All she wanted was closure. She just wanted to know why. She wanted to get over it, but she couldn’t without having all of the answers. She needed to know why. She needed to know how. She needed answers. Until...

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee has meant more to me than possibly anything I’ve ever done. I thought nothing could beat my first musical, or the one I spent with 25 elementary schoolers who...

When Emma falls in love, she falls hard. She falls fast. She topples into an abyss of longing and wonder and hopes that it lasts forever. She does everything she can to never lose it—everything she can...

Dear reader, One day, you’ll be short of words. One day, you won’t know what to do. One day, you’ll wish you’d taken the road more traveled, not the road less. You’ll wish that you could go...

There are six feet separating us. Six feet between you and me. Six beautiful, grassy, well-cared-for feet. All my life those six feet have been there, and for thirteen years they’ve been separating me...

 I can see you in my car. In the ducks that sit on the dashboard. The way that they make me smile reminds me of you. In the sunroof that I have open 90 percent of the time to let the wind blow through...

The junior and senior boys come together in a match of volleyball to kickoff Winterfest week

Ten It’s a new year. The idea of a new year has always scared her. It leaves so much unknown. Here’s 365 days, and she never knows what will happen in them. She usually ends each year with different...

I am not a Christmas girly. The family gatherings with people I haven’t seen in a year, the excessive happiness radiating off of everyone around me, the stress of buying the perfect gifts, and the music...

A photo from the Veterans Day Assembly where FHC students stand to honor the veterans for all they've done

12.5.23 When she was fifteen she felt like everything was happening too slowly. She felt like a minute was an hour, and a day was a year. She wished a day was a year so that she could gain that sense...

To my second family- Meg, Lili, and Audrey This community will always feel like home to me. Behind the stage in the dark is where I’m happiest. I have made some of the best memories with you guys....

Every year, I write this story. Every year, I talk about this week, and I say a thank you to all the people involved. As much as I hate to be predictable, I’m going to do it again. The fall play is...

10.31.23 At lunch, we always talk about random things. It’s a wide range, and sometimes, I seriously question how we got on the topics that we’re on. However, for the past couple of weeks, we’ve...

There have been countless times in my life when I have felt like I had nothing to say. When I was a kid and the adults were talking about things I didn’t understand, when I was in school and I didn’t...

Clare Sherman, our homecoming queen along with her king Ryan Brom!

The Powderpuff game this year took place during a full-school assembly.

We’ve been molded our whole lives to become the people we are today. We’ve been shaped by everyone we’ve interacted with. Every family member, friendship, and relationship—they’ve all created...

9.6.23   It was my own personal oasis. For six days it was something new. It was something mine. It was a wonderland to me. An undiscovered place—an unknown. Taking risks is never something...

8.29.23   She looks to the sky searching for the sun. She can see it. Briefly. But as quickly as the great light caught her eye, it starts to disappear behind the misty clouds. So she runs. She...

1 year. 3 dances. 4 shows. 14 games. 290 days. 1,000 memories.  I don’t know what I expected out of this year. I think I expected it to be amazing. I was fifteen which meant I had more freedom. I...

Senior Jack Manchesky is not a theater kid. Or, at least, he wasn’t until this year. He auditioned for the spring musical because he needed something, and it was a life-changing experience. “I needed...

It’s that time of year again. Everyone is saying goodbye. The seniors are graduating. It’s hard. It’s sad. It’s awful. I don’t like saying goodbye. I prefer to say 'see you later' because it...

It's time again to say goodbye to some of my favorite people. I still don't know how to say goodbye. I still don't want to. The seniors this year have changed my life in more ways than I thought possible....

When I walk into school my hands aren’t full anymore. When I leave school I get to go home and do my homework. When I go to bed it’s not almost 1:00 in the morning. When I’m at lunch I’m not nearly...

They’re not just tired. It’s not that they didn’t sleep well the night before. It’s not because they try to stay awake. They just are exhausted. It’s hard. It’s seven hours at school...

There are so many memories behind the stage, on the stage, upstairs, downstairs, and even in the lobby. I'm still making so many more. Backstage reminds me of ballroom dancing and laughing our heads...

I wonder if she’d like me. I wonder if she’d appreciate how hard I’m trying or if she’d hate everything I am. I wonder if she’d wish she could change me. I wonder if she’d want me to go back...

The atmosphere of a place is one of the first things I notice about it, and the atmosphere in Toastn' Tea, a boba shop on the East Beltline, was exactly to my taste. There weren’t very many people...

TikTok is a large social media platform, and for many people, going viral is a goal of theirs. Sophomore Santi Tanner met that goal. Santi posts relatable TikTok videos on his account, and has gotten...

In 2022, there were 51 school shooting incidents in America. As of Jan. 24, 2023, there were six. Imagine how many times someone has joked about shooting up a school. If it actually happened 51 times last...

“They’ll be the best four years of your life.” “You’re going to wish you did so much more.” “When you look back, you’ll wish you filled up all that free time you had.” The people that...

The typical high schooler doesn’t like to be embarrassed. They don’t want people to laugh at them, or make fun of them. The typical high schooler would do a lot just to keep other people’s image...

I love car rides. I love to blast music and scream my heart out and just go somewhere. I love impromptu trips to my favorite places, and I love getting lost in the middle of nowhere. I’m not a good...

How do you feel about being on Winterfest court?  “Well, it’s a little bit of extra work, but it’ll be fun to have the lip sync and see everyone's reactions. It’s not that serious, so it’ll...

How do you feel about being on Winterfest court? “I’m super excited. I’ve always thought it was so fun to watch the lip syncs, so I’m super excited for that, and the basketball game.” What...

How do you feel about being on Winterfest court?  “I feel great. It’s really fun and cool.” What was your reaction to the announcement?  “Finding out at the same time as Sarah [Dunn]...

She knows she does it. She knows someday, it’s going to be an issue. She knows she should hold back a little bit, and she should be more careful. She knows that someday she’s going to get burned because...

Starbucks is my guilty pleasure. Specifically an iced chai tea latte with pumpkin cold foam. That is the only thing I get from Starbucks unless there is no pumpkin cold foam. It’s been a while since...

Dairy Queen. A place I’ve been to too many times to count and a place I’ve written on, not too many times to count because I have counted it, and it’s three times, but too many times than should...

There are some words I can’t say. No matter how hard I try—no matter who I’m talking to—they just don’t come out. There are words that I want to say that I can’t. There are words that I wish...

One of the smaller moments that make my life what it is. One of the smaller moments that becomes encapsulated by the lyrics of these songs.

High school dances in general are stressful, but Winterfest is where the girl asks the guy; it’s added stress on a girl's shoulders when she’s already worrying about so many aspects of the dance. Senior...

One year. 365 days. Billions of moments. Billions of memories. Some that I never want to remember, and some that I never want to forget. The little moments are still the ones that mean the most to me,...

My favorite pictures from my last marching band performance at Ford Field.

Years ago, at Ada Christian Elementary, there were children running around kicking soccer balls. Among them was junior Megan Boersema. The playground at her school was where her love for soccer sparked,...

Last week, my friend and I were out at lunch, and we had two hours to kill before she had to work, so we decided to go to a shop that we have both been dying to go to. Let me tell you, that was a great...

In the podcast room at FHC, loud shrieking could be heard: senior Lauren Brace and junior Addy Cousins had just posted the first episode of The Central Scoop to Spotify—the official podcast of The Central...

Life is full of big moments that everyone notices. But there are also countless little moments that rarely anyone notices. For me, those little moments are where my happiness lives. The moments when next...

My purple- Purple seems like a very free spirit color to me. That’s why you’re purple. You have such a free spirit. You do what you want. You don’t care what people say about you. You focus on yourself,...

One of my best friends has Celiac Disease, which means she can’t eat gluten. Gluten is a general name for the proteins found in wheat, rye, barley, and triticale. This means that she can’t eat any...

A lot of people start conversations about the Forest Hills Public Schools district-wide dress code with “it’s totally targeted toward girls.” Here’s an unpopular opinion: I don’t think the dress...

It’s an almost surreal feeling. Like she’s in another person’s body. Like she’s seeing things through someone else’s eyes. Because she hasn’t seen things that bright in a long time. She hasn’t...

Sophomore Norah Vanderweide was sitting in her French class when she was called out into the hallway. She had no idea what she had done wrong, but she was about to find out. “It turns out that [a...

Senior Kyle Thomas doesn’t like to follow everyone else's lead; he prefers to create drama by straying from the ordinary. So, when everyone he knew was rooting for the Phillies in the 2008 World Series,...

It’s really hard for me to feel good about myself. I’m always questioning myself. The way I feel, the way I think, and especially the way I look. I was blessed with parents that don’t care too...

Since we have gotten back into some semblance of normalcy this school year, our administrators are really cracking down on the rules. One of those rules is the dress code. The dress code was updated this...

I clearly love Dairy Queen. This is my third review of Dairy Queen products, and I don’t see myself deciding not to review more in the future. The issue with loving Dairy Queen, however, is that I am...

The sky is blue. The clouds are pink. Together, it’s purple. Somehow, there’s orange and there’s yellow as well. It’s two things: the sky and the clouds, but there are so many colors. I’m...

Senior Ellie McDowell can not sing the song "Hey Baby" without energy. She feels like a force will punish her for not performing the song to its full potential all because of an experience she had during...

She’s my best friend. I’ve only known you for about three months. I trust her, and I trust you too—to a certain extent. But I can never fully trust the man that holds the heart of my best friend....

What was your reaction when you heard your name called? “[I was] kind of shocked and surprised. [I’m] pretty excited.” Why do you think you were nominated? “I think I was nominated because...

What was your reaction when you heard your name called? “I was so happy! I’ve always loved Homecoming Week, and I think being on court will make it even more fun.” Why do you think you were...

I probably go to the mall too much mainly because I love the mall. To be fair I don’t usually spend much money there; I just love to window shop and walk around with my best friend. So, when I saw that...

Dear Evie, You have such a spark. You have a fire inside of you—a wild, beautiful fire—that makes you so spectacularly perfect. You have so much spunk and sass. You are going to go many places....

Every night, I wind down my evening on the couch with my family watching TV. It’s something we’ve done for as long as I can remember, and I always look forward to it. Last week, we finished the show...

Grade: 12 What excites you most about Improv Central?  “I think what excites me the most is that it’s a unique opportunity at our school because not a lot of other schools have Improv teams....

Grade: 10 What excites you most about Improv Central?  “Probably getting to show myself in front of a ton of people. I think that I have a lot of funny things that could be said on stage, and...

Grade: 11 What excites you most about Improv Central?  “One thing that really excites me is the fact that everything is basically a game, and I don’t have to be stressed about making people...

A fresh grilled cheese and a hot bowl of soup embodies my idea of fall—cozy, warm, and yummy food. So, naturally, when a new grilled cheese and soup shop opened up ten minutes away from my house, I had...