With autumn in full swing, the CHS band works tirelessly to achieve higher scores on upcoming band competitions. Every year, the band and the majorettes travels to multiple competitions with the intent of achieving a good impression with the judges. When asked about what the judges are looking for when making their decision, Mr. Milligan, a former competition judge and the current director of the band answers, “The two biggest factors are the music and the visuals.” He explains that both are important to receiving a higher rating from judges. The band and the majorettes perform together to provide the appealing visual paired with the music to match. While both factors are graded, each section of the band is individually judged as well, bringing their average up or down based on their own independent score.

This year’s theme follows the American dream, paired with flags and bandanas to match the patriotic production which push the visual appeal and create an effect with the judges/audience.  “Effect is also important,” Mr. Milligan continued, explaining how essential it is to get the emotion and the message they’re pushing through to the viewer. With props, music and much effort from all included, the majorettes and the band are able to take everyone on a journey of being American.

When asked about his thoughts on the latest theme for the competitions, Tyler Savoy, a senior saxophone player for the band, says, “I’m really excited. I’m enlisted in the army, and the fact that I will be leaving with an American themed show, it makes me really happy.”

They’ve received great success for their efforts so far. With receiving a superior rating at their competition on September 21st and placing 3rd on their October 5th competition, it leaves a lot of anticipation for this upcoming competition this Saturday, October 26th.

Taylor Brodgon, a senior at Carter High School, is on his way to becoming a TikTok star. Taylor has been making TikToks since August of this year and since then, he has produced over 100 videos. He has been gaining popularity among the school and many people have commented positive feedback about his account. Sophomore Brylea Cardwell said, “I love it! It’s the best TikTok page ever. Hilarious.” Taylor’s account consists of 30 second or less videos where he is seen doing a mix of popular trends and whimsical skits. Taylor’s humor and originality is what caused his TikTok account to gain popularity. He has reached over 9,000 likes on one of his videos: one where one of his classmates gets locked out of a window. 9,000 likes is nine times the amount of students at Carter High School, and a considerable amount of likes for anyone on the app. TikTok has recently gained rapid growth and becoming “TikTok famous” has become an obsession among the youth in 2019; however, Taylor did not even mean to obtain this much popularity. Starting off as a joke, Taylor said the reason he does TikTok is to, “make someone laugh and put a smile on their face.” He then followed up with, “Follow me on TikTok: @tater_tok.” He is now trying to grow his account to share his content with as many people as possible to spread even more laughter and joy. Taylor Brogdon may not have intended to gain anything from making a twenty second TikTok video at the start of the school year, but it is safe to say that since then, he has brought many smiles to the faces at Carter High School. 

DECA stands for Distributive Education Clubs of America. This may sound vague, but actually it is related to all types of basic marketing: sports and entertainment marketing, travel, tourism and entrepreneurship expertise. It gives the students of Carter High and other schools a chance to put to use the marketing skills they have learned in class, or marketing skills they are naturally aquired with through competitions, leadership conferences, and service projects. It is also preparing emerging student leaders and entrepreneurs for college and careers. It is not too late to join the club. A student can join DECA for the 2019-2020 school year by attending a meeting before the end of October or going to room 324 to discuss obtaining your membership with Mrs. Wilson, the sponsor. The meetings are held once a month at 8:05 in room 324. Mrs. Wilson said, “Members are able to network with other students interested in business. DECA club at CHS will be participating in Operation Christmas Child and encouraging first period classes to bring in filled shoe boxes with small items for underprivileged children. DECA will also sponsor a breakfast for the first period class that fills the most boxes!” A previous member of DECA said, “I encourage all students to join DECA it is a lot of fun, and has many enjoyable activities.” In conclusion, DECA allows students to become more familiar with the world of business and allows students to grow in leadership skills.

Lucky for all aspiring lawyers who study at Carter High and a couple other schools in the county such as Bearden, Gibbs, and Farragut, there is a club called the Mock Trial. In this club, schools meet up and compete by having fake trials in front of real judges and lawyers (who also decide who wins). The club meets around once a week, sometimes more depending on if they have a trial soon, right after school until around 5:30 or 6:00. Currently the club is going over laws and reviewing a previous case to understand all the details more in depth. So what is so important about Mock Trial? Well according to Mr. Martinez, who just so happens to sponsor the mock trial, states that “mock trial (can really help) high school students gain exposure in talking to adults in a professional manner, build confidence, Mock Trial students do things that most college kids aren’t prepared to do; it’s very challenging and a lot of times we’ve had attorneys tell us that what we’re doing and what our kids are doing up there in the courtroom they didn’t even do in law school.” Mock Trial attendee Kelsea Mcglothin states that though she does not plan on a career in law, she feels that all people would benefit from aquiring lawful knowledge (which Mock Trial can teach you) since laws are apart of everyday life.

Carter High School’s Musical Theatre class is performing Grease this year. If you don’t already know what Grease is, it is a film and play about friendships, romances, and adventures in high school during the 1950s. Mr. Webb, the musical theatre teacher, explained that he chose this musical because he wanted to do musicals that involve a lot of people so that anyone that wanted to participate could. Another factor is that it is family friendly, so anyone can come watch the show. The class consists of 20 students that are participating in the musical. They have been practicing for the musical revue, which was performed in September, and the actual musical, since before school started. Mr. Webb held a “camp” where his students could come and begin learning routines for their performances. Since the class is quite large – and a majority of the students are female – he says, “The five central girl characters are double cast; so if you come on Thursday night, you’ll see one cast, and if you come on Saturday it will be a completely different cast.” The two casts are separated by “green cast” and “white cast” which is basically just the different girls playing each part. Abbigail Lebow, who plays Frenchy on the green cast, says, “I’m excited to be able to explore what performing on stage for people would be like,” since it is her first year of musical theatre. Abbigail also says that the choreography is difficult to memorize until you practice it a bunch; however, lines aren’t as difficult to learn. Opening night for Grease the musical is Thursday November 14th, at 7pm; the second show is Saturday November 16th at 7pm as well; and finally, the last show is Sunday November 17th at 2:30pm. Mr. Webb and Abbigail both recommend to come see the show because the cast has been working extremely hard on getting their performance just right.

Mrs. Chun, a biology teacher, has been working at Carter for a year going on two years now. Before coming to Carter she was a graduate student at the University of Tennessee in the biochemistry department. She realized that she didn’t like researching but she liked teaching so she switched to the teaching department. She says, “This is actually the only job I applied for, so I am really glad I got it, because I kind of didn’t know what I was going to do if I didn’t get this job.” When asked if she wishes she got a job at another school, she says, “No I like teaching at Carter. I feel like the skills I’m learning here will help me in the future.” Mrs. Chun really likes the faculty, administrators, and student and feels that they support each other and have helped her. When asked if she does anything specific to keep kids attentive and make learning easier, she says, “I have fillable notes, because some students take a little longer to write and I would rather spend time discussing what we are learning, rather than just write down what’s on the board. I also sometimes do jazz hands while I’m pointing at something on the board, but only students that are already looking at me see it.” Senior Blue Davis says, “She is really nice, her sense of humor makes biology more interesting.” She believes that the students can learn and are good at school, they just need a little push in the right direction every now and then. 

How do you feel about the library at Carter High? Some might say it’s below par; others say it’s quite adequate. The library has one librarian (which is Ms. Davenport) and a couple library aids that are cycled through every period, the library is, surprisingly, completely tuberculosis free. The books are limited to only around less than half of the library, the thing that the library has an abundance of, though, is computers. The library is filled with computers, it resembles a computer lab with a couple book shelves rather than an actual library. Most students do not check books out from the library. Some do not even go inside of the library. One student named Noah Golden, a junior, states he would probably go into the library more often if they had strobe lights. So librarians, listen up: we have the word of a student to listen to. Coming from the middle school, you would think that the high school would have nicer things and better rooms, so it would come as a surprise to see that the high school’s library might have drawn the short straw in funding. A couple anonymous sources think that the high school library, as well as the gymnasium is less funded than the middle school’s library and gymnasium. One student, Alexandra Britton, thinks the opposite “there’s like one computer in the middle school library and it’s to find books” so she thinks that the high school library actually gets more funding, the fact that there are numerous computers in the library may support her claim. So far no complaints have been filed at this time, so not only is the school library clean, but the workers in the library are not disliked by the student body. 

Carter High School administration has come to a creative decision to sell coupon books starting September 13th through September 30th. The coupon books will be beneficial for Carter High School, if we can get the students motivated to sell these books. The money that is raised will be deposited to replace old technology. The only way Carter High School will be able to accomplish this is by getting everyone involved. To put the situation into perspective one Mac computer costs $1200.  For every book sold Carter High School will get to keep eight dollars. If each student at Carter sells at least three books at $10 a piece, the school is estimated to raise $20,952. Mr. O’Malley says “I have mentioned the coupon book selling to my HIVE, but I am not sure how many seem to be interested.” Some knowledge the student body may not have is that there are many incentives in selling the books. If a student sells two books, he or she will receive a universal homework pass. If a student sells five books, that student will receive a free entrance to one of our home football games. If a student sells ten books, they will be presented with a “Get Out of Silent Lunch” free card. If a student sells 15 or more books, the reward will be a universal sports pass that allows you to enter any home sporting events for free. The HIVE with the most sells will win a free pizza party for lunch one day. For each grade level the HIVE with the most sells will win a donut breakfast. Alexis Talley says, “The incentives are not necessarily something that makes me want to get involved in selling the coupon books. Maybe I would be more motivated to sell them if the prize became more valuable with the number of books sold.” Overall selling the books would be a great way to update Carter High School. The entire student body should get involved and look forward to the great incentives the administration has to offer.

With a diverse environment and plenty of new social experiences, school has become more open than ever before for students young and old; however, that doesn’t solve the issue that on average, 54 percent of students feel misrepresented or even excluded within the system. While some schools are blessed with inclusivity, other schools aren’t making the mark or even missing it entirely. Whether it be due to the negligence of including students of all backgrounds, cultures, languages, religion, or sexuality, there seems to be a separation among students, staff, and other members of the school.

An example of the exclusion that comes with school includes the varying level of attention paid to certain students, whether it be because they are a part of a specific hobby or what club they are a part of. Carter’s football team is well represented and games are broadcasted and celebrated; however, it leaves less room for some sports to garner the same attention such as the volleyball team and our soccer players. Not to say the attention given to the football players isn’t deserved because they work hard in every game they’re involved in; however, many other hard-working aren’t as represented within our school or talked about.  The representation varies greatly, even just among different sports, but it is essential to include all different types of talents, hobbies and interests to allow each student a sense of being included. Being more diverse and encouraging can create a big impact on not only the students attending but also the school’s appearance and opportunities. Rather than limiting potential and establishing low expectations, create a good outlook and influence diversity. The best way to establish a better outlook for the future is to start now. 

Establish more culture-based clubs that include history, tradition and language or engage students in activity days that allow any student of any interest to grow in their hobbies. Just taking the time to establish when other sports games are or celebrating local athletes for their work provides positive reinforcement to continue with their background or interests. By creating an inclusive experience for all students of any background, we can make a better tomorrow.

Miss Davenport has been Carter High School’s librarian for 11 years. Her job is essential for both teachers and students and it goes further than organizing books and sitting down behind the library desk. She helps to make photocopies and print essays, she is in charge of the computers that the students use, helps everybody find the book they need, helps when students are not able to log into computers and a long list of other things. When asked if she feels appreciated she said: “I feel like I am more appreciated than more of my colleagues in other high schools and that is great”. After that, she laughed and added “However, I believe that my job consists of doing things under the radar, making it look easy and chill”  In addition to all the work she does, she is also in charge of a class where she has library aides or “my beautiful library aides” as she calls them. Students in this class will help Miss Davenport run different errands like laminate papers, take the Chromebooks to the different classes and check out and in books. During this class, she always makes sure to be in touch with her students by making little conversations or making sure everything is okay in their lives. She is full of knowledge, from general culture to the most random thing you can imagine. “ I am a curious person and I like to read” she admits “whenever I don’t know something I like to read about it and teach myself new things” McKenzie Fisher, a junior library aide on her first period, shared one of her favorite memories with Miss Davenport while laughing.  “One day, during class, Miss Davenport taught us about train sounds and the meaning behind them. She even printed a paper that explained all the different sounds and explained them to us”