Red Devils face off with Columbus East tomorrow night
Category: News
Students protest ICE during Friday’s homecoming game
by Areli Hernandez
While student walk-outs protesting ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) have occurred at several local high schools and across Indiana recently, a small group of JHS students stood together to make their voices be heard at last Friday’s homecoming game to bring awareness to current events.
Homecoming royalty crowned at Friday night’s JHS-Bedford game
All photos by Magdalene Conrad and Abygail Lawson. Click on each photo below to view the gallery.
JHS defeats Bedford North Lawrence 75-42 on Friday as Red Devils celebrate homecoming
Some students displayed signs protesting ICE during the game
All photos by Malachi Conrad and Abygail Lawson. Click on each image in the gallery below to view photographs.
Check back tomorrow for homecoming festivity photographs, including images of the crowning.
Red Devils face Bedford North Lawrence at homecoming game tonight
by Austin Bainbridge
Jeff is looking to get back into the win column at tonight’s Homecoming game after a three-game slide as the Red Devils make their final push to sectionals.
Jeff faces Southern Indiana rival Bedford North Lawrence at 7:30 p.m. tonight in Johnson Arena.
“I think that this upcoming game is just a must win. We’ve been having a hard season and a hard time connecting as a team. So hopeful we can breeze through this game and prepare ourselves for sectionals,” said sophomore center Mason Longest.
The players are always looking for a good crowd to get them ready to play.
“I think there’s going to be a lot of important people at that game, and it’s just going to give us the fire to win and we’re just going to play hard,” said sophomore center Demauri Crosby.
But having the belief in their skills has gotten the team as far as they are.
“I see a lot of confidence in the team, and that doesn’t come from nowhere; it comes from success, and I think a win against BNL would definitely help with that confidence,” said head coach Sherron Wilkerson.
BNL is struggling in the height department, topping out at 6 ‘3, and Jeff is waiting to exploit that.
“I think we’ll be able to get a lot of post touches, and we should be able to easily get a lot of rebounds,” said Crosby.
The first stat everyone looks at is the team’s record, but the players say it hasn’t been that simple with many of the teams they’ve played.
“Don’t look at the (opponent’s)record. I mean, it’s an Indianapolis team, so they’re obviously going pay hard. So, we just need to come home and play harder. We played a Warren Central team with a bad record and lost, so don’t regard that,” said Crosby.
This is Senior Night and homecoming, where a king and queen will be crowned, and with that the coaches don’t just see a celebration, but a lesson.
“I hope it affects the seniors in a way that we’re running out of games. We’re running out of opportunities to get the stuff that needs to be addressed addressed, so there needs to be a sense of urgency,” said Wilkerson.
Moving forward after BNL tonight, Jeff will end this season playing four straight games against .500 teams, and they’re looking to make final adjustments before the playoffs.
“Those teams obviously aren’t powerhouses, but we can’t count them out. I think they will be a great chance to get everything in tune for when it matters most in sectionals,” said Longest.
Faculty, students believe AI, cell phone technology should support rather than distract from learning
by Liddia Waterbury
In today’s classrooms, phones and AI are powerful tools that can support learning. They can also be major distractions that pull students’ attention away.
Phones and AI in classrooms are changing how students learn and how teachers teach. Some people believe that they help with research and organization, while others worry they cause distractions. Teachers and students show different views on how these tools impact learning.
“Teachers are afraid of students getting lazy and say, ‘AI type me out a three-page paper,’ and they wouldn’t have actually done anything. Like, in college, if you have to turn in major research papers, professors can scan them into something to see if they’ve been copyrighted or already written. If it was already written somewhere else, you’d get kicked out of school for plagiarism or the use of AI,” said college and careers teacher John Moody.
Some teachers focus on the serious consequences of using AI improperly, while others are more concerned about how AI affects learning. Many teachers believe students rely on AI too much and are worried about how it changes the way students work, such as writing essays.
“The issues I see are that students tend to either try to get AI to write essays all for them, where they’re doing nothing and learning nothing. Or, they’ll write it, and then they’ll have AI just completely rewrite it for them to make it better. They don’t learn how to improve their writing themselves,” said English teacher Holden Henderson.
Even though teachers are concerned about students depending too much on AI, they believe that technology can still be useful. When used as a tool, it can help students understand and learn properly.
“For reading, if you don’t know what a word means or there’s something that doesn’t make sense, you can quickly look it up so you have more context to the story. For writing, I would use my phone for the same thing, like if I’m unsure how to spell a word, I’ll hop on my phone and try to look up an answer really quickly,” said Henderson.
In addition to phones being used as a tool, AI can be utilized in the same manner.
“In math, I would use AI as a fact checker. If you don’t have the answers to something, you would try to answer the mathematical problem yourself and then put it on AI to see if you got the answer right. And for English, I would use it as a guide to add to the information that I would already have,” said Moody.
Although teachers see AI as a helpful tool, other teachers worry that it can hurt students’ problem-solving skills.
“I know kids ask why we learn this, but I think math can teach how to solve problems, and once you get older, life gets hard, and learning how to struggle through problems and learning how to solve problems comes from math. AI changes that because they just want to get to the problem fast; they don’t want to struggle or challenge themselves,” said math teacher Alyssa Jones.
Technology affects students in more ways than just how they solve problems. It can also make it harder for students to stay focused and pay attention in class.
“Phones definitely affect focus for a lot of kids. Five minutes into class, they check out, and they just want to start scrolling immediately. Sometimes in life we’ve got to do boring things, but it’s really important to focus in class because if you don’t, you can become super behind, and then you’re not going to want to catch up,” said Jones.
Teachers say how phones hurt students’ focus in class. This problem is also noticed by other students. They see how phones easily distract them and their classmates from learning.
“My classmates like using phones in class. They sometimes get distracted because all they want to do is scroll on TikTok, listen to music, or just be on social media in general. They’re distracted because they prioritize their phones before school,” said freshman Kaden Eurton.
While some students see phones as a major distraction in class, others think they can help focus when used correctly.
“My phone can sometimes be distracting if I really have to focus on work, but when I use my AirPods to listen to music, it helps me focus better. I just sometimes use AI, like science, because I can use it as a base. Only if I really need help formatting my notes,” said freshman Aby Lawson.
While some students see AI as a helpful tool, teachers are more cautious and focused on its limits and downsides.
“AI is kind of the way of the future. The good things about it are that it will help you with some information. However, the downside is that it doesn’t always have a clear reasoning. It will only spit out the direct question without researching,” said Moody.
AI and phones are the future. They can help students during class, even though they might be distracting at times. Teachers believe that, if used in the right way, they can be a very beneficial tool, even when they don’t fully support these tools.
“I try to avoid AI for the most part, but I do try to suggest good ways to use it, like when we are doing a project, you could use AI to come up with topics to brainstorm, but it shouldn’t be used to generate actual content,” said Henderson. “Phones are so distracting because we are so used to checking them every time we get a notification. Using them for research, like looking up a word, checking if your grammar is correct on an essay, listening to music for focus, are really the only ways phones benefit students.”
Proposed legislation may expand cell phone restrictions in Indiana schools
by Areli Hernandez
As cell phone use has become a controversial topic nationwide, Indiana lawmakers debate a stricter measure that could prevent any cell phone usage by Hoosier students during the school day.
Indiana State Representative Wendy Dant Chesser, who represents District 71 that includes Jeffersonville, finds the proposed legislation effective to improve students’ education and health.
“I do support this legislation. The goal is to improve students’ focus in class and increase face-to-face interactions with their peers. About 46% of teens say they’re online almost constantly, which is worrisome. We know that a high amount of screen time can negatively impact teens’ self-esteem, social interactions, and mental health,” she said.
Math teacher Jaclyn Fifer breaks down current issues students have encountered with phones in her classroom.
“The regulation policy is that students are not supposed to have phones during instructional time. Unfortunately, we don’t have all students abiding by that, and because I also deal with upperclassmen, I do feel like they make a lot of decisions for themselves and need to learn about responsibility,” said Fifer.
As technology continues to integrate to the daily life of students, it has also become an issue with students complying with certain expectations.
“It just seems as phones have become so much more social; it’s hard to ask the students to try to do something on their phone educationally because they are so drawn to what else they can do beyond other sites. That is even true with chromebooks and technology,” said Fifer.
Chesser agreed that putting a stop to cell phones during school hours allows students to become responsible about their devices.
“By giving them the full school day without phones, we can help teens learn to self-regulate their phone use before they become adults,” said Chesser.
Even though this hasn’t become a severe issue for Anatomy and AP biology teacher Missy Brewer, she hopes for a better alternative to help students.
“I think students understand that the phones are a distraction, but they’re unable to put them away without someone forcing them to. I wish we were able to teach students strategies for not needing their phones all the time rather than just making that a rule, but we’ve tried that, and it doesn’t work,” Brewer said.
Brewer also has certain expectations for her classroom in order to maintain their efficiency.
“I start each class reminding students to clear off their desks, including their phones. If I see someone on their phone, I’ll say something to them. I let them have their phones for the last five minutes of class and also have them put their phones in a ‘caddie’ during testing. I think it’s important that students don’t have that physical distraction in front of them,” she said.
Radio/TV teacher Fred Cowgill finds himself questioning the legislation regarding students’ educations and well-being.
“l’ve got very mixed emotions on what’s being done or trying to be done. I disagree with it at the end of the day, honestly, because I don’t want someone to tell me what I can or can’t teach, and this is an important ingredient because kids would rather tear off an arm than give you their phone, and we’ve got to be able to educate these kids in a better way so they don’t feel that way anymore,” Cowgill said.
Cell phone usage is a serious topic for Cowgill, whose lessons rely on media equipment on a daily basis.
“The problem for us is that we use our phones; the kids use their phones as part of the process of doing what we do here, which is turning in stories for social media, for the internet, and for our newscast we do every Tuesday,” he said.
On the other hand, he is also concerned about the amount of screen time dominating teenagers’ lives.
“Attention spans are down to five minutes at a time, that’s it. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ Apparently the peak was two hours before smartphones came out; the smartphones and the internet have damaged that quite a bit. It’s a serious topic, I won’t fib, and there are a lot of layers to it, which is why so many people react to it in such a negative way, especially teachers,” he said.
While the current law limits cell phone usage during instructional time and allows students to use devices during lunches and passing periods, Chesser said the new legislation would add more restrictions if passed by the Indiana legislature and signed into law.
“This year’s proposed legislation, Senate Bill 78 from Sen. Jeff Raatz, would completely restrict cell phone use in schools,” said Chesser, who mentioned several ways schools could comply with the proposed legislation.
“Schools could choose between two enforcement policies: students can’t bring phones to school at all, or schools can implement a secure storage policy. It expands the definition of a wireless communication device to include smartwatches that connect to cell phones,” she said.
Senior Camila Levario finds the proposed legislation unwise and even dangerous for not only herself, but for other students who are self-aware of current events impacting their lives.
“A complete cell phone ban would not kill me, but with everything going on in the world right now it’s not a good idea at all. I understand if anything important happens the office will notify us, but what if by the time they tell us or find us it’s already too late? I just wouldn’t be able to live with that,” she said.
With the number of students having their devices, Cowgill said this would be prominent for the safety of students and the school.
“God forbid anybody ever tries to break into the school and do some harm to us. In our case, right now we have roughly 24-2500 people who would have phones and would get the message out to their loved ones and authorities,” he said.
For sophomore Arieslie Tejeda, a near-total ban for cellphones would be an adjustment.
“I wouldn’t think a complete phone ban would affect me personally because if I put my mind into learning I’ll get the work done without AI, but I feel like we should still be able to listen to music or get on our phones when we have free time and during lunch time. We should also still be able to carry them in case of an emergency,” she said.
Many students find cellular devices useful as it increases focus when completing certain tasks. Senior Susan Ochoa said a cell phone ban would not improve learning or safety.
“Things would be changed around since I wouldn’t be able to quickly contact my parents in case of an emergency and wouldn’t be able to listen to music to focus in class. It would be hard to communicate with friends if we need to borrow a Chromebook or school notes,” she said.
Senior Luis Rebolledo is apprehensive about the current cellphone issues, emphasizing the importance of having a cell phone for safety precautions.
“A complete phone ban wouldn’t bother me at all. You’d get used to it eventually. What would concern me though is — what if we or our loved ones were in a situation and we had to contact each other? Stuff goes on around the world and we could be involved in a dire situation. The office wouldn’t act fast enough to contact the other. Scenarios like these are where we would need our phones to alert anyone and let them know about our well-being,” said Rebolledo.
Cell phone use has been a debatable topic for several Indiana school corporations. While some are in favor of a complete cell phone ban that would enhance the education and performance of Hoosier students and teachers, others oppose to the potential outcomes this legislation would create for several students.
“It’s the state’s job to provide Indiana students’ with a quality education. We also have a role to play in ensuring teachers and administrators can do their jobs to the best of their ability — cell phone use hinders both,” said Chesser.
Additional reporting by Jackson Anderson and Magdalene Conrad.
Wrestlers’ successes stem from habits formed throughout the season
by Aubrey Cummings
Wrestling, the sport of the strong-bodied and strong-minded, may be wrapping up its season, but recent competitions are results of training and mentality from throughout the season.
Both boys and girls wrestlers are competing in their final matches, as girls’ wrestling just sent junior Abi Lemon to the state finals, and the boys’ wrestlers get ready to compete in regionals this weekend at JHS.
As junior wrestler Scarlett McRae said, “Wrestling isn’t just a sport; it’s a daily choice to suffer so you can stand taller later.”
While Red Devils wrestlers are standing taller as they compete this winter, the season technically begins in the early months of the school year with conditioning.
In the fall is when the fun – or suffering – actually begins. The girls’ season officially starts right after fall break each year, and the boys are not far behind, starting at the end of October.
Sophomore wrestler Jaylen Howard said, “Wresting is more than just a winter sport because it starts the day school starts in August and ends July the next year — just in time for the season to start again, creating a never-ending cycle.”
What most people don’t know is that, unlike some sports, wrestling doesn’t end with an in-season break. As soon as the technical season ends, wrestlers jump right into the off-season, whether it be coaching local elementary students or going to meets across the country.
“It’s a year-round thing. Every single weekend is seen as a new opportunity to get more matches in. Anything less and you’re selling yourself short while your competition is getting better,” 2024 graduate and wrestler Dawson Slaughter explained.
Off-season isn’t just about training for those in high school. It’s also about teaching those who may eventually participate in high school. The Jeff wrestling program is bigger than just the high school.
“Wrestling’s a year round thing, whether you’re helping younger kids with their wrestling careers or trying to improve yourself for the next season,” said Lemon, a four-sport athlete who advanced to the state finals this year.
Middle and elementary school wrestlers are considered a part of the Team Jeff wrestling program and family, too. Jeff High wrestlers teach and practice with these younger athletes, so they know a friendly face in the coming years.
“Going to the middle schools allows for us to become greater leaders and know who we are leaving the program to when we are finished,” said senior Abril Andres.
Wrestling has never been described as an easy sport. In order to compete, participants must have a strong mind. They must be able to fight the odds and keep going. This is what makes wrestling what it is.
As junior wrestler Will Honaker said, “The definition of wrestling is to struggle.”
This shows not only the difficulty of wrestling but also the mindset the participants are in. They know going into it that it’s not going to be easy, but still, they do it.
New diploma standards emphasize work-based learning for Hoosier high school students
by Tyler Conley and Parker Vibbert
In December 2024, the Indiana State Board of Education adopted new high school diploma standards, which will take effect beginning with the Class of 2029. These new standards will affect all current and future Indiana freshmen.
With the Indiana High School diploma remaining significantly unchanged for several years, the Indiana Department of Education aims to provide students with more work-based learning opportunities and increased chances to achieve their goals.
Engineering Academy counselor Whitney Roberts said the new standards are in response to employers’ increased need for employees who are ready to enter the workforce upon graduation.
“They are trying to get away from a college-focused curriculum, and instead are trying to keep up with employers that need a more ready workforce,” she said.
According to Roberts, the new standards feature a base diploma and three core principles.
“The new diploma splits, it’s three E’s: Employment, if you want to go to work after high school; Enrollment, if you want to enroll into a college, and Enlistment, if you want to go into the military,” she said.
“They are trying to get away from a college-focused curriculum, and instead are trying to keep up with employers that need a more ready workforce.”
Engineering Academy Counselor Whitney Roberts
Greater Clark County Schools wants to ensure that students meet their work-based learning goals while still enjoying extracurricular activities.
“Greater Clark County has purchased an online system to allow students who have lots of after-school commitments to still meet work-based learning goals for high school students,” she said. This should help students meet some work-based requirements through their extracurriculars.
Freshman Academy counselor Andrea Schedler explained that the biggest change from the previous diploma is that the number of credits needed for graduation has increased.
“The biggest thing is now it’s 42 credits instead of 40,” she said.
Indiana Diploma Standards have been well known as the “Core 40” for 15 years, since it took effect in 2011, owing to the now-outdated 40-credit graduation requirement. Before this, the diploma standards had not seen any changes in a decade.
Among these new standards, some classes have now been labeled as graduation requirements.
“For English 10, they are going to either take Speech or an advanced English class. Another big change is the College and Careers Credit, which, along with Computing Foundations and Personal Finance, has become a required graduation class,” Schedler said.
Prior to the new standards, College and Careers was not a graduation requirement, nor did Computing Foundations exist until this school year. Preceding Computing Foundations as the semester 2 successor to College and Careers, was Personal Finance, which has now become a required senior class.
Unlike the “Core 40” diploma, the new standards feature more honors academic options.
“In the old diploma, there was only the base diploma, academic honors, and technical honors. Now there are more options, like the honors seal and the honors plus seal,” Schedler said.
Each diploma (Enrollment, Employment, and Enlistment) have their own specific requirements to obtain the honors and honors-plus seals to ensure success in each field.
Schedler said that there are advantages and disadvantages to these changes, and they could put a lot of stress on students’ shoulders
“I think there’s good and bad. The good thing is that we give students more options, but the requirements for the honors plus seal for employment can be very difficult. It requires 650 work hours,” she said.
Public Service Academy Principal Chelsea Jordan elaborated on the difficulties of building direct relationships between students and their work.
“We’re going to have to work with teachers to find ways to build more career-driven, hands-on experiences in the classroom,” she said.
Principals and teachers alike are taking any step necessary to stay informed on the new changes to better help the students meet their goals.
“We’ve already spoken with our teachers about it and kind of brainstormed different ideas within the academies of how to make adjustments,” Jordan said.
Jordan, however, is more skeptical about the changes and how they actually benefit the majority of students.
“I think it’s a little extreme. You have kids in sports, or other extracurricular activities, and it can be hard for them to meet their diploma requirements,” she said.
College and Careers teacher Michael Moody believes giving kids more options other than enrolling in college is a benefit.
“College isn’t for everybody. One of my friends actually went into the military, and they paid in full for her college after serving for nine years,” he said.
Moody helped create the college and careers program at Jeff High and described it as a gateway into figuring out what teens would like to do during their high school careers.
“We have basic jobs that we’re supposed to do mainly to help you have an idea of where your skills and aptitudes match in the pathways,” he said.
With college not being for everyone, the new diploma also helps students realize easier paths to success in their future fields.
“Why should you go to a four-year college and spend tens of thousands of dollars to get a job when you can go and get training and you get started getting paid right out of school?” he said.
Ultimately, teachers, counselors, and the State Board of Education all agree that the changes to this diploma were made to encourage and support students to achieve their goals, whether that be Employment, Enrollment, or Enlistment.
Winter ’26 Photo Essay: JHS photographers capture Southern Indiana winter weather
Despite the snow, ice, and on-line classes, JHS student photographers photographed some images of January’s cold weather as part of their Digital Photography class.
Most images are a part of their unit on black and white photography as they study the work of Ansel Adams this month.
Click on the images in the gallery below to view their photographs.
‘Stranger Things’ fans react to Season 5, discuss the series legacy
Editor’s Note: Proceed carefully, Stranger Things fans, as the following feature story contains spoilers.
by Shelby Keesee
On Dec. 31, 2025, at 8 p.m. EST, the highly anticipated Stranger Things series finale, written and directed by the Duffer Brothers, aired on Netflix, and later was accessible for viewers to see in select theaters.
The series ran for almost 10 years (2016-2025) and gained numerous fans through its 1980s nostalgia, references, unique plot, and most importantly, its characters.
Prior to the finale, two volumes containing episodes of the fifth season arrived on Netflix, with Volume 1 (episodes 1-4) releasing on Nov. 26, and Volume 2 (episodes 5-7) releasing on Dec. 25.
The Crawl
The first episode, entitled “The Crawl,” is set in 1987 in the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana. The episode begins with a flashback to Will’s vanishing in the Upside Down, which was the first event that led viewers into Stranger Things’ complex and emotional story.
“My first thought was, ‘Oh my God – they were babies. They were such little babies,’ and now they’re like, grown men and stuff,” stated Student Council sponsor Natalie Woods. “I don’t know if it did it justice – if I’ve never watched seasons one, two, three or four, and I just watched the flashback, I don’t think I would’ve been able to get the gist of what happened. So I feel like if they really wanted to do that fairly, it should’ve been an episode all on its own.”
The episode then reveals that Hawkins is under military occupation due to an “earthquake,” which leads the main cast into frequent “crawls” to look for Vecna, one of the main villains, in the Upside Down.
The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler
The second episode, entitled “The Vanishing of Holly Wheeler,” contains the season’s main storyline – Holly’s vanishing, orchestrated by “Mr. Whatsit,” who is later revealed to be an alter ego of Henry Creel/Vecna.
“They focused on Holly a lot. She was definitely the main character of this season, and if they were planning on making a Stranger Things follow-up, she’s the start of the next generation of kids.” said English teacher Eric Watson.
“I loved episode 2, probably my favorite of the whole season,” stated English teacher Allison Clary.
The Turnbow Trap and Sorcerer
“The Turnbow Trap” contains Derek Turnbow’s addition into the plot, and the fourth episode, “Sorcerer,” leads viewers into a turning point – Will’s realization of his sorcerer-like powers.
“But, my next one was number four, ‘Sorcerer,’ because, of course, that was so shocking — none of us knew Will had those powers,” said Clary.
Volume 2
The second volume, containing “Shock Jock,” “Escape from Camazotz,” and “The Bridge,” gave us key events prior to the final adventure. The episodes, containing Nancy and Jonathan’s near-death experience, Max’s escape, and Will’s vulnerable moment, received mixed feelings from viewers. Critics expressed that the Duffers’ writing in the volume either lacked professionalism, was rushed, or lacked character depth.
“The part with Max was kind of confusing to me. She’s in a coma, but she’s still alive and functioning with other people who are stuck in the Upside Down,” stated history teacher Kent Porter.
“I know on the internet, a lot of people were really upset that Will had his whole coming-out scene and everything,” English teacher Holden Henderson said. “I mean, I think it’s great to give people representation – that is a very emotionally taxing moment, and so it makes sense that he would feel that way, but I do think for the story itself, I feel like they (Duffers) spent too much time on it.”
“The Rightside Up” is Stranger Things’ final episode, and it mainly focused on the group teaming up to successfully defeat Vecna.
“The thing about the final episode is the build-up for this season – all of these Demodogs and Demogorgons and all these monsters having to do with all this stuff, but when they actually go into the Upside Down, it’s not there,” said Henderson. “A couple of episodes before, when the Demodogs were fighting all the soldiers outside of the gate, like, that was a huge fight with lots of monsters and stuff – you’d think Vecna would’ve probably tried to defend himself a little bit.”
But the finale’s emotional ending has sparked a contentious question among fans; was Eleven’s sacrifice an illusion – or did she actually die?
In the debate, some believe that she didn’t perish, with an example being Woods.
“I don’t think she did. She’s too strong to have died just like that. Out of all things that poor child has gone through, that’s it? She’s gonna be whisked away with the wind?” Woods stated.
Some others believe she truly died, including Porter.
“I think she did. The way they just kind of left it there with her being in the Upside Down with everything breaking apart, I think it got her.” Porter said.
However, others have a more neutral stance, like Watson.
“I think the way they did the ending was the coward’s way out. They gave everyone a happy ending, they had a dramatic moment where like, it was a pyrrhic victory; they won, but they had lost something very valuable,” stated Watson. “And I feel like leaving the hope that Eleven is still alive undercuts that in a way that was disappointing. I would’ve been happier if they would’ve picked one.”
One of the Greatest?
Despite the common criticism over season 5, the season and the series still appeal to fans as one of the greatest they’ve seen yet.
“I loved the whole series, and I overall loved season 5,” Clary said. “I know some people were disappointed with the very last episode, number 8, but I was not disappointed at all. It was a great way to wrap up everything and everybody – all the characters kind of climaxed, and I understand why Eleven had to go.”
“Season 5 I thought was very enjoyable, as far as a watching experience, I enjoyed watching it,” stated Henderson. “But, part of that was taking a step back from a cinema graphic, or a movie critic style approach, and more of just like, ‘Hey, I really like this series, I want to enjoy it.’ There were definitely some flaws, there were definitely some weaknesses, but overall, it was enjoyable.”
The Characters
Even though a percentage of the audience has not viewed season 5 yet, the characters in Stranger Things are unforgettable and complex.
“Favorite character? Either Steve – the babysitter guy, or Dustin,” stated math teacher Cory Densford, who has yet to watch the final season. “Those are definitely my favorites. I really liked Steve’s character arc. I always have a soft spot for those kind of villain characters.”
“I liked Hopper a whole lot. I’m a pretty sarcastic dude, and he delivered the most sarcasm, I think. And also, he’s just surrounded by teenagers and exhausted all the time, and that’s relatable to me,” Watson said.
“Everyone wants to say Will, because his character led up to that culminating point where he mind slayed Vecna, but I feel like it’s going to be Lucas for me,” said Woods. “He had such a role of keeping the group together. He didn’t have these main character storylines, but he was always the one that was there – if something went good, if something went bad, he really had the answers to everything.”
Because of these characters’ relatability, viewers tend to feel more of an emotional response while watching Stranger Things.
“I think maybe part of that is because it’s taken place over nearly 10 years,” stated Clary. “I’ve literally watched since the first year, so a lot of people who have strong feelings, sometimes it’s because they’ve been watching for so long.”
“I think some of it has to do with the writing style and the characters. You usually feel very realistic towards them, so when we see characters we can kind of imagine as ourselves or our friends or our loved ones, we can see similarities, and since they are more realistic, we see them going through these things, so it seems more emotionally real to us as well,” said Henderson.
“Having characters that have flaws are important in media,” Densford stated. “Nobody’s perfect, and if they’re perfect, it’s hard to relate.”
The exceptional, emotional story and character depth has led fans to share the series with their friends and family.
“I’ve heard about it because my wife’s a big fan of it,” stated English teacher David Kummer, who has not yet watched the show. “She started watching it a couple of years ago and binge watched it.”
“Honestly, my son – he was the one who recommended it, and the minute we watched it, it stuck.” Woods said.
Overall, Stranger Things has made its impact on numerous fans, and its popularity will continue to rise over the years.
The series’ versatility in multiple areas, such as its writing, unique plot, and in-depth characters makes it a historical show for viewers. Regardless of season five’s criticism, it still remains a favorite for many.
“It seems like there’s always a show every 10 years or so that becomes bigger than some of its parts,” stated Watson.
Red Devils defeat Seymour 69-41 on Senior Night
All photos by Magdalene Conrad, Kirk Owen, and Parker McCloskey. Click on each photo in the gallery below.
thehyphennews.com 