Gianna Delano, Section Editor | September 11, 2026

The smell of sunscreen, damp cardboard, and fierce competition filled the air on September 11th, 2026 at the Anthem Community Pool. Determined to claim the title of “survivor”, the entire eighth grade battled their way across the pool. 

Titus Converse, our proud Entrepreneurship and Student Council teacher, led the boat races this year and supervised all the eighth graders and steered them to greatness. Students spent the entire day reliving their favorite moments, especially the triumph of reaching the far side of the pool and making it back. 

All eighth grade students spent hours and many class periods working on their cardboard boats. Only being given cardboard and one roll of duct tape, all the students had was a dream to make it across the pool. On the day of, students raced across and then either made it into the category of “survivors” or “sinkers”. Afterwards, students could swim and enjoy the rest of their day in the sun with their friends. 

Mr. Bolo and Culinary 2 students, Cooper Helm and JonCole Yoder, gladly provided burgers, hot dogs, chips, and drinks to the exhausted students. Everyone greatly appreciated the food and gave a big thank you to the Culinary teacher and his students. 

The boat team going by the name Unicorn said they were “100% confident” they would make it across the pool. Another team, Titanic 2.0, stated they were “55% confident” they would make it across. Sadly, this team sank once they made it into the pool, but they gave their best efforts! Every upcoming eighth grade student looks forward to the day they can get their hands dirty and make their own cardboard boat! 

The eighth grade boat races have been a running tradition for nearly seven years, starting off with Mr. Vasey’s guidance then was willingly taken over by Mr. Converse. With years of seeing all sorts of designs, no previous class compares to this one. This year set an all-time record for most “survivors” to make it through the waters! More than just a school tradition, this event tested the eighth graders' grit, bonded them through shared laughter, and proved they could tackle any challenge as a team.

A CEREMONY OF COMMITMENT + DEDICATION

Jake Paul, Section Editor | September 16, 2026

Despite the torrential rain that swept through Anthem earlier in the day, the 2026 NJHS and NHS Induction Ceremony still carried on as planned. A crowd of nearly fifty parents, inductees, current members, staff, and families showed their support during the remarkable occasion. 

The ceremony began with welcoming remarks from Advisor Mrs. Cruz, and the Pledge of Allegiance, recited by NJHS member Marlee Davison. Shortly after, key-note speaker, Mrs. Downing, kicked off the candle lighting ceremony with her speech: “being a member of NHS/NJHS provides you with a platform and an opportunity to be a leader,” she says. “Take this opportunity to learn the skill of leading with your heart while continuing to grow as an individual.”   

The four NJHS and NHS pillars that were highlighted following the key-note speech included leadership, scholarship, character, and service. Marlee Davison, a current NJHS member in 8th grade, says that the pillar of scholarship means the most to her. “I have always tried to strive in an academic setting,” Marlee says, “and I feel I have succeeded in that throughout the years.”

The current NHS President, Miyah Pabalinas, has served for six years, and this will be her seventh and final year of NJHS/NHS as a senior. When describing her several years of service, she says, “It hits you that you are making a difference and putting in actual effort so that a little goes a long way.” Honing in on the pillar of leadership, Miyah says, “It is important to recognize that leading is not just managing” and is instead “hyping up your team and making sure that they’re a part of something more than themselves.”

Mattea Camasto, senior, is one of several NHS inductees this school year, and described how she feels about being inducted during the ceremony. “Being inducted into NHS means a lot to me because it allows me to show my dedication to helping others in my community” while also allowing her to “make a positive impact on those around [her].” Her dedication shows that the Induction Ceremony is not just a tradition and not just a ceremony; it’s a symbol of commitment for members and inductees to serve the community around them.

Following the induction of new members, it was time to honor the seniors for their service and present them with their stoles and graduation chords. Tearing up and struggling to hold it together, Mrs. Cruz spoke about each senior as they came to the stage and received their honors. When asked about some of the best moments she has witnessed while advising NJHS + NHS, she says she “just loves the positive influence that members have on the rest of the student community at Ridgeline.”

Some of the well-known community service events Ridgeline’s chapter of NJHS and NHS partakes in include the fall and spring blood drives, fall food drive, Feed My Starving Children, and four other community outreach activities. It takes willingness and courage to carry out these events, particularly the blood drive. Mrs. Cruz says that she has had “countless students participate as blood donors even if needles scared them,” which led to other students realizing, “it's not that bad” after all, demonstrating the commitment of NHS members.

To all of the existing members and new inductees, we can’t wait to see what you have in store through all of your community projects this school year. 

Daylan Harvey, Yearbook Staff | September 28, 2026

During the week of homecoming, there are many things to think about, such as the football game, the dance, or most importantly, spirit week. This year, Homecoming spirit week fell on the week of September 20th, ending on the 25th emphasizing the theme of the Golden Age of Hollywood. It created an atmosphere of joy, being able to wear what we want, and being connected as a school.

For Monday, the student body got to dress up to represent their favorite decades. We got to see hippies from the 70s, a couple of rockers from the 80s, and cool kids from the 90s and 2000s. But the one who picked the winning fit, the one who wore it best, was McKay Throop. He decided not only to put on some merch for the band Kiss, but he went all out and donned the famous makeup of the band. 

When Tuesday came, you grabbed your best friend and made them wear the same thing as you. What? You didn't do that? Your friend did it voluntarily? Anyways, with a twin, there were so many possibilities, such as Velma and Daphne from Scooby Doo, the Chipmunks: Alvin, Theodore, and Simon, and Thing 1 and Thing 2. 

Wednesday was when we got to embrace our inner binge-watcher and dress up as our favorite characters. We got to see iconic characters such as the We Bare Bears, Waldo, Pinocchio, and even Beetlejuice and Lydia. 

On Thursday, we had to go to school in monochrome, which is just a fancy word for black and white. Any way you would look, it was just a sea of black and white, speckled with the occasional blue and orange. Even some of the teachers went all out for today, such as Ms. McCarty with her Victorian Goth look. This day was by far the most participated day of the week, due to the ease of the prompt.  

Finally, we ended on Friday, which was the day to wear your fanciest outfit. People pulled up to the elementary school for our group assembly, and out of the nearly 1,000 people who went to school that day, most of them looked breathtakingly fancy. This theme was the one that tied in with the homecoming theme, which was the Golden Age of Hollywood. There was no winner for Friday, but it was still amazing, with people from kindergarten to 12th grade dressed like they could have been at Homecoming right then and there. 

Spirit week as a whole is really important to the student body, due to the fact that we are a uniform school. This event is pivotal, as it allows us to be connected but different, and with these five prompts. It allows us to express ourselves in more ways than our words and actions. It's still fun even if you can't participate for the day, because you get to see all of the amusing and exciting outfits and costumes. This spirit week is definitely one for the books!

TWO CAMPUSES, ONE VISION, ONE COMMUNITY

Although community day was incredibly successful and gave students and staff alike the opportunity to strengthen Ridgeline’s community, there are still things that could potentially be improved upon heading into next year. When asked, sophomore Inaya Khan stated: “I think having more activities specifically for high school students would make Community Day even better. Some more competitive or interactive activities could give high schoolers more ways to get involved and enjoy the day.” With this being the first Community Day, we know that with the right mindset and team, it will only get better every single year. 

PRESENTING OUR HOMECOMING ROYALTY