PROWLERthe

Volume 43, Issue 2

The O’Fallon Township High School newspaper, The Prowler, is part of the educational curriculum of O’Fallon District 203.

Although the paper is a class activity, OTHS students may submit materials, such as stories, photography, graphics, or art, for publication consideration. Students should bring any submissions to Room 608. Submissions may be ed-ited for content, length and grammar.

If written, staff editorials will not be signed and will re-flect the opinion of the majority of the staff members. Commentaries and columns, on the other hand, will be signed and reflect the individual writer’s views. Any person with an interest in the OTHS community is encouraged to submit letters to the editor. All letters must be signed. All signatures will be verified through a phone call or personal interview.

Letters may be submitted to Room 608, mailed to OTHS Publications, 600 S. Smiley St., O’Fallon, IL 62269, or e-mailed to townsendj@othstoday.com. If excessive editing is needed, the letter will be returned to the author for approval. The Prowler reserves the right to edit any letter for grammatical errors, libelous content, or space limitations.

The Prowler is a member of the National Scholastic Press Association and the Illinois High School Press As-sociation. Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/MCT Campus High School Newspa-per Service. The Prowler is distributed electronically and available for download.

Staff and Policies

Writers on the prowlMeet your student news team @OTHSProwler

OTHStoday.com

facebook.com/OTHStoday

prowler@othstoday.com

Editors:

Kaley Johnson

Andrea Vernier

Layout Managers:

Connor Holzinger

Dianiche Baxtron

Megan Ivey

Katealia Lilly

Morgan McAteer

Dan Burke

Brittany Wood

Sarah Bradley

Sam Minich

Gerian Summers

Tristan Medina

Josh Baron

Alexa Druin

Nikki Monroe

Jarrett Lindsay

Staff Writers:

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College mail and pestering parents scream that the 11th hour is upon us as we prepare to make the biggest decision of our lives so far...

The time is coming for seniors to narrow down their college decisions and select their location of higher education.

In fact, the time is flying quickly, and graduation will be here before we can say, “So long suckers!” But before all of that rolls around, there are many things to consider when thinking about each of your college offers. Making the right choice many seem simple at first, but there are many factors to each decision. Just like any big change, it takes some time (and typically arguments and long conversations) to ensure you make the best decision.

If you applied to more than four schools, you probably applied to a medium to large size, and at least one or two of a smaller size. It’s great to have options, and everyone has a different preference. Talk to your friends or siblings who at-tend large universities or state schools and ask them what they like and dislike about a large school. For instance, a larger school may have more majors and activities provided. At the same time it could have larger classes, which some people find can debilitate your education. Do the same to figure out if you might enjoy a smaller school. Once you know your preference, it will be much easier to narrow down your list of schools.

Money seems to be the biggest factor in college decisions today. Tuition fees are high and on the rise. Money is tight, and any cheaper option is a great option. This situation becomes dif-ficult when the school of your dreams is a couple thousand dollars too expensive. There is

one main thing to remember: keep an open mind. Weigh the pros and cons of a cheaper but possibly more obscure college. If going to a ‘brand name’ school and paying off the student loans or working two jobs is worth it to you in the end, then go for it.

The final (and potentially largest) underlying stress factor to our entire decision, is often the ties we have to family, friends, and significant others. Obviously it is best to try and leave everyone out of your decision, but this is very difficult and almost impossible. It seems everyone has been split into two large groups: those who want to get away from O’Fallon, and those who are too scared to leave. Whether you are leaving or staying, just make sure that it is for the right reasons. Don’t be afraid to say goodbye to your security blanket. Look at college as a fresh start, no matter where you are going. If you make up your mind to make the best of it and have a great time no matter where you are, then all the rest will fall into place.

College should be a decision that you make for yourself. Our education is a choice and a freedom that we should be able to make for ourselves. College is four years that are all your own. It’s a time to explore, and learn, and make some of the best memories of your life. So seniors, take a deep breath, keep the right

perspective, and don’t blink...high school isn’t over just yet.

| Sarah Bradley| sarahbradley@othstoday.com

If you make up your mind

to make the best of it and have a great time no matter where you are, then all the rest will fall into place.

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Choosing your location of higher educationSeniors, it’s time to make some big decisions

A revival of the zombie genre: Bringingzombiesbacktolife

It’s been four years since a big budget, well-made zombie movie hit the theaters. And even then, that movie (Zombieland) didn’t fit the classic zombie movie mold. However,

the small screen has taken up the reins in the absence of quality zombie cinema.

Yes, I’m talking about The Walking Dead. The show first aired in October 2010, and it brings back the gore, zombies, and overall serious tone we’ve seen in classics like Dawn of the Dead.

This show bridges the gap for those of us who have been longing for some zombie gore. Based on the comic book series by Robert Kirkman, The Walking Dead chron-icles the adventures of Rick Grimes, a sheriff’s deputy who wakes up from a coma in the middle of a zombie apocalypse.

Along with its great premise, the show brings a talented group of actors and screen-writers. It currently holds an 82/100 score on the website Metacritic, and it’s been nominated for many awards (including a Golden Globe).

The Walking Dead began airing the second half of season 3 on February 10, 2013.

But that’s not all. The movie “Warm Bodies”, released February 1, has a fresh take on the zombie genre as a whole.

Warm Bodies is based on a book of the same name. It chronicles an apocalyptic dys-topia where the main character, a zombie named R, is cured by interaction with a hu-man, most notably, love.

After mixing comedy and romance elements, as well as excellent acting by Nicholas Hoult as R, the result is a romantic comedy with zombies and humans that somehow doesn’t gross the audience out.

At the same time, there’s a ton of zombie literature out there to choose from. World War Z is a post-apocalyptic retelling of a zombie apocalypse that received positive re-views from Entertainment Weekly and The Onion.

More recently, books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Cell by Stephen King were released. And there are still hundreds more; Wikipedia has a massive list of zom-bie novels just waiting to be read.

Finally, we have zombie video games. The Left 4 Dead series and the Nazi Zombies minigames in Call of Duty Black Ops 1 & 2 dominate the zombie video game market and get consistently positive reviews.

So, the zombie genre was never really all that dead. For those willing to search, there’s zombie entertainment in the form of movies, books, TV shows, and video games. And with the help of The Walking Dead, I think we’ll be seeing even more undead media.

ZOMBIES

They

’re

Coming..

..

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| Jarrett Lindsay| jarrettlindsay@othstoday.com

Call of Duty Black Ops 2: Within Black Ops 2 is the famous “Nazi Zombies,” where players fight infinite levels of zombies.

Shaun of the Dead: This 2004 comedy presents a hilari-

ous take on the zombie genre - British people who battle their way through hordes of undead

to make it to safety.

28 Days Later: A new take on the classic, slow-moving zom-bies, 28 Days Later chronicles the adventures of a man who wakes up in a zombie apoca-

lypse. But there’s a twist - these zombies are deadly fast.

Left 4 Dead preview: A first person shooter that follows a

group of survivors as they bat-tle their way through hordes of zombies to checkpoints called

“safe houses.”

Dawn of the Dead (2004): The 2004 version is a remake of the 1978 classic; it’s about a group of survivors trapped in a shopping mall by a horde of zombies.

Dead Rising 2 preview: An action adventure game where anything is a weapon. The game focuses on pro-tagonist Chuck Greene who slaughters waves of zom-bies to complete specific missions.

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Our genera-tion has

been raised hearing all about the impor-tance of self. As The Millennial Generation, which comprises some 78 million Ameri-cans born between 1983 and 2000, comes of critical age, it has become apparent that this focus on the individual rather than the group is not necessarily positive. While it doesn’t mean we’re selfish, it does mean that we have been taught that we should place ourselves above the good of the group, and this seems ominous in a fast-paced society that conditions us to burst into the workplace with self-centered goals in mind.

Generation Me, a novel by Jean Twenge, outlines the basic psychology of those born in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s. More specifically, she delves into the mindset of those born in the late 80’s and 90’s; the teenagers and young twenty-somethings of today.

According to Twenge, today’s young people (that’s us) are filled with more ambition, self-confidence, freedom, and independence than prior generations. On the flip side, Twenge says that we are also more prone to depres-sion, anxiety, cynicism, and loneliness.

This is due to the fact that we’re raised to reach for the stars, but when we enter into the “real world” we’re bitterly disappointed by what we find.

“The fact is that expectations have outpaced reality,” Dr. Twenge says. “Young people today are expected to achieve the extraor-dinary but it’s getting harder and harder to do. It takes more than it used to to get into a good college, get a good job, or buy a good house.” All too often, she adds, the result is “crippling anxiety and crushing depression.”

For example, the first wave of Millennials (also called Generation Y) are just hitting the workplace. Many bosses and veteran work-ers are clashing with the new recruits, label-ing them the “Entitlement Generation” be-cause, in their eyes, the fresh workers believe they are entitled to everything from higher wages to more flexible work hours. All of this, they claim, stems from being “coddled” throughout high school and college and growing accustomed to instant gratification, and now that they’re working they expect to be handed good positions without putting in the work for them.

In the eyes of Generation Y-ers, however, their older colleagues are part of a dying mindset that work comes first in life rather than self-achieved happiness. For some, the younger generation is unwilling to sacrifice all of their time and happiness to a grueling job. These younger workers want more than to be a “cog in the work machine”.

Within our industrialized society, there is a constantly changing concept of input vs out-put. What that means is that society, as it stands today, wants to yield the maximum amount of reward and benefit with the mini-mum amount of effort and facetime. Perhaps we have forgotten the importance of hard

work and we suffer from a condition of com-placency because what used to be normal and difficult has become TOO normal and difficult.

We are often under the impression that we are entitled to whatever it is that we want, especially if we see someone else with it. For

It appears that since we grew up being taught that at least the majority of us are special, we expect to be more than a simple paper pusher or coffee runner in the work-place.

For most of us, we won’t grow up and be-come movie stars, billionaires, or Nobel Prize winners. While this shouldn’t mean that we’re still not perfectly happy, the concern is that our generation is already feeling the sting of reality, and we’re not taking it well. In short, our expectations are so high for the rest of our lives, we’re almost sure to fall short in reality.

We all want to believe that we’re important. Unlike generations before us, such as the Baby Boomers and Generation X, our lives have been filled with technological advances that place a heavy emphasis on our own lives, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Google-

Plus.

This doesn’t mean we’re self-absorbed nec-essarily; this technological access to the world also leads to national humanitarian movements such as Kony2012 and “Arab Spring”. It does, however, make us feel even more self-important, raising our expectations for our future to an almost unrealistic degree.

This may not be entirely our fault, however. Our parents, as Generation X-ers, suffered through difficult economic times for most of their lives. When they set out to raise a fam-ily, they may have overcompensated for their own previous struggles by becoming over-protective and overly involved with their chil-dren, adamant that their children will grow to be successful. In this way, they become “he-licopter parents”, hovering over their children and becoming overly involved in their lives.

While this is the psychology that’s been ob-served thus far on our generation, the world still waits to see what, exactly, we young people will do. Hopefully, we can effectively embrace the realities of our future and make as big as an impact on the world as the gen-erations before us.

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| Kaley Johnson| kaleyjohnson@othstoday.com

Generation me

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The technology of today’s world is ab-solutely phenomenal.

A single person can have a huge impact on society by simply liking a photo on facebook or re-tweeting a post on twitter.

Of course this actually is not real. People treat the whole “like for <incredible societal change>” thing like it actu-ally happens when someone “likes” something.

People get on Facebook or Twitter to see what their friends or followers have been up to. All of a sudden, one cannot help but notice that one post that has abso-lutely nothing to do with anything has gone viral, and it supposedly going to change the world. Many of us have seen, for example, the infamous “Like if you want to go to heaven. Ignore if you want to go to hell,”. Other simi-lar posts of this nature are starting to get out of hand.

The fact that someone thinks that liking something can determine what kind of person somebody is is ignorant. Usually, when people ignore those posts, it is because they simply do not care. I may not “like” it, but that does not mean I hate my grandma and I want her to die. (

The most annoying part about these posts is that they can take a legitimate issue and make people think they’re helping the cause by clicking a button. Cancer will not be cured by receiving thousands of likes on a status. These people are kidding themselves into be-lieving they’re being good samaritans simply because they retweeted a post about how terrible the AIDS epi-demic is.

Seeing these type of posts quite frequently gives off the vibe that many people are simply seeking attention through them. If you want people to care, then write an essay or a book, don’t annoy the entire social media world with your beliefs.

To eliminate this annoying trend, people need to just ignore it. When you see it do not “like” or “retweet” it. Once this trend ends, however, another annoying trend will probably catch on. The best thing to do is to just ignore them and let someone else worry about some-thing meaningless.

Something happens in your life that you’re simply dying to share

with the world. You’re having relationship problems with your significant other, you disagree with a political statement, or you claim your parents “never understand anything”. Rather than pick up the phone and rant to a friend, you discover a different route to take - a method that will allow all of your friends, acquaintances, and relatives to know your side of the story. Seconds later, you’ve updated a five thousand word Facebook status, complete with dialogue and details on the situation you find to be so drastic. Now everyone has a glimpse on how tragic your life is, and you can sleep soundly know-ing that you called out anyone in the wrong. That’s awe-some for you that you’ve effectively used social media to overshare about your entire life, but the rest of us are getting a bit tired of it.

It seems that social networking statuses have taken a huge turn since the days of AOL instant messenger. Sta-tuses have become more than just a brief saying, such as “finishing homework”, or lyrics of a song from your favorite artist. Now, it’s as if a status has to deal with your every emotion and cooked up story you can come up with.

A status has been defined as a posting on a social net-working site that indicates a user’s current situation, state of mind, or short opinion about something. Nowa-days, it’s as if the word “status” has a whole new mean-ing, especially when it comes to Facebook.

Facebook has been noted for its obscure status ques-tions that have caused people to blow up their facebook feeds and others feeds, as well. The normal status ques-tion asked is “What’s on your mind?” Simple, yet it can lead to a world of thought for Facebook users. With that comes the theme of statuses that are solely based on cheesy song lyrics and meaningless pictures along with a quote that says “Like this status if you want your mom to live.”

Somewhere along the lines of social media babble, how-ever, short, meaningless statuses have turned into long, meaningless statuses.

So when did a “status update” morph into a daily blog of nonsense? To me, Facebook statuses have become a form of absurd communication. Instead of working out issues face-to-face and keeping private topics out of the public mouth, people are relying on Facebook to spread their emotions to anyone willing to read about it. This, I feel, is having a negative effect on all relationships, along with making the ability to say what you feel to someone in person or over the phone harder, without hiding be-hind a screen.

Facebook is only going to continue decreasing in com-mon value. People should stick to writing on a blog if they feel the need to write a novel on their status up-dates. A status is made to inform others of your whereabouts and state of mind, not to tell your entire life story.

| Tristan Medina| tristanmedina@othstoday.com

| Sam Minich| samminich@othstoday.com

We “like” perfect societies

(Back when a status told us what you were doing)The status quo

If you’ve recently been icing your overused thumbs

due to continuously swiping on Twitter or Face-book to refresh your notifications, this article may be of some use to you.

People rely on social media for dozens of rea-sons: boredom, catching up on gossip, posting pictures, connecting with others, etc. We peruse Twitter and Facebook to discover who liked our statuses, retweeted our words, or favorited our photos. These types of social media uses can give us the satisfaction that others are paying at-tention to what we’re doing and how we feel, and, in short, boost our mood at least a little. Hence, the constant refreshing of social media sites, checking and rechecking to see if someone - any-one - is paying attention to you.

The overall effect of these sites, however, can do just the opposite. While seemingly harmless, so-cial media has become a arsenal stocked with weapons that can destroy our self esteem.

Social media has always incorporated a constant competition. People browse through their friends’ Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram and can easily begin to feel the effects of “Social Media Envy”, a condition that involves comparing yourself to others via social media and feeling inferior. While seemingly harmless, this problem of compar-ing ourselves to others can significantly damage one’s own self esteem.

As well as dropping our self esteem off a cliff, so-cial media can also cause a general feeling of in-adequacy, isolation, and depression. This has be-come known as “Social Media Depression”, due mostly to the feelings of loneliness that can be caused by Facebook and Twitter.

“As simplistic as it sounds, turn it off.” Dr. Thomas Van Hoose says. According to Dr. Van Hoose, so-cial media mixes isolation with feelings of nega-tive self-worth, creating a recipe for depression.

Social media increases the already constant competition between us and our peers. It’s bad enough coming to school five days a week and mentally comparing yourself to those around you. It’s even worse, however, to have this same issue follow us home via social media sites.

Girls, for example, have a habit of obsessively scrolling through dozens of pictures posted by their female peers. This can lead to unhealthy self criticism and a negative self-perception, especial-ly when it comes to appearance.

It isn’t just girls, however, that are feeling the ef-fect of social media killing self esteem. An ele-ment that is commonly left unsaid is the effect that social media and these comparisons can have on young men. While females have the pres-sure to obtain the ideal image of beauty, males are similarly subject to the stereotype of the ideal male body.

This masculine stereotype creates a constant pressure to be fit, muscular, and athletic, and while girls are usually pushed to be this image by social pressures, guys are likely to deal more of-ten with harsh coaches, peers, and strict, societal expectations. On top of these physical demands, males are subject to societal pressure to “take things like a man”; pushed to act as if their athleticism is ef-fortless and encouraged to avoid acknowledging their self-esteem issues and struggles for physi-cal perfection. This makes it even more difficult to talk about these issues, as society has created a stigma against men who “talk about their feel-ings”.

Doctor Harry Brandt, director of The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, claims that “Facebook is making it easier for people to spend more time and energy criticizing their own bodies and wishing they looked like someone else.”

Especially in the issue of weight, this battle against ourselves can become particularly dan-gerous.

Whether it’s by skipping a meal, hating on our bodies, or constantly worrying about eating, many of us have struggled at some point with some form of weight-induced self esteem issue. I know that I have known far too many of my friends that struggle with everything from simply being un-happy with how they look to developing full blown eating disorders. Despite the growing awareness about these kinds of issues, the numbers for those affected are still increasing.

Social media cannot be called the cause of eat-ing disorders, but these sites certainly don’t help

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| Kaley Johnson| kaleyjohnson@othstoday.com

Social media & us

-afraid you’re a tech-zombie?-(we can help)

>>> Try not to get on your phone for the 10-15 minutes before you get into bed.

Resist tweeting when you’re upset about something. Vent to a friend or write in a journal. <<<

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-afraid you’re a tech-zombie?-

adolescents’ already prevalent self esteem issues. According to Susan Ringwood, chief executive of eating disorder charity Beat ,“It’s a complex mix of factors as to why an eating dis-order begins. It is more hard-wired than we thought before. It’s in our biology... But more girls, who are already vulnerable to these sorts of doubts [about themselves] find the pressure of social media – and the culture of needing to add photos of themselves online, particularly toxic.”

The message that we aren’t good enough is literally everywhere. In-stagram displays thousands of pictures of peers looking their best, and Facebook and Twitter are a constant stream that seem to remind us that our lives could never be as exciting as others’. Within these social media outlets, the dangerous game of compar-ing ourselves to others continues, branching into issues of weight. There will always be someone on our dashboard or Newsfeed that will look thinner, and the beauty contest that these sites have be-come can push us to take un-healthy measures to compete.

Even Tumblr doesn’t provide much help, as it is often a breed-ing ground for self-hate blogs and a flood of thinspiration photos and posts, as well as linking to Pro-ana and Pro-mia sites.

Pro-ana (the promotion of an-orexia) and Pro-mia (promotion of bulimia) websites can serve as nonjudgmental, community envi-ronments for those suffering from eating disorders. Much of the time, however, they can also be cited as encouraging unhealthy behaviors and negatively impact-ing the eating behavior of people with and without eating disorders. These sites are commonly filled with Thinspiration; images or posts that serve to encourage extreme weight loss and dieting. As well as

providing a mass database of en-couragement to pursue thinness, these sites can commonly por-tray eating disorders as a lifestyle choice rather than a mental issue.

An extensive study done by Inter-Science researchers, published by the Colombian Missourian, displayed the results of the larg-est study to date of the effect of Pro-ana websites. The results were staggering. Researchers showed that viewing websites with the consistent message, via photos or posts, that thinness is important had an evident, negative impact on the lives of the viewers. Through this exposure, viewers experienced lower social self-esteem, lower ap-pearance self-efficacy (the belief in one’s ability to succeed), and per-ceived themselves as heavier than viewers of other websites.

Unfortunately, we are our own harshest critics. In a constant battle of comparing ourselves to others, we will almost certainly fall short. There will always be some-one that you think has it better than you, either by way of physical attractiveness, smarts, or social skills. The truth is, there will always be doubts within all of us. But we don’t have to let them rule us.

It’s never going to be easy, but at some point, we have to overcome the pressures of social media and society’s warped perception of beauty. Next time you look in the mirror, take a break from picking on what you would consider to be flaws, and instead take a deep breath and stop. You don’t need to skip meals, spend six hours at the gym, or seek self-worth through social media. There is no one defi-nition of physical perfection, and the fight with yourself to become this “perfect” person has no win-ner. Only you can end the war against yourself.

(we can help)>>> Try not to get on your phone for the 10-15 minutes before you get into bed.

Resist tweeting when you’re upset about something. Vent to a friend or write in a journal. <<<

Avoid using your phone while working on homework. Place it far enough away that you’ll be too lazy to go check it every ten seconds. >>>

>>>Play the phone game at restaurants: place all phones in the center of the table at dinner. Whoever touches their device f irst has to pay the bill.

February Frolics Flashback: New Stage, Same Tradition

For the past 47 years, stu-dents have

returned from break refreshed, anxious, and ready to audition for the variety show that has packed the south gym. From singing and danc-

ing to the occasional comedic relief, performers of all types form groups or fly solo in preparation to show off their talents. Since 1966, February Frolics has been the highlight of the second se-mester here at OTHS. A senior by the name of Gail Fleming (nee Hagler) came up with the idea for Frolics her senior year and kicked off the tradition along with her freshman brother, Steve, and their band called the Eb Tides. In order to fill the show, Gail recruited all the students of the drama and music departments and was able to put on the talent show that shaped the Frolics we know today. Before it was known as Frolics, however, the show was referred to as “Hootenanny” after a popular TV show of the time.

In order to put on such a monumental show each year, hours of work go into the behind the scenes effort. Leading the pack is Dr. Beth Shackelford. Since 2002, she has been involved with

the Frolics performances and she took over as its sponsor in 2005. She says that she was beyond impressed the first time she saw the show.

“I had never seen a high school variety show filled with so much tal-ent and creativity,” Shackelford said. “Each year showcases unique talent that makes the show a little different from the last.”

Along with coordinating the show each year, Dr. Shackelford shines as the lead singer of an O’Fallon tradition. The Teacher Band, con-sisting of around seven faculty members, performs and shocks their students every time.

“My favorite performance in the Teacher Band is when we performed Avril Lavigne’s ‘Girlfriend’ and had members of the OTHS drumline perform with us. That was a great time.”

Beginning this year, extreme changes are being made to O’Fallon’s variety show. Since Gail Fleming’s idea sparked in 1966, Frolics per-formers rocked out in the south gym of the Smiley campus. Each year, crowds of people are turned away from the doors due to a sold

out show. This year, it has been decided to host the 2013 February Frolics show in the new, state-of-the-art auditorium at the Milburn campus.

“The lighting, sound, and stage capabilities of the new performance space will enhance the quali-ty of performance for all of the acts in the show. Since the Milburn Auditorium only seats 750, and 1200 people usually attend Frolics, we added another performance night so that 1500 people will be able to see the show,” Dr. Shackelford said.

Students throughout the school have mixed reviews on the idea of the performance being at Mil-burn. In theory, it sounds like a great change to the program. But past performers see it differ-ently.

“There’s something fantastic about the rush of getting to perform in the south gym that adds to the Frolics experience,” says senior Jake Baxter, who has been in Frolics acts for the past three years. “I love how crowded and loud it gets in there.”

No matter the location, one thing about Frolics is predicted to remain the same. Whether it be the crowds reaction to each act, the comradery between performers, or the respect given to all be-| 9

| PAST

| Gail Hagler

| Brittany Wood| brittanywood@othstoday.com

February Frolics Flashback: New Stage, Same Tradition

hind-the-scenes workers, the O’Fallon tradition of February Frolics brings the school together in a positive and uplifting way.

“From original auditions to show night, everyone involved in show is incredibly supportive of one another, and without that it wouldn’t be the rewarding experience it has been since it began,” O’Fallon graduate and four year Frolics performer Beth Lewis said. Looking back on last year’s performances, Frolics left the audience stunned with its variety of talent. The show mixed up its usual music direction and introduced skills ranging from DJs, to a basketball trickster, to even a motivational speaker. Freshman Diana Risse was granted the award for “Best Act” with her original composition entitled “Shine.”

This year’s show will consist of 16 acts made up of singers, dancers, poets, DJs, and instrumen-

talists of all sorts. Of the many years that O’Fallon has hosted February Frolics, the competition for spots has never been this cut throat. Only 16 of the 71 acts that auditioned were admitted into the show. Along with these 16 acts, 8 emcees are chosen to host the show and provide end-less laughs.

February Frolics may have started as a fun event for a local band, but it has morphed into one of the old-est traditions here at OTHS. Over 47 years, it has undergone many changes and will only continue to grow for the 2013 performance.

Photo credits: OTHS Yearbook and Connor Holzinger

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Present |

Valentine’s Day Skit |

When Love Arrives |

| Some Nights

| Batman & Bane

| Roxanne

Month to month term / For 9th grade and up(Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Trigonometry & Pre-Calculus)

• Scheduled sessions will have a 3 to 1 student to instructor ratio or better with the same instructor

• Supplemental Mathnasium materials are used as needed to augment homework

Five to seven week programProgram highlights:• Includes an initial ACT

math assessment• 12 scheduled one hour ses-

sions• Post assessment• Individualized workbook• 3 to 1 student to instructor

ratio or better• ACT test taking tips

What’s the point of being afraid of zombies..... When you’re already one?