Interstellar Review pg. 15
College Signings pg, 10
Best Buddies Basketball Game pg. 7
CCISD Interact Club participates in Rice Drive By Jasmine Garza Editor-in-Chief
Clear Springs senior Stephen Louis decided to leap into a new idea and see what difference he could make with a large group of people and multiple grains of rice. As president of a youth serviceleadership organization called the Interact Club, the club is dedicated to improve the condition of the world and its inhabitants, while empowering young people to be the ones who make the change. The Rice Drive is a concept created by Louis to see the impact a group of people could have on the world when they came together at a certain time for one cause. “The idea for the Drive itself was mine. I had known of the website and thought it would be interesting to see how much could be raised when a group of people made a concerted effort to do as much as possible. It was very much inspired by the Vlogbrothers John and Hank Green,” Louis said. Free Rice is a website in association with the United Nations that allows you to choose from different subjects and answer questions. For each question you get correct the difficulty increases and ten grains of rice get donated to a person in need. Beginning last year Springs’ Interact Club challenged the student body to Rice Up, a concept created by Louis after raising almost exactly 300,000 grains of rice through a Facebook page he managed as a sophomore. Throughout the one day challenge last year, Springs managed to raise almost 450,000 grains of rice in one day giving the Interact sponsors the idea to expand it.
“The Interact hosted one in October of my junior year and raised almost 450,000 in a single day. Then our sponsors
21. Louis’ mindset was to show the people the impact a group can make on the world. “More than anything I wanted
to show people that Mr. Harris and Ms. Photo courtesy of Freerice.com technology in teenagers’ Deckert had the idea to expand it,” Louis said. hands is a force not to be trifled with This year Rice Drive became a district in the world and that we are a viable challenge to see what school could raise force for good in the world,” Louis said. Creek’s Interact Club led by head the most amounts of rice grains within the time period of one week, November 17- counselor Elizabeth Updegraff, made a
great effort to get the school involved. The dedication you could see throughout the day made you realize no matter what the results are at the end of the week, we made a change for someone in need. Creek junior Lisa Nhan is the copresident of the Interact club at Creek. Her desire to make a difference in the world encouraged her to speak to the faculty and explain to them the importance of Rice Drive . “I believe that everyday we have the choice to make this world a better place to live. For me Rice Drive was a chance to show that it does not always have to be a big act. Anyone can make a positive difference no matter the size.” Nhan said. Louis highlighted a statistic on the issue of hunger to determine why all schools should come together to beat hunger together. “There is enough food produced every year to feed 11 billion people. There are 7 billion people on Earth. Over one billion people are hungry. I wanted to be able to fix that,” Loius said. Throughout the course of one week all of CCISD was able to raise 6,412,660 grains of rice with Creek coming in 3rd, Clear Horizons 2nd and Springs 1st. More than anything and any number this drive was able to shine light on the impact of technology and teenagers when they come together in hopes of making a difference. “I’m exceedingly proud. The Clear Springs faculty, administration and students really came together to do a great thing- all of CCISD did really. This project and the rice it earned is a result of a great mass of people deciding all at once to make the world better than when they woke up that morning,” Louis said.
Scholastic Art and Writing spark creative minds By Jenan Taha Features & Arts Editor
Artists at Creek are encouraged to enter the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, a nationwide competition that rewards talented students for their creative art pieces, writing skills, or both. Students may have their entries recognized on a national scale and can be awarded thousands in scholarship money. The deadline for all scholastic entries is December 15, 2014. The entries are not required to demonstrate a specific theme, and no piece will be disqualified solely for inappropriate content. However, Scholastic notes that their judges are looking for “work that breaks from convention, blurs the boundaries between genres, and challenges notions of how a particular concept or emotion can be expressed.” There are plenty of categories pieces can be entered in; art categories range from classic arts such as drawing and
painting to the more unconventional architecture, fashion design and film. Writing categories include poetry, essays, journalism, humor, drama, and more. Senior contestants are encouraged to send in portfolios of their work, which include eight different pieces of their work that can be from various categories. Students who send in portfolios can also send in individual entries, which can either be part of their portfolio or not. One student can send in up to two portfolios. Entries are submitted electronically through the Scholastic website. Students must create an account and upload photos of their entries. A submission form must also be filled out by hand and mailed to the local scholastic program, which varies by region. Each individual entry includes a fee of $5, and each portfolio entry is $20. Out of approximately 255,000 entries from around the country, around 68,000 are recognized at the regional level with a Silver Key award. These
works are displayed at local exhibits and awards are given at the exhibitions. The top 2000 works in the country receive Gold Keys, and are recognized at the national level, with their work exhibited at Carnegie Hall. Gold Keys are also displayed at Parsons the New School for Design, Pratt Manhattan Gallery, and other prestigious art centers. These works also tour the country in a moving exhibition as a part of ART.WRITE.NOW. Select works are published in various magazines, including New York Times Upfront, Scholastic Art Magazine, Scope Magazine, and several others that are distributed nationwide. Thousands of dollars in scholarships are given to top artists each year. A $10,000 scholarship is awarded to 16 students with the best portfolio entries. Students who earn Silver Key portfolios receive $1000. Art teachers are also rewarded for their student’s success. Teachers whose students won a Gold Key portfolio
receive $1000, Silver Key portfolio winners receive $250, and $50 for each Gold or Silver medal-winning student. Scholastic is a great opportunity for senior artists to show off their potential to prospective art colleges, because the program has partnerships with several prestigious institutes that are looking for creative students from around the country. Even if a student does not win on the national scale, simply entering the scholastic contest can demonstrate one’s confidence in their artistic ability. “With 90 years of history behind us and a bright future ahead, the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards has grown to be the nation’s longest-running, most prestigious recognition initiative for creative teens, and the largest source of scholarships for young artists and writers,” Scholastic said. “Join us as a student, educator, affiliate, partner, or supporter and claim your place within our nation’s creative legacy.”