Volume 105, Issue 3 Modesto High School February/March 2018 Page 8 Page 9 Page 5 February/March Animal Shel- Winter Perspectives on Winter ters around Homecoming Homecoming Sports the Holidays By Anna & Royalty By Gisselle Rivera By Lauren Byerly Sarah Rinne By Margaret Peterson & 3 4 6 Matthew Smith 8 18 H Street Modesto, CA 95351 Academic An Irish Editors: Mock Trial Shelby Benz and Decathalon New Year Jasmine López By Shelby By Brianna Benz By Mehar Nijjar Panther Press Staff: Donnelly Lauren Byerly, Aryanna Davis, Breanna Donnelly, Mehar Nijjar, Anna Rinne, 10 11 12 Sarah Rinne, Gisselle Rive- ra, Matthew Smith, Chan- Spring dara Tep, Michelle Tipton, An Opinion on the Rahul Walia, Rohin Walia Sports Cover Banner by Scott By Rahul & Never Again MSD Mitchell Rohin Walia Movement Adviser: Kerrie Glenn 14 By Jasmine L pez The Panther Press is cre- Ó ated for and by students Teen of Modesto High School. The goal is to bring news to Driving MHS and to acknowledge ideas, events, and individu- By Tera Waterman als on campus in an unbi- & Chandara Tep ased and professional man- ner. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the journalism staff and 15 guest writers and not of 16 This publication may also be accessed at Modesto High School or mohipantherpress.com. Modesto City Schools. Animal Additions Animal Shelter Numbers Increase Around Certain Holidays According to the National Kitten Coalition, which cause families to be unable to look after over the course of a year in the United States their pets, and the inability to care for animals 7.6 million animals enter animal shelters. The due to the costs that come with the holiday Stanislaus County Animal Shelter reports that season and gift giving traditions. many of the animals which reside in the shel- ter enter the shelter around 3 major holidays: The lesson to learn from the issues that other New Year’s Eve, the Fourth of July, and Christ- people have with pet ownership is to make mas. The influx around New Year’s Eve and the sure that one is ready for the responsibilities Fourth of July happens directly on these hol- that come with pet adoption. If a person feels idays because they are holidays that typically ready to get a pet, one should make certain use fireworks, which scare animals and cause to adopt and support animal shelters rath- them to run away from home. These animals er than supporting puppy mills by buying. are then turned in by citizens who see them Adopt, don’t shop! Many animal shelters have roaming the streets and are taken to the shelter services where one can even play with the pet to be housed and hopefully reconnected with before finalizing an adoption decision. Plus, their old families or adopted into new, loving there is a large number of animals which are homes. found at Modesto High which are usually put into the animal shelter. If you want your own One way for a person to avoid confu- school-spirit dog you might find one there at sion if a pet has run away is to chip them. The the shelter! term “chip” refers to a small microchip insert- ed under the skin of the animal on which the name and address of the owner of said animal is stored. Shelters check animals for chips and thus can acquire the information stored on them and return them to their families. The reason for the rise in animals before Christmas is unknown, even by those working at the Stanislaus County Animal Shelter. How- ever, there have been several proposed reasons for this change in admittance rates to shelters in Modesto and across the country. It is sus- pected by some that this is due to families buy- ing new animals and dropping off older ones at shelters or not knowing they have become responsible for in the purchase of an animal. The Huffington Post has reported that many believe that the influx is due to holiday travels, Winter Homecoming 2018 by Anna Rinne and Sarah Rinne The first week back from winter break, January 16th-19th initiated this year’s annual basketball homecoming cel- ebrations. School spirit radiated from stu- dents in excitement over all of the hallway decorations, dress-up days, an exciting rally, homecoming royalty, the homecom- ing dance, and, of course, the basketball game. Modesto High leadership students helped the school prepare for the game by spending countless hours preparing to decorate the hallway. On Tuesday, the freshmen started the semester with a Wii Sports themed hallway while students rocked their pajamas. Sophomores en- Junior Prince Carson Hull and Junior Princess Safa couraged students to recreate their favor- Sareshwala at the Homecoming rally. ite memes and “Just Dance” through the hallway. College gear was spotted every- Friday afternoon, hundreds of students where around campus, accompanying gathered in the Big Gym to celebrate the game. the juniors’ Sonic the Hedgehog themed Junior Anna Banh recalled, “I really liked the hallway. When the day of the game finally music played by the school band.” She also arrived, Modesto High students showed loved “the performance from all of Modesto their school spirit alongside the seniors’ High”, referring to the inspirational demon- Mario Kart hallway. Beth Romeo, a soph- stration of spirit. The rally consisted of school omore leadership student enjoyed setting cheers, cheerleader dances, and the crowning up the hallway because she “got to see of Sophomore Prince and Princess and Junior how all the work [she’d] been putting in Prince and Princess. The title of Sophomore over the last month was actually for some- Prince went to Jeremy Kwon and Sophomore thing.” She also loves this tradition be- Princess went to Martha Wenstrup. The title of cause “[she] felt a great level of satisfaction Junior Prince went to Carson Hull and Junior and pride” seeing what she collaboratively Princess went to Safa Sareshwala, who said, created. She also said, “I love seeing what “I’m so happy that my friends and family were all the other classes prepared.” there to support me.” Homecoming also consists of activities that occur throughout the big game. Between the JV and varsity game, each individual class presents a float and skit that represents their theme. A panel of judges then watches and scores their performances. The freshmen had a fun skit where they acted as if they were Mii characters in the Wii Sports game. Their float represented a Wii console with a Wii Sports disc protruding out of it. The freshman skit included a tennis match and a lively dance number to end it off. The sophomores brought lots of energy and spirit into their Just Dance inspired skit. They danced cheerfully to many songs that are featured in Photo by Eduardo Alba the Just Dance game alongside their float, which was a DJ booth with speakers. The juniors then During halftime, the senior Homecom- performed a choreographed dance to the 80s ing King and Queen were announced. The song “Supersonic”. To correlate with their dance, nominees lined up in front of boxes. On the they wore brightly colored 80s themed outfits to count of three, all of the nominees opened up help set the mood. Their float was the Sonic race the boxes in front of them. The winners’ box- car as it rolled around Modesto High School’s es contained a balloon that floated up when it mascot, the panther. Lastly, the seniors ended was opened. Senior Class President Matthew off their last homecoming with a very enter- Soares and Modesto High’s ASB President taining skit inspired by Mario Kart. Their skit Lauren Bridges won Homecoming King and featured some fan-favorite characters including Queen. Lauren Bridges commented, “I was Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Bowser. The so excited and surprised that I won Home- seniors’ float acted as the castle that Bowser coming Queen! It was such a fun experience takes Princess Peach away into. The crowd was and I’m really grateful to have won at my last excited to see the skits, and definitely walked homecoming.” away satisfied. In conclusion, 2018 Winter Homecom- ing was an amazing week. Towards the end of the game on Friday, the announcer publicized the Homecoming activity results. The seniors placed first, the freshmen placed second, and the sophomores placed third, followed by the juniors. Although the varsity team ended up losing by four points (65-69), students re- mained loud and spirited in the Black Hole throughout the whole game, continuing to support their team and end Homecoming on Photos by Eduardo Alba a positive note. An Outdated Tradition? a.k.a. Homecoming Royalty Margaret Peterson, Junior Every winter, we nominate, vote for, and shortly forgotten as a close and aggressive basket- celebrate our homecoming nominees and victors. ball game resumed. Weeks prior, individual clubs, and organizations Sadly, this story is the same every year. The nominate peers that they think best represent same kids are nominated from the same groups on their class and those people are compiled onto a campus, and the diversity of the school is not repre- scantron. After this initial voting, the top three boys sented in the homecoming court or royalty. Of the and girls in every category: sophomores, juniors, over 2,000 students on the Modesto High campus, and senior, are voted for and announced at the rally every single prince, princess, king, and queen were on the afternoon of the homecoming game. Each leadership students. This is not an attack on the nominee is paired up with someone from their same students that won, or the class itself because the class, and the couple skips, jumps, or runs down leadership class does a lot for school spirit and pride.