Ally is entering her second year on staff and is an Editor in Chief this year. Ally served as the Copy Editor for the Central Trend last year and enjoyed the opportunity to write stories about interesting members of the FHC community and participate in the transition from newspaper to magazine. She is also a captain of the cross country team and participates in varsity track, National Honors Society, and the Kids’ Food Basket Youth Action Board. She volunteers regularly at a senior living center and for the local parks. Ally got involved in the journalism program because she loves to write, and she has enjoyed getting to know all the amazingly fun staff members of the Central Trend.
Favorite thing about being on staff: Learning peoples' hidden talents and stories when writing articles about them
Favorite type of story to write: Spotlights/Profiles
Favorite book and why: The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, by John Boyne - The point of view is really original and makes you think about the time period and human relationships in general in a new way.
If it is Friday night, you will most likely find Ally: Relaxing with friends or family, often with a movie and good food
Six weeks: that’s 42 days. 1008 hours. 60,480 minutes. 3,628,800 seconds.
For some people, it’s simply a little over a month, or maybe one part of a marking period in school. It might be the duration...
I’ve had a long and happy relationship with words; since the earliest days my hands could shakily trace out the alphabet, I’ve been filling up notebooks at an abnormally fast rate with journal entries,...
When I brought home our family’s first-ever dog with my sister and my dad in fourth grade, I had idyllic images of the life that Murphy and I would lead together. I envisioned him sprinting after a bright...
The symphony and concert orchestras from FHC joined forces with the 6th, 7th, and 8th grade orchestras from Central Woodlands and Central Middle on Tuesday night for their annual Spring String Fling,...
It was Philippians 4:4 which made me tense up a little.
Not the verse itself: Philippians 4:4 is actually a lovely Bible verse about joy which has always been one of my favorites. It was what one of...
My addiction began during Christmas break of my sophomore year. Actually, it was my whole family’s addiction. It began under the lights of our Christmas tree on the night of December 25th, pulling in...
“To the counseling office…”
Any student who has heard those four words broadcasted through the halls of FHC between classes needs no introduction to Kathy Nibbelink. Nibbelink has worked as a...
Ellipticals are not fun machines.
I spent a depressingly high proportion of my cross country season on an elliptical, hating almost every minute of it, and I know from experience that they are just...
Senior Geoff Brown and junior Bennett Hendricks sit at a table in the media center, grasping at musical terms in an attempt to define the fifth song on their recently-released album, The Okovongo, Volume...
Equal parts social commentary, heartwarming narrative, and comedic adventure, The Intern packs a lot into 121 minutes. Under the skillful sincerity of Robert De Niro’s acting, however, those minutes...
It was a bit of a surprise when the opening xylophone notes of “Somebody That I Used to Know” cruised out of my speakers earlier this week. I was certainly caught off guard by the fact that the song...
“It’s uncomfortable,” begins one student.
“It’s hard to talk about,” continues another.
“It’s too relevant.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of glaring people in the face. And what do we...
2016 will arguably be one of the biggest years of my life. In the 366 days contained within this calendar year, I will choose a college, graduate high school, leave home to live without my parents for...
I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I’m a little bit in love with food.
Admit it - you have your own love affair with the things you eat, too, don’t you?
Like any relationship, the connection...
I believe it’s necessary to begin this review with a warning: secondhand bookstores come with a distinct smell.
They actually smell somewhat musty, as if each paperback has marinated in minor dampness...
In some ways, I think my fourth grade spelling tests may have been the peak of my educational career.
The spelling test system in Mrs. Brown’s class at Defer Elementary School was somewhat complex:...
On Thursday, December 10th, 378 FHC students converged on the stage of the Forest Hills Fine Arts Center to play Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” as the finale of a major musical event. The final whip-crack...
Not too long ago, someone asked me a question that, despite its apparent simplicity, I found incredibly difficult to answer.
What do you like?
The question at first appeared to be an easy one. I...
It’s a relatively small room, set back in a corner of the school that many students pass only as they are leaving or entering the building. Its doors are often locked, yet as one glances through the...
Dear Cross Country,
This is a thank-you letter. It’s not, I hope, a goodbye, although I suppose it is a goodbye to this era of our relationship. It is an attempt to express my gratitude for what you’ve...
It was cold. It was wet. It was muddy. And we qualified for states.
Twice, this has been the story for the girls cross country team: once in 2013 when I was a sophomore, and once again this past Saturday,...
Prior to a few weeks ago, I had a hole in my life that needed filling. Its emptiness left me feeling adrift, bored, a little downcast. I was desperately in need of some kind of palliative remedy to eliminate...
"It’s not all about winning," everyone always says. And they’re right: life is not about winning. Success is not dependent on winning. Self-worth should not be based upon winning. I’d be the first...
The boys varsity tennis team is heading to Holly, Michigan on Friday to compete in the state tournament. With top seeds in nearly every flight, the Rangers are looking to defend the state title that they...
After a tough battle at East Grand Rapids on Tuesday night, the girls swim and dive team fell 20 points short of a victory over the pioneers, who are the number-one ranked Division 2 team in the state...
A little over three years ago, I thought my life was over. As I pulled out of my driveway in Grosse Pointe, Michigan for the last time ever on June 30th, 2012, I truly believed that I was leaving all joy,...
“These polyrhythms coming up are dope. This drummer’s on the highest level of drumming that there is,” says senior Geoff Brown. “This drum solo at the end is just insane. There’s this big five...
Symphony concerts are not entirely new to me. I have early memories of attending several Detroit Symphony Orchestra concerts as a kid, squirming in my seat and counting down the minutes until the music...
As the lights go down in the FHC auditorium and the first line of Anne of Green Gables is spoken on Thursday, November 12th, opening night for the fall play, it might be easy for audience members to look...
There’s always been something relaxing for me about being alone.
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not antisocial. I like spending time with friends and family just as much as anyone else, and I love the...
Upon entering the Ada Pour House & Gastropub for the first time, I was overwhelmed not by any culinary aromas but by a tidal wave of periwinkle-blue paint. The Ada Pour House is located in the Ada...
In the process of writing this column, I made a strange Google search: “short story eleven red sweater.” Thanks to the wonders of the internet and Google’s uncanny ability to make sense of my strange...
The girls’ varsity golf team opened their season with a rainy tournament on August 21st, the Lober Classic in Traverse City. After a 4th place finish there that senior and captain Novi Dosanjh described...
1993. 1994. 1996. 1998. 2003. 2004. 2005.
The years emblazoned on the state championship banners in the gym tick off quite nicely, missing a year here and there but for the most part maintaining a steady...
If aliens were suddenly to land on the earth and begin examining the human species, I believe that some of their first remarks would be about dancing. Why are all these people moving so enthusiastically...
As the chalk is cleaned off the softball diamond and the dust settles on the infield after three months of use, the FHC softball team is walking away from the season with a record perfectly balanced at...
On the morning of June 2, FHC held its annual Underclassmen Awards Ceremony in the main gymnasium. After honoring students in all grades with 3.3 or higher grade point averages, individual honors were...
When I was in elementary school, I was a cooking aficionado.
Every spring, as warmer weather took away the wet and frigid days of winter, I would begin creating culinary masterpieces that would take...
Entering Biology and Human Anatomy teacher Andy Rundquist’s room is a bit like stepping inside a box of crayons, one that sat out too long in the sun, the waxy hues of its slightly melted crayolas mingling...
Teenagers are notorious for many things. Pure love of knowledge is not one of them.
Depending on who you ask, teens are rebellious, witty, social, secretive, angst-filled, petty, and/or resourceful...
Why did you decide to run for student council?
Bennett Hendricks (President): Well we’re all running uncontested.
Paityn: We don’t have to give speeches this year, so that was kind of an incentive.
(laughs)
Mimi...
As chemistry teacher David VonEhr recalls the formative days of his childhood, there is one man who sticks out. A man who kept a pencil and paper at the ready in his pocket, a man who had an answer for...
Freshman Brendan McDonald can barely contain his excitement. He motions through the screen door and runs into Aerials and Baranis Gymnastics Center. He is followed by sophomore Jocelyn Prinz and freshman...
Just days before Victoria Mischley’s junior year of high school, as hundreds of her classmates were preparing for the new school year by buying new clothes, purchasing school supplies, and comparing...
As you sit reading this article, there are approximately 7,316,100,000 people alive on Earth.
Somewhere around 83 million of those people live in Egypt, where the former president has recently been...
Under careful scrutinization, the menu items at Marie Catrib’s in Eastown may seem to have originated under the bumbling fingers of a four-year-old playing in the kitchen.
Ginger-tomato chutney?
Garlic-lime...
Gail Sutton is a math teacher because she is five-foot-one-and-three-quarters instead of five-foot-two.
“[Teaching] didn’t start as my passion, it truly didn’t, I was too short to do what I really...
