CMR Stampede May 2014

The Stampede

Heavy issues A look at CMR’s competitive power lifters p. 22

An open forum for student expression

c.m. russell high school great falls, mont. may. 15, 2014 vol. 48, issue 8

www.rustlernews.com

The Stampede

The Stampede staff strives to produce a publication that is relevant to the CMR student body while maintaining journalistic standards. We help to provide a free exchange of ideas and establish a student voice in the school community.

1 - Cover photo by Peyton Fulbright 2 - Table of Contents NEWS 3 - Peyton’s column, AP Art show 4 - Mill Levy 5 - P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E OPINION 6 - Abby’s column, Editorial, Importance of core classes 7 - Speak your mind THE ROOKIE 8 - State Fair sneak peak 9 - CMR ghost stories 10/11 - People profiles CENTERSPREAD 12/13 - Humans of CMR THE ROOKIE 14 - Music in Great Falls 15 - Summertime activities 16 - Movies made in MT FEATURES 17 - High School House 18/19 - Homelessness at CMR ENTERTAINMENT 20- Greighsen’s column, Classic movies 21 - Special Effects SPORTS 22 - Lindsay’s column, Power Lifting 23 - Coed Roller Derby BACK PAGE 24 - Club sports

2013-2014 STAFF editor-in-chief peyton fulbright

online editor zach pottratz

design editor kendra hix

visual content editor kim michelsen

news/opinion editor abby lynes

entertainment editor greighsen adams

features editor olivia rudio

sports editor

lindsay martinez

copy editor

stephanie mccracken

staff

cori bonilla drew brennan tom gruner whisper harris jadon jennings tony lynes laura marsilio elea roberts max roux katelyn smith jesse whiteman

TOP LEFT: Chanteur choir soprano girls sing at the Performing Arts Assembly on May 2. TOP RIGHT: As students leave Bill Williamson Hall after the assembly the Russtones play. Senior Bridger Scholten plays the adviser piano. MIDDLE LEFT: During the “Cheerleaders v.s. beth britton Wranglers” show by the drama department, junior principal Anna Evans throws sophomore Kaylie Osentowski dick kloppel around on the stage. MIDDLE RIGHT: Orchestra conductor Steve Olson, adorned in yellow and green glowsticks presents his orchestra students. BOTTOM LEFT: CMR band plays “At Dawn They Slept” while a video presentation of Pearl Harbor plays on the screen. Photos by Kendra Hix.

Editorial Policy

Good Luck on finals, CMR!

Meet with Key Club in room 325 Tuesdays at 4 p.m.

The Stampede -- produced by journalism classes at C.M. Russell High School -- is a public forum for all voices on campus. These voices include the students, parents, faculty and the community at large.

The opinions and views in this publication are not necessarily those of the Stampede staff, the student body, CMR employees or the school administration.

The Stampede strives to cover the news accurately and fairly; however, when a mistake is made, a correction will be printed in the following issue. All writers are responsible for the content of their articles.

Editors will edit all copy to be free of plagiarism and libel, and all writers will double-check their facts before publication.

Letters to the editor and guest essays are welcome. Letters are limited to 200 words,

and essays 350 words. All submissions must be signed and include a phone number so authenticity can be verified. The editors and/or adviser reserve the right to edit all letters for grammar and spelling as well as content that may include profanity, be libelous, obscene or not meet general editorial guidelines. Anonymous letters are not accepted. Submissions can be dropped off in room 326 or e-mailed to: stampede@gfps.k12. mt.us.

The Stampede maintains membership in the Columbia Scholastic Press Association, the National Scholastic Press Association, the Journalism Education Association and Quill and Scroll.

Some material courtesy of American Society of Newspaper Editors/KRT Campus High School Newspaper Service.

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NEWS

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Various students in the Great Falls Public School district, grades K-12, submitted pieces of their art to be shown in the Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, April 24-27, and Great Falls High’s Dahl Gallery, May 5-23. The display in Great Falls High School is strictly for AP Art students, and includes a reception taking place on May 16.. Paris Gibson Square also featured GFPS’s art teachers’ works. Photos by Tom Gruner.

Paris Gibson Square Museum of Art, GFH’s Dahl Gallery feature students’ talents

Editor-in-Chief

peytonfulbright

by tom gruner, staff writer Ever since elementary school, junior artist Larissa Fugere has used art to let her mind run free.

“This wasn’t my first art show,” she said, referring to the GFPS Art Show.

Fugere’s first appearance in an art show was in sixth grade. The most recent shows have been those during her freshman and sophomore years.

Although art is a common hobby, the meaning of art runs deeper for Fugere.

“It’s been an emotional outlet for me since I was little,” Fugere said. “I struggled finding a good outlet for stress and anger; art helped me cope with my feelings in a way I couldn’t visualize to other people.”

Fugere said she can’t count how many of her works have been included in art shows, but there was one that stuck out the most.

One of her most recent pieces that represent the expression of emotion was

included in the Great Falls Public School Another end-of-the-year art show art show that took place on April 22-24. takes place May 5-23 in the Dahl Gallery That piece was a pen-and-ink inside Great Falls High School.

Medusa, Fugere said.

The Great Falls Public school AP art “The Medusa was kind of like a show is a combined show; both CMR mirror that showed how people can be and GFH AP art students are invited to beautiful but evil,” she said. submit a piece of their choice to it.

This mirrored-Medusa pen-and-ink “[This show] showcases one piece drawing is Fugere’s favorite. per AP art student,” CMR art teacher, “I loved the concept Kerry Brashear said. and design of it,” The reception for “Art helped me cope with this show takes place Fugere said. “There my feelings in a way I was a lot of hard work in the Dahl Gallery, and dedication put into couldn’t visualize to other tomorrow, May 16. the drawing.”

“It’s a last hoorah people.”

There are two art [for seniors]; their shows that take place grand finale,” Braschear during this time of the said. “I’d say invite year. everybody.”

A general GFPS art show takes place Senior artist Kiersten Hall is one April 22-24, that showcases art from senior that has had her art in several students in grades K-12 This show is shows over her time in school. located on the second floor of the Paris Hall’s first art show was in her eighth Gibson Square Museum of Art. grade year, and her teacher allowed her

To you, is perfection retiring 27 batters in a row? Or is it 100 percent on your biology test? Or perhaps you’ve never reached perfection, and maybe you never will. And that might be a good thing.

You see, perfection is a fickle title that we like to slap on things that please us. To someone it may be doing better than they ever have. To someone else, it may just be not being able to find a mistake.

So what is perfection to me? In my eyes, perfection is having no one else who can match your level. I don’t mean on a small scale, either. If you finish a class with a 100

Larissa Fugere

percent, you’re not perfect. People have done that before, so it’s no big deal.

Perfection is a lot more complex than the idea of doing something right. Perfection is about people.

People may seem perfect, but situations change.

If a few years ago you would have asked me if I had my life figured out, I would have said yes. I was convinced I would hit the road and become a touring rock musician. I mean, I played a few instruments and lived and breathed for the rush of air from on my face from my amp and walked around school with a drumbeat in my chest.

Clearly, that dream was nothing more than a dream. I thought that would be a perfect lifestyle,

to submit a piece into a high school show. According to Hall, she took third place in the show.

“I’ve always been an artist,” Hall said. “My room is pretty much an [art] studio.”

In the GFPS Art Show, Hall has submitted two pieces: a plaster jellyfish sculpture and a linol-cut-print.

Even though Hall said the print was fun to make, she said the jellyfish is her favorite.

“I’ve always found jellyfish beautiful,” Hall said. “I wanted to make it as beautiful as possible; it’s just so vibrantly colored.”

Like Fugere, Halls art also has a deeper meaning to her besides just a concept put on paper. “[Art] is something I turn to, besides music; it helps me get my emotions out in a healthy way,” Hall said. “It’s an aid through life.”

but now I have a different perspective on a perfect lifestyle, and I’m on my way towards achieving it.

I think that a large part of building success over the course of your life is failure. Without falling short, you won’t fully appreciate perfection. Besides, failures make us into the people we are today. Without failing at least a handful of times, you lack a certain important trait to your character.

Failure teaches you about losing. It teaches you to have compassion for others while they are at a low point of their life. It teaches you to appreciate hard work that others have put into their craft and life, and most of all you learn what you’re really made of.

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The Stampede 5.15.14

Mill levy passes, board of trustees members elected Cahill, Brantley, Ryan brought onto school board while mill levy succeeds Tuesday, May 6, votes were counted for the election of the school board’s Board of Trustees.

The three members elected for three-year terms to the Board were Don Ryan, Jason Brantley, and incumbent Jan Cahill.

Cahill lead the election with 9,787 votes of the total 41,342. Ryan followed with 8,957 votes, and Brantley finished with 5,495.

Jason Brantley

Brantley said that he wants more opportunities for students -- especially ones in honors programs.

“I’d like to see more programs for our kids,” Brantley said.

He also plans on incorporating more business interaction in students’ learning environment -- specifically in computer programming.

He said that computer programming jobs in Montana are not being filled rapidly, and he wants to “help some of our graduates here at home.”

Keeping his eyes forward, Brantley looks to the future for his first term.

“I look forward to working with our more experienced board members,” he said. “As a first timer, it will take me a while to get my feet under me.”

Don Ryan Ryan said that he wants to focus on the school district’s outward communication.

“Most importantly is that we do a good job communicating,” Ryan said.

Ryan said that he enjoys talking about quality education and that the quality students are receiving is important.

“Show the people the value they are getting for their tax dollar,” he said. “We pay less in taxes than any other AA school district in the state.”

He said that he would like people to talk to him about problems that the public sees, and that he and the trustees will look into the situation.

“We’ll find answers,” Ryan said.

Jan Cahill Cahill was elected for his fourth term in a row. With his time spent in office, he said he wants to focus on updating the school buildings.

Cahill said he wants the buildings to be “more energy efficient, more eco friendly.”

“Those buildings have to be brought into modern times,” he said. “Modern standards.”

He said that the amount of money need to bring Great Falls High School up to modern standards would be at least $58 million.

Cahill also wants to bring a focus to technology education for students.

“It’s an area where we have to continue to invest resources.”

by jesse whiteman, staff writer With crowded classrooms flooding his school, C. M. Russell High School Principal Dick Kloppel prepares to welcome a successful levy to CMR. This levy broke the tradition of its predecessors becoming the second of seven to pass in a 10-year period.

The levy this year ran for $1.6 million, $400,000 more than the budget committee suggested.

“The recommendation of the budget committee was $1.2 million,” Kloppel said.

“The board looked at the needs of the school and went for the larger amount.”

The funding is set to hire additional teachers and help update school buildings around the district.

The Great Falls Public School District has already been cramping from overcrowded classes and understaffed departments, Kloppel said.

CMR did not elude the effects facing much of the district. Kloppel said that the health and physical education department is lacking instructors to cover the swelling classes. He also said that the art program had to cut one period of Advanced Placement art, and the industrial technology department went from a staff of seven down to six.

“Over time, the failure of the levy has reduced the quality of education,” Kloppel said. “We still put out a darn good product, but it’s not as good as it used to be.”

The custodial department also took a hit by losing two custodians, Kloppel said.

“The building hasn’t gotten any smaller,” he said. CMR also is an aging building, and one of the three boilers was being replaced this winter.

Kloppel said that the boiler was out of operation for eight years and took six weeks to replace.

The math department also is struggling, Kloppel said.

“We’re not able to staff the credit

recovery math,” he said. “Math is huge.”

Math department head Terri Dahl said that this school year, three sections of math classes were not staffed.

With the success of the mill levy, Dahl said that next year the math department will have two sections of each top level math: Honors Statistics and AP Calculus.

“We have never run that much before,” Dahl said.

However, the classrooms currently suffer from crowding, Dahl said, adding that the success of the mill levy will “not alleviate those numbers as much.”

Dahl said that there were “75, 80 kids without a math teacher before the levy passed.”

“They wouldn’t have had classes for students,” government teacher Brian Halverson said. “These budget constrictions affected different departments differently.”

Halverson also suffers from overfilled classes. He taught upwards of 31 students in his economics class that was meant for 25, and in his government classes also are crowded.

“Students lose intimacy,” Halverson said about students in discussion-based classes.

It becomes difficult to determine how individual students comprehend during discussions, and that the “sequential failures of mill levies of the past” brought the overage of students in the classroom, he said “I usually have 18-20 students in an AP section,” he said. “You reach a point in numbers that you notice a difference.”

Halverson said that had the levy not passed, students would not be given as many elective opportunities.

“I want students to have as much curriculum choice as possible,” he said.

Following the May 6 election Halverson described as general happiness, and he said that he is looking forward to the future.

“I’m excited about the numbers I have for next year,” he said. “I’ve heard good things.”

news 5

5.15.14 The Stampede

New twist on P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E. experiences

Students become the teacher in after-school opportunity by laura marsilio, staff writer After being a student for so long, it can be strange to become the teacher. In biology teacher Jon Davis’s classroom, the opportunity to become the teacher is open to his students, and for sophomore Tanner Farren, leading the class was a new experience. “[It was] weird, but it was interesting to be on the different side of the spectrum,” he said.

Davis has created an open opportunity for each of his students to earn extra credit while becoming the teacher. The program, P.O.S.S.I.B.L.E., which stands for Parents Of Science Students Involved in Biological Lab Education, has given students the chance to teach their parents about the labs they work on in their biology classes.

“How they explained how they did things was way different [than] how we do things today,” said Farren, describing his experience with his older brother and parents.

Along with his sister, Stevi Farren, Tanner showed his parents and older brother, Taylor Farren, how to find DNA. The siblings spent two to three weeks

working on the gene unit with Davis.

“It was fun because he usually teaches me things, but this time I taught him,” he said.

Using a mixture of water, salt, and meat tenderizer, Farren had his brother swish around the substance in his mouth.

After that, they used straws to scrape the insides of their cheeks to get DNA, later isolating it in to a mixture with food coloring to see the cells. “[The purpose was to learn] how to extract DNA,” Farren said.

His older brother, Taylor Farren, said the experience of being taught by his younger brother was something different.

“It was pretty neat. It was interesting to learn from my younger sibling,” he said.

Taylor Farren, who graduated from C. M. Russell High School in 2009, said that it was strange coming back, but the experience with his brother was fascinating.

“We have a good sibling relationship,” he said.

Like Farren, sophomore Megan Packer showed her father, math teacher Brad Packer, how to find DNA in cheek cells.

This after-school opportunity allowed Packer to make up and learn about her lab while also teaching her father a thing or two about biology.

“Both of us learned at the same time, instead of just me teaching him,” she said.

Having her father as a teacher at CMR made it a completely different experience.

Instead of her father being the teacher, she was.

“It was a different type of experience because he’s normally the one that helps me with my homework,” Megan Packer said.

Brad Packer also thought that the experience enabled him to be on the other side.

“It was different than working on math homework because I normally help her,” he said.

They worked together to figure out the experiment, and they were able to learn something new. He found that it is important for parents to support their children and that this experience further proved it. “[I want] to support her in her education,” Packer said.

McGraw to leave at years’ end Q: How long have you been working here?

A: 15 years Q: Where are you going to be working?

A: The district office Q: What are you going to miss?

A: “Humor. I love [the students’] sense

of humor. For the staff it’s compassion.

Some of my best friends in the world are here. Their concern for each other is really powerful.”

Q: What are you looking forward to at your new job?

A: “[It’s] exciting for me, it’s a new

challenge. I’m looking forward to seeing a different variety of programs.”

OPINION

The IMPORTANCE of core classes Terri Dahl

MATHEMATICS

My goal every day at CMR is to help my students see mathematics through my eyes.

To see the wonder, the power and the beauty that mathematics offers.

For some students mathematics will be a major part of their life. It will be an integral part of their career path. It will truly be the language that they use each day. Though there will be computers that “crunch numbers” and utilize the formulas of their profession – it is their deep and precise knowledge of mathematics that will make such a career assessable to them.

For all students mathematics will be a major part of their personal life. All students as adults will be faced with trying to choose the right financing options when purchasing a car or a house, setting up a retirement plan, or doing a home improvement project, mathematics will play a role in all of those decisions. Students who do not enjoy math try to convince themselves that they

can navigate through their lifes without using mathematics. But these students are vulnerable to being taken advantage of and having others benefit from their hard earned money rather than they themselves benefitting.

Beyond the importance of mathematics in a student’s future professional and personal life, it has even more to offer! The more mathematics you learn the more it changes the way you think. The more analytical you become in your decision making. Not just decisions involving money but even emotional decisions. It changes the way your brain works and operates in all things that you do.

Though not all students will grow to love mathematics, if they can just appreciate the importance of mathematics to their lives so that they reach their maximum potential in mathematics, they will benefit a great deal.

SCIENCE

News/Opinion Editor

abbylynes

Preparing for life beyond high school

Artwork by Linda MacLeod

Imagine it’s your last day of high school. Your high school education is over and you’re off to college. You know what you want to major in, but did you take the right classes and get the credits you need?

It’s that time of year.

From Members of the class of point of view 2014 are preparing for the rest of their lives. In one, two, or three years time, you could be in this situation. Soon enough you’ll be a senior helping freshmen find their classes, or signing up for senior project. High school isn’t just social hour, or a big chunk of your day spent in one building; it’s a learning opportunity. It’s your chance to find out what you want to do with your life, whether you want to go to college or not. There’s a wide variety of classes you can take (required or not) to keep you on the right track to your future.

We at The Stampede believe that students should take classes that will benefit them in the future. There are truly classes out there for everyone’s taste.

People don’t joke around when they say that high school flies by; it really does.

Throughout your high school education,

OUR

Mike Lathrop by mike lathrop, guest writer I was recently asked, “Why should we study science?” To answer this question I feel compelled to define science.

For our purposes, science is a systematic way of studying the physical world. Anything that you can see, hear, touch, smell, taste, and measure may best me studied through the self-corrective process of science. This has incredible and wonderful consequences.

Even if you do not know anything about a problem dealing with the physical world you can find the answer by applying the scientific method.

This answer, if you properly apply the method, will have a high degree of probability of being true. Notice that you are not guaranteed to be right. This is the great limit of the scientific method. There are no

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guaranties – only a much more likely chance of being right. Science really only tells us what is not the case, never what is the case.

The nerd in me loves this kind of stuff, arguing the subtleties of the scientific method and its strengths and limitations. But as high school student I took four years of science and never even realized what is really going on with this incredible way of looking at the world.

So why did I do it and why should you take the time to study science? Because it is fun! What other class allows you to explore everything? You get to find out how rocks are made, theorize on the life of a dinosaur, study the cosmos, or look into the nature of the atom. This allows us to look at the world in wonder and discover the nature of the universe itself.

Four years ago, I walked into CMR for the first time, shaky, nervous, and unsure of myself.

I felt lost and alone in the huge sea of people that was high school; it was a scary place at first.

I didn’t know what I was interested in or what I wanted to study.

All of that initial fear and timidity is gone now; CMR has given me the tools I needed to blossom and grow. I have had countless opportunities at the school that have shaped me and made me into the person I am today.

The academic programs afforded to me

here have gone above and beyond preparing me for college; CMR is definitely a school that values its academics. I will never forget Sparkylicious the dog, waking up at 3 a.m. to sign up for a research project poet, going on a special diet to prepare for the AP U. S. History exam, getting an “8” on my AP English timed write, or staying at school until 9 p.m. for newspaper late night. The teachers I have had here are amazing; they are dedicated to their students and have made me fall in love with learning.

Equal to academics is the awesomeness of my peers. I have met some truly inspiring and ambitious people in my time at CMR. They have motivated me to push farther and to

you’re expected to maitain decent grades, help out at home, get a job to earn your own money, and know what you want to do after high school.

“What do you want to do after high school?” “What college are you going to?” are the most common questions we get asked.

One of the few things we can do to prepare for our senior year is take the right classes. Taking a class that you don’t like or isn’t in your interest is not the way to go.

Take classes that interest you -- that you would be excited to go to everyday. College is right around the corner, and before you know it, you’re already graduated from high school. Find the motivation to push yourself to do your best and succeed. High school is not the time to procrastinate and slack off.

Your goal (hopefully) is to walk out of this school having gone here for four years, earned at least 23 credits, made new friends, talked to old friends, and have toned your legs from going up and down three flights of stairs. High school goes by so quickly; you have to make quick decisions and make the right choices.

get as far as they have. The quality of their character is topnotch as well. Walking through the halls of CMR, everyone is friendly and welcoming. Additionally, seeing how the senior class responded to tragedy earlier in the year was beautiful; people supported one another and came together in a way that made me proud to say I’m a student at CMR. I will never forget the memories that I have made and the people I have met at this school; CMR will always hold a special place in my heart, and while I am looking forward to moving on to the next phase of my life, I will truly miss it.

The Stampede 5.15.14

“In chemistry we did a lab where we made s’mores.”

Logan Kropp, 11

Speak Your Mind

opinion 7

What is the funniest assignment you’ve had all year?

“In our German 1-2 class, we had to write a “My photography script... for a teacher or an administrator. We portion pin hole took [Flip] cameras...and went to film our camera. It wasn’t conversations with the three staff members really funny but we chose to speak German script...they had interesting beacuse to fend for themselves and they messed [the how well it worked” pronunciations] up pretty bad.”

Carli Miller, 9 Courtney Benefiel, 12

“The Crayola assignment. I ask students to demonstrate the art of persuasion through a crayon ad. Students need to sell a 24pack of crayons -- all the same color.”

Jamie McGraw, English

“Once in German we were given a word verb matching sheet. It was supposed to look like a fish, but it was definitely not a fish.”

William Winslow, 9

“[For oceanography] I got to dissect an oyster, but I couldn’t get the spare one I bought open, so I smashed it with a hammer! It exploded...”

Drew Austin, 12

“Not necessarily writing my STD poem, but listening to all the other ones.”

Olivia Flamand, 10

“In McGraw’s junior English we had to make a crayon commercial where we were advertising a box of crayons that contained 100 of the same color. I had razzle dazzle rose.”

Bathe Your Own Dog

Danielle Potts, 11

BYOD Grooming by appointment Owner/Operator Ruth Johns Open Daily Mon-Sat 10-6 Sun 10-4 1100 Smelter Ave. NE Black Eagle 453-9963

THE ROOKIE

STATE FAIR

TOP 10

Carnival Rides

Food

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Live entertainment

Puzzlemania Come to the Mercantile Building and discover Puzzlemania’s twists to fun, stimulating, and challenging new puzzles.

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State Fair 2014

In the years between 1928 and 1938 most of the buildings in the ExpoPark were built.

These beautiful buildings rose in the middle of the Great Depression giving many who were out of work, a job. Photos by Kali Sanders.

Annual summer event offers great food, rides, music and more at the Montana ExpoPark For Senior Logan Raozotte, the fair is an exciting part of his summer.

“The rides at the fair were always the first thing me and my friends did while at the fair,” Razotte said. “I have gone to the state fair almost every year since I was a kid. I would never miss the state fair.”

However, Razotte doesn’t just come to the state fair for the amusement park rides. He comes for food, expo events, and live entertainment.

“Although the rides were always the best part of the fair to me, I also enjoyed live music and the comedians,” he said Razotte said he has explored the fairgrounds ever since he was a kid. He enjoys bringing friends along with him, and is always excited to see new improvements and exhibits “I’ve been excited about the new zip line ride coming this year to the fair ever since I heard about it,” he said Razotte isn’t alone when it comes to being excited about the state fair this year.

“My favorite ride is the Gravitron. My friends and I always go on that ride multiple times whenever we visit the fair,” said Duncan Hamilton, a CMR senior who visits the fair annually.

Hamilton said he enjoys hanging out with

friends, exploring all the different food stands, and getting seats for the all -night show.

“Me and my friends would stay past midnight for the all-night show,” Hamilton said. “During the show, you can clearly see the best acts at the fair.”

Like Hamilton, freshman Makayla Lovec also enjoys the thrilling rides and the tasty food.

“Rides and food are equal to me; they both are the best things to enjoy at the fair,” Lovec said.

Lovec enjoys visiting the fair annually since she was just a little girl.

“Although the rides are great, I really love the fair food,” Lovec said. “It’s unlike any other food anywhere.”

Lovec loves to go to the Taco Treat stands because their tacos are the best along with the Dippin’ Dots carts.

“Dippin’ Dots cool you down on a hot summer day,” Lovec said.

Since Lovec was a child, she was told not to go on a ride immediately after eating and that she should always wait 30 minutes or else she would lose her lunch.

The one piece of advice Lovec has for fairgoers?

Stay hydrated because of the hot weather and all the walking around for hours on end.

Horse Racing

With all the bands and live performance coming this year, such as Walk on Water, Michael Swenson (comedian/hypnotist), and POWERHOUSE, you’ll find fun at every corner.

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Zip line

New to the Montana State Fair is its first mobile zip line, where riders can have a safe view from the 28-foot tower.

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On July 19-20 and 26-27 come enjoy the Race Meet for the best horse races in the state.

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Vendors

To find some of the finest commercial products at the fair, come see the wide selection of local vendors.

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Rodeo Roundup

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Contests

There are so many different contests to explore in the Montana state fair, from the “beef in the kitchen” contest to the fastest needle in Montana contest.

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With all the food vendors advertising at the state fair, your biggest challenge is finding food that doesn’t taste good.

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The whole reason you came in the first place -- packed with thrilling and exciting rides, and fun carnival games for the kids. You’ll never want to leave.

by jarret mans and kali sanders, guest writers

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created by 1st & 4th period intro to journalism classes

From July 19-Aug. 2 at the expo park, come enjoy a different theme and activity each night at the pro rodeo roundup.

Competitive Exhibits

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With exhibits from livestock to fine arts, you’re bound to see something worthwhile.

Montana State Fair concerts July 26

Tesla 8 p.m.

General Admission: $15 Reserved: $20

July 27

Summerland Tour 8 p.m.

General Admission: $15 Reserved: $20

July 28

David Nail 8 p.m.

General Admission: $15 Reserved: $20

July 30

Jake Owen 9 p.m.

General Admission: $30 Reserved: $37

August 2

Restless Heart 9 p.m.

FREE Admission

rookie 9

The Stampede 5.15.14

The Dramatic Haunting of Bill Will Hall

Unauthorized tenants make theater their home by bailey collins, guest writer When Rebekah Howell came close to falling off the stage last year, it was not simply a moment of inelegance. It had more to do with the supernatural.

“There was no correcting there. I was going to fall,” said Howell, a junior in the Advanced Theatre class. Howell has had many personal encounters with the auditorium’s ghosts, most notable of which was when one of them pushed her off of the lip of the stage.

“I was standing there, and I was being mouthy about them being there, and I think I was yelling,” Howell said.

“I was talking to my girlfriend about it, and she was like, ‘something’s going to happen, because you’re being mouthy and they don’t like it when you’re mouthy.’ And one of them just pushed -- and then something pushed me back up. I don’t know if it was the same one or if it was a different one, but I didn’t fall off the stage, so that’s what matters.”

The favorite haunt of the C. M. Russell Drama Department is, without a doubt, Bill Williamson Hall. The horde of teenagers, whether actors, singers, or instrumentalists, has not seemed to discourage the presence of several

ghosts in the auditorium.

Howell is not the only drama student to have experiences with the theater ghosts. Tales of props and personal belongings that move or vanish mysteriously, sudden loud noises or laughter echoing through the empty seats, and misty handprints on the glass in the sound and light booths are the long legacy of the ghosts of Bill Will Hall. Some students have seen shadowy figures moving backstage or along the ceiling. Howell said that her grandmother, who graduated from CMR about 40 years ago, heard similar rumors about the theater ghosts.

Even students who have never had visual, auditory, or physical contact with the theater ghosts have ideas about their temperaments and identities. Senior Matt Bronson, also in the advanced class, said that he feels sure that the ghosts are not out to cause harm. “[I know he’s friendly] because of the fact that I’ve been in here alone, by myself, working a monologue and I can feel that there’s another presence there, but I feel that it’s not there to harm me,” Bronson said. “You have a heightened sense of the Other. Like, you

AMERICA’S HAUNTED THEATERS by ethan smith

2

1

1. Cinncinnati Music Hall, Ohio 2. Fords Theater, D.C. 3. Landmark Theater, N.Y. 4. Pittsburg Playhouse, Penn.

5. Bristol Opera House, Ind.

4

feel somebody else is there. Like you feel like your personal bubble is kind of being invaded.”

Bronson, however, does not have a personal theory about who the theater ghost might be.

“A lot of people have been telling me different things. I’m not 100 percent sure who the ghost is,” he said.

Howell, however, had a few different ideas on the subject.

“I think about three. Because, sometimes, if you’re in there by yourself, you’ll hear like, a little girl laughing.

And then the one that pushed me off the stage, and then the one that pushed me back on the stage. One of them is kind of rude, but if you don’t bug him, he doesn’t bug you,” Howell said. “I think you have, like, the cranky old man who’s like ‘get off my lawn!’ but he’s more like ‘get out of my theatre!’ And then you have one who’s maybe around our age, who’s like ‘oh, you guys are cool, you’re not messing with anything.’ Then I think there’s a little girl who’s maybe five or six, who just needs somewhere to stay that feels safe, where she’s not going to be hurt any more than she probably has.”

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Photos by Bailey Collins

Ghostly experiences a normal occurance to students in CMR’s Bill Will Hall by amber lewis, guest writer When senior Hannah Ragland heard the scream, she knew she was not alone.

It was October 2013, and Ragland, the assistant director for CMR’s production of “The Foreigner,” was taking a nap on stage between classes.

“I was laying down on the couch on the stage,” Ragland said. “I heard somebody scream my name.”

She said it wasn’t a scream of danger but a scream that said ‘you are going to be late for class.’

It was not the first time Ragland has had otherworldly experiences in Bill Will Hall, however. When she first heard of the spirit, she was in middle school, and she first encountered the spirit when she was alone in the theater.

“We were on the stage and I was walking to the drama room and I saw somebody walking back and forth through the window of the sound booth,” she said, adding that she and Mrs. Evans went o the sound booth to check it out. No one was there.

Ragland, a senior who is finishing her fourth year at CMR, she said has an idea on who the spirit is.

“I know there are rumors that it might be a janitor, [but] I’m certain it is Devin Spriggs,” she said. “He spent most of his spare time there.”

Spriggs, a theater student who graduated in 2010, died shortly after graduation.

As for the spirit’s temperament, Ragland said it means no harm.

“Its very kind and represents the drama kids,” she said. “The ghost isn’t going to contact you if you are seeking something.”

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The Stampede 5.15.14

What sets them apart Paige Petersen

A love of England makes lifelong passion

with the United Kingdom started when her mom read her by angelina nichols, guest writer From The Beatles to the popular “Harry Potter” when she was younger. She loves not only Sci-Fi British television show “Dr. musicians and books from and about England, but she also Who,” anglophile Paige Petersen loves really likes the British news channel BBC. She also likes many actors from England, including Tom Hiddleston. everything about England.

It’s not just the celebrities and the royal Due to the attempted family that she likes -- it’s the people as a comeback of The Beatles through the British whole. Petersen has a deep admiration for boy band One Direction, many people, mainly {Anglophile; a person who the nation of England and said that it is much young teen girls, are becoming “anglophiles” greatly admires or favors fascinating than America. in the infatuation of the British nation and its England and things English} more “The people have such a fascinating bands. history -- their struggles through history, Petersen, however, is different. She is considered to a true anglophile. She dedicates her life 24 hours their victories and losses,” she said, adding that the aura of England speaks to her open soul. a day and seven days a week to all things British.

“Life is about reaching for the journey and grasping it as “I’ve always liked England,” she said.

Petersen, a freshman, said that she thinks her infatuation soon as it’s in your reach.”

Whisper Harris A quiet girl with a loud dream

Anglophile

Trey Royt Growing up one step at a time by carli dieruf, guest writer Special education student Trey Royt believes that growing up is something that he might just be ready for.

He gets a chance to live on his own, under his family’s watch, and see just what it is like to live and be on your own in the “real world.” Royt’s parents have a schedule for him to follow daily as he lives on his own on the weekends.

“My mom and my best friend have my schedule that I follow for the whole day, so it’s easy to do things because they help me, too,” Royt, a senior, said.

On the weekends Royt can be found riding his bike around Great Falls, going to the local stores, and parks, or even just getting a breath of fresh air. He’s excited that it’s starting to get warm.

“There’s more to do. Like fishing! I love fishing,” Royt said.

He said he enjoys fishing by Ryan Dam with his dad and even a buddy or two when he can. His dad taught him at a young age how to fish, and it has been his favorite hobby ever since he said. He also said he wishes he could have all the money he needed to buy unlimited fishing supplies so he could do it every day of his life.

Royt will graduate on May 31st and he’s excited to help his parents plan his graduation and get him ready to do more things that he likes to do. He is looking forward to his graduation party, although he may be nervous! He is a little scared to prepare for his future that is coming up so soon, he knows that he is ready for it all.

“I’m just a little nervous because I’ve never done anything like this so it’s very new to me.”

Photo by Carli Dieruf

by terryn premo, guest writer With a name that describes her perfectly, she is as quiet as a breeze but her dream is as loud as sirens screeching through the night.

Whisper Harris, a senior, is known as the quiet kid in many classrooms.

She is smart but doesn’t like to talk above a whisper (hence her name).

She is outgoing when she wants to be, speaking up and shocking everybody, but she is mostly quiet and reserved.

“Many people are surprised that I want to be a lawyer, since I am so quiet,” Harris said.

Law is something that Harris has recently been wanting to study. She hopes to obtain her degree at the University of Montana in Missoula.

The University of Montana is considered more of the English/ Law/Journalism school compared to other colleges throughout Montana, according to Harris.

“I like to read CNN…mostly the justice section and Supreme Court decisions,” Harris said.

Harris loves to read; that is where she believes her love for law came from, but she also thinks that it could have come from her fascination of wanting to be a judge. To become a judge you have to work your way up the “ranks,” starting at the bottom and working your way up to the top.

“I have always been interested in the effect that judges and lawyers have,” Harris said.

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At the end of the 2013-2014 school year, six Rustlers invite readers into their world Jake Fisher

Yankee fan enjoys time in New York by nate johnson, guest writer T h e r e are very few students at CMR who can say they are a matching set, even fewer who can say their dad is a doctor, and almost none who can say they spend a good amount of time in New York. Sophomore Jake Fisher is one of two students at CMR who can say all three, and the other is his twin sister Gia. Fisher has strong roots in his home state of New York. He and his family spend a lot of time in New York City, and he is an avid Yankees fan.

Every Christmas the family takes a two-to three-week trip to New York City, and the family used to spend almost all summer there, but now they spend only two to three weeks during the summer because he plays baseball almost all summer.

“I just spend a lot of time with family, not doing much and sitting on my butt” Fisher said of his time in New York While on the East Coast, the Fishers enjoy fishing, clamming, and making good food with fish they catch. Jake enjoys the fact that his mother is a New Yorker because “she curses, and she lets us curse” -- no matter how much she denies that.

One thing that is evident being around the Fishers is the fact that they are a very tight family unit. Jake said there are good and bad points to being a twin. He enjoys that Gia is always there for him, but he said it is hard to have a personal opinion on something when you have a twin.

His father is local podiatrist Bruce Fisher, but Fisher doesn’t see himself being a podiatrist when he is older. He and his father spend lots of time fishing together, wherever they are and, somewhat ironically, the Fisher family seems to enjoy fishing more than anything.

Matthew Coffey Leading a life with music

by katelyn lorking, guest writer To some, music is something to listen to, but for sophomore Matthew Coffey, music is something he makes.

For the past couple of years, Coffey has been producing his own music.

“My dad was into music,” he said.

“I just wanted to create my own.”

Although he’s making music by himself for now, he hopes to go much farther with his music career.

“I hope to be a professional producer and own my own record company,” Coffey said.

Using SoundCloud as a way to get his music out to others, Coffey puts each single on his page -- “Java.”

Though Coffey is comfortable with Trap, a type of music, he stretches his boundaries by incorporating hip-hop and other genres into his songs .

“I stay to mostly Trap music, but I really have no boundaries,” he said.

Coffey said that he gets support from the community and recently he held a Teen Night at the Montana Actor’s Theater.” Although he feels like it wasn’t a big hit, the people who came showed him a lot of love. The little things that give him the greatest

satisfaction.

“It’s the small stuff like when people come up to me and tell me that they like my music,” he said.

According to Coffey, family and friends are definitely his biggest fans.

“My family has always supported me and my close friends,” he said.

Being 16 and producing your own music isn’t a common thing, but Coffey’s inspiration did just that.

“Hucci is 18 years old and from the U.K. At 16 he released his EP and it blew up,” he said. “How young he is and how well he’s doing just blows my mind.”

Though he’s just starting, Coffey plans to do more than just make music.

“I would help young kids with the same dream and try to be an inspiration.”

To listen to some of his music go to SoundCloud.com/ MatthewCoffey or go to SoundCloud and type Java in the search bar.

Serenity McCartney Junior’s inspiration howls to the moon by jamie calloway, guest writer With a wolf for inspiration, junior Serenity McCartney built her skills up to become the high school artist she is today.

“I wanted to be the best I could be,” she said.

Since McCartney was little she has always doodled on everything. She loved animals and wanted to become good at capturing their image. She said she liked wolves the most and wanted to really learn how to draw them, so she set a goal and practiced in order to improve.

As an artist, McCartney said the anatomy of the wolves’ hind legs took a while to get used to. While other people draw straight legs, McCartney focuses on the animal’s curves and angles.

“It took a while to get down, but I’m a lot better now,” she said.

What makes her art unique is that she puts her feelings into her art by focusing on her individual strengths and what she’s learned into each individual piece.

“When I put my feelings in my art it’s special to me.”

Photo by Jamie Calloway

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What type of music would you like to see in Great Falls?

Levi Long,9 “I would like to see a stronger influence of nighttime events and stronger electronic dance music representation.”

Young Musicians

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of

Great Falls

Steve Olson “More local musical groups of all kinds.”

Jamie Sandefur,10 “I’d like to see more metal bands with mosh pits.”

Tia Wallraven,9 “That’s hard. Probably more rap music.”

Anne Swalek,12 “That’s easy, more country.”

Brandi Aguirre,11 “Music that’s not country.”

James Garwood,9 “I’d probably like more rock or heavy metal music.”

Tana Marble,12 “I would like to see more Indie-type music.”

Patti Ashmore “I like Reggae music. I like country, but not too country, like country rock.”

Rileigh Mann,9 “A wide variety, but mostly rock, and some country.”

Members of the band, The Difference -- Randy Estes, Gabe Hamilton, Kameron Grooms, and Chris Russell -- pose for their first group “photoshoot” as a band. Photos by Amanda Cornwall.

Local Great Falls band sets out to make a difference

performs vocals for the group. by amanda cornwall, iris kaiser and calley smithson, guest writers Estes said he performed a show at his church only one month Most people jump at the thought of a garage band made up of after learning the drums and that it influenced him greatly. teenage boys; loud, obnoxious, angsty.

Just a year before Estes started on the drums, Hamilton picked But for a group of Great Falls teenagers, playing their music is up a guitar. He said his own inspiration came from two bands about more than just yelling angrily.

“Ever since I was little, I thought it was like, one of the coolest known as “Boyce Avenue” and “Reliant K”, and that he was actually in another band before “The Difference”. things ever,” rhythmist Kameron Grooms said.

Hamilton said what also helped him was “The Difference” is a Christian pop/rock “Sky’s the limit really. performing in a talent show in the fifth grade. group named after the ministry at their church, We want to go far and “I want to go far; wherever God takes us,” he and it is made up of four boys: Randy Estes; said. “I heard that on a movie once.”

Grooms, a freshman at C.M. Russell High then farther than that.”

Like Hamilton, Russell, also performed in School; Chris Russell; and Gabe Hamilton, also a a talent show in the fifth grade, just on another freshman at CMR. Grooms is the backbone rhythm of the group. He said that instrument. Russell plays the bass in the group, recently hitting he had always wanted to learn to play, so taking a guitar class at three years of playing.

He said the bass and rhythm are what set the mood in music. school has helped him, along with his worship team friends at The Central Assembly of God. Grooms said he remembers what Russell also said that he hopes the group stays together and goes on. he thought when he first heard about the guitar class.

“Sky’s the limit really,” Russell said. “We want to go far and “Dude, I’m gonna learn how to play guitar,” he said.

Estes was the one who originally started the band, gaining then farther than that.” inspiration from a video game to do so. He said that he has been playing the drums for four years, and also plays the piano and

Chris Russell

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5.15.14 The Stampede

Fun in the sun “Training animals for 4-H.” -Emily Neumann, 11

“Volunteering my time at the Salvation Army and helping out the homeless.”

-Kameron Grooms, 9

“I like to hang out at the lake and ride my motorcycle.”

-Dennis Mora, teacher

Summer is the time of sharing amazing experiences

by melissa long, guest writer Summer is a time to relax, hang with friends, and enjoy the two month break from school. For Freshman Keelie Lorenz, summer is about making the most of it.

“I like to help people at nursing homes,” Lorenz said.

Lorenz enjoys spending her time hanging with friends, swimming, and going to the skate park. She also contributes her time to the peace hospice.

“I like helping old people cause they’re nice,” she said.

Like Lorenz, Micael Lynn spends his summer with friends and enjoying different activities. Lynn says he picks up trash and fundraises for school activities including selling tickets and posters for drama.

Lynn says he tries to take as many vacations as possible. This includes attending a soccer camp for kids in Italy, scuba diving, and swimming in the Mediterranean Sea. When he is home in the summer, Lynn enjoys military activities, fishing and hunting with his dad, and air softing.

Unlike Lynn, Senior Dakota Matson tends to stay close to home in the summer,spending time outdoors.

His three favorite places to go are Flint Creek, Eureka, and the Missouri River.

Matson also brands cows and goes shooting on his aunt’s ranch. Matson may be indoors a lot, but spending time with family is a priority.

“One fun thing I like to do is travel to Billings,” said Matson.

He loves playing classic, rock, Gaga, and Green Day using the cello, violin, and guitar.

“It’s one thing I love to do in my free time,” Matson said.

Matson and English teacher Ryan Anderson differ in activities. During summer Anderson likes to hang out and go on adventures with his four-year-old son.

“Ethan and I went on an adventure to find all the parks in Great Falls last summer,” Anderson said.

He also works at football camps for the sophomore boys as the head and offensive line coach.

In his spare time he likes to ride his motorcycle, go camping, hiking, and work on classic cars.

Like Anderson, junior Abby Miller also enjoys camps.

Miller also likes hanging out with friends, seeing family and traveling. She doesn’t have a favorite place to travel, she loves to go anywhere.

Although she loves traveling and seeing her friends and family, swimming is her true passion.

“I love to go swimming,” Miller said.

Miller loves to watch movies also. She doesn’t have a favorite; she is fond of all types.

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Summer’s best

Flavors Great Falls offers a variety of cool treats for a hot summer day

Dairy Queen -2901 10th Ave. S.

Yogurt City -800 10th Ave. S.

-116 9th St. N. -1651 Fox Farm Rd.

Baskin Robbins -2120 10th Ave. S.

Cold Stone Creamery -1601 Market Place Dr.

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in

MONTANA

CMR grad Nik Griffith explores lessons learned in the Montana Film Office by autumn place, guest writer For Nik Griffith, being a part of the Montana Film Office involves a lot more than sitting at a desk for eight hours a day. Instead, Griffith, a 2006 CMR graduate, travels throughout the state to visit film sets and write articles and press releases about the movie industry in Montana.

“The best part is seeing the final product of anything that we’ve worked on,” Griffith said. “It’s really cool to see something you’ve created out in the world.”

Griffith started working in the Helena office because of his background in marketing and public media. He said he enjoys his job because it allows him to constantly meet people and do new things every day.

Of the movies that have been filmed in Montana, Griffith said his favorite is “Taking Chance,” which was filmed in 2007.

“It’s a really good story, and it’s based on a true story,” Griffith said.

The Montana Film Office mainly acts as a resource for companies and directors who are interested in filming in Montana. Some things Griffith and his coworkers do include helping to grant permits, associating

with people to get to know the actors, directors, and producers, and working with Montana landowners where filming will take place.

Griffith said he writes pieces for press releases, newspapers, social media and websites. In his two years in the job, Griffith said he has learned many things about writing.

“Always, always, always double check,” Griffith said. “You’re never done writing.”

Much of his time is spent writing, something he said he enjoyed while he was a student at CMR, and looking back on his time as a Rustler, Griffith said several of his classes helped him with his job now. In high school he took honors English and yearbook, and because of those classes learned valuable skills that have aided him in the work he does today.

His experience with InDesign and PhotoShop, as well as the ability to write a good essay in his honors English classes, have served him well, he said.

“CMR taught me that you need to respect all opinions.”

HOLLYWOOD

myrna

Helena, MT

1905-1993

The Thin Man (1934) The Best Years of our Lives (1934)

george

MONTGOMERY The Brasher Doubloon (1947) The Lone Gun (1954) Battle of the Bulge (1965) Cimarron City (1958-1959)

Brady, MT 1916-2000

Libeled Lady (1936)

michelle

WILLIAMS Kalispell, MT 1980 Brokeback Mountain (2005)

Shutter Island (2010) My Week With Marylyn (2011)

1950’s Warpath (1951) Red Skies of Montana (1952) Powder River (1953) Dangerous Mission (1954) Cattle Queen of Montana (1954) Timberjack (1955)

1970s Little Big Man (1970) Evel Knievel (1971) Thunderbolt and Lightfoot (1974) Pony Express Rider (1976) Telefon (1977) Heartland (1979)

1980’s

From Montana to

LOY

Big Sky flicks through the decades

gary

COOPER Sergeant York (1941) Meet John Doe (1941) The Pride of the Yankees (1942) High Noon (1952)

Helena, MT 1901-1961

The Shining (1980) Legend of Walks Far Woman (1982) Firefox (1982) The Stone Box (1984) The Untouchables (1987) Cold Feet (1989)

1990’s Far and Away (1992) Beethoven’s 2nd (1993) Forrest Gump (1994) Under Seige 2 (1995) Broken Arrow (1996) Everything That Rises (1998)

2000’s Knock Around (2002) Narnia (2005) Hoot (2006) Taking Chance (2009) My Sister’s Keeper (2009) Nebraska(2013)

FEATURES

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High School House strides ahead with construction, while making lasting contribution to community by olivia rudio, features editor Junior Tyson Dockter spends two of his periods outside of school working on constructing a house with fellow students and it was a remarkable adjustment from building only a shed in preconstruction.

According to Dockter, this year’s crew made greater progress than last year.

“Last year they were behind because there weren’t many people,” Dockter said.

While their hard work has paid off in being close to finishing ahead of schedule, it did not come without a price.

“The worst time was when it got cold,” Dockter said, remembering when the crew had to balance time between working and huddling around the propane tank.

However, that same aspect of being outside of the classroom is what makes High School House so enjoyable for Dockter.

Photo by Kendra Hix.

“It’s not like a regular class,” Dockter said, adding that the course has also taught him to refine his time management skills in order to make it to the house and back to school.

The value of High School House goes beyond the experience of building the house, he added. It allowed him to develop both better carpentry and social skills.

Likewise, junior Riley Wadsworth has developed valuable skills beyond his initial expectations of what he wanted to get out of the class.

“I have worked around steel buildings in our company my entire life,” Wadsworth said. “I joined High School House because I wanted to broaden my horizons of knowledge in the construction area.”

Considering Wadsworth’s prior experience and knowledge of construction, it is clear how much the High School House course contributes to those aspiring to create a future in construction.

“I’ve learned more in High School House than any other class in high school,” he said.

This is in part due to the guidance of High School House advisor Landon Stubbs.

“Mr. Stubbs has taught me a lot about preparing for the future such as going to skills USA and getting more certification while you’re young,” Wadsworth said.

The open house for the yearlong project will be on the 22, after the barbeque celebration the crew will hold on the 18 while they finally lay the sod.

Features Editor

oliviarudio

Caution:Hard Hats Required

I have some serious beef…with beef. Recently I made the commitment to become a vegetarian. I know what you may be thinking, “How do you get your protein? That’s so unhealthy!” However, contrary to popular belief going vegetarian has numerous health advantages for the body and the Earth.

In fact, reducing or eliminating meat from your diet means getting rid of harmful hormones often approved by the FDA. These hormones cause dangerous effects such as hormone imbalances and certain types of cancer, and red meats can increase the risk of heart disease due to high saturated fats. Switching to a plant-based diet has forced me to be more conscientious of the important nutrients that my body needs, and as a result I have been feeling so much better.

While the initial cause for my venture into making meatless Monday every day of the week was for moral reasons, I have found other reasons to commit to choosing this alternative lifestyle. According to National Geographic’s recent centerspread, “Feeding the World,” the leading cause for global warming is a result of agriculture. Only “55 percent of the world’s crop calories feed people directly; the rest are fed to livestock (about 36 percent) or turned into biofuels and industrial products.”

Even though my diet will not spur a radical environmental change, I firmly believe in dedicating my support to reducing the ravenous drive for meat products.

Eventually, I hope to transition to an entirely vegan diet. This will mean giving up a lot, mainly cheese and ice cream, but the feeling that I am making somewhat of a change is worth the sacrifice.

18 features

HOMELESS

by stephanie mccracken, copy editor Homelessness, is a topic that doesn’t come up a lot at school. It’s an invisible issue, hidden from the staff and students, but very much real for those who find themselves a part of it.

Currently, there are 200 homeless kids in the Great Falls Public School District that are a part of the invisible problem. The school district labels homelessness in four different categories. Those living in a shelter, families who are doubled up in a house, those living in cars, parks, or campers, and those living in hotels or motels.

“It’s been going on for years,” said Lee Houle, the transition coordinator for the district.

Houle has been in this position for six years and has completely revamped the program to fit the needs of the homeless students.

“We try to keep the students in school,” he said. “We try to keep that six hours a day for them as stable as possible.”

The district does this by setting up transportation. No matter where the student lives, the district will set up transportation to and students from from school either by bus or taxi.

They set up free and reduced lunch Great Falls and provide the student with clothing and school supplies, if the High, CMR, case calls for it.

Paris, East, “[We pay for this] through and North the homeless program,” he said. combined are “We are federally funded through grants depending on the number homeless of homeless kids and families.”

The number of homeless

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The Great Falls Public School district faces a problem, the homeless population

students has risen since Houle’s first year, but it tends to fluctuate because families move.

“Who knows how many homeless there are in this town, because they are an underreported population,” he said.

However, more people have come forward. People don’t want to because of the embarrassment, and adults don’t want their kids taken away.

“My title has changed from Homeless Coordinator to Transition Coordinator out of respect for the families and the struggle they go through,” he said.

There isn’t just one cause that leads to being homeless, Houle added. Some of the kids who stay on a friend’s couch or in their car are homeless because they were kicked out of the house by their parents or are having problems at home.

Currently, there are 12 homeless students at Paris Gibson, 21 at Great Falls High, eight at CMR, 15 at East, and seven at North.

“There is probably more, but this is what is known,” he said.

Being a homeless kid in school can be especially difficult without parents. They are able to get help from the school, but the Great Falls Rescue Mission is not allowed to let them stay there.

“If they are under 18 then legally we cannot serve them because they are still under the guardianship of their parent. We would be housing a runaway if we did that. There is an issue in Great Falls, actually in the state of Montana, with underaged homeless folks,” said Jim McCormick, a director at the Great Falls Rescue Mission.

The men’s shelter can hold 80-85 people, and there can be about 85 in the Women and Family Shelter. Each shelter is set up like a dorm; a long, narrow hallway leads

to individual rooms that have anywhere from two to six bunk beds in a room.

“There’s been a point where we have had 40 children in here because of all the families,” McCormick said.

“Families seem to be the growing population that we need to accommodate.”

Not all these families are at the mission because of abuse, or drugs. McCormick knows of students several cases of people who ran into bad situations without having residing any substances involved. withing the McCormick told one story GFPS District where a wife of a Navy Seal left him after he came back home, to are homeless take care of their four children. He ended up living in Gibson Park with his kids, and he stood guard over them every night until the mission rearranged rooms to give them a place to stay.

The mission tries to make the kids’ lives as normal as possible, especially during the school year.

“The bus picks them up here and takes them to the same school that they were in when they left their home.

There’s a few high school [students] that come through, but it’s more so the younger kids. The district makes that provision to ensure that they stay in the school that they started at,” McCormick said. “It’s so streamlined that you could be sitting next to somebody on the bus and never know that they were living at the mission. If we know that they are going to school we will pack them a lunch, just like mom and dad would. You would never know the difference.”

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One local woman’s story of struggle, being homeless by stephanie mccracken, copy editor “I have an addiction problem.”

It’s a simple statement, but it’s also a stark reality for one local woman who is currently living at the Rescue Mission with her 13-year-old seventh grade daughter.

“My addiction led to hanging around some people that I shouldn’t have. I was busted by the task force and put in jail for two months,” she said.

This was just the most recent event in what has been a very long road for her and her daughter. For the woman it started when she was young.

“The addiction started because I [was] molested at age 11 by a family member, and it continued till I was almost 16,” she said. “The alcohol and the marijuana numbed the pain I was feeling.”

Even with this happening, she never imagined she would be where she is now.

She’s just one of a growing number of homeless parents in Great Falls who is working hard to keep their kids in school and keep their life stable.

“I was going to grow up and get married to a decent guy and live happily ever after, I guess what every little girl cares about,” she said while laughing at the dream that never came true.

As the dream remains in the distance, she has tried to reach it, but never seeming to be able to escape her abusive past.

“[Alcohol and marijuana] numbed the pain for the rest of my life. Until I started dealing with the actual abuse,” she said.

“Every man that I have been with has been abusive.”

She started finding other means of numbing the pain.

“First marijuana, [and] for a brief time it was pain killers because I had brain surgery. Then, I was introduced to meth, and everything fell apart from there,” she said. “When I was introduced to meth, that’s when it got really bad. It would take my entire pay checks. It took my home, my car, my kids -- it basically took over my whole life.”

Her youngest daughter was just a baby when the addiction really started to take a toll, while her son was eight and her other daughter was five.

The abuse was passed on to her children.

“My son has PTSD from it, [and my youngest daughter] has separation anxiety where she has to know where I am at all times,” she said.

Her son followed in her footsteps when

dealing with the abuse.

“My son became a drug addict and an alcoholic by age 15. I did, however, stop his pattern. I sent him to treatment, which seemed to calm him down,” she said.

Her two older childern are grown, but her youngest daughter, who is currently a student at North Middle School, is living with her at the Rescue Mission.

Losing all her belongings and becoming homeless didn’t happen overnight for her.

“It all happened within a three-year period,” she said.

It wasn’t the first time her daughter had been taken away, though.

“The first time was only for two and a half weeks,” she said. “I got right back on track so they returned her two weeks later, but the second time was horrible; she was gone for six months.”

The mission helped her get her daughter back, and they’ve been living there ever since, she said.

She had to attend parenting classes, counseling, and has completed a 12-step program all in the effort to get her daughter back. She has also had to get a job, and a suitable living environment to prove that her daughter can live with her again.

Her daughter has had foster parents, her mother’s case manager, and the school to help her.

“The case manager that I have has bent

170

people, can live at the Rescue Mission at one time

over backwards for me and my daughter,” she said. “[My daughter] had a dance to go to at school and she took her and picked her up for me.”

Despite going through all this, her daughter has been on honor roll every semester. GFPS has worked with her to ensure success.

“Once I started getting back into her life the school was very helpful. They’ve been very friendly and very understanding,” she said.

Along with the school and her case manager, she said the Rescue Mission has been a tremendous help.

“People think rescue missions are horrible,” she said. “The women and family shelter, I have to say, is probably one of the best things to have happened to me in a long time because the amount of support and the structure and the security that [my daughter] and I have both gotten there has been wonderful. If it wasn’t for them I don’t know if [my daughter] would be home yet.”

She plans on staying there for the next month or two to be able to save up and get a place of her own.

“I want to be able to move out, and I want to be able to make it and not fall back and have to go back to the mission,” she said. “I want to provide a stable home for [my daughter], so I’m not going to jump out. I want to make sure I have things planned out. I’ve done too much jumping in my life and it leads me back to the same place.”

ENTERTAINMENT

20

Must-Watch Classic Films Casablanca (1942)

Directed by Michael Curtiz, Ingrid Bergman and Humphrey Bogart star as two previously war-torn lovers in Vichy-controlled Morocco during World War II. Bogart plays Rick Blaine, an American expatriate who owns an ritzy nightclub in Casablanca, with Bergman starring as Ilsa Lund, a romantic interest from his past who comes to his nightclub one night and discovers that he is the owner. Their romance takes off from there, and Rick must ultimately choose between his love for Ilsa and helping her resistance-leader husband escape Morocco.

Considered one of the best films of all time, “Casablanca” won three Academy Awards, including best picture. It is truly a well-done film, and anyone interested in classic movies should watch it. You will find yourself humming along to its iconic theme song, “As Time Goes By” by the end of the film, wishing you were alive in the 40s.

Sunset Boulevard (1950)

Entertainment Editor

greighsenadams

Receiving three Oscars, this classic film-noir is a mustsee, even for people who say that old movies are “boring.”

“Sunset” is filled with mystery and suspense, starring Wililam Holden as Joe Gillis, an unsuccessful screenwriter who plays alongside Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond, an aging silent film actress aspiring to reenter the film business. Along the way, romance, love triangles, and murder ensue.

The film also feautures cameo appearances by Buster Keaton, H. B. Warner, and Anna Q. Nilsson, old silent film stars.

The film delves into the “world of illusion” created by Hollywood and parallels actual murders and events that have occured in Hollywood.

Receiving mainly posive reviews, the film is worth the watch for anyone with the slightests interest in classic films, and it serves as a nice transition into the world of black and white.

“Sunset” has been ranked as the twelfth best movie of all time; its universal themes of loss, fear of obscurity, and the process of aging make it a highly relatable classic.

When I was four, I had to say goodbye. When I was 11, I had to say goodbye. Now, I’m 18 and I have to say goodbye.

In all my endless farewells, I keep getting worse at them. It’s easy for a 4-year-old to say goodbye to grandma, because I didn’t know the woman. I know I loved her and loved when we would sit and eat grapefruit together, but I don’t remember her laugh, her smile, her eyes. Why? I was four.

But when I had to say goodbye to my best friend, my neighbors, and the nicest old woman who made the best chicken noodle soup for a total stranger, well that’s harder than saying bye to a woman you rarely saw. I was so excited to leave my small town of Burkburnett, Tex. and travel to grander, better places. Looking back, I wish I hadn’t had to say goodbye.

His Girl Friday (1940)

Every journalists favorite films, this screwball comedy set in New York City stars Cary Grant as Walter Burns and Rosalind Russell as Hildy Johnson.

The film begins with editor Burns finding out that his ex-wife and star reporter Johnson plans to leave the newspaper business, settle down, get married, and move to peaceful upstate New York to be a mother. In an attempt to sabotage her plans, Burns assigns Johnson one last juicy story on the convicted murder of Earl Williams. He also sets up her fiancé so he gets arrested multiple times on trumped-up charges.

Williams escapes from prison and ends up in the newsroom with Hildy. Having such a huge scoop proves to be too much for her and she gets pulled into the story, not even noticing when her

Duck Soup (1933)

by abby lynes, news and opinion editor

husband leaves for Albany without her. The town’s candidates for mayors in the upcoming election must go through with the execution to keep their jobs, so they bribe Williams to run away and come back when it is too late. Burns finds out that he may be arrested for kidnapping by keeping Williams in the newsroom.

Burns offers to remarry Johnson and have the honeymoon they never had in Niagara Falls, but he catches wind of a story in Albany, on the way to Niagara Falls.

“His Girl Friday” is witty, fast-paced, and funny. It’s a great movie to pop some popcorn for and view on a Friday night. It has been selected for preservation by the National Film Registry and is a must-watch film for any journalists or film junky.

All About Eve (1950)

Who doesn’t love a good political comedy? This communist satire film stars the four Marx Brothers: Groucho, Harpo, Zeppo, and Chico. Groucho plays Rufus Firefly, a man appointed by a wealthy benefactress, Mrs. Teasdale (Margaret Dumont), to lead the country of Freedonia before she will provide financial backing to the economically struggling country. Neighboring country Sylvania is trying to take over Freedonia, with its ambassador sending spies Chicolini (Chico) and Pinky (Harpo) to dig up dirt on Firefly.

Duck Soup is the last Mark Brothers film to feature all four brothers. It was considered a flop at the box offices and critics did not consider it to be as of good a quality as its forerunners, but it has since achieved classic status and is regarded as a masterpiece.

This film is currently available on Netflix, and it is well-worth the watch. Political science nerds and classic film lovers alike will enjoy this movie. Overthe-top dramatics and the sheer ridiculousness of its situations make it a comedy for the ages.

Starring the iconic Bette Davis, All About Eve centers around Margo Channing (Davis), an aging actress whose personal relationships and status in the film industry are threatened by Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter), a deceptively innocent, naïve aspiring actress who slowly inserts herself into all aspects of Channing’s life. Monroe also appears in the film; it was one of her first important roles in launching her career.

Those experiencing midlife crises and Monroe fans alike will enjoy this funny, sarcastic, and critically acclaimed film.

It touches on every person’s fear: becoming old, obsolete, and useless. Channing, as stubborn, difficult, and arrogant as she may be, is relatable.

Davis does a brilliant job portraying her; she makes Channing witty, lovable, and strong.

Baxter effectively evokes dislike from the viewer. She is altogether charminng and deceptive, and her performance isp art of what makes this film so great.

The truth is, goodbyes are always hard, if even for a short period of time. There’s a fear of never seeing that person again. I had that fear when I was 11. I have spent six years away from friends I thought I’d be around forever.

Although goodbyes are beyond difficult, there are times when saying them can actually be happy.

I’ve been a writer for three years now, and not only has it been a struggle, but also probably my happiest memory of high school I love being able to speak to people through my words. I sit at a computer and type my last column as entertainment editor, but I know I have touched the hearts of others. Granted, this is a goodbye, but it’s probably one of the easiest goodbyes told to this date.

It’s easy simply because I know there is more to

come. High school is only one chapter of my life, a chapter that’s been filled with such fun and teenage angst. And I can’t wait for my college chapter to begin.

Without the support and friendship I’ve been given these last four years, I wouldn’t have been able to accomlish everything that has occured. To be able to meet all the wonderful students and staff i’ve gotten to know in the past few years allows me access to both patience that I rarely possess as well as diplomacy. So, once again, all I’d like to say is thank you for all the wonderful memories.

Yes, goodbyes are challenging, but they will lead to new adventures and new people. That’s my favorite part about goodbyes, there’s always a new hello waiting to follow its course.

entertainment 21

5.15.14 The Stampede

THE BEST OF SPECIAL EFFECTS 1963 Cleopatra

1968 A Space Odessy

1976 King Kong

1979 Alien

1984 Ghostbusters

1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

1993 Jurrasic Park

1997 Titanic

special effects

by greighsen adams, entertainment editor and jadon jennnings, staff writer From homemade props to computergenerated imagery, special effects have changed drastically as entertainment evolves, and sophomore Andrew Lainzer knows very well that special effects have changed for the good.

Lainzer believes special effects have improved movies, creating more hype so people will watch. He, like other students, has seen his fair share of both good and bad movies.

“I think that the ‘The Wizard of Oz’ has some of the worst special effects compared to today’s special effects,” Lainzer said.

Granted, “The Wizard of Oz” was released in 1939, and as time progresses,

special effects become more refined, and rely heavily on computers. “‘Transformers,’ ‘Pacific Rim,’ ‘Fast 5,’ and ‘The Avengers’ have some of the best special effects,” he said.

Stagecraft and drama teacher Chris Evans, with more experience pertaining to the ins and outs of special effects, was a teenager when special effects were becoming more sophisticated in action films.

“When I was in high school, it was 1983 and 3-D was the gimmick of the ‘60s,” he said. “Computer-generated images were nonexistent, except for the Star Wars films, but there was a lot of actor-driven movies.”

As some characters die, CGI can

2006 Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man’s Chest

2009 Avatar

2010 Inception

2012 The Avengers

Computer-generated images create action sequences, clearer images as time progresses, movies become more high-tech

actually bring them back to life.

“Right now they can create actors; Paul Walker is an example,” Evans said. “Actors star in movies after their death.”

According to Evans, he could die and his career could go on with the right technology.

“They need to make literally billions of dollars on films,” Evans said. “To do that, they need the best special effects.”

When in high school, English and video production teacher Brian Crosby got roped in by the CGI of his time. “‘Terminator 2’ had some of the coolest special effect,” he said. “It was the first movie with digital effects.”

Special effects don’t just stop at computer images. Sometimes, it’s the

music that makes the movie. “‘Jaws’ is the greatest use of special effects if you want to count music and props,” Crosby said.

Though movies like “Star Wars” were considered advanced, the mistakes were pretty obvious.

“You could almost see the wires,” he said.

Special effects aren’t just visually pleasing. They can also add to the plot line if they’re used properly.

“An example of special effects done right is ‘World War Z’ when the zombies are climbing the wall,” Crosby said.

“Special effects today are better. The technology--it’s amazing to me.”

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SPORTS

22

Sports Editor

lindsaymartinez

This spring, I tackled a new activity that has given me a new perspective on sports.

Alongside good friend and soccer/tennis teammate Lindsy Pyette, I became “Coach Lindsay” to a group of nine 8-year-old girls who play “Minibolts,” the youth soccer portion of the Electric City Soccer Club.

AP U.S. History teacher Burke Allen and business teacher Jessica Goosen approached Lindsy and I to coach their daughters’ team, made up of third grade girls who attend Riverview and Sacajawea Elementary Schools.

Within just a few weeks, we two rookie coaches took the field to see what we could teach these little girls about soccer and life. I was pleasantly surprised at the skills most of the girls have already accumulated, and was even happier that the girls were excited about soccer, socializing, and getting to know their high school girls turned soccer coaches-- virtual celebrities in their eyes.

So far I’ve had a great time getting to know these athletic and rather (unintentionally) hilarious little girls. I have seen lots of improvement and a love of competition that is very promising. It feels like I am watching the future of Lady Rustler soccer develop before my eyes, and having a fun, if busy, spring doing so.

One day, we proposed a competition to showcase the girls’ creativity. The challenge was which girl could create the best goal celebration to be judged by the coaches, with the winner to earning an unspecified prize. The next practice we were met with an array of comic performances.

Almost every girl did a cartwheel after scoring her goal, some adding in a dance move or two to persuade her coaches that she had the best celebration. I especially enjoyed a robot performance and felt embarrassed that I have never been able to perform a cartwheel. However, one celebration stuck out. This colorful girl, we discovered soon into the season, is a real character and reminds Lindsy and I of a certain soccer teammate we had ourselves when we were younger. During first practice, she kept shouting out “Tango!” and after one practice she had me in a death grip hug while vowing to “never let go.” Naturally, we were anticipating her celebration quite a bit, even hoping for maybe a bit of tangoing. Turns out her celebration went like this: she scored her goal, dropped to the ground on all fours, gave two yips, and howled like a wolf.

She was the unanimous winner of the goal celebration contest.

Although goal celebration day happened in one single practice, one thing has remained constant from week to week: girls pining for some new game, an abandonment of drills, and, of course, the opportunity to scrimmage the boys team that simultaneously practices at Riverview Park two nights a week.

I never realized how tough this bombardment of suggestions from players must be for a coach. As a player, I admit to making complaints directed at activities chosen by the coach. It never is fun to spend a whole practice working on passing nor is using precious minutes on warm-up that could evolve into scrimmaging. However, being a coach has shown me that the coaches actually know what they are doing! Coaches have a plan and they aren’t likely to change it after the players, who may not necessarily know the difference between games that are fun and those that improve skills, beg for their favorite game.

After coming to this realization with the help of these girls, I hope to be more supportive of coaches while I’m playing a sport, try to never complain, and, above all, take awe in every sports moment like my little team of “Pink Panthers” does.

SETTING RECORDS

Photo by Peyton Fulbright.

CMR students lift past the limits at state competition by drew brennan, staff writer Holding first in the state for shot-put and javelin isn’t the only news in junior Ashleigh Lehotsky’s life. Lehotsky recently participated in the power lifting state meet, where she blew away the competition with ease.

Of the girls at the meet, Lehotsky finished first place in bench press, squat, and dead lift. Lehotsky set records in bench press at 235 lbs and dead lift at 370 lbs, and her plans include setting the record for squat next year.

“I lift a lot,” she said. Lehotksy participates in weight lifting during school, and on the weekends she lifts with her father.

Dedication to the sport is a characteristic shared by senior Jacob Beirwagen.

Beirwagen was one of two CMR lifters in the 275lb weight class. Senior Casey Cleveland also competed.

Beirwagen finished in first place for the second year in a row, and it was the third year of his being in the top three.

Not only did Beirwagen finish in first place, but he finished his weekend by setting a state record with a 375-lb bench press.

Beirwagen began lifting his first year at CMR when he needed another class to satisfy a seven-class schedule.

“I wasn’t real excited about it until I really got into it,” he said.

Not long after beginning his weight training class, Coach Crawford asked Beirwagen to play football. He accepted.

Weight training isn’t the only time once can find him lifting. He worked out with Crawford regularly two to three times a week.

His training last year included the overspeed training program, designed mostly for speed and quickness. On top of that, Beirwagen lifted all summer with the football program in order to prepare for the 2012 season.

Beirwagen spent his first two seasons of lifting in the 242-lb weight class, and this year he was in an elite 275-lb class.

“The only real competition was a kid from Helena High,” he said.

There was a real difference in this year’s competition, though. Beirwagen said in years past he lifted with hard working lifting partners such as Tony Lewison and Hunter Thompson. This year Beirwagen lifted by himself for the most part.

The state weight lifting competition was a struggle for Beirwagen.

“I wasn’t feeling real good; I just wanted to go home,” he said.

Getting a little bit lighter and healthier is Beirwagen’s next goal. While he may quit lifting, he will still get his workout in at his father’s farm just outside of Loma.

Beirwagen didn’t take many words to sum up what he accomplished when it comes to lifting.

“Honestly, I just showed up and kicked butt.”

5.15.14 The Stampede

Rockin’ Rollers:

Coed roller derby team provides new experience for younger age groups

sports 23

Trying to expand her skating opportunities, Vani by elea roberts, staff writer It’s 10 in the morning, and never before has an started roller derby almost immediately after its 8-year-old seemed so intimidating. Roller derby conception. But because of the newness of the league, practice has started, the kids are still groggy and there Vani said there are some downsides to roller derby.

“I’m the only high schooler; it would be really nice is an assortment of helmets and protective gear strew about. The tiny 8-year-old, no more than four feet tall, to get some more,” Vani said.

Even though Vani is the oldest on the league, seemingly prances up to one of her coaches on her 11-year-old Paige Camphouse said that the challenges, skates.

“Why do we have to wear those?” she asks, referring such as facing older competitors, are what make roller derby so fun. to the padding that surrounds her “I think what’s really amazing hands and wrists.

“It’s not just that I want [about roller derby] is that it “That so when you fall you don’t break your fingers,” her coach says. them to skate well, I want pushes you every step of the way,” Camphouse said.

“Well, what if you do fall?” them to be confident After an exercise called the “Then you won’t be playing about themselves, to pyramid, which is composed of laps derby for a while.” and other simple exercises such as For Coach Janine Hieb this learn how to build crunches and pushups, Camphouse conversation is common within roller courage and confidence proudly proclaimed that nothing was derby, especially since she started within.” hard and everything was easy. For leading the Rockin’ Rollers, a coed her, it is about the competition when roller derby team for kids age 9-17 she gets the chance, but mostly the that meets every Saturday at 10. fun of the sport.

However, the violent nature is no “I skate in my basement because we don’t have deterrent for her.

“Football, soccer, all of that can be just as violent,” time to come to the rink,” Camphouse said. “I think it’s a really fun and competitive sport.”

Hieb said.

And for Hieb, this is exactly what she wants to hear Because of the intensity of the sport, it has been a long process to form the league. Each kid needed his from her skaters.

“It’s not just that I want them to skate well, I want or her own insurance in order to skate, as did the track they skate on--Hauer’s Roller Rink. In addition there them to be confident about themselves, to learn how to are not many other leagues within the surrounding build courage and confidence within.”

For more information call Janine Hieb at 899-8091. areas, so competition is almost nonexistent.

“There’s a couple other [younger] leagues but no coed,” Hieb said.

TOP: Garcia, along with other skaters, listen as the rules of For skaters such as Great Falls High School junior derby are explained. MIDDLE: Hieb demonstrates how to Olivia Vani, however, there are other ways around the do a hip whip with the help of one of the younger skaters.

BOTTOM: Camphouse practices her crunches during a lack of competition.

“I’ve been on the speed [skating] team now for triangle workout. Photos by Elea Roberts. three years,” Vani said.

Janine Hieb

You booze You cruise

You lose

Don’t drink and drive, and never drive impaired.

A message brought to you by the Cascade County DUI Task Force

24 club sports

Sports Club

The Stampede 5.15.14

soccer

baseball

swimming

Athletes condition, practice, gain skills for sports in off season via club by max roux, staff writer When the CMR soccer season ends in early November, athletes like senior Macoy McLaughlin know that it will only be a matter of months before they get to play alongside their former rivals.

McLaughlin is one of the two captains of a Great Falls Soccer Club team, which, unlike school soccer, takes place in the spring. The team is diverse; three of the athletes are from CMR, three from Great Falls High School, and one from Foothills Community Christian School.

“It’s a lot more intense. We play everyone in the state—and all of the small town teams,” McLaughlin said.

“It’s a good experience to play with so many schools.”

Club sports are unique in that they offer an experience for athletes not found in school sports. Clubs are composed of kids from every high school in Great Falls, giving public and private school students alike a new way in which to play the sports they love.

The Club Soccer season starts in February and extends to June, so the team experiences a diverse range of weather. The intense practicing and the teamwork needed creates a special bond among teammates.

“There’s a lot more involvement, [and] as the years go on the team narrows, and we get pretty close as a team,” McLaughlin said.

He is not the only Rustler who appreciates the opportunity to compete in club sports.

Sophomore Kate Heryla has been

swimming for eight years, and this is her second year in club.

“There’s a connection in club swimming, [and] a feeling of unity in club,” Heryla said.

“There’s a lot more of a family aspect in school swimming,” she added, but she still enjoys the individuality and the improvement of

swimming that club brings.

“High school swimming is very intense, [but] in club swimming all of the pressure is on yourself,” she said.

Heryla enjoys getting to see all of the younger kids in the program grow and develop into experienced swimmers.

“There is very few sports where

TOP DOMINANT: Sophomore Kate Heryla swims the butterfly during this swim season. BOTTOM RIGHT DOMINANT: Senior Brandon Mountain, catches during practice on May 13. BOTTOM RIGHT: The Chargers team practices together. This team is made up of mostly seniors students from various schools along with some younger talent. American Legion baseball players from CMR could not be reached. Photos by Tom Gruner. BOTTOM LEFT DOMINANT: In the midst of a club soccer scrimage, Dan Enseleit, a sophomore, tries to gain ground. BOTTOM LEFT: Junior Ben Evans practices his shooting during an afternoon practice. Photos by Max Roux

such a large group can feel like one family,” Heryla said.

Great Falls Swim Club Coach Marla Hauser is the captain of the Fast Swim Club, one of two swim clubs in Great Falls, the other being the Peak Waves.

Club swimming is an official part of USA Swimming, so the range of schools the club swims against is much broader. The swimming is competitive and has many meets outside Montana, she said.

“We’ve competed against kids who have gone to Olympic Trials,” Hauser said, adding that club swimming is focused on self-improvement.

“We have individual time standards instead of team standards,” she said. Because there are no duels in club it’s all about going on to the next level.

“Our swimmers are focused on qualifying,” Hauser said.

The two seasons that make up the swim year extend from September to March, and the Long Course begins in April and ends in August. “[In the long course] we have anywhere from 65-120 kids, and in the summer anywhere between 40-50 swimmers,” Hauser said.

Due to the nature of club swimming, only a certain number of athletes can qualify for meets such as state, and the age of swimmers is anywhere from 8-18 years old.

“There are over 300 swimmers that attend state,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun, [and] we encourage students to join [the] Fast and Swim Club, and we try and keep an open relationship.”