thePROWLER the December 2019
Vol. 23, Issue 1
www.TheProwler.net
•
Proudly serving Caney Creek since 1997
13470 FM 1845, Conroe, TX 77306
Photo by Stephen Green
The Reyes house was destroyed. The flood left their family in a state of emergency with no place to stay. “We were just discussing about what the future holds, like if anyone’s going to help us at all,” senior Jonathan Reyes said. The same day, Reyes’s friend senior Ethan Robbins and his mom went to help them. “She picked us up and helped us go to our friend (Joshua Flores’s) house,” Reyes said. “He helped us get back on our feet for like a week and helped us move into this house while our old one is in ruins.” Continued on AFTER THE STORM, page 3
INDEX 2 - Flood 3 - Flood 4 - Flood 5 - News 6 - Opinion 7 - News 8 - News
9 - News 10 - News 11 - Puzzles 12 - Sports 13 - Sports 14 - Sports 15 - Sports 16 - Sports
theNEWS
PAGE 2
Teachers, students rise above flood damage
DEEP. After Enloe’s family experienced flooding, they had to remove 4 feet from their walls. Submitted Photo
Senior, family seek sanctuary in attic to avoid rising water OMAR PEREZ News Editor
Sleeping at night in the attic with no light for three days, and only a battery operated flashlight, two dogs and a box of kittens on the night of the storm. The family had to plan out an escape plan just in case water had been high, and was forced to relocate
to the roof. Senior Dandy Enloe survived Tropical Storm Imelda, which left a foot of water inside her house. “We lost all our furniture, clothes, floor, stove, fridge, and our beds,” Dandy said. “Basically if it was touching the flood it was gone. We managed to flick the breaker before it got to the outlets (so) it wouldn’t electrocute anybody.” Enloe and her father have experience in construction, so they were able to take out the walls from the bottom four feet and the insulation. Afterward they had to buy new sheetrock, floor and insulation. “It’s arduous and expensive, It’s gonna take a long time,” Enloe said. “When I asked about it, (my parents) thought I didn’t understand the situation. It’s life changing. It’s going to be a while until it gets back to normal.” The house had to be sprayed with antimicrobial solutions to stop mold from growing and the repairs and remodeling could take months. “We moved, and slept somewhere else once we got a couple of the rooms clean out,” Enloe said. “ I was cleaning one of the rooms and (my mom) came with a box full of grandma stuff, she was crying. I was like, ‘Oh my god, what’s wrong?’” Some of the items that were lost had been sentimental to Enloe’s mom like her birth certificate and family photos. “It was very difficult to let go of
things that had been in our family for years,” mother Crystal Enloe said. “Things that were destroyed looked to me like, so much wasted time and money. It was devastating.” Along with their house getting flooded, their vehicles were left in disrepair as well. They had to take a pause from paying bills while Dandy Enloe’s dad fixed his car so he could pick up his check from his job at Houston. “We had to get rides from other people; we had a friend come help us get groceries,” Dandy said. “My car is almost fixed, too. I will get it within a month; I have to replace a belt and the engine.” Choir director Lauren Robertson reminded students on Sept. 20 school had been canceled. Dandy responded she had water inside their house and were staying in their attic. Choir students immediately went out to help the family. “The choir teacher actually told us and asked if we wanted to come out,” junior Josh Phillips said. “As soon I knew it was Dandy’s place, I wanted to go out to help. Dandy’s been a good friend of mine since freshman year, one of the kindest and most respectful people.” The moment when Crystal Enloe saw the choir students getting off of their car, she “almost started to cry”, knowing that she needed the help. “(I am) extremely grateful, I love the sense of community they helped me feel,” Crystal Enloe said. “(I) can never thank them enough.”
Family saw that Family realizes important documents were important documents destroyed
Enloe experienced Enloe flooding in her experiences house
Finished tearing Finished down partstearing of her affected down partshome of their
were destroyed
flooding
Sept. 19 Sept. 19
home
Sept.30
Sept. 20 Sept. 20
Sept. 19 Sept. 19
Enloe and and her her Enloe family in attic the family slept slept in attic
Sept. 30
Sept. 22 Sept.22
Reconstruction begins Began tearing on their house down the parts of her house that were affected
TIDYING UP. Trash bags pile up outside of McDevitt’s home after she was affected by the flood. Submitted Photo
Imelda destroys teacher’s home JULEA HENTHORN Staff Reporter
With the storm came the aftermath, which resulted in homes ruined and families heartbroken. As the rain began to fall harder and the storm became more powerful. Special education teacher Katie McDevitt was heavily affected by Imelda. In the night the water started to rise, whenever the sun rose, her family was able to see the damage and go straight into work mode. Many were affected but some got the worst of the storm, such as McDevitt, but she stayed strong and overcame the destruction. “I got about 2 inches in my house,” McDevitt said. “Which may not sound like a lot, but you have to tear out the floor and that kinda stuff. It’s all devastating, no matter how much water you get.”
After the storm passed many people came together as a community. Organizations from the school such as; the football team, wrestling team, churches, and many teachers from Caney Creek and the Conroe area offered to assist get McDevitt’s house back in shape. “After the flood, we had a ton of help,” McDevitt said. “Coach (Jacob) Ferguson, he brought five guys from the wrestling team to help. Mr. (Brandon) Dietrich said he would get people from his church, that afternoon about six cars pulled up. Also, coaches (Victor) Bennett and (Jesse)Walker had some of the boys from the football team to help.” The disaster was months ago, but people are still suffering from the consequences of Imelda. “I felt really blessed that it wasn’t worse, but when you realize that even though it wasn’t much, it’s still a process, and will take time.”
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theNEWS the
CCHS organizations help flood victims OMAR PEREZ News Editor
DROWNED OUT. The teacher parking lot was completely under water by about 8 a.m. on Sept. 19. The retention ponds on every side of the school overfilled and staff had to move their vehicles to prevent them from being washed out. Photo by Stephen Green
TORRENTIAL. Math teacher Jonathan Giles walked to the end of the sidewalk by the faculty parking lot to make a call Sept. 19 because cell reception inside was nonexistent during the flood. Photo by Stephen Green
BORED GAMES. Students play board games that teachers provided to occupy themselves while waiting for the weather to lighten-up. Photo by Stephen Green
After the storm ASHTON RUSHING Opinions Editor
(Continued from front) Tropical Storm Imelda’s damage caused in excess of $8 billion after landfall Sept. 17. Imelda dropped 43 inches of rain causing some areas to receive upwards of 7 feet of water until its dissipation Sept.19. The rapid flooding has been responsible for five fatalities with one under investigation. It also caused thousands of rescues, with Conroe officials saying over 800 vehicles had to be towed. Flooding also caused over 100,000 gallons of sewage to be sucked into the flood water which has been related to a rise in E.coli cases by 2% according to a CDC response report for affected areas. “Sewage itself isn’t great for you,”
Imelda leaves physical, financial mark on area
Chief of the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch of the CDC Dr. Vincent Hill said. “But when mixed with flood water it can cause anything from an infection to the contraction of a disease (such as cholera or Leptospirosis.)” Also due to flooding, power and mail services were disrupted throughout Texas with over 57,000 homes and businesses going without power for an upward of 4 days according to the Texas Office of Public Utilities. Some parts of southeast Houston went without power up to Oct. 2 with a TOPU representative saying that “the lines were more water than wire.” Both Harris and Montgomery county experienced the destruction of bridges and roads with Interstate 10 and Interstate 45 both being damaged and shut down temporarily during
the floods, causing traffic backup that delayed rescue efforts and causing Gov. Greg Abbott to call a state of emergency in Texas to activate a Texas National Guard response. “I believe that our response was necessary for some affected areas,” Brig. Gen. Gregory P. Chaney said. “We got out there and helped the situation and some people that we saved would have definitely done worse without our help.” FEMA is also taking steps to help flood victims with claims for monetary help. On top of which, food drives and relief funds are still continuing in Houston and Montgomery County, along with temporary housing still continuing throughout flood stricken areas. For help on home or property flooding call the FEMA hotline at 1(800) 621-3362.
Volunteers and organizations from Caney Creek helped out victims from the community that had been affected after the flood. Organizations that helped out were; Choir, National English Society, NJROTC, and the football team. National English Honor Society donated supplies like; canned food, boxed foods, bathroom/hygiene products, laundry detergent, and clothes to help the flood victims, while other schools like Montgomery High School had their Student Council set up a Flood Drive devoted to raise items for the nearby schools that got affected. Senior football player Ethan Robbins’ church notified coach Victor Bennett that volunteers were needed. Football players went to four houses that they helped clean out, tear up drywall and move out wet furniture for. “I just wanted to help out the community because I knew there are a lot of people’s houses that got flooded,” junior Brandon Greenshields said. “They felt relieved and happy that we helped out. Some of them were old people, no way they would have done that by themselves.” Two days after the flood, sophomore Zoe Griffith, part of NJROTC, went to check on one of her elderly neighbors’ house that had been flooded when she noticed that water had been rushing through their house. She told her Chief Donald Arms about the situation, where he then posted it on the NJROTC Facebook page. NJROTC then went to the home and sent the wife to the hospital for a broken elbow and shoulder. “Thanks creek for coming to the aid of a neighbor, you are truly remarkable,” Arms said. “Even when you are having your own problems, I am truly blessed to have you in my life.”
HANDS DIRTY. NJROTC members help fix a victim’s yard after the Imelda flooding. Submitted Photo
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Portables provide temporary space while crews repair flooded rooms YESICA RODRIGUEZ-CORTEZ Staff Reporter
After the recent flooding from Imelda, many classrooms and buildings in the school were affected and had to move into portables. The classrooms affected were; cosmetology, special education, construction, ESL and some administrative offices like counselors and storage. “Ten portables have been leased for 6 months by insurance,” Dr. Jeffrey Stichler said. “Hopefully we will not need them for that long.” The insurance company is covering the flood damage and bought the portables. Three were placed in the front for office space, while seven were placed in the back
of the school for classrooms and storage. Stichler is hoping that building is finished fast. “When it comes to construction, it is hard to set a good date for when the building will be finished,” Stichler said. “I am hopeful it will be complete by Thanksgiving.” Not only has the school been affected by the storms damage the students have too. They have had to make some adaptations due to them moving to the portables. It has mainly affected their lessons due to the new learning environment. “It’s very distinct from what we’re used to,” junior Rosbelia Rodriguez said. “It’s Overwhelming in the portables, the lab had so many unique features that were really necessary for the cosmetology course.”
PORTABLE ROOM ASSIGNMENTS 231A Copy Room/Sub Office 231B Communities in Schools 232A The COVE 232B Speech Therapy 233A&B Amy Burrell, ESL
234A Choir/Orchestra Storage 234B Ignacio Sauceda, Construction 235A&B Kendria Monroe, Cosmetology 236A Diagnosticians 236B Diagnostician Secretary 237A&B ARD Rooms
238A Tiffany Rhodriguez, lead counselor 239A Golf storage 239B Class of 2020 storage 240A Theater storage 240B Administration storage
SIDE BY SIDE. The metal-clad portables sit in a row by the tennis courts where construction and cosmetology students, as well as several other classes and departments, call their temporary home. Photo by Kylie Taylor
District high schools donate to fine arts after flood damage YESICA RODRIGUEZ-CORTEZ Staff Reporter
Orchestra and Choir received donations after the effect that Tropical Storm Imelda caused to their programs. The Woodlands orchestra donated money and instruments to Caney Creek’s orchestra. While choir received $1,000.60 from Grand Oaks’ choir and $700 from a friend’s family after losing their choir room. “Having to figure out what you lost and how you get things back, etc it’s probably gonna take more time and effort than usual and I figured anything helps at the end,” Grand Oaks choir teacher James Smith said. “I hope that the money raised will give the students of Caney Creek the chance to replace lost items from their room.” The director of The Woodlands orchestra contacted Caney Creek’s orchestra director Bradley Clark the day of the flood, letting him know that they were going to work
something out for the damage that the flood had caused. CCHS Orchestra lost some guitars and a cello, but they are being replaced with insurance. The money The Woodlands is sending to them will be spent on; two brand new topin violins, replacing older bows, buying supplies that were lost, music, and other basic things that insurance does not cover. “I was excited,” Clark said. “Very thankful, very appreciated that we got the help.” Smith raised money for Caney Creek Choir during one of their concerts. After the Grand Oaks choir concert, Smith appealed to the parents of his students, explaining the damage to the choir room and to the surrounding community. After the concert concluded, a box was set out for families to drop money in before they left for the night. “I did not start out to teach my students by doing this, but I do hope they learned valuable lessons from this,” Smith said.
SAD SYMPHONY. The Caney Creek orchestra during their fall concert Oct. 24.after the flood. Many of the instruments orchestra had were damaged, and director Bradley Clark used the donations they recieved to get new ones. Photo by Michelle Berroteran
“The value of helping others when in need is not something students see in day to day, especially with social media drama influencers and adults in important
positions. I am proud of our families for giving and I hope they will continue to do so in the future.”
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theNEWS the
Work to begin on bond projects ANGIE RODRIGUEZ Editor-In-Chief
NEW SET OF WHEELS. Conroe ISD purchases new buses to help with transportation to school events and activities. About 52,000 students are eligible for bus service. Photo by Kylie Taylor
District buys new buses to replace ‘aging fleet’ ROBERTO GARCIA Staff Reporter
Conroe ISD bus routes might change due to the purchase of new buses. The new buses are paid for by grant and district funds, they are updated with newer appliances. “Conroe ISD purchased new school buses using grant and district funds,” Director of Transportation Samuel X. Davila said, “(They were bought to) update our aging fleet (of buses) with buses that are equipped with seat belts and A/C.” The transportation department has to take into account various factors when deciding the bus routes. “Buses are assigned based on a variety of factors,” Davila said. “Including ride time, length of route, student load counts, and needs of the students.” CISD purchased the buses to accommodate the increase of students in the area. “As our district grows,” Davila said. “So does the need for school buses.The old buses are used for a variety of activities and services, which is why the district bought new ones.” The district provides transportation services to over 37,000 students each day. Approximately 52,000 of the more than 64,800 students in Conroe ISD are eligible for bus service. “In addition to this, we run over 7,000 field trips in support of UIL contests, athletic events, and various other academic activities,” Davila said. “In order to continue this service, it is important to continue to purchase buses that meet our growing district’s needs.”
Voters gave the OK for Conroe ISD’s $653.57 million bond for repairs and campus renovations, but not artificial turf. CISD has already begun to take action since the bond passed Nov. 5. Proposition A included; new campuses and additions, safety and security, campus renovations, district support toward services needs, and land and contingency, with 20,152 votes for and 15,804 votes against the $653.7 million proposition. The difference now was that Proposition B only included artificial turf for other high schools in the district and was worth $23.8 million, gaining it 20,942 votes against and 14,886 votes for it. However, Caney Creek’s football field turf was part of Proposition A. “The football field would get artificial turf just because the water system out here wouldn’t be able to handle keeping that water in (and) safe for kids,” Principal Dr. Jeffrey Stichler said. “The grass needs to be soft enough to be safe and be able to handle all the water that the junior high is going to use.” Proposition B was supposed to go toward helping improve the softball and baseball fields as well. “Having those artificial turfs helps those teams play on them all year, because our coaches and kids spend a lot of actual time doing maintenance
on the field,” Stichler said. “I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a baseball practice but over 30 minutes a day is spent raking the field, moving the dirt around and getting it nice, pulling weeds and doing all those kinds of things so it’s in good shape to play.” In the “campuses and additions” part of proposition A, Conroe ISD will to add two new elementaries and a new junior high into the Caney Creek feeder zone. “One of the bigger issues is now the timeline for the new Moorhead Junior High slows down a lot,” Stichler said. “If (the bond) does pass it will take another calendar year to have the new moorhead to be built. They’re still going to have to be in the building three more years.” After the flood most classrooms were able to be moved into other empty classrooms, with the exceptions of the counselors and attendance offices. “For the most part we’re pretty good on growth for a while just with the classrooms we have,” Stichler said. “But our athletic and fine arts facilities are not up to the level of the 6A high schools.” Most 6A high schools have auditoriums that hold up to 1,000 people, while Caney Creek’s only hold 450. “We had kids sitting on the floor (during the junior class ring meeting) because the auditorium is not big enough to even hold one of our classes,” Stichler said. “We’re going to
Proposition A
44% 56 % FOR
AGAINST
continue to grow so we want to make sure we don’t want to be addressing it when we’re out of space and now everything is overcrowded and now we decide to start doing something and now it takes two or three years to get finished.” Stichler said if the bond had been rejected, the district would have probably raised taxes because “roofs on building still need to be replaced.” “Air conditioners on schools that aren’t working well or sending mouldy, moist air in the school has to be fixed,” Stichler. “As things grow instead of having a school for kids to go into you’re going to have to buy portable buildings for that, and they’re over $100,000 each. (The district) still going to have to have more buses as we grow; we’re already over 2,000 kids bigger than we were last year, those kids have to go on buses somewhere.” With more kids going into CISD schools, they would have to redraw feeder zone lines so that high schools do not become overcrowded. The district would also have had a hiring freeze and possible reduction. “What that means is that when we fire teachers or when teachers resign or retire at the end of the year, we just wouldn’t hire anyone back to save money,” Stichler said. “The district spends a whole lot of money on salaries. You just wouldn’t have a lot of teachers so class sizes would go up, it’d be a lot harder to do different types of things.”
Proposition B
58 % 42% AGAINST FOR
Information from Montgomery County Elections Office Graphic by Ashton Rushing
theOPINION
/theprowlernewspaper @CCHSJournalism
PAGE 6 IN OUR OPINION
Late closures should be resolved quickly to prevent safety risks for students, staff Conroe ISD closed due to flooding from Tropical Storm Imelda at around 6:50 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 19. Imelda dropped 43 inches of rain through its life span over Texas and Louisiana. The flooding that followed is responsible for five fatalities with thousands injured and displaced. Conroe ISD’s late closure was a reckless decision because of the harm that could have taken place during the events of Imelda. Still, CISD sent out a statement trying to justify their decisions: “The safety of all of our students and staff is always the priority when evaluating the weather and making decisions as we never want to place students of staff in harm’s way. We also understand that closing means that tens of thousands of our almost 65,000 students will be left home without supervision or food.” Along with this, the CISD Twitter page sent another message: “District administrators have been montering weather reports and working closely with local agencies. Over the last three days and begun at 3 a.m. Thursday. Unfortunately the weather’s impact extended past the initially protected areas.” The Tweet also goes on to say that the predictions given were off causing the late closure. That explanation, however, does not justify the effects that it could have, and did have,
on staff and students. If the main priority of CISD is to keep students and staff safe, it would have gotten the appropriate response out quickly. Road conditions were quickly deteriorating along with flooding that was severe enough to cause road closures in Conroe and surrounding areas. Local news stations already had those reports out making the decision to close late due to bad projections and not enough information invalid. If weather predictions were really that far off to make to the district not close, that raises questions about whether the district is truly paying attention or is using the correct sources. If the district is truly going to protect staff and students then more attention needs to be given to these events along with a greater amount of scrutiny towards given projections. The decision to close at the time the district did was not a way to keep students safe. This is because buses are to release students off buses at school at 6:50 a.m; so students that were already on buses were forced to go through the dangerous road conditions to get to school. Students were not the only ones negatively affected though, teachers and staff were put in harm’s way just as much as students. Bus drivers were put in danger because they had to pick up kids en route to the school, while teachers and staff had to find a way to the school or risk their job over missing the school day unannounced. Most teachers and staff also have to be at the school earlier than students,
causing the already late closure time to be even later for school staff. This late announcement was also bad for teachers and staff that own smaller vehicles because it caused some cars to be stuck at school, or get stuck in the flooding. Parents, friends, and guardians were also put at risk. When the school closed people had to stay or they were picked up. This made anyone who went to pick up someone at risk due to the traffic and flooding that was occurring. Along with that if a vehicle or person is lost in the flood because of the districts late closure, it would affect the whole family, or group. This also causing risk to the district as if someone was to get hurt or possibly killed on district property. The district could have been sued do to the harm of others. Overall the late closure put more people at risk of harm. The two things that needs to change are: one, the district needs to make its decisions over closures quicker. Not doing so is only going to cause unnecessary risk on the lives of others. Two, the method of predicting weather emergencies needs to be scrutinized instead of only believing what is shown in the production more time needs to be put in to insure the safety of others. Because of the districts reaction time to the events of Imelda, it put more people at risk than what it was intending and caused many students and families to lose trust in the district.
Human interaction important to mental health, stress relief ASHTON RUSHING Opinion Editor
This is one of the most connected times in history, yet an increasing amount of people say that they often feel lonely. This is not something to overlook in the world as humans are biologically social creatures, and the effects can target anyone mentally, socially, and physically. The feeling of loneliness is used by the body as a deterrent to stop destructive behavior according to a Cigna study. It found that
most people who receive negative feedback in a social situation change what they are doing When the body is put under mental stress it can cause issues with how someone’s brain is able to effectively process things, causing higher risks of depression and other disorders. These feelings can cause an overproduction of stress hormones like cortisol along with several other effects. This can lead to suicidal thoughts and advanced forms of depression. Overproduction of cortisol can also lead to a higher probability
of drug dependency and autoimmune diseases. Suicide rates in the U.S. have also been on the rise with around 47,000 sucides in 2017, with most being middle aged men and senior citizens. Around 55% of the recorded suicides in the U.S. were caused by major depression or extreme social anxiety. A common misconception is that feelings of loneliness only affect a certain group. This however is wrong with these feelings affecting everyone. A 2015 study found that most people who
report feelings of loneliness have better social skills than what is considered average showing how even the social can be affected. The causes and effects of loneliness and depression are still not fully understood. What needs to be understood however is that depression and loneliness are top killers and that they are to be taken seriously. And if someone feels symptoms of this, they need to seek professional help because it can cause a snowball of feelings and emotions not healthy for the human mind and body.
STAFF
ANGIERODRIGUEZ ANGIE Editor-in-Chief OMARPEREZ OMAR News Editor ASHTONRUSHING ASHTON Opinions Editor MARIORANGEL MARIO Sports Editor GRACIELANG GRACIE Student Life Editor JACKIEREBOLLAR JACKIE Photography Editor STEPHANIEGALICK STEPHANIE Marketing Director STAFFREPORTERS STAFF Emily Alfaro, Jackie Bahena, Roberto Garcia, Alexius Rocha, Yesica RodriguezCortez, Julea Henthorn
STAFFPHOTOGRAPHERS STAFF Kylie Taylor, Michelle Berroteran, Renee Brown, Ana Hernandez, Katelyn Seton, Gallant Sloan, Luis Zurita, Joshua Baldwin, Lexi Amador, Katie Cooper, Jaqui Herrera, Isabela Luna, Vanesa Garcia, Brian Zarza, Adrian Arriaga, Matteo Padilla, Brina Trevino, Elyn Zamudio, Kiley Neeley
------------------------
STEPHENGREEN STEPHEN
Faculty Adviser
The Prowler is a student-run newspaper and the content and views are produced solely by the student staff members and do not represent the views of the administration of Conroe ISD, Caney Creek High School, or its faculty. The newspaper is a learning tool for student journalists and does occassionally contain errors. Please notify the adviser or a staff member and be patient with us!
Contact information: Caney Creek High School 13470 FM 1485 Conroe, TX 77306 936-709-2000
HAVE OPINIONS?
Let your voice be heard by writing a column or letter to the editor. For more information, email the idea to Ashton Rushing at
rushiash@studentmail. conroeisd.net.
PAGE 7
theNEWS the
Heads in the cloud ONCE A WEEK 2.5%
WHERE HAVE YOU VAPED?
OFF CAMPUS
48
BOTH % PLACES
OF THOSE WHO ADMIT TO VAPING
died but that’s because they were mixing things with it.” To help students know the dangers of vaping, Caney Creek hosted its first anti-vaping seminar Wednesday in the LGI from 6-7 p.m. Annie Trostel from the Regional Tobacco Coordinator at the Texas Department of State Health Services talked about about the vaping addiction crisis the youth faces today. Trostel shared information to help prevent kids from engaging in vaping. Centers for Disease Control released an advisory that vape products should never be used by underage people. “The vapes are kind of a hidden thing unlike cigarettes because when you light a cigarette you can smell it,” Assistant Principal Wohn Harden said. “Kids start vaping because it’s the cool thing to do and then all of a sudden it becomes very addicting. It’s more addicting than your average cigarette.” Nurse Karla Palmer says that vaping speeds up the heart rate. “I have had kids come in and admit to me that they have vaped since their freshman year and they feel like their lungs are just really
45%
torn up,” Palmer said. “They say they have difficulty breathing and they admit that it was related to vaping.” The number of deaths from vaping has reached 39 and thousands more have faced lifethreatening illnesses, according to the CDC. Out of the 203 students polled, 29% said they vape less or stopped vaping due to health concerns while the other 71% said they have not. As a Conroe ISD police officer Roland Weber says that he doesn’t deal with the discipline of getting caught with regular vapes, only ones with THC oils. “If you are in possession of a vape at school your AP will probably give you in-school suspension,” Weber said. “If any police officer sees you outside of school property vaping or in possession of a vape it is a misdemeanor and you will get a ticket.” A female junior, who wishes to remain anonymous out of fear of getting in trouble, says that she got her vape from her 18-year-old boyfriend. “I don’t think that vaping is
CENTER FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION
“The use of e-cigarettes is unsafe for kids, teens, and young adults.”
RARELY 11.3%
NEVER 49.3%
MAN OUT ON BOND AFTER ARREST FOR HIT-AND-RUN
A man has been charged for the April hit-and-run death of 15-year-old student Crystal Garcia-Camacho. Ian Philippe Anderson, 20, was arrested on Oct.13. He was charged with a second degree felony for the killing of Garcia-Camacho, and has a current bond of $50,000.
ONLY ONCE 15.3%
a big deal because everyone else does it,” she said. “I started vaping because my friend had a vape and I tried it. Next thing you know, I had my own vape.”
HOW LONG HAVE YOU VAPED?
LESS THAN A MONTH 4%
8%
3.7
MORE THAN TWICE A WEEK 21.7%
LESS THAN A YEAR 17%
FRIENDS NOT IN SCHOOL 21.7%
FRIENDS IN SCHOOL 20.7%
SILBLINGS 14.8%
6.9% FAKE ID
OTHER FAMILY MEMBERS 13.8%
6.4%
WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR VAPES?
ON CAM PUS
2.7
NEVER VAPED
MORE THAN TWO YEARS 23%
Vaping has turned into a worldwide epidemic. Researchers are now trying to inform people about the dangers of vaping. A Prowler survey of 203 students conducted at lunch showed about 50 percent of students admit to vaping at least once in their life, with about 22% admitting to vaping more than twice a week. Freshman Kadence Carter, who has moved since her interview, admits she has vaped for the past two years. “Vaping is not really a big deal to me because I don’t think it’s that bad for you as long as you do it right,” Carter said. “I am aware of the many people who have
PARENTS
ADMIT TO
HOW OFTEN DO YOU VAPE?
ABOUT A YEAR 24%
Student Life Editor
5.9%
AVERAGE RATINGS OF THOSE WHO
VAPING
GRACIE LANG
STEALING
ON A SCALE OF 1-5 WITH 5 AS MOST DANGEROUS, HOW DANGEROUS IS VAPING TO YOUR HEALTH?
ONCE OR TWICE ONLY 32%
Survey: About half of student body admits to vaping
theBRIEFS
Senior Jose Solis, center, sophomore Gallant Sloan, left, and sophomore Adrianna Garzoria outside of Grand Oaks High School after the Regional UIL Congress meet. Photo by Stephen Green
SENIOR EARNS BID TO STATE CONGRESS
Senior Jose Solis is the first to advance to state in Congressional debate after advancing past preliminary, and elimination rounds. “It feels amazing to make my mark on this school,” Solis said. “I went beyond my expectations by qualifying for State competition.” Sophomore Gallant Sloan placed sixth, missing his own state qualification by two placements.
BOOSTER CLUB HOSTS FIRST MOVIE NIGHT
The Caney Creek football booster club hosted its first movie night in the cafeteria Saturday, Nov. 16. Booster club members Jennifer LaBlue, Katie Mullin, Samantha Mouer, and Samantha Taylor created the “Lion King Live” showing as a way to raise money for the football team.
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ZOOM. Players earn points through combos and placing in races. Staged photo by Jackie Rebollar
Mario Kart races to mobile FRESH CUT. Senior Isaac Cantu gives haircut to senior Trinidad Rubio on Aug. 28. Photo by Omar Perez
Cutting into barber industry Students find future in hair business OMAR PEREZ
News Editor After watching a stream of YouTube videos and surfing their Instagram feeds, two Caney Creek students were inspired to start their own hair-cutting business. Sophomore Julian Salvador and senior Isaac Cantu are known for giving haircuts to students after school. They both plan to get a business and barber license. Cantu says he was inspired to start cutting his own hair after receiving a “bad haircut.” “It just gave me another reason to give it a try,” Cantu said. “After that I didn’t really have anything to lose. So I started cutting my own hair since freshman year and I’ve just progressed from there.” Cantu said he is also planning
to get a business degree in case he wants to open a barber shop in the future. “Spending money on more clippers that really went from there,” Cantu said. “As my job, all I do is cut hair. It’s pretty good, more money than a normal teenager makes.” Salvador’s barber once gave him a comb and clipper guard to practice and get to the same level as him. Another barber of his gave him a free chair. Salvador, now in cosmetology, started his hair-cutting journey at 12 years old. He used his dad’s old clippers from Wal-Mart on his brother to leave a design on his brother’s head. “It wasn’t that good,” Salvador said. “I didn’t know at the moment (I would be doing it in the future). I was just playing around, then I got into it and just learned from watching YouTube.”
FADED DESIGN. Finished haircut of senior Ulysses Jr. Cruz, by his current barber Julian Salvador. Submitted Photo
ALEXIUS ROCHA Staff Reporter
Teens are back to playing Mario Kart after Nintendo released its new mobile game ‘Mario Kart Tour’ on Sept. 25. The game was highly anticipated because people have played the game on the Nintendo consoles when they were kids. Nintendo’s first ever version of Mario Kart came out in 1992. “As a kid I used to play Mario Kart on the Wii,” junior Esmeralda Garcia said. “The game coming out on the phone just brought back so many childhood memories for me.” Many enjoyed the new Mario Kart game, but like most games there are some people who were not pleased with the final release. “I used to play Mario Kart on other consoles when I was a kid,” junior Eduardo Avila-Cazares said. “But when the game came out on the phone I didn’t enjoy it as much because you had to make a Ninteno account to play and it wasn’t the same as when I was a kid. I just don’t enjoy the new one.” Mario Kart Tours game play on mobile is slightly different from Mario Kart on the Nintendo consoles. On the console Mario Kart already has certain characters unlocked for you to play with, while on Mario Kart Tour you start the game with one character the game gives you and you have to earn each character on your way up. You also have to earn your way from 50cc to 200cc instead of already having those speeds like you would on the console. Originally the game was supposed to come out in March but got pushed back when the developers were not satisfied with the finished product.
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Nov. 5 Election Results for State Constitutional Ballot Proposition 1
Allow a person to hold more than one office as an official judge of the law at the same time.
X
YES
NO
Proposition 3
Temporarily pay less property tax after the property was affected by natural disasters.
X
YES
NO
Proposition 5
Use the money made from state sales and taxes on sporting goods to protect Texas’ natural areas, water quality, and history.
X
YES
NO
Proposition 7
Allow more money to go toward the available school fund made.
X
YES
NO
Proposition 9
Allows legislature to not pay taxes on precious metals located in a depository the state.
X
YES
NO
theNEWS the
Proposition 2
Give $200 million from the Texas Water Development Board’s funds to people in areas under extreme economic stress.
X
YES
NO
Proposition 4
Does not allow the creation of an individual income tax, including a tax on shared partnerships / nonprofits.
X
YES
NO
YES
NO
Proposition 8
Create new fund designed for new roads and buildings to help pay for the drainage, flood mitigation, and flood control of the new roads and buildings.
YES
NO
Proposition 10
Allowing the transfer of law enforcement animals back to a qualified caretaker.
X
District looks at other ways of increasing energy efficiency
Staff Reporter
Increase the amount of money allowed for Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas by $3 billion.
X
Lack of space prevents solar power at CCHS YESICA RODRIGUEZ-CORTEZ
Proposition 6
X
SOLAR PLAN. The new Stockton junior high is set to be the first solar-run school in Conroe ISD. The district says it will produce enough electricity Submitted Photo
YES
NO
Conroe ISD will have Stockton Junior High be the first school in the district to run on solar power. The solar power will be a renewable energy source that will be beneficial by saving energy in the new junior high. Even though Caney Creek is not able to run on solar power due to space, it has found other ways to be energy efficient like Stockton. “Over the last several years we have been replacing the HVAC system components that reached the end of their lifespan,” Director Of Planning and Construction Easy Foster said. “When replacing equipment we always look for more efficient equipment to help reduce our energy consumption while also giving the director of custodial and maintenance, Marshall Schroeder, equipment that can be used to keep our learning environments comfortable.” Other than just saving energy in Caney Creek, other parts of the district have been planning to be more energy efficient. All new construction has been designed and built to meet the energy saving codes of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers. The district also continues to replace lighting with energy-efficient LED fixtures.
“Although there are many technological advances helping the district meet our energy management goals, a huge factor still remains behavioral choices made by each individual,” Schroder said. “Simply turning off the lights, powering down electrical devices such as computers, monitors, projectors and smart boards when not in use, and closing doors make a huge impact on the amount of electricity used.” The CISD planning and construction is hoping that their first experience with alternative energy source of this magnitude, likewise the first of their energy provider, would have great results. They look forward to continuing efforts in alternative forms of energy in future projects. “Our larger new campus projects in the proposed 2019 bond do have a placeholder for another solar installation,” Foster said. “If things continue to go well at Stockton, then it should be a no-brainer to continue that at the proposed New Junior High.”
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New pep rally format meant to be more inclusive EMILY OSORIO Staff Reporter
BRINGING IT ALL AROUND. One major change to the pep rally format is now that performers play to all sides rather than just the senior side. Sophomore Jaycee Burgess and other cheerleaders perform above duing a September pep rally during the jocks vs. nerds theme day. Photo by Jackie Rebollar
Many new changes were made this school year to the pep rallies in order to make students excited about what’s happening on campus. Head Cheer coach Janel Jackson came to the school excited to help build school spirit and help build connections between all the different programs. One of the ways she planned to do this was by making pep rallies more inclusive. “Some people misunderstand the purpose of the pep rally and the role of any kind of spirit leader,” Jackson said. “It isn’t so that people can watch you exhibit your talent, it’s so that you can use your talent to connect them to whatever’s going on. Athletes are already doing what they’re doing. It’s the rest of the student body that needs to be participating and feel a part of what’s going on.” The student athletes are not standing on the floor like they have in previous years. Instead, they’re standing with their classes, and when the pep rally starts, fall sports and the football team enter and run behind the NJROTC. “We wanted all the athletes to be able to stand and participate with their classes instead of seating underneath the basketball net in a chair doing nothing, Jackson said” Another change they made was putting the freshmen and sophomores on the same side next to each other facing the juniors
and seniors. “I think it’s great,” assistant cheer coach Christine Zimmer said. “I love all the students involvement and everyone seems excited at the pep rally and it’s more about involvement rather than just watching things happen.” More games and activities have also been added between the performances. For Jackson, it’s more important that the students are having a good time and being a part of the pep rally, as opposed to just standing on the bleachers and watch people perform. “If students are excited to go to the pep rally and having a good time and yelling and participating then I think that we’ve done our job,” Jackson said. “I think that’s good because if you’re connected and you care then you’re gonna want to be here more.”
BRINGING IT ALL AROUND. Games have always been a key aspect of pep rallies, but one goal in the new format is inclusion. Photo by Brian Zarza
Seniors start music career on Soundcloud, Spotify ANGIE RODRIGUEZ Editor-In-Chief
Making music in a fancy studio surrounded by other influencers and major studio artists is not everyone’s ideal future. But some students believe that they have what it takes to become real recognizable musicians in the music industry. These students are; Senior Elvis Lopez and senior Christian Gomez. They are Caney Creek’s “SoundCloud rappers”. Gomez began rapping his freshman year, and started posting on SoundCloud Jan. 6 and to other platforms Jan. 11. “I don’t really know (what inspired me) to be honest,” Gomez said. “I just like music and I like performing basically, I like putting music on. I think music is something everyone should enjoy basically.”
Although some of the songs on his account are not his, he has still accumulated 26,388 plays. He said he began using other people’s music at the end of his junior year. “People claimed they supported me basically,” Gomez said. “I wanted to see who was gonna support me still. I still plan to drop music but basically it’s just to see who really supports me because supporters will be there no matter what.” Lopez began his music career when he was 11 years old. He is on Spotify and Soundcloud, with his Soundcloud reaching 6,029 plays. “It was probably just listening to music (that inspired me),” Lopez said. “I always liked listening to music and I thought it would be pretty cool if I could make some myself.” Lopez says that one must “believe in yourself ” to make it into the music industry. “Stay committed,” Lopez said. “Stay true to yourself. If you can dream it you can be it.”
HEARTBREAK SOCIETY. Senior Christian Gomez released his second album titled “HeartBreak Society” on Submitted Photo
Cover of senior Elvis Lopez’s first album.. Submitted Photo
PAGE 11 PANTHER CROSSWORD
thePUZZLES the
Across: 4. New junior high that will run on solar power 5. Received new instruments as part of their donations 8. Mobile game based on its prior release in 1992 10. Where Lopez and Gomez started making music 12. Buildings that were newly installed outside of the school after the flood 13. Homecoming Queen Down: 1. New Head Cheer coach 2. Homecoming King 3. Proposition A passed, while B failed 6. First person to advance to state in UIL Congress 7. Senior that gives haircuts 9. Junior that gives haircuts 11. Top runner for girl’s cross country
PANTHER WORD SEARCH Homecoming Football Volleyball Imelda Flooding SoundCloud Enloe McDevitt MarioKart Darkenwald Jackson CrossCountry Donations Stockton
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Athletic department unites to help community
Other schools donate to Creek teams as well in flood aftermath MARIO RANGEL & JACKIE REBOLLAR
The football and volleyball teams overcame challenges Tropical Storm Imelda created. Tropical Storm Imelda affected the Caney Creek community, but the football players still practiced the days that school was cancelled. Coach Heidi Otto cancelled practice when she found out the school got flooded. “The situation was handled well by most of the players,” Head Football Coach Ned Barrier said. “Helping out and checking on each other to make sure everything was okay, it brought us closer together as a team.” Senior captain Jonathan Reyes said the players grew closer together after the storm. “It helped build chemistry, us as an O-line,” Reyes said. “But as a team mainly because we were all trying to stick together after a catastrophic event like that happened.”
Junior Samuel Gallaga said the team bonded the most by helping the community recover from the aftermath left by the floods. “We got together as a team to help the community and it made us feel proud,” Gallaga said. Senior Alehem Cornejo said he was surprised by the commitment of his teammates to the community and team. “Even the people who got affected found ways to help others that were in need of help,” Cornejo said. “They even found a way to get to practice.” The team was in a tough spot when they cancelled school for two extra days than other Conroe Isd schools, but according to Barrier that didn’t stop the players from being there. “We didn’t have school but there was still people showing up to practice,” Barrier said. “Some players were going through some great lengths to get to practice.” The storm caused flood damage and the school was closed down for 4 days, more than any other Conroe ISD school. Two of the teams varsity players were greatly affected by the storm, but received help from coaches and the booster club. When Otto received the news that the school had flooded she and the volleyball players got worried due to the fact that she had to cancel practice for the rest of the
FOOTBALL OFF THE FIELD. The football team poses for a picture after they helped a family that was affected by the flood. Submitted Photo
week, even though they still had a district game. “I was worried because we had not practiced and we had to reschedule the Huntsville game to Monday and still had to play two other district games without a week of practice,” Otto said. “I was also worried because I knew that some of the players were affected by the storm.” At the game on September 23, Coach Stewart the Huntsville volleyball coach, went over to coach Otto and gave her a card
that had been signed by each player of their team and a total of $200 in visa cards and a letter to coach Otto and Dr. Jeffrey Stichler, to show that the Caney Creek volleyball team had their support. “Having Huntsville reach out to us in the time of need even though we were not connected in anyway, was just so amazing,” said junior Marrisa Hanson. “Even though they didn’t know us, they still decided to help us in our time of need, and it just made me feel loved.”
MEET THE NEW COACHES MARK KOVACH
Position: World geography teacher, freshman football and basketball coach CCHS Goal: Teach the game, compete and have fun. Transferred from: Magnolia High School Family: Married
ROGER MAY
Position: Math models teacher, and tennis coach CCHS Goal: Develop players to learn how to compete at whatever they do. Transferred from: Magnolia High School Family: Wife and four kids
KELSEY POPE
Position: Geometry teacher/ volleyball and soccer coach CCHS Goal: Help continue build the volleyball and soccer programs. Transferred from: College Park High School
LINDSEY CARLSON
Position: P.E. teacher CCHS Goal: Make sure all students in P.E. stay active and learn something new every day. Transferred from: Deretchin Elementary School Family: Husband and one kid
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Running through the pain
Junior sets school record; becomes fastest runner ALEXIUS ROCHA Staff Reporter
RACE FOR FIRST PLACE. Junior Itzela Darkenwald wins a medal at the Grand Oaks Cross Country invitational. Photo by Emily Alfaro
Her blood is pumping, heart racing, she’s almost there, she can see the finish line. She asks her tired body to hang on a bit longer because she’s almost done with the race, when suddenly a rush of adrenaline washes over her, and then it goes black. Itzela darkenwald had overcome three episodes of fainting during her track meets. She had no memory of running the rest of her race and collapsed just before the finish line. “The first time it happened to me I was really scared,” Darkenwald said “In the event that it happens I lose my memory. In the Liberty meet I remember running my first mile, then the last two miles it was like my body was just moving for me.” Darkenwald had many struggles to face while running track; maintaining a healthy lifestyle, running in extreme heat, and trying not to overwork herself. “It’s been a real challenge for me to see past what’s happened since we don’t really know what caused these episodes to occur. Even though I’ve faced these challenges, my love for the sport has kept my feet below me and running.” Darkenwald broke the record for fastest girl runner at Caney Creek. She worked as hard as she could to achieve this goal.
“I trained like I never have before,” Darkenwald said “I worked hard to run a lot more over the summer and I worked to keep increasing my mileage. Once you can get up to running seven miles in one practice, three miles suddenly seem like nothing so I was able to run it faster.” Despite Darkenwald’s countless obstacles, she continued to push to achieve her goal and said that all the challenges in the end were worth it. “Never once did I consider giving up on the sport or the team,” Darkenwald said “ I’ve worked so hard to get to the point where I’m at right now so quitting was out of the equation. Although track is a very demanding sport on my body; and juggling track with volleyball at the same time is a lot to handle, but it’s all worth it.” With the motivation of Coach Sweat and her teammates, Darkenwald hopes to improve more in track and set new goals. “A goal I have is working hard this summer and next season to breaking my school record to a better time, and also to run a half marathon,” Darkenwald said. “My biggest goal that I know is possible of being achieved is taking the team to the state meet next year.” Darkenwald hopes to encourage and motivate her teammates as well as people who are interested in joining track in the future “Like Dory says but slightly different, ‘just keep running’,” Darkenwald said. “ It’s easy to quit and give up but you have to find that motivation in you to just keep running. Try to get a lot of mileage in during practices and to try your absolute best all the time. Even when you feel like giving up or not running as hard as you can during a practice you have to motivate not just yourself but your team as well to put full effort into every workout.”
SHAWN HALLORAN
BRENT MAXWELL
KOURTNEY GIBSON
Position: Teen Leadership/ football coach CCHS Goal: Be part of a team and work on a common goal of building the program. Transferred from: Family: Wife and four kids
Position: Support facilitator/ football coach CCHS Goal: Inspire kids to face their challenges. Transferred from: Rice Consolidated School District Family: Three kids
Position: Volleyball/softball, forensic science teacher CCHS Goal: Share her knowledge and passion for sports. Transferred from: First year Family: Husband and newborn
CHRISTOPHER GANYO
Position: Social studies teacher/ football coach CCHS Goal: Teach valuable lessons to all athletes. Transferred from: Willis High School Family: Wife and one kid
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Smashmouth goals
Barrier introduces new style,plays; changes team culture EMILY ALFARO Staff Reporter
MVP. Runningback Spencer Brandon runs the ball during the Oct. 4 game against Tomball. He was named Courier’s player of the week Oct. 28 after the 41-40 victory against Waller. Photo by Jackie Rebollar
EARLY LOSS. The Lake Creek football game ended in a 49-20 loss, the first time Lake Creek beat Caney Creek. Photo by Stephen Green
The football team started off the year with a new coach and game plays. The first change was a new head coach from Brazos High School. Coach Nathan Barrier said he plans to bring success to the program at the school by changing the football team’s play style. According to senior Isaiah Mendoza, the team has been putting up more numbers this season than they have in recent years. “We (have) been scoring way more against our rival team,” Mendoza said. The new playbook has also helped out the team with blocking other teams’ players from scoring. It focuses on what is called a smashmouth offense, or an intense focus on running the ball.
KONA ICE. New Head Coach Nathan Barrier supervises the football players as they buy snow cones. Photo by Jackie Rebollar
Senior Joshua Flores said as an offense line man, those plays have been helping out more with blocking the other teams players. “We (have) been scoring more against our rivals; it’s giving us the
chance to move up yards lines,” Flores said. “This play (has) been helping us a lot throughout the season.” Barrier also said they are using different blocking and formation patterns. “The plays are easier and they’re pretty basic,” Barrier said. Senior Alehem Cornejo says Coach Barrier makes sure to talk to all of the offensive players at halftime to see how everyone felt with the plays and if any changes needed to be made. “The system that coach Barrier has for practice really helps our confidence,” Cornejo said. “The team also had a couple of tricks under the sleeves that showed to be effective in our week 9 overtime win over Waller, (41-40)” Cornejo said. Barrier says the new plays have improved the team’s scoring this season.
New cheer coach looks to improve community spirit after lifelong coaching career GRACIE LANG
Student Life Editor The cheerleaders’ white and maroon skirts bouncing in the air. The sound of the crowd cheering loudly along with the cheerleaders, and whistles being blown on the field. Janel Jackson was doing what she loves most: cheering at her Friday night football game at Harrison County High School. Jackson began cheering in high school. She continued through college and was in an all-star team afterwards. She began coaching the CCHS cheerleaders this school year after meeting Dr. Jeffrey Stichler four years ago at Moorhead, where she was a private coach. “A lot of school teams will have a private coach that they hire in,” Jackson said. “Cheerleading is a lot different than other sports because a lot of schools don’t have teachers that know anything about cheerleading so they will hire a teacher that has only cheered for a year. That’s why so many schools are such a disaster because they have someone running their program that doesn’t really know much about (it).” This year’s junior class cheerleaders are
the first group Jackson started coaching at Moorhead. “Last year Dr. Stichler and I had a really long conversation one afternoon and he was expressing his interest in building the cheerleading program and building the spirit group as a whole and he saw a lot of potential in the program,” Jackson said. “He talked to me about coming out here and working full time and I prayed a lot about it and talked to my family about it. I really love the kids. I’ve coached them for a really long time and I see a lot of potential in them but I knew I could never get them to where they needed to be if I wasn’t with them more than once a week, so I decided to come out here.” Jackson wants to see the spirit group grow closer as a whole. “We worked really closely with the Starlettes this year which is great because I feel like cheerleading, band, Student Council, the Starlettes, and NJROTC are an entire spirit group,” Jackson said. “I think it’s an entire group of people that all work together to enhance the spirit of the campus for all sports and so forth. I think we have done a really good job of learning how to work together as opposed to each organization doing something different.”
During the transition period of Jackson and her family moving to the Woodlands area, she was helping the Woodlands Elite and knew that it would not be anything permanent. “It was getting to where I was having to choose between coaching and basically raising other people’s kids and my own, because as my son got older and his activities started happening at night and on weekends it would be a choice I had to make,” Jackson said. “I knew that if I didn’t change at that time I would miss out on a lot in my son’s life and my husband because he works for a school so he works all day so it was like we were tag teaming. I decided to go back and coach at a school so I could be on the same schedule as my family.” Jackson started coaching cheer in 1990, almost 30 years ago. “I was going to school for international studies and I was very interested in national politics and law,” Jackson said. “I loved cheerleading and I was doing it but it wasn’t my ending career path goal. I had worked for several other schools just helping them with their cheerleaders privately and just being around the kids, my heart just completely changed, I’m here because I want to be here.”
BATTLE CRY. Cheerleaders practice the panther battle cry duing their fourth period class. Photo by Jackie Rebollar
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VOLLEYBALL LOOKS FORWARD TO 2020 AFTER 6-26 SEASON
The volleyball team had a rough season with a 0-18 district record and 6-26 overall record. The team is fairly young this year and is only graduating two seniors. “We are a young team but that doesn’t really affect us much,” junior Jamiyah Wills said. “We know how to act on and off the court.” Their last game was an away fixture against the Grand Oaks grizzlies losing all three sets (8-25, 16-25, 8-25).
PAWS ON PARADE. Savannah Hebert walks a dog during the homecoming parade Oct. 16 at the campus football stadium. It is the annual community pep rally outdoors that started last year. Photo by Emily Alfaro
NEW ROYALTY IN COURT. Senior Matthew Asaro and Senior Skylar Harris were crowned Homecoming King and Queen. Photo by Emily Alfaro
FOOTBALL ENDS YEAR 2-6 UNDER NEW COACHING STAFF
FIRED UP. Varsity football players get hyped up during the homecoming parade. Photo by Emily Alfaro
IN A LINE. The homecoming parade took place on Oct. 19. Photo by Gracie Lang
SAXOPHONE SOLO. Junior Donavon Crimm plays alongside other tenor saxophones at the Homecoming parade. Photo by Isabela Luna
The Panthers finished with an overall record of 2-8 and 1-6 in district play. New football head coach Nathan Barrier’s first year in charge of the panthers saw senior Spencer Brandon put up impressive numbers with 714 rushing yards in four games to help his team score more. “He missed the first three games due to injury,” Barrier said. “But he is still the number three rusher in the district even with missing three games.” They played their last game on Nov. 8 against the Magnolia bulldogs and lost 8-38.
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Beating a new path Girls cross country makes regional meet for first time in school history as team
EMILY ALFARO Staff Reporter
AT LAST. Senior Karla Ramos looked at the results, then at coach Ray Sweat before leaping into his arms out of excitement. It was the first time Caney Creek qualified as a team to the regional meet. Photo by Emily Alfaro
The girls cross country team advanced past district to the regional meet for the first time in school history. The UIL 5A - District 20 race was held at Camp Misty Meadows Oct. 18. With the girls competing against nine different schools. The team ended up ended up placing third. Cross country coach Ray Sweat said that Lilian Morales took the lead in the invitational by passing up six girls in the district event. “If Lilian wouldn’t have passed those five to six girls in the last 100 meters,” Sweat said. “We wouldn’t be going to regionals right now.” The team has been improving since the beginning of their season, they never thought they had a chance of making it to regionals . “It was a big surprise,” freshman Brisa Salgado said. “I was tearing up because I was happy. It was one of my goals for my school year. Making it to regionals as a freshman is something unexplainable.” Senior Karla Ramos also commenting it was something on her bucket list as a senior. “I just want to give thanks to coach Sweat for always believing in us and pushing us to the max,” Ramos said. “If it wasn’t for him pushing us we wouldn’t be where we wanted to be at.” Other factors that helped contribute to the team’s performance was that every runner surpassed their previous record. Due to junior Itzela Darkenwald breaking her school record, she is now the
fastest runner in school history . Darkenwald also said her motivation throughout the district race was her team and how strong they were looking this year. “I feel very accomplished it’s like all the hard work finally pays off and it shows,” Darkenwald said. Regionals were at Kate Barr Ross Memorial Park in Huntsville on Oct. 28. The girls ended up placing 18th place as a team. Top runner was Montserrat Ramos placing 71th with a time of just above 22 minutes. Darkenwald did not finish the race after collapsing. Read more on page 13.
ON PACE. Freshman Brisa Salgado running at Camp Misty Meadows on Oct. 18 during the district meet against nine schools. Photo by Emily Alfaro
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GRINNING. The girls cross country team stands with their third-place, qualifying plaque. From left: Lilian Morales, Brisa Salgado, Itzela Darkenwald, Montse Ramos, and Karla Ramos. Photo by Emily Alfaro
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