Here are some of our favorite pieces from Mr. Miller’s talented students.
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CKM Digital Art Gallery
Category: Features
Rarely are lesbian movies set in the 21st century, and even fewer have happy endings.
Introducing: Bottoms, Emma Seligmanâs satirical and heartfelt comedy about two âugly, untalented gaysâ trying to get under their crushes, literally. Violent, witty, and unapologetically unhinged, Bottoms is a laughable romance in a sea of melancholy period pieces.
The story begins after a run-in with said crush ex-boyfriend, leaving our main characters Josie (portrayed by Ayo Edebiri) and PJ (portrayed by Rachel Sennot) to start a âself-defense classâ to avoid suspension.
However, after a rumor of Josie spending a summer in juvie spreads, the âclassâ becomes an all-out fight club, conveniently allowing the two to wrestle with their dream women. Accompanied by an original soundtrack scored by Charli XCX, Bottoms is an excitingly optimistic movie about two average lesbians.
Itâs safe to say I adored this movie. My movie theater etiquette has never been worse than when I saw Bottoms on the big screen. It had me giggling, booing, and crying all at once. I felt so sorry for the other people in the auditorium with me. To be honest, I was already a fan of Seligmanâs, as I also loved her 2020 film, Shiva Baby, which was just as eccentric as her later movie in question. One of Seligmanâs strengths is her writing ability, as all her works are written and directed by her, allowing each of her stories to be unique and fully fleshed out.
If you have seen any one of the other pensive lesbian period pieces that have come out in the last few decades, I recommend Bottoms as a refreshing palette cleanser.
Carol, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Ammonite, and The World to Come, all come to mind within this somber genre of romance.
Iâm not sure why Hollywood has such a fixation on promoting depressing Lesbian movies that are seemingly incapable of taking place in this century, but I feel that with the popularity of Bottoms, that curse may finally be broken. As opposed to the countless Oscar-bait dramas, Bottoms is a refreshingly unserious romance that breaks the melancholy lesbian glass ceiling.
The beauty of Bottoms is that there really is no âpoint,â but rather just to have fun and be funny. Rated R for âcrude sexual content, pervasive language, and some violence,â Bottoms is charming yet awkward and definitely a must-see for any other âugly, untalented gaysâ seeking representation.
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Senior Interviews 2023
High school is easily one of the most stressful times in a personâs life; between the workload, tests, and maintaining a social life, it can get overwhelming.
This is the first time in your life that youâre expected to act like an adult and are treated as such. Itâs hard to expect anyone to go through these types of life changes and not struggle, almost every student does at some point. Especially when your entire future could potentially ride on these few years youâre here. So, here are a few tips and tricks on how to cope with stress in high school.
The first thing you can do is find an escape. This can be anything, but itâs important that itâs something you can focus on solely. Some people work out, watch a TV show or movie, cook, play video games, etc. My personal favorite is reading. When youâre reading a book, you have to focus on the words and imagine the scene happening on the page. But whatâs important is that this time is spent not thinking about school or homework or anything that is causing you stress. Though it is a balancing act, you need to remember that you canât use escapism as a way to procrastinate. That only makes it worse. A way to prevent that mindset from setting in is to make specific times in your day times to escape.
Speaking of setting times, another great way to take some weight off your shoulders is to make a routine. Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time, from there you can plan out your day from when youâll do your schoolwork to when youâll have free time. Having six hours of your day already planned out because of school makes that easier. But donât be too hard on yourself, remember that this is supposed to help you. If you feel like you need more time to do something, allow yourself the time you need. Routines are trial and error, and sometimes youâll need to adjust to fit your lifestyle. Donât compare yours to anyone elseâs.
Keep up on your school work as best you can. I know that itâs annoying to hear this constantly, but it really is a great way to avoid the stress of time limits. Having your homework done before the due date just generally feels great; itâs one less thing to worry about. Try using a planner or setting reminders on your calendar of when your assignments are due. There is also a calendar tab on Google Classroom that tells you when the assignments posted are due and shows when one has been marked as missing. Keeping up with work is important but mental health comes first, so if you do fall behind make sure not to beat yourself up about it.
It can be hard to confide in adults about the struggle of being a student, itâs been a while since they themselves were in high school after all. So the people that are the most likely to relate to your struggles are your friends. I can guarantee that your friends are experiencing the same issues with school that you are. It can make a world’s difference knowing that you’re not alone in the feeling of being overwhelmed. Sometimes all you need is to vent with someone that understands.
Donât compare yourself to others. Everyone is at a different comprehension level so thereâs no point in thinking that youâre not as smart as someone else just because they understand one subject more than you. Some people are good at math and some are good at English, itâs hardly reasonable to think that everyone will be good in every subject.
FOMO stands for the âfear of missing outâ, meaning that you are afraid that youâre being left out of activities. Itâs expected of teenagers to have a booming social life but sometimes you just want to curl up in bed after a long day and take a nap. Donât feel pressured to go out with friends or to parties if youâre not feeling up to it. Itâs perfectly fine to want to spend time alone focusing on yourself; healthy even. It doesnât mean youâre selfish or that youâre flakey. And donât worry, there will always be more opportunities to go out and socialize.
Your education is just that, yours. If you donât like a class or need to adjust your schedule, do your best to find a solution. Itâll take effort on your part but trust me, in the long run itâll make your educational experience a lot easier. Talk to your teachers and counselor about your classes and explain why they arenât working for you. All it takes is an email.
Take mental health days. There are some days when you just canât make yourself get out of bed. On those days, donât feel guilty about taking the day off to take care of yourself. When youâre in that mental state itâs hard to be productive, and being in a school environment may only make it worse. Itâll make coming back to school the next day much easier and more productive.
Itâs incredible that mental health is being talked about more in schools and in society as a whole. There is no need for a stigma to surround it when everyone deals with it. As a student that has dealt with anxiety my entire school career, I know as well as anyone how important it is to make high school as stress-free as possible. There are an infinite number of ways to cope, and everyone does so differently. These are just basic tips for those teenagers who are struggling.
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2023’s Junior Prom: a Photo Series
Taken by editor Jaida Cohen and guest photographer Charlotte Carmona
“The DJ was on fire! I had the best time ever. There were good treats this year and the teachers were more laid back. It felt like everyone was welcome. Maybe next year it could be located in a place with water fountains and bigger bathrooms.” – Arlo Payne
“…A senior said last year’s was really bad. This one [seems] way better; it was pretty well thought out.” – Bryce Rogovoy
“This was the first good McClatchy DJ. It needed more decorations, and Bonnie should’ve won Prom Queen.” – Ruby Copher
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Staff’s Craziest Experiences on Campus
(Thank you German Friends)
A group of nineteen German exchange students arrived on campus on Tuesday, April 11th with their respective hosts (McClatchy students in the German program). There were eight boys and eleven girls. In this exchange, the German students stayed with their hostsâ families for two weeks, accompanying them to class each day and exploring Sacramento on field trips. They also prepared oral presentations on a variety of themes, ranging from climate to the German educational system. These brief âlecturesâ were meant to enlighten McClatchy classes about German culture, which many of us admittedly know very little about.
On Tuesday evening, after their first school day (at which point the jet lag was finally wearing off), Liam Tell held a welcome party for all of the students and their families to attend. My sister, Anna, chose to do the exchange, and our family hosted Valentina Klein from Kelkheim for two weeks. I was lucky enough to tag along with Anna, Valentina, and my dad to the celebration.
Frau Templeton gave a concise but beautiful introductory speech to the crowd, and the German teacher (named Mr. Renneberg, I believe) spoke graciously as well. They served awesome food and drinks in the backyard, making another highlight of the evening when Valentina tried her first taco. She told me that in Germany tacos exist, but she rarely sees them because theyâre not popular. Some of the other Germans I talked to had eaten a taco once or twice, but Valentina was so unfamiliar that she was confused about the proper way to eat it.
When I asked how she felt about the taco, she replied, ânot disappointedâ. Thatâs all the feedback I could really get from her, but it was exciting nonetheless. I think the underwhelming reaction can be attributed to her conservative topping choices (one single squeeze of lime on her chicken), and firmly believe she would have been enthusiastic about tacos had she tried an epic taco filled with the array of veggies and dressings provided.
The next monumental moment was Valentinaâs first burger at Meet and Eat on Thursday night. She ordered the Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which consisted of fried chicken, coleslaw, some condiments, and fries on the side. It was on a brioche bun and looked exactly like what you get at burger joints, so despite the title, I think it definitely qualified as a burger. She seemed to thoroughly enjoy it, which brought me and Anna some relief after the taco incident. With her meal, she also appreciated the âfree waterâ–a privilege she is not used to at home.
On Friday night, she got a taste of what school dances are like in Americaâalbeit at a pretty small, casual dance made up of mostly underclassmen. She and her friends enjoyed dancing and witnessing the quirky dance moves of CKM freshmen. Supposedly this was unlike anything they had seen before, because the only school dance they have at home is Senior Prom.
The next day, we took a day trip to San Francisco. It was a perfect day to visit SF. We went to the Ferry Building, Golden Gate Bridge, Lyon Street steps, Painted Ladies, and a couple other touristy spots. Then we stopped in Berkeley on the drive home to show her the UC Berkeley campus and grab some dinner. Valentina seemed delighted by the gorgeous weather and architecture in the city.
Though slightly tangential to the main topic of this article, I wanted to include this story about our German friendâs reaction to the infamous purple Beam. While in the Bay Area, we closely monitored the score of the first Kings vs. Warriors playoff game, but of course we were surrounded by Warriors fans. Thankfully, we got the last laugh when Curry missed a layup and the Kings won 126-123. The beam was lit when we got back to Sactown. For days, Valentina had thought people were saying âlight the beanâ until we showed it to her on the drive home and she had a revelation.
The German exchange students went to The Capitol and Old Sacramento during their second week. The McClatchy kids had to stay in school, but the inside scoop from our German friends was as follows: everyone was impressed with both the interior and exterior of the Capitol building, but equally impressed with the number of unhoused people in Old Sac. She spoke a lot about how different the homeless here are from those she encounters in Europe.
On the night of Friday, April 21st, a group of McClatchy kids and exchange students roller skated at Foothill Skater Inn. Though I wouldnât consider roller skating to be a particularly typical activity for Americans above the age of nine, there are no roller rinks in Kelkheim, so it was a rite of passage for the Germans. Unfortunately, this is where Valentina and a few others caught Covid, but she returned home really happy, so she must have lived her last moments of freedom here to the fullest.Â
To conclude their stay in Sacramento, families coordinated to purchase tickets for everyone to watch a River Cats game from the grassy “Toyota Home Run Hill”. Because it was a Saturday game, there was a firework display at the end, loud enough for even the students quarantined at home to hear. It was a fitting event for the groupâs final night hereâbaseball and a firework display are two quintessential elements of American culture.
The bus departed on Sunday morning. Although it was difficult to say goodbye to friends weâd grown so fond of, no one felt too sad, because they knew they would reunite soon. This summer, they will do the olâ switcheroo, and the McClatchy kids will explore their former guestsâ hometown, Kelkheim, to kick off their adventures in Germany.
In my opinion, the most valuable part of our time spent with a German exchange student was all the knowledge she imparted to us in our late night conversations (as we all procrastinated on our homework). Anna and I were continually surprised by her sophisticated English vocabulary, especially when discussing her political views; sometimes she made use of vocabulary words even our AP Government teachers don’t use. She brought up history about parts of the globe I donât normally pay attention to, which was eye opening. It was very intriguing when she shared her perspective on food, social norms, and sports in the USA.Â
With that, I have summed up everything I observed from April 10th to the 23rd as a member of a host family. I sure hope that all the exchange students learned as much from their Sacramento experience as we did with their company.
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What’s Supercrunk?
Interviewer: Louie McNatt, Staff Editor
Interviewee: Aaron McCarty
ft. Quinn Naughton and Ethan Machado
On a sunny Wednesday in the lunch quad, I spoke with Aaron McCarty, a member of the band Supercrunk. Itâs a band made up of McClatchy seniors that has become increasingly popular this year, well known for playing music at events in and around campus.
If the mosh pits Iâve watched assemble within minutes at all of their concerts are any indication, kids at school definitely seem to vibe with Supercrunkâs sound. I would guess people are also into the cool and casual stoner/punk aesthetic they encapsulate, because it is a good reflection of the style that a lot of CKM students likeâand our whole generation, really. The bandâs tracks are fairly unique, but in our conversation Aaron mentioned a few inspirations for their sound, as well as artists that some listeners have compared them to. This includes Rock subgenres like Punk, Indie, and Alternative Rock, and bands like Hum and Dinosaur Jr.
âTo start off, who are the members of Supercrunk?â
âCurrently, it is myself [Aaron McCarty] (bass guitar), Jack McCarthy (singer, songwriter, guitarist), Antonio âTonyâ Valencia (singer, occasional guitar player), and Matthew Stepheson (drums).â
âWhen was Supercrunk created?â
âAround 2019. It started with us jamminâ out at Jackâs house sometimes, because I picked up the bass that year and Matthew picked up the drums. Jack has always been a guitarist, because his dad is a really musical person. So we always listened to music, liked to play around with various instruments there, and fantasized about starting a band, even in middle school. Once Matthew and I got good enough that we could jam with Jack, we had a lot of fun improvising together, and then Tony started jamming with us probably in the first summer of quarantine. During Covid especially, weâd skate around our neighborhood together all day, and when we got tired weâd go to Jackâs house and try writing some stuff. Weâd do that like two or three times a week, and that kinda just became a way of life for us throughout all of quarantine.â
âIs there any special meaning behind the name Supercrunk?â
*Aaron and Quinn laugh* âWeâve gone through a few names at this point, and we tend to smush words together that we think sound funny â like âLiquid Softâ and âSuper Crunk.â We played our first show under the name âStrong Male Leadâ. It was supposed to be ironic because none of the band members were very muscular. But we became Supercrunk pretty soon after that.â
âGive me a run down on the events you guys have had so far.â
âOur first show was April of last year. Somebody who graduated last year asked us to play at like a gender health fundraiser for their senior project, and we played at some park downtown, and it was cool. And then like a week later we played at The Colony in Oak Park. And it was super epic, and there was moshing, and it was super punk and crazy. After that, we played at a concert for Life Skills Club in October, and then at the McClatchy Talent Show in March. And most recently we played at lunch about two weeks ago (in the back corner of the lunch quad) which was lit.â
âHow many songs do you have?â
Aaron: âThe CD has like nine real tracks, a few of which are not exactly songs, and two of them have some Spanish. You can listen to them on Bandcamp.â
Quinn: âThereâs a ton of songs that theyâve recorded but Jack wonât upload them to Bandcamp because they’re not done yet. I think he’s just getting really into the art of sound engineering and stuff like that. He seems passionate about all of that and plans to study it at Chico State, so that seems to be his main focus. Or heâs being lazy.â
âDo you have any specific inspirations?â
âWell, we all collectively listen to a lot of grunge and Alternative Rock, so that kind of comes out in all of our music. In our sound, a lot of people say weâre similar to Dinosaur Jr. â I donât really see it, but yeah. This one band called Hum is a really big influence in our sound. Jack and I discovered them around two years ago I think. Matthew never got that into them, but since Jack writes a lot of the songs, you can hear them. For example, I think âGirl in Crocsâ sounds a lot like Hum.
âDo you plan to make merch?â
âYeah, weâve thought about making merch. Maybe shirts, I donât know. Our productivity levels are pretty low right now cuz we donât really care about much. We’re kinda crazy, we’re kinda rebelliousâŚWe donât care about the norms.â
âDo you know when you might perform next?â
âI kinda wanna do another lunchtime thing without telling anyone, because last time we just winged it without planning what we would play, and it was spontaneous and cool. On the last day of school for the underclassmen, we might play a house show at Arlo Payneâs house, so people should come out. But, once Jack goes to Chico, the group will be pretty separated, so I donât think weâll keep recording anything. Tonyâs going to the Marines on April 16th, so if we do that house show he wonât even be able to make it.â
*Sidenote* âSome of the members have a couple side projects you should talk about too. Jack, Matthew, Tony, and I have this side project called Booster Seat thatâs literally just Supercrunk with a different name. Then Jack, Lucas, myself, and our friend Vidal Menard created this other side project called Teenage Runaways and weâre currently working on a song that weâre aiming to release this month.â
âCool! Do you have any long term intentions for this group in the future?â
Aaron: âI dunno, again maybe a reunion when Jack comes back from Chico. We definitely wonât see Tony for a while⌠Weâre gonna stay in touch though, so maybe a reunion in ten years.â
Ethan: âGoing on tour worldwide, manâ
Quinn: âNew York, Dubai, Los Angeles, Las VegasâŚâ
Ethan: âChico Stateâ
Aaron: âYeah weâre pretty big, itâs pretty crazy.â
*Bell rings*
âThanks for answering my long list of questions today! I loved hearing some background info on the birth of Supercrunk and its evolution, and Iâm pumped to go to the next show.â
This concludes our inside look into the lives of the highly acclaimed, Punk Rock, self-declared âHesh Riot Grrrl,â musical group of McClatchy High School. Below is a link to their digital album:
https://supercrunk.bandcamp.com/album/supercrunk-demo
“Wild Child” Poppy and introverted Alex met in a car share home from college years ago, and theyâve become best friends ever since. Now, they live in separate cities. Poppy in New York, and Alex in their hometown. But they have a deal. For the past decade, each summer, they’ve taken one week off together to go on a vacation. That was until one big mess ruined their tradition two years ago and they haven’t talked since.
Since their fallout, Poppy’s been unhappy and wants to convince Alex to take another vacation to try to repair what went wrong in their relationship.
Alex surprisingly agrees to go, and Poppy has a week to fix it all.
With the move to a new high school in Alabama, Chloe Green finally got out of a school full of gossiping classmates and unfriendly administrators. Now her only focus is beating Shara Wheeler, the principal’s pet and her biggest rival, for prom queen and winning her spot as valedictorian.
But one month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe and then Shara disappears.
It’s only natural for Chloe to look for answers. Her search leads her to discover she’s not the only one who kissed Shara Wheeler. Two others also kissed Shara and received cryptic notes before her sudden vanishing. They all work together to find Shara before graduation and figure out what happened to her leading up to her disappearance.
Anastasia âStassieâ Allen has been figure skating for as long as she can remember. On a full-time skating scholarship at Maple Hill, she dreams of making Team USA one day. Though nothing is going to stop her from getting what she wants. Not even Nathan Hawkins, the captain of the Maple Hill Titans hockey team.
When a rink accident brings the two teams together, the two end up in a sticky situation.
Nathan the all-time problem solver steps in to help Anastasia when her skating partner gets hurt. They ended up getting closer than they thought. But that won’t distract her, right?
Florence Day ghostwrites for one of the best romance writers in the industry. There’s just one problem, Florence no longer believes in love after a recent breakup.
Plus, her brand new editor, a pretty handsome one, won’t extend her deadline. Adding to the stress of her soon-to-be-ending career, her father just passed away and she has to return home after almost a decade away.
The welcome home to a town that calls her a freak isn’t the best. Telling them you see dead people kind of makes them think that. So when Florence spots a ghost in the doorway of her family’s funeral home who looks eerily like her new editor, she’s a little confused.
There’s a ghostly constant in her life and itâs not her dad. Florence has to revert back to her old habits and figure out how to help him finish off his unfinished business so he can leave. It looks like romance truly is dead.
Romance author, January, and thriller author, Augustus find themselves neighboring each other in a beach house for the summer with a big case of writer’s block.
Augustus Everett and January Andrews are polar opposites who are both renowned in their fields. The two make a deal for the summer: Augustus’s summer will be spent writing about happiness, and January’s will be spent writing the next greatest fiction of all time.
For inspiration, they head out on fun excursions that challenge their different perspectives of each other’s genres. It’s just about finishing their books and keeping their relationship strictly platonic. That simple, right?
Hopefully, some of these will become favorites of yours too. Happy reading!
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Chorizo, Eggs, and Potatoes
Ingredients:
½ pound of chorizo
½ pound of diced potatoes
4 tablespoons of cooking oil
Salt and pepper to taste
5 eggs and 4 flour tortillas
Directions:
In a medium pan, add ½ the cooking oil. Once heated, start adding your ½ pound of chorizo. Make sure to remove the membrane(clear casing). Fry for 3-5 minutes.
Next fold in your eggs and add salt and pepper to taste.
In a small pan, add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil. Once hot, add the potatoes and add salt to taste.
Once the potatoes are cooked to your liking, add them to the chorizo and egg pan.
Serve with warm tortillas and your favorite salsa.