Lily Erickson

She Wants Revenge performed at the House of Blues Chicago, accompanied by the band Rosegarden Funeral Party on October 26.

This concert was part of their first tour in 15 years. My friend and I attended this concert, and it was a great time, so here's a recap.

Rosegarden Funeral Party is a small Dallas-based post-punk band formed by Leah Lane. They brought high energy to start the concert with multiple songs from their previous albums. Lane interacted with the audience, giving them words of encouragement and praise, rounding it out with the phrase “you are loved.” They then played some songs from a new unreleased album. The audience reacted with cheers and excitement for the new music to come out. Overall, Rosegarden Funeral Party was well received and a wonderful opening band. My friend and I thought that they were great and definitely a cool band to check out if you like post-punk or related music.

She Wants Revenge took the stage, starting their portion on a high note with one of their popular songs, “Red Flags and Long Nights.” They then played one of my favorite songs, “Sister.” They sounded absolutely great in person, as close to the recordings as possible without the obvious extra autotune elements. They played some more of their hit songs like “These Things,” “A Little Bit Harder Now,”  and “Your Love.” The crowd sang along loudly and proudly.

Justin Warfield, the lead singer, shared words of encouragement and overall excitement with the audience, loving how loud and radiant the crowd was. Then they announced that there's a new album releasing soon.

They played a few songs from the new album, and I can’t wait for it to be released. The resurgence of She Wants Revenge due to social media was a major factor in this concert, as stated by Warfield. Warfield told the audience that he really resonated with the next song and encouraged us all to dance and sing as loud as we could. He then performed “Broken Girl.” Next was a tribute song to their inspiration and the heart of Chicago, a cover of “Angel” by Massive Attack.

The concert rounded out with two amazing songs to end: “Out of Control” and “Tear You Apart.” My friend and I enjoyed every last second of the concert, singing, dancing, and having a great time. I discovered songs I didn’t even know they had and can’t wait for future tours.

During the last full week of September, I visited the Georgia Aquarium. The Georgia Aquarium is located in Atlanta in Pemberton park.

The Georgia Aquarium is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. It is home to over 100,000 animals and 500 different species, including the whale shark. It is one of five aquariums worldwide that can legally house whale sharks. It holds just over 11 million gallons of water, and its largest tank is 6.3 million gallons.

Offsite, the Georgia Aquarium maintains and manages a wide variety of ocean conservation programs, which include Zebra Shark Reintroduction, Florida Reef Tract Coral Rescue, Manatee Rehabilitation, and Sea Turtle Rescue. The aquarium supports and funds research projects for other companies as well.

The Georgia Aquarium has nine separate sections, each housing a different region of animals. The sections are Ocean Voyager, Explorers Cove, Cold Water Quest, Dolphin Coast, River Scout, Sea Lion Studios, Sharks! Predators of the Deep, Tropical Diver, and Gator Crossing. It also has two gift shops, the coastline cafe, and multiple smaller food stalls. Each exhibit also has staff placed throughout the walk to provide fun facts and answer any questions visitors may have.

Ocean Voyager is home to the infamous whale shark named Yushan, which used to have a buddy, another whale shark named Taroko that unfortunately passed away in August 2025. Ocean Voyager is the largest tank housed in the Georgia Aquarium and is also home to multiple species of ray, carpet sharks, and other shark species. It’s tank is made to replicate the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef, and many other reef-dwelling fish call this tank their home. The Ocean Voyager tank also has a large viewing window and a large viewing tunnel.

Explores Cove is a smaller interactive exhibit with two different animals and a few interactive digital activities. It features two touch tanks, one for stingrays and one for lake sturgeon. Both touch tanks have a staff member on standby. Past the two touch tanks, there is a large screen displaying different hand colored ocean creatures. Right next to the screen, there are multiple stations where children and adults can color their own sea creature to be displayed on the big screen. The creature will swim around for a bit before eventually swimming off to make way for another patron's creation. Off to the side of the drawing stations, there is a small interactive bog with no animals. The bog has little water spouts and waterfalls for children to touch and play with.

Cold Water Quest is home to the aquarium's beluga whales, African penguins, horned puffins, harbor seals, and giant Pacific octopus. Alongside these large attractions, they have plenty of cold water fish and sea anemones. The Cold Water Quest is a short walk-through. It starts downstairs and ends on the upper level of the aquarium. The Cold Water Quest is made to imitate a sub-Arctic marine environment.

Dolphin Coast is one of the smallest exhibits in terms of animals. It houses the Georgia Aquarium's dolphin show and the dolphins' primary tank. It also has a small clownfish tank and a small netted aviary with the scarlet ibis and roseate spoonbill. The dolphin show itself is a display of the intelligence, trainability, and conservation of dolphins. It has a large splash zone, and the theatre can hold just over 1800 people. The show is just shy of 45 minutes long. The dolphins do multiple sets of tricks with their trainers and jump far heights out of the water to splash the audience.

River Scout’s featured species is the Asian small-clawed otter. River Scout is made to simulate a freshwater river environment. Alongside the otters, the exhibit is home to the snapping turtle, piranhas, and the River Scout's newest inhabitant, the binturong. It has a few interactive education stations, including a river cleanup game for children. The River Scout adventure also has a glass-bottom tank that is visible from the walkthrough; inhabiting this tank are the alligators from Gator Crossing, which rests above the exhibit.

Sea Lion Studios is another small section of the aquarium that houses a Sea Lion show. It has a small arcade where children can compete in a racing game. There are no animals featured outside of the sea lion show. The Sea Lion show is set up in a game show style featuring three contestants and their trainers. The sea lions compete in three challenges, and the winner is decided by the crowd. The show is roughly 15-30 minutes long depending on whether the sea lions behave. The show, similar to its counterpart, the Dolphin Show, promotes sea lion conservation.

Sharks! Predators of the Deep is an exhibit promoting the protection and conservation of sharks. It has multiple diagrams showing the mistreatment of sharks, alongside a large set of viewing zones to look at the sharks in the tank. The tank is home to the great hammerhead, silvertip shark, and tiger shark. The sharks swim around a large spiraling school of fish, and a few of the sharks have visible scars and injuries. They are the only animals outside of the school of fish in the exhibit.

Tropical Diver is a bright and colorful exhibit made to replicate the Indo-Pacific Barrier Reef. The large highlight tank is towards the end of the exhibit. To get to it, patrons have to walk through a small hallway with a few smaller tanks. The tanks have various tropical fish, shrimp, and eels. The feature tank is a bright and extremely colorful coral reef featuring a large variety of different coral species and large schools of colorful tropical fish. There is also a small shipwreck model when exiting the reef exhibit.

Gator Crossing is a glass-bottomed tank on the upper level of the aquarium. It is home to the Alligators, and the children's skywalk. The skywalk goes safely above the Gator Crossing tank and the River Scout exhibits. Next to the Gator Crossing is the Aquanaut adventure. A large educational hallway adventure featuring small tanks with amphibians, eels, lizards, and brine shrimp. It features multiple interactive stations for children to explore and learn. The exhibit ends with a large overhead view of the Ocean Voyager tank.

The Georgia Aquarium has multiple tank tours, behind-the-scenes animal interactions, a dive experience in Ocean Voyager, and an overnight aquarium experience. The general admission cost for the aquarium is $54.99 for a set-day ticket and $69.99 for an any-day ticket. Set day tickets are valid for the set selected day, while any day tickets can be redeemed once anytime. The Dolphin show costs $5, and the Sea Lion Show is included in the general admission ticket. For both shows a QR code must be scanned to reserve seats. Behind-the-scenes animal encounters cost $79.99+ for animals such as belugas, penguins, sea lions, dolphins, and sea otters. The shark cage dive ranges from $195-$234, and the Gentle Giant Dive, diving with the whale shark, costs $400+ per person. For more information on prices, animals, or any other general information, visit georgiaaquarium.org.

My personal experience was on a Wednesday morning. It was quite crowded from around 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. with school trips and youth groups. The whole experience took around six hours to get through, but my family took its time. The general floor was open, with the various exhibits scattered around it in a circle. We started with the dolphin show, which was cool but very underwhelming as someone who used to frequent the Shedd Aquarium. The trainers spent a large amount of time in the water performing tricks and interacting with the dolphins, which was unique compared to the Shedd Aquarium's show. We then took our time walking around the exhibits and started off with the Ocean Voyager. The tank was beautiful, and I had a great time pointing out all the different animals I knew by name. I also discovered a bunch of new, unique animals I didn’t know existed. Overall, my favorite exhibits were Ocean Voyager, Sharks! Predators of the Deep, and Tropical Diver. I just adore sharks and rays, so Ocean Voyager and Sharks! Predators of the Deep were easy top picks. Tropical Diver was so pretty with all of its colors and coral that it was hard not to pick for third.

Overall, the experience was so much fun, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who plans on visiting Atlanta or just Georgia in general. The Pemberton Park and Centennial Olympic Park also have a few fun attractions of their own, so it's well worth the trip.

The LPHS and LPMS Bands performed their first concerts of the school year on October 6 and October 7.

To kick off the band season, the Concert Band, Symphonic Band, and Wind Ensemble performed on October 6 in the Performing Arts Center. The concert started at 7 p.m. The concert was about an hour long and had a great audience turnout.

The Concert Band was the first band to perform and played two songs, “Falcon Fanfare” by Brian Balmages and “Modal Song and Dance” by Elliot del Borgo.

“I like Modal Song and Dance because I got to play the bells, which is one of my favorite instruments to play,” sophomore percussionist Brooke Buchanan said.

The Symphonic Band was up next and played three songs: “Coast Guards" by Karl L. King, arranged by James Swearingen, “ Ancient Flower" by Yukiko Nishimura, and finally "Incandescence” by Richard L. Saucedo.

“Ancient Flower was a very fun and whimsical piece to play; the clarinet part was really fun,” junior clarinetist Kaley Lowe said.

The Wind Ensemble closed the concert with three songs: "Sun Dance" by Frank Ticheli, "Place of Rivers End” by Tonya Wind Singer, and last, "Blue Ridge Reel" by Brian Balamages.

“‘Sun Dance’ was probably my favorite song to perform. It was enjoyable to play and pushed me out of my comfort zone," junior trombone player Josslynn Cleary said.

Wind Ensemble also performed at the Kesling Campus main gym on October 7 with the 8th grade band. The concert started at 7 p.m. The 8th grade played first and was later accompanied by the Wind Ensemble.

The 8th grade performed three individual songs. They first performed “Banner of the Brave” by Christina Huss, “Celtic Air and Dance No. 2” arranged by Michael Sweeney, and “Diamond Joe’s Riviera Club” by David Weirich.

The Wind Ensemble then joined the 8th graders. The two bands played “Zombie Tango” by James Meridith together. The Wind Ensemble ended the concert with a performance of “Blue Ridge Reel.”

The LPHS and LPMS band will return in December with a festive, fun winter concert.

LPHS held a State send-off for the Slicer #1 doubles team--sophomore Sam Burden and senior Jacob Szponder--on October 22.

To celebrate Burden and Szponder, peers and teachers gathered to show their support and wish the team luck. LPMB started the send-off by playing the school song before Burden and Szponder both stepped up to give a short speech. The band then ended by playing the school song one more time.

Burden has been an inspiring member of the team, quickly rising in skill.

“Sam is a hardworking role model for our whole team that we always count on in big moments,” junior Brooks Tonagel said.

Szponder has been supporting his team since freshman year.

“Jacob is a role model for all of us to look up to with the effort he puts forward both on and off the court, never giving up or wavering in the tough moments,” senior captain Kaden Wilczynski said.

The doubles team swept through Sectionals and Regionals, winning against Columbia City for the Regional Championship.

The doubles team will go up against Brebeuf Jesuit on October 23. If they win their Quarterfinal match, they will proceed to day two of State competition in the semifinals against Hamilton Southeastern on October 24.

LPHS wishes Burden and Szponder good luck at State.

Girl Scouts: More Than Just a Sweet Treat

Girl Scouts may be known for their cookies, but that doesn’t scratch the surface of what the program entails.

Girl Scouts is a recreational activity that any girl K-12 can participate in. Girls engage in their communities, learn new skills, and are able to interact with a variety of people that they may not have been able to meet.

Girl Scouts has six different age groups that children will be sorted into. The levels ranging from youngest to oldest are Daisy; ages 5-7, Brownie; ages 7-9, Junior; ages 9-11, Cadette; ages 11-14, Senior; ages 14-16, and Ambassador; ages 16-18.

There are three big activities that take place in Girl Scouts: badge adventures, cookie season, and Girl Scout camp. Badge adventures are a fun-filled activity where girls will work with their level to earn patches to put on their sash or vest. These can be anything from taking a walk through the woods to donating handmade blankets to their local shelters.

Girls of the upper levels can also participate in the Bronze, Silver, and Gold awards. These awards are of higher status than regular badges and can hold value for college applications.  Some examples are making a Buddy Bench, donating to shelters, or building a book box.

Cookie season is something that people all over the world look forward to. Girl Scouts of all levels go around their communities in small groups or settle down at a cookie booth to sell Girl Scout cookies. Cookie season teaches girls financial responsibility, and they have fun while doing it. Girls learn all sorts of advertising methods, even including silly ones like inflatable costumes.

“My favorite memory was from one of my last years in Girl Scouts; it was the middle of winter, and we got to wear an inflatable tube costume and sell cookies in Krogers. People loved it, and it was so fun making people smile and selling them cookies,” former Girl Scout Nova Lear said.

Girl Scout camp is a fan favorite of most girls. Camp has many different activities to offer, like swimming, kayaking, canoeing, archery, craft, and fire building. Girls live out in the wilderness for either just the morning for day camps or all week for overnight camps. Girls cook their own food over a fire they made, go fishing with an older mentor, learn wilderness survival and safety, and play fun games like GaGa Ball or Down by the Banks. Girls also learn fun songs; some of my personal favorites are Ratlin Bog, Boom Chick a Boom, Little Red Wagon, and The Martian Song.

“Camp allows us to connect with nature and each other; we form bonds we would have never had,” a senior counselor in training (CIT) said.

Camp is fun, but that isn’t the only reason someone should join Girl Scouts. Girl Scouts has plenty of learning opportunities that range from finances to simple arts and crafts. During cookie season and the lesser-known fall product season, girls learn how to handle and count money and products. Communication is also a widely taught skill, whether that be talking to other girls in their troop or talking to adults to sell products. The reasons an individual should join are best said by the Girl Scouts themselves.

“Girl Scouts teaches financial literacy, communication, community service, and how to have fun. Girls should join for all the fun adventures we take.” - Current Soni Springs camp director Summer said.

To join Girl Scouts, go to Girlscouts.org, or ask the local school for their troop. There is a $65 joining fee, but financial aid is available for those who may need it. A Girl Scout registration lasts from October 1 to September 30 of the next year. Girls must renew their membership yearly, or a troop leader can renew their membership for them.

AP Statistics (AP Stats) is a new optional math course for the 2026-2027 school year at La Porte High School.

AP Stats is a year-long class with an AP exam at the end of the school year in May. Students will learn about different types of statistics, real-world problems and their applications, and are taught as if they are in a real college course. AP Stats is taught at a college level, so students should expect a more in-depth understanding of the topic and a stricter expectation for work. To get into AP Stats, students must have completed Algebra 2 with a “C” or higher.

The main difference between AP Stats and base-level stats is the length of the course. Base-level stats is only a semester-long course versus AP Stats being a full year. The content of the two courses is similar as both are taught from the same book; however, AP Stats goes far more in depth and teaches more real-world applications, while general stats gives more of an overview of statistics as a whole.

Ms. Schott is the AP Stats, AP Calculus, and base-level stats teacher. She is the only statistics teacher in the school and fought hard to bring us an AP Stats course. The class was fought for, as many students run out of math classes to take for their diplomas. AP Stats gives them a new option. Getting college credits early is never a bad option for students either.

“One of the biggest reasons is that more and more jobs/majors are now requiring statistics, even more so than in years past,” Schott said.

The class is important for a variety of reasons, but most importantly, it's fun. Students often get to run their own experiments and gather their own data, learning more about statistics in a hands-on way. Schott's passion for teaching also bleeds into the inviting atmosphere of her statistics class. AP Stats teaches real-world skills, gives college experience, and brings a new field to our school.

“We use all things/scenarios/studies that are found in the real world to discuss, or we use data coming from the class itself. They really are fun classes to teach, especially with different 'labs' I find out there to use in class,” Schott said.

The AP Capstone award includes AP Seminar, AP Research, and four other AP Exams. AP Stats is not required for the AP Capstone award; however, it can contribute AP credits to the award. AP Stats contributes two math credits to all diplomas and are eligible for a college statistics or math credit at the end of the year.