The CHIEF October 2016

OCTOBER, 2016

The

PONTIAC TOWNSHIP HIGH SCHOOL

SURF'S UP!

INDIAN PRIDE

MUSIC UPDATE

PTHS students celebrate their 2016 Homecoming, embracing the Hawaiian- themed festivities!

Check out how a record number of students came together to show their school pride in hall decorating.

The Music Department has been up to plenty - read up on what's coming next!

table of contents

03 Homecoming 04 Indian Pride

05 Music Update 06 Upperclass Acts 08 Critic ' s Corner - Literature 09 Critic ' s Corner - Music 10 Critic ' s Corner - Movie 11 Story Time

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12 Student Poetry

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CHIEF www.pontiac90.org

2 0 1 6 P T H S H O M E C O M I N G

SURF'S UP!

By She l by J enn i ng s

    Homecoming week has officially come to an end, but I hope everyone had a chance to enjoy it. The week kicked off with a great win by the junior class ladies in Powder Puff football and a senior win for hall decorating during Sunday. The senior class also took home the win for the best float in Friday’s parade. Even if you didn’t attend the dance, I hope you enjoyed the pep rally or the football game. I loved seeing so many people participate in all of the festivities during the week, either dressing up for the spirit days or attending one of the pack-the-place sporting events! Thank you to everyone who participated, helped, and supported us throughout that week. Homecoming would not be possible without the help and spirit of everyone.     Even though homecoming is over, there are still more things to look forward to … watch out for an upcoming male Buff Puff volleyball game, a new tradition started here at PTHS!

What's your favorite part of Homecoming?

Kevin Turner

"Duplicate Day we all wore our pug shirts."

Indian Pride: Hall Decorating Edition

    Continuing the tradition of kicking off Home­ coming week, 75 students from each of the grade levels came to school on a Sunday morning to decorate their hallways, which is the biggest number of students in the past decade.         "This year, we were really able to be creative and have fun together as students!" said Student Council Treasurer Grace Watson. "It was great to see everybody come together to decorate the hallways!"     While every hallway in the school looked great, there had to be a winner.  This year, the Seniors took first place with their "Under the Sea" theme, leading walkers from the beach all the way to the deep sea.  Every year, students get a little more creative, and it's never too late to start thinking about next year!

Halee Anglin

"The Senior Football players' dance!"

Kai Poshard

"Walking with the Freshman float in the parade"

THS Music Department Update

By Matthew Birkett

   The very next day, we have our Fall Chorus Concert with all six ensembles, including the Madrigals and “We’ll Take It From Here” ensembles.      All of this is in a span of a week, so for someone who is in both band and choir, that is approximately twentytwo hours of time, including practices and rehearsal. Let’s wish our band and chorus luck for their performances.

    The Marching Band is hard at work as our season heads to a close, all of this leading to the ultimate U of I Marching Band Competition on the 15th. We will be competing in Class 2a with 6 other schools. Altogether, fortyone different schools are competing from Classes 1­ 5A. In order to be a 2A school, you must have a student population of 351 – 800. 

The PTHS Music Department proudly presents its Fall Choral Concert "Trials & Triumphs" on Sunday, October 16 at 3pm! Enjoy selections from the Concert Choir, two women's ensembles, and Men's Choir. You will also hear from the Madrigal Singers! The choirs will present music in Latin, Hebrew, Russian, Zulu, and English! You will hear music from the Renaissance and Classical periods, Mozart and Vivaldi, as well as traditional Spirituals, Early American Folk Songs, English Madrigals, and a few surprises along the way! No matter your taste in music, you will enjoy these energetic selections! Tickets are free for students! Bring yourself and friends to enjoy a tremendous afternoon of Choral music!

Upperclass Acts

Aubrey Gill

NICKNAMES: Aubs and Agill

ROLE MODEL: Walt Disney

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Madrigals, Band, Tennis, Student Council, TriM, Thespians

MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: When the Marching Band swept at the Wesleyan Competition freshman year.

FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Going to Madrigal camp sophomore year/the Madrigal dinners

PET PEEVES: When people talking while I’m talking

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: That I was always one of the music kids.

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Choir, Band, and Chemistry

HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? I would pay for college and save the rest.

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: Going to Indiana State University for Music Education

IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU?  A blanket, one of my friends, and a flare gun LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Like everyone says, stay involved in high school, but take schoolwork seriously you’ll be thankful for it later.”

FAVORITE MOVIE:  Jurassic Park

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “Try Everything” by Shakira

FAVORITE TEACHER: Mr. Durbin

FAVORITE BOOKS: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green and To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

Upperclass Acts

Connor Wolf

NICKNAMES: Cool Guy. Really Cool Guy. SUPER Cool Guy. Etc.

ROLE MODEL(S): Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Gabe Newell

MOST POSITIVE MOMENT: My most positive moment of high school will come the moment I receive my diploma.

ACTIVITIES @ PTHS: Speech Team, Tech Club, Chess Club, Varsity Tennis, National Honor Society

PET PEEVES: I hate when people walk slightly slower than me and won’t let me pass them.

FONDEST MEMORY OF HIGH SCHOOL SO FAR: Competing in Humorous Duet Acting for the PTHS Speech Team

WHAT MY FRIENDS WILL REMEMBER ABOUT ME: I make terrible jokes. I don’t know what people mean though; my jokes are great! HOW WOULD YOU SPEND $1,000,000? After college and investing, I’d love to own a private movie theater stocked with cheesy 80’s movies. IF YOU WERE STRANDED ON A DESERT ISLAND, WHAT 3 ITEMS WOULD YOU WANT WITH YOU? Water, food, and shelter all sound nice. LAST WORDS OF ADVICE: “Enjoy every moment with all you got. The world ends with you. If you want to enjoy life, expand your world. You have to push your horizons out as far as they'll go.”

3 MAJOR AREAS OF INTEREST: Technology, Writing, Bad Jokes  

PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL: I hope to attend DePaul University and acquire a Bachelor’s degree in Video Game Design.

FAVORITE MOVIE: Back to the Future or Scott Pilgrim vs. the World

MOST INSPIRATIONAL SONG: “All Star” by Smash Mouth

FAVORITE TEACHER/CLASS: Mr. Sweetwood’s Psychology

FAVORITE AUTHOR/BOOK: Ready Player One by Ernest Cline 

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Literature

Review of Rick Riordan's The Trials of Apollo #1: The Hidden Oracle

By Allyson Shoff

Rick Riordan is back at it again with another great twist on Greek and Roman mythology. In The Hidden Oracle , the sun god Apollo finds himself in a dumpster. He doesn ’ t remember anything that happened in the past six months after the battle against Gaea, and worse yet he ’ s now a mortal teenage boy with acne. Almost instantly, Apollo is set into servitude of an annoying young demigod named Meg. Now he must juggle the pains of his new body, the pains of this young child, and the pains of reviving the oracle. As we return to Camp Half-Blood and see the return of many old characters and meet some new ones, Apollo narrates the whole things in the classic, highly amusing, writing style everyone has come to expect from Rick Riordan.

I ’ m sure a lot of people were thinking the same thing I was when this book was announced: “ Hasn ’ t Rick Riordan written enough? Is this another case of Cassandra Clare ’ s writing issues? I think he ’ s milked this series enough. ” Yeah. Guess again. This book was great! Right from the beginning, The Hidden Oracle started with humor and action expected in a book written by Mr. Riordan. While all of his other books have focused on demigods as the main character, even his Norse mythology book, this series features one of the Greek gods as the centerpiece of destruction. Apollo is a charming, hilarious, and egotistic narrator that amused me to no end throughout the entire story. It wasn ’ t until the end of the book that we actually started to

see a little of humanity bloom from his mind and actually start to feel sorry for the guy. His little companion, Meg, while clearly diabolical, was probably my favorite character since Nico Di Angelo. Yeah, Nico ’ s in this book too. He ’ s in it quite a bit actually. Also, unlike most of the stories, The Hidden Oracle didn ’ t venture out of Camp Half- Blood very much and instead focused on the forest surrounding it. Any fans of Rick Riordan ’ s series are sure to enjoy this great start to a series. It ’ s a bit slower-paced than the other books he ’ s written, but it ’ s also not as thick as Blood of Olympus . I would recommend any readers of Riordan ’ s works to pick this up, and I would recommend the entire Percy Jackson series to any lovers of fantasy.

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Music

Review of Ghost's Popestar EP

By Allyson Shoff lead singer Papa's crooning voice, and the overall feel of the song is similar to the expected feel of a Ghost song. Someone going into this album with no prior knowledge that it was a cover might actually think they wrote it. The next song, "I Believe," does even more to show Papa ’ s crooning vocals and starts with a beautiful acoustic riff. "I Believe" doesn ’ t sound quite like a Ghost song, but it fits well in this album. This calming song is perfect for the middle of the album and was originally written by Simian Mobile Disco. The only cover song on the album from this century, it ’ s probably my favorite on the album, aside from "Square Hammer" of course! The next song is a bit deeper in vocal ranges and works well to display Papa ’ s vocal range. "Missionary Man" was originally written by the 80s pop-rock group, Eurythmics. It ’ s a pretty groovy song that ’ s pretty catchy. While I haven ’ t heard the original song, my mother grew up with this kind of music. She recognized the music style as that of the Eurythmics, but couldn ’ t quite place the song. As the second oldest song on this album, it ’ s surprisingly upbeat and slightly chaotic.

Not quite ready to release a full album, the metal band Ghost decided to go the EP route to put some new music out. Popestar was released right around the start of their tour and is available as both a deluxe edition of last year ’ s album, Meliora, and as a five song EP by itself. Most fans new to the way Ghost works didn ’ t know before buying this EP that only one song is actually new. The other four songs on the album are haunting covers ranging from the year 1984 to 2006. First up is the new song which was actually released several days before the EP and is definitely building the hype for the upcoming EP. The song, "Square Hammer" already has over 1.6 million views on Youtube since its release a few weeks ago. The video for this song was reminiscent of the original Dracula and paired well with this anthem-like song that is pretty normal for Ghost. The song was epic on every level and, in my opinion, better than a few of the songs off of Meliora , which was my favorite album of 2015. The first cover song on the album is "Nocturnal Me" from an old rock band, Echo and the Bunnymen. I haven't heard the original, but this song works very well with

The final song is highly unexpected from a band like Ghost. "Bible" was written by the Scandinavian band, Imperiet. This very calming song is probably my least favorite on the album, but I don ’ t hate it. With very obvious religious themes, this isn ’ t an expected song from Ghost when considering their previous themes, but Ghost still pulls it off well. If I just heard this song on the radio, I wouldn ’ t recognize it as Ghost though. I feel this song is kind of out of place in this aspect since all of the other songs on the EP are obviously done by Ghost. Overall, this EP was a great way to follow their highly unexpected Grammy for “ Best Metal Performance. ” With more “ radio friendly ” bands up for nomination such as Sevendust, Slipknot, and August Burns Red, I don ’ t think anyone expected Ghost or Lamb of God to win, but Ghost took home the Grammy for "Cirice" off of their third album Meliora . With this EP, Ghost prepares for the fourth studio album that will probably be released in early 2017 as they have announced they are very far into the writing process.

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Movie

Review of How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days

By Carlie Weaver

How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days is a 2003 romantic comedy starring Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey. Kate Hudson plays Andie Anderson, an aspiring journalist who currently works for a fashion magazine as an advice columnist. In order to save her friend ’ s reputation and show her boss she can step up to the plate, Andie takes on an assignment outside of her comfort zone. The name of the article is “ How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days. ” It ’ s meant to inform readers of how not to act around a man they like. To properly write the article, Andie needs to find a man to be a part of her story. This is where she meets Benjamin Barry, an advertising executive. Little does she know,

he ’ s also using her to help get ahead at work. Benjamin is trying to break into jewelry advertisement, and Andie is trying to reach her full potential, so while Ben needs Andie to fall in love with him, Andie needs Ben to give up on her. Who will come out victorious, if anyone? Will it end in disaster or will there be a happily ever after? How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days was just added to Netflix this month, so, if you ’ ve never seen it, now would be a good time if you want a laugh. This is one of my very favorite movies.

Story Time

"October Short Story" By Eve Pouliot

There on her bed a girl sits. She is curled up in the tiniest ball she can manage. As she sits she plans all sorts of things. Just as she starts to decide on which plan, she hears a knock on the door. The girl, her name being Kaiti, calls out in a voice best described as pained. “ Y-yeah? ” Is what she calls out. Another girl opens the door and enters this room. The first thing Kaiti notices about the girl who enters is her fantastic smile. The kind that is genuine and kind. This second girl is named Persephone. She visits Kaiti sometimes. Persephone is known for having great timing with her visits. Persephone enters with her fantastic smile and sits in front of Kaiti. Kaiti is obviously a little embarrassed. She was after all just crying and planning things that would make Persephone very sad. Yet there is Persephone, just smiling. Kaiti sniffles and wipes away the last of her tears. “ H-hey Persephone. What ’ s up? ” “ Oh nothing much, I just wanted to see you. ” Persephone replies. Persephone tilts her head to see Kaiti ’ s face since Kaiti turned away from her. Kaiti sort of glances down at Persephone. She almost starts staring at Persephone; after all, Persephone is a very pretty girl. But she remembers that she just got done crying so she looks away again.

“ Oh, that ’ s cool. I ’ ve been meaning to text you or something; I just haven ’ t really had the time. ” Kaiti says. This of course is a big lie. First of all, Kaiti never does anything but research online about a certain foster home that she used to live in. Second of all, Kaiti never thinks about contacting anyone. She ’ s just too sad. She doesn ’ t want to bum anyone else out. But the thing about Persephone is, she doesn ’ t mind when people are sad. She just wants to help them feel better. Kaiti does not quite understand this but she might get it eventually. “ Well, lucky I came by tonight. How are you feeling? ” Persephone asks, she doesn ’ t mind that her eyes are filled with concern for Kaiti. Kaiti looks at Persephone again and sees this concern. This just makes Kaiti feel guilty for planning things. “ Well, you know … Just the usual. ” Kaiti is trying to avoid telling Persephone how she really feels so Persephone will stop looking at her that way. Persephone is very perceptive so she knows this too. So she just smiles more.

Student Poetry "Ode to Halloween" By Cheyenne Dillon Oh what an exciting time, Costumes and candy sublime!

Allyson Shoff - Editor-in-Chief

Sarah Albrecht Leslie Babbs Taylor Brooks Matthew Birkett Cheyenne Dillon Kaelee Germain Shelby Jennings Colin Lakadat Taylor Ritter Eve Pouliot Carlie Weaver

Little children run Through the streets,

There are yells, hollers, screams And shrieks!

Mr. Blair, Faculty Sponsor Mr. Soares, Faculty Sponsor

A ghost and a mouse Walk up to my house

A zombie and a tiger Come with bags open wide,

Then comes a wizard who is So wise!

Children eating tootsie pops, They think chocolate is the tops!

Munching on popcorn And other snacks,

They walk around trying to Fill their sacks!

These are things that I have seen On the awesome night of Halloween.