2015 February/March

Baseball pg.23

Robonauts pg.10

Military Ball pg.8

Construction for new CTE building to begin in April

By Lisa Nhan Managing Editor

In the upcoming months, Creek can expect to see construction that will improve the school. As of the last Bond Construction Update from February, the construction is expected to begin in May and hopefully completed by December 2016. Bartlett Cocke is in charge of construction and are expected to give the Guaranteed Maximum Price to the Board of Trustees to approve in April. Once the board approves this, construction can officially begin. The project budget, according to the district website, is $28,785,555. Mr. David Drake is acting as the campus coordinator throughout the construction. He is working to ensure that it, “impacts the campus as little as possible.”

“The current fine arts, CTE and sports facilities are very outdated, the ones we’re dealing with under this construction. Every student here deserves top-notch facilities,” Drake said.

With the new CTE building to include a dental wing and the choir room seeing a major rebuild, there are many new changes Creek can expect to see. The goals for the construction are as follows; replacing the now 59 year old CTE building, fine arts and locker rooms, adding a new gym for needed practice space, upgrading the auditorium with a new fly-loft, rigging and drapes, replacing the roofs to Carlisle Gym, the Field House and Spring Sports building. This is in addition to improving the site drainage, water quality, replacing the water line and boiler. The kitchen

will be improved with new food service equipment and fixes made to the AC/ heating system. The boy’s gym will also have their AC/heating systems fixed.

“Think about it, when you go to another school, where do you go? You go to an athletic event or you go to a performance.

The first impression you get of that campus,

the pool and CTE. The portable buildings have already been removed along with the relocation of the weight room equipment to the Carlisle mezzanine. Parking will also be reallocated across campus, and the construction access will be established.

For the current school year, Creek students and teachers can expect to see the

Photo courtesy of PBK

right or wrong, is what the kids look like and what the campus looks like. We all do that. To me, to have these facilities be top-notch and first class, it gives that impression to visitors and the community of what a top-notch and first class school Creek is,” Drake said. The construction is being separated into eight different phases throughout the next few years. The first phase includes moving ROTC, ISS and Life Skills to temporary locations, starting the Carlisle roof renovation, demolishing the football building and surrounding storage building along with the existing courtyard between

biggest changes in parking, but according to Mr. Drake, this will effect the teachers the most as the first thing Bartlett and Coke plan to do is fence off the faculty parking lot next to the student parking by the CTE classes.

When the fly-loft construction begins, for a couple days the parking behind Carlisle will have to be blocked off, as a crane will be coming in, however that is just temporary.

Any athletics or students who go out to Spring Sports or Carlisle will have to walk out through the tennis courts.

Creek is insuring the students’ safety throughout the construction process.

Anyone who walks on to the campus as part of the construction will be required to have a badge. These badges will have different colors according to where the construction worker is allowed to go.

“If the worker is going to be inside the fences with us, they will have to go through a background check. Basically the same progress as a teacher would go through, criminal history and drug tests,” Drake said.

The construction contracts for Clear Creek Intermediate School and East Agriculture Center had also been unanimously approved during the March 23 CCISD Board of Trustees meeting. The 2013 Bond is funding this construction.

It includes large repair work for the Intermediate school regarding the A/C heating system and electrical system, restrooms, and athletic facilities. This is in addition to fixing parts of the fire alarm system and sound system in the gyms.

Generocity Services was awarded with the construction contract for $2,005,000. The estimated time of completion isAugust 2015.

The East Agriculture Center’s design is based on the West Agriculture Center and will be modified to help accommodate needs and the increased enrollment in CCISD’s agricultural education programs.

It will be for students who attend Falls and Creek. It’s set to be completed by November 2015 and will be off Columbia Memorial Parkway on Delasandri Lane in League City.

For any more information regarding the construction, information can be found on the district website at www.ccisd.net

Men’s varsity basketball team has successful season

By Jasmine Garza Editor-in-Chief

Starting their season in November, the Creek men’s basketball team, led by second year head coach Wes Bryan, knew what they were getting themselves into. A long journey full of practices, pain and triumph.

After the opening game for the 20142015 season against Manvel, there was no doubt the men’s basketball team would go far. With an overall record of 33 wins and four loses and a bi-district championship with Lake with a record of 13 wins and one loss, their first goal was met.

“We discussed winning district as a key for post season success,” Coach Wes Bryan said.

Since 1969 the men’s varsity team has fallen short of the regional playoffs until this year, showing a great triumph.

Although the Wildcats fell short in a double overtime regional playoff game against long time rival Clear Lake, the amount of growth the players experienced as a person, teammate and Wildcat proved they made the school proud.

“Through all of the adversity as a team we faced, we did not seperate from each other but became family for life...that is why this

“We have some good players returning.

Three players that received all district nominations.We have a good nucleus of

Photo by Elena Rodriguez

team is so special,” Senior point guard, Karlin Humphrey said.

There is no question what the goal for next year is and whether or not the team will be able to accomplish that goal for the upcoming school year.

kids from a good JV team. We will try and compete for a district title (hopefully outright this time) but that is and should be the goal every year,” Bryan said, “Playoff success is next but we talk

everyday about living in the present and right now my real goal is just to have my returning players get better everyday individually and then when we come back in the fall it goes from “me” time to “us” time,” Bryan said.

The hard work and determination is truly noted by every supporter in the bleachers. With gaping mouths as the ball enters the basket at the sound of the buzzer, to the amount of repect given to the other teams, the amount accomplished during the season made dozens of students proud to be a Wildcat.

“The atmosphere of the basketball games was great. It was amazing to see all the students and staff coming to the games and showing their support for the school,” senior Malik VanBuren said.

What the team accomplished was a reminder to all, where hard work and a school united could get you.

“I truly believe that we have outworked some people,” Coach Bryan said. “It is a credit to our kids and my coaching staff for always being available. We have worked hard and we will continue to work hard.”

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Opinion What makes you proud to be a Wildcat?

: s r io

All the differen t and exciting activit ies that we do here and how much everyone supports our schoo l is fantastic!

–Ardenelle Lem on

To be able to make it through four years of high school and not lose myself and what I represented, but evolve as a person for the better is pretty awesome. I am a Wildcat for that. –Emiaj Johnson

n e S

be a Wildcat, I am proud to . not a Falcon because I am –Dan Melko

I get to scream, “What team?” any tim e I want, and I’ll always get the response of, “W ildcats!” and I love that. –Kaitlyn Gothreaux

Juniors: The fact that everyone has so much love and spirit for Creek makes me love being a Wildcat.

–Claire Williamson

Sophomores: During football season, Wildcats are incredibly faithful to our team! We have faithful spirit. –Taylor Derrington

e Getting some of th e best education in th r fo district to prepare my future.

-Shamus Brandon

filled with g ood teachers actually care who about studen ts .

–Diamond S mith

I like how welcoming the people are and how many programs thereare. –Courtney D’Agostaro

I like how encouraging the teachers are about our future education and lives, and how to be successful.

–Erin McTaggart

mmodities We have several co ent then the that make us differ our engineerother schools like id Johnston ing program. –Dav

We have the loudest and liveliest student section.

–Breanna Beckett

The a ma this s zing peopl c things hool and e that go t the o that o ur aca amazing have accom demic team s –Soph plished. ia Lea l

2014-2015

Our school is

Freshmen:

create a To be able to t will alyearbook tha es to last low memori forever. ulson –Cassidy Pa

I like that there are a variety of clas ses for us to take to help us discover what we want to do with our liv es.

–Barbara Broca rd

My favorite th ing about being a Wildcat is seei ng how awesom e our student sect ion is at games , and thinking, “W ow, I love my school.” –Alex andra Lee

HiLife Staff

Principal:

Advisor:

Editor-in-Chief:

Managing Editors:

Design Editor:

Features Editor:

Teen Interest Editor:

Sports Editors:

Around Creek Editor:

Advertising Manager:

Photo Editor:

Online Editors:

Reporters: Madison Daugherty Alyssa Lobue Mariya Vashchenko Tiffany Wade Madeline Williams

Jamey Majewski Wynette Jameson Jasmine Garza Lisa Nhan Jessica Sieling Audree Hall Jenan Taha Emily Berthiaume Troylon Griffin II Vidal Maldonado Emily Ruthven Audree Hall Elena Rodriguez Monica Jackson Sydney Matthews Evelyn Salinas Photographers: Jenna Parsons Hannah Pearson Evelyn Salinas Leo Solis Kelsie Sullivan Issac Villarreal

Published at Mirror Publishers in Texas City Visit us at: http://clearcreekhighschool.ihigh.com or www.creekhilife.com For ad rates call: (281)284-1889 Fax: (281)316-0587

Editorial

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Jasmine’s Journal: Stress of an AP exam

By Jasmine Garza Editor-in-Chief Freshmen are finally getting into the high school routine, sophomores are getting excited to become upper classmen, juniors are ready to take over the school and seniors are trying not to become taken over with the dreaded senioritis that seemed to hit me my sophomore year. With the school year coming to an end with the last nine weeks, the stress of it all can become overwhelming.

Final exams, required classes and AP exams are scheduled to make sure you are as prepared for the future as you can be.

The stress that comes along with school seems to be overlooked by some parents and teachers. Your parents tell you to try your best but question any grade lower

than an A, every teacher seems to assign homework on the same days and then you are left with a decision to make. A triangle with three options: homework, sleep and social life, where you can only choose two.

How you make that decision describes how productive your next day is going to be. If you choose homework and sleep, you miss out on your social time. If you choose homework and social life you sacrifice your sleep, and if you choose sleep and social life your whole life career becomes uncertain.

Finding the balance is the key.

A l t h o u g h deciding how you want to spend your free time and how much time you should spend studying is a major factor of your high school career, deciding what classes you should take is also setting out the path for you. Pre-AP, AP, dual credit, regular, language, electives; all the choices seem to blend together until May. The time where AP Exams are ordered and late night study sessions are full of coffee and sweets.

AP and dual credit classes are an important part of our school system and

an incredible opportunity to obtain college hours before you graduate. Although the advanced classes can seem rigorous and time consuming, depending on the score you receive and the college you are planning on attending, you can enter college

their first year of college completed.

Preparing for these tests take time.

You have to decide how much you already know, how much you need to know and how much time you are going to spend learning more. After you know where you stand with material you have to mentally prepare yourself for what could be multiple tests on multiple days with little time to lose.

Last but not least you need to walk confidentally into the testing area and not doubt the information you know.

In the end it is all worth it. You finish your work, you take your test and suddenly it feels as if 100 tons have been taken off your shoulders and all those times you thought about giving up, became worth it to stay.

Although the end of the year can seem the most challenging, it is also one of the most liberating times.

You are suddenly so close to finishing the year, yet there are still so many days left until you can say you did it. About two months are left where you are trying to squeeze in the most memories attending sporting games, prom , hanging out with some of your friends you may never see again. Then finally comes the walk across the stage at graduation with your head held high.

“There’s a lot of stress out there, and to handle it, you just need to believe in yourself; always go back to the person that you know you are, and don’t let anybody tell you any different, because everyone’s special and everyone’s awesome.”

McKayla Maroney with the hours you have accumulated through the different tests you have taken.

Despite the long nights and homework that comes along with being in advanced classes, the outcome is something to look forward to. With over 35 AP exams to choose from and dual credit, some students walk out of high school with

Jessica’s Jumbles:How to survive prom

By Jessica Sieling Managing Editor As the sunburns left from Spring Break slowly fade away, the reality of a rather big, and quickly approaching, milestone has finally hit me: Prom. Despite my almost desperate need for Graduation Day to arrive, I’ll be the first to admit how excited I am for prom. Thinking about it, it’s probably the last major thing that I’m going to remember about my high school career.

For most high school students, prom is an important part of growing up. Prom is predominately celebrated around the United States. However, it is also becoming increasingly more popular in Canada and around the United Kingdom, and it is spreading rapidly around the world due to the influence of American

teen movies that celebrate the occasion.

But the formal dance means something different to everyone. Some people might see it as just another cliché, lame dance, but others think of it as an important part of what high school is about.

For me, prom has always been something to look forward to. It marks our last time to have fun with all the people we grew up with before everyone leaves for the summer and doesn’t come back. It’s the end of the end, and proof of how far we’ve made it.

But with all of the glory that comes with prom also comes the expense. Just buying a dress can be expensive, but then adding the cost of shoes, trips to the hair and nail salon, transportation, food, a beach house if you opt for that and more can be kind of overwhelming. Just thinking about all of the things I have to get done in the next few weeks is enough to drive someone insane. So below I have a checklist of all the things needed to have the perfect prom.

• The Dress: Finding the perfect dress can be hard, but the most important thing to remember is to wear what you’re comfortable in. You can wear the most beautiful dress in the world, but if you don’t feel good, it’s going to show.

It doesn’t have to be the most expensive dress, either. If you find a dress you love, don’t worry about it being too simple or

not big enough. All that matters is that you love it and that you feel comfortable in.

• The Shoes: Finding shoes may seem like a second thought compared to the

but remember that there is nothing flattering about wearing heels that you can’t walk in.

• The Date: The “promposals” have begun, and people have already started asking each other to the dance. But going with the right date can make or break your night.

Make sure you’re going to have fun with the person you decide on. You don’t want to look back at your high school prom and only remember the drama. Even though having a date may seem super important, it is always okay to grab a group of good friends and have fun that way. Just try to enjoy the night as much as possible.

• The After-Prom: Whether you decide to go to a beach house or you just have some friend over at home, the weekend after prom is just as important as the actual dance. Having fun is the main goal, but staying safe is also important. Whatever you decide to do, make sure that you’re not acting dumb or doing something that might hurt you later on.

Prom is exciting, and the fact that we are so close to it makes it even more thrilling. It is basically the last time that we have together to look nice before everyone is dressed up in cap and gowns when we graduate. I hope that everyone has a wonderful prom that we can look back on and enjoy, and I can’t wait to see everyone dressed up and looking nice!

“Prom has all the elements of a popular story.

It reeks of all-Americanness, tension, drama.

It has romance. Pretty dresses. Dancing.

Limos. High school.

Coming of age.”

- Adora Svitak dress, but they are just as important in the long run. Think about it, the shoes you wear on prom night have to last through pictures, dinner and the actual dance. Wearing gorgeous stiletto shoes is fun sometimes

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News

Three Muslims murdered in Chapel Hill shooting

By Jenan Taha Features & Arts Editor

After the Chapel Hill tragedy in North Carolina which many have recognized as a possible hate crime, social media exploded in an outpour of sympathy for the three young Muslim victims—North Carolina University students Deah Barakat, his wife Yusor Abu-Salha, and her sister Razan Abu-Salha, who were shot in their condo on the evening of February 10 by their neighbor, Craig Stephen Hicks. A vigil was held to honor the slain students the next day.

Social media users protested the small-scale news coverage of the attack, which was initially limited to the Chapel Hill area, and argued that the attack was just as important as other shootings and should be given the same coverage. Thousands have identified the attack as a hate crime due to the perpetrator’s “anti-theist” beliefs, according to his Facebook page, which condemns various religions, including Islam, as the cause of violence and encourages a secular society.

However, police are still investigating the motives of the attack, which was apparently provoked by an ongoing dispute over the condo parking lot. Hicks had been complaining about it to neighborhood officials for several months.

Some neighbors complained that Hicks said. “And then we found the police there. had threatened them by carrying and flaunt- We pretty much knew nobody survived.”

Several neighbors heard the gunshots ing a gun, and Yusor admitted to her father, Mohammad Abu-Salha, that her neighbor and screams from the condo, and after frightened her. He recalls his daughter say- learning the identity of the victims, told ing, “Daddy, I think he hates us for who we investigators that ever since Yusor moved to the neighare and how borhood with we look.” her husband, Several Hicks betimes Hicks came more complained agitated and to the three complained students that more often they were about varitoo loud and ous issues. even carAlthough ried a rifle Abu-Salha during one father becomplaint. lieves it was When a hate crime Yu s o r ’s fueled by his father redaughters’ received the police call, Dr. Mohammad Abu-Salha, center, leads mourners in prayer over the ligion, Hicks’ caskets of his daughters Yusor Abu-Salha, 21,and Razan Abu-Salha, 19, he felt he al- and Yusor’s husband Deah Barakat, 23, during a funeral service at the wife, soon to ready knew Method Road Soccer Complex on Feb. 12, 2015 on N.C. State’s campus be ex, claims what had in Raleigh, N.C. Officials say that 5,500 people attend the event for the 3 this is not so. happened. young Muslims who were shot and killed in Chapel Hill on Tuesday night.

“I can (Corey Lewenstein/News & Observer/TNS) “ S o , say with my we just absolute bedrove there knowing what we [were] lief that this incident had nothing to do with about to face,” Mohammad Abu-Salha religion or victims’ faith,” Karen Hicks said.

Whatever the motive, the crime is no less tragic. Barakat and his wife were both aspiring dentists, and Razan was studying a degree in architecture. The couple had been married just six months before the attack.

Barakat was planning a trip to Turkey with several other dentistry students to provide dental care to Syrian refugees, and had also spent much of his time giving out free dental supplies to the homeless. Yusor and Razan were also ardent humanitarians and hard-working students.

Chapel Hill Mayor Mark Kleinschmidt spoke to the town about the shooting and honored the victims.

“It was a senseless and tragic act surrounding a longstanding dispute,” Kleinschmidt said. “We do not know whether anti-Muslim bias played a role in this crime, but I do recognize the fear that members of our community may feel. Chapel Hill is a place for everyone, a place where Muslim lives matter.”

Thousands of university students and supporters attended the traditional Muslim funeral held for the three victims near Raleigh. Fundraisers and charity drives have been created by various school organizations along the east coast to honor the teens’ legacy and continue the kind work that was cut short by tragedy.

Water tests positive for deadly bacteria in Louisiana

By Tiffany Wade Reporter

A bacterium called Burkholderia Pseudomallei was discovered to have been released around November of last year and can now be found all throughout Southeast Asia and northern Australia. It is highly deadly and was found within the water and soil of the highsecurity lab at the Tulane National Primate Research Center, in Louisiana.

The first sign of the bacteria was when it was discovered that two macaques among 4,000 animals in a huge outdoor breeding area were sick. Macaques are monkey-like animals, which were used in this experiment and kept in indoor cages in a separate part of the facility itself. Originally, it was not a main concern, however one of the macaques became so ill that it had to be euthanized. The other macaques had to be euthanized later on.

“Animals get sick all the time, just like people do,” the primate center director, Andrew Lackner said.

Once it was confirmed that the macaques were infected with Burkholdeiria Pseudomallei, the strain was recovered from a rice farmer sick in Thailand in 1993, according to the Center for Disease Control. It was easy for rice farm-

ers to receive the bacteria as it lived in contaminated soil and water and can enter through cut or sores on the skin.

All research was put on hold as it was considered a significant threat, until December of 2013 when the facility was claimed to have not been a threat and has had no previous issues regarding contamination.

TheHomeland Security Agency investigated the area and a day after a select agent received an illness similar to symptoms to that of melioidosis and was hospitalized.

After taking blood tests, she was proven to have had Burkholderia Pseudomallei in her blood. She has since recovered.

Countries considered using the bacteria as a bioweapon because of how strains could come from the environment and be engineered to become resistant to antibiotics.

In Thailand, the fatality rate is up to 50 percent, while in Australia it is up to 20 percent.

About 176 cases were confirmed in Australia’s north Queensland during 2000-2009.

The research was intended to develop a vaccine against the bacteria and was in a biosafety laboratory with safety equipment used to make sure the pathogen would not get out. The bacteria should have only been in the lab that was performing to research.

It was being done in a contained lab under negative air pressure and any air that leaves the chamber passes through multiple filters

before escaping the building. Contaminated gear also has no way to leave without being sterilized. All access to the lab is to be denied unless a proximity card is shown.

“Human error is always the first explanation you should consider for a laboratory accident. The easiest way to transfer something from one place where it’s supposed to be, to another where it isn’t supposed to be is by a worker moving from one place to the other,” Rutgers microbiologist and biosafety expert, Richard Ebright said.

The tests of 39 soil and 13 samples from the grounds have not shown any sign of the bacteria being within the ground. However it was not enough to test whether or not the bacteria has infected the soil or water.

The cages are 100 by 200 feet and in order to detect the bacteria, over 100 samples would need to be taken. The officials said they lack the locations and the numbers of samples were overseen.

The EPA provided Tulane with options to decontaminate contaminated the soil. Thirteen samples were taken in wetlands, ditches and in the sewage, as well as air sampling even though the bacteria is not transmitted through the air. The macaques were sampled but the bacteria was not detected from those samples.

As of now, Tulane will not remove soil or fumigate the area, however they are focused on the testing of the animals as nothing else has proven to be covered in the bacteria.

News

5

Bodies of 33 workers recovered after mine explosion

By Emily Ruthven Around Creek Editor It was a regular March day in a Zasyadko Ukraine mine when an explosion killed a miner, but mysteriously left 32 workers missing.

“I have updated information that the fate of 32 miners remains unknown. They are being searched for. The death of one person has been confirmed,” speaker of Parliament, Volodymyr Groysman said.

It is known that before the time of the explosion, a total of 23 working miners were in the mining shaft and now 200 of those people have been accounted for.

According to Groysman, there is a rescue teams searching for the rest of the 32 miners.

Later, a spokesman from the Ministry of Emergency Situations in the Donetsk People’s Republic updated the information by informing local reporters that one person had been found dead and fourteen miners has been discovered injured.

According to Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk at a Cabinet meeting, pro-Russian separatists are preventing rescue teams from searching the site of the explosion for the missing miners. Yatsenyuk has urged the separatists to give the rescue teams access to the site of the explosion.

“You took millions of Ukrainians in Donetsk and Luhansk hostage and are now brutalizing miners’ families by not letting in help,” Yatsenyuk to the

separatists said. The president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, also requested that the search teams be allowed into the mine.

Although the Russian rebels will not allow passage into the explosion site, they did tell reporters that 23 miners had

total of nine bodies already discovered.

Moments after the first report of the explosion, family members, friends and loved ones rushed to the scene to confirm that their relatives were safe and had survived the blast. Alexei

A relative of a miner mourns at the Zasyadko coal mine in Donetsk, Ukraine, on Wednesday, March 4, 2015, following an explosion that killed 32 workers. (Valery Sharifulin/TASS/Zuma Press/TNS)

been confirmed dead. However, about a day later, the Ukraine-controlled Donetsk regional administration corrected this information by saying that 33 people had been declared dead and there had been a

Novoselsky, a sister of one of the miners, was one of the nervous relatives, waiting at the entrance of the mine, in tears.

“Tell me, are there survivors? Why are you concealing the truth?”Novoselsky

asked a passing rescue team member.

This was the most recent mining disaster out of many. On November 18, 2007, a methane explosion happened in the same Zasyadko Mine in Donetsk. The explosion reportedly killed 101 miners. Another methane explosion occurred at the Barajiva Mine in the Luhansk region of Ukraine on March 11, 2000. It was reported to have killed 80 people.

“If they didn’t get them out straight away, then later they will only retrieve bodies. An explosion is a terrible thing. I’ve been down in the pit for 23 years, and this is the fourth explosion that I can recall,” a welder at the mine named Oleg said.

In the region of coalmines in the area of Donbas, the Zasyadko mine is of the newest, beginning operations in 1958. It is now said to be owned be partially owned

by Yukhym Zvyakisky, who is a local leader who once an acting prime minister of Ukraine.

The mine is reportedly one of the most dangerous, so it makes sense that an explosion occurred.

It is extremely deep and is said to have dangerously high levels of toxic methane. Despite the danger aspect of the mine, it is one of the biggest coal producing mines in Ukraine.

Unfortunately, due to Ukraine’s current war in the east, it has been difficult for the country to carry out it’s rescue procedures as it normally would.

This is due to the loss of materials and overall infrastructure instability.

Journalist released from Cairo prison after 400 days

By Jenan Taha Features & Arts Editor After being detained for 400 days, Al Jazeera foreign correspondent Peter Greste was released from a Cairo prison with the approval of Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi. Greste, along with his colleagues Mohammed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed, were detained during protests in December 2013; Fahmy and Mohamed remain in prison.

According to Cairo law, foreigners who are detained in prison may be deported with the approval of the president. Greste applied for deportation and was eventually permitted.

“There was a mix of emotion boiling inside,” Greste said. “Sense of relief and excitement, but a stress of having to say goodbye to my colleagues.”

He was reunited with his family and is now living with his brother in Cyprus, and will return to Australia at a later date.

The three were detained on December 29, 2013, during a police raid in Cairo.

After a military coup, which ousted president Mohammed Morsi, Egyptian police cracked down on protesters against the coup, who mainly consisted of members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a group banned by law from Egypt. The three journalists, who were covering the protests for Al Jazeera, were arrested and charged with “aiding terrorists” and being a part of the Muslim Brotherhood.

In June 2014, the journalists’ trial took place; Greste and Fahmy were sentenced

to seven years in prison, and Baher to 10.

After the creation of the foreign deportation law in November 2014, the men were granted a retrial, and Greste was soon released.

citizenship in order to be released.

“We will not rest until Baher and Mohamed also regain their freedom,” a representative of Al Jazeera Network said. “The Egyptian authorities have it

Cameraman Baher Mohamed, left, and Mohamed Fadel Fahmy, the Cairo bureau chief for al Jazeera English, look at reporters sitting behind them Monday, March 31, 2014, as Judge Mohamed Nagy listens to the defendants’ complaints about the conditions they are being held in. Three Al Jazeera journalists, including Australian Peter Greste (not pictured) are standing trial on terror charges. (Amina Ismail/MCT)

However, Fahmy has not yet received approval from the president, and Mohamed is unable to apply because he is an Egyptian citizen. According to some reports, Fahmy, who is a dual citizen of Canada and Egypt, may have to renounce his Egyptian

in their power to finish this properly… and that is exactly what they must do.”

Greste and his family also advocate for the prompt release of Fahmy and Mohamed.

“I feel incredible angst about my colleagues, leaving them behind,”

Greste said. “Amidst all this relief, I still feel a sense of concern and worry.

If it’s appropriate for me to be free, it’s right for all of them to be freed.”

After his return, Greste revealed the struggle of living in an Egyptian prison for over a year.

“I made a very conscious effort to… try and keep fit, running in a very limited space, to keep up an exercise program, to keep mentally fit with study and spiritually fit too with meditation,” Greste said.

When he was told that his deportation appeal had been approved, Greste was astonished, and felt bittersweet about leaving the prison, as well as his friends, behind.

“It was a really difficult moment walking out and leaving the prison, saying goodbye to those guys, not knowing how much longer they will have to put up with this,” Greste said.

“I’ve got to know and accept Baher and Mohamed as family; they’re my brothers.”

Greste expressed his anguish for the two extraordinary men he was forced to leave behind.

“Mohamed Fahmy is an extraordinary professional, a dedicated journalist, very passionate and a strong-willed character,” Greste said. “Baher is one of the most amazing family men I’ve ever met. If anyone’s suffered out of all of this, it is Baher; he has a wife, and one of his children was born while he was in prison.”

As of now, a retrial has been granted to Fahmy and Mohamed, though it is unclear when the trial will take place.

6

News

Texas judge blocks launch of immigration program

By Jenan Taha Feature & Arts Editor

“Judge Hanen’s decision rightly stops the President’s overreach in its tracks,” Texas Governor Greg Abbott said.

enacted the program too quickly, without giving the opposition time to review it.

However, supporters of the program

have made clear that the federal government can set priorities in enforcing our immigration laws-which is exactly what the Following President Obama’s President did when he announced immigration reform policy of Nocommonsense policies to help fix vember 2014, Texas Federal Judge our broken immigration system,” Andrew Hanen issued an injuncWhite House Press Secretary Josh tion on February 16 to temporarily Earnest said. “The district court’s block the new immigration prodecision wrongly prevents these gram from launching, hindering lawful, commonsense policies roughly 5 million illegal residents from taking effect and the Defrom working legally in the U.S. partment of Justice has indicated The lawsuit was supported by that it will appeal that decision.”

25 other states, which attempted to The injunction ruling came sue the executive branch for its acjust two days before the program tions. The program, Deferred Acwas to begin. Residents who were tion for Parental Accountability eligible must now wait for a sec(DAPA), is a revised version of the ond ruling from a higher court 2012 Deferred Action for Childto decide their fate. hood Arrivals (DACA), and allows The White House is dethe illegal parents of legal residents termined to appeal to the Suto avoid deportation and work lepreme Court and continue its gally. President Obama extended original plans for the program. the immigration policy after Con“The Department of Homegress failed to create an appropriate land Security will continue with From left, Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick talk about President immigration reform bill. Although it was Obama’s immigration executive order at a news conference at the Capitol on Wednesday Feb. 18, 2015 in Austin, Texas. the planning because we want to (Jay Janner/Austin American-Stateman/TNS) within the President’s executive power make sure that as soon as these leto do so, many republicans and supportgal issues get resolved — which I aners of the injunction disagree, claiming Judge Hanen stated that the reason have validated that the president’s ac- ticipate they will, in our favor — that we that Obama exceeded his legal power and for his decision was that the president did tions were within lawful boundaries. are ready to go,” President Obama said. acted unilaterally and unconstitutionally. not “follow proper legal procedures,” and “The Supreme Court and Congress

United Nations celebrates Women’s History Month

By Alyssa Lobue Reporter March 1 marked the beginning of Women’s History Month. It was made to highlight the contributions of women from history to present day. Although the acknowledgement of Women’s History used to be a week, it now ends Tuesday, March 31. The world also has an official International Women’s Day, listed as March 8. Although the first International Women’s Day was in 1911, it became recognized as a United States holiday around 1987.

The theme for the 2015 Women’s History Month has been named Weaving The Stories Of Women’s Lives. According

to NWHP.com, this theme presents the opportunity to weave women’s storiesindividually and collectively- into the essential fabric of our nation’s history.

“The story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor to any one organization but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights,” Gloria Steinem, American feminist, writer and social as well as political activist said.

International Women’s Day also has an official 2015 theme titled, Make It Happen. This theme encourages action for advancing and recognizing women.

“When I started working on women’s history around 30 years ago, the field did not exist. People did not think women

had a history worth knowing,” Gerda Lerner, author of Women and History said.

The first women’s rights convention was held July 19,1848 in Seneca Falls, New York and was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton as well as Lucretia Mott. In 1908 Great Britain chose purple, white and green as the official Women’s History Month colors.

These colors chosen represent dignity, fairmindedness and plight of the Suffragettes.

Seneca Falls has also been named home of The National Women’s Hall Of Fame, which was founded in 1969. The Women’s National Historic Park also resides in Seneca Falls.

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples,” Mother Teresa said.

On International Women’s Day, March 8, the United Nations released a statement acknowledging the strides made by women for education, politics, and employment. It also called for an end of violence against women and recognized the amount of progress still needed to advance worldwide women’s rights.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon admitted that the world had seen necessary advancements for gender equality over the past twenty years due to women’s political participation has raised, maternal mortality has lowered, and the gender gap for basic

education has been permanently closed.

“To be fully transformative, the post 2015 development agenda must prioritize gender equality and women’s empowerment. The world will never realize one-hundred percent of the goals because of fifty percent of the people cannot realize their full potential,” Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon said.

Another movement made by The United Nations for International Women’s Day was a live video segment broadcasted on multiple social media platforms by UN Goodwill Ambassador Emma Watson. This is the first campaign of its kind at the UN: we want to try and galvanize as many men and boys as possible to be advocates for gender equality. We don’t just want to talk about it, but make sure it is tangible. I was appointed six months ago and the more I have spoken about feminism the more I have realized that fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating. If there is one thing I know for certain, it is that this has to stop.

For the record, feminism by definition is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. It is the theory of the political, economic and social equality of the sexes,” Watson said.

News

7

Selma March reflects sacrifices made 50 years ago

By Tiffany Wade Reporter

The Edmund Pettus Bridge of Selma, Alabama was completely crowded in people reflecting upon the sacrifices that were made on that very same bridge 50 years ago, on March 8, 2015. This day which was known as Bloody Sunday was the day African American freedom-marchers nonviolently protested as they were clubbed and tear-gassed, in order to achieve freedom and voting rights.

A massive crowd of 15,000 to 20,000 people, 50 years later, walked shoulder to shoulder near the bridge as they sang the song We Shall Overcome. President Barack Obama also joined this walk to support his friends as well as the voting rights that were granted to African Americans to further bring the people of the United States together one step at a time.

“They’re going to take this struggle on and we have to understand the price that was paid for them to have what they have now. It wasn’t granted to them, it was earned by blood, sweat, and tears,” 69-year-old, William Baldwin said. He was a part of the struggle for

freedom and brought his grandsons to the bridge to understand the importance of the history that Baldwin was a part of.

At a nearby church, President Obama

is still very much alive today. He highlighted the fact that it was not simply just for the right to vote for African Americans, but the right to vote for all Americans. While

People raise their arms as they march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Sunday, March 8, 2015, in Selma, Ala. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

spoke the day before the march to speak on the racial progress and how discrimination

the march was nice, Obama said that it is only just the beginning of commemorating

what happened in Selma. He said that what they do will reverberate throughout the ages because they proved that nonviolent change is possible. These marchers are considered as our heroes and more because they led a nation.

On Bloody Sunday, about 600 people were going to march 50 miles to Montgomery before they were forced to stop.

In 1965, President Johnson called on Congress to restore the Voting Rights Act in response to the march. In 2013, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a provision of the law, which required certain states with a history of racial discrimination at the polls to clear changes to the law with the federal government before implementing them. Any further provisions that need to be made of the act have been stalled in Congress, however president Obama wants to change that.

“We must use this moment to recommit ourselves to do all we can to finish this work. There’s still work to be done to redeem the soul of America,” a member of Congress who took part in the event 50 years ago, John Lewis said. Lewis also agrees with President Obama that there is more that needs to be done to end racial discrimination.

Federal agents raid more than 20 “maternity hotels”

By Emily Berthiaume Teen Interest Editor Federal agents raided more than twenty “maternity hotels”, places where foreign women give birth in order to have a U.S-citizen baby, in Southern California on March 3. Most of the “hotels” were located in apartment complexes in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Orange counties where authorities think the businesses housed foreign women about to give birth, according to federal officials.

Most of the women utilizing the maternity services are from China and have paid anywhere from $15,000 to $50,000 for lodging, transportation and food, according to a statement by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

While that price may not cover health care, mother can pay extra for packages including trips to Disneyland and shopping malls.

“Based on the results of the investigations to date, it appears the women pay cash for prenatal visits and the actual delivery,” U.S. authorities said. “As part of the package, clients were promised they would receive Social

Security numbers and U.S. passports for their infants, which the mothers would take with them when they left the U.S.” There is a lure for Chinese women to give birth in America because the Constitution grants American citizenship to anyone born on U.S. soil. The trend also appears to be growing because in 2012 about 10,000 Chinese women gave birth in America, which is more than double the amount in 2008, according to Chinese state media.

AnAmerican child, through their foreign passport, could be a family’s ticket out of China if they want to leave pollution and food safety scares. President Xi Jinping’s anti-corruption campaign has given rich Chinese more reason to be on edge.

“If things become economically or politically uncertain in one’s country of origin, the children have a place to come to,” Leti Volpp, a law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said.

Over the last few years, almost two-thirds of Chinese with more than 10 million yuan, $1.6 million, in the bank have emigrated or are planning to, according to a Hurun report.

Authorities believe that crimes

committed at these “hotels” could include bringing in and harboring undocumented visitors, conspiracy, fraud, misuse of visas and permits, tax evasion, false tax returns, and willful failure to file report of foreign bank and financial reports, court papers said.

“Any women encountered at the search locations will be interviewed and those identified as potential material witnesses will be directed when and where to report for further questioning,” authorities said Tuesday.

Eric Blair, a Homeland Security Investigation agent, alleged that birthing

houses advise foreign national clients to fly through Hawaii or Las Vegas and not directly to Los Angeles because of the heightened security measure by U.S. Customs and Border Protection there.

Xiaoyan Zhang, a Chinese woman who utilized a “maternity hospital” service called You Win USA in Irvine, California, paid $38,000 for a stay at a luxury apartment and U.S. Citizenship for her baby. You Win USA was one of the businesses raided on March 3.

8 Around Creek

JROTC celebrates achievements at Military Ball

By Alyssa Lobue Reporter

Clear Creek Independent School District’s 46th annual ball was on Saturday, February 28, 2015. It was located at The Moody Gardens Expo Hall.

Originally the ball was supposed to be at The Moody Garden’s Convention Center, but there was a last minute change due to the vast amounts of tickets sold from all five high schools. Dress Code was determined as evening dresses\gowns for female guests as well as female cadets.

The official ball started at 5:00 when all guests and cadets made an entrance and were greeted by the CCHS JROTC receiving line. The receiving line consisted of Cadet Captain Emily McCann, The Military Science District Director, LTC (Ret) Wendell Harris and his wife Ella Harris, Clear Creek High School’s principal Mr. Jamey Majewsky, Clear View High School’s principal Mr. Michael Houston, the CCISD Brigade Commander, Cadet Colonel Garrett Von Seggern and his date Miss Hayley Snider. Following the receiving line, the guests and cadets would be seated at their tables where then the toasts began.

Offering toasts to certain people or

their organizations has always been a long-standing tradition of the military.

The 12 toasts made were made by previously selected cadets and specific responses were determined beforehand.

well as the Miss JROTC’s and all the ladies.

All of the Cadets then stood and recited the JROTC Cadet Creed.

“I am an Army Junior ROTC Cadet.

I will always conduct myself to bring

Photo taken by Kelsie Sullivan

Toasts were made to United States of America, Commander in Chief, Secretary of Defense, Secretary of the Army, Commander, Cadet Command, Commander, 5th Brigade, Superintendent, Board, Principles & Faculty of CCISD, District Director, SAI’s & Instructors as

credit to my family, country, school, and the Corps of Cadets. I am loyal and patriotic. I am the future of the United States of America. I do not lie, cheat or steal and will always be accountable for my actions and deeds. I will always practice good citizenship and patriotism.

I will work hard to improve my mind and strengthen my body. I will seek the mantle of leadership and stand prepared to uphold the Constitution and the American way of life. May god grant me the strength to always live by this Creed.”

The toasts led up to a guest speech by Colonel Ricardo Morales, the Brigade Commander at 5th Brigade as well as US Army Cadet Command. COL Rich Morales has received awards such as the Bronze Star Medal (3 OLC), the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Army Commendation Medal, the United Nations Medal, as well as the Combat Action; Parachutist, Air Assault and Presidential Service badges.

Afterwards the guests and cadets were served three courses and then the Miss JROTC pageant was conducted. From Clear Creek, Miss Rachel Swisher represented Alpha Company, Miss Maddie Rice represented Bravo Company and won, and Miss Brianna Deatherage represented Charlie Company. The reiging Miss JROTC, Emily McCann, also made an appearance. The Clear Creek JROTC princesses were Miss Morgan Clark, Miss Jessica Whittle, Miss Elsa Miranda, and Miss Caitlyn Turnpaugh.

Around Creek 9

Alec Miranda signed into Crossmen drum corps

By Emily Ruthven Around Creek Editor The students who are apart of the Wildcat Marching Band perform under the Friday night lights, providing music and entertainment for the crowd.

For many band members, football season is the highlight of band.

However, just like anything, marching season comes to a close in the first few days of November.

Each year at the beginning of August, Clear Creek’s band students hit the hot pavement to learn drill, choreography and music. Around the same time of year, the band hosts an annual DCI night, in which the band directors show the band members a series of award winning marching shows from previous DCI championships.

Yet this year, junior French horn, Alec Miranda, will continue to march with the extremely successful Crossmen Drum and Bugle Corps, which is a member of the Drum Corps International. Former member of the Clear Creek High School marching band, Alex Wahl, has also been signed to Carolina Crown.

It is no wonder that Miranda was signed, considering his musical talent, as he is a member of the Wind Ensemble and has advanced to Region band several times. Some of the other well known world

class dmm corps include Blue Devils, Blue Coats, Boston Crusaders, Carolina Crown, Phantom Regiment, The Cavaliers, The Cadets, and the Blue Knights. Based in San Antonio, Texas, the Crossmen drum

Championships World Class Finals the Crossmen ranked twelfih with an over all score of 86.225 out of 100 with their show titled Alma Gitiana- A Gypsy Soul.

Recent years’ shows include Protest, FRA

Photo Courtesy of Alec Miranda

corps performed their first show in 1975 and since then has been a Drum Corps International World Championship, or DCI, finalist more than 20 times.

At the 2014 the DCI World

GILE, Renewal, Full Circle, Forbidden, PlanetX, Metamorphosis, Changing Lanes, Crossroads, E Pluribus Unum, and Colors Unlike high school marching band, dnrm corps begin practicing several months before

most high school do in August. In fact, most world-class drum corps never really stop practicing. After the DCI season ends in mid November, corps begin practicing for next year’s show only a few weeks later.

This is also true for the Crossmen corps. Corps do this in order to remain at the top of their musical and performance standards year round. The audition for Crossmen is a tedious one.

Candidates must have incredible endurance both physically and mentally. They are expected to be extremely musically capable, as well as strong and fit in order to perform at the level that the Crossmen do. According to the Crossmen website, their consistent mission is, “ Family, honesty, perseverance, dedication, interdependence and excellence are taught and practiced by each and every member of Crossmen. We are committed to teaching our members the life skills they need to succeed.”

Miranda is not the only member of the Wildcat family to advance into the world of DCI. Former Wildcat and French horn, Alex Wahl was recently signed into the extremely popular and successful drum corps, Carolina Crown. Founded in 1988, Carolina Crown is one of the best drum corps in the nation and has advanced well into the Drum Corps International World Championships many times.

Improv show gives laughs with unexpected moves

By Mariya Vashchenko Reporter

It started with a powerful wave of positive energy, and it finished with uncontrollable laughter. The third annual Prop Show united talented improvisers and the audience at the Creek’s auditorium on February 21.

The Prop show is an improvisers’ performance, which is never planned.

It has a similar format to the TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway?

“It was not planned at all. Actually, we don’t even know what games we are gonna be playing, so I like on the spot stuff, because it’s a lot of fun, because you don’t know what’s gonna come out, and you don’t know how it’s gonna turn out, but you just have pretty much the best experience you can,” Christian Campbell said.

Two hosts introduced the players and announced the games.

“I had to be in charge of explaining the games and making sure, the players didn’t get confused, and explaining to the audience whatever the game was,

just to kind of keep the flow of the whole show,” a host London Strickland said.

Instead of a typical introduction, excited actors ran and jumped on the stage, ready to improvise and impress the public with funny jokes.

Pictures in frames, wigs, different types of clothes, hats and even sea equipment are just only several things from the endless list of props the players could possibly choose. However, each player, who was about to perform, had only several seconds to pick up things to play with.

“The props make it more difficult, because you have to know how to use props correctly in scenes, and it just adds another layer of complicatedness,” improviser Jackson Majewski said.

Due to props, actors made their appearance special and funny.

“It’s like a double-edged sword, it helps you to make things funny, but then it’s also a little more difficult, because you only have if you grab a prop, you have a certain problem, you only have that much to work with, besides your imagination,” Hannah Burwell said.

After knowing the game and picking up props, the players started to improvise.

Although, the show was not planned, it was hard to imagine how all those funny jokes could be created right on the spot. The cooperation of players impressed the public.

“Probably, the most important thing is trust, because you have to trust your improvisers, if you mess up, they have to catch you, you have to trust them to help move the scene along and you have to trust that they gonna not deny what you’re doing,” player Hannah Burwell said.

There were several games in the show. Sometimes, players could not use their hands, some players were limited in using the lines they could say, and some actors needed to perform the same scene several times, but just in several seconds.

“My favorite overall game is called ‘Actor’s Nightmare’. It’s where one actor has a script and the other two don’t. They basically control the scene, but the one actor has to read lines from the script. That’s my favorite,” Christian Campbell said.

The most exciting game of the show was Helping Hands.

“I love those games, just because the person behind can’t see the hands can’t see anything and it’ s so random, it’s so much fun and it’s really great to look at,” Hannah Burwell said.

However, the last performance was a delicious dessert of the program. Cooking a pie became hilarious entertainment.

“It was the last game we played, it was fun, because it was messy and exciting, and I got to eat strawberries and had berries in my hair and stuff,” Jackson Majewski said.

Jackson Majewski could not use his hands because Christian Campbell was in charge of playing that part, and Kaitlyn Gothreaux was the host of that

game. All the ingredients were poured on Jackson. However, actors decided to be generous and shared chocolate, on the surprised host of their game.

“Well, at first I was wondering, is this gonna be pretty messy, and then Kaitlyn Gothreaux told me to spit on Christian’s hands. So, that’s when I knew, there is no limit. I am just gonna let it all happen,” Jackson Majewski said.

Excited actors shared their impressions after the show.

“I enjoyed the show a lot, because improvising is one of my favorite things to do and those people are my closest friends so getting out there and performing with them is always fun,” Brain Hughes said.

The hosts enjoyed the show, as well.

“It’s a lot fun; you get really excited after the show, cause all the energy you’ve been keeping in, and putting on on stage. The audience feedbacks the energy to you. So it’s a lot of fun,” host Sierra Boudreaux said.

Stands-up players had their own performances in the show.

“Yes, I did like the show. Why? Because it was mainly my friends on stage. I liked seing them act, and then also I did stand-up in the middle during intermission and that was a really fun too,” Eldho Abraham said.

Although the games were so different, there was something special which united all the players.

“The whole point of Improv isn’t to make yourself to look good, it’s make others to look good, because if everybody does that, it’s a chain reaction, so that’s what makes it work really well,” Hannah Burwell said.

Improv show made the audience happy. Loud round of applauses and laughter proved the success of players’ efforts, definitely worth watching.

10Around Creek Robotics team earns major victory for CCISD

By Mariya Vashchenko Reporter

Due to hard work and a lot of effort CCISD robotics team have qualified for World Championships in April. Excited and surprised the robotics team, The Robonauts, won the Dallas Regional competition.

“This competition was the hardest competition for the season. We played the game this year. It’s called Recycle Rush, where you have to stack these containers on top of each other. The stack of containers is about eighty inches, so it’s really, really tall. We had to stack these containers and basically your score is based on how many containers you can store in a match, just about two minutes long,” Marcus Isnard, a member on a team, said.

The team had six weeks to build a robot.

Sometimes, students need to finish their final design during the competition. Also students have some other responsibilities.

“It’s a lot of fun. We go there and it’s not just about a robot. We talk about how we affected our community, and how we improved peoples’ lives. We show a video. They gave as a speech.

Our team has done how science is spread in society,” Nathan Buchanen said.

The victory in Dallas was the biggest surprise even for The Robonauts. Despite a lot of obstacles, the members on a team faced with, they managed to win Dallas contest.

“We came from on Thursday really

having a ton of problems,“ Marcus everybody stands, happen to see, our stack almost fall over, it Isnard said. was really stressful, Right in the “Christine middle of the Ryan said. competition the However, the robot lost one Robonauts students of the wheels. enjoyed facing Although, the a challenge.

Robonauts “Competition overcame a was always lot of troubles, probably my they didn’t give favorite part. up. According There are a lot to Robonaut, of challenging S a n t o s h aspects, getting Balachandra, permission to the there are row constantly experts who ready. Also you are extremely get to interact professional and with a lot of other can fix all sorts kids from around of problems country, who are in a very short all interested at the period of time. same thing, as you, However, and make a lot of not only the friends there. It’s height of the really fun,” Ethan construction was Sizelove said. a barrier against When asked the victory. how it felt to win, “Well, a lot student Christine of things were Ryan answered going wrong Photo courtesy of Marcus Isnard with a big smile. with our robot, “Awesome. I didn’t think we and that was stressful for everyone, and

gonna win at first, because our other allience that was opposing us was really, really good,” Christine Ryan said.

The brightest moment for Sizelove was receiving a blue banner. After a weekend of constant stress and excitement students felt happiness and relief. For some of them it is a last year on a team.

“For me, it was really shaking the judges’ hands and receiving the award, because it was really tough. I mean we go through four days of competition with getting three hours of sleep, going to bed at one, waking up at four, so just getting that moment with my teammates fully got award and getting medals, that really get along to, especially, as I am a senior this year. I’ve done three years, so this is my last year. Really getting to stand up in front of thousands of people and getting my award with my teammates was absolutely great,” Marcus Isnard said.

The robotics club is a great experience, which helps with a future careeer. The purpose of it according to Nathan Buchanen, is to spread use of math and science throughout the society.

“It’s to get kids into environment, where they can be working not only on developing their STEM education skills, but in a STEM related work environment.

We get to go to NASA and work with NASA mentors. It gives us a really tense on experience with engineering in general,” Ethan Sizelove said.

Around Creek 11

Coach Jordan continues to inspire

By Troylon Griffin II Sports Editor

This year marks 28 years in which track and cross-country Coach Ruben Jordan has worked at Clear Creek High School. For 28 years Ruben Jordan has helped Creek gain success in football, track and cross-country.

“Why do I coach? For the love of the game.” Jordan said.

Jordan came to Creek in 1987.

He previously coached at Beaumont and was looking for a new opportunity to see something different and meet different people. Jordan described his first year as a notable one.

“It was interesting,” Jordan said. “I was coming from Beaumont to a whole different type of school system but it was good. We had good athletes, good coaches. Most of the guys I came over here with I played college football with. It was a relaxed atmosphere,” Jordan said.

Jordan said that students were certainly surprised at what they saw when he arrived.

“They were surprised because I fell in here with a jheri curl and a tight suit, and I was kind of built back in the day but they’ve always accepted me, and we’ve had fun, and it was a pleasure,” Jordan said.

At Creek, the students and staff have always spoken of Jordan in a good manner.

He believes that this is due to the way he builds a, “personal relationship with these kids.” The relationship is based on equality by, “treating them the same as others.”

Jordan himself was surprised by the fresh new environment. Having come from a predominantly African American district, Jordan found it quite different to see a much more diverse environment.

Jordan’s first year was also a memorable one due to success he and his team had that year.

“We ended up being state runner up and lost by only half a point,” Jordan said. He said year one was a great one.

“To get to the state meet and qualify that many kids and have success at the same time, it was a very outstanding year,” Jordan said. “You can’t forget about it. I had some great years after that but you always remember the first.”

In general, Jordan described his early years at Creek as somewhat of a challenge, but noted how motivated the athletes were.

“You didn’t have to push them as much,” Jordan said. “You had more parent involvement which is the key to everything and the kids were more disciplined because of their home life.”

Jordan attended Tyler John Tyler High School and graduated with the class of 1977. Growing up, Jordan developed a love of sports at an early age. His father was a , and he attended school with retired Houston Oilers football player Earl Campbell.

“I grew up with it [sports].” Jordan said. “Back in the day my parents would make us go outside and we couldn’t come in the house. You had to find something to do and it just stuck with me the whole time and I still have that outdoor feeling that I need to be involved in doing something.”

Jordan’s relationship with profootball player, Earl Campbell helped shape Jordan’s future, as Campbell was one of Jordan’s idols.

“Playing football with Earl Campbell had a big impact, just to watch the football

team and their unity,” Jordan said. “He was my idol, my hero and to say he had the same success from the same high school I came from, it makes you appreciate what you’re doing and how you’re doing it.”

Jordan had many influences that made him want to become a coach,

Photo from Ruben Jordan

particularly his high school coaches.

“I had great high school coaches.

Coach Smith was one of my coaches.

He coaches here now. I watched them develop relationships and develop attitudes and I played college football and sometimes you just don’t want to let go and I felt the best way to stay involved was to get an education and use it towards helping other athletes,” Jordan said.

For years, Jordan has been using the traits that he has inherited from his coaches.

He does his best to teach his athletes lessons he feels are necessary in life.

“I try to teach them about life,” Jordan said. “And that you’re going to have up and downs just like in the real world.

You’re going to in some; you’re going to lose some. It’s about how you accept it.

You’ve got to move day to day. You’re going to have downfalls. You’ve got to take the downfall and just keep going.”

When trying to motivate his athletes, Jordan always tells them to remember they’re representing their school, their family, their teammates and most of all themselves. Jordan considers sportsmanship, discipline, team unity and the willingness to have fun to be the most important values in his athletes and people.

Jordan feels the most important values in himself is that he is willing to work with everyone, understand that not everyone is the same and being fair, firm and consistent.

But if there is one thing Jordan does even better in teaching lessons to his athletes, it’s training them.

“We have workouts posted to where the kids know what they’re doing everyday,” Jordan said. “If you have things in front of the athletes and students the same as classwork and they know what’s to be expected from what they’re doing, so we post workouts.” Jordan has his athletes work out four days a week to get ready and look at competition as “getting paid.”

“We work four days and the fifth day we call it payday,” Jordan said. “Payday for students is being successful, going out and performing the best you can.

Everything is geared towards that; you’re

not going to get better unless you practice.

As they say, practice makes perfect.”

Jordan has noted that many of his athletes have come back to him after college and admitted his workouts were harder than the ones they were given in college.

Throughout the years Jordan has seen much at Creek and garnered many memories.

Of Jordan’s twenty-eight years, he has said his favorite year is every year.

“You don’t specify one specific year because you’re taking away from other kids who have given as much as the rest of them,” Jordan said.

But Jordan certainly has several favorite memories. Of all those memories, Jordan says his favorite memory at Creek was watching his son and daughter graduate from Creek and receive full scholarships.

“It was the joy of a father, not a coach to watch your kids graduate and walk across that stage and make you proud as a parent and that’s a time I look at myself as a parent, not a coach, someone that had influence in what they were doing.”

Jordan’s daughter is now a doctor and his son a financial advisor.

Jordan also told of his athletic memory.

“Probably my most athletic memory is when we went on a roll and won five district championships in a row, not as good as ten, but at least we were on to something.” Jordan said.

Outside of school and coaching, Jordan enjoys spending time with his daughter and son and going to other athletes. Jordan also owns driving schools in Friendswood, Clear Lake and Deer Park.

In more recent years, Jordan has continued to have many great memories and notes every year Creek’s track team has had many highlights in hurdles, distant running and the four by four hundred relays. Working at Creek for nearly 30 years has taught Jordan many things but above all it’s shown him “how people work together and how the students are cooperative” and “disciplined.”

One might wonder why Jordan continues to stay at Creek, and his answer is simply the kids.

“The kids are good,” Jordan said. “You have good kids here.

I enjoy kids. Kids are special.”

Even after years of helping lead Creek’s football, track and cross country team to success, Jordan admits he does not think the teams would have any different success had he not coached them.

“I don’t look at myself as someone who made them,” Jordan said. “I look at myself as a part of them being successful.

I would never take the rope to say I’m the reason they’re successful. I don’t get out and run one lap, I don’t tackle one person in football. I’m just there as an influence and a motivator for them to do what they’re supposed to be doing.”

Overall, Jordan continues to work at Creek and gain many new memories and favorite years, and the Creek athletes continue to be successful, due to Jordan and their hard work.

A different perspective: From the Ukraine

By Mariya Vashchenko Reporter When the sleepy world wakes up after cold winter, when the warm sunrays touch the ground, and when the first flowers magically appear through the lay of fluffy snow, people in Ukraine celebrate the International Women’s Day. March 8 is a huge and happy holiday.

It is a wonderful time of the year, when a fresh wind of changes brings a good mood, and energy to start something new.

Although, the International Women’s Day started as a political event, which equaled women’s’ and men’s rights, it became just a special day to show love and respect to all women and girls.

Colorful tulips, wonderful roses, yellow mimosa, and the pleasant smell of different kinds of flowers changes the entire country into a fairy tale, but instead of “Once upon a time”, it is better to start a story with “Once upon March 8”.

All men and boys prepare for this holiday in advance. When the house is perfectly clean, when the tasty food is cooking, and when the flowers and presents are prepared and carefully hidden, it’s not hard to guess that the next day is going to be amazing and extremely important.

The International Women’s Day is a mixture of St. Valentine’s Day and Mother Day. People express their feelings, show love and respect, but also thank the most precious person on the entire planet, mom.

It is not about expensive presents, it is not about glittery wrappers, and it is not about money or gold. It is about people, who mean something more, about people, who are more valuable than any treasures.

It is about care and love, it is about girls and women, and it is about beauty and kindness. Sometimes, a small cute card, made by a little son, can be the best present for mom. It is touching, maybe it is not equal from all sides, and maybe the edges are cut in the wavy way, but is made with love and care, it is made with a child imagination to say “I love you, mom!”

The spring nature is pretty and unique in it’s own way, that’s why people usually compare it to the women’s beauty. The atmosphere of March 8 is very warm, despite the cold and fresh air outside.

The most popular flowers on this day are tulips and mimosa flowers, which can be considered as a symbol of March 8.

Every girl and every woman is looking forward to this amazing holiday every year. They don’t wait for flowers or sweets, they don’t wait for presents, they just feel special, when the world is different. It looks, like a magic story, it feels, like a sweet dream and nobody wants to wake up, because the fairy tale can disappear.

March 8 is something more than just a traditional holiday. It is a time to say the most important words to people, who make our lives better. It is time to smile and laugh, it is time to celebrate and just to be happy.

Close your eyes and if opening them you see the ocean of flowers, happy girls and women, and completely different warm and pretty world, don’t hesitate: it is March 8.

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ARTS

Student Art Pieces

by Hannah Burwell

Sabrina Shepherd

by Diego Allison

Kaitlyn Gothreaux (not pictured)

15

ARTS

Go To State VASE

by Kirsten Bolendar

by Monica Jackson

by Sarah Wilson

by Sami Pringle

by Jenan Taha

16

Features

Jon Stewart leaves The Daily Show after over 16 years

By Lisa Nhan Managing Editor

The forerunner of late night fake news is stepping down. Jon Stewart, the anchor of the highly acclaimed daily satire news show, is leaving The Daily Show after spending more than sixteen years on the show. Trevor Noah, a young South African comedian, will become the new host.

“I don’t have any specific plans. Got a lot of ideas. I got a lot of things in my head.

I’m going to have dinner on a school night with my family, who I have heard from multiple sources are lovely people,” Stewart said, in his official announcement on his program. “I’m not going anywhere tomorrow, but this show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host, and neither do you.”

Stewart’s contract with the Comedy Central show ends in September. For Stewart, he feels that, “it is time for someone else.” Though, there are no official dates for his departure as the details are still being worked out. Stewart claims that this is not a retirement for him, and that it is a chance to pursue other interests. In the summer of 2013, Stewart had left the show for a while to direct his first film Rosewater, which tells the tale of journalist Maziar Bahari’s imprisonment in Iran. Stewart claims that his leave comes out of an need for “more flexibility.”

“I think I got to a certain point where I thought you shouldn’t stay somewhere just because you can,” Stewart

said in an interview during Employee of the Month with Catie Lazarus.

The show, according to the official announcement from Comedy Central, will continue to air.

“Through his unique vice and vision, The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come. Jon will remain at the helm of The Daily Show until later this year. He is a comic genius, generous with his time and talent, and will always be a part of the Comedy Central family,” Comedy Central’s president Michele Ganeless said in a network statement.

Stewart is acclaimed for giving The Daily Show its sharp satire voice that calls for justice in politics, global and domestic.

While Stewart and those who work on the show maintain that they are not journalists and the ultimate goal of the show is to entertain, Stewart has still emerged as a trusted and influential figure in today’s media.

“What I want to see there is the next iteration of this idea. I feel like the tributaries of my brain combined with the rigidity of the format. I feel like I used permutation of that I could possibly use…I would love to see the next iteration of that, like John Oliver was able to apply our process to a more considered thing, and it’s exciting to watch it evolve and see it mutate and change and fill different gaps and ideas. That’s the part that I’m looking forward to seeing,” Stewart, on his hopes for the next host, said.

When Craig Kilborn left The Daily Show in 1999 to replace Tom Snyder on The Late Late Show, Stewart took over and that year, ratings increased by 400 percent. Over the years under Stewart’s hosting and writing, the show has won 18 Primetime Emmy Awards. This includes winning the Emmy for Outstanding Variety Series ten years in a row and multiple awards for Outstanding Writing of a variety series. It is the second longest program currently on Comedy Central after South Park. According to the Pew Research Center, 74 percent of the show’s regular viewers between 18 and 49, 10 percent of the audience watch the show for its new headlines, two percent for in-depth reporting, and 43 percent for entertainment.

The show itself has had many spin offs such as The Colbert Report, which starred former correspondent Stephen Colbert and ran from October 17, 2005 to December 18, 2014. Other spin offs include The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore, which replaced The Colbert Report’s time slot on January 19, 2015. Stewart, along with other writers of the show, published two books, first America (The Book): A Citizen’s Guide to Democracy Inaction in 2004 and then Earth (The Book): A Visitor’s Guide to the Human Race in 2010.

The Daily Show has had many iconic moments in its long history with Stewart.

One of those moments was nine days after the September 11 attacks. The show had gone off air for nine days, and Stewart opened the show with a monologue that

touched the hearts of many and helped Stewart emerged as an influential national icon.

“They said get back to work, and there were no jobs available for man in the fetal position…We sit in the back and we throw spitballs- never forgetting the fact that it is a luxury in this country that allows us to do that…The view from my apartment was the World Trade Center.

Now it’s gone. They attacked it. They symbol of American ingenuity and strength and labor imagination and commerce and it is gone. But you know what the view is now? The Liberty. The view from the south of Manhattan is now the Statue of Liberty. You can’t beat that,” Stewart, on the September 20, 2001 broadcast, said.

Throughout the years, Stewart has left his legacy on today’s global media and his departure from the show will leave many curious as to how anyone else will fill the shoes of his late night legacy.

“The thing I’ll miss the most I think is that sort of thoughtful conversation in the morning that turns into a rewrite dance party. That feeling of…we’re all bereft and we’re having a very tough conversation in the morning and then finding something by 4:30 or 5 in that rewrite room that still gives us that stupid, childlike jolt of joy, that… joy machine. That actual being on TV part has become sort of peripheral to the experience of making it. And I’ll miss the experience of making it much more than the experience of presenting it,” Stewart said.

Outbreak of measles raises questions about vaccines

By Jenan Taha Features & Arts Editor

The recent and alarming outbreak of measles, which began in Disneyland, California, and spread to 16 states across America, has caused a countrywide debate over whether measles vaccinations should be mandatory for all unaffected people over one year of age. The main opposition to the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine arises from parents who believe it is unsafe for their children—an idea stemming from a study in The Lancet medical journal that suggested vaccines cause autism.

Because of the hostility of millions toward apparently dangerous vaccination techniques, several states, including Texas, allow parents to opt out of the once-mandatory MMR vaccine for “religious and personal” reasons.

It seems that vaccination choice has become a bipartisan issue as well, with the majority of Republicans and Democrats agreeing that the MMR vaccine is necessary to the health of all citizens. After all, because babies younger than one year old cannot be vaccinated, the only way to prevent their illness is for others around them to be vaccinated. However, a few policymakers in both parties believe families should be given a choice on whether or not to vaccinate their children.

Republican Senator Rand Paul infamously stated that he heard stories of “many tragic cases of walking, talking normal children who wound up with profound mental disorders after vaccines,” suggesting that not only should parents be given a choice, but that the MMR vaccine causes complications that are not worth the risk of vaccination.

Paul was likely referring to the vaccination study in The Lancet, as well as the repercussions it initiated from parents around the world.

In the 1998 study, children in eight different areas in the UK who were born healthy but had developed autism and other behavior disorders were identified and the initial onset of their disorder was graphed.

The parents of these children blamed the degeneration of their child’s mental capacity on the MMR vaccine, which all children in the study had received prior to developing mental disorders. So, the study also graphed a trend in the increasing amounts of MMR vaccinations in the UK, and found that the increasing trend in autism apparently correlated with the increasing amount of MMR vaccinations.

However, this study was retracted from The Lancet in 2010 after the lead doctor in the study was found to have “acted dishonest and irresponsible,” biasedly choosing test subjects. Other than its unethical research practices, the study was also proven false by several replicated studies, including by the CDC and Columbia University, which found that autism and the MMR vaccine had no correlation.

“That study did a lot of harm,” Alison Singer, President of the Autism Science Foundation, said. “People became afraid of vaccinations. This [study caused] this unscientifically grounded fear of vaccinations that result[ed] in children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.”

Other than the infamous Lancet study, there have been other reports claiming vaccines contain chemicals harmful to children and can contribute to the onset of autism. The most notorious of these is Thimerosal, a mercury-containing sub-

stance used as a vaccine preservative, which many have associated with postvaccination illnesses. Although no link has been found between Thimerosal and autism, the use of the preservative has nevertheless been discontinued in nearly all states. Even so, the rise in autism cases has continued to grow steadily, verifying there is no correlation between the two.

Now, in what could become one of the

worst measles outbreaks in America this decade, parents still garner the irrational belief that vaccinating their children from a deadly disease is not worth the ‘risk’ of autism. Last year in total, there were 644 cases of measles. However, in January and February of 2015, there have already been over 150 people affected with measles, and this number will likely surpass last year’s if parents continue to opt out of vaccinations.

features

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To Kill A Mockingbird sequel to be released July 2015

By Emily Berthiaume Teen Interest Editor Fifty-five years ago, Harper Lee published her hugely successful first novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, which went on to win a Pulitzer Prize, inspire an Oscaraward winning movie, sell 40 million copies, and become an American classic. Now, a follow-up book written by the now 88-year-old author entitled Go Set a Watchman will be released in July.

Go Set a Watchman, which is 304 pages and will be released July 14, is set 20 years after the events of To Kill a Mockingbird and features an adult Scout living in New York City returning to Maycomb to visit Atticus, her father. According to a statement released by the publisher, Go Set a Watchman, whose title is derived from a Bible verse, involves Scout being “forced to grapple with issues both personal and political as she tries to understand her father’s attitude toward society and her own feelings about the place where she was born and spent her childhood.”

Although its events make it a sequel to Mockingbird, the second novel was actually written before Mockingbird, in the mid-1950s. In a statement released by her publisher, Lee said her editor was “taken” by the flashbacks to Scout’s childhood when he first read Watchman, and persuaded her to write a new novel from the point of view of young Scout.

“I was a first-time writer, so I did as I was told,” Lee said.

It was revealed February 5 that To Kill a Mockingbird was originally intended to be the first of a three-book series that would have included Watchman, according to Andrew Nurnberg, Lee’s foreign-rights agent. The original plan was to release Mockingbird first, then a connecting novel, which apparently never was written, and then Watchman.

The success of Mockingbird, Lee’s first effort, was overwhelming. The novel’s story of young Scout, her brother Jem, fa-

ered the manuscript of Watchman attached ther Atticus and mysterious neighbor Boo to an original typescript of To Kill a Mockdealing with a highly controversial, racial- ingbird three months ago. She then negoly driven tiated a trial in deal with the 1930s HarperS o u t h Collins to touched publish. the heart “ I of milhadn’t lions and realized is now it had frequentsurvived, ly read so was in classsurprised r o o m s and deacross lighted America. w h e n Harpmy dear er Lee did friend not write and lawanother yer Tonja fiction Carter piece afdiscovter Mockered it,” i n g b i rd , said Lee despite in the extreme statedemand m e n t . from fans “After and critm u c h ics alike. thought In 1964, and hesiin her tation I last major shared piece of it with a publicity, handful Lee said of people she did I trust not exand was pect the In an August 31, 2001, file image at the Stage Coach Cafe in Stockton, Ala., the author pleased book to Harper Lee, who wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird.” A recently-discovered sequel, “Go to hear sell in Set a Watchman,” is due to be published in July 2015. (Terrence Antonio James/Chi- that they cago Tribune/TNS) the first c o n place sidered and that the reaction to her book was it worthy of publication. I am hum“just about as frightening as the quick, bled and amazed that this will now merciful death I’d expected…like be- be published after all these years.” ing hit over the head and knocked cold.”

Harper Lee is now deaf and almost comTonja Carter, Lee’s attorney, discov- pletely blind and lives in an assisted-living

facility in Monroeville, the small Alabama town where she grew up that inspired Maycomb. There has been some controversy over whether or not Lee is capable of making legal financial decisions because of her health. She has no children and her sister, Alice, who was deaf as well and died last November at the age of 103, protected her financial interests. Tonja Carter was given power of attorney over Lee. However, Jonathon Burnham, the senior vice-president of HarperCollins, denied these allegations.

“Harper Lee was delighted to learn of the discovery of the manuscript of Go Set a Watchman, and – as her statement in the press release attests – is very happy to see this novel published at long last. To suggest otherwise is completely unacceptable,” Burnham said.

Nurnberg also dismissed claims of manipulation, releasing a new quote from Lee saying she is “alive and kicking and happy as hell” at the reactions to the announcement of the new novel.

Nurnberg said Lee is “very lively, very funny. She is in good form for a woman of 88 who has macular degeneration. This isn’t somebody with dementia who is being led up the garden path.”

Nurnberg described Carter was “the most honest advocate” for the novel, and said if Nelle (as Lee is known) didn’t want it published, Carter wouldn’t have worked out a publishing deal.

Given that this novel is Lee’s first literary event in over 50 years, it caused quite a stir in the literary community.

“This is a remarkable literary event,” Burnham said in a statement. “The existence of Go Set a Watchman was unknown until recently, and its discovery is an extraordinary gift to the many readers and fans of To Kill a Mockingbird. Reading in many ways like a sequel to Harper Lee’s classic novel, it is a compelling and ultimately moving narrative about a father and a daughter’s relationship, and the life of a small Alabama town living through the racial tensions of the 1950s.”

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Teen Interest

American Idol season 14 dwindles down to final

By Madison Daugherty Reporter

It has been a long yet adventurous year with the beloved show American Idol on FOX. This program has brought many talented yet average Americans who dream of becoming famous for doing what they love. Over the seasons of American Idol, there have been different judges and eclectic voices that bring out the diverse characteristic trait this nation has.

Now, season 14 includes Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban and Harry Connick Jr. as the judges. Ryan Seacrest, of course, is still currently their host. It was on January 7, 2015 that the judges were introduced to fresh new talent.

This year, the judges traveled to Minneapolis, New Orleans, Long Island, Nashville and San Francisco. Out of all these cities around the country, they met many people of all different ages and then gave golden tickets to contestants who they believe have a chance at becoming the next American Idol. The people who auditioned and received a ticket move onto Hollywood Round, which is where contestants perform once again in a regular solo round and group performances. The people who sing solo at the beginning of the Hollywood Round episode are the ones who the judges couldn’t seem to sweep off their mind and wanted to hear again. Afterwards, the judges pick 24 singers or performers who will become season 14’s semi-finalists.

Divided by gender are the current contestants on the show this season. The males have Clark Beckham from Tennessee, Ravyon Owen from Virginia, Quentin Alexander from New Orleans, Savion

Wright from Texas, Qaasim Middleton from Brooklyn, Mark Andrew from Minnesota, Nick Fradiani from Connecticut, Daniel Seavey from Oregon, Riley Bria who is also from Tennessee, Adam Ezegelian from New York as well, Michael Simeon from Mississippi and Trevor Douglas from Texas. The females this season are Tyanna Jones from Florida, Adanna Duru form California, Jax Cole from New Jersey, Sarina-Hoi Crowe from Tennessee, Shi Scoot from Maryland, Loren Lott also from California, Shannonn Berthiaume from Minnesota, Lovey James from Oregon, Joey Cook from Virginia, Alexis Gomez from Ohio, Maddie Walker from Iowa and Katherine Winston from Massachusetts.

Once the judges have picked the Top 24, the next episode the contestants are able to move to live performances, which is when America is able to vote for whom ever their favorite is. The first live episode is the Top 12 Boys perform, on February 25 of this year. Adam Ezegelian started the show off with roaring rock notes from I Wanna Rock but sadly was eliminated. Up next was Michael Simeon with the heartaching love hit How Am I Supposed To Live Without You and is now safe. Savion Wright sang Hey,Soul Sister and continued on safe. Mark Andrew was eliminated. Trevor Douglas sang Best I Ever Had and was sadly eliminated. Clark Beckham sang When a Man Loves a Woman and advanced through. The other male contestants who advanced in the competition were Ravyon Owen, Daniel Seavey, Quentin Alexander, Nick Fradiani and Qaasim Middleton. The beautiful female contestants who are going to the next round are Adanna Duru, Alexis Gomez, Joey

Cook, Loren Lott, Maddie Walker, Sarinajoi Crowe, Jax Cole and Tyanna Jones.

After the Top 24 sang their choice of song, the next live performance is Motown themed.

Aretha Franklin, a motown legend, gave the Top 16 helpful advice for picking a song right for them and how to find their soul in the music. The first night the males performed, Franklin performed a toned down version of her old number one hit.

Afterwards, the contestants hit stage with their mowtown song choice. Daniel Seavey was first up with How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), Mark Andrew performed Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone, Ravyon Owen was third with the well-known Temptations number one hit My Girl. Adam Ezegelian sang I Want You Back, Clark Beckham with The Track Of My Tears, Nick Fradiani performed Signed, Sealed, Delivered I’m Yours by Stevie Wonder.

Seventh to sing was Qaasim Middleton and last but not least was Quentin Alexander singing Master Blaster (Jammin’).

To start off the next episode of this bright new season was Tyanna Jones performing Rockin’ Robin by the Jackson 5, following after her was Loren Lott singing I Wanna Be Where You Are. Maddie Walker sang I’ll Be There, Joey Cook created her own personal twist of Shop Around, Sarina-Joi Crowe performed You’ve Really Got a Hold On Me. Adanna Duru sang Hello, Jax Cole completely re-structured the song Ain’t No Mountain High Enough. The final female contestant to perform was Alexis Gomez Closer and closer, the idol contestants inch towards the end of a superb season. In the Top 12 episode Back To Start, all the finalists performed the

song they first auditioned with. Sadly, Sarina-Joi Crowe was eliminated.

The following episode, Get the Party Started; all contestants performed their favorite party songs.

In episode Movie Night, America was in for a surprise. To start off the episode, all 11 finalists sang Get Lucky for the live audience. Jennifer Lopez, who is one of the three judges, performed one of her hit singles. Kenny Loggins, singer of 80’s movie hit song Footloose sang as well.

For this episode, every single contestant created his or her own short film, whether it is a romantic comedy or action thriller.

Before one would come to stage to sing, the screens would play the short videos of their movie and which song America will wait to hear them perform.

On March 25, the episode called Tribute to the 80’s aired and the Top 9 contestants performed their choice of 80’s hit.

Boy George, 80’s icon, starred as guest mentor to give advice to the aspiring idols.

The remaining top 9 include, Daniel Seavey, Quentin Alexander, Joey Cook, Tyanna Jones, Jax, Nick Fradiani, Clark Beckham, Qaasim Middleton and Ravyon Owen.

The judges were impressed by all of the performances, yet Clark Beckham’s version of Every Breath You Take by The Police gave Jennifer Lopez the “goosies.” Keith Urban also added that Beckhams performance, “showed a much more heart side of you that we felt..you really took me on a journey.”

Not only did a pop icon guest mentor the contestants, but also two legends spiced up the episode with their guest performance. Salt-N-Pepa performed 1980’s hit Push it to get the crowd pumping.

“Biggest names in music” honored at the Grammys

By Emily Berthiaume Teen Interest Editor

The 2015 Grammys honored the biggest names in music with the most prestigious music award during a ceremony complete with twenty-three diverse performances for all ages. Sam Smith was by far the biggest winner of the night, taking home Best Record, Best New Artist, Best Song, and Best Pop Vocal Performance by the end of the night.

Four-time host LL Cool J chose to forgo the traditional opening monologue, and instead Australian rock band AC/DC opened the show with a fiery performance of their new song Rock or Bust and their classic 1979 hit Highway to Hell.

Taylor Swift announced the first award of the night for Best New Artists, mentioning she is a former loser of the category and that several of her friends are nominated. The award ended up going to British soul-singer Sam Smith, becoming his first of four winds that night. His radio hit Stay With Me (Darkchild Version) went on to win both Best Song and Best Record, and In the Lonely Hour, his 2014 album, won Best Pop Vocal Album.

“I want to thank the man who this record is about,” Smith in his acceptance speech for Best Record said. “Thank you so much for breaking my heart, ‘cause you got me four Grammys.”

One of the main awards, Best Album, went to singer-songwriter Beck for his album Morning Phase, which

was the biggest surprise of the night.

Despite also winning Best Rock Album, Morning Phase was not expected to win over Beyoncé and Ed Sheeran’s higher selling albums Beyoncé and X, or over the major winner of the night Sam Smith and Grammy favorite Pharell Williams.

In fact, the win was such a surprise that rapper Kanye West jumped on the stage and acted like he was going to re-create the infamous 2009 VMA incident in which he took the mic from Taylor Swift during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video and claimed Beyoncé should have won. While it appeared to be a light-hearted joke at the time, after the ceremony West wasn’t joking.

“I just know that the Grammys, if they want real artists to come back, they need to stop playing with us.

And Beck needs to respect artistry and should’ve given his award to Beyoncé,” West said at an E! after party.

Beyoncé did end up winning three awards that night without West’s help: Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for Drunk In Love and Best Surround Sound Album for Beyoncé.

A common theme in many of the performances was the old blending with the new. Hozier performed his massive hit Take Me to Church, and was then joined by Annie Lennox to duet Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ 1956 hit I Put a Spell On You. Similarly, Ed Sheeran sang his single Thinking Out Loud, and then joined the 70s rock group ELO to perform their song, Mr. Blue Sky. Rihanna

and Kanye West were joined by Paul McCartney to sing their new single Four Five Seconds, and Sam Smith and Mary J. Blige performed Stay With Me as a duet.

Other notable performances of the night included Madonna’s dramatic, heavily choreographed performance of Looking for Love, Pharell Williams and Hans Zimmer’s multi-lingual, reinvented performance of

Happy, Katy Perry’s all-white performance of By the Grace of God complete with lyrical dancers, Beyoncé’s performance of gospel hymn classic Take My Hand, and Sia’s performance of Chandelier featuring 12 year old Dance Moms star Maddie Zielger and Saturday Night Live alum Kristen Wiig as interpretive dancers in nude leotards.

20 Teen interest

Neil Patrick Harris hosts the 87th Academy Awards

By Emily Berthiaume Teen Interest Editor The 87th Academy Awards, hosted by veteran host Neil Patrick Harris, honored Hollywood’s “best and whitest” in the movie industry. Harris, who has previously hosted the Tony Awards four times and the Emmys twice, opened the show by purposefully mistaking “brightest” for “whitest” as a criticism of the lack of diversity in the nominations, and then started into a “Motion Picture” musical number.

Birdman, a dark comedy-drama about a washed-up Hollywood actor struggling to shed his image as superhero Birdman by starring in a Broadway play, took home the majority of the biggest awards of the night, including Best Director for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Best Cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki, Best Original Screenplay for Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr., and Armando Bo, and Best Picture.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, Wes Anderson’s unique, artsy comedy also won four Oscars, but in technical categories, including Best Production Design, Best Original Score, Best Costume Design and Best Makeup and Hairstyling.

Best Actress went to Julianne Moore for her portrayal of a women dealing with early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, and Best Actor went to Eddie Redmayne for his role as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything. Both dedicated their awards to the real people struggling with the disorders their characters

had, Alzheimer’s and ALS, respectively.

“I’m so happy, I’m thrilled that we were able to shine a light on Alzheimer’s disease,” Moore said. “So many people who have this disease feel marginalized.

People who have Alzheimer’s disease de-

to bring awareness to an issue they felt was important, such as Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette, who won for her role in Boyhood and called for gender equality, causing both Meryl Streep and Jennifer Lopez to stand out of their seats and cheer.

and equal rights for women in the United States of America,” Arquette said.

J.K. Simmons, who won for his role as an abusive music teacher in Whiplash, urged the audience to call their mom or dad and, “tell ‘em you love ‘em, and thank them, and listen to them for as long as they want to talk to you”.

Rapper Common and John Legend performed a powerful rendition of their song Glory from Selma, which brought David Oyelowo, who portrayed Dr. King in the movie, to tears and earned a standing ovation. They then won the Oscar for Best Original Song and used their acceptance speech to call attention to voting rights.

“We say that Selma is now because the struggle for justice is right now,” said Legend.

He noted that the Voting Rights Act, whose passage is chronicled in Selma, has been drastically scaled down in recent years.

Best Adapted Screenplay went to Graham Moore for The Imitation Game, and in his speech he encouraged young viewers, especially those who feel like they do not fit in, to “stay weird, stay different, and when it is your Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the award for best director for “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)’’, in the press room of the 87th Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. (Ian turn and you are standing on this stage, West/PA Wire/TNS) please pass the same message along”.

Box-office hits seemed to be the bigserve to be seen so we can find a cure.”

“To every wom- an who gave gest losers of the night, with the highestThe New York Times called the overall birth to every taxpayer and citizen of grossing movie nominated for Best Picture, ceremony an “awkward” mix of social ac- this nation, we have fought for every- American Sniper, only earning one award tivism and traditional segments. Many win- body’s equal rights. It’s our time to for sound editing and Interstellar also ners used their acceptance speech as a way have wage equality once and for all, taking home only one for visual effects.

Fall Out Boy rocks the Rodeo for the first time ever

By Emily Ruthven Around Creek Editor

An impressive 71,321 fans braved the cold rain to witness Fall Out Boy’s debut rodeo performance on March 8. Since Fall Out Boy’s roots are in Chicago, the foursome had never seen anything quite like a Houston Rodeo, complete with Bull Riding, Barrel Racing, fried everything and the famous Calf Scramble.

The band’s bassist, Pete Wentz, joked at the beginning of the performance, “We have been coming to Houston for a long time but, we have to say that this is literally our first rodeo. Mutton Busting is pretty awesome.” Wentz later added, “What should we be trying? Deep fried what? Deep fried Oreo? Deep fried beer? Is that a thing?” All joking aside the boys performed a truly memorable performance.

Fall Out Boy hit the stage with the adrenaline filled single from Save Rock and Roll, The Phoenix. The strong guitar chords and powerful vocals were the perfect way to pump up the crowd.

Patrick Stump, the lead singer, gave an astoundingly impressive performance.

Most artists cannot live up to their voices on their albums because of musical supports such as auto-tune. However, that was not the case with Stump’s performance. The high notes in My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark came out almost effortlessly.

I was extremely pleased when they began to perform some of the older songs, paying tribute to their punk/rock and roll roots. In fact, Fall Out Boy ended up play-

fans to opt to looking at the huge screens right above the stage that zoom in on the musicians as opposed to actually observing and enjoying the band in person. The spinning stage definitely takes away from the overall enjoyment of the show but despite all of the problems, Fall Out Boy is not at fault for any of them, as all of them are just the way the Rodeo sets up for all of its’ performers and concerts.

It was truly heart warming when they played what some might argue to be their most famous song, Sugar We’re Going Down. Stump sung strongly, but the audience sang stronger. The whole arena filled with the voices of fans, singing, “We’re going down down in an earlier round, and sugar we’re going down swinging. I’ll be your number one with a bullet; a loaded god complex cock it and pull it,” As many music lovers know, one of the best parts of a concert is hearing all of the fans sing together the lyrics that you hold so dearly in your heart. Despite the differFall Out Boy attends Hot 99.5’s Jingle Ball at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C., on Monday, Dec. 16, 2013. ences and diversities of the fans, they (Olivier Douliery/Abaca Press/MCT) are all united by a common love for Fall Out Boy. It was truly a magical moment. ing at least one song from each of their six pletely separated and off-limits to the fans, Crowd favorite Thanks fr th Mmrs studio albums. Some of the songs includ- there is an awkward space between the (Thanks for the Memories) was the pered Dance Dance, Young Volcanoes, This stage and the fans’ seating area. Also, the fect way to end the show, as it acted as an Ain’t a Scene, It’s an Arms Race, Ameri- Houston Rodeo stage is a small spinning informal thank-you to the fans for their can Beauty/American Psycho, Grand platform that only allots a small amount loyalty and support. Overall, Fall Out Boy Theft Autumn/Where is Your Boy, A Little of time for each section of the crowd to played an incredible performance that Less Sixteen Candles A little More Touch look at the band in person. This causes the Houston Rodeo will not soon forget.

Me, My Songs Know What You Did in the Dark, Centuries, and Uma Thurman.

While the music was great, the show lacked intimacy. Because the stage is com-

Teen Interest 21

Up-and-coming Dylan Gardner debuts first album

By Lisa Nhan Managing Editor

Eighteen-year-old Dylan Gardner made his album debut with Adventures in Real Time, released by Warner Bros. Records. Before making the album, Gardner drew influence from his idols such as The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Harry Shannon in order to create his blissful and upbeat sound that plays off the feeling of youth.

This self-described “music nerd” wrote the album to reflect, “this big vision of how great life can be,” according to his website.

The opening track, Let’s Get Started, is the epitome of what an opening track on a pop album should sound like. It hooks you, just like an introduction should. During the chorus, “You are my love, oh, come on, let’s get started, all your problems disregard them,” Gardner sings to the radio-tailored melody. It is the song you play when you have had a bad day to feel better. It is the song you play before a first date to feel the nerves build up in your stomach. It is the song that epitomizes the feel of this album and Gardner’s sound. It is no wonder it has already been played three million times on Spotify.

Heroes Tonight keeps with Gardner’s upbeat mood. It is like the cooler, older sister of Let’s Get Started. This track would be perfect background for a montage in a teen movie. It radiates youth with each note.

It is a great transition from the first track.

The next track on the album, I’m Nothing Without You, is a slight letdown from the first two tracks. I thoroughly enjoyed the first two, but this one does not seem like anything special. It is still upbeat, but it is just another upbeat love song with decent lyrics. It is not as unique as the previous two tracks to make it all that different from the hundreds of other upbeat love songs. The song does not physically pain me to listen to, but it’s hard for me to understand why this is one of Gardner’s most popular songs on the album.

The song Too Afraid To Love is where you can see Dylan’s influence from The Beach Boys. It sounds like the type of song the cool girl next door plays in her car with the windows rolled down. It is

among my favorites on the album. It has got a Saint Motel vibe to it, with an incredibly catchy chorus. It was the track that was stuck in my head days after listening to the album for the first time.

Unfortunately, the lyrics are so cheesy that I willingly skip this track anytime it comes on. “Sing for the stars, sing for the brightest stars, baby you know, one day they will be ours,” Gardner sings. It does not sound

Courtesy of GoMoxie

I Think I’m Falling For Something is the next track on the album and the second most popular of Gardner’s. While I can see why people would gravitate towards this piano driven upbeat song, as the lyrics are relatable, I personally feel that there are other songs that showcase Gardner’s talent better.

My least favorite song on the album has to be The Actor. Gardner’s voice loses nearly its entire luster and becomes almost completely different. It is whiny and flat, but as the song progresses into the chorus, it does improve. Gardner’s repetitive lyric structure worked on his fast pace songs, but on a slower more acoustic one like this track, it makes it dull. I am the first person to admit that I listen to a disgusting amount of folk music, so it is not that I do not like slower acoustic songs. It’s that this is not Gardner’s strong suit. It is the song that you skip on the album to move on to the others.

Fortunately, in the next track, Sing For the Stars, Dylan’s vocals return to normal.

bad, but once I noticed the lyrics, I just could not listen to it anymore.

The Feeling of Love is the next track, and the title perfectly describes how I feel about the opening of the song. It is showing the more electric side of Gardner’s work, and this to me is where his vocals really shine. However, this song can quickly get repetitive, but it is definitely an improvement from the last two tracks.

By far my favorite song on this album is With A Kiss. I had this song on repeat for a while. This is the song that is playing in the background as the lead male in a movie runs to win back the love of his life. The vocals in this song are the strongest on the album. It has this electric undertone and strong beat that gives it a bit more edge than his other songs. Gardner is able to give it his personal touch that makes it hard not to dance along to.

The last track, Invincible, was the perfect choice for ending the soundtrack. Listening to it reminds me of

the song they play at the end of a movie during the credits. Again the lyrics are a little cheesy, but they suit the song.

Overall, Gardner’s debut album is not something he should be ashamed of, but nor is it something that will be winning Grammys anytime soon. The few catchy songs on the album, such as With a Kiss or Let’s Get Started show his potential and makes me excited for his future endeavors. I have shamelessly blasted those songs while driving. However, lyrical, Gardner lacks depth.

Nearly all of his songs contain a main line that is repeated many times, although adding to the catchiness and upbeat mood, fail to show anything all that impressive. The fact is that you can tell that a teenage boy wrote these lyrics. They lack depth and emotion.

“Cause I’m nothing without you, there’s something about you, and I’m lost without you,” Gardner sings in the track I’m Nothing Without You. The reality is that it shows no originality of thought. As a teenage girl, trust me that the majority teenage boys have written something like that as the caption for a photo on Instagram with his girlfriend.

Gardner stands out with his strong vocals and infectiously joyous beats, but he has his faults. In Let’s Get Started, some of the lyrics are down right adorable like, “I’ll be Sunday, you’ll be Monday,” but that does not make up for some of the other songs.

His age shows when you look at the lyrics.

However, if beyond this album, he truly wants to stand apart from the thousands of artists creating each year, he’s going to have to improve his writing skills.

He described himself as prolific in an interview with The Huffington Post. According to the website, before he recorded the album, Gardner handed over 100 songs to his producers. While it is astonishing that someone of his age could write that much while most teens do not even finish their homework, writing a lot of songs is not the same as writing quality songs.

If Gardner wants to be like his idols from The Beach Boys, he’s on the right track with his music. This is a great debut for the world as to what Gardner has to offer and for a starting point with his whole music career ahead of him.

22 Athletes of the month:

Mackenzie Pruitt Mackenzie Pruitt is a sophomore. She is very passionate about soccer and plans to play college soccer at UH. She looks up to USA Women’s team player Mia Hamm. She received the Wildcat award last year and enjoys reading outside of school.

sports Girl’s track succeeds in second meet

By Troylon Griffin II Sports Editor

The Creek girls varsity track team competed on February 20 at Pearland High School. This was the second meet of the season and the team placed in several events, including second in sprint medley, two mile and triple jump, and third in discus and high jump.

During the spring medley, four of the team’s runners ran in a relay, passing the baton to the other. Jessica Ransom ran the first leg, for 200 meters, Audrina Stephensen ran 200 meters, Isaly Carney ran for 400 meters and Bayliy Jones ran 800 meters, ultimately giving the team second place. This was the second consecutive time the team had gotten second in the event.

“We ran hard and gave our one hundred percent,” Ransom said.

Ransom also achieved second place in her four by two hundred event.

In the four by two hundred event, Audrina Stephensen, Bayliy Jones and Keondra White also participated, each running 200 meters.

“I was really proud of our sprint medley team,” Ransom said.

Keondra White participated in the four by two, one hundred hurdles and high jump. She got third in the high jump, first in one of the heats of one hundred hurdles and second in the first heat of the four by two.

“It was my first varsity meet so I think I did okay for the first one.”

White said. “[My team] kept me up because I was nervous to run.”

Isaly Carney, got second in both her

events, sprint medley and triple jump.

“It was really cold and it was raining when I ran so I was trying to stay loose to run my event,” Carney said. “I honestly think I did okay because at the end I felt tired and dehydrated, but overall I still feel I did well.

Photo by Kelsie Sullivan

In triple jump I jumped a thirty-five eighteen [but] at Katy I jumped a thrity-six five.

In triple jump I feel I could’ve done better.”

With only seven team members, the team was able to have much success.

“With the numbers we had, we

did riah end ries

really well,” Track Coach ZachaZepeda said. “Unfortunately by the of the meet we ran into a few injuso we couldn’t do our last events.”

Ransom felt that overall her team did very well.

“I think whenever it comes to district, we will be a force to be reckoned with,” Ransom said.

Coach Zepeda and the track runners explained their goal for this season.

“The main goal is to get to district,” Coach Zepeda said. “We’ve [got to] get better every week so we’re at our peak by district. Track season is long so you must practice. Our quote this year is all it takes is all you got and it applies greatly to our meets. Track is thought of as an individual sport when really it’s a team sport. You only get out of something what you put into it.”

Islay Carney told of her personal goal for the season.

“In the open four hundred, I need to run a fifty-six to keep these offers I’m getting from colleges,” Carney said.

The team practices every day after school whenever the weather is right, with Coach Zepeda training his runners the best he can and impacting them every step along the way.

“The biggest thing I want to teach them is with hard work, discipline and training, you can achieve success and hopefully with that success it can carry into life,” Coach Zepeda said.

With the district meet coming on April on the 15, the team working to hard to get the results that they want.

Peyton Manning to return to the NFL

By Vidal Maldonado Sports Editor

Harrison Hill Senior Varsity baseball star Harrison Hill is a selfless athlete, one of prime sportsmanship and class. He has set the standard for him and his team to be.

“As close to perfect as they can be no less than 180 percent of effort from everyone ” Hill said. “But the main goal is to bring a state championship back home to the Wildcats.”

Hill signed to Texas A&M Corpus Christi November 12 to pursue his baseball dream, and perhaps a career in the audio/visual industry.

Demaryius Thomas, something that would eat up roughly half the remaining cap space. If Manning were to redo his deal, it could free up several million - perhaps enough to keep a player like Terrance Knighton, Julius Thomas or Orlando

with the departure of Julius Thomas, there is no certainty in the teams ability to make the playoffs let alone win a Super Bowl Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning with key weapons leving to other teams. was second in the NFL with 39 touchdown Another issue is how will Manning passes last season, fourth in the NFL mesh with the offensive system taught by with 4,727 passing yards last season coach Gary Kubiak and offensive and fourth in the NFL with a 101.5 coordinator Rick Dennison? passer rating last season. Those Manning is an immobile, shotgundon’t sound like the numbers of a positioned, line of scrimmageplayer who is to retire or none-theoperating passer. He’s soon to be less take a paycut.

indisputably and statistically the There’s increasing talk that best passer in NFL history. Kubiak that’s exactly what Manning should likes his quarterbacks to huddle, do. Plenty of people have floated it take the snap from center, move as a possibility, but with DaMarius and mix in handoffs with the pass.

Thomas and Julius Thomas in free John Elway, the Broncos’ agency it almost seems like a definite general manager and roster possibility and Manning’s moral will architect, is not concerned. be put to the test many say because at “Gary Kubiak’s one of the his age taking a pay cut or should just easiest guys to get along with,” retire, if he does return it would test Elway said Sunday at the NFL his morale to see if he is really playing owners meetings as he walked for another Super Bowl or just for the through the vast property of the money. Assuming Manning is back Arizona Biltmore resort. “He’s very for 2015, the better question might smart. Plus, Rico (Dennison) is a be, should he take less money than very smart coach. (Gregg) Knapp the $19 million base salary that is the same (quarterbacks) coach.

Manning is congratulated by coach John Fox after throwing his 500th will become guaranteed if he is Peyton They’re going to get along fine. career touchdown pass in the first quarter of Denver’s 41-20 win over the on the Denver roster on March 9? Cardinals Sunday, Oct. 5, 2014 at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver. They’ll get a feel for it. We’re (Mark Reis/Colorado Springs Gazette/MCT) Manning certainly has going to put in what Peyton made plenty of money and likes to do offensively with continues to make piles of what Gary has always done.” cash both playing football and through Franklin from walking out the door and Manning has much to live to up his side work as a corporate pitch man. heading to greener pastures in free agency. to as he critics will be quick to judge As of recent it has been decided that what will surely be his last stand at But the Broncos have around $25 million of cap space to spend, and are Manning will return but will be taking a pay the quarterback position possibly ever. poised to put the franchise tag on receiver cut of four million to return to the broncos

Sports

23

Creek varsity baseball has success in tournament

By Troylon Griffin II Sports Editor

The Creek varsity baseball team competed in a six game tournament over the course of Thursday February 26 to Saturday 28. The tournament took place at Kingwood High School with, Cypress Falls, Baytown Sterling, Porter, Kingwood, Flowermount and Atascocita participating.

Ultimately, Creek ended up beating three schools and losing to three. Creek gained victories against Cypress Falls, with a score of eight to zero, Baytown Sterling, with a score of eight to zero and Porter High School with a score of five to zero.

“We played well at times, we played bad at times,” Coach Kunefke said. “We beat the teams we were supposed to beat but didn’t play well against the good teams.”

The tournament had many highlights.

At Atascocita the team scored four consecutive homeruns and against Cypress Falls, two consecutive homeruns were made.

Pitcher Aron Solis, 12, was one of the many pitchers of the tournament who was able to help the team in their success. Solis succeeded in getting six shutout innings.

“We went three and three,” Solis said. “I don’t think we performed how we should have but we showed flashes of how potentially good we can be.”

Michael Rohland, 12, was one with many highlights as well.

“I made a diving play first game and at the last game I threw a guy out,” Rohland said.

Rohland spoke positively of his team-

mates, telling of how Sean McClean, during the Kingwood match, pitched and gained four innings against their opponent.

“He [also] got two runs and one hit,” Rohland said, referring to how McClean managed to make his teammate get to first base and get two points.

“We pitched well, played okay defense, [but] struggled offensively,” Coach Kunefke said.

Both the coach and the players told of how they enjoyed victory against the teams they beat but were not satisfied with the fact that they lost against schools

Photo by Jasmine Garza

R o h l a n d also brought up achievements made by freshman Garrett Poston. Poston pitched against Porter High School and pitched a shutout.

“We had a pretty solid defense too,” Jordan Brown, 12, said.

However, the team members expressed an overall dissatisfaction with the way things turned out. Most of the dissatisfaction was expressed at themselves and the way they played.

they intended to beat.

“We played very well against teams we’re supposed to beat but we played very poorly against teams we’re supposed to be competitive with,” McClean said.

Both McClean and Rohland told of how Kingwood, Flower Mound, and Atascocita were schools that were important to win against for a variety of reasons.

“It’s always a good game against Kingwood, usually a close game,” Michael

Rohland said, referring to how Kingwood beat Creek three to two. “Flower Mound won the state championship and Atascocita has probably one of the best pitching staff, but I still believe we should have beat them.”

Nevertheless, despite the score, the team is practicing even harder and working hard to prepare for their next games.

“It just made us want to work harder, especially myself,” Jordan Brown said.

The tournament was their first and the team has an entire season to continue to do well.

“We had opportunities to win but we didn’t take advantage of them. But it was the first tournament,” Brown said.

“We just got to try and work the kinks out, get all the bad things out so when district comes we’ll be pretty solid.”

Aron Solis expressed how he felt his team is going to make adjustments for the better and they are going to play how they should and both the team members and coaches expressed that they will continue to work hard and go to district.

“I’m pretty confident that by the time district comes around, we’ll be pretty solid offensively and defensively to give us a chance to win another district championship,” Rohland said.

As the team does every year, the Creek baseball team will make their way to the top and if not, continue to do what they enjoy.

“The goal is to just play good baseball, and obviously we’re trying to win as many games as we can,” Coach Kunefke said. “Winning’s a big deal.”

24 Photofinish