Jayden Dillon has been a cherished student at Bigfork High School. Most may know him from football, cheer, or even band. Dillon spent all four years of high school in football; this is where he achieved his most favorite memory from senior year, scoring his first varsity touchdown ever. When Dillon is not practicing football and cheer, Dillon does one of his most valued activities, baseball. After high school, Dillon plans on going into the Army reserves; after that, Dillon wishes to move to Sacramento, where he will take up his promising college career. Outside of school, Dillon participates in a variety of different things. Such as working, watching the Star Wars franchise, and hanging out with his friends and girlfriend. When Jayden leaves, the things he will miss most about Bigfork include many of the teachers and all of his friends. Jayden’s Senior Project was working with the guitar, the specific task was to learn four entirely different songs and play them on the guitar. He was truly inspired by his uncle, who was very talented on the guitar. Going down the road from when the project first started to now showed a lot of great progress. Dillon has fulfilled his goal and learned some new things about himself and the guitar. One such thing that he has learned is patience. To say the least, Jayden will be missed by not only the teachers, but by the students and community as well. Jayden wishes to be remembered as the fun kid that everyone wanted to be around.
Jordan Claveria By Jared Erlewine
“Grace was not very helpful with my quote, even though I’m always helping her with math!” - Jordan
Jordan Claveria has been a impressive student at our beloved high school. Claveria’s peers know him as quite the energetic individual, never seen in a tempered mood. He achieved many ‘legendary’ memories during his high school career, but his fondest memory would belong to Speech and Debate. Claveria took his ____ into quarterfinals during the state competition. Claveria has also been known to participate in many different clubs and activities such as Montana World Affairs and Speech and Debate. Not only did he spend two or three years in each of the previous clubs, but he spent one year in Cave Club and Science Magazine while also helping out Hatch Literary Magazine for four consecutive years. Out of all these different experiences, Claveria’s favorite thing about BHS was Honors American History in his Junior year. Many of Claveria’s interests define who he is; for instance, his ‘always ready to work’ attitude helps him get through his usual everyday tasks. After school, Claveria can be found working on excess school overflow or at his job as a merchandiser for Fun Beverages Inc. Another achievement that Jordan is particularly proud of is his senior project. Claveria’s goal was to receive an Associate’s degree before he got his high school diploma. Claveria chose this project because he wanted to obtain a head start on his college career; Claveria also found it to be a feasible task he would find to be a necessity regardless later on. After Claveria’s departure, he wants to be remembered as great person, with “superiority;” needless to say, he did leave a mark on the students and staff at Bigfork High School.
Logan Kaminsky By Jared Erlewine
“You just go with the flow, because life is all about how you are feeling.” - Logan Kaminsky
Logan Kaminsky has succeeded as a full time student and a athlete at Bigfork High School; he is most well known for the activities he participates in, such as football, wrestling, cheer, and track. One of Kaminsky’s most memorable moment from his senior year involves the participation of the football team in the Divisional playoffs tournament. After high school, Kaminsky plans on transitioning to Fort Benning, near the Alabama – Georgia border. He will be staying in Fort Benning for six and a half weeks for AIT. When he leaves, he plans on returning back to Montana and attending the University of Montana. When Kaminsky leaves Montana for his time in Fort Benning, he will miss a few things from Bigfork. Out of all those things, he will miss his former teacher, Mrs. Clark or Commander Clark as some call her. Of course, he will also miss a couple of his close friends, Madison Gardner and Breanna Hathaway. Outside of school, Kaminsky can be found doing a variety of different outdoors activities, but most importantly, Kaminsky enjoys to practice his military drills outside of school. When Kaminsky isn’t busy with outdoor activities, he enjoys to read. His favorite book is ‘City of Bones’ by Cassandra Clare; his favorite song is ‘First Day Out’ by Tee Grizzley. Kaminsky’s Senior project took the entirety of the school year; he learned how to rock climb efficiently and effectively from scratch. Kaminsky faced several problems throughout the two seasons he was able to do it in (Fall and Spring). One such problem was that he did have means of transportation or any time to work on his project, and another problem was that it was much harder than what he expected. In the end, he triumphed over nature, completing his task and learning several things. Kaminsky claims patience to be the overall lesson. In the end, all Seniors will be missed, but among them, Logan will hold a special place here in Bigfork High School. He wishes to be remembered as the guy who turned heads and make people think, “wow, I did not expect him to do that!”
Madison Gardner By Jared Erlewine
“Be happy for this moment, this moment is your life.” - Omar Khayyam
Madison Gardner has a full time student at Bigfork High School; she is very well known around the school for her success in soccer. Gardner spent her four years at BHS on the varsity soccer team, but she has also been known to do a variety of other activities, such as Health Occupations Students of America or HOSA, cheer, track, and choir. So far, her favorite memory from her senior year was the state track meet. After high school, Gardner plans on going to the University of Montana. While she is attending the University, she plans on studying Pre-med or athletic sciences. She then plans to transfer into medical school post undergrad and pursue a career as a surgeon. Once she gets there, her ultimate career goal will be Doctors without Borders. Her sole reasoning for this is to help those in third world countries who need medical attention. Once Gardner departs, she will miss lots of things about Bigfork, such as walking down to the river, her sports teams, Burger Town, and her beloved dog and cat. She will also miss some of the things she does outside of school; for example, Gardner enjoys modeling, weight lifting, hiking, watching Netflix or HBO, and going down to the lake. Gardner’s senior project dealt with the art of tumbling. This is a gymnastic skill that can often be utilized in cheer. Gardner’s goal was to learn how to tumble exceedingly well, and she did it exceedingly well enough to the point where she not only achieved her goal. Gardner excelled so quickly at it that her skills landed her on a spot on the University of Montana cheer team. Gardner claims she learned a great deal from this project; but she learned strengths such as time management, physical and mental strength, and patience. Which all played a role in Gardner’s success. Madison Gardner will be missed from our high school, as the nice, driven, very talented individual, who inspired other to do their absolute best and show kindness to everyone she meets.
The Roar of the Panther By Jared Erlewine
“Black Panther” hit the box office with a great amount of applause. People all across the world have given this movie great reviews. Many are thinking of even returning to the cinemas to rewatch it. But so far, as stated by Forbes, “‘Black Panther’ has kept the top of the box office for another weekend.” This ensures that “Black Panther” will continue to stay at the top or up there until the next few weeks. It’s also been reported by Forbes that “Black Panther” is estimated to reach a total of $1 billion for its total income by the time it dies out. Factors that contribute to the movies huge success would be the fluid story arc likable characters and featured actors. The story arc was above what would usually be expected from a superhero movie. It especially did not have the feeling that the movie was too long or too short, giving its audience a satisfied feeling post-movie. What also helped give the movie such a reputation was its unrealistic, yet likable, characters. The main protagonists were very amiable, making the audience side with the heros and relate with them. Then, the actors who made the characters stand out did tremendous jobs playing their roles, whether antagonist or protagonist. What really helped build these actors into their roles was the great script. The writers did a fantastic job making sure the script made sense and had very minimal cringy lines. But with all great things, there is always something worse happening in its shadow. Weeks before the premier of “Black Panther,” the African American community across the whole of the United States found this movie a great feat towards their culture. And with people's opinions across the nation, there's bound to be controversy. Especially since both sides send threats to one another. Reported by Polygon, “Anti-Disney fringe group gets foiled by Rotten Tomatoes and Facebook.” This group of people had planned to review bomb and send many statuses stating false rumours to discourage people from watching Black Panther. And as blatantly stated in their name, they hate Disney, but other motives such as racism are being investigated as to why they targeted Black Panther. They’ve been reported to have reasons such as “The black community has taken this movie as their own, when it belongs to the public.” and “This movie should NOT be taken as a social stance.” There's other possible reasons as to why they did this, but one very possible reason could be that the selected few who are in the African American community have aggravated people on this subject. Many tweets from the various members of the African American community stated that this movie was meant for them alone and that people from anything other than the African American culture should wait a week post premier. But, since the movies premiere was weeks ago, its safe to say that the whole controversy has mainly died down, due to the argument getting old and other stuff is grabbing the people's attention. So hopefully nothing like this happens anytime soon again.
Welcome to the jungle By Jared Erlewine
Much like an elephant, “Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” goes stomping around as well, just inside the box office. As you may have heard, Jumanji was a explosion in the box office. Though critics may give it a above average or mediocre rating, be assured, this movie will give a quick laugh. Metacritic states, “Who is the audience for this movie? It’s unfit for children, and not funny enough for adults.” Metacritic sounds as though that they did not enjoy this movie and may try to sway fans away from the series. But rest easy, for the audience score from Rotten Tomatoes stands strong at 89%, saying that almost all people who have attended this movie enjoyed it immensely. But do not take it from them, take it from senior Kim McDonald. “That movie was hilarious, and is a must see,” she said. Not only does McDonald recommend it, but countless others do as well. Not only does the action and humor sell the movie, but the featured actors play a huge role in giving the movie popularity. One such featured actor is Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, who plays Spencer. Jack Black, Kevin Hart, Nick Jonas, and Karen Gillan are other huge actors that play large roles. Jumanji has made a very surprising amount profit at the box office, that even Forbes.com has recorded it as Sony’s top grossing movie that is not “James Bond” or “Spiderman” since “Men in Black.” Jumanji has made over $820 million, exceeding even the producers’ and directors’ goals. It is starting to look like that sequel or series may be in order due to Sony now being reliant on the Jumanji franchise, as seen by their profit. So, if anyone is planning to see a movie any time soon, and they have not seen Jumanji, go watch it.
Thor: Ragnarok By Jared Erlewine
Marvel has done it again with its seventh consecutive box office hit, with the previous movie being “fifty shades of grey: Homecoming,” but “Thor: Ragnarok” definitely caught up. Both movies totalled up to over $6.9 billion. Chris Hemsworth comes back into the fold of movies in this new Marvel hit. Playing the God of Thunder (as always), Thor is faced with having to save his own world. But before that, he has to escape his own problems. He has by his side: Loki (played by Tom Hiddleston), The Incredible Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo), The Valkyrie (played by Tessa Thompson), and Dr. Strange (played by Benedict Cumberbatch). The movie overall was definitely a sight for sore eyes; its screenplay and CGI were very well done, as well as the acting. would definitely be correct to say that the movie was an easy “top of the Box office.” Rotten Tomatoes agrees, giving it a 92%. And it would seem that not only did Rotten Tomatoes enjoy the movie, but so did many others, including IMDB, Metacritic, Washington post, and many more. The Washington Post pointed out the “sauciness” or the humor of the film, even going so far as saying, “Much of the humor is sublimely silly…” They could be implying that this movie was greatly needed to help with society's anxiety and stress in today's world. Until the next blockbuster comes out, “Thor: Ragnarok” should easily be picked as an easy-to-watch and entertaining movie for the time being. Well, that is until “fifty shades of Freed ” comes out.
The Common Enemy By Jared Erlewine
It’s turning into fall and winter and everyone knows what that means, the flu and the common cold are here as well. The common cold is a sickness caused by many different viruses and can be contagious. It can spread through many ways from person to person. Even TheHuffington Post says that your body shows signs “So the violent sneezing, coughing, honking into tissues—they’re your body’s way of announcing to healthy folk that you’re contagious and they’d be wise to keep their distance,” stated the The Huffington Post. Several ways the virus gets around is by skin to skin contact, such as kissing, hand holding, and hugging. It can also travel around more by people getting coughed on or sneezed on. The cold is easily recognizable and usually goes away within a couple weeks and is usually harmless. “Most people recover within about 7-10 days,” as said by the CDC.gov. But people are known to feel miserable while going through the illness, because they may be feeling minor to major headaches or light pain in the muscles. A lot of other discomfort that comes with it includes a sore throat, lots of mucous and nasal congestion while having a runny nose at the same time, watery or red eyes, sneezing and coughing, and minor body aches. Usually it is not necessary, but is welcome, to see a doctor if you think it may be turning for the worse. But there is definitely other ways it can be cured or numbed, like using cough syrup for the throat and cough, washing out the nasal cavity (if it is highly needed), and cold medicine (obviously). The cold got its common name easily by having around three million cases or more per year in the United States alone. Believe it or not, but it is roughly estimated that there are around 126 million workdays combined that are missed by parents who tend to their ill children. So this Winter, make sure you bundle up in warm clothes and do not let anybody sneeze on you.
Sophomore, Hunter Pickens, suffers from chronic "Common Cold" Symptoms.
The effects “poison” has on you By Jared Erlewine
Many know that poison is very easy thing to acquire (for the sense of poison that is). Poison is not just cyanide or some sort of concoction. It can come in the form of many different things, such as a drink, or a powder or a leaf. For those who have not guessed to what it is by now, I am referring to drugs and alcohol. Some students in our school have probably heard this spiel over and over again and probably blew it off. Maybe they took it to heart; if so, good for them. But to those who are still reading this, realize that drugs and alcohol are literally bad for the body. There might only be one exception towards this argument and that is pot. Pot may or may not be so bad or the body, but it is still an age restricted drug, before pharmacists want people to take it (if they have to), they need to be a certain age (21 years or older), same with alcohol. This reasoning is because the human brain is still growing and smoking or drinking can kill brain cells, as well as killing the lungs. The CDC thinks that too. “Smoking increases the risk Of men developing lung cancer by 25 times,” stated their website. Alcohol and smoking do not just do that, but they can easily kill if someone drinks or smokes too much, they do this by corroding and destroying your liver and lungs. And for those who have not learned this yet, your liver is one of the most important things in your body. So by drinking at an early age consistently, then you are digging an early grave as well. Now the hardcore drugs are an easy no no. Now you got a quick and easy insight on the “poison” that dreadfully floats around our small community.
Sign, age unknown, clearly says drug free, found just outside the school walls.
Movie Review: IT
By Jared Erlewine
As many but not all know, the biggest highlight in movies this month and maybe even movie history was IT. This R rated horror/thriller movie broke records for September movie releases by throwing down a whopping $117 million debut in its opening weekend, making this movie the highlight of the summer. IT even passing up Spiderman: Homecoming as third opening for this year so far. This novel was written by world renown author, Stephen King. This story was his 22nd book and his 18th novel, but it's definitely one of his more memorable stories. New York Times agrees as they said, “...IT arrived as a cultural juggernaut over the weekend, smashing September box office records.” Obviously New York Times is not the only source that thinks that, Rotten Tomatoes gave them a 87% with an audience score of 89%. IMDb thought mostly the same with a 8.1 out of 10. For the review, IT gave very high praise to the Stranger Things story and format, and even went as far to cast Finn Wolfhard, who played Mike from Stranger Things. Another actor you may know of is Bill Skarsgård, who portrayed Pennywise the Dancing Clown. For many people, they would give this movie the same rating it got, mainly because of the many jump scares and gruesome images that were shown in just the first 10 minutes of the film as well as throughout. Though the first few minutes of IT were scary and very disturbing, the movie showed how far the characters and antagonist were willing to go in such an early opening. But for those who haven’t seen this incredible mark on the horror genre, there are great moments for comedy and great moments for pure horror. That being said, the movie seems to be 50% horror for the first half and 50% thriller in the next. With that, some people could say that comedy could have been a third of the movie. But others beg to differ saying as much as that the so called “Comedy” portion of it enhanced the horror of it all. Towards the end, IT was only action. The final action scene came to surprise to most because it is the least you would expect from a horror movie or genre. Unless you read the book. As for another IT, the cast all promised to come back if needed. And I highly recommend you to go see this very thought over movie...unless you’re scared of clowns.
Sophomore Ben Keller stands in angst and anticipation to see the remake of the classic IT.