Beak 'n' Eye No. 5

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Beak ‘n’ Eye

Page 1

Volume 51 Issue 5

West High School

3505 W. Locust St. Davenport, Iowa 52804

Friday, February 11, 2011

Same sex classes show improvements on test

By Felicia Raymond

When you walk into a welding, auto or engineering classroom, the first thing you notice is that there are one or two girls in the room. This classroom set up is how it’s always been but some schools are breaking the rules and having all girl tech classes, to attract more girls into technological fields.

Some official’s say that the I think the idea isn’t all ultimate isn’t cracked up goal of to be. But same-sex research has been done classes is and they are finding that to improve single sex the grades classes may be helping. of students” In Fairport, New York, the middle school started a two year program of all female classes. Reportedly more than 50 students participated in the class for the first year. The previous year more than 92 percent of the technological classes were males. About 540 public schools around the United States offer single sex classes according to the U.S Department of Education.

Boys may also benefit in an all boy class.In 2008 a study was done by NBC Nightly news, Kathy Piechura-Couture, Professor at Stetson University, stated that over the four years they had been doing the research, the conclusion was that 55 percent of boys in co-ed classes did worse on the FCAT, Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, compared to the 85 percent that scored high-

“

er in an all male class room.

West High school does not offer any single sex classes; they are more labeled as ‘a boy’s classes or ‘girl’s class’.

“I would take an all girl’s class if West offered it,” said Alisa Thach, senior, said, “If West offered it I would be really interested. I think that it would help some girls learn in a different environment.”

Girls at single sex schools are more likely to take non- traditional courses. Such as computer, welding, auto, carpentry, wood working classes.

“I would not take an all female class,” said Audrey Anderson, senior, “I would feel weird being in an all girl class. I don’t think a lot of girls are interested in taking tech classes. So I don’t think that it would really matter because if a girl really wants to take a class then they would, not just because the school is offering something different.”

But studies have shown that girls and boys learn differently and learn better in different settings.

In same sex classes, teachers could assess different needs of different sexes. Girls learn differently than boys. Girls are drawn to texture and colors, like reds, yellows, and oranges. They pay a lot of detail to the face and learn best if put into a circle to work with peers. Girls hear higher frequencies than boys so if a teacher raises their voice to get attention the girls feel as though the teacher is yelling and they begin to shut down.

Males learn better with forceful voices and pay attention to darker colors. Browns, blacks, and grays. The males’ eyes are drawn moving objects.

The teacher should keep moving around the room.

They need to use different tones and almost sound excited when teaching.

Boys’ autonomic nervous system makes them more alert when they are moving around, standing, or being active. When the room is around 69 degrees they work the best. Females work the best if the temperatures is 75 degrees.

Photo by Brandon Rostenbach

GIRLS TAKING CHARGE IN CLASS - Ashley Castle, junior, does all the work that the boys do in the welding class.

Women have represented about 57 percent of enrollments at American colleges since at least 2000, according to a recent report by the American Council on Education. Women may be going to college more than men are but they still feel intimated by men not to enter male-dominated professions, such as computer analysis, programmers, web designers and scientist. These are the jobs that the United States desperately needs.

“I think the ultimate goal of same sex classes is to improve the grades of students,” said Victoria Essary, senior, “In the long run I think more females will enter male professions. It is just a matter of time.”

poll

Do you think West should offer some all-girl technology classes?

Yes 67% No 33% SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 131 students

Tuscon shooting hits home

President, Barrack Obama gave a memorial speech, Jan. 12, to consol the family’s of those who were lost. The citizens who helped The assassination attempt on Rep. or survived the Tucson Arizona shooting sat Gabrielle Gillfords on Jan. 8 in Tucson with Michelle Obama in the Gallery box to Arizona, took not only Arizona but the United watch the president. He mentioned the reason states by surprise. The Tucson shooting why each and every victim was there. seemed to hit home everywhere.

“There is nothing I can say that will fill the “I don’t feel unsafe anywhere, but that’s sudden hole torn in your hearts,” said just me,” said Miranda Pfannestiel, senior. “I President Barack Obama at the Tucson memothink it can happen anywhere though. rial service, Jan. 12, “But know this: the Shootings in my opinion have always been a hopes of a nation are here tonight. We mourn problem with you for the fallen. We join and as this you in your grief. And we add world our faith to yours that becomes Gabrielle crazier they ‘I can’t believe that Representative Giffords and the other living will most someone could do victims of this tragedy pull likely through.” that, I feel scared become shooting shocked more freknowing someone manyThe people and left some quent. speechless. And the after math could do that.’

Because of the hit man pleading not people are guilty has left some scared and losing mad. regards for human life.”

“When I first heard about him shooting so Kendall Tawney, senior, also said she felt many people I was in shock. It’s still really unsafe.“I can’t believe that someone could do hard to believe,” said Tawney. that. I feel scared knowing that someone Some are not as weary as others. could kill so many people and just laugh “I don’t think that this could happen in about it.”

Davenport. There are stupid people here but The shooting happened at a meet and greet at not to this extreme,” said Tyler Smith, junior. a local supermarket where Rep. Gabrielle But some have differing views.

Giffords was talking to the town.

“Lately Davenport is getting really bad,” Jared Loughner allegedly opened fire among said Alice McCalester, senior. “I believe that citizens at a meet and greet at a supermarket, something like this could happen. You can tell killing six and 13 injured. by the way students treat others at school.”

Those who were killed were U.S. District Professors say that he seemed mentally Judge John Roll, 63; Dorthy Murray, 76; unstable. This raises the question of gun perDorwin Stoddard, 76; Christina Greene, 9; mits and safety, and the mental health checks.

Phyllis Scheck, 79; Gabe Zimmerman, 30.

“I’m frustrated that unstable people can get He was arrested and has been charged with weapons,” said Deborah Hall, literature five federal offenses, including the attempted assassination of Rep, Gabrielle Giffords. What teacher, “But I don’t know how anyone could recognize unstable people. Something has to might have motivated the shootings remains be set in place to notice that they are unstable unclear without stepping on privacy rights. Because Christina Greene was born on another professors could recognize he was unstable. tragedy. Sept. 11 2001, and died on another.

No doubt about that,” she finished.

Jan. 8 2011. She was at the meet and greet Loughner, has pled not guilty last week. because she was interested in politics. And her “He just plead not guilty, after what he did neighbor had taken her along for the ride. they are going to let him slide. That’s not right Giffords is still in the hospital recovering from the gun shot to the head. She was moved at all. Something should be done,” said McCalester, “I don’t care if he was mentally to Hermann Memorial hospital in Houston unstable. If a healthy regular person killed six Texas. The doctors are saying that she is people they would die. I believe they should recovering and making progress everyday. have the same punishment.”

By Felicia Raymond

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Photo by Will Seberger/MCT

SORROW - People grIeve over the six persons who were killed after a gunman attempted to shoot Rep. Gabrielle Gillfords on Jan. 8 in Tuscon, Arizona.

Photo by Will Seberger/MCT

WOUNDED Bill Badger shows the scar left by the bullet the barely scraped his head while he was trying to assist stopping a gunman. The wound is a lasting reminder of the tragedy that took place in the supermarket parking lot on Jan. 8 in Tuscon, Arizona.

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2 News

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

MADE comes to West to find local talent

By Kayla Mirfield

Photo by Kayla Mirfield

NATE-DOGG TAKES THE STAGE - The casting producer shows what kind of person he is by acting silly while getting attention.

The West library is filled with about 30 anxious contestants. Everyone is sitting there just looking around, becoming nervous if anybody will show up, when a guy walks in and everyone is nervous look becomes a smile.

Nate is the casting producer of MTV’s MADE. Nate was at West on Friday, January 28, 2011, looking for people for the series’ new season.

“Call me Nate-dogg,” Nate said to ease the tension and make the kids less nervous.

One-by-one he took each potential MADE contestant into one of the libraries connecting room 408, to do a quick interview where they had to say ‘Hi MTV i’m (name, age, birthday, grade, school and phone number)’ then what they wanted to be MADE into and why. The singers also had to sing for him.

“I’m mostly nervous about the camera being shoved in my face,” said sophomore Shelby Tuthill, who wants to be made into a model.

To be chosen for MADE Nate was looking for two major components, honesty and energy.

Nate made it clear that this wasn’t a competition and that it could be that nobody from West High gets on the show, or 20 people could get on it.

If chosen, the filming ranges from whenever the goal takes place.

“If someone wants to be prom queen, then that’s coming up and we would have to film real soon,” Nate said. “But if someone wants to surf then that would be more of a summer goal, and we’d have to go to San Diego.”

The series MADE is doing a whole Midwest tour to find contestants. Before West he went to cities such as Des Moines, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids. After he left West he was heading to Kansas.

“I like going to smaller towns because they have the high energetic kids, and they have less opportunities than the big town kids have,” Nate said.

At west the goals ranged from aspiring rappers/singers to models, boxers, BMX racers and many more. Overall MADE gets mostly guys who want to fight MMA and girls who want to model, at West MADE saw mostly singers.

“My goal is a lot different and I’m such a different

Photo by Kayla Mirfield

person,” said aspiring variety show singer sophomore Aubrey Kohl. “If I get it, I’m going to work really hard and with help I know I will go far.”

After the interview process Nate goes back to his hotel room and uploads the videos of the people he liked and puts them on a website that his boss can look at, then they Skype, and talk about the ones that will be picked. The chosen contestants will receive a call in one to two weeks, but still depends on what the goal may be.

When students came out of the room, a smile was on their face that they had no more reason to be nervous.

“He was funny, and it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be at all,” said Tuthill about the interview.

Nate travels all over the United States looking for contestants, he is at a different school every day, each week so he has to go through a lot of kids and a lot of videos.

“It is an awesome experience for people who want to better themselves or make them into something they have strived for,” said senior Ondrea Farley

Blizzard brings Quad Cities to a standstill

What to do if your car gets stuck

By Felicia Raymond

Davenport received nearly two feet of snow and gusts up to 50 mph last week, causing much of the Midwest to close down businesses and try to dig out. . The snow left some West student’s mind boggled. Feb.1 is when Iowa started to feel the beginning of the snow to come.

It was the biggest blizzard since 1979, where wind The blizzard gusts were up to was crazy, 70 mph blowing the snow into there was snow drifts as so much high as 16 feet.

Davenport snow! received 18 inches, tying the old record.

“As I watched the snow fall I couldn’t believe how much was falling,” said Jordann Sperry, freshman, “It just seemed to pile up. I couldn’t believe that in an hour my mom’s car was completely covered in a snow drift.”

The snow day was due to the mounds of snow that covered the ground and blocking the drive ways of students. Plow trucks were hard at work through out the night moving the snow so the roads would be drivable.

The attempts were effortless, Feb. 2 school was cancelled and there was a road advisory stating that everyone should remain indoors and not tempt the road.

“The blizzard was crazy cool, there was so much snow. It was blowing in every direction and

Turn your heat on frequently. Keep yourself warm. But keep the window cracked. Carbon monoxide is odorless but deadly.

“

Never leave your car.

The blowing snow may give you frost bite, you may become lost, and if you leave the car you are more likly to be hit by a car.

Photo by Felicia Raymond

SNOW FIGHT - Brittany Teal, sophomore and Lidnsey Teal, junior, have fun by the snow piled high in the West parking lot. A record snow fall was followed by high winds, causing schools to close for two days.

I worked on the snow days and ended up shoveling,” said Dane Schroeder, senior.

Many cars went off the road. Making it impossible to drive, most couldn’t get out of their driveway.

“My mom and I couldn’t get out of our driveway to even leave,” said Zach Ortiz, senior. “And my mom didn’t want to leave, instead my brother and I played in the snow.”

‘Diviners’ may bring tears to audience

By Phoenix Kemp

Do not be alarmed if you hear laughing, screaming, or hysterical rants about water coming from the West High auditorium over the next few weeks. It’s just The West High Drama Club preparing for the premiere of “The Diviners,” a play they will be performing March 3-5.

The leads in the play are Lauren Vickers, Bradley Rees, Gavin Wright, and Dan Kuttler,.

It starts with young Buddy Layman (played by Bradley Rees), a mentally challenged boy whose mother drowned saving him, causing him to suffer from a severe fear of water.

He lives with his father, Ferris Layman (Kuttler) and sister, Jennie May Layman (Vickers) in a small town, where he is befriended by a priest named C.C. Showers (Wright) who’s sworn off preaching, but after meeting

Buddy, wants to help overcome his fear of water.

Director Wayne Hess said he selected “The Diviners” because “I wanted to do something totally different from the ‘Phantom.’ I’ve seen ‘The Diviners’ three times and it always makes me cry. It’s very touching.”

The play will be performed for the student body on Thursday, March 3, during 2nd and 4th block. There will also be showings on Friday, March 4th at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday March 5th at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. for friends and family members.

“I would encourage everyone to get their feet wet in Drama. Ha. Ha.” commented Rees, laughing at an inside joke. “It’s a chance to pretend to be someone else.”

In the words of Vickers, Rees, and Wright, “The Diviners” will literally “Blow your mind!”

Many students took advantage of the two snow days that West received.

“I slept in and did homework on the snow days, it was a good day to catch up on stuff, but it was interesting because we don’t get snow like that, we get snow but nothing like that.”

The two snow days will be made up at the end of May.

Call someone with your fully charged cell phone.

Put on you hazard lights, this will allow everyone around you to know that you are in need or help.

Keep your seatbelt on.

Even if you have pulled over, it is still possible to get hit by another car.

Ecology Club goes to St. Ambrose U.

By Freya Greene

Ecology Club will go to Ambrose University on March 2 to attend Green Summit, a youth meeting about getting more students involved with nature and environmental issues.

On March 19 Ecology Club will go to the Environmentalist Film Fest at Augustana College. The fest will be showing 4-5 different films on farming practice, environmental justice, and environmental equality issues with water and air.

Adviser Jodi Zimmerman said she hopes the Environmentalist Film Fest will motivate students to care more. “If we don’t get kids outside, they won’t be aware of the environmental pressure we are under, and then if we don’t get them interested, we won’t have a future.”

Also Ecology Club will help bag baby trees at the QCCA in Rock Island on March 21st.

There will be guest speakers at some of these functions but they are still being debated on who the guest speakers will be.

The club has been running 2 ½ years and meets after school every week on Tuesday.

Twice a year, once in the spring and once in the fall, the club goes to Sunderbruck Park to test the water. The club also plants trees and does a check up on the bird count and migration.

Ecology Club volunteers at environmental events such as Bald Eagle Days at the QCCA Expo Center on Jan. 7-9 where they participated with Natural Area Guardians (NAG).

Ecology Club also won the 8th Annual Friends of the Children Service Organization Award on Dec. 2, 2010.

news briefs

ITED prep is put to test on Feb. 9 West High prepared for ITEDS all year long up until Feb. 9th when the test was given.

Teachers in each department did ITED preparations like in math class at the beginning of the period. They took general questions that would be on the test and give them to the students to practice.

The teacher in each department was told what students have had troubles with on the test and they poll used things such as warm How hard do you try up problems to do well on ITEDS? to help the students work Very hard 38% on their trouSomewhat hard 50% bles. Students have had Not Very hard 12% troubles with the apostroSOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 130 students phe relating to their scores in language arts and math students have had troubles such as long division and multiplication.

ITEDS set standards for our school and rank us by how good our scores are. Right now, our school has been designated as a School in Need of Assistance (SINA) by the department of education.

A school can be a SINA by either low scores in each group, or if less than 95 percent take the test.

Percent who reached proficiency level

75

72.3%

70

67.4%

65 60 55

2005

51.9%

2006

Yes 27% No 73%

How often do your parents use Parent Assist to check your grades?

Never 52% Report card time 18% Weekly 26% Daily 5%

SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 160 students

Mayor Gluba tells students at West to get involved

By Brandon Rostenbach

The mayor of Davenport, Bill Gluba, came to West High to promote the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy’s inaugural speech. On January 13 he spoke to the AP government and history classes. He spoke of the importance of getting an education and being involved in your government in all possible ways.

Gluba spoke for about an hour and he gave examples of what somebody can do to get involved in their own community such as; joining clubs, picking up litter, going to cau-

cuses, and writing letters to their leaders. “Tell your parents to quit complaining and do something,” said Gluba. He spoke to the students about how John F. Kennedy’s speech inspired him to become active, which led to him becoming the mayor of Davenport.

He encouraged students to go after their goals, even if their goals are not in the area of politics. He not only spoke about what you can do to get involved in government, but about how to be involved in many different areas.

69.6%

67.6%

69.3% 66.7%

65.4% Math

2007

TO LOG IN: 1. Go to www.davenportschools.org.

2. Under “Family and Students” click on “Campus Portal.”

3. Students can enter their existing user name and password.

4. Parents first must get an Activation Code from the main office. After entering it, they can set their own user name and password.

2. Click on the class you want to check.

Your current grade will appear at the top of the page.

The scores for each assignment will appear at the bottom.

Do you use Parent Assist to check your grades?

66.3%

Even though our ITED scores show improvement, it was not enough improvement to meet the standards. Scores in reading went down three percent for 9th and 11th graders but for 10th graders, it went up six percent. Science and math both improved in all grades from three to 11 percent.

All groups need to meet the Annual Measurable Objectives for the 20010-2011 school years. If these objectives aren’t met over a period of three years then the school can be forced to let new teachers take over, and spend even more time preparing for these tests.

“Our goals this year for ITEDS is that each stu-

1. In the Index Window, click “Schedule.”

In the Information Window a list of your classes will appear.

poll

70.6%

63.4%

55.8%

Using Campus Portal

TO CHECK THE GRADEBOOK:

No name calling

West’s 11th grade ITED scores

By Brandon Rostenbach

STUDENT BEING INTERVIEWED - Chelsea, senior does her interview with a smile.

News 3

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

2008

Reading

2009

2010

dent does the best they can,” said Bob Tollefson, associate principal. If our school does not meet the goals that they want which is to get every student in the meets and exceeds categories, then there will be even more staff development in areas. Students have to be in at least the 40th percentile with their scores. Students wanted to do well on the ITEDS because if they score in the meets or exceeds categories they earn the opportunity to opt out of up to three finals 4th term.

West is looking to see individual growth from each student each year. Each year West’s scores are steadily improving in each area.

Campus Portal replaces Parent Assist By, Brandon Rostenbach

Parents have been waiting for the new version of Parent Assist, now called Campus Portal, to come out to finally be able to check up on their students’ assignments and attendance. Parents had to wait for the new system is because eSIS changed to Infinite Campus on Jan. 4 and teachers had to adjust to the new system of grading.

According to information in the office, Parent portal was up and running Feb. 7. Parents will have to come to the school and register to receive their “portal number.”.They will need proof such as a social security number and a birth certificate of their child to receive it.

They will register with their Activation Code and password at home and then be able to change their username and password.

Students now can visit the portal by entering their existing user name and password.

The new features that the parent portal includes are students’ fee summary, and graduation planner for high school students, attendance, grade updates for current classes, report cards, and class schedule.

According the Tom Wagner, the grades that are shown on the portal look like the teachers grade book.

Teachers can post messages for all parents to read, or for just individual parents can read. Also the school district can post messages for all parents.

All of the information on the portal is unofficial.

Parents also can expect that grades will be updated within seven days of when the assignment is due. This way, teachers will be able to have adequate time to grade the work, and post it on the portal.

Teachers are experimenting still with Infinite Campus. For each student when attendance is taken, it shows a picture and button to push if the student is present, absent, or tardy. Also when the mouse is dragged over top of a student’s picture, their address and all contact information is shown.

“Infinite Campus and Parent Portal is a powerful source that will let teachers communicate effectively with parents and the district,” said Jason Franzenburg, the industrial tech teacher.

Parents are excited to get on to check their child’s progress. “I’m ready for the new system so I can stay on top of my son,” said Ryan Tumey.

Club helps at Bald Eagle Days

By Kaitlynn Shoemaker

Environmental Club continued to assist the community by helping out with the Nahant Marsh booth at Bald Eagle Days on Jan. 7-9.

In the spring members plan to help clean up theWest campus and to plant flower bulbs.

Students say they want to help the environment.

“I enjoy helping the community, and it’s important because we need to keep the environment a safe and healthy place,” senior Ben Peterson said.

By Paige Daily SOUP was busy promoting “No Name-calling Week” Jan. 23-29 by making signs and hanging them around the school. The goal is to reduce bullying and improve how students treat one another so that all students can feel safer about coming to school.

By Jan. 28, there were about 250 pledges.

In February SOUP will support Black History Month by listing African Americans names and their biographies.

In March they are supporting Women History Month, and they plan a Day of Silence on April 4th..

Last term SOUP did the food drive. The students that are in charge of SOUP are Courtney Kaufman, Hoal Pham, Sami Mills, Chi Maf and Rachel Willhoite.

“They’re more active this year, and our goal is to follow through,” said adviser Dan Jens.

Bowlers compete

By Heather Davis West will compete in the bowling invite at Playmor Lanes in Muscatine on Feb. 5 against North, Central, PV, Bettendorf, North Scott, and Muscatine.

The MAC Conference meet is at Bowlmor at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 12.

The varsity boys’ record is 3-3, and the varsity girls’ record is 2-4.

Their last tournament was at Clinton against North, Central, North Scott, Bettendorf, PV, Muscatine, and Clinton. The varsity boys placed third, and the varsity girls placed sixth.

There are six bowlers on each team. The top bowler for the girls is Hallie Lucero, with an average of 160. The top bowler for the guys is Spencer Werthman, with an average of 223, and he even scored a perfect 300 during practice on Jan. 20.

Leo Club serves

By Bianca Calzada Leo Club is a service club that helps people from the community and in the school.

One of the upcoming events is to help the Environmental Club with recycling plastic containers in school. One of the things that adviser Stephanie Hansen says that she likes about this year is that this is actually the first year that the Leo club is actually a year-long club. The club meets every Wednesday after school.

The Leo Club has board of directors that help plan events, such as when the Leo Club went Christmas caroling at a nursing home last December.

The board of directors are Asher Gray, Hoai Pham, Clara Loter, and Adrian Mattson.

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4 Faces

Beak ‘n’ Eye

La Philosophie de Mme. Dailey

By Shelby Tracy

“That’s an “A” for Ashley WAHAAA! Oh another “A” WAHOO!” This is how French teacher Dottie Dailey celebrates her students getting A’s. “She is always happy and funny” said junior Grace Dewitt.

With her bubbly personality and outgoing nature, Mrs. Dailey is often loved by her students.

Dailey first discovered her love of the French language and culture in middle school. “It always came easy to me and I knew then I wanted to teach it to others” said Dailey. “I also had 2 amazing French teachers.

They were married and extremely passionate about French and that helped me take my first steps into the teaching world” said Dailey.

During college at the University of Iowa, Dailey took a year long trip to France where she stayed with a French family.

“The best thing about that trip was showing me the American way was not the only way to lice. I learned a lot” said Dailey After graduating college, Dailey started her teaching career. She connects with her students on a personal level. “I like to treat my students like I would treat my son,” Dailey said. “I like to connect with them and get to know the real person so they can be relaxed and learn.”

Students can sometimes even inspire a teacher. “I am inspired by their tenacity and sense of humor. That’s youth for ya!” Dailey said.

“That’s what keeps me going from day to day.”

With her class seated and quiet, Dailey begins her lesson. With a few quirky comments and laughs here and there, the class achieves the set goal for the day.

“The best ways to have students understand what your teaching

“

I am inspired by their tenacity and sense of humor”

is to first be yourself and not move on until the concept is understood. You just have to take your time,” Dailey said.

Outside of school, Dailey loves to read and walk. “I’m too old to run anymore,” laughs Dailey. She also loves her pet dog Louis.

“He’s my hobby,” she said.

She is also extremely proud of her son who has followed her path into the teaching world. “He means so much to me and I love to see him enjoy what I enjoy,” said Dailey For most, teaching is no easy gig. However, for Dottie Dailey it’s not just a career, “It’s my passion,” smiled Dailey.

Photo by Cody Lewis

TEACHABLE MOMENT - The key to effective learning is to “not move on until the concept is understood,” says French teacher Dottie Dailey.

Friday, February 11, 2011

eReaders give glimpse of future

By Edvin Turcinhodzic

Staff Photo

Evan Mosier, a 2005 grad, returns to West.

Moiser subs for Kintigh

By Bailey Graham “I graduated from West in 2005 so it’s like coming home,” said Evan Moiser, a long-term substitute teacher for language arts teacher David Kintigh, who is on medical leave this semester.

Mosier said he was happy to get a chance to teach at West because he likes the school.

He graduated for the University of Northern Iowa in May 2010 and has been teaching since September.

Mosier has subbed about five times at West before taking the job.

Mosier works here with his brother, football coach Jeremy Mosier, who is 11 years older then him. He said it is nice because he gets to see him more often then usual and he can finally brag about having his own room.

When Mosier was in high school here he was involved in wind ensemble and jazz band. He was the drum line captain and the editor in chief for the school newspaper.

He majored in English and hopes to get a full time job teaching English sometime soon. “I’ve always enjoyed reading and writing,” Mosier said. “Being able to write proficiently is very important.”

Photo by Edvin Turcinhodzic

Junior Erin Pershall got a new eReaader called the Cruz. She uses it to surf the web and read.

poll

How would you prefer to read a book?

In Print 78% eReader 22%

SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 131 students

INTERESTING - Outside of school Alex Block fixes computers and helps farm eggs.

Quick look at sophomore Alex Bock

Biggest fear?

I am claustrophobic

What do you do in your spare time?

I enjoy working with computers and welding. I also like working with Mr.Zinn. I take care of the chicken farm by going there and collecting eggs and feeding the birds.

What have you done with computers?

I have rebuilt two fully functioning computers and I also repair and fine tune PCs.

Why did you start working with them?

I have always liked experimenting with them, but I started actually fixing them for other people about a year ago.

How long have you been fixing computers?

Ever since I can remember. I have always been interested in finding out how things work. I was bored one day so I just started taking apart an old and cheap one.

Why did you start helping Mr.Zinn with the chicken farm?

I started helping because one of my friends who had been doing it took me to the farm one day and I took a liking to it.

Leisure 5

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

More people are choosing to read downloaded electronic books and periodicals than to read them in actual print. This has brought upon a new kind of technology.

An e-book reader, also called an e-book device or e-reader, is an electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals and uses eink technology to display content to readers.

This technologic advancement has not yet made an impact on everyone’s reading. Reading from print is still more popular than on an eReader. This could change, however. With prices dropping and technology progressing, it won’t be long until eReaders are in everyone’s backpack.

Though the Kindle was the first e-book reader to become widely popular it was not the first e-book reader. The Sony Reader was launched earlier in 2007 (the year the Kindle came) and Motricity sold e-book reader software for Windows Mobile and Palm devices. The Kindle has been a tear since its release in 2007 release. On Christmas Day, for the first time ever, customers purchased more Kindle books than physical books.

Here at West High the eReaders have made a slight impact on the way we read things. If not with an eReader, students download books on to their iPod Touch. Furthermore, there are students who use this in an advantageous way. Junior Blake Lewis opted to download the AP Chemistry prep book onto his Kindle rather than purchasing a hard copy. Senior Alex Karwath agrees, “It’s a lot easier to carry around and

‘Jersey Shore’ breaks records

By Edvin Turcinhodzic

A lot of people have been tuning in to watch the gang down in Seaside, and it finally showed on the charts. Jersey Shore first premiered on MTV in August of 2009 and has exploded ever since.

Jersey Shore is a reality television series on MTV that follows eight housemates spending their summers together in New Jersey.The January 6th premier of Season 3 had 8.4 million viewers, which officially makes it MTV’s most watched series telecast of all time. That is 63 percent more than the Season 2 opener.

The original plan was to air the show on MTV as a one time thing. However, with the attention and viewers it’s attracting, they had to bring it back.

“I like it because it gives me something to laugh about”, said sophomore Hue Le. Others watch the show for different reasons. “I like seeing the fights between the housemates”, said sophomore Andre Scales.

MOVIE

True Grit is truly great

Overall, True Grit is a great movie.

The all out western action-packed film starring Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn. It was an astonishing acting performance by Jeff and he really portrayed his character well. At times there was humor thrown into the script, which lightened the mood a bit.

The story-line of a little girl going on a man-hunt with a stranger is very unique. This remake of the 1969 True Grit starring John Wayne was not the same, but it was deffinetly not a disappointment.

By Emilee Labrecque

more compact”. Although, Alex also stated “I don’t believe that eReaders will replace books in the future because people like having hard copies and having that feeling of finishing a book.”

“I enjoy being able to have multiple books in one slim package.

When i go on a vacation I would normally pack three or four books to read. With the Kindle it isn’t necessary to carry so many books and now my luggage weighs a lot less”, said math teacher Kathlynn Price.

Here at West, students have been very efficient about what they use their eReader devices for. “I downloaded a Jane whole book for Murphy a certain class because it is easier for me to read and scroll down”, said junior Kimbra Cavlovic.

Even though there are quite a few positive features to the eReader, there is still some doubt in the new technology. “It would drive me nuts to look at a screen all day, not being able to annotate and highlight,” said Language Arts teacher Pat Sheehey.

For now, we are seeing a glimpse of what eReaders could turn education into in the future and there have been plenty of mixed emotions about it. However, it wont be long until more and more of us begin turning our pages by dragging our finger across the screen.

It will probably take over the world -

“

Which one?

Top Selling eReaders offer similar features Amazon Kindle remains the best-selling digital reader. Compared with the others, the 10.2-ounce Kindle is the simple and straight to the point, but that is not necessarily a bad thing for those looking for a dedicated reading device. It has a six-inch display, which is great for reading indoors and out.

Kindle, $139

Barnes & Noble Nook The Nook, has two screens: a six-inch monochrome E Ink display and below that, a 3.5-inch color touch screen that can be used for browsing book covers and the Web, and adding bookmarks.

Apple iPad This is the new revolution of an already new technology. It can do everything and more!

You can browse the internet, play a variety of games, and use some of their millions of applications. However, iPad’s iBook platform contains only 60,000 books compared to the Kindle’s 450,000 book variety.

Jersey Shore has received its poll share of criticism from the people who truly Do you watch believe that the Jersey Shore? show is a waste of time. “It just Yes 54% has too much drama, too much No 46% arguing and fighting for stuSOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye pid reasons”, survey of 131 students said junior Dakota Kirkley.

To some, it’s about the partying, sex and glamour, to others, it’s the comedy and laughs that the show provides. To all those who watch it, one thing they agree on is that the show is entertaining and draws them whether they love it or hate it.

REVIEWS MUSIC

Bruno Mars has breakout album

A respected producer and writer before his name was remotely mentioned in the same vein as a solo artist, Bruno Mars is the talk of pop music right now, but he very well might not be the man he appears to be. His debut album has songs that women and men can relate to. So doo-wops are for the girls, and hooligans are for the guys.

Doo-Wops & Hooligans is an extremely lean album, containing only ten tracks and clocking in at just over 35 minutes. He makes every one of those minutes count though with his passionate lyrics.

By Edvin Turcinhodzic

Photo by Josh Kessler/MTV

The cast of “Jersey Shore” spends most of their summer nights in their seaside shore house. Next season their summer house will be in Italy.

GAME

Just Dance 2 delivers

The second edition to an already very successful Just Dance game has not disappointed. This time round there seems to be more variety to your moves, but the real selling point for fans will be the new tracks.There is a surprisingly eclectic mix of stuff to “dance” to.No real skills are involved – at least early on – and the game leads you gently into the action.

By Edvin Turcinhodzic

5 Things to do

Feb. 18-20 - Watch the NBA All-Star Weekend on TNT the leagues best players compete in multiple events.

February 14- 7:30pm – Ozzy Osbourne Concert with special guest Slash at Iwireless Center.

March 4 - 7:30pm – Rascal Flatts with Chris Young perform at the Iwireless Center.

March 13 - 3:00 p.m. – WWE Smackdown: Road to Wresltemania at Iwireless Center.

Visit Flava Flav Chicken in Clinton, Iowa and you might spot Flavor Flav himself seasoning up some chicken.

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6 Focus

Page 4

TOO SERIOUS TOO Beak ‘n’ Eye

SOON?

By Andi Holdt

Dating changes over time

A junior girl and senior guy have been dating for some time now. They’ve always been close. He’s ready to graduate and she’s ready for her fun senior year. One day she walks into class sporting a shiny new ring. She’s engaged. The class is skeptical and unsupportive of her decision. They said she was getting too serious.

Is a 17 year old mature enough to make a life decision this big? Most students believe it’s not wise to get too serious in a high school relationship.

“Teens are acting like adults, and it affects everything,” said Brittany Mulligan, junior, “They lose out on being a kid.

They’re talking about marriage and having babies when they’re still babies themselves. You need to act like a teen when you get the chance, otherwise you’ll

By Andi Holdt

The way teens and dating are now is very different from how they were back in the 50’s through the 70’s. Today, more teens generally spend time with their boyfriend or girlfriend at home, rather than having formal dates.

Over the centuries, most young women and girls would not be alone. They would almost always have a chaperone, especially the upper class. Generally, the upper class had more time to spend with keeping an eye one their young women. Middle and lower class did not keep such a tight watch on their children, therefore leading them to places like the unsupervised movies, dance halls, and amusement parks.

Things that are considered normal for today’s dating society were not at all common in the 60’s and 70’s. Pinning (or wearing the fraternity or club pin of a boyfriend), wearing a love anklet, and “going steady” became very popular during the 50’s and 60’s, and the proper age for a young lady to date one on one was around 16 years old.

“In the 50’s the only time you paid for anything was for the Sadie Hawkins dance,” said, Barb Rice. “If it wasn’t a school dance, you went iceskating or roller skating or just all met up at a park.

It all depended on the girl, but usually you only held hands, you didn’t make out like teens do today. It was more of a good friendship.”

Today, dating has taken a different spin. All ages are in the dating field. There are teens that are double dating, and teens that go on one on one

poll

Do cheesy pick up lines work for you?

Yes 28% No 72%

SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye survey of 128 students

dates.

Andy Riemers said, “In the 70’s we used to ride the loop.

Races would occur a lot there. If you won, your date was really impressed.”

In the 60’s and 70’s there was a lot more face time than there is now with teens.

“Girls never called guys,” Mary Jo Nerly, substitute teacher, “You always waited for them to ca ll. I dated one guy for several years, and he always called me. I never called him once that whole time. And girls never paid for anything either.”

In today’s world, couples are meeting over the internet. Generally, a couple today spends more time texting and emailing each other than actually spending one on one time together.

“When in was a freshman and a little into my sophomore year, I spent more time talking to my boyfriends through Facebook or texting them instead of actually spending time with them.

Texting has really taken away from the one on one time,” said Ondrea Farley, senior.

Only about 10 years ago, texting and internet wasn’t wide spread so a couple would only talk on the phone a few times a day like when they wake

Friday, February 11, 2011

miss out on everything you need for the future.”

Many students feel it is necessary to have a relationship in high school, just not as serious as some make it.

“These days, teenage relationships can be stressful. So many are focused on finding that certain someone and then keeping them happy.

However, sometimes Photo by Kayla Mirfield that means doing things that one isn’t always comfortable with. As a teenager, our job is to do well in school.

Relationships are necessary, they’re a learning experience and an opportunity to grow, but they should never be first priority.” Krista Johnson, junior.

Serious relationships in high school can be fun, but can also cause problems. Depending on how mature someone is effects how serious one can let their relationship become. A relationship relies on emotions. If a teenager is not emotionally ready for a serious relationship, it could cause problems such as depression, loss in self confidence, and stress.“ Relationships are a part of socialization process. You learn from experience and life. Some will be more into advanced dating than others, but I do not believe it’s a necessary part of being a teen.

Being serious now is nothing compared to what it is as an adult,” Steve Baldry, sociology teacher, said.

Once in high school teens tend to feel like having a relationship is a necessity, not a choice, so they go looking for “the one”. A lot of times you

Pick up lines are a fun way to ‘pick up’ the opposite sex and try to win yourself a date.

Here are some fun ones to try out.

I bet you $20 you're gonna turn me down.

If I were a stoplight, I’d turn red every time you passed by just so I could stare at you a bit longer.

Lets make like fabric softener and snuggle.

Did it hurt? (Did what hurt?) When you fell out of my tree stalking me.

Kiss me if I'm wrong, but isn't your name Guadalupe?

see relationships that last a week, or on rare poll occasions, relationships Do you think it is that last several years.

OK for teens to The breakups tend to be get into a serimessy and cause drama between both sides. ous relationship “You see it happen a while in high lot in freshman because school? they are wanting to grow 86% Yes up. I think that people do take relationships too No 18% fast and don’t get to SOURCE: Beak ’n’ Eye enjoy the little things survey of 128 students like getting to really know each other,” said Brianna Bellman, junior.

When in a relationship, girls tend to become more clingy and crave to be with their boyfriend every minute while guys want a relationship more for convenience. Once a couple does find a settling point in high school, it seems like the relationship speeds up. They talk about marriage and children, buying homes and where they want to live. You see it a lot in upper classmen. It is thought that around 50-60 percent of all teen marriages will end in divorce, according to smartmarriages.com.

“Teenage relationships are dumb. You have one chance to have fun in high school, why waste it on a relationship?” said Cody Lewis, senior.

Baby, if you were words on a page you’d be what they call fine print.

If you were a new hamburger at McDonald’s, you would be called McGorgeous.

Is there an airport nearby? Or is that my heart just taking off?

“Fat penguin" (What!?) "I just wanted to say something that would break the ice.”

There’s something wrong with my cell phone because it doesn’t have your number in it

What may change in a relationship

Body responses

When a person sings a new beau, everything feels like it’s falling into place, the world spins and everyone is happy.

Becoming in love causes chemicals that flow in your brain to ‘light up’ when a person falls in love, but those chemicals are no different than the ones that are there when people become mentally ill.

When falling in love, a person feels that they need special attention, and if they aren’t getting what they need it can cause love sickness.

It might sound good when a person says they are love sick for you, but in reality feeling this way can cause depression, mood swings, lack of appetite and sometimes even obsession-compulsive disorder.

Friends

When a relationship starts getting more serious time is spend with the significant other and less time with friends.

With less time on ones hands, there isn’t much free time to hang with friends so the friends get new friends and keep going with their lives.

Sometimes, friends just decide that when a person get’s into a relationship they give up on the friendship because they know there will be less hanging out, so they drop that person.

“It only affected the friends that didn’t like that they had to ‘share’ me,” said senior Zach Ortiz. “Some get too greedy and are selfish so you lose them.”

up, and before they go to bed. This was easier to make plans. Now, couples text all through out the day. Less time is spet together than it used to be.

Texting has caused trust issues between teens as well.

“When my boyfriend takes too long to text back, I start thinking he’s ignoring me or doing something he shouldn’t be,” Brittany mulligan, junior.

The difference between then and now has had some major changes. some for the better, others for the worse.

Lines to ‘pick up’ that certain someone

Focus 7

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

My first kiss

“It wasn’t very romantic or anything, but in eighth grade I went over to my friend’s house and he was sitting on their steps. We hung out for the whole day, and then when I was about to leave he asked for a kiss. So I gave him a kiss and right after I got really red because my friends were looking at me.”

-Brianna Bellman, junior “It was with Brett Mangler. Brittany Nylin locked us in a room and sat on the bed and watched us till we kissed. It was real awkward” -Sarah Buffenbarger, junior

went a little like this...

School work

New relationship can mean new mind set.

If the couple goes to the same school, it’s likely they have a plan on where to meet after class and what hall route they are going to take to spend the most time together.

Couples will take all block just thinking about the significant other and girls will doodle on their paper looking track of what the teacher is saying or what they are suppose to be doing.

It’s hard to concentrate on work and school when you’ve just fallen in love.

School work can be pulled off to the side or have doodles all over it such as “I love (blank name)”, teachers don’t really accept those things, it’s like a form of PDA.

Self-esteem

Jealousy

Art by Nan Greene

A new relationship is in bloom, and the couple is starting to fall in love when a girl catches her boyfriend walking with another girl in the hallway at school. Emotions start running through the girls head--anger, sadness, and jealousy.

Even though a couple might may have no intentions of cheating, each person still could have friends who are of the opposite sex and that person’s significant other might start questioning that.

Jealousy in a relationship is not healthy, because it is a sign of abuse. Jealousy can start a lot of fights and arguments between the couple and may cause breakup.

A relationship is supposed to be built on trust, and jealousy can break that.

When a boy or girl starts a new relationship their world is on high, they are happy, cheerful and their self-esteem is topping the meter because they know someone really likes them.

“A relationship raises self esteem because someone is there to say cute things to you and kissing someone really helps you be happy and confident,” said senior Clayton Reed.

As a relationship goes on things can either still be good, or take a bad turn.

If one of the sides of the couple start to get controlling or abusive, self-esteem can start going down and the person can think they are not good enough for anyone, not even themselves.

A relationship should stay healthy, and if things start to get bad and selfesteem lowers, a couple should try to work it out or come to a conclusion that they shouldn’t be together.

“It was a dare in sixth grade, he was my boyfriend but of course it wasn’t serious. We didn’t date for much longer but started again after eighth grade. We were together for almost two years, he was my first love.”

-Krista Johnson, junior

“It was in kindergarden in my best friend Cory’s backyard. All we did was lean forward and touch lips.

I’ve never seen him since.”

-Haley Benish, junior

“It was on the bus in kindergarden, we were sitting there and then just started making out.”

-Clayton Reed, senior

Art by Nan Greene

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8 Sports

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

Athletic eligibility rule leaves some on the bench

By Michael Lamar

The athletic eligibility policy is meant to help focus students on school before they participate in sports. The policy for ineligibility is, where any student fails a class during the school, they must sit 30 calendar days in the next sport they participate in.

However each term some athletes become ineligible, causing problems for the teams.

According to athletic director Al Blocker, there are 62 athletes currently ineligible for their sport. The policy for ineligibility is, where any student fails a class during the school, they must sit 30 calendar days in the next sport they participate in.

Blocker said several reasons why athletes fail.

“Some kids are flat out lazy’’ said Blocker. He also mentioned that the student’s time management skills may be poor, and also the class may be too hard.

Wrestling Coach Chris Heilman had anywhere from three to five wrestlers ineligible at the beginning of the season. Without wrestlers it’s hard to fill all the weight classes.

“The coaching staff periodically sends out grade checks,” Heilman said. The wrestlers have to get all their grades written down and signed off by the teachers and their parents.

“

Also, teachers will email me about wrestlers who need extra help, or a little more motivation’’.

Football Coach Jeremy Mosier, had five varsity ineligible at the start of the season. Mosier gave some suggestions like study table for athletes that are having some hard times. “It’s a problem that coaches need to pay attention to,’’ said Mosier. Coaches looked at students grades, and checked in with them to discuss

Team welcomes help from ball boy

Photo by David Moore

Mason Carney gathers the balls after warm ups.

The team would like to accomplish qualifying for state this year. Also, the coaches would love to see the numbers increase. They have13 boys this year.

Photo by Erin Pershall

STROKE - Swimmers work out to prepare for the district and conference meet here on Feb. 5.

To improve, they need to keep their minds focused, Heller said. “They need to swim like they have a chip on their shoulder.”

The team has definitely put in the time and hard work. Over Christmas break they had practice twice a day, which “really paid off,” Heller said.

Girls basketball improves skills

By Alexys Devlin

Photo by Andi Holdt

HITTING THE BOOKS - Joe Scott sits in class working hard at his assignment to ensure his grade meets the needed criteria in order to particiapte in his choice sport of basketball.

transferred here last year from North High School, was ineligible for football last fall, because he failed Spanish and Claywork at North. “I was late and didn’t pay attention’’ said Tomas. “I felt left out and angry with myself because I had to sit out five games because football is my favorite sport,’’ he said.

Now Tomas is improving his grades from last year. ‘’It makes me look bad, I need to study and be to class on time.’’ His grades are up now and his doing just fine, he said.

Some students don’t worry about being ineligible because they can handle sports and all the school work.

Joe Scott, a junior who plays basketball, has no problem with ineligibility. He wants to get into college and play basketball. He finds time to study on Wednesday before practice.

His basketball coach Mark Bigler checks his grades on the computer everyday, “Bigler wants As and Bs,’’ said Joe.

LISTEN UP Coach Mark Bigler speaks to his team during a time out at the the Jan. 25 game against Muscatine.

“It’s fun to see players dream big and end up achieving their dreams,” he says.

BIG HEART, BIG DRIVE Photo by David Moore

Basketball coach leads team to the top

By Miranda Castel

The crowd is going crazy, jumping up and down, and chanting “Lets Go West!” as the tension rises from the last seconds of the boys first basketball game of the season. Swish! At that moment, the Falcon fans go even crazier! No one could believe that they just beat the state-ranked Cedar Rapids Washington.

Although everyone is ecstatic and very impressed, the one who is more proud than ever is Coach Mark Bigler. If you aren’t sure who coach Bigler is, he is the gym teacher who looks just like Bill Clinton!

In high school, Bigler played multiple sports including baseball, basketball and track—not to mention he was captain in each of those sports. Bigler was talked into coaching by Jim Berry, former University of Northern Iowa coach, because his son needed a junior high coach. Ever since then he’s been hooked!

“I enjoy seeing players grow in their basketball talent, but more importantly in their mature approach to life,” Bigler said.

“It is fun to see players dream big and end up achieving their dreams.”

Bigler has been head coach for West High school for six years.

He’s coached at other schools such as Denver, Iowa; Ft. Madison, Iowa; and Burlington, Iowa. Bigler had the most wins in both Denver and Ft. Madison, Iowa and he has coached a state championship team.

“The common thing among all the talented teams I was privileged to coach is that the players worked hard, were excellent stu-

dents, and were coachable,” he said. “A coach is only as good as his players and assistant coaches. I have been blessed to have been around many outstanding young men and coaches.”

Bigler said he has coached a lot of talented players, including Ryan Bowen (now an assistant at the University of Iowa) who played 10 years in the NBA. Former player Chris Hester now plays professionally in Europe, and Bigler’s son Brad is the head coach at Southwest Minnesota State University (NCAA II), where former Falcon Lavione West is now a starting player.

The main thing as a high school coach is to remember the priorities. “If players have their priorities in order and work hard, the wins usually start coming,” he said. “I am extremely proud of this year’s team for having overall really good decision makers and students.”

Preparing for a game can be very complex. In practice, the team goes through game plans, works on their offenses and defenses and do individual player development skills. On game day, the team has a team meal at West Locust HyVee, watches movies and sometimes goes through different plays.

Bigler’s job is to prepare the players, but he also watches tapes of opponents to put a game plan together. “A game plan tries to put our players in the position to be successful while trying to put the opponent in position where we take away their strengths.”

The team is more focused than ever, and if they remain positive, coachable and make the right decisions on and off the court, anything is possible. “These players have really dedicated themselves to getting better and that is a tribute to them.” Bigler said.

Currently, the Falcons are 8-2 and ranked seventh in the state of Iowa. This is West’s first appearance in the state rankings in 17 years! But what has changed in the past 17 years? “The biggest change is the added confidence in the players.” Bigler said. “They realize they can compete with anyone now.”

After losing to Burlington 5036, on Jan. 15, the girls basketball team will strive to get a win on Fridays game, Jan. 21 against Pleasant Valley.

“The P.V game was a challenging one with them leading the conference,” Coach Steve Saladino says. “Pleasant Valley is a very aggressive team.”

The West girls are currently standing at 2 wins and 11 losses.

“This year the varsity girls lack experience, scorers, and ball-handling skills,” Saladino said, “We need to aim for better fundamenBIG D - The Falcons try to slow down their opponents under tals and a better knowledge of the game.”

Coach Steve Saladino’s guidance. He wants them to improve The seniors, Rachel Smith, fundamentals and their knowledge of the game.

Alana Warren, Caitlin Nichol, Kara Shutters, Renae Stock and Kelsey Shaeffer, are the “To win as many games possible by playing tough team captains, Alana Warren, guard, says, “This year’s defense and running the offense correctly. We have not varsity team has a better chemistry and we all like each achieved the goal yet but there’s time to do so.”

“Our main goal is to achieve a new philosophy of other.” She has improved from the start of the season but, “There’s still time to improve even more,” Warren playing,” Saladino said. “And to gain some player said. Kara Shutters, post, said that her main goal was, improvement.”

Wrestlers go to districts

By Cody Lewis

During the snow day on Feb.3 the wrestlers had their senior night against Muscatine. The Falcons beat the Muskie’s 43-23.

Their season came to an end that night, but they still have districts Feb.12 at Clinton High. If the boys place second or first they get to travel to Des Moines for the state tournament.

Through this season the wrestlers put in a lot of work in the wrestling room.

“The season has definitely got tougher as we progressed,” said Coach Heilman, “Each week we have seen more and more top ranked kids.”

The season started off a bit bumpy losing too Pleasant Valley and United Township and Assumption. The Falcons got their talons back and won four straight duel meets. We have two ranked boys on the team and there being very good team leaders. Randy Mcphee and Reid Herrig are both talented wrestlers and there ded-

Sports 9

Boys lead the MAC

By Michael Lamar

The boys swim team has had a very good season so far, physically and mentally. Coach Brian Heller said, “The team has surprised me and has swum very well by dropping times drastically.”

The team celebrated a win against Central on Jan. 13, and now the swimmers are getting ready for regional’s on Feb. 5 at West High School.

Alex Karwath and Bryce Swanson are the leaders of the team this year. Coach Heller said, “They really know how to keep the boys in check.”

“The team has shown more leadership by arranging team activities, which shows they have matured,” said Heller.

By Cody Lewis

Boys basketball coach Mark Bigler has made a special position of ball boy for 12-year-old Mason Carney.

Bigler has known Carney for awhile. “I have known him since last fall. Mason (Carney) came to try out for the youth basketball team at the west YMCA,” said Bigler.

“I was made aware of the hardship Mason faced from of the passing of the father unexpectedly. After visiting with Mason’s grandparents and his mother they agreed to let him become involved with this year’s team as our official ball boy” said Bigler. Bigler has special connections with him. “I enjoy teasing him about what he does when he attends school and about how famous he has gotten now” said Bigler.

Mason comes to almost every single game. Except if he has a conflict with his youth basketball team practice at the YMCA. As ball boy, Carney has several different responsibilities for the basketball team. “He makes sure the basketballs are ready and on the floor,” said Bigler. “He passes the basketballs to the players when they need them, He also accompanies the team on the road (rides the bus with us), He is like a team manager assistant, He also gives me coaching tips when I need them.”

Bigler feels happy knowing that Mason is enjoying himself through this season. “I am pleased he is having fun in the role as the ball boy. The team is good to him and he is able to be around some excellent role models,” said Bigler.”

“The basketball team treats him very good,” said Bigler. Sometimes they even shoot some hoops with him.

He sits with the team on the bus before and after the games. Mason enjoys giving them fist pounds and high five when they come off and on the floor. I guess the easiest explanation there is to give is that he is basically a member of this basketball team.

Swimmers drop times ‘drastically’

By Caitlyn McCreight

I felt left out and angry with myself ...because football is my favorite sport”

progress. Ineligible players couldn’t play, even if they had served their time unless they are passing,’’ said Mosier.

Some teams at West face no problems with ineligibility, such as the girl’s basketball team. They had no varsity athletes that were ineligible at the beginning of the season. Coach Mills supports the ineligibility policy.

“I think it a good rule to have, because academics come before athletics,’’ said Mills. She monitors her athletes while in class so that they don’t fall behind and fail. “We make the players responsible; they are to notify us if they think they are not going to pass a class.

Tomas Gutierrez, sophomore who

Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

ication to the sport is a good role for the younger wrestlers still learning the sport.

There have been a lot of wrestlers stepping it up for West. High. “Freshmen Jorge Caldera and Ronny Smeltzer have shown a lot of improvement,” said Heilman.

“My expectations are for each and every one of our wrestlers to give everything they got on the mat and to carry themselves with pride” says Heilman The training and practices are quite tough.

“Our practices consist of a lot of drilling, some live wrestling, lifting and some conditioning, we also watch some film as well,” said Heilman Coach Heilman wants his team to reach their full potential “I think we give our guys the opportunity to, but it is up to them to reach their limit” says Heilman.

Support the blood drive Feb. 22

The boys basketball team has impressed many people this season.

The Falcons are leading the MAC conference. The last time the Falcons had a winning record was 1997.

“I feel that we have persevered through all the years, we’ve been playing with each other for four years, working hard in the gym now it’s paying off,” said Joe Scott, junior guard.

Nate Wells had a career high of 24 points, 3 rebounds and 7 blocks in a 68-57 win against Fort Madison on Feb.5.

The Falcons beat the Central Blue Devils, 64-53 Friday, Feb.4, putting the Falcons in the lead in the MAC standings.

The gym was packed with over 1,200 people in the West High gym waiting for the big game. Joe Scott led the Falcons with 21 points.

Patrick Wright came in big with free throws too put the game out of reach. Patrick had a total of 14 points which all come in the second half.

The Falcon’s defense looked good ,shutting down Tavian Pomlee who had just 8 points, in 7 shot attempts.

Joe Scott and Nate Wells, senior center, are looking pretty good on the court. Joe is averaging 18 points per game, which is leading the team. Nate Wells averages 12 points per game and 10 rebounds per game, which puts him averaging a double double.

Many boys this year have showed improvement. “I believe Nate Wells has improved the most. He went from not ever dunking to dunking on people. Everybody gave him crap and he still played hard and he loves the game instead of just liking it,” said Joe. “Darren Stringfellow his leadership and his shot,” said Nate when asked who’s improved the most.

Davenport West record is 14-2 overall and 10-1 in conference, only losing to Central and Moline earlier this year. The boys next basketball game is here tonight vs. Assumption.

Photo by David Moore

BIG SHOT - Nathanial Gaston warms up before the Muscatine game here on Jan. 25. West beat the Muskies 59-47.

Currently the Falcons are 11-1 in the MAC.

Photo by Brianna Bellman

ON TOP - Reid Herrig tries to take his opponent down against Bettendorf on Jan. 20. Herrig is rated in the top 10 by ThePredicament.com.

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Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

Politeness and politics

Friday, February 11, 2011

dim view

Beak ‘n’ Eye

ITED

It seems as if you see politicians getting more hurtful towards one another every year.

When will there be peace?

Probably not the correct answers

our view

Art by Vinh Nguyen

Iowa can’t finance preschools

Funding for a new state preschool program is being reduced because it is too expensive, according to lawmakers. More than 12,000 Iowa kids have benefited since Iowa’s Preschool Program was signed by Governor Culver last year.

The Iowa’s Preschool Program narrows the achievement gap, reduces the drop out rates, and reduces grade repetition. Studies show that children learn more from the ages zero to six-years old. The Preschool Program offers the funding program to the people who make up to 300 percent of poverty. The preschool program as helped many preschool children get ready for kindergarten. The state also funded and part paid for the parents who can’t afford to put their children in preschool.

Preschool has a great effect once kids get into elementary school.

Current Governor Terry Branstad has a different look on the preschool program.

The price tag on this program is $90 million. He believes we don’t have the money to pay for every kid to go to preschool, but

Photo by Erin Pershall

Iowa could provide needed based assistance to the families that can’t afford their children to go to preschool.

Branstad does believe in preschool programs, but he questions why the state should pay for every child. He also asks why the parents shouldn’t help also.

Brandstad’s approach is to be a “partner with nonprofit organization and private business, and provide state scholarships to

those who need it.” He also believes that preschool through kindergarten should be privately taught and not by the state.

Republicans have proposed replacing the preschool program with a voucher system by expanding Iowa’s School Ready Children grants. The income families are scared they are going to fall through the cracks because they won’t qualify for the vouchers, or be able to pay for the tuition at a quality preschool.

The price for the program is $90 million. That money could go to the mental health care that Branstad wants to increase.

It costs $7,000 to send a four-year-old child to preschool. That is a lot of money that the tax’s payers should not have to pay. Ending this program will save $145 million through 2013.

The parents who can’t afford for their children to go to preschool should still be able to receive the program. The state simply can not afford to fully fiancé the Iowa Preschool Program.

Carrying more guns is scary

Iowa changed its law on gun permits Jan. 1, allowing more people get a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Now Scott county sheriffs department is receiving 100 requests. The first week of January compared to 5-10 request per month last year Having more Iowans carrying weapons to protect themselves does not make our communities safer. They may create accidents waiting to happen.

Guns cost more lives then saving them.

Everyday there is someone’s family member being killed by a handgun. Last year about 50,000 Americans died, compared 21,000 deaths from gun-inflicted injuries in Mexico, according to www.consumerfed.org Handguns are the third leading cause to deaths from the ages five to fourteen years old. Guns can cause teens to go with gang violence, inner city violence, and if little children get around this harmful weapon they could accidentally hurt them or others

poll

Do you think stricter laws against owing handguns would make communties safer?

Yes 53 % No 48% SOURCE: Beak ‘n’ Eye survey

around them. Suicide rates have went up over the years doing to, easily contact with weapons, according to “www.gun-controlnetwork.org.”

The Iowa law has specific rules you have to follow when receiving a permit for a handgun. You have to be twenty-one

years or older. You have to never been convicted of a felony, and you can not be addicted to alcohol or a controlled substance. You also can not have a history of repeated acts of violence and has never been adjudged mentally incompetent. The applicant that wants to get a permit for a handgun will need a display of any I.D. that shows sex, date of birth, and residence address.

Pepper spray is a better way to stop a mugger than a gun. Some other things to use in self-defense if getting mugged is using a taser, using your nails, or your car keys, and just simply fighting back. If you happen to use a gun on the mugger you could miss, and the mugger might use the gun on you.

Fewer guns would lower the murder rates and violence. Citizens should not be able to carry a gun around any where.

If you could give the world one piece of advice, what would it be?

“Don't be afraid of yourself or to challenge yourself it makes life fun.”

Katherin Brookhart freshman

“Not to judge people, because it can cause problems and causes viloence.”

-Bailey Graham sophomore

“Live life truthfully with no regrets and no unbroken promises.”

-Kaitlynn Shoemaker junior

“To love one another, and live life to the fullest.”

- Megan Stroops senior Compiled by Paige Daily

Turn on the television, what do you see? You see hateful commercials towards politicians. Majority of these commercials come from other politicians and famous celebrities.

It’s not just in the media, it’s how political leaders treat each other in general. As time goes on, more and more political leaders are becoming harsher to their opponents. Either from the celebrities, the media, and the politicians themselves, these harsh ways may have affect on how the public views how to treat one another.

Studies show that many people believe everything that they read, hear, and see. People nowadays seem to believe these hurtful commercials and just get one side of the story, and that side is usually the side that’s not true and hurtful. We feel as if the political leaders are coming on a little too strong for the public eye.

For instance, when Sarah Palin’s ‘targeting’ issue.

Palin went a little too far by releasing a map featuring 20 House Democrats that used crosshairs images to show their districts. One of the districts on the map was Arizona’s District 8, where Congresswoman Gabrielle Gifford was in charge. Immediately some connected Palin to the shooting.

Some blame gun imagery and personal attacks upon opponents as contributing factors to intolerance and violence. It makes each party unwilling to compromise to pass laws.

This kind of behavior among politicians and commentators is unacceptable. They need to act responsibly for and stop the bullying between each other. If this political bullying continues, the government might not be able to fund needed programs such as mental health.

Working together, politicians’ efforts could be lifechanging; it could possibly even stop a shooting.

Our Wish List

Looking around West High, we have found some ‘wishes’ that we would like to see come true

No more crazy drivers

We would love for there not to be crazy drivers in the school parking lots because of the accidents that could happen, and the people walking in the parking lot could get ran over.

Love on Valentines Day

People think Valentine day is all about couples. On the other hand people that are single get all depressed. Just because you dont have a significant other doesnt mean you cant share the love.

Mixture between groups

Mixutre between groups are needed because it would be nice is everyone would be able to get along and do acitivities together, without there being a fight about everything.

Open Campus lunches

Juniors and seniors would love to be able to have open campus. They should be able to have open campus as long as are grades are good.

Beak ‘n’ Eye Managing ediors Felicia Raymond Kayla Mirfield Erin Pershall News editor Brandon Rostenbach Focus editor Andrea Holdt Sports editors Michael Lamar Cody Lewis Leisure editor Edvin Turcinhodzic Voice editor Paige Daily Pulse editor Kayla Mirfield Artist Vinh Nguyen Adviser Steven Lyle The Beak ‘n’ Eye serves the West High student body by informing, investigating, and interpreting events which concern students. It also provides an open forum for its diverse readership.

The school board grants student editors the First Amendment right to determine the coverage and content of their pages. The adviser’s role is to teach and advise the staff so that it can follow responsible journalistic practices.

Readers are encouraged to submit letters to Room 161.

Letters should be 300 words or less and should be signed. We reserve the right to edit the letters for length.

Unsigned editorials represent the consensus of the student editorial board and not necessarily the views of the adviser, administration, or Davenport Community School District.

The Beak ‘n’ Eye is published eight times a year from 3505 W. Locust St., Davenport, IA 52804.

Member of Iowa High School Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, and Quill & Scroll International Honor Society.

Photo by Snoop Dog

SMILE - Brianna Fisher, Flavor Flav, and Erin Pershall pose at his new restaurant.

The importance of learning different languages Not all celebrities are obnoxious Art by Vinh Nguyen

I love languages. While other people look for reasons to learn a new language, I look for excuses. I am the exception— many Americans never become skilled in a second language, and many people are apathetic about the importance of studying world languages and cultures. Now, though, this kind of knowledge is more important than ever.

There are many personal advantages to knowing two or more languages well. Skill in at least one other language is becoming almost as important as skill with technology when it comes to havCaitin ing a job.

Henkel Bilingualism (or multilingualism) also has similar benefits as music in schools: it seems unrelated to core content, but is extraordinarily good for your brain, increasing thinking flexibility, memory, and attention greatly, especially in children who have been bilingual since a younger age as their brain was developing more.

Despite the personal benefits, Americans sometimes resist learning a foreign language for various reasons relative to their opinions. One reason for some people may always be laziness, but most possibilities are more understandable. America is relatively isolated, unlike Europe, where many countries and cultures are in close proximity, so it may not seem necessary to learn a second language. Increasing globalization (which is most obvious in the field of communication specifically, particularly regarding the Internet) is beginning to render geographical isolation a non-issue, because America is definitely not isolated from the Internet or the telephone or the tel-

evision. English is also currently the language of diplomacy, business, and science, so it seems that outside of a few very specific careers, knowledge of another language will be unnecessary.

The truth is that historically, many languages have enjoyed this same position of dominance (Latin, Greek, Spanish, and French come to mind), and all of them have obviously fallen out of favor, often quite suddenly. English could just as easily fall by the wayside, perhaps living on as a variety of distinct widespread dialects but not as a language important in international communication, in the same way that regular Latin fell out of use and the Romance languages developed once there was less need for a standard form of the language.

No language is permanent: linguistically, languages constantly and necessarily shift, since they are products of distinct groups of people.

One major issue, linked to the previous idea of English as being permanent and dominant, is our general worldview.

America is seen as a sort of empire: we’re a pretty big country, we have a lot of people, we’ve fought a lot of wars, we have the bomb. But for reasons that are familiar to many, none of this guarantees that America will remain a superpower, although it could. Other countries have a greater population or more money or more to trade than America does, other countries fight wars and colonize (and spread their language and customs), other countries pose a threat to ours. This is why the lack of multilingualism in America is seen as an issue of economic and national security, especially in relation to critically important but uncommonly-taught languages such as Mandarin Chinese, Arabic, Japanese, Farsi, and Hindi, which are dominant languages in very important countries where English might be taught but is unimportant.

It would also be unwise to think that we should just force one language on the world to ease communication; as the world becomes more heavily interconnected, and individual entities more powerful, we need to create a dialogue between diverse groups of people in order to keep peace, for many of the same reasons mentioned above. We must be careful by establishing strong cultural understanding, and respecting the thousands of unique languages in the world and their histories and associated cultures goes hand in hand with this. It is necessary to respect even minority languages while also learning to communicate in the dominant language of an area; this applies even to the status of Spanish in the United States, where it is often and unnecessarily seen as bad.

It can be difficult for schools to provide a large amount of good language education, due to issues such as funding and the lack of people qualified to teach world language. But resources do exist: there are many government funded programs encouraging students to learn those critical languages, even in Iowa, and there are study resources that you can use on your own, including books as well as the mass of resources on the Internet. There is always a wealth of materials available to read, to listen to, to soak up, even if you never become fully fluent in a second language, and all of it is highly beneficial. Anyone who knows one language can learn another well, even if it is difficult, and in most cases, it doesn’t have to be.

Languages and linguistics, both as their own subject and as part of the larger world of individual cultures, are immensely rewarding and relevant to me, as it will turn out to be for most, and I hope more of my generation will realize this importance.

MADE. A MTV show that visits high schools in search of a teenager with hopes of becoming something more… or someone else.

The show has had many episodes that show the struggles of change and the perseverance of someone who truly desires something.

These episodes reveal that the concept behing this show is a humble and beneficial one.

However, so mnay people at this school have mistaken the Krista visit of MADE as a Johnson chance for attention or a way to change who you really are, not what you do.

When applications arrived at the school, several students raced to the office to get one, but then didn’t know how to fill it out.

I received texts and has class discussions over what they should be. A cheerleader made into a boxer. A girl who drives five miles under the spped limit made into a BMX biker. To be honest, I find that ridicu-

lous. I had never heard ambitions such as these spoken from people of this sort. I somewhat feel these random and “out of nowhere” desires show these people most likely never this in the past, but rather a widely known production team pops their heads in the door, they felt it was their time to shine.

Yes, popularity is in the minds of many or most likely all. Very few people truly enjoy the feeling of being alone or isolated.

As human beings we all like friends, compliments, and love. However, the thing that sets us apart is what we will do to achieve this. Parading one’s self around pretending to be something your not is not the best way of reaching popularity or gaining recognition.

Being a biker or a boxer involves pain, and practice, and let downs along with success. Sacrifices are made in order to achieve goals. These sports are not easy or for a big majority of the time, fun. But a select few do love it, which is not because it’s the cool thing to do, but because that’s where their heart actually is. Along with always being told you can be whatever you want, we’ve been told do something that

makes you ahppy. I don’t think you can be happy while pretending, or be satisfied with your life while attempting to be something you’re not, especially with ulterior motives such as attention, recognition, or popularity.

So, yes company and care are important; friends are important; love is important. However, most of all being who you really are is important. Everything adds up to nothing if your mind is somewhere your heart is not. Being cared for, loved, and showered with compliments for who I am sounds much more appealing than for being whom everyone else wants me to be.

One unique, abnormal, hopeful student from our high school is out there who wants to better himself. He truly wants to improve and become a better, happier, more self assured person. He doesn’t have the goal of being noticed to gain fame by portraying the actions of another person.

The concept of MADE is to find that one person. This is difficult when there are so many shady children out there thriving for their attention for selfish, immature reasons. It would be nice if all of you could let the genuine people shine.

People should not be ‘Made’ to be popular

Open campus wanted

I am writing to you today on behalf of open campus lunches. I think the upper classmen who are getting good grades and have good attendance should be able to leave for lunch. Our super Intendment should give all the schools in the davenport school district open campus. The school board should trust us more and give us a break for students can

Letters to the editor

go and get fresh air for a little bit.

-Kaitlyn Groenwoldt

Fun needed in paper

I’ve took the time to study student body.

Some say that say some of the newspaper articles are, well, kind of boring. So I am writing about what students suggested that would

By Erin Pershall

In every person’s life, there is always that lucky chance that you may meet a famous person. I got my lucky chance one Friday night after school. Many celebrities are rumored to be rude and obnoxious, but the celebrity that I met was the complete opposite.

Flavor Flav was nice, caring and thankful for his costumers.

On Friday, Jan. 28, my grandma and my mom decided to take my friend (Brianna Fisher) and me to Flav’s Fried Chicken (FFC).

This trip was one that I would never forget.

Between the two hour wait in the freezing cold, the friendly staff, good food, and even meeting Flavor Flav himself, it was a night to remember.

As we turned down the street where FFC is located, we stared anxiously out the window in hope that wee would see the FFC sign. Then, Photo by Erin Pershall in the distance, it was there.

As we drove near, we could see a massive line outside. My grandma and my mom saw the line and said, “Have fun waiting! Were dropping you off. We’re not going to freeze for some chicken.” They then dropped us off, and we waked to the end of the line.

The line was so long that it stretched out into the parking lot. We got in lines and then we heard it, Flavor Flav was at FFC. To confirm this rumor, a girl showed us a picture of her and Flavor Flav. Besides the chicken, we had an even better reason to wait in the cold. Our next mission was to meet Flavor Flav.

After waiting two hours in the freezing cold and meeting some fellow Falcons, we finally made it into the building. The restaurant had artwork created by Snoop Dog, Flav’s body guard. As we were about to order, it became silent in the room. Flav took the microphone and decided to make a speech. He thanked everyone for supporting his business. The also added that he loves Clinton, Iowa, and that he was glad for choosing to locate his business there. He then led on into thanking Snoop Dog for his artwork and such. Then to close his speech, he had everyone scream, “Flava Flav, and then he continued to yell, “Yeah boyee!”

After we got our food, we got to meet Flavor Flav.

He was very nice and well mannered. He gave Brianna and I a hug, took a picture with us, and then he signed my jacket and Brianna’s shoe. We talked briefly about how he was sorry that people cut us and such. But it was all good, we were too excited to care about the people that had cut us. We just had a once in a lifetime experience--we got to meet Flavor Flav.

I feel as if everyone sometime in their life should have the chance to meet a celebrity.

Letters wanted

SHHHH! Do you hear that voice? ‘Tis I, your opinions! As of right now, I am absolutely fuming and/or rejoicing about one of the topics that were addressed in this issue. I am becoming rather disquieted, because you are shutting me inside your head. So please, for the sake of your ego, write a letter to the editor.

All letters should be 300 words or less, and there’s a good chance that it will be shortened if it’s too long. Don’t forget to include your name and grade. Just drop them off in Room161 and staff will take care of the rest!

make the newspaper more exciting and interesting.

A lot of the students said to add more things with celebrities and technology would make the “what’s hot section.” Another suggestion was to put bigger pictures in sections of articles. Another request was maybe a contest of some sort, as such example, have a drawing contest, post the pictures somewhere and have a vote on who did the best, and have the winner and their picture in the next news

paper. Another suggesting was to have a ‘Just Seniors’ piece and put more information about ACT’s, job shadows, college visits, scholarships, ect. These are just a few. But basically we need more fun and interesting articles.

I’ve mentioned a few suggestions that the student body has said that they would make the student newspaper more interesting and memberable. Thank you for your time to read their suggestions and please consider them.

-Deedra Conley

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Beak ‘n’ Eye

Friday, February 11, 2011

‘A

Night

in

Paris’

West students attended the Col Ballroom for the Gala dance on Jan. 29. Nate Wells was crowned Gala King by last year’s winner, Lavione West.

The decorations and music were some of the favorites at this year’s winter dance. ““I was overwhelmed with the decorations they had, they were awesome. The Eiffel Tower was great and I liked that there were more slow songs this year, but also had fun dance songs like Barbie Girl,” said junior Brittany Mulligan.

Here’s what made the night special for some West students: “I thought Gala was fun and amazing.The decorations were amazing and how they hung over the stairs when the Gala kings came down looked astonishing. And Nate winning was great. He so deserved it.

- Jordann Sperry, freshman “I had a blast and I got to dance with all of my friends. I really got to enjoy myself and let loose. For sure, a memorable night.”

- Heather Mcpheters, junior Photo by Andi Holdt

“I thought that it was a huge improvement of the past dances.

It looked like everyone worked really hard. It made the night special. It was a blast.”

- Shaun Stapleton, senior

“The dance was alot of fun. I was surprised. It will be something that I will not forget. I am really happy Nate won.”

- Brittany Mulligan

ALL HAIL - Senior Nate Wells was crowned Gala King by senior announcers Lauren Vickers and Lindsey Stritmater. All the dancers crowded quickly amoung the stage to watch as the previous Gala King, Lavione West, crowned Wells.

Photo by Andi Holdt

Photo by Kayla Mirfield

CAN NOT WAIT TO BE KING - Back row : Tyler Crowe, Erik Moon, Jordan Hughes, (King) Nate Wells, Nathanial Gaston, Michael Erechke.

Front Row: Grant Thompson, Joe Whittemore, Dominique Williams, Matthew Dirshel, Bradley Rees, Alex Karwath.

What other schools do for their winter dance TRY YOUR SKILL

Write a story for the Beak ‘n’ Eye. Come to our meetings after school on Mondays in Room 161 for an assignment.

On January 29, West had it’s annual Gala dance at the Col Ballroom as ‘A Night in Paris’.

Other schools around the area have the same dance but it called different things with different themes.

Central - Their disco themed dance was on January 29 at the school. It was

MOMMY BOYS - Gala court danced around with their mothers to a slow song during the Gala Dance. The song was ‘I Swear’

by Boys II Men.

called Spree, and girls asked boys out.

North - Bachelor Capture was on February 5 .

Bettendorf - Sadee Hawkins is themed as ‘Alice in Wonderland’, it was on February 5 at the Bettendorf High gymnasium.

To advertise in the March 4 issue, call 563 386-5500

Pleasant Valley - Turnabout is on March 5, at the school.

North Scott - I’m YOURS was on January 29th in ‘the Pit’