Author’s Note: I plan for this to be a recurring article in every monthly edition of The Insquirer. As The Insquirer is currently scheduled to be released toward the end of the month, we’ll get to relive the previous month together for a brief moment through my words. The ranking system for events is based entirely on my own opinion, so it is completely biased. If you have any problems with my rankings, you know how to contact me. If you have any event suggestions, you know how to contact me. -Anthony Hoffman
- Teacher Convention
On the 18th of the month, school released at 11:30 to kick off the long weekend due to the Teacher’s Convention. While teachers headed to Holland for seminars on teaching and the like, students found themselves with two days off to enjoy. These days off gave students some opportunities to catch up on sleep, pick up a few extra hours at work, come up with a 2 state solution, hang out, or do anything else they wanted to over the break. It was a nice, refreshing few days but school picked up in full swing on Monday.
- TBH app
For the first week of October, the TBH app was the social network of choice for students at the high school. TBH stands for “to be honest”, and the app was the epitome of the phrase. The premise of the app is simple: a phrase will be presented, such as “Most likely to pull the fire alarm” or “Always smiling” and then presents 4 names of other students who have joined the app. You then choose which of the 4 students you think most complete the phrase. The person who was selected receives an anonymous notification of what they were chosen for. Yes, this concept captivated high schoolers for multiple weeks. Students were seen during break, during class, before and after school tapping on their phones incessantly to pick their friends for hypothetical situations. It was really an epidemic but has since died down. That’s the trend with these new social network apps- 2 or 3 weeks of strong support but a harsh decline in usage. In the end, it was fun while it lasted but good that it’s over.
- The Discipline Rubric
Halfway through the month, the students found themselves confused about pictures of a “rubric” system for reprimanding students in the Calvin middle school surfaced amongst the high schoolers. Was the system coming to the high school? The rubric highlights different “level” offenses, ranging from hurtful sarcastic comments at level 1 to real verbal or physical abuse at level 4. The punishments increase as well, going from a “15-second intervention” or a “silent lunch” at a level 1 to in-school suspension at level 4. With the threat of lunch in silence on the horizon, students took a much more lighthearted approach to the system coming to the high school. All throughout the halls, teachers heard “There’s a level 1 going on over here” and various other comments from students trying to get their friends in trouble, along with a good laugh. Recently it was confirmed that the rubric system will not be making its way to the high school, much to the disappointment of the student body.
- Halloween
Halloween came early this year at CCHS as the culmination of Fall Fest week. On the 27th, the students donned their spooky,silly, and slacking costumes to try to earn points for their class. The students really went all out this year, with appearances from Superman & Batman, The cast of Monster’s Inc., world-famous rapper Lil Yachty, Donald Trump, and many others. There was even a reported sighting of former teacher Kenneth VerHulst. We can only hope to be graced with his presence one more time in this life. Congratulations to Adam Gruppen for winning best costume despite impersonating a teacher. I hope all of those costumes were put to good use the following Monday night, trick or treating until the streetlights turned off.
- Football Season Ends
The Squires Football team did not exactly have the season they wanted this year, finishing 1-8 overall with a 1-5 OK Silver conference record. The team was lead by 8 seniors: Sam Elliott, Matt Grotenhuis, Brennan Hendrickson, Anthony Hoffman, Eric Hoogland, Vinny Niewiek, Brandon Steenstra, and Turner Terborg. The boys struggled all season but had fun the whole time while doing it. There were some scary moments, like when Brandon was carted off the field at the Allendale game, or when Vinny completely ran Brennan over, but students and parents stuck around through all 9 games to cheer them on. Thank you to all the fans who supported the team. And one last time, thank you, seniors, for all your hard work over the years.
- Game Night
The Student Life Committee held a game night at school on the 27th day of the month as a fundraiser for the students we support at Zuni Christian School. Game Night was a complete success with students playing board and card games in the TLC and a 4 on 4 volleyball tournament in the gym. The concessions stand was open, selling pop and snacks with all proceeds going toward a great cause. Congrats to the winning volleyball team. Their eternal bragging rights are priceless.
- Fall Fest
The final full week of October is traditionally Fall Fest, and this year was no different. Fall Fest is a week full to the brim with fun and exciting activities such as special assemblies and dress up days. On Monday the students dressed in flannel, Tuesday saw students supporting their favorite college or sports team with apparel and jerseys, Wednesday had the seniors wearing red, juniors orange, sophomores yellow, and freshman brown, Thursday was pajama day (if anyone could stay awake in their comfy clothes), and Friday culminated with an early Halloween costume party. Participation in the dress up days earned points for the classes, along with placings in the special assemblies. On Tuesday, the seniors gave a great effort and placed well in Tug of War, and Friday’s assembly was a mash-up of smaller games and competitions between class representatives. They were all fun to watch, but easily the highlight was Lal Sunthang going waist-deep in a bucket of water while bobbing for apples. That’s not a figure of speech – his entire torso was soaked, but he came in first place, bobbing up every apple in the bucket. In the end, the seniors had the most points to no one’s surprise as they are so obviously the dominant class.
- Yearbook Released
The 2016-17 yearbook was distributed on October 30th this year at the annual Shadow Party. Held in the old study hall, the yearbook girls did a fantastic job handing out yearbooks to all those who preordered with great speed and efficiency. Throughout the whole party, students congregated to sign each other’s yearbooks and maybe even leave some encouraging words. It was great to see all those who attended with such excitement getting to relive all of their experiences from last school year through the yearbook. With hundreds of pages of pictures, this year’s yearbook was quite the success. We look forward to seeing what the yearbook crew has in store for next year. Thanks for all of your hard work!
- Yearbook Criticisms
On October 31st, a junior student made his Twitter debut with a list of errors found in the 2016-17 yearbook. It was clear that the student spent some time scouring the yearbook for grammatical errors, false identifications, absences, and anything else that was just plain wrong. With 15 retweets and over 50 likes, the student’s tweet has to be an early contender for the Calvin Christian tweet of the year. The tweet sparked an uproar amongst the yearbook staff and teachers to no one’s surprise. Multiple anonymous students create anonymous accounts to duke it out in the tweet’s replies section. The student has not since redacted his statements about the yearbook, but this student has since volunteered to bring editing expertise to the yearbook staff.
- Mr. Olthoff New Hair
On the final day of the month, local Algebra and Physics teacher Mr. Olthoff debuted a new look so vastly different from his past that I’m still not sure it isn’t an imposter. Say goodbye to the 70’s era flowing locks and usher in the modern short and trimmed cut on Mr. Olthoff. Don’t worry- the hair will be put to good use. Narrowly beating out saving the hair in his basement to knit a sweater out of, Mr. Olthoff decided that donating his hair was the best option for him. He waited to cut it off until it had reached the length required to donate it to a wig-making organization. Despite the new look, Mr. Olthoff is still his old self, impressing students with problem-solving skills and laidback attitude. So don’t worry; new hair, same him.
