VOL. 2 NO. 01 NOVEMBER 2024 From the students of Arcadia High School By Ahva Ghazanfari The students of Arcadia are all about working hard – but they don’t forget to play hard, too. Senior Ava Bramini has brought together the school’s most exuberant students through a brand new organization: Bingo Club. Describe some of the events or activities the club organizes. Right now, we’re running bingo games with prizes during lunch. We’re hoping to expand to visits at local senior centers to play bingo with them, and we’d love to organize a school-wide fundraiser. The club is all about giving students a fun break from the usual school routine. What are its goals? Our main goal is to get more members to show up and make our events as enjoyable as possible. We also want to set up a fundraiser where students and parents can join in for a bingo night to support our club and school. What inspired you to create the bingo club? I had a blast playing bingo with friends over the summer, and I wanted to bring that excitement to school. As a senior, I really want to make the most of my last year at Arcadia, and leading this club helps me do that. What advice would you give to someone interested in joining or starting a similar organization? Show up and show out. The only thing holding you back is yourself, so don’t hold yourself back from doing things you enjoy. Come to Bingo Club and bring your friends for some lighthearted competition! College Application Time For high school seniors, it’s one of the scariest times of the year: college application season. For most, applications will be due early January, but for the brave few applying Early Decision, the reckoning has come. Applying to college is one of the most daunting tasks out there. Not only must you decide if you’re ready to move away from home and where to go, but you must also devise how to get in. Here are a couple of tips to help with the application process: • Keep a calendar of all deadlines for your college choices, so that you have everything in one place and are not trying to do mental gymnastics figuring out when to apply. • Focus on your strengths. You might be really bad at soccer. Colleges don’t want to hear about that. They want to hear about your strong leadership skills on that soccer team even if you weren’t a star player. • Don’t repeat yourself in your personal statement. Colleges are looking at that to get an idea of who you are. Including information about yourself that can be found elsewhere in your application is not helpful. • Extracurriculars are anything you do outside of school (besides sleeping!). You don’t have to be in a sport or a club to have extracurricular activities. Do you paint? Read? Sew? All of these things are extracurriculars that can go in your application. College application season doesn’t have to be scary. Make the most of it and do your best, and you’ll end up at the college that’s right for you. – Maya Campbell The Season of Thanks November is here, and it’s time for us to slow down and recognize what we are grateful for. In our fast-moving world, finding time to appreciate the things that matter the most to us can be difficult. Sharing our gratitude is a way to acknowledge what we have and improve our physical and mental health. The students of Arcadia High have shared what they are thankful for this Thanksgiving season. Many wanted to thank our wonderful teachers for providing help when we needed it most. Students also shared thanks for their support systems outside of school. Senior Kendall Sawkiw said she is grateful for her parents, sisters and her dog, Rex. “I get so much love and support from my family. I don’t know what I would do without them,” Kendall said. Students Maya Campbell and Karlee Larche-Albee are also grateful for their friends and loved ones. They appreciate how they make it a little easier to relax and have fun amidst the stress of the school year, and are grateful for the lifelong friendships and connections they have found in the community at Arcadia. “It’s nice to have people who understand what I’m experiencing at school and who also want to hang out and have fun outside of school,” Maya said. – Amelia Guzman Arcadia Bingo Club: Where classmates connect The Bingo Club encourages students and staff to try something new during their lunch break – and maybe win a prize in the process! PHOTO COURTESY OF AVA BRAMINI 480.946.5076 4130 n marshall way • scottsdale art one gallery | foundation Representing students and local artists of Arizona since 1993 artonegalleryinc.com @artonegalleryinc Good Morning Birds by Jeremy Bruno • acrylic on canvas • 20” x 10” x .75” • $150