Fredericton High swimmer makes a splash!

 

By Rachel F.

 

Benia Kalus Swimmer,

Fredericton High School has become known for the incredibly talented students. Our gymnasium walls are lined with provincial banners, they clearly display the athletic ability of our sports teams. FHS offers a wide range of competitive sport teams, that are all filled with gifted students. One of these many athletes is Benia Kalus. 

Benia is a senior at Fredericton High School; she has a wide range of interests that include competitive swimming. 

She can recall joining her first swim team, “I was eight years old and living in British Colombia at the time” said Benia. She also talked about how she had always enjoyed swimming from a young age and it seemed like a good fit for her.  

At age 11 Benia’s competitive spirit died, and she decided to quit her swim team. The decision was made because at the time she though that she no longer enjoyed swimming. 

 “I really did not like the competitions, and hated how intense it could get”, said Benia. For the next five years Benia did not take part in any type of swim team. 

Within the year Benia had stopped swimming she moved to Fredericton, and in time became a student at Fredericton High School. At age sixteen Benia missed being a part of a sports team. Although she had stayed active perusing extra curricula’s like dance and violin, she missed swimming. She soon looked into teams within Fredericton that she could try out for. 

Benia made the F.A.S.T swim team and was thrilled with her decision. “ I had to work hard to get up to the level the rest of my team mates were at, but with much hard work I was able to compete” said Benia. She enjoyed the swim team so much that benia decided to join another swim group. 

 “Many of my team mates in F.A.S.T were also on the school team and encouraged me to try out,” said Benia. 

Benia is now on both teams and enjoys the swimming she does.  

“When I first came to FHS I didn’t even know there was a swim team, I was happy when I found out” said Benia. This is not uncommon in our school, many students are not aware of the competitive swim team, which means that not many students will go out and support these athletes. Although it may be a matter of interest in the sport, it is clear that there is little advertising of completions.

Benia is just one of the many examples of Fredericton High School great athletes. 

There ARE other Kats in the Jungle, but some are overlooked

We're all Kats in this Jungle. Sometimes footbal, hockey and basketball overshadow the other student athletes.

What about the other Kats? A Sports Editorial

By Emily B.  

Sports are important in a high school. Being on a team establishes your status. The football king,  the hockey pro, soccer champion, etc. To be on a sports team isn’t just who you are; it is your school.  High school wins make the local paper, and schools view others based on their teams.

But what about the others? Do FHS students even know about their other sports teams? There  are 29 sports teams at FHS.  The citizens of FHS should be celebrating everybody’s hobbies and wins.

The morning announcements often congratulate wins by the football and hockey teams. Usually including names on goals or touch downs. These boys and girls are recognized throughout the school. Dressing formally or in their jerseys on game days.  The football team has seen quite a few articles in the  paper this season, as well.

I was shocked to see that FHS has a boys and girls golf team, five different soccer teams and girls  softball and swimming. Where are they celebrated? Certainly not by the students. “The less-known sports teams are constantly being over shadowed by top name sports that everyone loves. Under the heavy shadow, how are others supposed to earn scholarships and be noticed by the students and be congratulated?

Thanks to the glamorization to popular sports, other athletes cannot shine through. It is the duty of the students to create the feeling of citizenship and welcome all types of extracurricular sports teams into the school and celebrate them as they are.

1994: Kurt Cobain suicide sparks grief for millions

by Robin G.

The suicide of Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain showed a troubled mind

In early April 1994, Kurt Cobain, the troubled lead singer of grunge band Nirvana, scrawled a grief-stricken suicide note and shot himself on the property of his Lake Washington home. His tragic death at the age of 27 sparked not only the grief of millions of grunge fans, but a great deal of speculation surrounding the circumstances of his death, his final days and his relationship with his wife and infant daughter.

            Cobain, one of the pioneers of the grunge genre along with the other members of Nirvana, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, was a reluctant and unlikely superstar, unable to cope with the level of fame he inadverdently achieved through his musical talent. He was plagued with mental illnesses his entire life, and although much of this emotional turmoil lent a hand to his haunting lyrics and guitar riffs, it was also instrumental in his eventual self-destruction.

            In 1991, before Nirvana shot to superstardom, Cobain met fellow musician Courtney Love at a nightclub. The two married in 1992 and had daughter Frances Bean. Media controversy and public outcry followed, accusing the reportedly drug-addicted couple of being unfit parents. Cobain was indeed addicted to drugs, his habit worsening alarmingly.

            After two suicide attempts in March of 1994, Love staged an intervention during which Cobain eventually agreed to check into rehab for his drug abuse. On March 30th he entered the facility and spent a seemingly positive day talking to counsellors and playing with his now two-year-old daughter. The following night however, he climbed the six-foot wall outside the facility and disappeared into the night. In the days that followed various sightings of Cobain were reported. Courtney Love hired a private investigator on April 3rd.

            Cobain’s body was found with a shotgun in hand in the greenhouse outside the home he shared with Courtney and Frances by an electrician who had come to install a security system on April 8th, 1994. It was reported that he had been dead since April 5th. Thousands of trouled teens across the nation killed themselves in the wake of Cobain’s death. Fellow band members Grohl and Novoselic were devastated. Grohl says Cobain’s death was the “Probably the worst thing that has happened to my in my life. I remember the day after that I woke up and I was heartbroken that he was gone.”

            A public vigil for Kurt Cobain was held in his hometown of Seattle on April 10th, 1994, drawing about seven thousand mourners. At a final ceremony on May 31st, 1999, his eight-year old daughter scattered his ashes into McLane Creek in Olympia, Washington, the place Cobain said he had found his true artistic muse.