The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
The award-winning voice of North Cobb High School in Kennesaw, Georgia.

The Chant
All content by Sophia Allsen
As the end of the 2025 school year approaches, NC prepared to elect new students into the Tribal Connections (TC) student government. Following an application, students began their campaigns in hopes of gaining their desired government position. Despite the locality of the election, students competed fiercely to secure the votes of their peers.

A familiar ballot: Candidates for the North Cobb student government elections

River Allsen and Darwin Kamau
April 25, 2025
The Mental Illness Needs Discussion (MIND) club at the University of South Carolina (USC) partnered with the nonprofit organization, Active Minds, in late March and created the Speak Your Mind ice bucket challenge. The trend aims to raise awareness for mental health and to decrease stigma around speaking out about mental illness. Now, the challenge sweeps through NC and gains new nominees daily as students participate and nominate their friends to follow suit.

Freezing out suicide: USC ice bucket challenge raises awareness for mental health

River Allsen, Reporter
April 21, 2025
Poetry represents a keystone for human development and a popular creative outlet for young adults battling the stress of academics; today, the art continues to impact cultures and civilizations.

The purpose of poetry: How prose changed through the ages

River Allsen, Reporter
April 21, 2025
With two timeless desserts loved nationwide, one stands tall above the other. Ice cream takes the prize for better dessert over the plain and unoriginal brownie. While brownies provide a chocolatey comfort to consumers, ice cream’s versatility cements the treat as the optimal dessert.

Creaming the competition: Ice cream’s superiority over brownies

River Allsen, Reporter
April 17, 2025
“Adventure Time,” a popular children’s show, continues to hold its devoted fan base seven years after its conclusion. The complex characters, dynamic storytelling and subtly morbid backstory add to the overall allure of the series. After 10 long seasons and a bittersweet ending, “Adventure Time” cemented itself as a highly acclaimed series for Cartoon Network fans.

“Adventure Time”: After all this time, still standing

River Allsen, Reporter
April 16, 2025
Three insects, each producing a nearly identical sound, but key details set them apart. Between flies, bees and wasps, each one creates a unique buzzing sound, each at a different frequency and therefore an incrementally different tone. Overall, bees win the prize for the only tolerable sound out of the three. With flies creating an annoying high-pitched buzz everyone feels pestered by, and wasps being perceived as too scary to actually appreciate, bees remain the only logical option.

Which buzz is best?

River Allsen, Reporter
March 31, 2025
Historically, women have faced discrimination worldwide, but in the face of this continued struggle, Women’s History Month allows onlookers to reflect on the diverse ways ladies have impacted society through their leadership in social movements. Additional images courtesy of now.org, Britannica, ELLE and Library of Congress “Women of Protest.”

Protest in pink

Rosalyn Schwanke, Addie Hill, Ciara Whimbush, Lidia Sidorova, Callie Kinsinger, Alyssa Mehta, Sophia Lamb, Mackenzie Blanco, River Allsen, London Ford, Marielle Parker, Darwin Kamau, Citlalli Vela, Cassidy Lumpkin, Dominic McSpadden, Taylor Morrow, Valentina Gonzalez, and Zia McKinney
March 25, 2025
NC administrators stress the importance of well-roundedness in students, providing various clubs and after-school activities for their enrichment. However, one student stands out: senior Astro Johnson. An individual with unique enriching passions that they pursue in and outside of school, as the captain of the NC girls' Varsity Lacrosse team and an impressive 3.75 GPA, Johnson manages to do it all—providing the perfect example for underclassmen whose passions exceed the walls of NC and wow the entire student body with their friendly demeanor and amazing style.

Astro Johnson: Inspiring excellence beyond NC

River Allsen, Reporter
March 11, 2025
The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), produces movies yearly; with epic, action-packed superhero and sci-fi films, the franchise holds an important spot in the hearts of all its fans. However, after the release of “Endgame,” a pivotal moment in the line of films, the original canon storyline closed — leading Marvel to produce lackluster films. While original Marvel movies “The Avengers” and “Iron Man" bombed the box office with massive earnings and shining reviews, newer Marvel films use unoriginal and worn-out ideas and tropes. Ultimately, the lack of creativity turns Marvel movies away from masterpiece status and toward epic failure.

Marvel’s fall from grace after “Endgame”

River Allsen, Reporter
March 10, 2025
NC offers an array of electives, including Career, Technical, & Agricultural Education (CTAE), fine arts and academics. Each course poses different challenges and opportunities for growth. In light of the variety between such a volume of classes, the correlation between class choices and poets becomes clear. While NC students may adore their fine arts classes, each poet’s opinion may differ.

What Poet Wrote You Based on Your Elective Choices

River Allsen, Reporter
February 27, 2025
Around the world, specific technology companies hold a monopoly on cutting-edge technology and control frontier developments in the software field. Companies at the forefront of Artificial intelligence (AI) development preach a narrative that AI requires massive resources to produce, however, a company in China called Deepseek quickly disproved this idea. Deepseek’s release of the R1 model, which enhances problem-solving and analytical properties of AI, shook companies such as Google and OpenAI to the core and left them bare to the scrutiny of the public.

Deepseek sparks AI arms race with China

River Allsen, Reporter
February 11, 2025
A new year means infinite possibilities for self-improvement and self-care. So, as 2025 sets into motion, utilizing the fresh air of a fresh year, reading provides a perfect way to relax. From classics to the emerging subgenre of romantasy, this reading list for the new year provides a book for everyone. Sit down, relax and snuggle up on the couch with a captivating book as the year's coldest month breezes by.

Five books to read in 2025

River Allsen, Reporter
January 27, 2025
Caption: “La La Land” stands as a timeless musical romance movie loved by multitudes of people with a high approval rating from both audiences and critics. However, the argument of genre classification arises when the points of suspense, tragedy and surrealism come into play. Fans vouch for the movie to find a home in its rightful category as a thriller, using justifications that coincide with the definition of thriller and romance to disprove its former standing.

“La La Land’s” dark undertones: A thriller hidden in plain sight

Marielle Parker and River Allsen
January 23, 2025
Calmness and clarity remain important in the lives of all people, especially during the transition into the new year. After a long year of chaos, instability and diligent work, 2025 provides the perfect opportunity to wind down with five poems to breathe in and enjoy. Calling on the creative spirit and providing guidance on the new year, these poems represent little slices of peace to revel in.

Five poems for the new year

River Allsen, Reporter
January 12, 2025
“Arcane: League of Legends” first swept through screens worldwide in 2021. Starting strong in season one with nine episodes, season two concluded the saga with an epic finale three years later. The show racked up the points and hit hard with a whopping 100% Tomatometer score and shining reviews. Eurogamer projections portray the series as a smash hit, earning the top streamed show on Netflix in 60 countries.

“Arcane” season two takes the cake

River Allsen, Reporter
December 4, 2024
Protest— a valuable tool citizens use to foster change— stands faulty against the authority of U.S. school districts. Honoring the First Amendment allows citizens to express themselves freely without fear of repercussions from the law. In regards to how school districts redirect students, educational leaders appear heedless of the amendment. By silencing protests and student voices, schools discourage teens from speaking out for what they believe in.

Silencing students… seriously?

River Allsen, Reporter
October 18, 2024
Fall comes with a multitude of emotions as the weather shifts. Cuddling up with a book, wearing a cozy sweater or watching scary movies with friends this season can provide new vibes every day. An assortment of five fall poems by classic and contemporary poets perfectly captures the feeling of fall; John Keats, Robert Frost, William Shakespeare and Allison Tafel have created five poems that beautifully envision how fall affects the narrator.

Five poems for fall: Serving vibes with a side of depression

River Allsen, Reporter
October 16, 2024
“Divergent” by Veronica Roth received a film adaptation in 2014, three years after the book was published. The debate over the differences between the novel and the film may never settle due to the mixed opinions of what the movie adaptation needed to include but chose not to. In this episode of “Book Buddies,” the topic includes showcasing a handful of popular disagreements among fans concerning the “Divergent” film and movie, and addresses both sides.

Book Buddies: Divergent

River Allsen and Lidia Sidorova
October 16, 2024
Simran Kant, well known for her role as NC marching band drum major and vice president of the Magnet Ambassadors program, continues inspiring excellence through her uplifting spirit and charismatic leadership. Consistently seen delivering a pep talk to the band before a game or rallying her peers in Eco Warriors, Kant embodies the NC mission statement and inspires all students. A leader in and out of school, Kant finds herself showing her ambition around NC and beyond.

Simran just Kant stop: How one individual continues inspiring excellence

River Allsen, Reporter
September 9, 2024
Scott Pannell, NC assistant band director, heavily stresses the importance of pursuing excellence in all fields of life. His enthusiastic leadership inspires the NC community to do the best they can and find ways to improve every day. Beloved by his ensemble and fellow staff, he continues inspiring excellence through his actions. Sitting down for an eye opening interview on the importance of excellence, he provides valuable insight into his own experiences and observations as they relate to the band program and student body as a whole.

Teacher’s take

River Allsen, Reporter
September 8, 2024
Netflix released the fourth and final season of “The Umbrella Academy” August 8. Sweeping through the web as an epic fail, the show left fans tremendously upset by the finale. From overwhelmingly negative reviews to a 58% Tomatometer score, this unfortunate conclusion leaves a bittersweet taste in the mouth of reeling audience members.

Season four of “The Umbrella Academy” swings and misses

River Allsen, Reporter
August 28, 2024
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