Carter High is a good school overall, but like all things it is far from perfect. One thing that could be improved easily is the seating arrangements for the students. Because at the moment, they are not ideal.
The chairs that students currently have to sit in are all hard and flat. Since they must sit in them for hours at a time, this is quite taxing on the lower body. To further accentuate the issue, a few of the teachers and staff have access to softer, more comfortable chairs.
It is difficult to concentrate on lessons and assignments when you’re not very comfortable. Zoe Strope, a student at carter high has had trouble sitting at the classroom desk for hours at a time as the hardness of the seats make her rear and back sore. Every chair she sits in during the school day is extremely difficult to get comfortable and learn in.
The argument could be made that the reason for the hard chairs is so they are easier to clean, and that students being uncomfortable will decrease the odds that they will fall asleep during class and miss out on important material. If teachers established rules about drinks with lids and non-messy snack items and the students got good nights’ rests, those problems would be eliminated.
To conclude, something should be done about the quality of chairs for students. If they were able to sit more comfortably, they would learn a lot more effectively.
Eli Horne, a sophomore at Western Carolina University and Carter Alumni, speaks out on what it was like being a minority at Carter High School. Even though Eli long left his home and community he has found a new one that is more accepting. He recounts his times at Carter with mostly heart-warming memories, but there is one that hits home. “Seniors this year will be the last ones to remember this, but when I was a junior at Carter there were a lot of issues pertaining to the Equality Club that was started” Many did not like the club, “There were many different threats sent towards minority students, being a minority, that was terrifying. Being somewhere like that can make people feel alone and isolated, but instead of cowering in fear we found our own community outside of a community that didn’t love us, and that was so important for me and many others.” The current seniors that will be graduating in the year 2021 were freshmen at the time of this event and they will be the last at Carter to remember it. For Eli this event caused emotional turmoil. On one hand he was a bit afraid due to a lot of the opposing people making death threats towards LGBT students, but on the other hand he couldn’t help but feel prideful in the students that weren’t afraid to stand up for themselves. For him this was a major event that he felt shaped the LGBT students. They were protected by the school administrators.
Though, the Equality Club was not mainly for LGBT students. It was supposed to be for anyone that felt they were unequal and felt like they didn’t belong. It was supposed to be a sanctuary for them. So, instead of seeing the club for what it was the students that opposed the club thought it was specifically for LGBT students. That rumor was incorrect.
Though he no longer has Equality Club Eli has made an abundance of friends at his college and a part of his own community. “You have to make a place for yourself.” Said best by Eli Horne.
In his new community Eli is thriving in a better mindset and environment. “I feel accepted and loved where I’m currently at.” Anyone would yearn for that feeling of belonging and for some students they need to explore to find it. “The biggest change I’ve had are the friends I have, it’s not exactly hard to make friends in college but my circle is a lot smaller than when I was in high school.”
His current community pushes him out of his comfort zone and helps him achieve the biggest obstacles. He pursues his passions as a political science and international studies double major with a concentration in human rights global governance in law and a minor in French. A lot maybe, but with the right community it can be reduced to a little obstacle.
In the 2017 production “The Greatest Showman”, Hugh Jackman plays the infamous P.T. Barnum. It begins with his childhood, where he meets the love of his life: Charity (Michelle Williams).After his father passes away, he becomes homeless and lives on the streets, begging for food. He sees a hiring sign for an oil company, and it offers housing so he takes the offer. After a long while of being rejected by her father, he finally reunites with Charity, and they start their family. While living in his small apartment with his wife and two children, he is unfortunately laid off. He takes out a large loan and buys a building and turns it into a museum. After a late night talk with his girls, who tell him he needs something alive, he decides to hire the “freaks” of the city. After hiring an assistant and being labelled a “circus” by a review, he dubs it a circus. It was released to the public for the first time in 2017, and it has won many awards since. An example of some of those awards are the six different Teen Choice awards in 2018. It holds an 86% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 7.6/10 star rating from IMDb. This is loosely based on real, accurate history, though. This movie was made about the history of the circus that was begun by the real-life P.T. Barnum. There are a whole lot of real facts in the movie, about things that actually happened. It takes place in the late 1800s, which is an accurate time frame. Most of it is made up for the story, though. This is the history that started the movie’s production. This movie was extremely popular upon its release date, and was long awaited after the production was announced. Personally, it is my complete, all-time favorite movie to this day. It has love, fear, drama, tragedies, and most of all, an amazing soundtrack. Along with the movie itself, the soundtrack alone is also still very popular. Altogether, this is one of my favorite movies and loved by many.
Mrs. Chollman, the Anatomy and Marine Biology teacher, has been a teacher at Carter High School for 20 years. Mrs. Chollman attended Carter High when she was a teen, and claims that the reason she is a teacher today was her Biology teacher, Mr. Wilber Acuff. She said, “He made learning so exciting and I want to do this for my students also.” Chollman said that she hopes that she gives her students confidence and self-worth, but also hopes that when they leave her class, that they learn to love nature and adventures. Chollman stated, “I also want to show them how to go and enjoy nature and have adventures. I want them to know they have no limits, only those they impose on themselves. I also hope I push or pull them to their highest potential.”
A little known fact about Mrs. Chollman is that she is dyslexic. Mrs. Chollman found this out not too long ago when she was in charge of getting phone numbers for her high school reunion. She realized that she had transferred several of the numbers mixed up. She also found that in college, she would take notes written backwards and she would change hands while writing. She does not think that dyslexia is a bad thing, though. She claims that it made her a better learner and she can also help students become aware of the same issues. Last year, Mrs. Chollman caught a student, who prefers to go anonymous, who showed signs of dyslexia. The student took a test and transferred her answers on a scantron. When Mrs. Chollman was grading the test, she realized that the student had gotten a significantly better grade on the test and did poorly on the scantron. She found that the student had confused her Bs and Ds on her test and mixed them up. So, for Mrs. Chollman, her dyslexia may have been a blessing in disguise– to help her be a better learner, and to help students become aware of the signs.
As a resident of the Carter community since she was in the 4th grade, she believes “The Carter community is a very special one. The staff at Carter care very deeply about their students and colleagues. It is a great place to work.” Her favorite thing about teaching is her students and seeing their accomplishments.
Genre: Hip hop, funk, West coast hip hop, Jazz rap, Alternative hip hop
Available: Spotify, Apple Music, Youtube Music, iHeartRadio,Deezer
After his second studio album, good kid, m.A.A.d city, Kendrick Lamar had some big shoes to fill. Good kid, m.A.A.d city is known to be one the greatest rap albums and even overall greatest album not only of this generation but of all time. Kendrick used to be known as K-dot in his earlier days where he released three mixtapes, Y.H.N.I.C, Training Day, and C-4. He then signed with Top Dawg Entertainment in 2005, where 5 years later in 2010 he released his fourth mixtape Overly Dedicated where he finally received mass amounts of attention. Soon after he released his first official album, Section.80. One year later, Kendrick drops his second album good kid, m.A.Ad city, an album telling the stories and struggles of growing up in the hood. The album was highly praised and won both the BET hip hop album of the year and Soul Train music award for Album of The year. At this point Kendrick had a lot to live up to from his previous album but on March 15, 2015, Kendrick proved his place in the industry once again with his third studio album, To Pimp A Butterfly.
To Pimp A Butterfly is an album where Kendrick dives deep down about his suicidal feelings, inner turmoil within himself, and even temptations from Lucifer or better known as the Devil. In songs like ¨u¨ Kendrick opens up about self-doubt and depression he has felt being such an influence especially to younger people. He talks about his feeling of survivor’s guilt he feels while he is out making music and going on tours. People such as one of his friends Chad are dying back in Compton. Throughout the album there is a poem that builds at the ends of different songs such as ¨King Kunta¨ and eventually finishes off in the final track of the album ¨Mortal Man¨. The poem is a summary and elaboration of the album’s themes itself. Kendrick talks about his feeling of depression and survivors guilt he’s felt. And although he is able to come to terms with those feelings ¨Lucy¨ or Lucifer is still all around him trying to influence his every move. Ultimately Kendrick comes to an understanding and finding the answers he did he talks about how he wants to go back home and show everyone what he’s learned. With the title of the album itself it has a meaning of its own. For kendrick, it signifies ¨using my celebrity for good,¨ and that he won’t be ¨pimped by the industry through my celebrity.¨ But also in the album itself, to pimp a butterfly represents the talent and gift within people growing up in the hood, but because of their circumstances and environment they can never reach that full potential, so they pimp the hood to their own benefits.
With the amount of deep feelings and thoughts spread out around the album it’s no wonder why it is considered a classic. Kendrick Lamar expresses his feelings of suicide, depression, and inner turmoil within himself and pours it out into this album. An album so raw and especially one that dives deep within the thoughts of somebody is something that very few people can do so perfectly like Kendrick Lamar. One of the more love able things about this album is the fact that Kendrick Lamar opens up on these feelings of self-doubt and depression. It shows that even at the top seemingly there are new battles to be fought and it could even be within yourself. Kendrick shows the turmoil within himself and tries to find the answers to everything. But ultimately that is also something that makes the album so great. Kendrick wants to go back and spread what he’s learned with everyone in his city. He wants to use his influence for good, instead of just clout like a lot of celebrities do. To Pimp A Butterfly is a classic album and even after five years has still stood the test of time and that is something that isn’t going to change.
Diana Yukhimenko is a Carter High School freshman from Kazakhstan, a country located right below Russia. Diana lived in her home country for nine years before moving to America. Her mother and sister are the only ones that moved with her, so her other family members are still in Kazakhstan.
Diana has noticed some differences between America and Kazakhstan. One thing she says is that life is easier in America. She says that in Kazakhstan the schools are harder, there are more apartments and fewer houses, and barely anyone has a car. She also said that school hours are from 2:00 p.m. -7:00 p.m.
Diana is on the CHS volleyball team and has the opportunity to play basketball now that she is in America; she also enjoys cooking as a side hobby. Diana’s home life is also interesting, apart from her hobbies. “I have one dog, it’s a husky. His name is Bambo,” she says. She also said that she lives with her mother at home, and describes her family in general as funny, caring, and strict. She and her mother speak Russian while at their house. Diana’s sister, however, graduated from the University of Florida two years ago with a degree in chemical engineering and is now at Harvard University.
Diana’s other family members are in her home country, which is where she might be going, soon. She states that she misses her home sometimes, and says, “I think I will actually go visit this summer. My whole family lives there, except my mom and my sister.” Overall, Diana enjoys life in America, and loves her family in Kazakhstan.
The Carter High School dress code focuses way too much on the female students’ clothing. The Knox County dress code mentions women’s clothing a lot more than they should. Item 2 in the dress code mentions low cut blouses and cleavage. Item 6 in the dress code mentions low cut dresses, skirts, and shorts. A lot of clothing made for women are low cut. People can say that the dress code doesn’t specifically say “girl’s clothes”, but the dress code states, “Low-cut blouses, shirts, or tops or extremely tight tops, tube tops, or any tops that expose cleavage are prohibited.” All these “tops” are women’s clothing. And this even specifically mentions cleavage. Item 6 in the dress code says, “Skirts, dresses, and shorts must be beyond mid-thigh in length.” Focusing so much on girls’ clothing means that they can get punished and hurt their education. Some people say that girls need to dress responsibly so boys focus on their education and aren’t distracted. This is, with every meaning of the word, unfair. If you want to hurt a girl’s education because she’s dressing the way she feels comfortable just so you can accommodate the boys, that seems sexist to me. Some people might say that these rules are here so the boys don’t take things too far; that just means they need to teach boys what’s respectful and what isn’t. If you don’t teach young boys to be respectful to women then what will they do when they’re older. You should always teach respect, consent, and appropriate things to say at a young age. They should already know these things in high school, but judging by the Knox County School’s dress code, this isn’t a concern to them.
Rips above the knee are against school dress code.
The biscuits served in the cafeteria are dry, crumbly, and unenjoyable. Most students will agree that the biscuits are unsatisfying if not smothered in gravy or jelly or paired with another food option like chicken or sausage. EmmaLie Rosenbalm said, “I like the biscuits when they’re with jelly, but without it they’re dry and inedible.” The biscuits usually come with chicken, sausage, or gravy and there is always the option of jelly. Chicken biscuits seem to be the favored option, next to gravy of course. Many students enjoy the sausage option, but these students will also tell you they pick the sausage off to eat and throw the biscuit away. The gravy, which happens to be sausage gravy, is served with the biscuits and is delicious, mouth watering, and pairs very well with the dry crumbly texture of the biscuits. Trishanna Tillery says, “I don’t even eat them anymore, they’re so dry I end up throwing the biscuit away before I even start eating.” She also agrees that to enjoy the biscuits they need to be smothered in gravy or thrown away altogether. At this point there should be a new recipe, or there should always be the option of gravy. The dryness of these biscuits is a crime and someone needs to pay.
I’ve been a student at Carter High School for 4 years now, and I’ve been in that, “I don’t wanna do this work” kind of mood. I was in that mood for three years, all the way up until the summer before my senior year when I got an email from my guidance counselor about my credits. She told me that I needed to pass every single class this year with at least a C, or else I wouldn’t be able to graduate, and I’d have to take another year of high school. I’ve had to retake classes, spend countless hours on makeup work so I can pass, and if I can tell any underclassmen one thing; it would be that it is not worth it. Having to retake classes, I find myself in many classes with underclassmen, mostly Sophomores and Juniors. And almost every day I see kids not doing their work, and I just wish they knew how much trouble that’ll bring them, and how tough things will get if they continue to do that. I hope that someone that is in the situation I’ve described sees this, and it persuades them to fix it before it gets too hard. There’s a few things you can do to help your situation. What I found the most helpful was talking to my guidance counselor frequently. I didn’t realize it until this year, but they really care. They are willing to take so much time to help, and it really showed when I needed it. Another thing you can do is speak to your teachers, and possibly get copies of work you didn’t do well on, or do some extra credit assignments. Take my word for it, failing your classes simply is not worth it!
Raymond Wynn serves as Carter High Schools’ Sports Information Director and a System-Wide Technology Specialist for the Knox County Schools System. Being a Sports Information Director means he has to publish as much info and gather info about other teams for our school. “Along with making sure we follow TSSAA and NFHS rules,” Ray added. When it comes to being a System-Wide Technology Specialist this job consists of fixing any technology and other items. He’s certified to work on Macs and Dell computers. The schools that he covers when he’s not being a Sports Info Director are: Austin-East, Sarah Moore Greene, Chilhowee Intermediate, Holston Middle, Sunnyview Primary School, Career Magnet Academy, Carter Elementary, Middle, and High, East Knox, Gibbs Elementary, Middle, and High, and Corryton Elementary. The two schools that he’s at the most are Gibbs and Carter. Ray goes to Carter at 8 in the morning and leaves at 4 in the afternoon during the summer. He’s not willingly going and working though; he gets paid to work during the summer. He’s also a manager at Carter Pool and goes there after school during the summer. He is always calm and “chill” to be around. One of his coworkers, Ms. Atchley, said Ray has been her friend ever since she started working at Carter Middle School. She said, “Ray has always helped me with any tech issues I have had! Whether it is fixing a broken projector, recovering files after a computer crash, or trouble shooting all sorts of computer issues, Ray is always there to save the day.” Ms. Atchley said Ray’s job is important because he puts in more hours than anyone she knows and without him teachers wouldn’t know how to fix the tech in their room.
