AACPS, Profiles

Let’s Talk AP
Ms. Emily Cieslinksi leads her AP Chemistry class through an experiment. AP Chemistry is one of 29 AP courses available to Arundel High School students. (Photo/Emily Nine)
Ms. Emily Cieslinksi leads her AP Chemistry class through an experiment. AP Chemistry is one of 29 AP courses available to Arundel High School students. (Photo/Emily Nine)

by Linda Gessesse

“I think it’s more whine, than cry,” said AP Government and Politics: Seminar teacher, Mr. Franklin Hood.

To expand access to higher education among high school students, the Advanced Placement Program (AP) offers courses to academically prepare any and all high school students with college-level coursework.

The program consists of more than 30 courses across a myriad of subjects. The course finally culminates in a standardized assessment in May where students have the opportunity to optionally partake to gain college credit.

AP courses are for all students who are willing to participate and are academically prepared to take on a challenge. As a college course, this is a rigorous class with many opportunities for failure and defeat.

Usually, there is a perception where there is no room for a blind spot or any hints of mistakes. But this is wrong. Being successful in AP is not a straight path, students sometimes need to fall in order to rise, many times for that matter. Either way, the benefits provided by AP far outweigh the challenges many students face.

AP courses can be anxiety inducing, awful, agonizing, ambitious, alluring, and those are just the adjectives starting with “A.” It takes demanding work and will to persevere. The AP program is not for the faint of heart. Students will sweat. Students will have tears, and sometimes they will fall. Nonetheless, they must remember motives. Why are they here? Why are they taking this course? This is college level content; they can either give it their all or nothing at all.

Of the many benefits of AP courses, the most prominent is the college credit. As an introductory college course, earning that college credit in high school means students have the opportunity to skip the introductory course while in college and also save a large amount of money. Although there is always a catch, students have to be smart about the classes they take.

For example, if an individual takes an AP Government class and decides to major in health sciences/medicine in college, not only will taking AP Government in high school be harder than the standard or honors level course, it shows how much a course does not always correlate with the desired career path, so the college benefit may not be apparent. So, to save money and time, the AP course a student takes should correlate with the career that they are pursuing.

AP Government & Politics

Since 2005, Hood has been the AP Government Seminar teacher. He says a misconception students have about AP is that “It should be easy, it’s like any other class.” In reality, “[It’s] much harder in terms of the amount of homework, the rigor is going to be higher, the depth that we go into content or materials is going to be different.”

Unlike standard or honors courses, AP is a college-like course, in terms of pacing, content, and coursework.

Although the challenges may seem to overwhelm the benefits, “[AP] should challenge you,” Hood said. “I think a lot of times people avoid challenges and the fact that they get a challenge in the AP curriculum is a great thing. It takes them out of their comfort zone.”

Stepping out of one’s comfort zone is challenging and may even be inconvenient. Yet, AP courses are designed to take students out of their comfort zone to prepare them for more challenging courses to come.

“There [are] going to be times where things get a little harder and you just got to preserve,” he said. “There [are] going to be times there is going to be a crunch on time, you just have to keep working, you can’t give up. If you give up, you’re going to fall behind further and further.”

It is essential that students do not fall behind for trivial reasons: a missing homework or an incomplete assignment. Students must “stay on track, do everything on time,” Hood said.

AP World History

Mr. Larry Kramer has been teaching AP World History for four years. Skills used in the course include answering Document Based Questions (DBQ), sourcing, evaluating primary source, building arguments and contextualizing.

“All those things you’ve learned in school so far, you’ll sort of implement that in the course as it goes on,” Kramer said. “I think the biggest issue is the fact that [students] can actually do well on the course, as long as they put the effort and energy into it. There are a lot of writing requirements because 45 percent of the test is writing. And I think some students would do a lot better, they fear the writing part. But once they learn the material and the content, 45 percent, you’re going to be writing the facts down, they give you a lot of the information, it’s like DBQ based essays, I think they will do fine, but I think they fear that a little bit.”

More than half of the AP exam for the course is writing based.

“I think you have to sort of buy into the course a little bit,” Kramer said. “You have to do some of the busy work which is the reading, the reading questions. The writing piece is a lot of practice like documents and samples. So if you take them seriously, and you are really trying, even if you don’t do well on them, you’re going to do well on the course.”

Essay writing in college is basically an everyday practice, so research projects should not be a surprise to college students or high school students who want to attend college.

“AP World I think is going to help you with the research, the document-based essays are going to help you in the long run,” Kramer said. “So, if you take a college course in history, or if you have knowledge on how to analyze a document, you’re going to write a research paper at some point in your college career. So, if you don’t work on those strategies before you get to college, you’re going to have to re-learn those on your own or you have to take a basic writing course. So, I think the writing piece of [AP] World is really helpful.”

In addition to writing, reading is one of the primary skills students can develop in AP World. Especially primary source reading.

Kramer says the biggest mistake students can make with the reading-based content in the course is “not reading the required reading.”

“I don’t over require reading but I do require pieces of the reading in the units,” Kramer said. “I require them to do some reading but don’t make them read the book front to back. Some students read that and they do really well and some students don’t do the required reading and they try to like, skip by and you can only do that for so long.”

Although memorization is key to any course, AP or not, this course gives some students some wiggle room if they have difficulties with memorization.

“You still memorize stuff because you will remember pieces of it but you’re not going to remember everything, no one expects you to,” Kramer said. “Everyone has strengths and a weakness, but you’ll sort of start to remember this stuff because we constantly drill it into you.”

While an AP course is the best opportunity to earn college credit and boost your GPA, taking the AP test is what matters in the end. It will be the test, for some, that will make or break you.

“If you’re in the course, my recommendation is, if you’re taking an AP course, I highly recommend taking the test whether you do well on it or not because let’s say you do well on it, you can use it for college credit,” Kramer said. “Taking the course, you should take the test. Don’t just take the course to get that extra boost to your GPA, unless you are taking an overwhelming amount of APs. But if you are just taking one AP, you should take the test. It will make you more motivated in the course.”

AP Chemistry

To Ms. Emily Cieslinski, who has been teaching the course off and on since 2009, AP Chemistry is a passion and a love. AP Chemistry has a reputation for being a challenging course.

“I think AP Chemistry is probably one of the hardest APs in the school,” Cieslinski said.

While few students sign up to take the class, an optional elective that can count as a the third science class required for graduation, AP Chemistry students are known to be determined and ambitious. 

While other AP science courses are available, such as AP Environmental Science and AP Biology for example, they differ greatly from AP Chemistry.

“It’s a radically different type of student,” Cieslinksi said. “I feel like people come into AP Chem [knowing] it’s going to be hard, and they expect it to be hard.”

Cieslinski said a misconception she gets from students is “labs are fun.”

“The labs in AP are so much work because you usually have to do so many calculations and then you’ll also have to be able to evaluate errors,” she said. “[It’s] really being able to pinpoint the errors.”

Most students taking AP Chemistry have careers that follow the course’s route, often including biochemistry, biology, chemical engineering and astrophysics.

“You’ll have to want to do sciences otherwise the class is kind of useless,” Cieslinski said. “Secondly, going into sciences, most people are choosing life science majors which would steer them more towards AP Environmental Science or AP Biology. So, the people in AP Chem are interested in engineering or specific medical fields where they know chemistry would be important. If you’re going to major in any field of chemistry, the university you go to isn’t going to accept an AP credit in AP Chemistry. So, you would have to take their course and so that makes AP Chem a good prep course but, the AP part of it is not [as] useful. You’re not actually going to get college credit for it, they’re going to make you take a college course.”

Even though many colleges don’t take students’ high school AP Chemistry scores for college credits, Cieslinski points out the positives for taking the course.

“You’re a step ahead by the time you get to college,” she said. “It makes your freshman year a little bit easier. A lot of the people in my class, they’re taking the AP exam, but they’re doing it for the experience more than they’re doing it for the college credit.

“They are extremely dedicated,” she said. “One of the things I really love about the class that I have now to, is that they’re motivated to help other people. A lot of them are in the Science National Honors Society as well and I need chemistry tutors all the time. They are so excited when I say I need a tutor; these are people who are in it because they love science. They’re in it for the love of the class. They’re hard workers because they love the chemistry. That seems to be the uniting factor for all of them. I don’t feel like I have a lot of students just taking it for the AP credit or for the prestige, it’s for the chemistry, for the love of science.”

AP Psychology

AP Psychology teacher Mr. Jonathan Hawk, also a former AP Comparative Government teacher, is in his fourth year of teaching the course. AP Psychology covers a wide range of psychological concepts.

“I would say the biggest misconception that people have about AP psychology, or just the subject of psychology in general is that the majority of the class is going to be about mental illness and mental health,” Hawk said. “That is a part of the class, for sure but a lot of the class is about social science, the way human beings interact in groups, the different influences on our behavior and even some actual hard science, talking about the structure of the brain, neuroscience.”

Therefore, mental illness is only a small part of the course which includes, psychological theories, behavior, mental processes, memory, intelligence, personality, psychological disorders (clinical psychology) and social psychology.

Just like any other AP course, psychology has its own challenges.

“I would say one of the two biggest challenges students have in an AP class, especially if it’s the first time they’ve taken it, is to keep up with the reading,” Hawk said. “I think unfortunately, in the 21st century, especially after the pandemic, a lot of adolescents don’t have the reading stamina that they once did due to technology and not being in school for so long; ways to effectively study; there’s a lot of information.

“Fortunately, even if you try your best, there’s some stuff you’re not going to cover in class, there is some stuff you’ll have to study on your own,” he said. “There’s a lot of vocabulary, so I think that I would say that figuring out effective ways to study is another major challenge.”

Like any other AP course, the benefits outweigh the difficulties.

“I almost think that psychology should be a required course in high school because it’s really interdisciplinary,” Hawk said. “It’s a science class and a social studies class, it’s a class that teaches critical thinking, it’s a class that teaches us about the ways in which we behave irrationally, what we can do about that irrational behavior. It teaches us about why we interact with people. It teaches us the origins of things like prejudice and discrimination, it teaches us the origin of romantic love. I almost think that, maybe not AP Psychology but psychology, should be a high school class for everyone.”

Psychology is important, not only as an academic career but for personal gain. He continued, “Learning about psychology since I’ve started teaching the class has helped me understand human beings better, especially coupled with the lens of history.”

AP courses available to Arundel students

Thinking about adding an AP course next year? Here is a list of AP courses available to Arundel students, either in person or through an online option, listed by subject area.

English

  • English Language
  • English Literature

Social Studies

  • US History
  • US Government
  • World History
  • Human Geography
  • Psychology
  • Macro Economics
  • Micro Economics
  • Comparative Governments
  • European History

Science

  • Biology
  • Chemistry
  • Physics 1
  • Environmental Science

Math

  • Statistics
  • Calculus AB
  • Calculus BC
  • Calculus AB/BC Combo

World Language

  • Spanish Language
  • Spanish Literature
  • French Language
  • Chinese

Computer Science

  • Computer Science Principles
  • Computer Science A

Art & Music

  • Studio Art Drawing
  • Studio 3D
  • Art History
  • Music Theory
AACPS, Profiles

Arundel Alumna Omisore Reflects On Time With AACPS Board Of Education
Former AACPS Student Member of the Board and Arundel Alumna Bunmi Omisore.
Former AACPS Student Member of the Board and Arundel Alumna Bunmi Omisore. (Photo Courtesy/Anne Arundel County Public Schools)

by Adelle Johnson

Former Arundel High School student, Bunmi Omisore served as the 48th student member of the board of education (SMOB) for Anne Arundel County Public Schools (AACPS) during the 2021-2022 school year, and is the first student board member from Arundel in 17 years. 

Omisore said she first became aware of the SMOB position in her junior year (when she campaigned and was eventually elected) through her friend Drake Smith, who was also her predecessor. As a person who was already actively involved in her community at Arundel and AACPS as a whole, Omisore felt that taking on the role as SMOB was a way for her to amplify her impact. 

“I had done a lot of stuff in the school system, and so when I had learned that AACPS is the only board that has a full voting student member on its board of education I figured, if I want to take what I do to the next step and it’s within reach, I might as well take it,” Omisore said. 

Some of her main initiatives upon entering the role were to accomplish accessible menstrual products in county schools, promote an LGBTQ studies course, diversify the curriculum, and secure activity buses for high schools. 

As her term as student member of the board came to a close, Omisore was reflective upon her accomplishments concerning those goals, and what she went through to make them a reality. In her AP English Literature class, for instance, Omisore remarked that she could clearly feel the impact of her curriculum diversification objective, an impact which she says extends to English classes in 10th and 11th grade as well. 

Emphasizing this, Omisore said, “In my Lit class I was reading books that I read in my own free time, so to get to do it and read it for a grade was really fun.” 

She also said that an LGBTQ studies course is set to launch during the 2023-2024 school year.

Further, in May 2022, Omisore achieved what she regards as “one of the happiest moments of [her] term” when her amendment to HB 205 to secure free menstrual products in schools was funded with over $2 million dollars. Per the amendment to HB 205, free menstrual products have been made available in schools beginning in the 2022-2023 school year. Omisore says this accomplishment is especially valuable due to the long lasting impact it will have on students across the county.

“My menstrual product thing, that was something I really wanted to pass. I had to lobby people, I had to work to get the money to make that a reality, and now it is and I can say out of everything I ever did, that’s a legacy that’s gonna stay with us in AACPS,” she said. 

Despite having strong ambition and dedication to her commitments as student member of the board, Omisore said that the position still had its challenges. For instance, her schedule was very involved. Omisore said that she had to take a half schedule for school in order to accommodate all of her SMOB activities. Whether she was visiting various schools across the county, meeting with superintendent Dr. George Arlotto, or at board of education meetings, Omisore was always busy. 

The SMOB said that the end of the week was her chance to just be a student: “Fridays I’m usually off, and so I get to go back to being a senior.”

Insight about the demands of the SMOB position can also be found in Omisore’s message to her successors. 

“Remember why you ran,” Omisore urges future SMOBs. “You’re going to be caught with a lot of different things either from other politicians in the county, other SMOBs across the state or across the country. There’s going to be a lot of people that want you to do things but you have to remember why you ran and make sure that you stick to doing what you said you would do.”

Nevertheless, Omisore embraced her position and appreciates how it has given her a new perspective. After moving to the Arundel area from Baltimore, she said she noticed that “the Arundel area, it’s very community centered. A lot of people that live here, their parents went to Arundel, their grandparents went to Arundel.” 

While it was nice to be a part of the Arundel community, Omisore said, she did not want to get stuck in a “bubble” of perspective. She said that her experience on the Board of Education helped her to broaden her point of view. 

“By getting to visit different schools, getting to talk to different students that call other places in our county home, I got to see the diversity,” she said. “And it was really nice to not only see Arundel as a community but Anne Arundel County as a community as well.”

As her term neared its close, Omisore’s advice to students was to not be afraid to take risks. 

“The only thing that is certain is failure, if you don’t try,” she said. “Always apply, always speak your mind, always take a chance because you really have no idea what will happen unless you actually take that step forward.”

Entertainment, Movies

March Film Forecast

by Savannah Brooks

Oscar season is here! If you find yourself focusing so much on the nominees (and snubs) that you haven’t had the time to research the movies coming out in March, look no further! March holds some hidden gems, particularly on streaming platforms. 

Here’s a list of what you should and shouldn’t watch this month.

Against the Ice

Against the Ice' Review: Pretty But Dull Greenland Exploration Drama - Variety
Image credit: Netflix

Release Date: March 2nd

Where to watch: Netflix

Verdict: Worth a watch! Against the Ice looks terrific and is great for anyone who likes historical movies, gritty movies, or those that are both! Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Game of Thrones) and Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders) headline the cast. It is a self-contained film, however, and, if you have a short attention span, it may have the potential to get boring. 

The Weekend Away

The Weekend Away' Trailer: WATCH - Netflix Tudum
Image credit: Netflix

Release Date: March 3rd

Where to watch: Netflix

Verdict: Unless you’ve read the book, you can skip this one. The story has been done over and over – girl goes abroad and gets hurt or killed. Since its on Netflix, though, its not like you’d be wasting any money, so if you have Netflix and are looking for a thriller where a girl may or may not have murdered her friend, give it a try!

The Batman

The Batman first reactions: 'Robert Pattinson is your favourite new Batman' | Entertainment News,The Indian Express
Photo credit: Warner Bros.

Release date: March 4th

Where to watch: Any local theater

Verdict: This is a must-watch, especially if you’re a superhero fan. Pattinson and Kravitz are perfect in their respective roles, and it’s very clear that Pattinson has come a long way since Twilight. The Batman is already heralded by many as the best on-screen adaptation of the popular hero. It’s also simply a cinematic masterpiece – it may be three hours long, but it uses its time wisely.

Tyson’s Run 

Tyson's Run | In Theaters March 11
Photo credit: Collide Media Group

Release date: March 4th

Where to watch: Any theater

Verdict: You can probably save your money for this one. As amazing as it is that Tyson, who has autism, is actually played by someone on the spectrum (Major Dodson), the trailer and the story still plays a lot like inspiration for people who aren’t autistic. Most films that portray autism or disability do so in an “if this person with [insert disability here] can do it, so can you!” type of way, and the disabled community deserves more than that. If you really want to see this one, you can wait until it comes out on digital or streaming.

Fresh

Fresh Trailer: Sebastian Stan Has an Unusual Appetite in Hulu's Horror Thriller
Image credit: Hulu

Release Date: March 4th

Where to watch: Hulu

Verdict: If you have Hulu, watch! Especially if you’re a Sebastian Stan fan – this is likely to be an instant classic for him. Fresh will likely be the best horror of the month and one of the best overall films. It’s shot beautifully, has incredible editing, and is bound to be a beautiful movie all the way around.

Lucy and Desi

Lucy and Desi Review: Amy Poehler's Sundance Documentary About Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz – The Hollywood Reporter
Image credit: Getty Images

Release Date: March 4th

Where to watch: Prime Video

Verdict: Watch, as long as you have seen I Love Lucy and enjoyed it. This would also be a good documentary for fans of old Hollywood. I highly recommend watching with a parent or grandparent, as its bound to take them back in time. If you’re a fan of documentaries, this is definitely the movie of the month for you.

The Adam Project

The Adam Project' Trailer: WATCH - Netflix Tudum
Image credit: Netflix

Release Date: March 11

Where to watch: Netflix

Verdict: Watch! Ryan Reynolds is incredibly charming, even in the limited lines he gets in the trailer. The special effects are beautiful, and Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Garner will be once again amazing at playing parents. If you’re a fan of any of Reynolds’ work, this is a must-watch.

The Outfit

Mark Rylance stars as "Leonard" in
(Image Credit: Nick Wall, Focus Features)

Release Date: March 18

Where to watch: Any theater

Verdict: Watch! It wouldn’t be surprising if The Outfit gets Oscar buzz, and it has a stacked cast. Zoey Deutch (Zombieland: Double Tap and The Politician), Dylan O’Brien (Teen Wolf, The Maze Runner), and Mark Rylance (Dunkirk, Ready Player One) are all stars in their own right. If you’re an O’Brien fan, this is a must-see, as it’s his first big foray into a more serious genre.

The Lost City

Lost City' Trailer: Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum Escape the Jungle - Variety
(Image Credit: Paramount)

Release Date: March 25

Where to watch: Any theater

Verdict: This one could go either way. Sandra Bullock, Channing Tatum, Daniel Radcliffe, and Brad Pitt are all amazing, but the film reads as a bit cheesy. Now, everyone needs a cheesy rom-com every once in a while, so if that sounds like you, take yourself or a significant other to the movie theater!

sports

Arundel girls’ basketball can’t keep up with North Point in 60-52 loss

By Savannah Brooks

As much as the Wildcats tried, no amount of their defense could stop North Point’s Natalie Johnson (Robert Morris University) and Analecia Hawkins. The duo fired three after three and floater after floater, responding to close-outs and hands in their faces with the seasoned air of two seniors with a lost season to make up for to lead North Point to a 60-52 win Monday night.

Junior Jordan Glover (1 rb) makes her way down the court (Photo by Roje Campbell)

Johnson (19 pts) and Hawkins (20 pts) weren’t the only seniors looking to make an impact – Arundel’s Heather Middleton finished with 23 points (14 more than Arundel’s second-highest scorer) and 13 rebounds. Middleton did what she does best throughout all four quarters – she created her own shot, most of her points coming from getting her own offensive rebounds and dribbling around North Point’s defenders. It wasn’t enough to make up for Arundel’s faults, however. The home team got off to a sloppy start, seeing multiple turnovers from bad passes and North Point’s senior Tayloni Ricks (11 pts) scoring with three Arundel defenders guarding her in the first minute of the game before head coach Lee Rogers called a timeout. Even once Middleton found her groove, knocking down elbow jumpshots with ease, Arundel just couldn’t catch up to North Point’s smooth and experienced play. Johnson was seemingly unguardable throughout the game – she put on a masterclass on three-point shooting, finishing in traffic, and even finding her post player (usually Ricks) for the layup. Even with Middleton’s skill driving Arundel forward, they just couldn’t match up. 

“Everybody’s just got to work together,” Middleton said when reflecting on the loss. “We need five players – not just one or two.” 

Freshman Jessica Gotshall (8 pts, 5 rbs) prepares to shoot a free throw (Photo by Roje Campbell)

This problem, in part, could be explained by Arundel’s low turnout this year – only 21 players tried out and, at the time of Monday’s game, they only had seven suit up for varsity. While North Point subbed almost their entire five out two or three times a quarter, Arundel barely made subs (Middleton hardly saw any time off the floor). Every emphatic possession or defensive go by Arundel (senior Nyla Laniyonu had a powerful block in the fourth quarter and Middleton had two in a row) was usually followed by slow travel back up the court – breakaways became less and less common as the game went on with so little subs, and the gap between the two teams grew larger and larger until the Eagles finished the game leading by 12.

“We want to work hard together and play together,” Middleton lamented. “We’re going to get back and practice and just keep working hard.”

Arundel’s schedule can be found on arundelathletics.com.

Movies

Eternals: Chloé Zhao’s impossible task

by Savannah Brooks

When you think of a film with ten leads, two timelines, a 7,000-year time span, and a 2 hour and 37-minute runtime, you generally don’t think of a five-star film. Eternals could not have been handled more gracefully by anyone other than Chloé Zhao, who recently won Best Director for Nomadland at the 2021 Oscars. Eternals, as a singular film, chronicles the entire history of the group of immortals, from when they arrived on Earth in the time of Mesopotamia to today, something that has taken Marvel comics over ten comic book runs (so far) to accomplish. 

Speaking of comic books, Eternals deviates far from its source material (if you haven’t seen the film yet, stop reading here – spoilers ahead!). In the comics, the Eternals have their name for a reason – when they die, they’re resurrected, so they are never truly gone. In the movie, when they die, they die, which makes sense from a practical standpoint, since the actors will age (whereas art never will), so the Marvel Cinematic Universe can’t keep reviving their characters for longer than a century or so, but removes so much of their appeal. Salma Hayek’s character, Ajak, is also killed in the first act of the film, which is heavily disappointing once the viewer finds out she isn’t coming back. This, too, raises the question of how none of the ten died in a 7,000 year time period, yet three die in a week. There’s also the large change of Richard Madden’s Ikaris turning against the rest of the Eternals – in the comics, Ikaris is the vision of a hero, and even serves as the Prime Eternal for a short amount of time. He is often considered the leader of the Eternals and would never dream of turning against them. While fans of the character may have been dissatisfied with the path he took, the twist certainly surprised even the most devoted comic book fans. 

One major change was certainly for the better – Eternals is significantly more diverse than its comic counterpart and any other movie the MCU has produced. Six of ten of the leads are people of color, and half are women. Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos is the first LGBTQ+ hero in the MCU, and Ajak, Lia McHugh’s Sprite, and Lauren Ridloff’s Makkari are all genderbent – in the comics, their characters were men. Makkari has another major change: in the movie, she is deaf and communicates only through sign language. Ridloff herself is deaf, and she plays the first deaf character in the MCU. Makkari’s power is super speed, so her deafness makes sense, and is actually a part of her powers – her speed creates sonic booms, which don’t affect her since she cannot hear them. This is one of several intentional small details scattered throughout the film by Zhao that contribute to Eternals’ significance in the Marvel universe. The film is extremely different from anything Marvel has done before. It is filled with meticulous and careful design like Barry Keoghan’s Druig and Angelina Jolie’s Thena viewing the painting “The Monk by the Sea,” which was placed intentionally as foreshadowing. 

Even with its star-studded cast, beautiful storytelling, and breathtaking cinematography (Zhao insisted on shooting on location as much as possible, which made the film that much more real and aesthetically pleasing), Eternals still was too much of a challenge to be handled perfectly. The juggling of ten leads was overwhelming, especially for the casual viewer. The uniqueness of the characters’ names didn’t help, either – if you didn’t have any familiarity with the comics, keeping track of the leads was not an easy task. Kro, the secondary villain, was also incredibly underwhelming, He had maybe five minutes of screentime and did not hold any significance in the final conflict of the film – he could have been cut from the film and it would have been almost entirely the same with more time to spend on the leads. Overall, the cast and Zhao held Eternals together and made it special – Madden’s first venture into the superhero genre showed just how right he is for it (if Ikaris never makes another appearance, I personally might riot), Jolie’s veteran status shone and her portrayal of a wounded warrior was absolutely heartbreaking and incredibly real, and Gemma Chan’s Sersi served as a wonderful connection between these gods and us humans. Kumail Nanjiani’s comic relief was some of the best I’ve seen from him (and I’m a huge fan) especially when he was with Mchugh, who, at only 16 years of age, took on her role as a centuries-old being with ease. Keoghan and Ridloff were surprising standouts who had palpable amounts of chemistry, even when they weren’t touching foreheads. I was very happy to see Ma Dong-seok venture into American cinema as the lovable Gilgamesh, and I hope his performance encourages more Americans to watch Korean films. Hayek, even in her limited screentime, recreated Ajak as a sensible and caring matriarch and showed why she is such an iconic figure in American pop culture, and Tyree Henry shone as Marvel’s first gay hero with a beautifully emotional and touching execution of Phastos. Kit Harington and Harish Patel as Dane and Karun are worth mentioning as well – their human perspectives helped ground the film and the most laughs surely came due to Patel’s genius comedic timing.
Eternals, in its poor ratings and its characters’ obscurity, still cements itself as a turning point for the MCU and a lovely film in its own right. Its diversity and Zhao’s attention to detail set important precedents not just for the MCU, but for Hollywood as a whole. I give Eternals four stars.

News

Students and staff experience changes coming back to school

By Isabela Packer and Kaylee Renfro

As Arundel High School’s students and teachers have been going back to in-person school, they have encountered plenty of changes to the way school is being conducted and the environment. Some of the changes include mandated masks at all times, free lunches, and quarantining for ten days if sick or exposed to covid.

Samantha Murphy, a junior, said coming back to school for her has been “tiring, exhausting and a little bit fun.” She says the past year has been weird for her, but she says, “wearing the masks all day has been fine.” Paige Spriggs, a sophomore, said, “High school is a lot different than middle school. I get a lot more freedom and a lot more homework.¨ She is excited to participate in all the theatre opportunities that Arundel High School holds. ¨I’m hoping to do the Spring Musical, or just get more involved with theatre. I actually want to direct the Fall One Acts. Directing them seems pretty fun,¨ she said.

Some classes have been operating differently, like Mrs. Little’s classroom.  During a recent Monday afternoon, 3rd period, Mrs Little was in the courtyard working on community building with her Honors English class in the courtyard. Brook Kline, a sophomore, explained that they were doing a team building activity to learn each other’s names. Another one of the students, Shannelle Mitchel, also a sophomore, said, “ I like how the teacher makes sure we understand and engages instead of moving on from a different topic and makes it fun.”

Mrs. Little has taught here for four years and went to Arundel High School herself, graduating in 2011. She originally planned to work in the business field but changed career paths. “It feels wonderful adjusting to covid. It feels much more natural than online learning,” she said. Mrs. Little says it was difficult not seeing her students in person. She says,“students don’t learn from people they don’t trust.” She followed up saying she wanted the students to be more comfortable with each other. Learning names engages creativity and teamwork in the classroom. “Creativity takes courage,” she explained. 

News

COVID-19 Vaccine FAQ

By Savannah Brooks and Sahara Portlance

After a long worldwide pandemic, breakthroughs in vaccines give hope for an end and a return to a sense of normalcy. Since vaccines became available for public use in the US, many questions have risen. In this FAQ, we answer common questions that students may have about the COVID-19 vaccine.

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News

As hybrid learning begins, Arundel Wildcats reflect on their first online semester and some look forward to returning in-person

By Sahara Portlance

As some students begin to attend school in-person and others remain online, many students share concerns like lack of motivation, distractions at home, and missing out on a normal high school year. Others are optimistic and thankful for their teachers and the option to stay home during a high-risk and unprecedented time in their lives.

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Entertainment, Television

Marvel’s Wandavision comes up short of expectations after a season of unique episodes

By Savannah Brooks

Spoilers ahead!

Marvel’s Wandavision wrapped up Friday with its final episode, a 49-minute cumulation that really only answered some of fans’ questions and was much more “Marvel” than those that came before.

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Entertainment, Movies

Wonder Woman 1984: The Wonder Woman movie about men

By Savannah Brooks

Spoilers ahead!

Wonder Woman 1984, which was released on HBO’s streaming service in December, had high expectations. Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman was one of the best movies D.C. has produced – less dark and more friendly to casual audiences than its predecessors, the movie drew people in with its famed heroine (Chris Pine didn’t hurt either). In this reviewer’s opinion, Wonder Woman 1984 fell far short of the standard that Wonder Woman set.

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