Imagine starting a new book, getting a few chapters in, and finding that this new book speaks to you in ways that no book ever has. The characters, the story, and the overarching message makes you feel so understood in a world that doesn’t quite understand you. Now imagine that book being ripped away from you. Each page being torn, crumpled, gone. Banned

I’ve spent most of my life lost in thought. When you’re someone who is constantly thinking and inside of their own brain you tend to get comfortable. It is like a safe space. But there comes times where you can’t control the thoughts happening in your brain. The future is a thought that takes over this space of mine quite frequently. I’ll sit in bed at night trying to think of where I see myself in 3 years, but it can be hard picturing myself anywhere but the present. The idea of the unknown can make more scary thoughts come into my safe space. Making me lost in thought more and more.

A season that comes around each year has sprung yet again. Spring! Spring, a beautiful season of new beginnings, blooming flowers, and new life is on its way back to Jenks. In the peak of Spring, it is so easy to look around and admire the beauty surrounding you, however in these first few weeks of spring, much of the beauty goes unnoticed. That is why it is so important to take a pause in your day every once in a while, and simply look around at the small and seemingly insignificant moments that create the lovely season of Spring.

When you’re watching a musical at Jenks, you probably notice the costumes or the set first. The layers of makeup on the actors’ faces typically takes a backseat compared to everything else that’s going on. However, the makeup brings just as much to the characters as their costumes and performances do. The entire process is very time consuming and takes patience, but the end result makes the musical so much better.

My name is Darby Graff and I work at Brookside Dry Cleaners. I am the face at the front. This means I’m not involved with the actual process of cleaning. I simply just check people's clothes in and once they're clean, hand them back to the customer. Dry cleaning is a strong example of how the working class supports the upper class. Rich people have created a whole industry based on people cleaning their clothes for them. It’s not complicated what the women in the back do, but the customers don’t care, or have any desire to learn… As the wage gap widens, the distance between the workers and the customer widens too. This is evident by the simple fact that when asking one of our regulars the name of the person who cleans their clothes every week, their response: a shrug and a wave.

Frank Herald Gymnasium (now known as the Trojan Activity Center, TAC for short) in the mid-1970's. The gym was completed in 1973 vs. The TAC today.

Since the inception of Individual Career Academic Planning, or ICAP, “Stay Put Tuesday” has been right along to ride its coattails. Stay Put Tuesday is an initiative put in place by administrators at Jenks to help encourage students to work on their ICAP assignments during Advisory. Where students are typically allowed to move freely around the school and get the help they need from different teachers, “Stay Put Tuesday” shuts that down and keeps students enclosed in their advisory.

If you look back on your days in elementary school, you probably remember your teachers extravagantly decorated bulletin boards, stacks of books, and endless supply of Crayons, markers, or colored pencils. However, something you may not have known is that over 90% of teachers spend their own money on supplies, with the average cost of somewhere between $500 and $750 being spent out of their pockets on their classrooms.

What do Trojans eat for lunch? I braved the JHS cafeteria to see how students fuel themselves every day. You’ll find a great variety of food choices that I’ll let you form your own opinions around.

In recent months, I’ve seen the town I’ve spent eighteen years of my life in go through enormous amounts of change. Sure, who doesn’t want a massive outlet mall or a completely revamped downtown, complete with a conveniently placed Lululemon? Personally, I’m thrilled Jenks isn’t going to be the place sped through en route to Tulsa anymore, but at the same time, I can’t shake off the fear that my once small town isn’t going to be so small anymore.

By human nature, we adapt. We adapt and move on with new chapters of our lives. High school, college, adulthood, etc. The one sector of our lives that we tend to forget the most about is our childhood. We are fresh to the world and are experiencing many things for the first time, so of course we aren’t going to remember every little detail. But sometimes it’s those small details that truly create the biggest life lessons. Riding a bike for the first time, spending all afternoon playing in the grass, and creating masterpieces with little blocks of chalk. Each moment leads into bigger pictures in the grand scheme of things. I live next door to a family of four with two little girls, Vivian (5) and Chloe (7). They are always outside doing what they do best, being a kid. After a while, I started to notice objects scattered around the neighborhood. Possessions of theirs that they must have forgotten. It made me start to reminisce about my childhood and the memories I made with objects that I had forgotten. With parental consent, I captured images of what will eventually become Vivian and Chloe’s fondest memories.

Everyone knows that one person in their school: the know it all, the advancer, the mathlete, the overachiever. To paint a picture in your mind, you probably already know their inner circle: clean cut, maybe even straight A’s. But do you really? Is it really a fact that you are who you associate with, or is it more of an expectation? Can you be trapped in a bubble you didn’t even know was there to begin with, or were you just blind to the system?

There have been sudden recent talks about education and shortage of teachers, substitutes, and bus drivers. With a recent vote giving Jenks the budget for a 19-million-dollar bond, it had me wondering: Where does the school budget go?

Dr. Ann Money, the driving force behind our local aquarium, has a story as deep and captivating as the oceans she explores. In our recent interview, we explored Dr. Money's illustrious career, world-renowned research published across multiple platforms, and fervent advocacy for environmental awareness. Beyond her role in the aquarium, she serves on the board of the Sustainability Alliance and actively engages with the local Jenks Chamber of Commerce. Her community involvement extends to hosting educational tours, introducing visitors to the captivating world of sharks while subtly intertwining the message of sustainability.

I was disappointed when I heard that Jenks High School would be putting on the production of Spongebob The Musical for my senior production. All I knew was that I wasn’t allowed to watch the Spongebob TV show as a kid. If I were creating a TV show theme song for children, my first idea wouldn’t be a squeaky flute with the scratchy voice of a pirate singing along. It’s just… annoying. Uniting parents from all over, the kids cartoon, Spongebob Squarepants, has been deemed stupid, brain rotting, and overall useless. It’s safe to assume that Spongebob Squarepants is among the most hated children's TV shows. I thought this musical was probably dumb and no one would want to come see it. Still, I signed up, because it’s the senior musical and I didn’t want to miss out. And as I practiced, I began to realize something surprising.

Around Jenks High School, there are vending machines with snacks and drinks, but on some of the vending machines, there are signs stuck above where the price is shown. These signs say “Calories Count, Check Then Choose.” These small, inconspicuous signs are commonly overlooked but take on a bigger significance when you’re considering their effect on students struggling with eating disorders.

Advisory, a designated time in high school for college guidance and academic help, often leaves students, especially those here at Jenks High School, with a variety of challenges and experiences. While the intention behind advisory is definitely pure, there is a lot of room for improvement that could transform the period into a more useful and beneficial use of our time at school.

For as long as I can remember, hunting has had a significant impact on my life, whether I’ve liked it or not. Growing up, my meals were filled with venison and my snacks were composed of deer summer sausage. My house was decorated with antlers, in fact, the first thing you see when you enter my house is a skeletal deer head, and if you dare to walk a little deeper you would find a giant stuffed buck nailed to our living room wall. Growing up my two older sisters were given Hunter Annie’s instead of Barbie dolls, and any visit to Bass Pro Shop was a family outing.

When you are craving a soda, whether it be at a restaurant, convenience store, grocery store or social gathering, what do you get? I get a root beer!

Call me a middle-aged woman, but don’t talk to me until I’ve had my morning cup of coffee. Consuming unthinkable amounts of caffeine within a single day brings me more joy then I would care to admit. Latte, nitro brew, or just a good ole cup of coffee, doesn’t matter to me. Especially in a time that finals are nearing. Listen, I get it. You need a cute indie coffee shop to go sit and study at in order to actually get work done. But there’s one problem; you have no idea where to go.