78

Make a Wish

Pg. 4

Snow Days

Pg. 6

ISSUE #6

February 2019 Tech MOnTaGe

How to Ace the ACT

Pg. 4

The Official Newspaper of St. Cloud Technical High School

Spring Break in Minnesota Taylor Payne

Grace Roeder When your Instagram is

being flooded with beach pictures during spring break and you’re stuck in little old St. Cloud, it’s easy to lose inspiration for things to do; however, there are actually many things to do when you’re not one of the lucky people spending their days lying on the sunny sand in warmer weather.

First off, spend a day downtown with your friends or take the afternoon to yourself. There are so many places to eat and fun shops, my favorites being antique stores or Mind Body Spirit. It is so easy to get lost in them! Shopping in Downtown St. Cloud is also a great way to support local small businesses and explore different shops that you will not find at Crossroads!

When you’re stuck at home, spend time decluttering your room completely and rearranging it. Plan out a night with your friends who are also stuck in town and have a movie and board game night-- it’s a bonus if you are able to make a fancy dinner together!

For the juniors who are bored, I know it’s hard, but it might be beneficial to start researching colleges you want to attend or at least visit. Senior year is coming sooner than we all think.

Another fun activity is to spend the day in the Cities at someplace like a water park or the Mall of America. There is always something to do down there!

If you’re truly stuck in St. Cloud for the week, try visiting a new restaurant you have never been to or go thrifting.

While you are shopping at local thrift stores, consider starting your search for the perfect prom dress early! There is no sense in spending $300 on a dress you will only wear once. Consider supporting the “Prom It Forward” campaign at Rapids Alterations where all proceeds benefit the Central MN Sexual Assault Center.

If worst comes to worst, splurge on a fake tan, and completely fake it till you make it. Just because you’re not on a beach doesn’t mean you can’t have a fun time here in St. Cloud. Happy Spring Break!

Montage Staff

Advisor:

Jodee Blair

Editor in Chief:

Kailee Kroska

Editors:

Samantha Asplund

Jenna Jacobs

Swetha Shankar

Josephine Walk

Photography Editor:

Kailee Kroska

Writers: Drew Erickson

Abigail LaLonde Libby Neuman Maia Ouimette Taylor Payne Grace Roeder

Swetha Shankar Kylie Starren

Ashley Tarrolly Josephine Walk

Recipe Valentine’s Day Recipe

Ashley Tarrolly

The day of love! The day of treats! Oh glorious sweets! The overrated, splendid day of Valentine’s Day. The day in high school where you see young lovers with roses and candy, giving hugs. The day when everyone who lacks a significant other takes a picture with their cute dog and posts in on their Snapchat story as their Valentine...and that is okay! Who says an adorable puppy can’t be a wonderful Valentine? However, if you do have a human-like Valentine this year and you are looking for something to make them, here is an easy sweet treat idea: Chocolate - Dipped Strawberry Meringue Roses Ingredients:

• 3 large egg whites • ¼ cup sugar • ¼ cup freeze-dried

strawberries • 1 package (3 ounces)

strawberry gelatin • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract,

optional • 1 cup 60% cacao bittersweet

chocolate baking chips, melted

Directions: • Place egg whites in a large

bowl; let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 225°.

• Place sugar and strawberries in a food processor; process until powdery. Add gelatin; pulse to blend.

• Beat egg whites on medium speed until foamy, adding vanilla if desired. Gradually add gelatin mixture, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating on high after each addition until sugar is dissolved. Continue beating until stiff glossy peaks form.

• Cut a small hole in the tip of a pastry bag or in a corner of a food-safe plastic bag; insert a #1M star tip. Transfer meringue to bag. Pipe 2-inch roses 1½ inches apart onto parchment paper-lined baking sheets.

• Bake 40-45 minutes or until set and dry. Turn off oven (do not open oven door); leave meringues in oven 1½ hours. Remove from oven; cool completely on baking sheets.

• Remove meringues from paper. Dip bottoms in melted chocolate; allow excess to drip off. Place on waxed paper; let stand until set, about 45 minutes. Store in an airtight container at room temperature. One cookie is only 33 calories!

Advice Dear Seniors: Keep It Together

Swetha Shankar (A Junior)

Senior slump, senior slide, senioritis. Whatever you call it, the urge to slack off in your senior year of high school can be overwhelming. Now that the pressure of college admissions is off, it can be all too easy to lose direction and motivation, but with the finish line in sight, now is not the time to slow down! Senior year can be an extremely productive and satisfying time if you approach it with the right attitude. Here are some tips to help you stay focused as your high school chapter draws to a close.

1. Remember that Grades Still Matter. Many students get into the mindset that once the acceptance letter comes in, they don’t need to worry about grades anymore; however, this is not true. Universities can still look at your final grades and rescind their offer if they see a significant drop. Additionally, you still need to pass all of your classes to get your high school diploma at graduation.

2. Stop Bad Habits Before They Begin. Once you start slacking, it will be hard to stop. It will be especially hard to get back into the habit of studying once you stop. This will hit you hard at college since you are paying thousands of dollars for your classes.

3. Set Specific Goals For Yourself. The clearer your goals are, the easier it will be to maintain your motivation. Write down your goals for this trimester and be specific about how you're going to achieve them. For example: What grades do you want in each of your classes? Do you need a specific GPA to maintain a scholarship or financial aid? What skills do you want to improve on before heading off to college?

4. Take It One Day At A Time. It’s important to stay focused on the here and now. Use a day planner or calendar or create to-do lists to keep track of your responsibilities and break up large projects into manageable tasks.

Concentrate on doing your homework, completing projects, and studying for tests. And after all that is done, go ahead and spend a little time fantasizing about your life as a college student. 5. Have some fun! After all, you’ve worked hard to get into college, and you deserve to treat yourself. Make sure to set aside some time to hang out with your friends, go to social events, and do other fun activities. Just don’t make the mistake of treating senior year as one big party.

Good luck to all of the seniors at Tech with their last trimester of high school! At this point, you have less than three months left, so do not let the last four year’s work go to waste! I hope my advice was helpful, and I hope to see you all at graduation! “Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined.” -Henry David Thoreau

Study Tips

April 2nd is quickly approaching. For most Tech students, it will be a Tuesday like any other. For those taking the ACT for the first or second or forty-third time, it will be the culmination of weeks of fear and years of forgotten geometry theorems and grammar rules. Though I find myself in the bliss of knowing the good old ACT days are over, they are all too fresh in my mind. As a self-proclaimed standardized testing advice guru, I am here to debunk and confirm the truths and no-so-truths surrounding both the test itself and preparation for it. Enjoy! It’s important. No, standardized tests aren’t everything, but they can be a great leg up in the college admissions process. It’s not worth my time. Maybe not. If you’re not planning on going to college, especially not. It’s too much pressure. At times it’s too much, but a slight shift in mindset makes the biggest difference.

I shouldn’t prepare for it. It is alright to choose not to, but remember that many of the people you are competing against will prepare. The absolute best way to prepare is to take a full practice test- such as the ones being offered at Tech by Ms. Backlund!- to get to know both the pacing and content of the test. I don’t know anything. You may have a weaker subject or two, or you may be equally confident in English, math, reading, and science. Whatever the case, putting a little time into a practice test or diagnostic test will aid you in finding subjects that have slipped your mind- or that you need to learn for the first time. The test is long. Yes, the ACT tests stamina. During the test, make sure to take advantage of snack and bathroom breaks, as they are the key to a bearable few hours of bubble filling.

The test is boring. Here’s the tip you won’t find anywhere else: make the test fun. If you need a break, doodle in the margin. If something reminds you of an inside joke, write it down. Be reluctant to hand your test booklet back because you’ve become so attached to it! I won’t want to look at my score. There’s not much getting around it. Use practice tests to estimate your score for (hopefully) less letdown the day those scary emails come out. YOUR SCORE IS AVAILABLE! My score will be bad. I want to be able to guarantee it won’t be. But disappointment is real. You can always take the test again. Prepare more. Find colleges that have test-optional application processes. Or, as a last resort, lower your expectations. I’ll have to take the ACT so many times. Some people do, and you absolutely can. As I see it though, it’s better to put some time into preparation than to have to pay for another test and endure a few more months of stress.

The Only ACT Advice You’ll Ever Need Josephine Walk

Tech

Travel The Speech Team Goes to Harvard!

Abigail LaLonde

The Tech high school speech and debate team recently went on their annual trip to Boston, Massachusetts, where they competed at the Harvard Speech and Debate tournament, which features teams from all over the country.

The team left on Thursday, February 14th, and arrived back in Minnesota on the 19th. Although this may seem like a fun vacation, the competitors were hard at work the entire trip.

As soon as the team arrived in Boston, they got checked into the hotel and went right to work, performing their speeches for each other.

On Friday, they spent the entire day working with the coaches and chaperones who went on the trip. Saturday and Sunday were the days of competition, with events from 8 in the morning until 8:30 at night.

In each room there are 7 competitors and each one will be ranked 1-7 by the judge, depending on how well they do. Those ranks are used to determine a composite score to determine who finals. Everyone has 4 rounds of prelims, and anyone who does extremely well in prelims “breaks” to finals.

There are 7 national categories, and at this meet there were around 300 entries per category. To make it to any of the final rounds, you need to place in the top quarter. The speech team had a successful competition with 4 people making it to finals, which is both twice the amount they had final last year and the most they have ever had!

Lexi Handley made it to the top 256 entries in drama and duo. She also made it to the top 100 entries in POI (Program Oral Interpretation), making her the first person to break into finals in 3 separate categories at Harvard. Keep in mind, Harvard is a national tournament, so this is a huge deal! Will Anderson broke the top 256 as well in both drama and duo. Katie Poetz broke in original oratory. Victoria Anderson made it to quarter finals (top 64) in info. On Monday, they watched the last round for each category and learned a lot.

Overall the speech team has been having a successful year, and the number of members has grown. If you would like to see the speech team in action, come to the home speech meet on March 23!

Winter News Snow Days: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Maia Ouimette

As I sit here on what feels like the twentieth snow day this year, I wonder what causes schools to close.

Minnesotans know there are numerous reasons: snow so deep you can’t see your neighbor across the street, temperatures so cold your hands are numb after 30 seconds outside, and winds so strong cars are blown off the freeway. The list goes on and on.

Students celebrate the call announcing the cancellation of another day of school, but what are they celebrating?

Many students spend their days binge watching their favorite shows on Netflix or playing video games with friends, but with school work being mainly online, classwork doesn’t lessen even when school isn’t in session. Most teachers assign homework to keep students busy over the snow days.

Being stuck at home can be boring, and with loads of homework the stress can be overwhelming. Out of ten students, six said they’d rather be in school than have a snow day. They said their time was spent doing homework or other work around the house. The other four said their days were spent watching TV and hanging out with friends.

Since a majority of students prefer being in school, why do we still celebrate? We find ourselves buried in homework, and we fall behind in classes. Are snow days really something to celebrate?

The History of Presidents’ Day Libby Neuman

Presidents are here to lead and guide our country. Throughout the years, we have had some amazing presidents working hard to guide our country to the best possible outcome.

The idea of celebrating Presidents began in 1885, after longing to honor President George Washington. Washington’s Birthday was unofficially observed for most of the 1800s, but it was not until the late 1870s that it became a federal holiday.

Senator Steven Wallace Dorsey of Arkansas was the first to propose this idea of celebrating the past and current presidents, and in 1879 President Rutherford B. Hayes signed Presidents’ Day into law. Presidents’ Day doesn’t actually fall on an actual birthday of any American president. Four chief executives —George Washington, William Henry Harrison, Abraham Lincoln, and Ronald Reagan— were born in February.

Their birthdays all come either too early or late to coincide with Presidents’ Day, which is always celebrated on the third Monday of the month.

Presidents’ Day is unlike many other holidays because there is not a large amount of marketing associated with it. On Presidents’ Day, it is rare to see someone wearing a Happy Presidents’ Day t-shirt! Though it isn't a time for stores to market their products, it is still a day of remembrance for those who have helped guide and lead our country.

Orion Koutoupas enjoying a snow day.

Tech Activities D.E.C.A. Heads to State

Grace Roeder

Distributive Education Centers of America, more commonly known as D.E.CA., is having their annual state competition from March 3rd-5th in Minneapolis. This competition is available exclusively to Minnesota D.E.C.A. members who have qualified to participate. Whether or not one qualifies is based on their performance at the regional competition, which was held on February 6th at Crossroads Center in Saint Cloud.

The state competition will bring together students from across Minnesota who are interested in gaining experience and knowledge in business-related fields.

St. Cloud Tech has numerous students participating in multiple events and categories this year at state.

D.E.C.A. members learn how to communicate and present thoughts and ideas, problem-solving skills, and what businesses expect from employees. This prepares them tremendously for college and their future careers.

Hundreds of students will participate in the state competition, with only the best qualifying for nationals, which is held in Orlando, Florida this year. All students in D.E.C.A., however, have the opportunity to be awarded scholarships and financial aid for college in return for their hard work. State provides a chance for these individuals to be recognized and awarded for their skills and effort.

As a D.E.C.A. member myself, I have learned a lot from both the regional competition itself and preparing my event for it. I know that even if I had not made it to state, I would still be content with all that I had learned.

Night of the Stars Drew Erickson

The Paramount, initially the Sherman Theatre, has been an icon for downtown Saint Cloud since 1921. Acts have ranged from vaudeville to opera, to even touring Broadway shows throughout its history, and it has provided a place of comfort for the citizens of Central Minnesota during hard times such as the Great Depression and WWII to today!

On the nights of February 22nd and 23rd, the lights rose once more at the historic Paramount Theatre in downtown Saint Cloud as students from across the district joined together to produce the 18th annual LEAF "Night of the Stars!”

LEAF is the District ISD 742 Local Education & Activities Foundation. It was founded as a fully independent, non-profit organization with the hope of promoting school-based extracurricular activities and other educational opportunities in the school district.

Night of the Stars (NOTS) was created to try to save junior high activities in April 2002. That year, NOTS raised enough money to maintain junior high activities across the district. The event was held at the St. Cloud Civic Center for the first three years, until it was moved to the historic Paramount Theatre in 2005.

Night of the Stars is a variety show that showcases everything from singing to magic. Any student in the district is able to audition at either high school.

With the end of the show comes a tradition that speaks to everyone who performed; we all come out on stage and sing "The Lullaby of Broadway" from the Broadway musical 42nd Street.

Alexis Sanchez, Kailee Kroska, and Swetha Shankar after performing at NOTS.

Opinion Weird Obsessions

Kylie Starren

Upcoming Tech Events:

Mar. 8: End of the 2nd Trimester

Mar. 11 – 15: Spring Break!

Mar. 25: Tech Music Showcase at the Paramount Theater, 7:30 P.M. – 9:30 P.M.

People are weird. They all have their own little quirks or things that they love. I asked my friends, family, classmates, and teachers what some of their weird obsessions were and what about them they liked. I’m not going to use names for a lot of these people. Let's start with the person who gave me the idea for creating this article, Ms. Blair. Ms. Blair has 62 pairs of jeans in her closet, and seven of them are just white jeans. She has all different colors of jeans. WHAT ARE THOSE? The combination of socks and sandals is one freshman’s obsession, but I’m sure they are not the only ones who love this trend. OMG are those fifteen emoji pillows? Yes, you read that correctly, fifteen emoji pillows. This person has everyone’s favorite emojis just sitting in their room.

I’m sure lots of people in Minnesota have gone skiing, snowboarding, or just sledding. This person likes to keep all their skiing tags because they are like “postcards.” Now I know this isn’t that weird, but it is still interesting. Is there a body in that bed? Yeah, there is, you just can’t see her through the nine blankets that she sleeps with! She does say that most of them surround her, but that is still a lot of blankets for one bed. We all have our own favorite movies or actors/actress that we love and sometimes maybe stalk online a little, but this person is a super-fan of Marvel and DC movies and television shows. Once they find an actor that they love, they learn everything about them. This just shows how much they love what the actor does and they appreciate the work they put into their roles.

How many pairs of shoes have you gotten over your life? Well this person knows how many shoes she's had because they have kept all of their shoes boxes from each pair of shoes. Who doesn’t love the marshmallows from Lucky Charms? One person organizes their marshmallows from the box in rows and then eats them. Another person has a box of just the marshmallows under her bed so she can eat them whenever. There are many more weird things people do, so if you do some of these things know that you’re not alone in your weirdness!