Talisman

The Student News Site of Ballard High School
ASB, school administration prepare for graduation
ASB, school administration prepare for graduation
Jack Rees (top left), Hanzo Watanabe (top right), and Thijs Buning (middle) will become next years sophmore ambassadors.
The future of ASB: upcoming sophomores elect ambassadors
Scholar of the Quarter program returns, assisted by Plant Club
Scholar of the Quarter program returns, assisted by Plant Club
Old tile covered by a layer of plaster outside of the Ceramics classroom.
BEACH Club Works to Remodel School Decorations
Engineering classes receive school cuts
Students from all across Seattle Public Schools (SPS) congregated in front of The John Stanford Center building protesting SPS's decision to split lunches across the district. They came in droves with posters and defiant attitudes.
District wide policy splits school lunches
Senior Lola Stoffels-Sack has grown up sewing and designing; it’s hard to imagine her pursuing anything other than fashion design because of her love for the art.
Graduating with style
After being introduced to firefighting by her mentor Todd Wollum from the Shoreline Fire Department, King enrolled in the Skills Center FITE (First in Training and Education) class, taught by on-duty firefighters.
Fighting fire without fear
With many students becoming legal adults, applying for jobs and stressing about their fiscal future, a clear connection can be drawn between students and gambling.
Rolling the dice on teen gambling
Sarah Decoy, the new home economics teacher, pictured instructing her class during a project.
Creating comfort and connection
Senior and lacrosse captain Thomas Volosin became more confident as he stayed on the team and became captain. As a freshman, he was less close with his teammates, but as a senior their team chemistry grew and they played even better. (Courtesy of Thomas Volosin)
How do high school sports shape senior athletes’ lives?
Captain and senior Maddie Singer aims a pass towards her teammates, the energy that she brings to the sport keeping them driven. (Courtesy of Anthony Spinelli)
From overlooked to ranked, girls lacrosse is heading to Regionals
Senior and captain Owen Cutting sprints across the field, keeping the ball away from an opposing Roosevelt player. Midfield players adapt well when situations arise, helping the team’s success. (Courtesy of Steve Muench)
What makes a successful boys varsity soccer team?
“All In” is a phrase we often say to each other. It’s on the back of one of our practice shirts, and it is something we leave practice saying every single time. Those two words have made a huge impact on my life and my approach to nearly everything. (Courtesy of Varsity Spirit)
‘All In’ for Cheer winning Nationals
“Being able to provide a place where top female soccer players can play in front of big crowds and their community, and just the level of players all coming together on one team is really, really exciting,” Arrant said. (Courtesy of Marissa Lordahl)
Highlighting the future of women’s soccer
One of JFK's most famous speeches from American University, June 10, 1963, calling for the end of nuclear weapons and peace with the then, Soviet Union, which was delivered five months before his assassination.
Newly declassified files surrounding the JFK assassination do little to quell conspiracy theories
As our time on the Talisman comes to a close, we would like to express our immense gratitude for the community’s support for student journalism.
A letter from our graduating seniors
Our education system must come to view AI as a tool rather than a necessity because this technology can be helpful to an extent, but at the cost of our own creativity.
The value of imperfection: why human creativity matters more than AI efficiency
True stars like Marilyn Monroe are nonexistent in this social media age.
Missing super stars: the new pop culture
Prom should be about making memories, not trash, therefore vintage prom dresses are the perfect choice.
Vintage over Viral

Talisman

Talisman
All content by Max Bykowski
After being introduced to firefighting by her mentor Todd Wollum from the Shoreline Fire Department, King enrolled in the Skills Center FITE (First in Training and Education) class, taught by on-duty firefighters.

Fighting fire without fear

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
June 18, 2025
With many students becoming legal adults, applying for jobs and stressing about their fiscal future, a clear connection can be drawn between students and gambling.

[Photo] Rolling the dice on teen gambling

Abigail Bekele and Xander Howarth
May 28, 2025
Dacus breaks out of the genre she’s been pigeonholed into, creating something that feels simultaneously novel and timeless.

Lucy Dacus archives love, loss and limerence on ‘Forever is a Feeling’

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
May 16, 2025
“Gaman” is a Japanese word that roughly translates to the Zen Buddhist concept of staying strong despite the obstacles that cross one’s path.

Star 99 is finally getting their flowers and ‘Pushing Daisies’

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
April 2, 2025
Already trying to make sense of our place in school, in society, in adulthood, how are we possibly supposed to make sense of our place on Earth, in the Milky Way, in the universe? The problem is that we aren’t; the existential ennui of being a highschooler is normalized to the point of disinterest.

[Photo] Fearing the unknown

Xander Howarth, Opinions Editor
April 2, 2025
So why would anyone try to make good music? In a landscape so capricious that it rotates trends by the week, quantity is valued more than quality.

[Photo] Streaming, social media and AI are killing albums

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
February 14, 2025
While dopamine release isn’t the only factor to instigate an addiction, it plays a large role in the habits formed around activities that quickly reward the brain: scrolling on one's phone or partaking in substances like drugs and alcohol.

[Photo] Reels, rewards and resolutions

Madeleine Clark, A&E Editor
February 14, 2025
A show that will go down as one of Netflix’s best

‘Arcane’ season two was flawed – and I loved it

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
December 18, 2024
The plot follows Wilbur (Isabella Ward de Campos Gonçalves), the runt of his litter of pigs.

‘Charlotte’s Web’ revisits a childhood classic

Max Bykowski, Sports Editor
November 1, 2024

‘Content warning’: Get famous or die trying

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
June 11, 2024
“Link Crew is meant to be a way for [upperclassmen] to help ninth graders with the transition to high school,” Laura Lehni, language arts teacher, ASB advisor and Link coordinator, said

Link Crew applications open for current sophomores and juniors

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
May 15, 2024
(Them.us)

Chappell Roan’s music is queer, campy fun

Max Bykowski, Staff reporter
May 5, 2024
(Plastic Death) is, to say the least, an experience. (Glass Beach/Band camp)

Glass Beach releases genreless sophomore album ‘Plastic Death’

Max Bykowski, Staff reporter
March 19, 2024
ELA teacher Laura Lehni voices her uncertainty for the course of Ethnic Studies.

A class kept from growing: the concern about Ethnic Studies

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
March 18, 2024
Many of these collectors have upwards of twenty water bottles in their collections and have built shelves in their houses to display all of them.

Stanley tumblers, consumerism and the lifetime of a trend

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
February 8, 2024

Respiratory illness cases surge over winter break

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
February 1, 2024
Wikipedia

‘No Blues’ remaster for its 10th anniversary

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
December 12, 2023
ASU Potluck with group leaders and members gathering to share different Asian cuisine from various regions

More than just a meal

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
December 12, 2023
Written by the BHS ensemble of 2023 and directed by Miller Shor, the cast bows for curtain call. “Sonnets For a New Century” asks the question: “What could you not leave this world without saying?”

Fall play reflects on the legacy one leaves behind

Max Bykowski, Staff Reporter
November 9, 2023
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