Homecoming: Tradition V.S. Planning
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.
Hometown Huddle: The Promotion of Jenks Athletics
Dunk tanks, water balloons, and the aroma of barbecue in the air—what do they all have in common? Hometown Huddle. Each year, Jenks holds a fundraiser downtown that brings students together to form a community and raise money for Jenks students and their sports.
New Leadership, New Energy: How are Jenks Swimmers Adapting to the New Coach?
With 38 state titles, the Jenks Swim Team has quite the standard to uphold. After seven years, Jenks’ beloved head coach Diego Henao stepped down from his position this past spring; this left a pronounced hole in Jenks Swimming in need of being filled.
Living the Dream in Style: Jenks Pom Fashion Show 2025
The spotlight shined bright at the Jenks Performing Arts Center on a Tuesday night as more than 150 Jenks High School students took the runway for the 27th annual Jenks Pom Fashion Show. With this year’s theme, “Living the Dream,” the showcase blended glamour, school spirit, and Trojan pride—both raising vital funds for the nationally recognized pom program and celebrating the latest trends in homecoming and prom fashion.
A New Era of Testing: The Possible Changes Coming to State Testing
You're sitting in a classroom surrounded by your fellow elementary students, but instead of the usual table groups and chatter, the desks are arranged in neat rows, and the silence is thick with worry. You're staring at a math question that looks like it was written in another language, and your heart feels like it's about to beat out of your chest. You can see your other classmates finishing the test but you are nowhere near done. Your stomach is now doing flip-flops, and the clock is ticking louder and louder. You could swear you've never seen this kind of math before. And the clock is still ticking. And you're running out of time. And you bubble in C and pray you guessed right before moving to the next question.
Going Places: Jenks Community Education Now Offers Drivers Tests
Jenks Community Education has been providing drivers education to the Jenks community for over 30 years. However, they have now expanded their opportunities and are now offering drivers tests on-site at Jenks Community Ed. Their new motto, “Skip the Line,” encapsulates the full service experience they now supply. Mike Gaines, a Jenks High School teacher and driving instructor with Jenks Community Ed., says the new motto was his own handiwork.
Suicide Prevention at Jenks High School
Struggling happens to everyone, whether that's a physical or mental struggle. The topic of mental health and suicide is a huge stigma in our society but should be discussed more often. In 2023 the CDC said around 12.8 million people thought about committing suicide, while 3.7 million made a plan to commit, and 1.5 million attempted. In that same year 49,000 people committed suicide- that’s one nearly every 11 minutes.
Beauty in Chaos: Nature’s Interception with Downtown Tulsa
It’s very rare to find a lone building without capturing some nearby greenery. Parks, plants and trees now invade the area that some would consider chaos. This chaos refers to no place other than our very own, Downtown Tulsa.
My Catastrophic Dissection Experience
I knew from the second that I wrote down Human Anatomy & Physiology on my Junior year schedule that it would be a massive mistake.
Thrown Into the Game (Literally): My First Time Trying Lacrosse
I have never once played lacrosse but it has always been something that intrigued me ever since I was an elementary kid. My practice has overlapped with the highschool boys lacrosse team since I was in 4th grade running track. Watching them practice I always thought that it looked like something I, as a very competitive kid who loved playing sports, would have so much fun doing, but I never knew how to join or had the time in my overly busy schedule.
Me and a Seed
As my highschool career comes to an end I look back on the past four years of my life and all I can see is growth. From being a bratty freshman who thought the only important thing was how many shoes I had to a seasoned senior who now only cares about summer internships. A lot has changed- friend groups, boyfriends, and even pets. To honor this growth and change I have decided for this month's story to grow my very own watermelon.
Overconsumption: A Look Into The Closets of Jenks Highschoolers
Fashion trends are something that cycle through over and over no matter the time period. Even in the 1800’s there were certain gowns and waistcoats that were trending and if you weren't wearing them you weren't “it”. Because of these cycles, people end up with things in their closets that they haven’t touched in years. Nowadays, trends are cycling through even quicker so it makes it 10x harder to get rid of things you don’t wear anymore. What if those chunky white shoes come back in style in a couple years?
Second Chances: The Importance of Animal Shelters and Adoption
When I think of animal shelters I typically think of a safe haven for animals that have been abandoned, lost, neglected, abused, or simply just waiting on a new home. Promoting animal adoption, shelters help regulate overpopulation in stray animals. They also help in nursing hurt or traumatized animals back to health, and provide an environment where they can have a second chance at finding a family. One example of this is Tulsa SPCA, which helps house dogs and cats who are either in remission or ready for adoption.
Unlikely Bonds: A Friendship Between the Young and the Elderly
When someone says the words preschool and nursing home, in your head you probably think of two different establishments. What if I told you that there's a place in Jenks where they coexist? Grace Living Center, located a short two minute drive from the high school, houses Jenks’ multigenerational program. Everyday a class of pre-k and kindergarten students participate in their normal school work, but there are also spaces in their day cut out where they hang out with the residents of the home, who they call “grands.”
The People Behind the Work: A Look into the Cafeteria Staff and Everything They Do
One of the most underappreciated yet essential groups in our school is the cafeteria staff. Without them, the school simply could not function. These workers do far more than just preparing and serving food. They also clean up after the students and reset the entire dining hall four times a day: after breakfast and each of the three lunch periods. Their hard work often goes unnoticed, so this month, I dedicated my story to highlighting them and all their hard work they put in to keep the dining hall clean and ready for students.
Study Spots and Coffee Shops
Coffee shops are many students go to study space. Whether it’s the cozy atmosphere, the aroma of brewing coffee, or the caffeine perks, coffee shops create a unique environment that can foster both focus and creativity. Coffee shops are a fun change from your usual study environment and a place for you to make the most of your time. Studying in these bustling, yet often quiet, spaces can inspire you to plan and be productive.
Cooking For The First Time
I’m a boy, I live in a household where my mom is cooking and my dad works. But for my own family, I want to know how to cook so that my wife doesn’t have to deal with the hassle of cooking while I sit in the living room watching TV and drinking beer. For this project, because I have dyslexia, therefore cookbooks add an extra level of difficulty to the project. So instead, I turned to the expert: my mom. I’ve seen her make this meal ever since I was five, and I know from experience that it is delicious food. So it only made sense that now I would learn how to be the creator of such a fine dish.
The Heart of a Small Town: The World of Teen Programming at The Jenks Library
This month’s dedicated story genre was “Personal Experience,” I really struggled with finding something to try for the first time that would be fun and useful for both me and the Jenks student body to read and write about. Obviously, I could write about doing a workout class, or listening to an album for the first time, but I wanted something that was equally as relevant to the reader as it was interesting to me.
Cultivating More Than Crops: The Heart of an Organic Farm
As much as this is a story about organic farming, it’s also a love letter to the farm itself. Lightfoot Farm, run by resident farmers Will and Katelin Nole for Living Kitchen, is an organic produce farm in Muscogee Creek Nation, Oklahoma. I had the privilege of bringing my camera to their land, capturing the dedication and passion that fuel their work. Day in and day out, this young couple pours their hearts into cultivating not just crops, but a way of life. Here are some of these moments I witnessed through my lens that I feel adequately represent the personality of the farm.
Piano: Lessons in Music and Personal Growth
My mom, like all parents, wanted me to be great. Growing up she taught me a variety of skills that I have either found hobbies in or have improved my quality of life, such as having a general understanding of sewing and teaching me to read at a really young age. I now read for fun, collect books, and I sew holes or buttons on my family’s clothes when they need it. However, not all of these endeavors worked out. My family has a long history of talent in the arts, I come from a line of very talented dancers on my moms side (I have danced for about fifteen years), and musical abilities on my dads. My childhood was filled with my dad sitting with his guitar and singing to me and my cousins - which was a favorite piece of my life at the time, and a cherished memory now. My uncle is a musical prodigy, he can play an array of instruments, very well might have perfect pitch, and can play anything by hearing it just once. He was also in the Navy band. Sadly, I didn’t inherit the singing from my dad, or the instrumental talent from my uncle… not even a fraction of it. I learned this in a rather painstaking way when my mom - very kindly - got me a piano instructor, who happened to be a friend of theirs, and purchased me a keyboard. Looking back, I must have expressed some kind of interest in music - I love music - but I certainly wasn’t meant for it. Another detail for context is that since I was a kid, I have always been unnecessarily hard on myself, which can make learning new things difficult - but, as I’ve gotten older it’s gotten much better. Once a week, or so, I would sit down at my shiny new keyboard, and my instructor would come and teach me how to play, with my mothers smiling face watching and helping. I was four when I started these lessons, that was also the age that I got diagnosed with off-the-charts ADHD and was in the process of getting treatment. If you know anything about ADHD, there are different ways it can manifest and affect different people - one way for me, was it was entirely too difficult to sit still for periods of time. The combination of severe ADHD, pressure, age, and unenjoyment quickly turned into four year old me bawling my eyes out the moment my instructor walked in the door. That poor man, he truly didn't deserve that, he was a kind person… I just wasn't having it.