PLANS FINALIZED FOR 2022 GRAD CEREMONY

Quill

e

chs.rdale.org/families/the-quill

Robbinsdale Cooper High School

8230 47th Ave. N., New Hope, MN 55428

Page 5

Negative

impact of

pandemic

still being

felt in every-

day life

Page 4

Oelfke retiring

from Cooper

Sports

After decades of service

as a teacher and activities

director in the Robbins-

dale School District, Mr.

Oelfke is looking for-

ward to what comes next

Strange sequel

earns its name

Variety

Multiverse of Madness

marks director Sam

Raimi's rst return to

the Marvel universe

since directing the orig-

inal Spider-Man trilogy

Student summit

a big success

Opinion

The April 20 event

demonstrated that

Cooper administra-

tors are interested in

hearing student in-

put about the school

Graduates share

their future plans

Graduation

Whether it is college,

the military, work or

a gap year, Cooper se-

niors are about to em-

bark on a wide range

of journeys next fall

News

From finishing cred-

its to turning in sports

uniforms, the Class

of 2022 has some ad-

ministrative items to

take care of this week

ALSO INSIDE

Page 11

Page 9

Page 5

Seniors complete

final requirements

Page 2

Tues., May 31, 2022

Vol. 58, No. 8

Weekly support day designed to help Hawks raise grades

By JACK ATKINSON

Quill sta writer

WIN Wednesday program, which was introduced April 20, gives students a chance to catch up on missing work

Cooper shifting its start, end times next year

The new district schedule will have high schools starting at 8:35 a.m., ending at 3:25 p.m. on a daily basis

By SHENG VANG

Quill sta writer

Photo by SHENG VANG

Pickup and dropo times for buses will shift along with the school schedule.

PLANS FINALIZED FOR

2022 GRAD CEREMONY

Commencement

will take place at 7

p.m. in the Cooper

stadium on June 9

Photo courtesy of TALONS

The 2022 graduation event will not feature any of the COVID restrictions seen during the last two years.

By NAIMA HUSSEN

Quill sta writer

Sophomores

successful in

completing

their MYP

Personal

Projects

Page 3

WEDNESDAY continues on page 2

START, END TIMES continues on page 2

The Robbinsdale Area School District has voted for a change in school

times that will ocially take place next school year. This change will result in

Cooper having a new start time of 8:35 a.m. and an end time of 3:25 p.m.

Since the 2017-2018 school year, the Robbinsdale District School Board

has been investigating and analyzing the benets of changing school times. Af-

ter multiple reviews and ongoing research of scholarly articles on the issue, the

board decided in 2019 to survey parents, sta and students who would be af-

fected by this change. Afterward, the community and school board had multiple

meetings about possible solutions and outcomes.

In early 2020, parents, sta and students in grades 6-11 were surveyed again

about two solutions: scenario six, where all school levels have an adjustment in

start time, and scenario seven, where only secondary schools have a change in

start time.

In May 2020, the school board reviewed the data. The results for the parent

survey were 31 percent for scenario six, 29 percent for scenario seven and 39

percent for keeping the start time the same. According to the school board, an

observation made from the parents’ data was that parents with at least one ele-

mentary student favored the option of no change in start time and believed that

the change in all school levels would be dicult.

As for the students’ data, scenario seven was the most favored approach,

with a total of 41 percent supporting that option. Meanwhile, for sta, the

most-favored option was scenario six, which a total of 40 percent of sta mem-

bers supported.

After analyzing all of the data collected from all three demographics in No-

vember 2020, the school board further researched and evaluated the benets and

costs of scenarios six and seven. Then, in December 2020, they had a voting

meeting for the two scenarios, with the nal result being scenario six passing by

a vote of 5-2.

Finally, on April 19, 2021, the board voted to change the school start times

starting at the beginning of the 2022-2023 school year.

“Of course, [there will be] many implications that will aect people within

[the] school with these new times,” Cooper Head Principal Mr. Herman said.

Herman mentioned one of the biggest changes will be to after-school activities.

“The school day will now start at 8:35 and end at 3:25 according to the most

recent news. I think ending later in the afternoon will have the most impact. This,

of course, means that some activities will have to go later than what we are used

Cooper introduced WIN Wednesday, an inter-

vention program designed to help students get caught

up on missing or late assignments, on April 20.

“WIN stands for ‘what I need’ and it will

provide extra support for students who can benet

from it,” Head Principal Mr. Herman said.

Through the new program, every Wednes-

day until the end of the school year is dedicated

to students who are getting below a C- in one or

more of their classes. These students are required

by their classroom teachers to come to school to

get individual support to raise their grades. Also re-

quired to attend school are students who have an IEP

so they can get the help they need to stay caught up in

their classes.

Meanwhile, students with a C- or above in all of

their classes have the choice to work from home or

come into school on Wednesdays to complete any as-

signments they may be working on. No new curricu-

lum is introduced on Wednesdays so that students can

focus on nishing missing assignments.

“Students will receive academic support targeted

to the subjects where they need it most,” Herman said.

In addition to classroom help, WIN Wednesday

makes other types of help possible. For instance, stu-

dents can access social and emotional support from

sta. Students also can engage in extra study sessions

for their various IB, AP and classroom exams.

Students who come to school on Wednesday fol-

low their normal class schedule throughout the day.

Transportation to school runs the same routes at the

same times like a normal school day. Additionally,

breakfast and lunch are served to all students like they

are on a typical day of school.

At the start of each week, teachers directly con-

tact the students who they are requiring to attend WIN

Wednesday. Attendance for those students is recorded

The 2022 commence-

ment ceremony will take

place June 9 at 7 p.m. in the

Cooper stadium. The annual

ceremony is a time to cele-

brate high school completion

for seniors. Echi Lee (12)

said she is looking forward

to ending her high school

career.

“I’m ready to walk

across that stage and get my

diploma,” Lee said.

Another member of the

Class of 2022, Fatima Koro-

ma (12), said she’s ready to

graduate. However, she also

said she is sad that she will be

leaving what she has “known

for four years behind.”

The number of guests

a graduate can have at the

event depends on the weath-

er on that day. The number

of guests is unlimited if the

weather is good, but in the

case of bad weather, students

will receive four tickets to

give to family members to

enter the Cooper gym for the

ceremony.

Caps and gowns for the

ceremony will be distributed

June 1-3 during the Lunch

and Learn period. There will

be a mandatory rehearsal at

10 a.m. on the morning of

the graduation ceremony.

The ceremony follows a

similar format each year. As

the audience and the grad-

uates get seated, music is

played by Cooper musicians.

The ceremony than begins

with a welcome by Head

Principal Mr. Herman, an ad-

dress by the superintendent

or a school board member, a

speech by the student council

president and an address by a

teacher selected by the senior

class.

Next up are speeches

by selected seniors. These

student speakers submitted

speeches and tried out in or-

der to be selected to speak at

graduation. Between one and

four of the graduates who

wish to speak will be able to

depending on how long their

speeches are. These speakers

will be named closer to the

day of graduation.

“The speakers at the cer-

emony are Principal Herman,

student speakers, honored

teacher and members of the

school board,” Assistant Prin-

cipal Ms. Smith said.

Following all of the

speeches, each member of

the Class of 2022 gets a

chance to have their name

announced, walk across the

stage and receive their tem-

porary diploma. Once this

process is over, Herman will

certify and congratulate the

graduates, who then enter the

school building to get their

actual diplomas and return

their caps and gowns if they

choose to.

Teachers have many re-

sponsibilities during the cer-

emony. Twelfth grade advi-

sory teachers attend rehearsal

and assist students in the

waiting room. They also read

out the names of their adviso-

ry students at the ceremony.

All other teachers and

sta members who do not

have a senior advisory help

behind the scenes to ensure

the ceremony runs well.

“Every teacher and sta

member in the building works

together to make the gradua-

tion ceremony run as smooth-

ly as possible,” Assistant Prin-

cipal Ms. Jeerson said.

After the commence-

ment ceremony is over,

participating graduates will

attend the senior send-o

celebration.

News

May 31, 2022

Page 2, The Quill

Seniors complete final tasks before leaving

From finishing credits to turning in sports uniforms, the Class of 2022 has some administrative items to take care of this week

By JACK ATKINSON

Quill sta writer

Seniors celebrated the end of the school year with cake during a lunch event on May 3.

Photo by SHENG VANG

Exchange students reect on year in America

Cooper played host to seven students from various parts of the world during the 2021-2022 school year

By NAIMA HUSSEN

Quill sta writer

The foreign exchange students took part in many group activities this year.

Photo by NAIMA HUSSEN

There are many important

things that seniors need to take

care of before school ends in

order to make sure that they are

ready for graduation. From hav-

ing all their credits completed

to turning in school materials,

seniors need to prepare for mak-

ing the jump from high school to

college, the military or work.

Earning your credits

School counselor Ms. Ritter

said that seniors who are unsure

about their credits and gradu-

ation status should send her an

email.

“It is important that students

verify that they have all of their

credits because the district and

school can’t allow the student to

graduate if they don’t meet all

of the credit requirements,” she

said.

According to Ritter, seniors

have two important second se-

mester classes they need to pass

in order to graduate.

“Most seniors still have an

English 12 credit and a social

studies credit at a minimum that

they must pass during the second

semester in order to graduate,”

she said. “Some students may

have more. If a student fails a

required second-semester class,

they will have to take summer

school to nish and may not be

able to participate in the gradua-

tion ceremony.”

Ritter added that students

who will be attending college

need to make sure they end the

school year strong because col-

leges will check on their nal

grades.

“It is critical that seniors

still work hard and pass their

classes for graduation. Addi-

tionally, nal transcripts are sent

to the college that the student

is attending and colleges still

want students to maintain strong

grades,” she said.

Getting your cap and gown

While most seniors have al-

ready ordered a cap and gown,

those who have not yet done so

should do it as soon as possible.

Seniors who need help or-

dering a cap and gown, or who

have concerns about paying for

them, should talk to Ritter or

social worker Ms. Mersy in the

Student Services Oce. Coo-

per’s webpage also includes a

link to order a cap and gown.

This can be found using the “In-

formation for Seniors” link un-

der the “Families” tab.

“It is important that seniors

order their cap and gown before

graduation so they can have one

that is t for them. If a student

doesn’t order one, we will have

extras on hand, but it may not be

quite the right size,” Ritter said.

If a senior has not yet or-

dered a cap and gown due to

nancial concerns, Ritter said

Cooper can help.

“If a student can’t aord to

order one, we may be able to of-

fer a scholarship,” she said.

Returning Media Center materials

Media Specialist Mr. King

said that seniors can turn in any

books they are nished with at

any time. According to King,

students are responsible for ev-

erything they’ve checked out

since middle school.

“This somehow comes as

a surprise to some kids, even

though we regularly send over-

due notices via email. The tax-

payers of our district deserve

to get back everything they’ve

paid for,” he said.

Additionally, seniors will

be returning their Chromebooks

on their last day of school, June

“If students have device

or Chromebook fees even after

graduation, we will continue

sending notices home and to

the Cooper administrators, even

over the summer,” King said.

Securing your data

Students will be provided

information in advisory and via

Schoology about how to transfer

their district Google Drives over

to their personal drives. King

said that students who don’t do

this will lose everything in July

when the district deletes their

accounts.

“I can’t stress enough that

every single fall, I’m contacted

by seniors who want to know if

we can restore their drives, be-

cause they’ve realized they need

something from there. But we

can’t. Once it’s gone, it’s gone

forever,” King said.

Another tip King has is to

make sure you have ownership

of the les you want to keep.

“If it was a le shared by

someone else, you may need to

make a copy that’s yours. Once

Cooper hosted seven foreign

exchange students in 2021-2022:

Mel Albrecht Ribeiro (12), Bruno

Coelho Carvalho (12), Melania

Giacone (12), Sille Hebsgaard

(12), Jan Losanto (12), Giana

Nery (12) and Emanuele Por-

chetta (12). As the school year

comes to a close, some of these

students are sharing their reec-

tions on their time in America

and as Cooper Hawks.

Melania Giacone

Giacone is part of the Coo-

per foreign exchange student

program. She is from Italy and

she wanted to study abroad be-

cause, during the pandemic, she

felt like she was missing out and

wanted more experiences in the

real world.

Giacone said she was ner-

vous when she arrived in Minne-

sota.

“[The] weather was really

cold, and after 13 hours of ight,

I was really tired. My host family

was waiting for me at the airport,

and when I saw them, I was so

happy and excited at the same

moment,” Giacone said.

Giacone was nervous about

living with strangers and being

away from her family.

“They were immediately

friendly and sweet with me, so I

felt in a few weeks a member of

their family,” Giacone said. “I’ll

never be grateful enough for ev-

erything they are doing for me.”

Giacone noticed a few dier-

ences between her home country

of Italy and America. She loves

the fact that teenagers can work

and be independent in the U.S.

When Giacone returns to It-

aly, she will nish her nal year

of high school. She wants to be-

come a speech therapist for chil-

dren.

“I’ll for sure come back to

the states because, as I always

say, a big part of my heart is

here,” Giacone said.

Giovanna Nery

Nery is a student in the ex-

change program who is original-

ly from Brazil. Nery decided to

study abroad because she wanted

to see if high school in America

was really like High School Mu-

sical.

“I want to have a high school

with lockers and people singing,”

Nery said.

Nery lived with one family

for the rst three months. Later

on, she went to live with a Coo-

per teammate’s family for the

rest of the program.

Nery favorite memory in

America so far was a trip to Cal-

ifornia. She always wanted to go

to California and Nery and her

host family went during spring

break.

Nery favorite American food

is Punch pizza. She said the big-

gest dierence between her home

country and America is the food

because Brazilian food isn’t ac-

cessible in Minnesota.

Nery was part of Cooper’s

soccer, Nordic and softball

teams. Nery found sports to be

the best way to make friends at

Cooper because everyone likes to

stay in their circles. She said she

especially liked her Nordic team

because they weren’t too focused

on winning but on having fun as

a team.

This summer, Nery will re-

turn to Brazil and apply for col-

lege in Brazil and also the United

States.

Sille Hebsgaard

Hebsgaard is a foreign ex-

change student who is from

Denmark. She wanted to study

abroad because she wanted to

experience another culture rst-

hand. Coming o an eight-hour

ight, Hebsgaard was nervous to

meet her host family.

“They had a sign that said

‘Welcome to Minnesota’ for me

at the airport,” Hebsgaard said.

Hebsgaard’s favorite memo-

ry in America so far was a visit

to Chicago with her host family

after her birthday. Hebsgaard

also loves the little things that

she does with her host family like

going to a diner to eat breakfast

now and then.

Hebsgaard’s favorite Amer-

ican food is Chipotle because

there aren’t any places like Chi-

potle in Denmark. Hebsgaard’s

biggest shock was how populat-

ed the Twin Cities metro area is

because she is from a small town

in Denmark.

Talking to her family back

home has been the hardest part

about being abroad for Hebsgaard

because they are seven hours

ahead. She typically talks to them

on the weekends.

Hebsgaard was a part of the

Cooper dance team in the fall.

“It was fun being a part of

dance because we had fun as a

team,” Hebsgaard said.

Hebsgaard will return to

Denmark this summer to nish

her nursing degree. She eventu-

ally wants to work in a nursing

home.

Bruno Coelho Carvalho

Coelho Carvalho is an ex-

change student who is from Bra-

zil. He wanted to study abroad

because his grandfather, uncle

and dad all studied abroad when

they were his age.

“They’ve always told me

about their experience and how

they were great and it was an

amazing thing, so I was curious

about it and thought it would be a

great experience for me,” Coelho

Carvalho said

Before coming to the U.S.,

Coelho Carvalho messaged and

video called his host family to

build a relationship before he ar-

EXCHANGE

continues on page 12

SENIORS

continues on page 12

START, END TIMES

continued from page 1

WEDNESDAY

continued from page 1

to but that may also allow for some

to shift to the morning before school

starts,” Herman said.

As for the impact on sta,

chemistry teacher Ms. Hawkinson

said that she understands the reason

for the change to a new start time,

but she is worried about the after-

noon change and how that could

impact many people’s personal lives.

“Later start times for high

school students is supposedly ben-

ecial to their learning based on

data about brain development. I un-

derstand why people think having

high school kids start later in the day

makes sense. We will have better

attendance and less tardiness in the

morning. Maybe with kids more

awake we will see better academ-

ic success for high school students.

[However,] I worry that starting an

hour later just means students will

stay up later, therefore negating the

benet of the later start,” she said.

Hawkinson also pointed out

that the later ending time could have

an impact on what students experi-

ence after school.

“I am worried about students’

extracurricular activities and the later

times they will be able to start those

activities. What about students who

are family caretakers of younger

siblings? Now, those little kids will

be home alone after school until the

older kids get home. High school

students sometimes have jobs. If

they can’t get to work as early, they

could lose hours. Would not being

available until 4 p.m. make a student

less desirable to an employer so it’s

harder for our students to get jobs?”

Hawkinson said.

Echoing Hawkinson’s concerns

is Selena Yang (11).

“I don’t like the new time be-

cause some people work in the af-

ternoon at 3 or 4 p.m. That doesn’t

give people a lot of time to get ready

for work. It’s also a lot of hassle to

change their schedule just for the

new start time,” Yang said.

Considering all the possible ob-

stacles that come along with the new

transition, Herman said planning

ahead, keeping an open mind and

slowly adapting to the change will

be key.

“I look forward to seeing what

impact this will have on student

engagement and academic perfor-

mance,” Herman said.

each Wednesday like it is on a nor-

mal day of school. If a student is re-

quired to be at school on Wednesday

and does not attend, they are marked

for an unexcused absence.

From the teacher perspective,

WIN Wednesday provides anoth-

er intervention they can use to help

struggling students. English teacher

Ms. Prillwitz said she has been using

Wednesdays to help students revise

past summatives, catch up on current

formatives and work ahead in class.

“Most students seemed very

focused on their work during WIN

Wednesday and they used the time

well to catch up or work ahead,” she

said.

As the program moves for-

ward, possibly into the 2022-2023

school year, Prillwitz said she hopes

students who are not required to at-

tend can be engaged in learning on

Wednesdays.

“I would like to see more focus

placed on providing enrichment op-

portunities for the students who are

already caught up and doing well in

their classes,” she said.

When it comes to Cooper stu-

dents, the value of WIN Wednesday

has been recognized as the weeks

have gone by. One student, Andrew

Brooks (9), said he has not been re-

quired to attend on Wednesdays, but

has still come to school to get work

done and prepare for his AP exams.

“I think the WIN Wednesdays

are a good idea and a good chance to

stay on top of [or] get caught up on

work,” Brooks said.

Ultimately, Herman believes

the ability students now have to get

caught up in class on Wednesdays is

important given the ongoing impact

of the pandemic.

¨The last two years have been

tough. WIN Wednesdays are a great

way to support our students in ways

that are personalized just to them,”

Herman said.

Yearbook students prepare to unveil Talons

News

May 31, 2022

Page 3, The Quill

After nearly 10 months of work, the yearbook sta will be distributing copies of the publication at the end of this week

By AALIYAH HALL

Quill sta writer

Members of the yearbook sta worked on portions of the spring supplement to the annual publication during their sixth period class on May 3.

Photo by SHENG VANG

Sophomores nish their MYP Personal Projects

By DAMARIUS HAMILTON

Quill sta writer

Eight Hawks submitted projects in 2022 after two years during which the pandemic hurt completion of the assignment

Final preparations

now underway

for senior party

The celebration will take

place immediately after

commencement on June 9

By DAMARIUS HAMILTON

Quill sta writer

The sta of Talons, Cooper’s

yearbook, are currently completing

work on the publication’s spring sup-

plement after having nished the main

yearbook on April 11.

Guiding the yearbook to its suc-

cessful completion this spring has

been Maddie Monner (12), Aaron

Hyde (12), Asia Young (12), Ariyonna

Logan (11), Melissa Truong (11) and

Stephanie Diaz-Priego (11). Accord-

ing to yearbook advisor and English

teacher Ms. Obranovich, who now

has been overseeing the publication

for six years, the chance to work with

these six students and their other class-

mates has been rewarding.

“I love helping students tap into

their creative and journalistic skills

and being involved in making mem-

ories for students to keep forever,” she

said.

The process of putting together

the yearbook starts when students sign

up for the yearbook class during the

winter of the previous school year.

“I usually get more students

signed up for the course than I can

accommodate,” Obranovich said. “I

look through the list of students who

have signed up, then select based on

sta recommendations and past suc-

cess in school.”

Once the new school year be-

gins, students are assigned a page or

pages for each deadline. The students

are then responsible for the graphic

design of the page, writing the copy

for the page and gathering the pho-

tographs for the page. According to

Monner, the page creation process is

time consuming but rewarding.

“To create a page, the rst thing I

usually do is lay out my template and

pick colors for a theme that I want

to go for. Then, I either take photos

myself over the course of the whole

season for sports or the time period

the event occurs in and I usually end

up asking others for photos and ac-

quire them from other yearbook sta.

After putting photos on the page and

writing the copy, I have completed the

rough draft and will most likely rene

it and change a lot about the page until

the deadline,” Monner said.

While sta members have some

pages they work on independently,

there are other pages that are complet-

ed in collaboration with other students.

Truong said the collaboration process

can sometimes be dicult, but that it

can also produce good results.

“One challenge working on the

yearbook was nding a good time to

work with one of my page partners.

Sometimes, my partners are busy

with other school things, so it’s harder

to talk to them. Another challenge was

agreeing on what we wanted the page

to look like. There would be times

when we had dierent ideas or no

ideas at all,” she said.

Although the publication pro-

cess has its challenges, there are also

moments of fun for the yearbook sta.

“One fun moment would be

when we celebrated the completion

of the yearbook with cake,” Truong

said. “We just relaxed and ate cake the

whole week. Other fun moments con-

sisted of talking with my friend during

class while we worked.”

For Monner, an enjoyable as-

pect of the yearbook experience came

during her work gathering photo-

graphs for her pages.

“The most memorable and fun

moments from creating the yearbook

this year has denitely been taking

photos,” she said. “I enjoy getting to

see all the action and individual smiles

and friendships that can be captured.”

Now that the end of the school

year has arrived, plans for distributing

the 2021-2022 yearbook are being

nalized. Obranovich said yearbook

distribution will take place on June 2.

For students who did not order one in

advance, there will be extra yearbooks

available for purchase starting on dis-

tribution day. The cost of the book is

$80 and they can be purchased with

cash or check.

Also being nalized are plans for

sharing the spring supplement.

“Students who ordered a spring

supplement will either receive it when

they come back to Cooper in the fall

or, if they have graduated, they can

pick it up in the main oce when

school resumes,” Obranovich said.

“If the graduated senior has a younger

sibling at Cooper, I will send it home

with them, or someone else can pick it

up from the main oce for the gradu-

ated senior if they are unable to.”

Eight Cooper sophomores recent-

ly completed their International Bac-

calaureate (IB) Middle Years Program

(MYP) Personal Projects this spring.

Through this project, students have a

chance to explore an area of personal

interest over an extended period.

“It provides them the opportunity

to consolidate their learning and devel-

op important skills they’ll need in both

further education and life beyond the

classroom,” IBMYP Coordinator Ms.

Christensen said. “It also helps them

develop confidence to become princi-

pled, lifelong learners.”

The process of completing the

project starts in the fall of a student’s

sophomore year, when those students

taking part select a topic and a mentor.

“Students research their topic and

complete a process journal. After the

student has completed their process

journal, they proceed to writing their

process report. Almost all of the infor-

mation for the report can be found in

the student’s completed process jour-

nal,” Christensen said.

No matter what type of project

they elect to do, students gain first-hand

experience with time management

while working their way through the

process. Christensen said the challeng-

es of hitting deadlines while working

on the project are offset by the fact that

students get to focus on something they

find interesting.

“Students get to learn more about

a topic that they are passionate about,”

she said. “It’s kind of like having their

own independent study opportunity.”

One student who completed a

project this year is Zach Allen (10),

who made a “mini-scale house and a

blueprint that went with it.” His deci-

sion to tackle that type of topic comes

from his interest in architecture.

“I’ve been interested in architec-

ture and engineering for a little while

and thought this would be a good way

to go about it,” he said.

Allen said it was challenging

keeping track of his steps during the

process and finding good resources

for the research elements of the as-

signment. However, he said the actual

building of the final project was fun.

Another student who successfully

completed a project is Clara Niemann

(10). Due to her interest in fashion, Nie-

mann decided to crochet a cardigan for

her project.

“All of my life, I have always

wanted to create clothing I can wear,”

she said. “That kind of sparked this idea

for crocheting a cardigan.”

Although she enjoyed having the

sweater at the end of the process, Nie-

mann mentioned that hitting her dead-

lines along the way was challenging.

“I definitely procrastinated,

which, in the end, made me have to

rush to finish it,” she said.

Helping Niemann along the way

was her chosen mentor, social studies

teacher Ms. Kilsdonk. Having served

as a Personal Project mentor on several

occasions, Kilsdonk said she enjoyed

the opportunity to work with Niemann.

“Clara is a wonderful person and

scholar. I have enjoyed speaking with

her about what she was learning and

how it was connecting her with her

family. I also admire her for sticking

with the project and finishing her amaz-

ing sweater,” Kilsdonk said.

For current ninth graders who are

considering whether or not they want

to complete the Personal Project next

year, Kilsdonk had some advice.

“Think about what you wish you

could learn in school and then learn

it following the process and you can

earn an elective credit. But don’t feel

like you have to do this. If you have

the time and drive, then it is a great op-

portunity to self-direct your learning,”

she said.

Clara Niemann (10) displayed her nished project at the annual IB Fine Arts Expo on April 21.

Photo by MS. MEYER

Cooper parents are putting

together the nal details for the

2022 senior party, which will

take place on June 9 immediately

after the graduation ceremony.

According to Ms. Snapko, who

is on the planning committee

for the event, the senior party is

designed to “celebrate the Class

of 2022.”

The event will be held at

Bowlero in Eden Prairie. It will

go from approximately 9:30 p.m.

to around 2:30 a.m. Graduating

seniors taking part in the event

will be bused from Cooper im-

mediately after the commence-

ment ceremony and returned to

Cooper once the party is over.

Parents play a central role

in both planning and running the

senior party. They also make it

possible for prizes to be avail-

able to win at the senior party.

Snapko said this process begins

in the fall of a given school year.

“Several parents begin dis-

cussing how we can celebrate

students and their successes be-

ginning in the fall of their senior

year. We meet once a month as a

group of 10-12 adults who work

on organizing a location, fund-

raising and communication,”

Snapko said.

Since the parent group is

external to the building, Snapko

said they rely on the support of

Cooper administrators and sta

to make sure the party comes to-

gether. Additionally, they spend

time at the school on Tuesdays

and Thursdays to encourage

seniors to sign up.

“We dedicate several hours

to spending time in the school

on Tuesday and Thursday during

their lunch hour to talk to any

seniors about senior send-o as

well as being available to collect

registration forms,” Snapko said.

The cost of the event is $50,

which covers all of the entertain-

ment and food available during

the party. Included in the activ-

ities at Bowlero are bowling,

laser tag and arcade games.

The party also features a

rae in which each attending

senior is automatically entered.

Among the prizes for the rae

are a TV, a mini fridge, a Keurig,

an iPad, an Apple Watch, Beats

headphones, a Bluetooth speak-

er, gift cards and more.

According to Snapko, it is

the parent group that helps nd

and collect the various items

available during the auction.

Additionally, the parents work

hard to keep the cost of the event

low and to provide scholarships

to qualifying students.

“We feel very strongly about

having this opportunity open to

all students so this committee

works very hard to raise money

to lessen the cost to the students

as well as provide scholarships

to students in need,” Snapko

said.

The senior party has been a

tradition for more than 25 years.

Snapko said it has been import-

ant to her to keep the tradition

going for Cooper students.

“Several volunteers dedi-

cate so much time to organize

this activity with the idea in

mind that it is one last time

parents can help celebrate the

amazing achievements the stu-

dents have had before they move

into the next stages of their lives.

We also want to provide a safe

environment for students as well

as give them the opportunity to

win some fun items,” she said.

Seniors who are still inter-

ested in signing up for the party

are encouraged to see student

counselor Ms. Ritter. Ritter is

also the person to contact for

students interested in getting a

scholarship to cover the cost of

the event.

Graduation

Page 4, The Quill

May 31, 2022

The end of the beginning

Members of the Class of 2022 share their post-graduation plans

Photo courtesy of TALONS

Thank you to Ms. Warndahl for compiling this list

Abdulle, Sadaq Augsburg University

Adams, Marcus Gap year

Amara, Tenneh University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Appiah, Prince Attend two-year college

Arrigo, Jasmine Work

Bacon, Laila Dougherty College

Bah, Jonathan North Hennepin Community College

Baldwin, Elijah Minnesota State University, Mankato

Barrett, Gabrielle Aveda Institute

Barsaloux, Pierre North Hennepin Community College

Bertossi, Greta North Hennepin Community College

Bett, Nana Undecided

Borisevich, Emma Texas Tech University

Bracewell, Tasha Bemidji State University

Brooks, Namyer Gap year

Bryant, Amir Dunwoody Institute of Technology

Campbell, Katelyn University of St. Thomas

Chang, Brooke Minnesota State University, Mankato

David, Tarnue Texas Christian University

Davis, Arielle University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Davis, Shatiya North Hennepin Community College

Dean, Travis North Hennepin Community College

DeGroot, Ethan University of Wisconsin, Oshkosh

DeLeon Padilla, Juan Hennepin Technical College

Diaz-Jauregui, Jazmin St. Catherine University

Diaz-Pina, Imanol Work

Dorsey, Khaden Hennepin Technical College

Dotson, LaNeisha Albany State University

Edison, Xavier Gap year

Enna, Elijah Augsburg University

Espinoza, Brian University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Flor, Faith University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Foster, Sullisceya Prairie View A&M University

Ganter, Nikka University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Ganter, Reina University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Gbelee, Terry Minnesota State Community, Technical College

Gray, Devin Concordia University, St. Paul

Gruel, Jack Hennepin Technical College

Guzman, Sabrina Concordia College

Hagge, Andrew University of Minnesota, Duluth

Hang, Alex Minnesota State University, Mankato

Haywood, Owen Bemidji State University

Heigel, Peter Bemidji State University

Holmes, LaMya Minneapolis Community & Technical College

Horton, Symira Southern University and A&M College

Hove, Jayden University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire

Huelskamp, S. Montana State University

Hussen, Naima University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Hyde, Aaron Concordia University, St. Paul

Jenkins, T. University of Alaska, Fairbanks

Jennings, Emma Grand Canyon University

Jones, Connor North Hennepin Community College

Jordan, J. Augsburg University

Kak, Manuth University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Karol, Libby San Diego State University

Katasi, Divine Hannah Augsburg University

Keita, Mahawa University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Khang, Chiashe Augsburg University

Koroma, Fatima Carleton College

Korstad, Magnus University of Wisconsin, River Falls

Kubly, Joseph Augsburg University

Launderville, E. Minnesota State University, Mankato

Lee, Echi University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Lee, Valerie Minneapolis College of Art & Design

Ma, Maxwell Boston University

Madson, Alyce Luther College

Mekbeb, Yoel University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Meyer, Taylor North Hennepin Community College

Mitchell, M. Minnesota State University, Mankato

Monner, M. University of Wisconsin, La Crosse

Morehouse, B. Minnesota State University, Mankato

Nemesi, Max Hennepin Technical College

Nery, Giovanna Gap year

Nguyen, Van University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Nichols, Adrianna Florida International University

Niederloh, Ryan Apprenticeship

Norful, Lauren Norfolk State University

Obonyo, Ashley Rasmussen University

Omoke, Rachael University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Omoke, Silvia University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Omundson, J. Apprenticeship

Otu, Mimi Undecided

Palony, Anna Concordia University, St. Paul

Peterson, J. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Pha, Muapengsue Undecided

Phillips, K. Xavier University of Louisiana

Pinzon, C. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Prowell, Janay Realtor license

Ramirez-Castaneda, M. University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Robinson, Kylie North Hennepin Community College

Rodriguez, Maritza Gap year

Rosa-Angel, Joseline University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Ruhland, Aaliyah Gap year

Sarabia-Flores, Emilio Concordia College

Scott, Kylie St. Cloud State University

Simmons, Amya Mesabi Range Community College

Sinchi, Myra Minneapolis Community & Technical College

Skoglund, Josh Anoka Technical College

Snapko, Clare Concordia University, St. Paul

Stephens, J. North Hennepin Community College

Teachout, Megan University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Teibowei, Ester University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Thoronka, Alice Hamline University

Tourtelotte, H. Gustavus Adolphus College

Tran, Andrew Yale University

Turner, Jasmir North Carolina A&T State University

Vang, Tong Metropolitan State University

VanSistine, C. St. Norbert College

Vasser, Na’Mira Clark Atlanta University

Wade, La Isie Gap year

Ward, Semaj Gap year

Williams, S. Apprenticeship

Worrobah, S. University of St. Thomas

Wu, Jessie University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

Yang, Isaac Hennepin Technical College

Zeon, Gabrielle St. Cloud State University

Opinion

May 31, 2022

Page 5, The Quill

Summit let students use their voices

The April 20 event demonstrated that Cooper administrators are interested in hearing student input about the school

Negative impacts of the pandemic are still being felt

Whether it is the way in which people make plans or the shortages we see at stores, our lives are still being influenced by COVID

Participants in the student summit were randomly organized into groups to discuss various topics related to daily life at school.

Photo by MIMI OTU

By ERIN CHUNN

Quill sta writer

Quill

e

Editor-in-Chief Andrew Hagge

News Editor Sheng Vang

Features Editor Tajannea Jenkins

Opinion Editor Erin Chunn

Variety Editor Luke Rekela-Jasper

Sports Editor Nolan Andler

Copy Editors Andrew Hagge

Sheng Vang

Advertising Jack Atkinson

Circulation Llewellyn Bouthim

Nolan Andler

Jack Atkinson

Llewellyn Bouthim

Richara Bullock

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Bright Deku

Devin Gray

Andrew Hagge

Aaliyah Hall

Damarius Hamilton

Naima Hussen

Tajannea Jenkins

Kaposia Korich

Mimi Otu

Luke Rekela-Jasper

Mariah Riley

Philip Robert

Myra Sinchi

Sheng Vang

Kenneth Ward

The Quill is an open and public forum

for the thoughts and opinions of all

students at Robbinsdale Cooper High

School. Editorials contained in the

Opinion section of the newspaper are

the views of their respective authors

alone. They do not necessarily repre-

sent the views of Cooper High School

or Robbinsdale School District 281.

Letters to the Editor

The Quill welcomes Letters to the Editor.

If you would like to send The Quill your

thoughts about a story that ran in the

paper, or your thoughts about an issue af-

fecting our school or community, please

word process and email your letter to

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le. The Quill reserves the right to edit

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To advertise, please write to The Quill,

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MN 55428; call at 763-504-8500; or

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Robbinsdale Cooper High School's

The Quill is a member of the Na-

tional Scholastic Press Association.

By DEVIN GRAY

Quill sta writer

Keeping focused

is important way

to avoid lazy break

Relaxing is part of summer,

but make sure you don't let

the three months pass you by

Wearing masks to avoid illness is part of many people's pandemic routine.

Photo by SHENG VANG

From the Editors

The student summit was

held during the school day on

April 20 for students to speak

about their Cooper experience.

The summit was held over third

and fourth periods and all par-

ticipating students were excused

from class. Students did have to

RSVP prior to the summit and

there was a nice turnout. Stu-

dents were given an assigned ta-

ble where they sat next to other

randomly placed students so they

could make new connections

while reviewing the quality of

their high school experiences up

to that point. Overall, I found the

experience to be a benecial one.

Cooper has always been a

progressive and exible school,

and the sta has made eorts to

give a voice to the student body.

Students sharing ideas for school

improvement and discussing past

experiences during the summit

were constructive ways to nd

what needs to be reformed. After

distance learning and implement-

ing WIN Wednesdays, the sum-

mit was an eective way of hear-

ing the mindsets of, and level of

motivation from, the students.

Participation is the most essential

part of supporting the communi-

ty and, fortunately, most seats at

the summit were lled with pro-

ductive students.

The fact that the summit was

in person sends a message of uni-

ty so students don’t feel singled

out. The organization of the sum-

mit was also admirable. There

was minimal confusion about the

topics being dealt with.

It is important to point out

that, although the Robbinsdale

School District often sends out

surveys to connect with the stu-

dents and get feedback, the stu-

dent summit was a new, innova-

tive way of gathering volunteers

and getting them to genuinely

talk to one another. Cooper stu-

dents have powerful voices and

it’s commendable that the dis-

trict is willing to listen to them.

Of course, all districts should be

The pandemic has changed

folks for the better and for the

worse. I have picked up new

hobbies and even improved my

physical health during the pan-

demic. Of course, not everyone

can say that same thing about

their experience during quar-

antine. For example, I know

some students who suer from

chronic procrastination thanks

to the pandemic and distance

learning, including myself.

The problems caused by the

pandemic stretch to all parts

of life, causing many ongoing

issues that citizens of America

and people across the world are

still dealing with now.

I believe the most obvious

eect of the pandemic upon the

public would be the transforma-

tion to introversion. Before the

pandemic, it wouldn’t be nor-

mal to avoid all social events

for whatever reason. However,

nowadays, you can reject al-

most every social outing and

disguise your reasons by saying

you are trying to avoid COVID.

As a result, some folks have

simply gotten too used to being

alone. I know I feel like social

events have now become more

like a chore after being in isola-

tion for two years.

Another issue caused by

the pandemic is the food short-

ages that have been running

rampant in grocery stores since

the middle of 2020. These sup-

ply problems are being caused

by such things as farmers catch-

ing COVID after having inter-

actions with transporters, and

truck drivers at the warehouses

getting COVID and not being

able to drive to stores. As an

employee of a grocery store, I

can say from rst-hand experi-

ence this can get a little annoy-

ing, especially when we run out

of popular items customers ask

for often. Sometimes, our most

most popular of their hit singles

was “Smells Like Teen Spirit,”

which peaked at number six on the

U.S. Billboard Hot 100. Nirvana is

credited with dening a generation

of rock music in the 1990s, bring-

ing the alternative genre “grunge”

to mainstream audiences.

Whether you love or hate

them, Nirvana is undeniably one

of the world’s most popular bands.

I can’t remember exactly how old

I was, but I remember download-

ing “Smells Like Teen Spirit” onto

my classic iPod in the early 2010s.

As the years went on, I would hear

that song and many other Nirvana

tunes either on the radio, in com-

mercials, or in movies. The movie

in particular that sparked my recent

interest in Nirvana’s music is The

Batman, which heavily features

the song “Something in the Way.”

After learning that song, along

with “Smells Like Teen Spirit,”

came from Nirvana’s sophomore

album, Nevermind, I decided to

start there.

One of the rst aspects of Nev-

ermind that caught my attention

was the album’s length. Including

its secret 13th track, Nevermind’s

runtime tallies up to about 49 min-

utes. Oftentimes this year, I had to

make long drives to and from my

brother’s college campus, which

usually takes about 50 minutes

one way. The rst time I listened

to Nevermind in full was on one of

these drives, and it has become an

instant classic and my go-to music

choice when on the road.

Another aspect of the album

that became evident to me is its

tone and variety of songs. In my

opinion, the best tracks from the al-

bum are in the beginning, and they

all ow very nicely together.

However, I do think Nev-

ermind’s 13th and hidden track,

“Endless Nameless,” disrupts this

ow. This song feels like a mid-

or post-credits scene in a movie,

since it’s pretty out of place when

comparing its bombastic and crazy

energy to the somber or emotional

steadiness of the other 12 tracks. In

contrast, “Something in the Way”

is the perfect way to conclude this

album, and especially after seeing

its use in the lm The Batman, it

provides a tragic, yet hopeful con-

clusion to an album jam-packed

with great songs that cover various

topics.

One aspect that negatively

aects Nevermind is its pacing.

Following the album’s sixth track,

“Polly,” the next song, “Territorial

Pissings,” completely changes the

tone and feels like the start of its

own grunge album. In my opinion,

this song’s placement should have

been a bit higher up, since it’s more

tonally consistent with those early

tracks, such as “Breed.”

I also think most of the al-

bum’s tracks in its latter half don’t

hold as much weight as the tracks

from the beginning. Not that they

are bad songs, but the latter tracks

are certainly less memorable. Be-

sides those issues, I think Never-

mind’s rst half succeeds in being

a consistent and enjoyable listening

experience.

While the sequencing of the

album might not be perfect, I have

many favorite songs from the al-

bum. The rst noteworthy one is

“Breed,” which is great from the

start. This is denitely my go-to

Nirvana song if I’m looking for

something with a speedy pace and

loud and fast drums.

Another favorite is “In

Bloom.” This track bears a lot in

common with classic rock songs

while also containing the elements

that make grunge rock such an

engaging music genre. Also, I ap-

preciate how this was Nirvana’s

response to some of their fans who

thought they were just like every

other Seattle rock band at the time.

Cobain’s lyrics on the chorus make

this point especially evident.

Next, “Come as You Are” is

denitely Nevermind’s best-paced

song. This track strikes a good

balance between low-to-loud vol-

umes. I also really like the music

video that accompanied this song.

“Polly,” Nirvana’s darkest

song, is distinct from the other

tracks on Nevermind, but works

perfectly at the album’s halfway

point. The acoustic guitar strums,

Cobain’s softer and haunting vo-

cals, and the tragic backstory be-

hind the song’s meaning makes

“Polly” an unforgettable track on

Nevermind.

Then there is “Something in

the Way,” which will probably go

down as the Nevermind track I am

most fond of, all because of The

Batman, the lm that led me to

reviewing this album. Despite my

issues with the movie, one of my

favorite aspects was its usage of

“Something in the Way,” which is

now branded in my mind as one of

the Batman character’s many an-

thems.

Last but not least, I can’t for-

get about “Smells Like Teen Spir-

it.” It’s undeniably the most iconic

song from the album. I bet if you

were to cycle through rock radio

stations right now, at least one of

them would be playing this song.

Overall, despite my criticisms

about the pacing of the latter half of

the album, Nevermind is a must-lis-

ten for hardcore fans of alternative

rock and grunge. This album de-

nitely has some of Nirvana’s best

songs of all time. Nevermind earns

four out of ve stars.

“I have been drawing all my life,”

Max Nemesi (12) said. “I started paint-

ing around four years ago just before

freshman year because I wanted to ex-

perience different fields of art.”

Nemesi is currently

involved in Painting 2 and

Drawing 2. He said what he

likes the most about art is that

he gets “the freedom to draw

whatever [he] wants.” He

added that the welcoming

art community and environ-

ment is fun to be part of.

“I enjoy the environ-

ment the most. Ms. Mielke

is a great teacher, so it’s al-

ways fun being in class,” Nemesi said.

Nemesi mentioned that some of

his favorite memories from art class are

completing his first realism drawing and

completing his first painting piece.

According to Nemesi, there are not

a lot of leadership roles due to art being

more of an independent activity. How-

ever, when he gets the opportunity to, he

tries to help others as best as he can.

Besides art, psychology is one of

his favorite subjects.

“I think all the material for psychol-

ogy is interesting. Plus, it is

self-paced, so I can work on

my own,” he said.

In addition to his art-

work, Nemesi also enjoys

biking and playing basket-

ball outside of school.

After high school,

Nemesi plans to continue

with his involvement in art

by pursuing a graphic de-

sign degree at a technical

college before continuing on at a univer-

sity.

“I think that art has become in-

grained in my life, so I will definitely

continue to pursue it,” Nemesi said.

Christopher Pinzon-Medina (12)

plays cello in Philharmonic Orchestra.

“I have played cello for five years

now,” he said. “I started off with the

violin in fifth grade but switched in

eighth grade after a switch

in interest.”

Pinzon-Medina said he

first joined orchestra because

“classical music has been

an interest since [he] was

younger.” He said he has en-

joyed the community aspect

of his time in music.

“I have very much en-

joyed being part of such a

welcoming and caring com-

munity,” he said. “Not only have I met

so many amazing and talented people,

but the experiences that come with it

have been absolutely incredible.”

A favorite orchestra memory for

Pinzon-Medina came during eighth

grade when his group went to Orchestra

Hall and competed with other schools in

front of professional judges.

His long tenure in orchestra has

led to Pinzon-Medina being named

vice president for the Orchestra Lead-

ership Council.

“This is very special to

me as I get to be an example

and a leader to underclass-

men” he said.

In addition to orches-

tra, Pinzon-Medina said his

favorite subject in school is

physics because it is chal-

lenging. Outside of school,

he said he enjoys “playing

soccer, working out and

spending time with family.”

After graduating, Pinzon-Medina

plans to major in international business

at the University of Minnesota, Twin

Cities. He also plans on staying involved

with music.

Chiashe Khang (12) is involved

with art-related hobbies and is enrolled

in Cooper art classes.

Khang has been doing art ever

since elementary school. She said she

has always enjoyed the cre-

ative aspect of art.

“It has become a really

therapeutic hobby of mine,”

she said.

The art classes Khang

has had a chance to take at

Cooper have allowed her to

express herself in new ways.

“I enjoy seeing all the ef-

fort and time I put into some-

thing turn into an art piece that

reflects my personality,” she said.

One of her favorite memories re-

lated to art happened back when she was

in second grade.

“I recall completing a self-portrait,

which every other student had also done.

The portraits would then be hung up

around the classroom and I would al-

ways find myself staring at my self-por-

trait, proud of my own work. This mem-

ory motivated me to keep pursuing art

because art was something I’ve always

enjoyed,” she said.

Khang said her fa-

vorite classes in school are

art-related.

“I enjoy doing activ-

ities that involve hands-on

learning and a lot of creative

thinking,” she said.

Khang’s outside-of-

school hobbies are doing

digital art, learning how to

play musical instruments

and playing video games.

Her plan for college is to attend a four-

year university where she will major in

graphic design and minor in computer

science with the hope of one day work-

ing on video games.

Call of Duty: Vanguard is the

most recent of the many Call of

Duty games. Designed by Mark

Kevern Evan,

Vanguard was orig-

inally released on November 5,

2021. I enjoy this game because

of its well-put-together campaign.

When compared to the other Call

of Duty releases, Vanguard is one

of the best next to Call of Duty:

WWII and Call of Duty: Cold War.

I think people should check out this

game primarily because of its low

recoil gameplay. Ultimately, Va n -

guard features the double-sprint,

door and mount mechanics from

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, but

the game’s speed and shooting feel

a lot more like Call of Duty: Cold

War.

The plot of the game revolves

around the rise of special forces.

One of the rst tasks is to uncover

a secret Nazi project and destroy it

before they go through with it. The

game allows you to take over plen-

ty of characters, such as team lead-

er and British Army Lieutenant Ar-

thur Kingsley, his right-hand man

Richard Webb, Red Army sniper

Polina Petrova, American pilot

Wade Jackson, Australian demoli-

tionist Lucas Riggs and Czechoslo-

vak partisan ghter Milos Novak.

The game takes place at the end of

World War II in 1945.

One of the great aspects of the

game is the storyline. As you por-

tray dierent characters, you get to

play out the story of how they be-

come who they are and how they

all nd each other in the game. This

is dierent from other games, in

which you never really get a back-

story for each charter.

The music in the game is also

great. During the campaign, you

get excellent songs that help por-

tray what is going on in the scenes,

such as ”Project Phoenix,” which

we hear when they nally get close

to obtaining the plans, and “Wade

into the Weeds,” which plays when

Wade’s plane crashes and he has to

battle his way out. The composer

behind all the music included in the

game is Bear McCreary, who also

composes for TV and lm.

One element of the game that

is mediocre is the zombie option.

While there have been some up-

dates to this option when compared

to other Call of Duty games, many

of the classic zombies from the se-

ries are swapped out for new, half-

baked ones.

Despite this issue, I still enjoy

this game because of its campaign,

which is comparable to other Call

of Duty releases. I think fans of the

Call of Duty series will enjoy Van-

guard due to its gameplay features

and its mechanics. Overall, Call of

Duty: Vanguard earns four out of

ve stars.

Lauren Norful (12) has made a

name for herself as a performer at Cooper.

She is a clarinet player in band, Marching

Band and Wind Ensemble. She also sings

in Concert Choir and her church choir. On

top of that, she played Glenda

in The Wiz.

While she has been in

these many music-related

activities throughout high

school, her background in

performance actually goes

back to elementary school.

“I have been in my

church choir since first

grade,” she said.

Norful cited many rea-

sons why she enjoys being involved in

her activities. She said she enjoys the

chance to learn to play new instruments

in band and she likes being able to sing

with her friends in choir. As for her fa-

vorite memories across these many mu-

sical groups, Norful pointed out one in

particular that involved Marching Band.

“In our Chippewa Falls show, we

won top band in our division and we cel-

ebrated on the bus,” she said. “It was defi-

nitely the highlight of my band season.”

Her hard work in Marching Band

resulted in Norful being

named section leader for

the clarinets this year. In

light of that, it is not surpris-

ing that Norful said music

is her favorite subject in

school because it is “the

most engaging.” However,

she also said she enjoys her

Anatomy class because it

forces her “to work on time

management.”

Next fall, Norful will be starting

college at Norfolk State University.

While she is undecided on a major, Nor-

ful said she will join the Marching Band

at her school.

Variety

May 31, 2022

Page 8, The Quill

Super Metroid brings old-school fun to gamers

The game, which was originally released in 1994, can now be played through a new Nintendo Switch feature

By DEVIN GRAY

Quill sta writer

Photo courtesy of NINTENDO

The quality of detail in the graphics holds up well despite the age of the game.

Saul is stellar expansion of Bad universe

Better Call Saul, which is entering its sixth and nal season, serves as a spin-o, prequel and sequel to Breaking Bad

Bob Odenkirk stars as Saul Goodman, a popular supporting character from Breaking Bad.

Photo courtesy of AMC

By LUKE REKELA-JASPER

Quill sta writer

Warcraft provides

some excitement

despite decline

The game's popularity

has dropped dramatically

since its peak in 2010

By LUKE REKELA-JASPER

Quill sta writer

Better Call Saul is an Ameri-

can crime drama TV series created

by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould.

It is a spin-o, prequel and sequel

to the highly successful TV series

Breaking Bad, and it follows the

life of a former con-artist-turned-

lawyer who eventually becomes

the charismatic and egocentric

criminal defense attorney known

as Saul Goodman (Bob Odenkirk).

Viewers rst got to meet

the quick-with-his-mouth crim-

inal lawyer Saul Goodman in the

middle of Breaking Bad’s second

season, and he instantly became a

favorite addition to the show’s cast.

However, since Saul was always

positioned as a secondary charac-

ter to Breaking Bad’s main leads,

I was intrigued to learn that, at the

time of my rst viewing of Break-

ing Bad, Saul actually had his own

TV series that had recently nished

its fth season. Months later, after

watching the entirety of Breaking

Bad twice in a row, I decided to

check out Better Call Saul, which

has four seasons available on Net-

ix. I remember enjoying the rst

two episodes, but as I continued

through the rst season, for some

reason, I remember falling out of

touch with the show, due to it being

far dierent and less exciting than

Breaking Bad.

About a year later, in April

2022, I nally got back into Better

Call Saul, with my intrigue about

the show being revitalized when it

was announced that Bryan Crans-

ton and Aaron Paul, who were the

two main leads of Breaking Bad,

would be returning for Saul’s sixth

and nal season. And boy, I’m glad

I took my time and didn’t rush to

binge this show directly after view-

ing Breaking Bad. After watching

all ve seasons of Better Call Saul,

my main takeaway from this series

is that it is not Breaking Bad, but its

own unique television drama.

First o, I’d like to go over

Better Call Saul’s characters. Be-

ing a prequel, the show’s principle

cast features many characters who

rst appeared on Breaking Bad,

the most one obvious being Saul

Goodman, the protagonist of the

show. However, Better Call Saul

doesn’t start with him already

shaped into the Saul Goodman

from Breaking Bad. Instead, he is

Jimmy McGill, a struggling pub-

lic defender in Albuquerque, New

Mexico, caring for his older broth-

er Chuck (Michael McKean),

who suers from electromagnetic

hypersensitivity. Jimmy idolizes

Chuck and aims to impress him

by becoming a successful lawyer,

having previously been a low-lev-

el conman in Cicero, Illinois until

Chuck bailed him out of a jam,

leading Jimmy on a journey to

redeem himself in the eyes of his

older brother. The relationship be-

tween the McGill brothers is ele-

vated by the emotionally charged

performances of Odenkirk and

McKean.

Another returning character

from Breaking Bad is Mike Ehr-

mantraut (Jonathan Banks), a for-

mer Philadelphia-cop-turned-crim-

inal, who moves to Albuquerque to

support his daughter-in-law and

granddaughter. Better Call Saul

is just as much Mike’s story as it

is Jimmy’s. The series focuses on

the origin story of how Mike gets

involved in Albuquerque’s crim-

inal underworld, in which he is

fully immersed during Breaking

Bad. There are many more return-

ing characters from Breaking Bad,

but I’ll refrain from revealing their

identities to allow Breaking Bad

fans to be pleasantly surprised

when their favorites appear on

their TV screens.

As for new characters, Better

Call Saul introduces us to Howard

Hamlin (Patrick Fabian), Chuck’s

partner at their law rm and the

occasional rival to Jimmy; Kim

Wexler (Rhea Seehorn), a law-

yer at Chuck and Howard’s law

rm and Jimmy’s girlfriend; and

Igancio “Nacho” Varga (Michael

Mando), a drug dealer who often

nds himself in the crosshairs of

Jimmy, Mike and the Albuquerque

drug scene. Saul’s third season ce-

ments Nacho as one of my favorite

characters, and his storylines often

leave me on the edge of my seat

since there is only a one-o refer-

ence to Nacho in Breaking Bad.

The rst season of Better Call

Saul shares a lot in common with

the rst season of Breaking Bad,

but it is dierent enough to make it

unique and enjoyable. I think audi-

ences will be able to get invested in

the show straight away, all due to

Odenkirk’s charismatic and sym-

pathetic performance as the under-

dog lawyer Jimmy McGill. One

of my favorite aspects of Saul’s

rst season is the dysfunctional

relationship between the McGill

brothers, whose struggle to under-

stand each other creates much of

this show’s conict. On the other

end, this season slowly pours the

breadcrumbs of Mike becoming

a criminal in Albuquerque. While

not as much time is given to Mike

as it is Jimmy in the rst season, I

think the writers are wise to make

Jimmy the main focus at the start.

Season one is my favorite season

of the show.

As for the second season,

it does have a few things I don’t

love. A big chunk of Jimmy’s story

this season is devoted to him be-

ing involved with a new law rm.

While I think this story arc has its

fun gimmicks, I nd it less enjoy-

able than seeing Jimmy go solo as

a struggling pro-bono lawyer or as

his con artist alter ego “Slippin’

Jimmy.” Thankfully, it doesn’t take

long for Jimmy’s story to return to

its roots, as his relationships with

Chuck and Kim become more in-

volved in the plot, and he falls back

into bad habits. The best aspects of

this season come from Mike’s sto-

ry. As is the case on Breaking Bad,

seeing Mike use his intelligence to

be an eective criminal is enter-

taining, and his various confron-

tations with a certain familiar face

from Breaking Bad are a lot of fun.

The third season of the show

has a strong start, building o of

the conict between Jimmy and

Chuck that concluded the second

season. Eventually, this dynamic

culminates in one of my favorite

episodes of the series. This season

also shines a lot more light on Kim

and Nacho, making them some of

my favorite characters in the Bad-

Saul shared universe. However,

much like the second season, the

third season has a stretch of epi-

sodes that really drag a bit, and the

season nale is underwhelming

because the climactic events are

predictable.

However, season four takes

the show in a dierent-yet-needed

direction. This season puts aside

the legal aspect that is prominent in

the previous seasons and, instead,

makes the main focus on charac-

ters, which culminates in Jimmy’s

evolution into Saul Goodman. I

also appreciate this season’s move

to put Mike back at the forefront.

His storyline and friendship with

German engineer Werner Ziegler

(Rainer Bock) is a highlight of sea-

son four. Another highlight is get-

ting to see Nacho’s story become

grittier and even more unpredict-

able. Additionally, the introduction

of the wacky cartel criminal Lalo

Salamanca (Tony Dalton) is prom-

ising. However, I think this season

would be better if the intriguing

plotline with Nacho was expanded

upon more.

The fth season wisely has the

show’s main cast members interact

with one another more often and

their storylines interconnect. The

showrunners also raise the bar in

terms of scope, scale and intensi-

ty, which makes season ve one of

Better Call Saul’s best seasons.

Across all ve seasons, what

is undeniably amazing about Better

Call Saul is the lmmaking. The

clear and crisp cinematography,

impressive camera moves and an-

gles, and overall creativity make

Saul one of the best-looking shows

on television. Even if the overall

plot line isn’t the most interesting,

the directors still know how to

make Saul visually engaging at the

very least.

While Saul may look great, I

think what makes this show fall at

for me is the writing. While I didn’t

expect or want Better Call Saul to

be just a replica or rehash of Break-

ing Bad, which delivered some of

television’s greatest dramatic story

beats ever, I did hope Saul would

Super Metroid, also known as

Metroid 3, is a video game developed

by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo

Entertainment System (SNES). First

released in March 1994 in Japan,

and April 1994 for American audi-

ences, this is the third installment

of the Metroid series. Personally, I

think Metroid is one of my favorite

gaming series ever. I believe that

folks should play this game if they

want to get a good feel for the best

old games from Nintendo. I think

this is a great game because of its ex-

cellent graphics, smooth gameplay

and solid storyline.

Super Metroid starts o with

the protagonist, Samus Aran, return-

ing from her mission of exterminat-

ing the deadly alien species called

the metroids in the previous game.

However, one infant metroid re-

mains, and it is her job to hunt down

the alien to protect it from space pi-

rate Ridley, who wants it for his own

evil use.

One thing is for certain: Super

Metroid has mind-blowing graphics,

especially when you consider the

time period when it was released.

With great pixel art and detailed

backgrounds, Super Metroid has

pretty environments for the audience

to look at. This same attention to de-

tail applies to the enemies as well.

The metroids are possibly the most

detailed enemies I have seen, espe-

cially when compared to other video

games from that time period. While

the graphics may have limitations

compared to today’s games, they

are still well thought out and great

overall.

The storyline of the game is

pretty straightforward. However, the

game has some of the same great

storytelling aspects that some great

literature has. In the story, Samus

Aran arrives at planet Zebes to get

the nal metroid that she missed on

her previous mission. Meanwhile,

the space pirate Ridley is hunting

it down as well, which means that

whoever gets to the metroid rst will

decide the fate of the entire galaxy. It

is a high-stakes plot that makes the

player feel a sense of accomplish-

ment upon completion. Additional-

ly, the pacing of the plot works well

and it is not at all confusing.

Finally, the gameplay of Super

Metroid is smooth. With great run-

and-gun tactics, and excellent au-

dio queues for simple shooting and

movement, Super Metroid absorbs

the player in its gameplay. However,

World of Warcraft (WoW) is a

massive-multiplayer-online-role-play-

ing game (MMORPG) released by

Blizzard Entertainment for Micro-

soft Windows and macOS. Set in the

Warcraft universe, the game primari-

ly takes place in the fantasy world of

Azeroth and allows players to create

their own characters that represent one

of two warring factions: the Alliance

or the Horde. Once character creation

is complete, the player is given free

rein to explore the various regions and

zones, complete quests, and interact

with other players.

Following the game’s release in

2004, WoW has been the most popular

MMORPG of all-time, and due to its

success, eight major expansion packs

have been released, with one current-

ly in development. Additionally, there

have been two vanilla remasters of the

first two installments of the series.

For years, WoW was the king of

MMORPGs and fantasy genre video

games. However, the game drastical-

ly changed and declined as Blizzard

made changes when they released new

expansion packs through the years. In

2010, WoW had a peak of 12 million

subscribers. By 2022, it has less than

five million. In this review, I’ll be dis-

cussing the major positives and nega-

tives of WoW and why the game has

progressively declined over the years.

The first key aspect of WoW is

the gameplay. The controls for the

game are basic and easy to understand

because it is played with a mouse and

keyboard. I first played WoW when I

was five or six years old, and even then

I knew what buttons I needed to press

to move, jump and attack enemies.

What keeps the controls engag-

ing are the animations your character

makes when attacking. Early on, your

attacks will be lackluster, but as you

continue playing, your gear, weapons

and main attacks will improve so com-

bat will become much more fun. This

is especially evident when participat-

ing in Dungeons, pre-designed level

platforms with waves of enemies best

engaged with a group of players.

Thanks to the newer updates to

the game, WoW has become much

more accessible to players who prefer

to play the game solo. I can appreciate

this aspect when creating a new char-

acter, but beyond that, the gameplay

has become less challenging and is

stale at times. If you played WoW

back in 2004 or you enjoy the vanilla

remaster, World of Warcraft Classic,

then you know that soloing mobs of

enemies is a definite challenge, often

resulting in failure, and that teamwork

with other players is necessary.

While I can appreciate Blizzard

for making changes to the overall

game to improve solo gameplay, what

I cannot look past is Blizzard’s inabili-

ty to make overall gameplay engaging

and fun. The problem is their lack of

variety regarding Quests, objectives

players will be doing to gain expe-

rience and improve their characters.

However, I cannot properly discuss

that aspect without first discussing

WoW ’s massive open world.

In 2004, WoW had the largest

open world map for MMORPGs.

Even now, the game still has many

vast and unique areas to explore and

experience. However, the fatal flaw in

WoW ’s open world is that many zones

and areas are mere replicas of previous

locations. This has an impact on the

Quests in zones. For a lot of the newer

zones following the 2014 WoW expan-

sion Warlords of Draenor, leveling be-

came repetitive and many Quests were

just reskinned in different zones.

On the upside, each zone usually

has its own unique music and NPCs

(non-playable characters) that fit the

environments. I appreciate Blizzard’s

attempt to make each zone feel distinct

and unique from the others. What I

cannot forgive is Blizzard continuous-

ly reskinning Quests and objectives

and then acting like it is all new and

exclusive content.

The third key aspect of WoW is

WARCRAFT

continues on page 10

SUPER METROID

continues on page 12

SAUL

continues on page 11

Raimi makes Madness worth checking out

Variety

May 31, 2022

Page 9, The Quill

The Doctor Strange sequel marks director Sam Raimi's rst return to Marvel since directing the original Spider-Man trilogy

By LUKE REKELA-JASPER

Quill sta writer

The dependably good performance of Benedict Cumberbatch helps anchor the often unwieldy plot.

Photo courtesy of MARVEL STUDIOS

Doctor Strange in the Multi-

verse of Madness is the 28th lm

in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

(MCU) and is a sequel to the 2016

lm Doctor Strange. Directed by

Sam Raimi, written by Michael

Waldron, and set after the events

of the Disney+ limited series

WandaVision and the 2021 lm

Spider-Man: No Way Home, the

lm sees Benedict Cumberbatch

returning as the neurosurgeon-

turned-Master-of-the-Mystic-Arts

Stephen Strange to protect teenager

America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez)

from the former Avenger-turned-

Scarlet-Witch Wanda Maximo

(Elizabeth Olsen), who aims to

acquire Chavez’s ability to travel

throughout the multiverse.

If it weren’t for my brother ask-

ing me if I wanted to come down to

his college campus and see a mov-

ie after school, I likely would not

have seen Multiverse of Madness. I

could discuss all day how fatigued

the MCU’s familiar formula and

lack of variety in their content has

made me, but there was one aspect

of the Doctor Strange sequel that

gave me hope: director Sam Raimi.

Raimi directed three Spider-Man

movies in the early 2000s. Flaws

and all, Raimi’s Spider-Man trilo-

gy has some of the best superhero

lmmaking of all time because of

Raimi’s direction and style. Anoth-

er appealing aspect of Multiverse of

Madness is the smorgasbord of in-

ternet theories that there would be

an exceptional number of cameos

from other Marvel characters. At

this point, I would not be surprised

if Jesus himself makes a cameo in

one of these Marvel movies, since

the MCU seems to want to appeal

to the massive majority of fans and

heavily rely on nostalgia as their

selling point.

With all that in mind, my hope

for Multiverse of Madness was that

it would be more similar to Raimi’s

Spider-Man trilogy, and would

avoid the cookie-cutter, plain and

predictable MCU movies that

have plagued this franchise. While

Raimi certainly is given some free-

dom, Multiverse of Madness un-

fortunately suers from the fatal

aws that have caused my once

spectacular interest in the MCU

to completely fade away. In order

to demonstrate why my interest

has faded, this review will con-

tain spoilers for both Multiverse of

Madness and other lms and TV

shows in the MCU.

Much like the other MCU

lms, it is no surprise to me that

the actors in Multiverse of Mad-

ness are doing a good job at mak-

ing their superhero characters feel

colorful and unique. To quote the

ctional character Dutch van der

Linde from the video game Red

Dead Redemption: “They have to,

because they have to justify their

wages.” My cynicism aside, all of

the actors in Multiverse of Mad-

ness come across like they give a

g about making the majority of

audiences understand and be cap-

tivated by their characters.

Elizabeth Olsen completely

embraces her role as the antagonist

of the lm. At times, she feels like

a full-edged, unleashed Sith lord,

which is fun. Olsen’s character

was established to exhibit villain-

ous behaviors in the 2021 Disney+

miniseries WandaVision, so it is a

pleasant surprise to see the Scarlet

Witch switch from being a hero to

a villain.

However, Maximo’s entire

motivation happens to be a copy

of another villain’s plan from a

dierent Marvel movie: The King-

pin from the animated lm Spi-

der-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

While Maximo’s motivation as

the villain certainly makes sense

considering the events of Wan-

daVision, I cannot overlook how

similar her character is to another

existing Marvel villain from a dif-

ferent universe. The resolution to

the conict with the Scarlet Witch

is also predictable and disappoint-

ing.

Xochitl Gomez is a new addi-

tion to the MCU and plays Ameri-

ca Chavez, a teenage girl who can

only travel to dierent universes

when she is afraid. Why, you say?

Because those are the movie’s

rules. Also, the question of how

Chavez has her multiversal pow-

ers is never answered. While this

doesn’t detract from the overall

message Multiverse of Madness

is conveying, it is a jarring annoy-

ance to me. Thankfully, Chavez’s

character and Cumberbatch’s Doc-

tor Strange have good chemistry

with one another.

Speaking of Cumberbatch, he

doesn’t disappoint in portraying

the James Bond-esque warlock,

along with a few alternate versions

of Doctor Strange. While I think

Cumberbatch’s best performance

as the Master of the Mystic Arts

comes from the 2016 lm, Doctor

Strange, because that lm is much

more focused on him individually,

Cumberbatch is still great when

interacting with other characters in

the new lm.

One of the best returning

characters from the original lm

is Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor),

who parted ways with Strange af-

ter a disagreement in the rst lm.

In Multiverse of Madness, Ejiofor

plays an alternate version of Mor-

do from Earth-838. Mordo’s turn

against Strange in Doctor Strange

was promising, so to see the Mor-

do from the 2016 lm not used at

all in Multiverse of Madness is dis-

appointing.

However, the variant Mordo’s

involvement in the new movie

leads to the introduction of a super-

hero team known as the Illuminati.

Even if their involvement is limited

and their fates are disappointing, it

is fun to see Mr. Fantastic make his

debut in the MCU. He is played

by John Krasinski, who many fans

hoped would one day play the

stretchy superhero. Other fun addi-

tions are Patrick Stewart reprising

his role as Professor X from the

X-Men lm series, Hayley Atwell

as the female Captain America,

and to my surprise, Anson Mount

as Black Bolt, a character from the

botched and canceled Marvel TV

series Inhumans.

Characters aside, Multiverse

of Madness will enthrall audienc-

es with its lmmaking and visuals.

The amazing visual eects and

Raimi’s distinct directing style

result in a good-looking MCU

movie, even if the cinematography

is mostly the same as other MCU

movies and shows. What is more,

Raimi’s frequent collaborator Dan-

ny Elfman does the score for this

movie. Elfman, best known for

his themes for 1989’s Batman, the

original Spider-Man trilogy and

The Simpsons, delivers a score that

ts the world of Doctor Strange,

but it denitely doesn’t live up to

the bars he set with his previous

anthems.

Ultimately, where Multiverse

of Madness fails is in its script.

While I do appreciate the lm’s

focus on the lengths people will

go in order to make themselves

happy, the way the screenplay

presents this lesson is too basic

and obvious. The script also has

too many MacGuns, objects

that are used for no other reason

than to move the plot forward.

A nal aspect of the script that

needs mentioning is the pacing.

The movie goes by quickly, which

means I likely missed a few throw-

away lines of dialogue integral to

the plot. Overall, I feel the script

would have beneted from a more

balanced pace.

In conclusion, Doctor Strange

in the Multiverse of Madness is a

denite crowd pleaser made for

families with young children. This

lm is also made for 50-something

neckbeards, like the hefty guy who

sat a few seats away from me and

commented out loud throughout

the entire movie and obnoxiously

laughed after every single joke.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse

of Madness earns 2.5 out of ve

stars, for being a fun-yet-awed

entry in the MCU. On a positive

note, I am glad I can wrap up my

nal arts review for The Quill

with a Sam Raimi lm since my

rst-ever review for the paper was

on Raimi’s Spider-Man back in

November 2020.

Looking for Alaska is a young

adult novel written by John Green that

was published in March 2005 by Dut-

ton Juvenile. Looking for Alaska, which

is Green’s debut novel, tells a story that

explores issues of death and mortality as

well as the importance of self-discovery.

While it has a compelling storyline that

leaves you in awe of its amazing char-

acters, the reason I love this novel is be-

cause of its main theme: the importance

of friendship.

Looking for Alaska is about a

young boy named Miles, who is later

known as Pudge. Miles has an obses-

sion with death and famous people’s last

words. He eventually gets an invitation

to join a boarding school, where he be-

lieves he will find “The Great Perhaps.”

When Miles starts at the school,

he meets Chip, who is also known as

“The Colonel.” As the school year goes

on, Miles and Chip meet more friends,

including a girl named Alaska Young.

Miles soon develops a secret-but-not-so-

secret crush on her. Miles eventually tells

his friends about his desire to find “The

Great Perhaps,” and once he does so, he

begins finding his place in the world and

developing deeper bonds.

Looking for Alaska is an interesting

and compelling novel. One of my favor-

ite things about it is the characters and

how complex they are. One example

of that is the character Alaska. When we

first meet her, we think she is this beauti-

ful, popular girl who has “weird” friends,

but as the novel draws to a close, we see

the deeper and darker parts of her and

her past. The best thing about this book

is that nothing and no one is as it seems.

There is always a deeper meaning that is

waiting to be discovered.

Another great thing about this nov-

el is how realistic it is. The characters

and the ways in which they interact in

the novel are accurate to how a young

friend group really is. The dialogue also

realistically depicts the way young adults

speak to one another. It is so realistic that

readers can easily forget it is not real life.

The characters make you feel at home. It

is as if they are sending you an invitation

to join their world. Before you know it,

hours have passed and you’ve been

reading the entire time.

The best thing about Looking for

Alaska is its theme of friendship and

finding where you belong. I feel like

Looking for Alaska is a novel that opens

conversations about grief and how to

work through that experience. The novel

also explores the importance of finding

your people and how letting them into

your life can save a person. Miles al-

ways felt like he was alone until he made

his own family with his friends. This is

something that is common among teens

and young adults. This novel shows that

family isn’t always about blood.

Looking for Alaska is a novel

that you should read to experience life

through another lens. The novel delivers

an important message about the value

of experiencing friendship. It also takes

readers on a journey of self-discovery as

the characters find where they belong. I

give this novel five out of five stars.

War takes players

to Scandinavia

The eighth game in the God

of War series may be the best

By BRIGHT DEKU

Quill sta writer

GOD OF WAR

continues on page 10

Ice Age 3 is an overlooked gem in the franchise

While the reliance on scatological humor might wear thin for older viewers, the movie still has some great qualities

By PHILIP ROBERT

Quill sta writer

Photo courtesy of 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS

Manny and company are joined by some new characters in this sequel.

The Ice Age series is iconic to

people from my generation. From

Scrat to Sid, the characters in this

movie are each classic in their way.

Of the many movies in the series,

2009’s Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Di-

nosaurs is the most underrated one

and should be better appreciated.

This movie is memorable for hav-

ing dinosaurs and mammals inter-

act and for introducing new char-

acters like Peaches to the Ice Age

universe. The movie is especially

monumental for me because my

mom and I went to the theaters to

see this lm when I was six years

old, which is why I want everyone

to appreciate this movie as much as

I do.

The movie takes place in the

period after a comet hits Earth and

before the Ice Age ends. The story

focuses on our usual main charac-

ter, Manny, played again by Ray

Romano (from Everybody Loves

Raymond, a sitcom that I remember

because of Nick at Night). Also fea-

tured in the lm is the character El-

lie, played by Queen Latifah, who

is now pregnant. The third central

character in the lm is Scrat, voiced

by the director of the lm, Chris

Wedge.

While these characters are

ones who were established in the

earlier movies, Ice Age 3 also intro-

duces new worlds and new charac-

ters. One important new character is

Buck, who is crazy but nice. Buck

plays an important part in the plot of

the lm as it unfolds.

The movie still holds up to

this day thanks to the story. With a

plot that deals with the mixing of

dinosaurs with mammals, there are

many interesting conicts and plot

twists. While you would think Ice

Age 3 is purely a kids’ lm, you

would be wrong thanks to the plot

and a collection of jokes that are not

just for the kids. I nd the story to

be more compelling and the jokes

to be funnier now that I am older.

At the same time, the movie

has a lot of aws. I think the new

world they are trying to show

should be much wider. Addition-

ally, some of the side stories they

follow in Ice Age 3 were already

done in the preceding lm, Ice

Age 2. Eliminating some of these

repetitive elements would have

shortened the movie a bit, which

would make for a better viewing

experience.

Another issue with the movie

is its overuse of poop jokes. While

they are trying to appeal to kids,

the movie shouldn’t have to use so

many poop jokes to be funny. There

are so many other comedies I can

name that don’t need poop jokes to

get an easy laugh.

Despite its over-reliance on

dumb humor, I still give Ice Age

3 3.5 out of ve stars. The overall

story is well written and the vocal

performances are good as usual.

However, the poop jokes will make

kids laugh more than they will

make adults laugh.

Green's Alaska

is a teen classic

The 2005 novel's focus on

friendships still resonates

By TAJANNEA JENKINS

Quill sta writer

God of War is an action-adven-

ture video game developed by Santa

Monica Studio and published by

Sony Interactive Entertainment that

was rst released for PlayStation 4

on April 20, 2018. The game, which

is also known as God of War IV, is

actually the eighth installment in the

God of War series and it serves as

a sequel to 2010’s God of War III.

Serious and casual gamers should

play God of War because the ac-

tion-adventure aspects of the game

are consistently fun. It is also worth

playing because it takes a decent

amount of time to make it through

the game.

Sports

May 31, 2022

Page 10, The Quill

Twins turn into the division's hottest team

After a mediocre showing in the 2021 season, Minnesota has gotten o to an excellent start in the 2022 campaign

Photo courtesy of MLB.COM

Pitcher Cole Sands' debut game against the Tampa Bay Rays on May 1 resulted in a 9-3 win by the Minnesota Twins.

By NOLAN ANDLER

Quill sta writer

WARCRAFT

continued from page 8

its story and characters. Even if you are

unfamiliar with the extensive lore from

the Warcraft franchise, I doubt it will be

difficult for newcomers to get a hold on

the overall conflict the Alliance and the

Horde face. However, once the player

starts adventuring through the many

WoW expansions, storylines with

chief leaders from the Alliance and the

Horde become much more prevalent.

This may be my personal griev-

ance, but I have found the main NPCs

in the two most recent WoW expan-

sions, Battle for Azeroth and Shadow-

lands, to be uninteresting and one di-

mensional. Anduin Wrynn, the human

leader for the Alliance and son of fallen

king Varian Wrynn, has the potential

to be such a compelling character, like

Paul Atreides from Dune, but the writ-

ing his character receives just makes

him come across like an annoying and

unprepared protege.

Then there’s Sylvanas Windrun-

ner, one of the leaders for the Horde.

She has an extensive backstory with

many characters in the Alliance and

Horde, but she is almost always por-

trayed as a power-hungry antagonist

without any real character.

WoW ’s focus on Anduin and

Sylvanas has been one of its biggest

downfalls, since the game once had

interesting NPCs. A prime example

of this is the Lich King, the main an-

tagonist of WoW ’s second expansion,

Wrath of the Lich King. This charac-

ter’s fall from grace and backstory as

a former human prince named Arthas

Menethil is presented to the player

through Dungeons and Raids, culmi-

nating in the player’s nal confronta-

tion with the Lich King.

Speaking of expansions, once

players have reached a certain level,

they can now freely play through much

of the content from every WoW expan-

sion. This update came with the release

of the eighth expansion, Shadowlands,

in late 2020. As I mentioned earlier,

this update is great for new players to

experience the older content with ease,

but it irks veteran WoW players who

want new content and not just altered

versions of expansions they played

years ago.

Before Shadowlands and these

updates were released, I dedicated

much of my time to leveling a charac-

ter the original way. While it did take

a lot of time and effort, I did enjoy my

experience playing WoW as it had been

for years, from level one to 120. At the

same time, I will acknowledge that

Shadowlands does make getting char-

acters to the new max level, 60, much

easier.

I think playing WoW should not

be a sprint, but a marathon. There are

many zones, dungeons, raids and boss-

es to conquer in this MMORPG, and I

think Blizzard now giving players the

ability to rush over so many of these as-

pects is them basically admitting that so

many of their systems and expansions

are bad.

If Blizzard really wants to make

WoW great again, then they need to fo-

cus on two things: fixing the mechan-

ics of previous expansions and making

improvements for future expansions.

While soloing through some of my

favorite expansions and zones may be

fun, what made WoW special was the

idea that you and some friends needed

to go on a journey to finally achieve

max level and be prepared for the next

expansion. My favorite memories

from playing WoW definitely came

from when my brother, father, uncle

and I would log on a few times a week

and play on a vanilla WoW server up

until we all hit max level.

Recently, after watching the cine-

matic trailer for the ninth and upcoming

WoW expansion, Dragonflight, I had

an epiphany of what my overall WoW

experience has been like: the 1986 film

Stand by Me. In this movie, audiences

watch four kids go on an adventure to

find a dead body, but the true point of

their quest is that they learn more about

themselves. In both WoW and Stand By

Me, the objectives of hitting max level

or of finding the dead body, respective-

ly, are not actually the overall point. It is

the journey that matters most.

While I don’t hate WoW by any

means, I cannot deny that it is now

unrecognizable when compared to

what it once was or what I thought it

could be. WoW earns three out of five

stars. I am unsure if I will continue my

WoW journey in Dragonflight, but I am

sure that I will look back fondly on the

memories and inside jokes that were

made when I played this game with

my family.

The start of the 2022 season

has been interesting for the Min-

nesota Twins. The Twins ended

2021 with a series win and went

into the oseason with momen-

tum, but as the oseason com-

menced, the lockout happened.

Once the lockout ended and teams

were able to operate, the Twins

started 2022 with some big moves.

Having sent away key play-

ers, including veterans like Josh

Donaldson and Mitch Garver, the

Twins roster had some gaping

holes in it. Then came the surpris-

ing move of signing the hottest

free agent on the market, short stop

Carlos Correa. All of a sudden, the

Twins had promise again. After a

few more changes within the ros-

ter, the season was ready to begin.

The Twins struggled early as

the season got underway. Their

rst series of the year was also

their rst homestand of the season.

The Twins opened the homestand

with a four-game series against the

Seattle Mariners. Opening day was

a pitchers' duel between defending

Cy Young-winner Robbie Ray for

the Mariners and promising rookie

Joe Ryan for the Twins. It was a

low-scoring game the whole way,

but the Mariners won after newly

signed Twins catcher Gary San-

chez missed a walk-o home run

by about six feet.

In game two, it was tight the

whole way again. However, this

time, it was a more heartbreaking

loss. On a day when the Twins of-

fense was struggling, Byron Bux-

ton hit a go-ahead homer to give the

Twins a 3-2 lead in the eighth, but

in the ninth, pitcher Tyler Duey

couldn’t hold on. Duey’s bad out-

ing for the Twins allowed the Mari-

ners to come back and win 4-3.

After the bad 0-2 start, the

Twins were able to close out the

series by winning the last two

games. In game three, the Twins

dominated 10-4 behind six total

home runs. Two of those homers

were by Byron Buxton and there

was a grand slam by Gary San-

chez. In the last game of the series,

the Twins got a solid 4-0 win be-

hind a gem from starting pitcher

Dylan Bundy.

The Twins completed their

homestand with a two-game series

against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

In game one, the Twins played

tough behind starter Chris Ar-

cher’s great outing on the mound.

The game was at 1-1 almost the

whole way, but in the eighth, ev-

erything went south for the Twins.

A six-run eighth by the Dodgers,

along with an 88-minute weath-

er delay right after that, made it

a night to forget for the Twins as

they lost 7-2.

In the series nale the next

day, the Twins had to face star

Clayton Kershaw and it did not go

well. Kershaw pitched a perfect

game and the Dodgers got three

home runs in a row en route to a

7-0 win and a series sweep over

the Twins.

The Twins then went into

their rst road trip of the year

against Boston and Kansas City

with a 2-4 record, which meant the

odds were denitely against them.

In the Boston series, the Twins

played well and the teams split the

series 2-2. Boston won games two

and three, while the Twins won the

series opener and the series nale

behind Joe Ryan and Dylan Bun-

dy’s big days behind the mound,

with both only allowing one run

each in their starts.

However, the most notable

things about this series took place

in games one and two. In game

one, Byron Buxton who has had

injury problems in the past, went

down with right knee soreness.

Meanwhile, in game two, newly

signed pitcher Sonny Gray left

with an injury.

The Kansas City series was

even less bright. In game one, the

Twins were able to jump out to a

3-1 lead, but in the sixth, with the

score 3-2, Twins pitcher Tyler Duf-

fey gave up two homers to Salva-

dor Perez and Hunter Dozier and

that gave the Royals a 4-3 win.

In game two, the Royals

won 2-0. It wasn’t that the Royals

pitched a gem of a game because

the Twins were getting hits. In-

stead, the issue was that nobody

was able to reach home.

During game three, the Twins

oense struggled again but they

were able to eke out a 1-0 win

behind Joe Ryan’s two-hit, zero-

earned-runs and ve-strikeout day.

All it took was a sacrice y in the

second to win it for the Twins. It

wasn’t the best road trip for the

Twins, but there were some nota-

ble moments.

Coming back to Target Field

for a homestand against the Chica-

go White Sox and Detroit Tigers,

the Twins were now sitting at 6-7.

The Twins welcomed Chicago

to Target Field for a three-game

weekend series. During game one,

the Twins won in a dramatic way.

First, they got the lead in the eighth

after the White Sox had two huge

defensive blunders. Then, in the

top of the ninth, with the bases

loaded for the Sox, pitcher Emilio

Pagan was able to get out of it for

the Twins and they won 2-1.

Game two of the series was

all Twins thanks to four-hit games

from Buxton and Arraez along

with a shutout game from Dylan

Bundy. The Twins eventually

rolled to a 9-2 win.

The Twins also won game

three behind Byron Buxton. Bux-

ton got the game-tying, two-run

homer in the bottom of the sev-

enth. Then, in the bottom of the

10th, with Chicago holding a 4-3

lead, Buxton hit a 469-foot, three-

run, walk-o homer for the Twins.

It gave the Twins a 6-4 win, a four-

game win streak and, most impor-

tantly, the division lead.

The Detroit Tigers series also

provided some great moments. In

game one, the Twins were down

4-3 with two runners on base in

the ninth. The Twins were able

to get those runners in to win the

game after a sequence of errors

happened for the Tigers.

While game two wasn’t as

dramatic, it still had its notable

moments. Behind a seven-in-

nings-pitched, one-hit day by Joe

Ryan, along with a multi-homer

game by Max Kepler, the Twins

won 5-0.

Finally, in game three, the

Twins won 7-1 behind three Ti-

gers errors along with big games

from Gilberto Celestino and Car-

los Correa on oense and defense,

respectively.

After the undefeated home-

stand, the Twins carried this mo-

mentum into a three-game series

against the Tampa Bay Rays at

Tampa. Unlike the series loss that

the Twins took there last year, they

won this year’s series. Game one

went to Tampa as Dylan Bundy

had his rst bad start of the year en

route to a 6-1 Rays win. In games

two and three, the hot bats of Car-

los Correa and Kyle Garlick led

the Twins. The Twins won game

two 9-1 after blowing it open late,

while in game three, the Twins

blew it open early with a ve-run

rst inning that eventually led to

a 9-3 win.

As of May 3, the Twins were

sitting at 14-9. Unlike the incon-

sistency of last year’s team, the

Twins are looking much better

this season. The pitching sta

has been o to a great start. The

starting core has been great with

pitchers Joe Ryan and Dylan

Bundy putting up great numbers.

Meanwhile, on the back end of the

rotation, Chris Archer and Chris

Paddack have been getting much

better with every start they have.

With respect to the bullpen,

there has been some inconsisten-

cy. Currently, the standout of the

bullpen is rookie Jhoan Duran.

Led by his 100-mile-per-hour-

plus fastball, he has been dang

near unhittable.

On the oensive side, ev-

eryone has been contributing.

Byron Buxton has been leading

the team with MVP-caliber num-

bers. However, players like Luis

Arraez, Jorge Polanco and Gio

Urshela have been getting hits as

well. Some other notable players

who have been starting to heat up

are Max Kepler, Ryan Jeers and

the big signee, Carlos Correa. As

long as the pitching can stay good

and more players start heating up

as the season approaches the sum-

mer months, fans should expect

this team to make some serious

noise.

GOD OF WAR TAKES PLAYERS TO SCANDINAVIA continued from page 9

While the other games in the

God of War series are loosely based

on Greek mythology, this game is

more inspired by Norse mythol-

ogy. The events of the game take

place in ancient Scandinavia in

the realm of Midgard. The game

has two main characters: Kratos,

the former Greek God of War who

is the only playable character, and

his son, Atreus. Following the

death of Kratos’ second wife, who

was also Atreus’ mother, Kratos

and Atreus journey to fulll her

request that her ashes be spread at

the highest peak of the nine realms.

Along their journey, they come into

conict with monsters and gods of

the Norse world.

The graphics of the game are

one major highlight. When I play

God of War, it feels like I am watch-

ing a movie thanks to the game’s

visuals. The various monsters you

face are rendered in great detail and

all of the information that is con-

veyed to the player on screen is easy

to see. The end result is that players

truly feel like they are in the game.

Another aspect I like about

God of War is the use of cutscenes.

The use of these scenes in God of

War gives players a break so they

are not constantly clicking buttons.

Additionally, there are times after

the player has completed an objec-

tive when a video will play in which

your character automatically goes to

where he needs to go next. However,

players can also choose to control

the character and take him to the

next location themselves.

God of War is also appealing

for its ghting mechanics. I enjoy

the fact that the fighting is cho-

reographed with vibrations in the

controller, which makes it feel like

you are really ghting. I also like

that the ghts themselves are chal-

lenging. It often takes me at least

ve-to-10 tries to defeat the boss in

God of War.

Overall, God of War is an en-

tertaining game thanks to its graph-

ics, its cutscenes and its ghting

sequences. It took me about three

weeks of casual playing to work

through the game, which seems like

a reasonable amount of time. God of

War deserves four out of ve stars.

Cooper Competitors

The story of the athletes who strive for success in Cooper sports

Sieanna Huelskamp

By KAPOSIA KORICH

Quill sta writer

Brenna Vierzba

By PHILIP ROBERT

Quill sta writer

Faith Flor

By BRIGHT DEKU

Quill sta writer

Alex Suckerman

By NOLAN ANDLER

Quill sta writer

Sports

May 31, 2022

Page 11, The Quill

Photo by MIMI OTU

Oelfke retiring from Cooper

By NOLAN ANDLER

Quill sta writer

Mr. Oelfke has helped guide the Activities Oce through the challenges of the pandemic over the last two years.

Photo by SHENG VANG

After years of service as a teacher and activities director, Oelfke is looking forward to what comes next

SAUL IS STELLAR EXPANSION OF BAD UNIVERSE continued from page 8

Sieanna Huelskamp (12) plays

lacrosse in the spring and skis with the

Nordic team during the winter.

“I have been playing lacrosse

since sixth grade and I started playing

for Cooper in eighth grade,”

she said. “I was originally

introduced to lacrosse by my

friend and have played ever

since.”

Huelskamp cited the

team atmosphere as a pri-

mary thing she enjoys about

playing lacrosse.

“My favorite mem-

ories from lacrosse would

be constantly cheering each

other on in games no matter how good

or bad we are doing,” she said.

Due to her many years of ex-

perience in lacrosse, Huelskamp was

named captain of the team starting in her

junior year.

“Being a captain has helped me to

improve my leadership skills all while

helping my teammates to improve and

be successful with their lacrosse skills,”

she said.

During the winter months, Huel-

skamp competes on the Hawk Nordic

team.

“Nordic is a great way

of exercising and getting in

shape while on a fun and

supportive team,” she said.

When it comes to

school, Huelskamp said she

enjoys her art, math and so-

cial studies classes. Outside

of school, she enjoys spend-

ing time outdoors.

“I love to downhill

ski and snowboard in the winter. Pretty

much anything outdoors is a hobby or

interest of mine,” she said.

Next fall, Huelskamp will attend

Montana State University.

Brenna Vierzba (12) is an ath-

lete who has participated in lacrosse,

wrestling and football. Currently, she is

wrapping up her lacrosse season, a sport

she has played since seventh grade. In

fact, Vierzba said one of her

favorite lacrosse experiences

took place during a tourna-

ment in seventh grade.

“We had three games

that day. After each game,

we would head back to our

tent and eat and drink wa-

ter and hang out before we

had to get ready for the next

game. It was amazing being

able to sit and laugh with my

teammates,” she said.

Prior to the lacrosse season, Vierz-

ba took part in wrestling. Unfortunately,

she said her season was cut short by a

broken ankle.

“I made sure to stay in the loop to

hear how my teammates did,” she said.

“I’m very proud of all of them.”

During the fall season, Vierzba

played on the football team as a line-

man. She has been involved in football

since sixth grade and has even played

on a semi-pro team.

“I made history by be-

ing the first female football

player at Cooper to win a

section championship and

to be in the state tourna-

ment,” she said.

Outside of school, Vi-

erzba competes in karate.

“I currently have five

national titles and one state

title under my belt. I’m cur-

rently qualified to go to the

world championships in October for

two different fight divisions,” she said.

Next fall, Vierzba plans to attend

college, where she will double major in

marine biology and paleontology.

Hawk athlete Faith Flor (12) plays

lacrosse in the spring. Flor has been on

the squad since eighth grade. She said

she first joined because two of her clos-

est friends played and she “wanted to

give it a try.”

Flor said she has en-

joyed playing with the group

of girls that has been on the

team in the past and during

the current season. She said

her favorite lacrosse memo-

ries are of the new girls join-

ing the team each year.

“They know nothing

about the sport at the begin-

ning of the season, and by

the end of the season, they are fantastic

players,” she said.

Flor is a captain of the lacrosse

team. She said she has been impressed

with how the season has gone so far.

“I am really enjoying being a team

leader and looking forward to continu-

ing to work with the girls,” she said.

When it comes to school, Flor said

Personal Finance is her favorite class.

She enjoys this class the most because

she is “learning important information

that will help [her] in the future.”

Outside of school,

Flor’s hobbies are “running,

getting coffee, watching the

sunset and spending time

with friends and family.”

Next fall, Flor will be

attending the University

of Minnesota, where she

will be part of the Carlson

School of Management.

She plans on majoring in

human resources to be-

come a human resource manager.

As for sports next year, Flor

doesn’t believe she will continue playing

lacrosse for her college team but will still

play for fun.

Alex Suckerman (12) is a spring

athlete for Cooper.

“I play baseball during the spring

and I train during the winter,” Sucker-

man said.

Suckerman has been

playing baseball since he

was young.

“I have been playing

baseball since I was five and

have been playing at Cooper

since I was in eighth grade,”

Suckerman said.

Suckerman’s favorite

memories of the team in-

volve watching each play-

er’s development over the

years.

“I’ve enjoyed watching myself

getting better and better and my team-

mates also improve,” Suckerman said.

As a senior on the team, Suck-

erman tries to be a role model to help

“the younger kids so they can continue

to grow and improve as players and

people.” He also said he tries to “lead by

example when [they] are practicing and

playing.”

During the school day, Sucker-

man’s favorite class is English.

“My favorite class is

probably English because I

enjoy writing out papers and

researching,” he said.

Suckerman said his fa-

vorite hobbies are sports and

traveling.

“I love to play differ-

ent sports for fun and travel

around to see cool views

and explore nature,” Suck-

erman said.

Suckerman said he is going to

Mankato State University next fall for

college and wants to get into the sports

industry as a writer, statistician or an-

alyst.

“[Oelfke] never sought atten-

tion for himself as the Activ-

ities Director; rather, he al-

ways kept the focus on the

students participating,” for-

mer Cooper cross country and

track coach Mr. DiSalvi said.

Activities Director Mr. Oelfke

will be retiring this spring after

working at Cooper for 36 years. Be-

fore his current position, Oelfke was

a physical education teacher and a

coach for the Hawks.

Oelfke’s time as teacher, coach

When Oelfke started at Cooper,

he was a physical education teach-

er. He also eventually became head

coach for multiple sports.

Oelfke said Cooper was a lot

was dierent when he rst started at

the school. Three decades ago, the

number of students at the school was

much smaller than it is now.

“We went from a neighborhood

community to an expanded commu-

nity,” Oelfke said.

Oelfke said the number of

physical education classes was much

higher in his earlier years. In addi-

tion, there were eight teachers in that

department as opposed to the three

physical education teachers current-

ly at Cooper.

At the start of

his career as a Cooper

coach, Oelfke worked

with the lower-level

baseball and football

teams starting in the late

1980s. In 1991, after for-

mer football head coach

Mr. Jones retired, Oelfke

applied for that position

and got it.

Under Oelfke, the

football team had suc-

cess. In fact, he coached

the team to its rst state appearance

in history in 1996.

Oelfke also coached the base-

ball team to success. During his 10

years with that squad, the baseball

team went 18-2 against some of the

most powerful teams in Minnesota.

According to Mr. Palm, a former as-

sistant baseball coach under Oelfke

who currently teaches health at Coo-

per, Oelfke’s success was related to

the way he coached.

“He delegated almost every-

thing to his assistants. He wasn’t an

‘I’m gonna do it all' coach. He had

his coaches coach,” Palm said.

Eventually, the workload of

coaching two successful teams led

late Cooper Activities Director Ms.

Lehman to suggest that Oelfke focus

on just one of the two teams.

“She sat me down and said,

'You gotta choose: baseball or foot-

ball.’ I chose to continue coaching

football,” Oelfke said.

Oelfke’s time as Activities Director

After Lehman retired as Ac-

tivities Director in 2001, and her

replacement left just one year after

that, Oelfke was encouraged by his

colleagues to apply for the interim

Activities Director position, which

he got. His success in that position

led to Oelfke interviewing for be-

coming Activities Director on an

ongoing basis and the rest is history.

When Oelfke started in his po-

sition in the early 2000s, the Cooper

sports program was dierent. For

example, the baseball program had

enough players for four teams back

then.

Although the overall student

population at Cooper is now lower

than it was in the past, and the stu-

dent participation numbers for sports

has also become smaller, there has

been a lot of success in Cooper’s

athletic programs during the last 20

years under Oelfke’s leadership. For

instance, the 2017-2018 and 2018-

2019 girls basketball teams made

back-to-back state appearances,

with the ‘17-’18 team taking the ti-

tle. Additionally, the Hawks football

team recently made it to state last

fall for the rst time since Oelfke’s

involvement with the team in the

1990s. Oelfke credits the success of

these programs to the coaches with

whom he gets to work.

“They make my job easier,” he

said.

There has also been some ad-

versity during Oelfke’s recent years

as Activities Director. The most no-

table issue has been the problems

caused by the COVID pandemic.

One of the impacts COVID has had

is the constant shuing of athletic

schedules starting at the end of the

2019-2020 school year and continu-

ing to the present day. Additional

challenges this year have been the

lack of bus drivers and the lack of

referees for dierent sports. Oelfke

said these issues have been hard for

him and his administrative assistant

to address.

“We needed to be really ex-

ible and adapting all the time,” he

said.

Oelfke’s impact on his colleagues

The many colleagues Oelfke

has worked with over the years

agree that his impact on Cooper

will last for a long time. For exam-

ple, former cross country and track

coach Mr. DiSalvi credits Oelfke

with helping him get comfortable as

a rst-time coach.

“It was my rst time being a

head coach, so naturally I was a lit-

tle nervous about all I needed to do.

Fortunately, he was very reassuring

and always gave good advice on

how to manage things related to

coaching,” DiSalvi said.

DiSalvi also mentioned that

Oelfke is skilled at making sure ev-

ery home sporting event feels like a

“big game.”

“One thing that students may

notice is all the cool team photos

as people walk in from the stadium

entrance to the gym. He told me he

was very intentional about where he

placed that because he wanted fans

to feel excited, like they were attend-

ing a big-time sporting event, when

they went to the stadium,” he said.

DiSalvi also stressed that

Oelfke’s work was always on behalf

of the school and never about pro-

moting himself.

“He never sought attention for

himself as the Activities

Director; rather, he al-

ways kept the focus on

the students participat-

ing,” DiSalvi said.

Another person

who has witnessed

Oelfke’s impact on

Cooper has been his

administrative assistant

Ms. Thurston. Thurston

joined Oelfke’s oce

when the former assis-

tant, Ms. Schiebe, retired

two years ago. Thurston

said Oelfke made her move into the

position easy for her.

“He’d teach me and show me

the various aspects of what Mary

Schiebe left along with answering

questions,” she said. “He just made

it easy.”

What Thurston does on a nor-

mal day includes taking care of the

transportation for sports teams and

ocials. Although the pandemic

made it hard to get these tasks done,

Thurston said Oelfke has been good

at “keeping [her] sane.”

“He just reminds me when we

have good days and he makes me

laugh,” she said.

After working alongside him

for two years, Thurston said she will

be sad to see Oelfke leave despite

being “very happy for him” as he

begins his retirement. Thurston said

she will miss the stories Oelfke tells

her about his early days of work-

ing at Cooper. However, Thurston

knows the legacy he established

at the school will last long after he

leaves the building.

“He built Cooper up as a fami-

ly,” she said.

at least challenge Breaking Bad’s

westernized setpieces with more

intelligent and calculated mo-

ments. While the show certainly

has some of those amazing mo-

ments and episodes, Saul unfor-

tunately is not a show that I think

will be all that memorable to me.

Despite this, what the writers

continue to do is make every sto-

ryline feel practical and realistic.

One of my main grievances with

a lot of big money entertainment

today is that the stories don’t prop-

erly follow the rules of logic. Thus,

they are littered with plot holes

that take me out of the experience.

When watching Better Call Saul,

I thankfully never have to worry

about the plot not making sense,

which is a huge relief.

While it certainly is not near-

ly as good as Breaking Bad, Better

Call Saul is an impressive televi-

sion program that sticks to its guns

as an intelligent and distinct legal

drama. I rate Better Call Saul four

out of ve stars. I am looking for-

ward to watching the sixth and -

nal season this summer.

Sports

May 31, 2022

Page 12, The Quill

Timberwolves fall in rst playo berth in seven years

After beating the L.A. Clippers to get into the postseason, the Wolves fell to the Grizzlies in six games

By ANDREW HAGGE

Quill sta writer

Photo courtesy of NBA.COM

The Wolves were eliminated in a 114-106 loss to the Grizzlies on April 29.

Wild shows large improvement in '21-'22

Although they fell to St. Louis in the rst round of the playos, Minnesota looked like a dierent team this season

EXCHANGE

continued from page 2

The Minnesota Timber-

wolves once again showed how

young they are this season as

they learned lessons and ma-

tured on their way to a playo

berth. It has been seven years

since the team last saw postsea-

son play. The squad seemed ex-

cited to end this drought, but by

no means was it easy for them.

Play-In Round

The Wolves faced the L.A.

Clippers during the play-in

tournament, through which the

lowest-seeded four teams in

each conference had a chance

to make it into the playos. An-

thony Edwards and D’Angelo

Russell led the team in scoring

with a combined 59 points, just

over half of the team’s total. The

Wolves took down the Clippers

109-104 but lost Karl-Anthony

Towns (KAT) late as he fouled

out. Without their star player,

the entire team had to rally to

be up to the task of beating the

Clippers. In fact, the Wolves

outscored the Clippers by 11 in

the nal quarter to move on and

face the Memphis Grizzlies in

the rst round of the playos.

Game One

Starting o strong, the

Wolves put up a solid 41 points

in the rst quarter to the Griz-

zlies’ 33. Edwards carried

the team alongside KAT, who

scored a combined 65 of the

team’s nal 130 points. In ad-

dition to containing the Griz-

zlies’ Ja Morant, who won this

season’s Most Improved Player

award, the Wolves managed to

handle the rest of the team as

well, winning the rst game of

the series 130-117.

Game Two

The Wolves failed to do in

game two what they did against

Memphis during game one. Mo-

rant punished the Wolves as they

began to struggle, eventually

leading the Grizzlies to a 124-

96 win. Morant and the Griz-

zlies found the soft and imma-

ture side of the Wolves’ players.

With emotions running high, the

Wolves failed to control them-

selves and the game. Ultimately,

no one stepped up to the chal-

lenge, and the Wolves fell.

Game Three

Game three saw the Wolves

focusing again on their defense.

In fact, they controlled the Griz-

zlies throughout and limited

them to 20 fewer points than the

previous game. Unfortunately,

the Wolves’ oense struggled.

KAT underperformed with a

measly eight points and the

bench players put up a lackluster

eort. Meanwhile, Morant once

again dominated the board with

10 rebounds and assists, and his

Memphis teammates managed

to put up some points. With the

Wolves only scoring 12 points in

the second and fourth quarters,

the Grizzlies had opportunities

to come back and win, which

they did, 104-95. This loss put

the Wolves on edge, causing

even more emotions to arise.

Game Four

Being down a game in the

series denitely put pressure on

the Wolves to tie it up. KAT got

into gear in game four, scoring

33 points, while Edwards added

24 of his own. Even though the

Grizzlies outscored the Wolves

by ve in the last quarter, the

Wolves blocked eight shots to

hold on for a 119-118 win

Game Five

Moving back to FedExFo-

rum in Memphis, the Wolves

looked to once again lead the

series with a crucial win. How-

ever, Morant, Desmond Bane

and Brandon Clarke combined

for 76 points to beat the Wolves

in a close 111-109 game. Once

again, the Wolves were not able

to control Morant and he went

crazy. While KAT and Edwards

put in their best eort and led

the Wolves in points, no one

else seemed to show up. The

Wolves’ struggles continued to

show against Morant, who car-

ried the Grizzlies one more step

forward in their postseason run.

Game Six

In game six, the Grizzlies

looked poised to put the series

away. At one point, the Wolves

had a somewhat comfortable

lead, but once again Morant

and the Grizzlies went to work,

putting up 40 points in the nal

quarter. This gave the Grizzlies

the 114-106 win over the Tim-

berwolves and the opportunity

to move on.

Overall, the Wolves’ start-

ers tried their best but couldn’t

keep up with the Grizzlies. One

big factor in the series was the

impact that emotions had on

the Wolves’ players. While they

were sometimes able to keep

them in control, there were

other times when the emotions

of some Wolves players had a

negative impact on how they

played. The coming years will

be interesting ones for the team

now that they have some actual

playo experience and now that

they will begin transitioning

into having a new team co-own-

er, ex-baseball player Alex Ro-

driguez.

The Minnesota Wild ended the regular season with a 4-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche on April 29.

Photo courtesy of NHL.COM

By ANDREW HAGGE

Quill sta writer

The 2021-2022 Wild sea-

son brought some clear success

to the team. During the presea-

son, head coach Dean Evason

and general manager Bill Guerin

both made it clear the team was

taking a new approach to the

game. Evason and Guerin also

got busy making deals and trad-

ing out some older veterans for

high-value, younger players.

By creating a team that was

full of young and fresh players,

the Wild were now full of ener-

gy and speed. Recent draft picks

that showed signs of life such as

Kirill Kaprizov and Jordan Gre-

enway helped pave a new path

toward a younger team.

Of course, the arrival of

these players meant that many

of the team’s most well-known

players like Zach Parise and Mik-

ko Koivu had to leave the team.

While Parise went to the New

York Islanders, Koivu ended up

retiring. In fact, the Wild also

retired his number, a rst for the

franchise. This took place during

a game against the St. Louis

Blues. While it was hard for some

Wild fans to see these respected

and long-time franchise players

disappear from the roster, after

watching the season unfold fol-

lowing these changes, it was a

move that clearly paid o.

Early in the season, every-

one was uncertain about what

the outcome might be with the

new coaching sta and the new

approach. Things began to click

right away with the team going

on many point and win streaks,

putting them on top of the central

division. Although there were,

and still are, issues with convert-

ing power plays, the rookies put

in their fair share of work during

ve-on-ve play. Overall, most

of the team’s goals came from

even play and not on the man ad-

vantage. In fact, near the end of

the season, the Wild even failed

to take advantage of a ve-on-

three when they needed it.

As the punches kept coming

at them, the Wild always man-

aged to pull through. When the

playo race started heating up

this spring, the biggest obsta-

cle the Wild was facing was the

Blues. The Wild had yet to beat

the Blues this season. The rst

of many notable matchups with

the Blues was the Stadium Series

game, which was a brutal one for

fans and players alike due to the

weather outdoors at Target Field

on January 1, 2022.

However, the tough condi-

tions stayed true to the spirit of

Stadium Series games. The Wild

went down early but fought back

to make it close. However, as ev-

ery game against the Blues has

gone since this one, the Blues

had the last say, winning 6-4.

Given the back and forth be-

tween the two teams this season,

it seems tting that the Wild and

Blues faced o at the start of the

playos. During the regular sea-

son, each team went on streaks

of eight and nine wins over 10

games at various points. The

primary reason both teams kept

trying to nish out strong was

not only for the fans, but also

for the ice advantage, which

typically plays a factor into

who moves on in the playos.

Minnesota proved to be a pow-

er house at home with a 29-7-2

record, so this is something that

clearly helped them out heading

into the playos.

After facing many injuries

and losing top players, the Wild

managed to put together a strong

team all year. Although the Wild

continued to face its special

teams woes, they still kept other

squads on their toes and put to-

gether a fantastic season full of

celebration. Kaprizov and Kev-

in Fiala both showed o at the

end of the season as they both

cracked franchise records that

have been held for years. The

pairing led the team in points

across the season.

There were other key play-

er moves late in the season. For

example, at the end of the trade

deadline, Kaapo Kahkonen was

dealt to the San Jose Sharks

for Jacob Middleton to shore

up the defense. Also during

that time the Wild acquired

three-time Stanley Cup winner

Marc-Andrew Fleury. This fur-

ther strengthened Geurin and

Evason’s all-in tactic. Of course,

it will also be the case that the

Wild will be facing hard cap hits

next year.

Overall, the regular season

was a great success and showed

much hope for the new head

coach and general manager. Al-

though the team did not prevail

in its playo matchup against

the Blues, who ultimately won

the series 4-2, all of the piec-

es are in place for a successful

2022-2023 and for the Wild to

make a deeper run in the post-

season.

SENIORS

continued from page 2

rived.

“It really helped me to be

more comfortable when I got

here,” Coelho Carvalho said.

Coelho Carvalho said his

whole experience in the U.S has

been amazing so far. This sum-

mer, he plans to return to Brazil

and take the test needed to enter

university. He doesn’t know what

he wants to study at university yet.

“I denitely plan on coming

back to the United States. I just

don’t know when,” Coelho Car-

valho said.

Mel Albrecht Ribeiro

Albrecht Ribeiro is an ex-

change student from Brazil. She

said she wanted to study abroad

because she was curious about

dierent cultures. Also, her

brother studied abroad in 2016

and had an amazing experience.

“I wanted to meet new peo-

ple and live a completely dif-

ferent life from what I’ve been

living my whole life,” Albrecht

Ribeiro said.

In fact, Albrecht Ribeiro is

staying with the same host family

that her brother stayed with.

“I knew they would be a

great family. They are awesome

people and warmly welcomed

me,” Albrecht Ribeiro said.

The biggest dierence Al-

brecht Ribeiro has noticed while

in America is how dierent

American food is compared to

Brazilian food.

“In Brazil, we tend to eat

more homemade and natural

food, and here everyone eats

more fast food or frozen meals,”

Albrecht Ribeiro said.

Albrecht Ribeiro plans to

study psychology at the Univer-

sity of São Paulo when she re-

turns to Brazil.

“I plan to come back to visit

my host family and friends, but

I probably won’t live here again,

because even though I had a great

experience, I love Brazil too

much,” Albrecht Ribeiro said.

that student’s account is closed,

you’ll no longer have access to

shared les,” King said.

Closing out activity, sports accounts

Activities secretary Ms.

Thurston said seniors need to

take care of fees, nes and uni-

forms before they graduate.

“Check your closets, draw-

ers, old backpacks and laun-

dry room for any Cooper High

School uniforms. These must be

turned in before you graduate,”

Thurston said.

According to Thurston, if

Cooper does not get these items

back, then the school will not

have enough uniforms for the

next season.

“Uniforms are expensive,

about $100-plus for a top and

bottom depending on the sport,

and with so many teams, we

can’t always be buying uni-

forms,” Thurston said.

If you need to see if you

have any outstanding activity or

athletic fees, you can stop in the

Activities Oce and see Thur-

ston, who can let you know how

much you owe from your high

school years. You can then ar-

range for payment with her.

SUPER METROID

continued from page 8

the biggest aspect of the gameplay

that needs highlighting is the move-

ment. Super Metroid has multiple

types of movement that help the

player feel more free as they explore

the immersive map of planet Zebes.

Wall jumps, screw attacks, morph

ball and even grapple hooks are

among the moves Samus Aran can

make in the game. The gameplay

of Super Metroid helps raise this re-

lease to the next level.

Overall, Super Metroid is truly

a masterpiece in gaming. It is avail-

able to anyone who has a Nintendo

Switch since you can play this game

using the SNES feature. I believe

that you should denitely play this

game no matter what game genres

you typically enjoy. I give Super

Metroid ve out of ve stars.