*Lauren is in italics as she wanted to be fancy, and Liza is not because she wants to be taller.  Due to our matching golden locks of hair, we claimed to be sisters. We were attached at the hip, theoretically...

Deep in the Hundred Acre Wood is where I would love to live. Hidden from the adult world and surrounded only by my friends and the troublesome, ragtag team of stuffed animals that come to life.  Life...

From the Frances the Badger books to Little Critter, I loved listening to stories when I was little.  All of the greats were in my family’s repertoire: Arthur, Amelia Bedilia, Berenstain Bears, Fancy...

As custodian Vickie Miller sifts through her memories, one thing she was able to check off her bucket list was going on a cruise. Miller loves traveling and will hopefully be seeing more of the world as...

“I appreciate Mrs. DeMeester for being inspiring, kind, and always making class fun and engaging.” “I appreciate Mr. Anderson and Mr. VonEhr. Not only do they dedicate every moment of the school...

Check in every day this week for more thank you notes from students at our school to teachers at our school!

“I appreciate Mr. Fisher because he was really nice and worked hard to make class interesting and make students feel included. I appreciate that he checks in with students and is very understanding.” “One...

I met you all at varying points throughout my life.  Randomly becoming best friends in my third grade yet not knowing why, sitting in front of you during the terrifying class of APUSH on the first...

“I appreciate Mrs. Lipke for how much she wants us all to succeed; she is always there for help and support and truly gives math her all every day.” “Mrs. Will, thank you for the limitless support...

“I appreciate Mrs. Stone for making math really easy to learn this school year. I felt like her teaching style helped me to understand every unit we did. She also was really gracious [and] let me take...

Thanks to all of the time she spent stuck at home last year, senior Maggie Molitor was able to explore her creative side.  With a little help from the internet, Maggie was able to discover her new...

What’s behind the mask?  A mouth. A nose. The bottom of someone’s face. A chin, maybe some freckles.  What’s behind the fabric that saves lives?  A smile? A frown? Contagious happiness?...

I checked the first thing off my bucket list when I was eleven years old—I made it into the Grand Rapids Ballet Junior Company. I was cast as the role of a deer in Snow White. While this may seem...

Senior Amanda Lemmeyer has always admired the Earth. As a young child, she liked to get her hands dirty and explore the woods while others were inside staring at their video games.  Wanting to learn...

Sometimes, disappointment slaps me in the face. I don’t get the role I wanted. I don’t get into that summer intensive. I don’t do so well on a test.  But like a phoenix, I will rise out of my...

The trees are blooming and I am ready to fall.  Don’t get me wrong, I love spring; it’s my second favorite season. It’s just what is associated with spring as a high school student that I don’t...

Senior Furzaan Abidi moved from place to place throughout his childhood.  He was born in Detroit, but for the first four years of his life he lived in Canada. From there he moved back to the Detroit...

Anthony’s best friend, Grant, died yesterday. Grant’s door to his house—a beautiful, tall door of stone which should have been stable if not for the monster—was destroyed and he was also in the...

Cross them over and under the hill. Pull them tight so they won’t fall off. The floor I plopped down on is as dirty as ever. A half-torn, yellow, dried-up leaf catches my eye. What is the story behind...

2014 FHC alumna Ashley Kooistra considers herself as a “Gabriella Montez.”  High School Musical’s Gabriella is known for being studious, somewhat shy, and a great singer, and Kooistra believes...

I wake up in a room by myself, propped up in a bed.  My neck can move more easily, and my body is numb. I am scared to move too much though, for I fear the pain will return. It’s hard to believe...

Wendy Ellis has been working hard and being a friendly face at FHC for eleven years. This was her last week here. 1. Why are you moving? “My husband got a new job in Florida, so [my family is] all...

Every minuscule inhale I muster through includes a shooting pain like glass rattling up my lungs. Every tiny exhale allows that glass to fall back from where it came from. My head is throbbing as if...

FHC alumna Amytess Girgis is making the journey across the ocean and moving to the United Kingdom next year. As of right now, making this move of 3,726 miles will be difficult for her. Amytess is unprepared...

My arm covers my eyes as one eye pops open. My grasp on sleep loosens and disappears. My last dream vanishes from my memories despite the brevity of the moments that passed between reality and imagination. My...

Socks come in pairs. It is indisputable. Unless you are one of those socks that are made for mixing and matching, you always have a twin. My twin was my best friend. Even as we sat in the sock drawer...

Senior Ana Ahmed, former Supreme Leader of Costa Luna, went to all lengths to make sure people would not convict her for the title of saboteur during the World Diplomacy Game. Despite her country’s...

The field lies before me. An empty void of flowers and beauty, yet the darkness soon curls over it.   Burgundy, obsidian, midnight blue: lurking over the daily dew. Hungry for all joy.   A...

On a faraway island, a yelp is heard. A yelp of pain. A screech of misery. A cry for help. Yet she can’t get to the victim. She sits on her island, wasting away time that she could be helping...

Sophomore Everett Phipps has his plate full of activities he enjoys. Whether he started them when he was little or he has just recently found them, he enjoys all of his activities for a different reason. Playing...

Marley hands me a fruit snack. They are so full of chemicals; I shouldn’t eat them—what if I get fat? I pop it into my mouth. The orange bursts into my mouth with the tastes of winter when oranges...

A keyhole. That is all the light I get. A keyhole entering the terrifying box I’ve been defeated by. The box is filled with sharp things like scissors and needles, cloth things like napkins, and some...

Martin Luther King Jr. gave 2,500 speeches from 1957 to his death in 1968. With these 2,500 speeches, he travelled six million miles in order to inspire people from all over the country (Youth for Human...

I am here on one side of the glass window, staring at a scared reflection of myself, while the people on the other side take a guess on whether or not I am guilty. At least I know the other people wrapped...

I started my days in the lilac room in a crib. I don’t remember these early days, but they were real. The lilac room with a beautiful castle on a hill with a carriage leading up to it. The lilac room...

Christmas morning. The moment everything leads up to. All of the lights, songs on the radio, and presents people struggle to find lead up to one morning. Every Christmas morning, my sister and I wake...

1. The first second of January 1, 2020. My family’s new “tradition” of dropping a beach ball instead of watching a ball drop continued. 2. I was a skunk in the Butterfly Ballet with Grand Rapids...

Snow. Snow is everywhere in the winter here in Michigan. It truly does feel like Christmastime. There is snow on almost every tree, and snow all over the ground... well besides on the street. The smell...

You promised. I know. I promised you I would never change. I promised you “hang out” would never be allowed. “Hanging out” is for old, grown-up people. You promised. I promised you...

Senior Megan Cushman loves driving. Racing by the blurs of trees and the green leaves and the sea of colors or driving the familiar route to Panera to enjoy a nice meal of soup, she finds comfort in being...

The sparkly red one holds a chest. A chest of my memories. Looking at it, seven years of Nutcracker memories flood into my mind: Midland, a mouse named Brownie, costumes. The little green chest...

Grand Rapids Ballet—for being my second home Thank you for everything you’ve done for me. You pushed me from my little, eight year-old self bouncing around like a kangaroo, to a sixteen year-old dancer...

It’s finally here. My new life. My flock induction. Every year, those deemed worthy are given the honor of moving past a fairly and into a full fairy. These flock inductions can be the highlight...

Vietnam Veteran and Forest Hills graduate Bob Buys once had Christmas at the Admiral’s house in Bermuda. Buys was an enlisted man, and he didn’t have enough leaves to go home for Christmas, so he...

Name: Lauren Brace Grade: 10 Roles: The Enchantress, Witch 1, and the Devil’s Grandmother 1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of having a smaller cast compared to other years? “The...

Everything is permanent. Everything is memories. But Olive doesn’t remember any of it. She was born as a normal baby, crying and sleeping were included in her favorite hobbies. She ate what she wanted,...

There it was. The ultimate bike. The shiny, illuminating spotlight magically appears when looking at it: blue bike. It is all I wanted since I first saw it. The Ultra Terrain 300 taunted me from...

1,170,000 people dead. 1.17x10^6 people lost their lives. 1.17 million people have been laid to rest because of COVID-19. Roughly 44.1 million other people have contracted COVID-19 (Johns Hopkins). All...

Junior Sam Brown was once locked in a hallway. Not only was it a small hallway, but it was also a hallway in Germany with no means of getting out while he was key-cardless. Before he ended up in...

The world in disarray: one thing remains constant.   Although it still changes, it is as steady as a heartbeat.   Crimson, royal orange, and bumblebee yellow— change from their...

A taco walks up to me, wearing all of my grandma’s clothes, and talks about the environment and economy. Now, clearly, this isn’t real. The imagination was clearly running and grinding in my brain. Imagination...

Sitting Waiting for life to chuck a bowling ball in my stomach.   Sitting Upside down in a chair The world staring in my soul, me not caring— they can’t own me.   Sitting Perching,...

Founder and President of Brody’s Be Cafe Jennifer Cole loves coffee. She loves the drink itself, getting coffee with people, and having quality conversations with people at coffee shops. This was part...

A ripple interrupts the peace— the peace of the quiet blue water. A pebble stirred the pot, the wind felt it hard. Yet the water slows to a stop. Waiting in silence— it’s hands feel tied. An...

The purest blonde hair rested atop my small head. The hairstyle ranged with the little hair I had. My wispys acted as pseudo bangs. My eyes had run dry of the tears that used to flow from when I was...

Stepping into an ice rink has been normal for freshman Mia Bateson since she was three years old. Gliding around on the frozen ground, jumping high into the air, and landing on a skinny blade has always...

Name: Holly McLenithan Grade: 11th 1. How did you get into improv? Why did you decide to try out? “I got into improv because, as I have watched the shows the last couple [of] years, it has looked...

Lounging in a squishy theater chair, staring at a screen that is bigger than a phone or computer for something other than school, all while I learn about the life of an unknown person—the ups and downs—...

A week before Friday the thirteenth, I was out of the country. I was terrified it would be impossible to return to the U.S. What if I get the virus? What if they don’t let me in for an extra...

The halls at FHC went silent. The classrooms were left untouched. But the learning could not stop, so the teachers had to persevere through quarantine. The students learned in their pajamas from their...

A sunflower's life seems so peaceful. All it has to do is stay in the same spot and grow taller until it blooms and someone picks it. But how does it get taller? It starts off as a seed. That seed...

Some part of my lead, ink, or wax escapes the lines of “perfection” every time I color something. My first pieces of coloring were a mess. The colors were not what they were in real life, and lines...

A cloud hovers over my head. An earthquake shakes our ground. Time to hold on tight. I hold on to my building like there’s no tomorrow. After all, there may not be. The snow starts to lift off...

Who? What? Where? When? Why? How? Six simple questions that my brain is constantly asking or answering. Sitting in the attic of my body, what else is there to do? Regulations. Tidbits. Technicalities. Racing...

During all of the craziness of coronavirus, I have had many things that have kept me sane. One of my favorites is my dog. Whether he is curled up in a ball, tanning in sunny spots he finds around the...

Some day, history teachers will look back on this age and say, that was the time with that one crazy year: 2020. But they will also say either that was the first age of technology, or that was the age...

Containing nothing. Not occupied or inhabited. Lacking reality, substance, meaning, or value. Marked by the absence of human life, activity, or comfort. Merriam-Webster definitions. All of...

Name: Robbin DeMeester Role: Teacher, Theatre Department Head, and Leader of United Prayer Club 1. Has anything happened, or will anything happen to make up for the missed musical? “Unfortunately,...

Coronavirus has seeped into every aspect of our lives. It changed school, work, friends, communication. But it also has seemed to affect the weather. The first week, I looked back on the types of...

The world is in a jumbled up confused mess. Only families are next to each other. Some people haven’t left their house in days. People could start walking around with pool sticks and others would...

Name: Abby McAlindon Grade: 11 Role: Track Captain 1. How do you feel that you won’t be able to be a captain this year? “I'm really bummed that I don't get to be a track captain this year. I...

The crowd goes wild. Obviously it isn’t live, but sports are still being streamed. I usually don’t like sports, but now, in this alternate universe, I am enjoying them. That is most likely...

Laughter filled the air. Smiles occupied her face. Cherry cheeks were beneath the fountains, two pigtails, or two braids. In her closet, tutus were crowded next to dresses and fun, colorful shirts. On...

There once was a girl who loved to dance and dreamed of becoming a professional. And another girl had the same dream, but these two had an unblossomed friendship. They met each other around the age...

The sky was dark; the sun was nowhere to be found—the perfect conditions for a vandalization. But the high school lights were on and illuminating the surrounding areas. Junior Julia Kirkman and senior...

Six years stand in between us, but when we were little, those years evaporated. Knowledge was stuffed in our brains at all of the same schools, yet, they never received the pleasure of having both of...

I entered the world of ballet at the age of four, merely a small child. My hair was slicked back into a perfect position as I bounced up and down, excited to jeté off to class and learn new positions...

Front office administrative assistant Wendy Ellis is more than just the first friendly face visitors, late students, or anyone who walks into the office sees. She is a wife and a mother of three children. As...

In fifth and sixth grade, I learned so much. As much, if not more, than I learned in all of my other grades combined. I learned things that were useful to me and taught me life lessons. One of my...

Something people don’t often think about is the floor. The floor is just that dirty thing with the five second rule. The floor is something you vacuum every few weeks. The floor is something...

If northern Michigan were a more populous place, French teacher Laurie Van Houten might never have come back to her hometown, and FHC might never have asked her to teach part-time. When Van Houten first...

A large crowd of people blocks the halls. They are packed in as if the sun burned out and we ran out of blankets. People are sitting in a large circle talking to each other. People stress me out. When...

Senior Yuyuan Luo learned how to code through an online class. This was the main reason she wanted to start Coders for Tomorrow. So other people could have guidance when learning how to code. “I...

Stars. Fiery balls of hydrogen and helium. Objects light-years away. Little twinkling things that help to brighten the sky when it is dark. Things people forget about unless they think about...

Everyone is made for something. Over all of their years, they are made to do something with their lives to make the world a better place. I don’t know for sure what I was made for, but I do know...

Bubbles. Little spheres of soap and water. Breakable by touch. Floating away into the atmosphere as soon as they are made. So simple, yet they make people happy. Unless, of course, you get one in...

Sophomore Jacob Beels spends around thirty hours of every week designing and building robots. He joined robotics the summer before freshman year and has been invested in it ever since. “I joined...

The fear of missing out. A very common fear. Popularly known as FOMO. People are afraid if they don’t know everything that is going on, they might explode. I fear something else. Many people...

In between Nutcracker shows and after a long week of rehearsals, Roam (by San Chez Bistro) was a great, close place to satiate my hunger. As I sauntered into the restaurant, it felt like I had entered...

Freshman Sofie Brown loved to dance. She loved to glide across the floor as she does saut de chats. She loved to feel proud of the number of pirouettes she accomplished. She danced—the Russian...

Everyone around me is indulging in their phones. They constantly have notifications. They are getting likes and friends and followers. But I am on my own. They share their lives with each other,...

MudPenny is such a unique name for a coffee house restaurant. Coffee houses used to be called penny universities. They were a place where people of all classes could join together as one, and the coffee...

When I was little, it was called throwing an Elmo doll at him. As I grew a little older, it was called playing. A bit further along the road, it was bugging him; then yelling and arguing, and the normal...

Ballet and everyone there  Thank you for everything you do. You give me something to look forward to during the tough, stressful days of school. You help me improve on one of the things I love most:...

Christmas is my favorite holiday. I started listening to Christmas music one hundred days before Christmas—September 16th. People probably would have sent me to an insane asylum if they had known...

Junior Paityn Reens was once hit with a plastic hockey stick. In seventh grade, that is. In the process, she broke her nose and was told that she was the first and worst injury of the year. Instead...