rodgers also used a common interest to invite her date, Jackson Bougher. Lexie told us that she “asked a friend to steal his drum sticks so I could give him the ones that said ‘let’s drum up some fun!’ And ‘hopefully you’ll stick with me after this…’ and then I held up a poster that said ‘I hear the beat of my heart getting louder every time I’m near you no wait.... that’s your drum. Sweetheart?’”

Claire Carnes, junior, asked friend Diego Arroyo to the dance. According to her entry, the two “are both in marching band together, and end the show right next to each other, so during lunch break, she waited for him to come out of the band instrument room and held up a poster that said ‘We end the show beside each other. Why not end the night beside each other at Sweetheart?’”

“Let’s Glow Crazy” is the 2018 Sweetheart Dance theme. Tickets cost $20 and can be purchased in the lunchroom. The dance takes place in the multi-purpose room from 8 p.m. until 11 p.m. on Saturday, November 2. See Mrs. James or Mrs. Flynn, or any Sunshine Society member, if you have questions about Sweetheart.

Children's Show

Alexa Orozco

PHS was living in a world of pure imagination last weekend with the production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Something unique about this production is that it was the 40th anniversary of the children’s show and even after 40 years, the fall children’s show continues to make kids smile. The play is run by the theater department, and the head of the show is Ms. Faulstich along with her advanced theater students. Mrs. Tyree and Mr. Connor also took part in the production.

The children’s production was established in 1979 by Mr. Tyree when he decided to bus students from local elementary schools to the high school to watch the performances by high school theatre students.

In order to celebrate the anniversary, a special table meant for those who have performed in the previous 39 shows was set up with a few pictures and memories of the past shows. The department provided name tags on which they encouraged previous cast and crew members to write the names of shows in which they have participated and the year those shows took place. The PHS theatre alumni were then recognized at the end of the performances.

Senior Josie Edwards played Grandma Joe. She said, “When I hear the audience laughing or gasping is when I knew that all our the work paid off. I was really thankful I was able to show it to everyone.”

Dayana Galeano said, “My favorite moment of the play were Avery Christy and Austin Kizer parts. They were so funny!

Forty years down and still more to come, let’s see where the Theater Department takes PHS next.

PHS Halloween

Quincey Hess

In light of the previous Halloween Season, Ye Pilgrim felt it pertinent to delve into the more complex history of the beloved holiday and investigate the student body’s thoughts and feelings on the subject. In an interview with BU Today (a newspaper sponsored by Boston University), Regina Hansen, graduate of both Tufts University and Boston College and expert on the portrayal of the occult within modern media, stated that Halloween’s primary origin is based in Celtic Paganism from the British Isles, in particular the Celtic feast of Samhain which celebrates the New Year. Celts believed that during this time the spirits of the dead were most active, and those who celebrated Samhain were obligated to make an offering of “treats” in order to appease the dead. Hansen continues, saying though Celtic Paganism is the main inspiration for the holiday, a wide variety of cultures influence the manner we celebrate Halloween today, such as the Roman celebration of the goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona, which is responsible for the partial focus on the fall harvest in contemporary Halloween celebrations (e.g. bobbing for apples, carving pumpkins, etc…).

Regardless of the holiday’s intricate history, today the meaning and traditions one associates with Halloween varies from individual to individual. In order to ascertain PHS students’ varying Halloween traditions and preferences, Ye Pilgrim sent out several polls asking the PHS student body to share their feedback.

Our Twitter Poll inquiring about PHS student’s favorite activity typically affiliated with Halloween indicated that 25% of those who responded most enjoyed dressing up, 44% of those who responded most enjoyed the candy, 6% of those who responded most enjoyed carving pumpkins, and 25% of those who responded most enjoyed going to haunted houses.

Ye Pilgrim also sent out a survey via Gmail, in which students were asked to share their Halloween costume for this year (if any), their and their family’s Halloween traditions, and were asked to elaborate on their favorite thing about Halloween.

Senior Brandyn Payne said that carving pumpkins is a Halloween tradition of his, and that his favorite thing about Halloween is the discounted candy you can purchase the day after.

Freshman Mackenzie Edstrom, who dressed up as Robin Hood this year, said that she and her family make ham together the day before Halloween.

Junior Sam Beckett, who dressed up as Michael Myers this Halloween, said his favorite thing about Halloween is to play with a Ouija Board with his friends.

As explanation for his lack of costume this year, Mr. Olson said, “There are no costumes as scary as me, myself, and I on a daily basis.”

From this eclectic gathering of Halloween traditions it is made clear that Halloween is a time for celebration, connection with family and friends, and self-expression; a lesson that the Plymouth Community knows well.

Why vote?

Quincey Hess

With MTV’s launch of its first ever midterm election drive, Michelle Obama’s establishment of the When We All Vote initiative, and Tinders’ introduction of the Swipe The Vote initiative; it's evident that America has undergone a national campaign aimed particularly at the youth all towards one goal, voting. The depths of this movement has now reached Plymouth.

In September, the social studies department implemented Civic Engagement Week which focused, among other things, on the importance of eligible citizens getting to the polls to vote. With this continued emphasis on the importance of voting, one has to wonder why. Why vote?

While the answer shifts depending who you ask, several common threads seem to appear. One reason in particular references the dependency of democracies, including the Democratic Republic of the United States of America, upon citizen engagement when it comes to voting.

History teacher and key organizer of Civic Engagement Week, Mrs. Kruyer said, “Democracy only thrives if there is participation. And if people don't participate in democracy there is always a threat that the few will end up controlling the laws we all have to follow.”

In late 2017, the Bedrosian Center, an applied research center at the USC Price School of Public Policy, published a piece on the potential harm of low voter turnouts in democracies, such as the U.S., confirming the importance of voter participation. The passage discusses a variety of detrimental side effects of low voter turnout, suggesting that both political extremism and the domination of one or few voices within political discourse are at least partially the result of voter apathy. However, many regard voting to be necessary for much simpler reasons.

PHS Junior and one of the several students who has registered to vote, Scarlet Gibson is planning on participating in the election process for the first time this year.

Gibson said, “Of course, being given the opportunity to have a say on what happens to us as a whole is too important to pass up.”

She, like many others, are drawn to the ballot simply because they find the right to elect public officials and shape political policy through said officials, a founding principle of the United States, to be too great an opportunity to miss out on.

PHS English teacher and registered voter Mrs. Wezeman, when asked why she felt some American citizens are apprehensive about voting, said, “I don't understand why anyone approaches voting with apprehension. I suppose the minimal effort required to stop living in ignorance and take some time to research candidates, keep up on current events, dismiss the political ads on both sides as propaganda, and figure out who best represents their views is too much work on the part of some citizens. Good thing the internet make this process easier than ever. ISideWith.com offers an excellent resource for matching our views to the candidates. There are also tons of other resources available at our fingertips.”