The Student News Site of Community School of Davidson

CSD Spartan Media

CSD Spartan Media

CSD Spartan Media
Maw Maw and Paw Paw (mother and father to Community School of Davidson‘s founder and first executive Director, Joy Warner) brought energy and purpose to a now established school which grew from a napkin and hearts overflowing with love. (Photo courtesy of Joy Warner.)

Remembering Maw Maw: A heartfelt tribute to a CSD legend

CSD students share memories and lessons learned
Conner Shelton, Sports Editor, Podcast Editor
March 24, 2025
If you were to ask current and former students about their favorite Maw Maw memories, most would probably say it was being a "trash kid" in elementary and middle school.
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VIDEO: Davidson Community Gardens – A living (and growing) resource

Callie Hobbs, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Visual Media Manager
March 19, 2025

The Davidson Community Garden is a living (and growing) resource that provides more than vegetables, flowers and produce to local service organizations and those in need. Senior CSD Spartan Sentinel journalist,...

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Using a flashlight can be a bit extreme but when the power (and classroom lights) go out, learning is definitely impacted. There can still be opportunities for learning.

Power outages, unplanned dismissals and learning

On the surface, they may create chaos and confusion, but power outages can also bring new opportunities and styles of learning.
Liam Bradley, Features Editor, News Editor
March 11, 2025
For many high school students, power outages are a mixed bag. While they can foster team-bonding on sports teams and, in woodworking, promote enjoyable competitions with hand-saws, they can also cause discomfort and disrupt learning environments.
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Change is a force that is constantly moving around everybody all the time. Although the word has its own denotation, or literal meaning when searched, it can evoke a variety of different feelings and emotions for people in different situations. The choice then becomes how to deal with it.

Change, it’s the one constant in high school

In this team researched and written feature, edited by Kate Saussele, CSD’s Journalism staff digs into what the term means for the student body and shares everything from examples and horror stories to statistics, tips and suggestions with the hope of helping readers make change (and everything that comes with it) a friend.
Kate Saussele, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Features Editor
January 29, 2025
In this team researched and written feature, edited by Kate Saussele, CSD’s Journalism staff digs into what the term means for the student body and shares everything from examples and horror stories to statistics, tips and suggestions with the hope of helping readers make change (and everything that comes with it) a friend.
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The last time Charlotte, NC, received measurable snowfall was roughly the four inches that covered the city in January 2022 (left). January 2024, by contrast, was windy and snowless (right). As temperatures are climbing year-round, CSD students and Charlotte residents are becoming skeptical about the next time they will see a winter with measurable amounts of snow.

Snow Miser vs. Heat Miser: how climate change has altered perception of the holiday season

How much does winter precipitation in the chilliest months of the year really affect the “magic” of the holidays?
Kate Saussele, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Features Editor
December 19, 2024

For many kids, nothing beats the surprise of opening their curtains on a chilly winter morning to see a bright blanket of snow covering streets, rooftops and lawns. Some have even described the holiday...

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Rudolph and Hermey, two misfits, plot their escape in front of a Christmas tree with Santa watching. In many famous holiday movies, life lessons reveal themselves in characters and storylines.

Life lessons from holiday movies

Below the surface and deep in the storylines are life lessons that viewers of many famous holiday movies can take to heart.
Ben Gallagher and Dylan Sherman
December 17, 2024
Christmas movies are a delight to watch around the holiday season, but most viewers do not look deep enough to recognize the important lessons inside of them.
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Concert venues range in size, location and layout. The Ameris Bank Amphitheatre in Alpharetta, GA (pictured), is a mid-size venue with a capacity of 12,000. However, the capacity of a smaller venue like Ovens Auditorium in Charlotte is 2,400, and the Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, a large venue, has a capacity of about 75,000. All venue types come with their individual benefits and limitations.

Keeping music a-live

Understanding the evolving relationship between live and streaming music can promote learning and build emotional self-awareness in students
Kate Saussele, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Features Editor
December 9, 2024
“[CSD supports] any event that finds a way to bring people together and helps kids find their niche,” Jen Chaffman said. “At the open mics particularly, I’ve never seen a more supportive group. When you come to them, it doesn’t matter who’s performing or how they sound, everybody is there and they’re all in and they're listening and they cheer them on no matter what. It’s a really low stakes way for kids who might want to perform but are afraid to perform to get to do it without having to audition for it. I don’t think anything could beat that.”
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Colette Morell (‘25) holds an empty energy drink can, shocked by the news of the ban. “I was surprised they went as far as banning the drinks but I get my caffeine from coffee so it doesn’t really affect me,” Morell said. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all that admin made the decision.”

Can ban (energy drinks banned at school)

Admin asks for students not to bring energy drinks to school
Ben Gallagher, Editor-in-Chief
October 29, 2024

It’s no secret that energy drinks aren’t the healthiest drink option. They don’t claim to be. Their job is to perform just like the name suggests. Energy drinks boost people’s energy levels.  Large...

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CSD students are learning to balance cell phone use with the school’s new policy. Students can only use their phones during jumpstart (a 10 minute activity break following two daily early morning classes), class transitions, lunch and before and after the arrival and dismissal bells ring. Another way of putting it is that cell phones are firmly outlawed during instructional periods.

“No Cells Bell To Bell” policy goes live

For both CSD students and teachers, the new, more restrictive administrative directive is changing more than simply behaviors
Liam Bradley, Features Editor, News Editor
October 15, 2024
Giving the policy a chance might not only lead to a better and more well-rounded high school educational experience, it could also help students gain life skills they can take with them to college or wherever life may lead after graduation.
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CSD’s entire class of 2025 celebrates the start of the year during the annual Senior Sunrise on August 14, 2024. This new tradition invites seniors to come together early in the morning on first day of school, rekindle friendships and enter the building before anyone else. (Image used courtesy of CSD Student Life.)

Excited, bittersweet and hopeful: CSD’s class of ‘25 seniors open doors for the new year

As the 2024-2025 school year begins, CSD’s senior class hits the ground running as they quickly learn to balance final year pressures with building memories.
Kate Saussele, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Features Editor
September 13, 2024

The songs “Landslide,” “Scott Street,” and “Where’d All the Time Go?” ring throughout headphones and earbuds as Community School of Davidson’s (CSD) class of 2025 seniors finish the annual...

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A 1976 Yale women’s rowing protest opened doors for women athletes. High schools like CSD now offer equal opportunities for girls to play the sports they love.

Yale women’s rowing protest remembered

How a bold protest on the water led to a change in women’s sports everywhere
Conner Shelton, Sports Editor and Podcast Editor
May 15, 2024

With the Civil Rights Movement, increasing women’s rights, political unrest and the start of the Vietnam War all happening at once in the 1960’s, the general behavior and acceptance in the United States...

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Computers in formation begs the question “is AI marching like soldiers into a battle to take over the world?”

Trust gets blocked when AI joins the chat

Humanity’s breakdown in the presence of AI is illustrated in season 6 of Netflix’s The Circle
Callie Hobbs, Sports Editor and Opinions Editor
May 4, 2024

All the players are enjoying a (seemingly) chill evening in the Circle when all of the sudden an alert notification blares onto their screens. Players jump to attention to see what the alert has to say....

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