October 19, 2018

Caleb Olinger
LifeAtStart.com Reporter

The 57 Bus is a book based on a true story. The events are told from interviews and news reports on the subject. The book goes by first name for anyone involved to protect at least some of their identity but all the materials used are all public record.

The events that took place happened on November 4th, 2013. Sasha, a white, high-end, gender-queer, senior in high school, was taking the 57 bus home and fell asleep during the ride. Richard, a black, low-end, straight, senior in high school, and two of his friends notice Sasha is a boy wearing a skirt. In an attempt to pull a prank on him, they try to light Sasha’s skirt on fire with one of their lighters. It goes terribly wrong and Sasha’s whole skirt goes into a blaze and he gets severe burns all over his legs. Richard is then faced with life in prison because of the hate crimes that come with his original sentence.

Now I enjoyed the book, the author did a pretty good job telling everyone’s story. The book however had some things in it that I believe were very biased. Now this wouldn’t make me upset most of the time but the book tries not to seem that way and does it anyway. What I mean by that is Sasha pretty much feels like the main character. He is at the start of the book, grammar is changed around so he is referred to as they/them, and a lot of useless information about them is thrown into the mix.

All Richard gets is a chapter to himself and nothing else really. After his chapter he has very short parts in the book. As for Sasha they get a lot of, this is what they did after what happened, but it just seems as if it’s just trying to make Sasha look like the hero of the situation but really did nothing but get better and forgave Richard. All the other stuff like a ball they went to, or their friends’ stories were really unnecessary and was just a way to avoid Richard’s side of the story.

The book as a whole is terrible but it’s still a good read. A lot of things I didn’t know were used and explained well in the book. So if you can past all of the they/them pronouns and want to learn about the situation I’d suggest picking it up.

I learned about this book from the book club at Start High School. We vote on books at the end of every month and meet every other Wednesday from 3:00 to 4:30 in Ms. Wit’s room. For more information contact me at my email [email protected]. We are reading the Book Thief this month and I can’t wait to discuss it with you.

Soft-heart

Kiyana Rome

Mary Mandley

October 19, 2018

By Kiyana Rome
LifeAtStart.com reporter

“Soft-hearted people are not fools, they know what people did to them but they forgave again and again because they have beautiful hearts.” – Anonymous

I believe that this quote reflects on me so much. Even though people can be selfish and cruel, there are always people in the world that will always care for them no matter what the situation is. If you run into someone with a soft heart, you will never be pushed to the side.

There was a point where my best friend and I had a fight and she turned some people, including my friends, against me. Yes, it hurt my feelings badly, because we’ve been through so much together. She began talking about me to different people, but as soon as she needed something, I was still right there. Some people might say, “That’s stupid,” “You’re weak,” or “Why would you do that?” Sometimes, I don’t even know how to respond, or I’ll just say, “That’s just the way I am.”

There’s nothing wrong with having a soft-heart, but I have to hold my guard up to certain people that want to hurt me purposely. It’s not fun to have a person you love or strongly care about just treat you like a doormat but you have to love or care about yourself before loving or caring about anyone else, no matter who it is.

Tony Packo’s

Autumn Kirkham

Mary Mandley

October 19, 2018

By Autumn Kirkham

Lifeatstart.com reporter
I work at Tony Packo’s on Secor road. We’re famous for our hot dogs and Hungarian food. I’ve been working there for about four months now. I love my job and the people I work with. They make my job less stressful and more fun. I’m always laughing and having a good day at work.

The customers are usually nice but there is always days where customers are rude. I have weekly customers who come in and know me right away. I always greet them and take their order and make sure each experience is better then the last.

My favorite position to work would be front line. Front line consists of taking care of customers who are dining in. They come to the counter where all our food is and give me their order. As I make it, I interact with them and ask them what their side is if they have a certain special or combo that included a side or whatever else, along with asking them how their day is. I always up-sell because that’s apart of my job requirement, is to make the customers feel like we’re trying to make it a good experience for them. When I up-sell I’m always asking if they would like to add a dog or a side for $1.99 or add cheese to the dog because cheese is 59 cents extra. My job is pretty pricey but if you like hot dogs and Hungarian food, the price is always worth it.

I also get really good hours and good pay. All my managers are nice and considerate when it comes to time off work as well. We’re allowed to request time off work as much as we want as long as it’s a week or two in advance and it’s for a logical reason. I love my job and plan to stay there until I graduate.

Homecoming breakdown

Mary Mandley

October 19, 2018

By Cari Floyd

Lifeatstart.com reporter

The week of Homecoming is supposed to be a time where a school comes together, has fun, and shows their school spirit. Unfortunately, that’s not the case at Start.

Homecoming is planned by Student Body Government and we put in a lot of time and effort to make sure it’s fun for everyone.
Homecoming planning isn’t just about decorations and food. We have to deal with spirit days, themes, pep rallies, and much more. All of these things don’t just happen over night, it takes weeks to get everything planned out perfectly, approved, and set into stone.

Our spirit days are based off the theme for the actual dance, which students have the opportunity to vote on. This years theme was “A Night in Paris.” All of our ideas for spirit days tied into that theme, such as “tourist day” and “Pair-is day.” Many students didn’t like the days chosen so they changed them to themes that they thought were better. This was a huge slap in the face to all the members of SBG because we spent so much time planning everything out. There was so much arguing over these days when the whole thing could’ve been avoided. If you didn’t like the days chosen, you didn’t have to participate at all. If you wanted to have an input on the homecoming week, anyone could’ve showed up to SBG meetings and shared their opinions.

What was supposed to be a fun week turned into an upsetting week very quickly. Having an opinion is fine but, if you’re going to make it public, please do it in a respectful manner. Also, take into consideration how much time and effort people could have put into something before you try to bash it.

If anyone wants to voice their opinions about changes in the school or future spirit days please join us at SBG meetings every Thursday at 3 o’clock in room 158. I’d love to see you all there.

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