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The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The vanishing student voice: Fear of embarrassment controls teenagers lives

The vanishing student voice: Fear of embarrassment controls teenagers lives

Hannah Horsfield, Social Media Manager November 4, 2024

The fear of embarrassment has become a significant concern among teenagers. This heightened anxiety can be attributed to several factors, including societal expectations, the pervasive influence of social...

Brawl Stars is one of the most popular games on the internet right now. Close to 47 million people in the world have downloads of Brawl Stars across App Store and Google Play Store.

The rise in esports furthers the case for gaming becoming a serious sport

Brian Chen, Copy Editor November 4, 2024

High schools worldwide are welcoming esports. Students are developing gaming clubs where they can compete in trending games, increasing the possibility of gaming being considered a competitive sport among...

Pleasant Valley High School students are able to leave the school if they have an excessive amount of study hall.

New study hall policy allows students more freedom

Sunayana Khadka, Photo Manager October 24, 2024

  PVHS enacted a new study hall policy that allows students to leave during certain study halls and lunch. A new study hall policy was put in place shortly after Senior College and Career Readiness,...

Pictured above are the MUN club members who attended the IYS Regional Meeting on Oct. 3. The club will attend the state-wide symposium on Nov. 7.  Photo credit to Andrés Bravo

PVHS Model UN club prepares for their first-ever Iowa Youth Symposium 

Vee Donart, PV Only Editor October 24, 2024

  The Pleasant Valley Model United Nations Club is one of the school’s largest and most successful clubs, amassing over 100 members per year. This year, members will attend the annual Iowa Youth...

Senior Estelle Treiber works on costume design for one of her clients.

Teen entrepreneurship encourages student growth whilst following their passions

Grace Schmidt, Business Manager October 22, 2024

Most high schoolers work a service job at a local business; however, some students decide to take a different route–entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship serves as a valuable side hustle students can...

High school seniors experience unexpected levels of stress due to the demanding nature of senior year.

Photo Credit: Jamey Fah

Stress of senior year takes over its intended joy

Mackenzie Fah, Copy Editor October 21, 2024

For most students, senior year signifies the end of the long journey through high school and all the years before. While senior year is typically portrayed as a fun, easy year, many high school seniors...

Wooden chair built in Intro to Wood and Construction class, which is part of the STEM education department. It had 4 girls and 17 boys in one class period.

Gender gaps in STEM education persist as solutions continue to be developed

Brian Chen, Copy Editor October 18, 2024

The gender gap in STEM education has been a worldwide problem for decades and is still ongoing. Although schools are trying to address this problem, women remain marginal in STEM education.    For...

The PVHS Operation Smile club held its second meeting of the year to discuss service projects and learn about cleft lip and palate.

PV’s new Operation Smile club strives to create a positive community through smiles

Ishika Desai, Opinion Editor October 16, 2024

Students at PVHS came together for the 24-25 school year to start a chapter of a new club aimed at creating better medical accessibility for those with cleft lip and palate: Operation Smile. Operation...

A student is completing his homework in his notebook.

Schools shift toward a new approach to homework

Abhinav Anthati, Site Manager October 14, 2024

High schools are starting to assign students less work outside of class and instead give them time in class to complete it. A lot of this schoolwork is also being done online instead of on paper. Teachers...

Students can access new scholarship resources by heading over to the financial aid tab on Common App. Each link connects them with generous aid opportunities.

Addressing the gap: Common App introduces scholarship feature to support minorities

Tejas Gokhale, Copy Editor October 14, 2024

Common App expanded their partnership with Scholarship America by adding a new scholarship matching feature this year. As a result, student engagement grew rapidly. Several factors make it difficult...

Pleasant Valley High School teacher Craig Parker is part of the science department and has his seating arrangement in rows and columns.

Classroom seating arrangements and student positions impact student engagement

Brian Chen, Copy Editor October 7, 2024

Seating arrangements in classrooms are more than just a layout of desks and chairs. Where students sit affects their learning, friendships and interactions. Teachers aim to organize seating charts to improve...

The Spartan Assembly won 1st place in Division A for the Student Hunger Drive in 2023. 

Photo Credit: Olivia Beam

The role of the Spartan Assembly executives in the Student Hunger Drive

Sunayana Khadka, Photo Manager October 7, 2024

As the annual Hunger Drive kicks off, there is an extensive amount of work to get done. The executive members play a significant role, as they dedicate their time to ensure the hunger drive runs smoothly.  The...

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