Myers Park Hoofprint

The Myers Park High School Newspaper

Kate Alexander-Heyward

A Beginner’s Guide to Tidepooling

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If you’re a nature lover like me and you’re going to the beach this summer, tidepooling is the perfect opportunity to explore the local ecosystem! Tidepools are small pockets of seawater nestled between rocks in the ocean’s intertidal zone. The small pools of water can house organisms such as urchins, sea stars, barnacles, sea anemones, octopuses, and crabs. However, what makes tidepooling such a unique experience is that it’s not always accessible. These pockets between the rocks are swallowed by the ocean during high tide, so you have to check the tidal charts before planning your trip. You’ll want to go during the low tide with daylight when the ocean recedes to reveal the intertidal area (including the tidepools). In general, you’ll want a low tide that is less than one foot (the lower, the better). 

There are a few  basic rules any tidepooler should follow in order to make sure they are not harming the fragile ecosystem and can fully enjoy the experience. When tidepooling, you should practice the “leave no trace” mentality, making sure to not take shells or leave any waste behind. A simple shell might not look like much to you, but they are homes to crustaceans. Removing any items from the tidepool is never okay—if every tidepool visitor took a rock or shell from the ecosystem, soon there would be nothing left. You should also make sure to watch your step, as organisms may be laying on the rocks. Though flip flops are the general beach attire, I don’t recommend wearing them to tidepools—the rocks are slippery, and sneakers or other close-toed shoes will keep you from falling.

Patience is key when it comes to tidepooling. Your approach to the pool may cause organisms to go into hiding, but if you wait it out for 5-10 minutes and make sure your shadow isn’t cast over the pool, those animals will come back out and you can observe their beauty from afar. “From afar” is important—don’t touch, pick up, or move any of the animals! Some of these animals may be poisonous and you could be causing yourself harm. Not to mention, disturbing them can cause serious injury to the animals! Take seastars, for instance, their legs are covered in hundreds of little suction cups that help them hang on to rocks, and lifting these creatures can cause their cups to tear off. This is only one example, and any disruptive behavior such as touching can cause irreversible damage to the organism that is often invisible to our eyes. 

To see cool organisms, look out for rocky overhangs and crevices in the rocks. Many animals take shelter from the sun in these locations. Not everything will be visible simply from standing—try squatting or looking from new angles to discover hidden organisms. When I was tidepooling in Hawaii last summer, I was lucky enough to see helmet urchins, sea turtles, lichens, and purple shore crabs. I found a huge cluster of urchins that was hiding in a crevice, so check out every possible location, even if it doesn’t look promising at first! Seeing these organisms in person is an eye-opening experience that I recommend to everyone who has the chance. Something I also like to do when I tidepool is take notes or pictures on my phone of the organisms’ appearances, so I can look them up when I get home and find out more about them. 

If you keep these guidelines in mind, you might have the chance to see some amazing animals during your next trip to the beach! Happy tidepooling!

Summer Suggestions

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With summer right around the corner, you might be in the market for some fun activities to occupy your time for the coming months! Fortunately, Charlotte and the surrounding areas have plenty to check out during your break from school. From a new Marvel Universe exhibit at Discovery Place to taking a day trip to the Whitewater Center, or seeing some of the best beaches in the Carolinas, there is more than enough to stay busy with during the warmer months. 

First, locally, a new Marvel Universe exhibit, “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes,” opened on May 14, 2023 at Discovery Place in Charlotte, NC. The exhibit features everyone from the Marvel Universe, and even a couple of competing universes, including Captain America, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Black Panther, Human Torch, Wolverine, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Captain Marvel and more! According to Discovery Place, the exhibit also includes “more than 300 original artifacts, including some of Marvel’s most iconic costumes, props and original art, much of which have yet to be seen.”

This new attraction marks the only exhibit of “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes” available on the East Coast, and it is sure to not disappoint. The show is also one of the largest exhibitions Discovery Place has ever hosted, spanning 12,000 square feet in a large, new gallery set on the side of the museum near North Tryon Street. However, this magnitude is expected, says Heather Norton, chief science officer, as “New shows are demanding this kind of space.” In terms of logistics, it is recommended that a serious fan of the franchise should anticipate reserving three hours for the experience, but a leisurely stroll through the exhibit to view the artifacts should take no less than 30 minutes. Tickets are now on sale for this exceptional museum located right in Charlotte, so be sure to get yours and check it out this summer!

In addition to the “Marvel: Universe of Super Heroes” museum, another popular local attraction is the U.S. National Whitewater Center, located only roughly 30 minutes outside of Charlotte. There, you’ll never run out of fun activities to try, from whitewater rafting to ropes courses, hiking trails and flatwater kayaking, the Whitewater Center has everything and more! Additionally, if your goal is to get outside, the surrounding North and South Carolina areas host an abundance of top notch beaches, perfect for the hot temperatures. If you’re looking for a peaceful getaway trip this summer, be sure to look into traveling to Figure Eight Island, located 212 miles from Charlotte. This destination is more secluded and features a serene environment for enjoying walks on the beach, swimming, and relaxing. Another popular North Carolina beach is located in Wrightsville, only 8.5 miles from Wilmington. According to National Geographic, Wrightsville is “one of the top surfing towns in the world.” In addition to the beach, the surrounding town is vibrant, walkable, and includes opportunities for shopping, dining, and fun nightlife activities. Another NC favorite includes beaches located at the Brunswick Islands. Popular spots include Bald Head Island, featuring a secluded atmosphere with an abundance of beautiful nature, Caswell Beach, Holden Beach, and Oak Island.

Great beaches aren’t exclusive to North Carolina, though, as South Carolina also boasts plenty of great destinations. Excellent places to check out include Litchfield Beach, which is quiet and home to great restaurants and golf courses, Pawleys Island, where the Hammock Shops are a must-visit, and Hilton Head Island. Additionally, if you’re in Hilton Head, be sure to visit CQ’s Restaurant and the Salty Dog Cafe, two local culinary staples. With plenty of attractions and activities available locally in Charlotte and just a short drive away in the greater Carolinas region, be sure to get out and check things out!

DECA Feature

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Are you looking to get involved in the Myers Park community through competition, community service, leadership, and more? Consider joining DECA! DECA has over 200 members, and it allows marketing students to apply the skills they learn to develop their education outside the academic sphere. Members of the club participate in the annual district competition in November and can compete in the state conference in February, where there is the opportunity to qualify to attend the International conference. Myers Park senior Christopher Mallis, who has served as one of six North Carolina DECA State Officers and is the Metrolina Region Vice President, detailed his DECA experience, saying, “I chose to get involved in DECA to help prepare myself for college and my future endeavors. DECA is much more than just a business and marketing club, which is why I believe anybody and everyone should join and see all the benefits that come with it.”

Mallis has been involved in DECA since his freshman year, and he served as a chapter officer for Myers Park’s branch of DECA during his junior year. He was also elected and has served as one of six North Carolina DECA State Officers for North Carolina DECA. His leadership in this position marks an astonishing 40 years since another student from Myers Park has been a DECA State Officer. Mallis’ work with DECA encompasses involvement within the immediate Mecklenburg county and beyond, as he notes that he has “visited other CMS schools to help promote DECA, and has traveled to states around the country including Georgia and Utah to attend leadership development conferences where I had the opportunity to network with other DECA members, some of which I have become friends with.”

During the  2022-2023 school year, Myers Park’s chapter of DECA has prioritized increasing their scores at the district and state-level competitions. This year’s DECA state conference involved nearly 100 competing students from Myers Park and 4,000 students from all areas of North Carolina. These students traveled to Greensboro to network, visit college and career booths, and compete in qualifying for the International Career Development Conference. Higher scores at the state conference give students a better chance of winning a medal or trophy, and each student’s goal is to place in the top 5 at the state competition because this guarantees them a spot at the International Career Development Conference (ICDC). The ICDC will take place on April 5th in Orlando, Florida this year and offer qualifying students the opportunity to compete and develop their leadership skills further. Additionally, students attending the ICDC  visit Universal Orlando and DisneyWorld while in Orlando.

Participation in DECA is available to any students who are taking or have successfully completed a marketing class at Myers Park. Mallis details the benefits of joining DECA noting, “Even if you are not interested in pursuing a career in business or marketing, the club provides great lifelong learning opportunities that will set yourself apart from others in college applications, job interviews, internships, and more.” 

As a senior closing out his four-year career in DECA, Mallis expressed his gratitude towards the club, stating, “I can confidently say that DECA has improved my life and many others for the better. DECA is by far the best club to join because it combines the aspects of many clubs into one. You can participate in competition, community service, leadership, and educational opportunities all in one club.” Mallis also notes that he has been able to develop various critical skills during his time in DECA, such as public speaking, team collaboration, critical thinking, productivity, and responsibility. If you’re looking to join a fun, skill-building, and involved club in the Myers Park community, be sure to check out DECA!

Queen City’s Newest Museum

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It has been over a decade since Charlotte welcomed a new museum, but this changed when the Museum of Illusions opened its doors on December 9, 2022. As the name suggests, the museum offers more than 60 interactive exhibits all centered around optical illusions. These immersive exhibits include concepts ranging from holograms to an entire room dedicated to a vortex tunnel. According to The Charlotte Observer, while the museum is unique in Charlotte, the concept is not. Instead, the Museum of Illusions is a private chain of museums that originated in Croatia in 2015 and has gained immense popularity in recent years. The opening of the museum in Charlotte marks its 39th location in the world and only seventh in the United States.

In addition to other optical illusion attractions, one of the most coveted rooms and experiences in the new museum is its vortex room, which, according to CEO Jonathan Benjamin, includes the company’s longest, biggest, quietest model, with “extra-high rails” for increased safety. The mechanics behind the vortex utilizes laser lights to generate an illusion that effectively tricks your inner ear into believing the room is actually spinning when, in fact, it is not. Benjamin also comments on his own experience in the vortex tunnel, stating, “I’ve been through hundreds of times and I still have to catch my balance.” Furthermore, to gain access to the vortex room, he advises visitors to take the set of stairs closer to the museum entrance in order to trip the motion sensor and activate the spin cycle.

Many of the attractions center around illusions that are best enjoyed in person during your visit to the museum. However, others offer unique photo opportunities where you can strike a few poses and rotate the images to capture the illusion. Such photo opportunities arise amongst the museum’s room-sized installations, which include staff members, or “Illusion Experts” to explain the illusions and assist visitors in posing for and taking photos. One of these popular exhibits displays a room that appears to be right-side up when the photo is initially taken, but upon rotating the image on a phone, it appears as if participants in the picture are defying gravity and walking on the ceiling. Another sought-after room for pictures is the Ames Room, which creates the illusion that a person standing in one corner of the room is significantly larger than the other person in the opposite corner. This mind trick is achieved through the use of angled floors and ceilings, forced perspective, and distortion.

Caleb Morgan, the museum’s chief illusionist and UNC Charlotte graduate, was asked in a recent interview what being the museum’s chief illusionist entailed. The answers appeared to be mixed. Morgan replied saying, “I’m a full time performer, so I travel all over the country performing, but we’re kind of talking about how we can work together (more)…so we’ll definitely see.”

The efforts that went into the launching and opening of the museum chain’s Charlotte location, which is the largest of all the American locations according to Jonathan Benjamin, did not go unnoticed. During the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the opening of the museum, Jason Harper, a morning anchor for Queen City News, opened by applauding the hard work behind the museum and noting how “the Museum of Illusions staff in Charlotte was probably not sleeping in the last two weeks preparing.” Additionally, he commented on how “all the construction crews…have been working to get everything painted and hung on the wall just right.” The Museum of Illusions is located in Downtown Charlotte on South Tryon Street. With its variety of immersive experiences and exhibits, the possibility of boredom is unlikely, and its attractions are definitely worth a visit.

Rishi Sunak

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In a historical milestone, the U.K appointed its first prime minister of color, Rishi Sunak on October 25, 2022. Sunak is the son of Indian immigrants and won the Conservative Party contest to secure his new position. Prior to serving as prime minister, Sunak was the Conservative MP for Richmond (Yorks) in 2015 and the Parliamentary Private Secretary at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy since June of 2017. Additionally, before his political career, Sunak was the co-founder of an investment firm and utilized this business venture to assist smaller British companies expand.

Sunak has gained control as Britain’s 57th Prime Minister following Liz Truss, who only held office for fifty days. According to The New York Times, he worked to create a cabinet joined together by continuity and stability, with Jeremy Hunt being one of his most significant appointments as chancellor of the Exchequer. Additionally, Sunak kept James Cleverly for the foreign secretary post and Ben Wallace as defense secretary. Suella Braverman, who resigned the previous week due to a breach of security rules, was also re-appointed as home secretary. Since Sunak was formerly the chancellor of Exchequer, it is predicted that he will navigate Britain back into mainstream policies after Truss’s unsuccessful attempt of trickle-down economics. Sunak notes that her policies were “not born of bad intentions” but describes them as “mistakes nonetheless.”

Rishi Sunak has not reached this level of success in his political career without controversy, however, and many critics question how his immense wealth could limit his leadership. 

According to The Times of London, “Mr. Sunak and his wife, Akshata Murty, were worth more than $800 million, and this week, as Mr. Sunak emerged as the winner of the Tory leadership contest, critics immediately picked up on that.” 

Critics are concerned that Sunak’s wealth renders him out of touch and jeopardizes his ability to govern a country where many citizens are living in opposition to his financial conditions. This accusation is not helped by the fact that his government is expected to roll out public spending cuts and tax increases to lower debt levels. 

Nadia Whittome, a member of Parliament with the Labour Party, criticized Sunak’s wealth on Twitter by writing, “Remember this whenever he talks about making ‘tough decisions’ that working-class people will pay for.”

On top of criticism for his financial standings, Sunak’s rise to power has spurred growing demands for the government to call a general election. Britain has had two prime ministers appointed in under two months with only a select percentage of the public having a direct effect on the choice. Sunak was appointed by roughly two hundred Conservative Party lawmakers. Back in September, Liz Truss claimed victory in a runoff party leadership election where less than one percent of the population voted. When Truss announced her resignation, 63% of people polled by YouGov indicated that they believed a general election should be called. After it was announced that Sunak was appointed the new prime minister, 56% of people surveyed by YouGov indicated that they believed he should call an early general election. Britain’s general election system does not directly place a prime minister into office and instead allows members of the public to vote for lawmakers to represent their local constituency of the House of Commons. The individual remains in the seat until Parliament dissolves, and if one party wins the majority of the seats, the party’s leader claims the position of prime minister.

Rishi Sunak’s appointment as both the first prime minister of color and youngest individual to hold the position is historic. United States President Joe Biden noted that Sunak’s leadership was “a groundbreaking milestone” and world leaders from India and other locations acknowledged its significance as well. Although he faces various political challenges, Sunak hopes to settle them through his goals of bringing continuity and stability to the U.K.

SNL in Charlotte

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Over the last decade, Charlotte has made it onto the big screen with filming for entertainment hits such as The Hunger Games and Homeland taking place in and around the city. Now, Charlotte, as well as other surrounding locations such as South Mountain and Crowders Mountain will be the backdrop for a new movie. This new film is written by and starring the members of the Saturday Night Live comedy group Please Don’t Destroy. The New York-based comedy trio, all of whom write and produce videos for Saturday Night Live, includes Ben Marshall, John Higgins, and Martin Herlihy. The trio began working together while attending NYU and founded Please Don’t Destroy in 2017. Since then, they have become a breakout success on SNL, with some of their most popular sketches featuring celebrities such as Taylor Swift, Rami Malek, and Lizzo.

According to Variety, the movie, which currently remains untitled, will follow three childhood friends who decide they don’t like their life trajectory and go in search of a rumored gold treasure hidden in a nearby mountain. Additional members of the cast include former SNL cast member Conan O’Brien and current SNL cast member Bowen Yang. Judd Apatow, who has worked on productions with other SNL members, such as Pete Davidson for the 2020 comedy The King of Staten Island, is producing the film, and Paul Briganti, former SNL director, will be directing the movie. According to the Charlotte Observer, the movie is a recipient of the North Carolina Film and Entertainment Grant and received a $7 million rebate grant. 

Within Charlotte, the movie has been filming in locations around the NoDa area, including the popular restaurant Brooks’ Sandwich House. Josh Church, an executive producer for the project, explained to CharlotteFive that filming the movie in Charlotte allowed for an ideal small town feel for the crew. For filming, the production closed down both Brooks’ Sandwich House and surrounding streets, however, it wasn’t until July that the restaurant learned about the production for the movie. Lauren Brooks, the manager of Brooks’ Sandwich House, said that “they had contacted us through email and at first I thought it was a scam because we get a lot of scam things that happen, but they were interested in doing a Saturday Night Live footage.” 

Brooks voiced her skepticism about the request by explaining how she thought it “really wasn’t going to happen honestly because we’re a little shop all the way in North Carolina and they’re all the way up in New York.” However, when it became apparent that the filming for the movie was legitimate, she said everyone was “really excited about it!”

Brooks’ Sandwich House, currently run by third generation owners Lauren Brooks and her younger brother Teal Brooks, is a local family business that will mark its fiftieth year this January. Brooks detailed how her grandfather established the shop five decades ago, saying “he wasn’t expecting to open up a restaurant but he started experimenting on chili and turns out everybody loved it so much.” The main item the sandwich house is known for, along with their full menu of southern staples, is their cheeseburger all the way, which is a specialty that combines mustard, chili, and onion. 

Filming at this restaurant concluded in late August of this year, and it is predicted that the movie will be released in 2023. It will be exciting to recognize all of the familiar locations in the Charlotte areas featured in the film, as well as anticipate what future productions might come to town next.