The Cougar Times October 2017 Volume 2 Issue 1

Welcome Back Cougars! New Music

Review

30 Seconds to Mars - Walk On Water

By Morgan Harding

“Walk On Water” is 30 Seconds to Mars’ first new single in four years, and it was well worth the wait. Between Jared Leto’s intimidating voice, Shan-non Leto’s incredible drum-ming, and Tomo’s guitar skills, the trio stringed to-gether a hit single that all can enjoy, no matter what music preference they have. Because of the suc-cess of their new single, they performed at the VMA’s a few weeks back, adding featurette Travis Scott to add more depth to the live performance. The release of this song adds to the suspense of a loom-ing album to be released in the upcoming months. Hopefully that album will be as intricate and excel-lent as this single. The only con of this song is that it

Inside: Who’s that Teacher, Word Search and Spooky Stories!

By: Alyssa Wright On October 17th, Mr. Patsko's Holocaust Studies Class traveled to the Holo-caust Center of Pittsburgh located at 826 Hazelwood

Ave in the Squirrel Hill Plaza. The trip was a fascinating experience where the class was able to learn about the Butterfly Project and also lis-tened to a Holocaust survivor who spoke about his experi-ence while hiding in the for-ests throughout the Holo-caust. The Butterfly project is a call to action that uses the tragedy of the Holocaust to educate society about the mass amount of hatred that exists throughout the world. The message of hope for a more peaceful future, and a remembrance of the horrific event is spread by the painting of 1.5 million ceramic

Holocaust Museum Field Trip

butterflies to repre-sent all of the chil-dren who perished during the war. Henry Schneider,

a survivor of the Holocaust, revisited his past by telling the class about his first hand experience of seeking refuge in the forest while fleeing to Russian territory. Although he was merely a child, he still remembered having countless encoun-ters

with other Jews who

were attempting to flee

from the Nazi regime and

how determined they

were to survive. Later on

in the trip, the Holocaust

Studies class traveled to

the Keeping Tabs memo-

rial which was a mes-

merizing sculpture of

glass blocks that con-

tained drink tabs to rep-

resent the death toll of

the Holocaust. From the

ground, the exhibit just

appeared to be various

Photos Left: Alyssa Wright

Above Artwork: Sharaf Manaf

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Carlynton Golden Cougar Marching Band

On September 30th, 2017, the marching band hosted a festival of bands. Schools from all over the county came to show off their half time shows. Schools participating were Bethel Park, Cor-nell, Chartiers Houston, Steel Valley, Chartiers Valley, Bishop Canevin, West Allegheny, and Robert Morris Universi-ty. The marching band sizes range from 50 to 200 students. With the wide variety of march-ing bands, the festival had many different half time show themes from oldies to top songs of 2016. Besides having the bands, there was an auction to help raise

money for the Golden Cougar Marching Band. Also, there was differ-ent kinds of grams like candy grams and air grams. This allowed family and friends give gifts to their favorite band member(s). The festival of bands would not happen without the help of the band par-ents and band direc-tors.

Anime Update

first movie. The film will be released on October 28, 2017. Free! Take your marks is the name of Kyoto Animation favorite high school swim team’s new movie. Now who is a Voltron Legendary Defender fan? Well, season 4 is out and holy guiznank. The klance moments in this season are adorable. Can we also take a few seconds to talk about Matt Holt, please? I mean, come on, he's adorable. This season was amazing. Also the Voltron Legendary De-fender blogs are out. So far, Dreamworks has released Keith, Coran, and Al-luras’ blogs. You can find them on YouTube. And finally, the popular otome game called Mystic Messenger has come out with its newest update. The main menu has been updated and now instead of being yellow, the color is blue. And Chertiz has finally released a V route! A lot of fans have been waiting for a V route and now they finally have it….. but only if you have 300 hourglasses. Crunchyroll, a famous site for watching anime, is produc-ing new anime.Going back to Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima has made a second Fairy Tail movie! Fairy Tail: Dragon’s cry is the name. Well, that's all I have for you guys this article. See you guys on the flip side!

By: Blair Finlay

By Sophia McKinney

Hey all you crazy otakus out there. It’s a

new school year and this summer has been

full of new anime, otome game updates,

and so much more! I am happy to be the

one who tells you all what’s gone down. So

let’s get into it! First off, for all you out there

who are Fairy Tail guildies, Hiro Mashima

has come out with his final character of

Fairy Tail. Yes I know, heartbreaking. I

hope nothing but the best for our Fairy Tail

family. Second on the list, the famous

anime called Free! is coming out with its

Artwork by: Shaimaa

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The homecoming for 2017 was held at the school's gymnasium on October 21st. Prior to the dance, members of student government decorated the high school field, the gym and the entrance of the gym. At the end of the day there was an as-sembly for the court and to an-nounce the king. The court played some games that involved the crowd. There was a scavenger hunt and pictionary. Before the court came out onto the stage, the march-ing band performed and the cheer-leaders got the students hyped up for the game that Friday night. Once all of the acts and games were over, Carlynton High School found out who the king was. Owen Kalimon won homecoming king of 2017. There was also a parade that includ-ed floats of the different classes. The floats were different southern states like Texas and Florida. The sports teams, Carlynton Little Cou-

gars, Cheerleaders, and the Mayors of Crafton and Carnegie also partici-pated in the parade. The court rode in the parade on pickup trucks. Be-fore the football game started, the court was presented to the fans at the game. After half time the queen was announced. The 2017 home-coming queen is Arieona Smith-Purdue.

2017 Court Hunter Crown—Autumn Shaffer Owen Kalimon—Arieona Smith

Purdue John Cantwell—Monika Karpa

Tayvel Hutchinson—Eliana Davis Riley Post—Nicole Auen

Representatives

Sophomores Makayla Linn—Dakota Mayfield

Juniors Julia Roussos—Maclaine Greiner

Q: How long have you been teaching?

A: 12 years at Carlynton, 14 years total

Q: What are your hobbies outside of school?

A: Attending my children’s sporting and theater events, sewing and scrapbook-ing, hanging out with friends, and watch-ing documentaries on Netflix.

Q: What was your least favorite class in college?

A: English Composition of Classic Litera-ture

Q: Describe yourself in three words. A: Loud, loyal, and sarcastic

Q: What is your least favorite movie?

A: Blair Witch Project

Q: Favorite Quote?

A: “Choices have consequences.”

Sports Corner

By: Nick Hunter

Think you know who that teacher

is? Send your guesses to Miss Fris

in room 113! The first 3 students

with the correct response will win a

prize!

Southern Charm Homecoming 2017

By: Blair Finlay

The boys soccer team won their last game 3-2. Samon Majed and Demitrius Howe scored goals. Samon scored one goal and Dimitrius two goals. The boys beat South Al-legheny ending the season with a bang. The boys varsity cross coun-try team came in eleventh place with 277 points at Freedom Invi-tational at Brush Creek Park. David Creely with a time of 19:34 earned 137 points and came in 42nd place. Mark Phil-lips ran a season career best of 19:43 finishing in 47th place. Riley Post and Desmond Cor-rado ran within just seconds of each other. Matt Hilarzewski struggled with cramps the whole time, but still managed to fight through it and finish the race. Nick Sedlak the fifth scoring run-ner for the Cougars. Gabe Wil-cox continues to be steady, run-ning at 25:52 in only the fourth race of his career. The Cougars then competed in the MAC Invi-tational before the WPIAL Championship, where they placed 13th out of 26 teams. All runners ran their personal bests!

Guess That Teacher!

By: Morgan Harding

Flower Planting at Carnegie Library

An interview with Mrs. Rusinko and NJHS members

Q- Who? What? When? Where? A- On Wednesday, October 4th, 45 NHS and NJHS mem-bers, along with the Western PA Conservancy, planted over 100 flowers and plants around the Carnegie Library in Carnegie as a part of an initiative to renovate the out-door space around the library. We left around 8:30 and worked until about 12:30. Afterward, we had lunch in the library and then listened to a talk by Maggie Forbes, the Executive Director of the library, about the history of Car-negie and the history of the library. Q- Why this project?

A- The NHS and NJHS students have worked with the Western PA Conserv-ancy in the past to plant flowers along the parkway leading in to the Fort Pitt Tunnel. This year, the Western PA Conservancy offered a local project to us and we couldn't pass up the chance to complete a service project in our own community. Q- What was most fun about the day? Lukas Prepelka and Ethan O'Brien: "We liked digging holes and spreading mulch and lifting the big rocks. The pizza was good too!" Sarah Pallus: " I liked digging. It was fun working outside togeth-er. Audrey (Robb) helped me get my tree out of the bucket." Brooklynne Prepelka: " It was fun working together to make the library

more beautiful place."

Mrs. Rusinko: It was a gorgeous fall day to be out-side working with community members and helping to make the library a more beautiful place to visit.

Interested in being part of NHS or NJHS? Here’s what you need to do!

Students in grades 7-12 are asked to join the National Honor Society or the National Junior Honor Society each year. They must have a 93% overall GPA. Once they are identified, they must complete an application detailing their extracurricular activities, service work and

leadership experiences before they are invited to be inducted. A team of teachers reviews the applications and selects students based on their scholarship, leadership, service work and character. Students

must maintain all of these expectations to remain as members of their

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Fall Recipe Pumpkin Spice Cupcakes! Submitted By: Alyssa Wright

You Will Need: 2 ¼ cups all purpose flour 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg ½ teaspoon ground ginger ½ teaspoon ground cloves ½ teaspoon ground allspice ½ teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon baking powder ½ tablespoon baking soda ½ cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar ⅓ cup brown sugar 2 eggs ¾ cup milk 1 cup pumpkin puree

Cream Cheese Frosting: 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened ¼ cup butter, softened 3 cups confectioners' sugar 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions: 25 min prep - 25 min cook

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 24 muffin cups, or line with paper muffin liners. Sift together the flour, 1 tea-spoon cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, allspice, salt, bak-ing powder, and baking soda Beat 1/2 cup of butter, the white sugar, and brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add the room-temperature eggs one at a time, allowing each egg to blend into the butter mixture before adding the next. Stir in the milk and pumpkin puree after the last egg. Stir in the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven until golden and the tops spring back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for 5 minutes before removing to cool. While the cupcakes are cooling, make the frosting by beat-ing the cream cheese and 1/4 butter with an electric mixer in a bowl until smooth. Beat in the confectioners' sugar a little at a time until incorporated. Add the vanilla extract and 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon; beat until fluffy. Once the cupcakes are cool, frost with the cream cheese icing.

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“Don’t Trust the Basement”

By: Jaidalyne Smith

“I hear something…” I weakly whispered to myself. My hushed voice cracked with fear while a shiver traveled down my arched spine, even though I was wearing a hoodie. The gentle tone of a music box quietly flowed through the still air around me, it was coming from downstairs. It’s funny, I never remembered having a music box before. I sat up straight after getting an aching cramp in my upper back from being hunched over for more than an hour. As I moved I could hear the creak-ing of my stiff bones, finally reawakening after being frozen in time. My legs were slightly shaking, my stomach tied in mil-lions of knots, making me feel nauseous. I slowly crept over to my doorway to view the night black hallway, for my room didn’t

have a door. Tick, tick, tick. The clock clicked, indicating

each passing second as the time neared midnight. The

once faded sound of music was now clear but quiet, it

sounded like a song my Great Grandma used to sing to

me, but slower. “I love you…a bushel and a peck...” the music seemed to sing the lyrics, though it had no words playing. I thought for a long moment, trying to process and figure out where down stairs the music was playing from. But the song was distract-ing me majorly, I slightly heard Great Grandma’s caring voice singing the song to me. My joyful thoughts were interrupted when a sudden clash of metal pots rang from the downstairs kitchen. I jumped back startled, scared out of my wits now. I cautiously checked behind me and down the hall, which seemed to look as though it went on forever without an end. I took a shaky step forward onto the tan carpet of the hall, feel-ing as if the ground was toxic. (continued on page 7)

Spoooooky Word Search

Submitted By: Blair Finlay

The Cougar Times Page 7

“I don’t trust these halls anymore…” I cow-ardly whimpered under my heavy breath. Though I was petrified of leaving my room, I moved on any-way. The poisoned feeling of fear pinched at my weak stomach as I neared the kitchen with small tip-toed steps. I stopped dead in my tracks, partly through the heavily shadowed living room when the almost silent terrifying melody of the slow mu-sic box stopped. “H-Hello..?” I shuttered, cowering down into a crouched position on my shaking hands and knees. The gentle ticking of the clock was the only sound that replied to me. I looked up, my heavy head felt dizzy as my body was aching. Warm tears dribbled down my cold cheeks, there was no doubt that I was afraid. I slightly turned my head to check the time. I could just barely see, but I could make out the silhouette of 11:59 on the clock. I quickened my pace to the kitchen, desper-ately crawling on my knees and elbows.

The fabric on my indigo hoodie protected my pale, delicate skin from the harsh chill the tiles of the kitchen floor gave off. I stopped in the center of the floor slightly hidden under the large glass table that stood next to me. Our kitchen was al-ways neat in my opinion, but I wasn’t sure how it looked now due to the grim atmosphere of the whole house. The music box sounded again, al-most completely clear, but still muffled. The base-ment. I shifted my shaking body sideways to face the wooden door of the basement. I held my un-easy breath as I reluctantly stood, holding onto the table for support. Tick, Tick, Tick. Ten seconds ‘til midnight. I had to take the chance to see what was down there, haunting my house and scaring the life out of me. I stumbled over to the door, almost too weak and afraid to walk. I managed to grip the metal knob to help support me in standing up. Once I got my balance back, I unsteadily unlocked the door with numb fingers. I fidgeted with the door handle until it finally swung open. There, I was greeted by blank white eyes and a sharp toothed grin.

With the high pitched screech of a girl,

the clock struck midnight Tick, Tick, Tick.

“We Are Okay” Book Review

By: Alyssa Wright

The novel “We Are Okay” written by Nina LaCour, is a captivating piece that enthralls the readers with the story of Marin, a young girl who is overwhelmed with grief after the passing of the on-ly family she has left, her grandfather. As winter vacation rolls around, Marin is forced to face the demons of her past as her ex-best friend and lover, Mabel comes to visit in hopes of rekindling their friendship. During their time together, Marin is overwhelmed with the memories that she left be-hind and they leave her questioning if she actually knew her grandfather at all, or if she was living with a complete stranger. On top of reliving her trauma, Mabel and her family have schemed up a plan to try to convince Marin to return to her hometown, and to those who all love, and care for her. Throughout this heart-wrenching novel, the reader can expect to be kept on the edge of their seat as LaCour touches upon teen queer relationships, mental illness, and the practically debilitating emo-tion known as grief.

“Don’t Trust the Basement”

Continued...

Above Artwork: Sharaf Manaf

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Above Artwork By: Sharaf Manaf

Ever wonder how your peers produce the morning

announcements?

Students work hard to operate cameras and the sound

board and host the show!

No prior knowledge or skills needed. Everyone works as a

team to help make each morning successful.

Does working on the morning announcements interest

you?

See Mrs. Jackson for more information!

Pablo slowly walked up the old, cracked cobble-stone path. He stopped and turned around to look at Pedro, who gave him a look that Pablo could under-stand almost as clearly as if Pedro just yelled,” Come on. Keep going!” He turned back around to walk up the steps. He started to go up the steps, that seemed to scream under the kind of weight that they hadn’t felt in years, for all that had recently set foot upon them was the occasional mouse or rat. As he stepped on the porch, he could tell that once he set foot inside the door, he couldn't turn back, for the fear of the humilia-tion he would have to face was enough to offset that of the mansion. He took a deep breath, then walked in….

As soon as he set foot inside the house, some-thing felt wrong to him. He shrugged off the feeling and started off down the first, long corridor. The crusty old carpet was covered in a layer of dust that suggested years of misuse. He slowly walked up to the first cor-ner, scared of the unknown that came with turning it. He readied himself then stepped around the corner. He let out a sigh of relief. It was just the old kitchen, with the vintage appliances and the old, peeling wallpaper. He started to slowly walk through the kitchen when he heard the loudest slam ever. He whipped his head around to see what it was. What he saw chilled his bones. The door had been closed.

Pedro and Pablo were coming home late after their biggest Halloween haul ever when they realized it was almost midnight. “Crap,” said Pablo. “We are going to be late getting home.” “Let’s take the shortcut past the old mansion,” Pedro said. Though Pablo had always been scared of that old mansion, he knew if they didn’t get home, they would be in trouble, so he agreed. They started to trudge down the path that led to the dilapidated, supposedly haunted mansion. The whole way down up until they reached the mansion, Pablo was filled with dread at the thought of passing by the old place, since he had heard so many stories of it since he was young. When they finally reached the old place, Pablo could have sworn it had gotten just a little bit colder. They sat there, staring for a moment when Pedro said, “I dare you to go in there.” Pablo, startled, replies with a shout. “NO WAY!” he said. After some continual pestering, Pablo said,” If you give me a quarter of your candy, I will.” Pedro agreed.

“A True Halloween Fright”

By: Simon Schriver

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“A True Halloween Fright”

By: Simon Schriver

Continued...

He went to try to open it, but when he tried to turn the crystal handle, he realized it had somehow locked. He started to panic, the thoughts of what this house truly held racing through his head. He started to run out of the kitchen into another room he saw directly ahead. As he stumbled into it, he realized it was an old sitting room, but he didn’t stop to look at the beautiful, hand-crafted furniture which sat upon an amazingly intricate rug, for he was truly terrified. He flew into the next hallway and the door behind him slammed shut. Heart pounding, he scurried from room to room, each door behind him abruptly slamming shut. He finally stopped to think of how to get out when he realized he had no idea. In his mad rush, he had not stopped to think about how to get back to the main door, his only chance at freedom from this true house of horrors.

He started to think of what to do when he finally sat down, with no idea of his next step. He had been sitting there for about a minute, slowly inhaling the musty smell, when he heard a footstep behind him. He whipped his head around, only to see the door he had just entered through. “I must've imagined it,” he thought. He went back to thinking of ways to escape when he heard another footstep. He turned around and the same result. Nothing. He settled back into the practi-cally ancient armchair when he felt the room getting colder. This time he knew he wasn’t imagining things. He slowly got up from the chair and started to walk away when the whole room went pitch black. Pablo couldn’t even see his own hand right in front of his face. He scrambled around the room, try-ing to find the door when two glowing dots appeared in mid-air. The started to sway back and forth, getting bigger and bigger. By the time he realized what they truly were it was too late. He didn’t even have time to scream. “PABLO!” Ped-ro yelled. “PPPAAABBLLLOOO!” he yelled again. He repeat-ed this chant a few more times. No response. Pedro then spotted Pablo’s candy, still lying on the ground. He was de-bating whether to stay here and wait for Pablo, or go home and eat his and Pablo’s candy. “He’ll come out soon,” Pedro thought. He clenched the bag tight in his fist and started to walk down the path, toward his own house, unbeknownst to what had just truly happened to his best friend on this horri-ble night.

“Baghdad”

by Fakhar Almlook

Extend your carpet and fill my glasses

And forgot repentance, I have forgotten it.

Your eyes Baghdad, since my childhood

Two soft suns in cilia

Don’t deny my face, you are my love.

And the roses of my table and a drink cup

Baghdad you came as a ship tired.

I hide my surgeries behind my clothes.

Baghdad I lived in good colors.

But your advantage was not in my account.

What will I write about you, my love?

Above Artwork by: Fakhar Almlook

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I am excited to announce that the Rotarians at the District Conference chose Carlynton Junior-Senior High School's Interact Club as Small Club of the Year and presented us with award money for our club! We were up against other "small" Interact Clubs that have been estab-lished for several years and have on average 50 student members. (Large clubs have over 100 students.) We have only been a club for a year and a half and this was our first time entering the contest. We were chosen based on our poster presentation, the number of service projects we did, the types of those service projects, and other cri-teria. Last year's projects impacted both our school and local communities as well as children across the globe. They include: -Installing Little Free Libraries at each elementary building -Book drives -Pull tab competition for Ronald McDonald House -Volunteering at Carlynton’s Santa Breakfast -Decorating Thanksgiving meal boxes -Collecting shoes for children in Nicaragua -Selling candy grams to benefit the Women's Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh -Collaborating with St Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Car-negie to make fleece blankets for the homeless I am very proud of our students' hard work and dedica-tion to the club! We left today's conference with exciting new ideas, so stay tuned for more to come this year! The Interact Club is open to all students in grades 7-12. If you are interested in joining, see Miss Fris in

room 113 to sign up!

District Rotary Award for Interact Club

By: Miss Fris

Why should YOU join Interact Club?

Pizza planning parties

Fun events

Volunteering to help others

Scholarships

Leadership fieldtrips

Study abroad

Leadership summer camp RYLA

Great addition to your resume

It’s an organization that is known all

around the world!