March Feature 2019

page 2 feature

volume 47 issue 6

No Look Slingers take home dodgeball championship Ryan Cain Sports Editor Executive board Team Triumph held a dodgeball tournament on March 5th, in the fieldhouse. The No Look Slingers, led by senior Zach Hopman, came in first and won the trophy. They went undefeated in the round robin and ended up winning out with no championship round. “We were very surprised when Mr. Minor came over with the trophy and told us that we won, we were expecting to have a couple playoff rounds or at least one, but I guess it all ended up working out well for us and I think that pretty much everyone agreed that we had the best

uniforms by far,” Hopman said. The No Look Slingers did face some real competition however, the returning champions, the Dodge Fathers were looking to become repeat champions but fell short and placed third place out of six teams. “My team had some great plays as well as some great players, we played well and overall I will always be proud of my players but as a coach I am disappointed that we could not come out again as champions, there were a couple times when we needed our players who are not the best like Dylan Jackson to step up, but when push came to shove he just could not do it,” coach Aiden Zebari said.

The second place team, Doods/ Nanski played hard but in their very first game were matched up against the No Look Slingers and lost badly, they were just not ready for the hand cannons that the baseball players carry. Mitchell Marvin instantly hit two players on Doods/Nanski’s and a catch by Hopman’s hands made it a rather fast game. Will Jontz and Dylan Lucid had the impossible job of being the referes, they had the final say of if a person was out or in, if the ball was caught or dropped and if you stepped over the line when throwing. “Being the ref was a real challenge because you want some teams to win over the others but

you also need to make the right calls. Of course I wanted to see my brother get beamed in the face and get the privilege of calling him out but that never happened. Overall, I thought it was fun for all and a great time,” Jontz said. It cost five dollars per person to play and a max of ten players per team. There was a total of six teams that played in this year’s tournament, last year had the same player turnout. Executive board president Maxx Renicker played in the tournament as well as being a driving force in setting up the event. No Look Slingers take a picture with their championship trophy.

Students at BHS prepare for the annual SAT Mikayla Maciak Staff Reporter The SAT test is drawing closer each week for the juniors of BHS and all over America. This test determines many things about college and scholarships. It clearly has a big impact on student’s futures, so it’s natural that students would want to prepare for it. This begs the question what is the best way to prepare for the SAT? The SAT isn’t just like any normal test where students are tested on a set amount of information that stu-

dents have just learned .The SAT test questions cover anything that students may have learned throughout one’s entire school career, which is an awful lot of information. There are resources like Khan Academy that can help one prepare. Khan Academy has partnered with College Board to provide practice tests and questions that are available to students. According to Khan Academy studying for the SAT for 20 hours through their website can increase scores by an average of 115 points. It’s a good idea to employ some strategy to the test taking process.

“Some techniques for the English section are going with parallelism if it’s offered as an option and always going with the option that sounds most correct to you if you don’t understand the question. For the math some techniques are working backwards using the answers given and eliminating possible answers based on how they look in relation to the rest of the options,” senior Sarah Shafi said. Studying for the SAT is definitely something that should not be left until last minute. Studying over long periods of time gives one’s brain time to absorb the informa-

tion. Practicing good studying habits with the SAT is the way to go. For those who haven’t been studying or haven’t employed good studying habits, it is still better to start studying now than to not study at all. Many students are nervous about taking the SAT. It is best to stay calm when taking a test. It is easier said than done. Just remember to that there is still life after the test and if it does go poorly there is the option of retaking the test. Many students take the SAT multiple times before getting the score they want. “Timing trips people up more often than not,” counselor Jody Petit

said. A good thing to remember is to get a good night’s worth of sleep the night before the test and to eat a good breakfast the morning of. It is important to give your brain fuel so you can think better and have better concentration for the test a head. “I am not worried about the test because you can just retake it,” junior Madeline Rousseau said.

SAT Date 2019 April 9-10th

Studen Spotlight: foreign exchange student Ozlin Cetinbas from Turkey Piper Lauer Editor-in-Chief

Jack Krause, Zach Hopman and Victor Grabowski (left to right) smile with their academic letters.

Photo by Nate Watson

Students at BHS strive to receive their academic letter this spring Cori Osterman News Editor On Friday, March 15th, the high achieving students of Brighton High School were recognized for their academic success at an academic letter lunch. Students who received a letter for their good grades, and their parents were invited to a special lunch. Parents were encouraged to bring the students’ favorite lunch, if not pizza and drinks were provided by the PTO. In the invitation letter, Khrystine Hendy and Gina Henig, the chairpeople for the ceremony, requested that parents also bring a donation of cookies to serve the students. This lunch was geared toward making sure that the students were honored for their accomplishments. Two events are held every year at the high school. This parent lunch, in the school library, is for the letters given out at the semester mark. At the beginning of the year, there is a ceremony for academic letters, that student and parent are also invited to. They hand out the letters in the BCPA. In order for a student to receive

an academic letter they must have had a 3.5 grade point average or higher for two consecutive semesters. A letter is given to those who show excellence in a particular area. Academic letters let a student show that they are hard working and do well in school. Along with the letter, a student receives an iron on “B” to put on their school letterman jacket. The “B” stands for Brighton and spreads the concept that many students at BHS show excellence in their studies. This year the number of students at the high school who received letters is a big accomplishment. The principals are happy with the outcome. “We are handing out a total of 555 academic letters which is ten more than this time last year. I think we should always be celebrating academic achievements more than anything else. It encourages other students to do well and that’s what school is all about,” principal Henry Vecchioni said. Students who achieve this task are proud of their work ethic. High schools give out letters in order to empower their students to continue

to do great work and show others that it’s possible for their grades to be even better. “My advice for someone who wants to keep up good grades is to make sure you stay focused and ask all the questions you need to. I also try not to procrastinate and do my homework as soon a possible. I’m definitely going to the lunch, because it will be fun,” junior Victoria McMullen said. Some students did not attend the lunch that is held by the school, but they always go to the office afterwards to pick up their letter. The letter is enough to show them that they did something great and should be proud of their work. “I really like that students are recognized for their grades twice a year. My grades are important to me. I keep up my grades by working hard and choosing classes that I enjoy,” junior Christina Morris said. The change of having the academic ceremony and lunch gives parents time to spend with their kids instead of just watching them on stage.

Coming from across the world, Ozlin Cetinbas is one of Brighton High School’s foreign exchange students. She’s still accommodating to her new life in Brighton, as things are slightly different from her home back in the Republic of Turkey. For example, her living situation. Ozlin was in contact with her host family a few months before making the trip here. She was familiar with them, yet the first day meeting them, she was moving in, a pretty fast transition. It was strange at first, but Cetinbas was able to push through the initial chaos and just jump into her new life, which included a younger host sister. “They start to feel like a second family after a bit of time and getting used to each other. I wasn’t sure what it’d be like to have a younger “sister”, but I appreciate and enjoy being with all of my host family,” Cetinbas said. Beyond that, school is slightly different as well. Like many european schools, the way classes are scheduled is not even remotely the same. Back in Izmir, Turkey, Ozlin reports that throughout a normal school day, she stays with the same people and stays in the same location. Unlike BHS students, who shift classes in accordance to the bells, the teachers are the ones who rotate there and she’s stuck with the same classmates throughout all four years. “Being around the same people so much and for so long leads to some really strong friendships. We all know each other and some I think of as family,” Ozlin said. In addition to that, Ozlin is missing out on some seniors activities that our school doesn’t do. All of her friends are taking part of a senior

Ozlin Cetinbas smiles for the headshot. Photo by Piper Lauer

water war, which is off limits to underclassmen, meaning Ozlin never had the opportunity to do it before and now won’t be able to. Although she’s bummed out about missing the experience, she’s excited for things that only Brighton offers. Such as unique classes like yearbook, which she says is her favorite subject now. Ozlin came here to learn from experience and have fun. Which is exactly how the year is going for her so far. However, some drawbacks come along with this fun. It’s hard to remain cheerful when family and friends continue living their lives on the other side of the world, especially when it comes to special events like birthday celebration. “Turkey is eight hours ahead, so when I woke on my birthday, I already had many messages wishing me a good day. Waking up to that was very heartwarming and I felt all their love despite them being so far away. It was nice, but also made me miss them more,” Cetinbas said. Many of her new friends within Brighton were able to cheer her up and remind her that this could now be considered a second home. Ozlin hopes to return to Michigan once she goes back home, to make even more memories with the new friends found here.