Getting to know our staff: Michelle Sears

by SANDRA PEREYDA & C.A. GREEN

With our previous secretary Sue Wright gone, Mac-Hi has added some new changes. Mac-Hi has introduced Michelle Perez Sears as the new receptionist at Mac-Hi!

Mac-Hi’s new receptionist isn’t like any receptionist, Michelle has some hidden talents! She, in fact, is very creative and likes to do arts and crafts in her free time. “ I believe I am a Martha Stewart on the inside,” said our new receptionist. Arts and crafts aren’t the only thing Michelle likes to do. Additionally, she also likes to do cool effect makeup -- from gory gashes to realistic looking spiders. One might not think of zombie makeup and making table decorations as going together, but that's part of what makes Michelle interesting.
Michelle graduated from Mac-Hi in the class of 2006. She must have loved Mac-Hi because she also says that she is excited to come back and work for the school. When asked what her favorite part of the job was her response was, “I don't have a favorite part of the job! I like everything about this job!” 
Here are some more cool facts about Michelle: Michelle’s favorite genre of music is rap, and she doesn’t like the taste of coffee, so if you feel like bringing her a treat, she'll pass on a cup of Jo, but she loves sour candy.
We are very excited and grateful to have such an awesome receptionist such as Michelle added to our school! The student body thanks you and welcome back to Mac-Hi!

Mrs. Esser’s Climb to Stanford

by C.A. GREEN

Steffany Esser, Mac-Hi’s current Government and Foods teacher, has officially made plans to attend Stanford in Palo-Alto, California, for a Seminar this summer.

Thanks to her skills in college, during which time she became a Gilder Lehrman Scholar, the Gilder Lehrman Institute sends her information on such opportunities, which is how this one came her way. This being the first seminar she applied for, she’s slightly unsure how the experience will change her teaching methods and career, but is all smiles nonetheless and can’t wait to meet all of the many teachers from around the country that are going to be there.

She plans on taking a trip to one of our country’s most highly esteemed campus on July 24-29 and says she is ecstatic to see what the seminar has to offer. Being one of the 30 who was accepted to go to this seminar, Esser says that this seminar will focus specifically on the United States Supreme Court and how the court grew to have such a central role.Seminar participants will go back through historical court cases, such as Marbury V. Madison.

She explained how happy she was, saying that Stanford's campus sounds exciting and the topics have always interested her. She hopes to use what she learns in the classroom setting. From this experience, she said she hopes to gain “a deeper understanding of the role of the court in today’s society and how I can apply it in the classroom.”

Comic - Voting

by C.A. GREEN

Caitlin Green: A Girl Caught in the Moment

by C.A. Green

Caitlin Green, another in the long line that bears the family name, and is the fifth Green ever to be attending Mcloughlin High school, right after the first four; Derek, Kendall, Franny, and myself. This little queen enjoys doing what most of us can sympathize with; sleeping, eating, shopping, etc. Her favorite hobbies include hanging out with her friends and putting countless amounts of effort into making sure that her eyes, hair, and makeup are “on point”.

Though she seems to be a quirky little girl, you wouldn’t have guessed that she’s hardcore enough to go to prison. For those of you who don’t know, she had the unexpected experience of spending a weekend in a juvenile detention facility. Looking back at it now, she says that she doesn’t mind sharing this story because it was all a big learning experience for her, and she has “No regrets.”  
On a particular weekend, Caitlin took a ride over to Walla Walla with some friends and ended up unintentionally breaking the window of what she believed to be a car shop. After an attempt to sneak away, she was inevitably caught, and we received a very distressing phone call. As shocking as it was, Caitlin is a wild card. In describing the experience, she said, “Imagine having everything and it’s perfect. Then you’re thrown into a desert- you feel so empty and without control, and have almost no freedom.” Describing the feelings of confinement, she continued, “When you’re not exercising, you have to find a way to pass the time in that place, which for me included reading books and sleeping.” Yet, it was an experience that came with a lesson “I learned that what you have right now is so valuable. Don’t take it for granted!” she said.

Some goals she wants to accomplish include going through her four years and graduating high school, then there’s the all too familiar goal of leaving this cozy little town and making her family proud by getting a successful career doing what she loves, which is currently leaning towards cosmetology. That should come as no surprise, considering she can spend anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour doing her hair and make-up. More importantly, she says that ever since she was little, she loved painting her nails- she was never into drawing or painting like all of her older siblings. Makeup is “her artform.” It distinguishes Caitlin from the rest of the family.

Being nearly the youngest in a family of six kids, she said her family life comes with its ups and downs. “They can be a real pain in the butt at times, but I love them in the end.” You can imagine just how “fun” it gets when it’s family night and we end up playing Monopoly. She says that a great upside to having so many siblings come before her is that there’s more than enough advice to go around. She doesn’t worry about how bad things may get because she knows that she has a family to back her up.

GSA Begins “Choose Another Word” Campaign

by ALEX HUNTER & SAMUEL MILLER

The Gay-Straight Alliance is a club that creates a safe place for everyone to come regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation. This is a safe place for people who have questions or answers about gender or sexual identity to go ask questions and answer some that other students might have.

The GSA is beginning a campaign, called “choose another word.” They want to help students use language that is less offensive and more positive. For example, if a student is assigned a book to read in class and begins reading it, and says, “This book is gay,” that could offend a portion of the other students. “I know sometimes people aren’t trying to be offensive, but it’s a problem when they use words that associate being gay with something they dislike or think is stupid,” says club advisor Mr. Lynn. Because, as we all know, a book cannot actually be homosexual.

How are they going to do it?

They have cards. They will pass it out if someone says gay or the n-word, or something along those lines.

They are trying to suggest that they use different words. “We are trying to make people a bit more knowledgeable and a bit less offensive at the same time. Without shoving it down their throats,” added Collin Green, an active GSA member.

Mind Over Matt Dives into Brain of Hopeless, Helpless Illustrator

by KAREN STEELE

      The lights were out. The entire auditorium was dark. Slowly, the lights came on... and lead Christopher Moran was asleep in his underwear, as was his nerdy subconscious counterpart, played by Sam Miller. McLoughlin's newest drama play is a hilarious comedy called Mind Over Matt.

     “It's been a really fun adventure, and it's a smaller cast than we've had before,” said Director Melissa Cunnington, comparing this play to ones in the past. “It's a little bit different than what we've done before, so it's exciting that we're attempting something a little bit more challenging for us.” In years past, she has had to work hard to find a play with enough parts so everyone in the drama class who wanted to be in the play could. For this semester's play, she tried something new: choosing a play with a small cast and opening up the opportunity for everyone in the school to audition.

      Despite all of the jokes cracked (along with the Star Trek references out the wazoo), Mind Over Matt offers the opportunity to take a much closer look at why people do the things they do. The different personalities of Matt (played by Moran) are personified by Taylor Johnson, Collin Green, Sam Miller, Marcos Saldaña, and David James, who, respectively represent Matt's responsible, vain, nerdy, curmudgeonly, and misogynistic sides. Together, the five personalities take turns controlling what Matt does and says, bearing similarities to Pixar's Inside Out, but with a very unique feel and atmosphere.

     The actors have put lots of effort into their play, as shown in their near-perfect synchronization when Matt hits his head on the table and all five of his personalities react at the same time. Both Saldaña and Miller put lots of time into developing the voices of their characters; Saldaña with a gravelly tone that sounds like it would hurt his throat and Miller with a constant, nasally whine. Moran did a great job keeping himself occupied while not distracting the audience during the soliloquies of the personalities, and Cynthia Ruiz (playing Rose) bravely had a glass full of water tossed at her.

     Katie Torres (Ms. Killian) dominated the stage with her powerful presence as she stalked back and forth, demanding the audience's attention as she delivers her icy lines. The cast also shares a sense of familiarity, like they all have known each other for Matt's whole life, proven when they march together in a drunken conga line and cracking up while making (terrible) puns. The role of Matt's cranky landlord, Mrs. Snyder (Grace Miller) reaps laughter, as does the friendly banter between the Devil and the Angel (Sandra Pereyda and Ashley Gardner), who take turns making good and bad choices for Matt.

     As always, this Mac-Hi play delivers, providing a chance for students to see their peers in completely different ways (i.e. in their underwear, drinking from sippy cups, wearing each other's underwear, and some butt-slapping). All in all, Mind Over Matt is another great performance by the Pioneers and Mrs. Cunnington, with props to the crew (Mackenzie Norton, Grace Merritt, and Cynthia Lozano) and Todd Cunnington for his continued willingness to help with stage setup.

Samuel Miller, seen tied up. Johnson helped, while James, Green, and Saldana stood by.

Torres places a gentle hand on Moran's shoulder while Saldana enjoys the view, and Miller, James, Green, and Johnson run away in fear.

Pereyda looks at Ruiz and Moran lovingly.

The entire crew: Lozano, Merrit, Ruiz, Torres, James, Samuel Miller, Moran, Johnson, Saldana, Green, Gardner, Grace Miller, and Pereyda. Not pictured: Mackenzie Norton.

Some memorable quotes:

• “Good morning, testosterooomies!” - Rose (Johnson)
• “Ms. Killian? More like Mrs. Kill-Her-Men!” - Dylan (Green)
• “Who do you think is the best [James] Bond?” - Matt, asking Penny (Ruiz), a potential love interest, the most important question
• “Halo everybody!” - Angel (Gardner) to Devil (Pereyda)
• “She wants to have our babies!” - Butch (James)
• “We're sorry... That your stupidity forced us to hurt you!” - Dylan

'Día de los Muertos' Meets Shakespeare

by KAREN STEELE


All of the lights were out in the Powerhouse Theatre in Walla Walla. The faint sounds of scuffling feet could be heard on the stage as the actors got into position. Once the lights turned on, they were frozen in place, their bodies and painted faces telling a story.

The story was told in English first by a member from the Powerhouse crew, and then in Spanish by Sandra Pereyda. It was the story of a king, portrayed by Marcos Saldaña, who ascended to the throne through murdering his brother. Taylor Johnson played the ghost of the prince’s father, the true king of the land. These images of the frozen actors are called tableaus. Some of them were moving slowly. In one scene, the prince stood above his uncle, knife poised, and they slowly shifted to the next scene where the king fell on his side as the prince lowered his weapon. Other props were used during the performance, such as swords during a battle, crowns, goblets, and jester hats to add color and vivacity to the play.

“It was fun and exciting,” said Camille Riley, a Junior. Although she has been involved in community plays in years past, this is her first semester in Drama with Mrs. Cunnington. “I enjoyed performing in a new and somewhat difficult way. While on stage, I got to learn a bit more about the Day of the Dead.” She went on to describe how much fun she had.

Collin Green, who performed the role of the prince, stated that it was “interesting to go at Hamlet from a different perspective.”

Although our Drama Club was only involved for the one night, the theatre was full, the audience was captivated, and the growing thespians will remember this night for years to come.

Thank you to Melissa Cunnington for letting her use her pictures.