![MORE THAN A GAME. With two diving catches in the outfield, the Lions showed up defensively, aiding in their victory over the Pacers. One catch was made by Atwood, and the other by McGraw. Throughout the game, the Lions knew that it wasn’t just about their victory today. “I think [playing for cancer] makes it bigger than just a game,” McGraw said. “Knowing that you have a bigger impact in this world than just who you are as one person.”](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/I70A1454-1-1200x800.jpg)
![Students in the National Art Honor Society work on the Mount Hood mural on the window of SouthLake Church. The students brought a variety of paints and mixed their own custom colors. “Instead of brushstrokes, we’re doing more dabbing, because it gives [a] better impression of tree foliage, rather than looking like actual brush strokes, because if we’re painting trees, we need it to look like trees,” Crawford said.](https://wlhsnow.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/IMG_2397-1200x900.jpg)
Bracket or bust
March Madness takes over
One of the many brackets busted by the latest March Madness game. Students have spent the past week watching their bracket change for better and for worse.
Mounting on the already present stress of tests before spring break, students have growing concern about something else – their NCAA March Madness bracket. Whether it’s to test their luck or compete against their friends, students have been watching their brackets for the past week.
“I keep up on the scores to see how my bracket is doing,” Skyler Barinstein, junior, said. “So far it’s been pretty good, considering I don’t know the sport.”
March Madness creates an opportunity for avid basketball fans and part-time followers alike to be involved in something. No matter who watched the games during the season, when a game comes on during the day, it is easy to spot students pulling out their phones and checking scores.
“I watch a lot of basketball, but I definitely watch more college basketball than usual during March Madness,” Alec Garcia, senior, said.
Garcia made his bracket based on predictions he made after watching a season of college basketball, and put it up against his friends’ brackets.
“I love basketball, and making a bracket is something fun and easy to do to compete with others,” Garcia said.
Creating brackets with friends is popular, but many classes have created competitions between the students and the teacher to see who has the best bracket. Tina LaFerriere, math teacher, created a March Madness group with her calculus students, and it has become a way to compete and connect with each other.
“It’s friendly competition and it’s fun to compete with Ms. LaFerriere,” Barinstein said.
Even though it can come as a distraction to some during class, March Madness is an easy way to connect with others. On top of that, it is a fun experience for anybody involved.
“Beating Ms. LaFerriere’s bracket would be pretty funny,” Barinstein said.
Next year, students hope to continue with the bracket making tradition as more and more classes get involved.
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Going from soccer practice, to softball practice and then finally home to practice her trumpet, Brooke McKelvey, senior, is definitely not a lazy person....
