Each year brings new challenges, crises, triumphs, and celebrations. The 2016-2017 school year hasn’t been short of any of these, and there will continue to be new stories every single day. Here are some of the biggest stories both in our local community, as well as on the global scale.

September

World: Attacks in Aleppo

The Syrian government is suspected of dropping a chlorine bomb in a rebel-occupied neighborhood in Aleppo, injuring dozens of people, and leaving many with breathing problems. The Syrian Civil War began in March of 2011, and is an ongoing and ever damaging conflict for the country.

Local: 25th Annual Sidewalk Chalk Art Festival

Forest Grove’s Chalk Art Festival has been growing for over 25 years-since 1991- and 2016 was no exception. People enjoyed walking around downtown Forest Grove to look at the art, as well as create their own, and stopping for some good food and music along the way.

October

World: Bring Back Our Girls

Boko Haram (an Islamist militant group in Nigeria) releases 21 of the 276 school-age girls who were kidnapped in April of 2014. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Swiss Government were instrumental in the negotiations of their release.

Local: Breaking Down the Walls

Breaking Down the Walls was a two-day program that came to Forest Grove High School, in which select students and teachers were able to spend the day getting to know each other better, and understand one another’s struggles.

November

World: U.S. Presidential Election

The U.S. Presidential Election is held, after almost two years of aggressive campaigning, and Donald Trump beats out Hillary Clinton to become the 45th President Elect. Swing states were integral in this election, and saw a much higher voter turnout than in years past.

Local: Veteran’s Day Assembly

The Veteran’s Day Assembly is an amazing event held each year at FGHS to honor those who have served our country. Students were exquisitely respectful while listening to the 2016 speakers, and were continually attentive throughout the event.

December

World: Berlin Christmas Market Attacks

ISIS claimed responsibility for the terrorist attacks on a Berlin Christmas Market. The attack involved a truck jumping onto the sidewalk, plowing into pedestrians; 12 people were killed, and dozens more were injured.

Local: Snow for Days

Forest Grove and the Portland Metro Area received continuous bouts of snow, freezing rain, and even a blizzard during the winter. In total, FGSD lost 9 school days, which hasn’t been matched since the winter of 2008.

January

World: Lucy & Psyche Selected for Missions

NASA selects two new missions, Lucy and Psyche, that will explore six Jupiter Trojan Asteroids and a giant metal asteroid, known as 16 Psyche, respectively. Lucy is set to launch in 2021, and Psyche will be en route in 2023.

Local: The Tempest

The FGHS Drama Department put on a wonderful production of the Tempest this winter, facing their challenge head on.

February

World: Travel Ban- Banned

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals rejects President Trump’s attempt to reinstate the travel ban on immigrants from primarily Muslim countries by refusing to block lower-court rulings. This set the tone for many of Trump’s policies in his first 100 days in office.

Local: Oregon Career Expo at FGHS

Scores of people from all different professions visited FGHS to give students the opportunity to explore potential career paths.

March

World: Supreme Court Nomination

The Senate Judiciary Committee begins hearings for the nomination of Neil Gorsuch to the United States Supreme Court, who would succeed Antonin Scalia more than a year after his death. Gorsuch assumed office in April.

Local: Unity Through Diversity Week

This was the first year the Unity Through Diversity Week was at the forefront of school activity. The week consisted of an assembly, and activities during lunches. It was also great to see the posters designed by our very own students!

April

World: World Wide Web Winner

English computer scientist and professor at MIT, Timothy Berners-Lee is awarded the 2016 A.M. Turing Award for inventing the World Wide Web and the first web browser. The Turing Award is likened to being the “Nobel Prize” of Computing, and has been awarded every year since 1966.

Local: Unified Theater Play

This year, the Unified Theater Program put on a play called “Marked” demonstrating the impacts of bullying and how labels affect people. Everyone who participated did a wonderful job. Students also got the chance to meet Oregon Governor, Kate Brown, who attended one of the shows

May

World: Macron Elected President of France

Emmanuel Macron is elected France’s president after defeating Marine Le Pen in a decisive victory. Macron has never before held public office, and will be the youngest president in the 59 year history of France’s Fifth Republic.

Local: State Champs

The high school OHSET team won the state championship this year, along with numerous other individual titles. They will move on to regionals in June.