Poem: Christmas All Over by Kaitlyn Seechock

Germans have lots of fun celebrations.

They use yummy calendars for advent.

Sweet gingerbread is a big temptation

In the Christmas Markets-their big event.

Russians rather celebrate the New Year.

They get excited for Grandfather Frost.

It is a time full of laughter and cheer.

Fasting on Christmas Eve is a small cost.

In Japan it’s spent in a loving way

Couples love to spend it with each other.

They will sing songs like “Ode to Joy” all day.

And people send cards to one another.

People hope for good weather conditions

In order to keep all their traditions.

Poem: The Noise of Silence by Sofia Capozzi

White dollops fall softly upon the ground

The air is crisp and a soft breeze makes the flurries swirl

The traffic lights alter on a round

The breeze scoops loose wrappers of trash into a whorl

White dollops gather to create a sheet of snow

Yellow-toned street lights make the sheet glow

A singular person ventures out on the silent sidewalk

His footprints crunch and leave a mark below

He looks up at the snow and notices the emptiness of the block

His lungs inhale the cold, crisp air

He exhales and his breath tells him how cold it truly is

The moon lights up his face ever so slightly

He knows that he does not appear the way others do

His skin gives off a different hue

He walks in silence

The hum of electricity coos below

His heart thuds softly in his chest, quieter than most

He and the street are one in the same

Both empty inside but flourishing with potential

The wind nips at his fingers

He brings in his hands close

His nose twitches and a familiar smell lingers

His footprints crunch and leave a mark below

The lonesome fellow follows the smell

He notices it, but decides it best not to dwell

It brings up many memories more sour than sweet

He looks down, discouraged by his swirling thoughts

A small “hello” is uttered down the street

It interrupts his reminiscing and brings him back to now

His footprints crunch and leave a mark below

The small “hello” looks up in awe at the lonesome man

With blonde hair perfectly in place

And a cute lil smile on her face

“You are beautiful,” she says

The man's eyes welled like a glass of water that is overfull

His heart swelled

His cheeks morphed into pink

He had never been told that he was beautiful

Cindy Lou Hoo grabbed the lonesome man’s hand

They walked together like old friends

The Grinch changed his ways because of that day

Words have power to change the way

Opinion: Power Down on Powder Puff by Isabella Wisenburn

On Wednesday, November 21 we celebrated our accomplishment of bringing in 10,000 cans. As a reward, the school prepared a Powder Puff game as a celebration and to strengthen school spirit. The question I pose is: did we do it correctly? If you were sitting where I was in the bleachers, school spirit was complaining about the cold. School spirit was throwing snow (or more ice) at unsuspecting victims. School spirit was ignoring the game by talking or texting. School spirit was ridiculing the female athletes. School spirit was playing a misogynistic game: Powder Puff.

Powder Puff Name

I, as an Abington Heights student, would like to voice my concern regarding the sexist nature of the “Powder Puff” event happening on the half-day of Thanksgiving break. Due to both the name and nature of the game, it puts me and other young females in an awkward position, where we are supposed to laugh along as our gender is made fun of. The term “Powder Puff” itself comes from the tool to apply makeup powder to one’s face. This name automatically gives the connotation that the activity and the players involved are delicate, fragile beings. What I later learned was females would be participating in a modified version of football.

First off, this game involves males as well as females: they will be cheering from the sidelines as females play. So why does the name have to involve a “feminine” tool? Why does the name solely focus on what the girls do? Do we need to change the name of a game just because another gender is playing it? Is it not still football?

Gender Stereotypes Revealed

Schools are mocking the social acceptance to males cheering and females playing football. Many guys don’t cheer, but some do; not all girls play football, but some want to. Have you noticed we don’t have a female football team and the football team does not have a single female player? Is this just an excuse to humiliate us by showing our ignorance on this particular sport in front of the whole school? And does this exemplify the stigma that our school feeds into - football is for men to play and for women to cheer? According to ScotScoop, a high school article discussing their own Powder Puff game, “Soccer has girls soccer and boys soccer, basketball has girls basketball and boys basketball, but football is just football. The connotation is male and remains so. Powderpuff does not help eliminate this.” The intention is that viewers will be laughing with the males as they purposefully make fools of themselves cheering. At the same time, others will be laughing at the females who are trying their best to play a sport that has been kept from them their whole lives.

My Observations of the Event

The participants constantly slipped and fell on the ground or onto their classmates. Thankfully, there were no injuries -maybe their heavy coats cushioned the fall? Also, the teachers had to explain to the players what to do and where to go.

Furthermore, their gloves became an issue. It was difficult to catch a ball when you have gloves on -something the audience did not seem to understand. They were quick to judge their abilities as if the girls had been playing football all their life. The phrases “How could she not catch that?” “They can’t even catch!” were often said.

Even though the females were expected to play their hardest, the males were able to goof off. Granted, one male wore a pleated, cheerleading skirt, but the rest in only dressed in school colors. At times the males would try and start a cheer, but not many people would catch on. They mostly screamed “Let’s go!” and “Yeah!” a few times before calling it quits.

The Importance

We are impressionable young adults. No one is born racist. No one is born homophobic. No one is born sexist. Our community, the media, and our own insensitivity to issues lead us to be these characteristics. Just because activities will be “funny” and “enjoyable,” does not excuse us to ignore the underlying problems. Our brains are developing and actively participating in these events continuously leads us to believe these stereotypes.

For example, when people joke about women needing to clean, stay in the kitchen, or the famous line, “Go make me a sandwich!” does this not have us thinking men are better than women? You may laugh now, but these jokes are becoming more and more popular. We are surprised to find women in power or women in important fields because this isn’t where we assume they would be. All the times we have made small, sexist jokes add up. Over time, this becomes one of our main ways of thinking. So sure, keep believing that this is only one game and it won’t affect you, but it will. And it won’t be for the better.

In Conclusion...

Even if you don’t agree with any of my points, I hope you do understand where I’m coming from. If other schools have banned this activity, aren’t there some logical reasons for doing so? Because of the blatant sexism in its name, and the game in general, its clear ignorance in the gender stereotypes presented and its nature of forcing young women to watch as their sex is ridiculed by the general community, Powder Puff games should be put to an end. If our school administration can endorse this game, do they understand the serious negative effects and implications that will come from it?