The Orange And Black Record

It’s that time of year again where the leaves start changing from rich greens to a sunset of yellows, oranges, and reds. Fall is here and is making sure everyone knows it, but someone else wants the MHS community to know it too! YLA and SCA are collaborating on a fun filled fall celebration called Fall Fest on October 30th from 6:00pm-7:30pm.

This is the first time this event is being hosted and it will be packed full of fun. It will be held in the student parking lot at Martinsburg High School. Admission to the function is free to all! Along with trunk or treating, there will be plethora of tables with activities, face painting, and more! Also attending, will be food trucks holding delicious food for you to indulge in. At many of the tables clubs, organizations, and sports will be helping out and attending to be able to provide games and entertainment for the children of the community. I know all of this already sounds like a blast, but there is more! The children of MHS will also be able to grab candy in their spooky costumes to munch on while they experience the amazing activities provided!

Senior Vaylee Olack, the president of Martinsburg High School’s YLA chapter, is the host of this event and has spent many grueling hours planning out this magnificent event. When asked about the goal of Fall Fest she said, “Fall Fest’s goal is to get our community involved in our school and to show our community what we have to offer. This is a way for not just YLA but all of our clubs to have a chance to connect with our community and students who will become a Bulldog.” Just by looking at the list of clubs, I think that she will be able to reach her goal of being able to connect all of the clubs of Martinsburg High School to our community. Twenty-two clubs will be attending this fun filled fall event including many of our honor societies, sports teams, and volunteer based clubs. Make sure to come down for a fantastic time at Fall Fest and support our clubs!

When attending Fall Fest, you will get the chance to indulge in our spooky, sweet-filled trunk or treat. Although Halloween is traditionally celebrated on the 31st of October, Martinsburg High School’s will come early this year. The children of the community will be invited to travel around to our class officer’s decorated cars to feast on delectable treats that SCA is providing. This wonderful opportunity allows the children of Martinsburg to treat themselves to a trick or treating experience that you don’t have to travel too far for. SCA invites children to dress up in their best costumes to celebrate Halloween with our costume attired SCA members.

The Apple Harvest Festival in Martinsburg was a big hit this past weekend, and two of our MHS girls, Jenna Wilson and Vaylee Olack, were honored as part of the Court. Apple Harvest Festivities are very popular amongst MHS!

Every year, the Apple Harvest Court is made up of girls chosen for their hard work in school and in the community. This year, Jenna Wilson and Vaylee Olack were picked to represent Martinsburg. Jenna expressed her excitement, “I’ve always looked up to the girls on the court, and to now be one of them feels like a dream come true." Vaylee was just as excited to be part of the court, “The Apple Harvest Festival is such an important part of Martinsburg’s history, and I’m proud to represent our community."

Apple Harvest had lots of fun activities, live music, and Berkeley County schools coming together to walk and show off school spirit. The court is always a highlight, as the girls wear beautiful gowns and represent Martinsburg at different events.

With Jenna Wilson and Vaylee Olack on the court this year, the Apple Harvest Festival shows that Martinsburg’s traditions and community pride are still as lively as always. MHS is proud to have two outstanding students be able to participate in this year’s Apple Harvest court!

Apple dumplings have been a tradition at MHS for several decades, and is an important tradition for our school. Martinsburg High School Good Times President Brittney Mills explained that apple dumplings production began 38 years ago, in 1986, in a kitchen as a fundraiser for the choir. Today, apple dumplings have grown into a major production each October, where students and parents come out to create these dumplings for nearly 50 hours in 4 days. Everything is done by hand, including dough making and rolling, syrup making, stuffing making, baking, hand peeling every apple, and packaging. This tradition is crucial for Good Times and Glitz because it's their biggest fundraiser. Brittney says, "Without the community's support we will not be able to have a season! We continue this tradition in hopes of keeping our choir alive and for the community, who look forward to them every year!” The money specifically goes towards their competition season, and without it, they could not travel to surrounding states and compete against numerous show choirs. They recently performed at the Apple Harvest Festival.

They plan to make 5544 dumplings this year. Though the official days to buy the apple dumplings have passed, sales will continue at the school until dumplings run out! The dumplings are priced at $10 per package and each package contains two dumplings. Brittney exclaims, "Your support is greatly appreciated and we hope you buy some of our famous Apple Dumplings!”

The Martinsburg Bulldog Band is widely known in this small community for their catchy stand tunes and performances at halftime during football games along with their appearances in parades and local events. The band produces an energy like no other, but the MHS drumline is on another level. From playing upside down and blindfolded to playing on top of a cheer pyramid, one MHS drummer is taking his performance up a notch. Senior Drumline Captain Sean Wood started his music career thirteen years ago and has been part of the Bulldog Band for four years.

Never did Sean think that posting the video of him on the cheer pyramid would get him the attention that it did expressing, “I wasn’t expecting too much and it just started blowing up out of nowhere.” Sean recounted the days after he posted his video, saying the video gained more than ten thousand likes and even more views overnight. As the video got more traction, Sean got a comment from an account he never expected. Sean received a comment from ESPN’s SportsCenter. In just a short amount of time, the video Sean never expected to blow up was posted on one of the most popular sport network’s social media.

The irony of the video's popularity is that he had only practiced it twice before just going for it. Sean mentioned his idea of performing on a cheer pyramid to one of the MHS cheer captains and she was excited to help make it a reality. After that conversion, Sean and the cheer team started brainstorming how to make the stunt work - who was going to hold the drums and who was going to hold Sean. Sean said they “practiced it the Thursday before the game and then the afternoon before the game and then we just did it.”

The pyramid stunt isn’t the only thing Sean has done for the band that has gained him popularity. Sean has written multiple pieces for the Bulldog band, including a stand tune the student section has come to know and love. The band titled it Sean’s Piece, which Sean described as “a song that’s not complicated but really gets the crowd and band excited and moving.” In addition to stand tunes, Sean also wrote a battle cadence called Word for drumline, which he performed upside down against snare drummer Joseph Govan.

Sean doesn’t plan to end his music career after high school. Currently, he hopes to get into his dream school, Howard University in DC and major in Music Composition. Along with that, Sean aspires to continue writing music saying, “so far it's been marching but I really want to write my own jazz or funk arrangements and perform those.” MHS can’t wait to see where Sean’s talents take him!

Every October, Martinsburg High School lights up in pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, a time dedicated to spreading knowledge about the most commonly diagnosed cancer among women. But for Nurse Coleman, MHS school nurse and former chemo nurse, breast cancer awareness is more than just ribbons and fundraisers; it’s a deeply personal battle that has impacted her life in ways many of us can’t imagine.

“I lost my aunt to breast cancer,” she shared. For her, breast cancer is not just a distant statistic but a reminder of how life can change in an instant. It also serves as a stark reminder of an important yet often overlooked fact: breast cancer doesn’t discriminate.

“Males can also get breast cancer,” Nurse Coleman said, addressing a common misconception. While it’s true that women are much more likely to be diagnosed, men can develop the disease too, often facing delayed diagnoses due to the lack of awareness. This underscores the importance of including everyone in the conversation about breast cancer prevention and treatment.

Beyond spreading awareness, Nurse Coleman urges people to also consider the rapid pace of research in the field. “You could go to sleep tonight, and by the time you wake up, there could be 20 new treatments for breast cancer,” she explained. “It’s too much to keep up with, and while breast cancer is important, research also needs to be spread to other cancers.” Her perspective highlights a critical point, while breast cancer has received a significant amount of attention and funding over the years, other cancers continue to affect millions of people, many of whom are still waiting for breakthroughs in treatment.

Supporting those who are battling breast cancer, or any other cancer, requires more than just awareness. It demands action. “Rides, giving up your time, checking in with them, supporting them,” Coleman said, listing simple yet powerful ways individuals can make a difference in the lives of those undergoing treatment. Sometimes, the most meaningful help comes in the form of small gestures that show people they are not alone in their fight.

As our school and community rally around Breast Cancer Awareness Month, Nurse Coleman’s words serve as a reminder that raising awareness is not just about wearing pink, it’s about understanding the struggles of those affected, addressing misconceptions, and supporting research that can lead to better treatments for all. Whether it’s lending a helping hand to someone in need or pushing for more comprehensive cancer research, each of us has a role to play in this important cause.

In a world where cancer touches so many lives, our actions, no matter how small, can make all the difference. Let’s make this October not just a time to remember, but a time to act.

Martinsburg has been known for its streets of small businesses, from boutiques to coffee shops and bookstores to family owned restaurants. One of Martinsburg newest small businesses is the Apple Annie’s Bakery. Apple Annie’s is located at 1800 W King Street in Martinsburg, West Virginia. The small bakery from Morgantown made its way to Martinsburg after the owner, a former Musselman High School employee, moved back into Martinsburg.

The Martinsburg location offers cookies, a full espresso menu, and teas like chai and matcha. While relatively new, Apple Annie’s is already gaining popularity, even without much promotion. “We haven't really promoted it much. it's really been word of mouth, people really want to support us as a local business. it's been great.”, according to the manager, Sarah, saying “it's been a better turnout than we expected.” Their most popular cookie offered is the lemon delight and chocolate chip cookie but their Cookie of the Week or Month is also gaining popularity. Currently, the bakery is doing Cookie of the Month, but “once we get fully into things it will always be Cookie of the Week” says Sarah.

The full espresso menu is all made from Black Dog Coffee, who they recently partnered with. Apple Annie’s is one of the only businesses in Martinsburg that is in a partnership with Black Dog Coffee. This partnership is just one of the expansions that Apple Annie’s plans to make. While not currently offering any seating, the bakery plans to in the near future with the hope to make the location more “homey”. The Martinsburg location isn’t the only Apple Annie’s location that’s coming to the eastern panhandle. The business plans to expand into Spring Mills, opening a full restaurant with a food, coffee and dessert menu.

The small business has earned a lot of positive feedback since opening in Martinsburg and is very optimistic about the future of their business and their expansion to Spring Mills saying “We’re excited to be here in the community, we’re excited to be homey and want people to come back because we care about being here and we’ve put a ton of work and dedication into being here and we’re excited to keep growing.” Be sure to visit Apple Annie’s and support local!

Genocide: the deliberate killing of a large number of people from a particular nation or ethnic group with the aim of destroying that nation or group.

October, the month of scary movies, warm apple cider, and pumpkin carving, is also the one-year mark for a horrific and truly solemn present-day event. The Genocide in Gaza. Reportedly, at least 41,870 Palestinians have been killed. “…though the actual figure is presumed much higher. Thousands more are buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings or unaccounted for, and still thousands of others are likely to die from continuing bombing and conditions created by Israel’s war” (4). Women and children make up 67% of the death toll. Over 16,756 children and 11,346 women have been killed.

On October 7th, 2023, Hamas (Palestinian political party and armed resistance movement based in the Gaza Strip) and other Palestinian resistance groups launched a brutal attack on Israel. They killed 1,139 people and captured 250. In response Israel retaliated immediately, claiming it would “eradicate Hamas” (4). They started a bombing campaign. And now a year later they have killed close to 42,000 human beings. Many have thought the Hamas attack was unprecedented, but the conflict between Israel and Palestine is one of the longest in history.

History of Israel and Palestine.

After an interview with Mrs. Lantz, I found out the conflict of Israel and Palestine began thousands of years ago. Mrs. Lantz gave me an overview of what has happened in the last century. Mrs. Lantz said, “If you come up to the 20th century, there was a Zionist movement. The notion of Jewish people returning to what was originally their homeland many many years ago.” Jewish people were the only nationality that did not have a country at the time. The British government committed to establishing a home for the Jewish in Palestine (5). It promised the Zionist movement a country of their own. This was known as the Balfour Declaration. The British Mandate confiscated Palestinian land. There was Jewish immigration in mass. When Jews faced persecution during the Holocaust they fled to Palestine for refuge. Mrs. Lantz said, “In the wake of the Holocaust, the UN and world powers agreed there was a need for an Israeli state.” They partitioned the land between the Palestinians and Israelis. Obviously, Palestinians were not happy about their land being taken from them and the demographic of their country drastically changing. Later on, Israel “became an independent state in 1948” (1). It was a major milestone for the Jewish but the beginning of many violent conflicts for the Arabs of Palestine.

Israel is an Apartheid state.

Apartheid: “a violation of public international law, a grave violation of internationally protected human rights, and a crime against humanity under international criminal law” (2).

“Apartheid can best be understood as a system of prolonged and cruel discriminatory treatment by one racial group of members of another with the intention to control the second racial group” (2).

For the past 16 years Gaza has been living under an illegal blockade by Israel. The Gaza Strip was home to 2.3 million people, they were subjected to an air, land and sea blockade since 2007 (5). “There are severe shortages of housing, drinking water, electricity, essential medicines and medical care, food, educational equipment and building materials. In 2020, Gaza had the world’s highest unemployment rate, and more than half of its population was living below the poverty line” (2). Israel uses fragmentation, displacement, deprivation, segregation, and discrimination as tactics to keep Palestinians oppressed (2).

Over the past year Israel has been accused of committing many international war crimes. Accused by the UN, Israel targeted health facilities and medical personnel (3). Israel denies this. At least 986 medical workers have been killed and at least 85 civil workers (3). On October 17th, 2023, there was a huge blast on Gaza’s al-Ahli Arab Hospital that killed nearly 500 Palestinians. They were there taking refuge after being displaced. Israel claims they misfired a rocket. According to Palestinian health officials as of October 7th, 2024, more than 92,000 people have been wounded. About 90% of Palestinians have been displaced, multiple times. Hundreds of thousands of families are crowded into refugee camps where disease and hunger are in no short supply (6).

For a more comprehensive understanding visit the websites I have cited and do your own research about the Gaza Genocide.

Works Cited.

1. “Israel ‑ Facts, History & Conflicts.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 30 June 2017, www.history.com/topics/middle-east/history-of-israel.

2. “Israel’s Apartheid against Palestinians.” Amnesty International, 12 Aug. 2024, www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2022/02/israels-system-of-apartheid/.

3. “Un Inquiry Accuses Israel of Crime of ‘extermination’ in Gaza.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 10 Oct. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/10/un-inquiry-accuses-israel-of-deliberately-hitting-gaza-health-facilities.

4. Staff, Al Jazeera. “One Year of Israel’s War on Gaza: Key Moments since October 7.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 7 Oct. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/7/one-year-of-israels-war-on-gaza-a-simple-guide.

5. Alsaafin, Linah. “What’s the Israel-Palestine Conflict about? A Simple Guide.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 10 Mar. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/9/whats-the-israel-palestine-conflict-about-a-simple-guide.

6. “Photos: A Year of Israel’s Devastating War on Gaza.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 7 Oct. 2024, www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2024/10/7/a-year-of-israels-devastating-war-on-gaza.

Reporters: Taylor Strack, Riley Harper, Lizette Lopez, Ella Murphy

Co-Editors: Savannah Malatt and Kaylin Henry

Advisor: Rhonda Foreman