At Carter High School, Coach Timothy Free is head of the wrestling team. The team is more like a family. They joke and laugh just like siblings and genuinely enjoy spending time together. They build each other up and encourage each other to do and be better. When one team member makes a mistake they all carry the burden of it.

The wrestling team has been around since 1983 but fell apart and recently started back up. Their main motivation is to be the best high school  wrestling team in the state 

of Tennessee. They plan to accomplish this through practice and hard work.

 Last year Joy Reinmann, a student from Carter, became our schools first ever female wrestler to qualify for state. This year, the team’s main goal is to make it to state and take home the trophy. With their consistency and hard work ,this is a very attainable goal for this year’s team.

Trevor, one of the team members stated that the rules change every year and only a few stay the same such as no punching and no kicking. He feels strongly that the team can make it to state this year. When asked how he felt about being a member of a coed wrestling team Trevor said “If a man can get up there and wrestle, so can a woman.”

Do you ever have that lingering thought in your head: what am I going to do when I get out of high school? Well luckily for you the CHS counselors gave us some tips on how to utilize them and what research you should do yourself to help set you up for success. Ms. Duda, one of the school counselors, is very skilled in finding the perfect job for you based on your personality. She always tries to communicate with her students and connect with them to help set up the best path for them. Personality tests for jobs are really recommended. The top recommendation from Ms. Duda is Onetonline.org. This website tests your skills and shows you multiple categories of jobs to choose from. Plus it shows you the amount of schooling needed! Some tips from Ms. Duda are 1. Communicate to the counselor you have to come and reach out to them, they don’t know what you want for your future 2. Do your own research 3. Learn your interests. Also if you want to dabble into actual jobs for your interest the counselors are perfect for that they can reach out into the community to find apprenticeship opportunities for you after school Ms. Duda said ”The school counselors at Carter can work as a bridge for students to reach their future.” Another counselor at Carter High Ms. Bowman goes further into what you want to do in your future but how to get there. For example college, she says the first step is to think about what you’re passionate about and what you want to major in while you’re in college and consider how much you’re willing to pay. Although college might not be for everyone with how intimidating it is Ms. Bowman says, “Don’t underestimate yourself.” Still, there are other options like going straight into work right after high school. Both counselors agree the best approach to going straight into a job is dabbling into many subjects at school, seeing what you like and doing jobs after school out in the community. Also some things to get into if you want to do extra schooling after high-school is Tennessee-Hope scholarship to be eligible for this award you have to graduate with a 3.0 GPA and pass your ACT with a score of 21 in 4 different areas math, science, English, and reading Tennessee-Hope helps you pay for college with 3,500 dollars both your freshman and sophomore college classes and and for junior and senior 4.500 dollars. There are also the 2 free years of school the Tennessee Promise gives you. To help yourself for the future, talk to your counselor because there are many ways to earn scholarships! If you don’t know your passions, take some career tests to know what would fit you. Whether you want to go to college, trade school, straight into work, or even enlist into the military the counselors are there specifically to help you set you straight for success.

The choir has a huge event that you may audition for called “All East” with “All state” following up on it. The concert is on November 20th at Marysville college. All of the East Tennessee school choirs are joining, and “All State” is in Nashville in spring. 

The choir has all types of students mixed together, ranging from sporty to artists.Two freshmen from the choir have claimed,”I like choir because it lets you express yourself in any way”. Also these students said they feel very accepted because of how many different types of people there are in the choir. Even though they are not all alike, they all have one similarity: they are all trying hard, especially for “All East”. Only the best of the best will be going, so friendly competition is at an all time high. There is  “All State” as well, the next level of “All East”. To join you have to have been in “All East”, re-audition, and go to Nashville in spring. 

 The choir’s first event is coming up on Sept. 7th on a Tuesday. It is a musical revue with solos and duets. The musical “Meet me in St. Louis” all drama, stage tech, and vocal 1 have been working so hard on is coming on November 11th, 13th, and the 14th. If you want to help support all these upcoming events please buy from the stage tech or drama, they’re selling Nothing Bundt Cakes. It would really help in their efforts to reach a budget of 8,000 dollars for the upcoming musical “Meet me in St. Louis”. One more thing Mr. Webb has an ambition…. an ambition to teach the whole school the “Fight song!” So please make just a little effort to learn it to hype up the Carter High School’s teams!

When you walk into Coach Pait’s english class, it may just seem like a normal classroom, and he may seem like a normal guy. However, he is not just your typical English teacher. In addition to being an English teacher, Coach Pait also served in the army for 13 years. Pait stated his most memorable moment in the army was when he was shot. “My guys knew exactly what to do. They saved my life.” Pait also said he has learned a lot from the army. “It taught me there is nothing I can’t overcome. Bad days aren’t as bad when you’ve been in combat.” However, he stated the two biggest takeaways from the military were “Trust and leadership.” Pait said he was led to the military from 9/11. “It just struck me when it happened. I felt I needed to do my part by joining the army. It was the right thing to do.” When asked if the army has affected his mental health in any way, he responded “Some days are harder than others, like Memorial Day or Veterans Day. But the army also taught me how to handle it.” Although it always hasn’t been easy for Pait, he stated that enlisting in the army is the best thing that ever happened to him. “I like how I met so many people I would have never met from so many different places.” Lastly, Pait was asked if he would recommend the military to a teenager in high school. “I would definitely recommend it. If you’re in high school, and you’re unsure about your future, you can earn a degree for free while serving your country.” Coach Pait is a great example of someone who served in the military, and was glad he did, because of the overall experience he was provided with.

English teacher Mrs. Dottley started this semester a whole week later, and yet surprisingly still manages to keep up despite getting a start within two weeks into the semester. She is a new teacher and students may not know about her aside from the recent assignments in school of Beowulf, and the most recent story Grendel. Before her late arrival here, Mrs.Dottley was substituting in Pennsylvania. Before being in Pennsylvania she taught in Texas, where she also grew up most of her life. Before she decided to become a teacher, as a kid she wanted to be a race horse jockey because her parents would take her out to watch horse races. Once she had gotten older and in her high school years; she thought about also becoming a Lawyer, before finally deciding that she wanted to be a teacher.

Her inspiration to teach began with her love of reading and writing when she was younger. As a kid, she would play school with her younger brother and sister, where she would play the role of a teacher. When Mrs. Dottley had gotten married, her unique last name comes from the fact her husband’s grandfather changed his original name, Dattoli; to something that sounded more American during a time period of discrimination against Italians. Mrs. Dottley was teaching high school and middle school full time in Texas. After having left Texas, she went to Pennsylvania, where she focused on her family life and substitute teaching. When Mrs. Dottley finally arrived here in Knoxville, she was a substitute teacher before finally becoming an official teacher at Carter High School.

“It has been a bit of a whirlwind! The first couple of days felt a little bit like substitute teaching, because I was walking into classes that had already been underway for some time. Even though it was now “my” classroom, I was the new person in the room.” Ms. Dottley had said, describing how her year as a new teacher had started at Carter.

Haven’t you always wanted a chance to see what Band has in store for the whole campus; Well now is the chance to experience that and more. Band’s director, Mr. Needham has assembled a little over 60 people; all of which will participate in multiple concerts and events coming up for both this semester and the next semester to follow. According to Band student Devin Cantwell, for every Friday night football game, “Band will follow behind and play a variety of songs at those games.” According to Band student Carley Smiley, “Band will be performing a variety of songs such as “Phoenix ” by Fall Out Boys, “Sound of Silence” by Simon and Garfunkel, “Seven Nation Army” by the White Stripes.” Many other types of songs can be expected to be played as well. One of many events the band will be participating in is various competitions in which they will compete against different schools. The band students are looking forward to the many events that will be held soon.

Traffic has been a much talked about issue this year, due to the fact that everyone wants to leave as soon as school lets out. Students who drive are assigned a certain parking spot for the school year. Students park in what is known as “The Cage,” the gated area located in front of the school. Teachers, on the other hand, have more flexibility on where they park; teachers can park anywhere on campus. The school day ends at 3:30, and most students and teachers try to leave at 3:30, which creates heavy traffic after school. Junior CJ Carmichael, who drives to school, stated “Traffic is really bad leaving school. Everyone wants to leave at the same time, which makes it really congested.” Another student who parks in the cage, Chase Delaney, described the traffic as “annoying”, but he also stated that it’s just something everyone has to do every day to leave. CJ made the suggestion that the school release a certain number of people at a time, every few minutes or so. “That way there would be no traffic. It would make it less stressful for everyone.” Chase stated, “The school is doing the best with what they have, but the traffic leaving school can be a bit overwhelming.” Parking and traffic can be very frustrating for students, and many have spoken out and stated that they do not like all the congestion in the afternoon. 

The cafeteria has plans on how they get and cook the food. The cafeteria staff have to get their food and then cook it. Two of the cafeteria workers are Christie and Lynna. Christie said “We get our food from a vendor called Sysco.” This means they have to order the food that they want to get. “They cook their food in a convection oven,” Lynna said. The oven is in the cafeteria where the kids get the food. They both told me “They get the food every Wednesday from a big truck that brings the food to the school.” When they get it they must keep it in a cooler and a heated room for the food for the other days of the week. The school cafeteria has good weekly goals.

The recent rise in Covid cases at Carter High School has left many students and faculty members taking extra precautionary measures. Since school started back in August, there has been a recent rise in Covid cases in students and faculty. A student at Carter High, Collin Abbott, who was recently quarantined, thinks “they should cancel school for two weeks for everyone that has been affected to become unaffected and allow them to catch up to school…” Collin has been out of school for about two weeks now. Collin said that “probably over 20 [students] that I know personally have gotten it.” Another student, Rylie Tarver, said that even though it has not impacted her daily life she is a lot more cautious about her personal space. Rylie thinks the school should, “encourage masks for even those who are vaccinated and implement more distancing rules.” Rylie then went on to say that how we as the student body should “be mindful of how much we move around in big groups of people, wear masks, and social distance from people we’re not around a lot.” The rise in Covid cases has also affected the life of the school nurse, Mrs. Shelton. She said the rise in cases has created even more work for her. She also said that even besides work she has small children at home she tries to protect and keep safe. She says a good solution is to “be aware if you are feeling sick and to stay home if you are.” 

While there are some who know Mrs. Messer as a friend, family, acquaintance, most people know of her as the Carter High School head principal, for example, Mrs. Gilbert has known her professionally for almost 10 years, most of which was as a fellow teacher when she was in the middle school, but more recently as our principal. In these 10 years, Mrs. Gilbert has also taught two of Mrs. Messer’s children, describing them as very self-motivated with great grades. She also says this about her work relationship with Mrs. Messer “We get along well, I feel comfortable talking with her when I need to. ” Aside from this, Mrs. Messer also has quite the life out of school. She has a huge family, with five siblings and three children herself! She’s always having family gatherings, whether it’s birthdays, celebrations, or holidays, she is always asked to bring her mashed potatoes. She says while they may be easy to make, her family loves them. When not cooking from home, Mrs. Messer’s restaurant of choice would be Carrabba’s: a nice Italian cafe near Cedar Bluff, she would recommend the Mezzaluna, a traditional Italian pasta dish consisting of stuffed pasta with their tomato cream sauce. And we all like to relax at home watching tv sometimes, and while Mrs. Messer is mostly busy with the school, when she decides to sit down for some TV she enjoys watching whichever sport is in season at the moment. And While she prefers college-level sports to professional, she still likes watching both. Sometimes when not watching sports she likes to watch HGTV. So while most of us see her outlook and attitude at school, there are many parts of her that we don’t normally get to see.