Myers Park Hoofprint

The Myers Park High School Newspaper

Reid Heaton

A Culture Unlike Any Other

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It’s more than the product, it’s about the process. Starting about a year before they see the final edition, the new editors for the yearbook meet and start to plan out how they are going to produce a product that will be a symbol for students of their high school years for the rest of their lives. While it starts off with a meeting of the minds, it requires focus on the broad details, and the little details, from the cover design to the punctuation on page 160 for it all to come together. After months of hard work, when students finally get their hands on the yearbook, the smiles and laughter that students experience are all a result of the work and dedication the yearbook team puts into it.
“It’s a very meticulous process, it starts early in the year, we have to design each page, page by page,” said senior Sophie Earnhardt, one of the three Editors In Chief for this year’s yearbook. Sophie has worked alongside Darden Cone and Lexi Barry to lead the staff of 40 people in roles from taking photos, writing captions, and even creating promotional videos to get more people to join the student-led class for the following year. Yearbook is different from any other class on campus, having the opportunity to work alongside fellow peers and create something that will last and hold more memories than any essay or assignment ever would. Another reason yearbook is different from any other class is the diverse opportunities that are offered. “The class is meant for anyone because there is a pictures aspect and a writing aspect that builds skills that help [staff members] for their futures” added Sophie. Sophie herself has used yearbook as a way to grow and change, saying “It helped to get me out of my comfort zone, talk to teachers, talk to students, and build relationships outside and in yearbook.” Sophie will use these relationships, her leadership, and interview skills to help her succeed at the collegiate level and into her personal career. This in itself shows the beauty of the class; it overcomes the norms of what a high school class looks like by emphasizing creativity and self motivation as the driving factors in getting a good product, not a letter grade in Powerschool.
Lia Skufca (12) added, “Yearbook has allowed me to see a lot more of what goes on around the Myers Park community, it allows me to get involved with people I usually would not spend time with.” Along the same lines, Sophie said, “Getting to know Darden and Lexi more, we knew each other, but now we weren’t really friends and we have a really strong bond we wouldn’t have without yearbook”. The main takeaway from these individuals is that the yearbook has built a culture of community. While much of the work may be independent and meticulous, the reason the staff shows up and works hard every day is because of the relationships and the sense of togetherness. It starts at the top, with the seniors who show the way for underclassmen. “I love being able to help people problem solve, and show people different tools to help them succeed,” said Senior Sarah Fox. One of the editors, Lexi Barry, described that as an editor, she has to oversee all of the processes and delegate different tasks to different staff members. This leadership is not only key to the success of the product, but is critical to building the culture of community around the classroom. This culture has allowed for strong relationships such as the ones Lexi, Darden, and Sophie have to form year after year.
If you are looking for a class that will provide you with a different challenge and help you form memories and friendships that last a lifetime, look no further than S-7 and yearbook to help you make the Park your own.

Chasing History: MP Baseball

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If driving past Myers Park High School in the middle of October around 5:30 PM, odds are you will be greeted with the sound of cracking bats and smacking gloves of the Myers Park Mustangs Baseball team practicing for hours and hours despite their season being months away. There is no off season for the Myers Park Baseball team; as soon as school starts up in August the team is in the gym and on the field practicing. Other than mandatory off days for exams, and a month-long dead period in November, the team practices at least four days a week. By the time the season comes around, no team is more conditioned for the gauntlet of the high school baseball season. No team has the same drive to win or bond between teammates; a bond as brothers. This is what separates Myers Park Baseball from the average high school team, and it is why they have a history of continued success. This year’s team is looking to continue their winning tradition, and bring Coach Erik Foor his first ever state championship ring.
Senior Davis Johnson has spent his share of late nights at Myers Park over the years, but says he wouldn’t change it. Johnson said, “practice is the hard part, hitting on the machine we crank it up pretty fast and then when we get to the game it all slows down. The games are just fun and calming, and we are relaxed because of how intense practices are.That’s the goal: just to make it to where the games feel a lot easier than practice.” The long nights paid off for Johnson last year when he established himself as one of the team’s key contributors and leaders. In 2024, Johnson hit an outstanding .310, did not commit a single error throughout the season, and was named to the SoMeck 4A all conference team. While he had a terrific season last year, he and his teammates are hungry for more. This is shown through how the team has committed themselves to the messages the coaching staff have been sending this fall. “I would say the one thing the coaches always tell us is just how we need to stress the little things and not compound mistakes… Another thing that’s stressed is just how important it is to stay ready. You never know who’s gonna heat up and just always be ready and not surprised when your name gets called from the bench,” Johnson said. This focus on detail, and always-ready attitude is what separates this team from other high school baseball programs.
Myers Park Baseball resembles the work ethic and character of a collegiate level program, and as a result they have experienced success. Last year, the Mustangs had 6 players named all conference and sent four athletes to compete at the division one level. As a team, they were able to win a thriller over South Meck to secure the Conference Championship. Johnson said, “I know we went down early, they were hitting the ball around and we just slowly kept crawling back and fighting back, and when we got that winning run across the plate it was a feeling like no other, just running into the outfield and dogpiling. It was just so good to see all the guys celebrate together, proving ourselves to everyone and seeing the hard work pay off.” This feeling is one that Johnson and his teammates are trying to recreate, and the formula in doing so? It’s pretty simple, just buy in and work hard, “I mean the work pays off for sure and as long as you just keep at it, we’re going to see success. And if everyone just holds to that plan of buying in, then the team’s success is going to be super clear and we’re going to be super successful as a team and hopefully win the state championship. That’s the goal.” By showing up and working hard day in and day out and believing in something greater than themselves, the Mustangs have created a culture of success, a culture that is set on ending the season with rings on their fingers. The Mustangs kick off their title chase on February 24th against crosstown rival East Mecklenburg, and from there they hope to pursue history.

NCAA Chaos

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In this world, the only constant is change. Every four years we change who is at the helm of the country, every single day humans grow and change in new ways, some good some bad. In previous years the NCAA has reflected the idea that the only constant is change, as the rules and shapes of college athletics are shifting more than one could imagine.
In July earlier this year, the NCAA settled three lawsuits, House vs NCAA, Hubbard vs NCAA, and Carter vs NCAA. The most infamous of all three was House vs NCAA, where a former Arizona State Swimmer led a group of plaintiffs and filed a lawsuit on behalf of all NCAA athletes since 2016 suing the NCAA for not allowing them to generate any revenue. In 2021, NIL was introduced, but these athletes competed in an era where an athlete making any money, even from social media, could get you declared ineligible. When the NCAA approved NIL, and where it has developed to today has been a complete 180 from their position merely 5 years ago. The case was filed in 2020, and it was searching for backpay for NCAA athletes since 2016. The case was not only focused on backpay for former athletes but advancements in the rights of current athletes. The lawsuit and the settlement resulted in the NCAA passing many changes to the structure of collegiate athletics. The lawsuit resulted in a settlement for 2.78 billion dollars, which will be paid back over the next ten years at a value of $280 million annually. The settlement also allows schools to pay students in NIL, at a value of up to 22% of the average Autonomy 5 athletic media, ticket, and sponsorship revenue. The final, and maybe most prevalent of the settlement was that roster limit and scholarship limit would be affected. As a result, sports teams can give out more scholarships, up to as many as the players on their squad, increasing the number of scholarships potentially available by about 700, but the opposite side to this is that roster sizes are limited. There are essentially no roles for walk-on athletes in collegiate sports anymore, the size of soccer teams is cut down from around 35 to a max of 28, with golf team size cut down from 10-12 to 9. While there are more scholarships available, many athletes, and recruits are displaced by the new limits, and how they are suddenly being implemented. While many are celebrating the settlements, others are trying to figure out where they are going to compete this year.
While the changes in the NCAA over the last few years have increased the rights and privileges of being a student-athlete, the way they have been carried out has led to chaos and unfortunate situations for many athletes. These lawsuits that started the change were because of the lack of organized actions of the NCAA in granting student athletes rights, many student-athletes felt they were unfairly compensated and filed the lawsuits. Then as the lack of rules and regulations regarding the transfer portal continued to develop, many athletes saw their spots taken by transfer students which previously could have affected where they decided to play coming out of high school. The NCAA has done a significant amount to increase the rights of student-athletes and give them more freedoms, but there has been a lack of organization in how the change has been carried out. The result is many athletes, and coaches have been negatively affected, many athletes are left without a place to play, and legendary coaches are leaving the game such as Tony Bennett from UVA. The cut-throat nature of professional sports leaves many athletes with or without a job. Collegiate sports are getting closer and closer to becoming a pro sports league, while increased scholarships and funding are promising to many athletes, others are left scratching their heads about how the new NCAA rules screwed them and their plans.

Pro Golf

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Golf is unlike any other sport played, particularly at the professional level. The main distinction between pro golf and other professional sports is that in pro golf earnings are performance based (for most pros). In the NFL players are signed to a contract and have some degree of guaranteed money even if the player plays badly and loses the game. In golf, If a player shows up and plays poorly odds are they probably are not going to be walking away with a sustainable paycheck. The effect of this is it makes it practically impossible to be successful, which is what makes the stories of the ones who do so much sweeter.

Only 125 of all professional golfers in the world have full status on the PGA Tour. The others are battling and grinding it out to get there on feeder tours such as the Korn Ferry Tour, and the Americas Tours. Lesser golfers fight to compete on mini tours and in Monday Qualifiers with opportunities to obtain starts in larger events (with bigger purses). But as I mentioned earlier it is all on the players, if they play well they are going to be rewarded with better status and lofty paychecks, but if they do not play well it is hard to stay afloat as a pro golfer. This narrow line professional golfers walk is what makes the sport so riveting and engaging and part of why it is worth following. The stories of Chris Kirk and Max Homa are some of the best in golf, and embody why the sport is so great. 

Chris Kirk: In the first week of 2024,  Chris Kirk won one of the biggest tournaments there is, the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii. Not only did Kirk set his future by earning status overtime but he also brought home 3.5 million dollars with the win. However, Kirk has not always had this success at the pro level. In May of 2019, Chris Kirk announced he was taking a leave from pro golf to deal with alcohol abuse and depression. Kirk was out of the game for 7 months and returned in November of 2019, he returned with a world golf ranking of 303 but was stronger than he had ever been mentally. Chris Kirk is now ranked as the 25th best golfer in the world and secured the first win of the 2024 season because of his hard work and dedication to the game. 

Max Homa: Homa won the NCAA individual men’s national championship in 2013 but his game did not transition at the pro level. Max Homa secured his PGA Tour card for the 2017 season but only made 2 of 17 cuts and earned $18,000 throughout the entire season. His world ranking dropped as low as 1261 in 2018. But Homa did not give up, in an interview with No Laying Up, Homa spoke about his struggles, “I had to lie to myself and tell myself todays the day dude, today’s the day we go shoot 65 and everything kind of breaks apart, and this starts to go the right direction but every time I thought I hit rock bottom I found a shovel and dug a little deeper”. Although Homa continued to struggle he finally had his day in Charlotte when he won the Wells Fargo tournament in 2019. Today he is ranked the 7th best golfer in the world. His story is a true testament to the power of hard work and resilience. 

Pro golf does not have nearly as many followers as the NFL or NBA but in my opinion, it should. Sports are about the underdog stories, the grinders, the power of hard work, and not one sport encompasses those principles more than professional golf. 

A New Era For MPB

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Reid Heaton and Dimitri Katsanos

On May 3, a new era began for Myers Park Basketball as the school hired Andrew Glover as the next men’s basketball coach. Coach Glover sat down with the Myers Hoofprint to introduce himself to the student body.

Glover is a Charleston native who “has been in a gym my entire life,” he said. Glover’s love for the game came from his mother, who has served as a basketball and volleyball coach for 42 years. “I’ve been in the athletic scene for forever,” Glover said. After high school, Glover went on to play college basketball at USC Aiken, and after his playing career ended he went into coaching. “I always knew I wanted to coach, it came natural to me and when the playing career ended it was a smooth transition into coaching”. 

Glover may be on the younger side for a head coach, but he is not lacking experience. Right out of college he got his career started by coaching a 17U AAU team, “It was a blast… I got to learn and it was trial by error with everything”. Glover then was hired at Gray Collegiate Academy as an assistant coach where he was part of a powerhouse program in the state of South Carolina. Glover won two state championships as an assistant there and was able to coach high-level players and play a very competitive schedule, Glover added, “Getting exposed to that level of high school basketball was pretty awesome, it  was a level I wanted to get back to”. After his time at Gray, Glover coached at USC Aiken and Eastern Kentucky, but when a new high school opened in Charleston, he knew it was time to go home. Glover built the program at Lucy Beckham High School from the ground up, and he went 1-11 in his first season, but continued to get better as he led the Bengals to the Sweet Sixteen this past season. Even though he had built the program at Lucy Beckham, Glover knew change was coming. 

“I had this weird feeling a couple months ago that there was some sort of change happening… I didn’t really know what that change was”. That sense of change led Glover to send his information to Coach Poore, and a few months later that feeling was right. Glover is now the man in charge of the program at Myers Park. Glover told us that he had always aspired to get to such a high level of competition again and that “being called to Myers Park, I felt like it was natural, it was a decision for me that it was hard to say no to.”

Glover described his vision for success as “putting work in” and he is a community and family-oriented individual. Glover plans on building upon the already strong student and alumni community at Myers Park, he enjoys engaging with individuals from all aspects of the program and wants “everyone to feel welcome and everyone to feel a part of it.” Coach Glover gave much praise to the program and to Coach Scott Taylor and Nick Jones for the success that they had created during their time and hope to continue their success. Glover understands the immense culture and personnel change the program is going through and that, “it might take a little bit of growing pains early” but that the ultimate goal “is to keep that rich tradition of success and winning alive.” Glover plans to achieve this goal through his high-energy coaching style, and “energy, effort, and enthusiasm is something that I do not lack” he added.

Glover is walking into a program that is built on winning. Myers Park won a state championship two years ago and was ranked as high as #4 in the nation last year. This is not just any high school basketball job but if anyone is up to the challenge of sustaining the winning culture of MP Hoops, Coach Glover is. 

Issue 6: Editor’s Note

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One random day *in 2018* I was scrolling through Twitter as I usually do after school (yes I do use Twitter) and landed on a four-minute clip from the podcast No Laying Up. The clip was from an interview they did with professional golfer Max Homa who had one of the worst seasons ever on the PGA Tour in 2017. He was talking about how he fought through it and became one of the best players in the world. While the entire four minutes captivated me one main part stuck out. Homa found a quote written by Jacob Riis that he turned into his life motto that helped him get through the hardest time in his career. The quote spoke about persistence, “When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow, it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it, but all that had gone before”.Much like Homa, I adopted this quote as one that would define me. No matter the results or what was going to happen whether it was on the golf course, in the classroom, or life as a whole, no matter how much I was struggling I was going to keep pounding that rock, knowing that eventually it was bound to break. Reflecting on how much implementing this quote in my lifestyle has transformed me over the past few years, I started to think about how we shape our identities. 

Right now, in most of our lives, we are discovering who we are and who we want to be. As high schoolers, we face so many decisions: What classes do we want to take? Where do I want to go to college? What do I want to do when I get older? But the one that hits me the hardest is “Who do I want to be right now? I’ve changed so much in the last few years that for a while I did not really know who Reid Heaton was. What I realized is that the answer to that question has always been around me. Those answers resided in the people that surround me, my hobbies, my passions, and so much more. I know I want to have the infectious energy my brother has, I want to be willing to put others first like my Mom does, I want to be as hardworking and resilient as Max Homa, I want to spread smiles and joy like all my closest friends do, I want to do my best but have fun like Ronald Acuna, I want to be a good leader in S-7 like all the Editors before me. I would not know who I am today and who I want to be if not for all these things that are around me in my everyday life. I don’t know the person I would be if I hadn’t listened to that podcast clip, or the person I would be if I had not joined The Hoofprint my sophomore year, but one thing I do know is that both of those things helped me to understand who I am today, and who I want to be.

At the end of the day, I learned that if you want to figure out who you are and who you want to be, a good place to start is just by opening your eyes and observing what is around you. It may come in the form of a quote, a teacher, or a friend. I can confidently say that part of who I am today came from a quote about breaking rocks, and I hope that as you read this paper you may see something that can help you figure out the big question of  “Who do I want to be?”. 

CIS at MPHS

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If you walked into the library a few weeks ago, you may have noticed the large stack of board games that filled the room. The Myers Park community came together and donated 1,000 games to a local organization called “Furnish For Good.” The games will go to families who are going through housing transitions. This successful drive was run by the MPHS Furnish For Good Club and the Myers Park Chapter of Communities in Schools (CIS), and the board game drive is just one example of the impact CIS has had here as a key part of Myers Park. 

Communities in Schools is a national organization all over the United States. The purpose of CIS is to provide one-on-one relationships and support students who might not have access to certain resources and support.  CIS has aimed to bring together the school and outside communities by bringing in resources to aid and help students on their education journey. 

At Myers Park, we are lucky to have two great site coordinators, Olivia Hughes who specializes in youth development, and Stacey Weinstein, who focuses on education and career development. Mrs. Weinstein and Ms. Hughes sat down with the Myers Park Hoofprint to give an inside look into CIS here at Myers Park. Currently, CIS at Myers Park supports over 200 students as “resources for students and staff across campus,” said Hughes. CIS works directly with a portion of our students at MPHS, but CIS is continuing to leave an impact on the Myers Park Community as a whole. CIS is an outside organization not directly related to CMS which has allowed Weinstein and Hughes to “have a ton of creativity and bring a lot of things to this school that you can’t get if you’re a teacher or a counselor,” said Weinstein. CIS has the freedom to do so much more from supporting staff to bringing in outside resources or doing things such as the board game drive. Weinstein added, “We are an added layer they otherwise would not have for support or to bring in opportunities to the kids, we are here to enhance and support”. 

This creative freedom has allowed CIS to step up and play a role in different service initiatives and support initiatives seen around the Park.  This year, CIS was responsible for the successful board game drive, and last year, CIS ran a book drive. They partnered with “She Built This City,” which is an outside non-profit organization, along with communities on campus such as the National Honor Society and Swim and Dive. CIS collected the books and then built six community libraries in neighborhoods surrounding MPHS that have low reading scores. They also donated some books to Bruns Elementary, which led to a reunion for Mrs. Weinstein, “When I went to Bruns Elementary, their librarian was a former CIS student at Myers Park High School who worked with me.” The drive also inspired one former CIS student to do a similar drive with his Fraternity at NC A&T. Weinstein describes it as “a total ripple effect.” This drive represents everything CIS does here at MPHS. CIS makes a direct impact on students’ education,  brings different communities together and it leaves lasting impacts on the students for the rest of their lives.   CIS is also responsible for support initiatives such as the Kindness Cards students write for teachers around Thanksgiving every year. “It’s something I look forward to, and teachers look forward to, it helps to build that community,” added Hughes. 

CIS is deeply rooted within our MPHS community and has been for a long time, one of the former MPHS CIS coordinators was our very own Principal Mr. Folk, showing the community and connection CIS creates and brings to Myers Park year after year.

The Athletic

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In the last 15 years, the world of journalism has shifted completely. People are trading in their Sunday morning papers for online subscriptions. While this has been apparent in all journalism sectors, it has drastically impacted sports journalism. The shift from paper to screen has allowed apps such as The Athletic to thrive in response to the changing industry. 

The Athletic is a subscription-based sports journalism website that was founded in 2016. The site was created by two friends, Alex Mather and Adam Hannsman, with the goal of becoming the sports page for every city worldwide. In a 2017 interview with the New York Times, Mather discussed the goals of the company, “We will wait every local paper out and let them continuously bleed until we are the last ones standing”. The two didn’t want to just create a company that would provide viewers with sports journalism, they wanted to run the entire sports journalism industry across the globe. Mather and Hannsman were at the front of a frontier movement that would evolve the world of sports journalism by making it subscription-based. 

Over the next few years, The Athletic did just that. The website hired beat writers from newspapers and media outlets all over the country to write and report for the site. The company had success just three years after its founding. In 2019, the company had 600,000 paying subscribers and was on track to be at the top of the sports journalism world. The company offered what many others couldn’t:  pure and authentic sports journalism built on subscriptions  rather than the usual reliance on ad revenue.

While the model separated the company from competitors, what really contributed to its growth was the quality of the writing and reporting. One of the biggest stories The Athletic ever broke was an article written by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich that accused the Houston Astros of illegally stealing signs in their 2017 season. While the media breaking any sort of cheating scandal is important, calling out the 2017 World Series champs was another level. The two cited four whistleblowers who revealed the Astros had a camera ready to steal signs. The report shocked the sports world and gave The Athletic immense amounts of fame sending it to the top of the charts. The Athletic also provided features that separated themselves from the competition. Just recently, the Athletic released a feature on Amit Patel, An employee who stole 22 million from the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Athletic was Patel’s first interview since he was sentenced to prison, and provided deep insight into how and why he stole the money from the Jaguars. This model of breaking big stories and high quality features continued to work for the company; they reached 1.2 million subscribers by December of 2021 when they were bought soon after by the New York Times for the steep price of 550 million dollars in January 2022. The Athletic would go on to fully replace The New York Times sports desk and become the main source of sports journalism for the newspaper titan.  Today, the company has over 400 full-time writers and covers 47 North American markets. Subscribers have access to basic stories, game and score updates, long-term stories, breaking news, podcasts, chatrooms (to discuss games with writers and fans), and much more. Through The Athletic viewers can read a story on the latest NASCAR race and then about Premier League soccer on the same platform. Mather and Hannsman created what all sports fans wanted: a place where they could go to have all the in-depth sports news they could ever need. As a result, the sports journalism world will forever be revolutionized.

Meet The New SGA Presidents: Parker and Olivia

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Photo contributed by Reid Heaton

Just recently, Myers Park students gathered outside the doors of the wellness center in anticipation of participating in the yearly Student Government Association elections. Students walk in the doors and are greeted with a smile and then head to a ballot box to cast their votes before walking out with a piece of candy and a classic “I voted” sticker. In one particular race, two members of the junior class would be selected to lead SGA and represent students for the 24-25 school year as Co-Presidents. This year the winners of the race for student body co-presidents are Parker Scrivener and Olivia Crowe. 

Scrivener and Crowe are both very familiar with MPHS since the first time they stepped on campus as freshmen, and over their time they have made a major impact on the MPHS community. Crowe is the Vice President of The Clothes For Change Club, founder of Bagels For a Better Tomorrow, and plays for the field hockey team, and her running mate, Scrivener, plays for both the football and rugby team, is a member of the National Honor Society, and is involved in several clubs. “I try to incorporate different parts of my school in my life,” Scrivener said. The future leaders embody the phrase “Make The Park Your Own ”, They have both been involved in different communities throughout MPHS which has allowed them to have served as key members of SGA, “Personally I love working with other people whether it’s through a leadership position or just working in groups of people and SGA it’s something I wanted to do my whole high school career.” Scrivener said, both of the future presidents have always had their eyes set on SGA, and have had a passion for it. This passion shines through in their goals for the 2024-25 school year, “We want to make it (MP) a happy environment, just happy things throughout the day.” Crowe said. The two want to create and reinforce a positive culture at MPHS and make it a better place for students on a daily basis. One of the most important parts of being a school president is the fact that you have to step up and act in the interest of not just one group or grade but all students in the school. This in itself is a very daunting task, but Crowe and Scrivener are up for the challenge with a plan on how to serve everyone in the MPHS community, “I know a lot of people in different grades and work with people in different grades through my classes, sports, honors society, clubs or just meeting people. I am able to get a grasp on how each grade feels, and I can reflect that into the work we do,” Scrivener said. While Scrivener and Crowe know a lot of people across the school but if you dont know them, they have a message for you,“Olivia and I are two very approachable people, we are very easy going, very nice anyone can come and spark a conversation and we would entertain it. Anyone can come up and provide feedback, ideas, anything like that and we will take that into full consideration.” Said Scrivener. 

Being the school president is a major role. The job is not an easy one as it requires commitment, dedication, and hard work to represent all aspects of the park. While the role is a big one, Olivia and Parker are ready to step up and be the voices for the student body.

The Missing Piece

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For the past 5 years the Carolina have been searching, and looking for their face of the franchise, their superstar, their quarterback and have continually found failure. Since 2019, The Panthers have started 7 different quarterbacks, from former #1 pick Baker Mayfield, to XFL star PJ. Walker, but they have not seen any results with the Panthers last winning season being 2018. The Panthers selected Quarterback Bryce Young with the #1 overall pick after they secured the pick in the Draft via a trade with the Chicago Bears. The Panthers hope they have finally found their missing piece in Young. 

In recent years, there has been one common thread between successful teams in the NFL: quarterbacks. The defending Champions, The Kansas City Chiefs have what some would say the best quarterback in the league:  Patrick Mahomes. The Cincinnati Bengals have Joe Burrow, who led them to their first superbowl appearance in over 30 years. Both of these teams took gambles by drafting a quarterback in the NFL draft and are now soaking in success. However, drafting a quarterback in the NFL Draft means failure more often than it leads to success. The New York Jets selected Zach Wilson second overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, and the match has been far from perfect. As a starter in New York, Wilson has recorded an 8-14 losing record, and lost the starting job.  The Panthers have faith Bryce Young can be their superstar and not another disappointment. 

Bryce Young attended the University of Alabama and put together a stellar resume. Young went 30-4 as a starter over three years for the Crimson Tide and was the first ever Alabama Quarterback to win the Heisman Trophy for Alabama. Additionally, Young possess a very strong mental game which was a big reason he was pegged as a potential #1 pick. Young scored in the 98th percentile for the S2 test (a test that measures how fast a player can process and react to information), Young excelled on the S2 test proving that he has an elite mental game. Young is not known for extreme arm strength, or being a freak athlete but he has found success at every level he has competed at.  

Bryce Young is below the ideal size for a quarterback in the NFL, which is the main thing his critics cite will keep him from success in the NFL. At the combine, Young was measured at 6 feet tall, however many people believe that his height is closer to 5 ’10”.At the 2023 NFL Pre Draft  Combine, Young weighed in at 204 pounds, although many people think by midseason he will be around 195 pounds. Young will be the shortest QB in the NFL the moment he takes his first snap. In fact, Panthers Head Coach, Frank Reich, has never worked with a QB shorter than 6’2”. Alabama Head Coach, Nick Saban, expressed that he wasn’t concerned about Young’s size in an interview with Stephen A. Smith, on his podcast Know Mercy, saying, “We’ve all seen the 6-foot-4, 225-pound guy that can throw it like a bazooka, but he can’t make the choices and decisions; he can’t distribute the ball, he can’t throw it accurately. So who’s the better bet? I’m going on history, production, [and] performance, and Bryce Young’s done it about as well as anybody.” Nick Saban has won 7 National Championships, and  he carries the reputation as one of the greatest college football coaches, yet he is not concerned about Young’s size. 

The Panthers are still searching for the franchise’s first superbowl, and have not made the playoffs since 2017. Panthers fans took a leap of faith trading up to #1 to select Bryce Young hoping he will be the man that can lead them out of the dark place this franchise is in, all the way to a Superbowl.