Title: Breach

Artist: Lewis Capaldi 

Release Date: November 8, 2018

Label: Capitol Records 

U.K. singer-songwriters just always know how to tug on your heartstrings in all the right ways. For example, Adele, the English vocalist, made her fortune from her gut wrenching breakup songs. Ed Sheeran, following the same pattern, got his big break from his adorable love songs that gave everyone that listened butterflies. Lewis Capaldi is a twenty-two-year-old Scottish singer-songwriter who pursued the same route as the other successful artists; however, his age and the powerful Scottish tinge in his voice set him apart from the others. His extended play Breach is a brief, yet very touching mini album that is relatable to the listener. The songs included on the album are about his breakup history and experience. It brings feelings of recognized grief and heartbreak to the listener, despite being so short. There are four songs on the album: “Tough,” “Grace,” “Someone You Loved,” and “Something Borrowed.” With each of these songs, Capaldi tells his experiences with love and loss. “Tough” describes the pain that comes with being let down by someone you believed in. “Grace” is a sweet song about the fear of a new relationship and how quickly one gets attached to the other. Both “Someone You Loved” and “Something Borrowed” are about the heartbreak of when someone that you depend on leaves. The songs are each well written and are similar to many love songs, however there is just something special about Lewis Capaldi’s voice while he is beautifully expressing his emotions through his music. Lewis Capaldi has been around since 2017, with his debut single “Bruises,” following with his first extended play Blossom. After his breakthrough with his single “Someone You Loved,” Capaldi released the extended play Breach in 2018. Because it is only an EP, Breach is very short, only being composed of four songs. This was mildly disappointing because his music is so amazing. There just wasn’t enough of it. This probably has to do with the fact that Capaldi is such a young talent, and he has not had time to organize his work. Overall, the extended play Breach is a very good series of emotional and touching songs and I look forward to the work Lewis Capaldi does in the future.

Review: Avengers EndGame

“You should have gone for the head”. The words of Thanos at the end of Avengers Infinity War that set up the greatest Marvel movie to this date. Avengers Endgame is the best Marvel movie we have today and I’m here to tell you why; but first, here is a little lesson on Marvel. The Marvel Cinematic Universe or MCU started in 2008 with the first movie Iron Man directed by Jon Favreua and that kicked off the 11 years saga that most of us have come to know and love. The entire franchise was created by Stan Lee and Martin Goodman who wrote some of the Marvel comics. This three hour film takes place after the events of Avengers Infinity War where the world is in ruins and the remaining Avengers consisting of Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America ( Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk ( Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansenn), Hawkeye (Jermey Renner), Rocket Raccoon (Bradley Cooper), War Machine ( Don Cheattle), Nebula (Karen Gillian), Ant-Man ( Scott Lang), and  the newest Avenger Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) try and find a way to reverse the snap after Thor stabbed Thanos in the chest with StormBreaker and where Thanos uttered the devious line “you should have gone for the head”. When they go back in time and successfully retrieve the infinity stones from and the past and return pst Nebula takes the place of future Nebula and brings Thanos’ army to the future with him starting the most action packed crossover battle in the MCU to this date. The action packed scenes and fast paced fighting leave you on the edge of your seat. Some of the scenes were built and hyped up from previous movies. Back in Avengers Age of Ultron when the Avengers try and lift Mjolnir Captain America is able to lift it but spare Thor but when the fate of the world depends on it he use the might hammer to save Thor from Being killed by his other hammer StormBreaker. The only few problems with the movie is some of the loopholes aren’t fully explained in detail. Also one of the deaths in the movie aren’t memorialized like the other one. Some scenes feel rushed and some of the characters were cut from the film. Overall, the film was an amazing production. The three hour wait is worth it for the all the loose ends that were tied up. 

Title: Elite

Director: Carlos Montero and David Madrona 

Starring: Miguel Bernardeau, Itzan Escamilla, Mina Hammani, Aron Piper.

Studio: Netflix Original 

Release Date: September 6, 2019

Available: Netflix

Elite is a Spanish TV show available on Netflix. Its second season came out September sixth and as soon as it begins, we see that, just like the first season, this one will be formed by two main plots and one of them will be shown to us by a time jump to the future. One of the main plots introduces us to the main characters just as we have left them the previous season, all dealing with Marina’s death. However, the plot that really catches the audience’s attention is the one that is shown in the time jump: one of the main characters has disappeared and nobody knows where he is. 

This show is produced by Carlos Montero and David Madrona and has an amazing cast with great chemistry between them, this is because a few of the members of Elite’s cast( Miguel Herran, Jaime Lorente, Maria Pedraza) have worked together on another successful show La Casa de Papel. 

If you want to understand what is going on you need to watch the first season and if you had already watched it, I recommend you to rewatch it, as I did so that you start the new season with all the details on the mind.

Even though everybody, including me, had their doubts about making a second season of this show, the producers and the cast have proved everybody wrong. This season grabs your attention more than the first one did. However, what I believe made this such a great season is the way the writers and the actors had developed their characters, showing us their backstories and making us understand them and their actions. In addition to the great development of the main characters, we are introduced to three main once that really reflect the people of society nowadays as they are going through the saem problems that real teenagers. These new characters also give the show a feeling of reality that it didn’t have in its first season. 

Despite loving this season I have to admit that setting it in high school makes the audience a bit confused. If you see teenager shows set in high school, you will realize that they tend to exaggerate the life of sixteen and seventeen-year-old kids, and that is okay because normally the plot is not even realistic and you know that what you are watching is not true. However, I believe  that if this show had been set on college, it would have made it perfect. 

Would it be worth it to spend 8 hours of your life watching this new season? Absolutely. This new season tries to talk about problems like drugs, discovering your sexuality, facing death, and discovering yourself. As I said previously, the cast is amazing both as individuals and as a group and you can see that in this second season. 

Title: ANONYMOUS 

Artist: blackbear

Release Date: April 26th, 2019

Label: Beartrap/Alamo/Interscope

People have many opinions on the musician blackbear(also known as bear); some say that he is a talented singer, others that he’s too explicit, and still others that he’s an amazing writer. Bear has released four albums, six EPs, and twenty-two singles. His newest album, ANONYMOUS, was released on April 26th this year, and includes eighteen songs. This album’s genre is R&B/Soul, along with several other albums from bear. Personally, I really enjoy listening to this album. Many of the songs are on a playlist I often listen to. 

Blackbear started making music in 2011, and ANONYMOUS is his fourth album. The eighteen songs on the soundtrack keep the constant themes of heartbreak, depressing moments of his life, and partying are expressed. Bear is an excellent writer, especially when you consider how honest he is with his audience through his songs. Every song tells a story straight from his life, no matter how explicit. 

This album includes: “PINK ROLEX”, “HATE MY GUTS”, “DRUG DEALER”, “SWEAR TO GOD”, “MAKE A MESS”, “SICK OF IT ALL”, “CHANGES”, “HIGH1X”, “DOWN”, “BURNT AF”, “HEARTBROKEN”, “1 SIDED LOVE”, “LOSING YOU”, “IT’S ALL GONNA BURN”, “DEAD BALLOONS”, “TOO CLOSE”, “DEAD TO ME”, and “NYLA”. Each song is blunt, and he tells exactly what he’s going through at the time. Some people do not appreciate the foul language, or talk of drugs and alcohol – which is understandable; some people just don’t like to listen to things that discuss those topics. However, personally it does not bother me. Honestly, I like the raw, uncensored aspect of his music. It shows that no matter how much money you have, or how famous you are, everyone still goes through the typical problems normal people go through on a daily basis. 
Overall, it’s pretty obvious that I like this album. ANONYMOUS is an amazing album in my opinion. My favorite songs have to be “MAKE A MESS”, which is about being in a relationship that comes to an end out of nowhere and dealing with it afterwards; “HEARTBROKEN” is talking about giving out all of your love and having none left; and “DEAD TO ME”, which talks about after a breakup and you’re finally getting over your ex and they mean nothing to you anymore. There’s a song for every mood. Upset and feeling like it’s not going to get better? He has a song for that. Still miss that one person? He’s got a song for that. Feeling empowered that you don’t need that one person anymore? Blackbear’s got a song for that too. He really poured his heart out onto these tracks, and it really shows. They’re great songs, and definitely recommend that you give them a listen.

Students nowadays have too much homework. As a sophomore, I have homework most nights of the school week and sometimes on weekends. At Carter High School, we have four class periods. Each class is around 78 minutes long (not including lunch or activity time), that should be plenty of time to do the days work. Teachers should not give out extra assignments for homework. If a student does not finish their work in the time given in class, and it is the student’s fault, they should finish it at home. However, if a teacher’s actions cause a student not to finish – like if the class did not finish reading a story, or finish a worksheet they were doing together – it should not be sent home to finish. Also, if a student is having trouble with a subject, it would be important to give them extra help or extra practice; don’t just hand them a packet and tell them to “try their best”. Even with only four classes a day, homework still piles up by the end of the day. A fellow sophomore, Kaitlyn Armstrong, says, “I have around four assignments for homework [in a school week].” Most homework assignments are pretty time consuming. Most students don’t even get home until late. Some students have sport practices, after school activities, clubs, jobs, etcetera; then when they get home, they’re expected to do a few hours worth of homework, shower, eat dinner, and spend time with their families. There simply is not enough time to do everything expected of us during the day, and that leads into us ruining our sleep schedule just to pass classes and turn homework in on time. Homework also leads to students stressing over it, and it’s not healthy for them. After working for 7 hours at school, students shouldn’t have to take time away from their home lives to do even more school work.Now that I’ve said all this, I have to go finish English homework.

Sitting in a classroom, staring at a teacher, listening as they teach, and copying notes from a whiteboard. This is how most students are expected to learn at Carter High School, but what exactly are they being taught? To stay quiet, and still in their chair, or how to write fast enough so they can get the words on their paper in order for studying later because they have a test next Friday and their grade in the class relies on getting a good score? Most students may say they learn a lot at school, but what do they learn for seven hours a day that will help them in the future when they move on from high school and into the big wide world? Most of the time, it’s not much. 

Students may have great communication skills and remember some of the math, English, science, history, and even a little bit of the skills from electives. Teachers may think that those are the skills students need but a lot of times, classes only emphasize memorization, fast writing, and good test scores, which don’t even connect directly to the subjects taught. What will get students a boost in today’s society is a new learning system that focuses less on how much each student knows about each subject currently taught and more on improving the skills each individual student already has. For example, if a student does not know much about how to solve an algebraic equation and wants to work at a hair salon or be a magazine editor, then the student should not be pressured as hard to learn how to do the equations as another student who wants to become a worldwide known engineer.

If the way students are taught changes then their environment should change as well. Instead of being in a four-wall room all the time students should be able to explore the environment that they would in their career choice. This would mean that desks may be needed for some classes but maybe not others. Carter High already does this with the shop classes, the cosmetology classes, the musical theatre, and a few others. If all schools improve their learning it could better prepare them for the future.

Most of us have heard a teacher in this school complain about our lack of supplies or the importance to turn in school fees. It’s very common for this to take place; our teachers constantly harp on turning in money for the class at the beginning of each and every semester. They say this will cover classroom expenses like supplies such as: paper, pencils, books, etc. but why do we have to pay these? What about the kids who can’t? In the past, the schools’ money has been spent on new lockers and sprucing up the restrooms. The student body greatly appreciated these improvements to the school but it would be better used going towards things that we use every day instead of just the schools physical appearance. If the students have to pay fees it should go to other things than basic necessities like pencils and stuff that we need for classes. The money they spend on luxuries should be spent on everyday items instead of the students paying for them with fees. Carter High student, Anya Beckner, says, “I wish they would put more money towards clubs and programs.” Another Carter High student, Meghan Thornton, says, “I wish the school would fix the walkway to the freshman academy, it floods if it rains in the slightest.” Therefore, the schools money should go towards necessities and the student fees should go towards luxuries. Students shouldn’t have to miss out on activities and projects in a class due to lack of supplies because their peers didn’t pay their fees. We appreciate the efforts the schools makes to provide us with an enjoyable and comfortable work environment, but there are always things to improve on.  

Have you ever been in a class with more than 15 students? Most of us have. In a class with around 25-30 students, it can be very difficult for a student to focus. Classes with so many students can cause the teacher to only go to certain ones. It can be expensive to add more classes or more teachers but you can have fees and it would be such an advantage for the students.. A “Small” class to most public schools is about 20 students. In my opinion a small class would be about 10-15 students it would allow students to focus better and not have to worry about their surroundings. 

Students seem to have better grades and improve in a huge educational way when in smaller classes. The students in the class don’t have as much anxiety because there weren’t so many people in the class. They don’t feel pressured to do anything their more comfortable in smaller classes. In classes with very few students it’s easier for students to ask the teacher questions without feeling pressured. It also gives the teacher time to work with each in every student in no hurry. It is shown classes with fewer students the grades are significantly higher. Having fewer students in classes will improve the grades and help them understand homework. 

As a guy, I feel personally attacked that our school system thinks that us guys are unable to handle ourselves and that we don’t know how to be mature and  solve situations where we get “distracted” at females shoulders. The rules of the dress code are as follows: 1. Pants must be worn at the waist. No sagging allowed. Holes in pants or shorts must be below mid-thigh length. 2. Shirts, blouses, and dresses must completely cover the abdomen, back, shoulders and must have sleeves. Shirts or tops must cover the waistband of pants, shorts or shirts with no midriff visible. Low-cut blouses, shirts,  or tops or extremely high tube tops, or any top that exposes cleavage are prohibited. 3. Head apparel , except for religious or medical purposes must not be worn in the school building. 4.Footwear is required and must be safe and appropriate for indoor and outdoor activity. 5. No racial or ethnic slurs, gang affiliations, vulgar, subversive, or sexual language. 6. Shorts, skirts, or dresses must be below mid thigh length. 7.Sleepwear, pj’s, and/or blankets cannot be worn in school. These rules have not been updated since the 1990 when most of our parents were still in school and/or have just graduated. Studies show that in Roanoke county in Virginia allows their students to wear tank tops in schools. I believe that we need to reevaluate our dress code and update it to fit with the current and upcoming generation. We should allow tank tops at school. We should also allow blankets in school to make the class a little more comfortable instead of those hard chairs and desk. Our school board needs to have a little more faith and respect for the upcoming generations and should take in student opinions when updating the dress code.

How much has technology changed in the last 100 years?  Think about how much manned machinery (cars, motorcycles, planes, cranes, etc) have changed, how they’ve become so complicated and complex. Now think about school, the place where we learn how to follow certain procedures, and in some cases, the place where we learn how to man certain machinery. How much has school changed in the past 100 years? We have the internet now, and that is basically it. So while all those machines are improving, getting more efficient, more complex, we’re staying the same. School’s are not making needed changes to boost these kids to the level needed to work with today’s machinery; we are not making them smarter, and we aren’t trying to teach the future workers of society how to do these things. We need to improve public education or we’re basically looking to have a whole generation of failures, miscreants, and idiots.

Classroom layout is quite important in educational situations and does differ from teacher to teacher, sometimes even day to day, but the basic gist is kids lined up in neat rows (like a factory). Lining up kids like this was important to do when the main jobs were factory jobs and neat rows helped factories become more efficient. It was just helping them get ready to join the workforce. In the present day, factory jobs are becoming less prevalent and the industry is becoming more media influenced, so now there is really no need for neat rows. In reality, children should be able to sit wherever they please to learn how to make independent decisions and become more individual and creative with anything they do. With me so far?

 With mental illnesses such as ADHD, dyslexia, and other learning impairments teachers should be taking extra steps to ensure all students know the information, but some teachers aren’t even thorough enough to make sure any of their students understand the given material. But this isn’t all the teachers fault though. Teachers are severely underpaid and sometimes cannot afford needed supplies for the classroom, bringing down the potential their class could have to impact kid’s education. It’s generally known that teachers are underpaid which makes the teaching profession less sought after by working adults. So the criteria needed to become a teacher has been reduced due to not having enough people vying for said profession.

With all the knowledge needed to function in the adult world, the public education system is really underperforming. Kids today may not function as well in society when they grow up due to the “information malnutrition” school has been going through. At least we have Google.