On May 18, 2023, incoming and former Parks National Junior Honor Society (NJHS) members joined together at a celebratory induction ceremony in the theatron! All members were allowed to bring up to four guests and many brought family and close friends who wanted to show their pride for the members. By 6:00 p.m., the theatron was filled to the brim with guests of all ages dressed in semi-formal attire....

On Friday, May 12, 2023, the hope of the Golden State Warriors was crushed when the Los Angeles Lakers won 122-101 in game six of the Western Conference semifinals. As the Lakers advanced to conference finals, shouts, whoops, cheers, and cries of joy filled Crypto.com Arena. While on the other half of the arena, there was silence as the Warrior fans assessed what had gone so wrong this season. Is the...

On Friday, May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the end of COVID-19 as a global public health emergency, over three years after it was first issued on Jan. 30, 2020. In the United States, the public health emergency officially ended on May 11, 2023. This announcement comes with joy and relief as our society has been ravaged by the virus for the past few years. As of May 17,...

College is a very complicated process that many people go through in his/her life. Some would say that college is an important aspect of life that is necessary in order to have a successful future and job. People also say college is a place to develop many personal and professional skills. On the other hand, many disagree with the idea that college is the right path after graduating from high school....

Humans and animals used to live in peace, maintaining a healthy and steady balance between the two. However, this scale has now been tipped in favor of humans, as animal cruelty is at its peak and is escalating into even harsher treatment.  In order to feed consumers’ endless craving for meat, 80 billion land animals, along with 160 billion farmed fish, are slaughtered. Despite these alarming...

As of May 16, 2023, egg prices have spiked up to 60% in only a year. But what is the cause of this dramatic increase in price? The answer is disease, avian influenza to be exact. Avian influenza is a strain of the common flu virus that mostly infects birds, but can sometimes infect humans and has a high mortality rate of 50-60%. The symptoms are almost identical to the common flu and spread through...

The last day of school is less than two weeks away, and two months of summer vacation is just within reach. Whether you’re promoting to high school or will be returning to Parks as an 8th grader, there are a lot of things you can do before the next school year to reset, prepare, and have some fun. Here are some activities to do during your summer: 1. Try some extracurricular activities. With all...

Disney’s live-action remakes have just included "The Little Mermaid," a beloved film released in 1989, to its lineup. In recent years, Walt Disney Studios has been creating live-action versions of traditionally animated films like "Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King" and "Aladdin." This practice alone has caused people around the world to despise these new interpretations, believing it to be an...

The MBTI personality test, also known as the Myers–Briggs personality test, is a widely used and accepted personality test. Many companies and interviewers will utilize the test results as a baseline for judging people quickly and efficiently due to the in-depth view that test results can provide. With so many individuals taking this assessment, this begs the question, what demographic do students...

Disney, the mass media company that is internationally known for promoting the “happiest place on Earth,” is now in a steamy legal dispute with Florida’s governor, Ron DeSantis. This battle began in March 2022 when DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibited classroom discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in certain elementary school grades. In response...

ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence chatbot developed, is rapidly taking over the world by storm. Developed by OpenAI in November 2022, it is a chatbot primarily designed for customer service, but people have started using it for other purposes too. These range from writing essays to drafting business plans, to generating code. But what can it really do? The main feature of ChatGPT is generating...

As we enter May, this month is not only the last couple of weeks for our departing 8th graders but also Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. In 1992, President George H. W. Bush established the month of May as AAPI Month to commemorate the first Japanese immigrant to arrive in the US on May 7, 1842, and the completion of the transcontinental railroad on May 10, 1869, in which thousands...

From Monday, April 24, to Friday, April 28, Señorita Moreno’s Spanish 1B class made their very own piñatas! If you've never come across a piñata before, it is a papier-mâché container that usually carries candy inside of it. The Latin community has a tradition of hanging the piñata and having someone break it with a bat/stick during parties and celebrations. Making these piñatas gave the Spanish...

On April 14, 2023, Parks Junior High’s very own Korean Culture Club hosted the annual Korean Culture Night (KCN)! The event was held in the theatron at Parks and lasted from 4:30-7:00 p.m. The club started planning the event way back in November 2022, writing skits on Korean history, budgeting money, and assigning working roles for the special occasion.  During the event, special guests like...

    On April 19, 2023, the Parks Panthers defeated the Beechwood Bobcats 63-62 in a nail-biting ending. In the first half, the boys' basketball team started out strong as they were up 5-0. But after just five minutes, the Bobcats adjusted their game plan and figured out what to do. Because of this, the Bobcats went into halftime leading 30-24. Throughout the game, the two teams fought back and forth;...

On April 29, 2023, the Toronto Maple Leafs came out victorious in the first round of the NHL playoffs since 2004. For 19 years, the Maple Leafs have been defeated over and over from the first round of the playoffs. However, this past Saturday, the city of Toronto was jammed with hockey fans jumping and cheering in a huge mosh pit for their home team to bring back the win in Game 6.  The game started...

   On April 18, 2023, at Dodgers Stadium, Kershaw made MLB history after achieving his 200th win. In his 288th career decision, Kershaw now holds the highest win percentage of all time, 69.4%, among pitchers with at least 200 wins. In the game between the Dodgers and the Mets, Kershaw struck out nine batters over seven scoreless innings, and the Dodgers would go on to win the game 5-0. He also only...

On April 30, 2023, Tottenham faced off against  Liverpool in an intense match. Liverpool started off the game by scoring in just three minutes and took an early lead. Just minutes later, Liverpool scored another two goals, seemingly securing the win early on in the game. However, Kane scored for Tottenham in the 40th minute which made the game 3-1. By halftime, Tottenham was down by two goals and...

 Although they've been struggling all year so far, the Dodgers apparently have finally found consistency in their recent sweep of the Cardinals. Having started the season 13-13 in comparison to their successes in the last two seasons, this season has looked to be a setback year. During the start of the season, the Dodgers have often only had one side of the game working for them. Despite these frustrating...

On April 19, 1986, female basketball star Candace Parker was introduced into the world. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was an icon for her passion and hard work to a generation of basketball players. Soon after being born in St. Louis, Missouri, she moved to Naperville, Illinois, at the age of two, where she would spend the rest of her childhood. Her family...

It’s been almost fifty years since Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King faced off in the legendary “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match in 1973, and King is still making an impact. King was born to parents Betty and Bill Moffit on Nov. 22, 1943, in Long Beach, California. Like the rest of her family, she was very athletic and excelled in baseball and softball, playing on a shortstop team with girls...

One of the most famous street artists, or even the most famous, is an anonymous man who goes by the name Banksy. His murals appear on infrastructure around London and Bristol, selling for hundreds of thousands of pounds each. Whenever a new Banksy graffiti appears, scores of visitors clamor to get a glimpse of it. Although people still do not know his true identity, it is clear that Banksy has made...

Odell Beckham Jr. is a professional football player who was born on Nov. 5, 1992, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. He grew up in a family of athletes as his mom was a track and field athlete and his father was a former football player. Odell went to Isidore Newman School in New Orleans where he shined brightly as a wide receiver and set the school record for receiving yards in a single season. This earned...

Disclaimer: This article mentions abuse and assault. Inspiring. Poetic. Trailblazing. These are all words that describe Maya Angelou, arguably one of the most notable artistic figures of the 20th century. Her works as an author, poet, singer, dancer, screenwriter, actress, and activist have been extremely successful and have inspired millions. Being a woman of color and someone subjected to childhood...

On June 19, 2020, "The Last of Us," a game that centered around the idea of a fungal-pathogen-based apocalypse, was released. The fungi in question were cordyceps, Ophiocordyceps to be specific. Ophiocordyceps thrive in a way that not many other fungi do as it all starts with an ant. First, the Cordyceps attaches to the ant via touch and places a fungal cell inside the body. Next, the fungi feed on...