Most people would consider themselves as experts on certain topics, but most people are wrong. To be considered a true expert, you must have more experience on that topic than most people and have evidence to back it up. 

Everybody talks about Tulsa like it is God’s gift to children. But when you talk to the kids, everybody says one thing: “It sucks.” Many believe that all there is to do is attend football games, go to the movies, and shop at Walmart.  As a Tulsa native myself, I agree most of the time. Tulsa lacks many of the fun experiences that other cities have. To see if this is true or not, I will be seeing some of the places people often forget about here in Tulsa, the places that are sometimes overlooked.

The community of Jenks is rapidly growing and expanding, especially in the culinary world. New restaurants, coffee shops, and stores are popping up all across Jenks, making it a premier destination for shopping and dining. As Jenks natives, we–Sydney Koetter and Emma Travers–set out to explore some of the newest Jenks restaurants and coffee shops and tell you everything you need to know before you visit each of these establishments.

Everyone knows that when the holiday season comes around, the thing you wish for most is a drink in hand. You want that taste of Christmas—fresh peppermint and holiday cheer—all swirled into one small sip, or in other cases, a giant gulp. The question is, which place can best give you all of those feelings and flavors wrapped into one? 

As the great Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” Well, Gandhi, I’d like to add one more thing to this list. Have you ever had a really good cheeseburger? I mean a really good cheeseburger. Do you even know where to find one? As someone who has eaten at least two cheeseburgers a week for as long as I can remember, I am more than ready for the extensive research that will go into this subject. To my fellow peers, I will search high and low for the best cheeseburger in Jenks… you have my word.

Welcome to Tulsa’s very own Amber Marie and Co. boutique at Christmas: known for its classic charm and holiday spirit, Amber Marie becomes a winter wonderland each December. This review features the most iconic pieces of the boutique's festivities coming from, if I do say so myself, one of their most consistent customers. Located at the corner of 91st and Yale, the boutique, to some, is a hidden gem. Be prepared to take a deep dive into all of this season's holiday decor, gift ideas, and designer items found at Amber Marie. 

After traveling to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, and 7 times to Cambodia, Andrew Morris has the right to say he’s been around. He’s built orphanages, taught English, fed the less fortunate, preached, and fundraised on his voyages. Besides his mission trips, he's worked in a zoo, done crazy experiments with pyro, and caught a handful of raccoons at our very own school.

The classroom is mostly quiet as you take a seat at one of the tables in the debate room, turned into  a pavilion of prose. The air crackles with unspoken words and unsnapped fingers. Words that could invoke feelings that other spoken or written words could not. This is Jenks High School Poets Society.

Founded just this year, the Environmental Club at Jenks High School is on a mission to make students more mindful of their impact on the planet. Through projects, meetings, and school-wide initiatives, the club aims to turn environmental awareness into meaningful action.

Jack McInelly is a 2024-2025 graduate from Jenks High School who is currently at Army West Point. He’s a Jenks lifer, Football player, Lacrosse player, Mr. JHS runner-up, and member of multiple other clubs. Not only did he show the meaning of being a Trojan, but he's now on the way to showing what it means to be a patriot.

Colorful flags, music from across the globe, and slideshows of international dishes and traditions filled the Jenks High School PAC on Tuesday night as students gathered for the annual ISP Night of Culture. Hosted by ISP (International Scholars Program), the event served to celebrate diversity, student collaboration, and spread global awareness.

Sports are one of the few things that can unite an ever-so-divisive world. People from different backgrounds, states, and countries can all unite behind sports, whether that's watching them or playing them. However, not everyone is born with the ability to play sports like everyone else. Some kids are born with Down syndrome or with cerebral palsy, but how do they get to participate in sports? What's available for them?

One student's passion for birding is actively changing the city's nightlife and saving local avian lives in the Tulsa community. Senior Tej Beniwal, who founded the Jenks Birding Club in 2023, promotes bird observation and conservation at Jenks High School and within the Tulsa area as a whole.

Have you ever yearned for a sense of belonging or connection? To have people who know what it’s like to be you in a sea of people who don’t? As a Junior at Jenks High School, Abeni Murage knows that feeling very well.

In the middle of it - that's right where you will find Courtney Trimble. Her equipment room, located precisely in the middle of the Robert L. Sharp Health and Fitness Center, places her at the core of the Jenks Trojan football team. Overlapping sounds of the team getting ready to head out for practice and the subtle buzz of the commercial-grade washing machine on its daily cycle are the background noises of success. However, the sound of busyness is nothing unfamiliar to Trimble.

The clothes you wear tell a story to the world. The way you dress is the first impression people get from you, and it is a way you can show people who you are without having to say a word. The Jenks Fashion Club is on a mission to show the students how they can use fashion as a tool to bring confidence and also to build a community to help others.

Colorful trifolds that tell stories of generations, games from all over the world, kids opening their eyes and their minds to cultures they had never been exposed to. In the early October air, you can hear the laughter and awe coming from the kids as they go from region to region, gaining a more cross-cultural understanding.

The first people to greet you on the first day of school, the ones who come out for a section of a pep rally, and the group you can hear from the bleachers of a football game, the drumline. The Jenks Trojan drumline is a group of 20 percussionists who practice countless hours a week to be perfectly prepared for competitions and special gigs throughout the school year. 

Last school year, phones were a common sight in our school days. Students' eyes glued to their phones at lunch, surrounded by their peers, who did the same, AirPods in both ears, blasting music. Hallways were filled with teenagers texting or calling as they walked from class to class. But since the ¨bell-to-bell¨ state wide phone ban was implemented, things have changed---not a phone in sight. Whether you're for the ban or against it, it seems like everyone has an opinion. Concerns for safety and being able to focus without music battle reports of more involved and more social classes. An anonymous survey was conducted as an opportunity for students to express how they really feel, in their own words. From Freshmen to Seniors, our Jenks student body has had a lot to say about it.

You slide on your shoes, maybe even put bandaids on your heels, your shoes rub against your swollen ankles leaving little bubbles of flesh. Whether it be heels or dress shoes we can all agree while the blisters persist for weeks nothing can compete with this school event. The glimmering lights, blaring music, a dumb poster and uncomfortable shoes…HOCO. A school tradition, which prides itself on welcoming a new football season is a sizable price tag and planning tradition. Jenks’ STUCO event planners, Riley Sharp and Madelynn Goss, give us a hefty update on the 2025 dance and how tradition meets planning.