To kick off the first-ever print edition of The Prairie Hawk Press, we asked Madison Country Day’s high schoolers some burning questions: Who would survive the longest on a desert island? What’s your deepest academic fear? And most pressingly, does anyone actually use their Yondr pouch? With 53 responses, we may not have gotten all the answers, but we definitely got the important ones.

The Yondr Dilemma 

The rule is simple: lock your phone in your Yondr pouch before school every day, no exceptions. But when we asked, “When was the last time you used your Yondr pouch?” the vast majority of students answered never. A smaller group told us they used theirs last semester, suggesting they gave it an honest shot before realizing it didn’t matter. But then there was one student, a ninth-grader, who answered today as a true rule follower, an outlier, a hero.

Desert Island Dilemma

Students were asked which grade could survive the longest on a desert island. The verdict is seniors, with 21 votes, nearly double the next spot. Juniors finished second with 13 votes, freshmen earned 10 and sophomores followed closely with nine. But all eight seniors voted for themselves, which feels a little like cheating.

Scariest Finals Dilemma

When it came to the scariest final, science was the strongest source of dread. Math came in a close second, hardly surprising, since they are the two most test-heavy classes. Language and English barely made the cut, with fewer than 20% of students choosing either. And out of every single response, not one person chose history, which is quite the historical event for MCDS.

Favorite Arts Dilemma

For arts classes, theater was the clear favorite, with more than 50% of students choosing it. Visual arts came in second with 17 votes, and music theory came in third with nine. Ensemble votes followed a similar pattern, with choir winning just under half, band with 17 and orchestra, not doing much better than music theory with ten. Or do we just think theater and choir kids are nerds, more likely to answer the survey?

Favorite Scrolling App Dilemma

How do you like to waste your time? The survey asked about favorite scrolling apps, but the wasted time was implied. Instagram came out on top, with YouTube Shorts a surprisingly close second. (You don’t hear many people brag about YouTube Shorts, but it seems they have a quietly large following.) TikTok came in third, still close to the top two. Most oddly: As this fearless reporter scoured the school for respondents, he found one student who chose Snapchat Spotlight, just to keep it interesting, and one other who refused to fill out the form entirely because there was no “I don’t scroll” option. Really, dude? Really? 

Superpowers Dilemma

When it came time to pick a superpower, answers got deep. Teleportation dominated with 10 students choosing it, drawn by the promise of never having to drive, never being late and going wherever they wanted. It’s the lazy, convenient superpower, access to anywhere in the world, zero effort. Time powers came next, with nine students wanting the ability to undo mistakes and revisit the past. Though just as many cared more about the future, citing “unlimited time to study” and the ability to “stretch time.” 

What’s in your backpack dilemma

We asked for the craziest object currently living in someone’s backpack. Honorable mention goes to the freshman who was really cooking, literally. He had a pair of cooking tongs in his backpack. Reason unknown.

Beyond the grill, the top three:

No. 3: “The Constitution of the United States of America,” carried by a student who had it “just in case.” Hopefully, they won’t need to invoke it to stay out of trouble.

No. 2: “A locked notebook filled with writing in Draconic script — a language from D&D that I memorized.” Who knew MCDS had a third language program beyond Spanish and Japanese?

No. 1: From a junior who also wished for a math superpower: “Notes on a concept in differential geometry called mean curvature flow, which relates the curvature on an Nth-dimensional Riemannian manifold to a parabolic partial differential equation.” He wanted the magical power to be really good at math, but it sounds like he already is.

Thanks to everyone who responded. Keep your eyes out for more. And maybe, just maybe, try using your Yondr pouch.