February 2013 - Volume 106 Issue 5

The Horseshoe FEBRUARY

2013

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DENTON

HIGH

SCHOOL,

DENTON,

TEXAS

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VOLUME

106

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ISSUE

Behind the Scenes with Ian Gibson Pages 6-7

Lockout causes stir in school safety discussion (Pg. 2)

Col. West wins Teacher of the Year (Pg. 3)

One Fillie’s hourand-a-half commute (Pg. 5)

Bush and Phillips talk about everything and nothing (Pg. 10)

Girls swimming team makes state (Pg. 11)

5

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NEWS FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Newtown, lockdown cause stir in school Taylor Brown Assistant Editor It’s 8:25 in the morning. The clouds darken the sky, with the ambition of a storm approaching.

However, the administration is anticipating a different storm.

Students are being directed into the school by various administrators and taken to the nearest classrooms for their own safety. The school is on lockdown, sending students and parents alike into an outburst of confusion.

“During the lockdown, I was extremely scared,” freshman

Daniela Cardenas said.

“The hallways were empty and every classroom was locked, I just heard teachers shouting, ‘This is not a drill!’

I had no idea what was going on. It was a very frightening experience.”

There were various reports among students as to what truly happened that morning.

Some said that gunshots had been fired and the gunman was in custody, some said the gunman was in the high school; however Principal Dan Ford wishes to provide all Denton High students and parents with peace

of mind.

“The lockdown was only a precaution,” Ford said. “There was a report of a loud noise north of our campus, and police concluded that nothing came of it.”

Denton Police surveyed the area, even going door-to-door in hopes of finding a lead of some sort, however their efforts proved inconclusive.

“We wanted to make sure that both students and staff were safe,” Ford said.

“I have dealt with lockdowns previously and anytime we choose to go into a lockdown, it’s based upon infor-

mation we have at the time.”

And all Ford had to go on at that point was the possibility that a shooting had occurred in the area. Since the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, principals like Ford can’t afford to take any chances.

“We have always had a crisis plan in place,” Ford said. “As time goes on, we continue to tweak the plan as necessary.”

Because of the increased gun violence in America, many people have questioned the safety of our schools.

However, history

teacher Fred Grindle, who has taught at DHS for over 30 years, says security here is better than ever.

“It used to be that every door was unlocked,” Grindle said.

“We didn’t have things like the front office that rings you in. The school has gotten a lot safer with the addition of ID cards and locked doors.”

Though Grindle says DHS is much safer nowadays, Theatre teacher Thomas Stratton wants to be ready for anything.

“I think I should be allowed to carry a concealed handgun at school,” Stratton said.

“I’ve been in the military and I’m trained in firearms. I should be able to defend myself and my class if something were to happen.”

Teachers carrying handguns may seem outlandish, but just two hours up the road, Harrold High School in Harrold, TX has already approved this policy. Harrold Independent School District has allowed teachers to carry concealed handguns since 2007, a policy that is not completely ruled out for Denton High.

“If state legislation allows school employees to carry weapons, there is going to need

to be strict training and evaluations to ensure each employee has the capacity for sound decision making,” Principal Ford said.

No matter what the future of school safety is, the lockdown that took place on Feb. 15 will not be forgotten.

Luckily, it was just a precaution to ensure safety, something Ford says is extremely important.

“I would rather go to an extreme to make students safe than let something happen to them,” Ford said. “The safety of our students and staff is the number one priority.”

Winter Formal attracts 100, but fails to break even Floribel Núñez Staff Writer Generations of students have looked forward to dances and events such as prom and homecoming. However, the Class Officers of 2014 wanted to start a new tradition, in hopes that it would become an event that future students look forward to annually.

Their idea: a Winter Formal dance.

The officers advertised for about a week and put up signs all over Denton High School, as well as advertising on Facebook.

“I was happy because I thought only six students were going to show up to the Winter Formal because of the ticket sales that week,“ event organizer and class treasurer Regina Chavez said.

Around 100 people showed up to the dance.

Even kids from Ryan High School and complete strangers showed up.

“Although the winter ball attracted fewer people than homecoming or prom, it was worth all the work put in,” fellow organizer and class representative Emily Fu said. “It was successful for the first Winter Formal.”

They thought the dance would attract more underclassmen, since they are not eligible to go to prom.

“If people would stop judging and go, they would see that it was fun and a great dance,” Fu said. “Not going because your friends are not going is stupid. Go and experience it yourself.”

Some students chose not to attend because they believed the dance was going to fail from the beginning.

“If they would have given it a chance, they could see how well the dance

turned out,” Chavez said.

“People thought it was a joke, so it was a failure to the people that didn’t show up.”

Class president Isaac Warriner was one of the officers who spent the Friday and Saturday morning before the formal finishing decorations for the cafeteria.

“The decorations were great, and the time put in was all worthwhile,” Isaac said. “The cafeteria was completely transformed. It looked beautiful.”

Class sponsor Janis Mrs. Wohlgemuth wanted to prove that any site could be transformed into something beautiful.

“The cafeteria was covered with silver all around the walls,” Wohlgemuth said. “We all spent 30-40 hours working on putting the dance together.”

The dance was quite like homecoming night, ac-

cording to the organizers.

“For the first 30 to 40 minutes, the attendees were apprehensive about dancing,” Warriner said.

“They didn’t think it was an actual dance.”

The DJ would alternate different types of music, just like the homecoming

dance.

“I know the people that showed up at the dance had a good time and they kept commenting on how good it looked,” Isaac said.

Wohlgemuth took a gamble by putting on this dance, and that was a gamble the Class of 2014 lost

money on. They will not be putting on the dance for next year.

“I thought we worked hard, and it paid off,” Wohlgemuth said. “It was a really nice dance, and lots of effort were put into making the dance come alive.”

NEWS

3

FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Col. West selected Teacher of the Year Taylor Brown Assistant Editor Four years ago, he was protecting America. Now, Colonel Robert West is on a new kind of mission; he’s set out to make the Class of 2013 the most memorable of them all. This kind of dedication to the purple and gold led him to make an impact on all of Bronco Nation.

On Jan. 7, it also earned him the highest honor a teacher can receive at DHS; Teacher of the Year. And according to his peers and students alike, he was deserving.

Cadet Major Katelin Pegg, 12, is one of the students West has impacted over the years, and she earnestly agrees with the Campus Leadership Team’s decision to honor him.

“He definitely deserved Teacher of the Year; he makes it a point to be personal with all of his students,” Pegg said. “He listens to all of our problems, and leads us to the right

decisions. He’s more than just a teacher.”

Pegg describes West as a compassionate and caring teacher.

“Colonel West is definitely my favorite teacher because he always pushes us to do the best we can,” Pegg said. “He likes to put drive into students. He’s one of the best staff members at DHS.” Physical Education department head Sarah Hirsch had the responsibility of nominating West for Teacher of the Year, and she agrees with Pegg.

“I nominated him because he’s all about the kids; the way he motivates them is just amazing,” Hirsch said. “The philosophies he teaches by are just awesome.”

However, Col. West never pictured he’d be accepting this award, or even be a teacher for that matter.

He wasn’t the best student academically throughout high school and had dreams of being a professional baseball player, but

Known for helping students, Teacher of the Year Colonel West does just that. (photo by Austin Pugh)

those dreams soon faded when reality hit him during college. At the University of Maine, he came to realize what he was destined to do for the next 24 years while talking to the Air Force ROTC recruiter on campus.

“A recruiter on campus with the AFROTC asked me if I wanted to fly, but I didn’t think I was smart

enough to,” West said. “The more he tried to convince me, the more I thought about it, and I ended up flying for 24 years with a smile on my face.”

West worked his way up to be an Advanced Concepts Project Engineer, a job designated to protect the airspace above the White House, but there was one problem with the

job was that he couldn’t get over.

“I never got to see my kids on a regular basis in that position, so I had to find another job to where I’d be closer to them,” West said.

Therefore, West looked for a position near Oklahoma, where his kids lived, and after not finding luck with the F-35 Fighter Program in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, West set his sights on teaching.

“A buddy of mine told me about the Air Force Junior ROTC, and at first I was like ‘Are you kidding me? I don’t want to work at a high school just to baby sit some snobby-nosed kids,’ but after thinking about it some more, I grew fonder of the position and decided to do it,” West said.

So Col. West started at DHS in March of 2009, winning Teacher of the Year just four years later, an award that he is honored to receive and immensely proud of.

“I was extremely hon-

ored just to be nominated,” West said. “To have someone come up to me and say, ‘You are our number one pick,’ out of all of the great staff members it could have been, was amazing.”

West thinks he was selected as Teacher of the Year because of how much he cares about students.

He’s here for the students, not the paycheck.

“I don’t really consider this a job,” West said. “I like to be here, I like the kids that I work with. This isn’t a job to me; it’s not about the money. I care about my students and I care about DHS as a whole. We have some incredible kids at this high school, and I’m proud to be a Bronco.”

He’s here to stay.

“I’ve been put into positions where I can affect people in positive ways, in the Air Force and at DHS,” West said. “I don’t have any regrets because I feel blessed here. God put me at DHS for a reason.”

Teacher of the Year profiles

continued on page 8.

Alumni saves life of man drowning in lake Taylor Brown Assistant Editor On Friday, Jan. 25, during the early morning, Denton High alumni Ryan Mabry was struggling to pull a man through the sunroof of his Isuzu Amigo in the middle of Bachman Lake in Dallas.

A man was speeding along Northwest Highway, and suffered a seizure while driving.

He then lost control and plunged into the lake.

It was left up to two bystanders, Dallas Po-

lice Officer Mabry, and his colleagues to save the man’s life.

“The water was 45 degrees Fahrenheit,” Mabry said. “Needless to say, it was a cold morning.”

Mabry was preparing to go home after working the night shift when he got a call describing a man stuck inside his sinking car.

“Two joggers were passing by, and they saw the car come off the highway at a high speed,” Mabry said.

“When they saw no one get out of the car, they called the police.”

While waiting for police to arrive, the joggers swam out to the car and tried to get the man out. However, the car door wouldn’t budge.

“By the time we got there, the car was almost completely submerged,” Mabry said.

“We took off our gun belts, I grabbed my baton, and we swam out there.”

Mabry then tried to break out the window with his baton, but the water pressure was too great to give in.

“When the window wouldn’t break out,

I had to get on top of the car and break the sunroof out,” Mabry said. “So I broke the sunroof out, felt with my hands to see where he was at, and I pulled him through.”

Mabry and the other officers then carried the unconscious man to shore and started performing chest compressions on him.

“Officer Williamson started CPR on him,” Mabry said. “Thankfully, he started coughing and we brought him back.”

The officers called an ambulance and

the man was taken to Parkland Hospital. He is expected to make a full recovery. Mabry and his colleagues were honored with the Meritorious Conduct Award and the Life Saving Award for their work.

However, Mabry’s heroic actions were no surprise to his former teacher and coach, Harold Jackson.

“He’s a hard worker and a great person,” Jackson said. “I was very proud and honored that one of our former students had done a good deed.”

Jackson and Mabry still communicate to this day.

“Coach Jackson was definitely my favorite teacher at DHS,” Mabry said. “My favorite memory with him was beating Ryan in basketball.”

Mabry played both basketball and baseball at DHS, and left a lasting impression on Jackson.

“He was one of my favorite basketball players I’ve ever coached,” Jackson said. “I’m very proud of the young man he’s become.”

After high school, Mabry attended Navarro College in Corsicana, and eventually came back to finish college at UNT. And after taking a Criminal Justice class, he became interested in joining the Dallas Police Department. In January of 2010, Mabry was hired on and has loved it ever since. And just three years later, he is being awarded for saving someone’s life.

“I’m glad nobody was seriously hurt and everyone got out safe,” Mabry said.

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NEWS FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

All hands on deck At 5:30 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 11, sophomore Breanna Courson sat in her house and waited for her father to pick her up.

She received a phone call from him, and he informed her why he wouldn’t be coming to pick her up.

The night before, on Sunday, Feb. 10, the Carnival Triumph cruise ship (en route to Mexico) became stranded in the Gulf of Mexico. Breanna’s step-mother, Kristina Courson, was onboard.

George Roberson Editor-in-Chief

Student’s stepmother shipwrecked for days

“I was scared at first, because I thought she might be hurt,” Breanna said.

A fire caused the boat to lose power, then plumbing. The Triumph experienced food shortages as it drifted at a few miles per hour toward the coast of Alabama.

“They were sleeping on mattresses in the hallways because the rooms are pitch black,” Breanna said. “There were people peeing on the floors at first, so then the Coast Guard started bringing them little red bags.”

While she was scared, Kristina has been through something like this before.

“The only other cruise she has ever been on is the one that tipped over off the coast of Italy in 2012,” Breanna said. “She said it was really eye-opening for her. She actually said, ‘I don’t want to take another cruise again, for awhile,’ but she decided to give it another shot with this one.”

Breanna says that what had been described on the news about the Triumph was mostly accurate, but that outlets were understating the conditions.

“People were having heart attacks, kids were freaking out, there were fights breaking out over food,” Breanna said. “[The

Government teacher goes to inauguration Mwape Chintankwa Staff Writer A lot of people tuned in to watch President Barack Obama’s second inauguration on TV. However, Government teacher Melinda Jobe did not, opting instead to go to Washington D.C. in person to witness the inauguration.

“The inauguration is something, as a government teacher, I have always wanted to see,” Jobe said. “I had never even thought I would get the chance to see a president

sworn into office.”

Jobe was able to get tickets to the inauguration through her sister in-law, once a senator of Minnesota, who has connections with the current senator. It was a trip that consisted of Jobe, her sister-in-law, and her daughter.

“I have never been able to get enough of that town,” Jobe said. “It was very dignified. D.C. was so much of an education.

I jogged beside Senators and their aides, who were talking about issues, and I

enjoyed that.”

She says she saw and experienced many amazing things.

“I am a ‘political-science-aholic;’ I love anything that has to do with politics,” Jobe said.

It was surprising to Jobe that the inauguration that took place on Monday was a dignified ceremony. Occasionally, Jobe heard a thunder of applause that erupted from nowhere; there was also the occasional “whoop” from someone in the crowd.

“For the most part, when you see all those dignitaries, and you see the Marine Core and all those people, it is more about the ceremony than the jubilation that some people had about the president,” Jobe said.

Jobe thinks that anyone that has the opportunity to go to an inauguration should jump on it.

“The ceremony is a once in a lifetime thing, something I will never forget,” Jobe said. “It’s an experience I’d like to pass onto my students.”

Checkmate: UNT takes DHS in chess points of the second place team.

Dimitrios Aerts/Staff Writer “It was a huge success for Taylor Brown/Assistant Editor The timeless monarchy of white pawns vs. black pawns, bishops, knights, rooks, and queens continues at Denton High. The DHS Chess Club won first place as a team at Texas Region 2, and won double the

NEWS BRIEFS

DHS,” Dr. Alexi Root, the director of the Chess Club, said. “We were dominant in this region.”

Junior William Root took 2nd, senior Austin McGregor got 3rd, and senior Luis Guevara took 4th. This tournament, along with the UNT vs. DHS chess match on

Virginia and Swarthmore top Best Value list The 2013 Princeton Review list of colleges that offer students the “Best Value” is out, and the University of Virginia and Swarthmore College topped the public and private lists, respectively. UNC-Chapel Hill, New College of Florida, William and Mary, and UCLA also made the public list. Harvard, Williams, Princeton, and Pomona rounded out the top 5 private values.

Feb. 16, was in preparation for the Super Nationals Tournament in Nashville, Tennessee.

UNT won every game of their matchup except for one. William Root of DHS and Ben Sirota of UNT ended in a draw, winning each team half a point.

“He was a very strong player,” Sirota said. “He kind of reminded

media] made it seem like they were doing everything they could for them, but they were not rationing food like they should have been.”

When she had access to a charged phone, Kristina called her family back home.

“There’s no point in getting on the phone, though, because all you want to do is cry when you do,” Breanna said.

After her two cruise ship experiences, Breanna’s step-mom was pretty clear to her family: “She’s never taking a cruise again.”

What’s happening around Denton in the month ahead UNT Orchestra Concert > February 27 > Winspear Performance Hall UNT’s chamber orchestra (backed up by University Singers) will be playing Wagner, Mozart, and Vivaldi at Winspear Hall on campus. Admission is $0-$10.

Fillies Follies > March 1-2 > DHS Auditorium It’s the biggest night in a Fillie’s year. They’ve been practicing for months, and this two-night event is their time to strut their stuff. Admission for students is $5, and admission for adults is $10.

35 Denton > March 7-10 > Downtown Denton Several local and nationally-known artists converge on Denton as part of 35 Denton, a music festival that will feature Solange Knowles, Astronautalis, and Camera Obscura (among others) this year. Four-day wristbands are currently priced at $55, single-day passes start at $35.

me of myself.”

William studied Sirota by reading over a game that he had played against William’s father, the director of the UNT chess club, Dr. Doug Root.

“I was really glad I drew him,” William said. “I would have hated to lose, knowing I could have drawn the game.”

Arizona bill would require loyalty oaths A proposed bill in the Arizona House of Representatives would require students to take an oath to “support and defend” the Constitution. Critics say the oath itself is unconstitutional because it contains the words “so help me God.” Another bill would require all public schools to make time for students to say the Pledge of Allegiance daily.

Senior Austin McGregor’s lasted hours.

“It was a sharp game, and if you didn’t make the right move at the right time, you were going to lose,” McGregor said.

The epic battle of UNT vs. DHS and husband vs. wife ended in defeat for the Broncos, but they say they’re ready for Nationals.

School finance system unconstitutional On Feb. 5, a Texas state District Judge ruled that Texas’ education budget cuts in recent years were unconstitutional. The decision might force the state to find a way to get additional funding to the state’s independent school districts. An appeal by the state is considered likely.

FEATURE

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FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Home is where the heart is For 25 years, they lived in a pleasant home on Linden Street with a beautiful agave tree growing in the front yard. Their unique home, built in the 1960s, could not have better suited Fritz Schwalm and his wife Reneta, even though it was placed only feet from DHS. On the morning of Feb. 10th, 2008, the Schwalms woke up to a notice informing them that the high school was going to expand.

A new gym was going to be built right in the place of their home.

The couple was utterly distraught with the news, as leaving their comfy home was definitely not in their best interest.

“It was very devastating news but I knew the high school had to be expanded,” Schwalm said.

“We were expecting it to happen in a couple of years but not so soon. I’m a reasonable person and there was very little I could do to avoid it so for the good of the community I had to yield.”

Jordan Gill Standards Editor

Fritz was aware that adding the new gym would benefit the school.

“Being a teacher myself I knew that the school should be properly equipped therefore I agreed with the concept but I was personally unprepared and upset,” Schwalm said.

Expanding the school towards Linden Street meant that a total of two houses would have to be annexed/removed. Scott Brown, of Scott Brown Reality, was the owner of the second home on the land.

“I graduated from DHS in ’82 and my grandparents lived in that house when I went to high school,” Brown said. “I used to park in their driveway and only had to walk across the street to get to school. When my grandmother died I bought the house from the family. When I found out that the school wanted to take the property I was not angry at all.”

Brown had the house up for rent when the school offered to pay him for his property. The

All aboard Floribel Núñez Staff Writer Rise and shine, baby, it’s 5:30 A.M. Senior Anais Alarcon wakes up earlier than most of her classmates.

She lives all the way in Farmers Branch and rides the train to get to school.

“I wake up at 5:30 and it’s miserable,” Anais said. “I do it for my team.”

She does this so she can continue being a Dance Officer for Fillies.

Anais’ parents moved to Farmers Branch halfway through her junior year.

Now, Anais rides the train to school and back home to Farmers Branch

each day.

“My parents work in Carrollton, so riding the train was the only transportation I could get,” Anais said. “I didn’t want to transfer because I didn’t want to loose my friends that i already had here at DHS and I didn’t want to lose my position as a Dance Officer for Fillies. It is all worth it.

I love my team, so it’s okay.”

It takes Anais about two and a half hours to get to school.

“The process I take to get to school is long,” Anais said. “I ride the DART from Carrollton then get off at the next stop and get on Train A. Then take a bus and

money offered was a fair price so Brown started counting his options.

“I asked if I could just lift up the house and move it,” Brown said. “After they OK’d the idea, I began looking at the floor plan and decided that Fritz’s house was better for moving. I moved it to Crow Street. I rent the home to college students.”

The principal at the time of the expansion was Darrell Muncy, who is now the Director of Student Support Services for DISD. It was December of 2007 when the bond was voted on and the idea to create a new gym for the students arose.

“I was the one who proposed the idea to create a new competition gym,” Muncy said. “There were several different options as to where to put the new gym including building out towards Fulton Street, but the architects and school board decided on building out towards Linden and taking the two properties by eminent domain.”

Construction began in the

summer of 2008 and the new gym was ready for use by December.

“My initial goal was to build a gym that would hold the entire student population,” Muncy said. “The new gym can now hold 2,000 students so all can join in on the Pep Rallies. We used to have to filter out the students that weren’t wearing purple or gold because there was never enough room for everyone.”

The new gym has been very beneficial in Muncy’s eyes and the students were very pleased with having a brand new competition gym in their historic

school. The Schwalms and Brown know that their sacrifice was definitely worth it.

“We are very happy now and we agree that is was a good thing to happen,” Schwalm said. “We had our ups and downs with living next to the school, cars blocking our driveway and waking up from the school buses driving by, but now we don’t have these problems anymore.”

Fritz and his wife live happily in their new home.

“The school board treated us very decently and we are very happy with the change after we settled in,” Fritz said.

Student’s daily train trip to and from school covers 30 miles get dropped off near the school then I walk to school. I arrive around 8:15.”

When Anais first started riding the train to school, her parents were worried that something bad might happen to her on her way.

“I get very terrified when my daughter gets on the train,” Yasmin Alarcon, Anais’ mom said. “There are strangers, and you just can’t trust people now-a-days, with all the incidents going on.”

But Anais’ mom believes Anais is strong and responsible and deserved to stay at DHS. “It’s her last year and she has accomplished so

much,” Yasmin Alarcon said. “I didn’t want to take away her opportunities as a Senior Lieutenant.”

Anais feels independent, so she wasn’t scared the first time she rode the DART, but she did feel awkward.

“I was raised not to depend on other people,” Anais said.

When Anais is riding the train, she usually does homework or sleeps.

“The only time I’ve been scared was when a man that looked like a hobo was trying to speak to me and tried moving closer,” Anais said.

If Anais has morning practice, she stays over

with one of her friends.

Otherwise, she has an early morning, pre-departure routine.

“I have a check list inside my brain, and I go through it,” Anais said.

“But sometimes I do forget to bring my makeup but I always have an alternate choice, so I use others’.”

One week, Anais went from Monday morning to Thursday night without seeing her parents.

She sees this experience as a lesson that you can overcome anything if you set a goal down.

“You have to try your hardest to not let a barrier stop you,” Anais said. “Anything is possible.”

Anais Alarcon’s daily commute to school each morning (graphic by Cynthia Pantaleon)

6

FEATURE FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Through the lens of Ian Gibson Filmmaking is an art, a talent, and a passion. There are several ingredients that go into the perfect film; time, patience, and a whole lot of creativity. At only 11 years old, a boy discovJordan Gill ered this Standards Editor art and discovered his passion along with it. Ian Gibson, a current junior, succeeded in creating his own independent film company at the age of 11, known as Frosted Independent Films.

It was in fifth grade, Gibson was introduced to the idea of creating movies.

“I was at a birthday party with one of my friends, Lorenzo, and we ran out of things to do,” Gibson said. “We found a camcorder in his garage, turned it on, and started messing around. At that point I got into it, so for a number of weeks that summer, we progressively made videos.”

Gibson had originally created the videos for himself, but in 2007 he began uploading them to YouTube. Once more videos were posted, people started to pay more attention to his work.

One video in particular caught the eye of the public.

“I had been on YouTube for two years, and I

artwork by Cesar Del Castillo

made this video where I played this character called Irien, basically the girl version of myself,” Gibson said. “There’s a video I created where she comes over to my house and starts bossing me around, so I dress up as Rambo and shoot her. I put it on YouTube and it got really popular in my middle school. Everyone was talking about it. I guess that’s the first time I ever actually had something that big as far as films go.”

Gibson became an official “partner” of YouTube on May 12, 2012, beginning his first web series, “Frosted Fridays.”

“My advertising campaign manager from YouTube suggested that I start producing a show to boost my viewership,” Gibson said. “I never really thought about doing a show, I just liked making videos and films. I looked into it, and I had always wanted to talk about things that I saw in the film industry that I thought weren’t getting enough attention, so I had the idea of making a web series focusing on that.”

Gibson’s goal with his videos is to show how everything works behind the camera to produce the things that appear on screen.

“There are a lot of things that go on behind the scenes that people don’t know about that heavily influences what actually goes into filmmaking,” Gibson said. “I don’t think the general public is really aware of how it all works and that it’s more than just entertainment.”

In June, Gibson plans to add another series in addition to Frosted Fridays

called “Frosted Favorites.” He aims for it to air the first Tuesday in June and run for six weeks alongside Frosted Fridays.

“I created Frosted Favorites to recognize films I personally favor that I feel don’t receive enough attention. They’re ones I feel are largely overlooked by a lot of moviegoers, whether it be over a small budget, little advertising, or a bad release time.”

In addition to some films he’s slated to review in Frosted Favorites, Gibson credits films by Martin Scorsese and Stanley Kubrick as an inspiration.

“Scorsese and Kubrick influence me the most,” Gibson said. “Mostly for the themes presented in their films and also how unbiased they are in the industry as actual popular directors.”

After Frosted Favorites

premieres, Gibson will continue focusing on his next short film, “Red Shot Tales,” which he’s currently writing.

“It’s not something I can really talk about yet,” Gibson said. “All I know right now is that it’ll be a neo-noir film entirely produced through favors of my friends.”

Emma Pattison, a junior, has been a good friend of Gibson’s since the beginning. She has believed that his determination will get him where he wants to go.

“He’s definitely driven,” Pattison said. “He’s passionate about filming and knows what he wants and he’s going to get there. He’s not really in the mindset that everyone else is in when they’re this age, when they don’t really know what they want to do. He’s determined, he’s focused, and he’s going to make it.”

Pattison has known him for as long as she can remember.

“It’s funny because I remember him being this lanky little kid that I knew in preschool and it’s so interesting to me to see somebody that you’ve known for so long already be so successful,” Pattison said. “It’s cool and very admirable to see someone who

is so serious about something. I don’t think a lot of people have the determination that he does.”

Pattison has been a part of several of Gibson’s videos, whether behind the camera or playing a small role. She has noticed the differences from when he first started compared to where he is now.

“It’s been really awesome to watch how he has progressed over the years,” Pattison said. “If you compare some of the videos that he has now to his first videos, he has improved so much in many aspects. There’s a huge change.”

Pattison admires his passion and his seriousness for what he really loves.

“He’s definitely going to make a career out of his filming, there’s nothing else he wants to do,” Pattison said. “He spends so much time on it and he really does know what he’s talking about.”

Gibson has been offered a job to narrate a Petsmart commercial in Vancouver, will become a National Youth Correspondent with MSNBC this summer, and works with UNT creating promotional videos for different Visual

FEATURE

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FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Arts programs. Though he has been presented with additional opportunities, Gibson plans to continue filmmaking throughout the rest of his life above all.

“I plan on going to film school and hopefully just continuing doing what I’m doing,” Gibson said.

So far, he has managed to continue making webisodes, with extra projects on the side, while being a busy high school student.

It can get very stressful.

“What stresses me out the most about my job is the fact that it feels like it’s never ending.

There’s not a whole lot of breaks,” Gibson said. “The financial obstacles and actually getting to the point where I can produce something stresses me out, as well.

Taking something from an idea and actually getting it on film is time consuming and takes a lot

of work.”

Although things can get tough sometimes, there are also a lot of rewarding aspects to being in his industry.

“What I love most is having the ability to express your ideas in a manner that is both entertaining

and comprehensible to the mass majority of audiences. I love to film and I love every aspect of filmmaking. It’s what drives me to continue working and to keep creating,” Gibson said.

Ian’s ϐilms are at frostedindependentϐilms.com.

Texting while driving a hazard to all You are driving in your car on the way to school. You are just cruising along, jamming to some music on your radio.

Then, suddenly, you get a text. You could either answer it now or just wait until you stop driving. You decide to answer it now and suddenly; bam! You are dead.

Texting and driving is becoming more and more popular with many drivers. It is becoming especially prevalent among teenagers. According to Teen Driver Source, 58% of seniors and 43% of juniors text and drive.

“I don’t personally do it,” junior Ethan Morrison said. “I think people do it because they feel the need to constantly socialize.”

People who text and drive are less reactive than those who maintain attention constantly. These people are more 23 times more likely to get into a car wreck.

“I do it because I feel like I need to respond in time to these people,” sophomore Grant Gorman said “It feels a little dangerous at first, but I got used to it.”

William Crouch Staff Writer

This growing trend has led to more and more car crashes and more deaths because of a simple message; a message (usually shorter than 25 characters) could kill a person in an instant. For every person under 20 killed in a car wreck 19% of them were texting and driving.

“I don’t really understand why somebody would do it,” sophomore Michael Carrier said. “I think they are acting stupid to risk their life for one little message.”

Driver’s education courses have changed the curriculum to better teach kids to not text and drive. These new curriculum has been designed to better protect kids and keep them safe, according to the driver’s education and special education teacher, Coach Michael Minter.

“I don’t text while driving,” Minter said.

“I teach my kids that it’s a major distraction and a major temptation but you don’t need to do it because it can wait. I think people text and drive because of the convenience of it. Teenagers think that they can talk or text on their cell phones and that there’s no risk. They think it’s okay to

text and drive, but it’s not. They’ve been raised with these cell phones and are used to talking or texting whenever they want.”

Minter has lots of experience in the field of teaching kids.

“I’ve taught driver’s ed for 27 years, and I was there when cell phones first came out,” Minter said. “Using phones and driving has been along as long as cell phones, but texting and driving just recently start-

ed. The past ten years, texting and driving has increased dramatically not only with kids but also with adults. I didn’t text and drive and I still don’t text and drive, despite the new technology and convenience, so I can set a good example for my students and to show them that it can wait.”

Officer Patrick Black has seen a few kids texting and driving while going through the school zone, but hasn’t issued any citations.

“Even with this law stating that you can’t text and drive in a school zone, I still see a few kids texting and driving,” Black said. “Since I’ve worked here, I haven’t given any tickets for this though.”

Texting and driving is against the law for new drivers, and in school zones for everybody.

“Currently there is no law prohibiting texting and driving in the State of Texas [other than that],” Officer Ryan Grelle of the Denton Police Department said. “Even if there was a law, people would probably still try to text and drive.”

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FEATURE FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Coach Lee

Mr. Baker

Mrs. Nobles

Coach Swindle

Chandler Elsbecker Sports Editor

Joi Bailey Staff Writer

Jordan Gill Standards Editor

Dylan Curtis Staff Writer

A booming voice comes through the wall into Kathleen Solomon‘s room. Her students think: it doesn’t have to be so loud, does it? I mean after all, it’s social studies – how exuberant does a guy need to get over social studies? It’s a bit unwarranted, isn’t it?

But for Coach Evan Lee, this intensity is necessary. It fulfills a certain part of him and helps his students understand something he’s always trying to find.

“I’m always obsessed with answering the question ‘Why?’” Lee said. “If I don’t like the way the world looks right now, ‘why did it get that way?’ I want to know. And social studies is the way I can do it.

You may never need to know that the Declaration of Independence was written in 1776. But that idea of why – you’ll need that the rest of your life.”

Lee found inspiration to become a teacher in middle school after becoming friends with one of his football coaches.

“I think I knew I was going to be a teacher when I was in seventh grade,” Lee said.

He pulls out a gun, aims and fires at his students. The styrofoam bullet lands on the face of the poor innocent child. There is no match for his Nerf gun.

That’s why choir director Mark Baker was one of this year’s nominees for Teacher of the Year.

Many would say that Baker has unconventional teaching methods, but his techniques have been praised. According to Patti Freeman, the assistant choir director, he cares a great deal about his students, not just in Choir, but in their other classes, too. He uses laughter to motivate his students. Each student has a different way of learning.

He finds ways to make connections and in doing so, finds out what makes them tick.

“His positive spirit is contagious,” Freeman said. “That is what makes him so successful in his choir career. That and really hard work.”

Baker has been teaching for 33 years, 10 of which he has spent at Denton High School.

“I’m honored to be nominated,” Baker said. It’s great to know that I’m appreciated.”

Waking up at the crack of dawn and not leaving until the sun has set is just part of the process for math teacher Marlene Nobles. She has spent the past 27 years in the classroom, trying to make sure that her students succeed, at all costs.

Her math department colleagues have seen that first-hand, and have nominated her as their Teacher of the Year nominee.

“I truly and honestly think that every child has the ability to learn,” Nobles said. “They have to have the desire and willingness to learn, and I can teach anyone that has that desire. Everyone can pass my class, and that is my teaching philosophy.”

To this day she continues to influence students and other teachers to strive for the best, including math chair, Stephanie Nicewarner.

“She was my mentor when I started here, and she was that person that you could go to and talk to about everything,” Nicewarner said.

“She was that rock you can lean on.

We’ve known each for several years and we still have that same, close relationship that we had in the beginning.”

Four years ago she was working as a manager at Victoria Secret, but now, instead of promoting clothes, she’s promoting education.

Her focus on education and her care for her students earned Courtney Swindle a nomination for Teacher of the Year.

The nominees were revealed on Jan. 7 at the Staff Breakfast. Swindle, Special Education teacher and program coordinator for the DHS cheerleading program, was one of eight nominees competing for the award. Although the award ended up going to the ROTC teacher, Colonel West, Swindle is still working hard to inspire her students.

Swindle’s care for her students is evident when she speaks about her teaching philosophy and how much she cares about giving her students a proper education.

“If your students don’t know that you care, then you’re not going to get their trust,” Swindle said. “Then they’re not going to learn anything.”

Continued on dhshorseshoe.com.

Continued on dhshorseshoe.com.

Continued on dhshorseshoe.com.

Find the rest of this and more Teacher of the Year nominee profiles at dhshorseshoe.com.

OPINION

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FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Discussion about guns How I joined the Army is one we need to have Amber Cowles Staff Writer

Dimitrios Aerts Staff Writer A nine-year-old in Tucson, AZ. 9mm Glock model 19. January 2011.

A dozen other victims.

A six-year-old in Aurora, CO. Smith & Wesson M&P15, Remington 870 Express Tactical, Glock 22. July 2012. 11 other deaths.

16 six-year-olds and four seven-year-olds in Newtown, CT. Bushmaster XM-15. December 2012. Seven other victims.

The debate over gun control is well under way. And it’s about time.

Something clearly has to change.

Assault rifles are named that for a reason.

Their job isn’t to protect or hunt. They are meant

for assault. They’re created to kill.

One argument against stricter gun laws is that it infringes the rights given to us in the United States Constitution. If you read the Constitution, you will see that it states: “A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.” It does not specify firearms, and it does not specify a limit.

The US Constitution was written in 1787.

Most people lived in isolated areas where owning a gun would be smart.

But technology wasn’t as advanced then as it is now. When the Constitution was written, automatic weapons weren’t invented yet.

Some contend that banning assault weapon sales would be ineffective, since criminals would disobey. That doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t condemn the action and attempt to enforce the law.

No method will be 100% effective, but we should still make an effort.

The last argument I’ve heard is too ridiculous to buy; the idea that the government is going to come into each of our homes, steal our guns, and turn into a tyrannical dictatorship. Paranoia shouldn’t be what’s preventing us from making strides in public safety.

It’s not about taking away freedoms, it’s about restoring peace of mind and keeping our country safe.

IB or not to be Graduation is an exciting time for all seniors. It’s when they get their high school diplomas and they are officially out of high school. Forever.

When it comes, I don’t think that one student should be put above the rest just because they did something different. Some students have issues that limit the time they can put in, preventing them from participating in such activities.

I understand that the school board is considering a proposal for IB students to be recognized all together, and I am all for that, but there are several options. If it’s important for all of them to walk at the same time,

why can’t they walk at the end or even the middle of the graduation ceremony?

Having them go first seems like they are being held above the rest.

Some may have disabilities or a lot of extracurricular activities that prevent them from devoting time.

Are these students any less important than those who are enrolled in IB? Some students would rather take a different road to earn college credit, such as taking AP courses.

Some people aren’t in IB because they feel what they’re already doing is enough. IB is structured to pack on the workload, and although I am going to join

It seems like everyone has already figured out their entire future, and even just last month, I found that depressing because I had nothing figured out. I knew I’d graduate, but that was the extent of what I had planned.

I had recently found out that I didn’t get financial aid for college because (apparently) my parents make too much money. However, the government failed to realize that I’m responsible for paying for my college, not my parents. Unfortunately, I’m quite broke so I didn’t want to plan for college knowing that it would send me into such a mountain of debt.

Little did I know that my entire dilemma was about to be resolved with one question from my

Jackie Wostrel Staff Writer

IB, I don’t think that they should be held above the rest of the students. If you’re doing something that already challenges you, then you’re already doing enough. In my opinion, you don’t need to over-work yourself, and people who do shouldn’t be recognized ahead of you.

Just because a student is not in IB doesn’t mean they should be treated like they’re below IB. People have previous commitments and school is school: whether you do AP, regular, or IB, you should do the things that are right for you. If IB is too hard for some, they should not have to be downgraded just because they learn differently.

mother. “Why don’t you join the military?” she asked. The idea was a little out there, given that it’s such a huge commitment, but college was such a difficult thing anyway. I figured “what the heck.” I might as well check it out.

I went to the Army recruiting office, spoke to the sergeants for several hours, and filled out mounds and mounds of redundant paperwork. I was even weighed, measured, and took a practice ASVAB (which is like the SAT for military personnel).

Because my paperwork was in order and my scores were desirable, the sergeants were keen to see if I was ready to commit. I quickly made my mind up that the pros of joining far outweighed the cons, and the only logical thing for me to do was join.

Soon thereafter, I was sent to MEPS (or Mili-

tary Entrance Processing Station) in Dallas. I took the real ASVAB there and scored high enough to qualify for the intelligence analyst job I desperately wanted.

The next day, I went through a battery of medical and mental testing, and had to crawl through even more mounds of paperwork, which was exhausting and frustrating.

The “processing,” as they called it, took nearly 13 hours (and I was so relieved when it was finally over), but I knew I was doing the right thing. Eagerly, I signed my contract and was told that I will head to basic training in June.

I was instructed to wait in the ceremony room. I was then sworn in, with my family watching and eagerly recording the moment. It was then that I became a soldier and I had my life figured out.

The Horseshoe 1007 Fulton Denton, TX 76201 940-369-2150 Editor-in-Chief: George Roberson Assistant Editor: Taylor Brown Online Editor: Ryan Carr Sports Editor: Chandler Elsbecker Standards Editor: Jordan Gill Staff Writers: Dimitrios Aerts, Joi Bailey, Isaac Bowen, Mwape Chintankwa, Evie Clark, Amber Cowles, William Crouch, Dylan Curtis, Johnny Fletcher, CJ Mauricio, Floribel Núñez, Tanneth Oxford, Jackie Wostrel Photographers: Alex Meimers, Austin Pugh Graphic Design: Cynthia Pantaleon Adviser: Mr. Greg Bogomol Principal: Mr. Dan Ford

The student newspaper of Denton High School is published by the publications staff. The ideas expressed in this publication and on the Opinion page are solely those of the individuals providing them, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the entire staff, adviser, faculty, administration, or the Denton ISD Board.

DHS is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, National Scholastic Press Conference, and Columbia Scholastic Press Conference.

Find us online at www.dhshorseshoe.com, as well as on Facebook and Twitter.

A version of this issue formatted specifically for the Internet can be accessed at issuu. com/dhshorseshoe.

If you have an opinion to express and you would like to see it appear in the Horseshoe, email it to dhshorseshoe@gmail.com.

10

ARTS/ENTERTAINMENT FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Two peas in a pod

Mrs. Bush and Mrs. Phillips first met in their freshman English class at Denton High in 1992. Since then, they’ve been inseparable.

English teachers Amber Bush and Jennifer Phillips were best friends in high school, and are still best friends now. They sat down with us to talk about their friendship and what it’s like to work together. (By the way, they hated the above headline, and wanted you all to know that.)

How would you describe your relationship?

When did you start running StuCo together?

JP: Symbiotic. We function on the same wavelength.

AB: Awesome attracts awesome.

JP: Mrs. Bush is good at the things I’m not good at, and I’m good at the things she’s not good at... like being nice and spreadsheets.

JP: It’s dif icult for us to be serious... ever.

AB: 2010-11. That started “Jamber.” That’s what we refer to ourselves now. We sign emails that way.

JP: Mr. Ford calls us that. I don’t really like it because Amber has more of her name in it.

AB: And I like it because my name is wholly present.

What were your ϐirst impressions of each other?

AB: [Eyes lare] I hate it. It makes me vomit JP: I love it.

AB: I don’t look like her, I don’t sound like her, I’m not as nice as her. I like it when people think I’m the nice one. It’s not even true.

What do you like the most about each other?

JP: I really like her hair and her keen sense of style.

AB: I don’t know what I like about her.

JP: Say my hair and my keen sense of style!

AB: You should ask what I like least about her.

Okay. What is it?

AB: She was very small, quiet, and nerdy.

JP: I thought she was old and cool. I was halfright. She is old.

AB: You’re older than me, you turd.

AB: When we irst met, Phillips begged me and begged me to be her friend, and after a couple of months, I gave in.

Did you go to the same college after high school?

JP: No, we didn’t.

AB: And it was heartbreaking.

JP: We were very separate. We reconnected here. We shared a Mountain Dew in the teachers’ lounge.

AB: We were both drinking Mountain Dews in the teachers’ lounge, and our eyes met again.

How do you feel when people confuse you for each other?

N.C. and E.P.

What has been your best moment together?

JP: The advisor retreat we went on together.

We don’t have to tell you what we did.

AB: We did advisor stuff.

JP: No animals were harmed.

AB: No children were harmed. [Laughing] JP: [Laughing] We were ine at “animals.” You took it too far.

AB: I don’t like that Phillips asks me about clothing every freaking day. And in front of people! “What are you going to wear today?” “What do you think about this?” And she asks me in the parking lot and random people laugh at us.

JP: You have no idea how fun that is. It gets under her skin, so I’m going to keep doing it.

JP: I hate the way she says the word “huge.” She says “uge.” That is not a word. [Laughing] AB: [Laughing] I work the word “uge” into at least ive conversations a day with her.

JP: And I also don’t like that she’s not very smart.

Do you love each other?

Simultaneously: No.

Zombie (entertainment) apocalypse upon us This nation is facing an epidemic: a wildly expanding virus that has gone largely unreported on until now. This, however, isn’t a case of e coli, tuberculosis, meningitis, or swine flu; I’m talking about zombies.

For years, zombies have been clambering, crawling, and walking at a moderate pace into pop culture ubiquity. In the past few years, countless zombie films, novels and video games have been released, including break-

Ryan Steiner Contributing Writer

out hits like “Zombieland,” ”DayZ,” ”Pride and Prejudice and Zombies,” ”Dead Island,” and the recent supernatural rom-com “Warm Bodies.”

The trend isn’t letting up either. Later this year, Brad Pitt will star in the zombie blockbuster “World War Z,” Sony will release the hotly anticipated survival horror game “The Last of Us,” and AMC’s Emmy winning series, “The Walking Dead,” will enter its fourth season. The zombie craze will only grow from here, but why are zombies so compelling to us, and what

does their sudden popularity say about our culture?

It’s often said that the fictional monsters we create reflect the actual fears of society. Giant, city-destroying monsters like Godzilla were popular when the world was on the brink of nuclear annihilation, while evil supercomputers like Skynet or HAL9000 reflected our fear of change in an increasingly high-tech society. In this case though, zombies are popular because they represent the greatest modern threat to our well-being: ourselves.

Right now, our biggest fears

aren’t of invading countries or a technological takeover; instead, we’re faced with dwindling resources, growing populations, disease, and environmental destruction. In a zombie story, the real horror doesn’t come from the zombies themselves; instead, it comes from the survivors, who struggle to stay alive in a barren, overrun wasteland.

On the other hand, zombies also represent our fear of losing individuality and disappearing into the masses. Our generation embraces individuality more than any before us; we avoid

conformity, defy authority, and love self-expression. However, in a country of over 300 million people, it’s hard to find your own voice and set yourself apart from the crowd.

In a zombie movie, we root for the humans because they’re fighting against a faceless mob, struggling to hold onto their individuality. And no matter how bad things get for the survivors, we’d rather be one of them than part of the horde.

No matter why you love it— or hate it—this pop culture epidemic is here to stay.

SPORTS State-bound

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FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Johnny Fletcher Sports Writer Having been to the state swim meet the past two seasons anything less would have been a disappointing season for junior D.J. Lang and his teammates.

At the Class 4A Region II meet in Mansfield on Feb. 9th Lang and his three teammates did one better as they not only qualified for the 200 med-

ley relay as a team, but in five other events as well. To make the trip to Austin even sweeter this year is that four girls will be joining the boys.

The team of Elise Page, Kayla McGill, Rachael Crews and Brianna Broussard qualified in the 200 medley relay to mark the first time a female swimmer from DHS has made the state meet since 2000. Page also qualified in the

100 free.

“I’m excited, but mostly nervous about competing at the state meet,” Page said. “I think being nervous might help me compete better though. I just have to stay rested and try to be as calm as possible. If I can just finish in the top eight, I would be happy.”

Lang who was selected swimmer of the meet not only made it as part of the relay team along with An-

Girls swimming qualifies for state for first time since 2000 thony Milbitz, Cody Knapp and Andy Ye, but also in the 200 and 100 free.

“I honestly thing I can place in the top three on my events,” Lang said. “I just need to show up, keep working hard and improve on my turns. If I do that I think I have a good shot to be successful.”

Knapp, a senior, besides the relay will also compete in the 100 breast stroke an event

he hopes to reach the finals in on Saturday.

“I want to break a minute on my 100 breast stroke and finish in the top eight,” Knapp said. “I’ve been able to be successful by showing up to practice and working hard. I’m excited about the opportunity to be able to compete on the state level.”

Milbitz, also a senior, qualified in the 200 IM and 100 back stroke to go along

with the relay hopes to bring home a medal in his last swim as a Bronco.

“I want to reach the finals in all three of my events,” Milbitz said.

“I especially want to finish in the top three on my backstroke. In order to do that I have to stay focused and can’t lose sight of my goals.”

Chris Cullen who was selected as the coach of the meet is excited about how far

the program has come.

“I’m excited for the kids and this just shows that hard work can pay off,” Cullen said. “We are improving publicity to the program and getting more kids interested.

The more kids you have the better chance you have of making it to state. By both teams making it, it just shows how much we’ve grown which is great.”

Juniors DJ Lang (left) and Kayla McGill (right) dive into the pool at the regional meet in Mansfield. Both boys and girls teams are heading to the state meet Friday in Austin. (photos courtesy Patricia Lang)

Lady Broncos finish year strong Struggling at times throughout the season, the Denton Lady Broncos won their final two games against Brewer and Azle to end the season at 9-20 and 4-10 in district 5-4A play.

Despite the record, the team was in most contests throughout the year, playing several playoff teams close, including rival Guyer (away) the last two weeks of the season. The team’s problem this season was a lack of scoring.

“We just didn’t shoot the ball well all year,” head coach Dennis Krishka said.

“We couldn’t score. This had to be the worst year percentage-wise I’ve ever had a team shoot the ball. If we could have scored, there were quite a few games we could have won.”

While the offense struggled, the de-

Jackie Wostrel Staff Writer

fense was some of the best the area had to offer.

“While we struggled record-wise, we played great defense,” Krishka said.

“We didn’t get a lot of recognition, but the girls never gave up, and had a positive attitude all year.”

While the team struggled, there is a lot of hope for next season, with five players returning to go along with the junior varsity team which posted a 22-6 record. The freshmen also had a solid season, going 19-4 and leaving Krishka with some hope.

“We had a lot of young kids who saw some success this year that we are looking forward to next year,” Krishka said. “In the offseason, we have to work on shooting the ball and improving our physical strength.”

For scores and updates, visit us on Facebook.

Time to rally behind a Bronco team Denton High isn’t more talent than any team in the town exactly known for and that’s including Ryan, one of the semi its sports programs finalists in last year’s 4A state tournament at all, and just about or Guyer ranked 11th in the Texas Assoeverybody in the state usually writes ciation of Basketball Coaches State us off as a joke when they play us.

Column Poll and this year’s District 5-4A They have good reason to, conchampions. sidering the first two years I’ve been I feel like we need to rally behind here, we’ve only won four football this team and act like they have a games, most sports don’t make the play- chance to win the whole thing. One of the offs and the only ones we went to state most important things in sports is the in were swimming and waterpolo (which mentality of a player. If a player is supin the state of Texas almost nobody cares ported and wants to do something for his school he’s more motivated. about).

These big wins the team is coming off In our own town, we are laughingstocks in the sports world, but even worse, our of have caused most of us to actually want teams are mocked by just about everybody to go and watch the games to support our in the school. But now, we finally have athletes, but I think we need to do more something to rally behind. For me it’s hard than that. We need to be able to take the to rally behind a football team that people good with the bad and give our team the count the losing streaks for, but now we fi- same amount of support no matter the nally have a team that has a chance to win results. That’s how we will have a winning team for once; by giving 100% of our efbig: boys basketball.

We might have just as much or even forts to a team that’s giving 100%.

William Crouch Staff Writer

12

SPORTS FĊćėĚĆėĞ 2013

Broncos head to playoffs for the first time since time, Denton scored just four points in the fourth quarter and hit 1 of their Having started the sealast 18 shots to finish disson at 5-11, Denton boys’ trict with a 67-51 loss. basketball Coach Harold “I just think we need to Jackson didn’t panic, and do a better job of doing the neither did his team. They smaller points of basketplayed one of the toughest ball,” Jackson said. “Make schedules in the area, and sure we’re fundamentally the team rebounded to sound, make sure we’re post an 11-3 record durexecuting everything ofing district 5-4A play, and fensively and defensively grabbed the third seed. to be successful.”

This past TuesIn the loss to day, they took on Byron Nelson, Saginaw Boswell Denton managed in the bi-district only 29% shootround. ing from the field.

Team W-L (District W-L) “I design our “I think if we Guyer 23-6 (13-1) schedule to be have a weakness, Byron Nelson 26-5 (12-2) tough to get us it’s that we have Denton 15-15 (11-3) ready for district a tendency to Brewer 16-17 (7-7) ever year,” Jackstruggle against Wichita Falls 7-18 (4-9) son said. “Our Azle 13-14 (4-9) teams that have Lake Dallas 8-21 (1-11) record might not a lot of length,” WF Rider 6-24 (1-13) always be great, Jackson said. but hopefully Sources: Denton Record-Chronicle, maxpreps.com Boswell point playing that level guard Dedrick of competition Berry has aver-

Chandler Elsbecker Sports Editor

gets us ready for what lies ahead in district and the playoffs.”

Of the team’s 14 losses, two came to teams ranked in the top 5 in the state in 5A, and three to the No. 11 and No. 12 teams in the state in 4A. In the final game of the regular season at Byron Nelson, ranked No. 12 in the state and a team the Broncos defeated the first

District 5-4A

aged 14.8 points, 5.4 assists, 2.1 rebounds, and 2.7 steals per game. Despite the troubles the point guard position gave the Broncos in the loss to Byron Nelson to close the season, Jackson doesn’t see any reason to put anymore focus on Berry.

“We’ll just keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Coach Jackson said. “We’ll try to take the ball out of the point guard’s hands as much as possible. I just hope we can go out there and play hard, play smart, and play together, and hopefully we’ll turn out successful.”

A win on Tuesday would be the Broncos first time past the first round since 2005 and advance them to the area round game on Friday against either Trimble Tech or Waco High.

Senior guard Ryan Daniels works up the court. to escape a Byron Nelson defender. (photo by Cynthia Pantaleon)

For playoff updates, see our website.

Boys soccer off to fast district start, look to end five year drought William Crouch Staff Writer

Senior captain Josh Harden heads the ball along the sideline during a game versus district opponent Birdivlle. (photo by Austin Pugh)

In 2007, Senator Barack Obama was campaigning to be president. “Hey There Delilah” was a hit song from the Plain White T’s.

2007 was also the last time boys soccer made it to the playoffs.

Now five years later, we have two term president Obama, Thrift Shop is the new hit, and one of the strongest boys soccer teams that has ever played at DHS is looking to claim a district title.

The team beat Guyer, who made the 5A playoffs a year ago and four

days later, they beat last year’s district champion, Birdville, to start district 2-0.

“It’s a big win for both the team and the players. When we beat strong teams it shows the players that they can compete with the top teams in the district,” Coach Scott Heffley said. “The beginning of district games looked really difficult on paper, but we pulled off some good wins against two really good teams.”

The team also had a solid win over Ryan before heading into district. The win showed the team they could compete at the next

level.

“The key to our success is our players are just playing smart and aggressive,” Heffley said. “We’ve been closing out games when we need to. Our seniors have been doing a great job of leading the team.”

The team has five sophomore starters this season which has created a lot of their success.

“These sophomores have grown up together and they all played together on JV last year,” Heffley said. “Our JV team was one of the strongest I’ve seen in maybe 7 or 8 years.

They’ve been a tremendous help to the whole

team.”

The team still has a long way to go until the end of district play, including rematches on the road against Guyer and Birdville.

“I think to win district we need to keep our aggressiveness going for the whole game,” Heffley said. “Some games they’ve been aggressive for the first half and slow down for the second. We’ve still done well in these games thanks to some amazing saves from our defense. I’m confident enough that this team can stay on top of the district.”