Steven Universe Review
By Naoise Lantery
6/3/16
In a world where alpha-male protagonists are the norm and females are regarded as the dainty sidekicks, one show rises above all to destroy the stereotype: Steven Universe. Airing on Cartoon Network, the cartoon catalogues the adventures of the three female-identifying main characters: Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, three beings from another planet- and their young human sidekick, Steven. Outcasts from their home planet for various reasons, the Crystal Gems protect the earth from the rising corpses of their fallen alien comrades killed in a past war.
The show develops slowly, shedding its childish innocence as the storyline progresses. Where the pilot season simply laid out groundwork for the story, the second season explores each main character’s past in vivid detail. Dark backstories are revealed in succession (Pearl’s past as a slave, Garnet’s existence alone making her an outlaw), bringing with them explanations for character traits.
I personally enjoy this show because of the acceptance it promotes throughout its episodes. All three of the main characters have been confirmed by cast members to be part of the LGBT community, but the usual “dead lesbian” trope never happens. The main focus is on these characters, and it would be impossible to kill them without ruining the message of the show.
In all sense of the word, Steven Universe is a spectacular show, suitable for both children and adults.
6/3/16
In a world where alpha-male protagonists are the norm and females are regarded as the dainty sidekicks, one show rises above all to destroy the stereotype: Steven Universe. Airing on Cartoon Network, the cartoon catalogues the adventures of the three female-identifying main characters: Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl, three beings from another planet- and their young human sidekick, Steven. Outcasts from their home planet for various reasons, the Crystal Gems protect the earth from the rising corpses of their fallen alien comrades killed in a past war.
The show develops slowly, shedding its childish innocence as the storyline progresses. Where the pilot season simply laid out groundwork for the story, the second season explores each main character’s past in vivid detail. Dark backstories are revealed in succession (Pearl’s past as a slave, Garnet’s existence alone making her an outlaw), bringing with them explanations for character traits.
I personally enjoy this show because of the acceptance it promotes throughout its episodes. All three of the main characters have been confirmed by cast members to be part of the LGBT community, but the usual “dead lesbian” trope never happens. The main focus is on these characters, and it would be impossible to kill them without ruining the message of the show.
In all sense of the word, Steven Universe is a spectacular show, suitable for both children and adults.
Review of Undertale: The Game Where You Don't Have to Kill Anyone!
By Naoise Lantery
5/16/16
Undertale is officially described as “The RPG where you don’t have to kill anyone!”. Released independently by Toby Fox in 2015, the 8-bit style game has gone on to garner accolades such as GameFAQ’s 2015 Best Game Ever award (defeating titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), among many others. The game chronicles the adventures of your character, who has fallen into the underground world of monsters and must find a way back to the “surface”. Along the way, you must set your fate in stone by choosing to either befriend or defeat various characters. Every single choice you make along the way will vary the final moments of the game drastically.
The game’s art style is classic 8-bit, made popular by the insanely famous Space Invaders in 1978. In the original era of video games, consoles did not have enough power to support games with many pixels, so sprites in games such as Donkey Kong were kept simple and made of only a few pixels. Undertale follows this same route, pushing larger amounts of pixels to the details in the backgrounds and simplifying your character as they move around the underground world.
The music is also in classic 8-bit style, using simplified technological sounds to make a very electronic-sounding song. Even though the game was released in 2015, the combined music and graphics given Undertale a nostalgic feeling during gameplay.
The game starts with you picking a name for your character, who is naturally the first to appear in the game. The NPC characters are fairly rich in diversity, with everything from frogs, to skeletons, to anthropomorphic goat royalty (three of them, in fact). As stated above, they will help you on your journey, but will become your worst enemies if you become a killer.
The game spans into multiple endings depending on your gameplay choices, but there are three main routes: True Pacifist, Neutral, and Genocide. The names are fairly self-explanatory- True Pacifist is a merciful play through with zero monsters killed and all befriended. Completing a Neutral play through will earn you mixed results, based on how many EXP/Execution Points you earned during the game. Genocide mode completely wipes out the monster realm- this includes all NPC boss characters and every single random enemy spawn encounter.
Overall, the game is brilliantly executed, but it does have its flaws. Some sections of gameplay seems to drag on for far too long, while other events in the game don’t seem to last more than a few minutes. Even in the True Pacifist route, the game becomes unreasonably violent and difficult at times.
5/16/16
Undertale is officially described as “The RPG where you don’t have to kill anyone!”. Released independently by Toby Fox in 2015, the 8-bit style game has gone on to garner accolades such as GameFAQ’s 2015 Best Game Ever award (defeating titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time), among many others. The game chronicles the adventures of your character, who has fallen into the underground world of monsters and must find a way back to the “surface”. Along the way, you must set your fate in stone by choosing to either befriend or defeat various characters. Every single choice you make along the way will vary the final moments of the game drastically.
The game’s art style is classic 8-bit, made popular by the insanely famous Space Invaders in 1978. In the original era of video games, consoles did not have enough power to support games with many pixels, so sprites in games such as Donkey Kong were kept simple and made of only a few pixels. Undertale follows this same route, pushing larger amounts of pixels to the details in the backgrounds and simplifying your character as they move around the underground world.
The music is also in classic 8-bit style, using simplified technological sounds to make a very electronic-sounding song. Even though the game was released in 2015, the combined music and graphics given Undertale a nostalgic feeling during gameplay.
The game starts with you picking a name for your character, who is naturally the first to appear in the game. The NPC characters are fairly rich in diversity, with everything from frogs, to skeletons, to anthropomorphic goat royalty (three of them, in fact). As stated above, they will help you on your journey, but will become your worst enemies if you become a killer.
The game spans into multiple endings depending on your gameplay choices, but there are three main routes: True Pacifist, Neutral, and Genocide. The names are fairly self-explanatory- True Pacifist is a merciful play through with zero monsters killed and all befriended. Completing a Neutral play through will earn you mixed results, based on how many EXP/Execution Points you earned during the game. Genocide mode completely wipes out the monster realm- this includes all NPC boss characters and every single random enemy spawn encounter.
Overall, the game is brilliantly executed, but it does have its flaws. Some sections of gameplay seems to drag on for far too long, while other events in the game don’t seem to last more than a few minutes. Even in the True Pacifist route, the game becomes unreasonably violent and difficult at times.
VANS Contest at EFHS
By Emily Brunton
5/4/16
Here at Enosburg High, we have decided to enter in the Vans shoe contest. This contest is about who can design the best Van shoes. Judges will decide which one has the most creativity, effort, and how the shoe is presented. Vans sends out four different kinds of their shoes for students, there are certain themes to follow such as Music, Art, Local Flavor, and Sports. Every group chose one of the choices.
For the Music theme, we had to stray away from certain artists to avoid copyright issues. The people who did the music choice decided to make the top of the shoe a pink salmon color. The bottom of the shoe was a purple color with a music note around it with the quote on the slit of the shoe “Music is a feeling.” The original quote was supposed to be “Music is what feelings sound like.” They couldn’t fit it on the shoe sadly. In our art we had to be original we couldn't use anything we found somewhere else to avoid copyright issues.
The art group decided to have a tie-dye kind of design on it along with black part to pull it all together. The third was Sports, this team decided to leave the shoe white but with black outlines that are of skateboarding tricks. It’s a very simple design, but it still looked good.
Lastly, we had one person do the local flavor which he really grabbed our local traditions and attractions. The boy made the mountains on the front of the shoes and the maple leaves on the back of the shoes, The sides have trees on them too. It has all of the popular local attractions. We're all hopeful for this to help us with our art programs. Unfortunately, none of our shoes won but it was a great experience for all of us.
5/4/16
Here at Enosburg High, we have decided to enter in the Vans shoe contest. This contest is about who can design the best Van shoes. Judges will decide which one has the most creativity, effort, and how the shoe is presented. Vans sends out four different kinds of their shoes for students, there are certain themes to follow such as Music, Art, Local Flavor, and Sports. Every group chose one of the choices.
For the Music theme, we had to stray away from certain artists to avoid copyright issues. The people who did the music choice decided to make the top of the shoe a pink salmon color. The bottom of the shoe was a purple color with a music note around it with the quote on the slit of the shoe “Music is a feeling.” The original quote was supposed to be “Music is what feelings sound like.” They couldn’t fit it on the shoe sadly. In our art we had to be original we couldn't use anything we found somewhere else to avoid copyright issues.
The art group decided to have a tie-dye kind of design on it along with black part to pull it all together. The third was Sports, this team decided to leave the shoe white but with black outlines that are of skateboarding tricks. It’s a very simple design, but it still looked good.
Lastly, we had one person do the local flavor which he really grabbed our local traditions and attractions. The boy made the mountains on the front of the shoes and the maple leaves on the back of the shoes, The sides have trees on them too. It has all of the popular local attractions. We're all hopeful for this to help us with our art programs. Unfortunately, none of our shoes won but it was a great experience for all of us.
New Creative Writing Class & Literary Magazine
By Esperanza Orduno
5/2/16
This year EFHS has welcomed a plethora of new elective classes. One of these new classes, Creative Writing with Jessica Settles, flourished this past semester. Students created fairy tales and short stories that could rival even the greatest of writers. Throughout the course of five months, students enrolled gained excellent writing skills and endless imaginations. Students completed a Personal Exploration Project (PEP) and created their own Literary Magazine, Paper & Ink. Here, you can find a collection of some of the best stories written by Ms. Settles' students. Enjoy!
5/2/16
This year EFHS has welcomed a plethora of new elective classes. One of these new classes, Creative Writing with Jessica Settles, flourished this past semester. Students created fairy tales and short stories that could rival even the greatest of writers. Throughout the course of five months, students enrolled gained excellent writing skills and endless imaginations. Students completed a Personal Exploration Project (PEP) and created their own Literary Magazine, Paper & Ink. Here, you can find a collection of some of the best stories written by Ms. Settles' students. Enjoy!
Paper & Ink Literary Magazine | |
File Size: | 4882 kb |
File Type: |
EFHS Rocks Out at Annual Rock Show
By Emily Gervais
5/2/16
Enosburg Falls High School rocked out as they hosted the school's annual rock show on March 11th, 2016 in the EFHS Auditorium. A wide array of acts and bands made up of students and staff took the stage. They performed in front of the event's largest audience yet. For weeks leading up to the event, both students and staff practiced to perfect their songs before the big night.
The show was hosted by Devin Rondeau and Kevin Diette, who kept things entertaining as they introduced each band. There were numerous talented students from Enosburg who performed in the show, ranging from middle schoolers to seniors. Enosburg’s high school band teacher and coordinator of the annual rock show, Andy Frappier said, "The best part of the show for me is watching people who never thought they would be able to get on stage actually get up there and perform in front of hundreds of people who think they did awesome. Delaney Baker was a great example of that this year." One of the nights fan favorite bands was the Teacher Band lead by Chris Brigham on his harmonica and accompanied by other faculty members. Other acts included bands like the Nordic Nobodies, Not You!, and In Other Words.
The yearly rock show not only raises money for the music department's trip to NYC, but it brings the community together. Many people come out to see their family and friends perform in the show. Erik Remmers said, "It's really an incredible event that highlights what an awesome community we have that allows this sort of talent to develop and thrive, it's yet another event that makes me proud to be principal of this school."
5/2/16
Enosburg Falls High School rocked out as they hosted the school's annual rock show on March 11th, 2016 in the EFHS Auditorium. A wide array of acts and bands made up of students and staff took the stage. They performed in front of the event's largest audience yet. For weeks leading up to the event, both students and staff practiced to perfect their songs before the big night.
The show was hosted by Devin Rondeau and Kevin Diette, who kept things entertaining as they introduced each band. There were numerous talented students from Enosburg who performed in the show, ranging from middle schoolers to seniors. Enosburg’s high school band teacher and coordinator of the annual rock show, Andy Frappier said, "The best part of the show for me is watching people who never thought they would be able to get on stage actually get up there and perform in front of hundreds of people who think they did awesome. Delaney Baker was a great example of that this year." One of the nights fan favorite bands was the Teacher Band lead by Chris Brigham on his harmonica and accompanied by other faculty members. Other acts included bands like the Nordic Nobodies, Not You!, and In Other Words.
The yearly rock show not only raises money for the music department's trip to NYC, but it brings the community together. Many people come out to see their family and friends perform in the show. Erik Remmers said, "It's really an incredible event that highlights what an awesome community we have that allows this sort of talent to develop and thrive, it's yet another event that makes me proud to be principal of this school."
Review of: It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman!
By Emily Brunton
2/29/16
This year’s annual musical at EFHS was ‘It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Superman!’. The musical was directed by Em Frappier and Rachel Sherman, who have both been credited with past plays at EFHS as well as the Enosburg Opera House. The play opened on Thursday, February 18th at 7pm and spanned throughout the full weekend ending with the final show on Sunday the 21st at 4pm. When asked where the idea for this play came from, Em Frappier stated, “the play was originally written in the 1960’s to capitalize on the popularity of Superman”.
The play depicts the story of Clark Kent (played by Sophomore Sawyer Remillard), whose alter ego is Superman. Superman fights evil doers to protect his beloved city of Metropolis. Clark lusts after Lois Lane (portrayed by Senior Megan Rose), who is ironically in love with Superman. His co-worker, Max Mencken (Junior Matt Stanley) is out to discover the secret identity of Superman and teams up with the evil Dr. Abner Sedgwick (Sophomore Kevin Diette). They kidnap Lois and terrorize the city before Superman comes to save the day.
Supporting characters in the play include Sydney (Senior McKenzie DeBruin), Jim Morgan (Freshman Owen Fournier), Mother Viking (Senior Megan Draper), and Perry White (Sophomore Kendal Nichols). The Flying Vikings were played by April Parent (9th), Shannon Brady (9th), Hilary Churchill (12th), Josie Kendrick (9th), and Emily Rose (10th). The ensemble included Hannah Ste. Marie (10th), Alexa Patsouris (12th), Hunter Boylan-Robinson (10th) and Dakota Gaudette-Fuller (9th). Special thanks go out to the backstage crew including seniors Paige Howard, Mikayla Murray and Coleman Southwick. The play also could not have happened without costumer Allison Parent (11th) and pit band member Lizzie Firkey (12th).
Audience members stated that the students were perfectly selected for their roles and the actors really seemed to fully throw themselves into the roles throughout the entirety of the play. The cartoonish detail of the sets, props and costumes truly added to the overall old time feel of the play. The songs 'You've Got What I Need', "Pow, Bam, Zonk', “Revenge” along with the other tunes were powerful, energetic and fun for the audience. These students, the director and all others involved in the process, did an excellent job putting this amazing musical together!
2/29/16
This year’s annual musical at EFHS was ‘It’s A Bird, It’s A Plane, It’s Superman!’. The musical was directed by Em Frappier and Rachel Sherman, who have both been credited with past plays at EFHS as well as the Enosburg Opera House. The play opened on Thursday, February 18th at 7pm and spanned throughout the full weekend ending with the final show on Sunday the 21st at 4pm. When asked where the idea for this play came from, Em Frappier stated, “the play was originally written in the 1960’s to capitalize on the popularity of Superman”.
The play depicts the story of Clark Kent (played by Sophomore Sawyer Remillard), whose alter ego is Superman. Superman fights evil doers to protect his beloved city of Metropolis. Clark lusts after Lois Lane (portrayed by Senior Megan Rose), who is ironically in love with Superman. His co-worker, Max Mencken (Junior Matt Stanley) is out to discover the secret identity of Superman and teams up with the evil Dr. Abner Sedgwick (Sophomore Kevin Diette). They kidnap Lois and terrorize the city before Superman comes to save the day.
Supporting characters in the play include Sydney (Senior McKenzie DeBruin), Jim Morgan (Freshman Owen Fournier), Mother Viking (Senior Megan Draper), and Perry White (Sophomore Kendal Nichols). The Flying Vikings were played by April Parent (9th), Shannon Brady (9th), Hilary Churchill (12th), Josie Kendrick (9th), and Emily Rose (10th). The ensemble included Hannah Ste. Marie (10th), Alexa Patsouris (12th), Hunter Boylan-Robinson (10th) and Dakota Gaudette-Fuller (9th). Special thanks go out to the backstage crew including seniors Paige Howard, Mikayla Murray and Coleman Southwick. The play also could not have happened without costumer Allison Parent (11th) and pit band member Lizzie Firkey (12th).
Audience members stated that the students were perfectly selected for their roles and the actors really seemed to fully throw themselves into the roles throughout the entirety of the play. The cartoonish detail of the sets, props and costumes truly added to the overall old time feel of the play. The songs 'You've Got What I Need', "Pow, Bam, Zonk', “Revenge” along with the other tunes were powerful, energetic and fun for the audience. These students, the director and all others involved in the process, did an excellent job putting this amazing musical together!