Is it even possible for RHS students to use their locker in 2024? One intrepid reporter found out.
The Ridgefielder
Beyond Bagels: Discovering the Culinary Delights of Ridgefield's Bagel and Bakes
Photos courtesy of RB&B Website
If you're ever in town and craving a bite, there's a new place to get it. And it might be one of the best. Ridgefiled Bagel and Bakes has all the qualities of a great downtown bagel stop while adding a modern twist on many traiditional aspects. Nestled in the heart of downtown, its new renovations exude a sophisticated charm that no one can deny. Better yet for RHS students, they are now offering a 10% discount if you show your student ID. The shop, previously Steve's Bagel Shop, was recently renovated by owners and Michelin Star chefs Gary and Emily King, and they are set on creating an exponential cafe experience for all. From the moment you walk in, the aesthetic of the shop is clear. Its elegant, modern, and tasteful. If you're looking for a quiet place sit down and have some breakfast, this is it. Now, more importantly, to the food. They feature a wide selection of traditional and specialty bagels, as well as other baked goods such as muffins, scones, danishes, coffee cakes, and more. The 'bagel bombs' are particularly great. A favorite of the staff is the nutella variation, which nutella is inside the bagel as well as drizzled on it, with sliced bananas on it as well. It's practically a bagel version of a chocolate sundae. If you want something more substantial, their breakfast sandwiches are also popular. A stand-out offering is ‘The Creature’, (with eggs, sausage, hash browns, avocado, American cheese, sausage, your choice of bread). For lunch, there are several different types of sandwiches. Options range from fan favorites such as grilled cheese to innovative new twists on them (like the RB & B Grilled Cheese, with Turkey, cheddar, arugula, and spicy mayo). The customer service is quick and effective. However, it does get very busy around noon on the weekends, so if you want to skip the lines try to get to them during the work week. As for pricing, everything is fairly reasonable for the quality and portion of the food. However, if youre looking for cheaper options, bagels made just a day before are 50% off . Their hours are 6:00 am to 3:00 pm Monday-Saturday and 7:00 am to 3:00 pm Sunday. They are located at 463 Main Street.
f you ever find yourself in the G-Wing on first floor, you may stumble upon a strange sight. At the very end of the left hallway, you can see the top of a mural, the rest covered by lockers. What was the mural originally? Who painted it? And most importantly, was the need for lockers so great they had to cover up a student's artwork? According to veteran art teacher Ms. Phelan, the mural was originally a rendition of a famous Ansel Adams photograph (see right), which depicts a road going into a mountain range. It was accomplished it by projecting the image onto the wall and painting it with acrylics. "Ansel Adams was a tremendously important photographer. His work was influential in showing Americans the beauty of this country. He was very much ahead of his time in terms of understanding the importance of protecting the land," says Phelan. "The student who painted the mural about 15 years ago, had a love for Adams' images of the American West and wanted to share that with the RHS community," says Phelan.
Photo courtesy of Ansel Adams Gallery
The forgotten mural
I
1. Gather ingredients and supplies, and begin by dicing the onion. Rinse the beans, and heat pan to medium high heat and add oil. 2. Add onion and beans. Saute for 1-2 minutes. 3. Crack eggs into a bowl and whisk them until an even and consistent mixture forms. Add eggs to the bean and onion mixture. Cook and stir until the eggs are set. 4. Add the salsa and cheese to the mixture. Stir until combined, and lay out tortillas and top each with egg mixture. Roll up each tortilla into a burrito and enjoy.
Breakfast Burrito
Recipes Every High Schooler Should Know
"This is a great recipe as it is versatile and customizable to all food preferences/needs. It has a balance of protein, carbs, and fats to get through any morning." -- Mrs DeSantis
DIRECTIONS
3
INGREDIENTS
1 Tbsp oil ¼ chopped onion ½ can rinsed canned black beans 4 eggs, lightly beaten ¼ cup salsa ⅓ cup shredded cheese Salt and pepper to taste 4 tortillas
"This is probably the easiest recipe that ever came out of Food Network Kitchen. I’ve been making these every summer for years! I love them because I usually have all of the ingredients on hand, and I can make them ahead of time and just keep them in the freezer for snacking or for a last-minute dessert if friends stop by. " --Maile Carpenter, Editor of the Food Network Magazine
1 pint vanilla ice cream ¼ cup dulce de leche or caramel sauce 48 Ritz crackers or similar butter crackers
Courtesy of Food Network
Ritz Cracker Ice Cream Sandwiches
Place a small rimmed baking sheet or metal tray in the freezer to chill; remove the ice cream from the freezer so it will soften slightly. Working quickly on a different baking sheet or tray, spread 24 crackers with a thin layer of dulce de leche. One at a time, spread each of the 24 remaining crackers with a heaping tablespoon of ice cream and sandwich with the other cracker; place each one in the freezer on the chilled tray as you work. Freeze at least 30 minutes before serving, or freeze until firm, then transfer to a storage container and keep frozen for up to 2 weeks. Note: If your ice cream starts melting too quickly while you’re working, just put it back in the freezer for a bit and start again in a few minutes!
Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
1 cup (5 ounces/142 grams) all-purpose flour 1⁄2 cup (1 1/2 ounces/43 grams) unsweetened cocoa powder 1 teaspoon baking powder 1⁄4 teaspoon baking soda 1⁄2 teaspoon salt 1 1⁄2 cups packed (10 1/2 ounces/298 grams) brown sugar 3 large eggs 4 teaspoons instant espresso powder (optional) 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 4 ounces (113 grams) unsweetened chocolate, chopped 4 tablespoons unsalted butter 1⁄2 cup (3 1/2 ounces/99 grams) granulated sugar 1⁄2 cup (2 ounces/57 grams) confectioner's sugar
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in bowl. 2. Whisk brown sugar; eggs; espresso powder, if using; and vanilla together in large bowl. Combine chocolate and butter in bowl and microwave at 50 percent power, stirring occasionally, until melted, 2 to 3 minutes. 3. Whisk chocolate mixture into egg mixture until combined. Fold in flour mixture until no dry streaks remain. Let dough sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. 4. Place granulated sugar and confectioners’ sugar in separate shallow dishes. Working with 2 tablespoons dough (or use #30 scoop) at a time, roll into balls. Drop dough balls directly into granulated sugar and roll to coat. Transfer dough balls to confectioners’ sugar and roll to coat evenly. Evenly space dough balls on prepared sheets, 11 per sheet. 5. Bake cookies, one sheet at a time, until puffed and cracked and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft (cookies will look raw between cracks and seem underdone), about 12 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through baking. Let cool completely on sheet before serving.
Even with the end of the school year fast approaching, students are still be facing finals, college applications, sports events, and more. According to a CDC study, as of 2021, mental health issues have been on the rise among adolescents, with almost 1/3 of high school students have been dealing with deficient mental health. While some may pin the blame on the Covid 19 pandemic, in reality, mental health problems in teens were increasing long before that - by about 40% in the decade before the lockdown. Fortunately, there are steps that can be taken to improve mental health, including talking with family and friends, as well as taking care of physical health. While most high school students do not get the recommended amount of sleep per night, thanks to factors like the rigorous competition of exams, college admissions, extra-curriculars, and sports, sleep can actually help determine your mood. In the long term, if one does not get adequate sleep, they may be more at risk of getting depression. Even just trying your best to have a regular sleep schedule can have an impact on how you feel. In addition, one’s nutrition can also affect their mental health, with there being a possible correlation between too little vitamin B12 and being depressed. Of course, it’s important to remember to reach out to external sources like the RHS Counseling Department if you need the support.
Eating a healthy diet
Mental Health in Adolescents
Seeking help when you need it
Making sure you get enough sleep
All of the above
by Natalie Chin
A student’s experience using their locker for a week
Meet Me at My Locker
"Wait, I have a locker?" - Charlie LeCroy
If I asked you where your locker is, would you know? Even with RHS's 1,600 students, barely anyone uses them, and teachers are often left wondering why. As a student, it’s only too easy to see. With a such a large school, your locker will almost certainly be out of the way from any of your classes. You can barely fit anything inside them, making their 'usefulness' seem null and void. However, high school students used lockers for decades. If schools across the nation utilized them for years, why don’t we now? They must retain some of their benefits. That's why I decided I would put my thoughts about its uselessness aside, and use my locker for a week so you wouldn’t have to. The troubles began even before the week started. I went to find my locker a few days before the experiment, and lo and behold, it wouldn't open. A main office visit/custodian visit later, my locker was ready and my week could begin. The plan was to go to it three times per day: before school, at lunch, and the end of the day. I also put some books and things for my classes that we used occasionally (for the offhand chance I needed it that day). On Friday, I would finish off the experiment using my locker as my sole form of storage (see results of that later on). It's also worth mentioning my locker is found on the A-wing 3rd floor, so it is in a horribly inconvenient location.
They say the first day’s the hardest, and today that sure was true. Nothing beats having to walk up 3 floors and through 2 wings to get a lunchbox (with the locker door to not opening the first 4 times I tried it). However, I was able to put some things in it, so it was not a total waste. But it is fairly inconvenient.
Tuesday:
I found out that just closing your locker doesn't lock it. Thank goodness no one stole any of my school textbooks and notebooks so I couldn't do the classwork . . . what a shame that would be. Anyway, I've really gotten used to using it. At this point, I can confidently say that its not that bad!
The final lesson of this story is that your locker may not be used in your day to day life, but it is definitely worth knowing where it is and how to open it. When you have something for a class, an umbrella, or anything you don't want to lug around all day, a locker is a game changer. If you want to know how to find and use your locker, all information will be in the School Info tab (the last one) on Powerschool. I do recommend giving it a go. It's not as bad as you think!
To finish up my locker experiment, I decided to fully go 'backpackless' (with my bag only holding the things I needed for my next class). And the results were unexpected. My teachers were asked to excuse any minor tardiness, but I was not late to any of them. On top of this, my backpack was at least 10 pounds lighter than usual. However, I did feel I was going back and forth for my locker for pretty much no reason. And at the end of the day, missing my bus was a real possibility (one that was avoided though!).
Friday:
Monday:
“Back in the day, everyone had a magnetic mirror inside their locker, to check hair and makeup and things like that. We’d also put up pictures, movie posters, and varsity letters. it was so much fun.” -Ms. Hughes
Bottom Line:
Thursday:
:
It's very inconvenient. With a new schedule of classes, getting to my locker got a lot more difficult. However, it is really funny to see my teachers faces when I ask to go to my locker to get a notebook she said we'd use today (spolier alert, we didn't). Though, on the flip side of that, missing 10 minutes of a lesson on a new concept definitely wasn't ideal.
Wednesday:
“I didn't use it as a Freshman. As a sophomore, I used it, and I never went back. It made life a lot easier because you can manage your books and things like that. You just had to make time to swing by and pick it up.” -Mr. Arcieri
Today rained, so my umbrella finally had a home instead of the side of my bag. In situations like these, the benefits of the lockers are clear. I put all my friends rain gear in as well. When I also put my unused gym clothes as well (along with some books), my view on their usefulness definitely changed, at least for today.
June's Quirky Holidays: A Fun Fest of the Unusual by Hannah Agwu
As the end of the school years draw near and the summer weather begins to come around, what’s a better time to celebrate some wacky national holidays this June? This summer, make it a bucket list to celebrate each event with friends and family, making a memorable start to the summer! June 1st: National Olive Day – Ever heard of the olive theory? Well, it doesn’t matter for June 1st! Go to your local supermarket and buy a jar of olives. Enjoy! June 2nd: National Rotisserie Chicken Day – For this special day, I encourage you to stop by Costco to purchase a delicious $4.99 chicken! June 3rd: National Egg Day – Whether scrambled, hard boiled, or poached, enjoy some delicious eggs today! June 4th: National Cheese Day – Try out some new cheesy delights at your local farmer’s market! June 5th: National Veggie Burger Day – Fast food brands such as Burger King and Wendy’s have some affordable and tasty options to celebrate! June 6th: National Yo-Yo Day – Reminisce this popular childhood activity! June 7th: National Chocolate Ice Cream Day – Not my personal favorite, but stop by Debroah Annes and try out some delicious chocolate ice cream! June 8th: National Best Friends Day – Hang out with some of your closest friends and celebrate! June 9th: National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day – what even is Rhubarb? Who knows but pies are delicious! June 10th: National Egg Roll Day – stop by your favorite Chinese restaurant! June 11th: National Corn on the Cob Day – smoother some butter and devour some corn! June 12th: National Peanut Butter Cookie Day – Stop by some bakeries or stores like Crumbl Cookie to try a delicious peanut butter cookie! June 13th: National Softball Day – Calling all RHS softball players! Today is your day! June 14th: National Strawberry Shortcake Day – Celebrate by eating some delicious shortcake while watching the adorable cartoon! June 15th: National Photography Day – “say cheese!” June 16th: National Fudge Day (and Father’s Day!) – enjoy some fudge with your father! June 17th: National Cherry Tart Day – Now, I never tried a cherry tart but you bet on June 17th I will! June 18th: National Sushi Day – California? Shrimp Tempura? Take a visit to Mannen or other Asian/Japanese restaurants to celebrate! June 19th: National Watch Day (Juneteenth is the real holiday here, but we're celebrating the silly) – Celebrate your love for watches while also celebrating this historic holiday! June 20th: National Vanilla Milkshake Day – Strawberry? Oreo? Chocolate? You pick and you celebrate! June 21st: National Selfie Day – strike a pose! June 22nd: National Onion Ring Day – Forget french fries, try some delicious rings! June 23rd: National Detroit-Style Pizza Day – We may live in New England but a little Detroit pizza never hurt anyone! June 24th: International Fairy Day – Watch some childhood fairy shows or movies like Tinkerbell! June 25th: National Catfish Day – No, not like the MTV show … try some catfish at your local seafood restaurant! June 26th: National Coconut Day – coconut candies or desserts are the perfect way to celebrate! June 27th: National Sunglasses Day – Gucci? Ray-Bans? Whatever brand it is, go ahead and rock your shades! June 28th: National Tapioca Day – Stop by your local Boba Tea location and drink some delicious tea with tapioca pearls. June 29th: National Camera Day – Take some beautiful pictures as you walk around! June 30th: National Social Media Day – Upload a picture/video of your summer vacation onto TikTok or Instagram! For extra points take one with a friend or family member! Want to know more? Visit the following article: “June holidays and observances to add to your 2024 calendar” by Today.com
A Critique of Ethical Frameworks
Let's imagine that after a hard-won election, you’ve become a legislator in the U.S. congress. Your new job is to decide what laws should go into effect, and a bill comes up proposing to relieve student loan debt. Would you vote to pass the bill or reject it? How would you make that decision? There are convincing arguments on both sides -- advocates for the bill might tell you that relieving student debt would boost the economy, while opponents would argue that people should be held responsible for their personal decisions. Ultimately, you need a way of weighing these arguments, which is where ethical frameworks come in. An ethical framework is a set of priorities that would help guide you in your decision by showing you what to focus on in the issue. For example, deontology is a framework that would tell you the line between right and wrong is defined by a few universal moral constants like “Don’t cheat,” “Don’t lie” or “Don’t steal.” Now, that sounds great on paper, but if you look into deontology some pretty glaring questions come up that challenge how useful the framework is. If a deranged ax murderer broke into your house and demanded to know where your family was hiding, would you lie to save their lives or tell the truth and doom them to the feral whims of the killer because “lying is bad”? It’s pretty obvious what you should do here because taking a purely moral standpoint is impractical in the real world, especially when you’re dealing with people’s lives. You (hopefully) would lie to the ax murderer because you want to save your family’s lives, a direct effect of your decision. After all, real-world impacts matter, and that’s where the framework of utilitarianism comes into play. Utilitarianism is the idea that if you need to make a decision, the right course is the one that maximizes happiness and well-being for the greatest number of people. Again, at first glance utilitarianism seems like a pretty solid framework. Happiness is something we all want, and the decision that generates the greatest amount of it should always be the right one. However, the key flaw in utilitarianism, similar to deontology, is in its tunnel vision: all it cares about is impact. Immorality doesn’t factor into the equation with utilitarianism. It doesn’t matter if you have to lie, steal, cheat, or kill to create the most amount of happiness. It doesn’t matter if you have to torture millions to save billions or perpetually ignore the needs of minority groups when they clash with the interests of the majority--the will of the most people will always take precedence, no matter how twisted the motives and methods may be in fulfilling it. In this way, utilitarianism is like the philosophical embodiment of “by any means necessary.” There are also other dilemmas that make the concept of pure utilitarianism questionable. One proposed by philosopher Robert Nozick was the thought experiment of the utility monster, an entity that derives more happiness from the same effects than regular people. For example, if you or I would gain 10 happiness points by eating a brownie, the utility monster would instead gain 20 happiness points from that same brownie. Therefore, by the logic of utilitarianism, all brownies must go to the utility monster because it’s the decision that maximizes net happiness. Similarly, if the utility monster derived 100 happiness points by busting Ridgefield’s infrastructure while everyone affected by the destruction would lose a total of 70 points of happiness, since allowing the utility monster to destroy roads and buildings would lead to a net +30 happiness points, utilitarianism dictates that we should all go homeless to serve ‘the greater good.’ Evidently, whether it’s a complete focus on morality like deontology, or consequentialism like utilitarianism, problems arise when you rely on one ethical framework in a bubble. That’s why there’s no one superior ethical framework that should be used in isolation -- ethical frameworks tell you to play the weighing game, but to make good decisions you have to go meta and weigh the frameworks themselves, leaving them open to personal bias and opinion. That’s why on the student loan relief dilemma, as well as every other problem in politics and life, there will rarely be a definitive correct answer. All you can hope to do is distill problems into logic using ethical frameworks and decide the ultimate course of action by your own values.
by Elijah Yurkovsky
America is a land of many things; music, phones, TV, but one thing stands as the pinnacle of them all; laziness. In this country, one can curse and stumble in the streets without catching dirty looks from anyone. This is what makes America so great. But it didn't used to be this way. I guess dignity has always been on the decline. First it was little things, like a kid blowing his nose in the classroom, but as the years have gone on, people have started to care less and less about how others view them. Seventy years ago it was conventional to wear a suit and tie to the airport. Now catching someone on an airplane in anything more than sweatpants is as rare as a snake’s foot. But when did this decline start? Some may accredit our increasing laziness to the Vietnam War, when nationalism took a major hit. Others may claim phones are to blame. But both of these notions are wrong. December 17th, 1989, the United States of America was struck with the most polarizing, provoking, and down-right revolutionary event it had seen since its creation; the release of Matt Groening’s, “The Simpsons.” The Simpsons, a show whose simplicity masks its complexity, is about many things. But one stands at the forefront of them all; America. Homer, the lovable village idiot represents the average American; simple and lazy. Homer’s simplistic personality is met with love, but why? Why do we like Homer Simpson? There’s no denying that Homer is a flawed character -- he's supposed to be. Simpsons writer John Swartzwelder suggested that, “Homer may embody all seven deadly sins.” Many aspects of his character are quite unpleasant, if not downright unflattering; at times he is reckless, ignorant, impulsive, and over-emotional. He is the spitting image of how people from other countries stereotype Americans; an overweight, lazy, dimwitted consumer. You can call Homer many things but one thing you can’t call him is pretentious. Homer Simpson is the real deal. He doesn't hide behind a sanctimonious persona. The truth is that we like Homer because he represents all of us, whether we want to admit it or not. In complete contrast to ambition and discontent, Homer embodies a totally opposite but equally American ideal; laissez-faire. The attitude of letting the world around you run its own course. Such is the essence of freedom and individual liberty. Only by relinquishing control over others can we ensure our own agency to do as we please. Laissez-faire is most commonly mentioned in economics as the key principle of capitalism, which, depending on who you ask, is the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems. Laissez-faire created Homer, but it also created Mr. Burns. Is true freedom even attainable if its unaltered state inevitably resurrects tyranny? Pretty much every political system today exists to answer this question in one way or another. Realizing the endlessness of political debate can send one into a nihilistic outlook on society at large, but Homer Simpson may offer us a way out. Despite his many flaws, Homer manages to reach a state of modern day enlightenment. His childlike ignorance has liberated him from the cult of work. He somehow exists in total harmony with the frustration of 20th century life. In a world where everything has become so complex, Homer offers a return to simplicity. Sometimes the best rebellion against the system is to exploit it. But what is America without simplicity, without the plain-spoken sentences of Ernest Hemmingway, the simplistic outlook of Ralph Waldo Emerson? Blowing your nose in class is American, is free, is you and I, and if you want someone to thank, look no further than Homer Simpspon.
by Micah Cohen
font courtesy of textstudio.com
All images of The Simpsons are trademark of 20th Century Fox