May 2025
Student segment: saying goodbye to our Seniors
By Kamari Whimper & Zack Williamson-DeBenedictis
The Student Segment is all about hearing from you! This month, we wanted to hear from our graduating seniors. Here are some of our favorite questions and responses!
Question 1: What is your favorite memory from your time at DST?
Definitely the time I went to the skate park and I saw Ms. Lartigue and Mr. Harper! - Pax Rivera-Rios
My first time going to Chick-Fil-A (iykyk) - Caleb Williams
When I finally found the secrets of everything. I figured out how to be a better person, got into philosophy, and learned more about people - Maurice Stephens
Question 2: How would you describe your post-COVID school life?
Everybody was so awkward, everybody was still acting like middle schoolers - Roberto Martinez
One word: Mask-Fishing (When someone takes off their mask for the first time and they look a bit…different than you expected) - Caleb Williams
It was better than pre-COVID. I used to be very annoying - Brandon Scott
Question 3: Which teacher will you miss the most?
Mr. Muhammad and Ms. Hunter - Alexis “Morgan” Williams
Ms. Walton - Justin Goldston
Mr. Pierce - Genevieve Reed
Ms. Fennell and Mr. Harper - Haydee Camanos Celis
We wish all of our seniors the best in their next endeavors. Congratulations y’all! We did it!
HUSH: Hornets Fans Celebrate Victory Against Rival Southern Spartans; $2,500 In Damages
By Zack Williamson-DeBenedictis
An age-old rivalry was once again reignited as the Hillside Hornets and Southern Spartans faced off on the field last week. #73 and #59 of the Hornets did nothing but utterly smash the competition. Students of the winning team were swept off their feet in excitement and utilized their lunch period to celebrate their triumph against Southern High School.
The Hornets coach on the scene exclaimed just how “proud I am of these guys and the Hornets as a whole in our recent win. I couldn’t be any more proud, not only because of the prowess shown on the field, but also because of the tenacity shown in the following celebration. Never before have I seen the lunch ladies completely eaten out of house, and all the tables either flipped on their sides or split down the middle!”
Prior to the destructive celebration, the administration warned of consequences for actions above absurdity. The school has purchased additional insurance coverage in preparation for the win. The Hillside principal has warned several times against pushing past the $15,000 budget for repairs, yet this has done little to dissuade the zealous hornets and their school spirit. “Those caught in acts of vandalism beyond the permitted amount will be punished by the highest order of my ability.”
Seeing as the damages caused equate to over 178% of the repair budget, the principal has made the controversial decision to close the cafeteria whilst the school undergoes repairs. Several masked students were found to have hoisted the principal on their shoulders and initiated a “crowd-surfing sequence” concluding with the principal falling onto the tile floor, sustaining a bruised tailbone. Once unmasked, the students responsible received two days of lunch detention.
A first-hand account given to the on-ground team by Joshua “Peanut” Hillhelps to illustrate the chaos that swept through the cafeteria.
“It was like two seasons of built-up anger came out in one, opportune moment. I’ve never seen the kids in this school be that coordinated and destructive at the same time.”
Amidst the chaos caused by the damages and injuries, matters are further complicated by the urgency for a reopened cafeteria, seeing as a basketball game against Jordan High School is scheduled for the very next week.
Despite any shade of bleakness cast by this unfortunate series of events, this latest football season has still gone over more smoothly than the 2024 season, with damages of 200% being thankfully avoided. Let’s hope that the repair costs come 2026 remain a controlled pandemonium.
Gaming & Tech: Do parents hate video games?
By Kamari Whimper
Video games are a concept that people are familiar with and are widespread to various ages; the most dominant perception is that children make up the majority of gamers. Now to parents of those casual or hardcore gamers, perspectives on video games are interesting. Many of them share the thought that violent first-person shooters grab the attention of all children; however, more research is needed. So, I decided to ask them in person in the hope of changing their viewpoint on video games and if they are really damaging to their children. Four interview questions were asked in interviews with several local Durham parents.
Starting Up:
My first question spun the narrative more as an advantage in gaming: Do you think video games are beneficial to your kid's academic growth? I settled on this question because adults tend to value the growth of the future generation. The first response I got was from a teacher, she goes into depth not just about games in general but the specifics. “Games with violence? Of course not, but if it is a video game that explores role play and emotion, then yes I think they are for academic growth.” Instead of a simple answer, I liked how she plays with emotion, something that all kids should be aware of. Understanding the emotions of others and themselves is important in fostering healthy relationships and building connections.
Next up, I wanted my interviewees to expand on video games being “good” or “bad,” so I decided on “How do we decide what games are appropriate for your child?” I heard from someone I’m close to: my mother! She said initially that the games were okay, a rather lukewarm response. Hearing directly from her words, I was a bit surprised by her comment, “I don’t really mind what my kids play but if I think about it, I avoid all those destructive games or ones with bad substances. It all depends on how their attitudes react to it.” She makes an interesting point on what the media that your kids may be exposed to. It’s important to be aware of what you might be carrying with you whenever you finally hop off the game so it shows importance that an adult may be concerned about what the youth plays.
To wrap this up I brought up a game that most high school students may be familiar with: Block Blast. Those who are not knowledgeable about it, I’ll explain how the game works. Block Blast, similar to the format of Tetris with a twist, gives an eight-by-eight box and then randomly has a selection of shapes. The goal of the game is to basically clear the rows without it being full or no more space to put another shape or you’ll lose. There is no real end to the game. It can be very addictive but it is also a strategic game learning how to best operate each solution whilst avoiding a game over. Why might I bring this up? Well, I was curious about whether it may change an adult's thoughts or stay the same with the specific game being brought up. A response I got from one parent, who wasn’t aware of what block blast was before I explained, said “I think it can stimulate your thoughts–I think one game I played called Unblocks Me. It helps me wind down and relax so it can definitely change the way you think of it.” She makes a comparison of another game which has almost similar gimmick and having some taste of what games could help those kids in a more positive way to their growth. Everyone needs a break, and video games can help as a mental cooldown to avoid stress.
Powering Down…
Now why not try asking your own parent/guardian or any other adult around you these questions and listen how much different every response can be to how the older generation views such growing entertainment? If they respond well, maybe they’ll join you for the next game you play!
Film & Arts: Sinners (2025) review
By Kamari Whimper
The movie starts with twin brothers referred to as Smoke and Stacks; two Black men who dabble in some trouble to earn money, who have to return to their hometown in the great Mississippi Delta in 1930 during the time of Jim Crow. They bring their cousin Sammy, a boy with remarkable talent with his voice, to start up a juke joint. Unfortunately for them, the supernatural comes to bite them back.
I watched one little clip for the preview in Sinners and thought it was something about crazy vampires and Black hunters, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was more than just a supernatural horror. The music is what pulls me in the most. It made it feel so immersed in the story and connected to the characters with so many different meanings to them that you can’t just watch once.
Michael B. Jordan did a wonderful job playing two characters with two distinct personalities without needing to go crazy to tell them apart. I really enjoyed how he played both Stack and Smoke. It really felt like it wasn't just one person playing the same character. Miles Caton, playing Sammy was everything about a boy with such remarkable talent in early blues music, which was seen as devil music at that time. Canton’s singing was nothing short of amazing.
Overall Rating: 8.5/10
Did you see sinners? Let us know your thoughts by sending us a message!
Mindfulness: 5 tips to prepare for eoc testing
By Zack Williamson-DeBenedictis
With the school year coming to a quick close, students are naturally feeling stressed out. Quarterly deadlines, final exams and EOCs coming at you from every direction. It’s always important to take care of yourself, but especially during times when it’s easy to push your needs to the side. VOICE has compiled five of our most useful ways to remain healthy and level during this last stretch of school.
Proper intake
Food, and water are the most important things that we sometimes have to remind ourselves to get enough of. Stress drives many people to skip meals and forget hydration, which only ends up decreasing productivity in the long run. The best thing you can do to counteract this issue is to set yourself times during the day to do nothing but either of these things.
Explicit mealtimes not only to remind yourself to eat, but to avoid eating foods that are full of calories but deficient nutritionally. Additionally, hourly or bi-hourly reminders to have some water do wonders, be it as much or as little as you need, so long as it’s at least a sip.
2. Charge your laptop
A special request from the teachers who have to loan out chargers year-after-year, and admittedly less of a mindfulness tip, make sure your computer is charged the night before you come into school. Simultaneously, don’t forget your computer charger at your house, they still need to be turned in.
3. Don’t shut yourself in
Another thing I know firsthand that’s all too easy to do around this time is to shut yourself in whilst cramming for exams or piles of missing work. Again, it’s easy to think that you’ll be at your most productive whilst in a state of complete focus, but all you’re doing is exhausting your own brain the longer you spend doing the same tasks. Everybody needs periods of rest to break repetition in order to get your head back into the proper space for quality work, and there’s no environment more relaxing than nature, especially around this beautiful time of year. You can go on hikes, walks or even just explore what’s immediately around your house. Take notes of the little things. Orderly lines of ants, the intricate patterns in leaves, the smell of fresh air. It sounds like so little but it truly does so much.
4. Study With Friends
Whilst working with friends, it’s difficult to strike a balance between socializing to ease the repetition of work and actually getting any work done to begin with, but when the balance is struck, it’s a real recipe for success.
5. Recharge time
Arguably the most important thing for the brain beyond oxygen is a sufficient amount of deep sleep. Nothing slows you down more than not allowing your brain and body the proper time it needs to refresh and recharge. I among many others struggle to get enough sleep, but thankfully, there are many strategies that help people get the rest they need without extra expenses like melatonin supplementation, of which I’ll be explaining one more conventional, and one less conventional that I’ve both used in the past.
One thing that your body takes into account that determines when to feel tired is the eyes' intake of blue light, the main emittance of the sun. Another thing that emits blue light is most electronic devices, so it’s recommended by the majority of sleep specialists is to not look at anything blue light emitting for about an hour before you go to bed. Your brain will release melatonin and other tire-inducing chemicals much earlier if you do this.
The second thing is something I use when I have several consecutive nights of subpar sleep. One thing I will say is that this requires a more flexible schedule, so its not a possibility for everybody all the time. I’ll get my eight hours of rest as soon as I get home, anywhere from five to six pm typically, and arise at anywhere from twelve to two am. This is good if you need to be awake early in the morning for multiple days before you have a chance to sleep in, and recover.
