Later on this afternoon, the authors of The Forest Scout will distribute their third newspaper magazine of the 2018-18 school year across LFHS. Newspaper magazines will be placed in newsstands outside of the library, outside of the Booster Spirit Store, outside of the Humanities Resource Center, and in the upper commons.
Feel free to take a newspaper magazine and read some of the best writing TFS has to offer, covering issues like the student-led walkout, spring sports, parents in the senior parking lot and much more.
Grace Scheidler’s full Editor’s Note from this edition, which covers TEDxLFHS and more is attached below:
Here at The Forest Scout, we pride ourselves in being honest, true to the voice of the student body, and in tune with the happenings inside of LFHS. Over the course of the past few weeks, this has been especially true, and on a deeper level than op-eds about dances or senior privileges. With the new year came an onslaught of societal issues that may seem too heavy for a high school population; however, LFHS has truly risen to the occasion. Students have found their voice, and haven’t been afraid to make it heard. High school is typically characterized as a time where everyone just wants to blend in, but recently everyone has handled differences in opinion with respect and an open mind. On March 14th, students had the chance to take part in a national movement to honor the victims of the school shooting in Florida. Many sounded off on the topic through The Forest Scout, Facebook, or other means, and regardless of whether you sat in the Commons, stood outside, or stayed in your classroom, each student recognized that the only wrong decision was not standing by your own beliefs.
Later on that same week, students again embraced this schoolwide peaceful activism through the annual TEDxLFHS event. TEDx came back for its third year running to inspire attendees with talks from students, staff, and others from the local community. While for some, this opportunity might simply appear to have been a chance to cut class, those who attended TEDx can attest to the fact that there’s much more to this event that meets the eye.
A common complaint from any high schooler is the real-world application (or lack thereof) of whatever they happen to learning at the moment. Be it calculus, chemistry, or Catcher in the Rye, the lack of real-life relevance is often what keeps students from investing themselves in their work. If we consider all that a Ted Talk entails, it’s actually quite surprising that more students aren’t chomping at the bit with this kind of opportunity at their fingertips. Think for a moment about the value that these talks hold. As a listener, you are privileged to hear a perspective unique from your own, and to have the opportunity to grow. As a speaker, they have had the enormous undertaking of choosing a topic, researching it, developing their argument, and then to top it all off, articulating it in such a way that it hits home with their audience.
These talks act for those students speaking as a bridge between high school and the real world. In high school, you accumulate knowledge for yourself, and it’s never shared much beyond the Scantron in front of you on test day. However, through a TED talk, not only are you required to research a topic past the point where you can regurgitate the information on an exam, but also be able to convey a message with passion to a group of peers. After college, your boss won’t care that you can bubble in scripted answers about a client or an issue. You’ll need to be able to absorb facts and create a compelling case to make a difference in the world, and that’s what these talks are doing. For those who have attended TEDx events in the past, or have watched videos of them on YouTube, you know just how powerful these can be. Hearing someone speak with passion about something they care about is always moving, but especially so when it’s someone you go to school with.
From Dr. Matt Dewar’s thought-provoking talk on mindfulness that opened with him recalling the day six years ago that he walked into a classroom full of students who’d just found out a classmate had taken their own life; to Kate Stephenson’s poignant original song, “Say Something”; to Tessa Kerouac’s moving, courageously honest talk about her journey with OCD and destigmatizing therapy, each TED talk had an extra dimension of gravity that speaks to the recent environment at the school. Though the world around us may be chaotic and confusing, it has gifted us as students with a unique perspective on the world that is wise beyond our years. We know that we are not too young to make a change in this world, and I could not be prouder to be a part of such an amazing community.
