Welcome to the brand-new series: Store Style Review: where I will personally review the versatility, quality, and the overall style of individual stores and companies.
Ah H&M, the IKEA of the clothing world. In my personal opinion, H&M is a good starting place for one’s personal style journey. Here’s some of the clothes that I bought on my first H&M trip.
Continue reading Store Style Review: H&MAs brushes swept and colors swirled across the canvas, one man’s calm voice guided the students in their painting journey.
Wednesday night marked the National Art Honor Society’s annual Bob Ross painting night. This marked the second year for the event and had a record turnout of over thirty students.
“It was a fun and relaxing experience,” senior Jordan Dockery said. “It was a fun way to get people more interested in art.”
The night consisted of an episode of Bob Ross’s show The Joy of Painting and following his tutorial. All of the art supplies were provided by National Art Honor Society through Ms. Hunter.
National Art Honor Society consists of art students from a wide range of mediums, not solely drawing and painting. While this event may have been more painting-focused, it did not shun away those with different artistic abilities.
“Even though I am bad at painting and do photography instead,” senior Kate Brunetti said. “I still had a lot of fun.”
Brunetti is an officer for National Art Honor Society, helping with planning and running this event. Apart from the art education it provides, she wants to highlight the bonus benefits.
“I think it is a great stress reliever to have before finals,” said senior Kate Brunetti. “You can just hang out with your good friends and bond with them over your love for Bob Ross and painting, in general.”
She hopes that this event will continue to as successful even after she graduates.
It is finally that time of year! It is DECA Districts! This past Tuesday was the district competition for DECA and was arguably one for the books.
The Legend DECA program saw a great deal of state qualifiers, adding to the great year for the program. There were around sixty state qualifiers from Legend. This also lead to Legend winning the most awards in the competition.
The Legend DECA program’s success could also be attributed to the new changes implemented.
“I think this year was a lot better for DECA because we actually did roleplay practice in our business classes,” said senior Adit Desai. There was also a larger officer team allowing for more management and planning for the 100+ students in DECA.
“They did a good job of having a lot of practice sessions to practice our roleplay,” said senior Ashley Lawson. Lawson qualified for state along with her partner, senior Allison Kramer, in her event: Travel and Tourism.
Now the program looks at ahead towards the state competition.
“I joked with my partner that we were going to state,” said senior Ashley Lawson, “and now I am actually going! It has definitely made me very excited about DECA and going to the Broadmoor.”
The DECA state competition will occur from the 22nd to the 25th of February.
It’s been eight long months for senior Emma Dobrec. After tearing her peroneal tendon in her ankle, she finally made her long-awaited return on Tuesday night.
“It’s been intense. It’s been a lot of running and jumping and trying to regain my balance. Cause I lost a lot of muscle and control of my ankle after they went through and did everything they had to.” Dobrec said on her rehab.
Her return came somewhat unexpectedly. She was permitted to rejoin in basketball activity just a few weeks ago, and would slowly start ramping up activity. She got the call that she was going to play in the game on Tuesday against Heritage High School about an hour before she was supposed to get to the gym for warm-ups.
“It was amazing honestly, cause I’ve worked so hard to like come back finally. Like it’s been probably four months of rehab like after the surgery, so once I finally got into a game, it just felt right. I was really excited… oh yeah, always nervous,” Dobrec said.
It was an outstanding game for the Legend girls team overall. They finished the night with a 42-10 blowout against Heritage. The game was headlined by a first-half that ended with a 24-0 shutout.
“I’m just glad I could not like screw up a win,” she said.
There wasn’t much to screw up. Everybody had it going on both ends of the floor.
As for Emma, that was the last step of a very long and very strenuous eight months. Now, her eyes are set on helping her team finish the season strong and towards achieving her goal of playing basketball at the college level.
Senior Athletes Committing To Colleges
By Ronak Dsouza
Last Wednesday, many Legend seniors took part in National Signing Day. The ceremony had one of the largest groups of seniors committing in Legend history with fifteen committing.
“It was really cool because I didn’t expect that many students to sign,” said senior Josh Smith.
These group of seniors had already gone through the signing process earlier. The ceremony was more for recognizing the students’ athletic endeavors.
“You have to do the actual signing at home at 7 o’clock,” said senior James Lemons. “The ceremony is more for show and recognition, so for my signing I drew a picture of a dog.
Student athletes committed in a variety of sports, ranging from football to soccer to wrestling.
For many of these students, it has been a lifelong goal to commit and participate in athletics in college.
“UNC has been my dream school for a while for athletics,” said senior Lucy Roberts. “It was really exciting to commit because I had been waiting for it, for a while.”
Lucy, along with many of the other signing students, has been competing in her respective sport, soccer, for a large part of their life.
“I’ve been playing golf since I was pretty young, so it’s always been a dream of mine to continue playing in college,” said senior Clara Hosman.
Although this has been a dream come true for many of the athletes, the actual Signing Day event was full of mixed emotions.
“At first I was really nervous but when it was my turn to go up and sign, I was really excited for my next chapter in life,” said senior Sydney Dreiling.
The event signals the start of the oncoming end for the senior class and the close graduation date.
You start the essay, then realize it will be 11:59 within the hour, or even less, before the assignment locks. However, many times this is not a result of an overly busy workload, but poor planning and time management — or even avoiding the assignment altogether. In order to avoid the stress of late assignments or approaching deadlines, here are some easy ways to stay on top of the workload.
Looking at a long list of everything due from tomorrow to next month can easily become overwhelming. To conquer the list and get what you need done, making certain assignments a priority can help ease the workload. For instance, if one item is due at midnight and another doesn’t need to be done until the following week, it only makes sense to complete the one due first prior to the one due second, even if the other project is bigger or more interesting. Making these lists can help you visualize your due dates and create a schedule that will best suit your needs for your classes, tests, and homework.
It can feel as though we either need to finish the assignment in one sitting, or not do it at all. However, ten minutes every morning or a half hour after school can be just as productive as spending hours finishing the project in one sitting — perhaps even more, because it allows you the opportunity to work on a variety of projects/assignments that need completing, instead of just the one. Little amounts of productivity in random places add up quick, lessening the stress of the workload while allowing it to fit into your schedule, instead of having to change your routine to accommodate the work.
Going along with the previous idea of not finishing the assignment in one go, it can be helpful to break up the assignment into parts and complete those on a miniaturized schedule that ends with the real due date. For instance, if you are assigned an essay on Friday, due in two weeks, then you might have a solid topic by Monday, a rough draft by Friday, and then spend time the following week editing the essay, getting feedback, and nicening up the work.
It does no good to overwork yourself. A tired, overworked brain can be just as bad as not doing the assignment altogether. A constant feeling of lethargy does little to inspire motivation. It may be helpful to time yourself and work on an interval schedule (for every half hour of studying, take a five minute break).
Organize incentives to encourage productivity. Research has shown that the human brain responds well to stimulus and rewards, helpful in creating good habits. It certainly makes studying a lot more fun when you know there’s a reward at the end. The frequency of these incentives depend on the person. Some may enjoy a small treat at the end of every chapter, others may do it by assignment, while some may prefer one big celebration at the end of studying.
The month of December often sees an increase in donations, especially that of food to those in need, as people find themselves in the holiday spirit. However, after the month passes donations tend to die down. What happens to those in need after the holiday season is over?
“There are a lot less donations in January to food banks compared to other months,” senior Carson Cramer said. “There is much more of a struggle to feed people this month.”
He, along with seniors Adit Desai, Lucas Ericson, and Andrew Lapoint, decided to help combat this issue by starting a food drive in Legend. Their solution has been in the works for a while.
“We started an organization, the Parker Food Rescue,” senior Adit Desai said. “We got it formalized with the IRS last August.”
From their Food Drive at Legend alone, they have received 280 pounds of donations, however the group’s work is not limited to Legend.
“We do food pickups every week after school,” senior Lucas Ericson said. “We take the donations from stores over to Southeast Christian.”
After their recent success at Legend and other participating stores, the group of boys are now looking to grow even more.
“Our plan for the future is to work with various grocery stores and restaurants in the Parker area to deliver food to more food banks and people in need,” senior Andrew Lapoint said.
Zach Gotlieb | January 30th, 2020
On Sunday morning, the world lost an icon. An idol to so many people across the globe. Kobe Bryant was among nine people that died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, leaving behind a wife and three daughters. Words can’t truly express what happened.
I remember the 2009 Western Conference Finals. The only time the Denver Nuggets have made it to the WCF in my lifetime. Of course, it had to be against the Lakers. Of course, we had to play against Kobe. The man who ruined dreams. Carmelo Anthony was amazing, but Kobe was on a different planet. He owned the Nuggets. I was at the games when they played in Denver. The environment, as always, was incredible. I remember it so vividly. Every time Kobe touched the ball, he got booed. Every. Single. Time. It was out of hate. Hate for all of the best reasons. We knew that every time he touched the ball, we’d be down by more than we were before. Even if they didn’t score, somehow, we were down more than we were before. Denver put up a good fight but eventually lost in 6 games. Kobe and the Lakers went on to win the Finals that season.
I know that just about everybody did it. Whether it was on the basketball court, the classroom throwing crumpled up papers into the trash can. Make or miss, there was always one unifying word. “Kobe!!” Every time, in elementary school, we’d pull up and chuck a prayer of a shot you’d hear it. “Kobe!!” For Kobe, it was part his ‘shooters shoot’ “Mamba Mentality.” He’d make some ridiculous shot and just get back on defense. For us, if we made the shot, the game stopped to celebrate. He may be disappointed in the fact that we took the time to celebrate, but this wasn’t our day job. We did it cause we felt, for just one second, like we were him. Our idol.
Kobe played 20 years in the NBA, spending his whole career with the Los Angeles Lakers. In that time, he was a 17-time All-Star, 2-time Olympic Gold medalist, and a 5-time champion among many many more accolades. He was a killer (in a basketball way, of course). The type that made you fear seeing the number 8 or eventually the number 24 in that Lakers purple and gold. You just knew that there was no way he was going to let his team lose. In basketball, we always talk about the clutch instinct. The killer mentality. Kobe was the embodiment of that. There are just so many examples of it. It was only fitting that his last game embodied his whole career. He dropped 60 points, including the daggers that put the Lakers over the Utah Jazz. Truth is, none of that mattered.
Kobe Bryant embodied the very best things about a person. The greatest competitor. A tireless worker. An outstanding father. Just an incredible person. He was a superhero to all. Yes, he may have had his spots and made some mistakes, ones that shouldn’t be glossed over, but he proved that people can change.
He had four daughters. Possibly the most devastating part of the accident was hearing about the fact that one of his daughters was in the crash. His 13-year-old, Gianna. Natalia, his oldest daughter, is a volleyball player. Gianna was the basketball player. The heir to Kobe’s massive throne. Even at 13, she already had all of the tools to be an amazing basketball player. She possessed the very things that Kobe had. Skill, but also the mentality. She already has the killer instinct. The belief that it doesn’t matter who you were, she was going to beat you. Most importantly, she had the undying support of her father.
Their bond came from basketball. After retirement, Kobe took time away from basketball. It was Gianna who brought him back the league. Her love of the game and her ambition. Kobe saw it too. There’s a clip that’s been going viral in recent days when he’s talking about his legacy and his kids taking the torch with Jimmy Kimmel.
“This kid, man. I’m telling you. The best thing that happens is when we go out, and fans will come up to me, and she’ll be standing next to me. They’ll be like ‘hey, you got to have a boy. You and V[anessa]. You gotta have a boy to carry on your tradition, the legacy.’ And she’s like ‘oye, I got this. Ain’t no boy for that. I got this.’ And I’m like, that’s right. Yes, you do. You got this,” Bryant said to Jimmy Kimmel.
Gianna dreamed of going to UCONN. One of the most dominant teams in recent history. Then eventually to the WNBA. People believed she would be the unifying force to bring the NBA and WNBA simply because of the legacy that she brought along with the legacy she was creating for herself.
Players believed that Kobe could have ended up being the commissioner of the WNBA. He’s become an ambassador for the game. He’s done everything to try and build up a game that hasn’t been as popular as it should be.
I’ll end it with this, This doesn’t feel real. Kobe Bryant was literally a superhero. Like Superman. He may have had 23 years on me, but he was supposed to outlive me. An immortal. The fact that we have to wake up in a world without the Black Mamba, Kobe Bryant, is devastating and doesn’t feel real.
KOBE!!
Main Image Credit:
Unified’s Recognition by Special Olympics
By Ronak Dsouza
The first assembly of the second semester was a historic first as Legend was honored as a nationally recognized Special Olympics school. This recent achievement is thanks to the Unified program, consisting of both teachers and students, and partners. Partners are students who choose to help out with the Unified program acting as peers.
“It feels great to be a partner because we get to help the kids pursue their dreams of playing sports,” junior Haile Hock said.
Students involved as partners enjoy the experience.
“It’s definitely one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had in high school,” senior Sara Fox said. “You get to play sports with some of the best kids in the school and really learn what it means to be happy.”
The partnership aspect of the Unified program played a large part in the Special Olympics school recognition, however two leaders of the Unified program applied for the honor.
“The leaders of our Unified program, Jeremy Dorr and Karen Forbes, went through a really arduous application process,” senior Sara Fox said. “They had to talk and write to a lot of different people and organizations in order for the program to be nationally recognized.”
This makes the assembly the icing on the cake for the Unified program after all of the hard work put in to be recognized for their success.
“The assembly was really great because it felt good for the kids to be recognized for going above and beyond with their lives and extracurricular activities,” junior Haile Hock said.
The recognition assembly included a visit by former Bronco Steve Atwater and the Broncos mascot Miles as well as Special Olympics.
