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Album Reviews Pt. 2: ISOxo, Tinashe, Lucy Bedroque

Photo Credits: c - Album Cover by Lucy Bedroque The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. ISOxo’s sophomore album Hardcore Diva was released just a day before the annual Niteharts Festival in California. Hardcore Diva primarily serves as a hybrid trap EDM album with rage elements most similar to ISOxo’s first album kidsgonemad! Personall

Adam Zhao

21 minutes ago2 min read

The 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry - Chem Club Discussion

Photo Credits: @nobelprize on Instagram CHEM Club, sponsored by A.P. Chemistry teacher Mrs. Sutherland, recently discussed the 2026 Nobel Prize in Chemistry at the last club meeting. The prize was awarded to Henri B. Kagan and Kenso Soai “for the discovery of non-linear effects and autocatalysis in asymmetric organic synthesis." Simply speaking, these laureates discovered a way to spontaneously produce homochiral molecules with a specific “handedness.” Molecules called isome

Adam Zhao

29 minutes ago1 min read

What is your teacher superpower?

Photo Credits: Pixel What superpower would you want? It's a question that's been asked during millions of icebreakers. Answers vary, from flying to reading minds to time travel. But have you ever wondered what your teachers thought about having superpowers? Especially about superpowers that could help them teach? Faculty at VHHS were asked the question, "If you could have any superpower to help your teaching, what would it be?" Here are their answers: With the end of the fi

Anjali Anantharam

40 minutes ago2 min read

Book Analysis - The Psychology of Money

Photo Credits: Yeshani Joseph on Medium The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. Introduction: Hey Everyone! Today I will be doing an analysis of The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel. Something that makes this book excellent for reading is that it has 20 points contained in 20 chapters. I will be giving a brief summary of some chapte

Tyler Simpson

40 minutes ago6 min read

Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game: Ballers or Airballing?

Photo Credits: Kelly Chen As homecoming season at Vestavia Hills High School comes to a close, the SGA has been working hard to fundraise for this year’s fall charity, the Prescott House. One of the most highly anticipated events of the year, this year’s Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game certainly did not disappoint, uniting students of multiple grades as they let their Rebel spirit shine through against their common enemy, the faculty basketball team. The faculty team s

Kelly Chen

40 minutes ago2 min read

Toga Day!

Photo Credits: Grace Ding Happy Toga Day! On October 8th, right before Fall Break, the senior class had their annual tradition of wearing togas for the pep rally against Hoover. Usually, the dress-up day, pep rally, and football game would all take place on a Friday, but because of the altered schedule for Fall Break, there were some changes: the dress-up and pep rally day took place on Thursday, while the football game occurred on Friday. Unfortunately, the schedule change

Abigail Wang

40 minutes ago2 min read

Club Highlight: Health Literacy

Photo Credit: Vestavia Hills Health Literacy Club Instagram Last year, the Health Literacy Club was founded by Dev Patel and Divya Ramani, quickly gaining traction and attracting over 20 members in its first year. The club was founded with the objectives of teaching members about health equity and helping the Greater Birmingham area, where several communities are designated as “Medically Underserved Areas (MUAs)” due to limited healthcare resources. That is the gap the club

Dev Patel

40 minutes ago2 min read

Math Team Fall Trip: Colorado!

All photos provided by Hannah Chen At the end of this September, the VHHS math team took a trip to Colorado for a tournament at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS). Apart from the actual competition, math teamers were able to explore both Colorado’s rocky, mountainous landscape as well as the town Manitou Springs. On the first day, the team traveled to the Royal Gorge, where they rode the Royal Gorge Aerial Gondola. The aerial gondola featured a clear, glass

Audrey Kim

40 minutes ago2 min read

A Much Needed Break

Photo Credits: Irinia Fedorova on iStock At the end of every grading period, life gets very stressful for students. Freshman and juniors are tired from their first quarter of high school, sophomores have the pre-ACT coming up, and seniors are overwhelmed from college applications. Most students will agree that a break at this point in the year is not just wanted, but a necessity. Having a chance to enjoy themselves without the pressure of schoolwork, students did all sort

Ollie Wilson

1 hour ago2 min read

Chipotle Heaven

Photo Credit: Chipotle The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. Some people cope with caffeine. Others with retail therapy, late-night journaling, or aggressively sobbing into a weighted blanket. Me? I cope with Chipotle. It sounds stupid. I know what you're thinking: is that a cry for help? And the answer is yes: I may need a little hel

Dev Patel

Oct 54 min read

Powderpuff 2026 and its History

Photo Credits: Pinterest This Wednesday, September 30th, girls came down to the football field wearing their grade colors: freshmen were yellow, sophomores were purple, juniors were teal, and seniors were hot pink. All the girls came together and cheered and took many pictures as their classmates participated in a traditional Powderpuff game against other grade levels. Powderpuff has been a tradition at Vestavia Hills High School for a very long time, but it has actually

Zara Ziauddin

Oct 52 min read

It's Britney, Rebels!

Photo Credits: Band Photography Committee “Drum majors, is your band ready?” Silence. If you’ve ever performed or witnessed a performance—orchestral concert, play, dance recital, you name it—you know the intensity in that moment before art is set in motion. The moment the curtain is drawn, and the room holds its breath in anticipation. On Saturday, nearly 200 members of our Rebel Marching Band took the field in competition at the Trussville Marching Invitational, the first

Ruth Graham

Oct 52 min read

Your 2026-27 Mr and Miss Vestavia!

Photo Credit: Vestavia News Network's Instagram, Libby Soong and Grace Ann Swift, two of your Miss Vestavia Nominees! Each year, Vestavia Hills High School seniors have the opportunity to vote for Mr. and Miss Vestavia. Students vote for classmates they believe should be recognized for their accomplishments and the impact they have made throughout the school year and their overall high school experience. The process begins with nominations from our teachers and faculty. The

Marley Flannagan

Oct 51 min read

Fall Charity 2026!

Photo Credit: VHHS's Instagram VHHS’s annual Fall Charity Kickoff took place on September 15th, and we are partnering with The Prescott House! To start the kickoff, a few members of the SGA team were able to introduce and present this year's fundraiser. The SGA also announced this year’s homecoming king nominations for each grade and the band. The homecoming kings were introduced and participated in an exciting game where they were judges for our very own Dancing with the St

Abigail Wang

Oct 52 min read

Senior Report #1: Kicking it Off!

Photo Credit: Kitty Watts Welcome to Pillar’s “Senior Report” series! Throughout this year, I, Grace, will do my best to document our grade’s favorite memories, discuss big transitions of this year, and give advice that we would’ve liked to hear. For this first report, we’re recapping how we kicked off this bittersweet chapter and our early thoughts on what’s next? This first quarter was packed with senior activities. Before the first day, we had Senior Sunrise and car pain

Grace Ding

Oct 54 min read

Study Tips for Students

Photo credit: Lisby G (Pexels.com) The media below contains the opinion of an individual student and therefore does not represent or speak to the values of Vestavia Hills High School and Vestavia Hills City Schools. Have you ever felt overwhelmed with schoolwork with no idea how to study? I mean, seriously, have you ever been told how to study? It's not just some natural instinct, right? Shouldn’t we be taught this in school? If you relate to the first four sentences, then

Tyler Simpson

Oct 57 min read

Football vs. Tuscaloosa County

Photo Credit: Magnific As the two football teams line up facing one another, waiting for the snap, each player could be thinking any number of things. They could feel nervous or confident. Unenthused or excited. Unprepared, or ready. On Friday, October 2nd, the Vestavia Hills Rebels will play against the Tuscaloosa County Wildcats in Tuscaloosa. The team is coached by the one and only Robert Evans, who has been the head coach for over 4 years. According to Alabama High Scho

Ollie Wilson

Oct 52 min read

Helping Hands: The History of ASL

Photo Credit: Wikipedia, the Thomas Gallaudet Memorial In the year of 1814, a man journeyed to Hartford, Connecticut to visit his family. He, like any other person, believed this trip was just routine and would be no different from the last time he visited. Little did this man know that this trip would inspire him to establish deaf education in the United States, and it would all begin because of an encounter with one young and extremely bright deaf girl. While visiting, Th

Ally Bryant

Oct 52 min read

Faculty Highlight: Mr. Mundt

Photo Credits: iStock The faculty highlight for this issue is none other than Mr. Mundt… a 10th grade Algebra two teacher. In the years that Mr. Mundt has been at Vestavia, he has impacted so many young lives through a math class. And most importantly, he is a friend for quite literally anyone from the moment they walk into his A241 classroom. I had the privilege of being taught by Mr. Mundt last year, and it was unlike any math class I have ever had. Math as a high school

Tyler Simpson

Sep 283 min read

Tales of Trickery: a Senior Directed Play!

Photo Credits: Lane Peterson, the cast of the Tales of Trickery Vestavia’s Theater program performs a variety of shows all year round. Most recently, they performed their Senior Directed Plays. Senior Directed Plays are a set of performances that are completed led and directed by the Seniors in the Vestavia Hills Theatre Department. For this article, I asked Madelyn Garrick, a junior in the theatre department, to tell me a little bit more about the process and the behind the

Audrey Kim

Sep 282 min read

CONTACT

Thanks for your interest in Pillar. For more information, feel free to get in touch and we will get back to you soon!

vestaviapillar@gmail.com