By Alyssa Book, Bekah Landers, Claire DeFrancisci, and Grace Runkel
FC students had one less thing to worry about this morning: getting dressed. To kick off spirit week students were asked to come to school in their pajamas. This week’s spirit activities will lead up to Student Renaissance’s Academic Pep Rally on Friday.
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By Claire DeFrancisci
Being tan makes people look good. It will make the colors in their clothes pop, brings out their hair and eye color, and it is even said that to make people look thinner. But is it worth it?
Going to a tanning bed, even once in a while, increases one’s chances of developing melanoma by 75 percent. Melanoma is one of the deadliest skin cancers and can have a low survival rate. I am sure most tanning bed-goers have heard this many times, yet many continue to go and can develop a habit of it. What they usually fail to do is actually research what they are doing to their bodies.
It is hard to ignore when I see people on Facebook or Twitter that post things like “Addicted to tanning :),” in the middle of winter. If it is January, it is not natural to come to school looking like you just got back from a month long trip to the Bahamas. Most people are significantly paler in the winter; it is not necessary to bake yourself in a tube in order to look tanner than everybody else.
While tanning beds give you a “healthy” glow, they also mutate the DNA and lower the power of the immune system, making someone extremely prone to cancer. Unfortunately, tanning beds are usually associated with melanoma, the deadliest of all skin cancers.
People do not worry about getting melanoma because they think that they are not in danger of it until they get older are wrong. However, melanoma usually strikes between the ages of 15-29. If the cancer is not diagnosed immediately, people have less than 10 percent chance of survival.
Tanning is not something to overlook, and most definitely not something you want to form into a habit. If being tan is seriously important to someone, artificial tanning is a healthier option. Spray tanning is often looked down upon because people usually come out of it looking more orange than tan, but choosing it over tanning beds can be a more important decision than you think.
By Chase Gosman, Claire DeFrancisci
This week A&E isn’t taking this amazing country for granted by honoring it with the best patriotic songs.
1. “Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue” by Toby Keith
2. “If You’re Reading This’ by Tim McGraw
3. “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” by Alan Jackson
4. “Some Gave All” by Billy Ray Cyrus
5. “Born in the U.S.A.” by Bruce Springsteen
6. “God Bless the U.S.A.” by Lee Greenwood
7. “Coming to America” by Neil Diamond
8. “Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key
9. “American Pie” by Don McLean
By Claire DeFrancisci
The lights dim and the piano begins to play as senior Erica Mohler takes the stage to open up the show. With a cast of only two people, The Last Five Years was nothing short of excellent.
The play follows a young couple as they tell the story of their five-year relationship. The woman, Catherine Hiatt played by Mohler, begins the story at the end of their relationship. At the same time Jamie Wellerstein, played by senior Zach Hebert, begins at the start of their relationship. The two stories only meet once throughout the show, at the couples wedding.
I’ve seen many of FC’s theater productions this year including Urinetown, Suessical, A Christmas Carol, and Ashes and I must say that this show has taken the spot of my favorite. In the smaller Studio One stage, you seem closer to the couple and really feel like you have gotten to know them by the end. I found myself laughing, crying, and simply being speechless throughout the 2-hour show.
With very few props and only two cast members, the play really showcased the talent of the two young actors. Not only was this a great way to say goodbye to two of FC’s beloved thespians, but it was also a grand finale of theater director Chris Bundy’s career.
By Claire DeFrancisci
This past Saturday the Emerald Guard and Winter Percussion both medaled at the Tri-State Championships at Ryle High School in Union, Kentucky. They both competed against teams from Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. Both of the groups had previously showcased their performances at the pops concert in February for FC students and family.
Winter Percussion placed third with their performance of “Robots vs. Teddy Bears.” Instructor Hank Rothrock first pitched the idea for the theme. The students thought of it as a joke at first, but then they began to to take it seriously and turned it into a show.
“I was really nervous going into it, but when they announced that we got third place I was just ecstatic because then I knew that all of our hard work had paid off. It was a great feeling,” said senior Carmen Schreiber.
The Emerald Guard finished off an undefeated season by winning the gold medal and their first championship.
“The best part of that day was performing for a huge crowd of people who enjoy your show. It’s a great feeling when you walk past someone and they look at you and say ‘I loved your show! It was really good,” said senior Jenna Scharfenberger.
