Odyssey apr17

>> TABLECOF C CONTENTS HS FEEDER

SCHOOLS RECOGNIZED

Volume 14 Issue 3 Feb./ March 2017 $3.00

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Living black history

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42-45 A Focus on soccer

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INFOCUS

Featured: MARCHING FOR EQUALITY: A woman holds a sign at the Atlanta Women’s March held on Jan. 21, one of several marches held around the country in protest of President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Sabrina Orah Mark, who attended and spoke at the march, feels it is important for students to take part in these protests. “It’s a frightening, but also a very ripe time for resistance. High schoolers now have the opportunity to become fluent in the language of resistance,” Mark said. “We must learn now how to take care of one another fiercely, and the Women’s March, I believe, was just the beginning.”

Photo by Sophie Fernandes

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4 SPICY FOODS OR WOMEN?

COVER STORY <<

24

BY SARA GOODIE

Editor-in-Chief Lucia Bermudez observes and experiences the stereotypes made about Latinas.

BY LUCIA BERMUDEZ

NEWS ELEMENTARY EXCELLENCE 14David C. Barrow and Chase Street Elementary

Junior Troy Deslatte has aspirations to become an actor.

Schools were recognized by the Governor’s Office of Student Achievement.

BY MACKENZIE CAUDILL Photos by Zoe Peterson

FEATURES

20 SCORES GALORE

While Clarke Central High School improved, the debate over the validity of the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores continues.

BY ELENA GILBERTSON-HALL

REVIEWS REACHING FOR THE STARS 36Telling the inspiring story of three black-American women dealing with racial tension while working at NASA, “Hidden Figures” is an empowering must-see.

BY VALERIA GARCIA-POZO

VARIETY SUSHI GOODNESS 38Emma Ramsay searches the Classic City for the best sushi Athens has to offer.

BY EMMA RAMSAY

SPORTS SOCCER SAAVY 43Senior Chris Ortuno uses his passion for soccer to overcome the obstacles of everyday life.

Right: PAINTING A NEW PICTURE: Clarke Central High School sophomore Cindi Munoz paints during her art class.

Fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden feels students are excited for the new Advanced Placement Art History class being offered at CCHS. “I’ve been growing the program here and it seems a lot more people are interested in many different types of art -- and not just the studio art where you’re making something, but also learning about it,” Shelden said.

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Left: HISTORY IN THE MAKING: Clarke Central High School secretary Linda Glenn performs during the Black History Month assembly on Feb. 16. The assembly was held for students and staff to perform and share their heritage. “It’s a time of celebration by our heritage, things that should be celebrated all the time,” CCHS secretary Linda Glenn.

BY MADELEINE INGLE Cover photo by Julie Alpaugh

Cover and Table of Contents design by Lucia Bermudez

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

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LUCIA

bermudez

“H

ot tamale.”

Many Latinas are familiar with this phrase. Even more familiar to our ears is

“spicy”.

I understand many Latinas are from countries with vibrant, delicious and well-seasoned foods, but what I have trouble understanding is at what point it became alright to describe us as such.

Similar to the “angry black woman” stereotype, Latinas are often pinned as sexual firebrands.

Words used to describe Latinas such as “spicy”, “sizzling” or “flaming hot” reduce Latinas to food that is craved, drooled over, obtained, devoured and then flushed away.

In describing us the way one would describe a Triple Steak Burrito from Taco Bell, one is reducing us to less than human, a mere object for consumption.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR. Comparing Latinas to hot foods and casting them in stereotypical roles is harmful in more ways than one.

News flash: we are not yours to consume.

This dehumanization of Latinas comes hand in hand with our oversexualization in American culture.

husband, Jay (Ed O’Neill).

This oversexualizaiton of Latinas is harmful for more reasons than one. It is undoubtedly dehumanizing, but it also denies many Latinas a sense of

Words used to describe Latinas such as “spicy”, “sizzling” or “flaming hot” reduce Latinas to food that is craved, drooled over, obtained, devoured and then flushed away.

Stereotypes of Latinas are often perpetuated by the media, labeling Latinas as “hot tamales”, curvy and provocative, almost always emblematic of sex appeal.

Examples of this date back to the 1920s, when Dolores del Río played roles of an exotic and passionate lover, to now, as Sofia Vergara’s character Gloria on “Modern Family” is representative of a stereotypical Latina who wears provocative, skin-tight clothing and is a fantasy trophy wife to her older

ethnic identity based on their physical appearance or sexual attractiveness.

How am I supposed to feel Latina enough when I am told my only worth comes from curves or sex appeal?

I recall an interaction I had with a classmate. In revealing to him that I am Latina, his response was along the lines of “Oh, that explains your hot body.”

I was appalled.

One might say I should be flattered he found my body to be attractive, but it felt wrong, as if I was suddenly just my body, just a piece of meat, just something to consume.

I reject that idea.

Latinas are stereotyped, sexualized and dehumanized, but we are strong, beautiful, intelligent, kind and much more complex than a simple label.

I may be a lot of things, but I will never be your spicy Latina. My curves are not for your eyes to gaze upon. My ethnicity is not for your sexual satisfaction.

My identity is not a food group category.

And I will most certainly not be consumed by you.

Left: ALL-IN-ONE BUFFET: A Latina girl gazes at a menu that portrays Latinas as meals for consumption, matched with price tags. Latina women are often compared to food and dehumanized based on their appearance or stereotypes that society upholds about them.

Cartoon by Ashley Lawrence

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Our Take

The ODYSSEY is a student-produced newsmagazine, published with the intent to inform, entertain and give voice to the Clarke Central High School community, as well as to educate student journalists. Established in 2003, the ODYSSEY is published multiple times a year, and each issue is an open public forum for student expression under the guidance of a faculty adviser.

Student journalists are provided with opportunities to investigate, inform, interpret and to evaluate: all traditionally accepted functions of the press in America. Published opinions do not necessarily reflect the views of anyone other than the staff.

The ODYSSEY staff is committed to reflect the mission statement set forth by Clarke Central High School. The goals of the staff are to provide fair, accurate news and commentaries, as well as to serve the interests of the school and Athens’ community.

Advertising must conform to the guidelines set forth for editorials. Publication of advertisements does not indicate an endorsement by CCHS or the ODYSSEY staff.

Students pictured in advertisements are not given monetary compensation. All advertising rates are available upon request from any ODYSSEY staff member.

The ODYSSEY is a member of the Quill and Scroll Honor Society, Georgia Scholastic Press Association, Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association and Southern Interscholastic Press Association.

Corrections of errors and omissions will appear in the next issue.

Editor-in-Chief: Lucia Bermudez Managing Editor: Sophie Fernandes Lead Copy Editor: Jordan Rhym Senior Visuals Editor: Julie Alpaugh Photography Editor: Zoe Peterson Viewpoints Editor: Katy Mayfield News Editor: Delia Adamson Variety Editor: Jurnee Louder Sports Editor: Hannah Gale Junior Copy Editor: Andrew Caldwell Writing Coach: Ana Aldridge Business Staff: Business Manager: Adrienne Lumpkin, Alumni Relations Coordinator: Dalace Thomas ODTV Executive Producer Johanna Hall ODTV Director Karla Dougan Staff Writers: Owen Churchwell, Emma Ramsay, Kelly Fulford, Kiki Griffin, Kennae Hunter, Crystal Fox, Alexander Robinson, Emerson Meyer, Elena Gilbertson-Hall, Everett Vereen, Kourtney Teasley, Emma Crane, Olivia Ngu, Madeleine Ingle, Gabriel Mantione-Holmes, Prana Maldonado-Collins Adviser: David A. Ragsdale ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE Clarke Central High School 350 S. Milledge Avenue Athens, Georgia 30605 Phone: (706) 357-5200, Ext. 17370

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

Illustration by Johanna Hall

ODYSSEY

Above: BUILDING BLOCKS: Clarke County School District Schools, David C. Barrow Elementary and Chase Street Elementary, were included on Gov. Nathan Deal’s Greatest Gains in Student Academic Achievement List for 2016. However, the CCSD wishes this for all its elementary schools, as elementary school is an essential key to student success in the future.

E

lementary school is the foundation of everything that we know today. We learn how to add. How to subtract. How to read. We also learn how to work with each other. How to be there. How to build each other up.

Those K-5 years are an important part of a child’s development. According to the National Institute of Health, the brain isn’t fully developed until one’s 20s. Until then, it acts like a sponge, taking in experiences, relationships and education to help develop it. So, it’s a great thing when a child is receiving a stellar education.

Clarke County School District Schools David C. Barrow Elementary School and Chase Elementary School both made it onto Gov. Nathan Deal’s 2016 Greatest Gains in Student Academic Achievement List. The list celebrates the schools that have made the biggest strides in closing the achievement gap -- a phrase used to describe the disparity between high and low performing groups of students. If a majority of students are performing well, the smaller the achievement gap.

Even though Chase and Barrow are doing well, we still have more work to do with other elementary schools in the CCSD. The schools that are deemed “underperforming” by College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores or administrative outsiders might feel less supported by the community.

How many kids that might hesitate when discussing the elementary school they went to? How many kids are aware of how the elementary school they went to is perceived? How many parents are nervous of sending their kids off to the school that they are zoned for? This sentiment extends out of elementary school and follows students into middle and high schools as well.

If a child starts their education off believing they are inferior, it will cause long-lasting damages to them in the future.

Parents -- don’t be afraid to send your kids to schools that didn’t make the list. It may be scary to send your child to a school that isn’t performing as well compared to the others, but the school your child attends won’t always dictate the experience they will have.

Teachers -- don’t give up. You change your students lives every day -- maybe even in ways that you don’t realize. You are the key to their future. It gets hard and frustrating, but keep pushing. The work might not pay off in test scores, but it will in your student’s lives.

Students -- know your worth. Have pride in the school that you attend. Don’t let what others think deter you from getting the best education that you can.

Everyone has potential.

While celebrating schools like Barrow and Chase, let’s make sure that we’re making teachers, students and parents of the other schools feel successful as well. If every school feels supported, all of CCSD can win.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR DREAMED AND ACHIEVED

Our December issue featured a profile on University of Miami fullback Marquez Williams, a Clarke Central High School alum who realized his dream of playing football for coach Mark Richt.

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>> FEATURES

AFRICA -- THE DISNEY WORLD FOR WHITE SAVIORS // Jurnee Louder

DREAMED AND ACHIEVED // Owen

Churchwell and Lucia Bermudez

I really enjoyed this article because it shows me a different perspective. You hear all these success stories on SportsCenter of people starting with almost nothing and then going through adversity to college to play a sport or to achieve a life goal, but for one of those stories to happen at my own high school makes it seem much more real.

--Braden DeLamater, freshman

I really liked this article because the facts that she states are so true. I never really understood why it was so problematic that white people went to Africa and took a picture with children from there. I know that you may have helped them in some way, but like Jurnee said, what’s the picture for? To show people evidence that you actually went, or to show some that you helped society somehow? Neither these children nor their parents have any idea what you’re going to do with the picture. I think this article is a wake up call to people everywhere.

THE WEIGHT OF THE RATES // Katy Mayfield I really enjoyed this article because nothing makes me more content than hearing my peers graduate and continue on to achieve higher things. Knowing that the faculty of our school is trying their best to prepare us for graduation is amazing. Unfortunately, there’s a couple of points that I’m not too hyped on. One is the fact that graduation prep is the only thing that us students are being prepared for. We’re not really receiving the lessons that would actually benefit us outside of high school. Another one is that they’re reducing the difficulty level for graduating requirements to get more people to actually graduate, but this harms students and doesn’t let them be as courageous as they could be. This perfectly explains why our reading levels are lower than they were in the ‘90s.

--Neil Chavis, sophomore Corrections/Omissions December 2016 On page 11, Taionne Smith’s name is misspelled.

On page 16, the photo is Featured, not Above.

On page 23, the photo was taken by Julie Alpaugh.

On pages 24 and 25, the photos should be referred to individually in the accreditations.

On page 27, Isaac Ward is a freshman on the JV basketball team, not the coach.

On page 30, the photo is Below, not Above

Contact

ODYSSEY Newsmagazine

>> VARIETY PERFECTLY IMPERFECT // Andrew Caldwell

“T

he school system has made it too easy to graduate now. >> SPORTS People go into EAST SIDE STORY // college without really knowing much.

I really liked the article on Grace Vanderwaal because not only did she win “America’s Got Talent”, but she has an amazing voice. I agree she doesn’t have new tunes, but the originals . She is well on her way to the top of the charts by only being 12!

--Marisha Christian, senior

ANEESA CONINE-NAKANO

“

>> NEWS

--Rosie Sykes, freshman

--Sophomore Amy Kamagate on high school graduation in the Clarke County School District after reading Viewpoints Editor Katy Mayfield’s story “Weight of the rates” about the validity of graduation rates for the CCSD.

Cherrelle Pullen, being forced to become a Jaguar as opposed to a Gladiator, is a twist because this woman has put her life and soul in the presence of Clarke Central High School. Cherrelle, considered an alumna at Clarke Central, longed to coach the basketball team, and to be rejected must have taken a moderately high toll on her psyche.

However, reading this article through gives me hope that Cherrelle did not give up on her dream of coaching. Despite not coaching for her roots, she continues her influence to move other people’s hearts through the love of playing sports and working hard to achieve success.

--Brevin Brown, senior

Letters: E-mail us at editors@odysseynewsmagazine.net, or drop off in the Main Office, in care of the ODYSSEY. We ask that all letters be under 250 words and signed. We reserve the right to omit or edit any letters received. Insulting, unsigned or libelous statements will not be considered for publication. All letters may be edited for clarity and space. Advertising: For ad rates e-mail us at business@odysseynewsmagazine.net. Online: Comment online at our website, www.odysseynewsmagazine.net.

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THUMBS

JALISA ALEXANDER

Fresh Voice

The ODYSSEY staff’s opinions on this month’s issues.

Freshman Jalisa Alexander has a special bond with Tiara: her sister, best friend and “second mom”.

“W FOCUSED Managing Editor Sophie Fernandes steps out from behind the camera to explain how photography has impacted her life.

ADVOCATING FOR ART Art lovers now have a chance to further their learning with the new Advanced Placement Art History, which will be offered for the 2017-18 school year.

UNHIDDEN FIGURES The movie “Hidden Figures”, which tells the story of three black female scientists at NASA, is out of this world.

TAKING THE STAGE Aspiring young actor Troy Deslatte, a CCHS junior, has not let obstacles stand in the way of his dream: being a professional actor.

A TRUE GLADIATOR Senior Chris Ortuno has overcome bullying to play on the Clarke Central High School varsity and JV soccer teams.

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LOCKED OUT Doors are oftentimes unlocked throughout the building, making it difficult for students to get to class on time.

NOT YOUR “TAMALE” Latinas are often hypersexualized, objectified, reduced to being “spicy” or “hot tamales”.

FULFILLED NOT STARVING The “starving artist” stereotype is unfair and untrue for many artists who make a living producing various types of art for their beloved profession.

NOT EYE TO EYE WITH CCRPI The College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) seems to turn schools’ and students’ diverse experience into data points.

CURSED After the Atlanta Falcons’ Superbowl loss, fans like Sports Writers Owen and Caedmon Churchwell blame “the curse” that hangs over Atlanta sports teams.

e always have fun!”

“Jalisa, we don’t do anything.”

No matter what we’re doing, my big sister Tiara and I always

have fun.

Growing up, anywhere she went, I wanted to go, too. I was with her 24-7.

I slept next to her, she did my hair, played with me and took me around town.

One day, when I was in first grade, she just up and decided, “Let’s go take pictures!” She did my hair, made me look pretty, and we drove out to Walmart to take pictures with a professional photographer. I still have the photos.

As I got older, she showed me how to mature and taught me how to be a young lady: she never cusses around my mom, and always shows respect.

She was there for me when me and my mother had our ups and downs.

During my seventh grade year, I started spending nights at my sister’s house until I was staying with her every day, going home on weekends.

She taught me how to ignore instead of talking back during that time.

She’ll tell me, “Ignore it Jalisa. Worry about yourself, don’t let somebody get to you. As long as they don’t touch you, you ain’t got nothing to worry about. When they touch you, that’s when they got something to worry about.”

I don’t go to her house as much anymore, but we still have that special bond. Whether I need to go to a doctor’s visit, get clothes or food, or vent, my sister is there. She will always find a way to help me.

She knows when something is bothering me. She listens to me and to my problems. She actually understands me.

Tiara really is like a second mom to me, and our bond can’t be broken.

Tiara really is like a second mom to me, and our bond can’t be broken.

Left: UNBROKEN: Jalisa Alexander and her sister, Tiara Thomas, who is 10 years older, pose for pictures on a spontaneous portrait session in 2009. Thomas, in addition to being Alexander’s best friend, has guided her through her childhood and taught her grace, restraint and sisterhood.

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EVERETT

VEREEN

“Black History month is important to me because it’s a month that we recognize all black people and recognize the good that black people have done for the world.”

LOCKED OUT OF LEARNING. Doors need to be unlocked, so students can get to class on time.

I

t’s 10:45 a.m. and you’ve just pulled into the Clarke Central High School student parking lot. You overslept and had car trouble, so you’re two hours late. You walk towards the breezeway door -- the closest door to the lot -- but it’s locked.

Everyone is in class, and no one is there to let you in. You’re spending valuable class time sitting on cold pavement, locked out until class is over and students are out.

The issue of locked doors on campus is one that most students face at some point during the day. Going from the James M. Crawford Memorial Gym, Fine Arts building or JROTC building requires using an entrance to the main building, all of which are locked to those outside. The one exception, of course, is the main entrance all the way around at the front of the school.

--Amillion Kennybrew, sophomore

“It’s important to me not just because of the color, but because of the fascinating things (African-Americans) have created and done back in the day that we African-Americans don’t know too much about.”

Locked doors are a frustrating, but easily avoidable inconvenience.

--Jamarcus Mobley, senior “Often times we forget about the hardships (African-Americans) face on a regular basis.

It’s important to realize they are important and appreciate them.

If students get to a door when there aren’t other students coming through, they’re stuck outside waiting for someone to come let them in. A student is relying solely on the kindness of another student to help them get to class on time, and more often than not, that other student is either too focused on getting themselves to class, not paying attention or is just plain lazy.

At that point, there is not much to do to prevent being late except for banging on the glass to get someone’s attention.

The solution, in theory, is quite simple, and lies right next to the doors.

Teachers use a card scanner right next to entrances to unlock the doors, so why not give students access to those scanners?

Each student already has a student ID, which could be replaced with keycards. The cards could work only during certain times, like transitions and sports events, but not after the school day ends. The beauty of an electronic system is limited access — students would only be able to get in when necessary.

Locked doors are a frustrating, but easily avoidable inconvenience. Simply giving students the means to unlock doors during transitions would not only help students avoid unnecessary tardies, but also make transitions smoother and students happier.

--Beatrice Acheson, freshman “To me (Black History Month) means basically looking at the accomplishments that some of the individuals of that race has made over the years.”

--Wilkerny Jeanty, math department teacher

Below: STRANDED: Students are stranded behind a locked door as class begins. Viewpoints writer Everett Vereen believes the locked-door policy is troublesome, and could be improved with a more modern system.

“It’s really like about getting together with people and talking about history and how it changed the world around us.”

Illustration by Ashley Lawrence

QUESTION OF THE MONTH

What does Black History Month mean to you?

--Elijah Martin, freshman

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KATY

MAYFIELD

@REALDONALDJTRUMP’S GUIDE TO TWITTER. Viewpoints Editor Katy Mayfield takes on the Donald Trump persona to teach Americans how to Tweet in the Trump-style.

D

o your friends and family abandon you when you say “the blacks”? Do people walk away when you share your opinions about political correctness? Does your mother get upset with you whenever you call Meryl Streep a talentless flunky? Do women feel uncomfortable around you?

Then it’s time to leave those liberal elites behind and reach out to millions of real Americans on Twitter! As a sneak peek of my bestselling book “The Art of the Tweet”, here are 10 proven tips for a bigly Twitter. Trust me. I’m the best tweeter and Hillary knows it!

1 2

Major national tragedies or their anniversaries are a perfect time to remind your followers that you are a winner and anyone who dislikes you is a loser. Some may tell you this is insensitive.

They are losers! Tell them so after the next deadly hurricane.

3

The Lamestream media tries to trick the American people with facts and numbers -- mean! Get them back by tweeting about their bad ratings.

4

One hundred and forty characters is a lot of characters.

Real Americans don’t have time for all that reading, unlike the liberal elite.

Make the most important words ALL-CAPS to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

5

If you have a problem with someone, tweet that you will declare war on them via executive order. What’s the worst that could happen?

6

You might think to yourself that you should tell people like the FBI director or the

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Photo illustration by Katy Mayfield

My people -- the best people -- tell me users can only join Twitter if they’re 13. Your Twitter should be adult content!

Take advantage by calling women sluts and whores and suggesting acts of violence.

leader of Russia serious information face-to-face or through secure channels. Think again! Delivering important, nuanced news is what replying to your own tweets to create strings is for.

7

Be creative. “Stupid” is an American classic, but the great tweeters go against the Establishment. I’ve called people “uncomfortable looking”, “crooked”, “very gentle and soft”, “crooked!”, “a sad case”, “crooked!”, “a major lightweight” and “CROOKED!”

8

Has your Twitter account been reported for being “offensive”?

Show women and minorities you want to be friends by posting pictures with them with the caption “women/blacks/Hispanics love me!” Include a reference to something they like, like maxi pads, gang violence or taco bowls, respectively.

9

Now that you have black and brown friends, you can say whatever previously-insensitive things you want! Haters will try to censor you -- ARE THEY LIVING IN NAZI GERMANY?

10

After a while, business partners, Mike Pence, employees, your chief of staff, senators, Kellyanne Conway, former President Barack Obama and your children might ask you if you could please tell them your plans and policies instead of tweeting them because you’re president now and people are wondering what to do. That was OK before my revolution, but it’s MORNING IN AMERICA now! Policies are for crooked politicians. Tweet at them that you will #DTS (Drain the Swamp)!

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Follow @vladimirputin -- great guy!

Left: THE ART OF THE TWEET: In the sequel to his seminal classic “The Art of the Deal,” second in sales and content only to the Bible, President Donald J. Trump shows readers how to cultivate a vibrant Twitter personality so they never have to face a press conference, or their ashamed families.

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Photo by Zoe Peterson

Above: LIFE THROUGH A LENS: Managing Editor Sophie Fernandes takes a photo in her neighborhood. Fernandes has come to use photography as a means of self expression and bettering her community. “I want to help improve people’s lives, and I see my ability to document those lives with compassion and accuity of vision as an invaluable asset,” Fernandes said.

SOPHIE

FERNANDES

G

rowing up I had many hobbies -- dance, trapeze, piano, viola and soccer.

In my home, I was surrounded by people with talent. My mom is a dancer, my dad a musician, and my younger brother, an artist.

I aspired to be like them. I wanted to be able to say that I was talented at something. I felt a piece of my identity was missing and I longed to find my gift.

During my sophomore year, I joined my school’s newsmagazine, the ODYSSEY. Writing was an academic strength of mine. I enjoyed it, but I was also interested in pursuing photography.

Once I got behind the camera lens, I knew I found my passion. The camera taught me to perceive the world differently.

I began observing my surroundings more closely, noticing key details, and within weeks I found myself composing potential images and arranging “shots” in my mind.

I felt very comfortable taking photos of people and asking the right questions to take genuine photos that reflected the subject accurately.

However, as a beginner, I had a lot to learn. I listened to the constructive criticism from my teacher and peers within the ODYSSEY program and made a conscious effort to improve my technical skills.

BOILING POINT. Managing Editor Sophie Fernandes has learned to see life through a lens after finding a passion for photojournalism.

I researched online and read many books to learn more about lighting and the core elements of photographic composition such as depth of field, lines and patterns. I also read biographies of inspiring photographers, such as my favorite, Annie Leibovitz.

Recently, I went to India, the birthplace of my grandfather.

I took many photos and interviewed people there with ease and confidence.

Documenting the people and culture of this country solidified my decision to pursue journalism in college. I want to help improve people’s lives, and I see my ability to document those lives with compassion and accuity of vision as an invaluable asset.

As a young woman who sought her talent for many years, I can say that photojournalism has changed the way I view myself, my competency and my artistic expression.

I am one child out of six siblings. I am one student out of a school of 1500.

I am one human, amongst millions of others, who is dedicated to improving more and more as an artist of photojournalism and as a citizen of the world who believes that words and pictures can enrich humanity.

Once I got behind the camera lens, I knew I had found my passion. The camera taught me to perceive the world differently.

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ASHLEY

LAWRENCE

“Y

ou want to be an artist? You need a Plan B.” “That’s not a real job.”

“You’re not a real teacher.”

“How do you expect to succeed with art as a career?”

“Are you gonna get a second job? I don’t want you to be a starving artist…”

Complaints, questions, incredulous remarks -- that’s the life of an artist dreaming of pursuing a career in their chosen field.

With pressure to prepare for the future clamping down with each progressing year of school, artists are continuously discouraged from following their dreams for fear of them becoming a “starving artist.”

Contrary to popular belief, however, that simply isn’t true.

Almost everything has been designed by an artist. Computers, desks, buildings, toothbrushes, pencil sharpeners, paper towel dispensers -- everything, from the most extravagant to the most benign, has been designed or produced by a person with an art degree, not to mention art has grown astronomically as an industry. Through the

EAT YOUR ART OUT. In spite of the popular belief of art being a wasted degree, the “starving artist” stereotype is just that -- a stereotype. internet, it has become possible for artists of all ages to share their art all across the world, be it through Tumblr, Twitter or other platforms.

Art can also be commissioned, drawn and sold using only a computer and the internet.

So what makes art a “wasted degree”? Why is every art student destined to be a “starving artist”, especially within such a visually-based society?

Unless the artist is expecting to profit solely off of commission work, which is unlikely, artists can make a living with a variety of art-related jobs.

According to PayScale, an artist can be an art director, which makes an average of $40,036 to $93,515 a year; a graphic artist, which makes $32,611 to $71,613 a year; a creative director, which makes $46,972 to $149,195 a year, and that’s not even a fraction of every available option.

Nobody’s starving with $150,000 a year.

With pressure to prepare for the future clamping down with each progressing year of school, artists are continuously discouraged from following their dreams for fear of them becoming a “starving artist.”

Below: THE MYTH OF THE STARVING ARTIST: Cartoonist Ashley Lawrence resents the myth of the “starving artist.” In reality, artists, especially in digital fields, make a good living, and almost every modern creation was designed by an artist.

Illustration by Ashley Lawrence

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>> NEWS Photo by Sophie Fernandes

NEWS BRIEFS Above: STRONGER TOGETHER: Sabrina Orah Mark recites the peom “I am Strong” by Marge Piercy at the Atlanta Women’s March on Jan. 21. Mark feels protests are important for high schoolers, who are shaping their ideas about politics and identity. “To be a high schooler now means your brain is on fire, and your being is being formed and fed, and what a strange time -- I imagine -- to be coming into yourself, as democracy (the freedom of speech, the free press, freedom of religion, the arts, all the different worlds of healing, funding for libraries even!,) is up for grabs.”

CONSTANTLY COLLABORATING To provide the most equitable learning environment for all students, many courses at Clarke Central High School, including those in the English department, pair a collaborative teacher with a regular education teacher.

CAPS department teacher Andrew Richard has been a collaborative teacher in elementary, middle and high schools during his career.

“I’ve taught Special Ed for 14 years,” Richard said. “I have worked with a lot of different teachers and I just know that you have got be open to different styles of teaching.”

Richard has certain responsibilities that depend on different teachers’ classrooms.

“I try and get as much time up in front of the class as I can,” Richard said. “Some teachers are a bit more open to having me lead a lesson, whereas others would just prefer me to help with crowd control, class management, that sort of stuff, like help kids one on one.”

Sophomore Carlos Arriaga feels Richard creates strong relationships with his students.

“He has always been there when I needed him,” Arriaga said. “He’s a nice teacher that I connect to easily.”

GLAD TO PLAY FRISBEE

DREAMING BIg On April 29, the Interact Club at Clarke Central High School will hold its annual DREAMfest festival at Nucis Space. The event consists of live music, art activities and readings from CCHS students and other members of the community.

“In the past few years, we have really focused a lot on planning and creating Dreamfest,” Interact Club adviser and social studies department teacher Courtney Jones said. “(DREAMfest) is a music festival that raises money for U-Lead scholarships for undocumented students.”

All the money raised goes to U-Lead Athens, an organization which focuses on providing a safe environment for Clarke County School District students. DREAMfest focuses on raising awareness for students trying to further their educational career past high school who have varying immigration statuses.

“Recently, (Interact club) has been trying to make people aware of undocumented people who are trying to get into college and doing DREAMfest which gives them funding for that,” senior Jose Dominguez said.

TO THE FUTURE

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The Athens Community Career Academy provides students with the opportunity to further their education in a more college-based environment.

A variety of classes are offered to students to allow them to continue on their Career Pathways and have the ability to experience electives outside of the CCHS building.

Applications to register for ACCA classes are due July 1.

“Right now, we are preparing for spring advisement so, we are doing some recruiting with cafeteria visits and maybe some classroom visits,” Clarke Central High School ACCA counselor Taryn Ellis said. “And then, some students can prepare to test -or apply so they can test -- and when they have advisement in February, they can request Career Academy courses.”

Students to benefit from these opportunities because they can earn college credits and move at their own pace.

“The classes prepare me for college,” senior Eli Parker said. “It was a good choice to do it because when I enter college I’ll be a sophomore as far as credits go.”

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FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

larke Central High School math department teacher Eric McCullough created the Ultimate frisbee GLADtime. The idea for this GLADtime came from a passion that was shared after school by some students and teachers at CCHS. “We played it over the years after school. A bunch of people would get together,” McCullough said. “Sometimes we would meet on these fields when the soccer season ended, otherwise we went to Clarke Middle (School), and sometimes we went to the intramural fields and had pickup games.”

By founding this GLADtime, McCullough hoped to create a stress free break from school.

“I always have a math remediation or a math help (GLADtime). People already hate math, they don’t want to go to math again, so they don’t sign up for it. So I was like ‘I’ll change it to something that maybe more people will be in tune to,’” McCullough said.

Now, McCullough has found a routine in which he can teach his students the game most effectively.

“When we come here, we get dressed out. Then we head out to the practice field. Usually, we throw it around a little bit first just to kind of warm up. Eventually, what will happen is we will go over a few drills and learn how to play,” McCullough said.

“Then, for the other 45 minutes, we will just play. Right now, we are playing 10 on 10, or whatever we have that day.”

All in all, McCullough hopes to teach his students a game that they can play later on in their life, no matter their skill level.

“We have people who don’t know anything about frisbee whatsoever, and can’t throw frisbee worth their life, so they are learning,” McCullough said. “Hopefully, when they go to college they will be playing that all the time.”

BY OWEN CHURCHWELL Sports Writer

Infographic by Mackenzie Caudill

“

NEWS <<

I HEARD THAT

“” “ “ “ “ ”

If you turn in your edTPA forms, then we’ll make you cookies.

Ansley Carroll and Kara Coalson, student teachers,

in a freshman math class.

” ”

Don’t go to funerals. They’re freaky, dude.

Avery Sepsi, freshman, to freshman Sarah James during third period Literature and Composition class after talking about Romeo and Juliet’s death.

Did you know illisionistic was a word?

Zander Dale, junior, during his AP Biology class discussing his AP Language paper.

SEARCH FOR THE ASSOCIATE

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arie Yuran, former Associate Principal, was named principal of Clarke Central High School on Sept. 1. Almost five months later, the position of Associate Principal remains vacant.

“We will soon be reposting for the position,” Yuran said.

“This is the time of year that folks are looking to make moves, so we would have somebody hopefully in place by July 1 of the new fiscal year.”

Though the administrative team lacks an Associate Principal, ESOL department teacher Jodi Bolgla feels CCHS faculty and staff have performed well in spite of the absence.

“I think all of the teachers, especially the department heads and the other administrators, are doing a great job to make everything run smoothly,” Bolgla said.

As for qualifications for the job, Assistant Principal Dr. Sheila Dunham believes that the Associate Principal must be able to take on many roles within the school.

“The Associate Principal does a variety of things,” Dunham said. “That person is the Number Two person any time the principal is out, so they have to be ready to be the leader of a large facility.”

Dunham and Yuran are also searching for someone who holds a diverse skillset and is able to form positive relationships with members of the CCHS and Athens community.

“We want them to be able to do all these job functions, but we also want them to believe in the success of all students,” Yuran said. “That was an overarching theme about being able to build relationships with students and families and being seen as a member of the community.”

BY ZOE PETERSON Photography Editor

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

What kind of chocolate should I get my Valentine?

James Sunta, freshman, during his lunch period.

”

Oh, you Rio-an?

Fredricka Sheets, senior, in conversation with senior Lorena Limongi, who hails from Brazil.

Below: PLAYING THE DAY: Concert band members and Clarke Central High School students practice after the spring Large Group Performance Evaluation. All three CCHS bands traveled to participate in LGPE on Feb 28, March 14 and March 15 and all bands were awarded superior ratings. “It was good to see all the effort and practice we put in come out as a superior,” freshman Chandler Pendley, a percussionist said. “We knew what we wanted. We were very determined, and I think we did a good job as a band, so the superior was not surprising.”

Photo by Julie Alpaugh Spread compiled and designed by Delia Adamson

Above: BY THE NUMBERS: Clarke County School District schools Chase Street Elementary School and David C. Barrow Elementary School have shown their success through their varying College and Career Readiness Performance Index scores, overall performances and academic growth. “It shows that our students are working hard and our teachers are working hard and that the work that we do is making a difference in the way students perform,” BES principal Ellen Sabatini said.

odysseynewsmagazine.net | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE

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>> NEWS

MAKING THE LIST

Layout by Everett Vereen

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

Clarke Central High School feeder schools David C. Barrow Elementary and Chase Street Elementary Schools were recognized by Governor Nathan Deal’s Office of Student Achievement for their “great gains” in student academic progress.

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larke County School District Schools, David C. Barrow Elementary (BES) and Chase Street Elementary (CSES), were included on Gov. Nathan Deal’s Greatest Gains in Student Academic Achievement List for 2016, which was updated on Jan. 5. BES received silver status and CSES received bronze status.

“It’s a real honor to be recognized from the Governor’s Office. I think that it means that we continue to make progress year after year with our students and their achievement,” BES Principal Ellen Sabatini said. “It shows that our students are working hard and our teachers are working hard and that the work that we do is making a difference in the way students perform.”

The list uses the College and Career Readiness Performance Index (CCRPI) scores to determine the schools’ contribution to closing the achievement STORY BY MACKENZIE CAUDILL Web News Writer

gap, where certain populations perform higher than the student population as a whole. CSES principal Adam Kurtz believes the achievement gap is important to resolve.

“The good news is we’re receiving awards for doing a good job at this. The bad news is that there’s actually a gap that we have to close, that they have to make an award for this at the national and state level,” Kurtz said. “It’s recognized as being that important, so it keeps the emphasis and

importance where it rightfully should be and that is on educating all of our children.”

Clarke Central High School foreign language department teacher Kelli Bivins has been a CSES parent for 11 years and feels an attachment to the school. According to Bivins, the way the staff works with the students makes them stand out from other schools.

“There’s so many teachers that have been there since before the current population and they know

“It shows that our students are working hard and our teachers are working hard and that the work that we do is making a difference in the way students perform.”

14 | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE | odysseynewsmagazine.net

-- ELLEN SABATINI, Barrow Elementary School Principal FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

how to deal with all populations. I think that’s one of the reasons we have so much success there,” Bivins said. “The teachers are so well-equipped.

They’re just so well-trained. I have the most respect for elementary teachers.”

CCHS junior Jack Byrne was a student at BES from 2004 to 2010 and believes educators there hold students to high standards.

“It was great. I learned a lot of things and it helped me get through all my years of education,” Byrne said. “I would say that if you learn a lot more when you’re younger and in your younger years you’re gonna be more successful in your older years. The teachers care about the students and they put that in front of everything else. When teachers care about students, it leads to good things.”

Photo by Zoe Peterson

NEWS <<

“I would say that if you learn a lot more when you’re younger and in your younger years you’re gonna be more successful in your older years. The teachers care about the students and they put that in front of everything else.”

-- JACK BYRNE, CCHS junior CCHS sophomore Sophie Mitchell was a student at CSES and agrees her primary education has helped her throughout her academic life.

“It put me on a better track to be successful in high school because I was taught from a young age to do my homework, not procrastinate, get my work done, pay attention in class because they enforce that so much at Chase Street in an encouraging way,” Mitchell said. “It set me up with a better work ethic and so I’m doing better now because I had a good foundation.”

According to Sabatini, BES’ success can be credited to the strategies used by teachers and staff such as collaborative planning. The teachers use data from students’ assessments and work together to create lesson plans. Sabatini hopes to continue the collaboration and success.

“I think this just confirms that the different strategies that we’re trying to help students learn all that they can is making a difference. We want to keep at it, keep making progress and we know that we have a lot of progress we can still make,” Sabatini said. “I think it helps our teachers and motivates them to know that things they’re doing in the past is making a difference and that they’ll continue to work together.”

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

Above: ACHIEVING GREATNESS: Barrow Elementary School principal Ellen Sabatini sits at a meeting with other administrators. BES and Chase Street Elementary School were both included on Gov. Nathan Deal’s Greatest Gains in Student Academic Achievement List for 2016. “It’s a real honor to be recognized from the Governor’s Office. I think that it means that we continue to make progress year after year with our students and their achievement,” Sabatini said. Opposite: CHASING THE DREAM: Chase Street Elementary School first grade students work on their art portfolios during art class. CSES received bronze status on Gov. Nathan Deal’s Greatest Gains for Student Achievement, showcasing their success with closing the achievement gap. “This particular award is about making sure that all of our students are performing at a high level and closing what’s called the achievement gap between subgroups and the entire population and making that we’re effectively teaching and helping all of our students move forward,” CSES principal Adam Kurtz said. “I do really appreciate that part of this measure and we’re honored to receive the award because that is really important emphasize that schools need to constantly pay attention to.”

“I was taught from a young age to do my homework, not procrastinate, get my work done, pay attention in class because they enforce that so much at Chase Street in an encouraging way. It set me up with a better work ethic and so I’m doing better now because I had a good foundation.”

-- SOPHIE MITCHELL, sophomore

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>> NEWS Photo by Zoe Peterson

ready to register Clarke Central High School students and parents will begin choosing and registering for classes for the 2017-18 school year.

BY PRANA MALDONADO COLLINS News Writer

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larke Central High School’s class registration for the 2017-18 school year is well under way.

It involves a multi-step process, which begins

with teacher recommendations.

According to CCHS head scheduler and math instructional coach Summer Smith, while teacher recommendations give students a general idea of their schedule for the next year, spring conferences allow students’ families to have the final say on which courses a student will take.

“When a parent and a student sit down and they say, ‘I think I want to try a harder class,’ or, ‘I don’t want the harder class, I want the easier class,’ there is a course override form that the parent and the adviser fill out and sign,” Smith said.

Students then conference with their adviser and discuss graduation requirements and future steps to be taken.

“We will have three advisements where (students) will meet with (their) adviser and go through transcripts and look at what (they have) taken, what (they) still need to take in order to be graduation ready and (they) will look at (their) teacher recommendations,” Smith said.

According to math department co-chair Heather Julian, spring conferences are a way to determine what classes the student will take the coming year.

“The importance of the spring conferences is for the adviser, the student and the parent to sit down and really look at what they are going to register for for next year,” Julian said.

CCHS junior Dylan Gavron finds the registration process to be simple and beneficial for families.

“It can be difficult to figure out which classes you want to take, but once you do, registering is pretty easy,” Gavron said.

Students and parents can now gain information about registration through a website.

“It gets information out there to kids and parents, regardless of your communication with your adviser, so kids can see what they need to do and see how to do it,” Smith said. “The more information that everybody has, the better off the process will be.”

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

Below: NEW YEAR, NEW CLASSES: Clarke Central High School sophomore Paw Ta fills out a registration form for classes for the 2017-18 school year. The registration process began with spring conferences and meetings during the advisement class period. “It can be difficult to figure out which classes you want to take, but once you do, registering is pretty easy,” junior Dylan Gavron said.

16 | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE | odysseynewsmagazine.net

Above: TO GIVE AND TO GET: Senior Briana Turner is given instructions following her donation of blood during the Red Cross Blood Drive at Clarke Central High School on March 23. Turner had never given blood before today, but recommends other students to participate in the drive. “I mean, it’s going to a good cause and it’s better than sitting in school and doing nothing,” Turner said. “I’m just trying to do something nice.”

BIGG STEPS FOR SGA The Student Government Association, under sponsor Shana Biggs’ leadership, has big plans.

D

uring the first semester of the 2016-17 school year, the Clarke Central High School Student Government Association (SGA) worked to build a strong foundation in membership and continue working on presenting the same SGA events after making a shift in their advisor team.

SGA has transitioned from the leadership of social studies department teacher Karena LaRosa and former social studies department teacher Michael Ackerman to social studies department teachers Shana Biggs and Alex Yates.

“We’ve actually had more regular attendees than previous years, so that’s really exciting. And we have a full roster of officers at this point, which is good,” Biggs said. “We’re going to be doing some more building as far as SGA is concerned just so that next year is even more solid. Ms. LaRosa really has done a fantastic job over the last couple years and so we want to keep building on what she started.”

Last semester SGA was able to organize the CCHS Homecoming dance and a fall sports pep rally, along with a winter sports pep rally during the second semester. They are now looking ahead to future events.

“We just finished the pep rally, so we’re going to start talking about the Powderpuff Game for junior and senior girls. That’s our big thing for this semester,” Biggs said. “We actually changed it to the second semester, because it’s hard to get football coaches to help you out when they all have to coach the football team.”

Senior and SGA President Alexandria Crawford believes that the Powderpuff Game has always been a great event to pull the community together.

“The Powderpuff Game benefits our community because it shows our community that women are just as (strong) as the boys. We can do the same stuff they can do,” Crawford said. “It is a way to bring the community together and watch a competitive game between the juniors and seniors.”

BY JORDAN RHYM Lead Copy Editor

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

NEWS << Left: TO GIVE AND TO GET: Senior Mia Wilhite looks at information from various different colleges on March 28. Wilhite has received services through the Upward Bound program and believes the program is helpful.

“Especially being a senior, they’ve helped a lot, like guiding you, knowing what you should be looking for for colleges, they give you fee waivers for all of your college applications, scholarships that may ask you to pay, and so it just really helps out,” Wilhite said. “It’s a really good guide for people that don’t really know.”

Layout by Everett Vereen

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

boundless possiblities

Upward Bound is a federally-funded program that provides opportunities and resources to low-income and first-generation college students.

U

pward Bound is a University of Georgia program that aims to prepare low-income and first-generation high school students for post-secondary education.

“A lot of our students are low-income and first generation, and college is really not on their forefront. A lot of them think it’s something that they can’t attain or is too expensive, or they just don’t have the mindset or the guidance to go. I feel like Upward Bound fills in that gap and you know, makes college real for them,” Upward Bound director Sonia Davis said.

According to Clarke Central High School senior Mia Wilhite, Upward Bound has been beneficial to her in her journey to apply to colleges as a first-generation student.

“Nobody in my family -- especially immediate family -- went to college, so we really were in the dark about the whole process, and Upward Bound helped with that a lot,” Wilhite said. “When I found out that last year, FASFA was opening up for people early, I found out through Upward Bound, so it’s cool like that.”

In addition to offering help with applications, the program offers fee waivers, tutoring, the opportunity to participate in college visits and a six-week residential summer program. Upward Bound also

BY VALERIA GARCIA-POZO Web News Editor

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

hosts financial-aid nights and scholarship boot camps, all of which are free to students.

“They give you fee waivers for all of your college applications, scholarships that may ask you to pay, and so it just really helps out for people that aren’t financially set in the place where they can put all in for the college process,” Wilhite said.

Upward Bound applicants must be between

qualify for it, and so we give them recommendations such as, ‘This would be a good student for this program, (it) would be a good fit for them,’” CCHS graduation coach and former Upward Bound Director Tonia Jones said.

For students like senior Serenity Jernigan, tutoring services offered through Upward Bound have provided an outlet for her to understand her

Nobody in my family -- especially immediate family -- went to college, so we really were in the dark about the whole process, and Upward Bound helped with that a lot.

-- MIA WILHITE, senior

eighth and tenth grades to join the program.

However, applicants are served in all grades once they join. To participate, students must complete an application and compile recommendation letters from their counselors, English teachers and mathematics teachers. Students must also have at least a 2.5 grade-point average. “(Counselors) get to refer students to the program, so we know which students would really

coursework and have helped her grades improve.

“They basically put it all out on the table and make me understand more than what the teacher’s teaching,” Jernigan said. “I can get it, and then when I get back to class, I basically know everything -- like know half of it and then, I can be on top of everything and my grades go up very tremendously from them helping me.”

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>> NEWS Featured: A FRESH PERSPECTIVE: Clarke Central High School fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden poses for a photo in the CCHS art room. Shelden has high hopes for the prospective AP Art History class for the 2017-18 school year, and has been wanting to teach art history for a while. “I have a minor in art history,” Shelden said. “My degree is in art education and I’ve always really wanted to do something with art history because I love it so much but there’s not a lot of space in my curriculum to have really large art history unit because we have to cover so much material.”

Opposite: MAKING HISTORY: Sophomore Ashley Doss paints in her art class. Fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden feels an AP Art History class will broaden students perspectives of art and the world.

“I like students to see the broader picture and see what people were doing way way back in prehistoric times and are doing now and kind of see where we’ve grown then to now,” Shelden said. “I really want to see students have a broader view of the world through art.”

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

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FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

NEWS << Photo by Zoe Peterson

ADVOCATING FOR ART HISTORY Advanced Placement Art History will be offered as a class during the 2017-18 school year for the first time.

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larke Central High School is planning on offering an Advanced LAYOUT BY EVERETT VEREEN Placement Art History class startViewpoints Writer ing the 2017-18 school year. This is the first year this class will be available.

“I have really always wanted to do an art history class, but because there is only one teacher here, it wasn’t possible last year.

However, I’ve almost tripled the program, which got a lot more pull for other art classes, so I was able to talk them into getting that AP Art History,” fine arts department teacher Jessica Shelden said.

“I have a background in it, so if we can get enough kids we can be able to have the class next year and later years.”

Shelden will be the one teaching the course. Her goal for the class is to expose her students to art history prior to any college-level art appreciation classes they may take in order to better prepare them to succeed in these classes in the future.

“The goal is to aim it towards kids who really like art and really want to double up in art or kids who are planning on going to college,” Shelden said. “It’s just teaching you to read art and understand it using historical information like what was happening at that time. It will be culture and history driven.”

According to Shelden, the course will be structured to look at art in a linear fashion throughout world history and compare the art styles of different regions.

“We’re going to start prehistoric and look at things such as cave paintings and slowly move our way through the timeline and get cultures from different parts of the world at the same time,” Shelden said. “It’s looking at what’s happening in Asia at the same time as what’s happening in Europe on that timeline so we can compare what’s happening between those two places.”

STORY BY AYLA DARTEZ Web News Writer

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

AP Art History will be open to all students. However, Shelden recommends students planning on taking the course take at least one AP class or a class with the art teacher prior to enrolling.

“There is no prereq or specification, but I wouldn’t say it is for everybody. I wouldn’t recommend freshmen take it,” Shelden said.

“It is going to be research and thought driven, so if multiple choice is your strong suit I don’t recommend the course.”

Sophomore Avery Ray intends to take AP Art History next year.

Ray has had a positive experience with art classes and has developed an interest in art history due to the information Shelden has incorporated into the current art classes.

“All of us love art history, so she’s kind of incorporated it into her art one lessons, so we’ve already gotten a taste of what it’s like so having a class devoted to it would be great,” Ray said. “We talked about a few different periods of Japanese art through the years and how different religions have been incorporated into art throughout history.”

Students will be able to sign up for the course when they schedule their classes for next year in February at their parent-teacher conferences.

“The offer of that course is put out during registration and we’ll wait to see how many people sign up to determine if it’s going to make it into the schedule for the next school year,” principal Marie Yuran said.

Yuran looks forward to seeing the result of student registration for AP Art History.

“I think any time we can offer new AP courses it’s wonderful. We have batted around art history for several years whether through the art or social studies department, so we’re anxious to see if enough students sign up for it to take,” Yuran said. odysseynewsmagazine.net | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE

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MAKING TH

Featured: WHY CCRPI?: Controversy has surrounded the College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores that were released Dec. 8, 2016 for the Clarke County School District. Director of Assessment and Accountability for the CCSD Tim Jarboe is a critic of the CCRPI measurement. “(The CCRPI tries) to condense complex data into one number, and and I don’t think that’s a good way to do that. I think that makes complex discussion simple, and nothing in education is simple,” Jarboe said.

Photo illustration by Zoe Peterson

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FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

HE GRADE

FEATURES <<

The Georgia Department of Education recently released the College and Career Ready Performance Index scores for the 2015-16 school year. Some experts question the accuracy of the stateâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s measure of student performance.

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

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he College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores represent a composite of elements, such as Georgia Milestones test scores and graduation rates to determine a public school’s grade.

The CCRPI was first implemented in 2012, replacing the Adequate Yearly Progress measurement.

“Georgia wanted a more meaningful accountability system than Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP), which was the accountability system implemented under No Child Left Behind (NCLB). AYP had a narrow focus on test scores,” Director for Accountability for the Georgia Department of Education Allison Timberlake said. “The state wanted a system that included multiple measures to give a more complete picture of school performance.

Georgia’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) waiver gave us the opportunity to move away from AYP and implement CCRPI.” According to Clarke Central High School Principal Marie Yuran, the CCRPI system is an improvement from the AYP measurement.

“It is more flexible than some other accountability measures that we’ve had because it does look at attendance and pathway completion, how many students are enrolled in (Advanced Placement) courses and different programs like that. Compared to the traditional No Child Left Behind AYP report card we had before, it’s more comprehensive in some ways,” Yuran said. “It’s a complicated piece to understand, and it’s not an easy snapshot for the community to understand, but I think (the state) made an effort to be more comprehensive and to look at data points other than how students perform on a single test on a single day.”

BY ELENA GILBERTSON-HALL News Writer

The CCRPI scores are made up of three main components: achievement (academic proficiency), progress (how students’ test scores differed from the previous year), and achievement gap (how the students in the lowest-achieving quartile perform). Schools are scored on a 100 point scale with the possibility of 10 additional bonus points for special achievements such as graduates earning credit in a physics course.

CCHS earned a score of 79.1 for the 2015-16 school year, which was an increase from the previous year’s score of 65.2. This increase was due to a general rise in test scores and graduation rate.

“Really across the board, from students who don’t do well on tests to students who typically do well on tests, all of those students grew (at CCHS).

When all of those students grow, that affects your progress, your achievement and your achievement gap scores,” Director of Assessment and Accountability for the Clarke County School District Tim Jarboe said.

The CCSD’s overall score of 65.9 fell below the state’s average of 73.6 points, but 76 percent of CCSD schools performed at or above the 60-point failing grade. Four CCSD elementary schools (Barrow, Cleveland Road, Oglethorpe Avenue and Whit Davis), as well as CCHS, each scored five or more points above their 2014-15 school year scores.

This progress was not the case for many schools in the state, including many in the CCSD. The state’s score, as a whole, dropped over two points, and the CCSD’s score fell by .5 points. Although the cause is unknown, Phil Grant, Ph.D. candidate in education policy at the UGA, attributes the fallen scores to a change in CCRPI measurements.

“The CCRPI changed the weights of the components. Before 2015, academic

CCHS earned a score of 79.1 for the 2015-16 school year, which was an increase from the previous year’s score of 65.2. This increase was due to a general rise in test scores and graduation rate.

22 | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE | odysseynewsmagazine.net

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

FEATURES << achievement was 60 percent of the formula. Now, it is only 50 percent.

Progress was only weighted at 25 percent and is now at 40 percent. Assessing the achievement gap is down from 15 percent to 10 percent,” Grant said. “As a result of the changing weights, it is likely that the changes in the CCRPI formula in 2015 and 2016 decreased scores independent of student performance. It is also possible that students in Georgia did more poorly this year than in years past, but changes from year to year should occur at the margins.”

There are many critics of the CCRPI including Jarboe, who believes the CCRPI is an oversimplification of many elements in a school.

“I think one of the biggest problems with CCRPI is it’s taking a lot of complex data points, that we should look at, that we should share with parents and teachers, but you’re trying to take those data points, and you’re trying to condense them mathematically to one number and rate a school,” Jarboe said. “I think that’s the fault of CCRPI. I think that makes complex discussion simple, and nothing in education is simple.”

According to Grant, another criticism of the CCRPI system is the advantages it gives more wealthy schools.

“I think it is skewed. I think schools with diverse populations have to work a lot harder and a lot more rigorously than schools that are not very diverse to score well on CCRPI,” Grant said.

Yuran also acknowledges the flaws of the CCRPI system, especially the heavy weighting of standardized test scores.

“I think, as with a lot of accountability measures, (the CCRPI) is a snapshot in some ways because our (end of course test) scores are in that, and that’s a one day performance on a group of students. Not even all the students in the building,” Yuran said.

According to the Executive Director of Elementary Teaching and Learning for the CCSD Angela Hardeman, although the district considers CCRPI scores important, its main focus is elsewhere.

“Because it is a state accountability measure, we take (the CCRPI) very seriously,” Hardeman said. “(But) our main focus goes go --MARIE YURAN, back to looking Clarke Central High School Principal at each individual student’s growth, and the initiatives and strategies that will help with individual student mastery. We want all students to achieve and accomplish the expectations for the grade level and beyond. We want to do as much as possible to (help) each individual school.”

“I think, as with a lot of accountability measures, (the CCRPI) is a snapshot in some ways because our (end of course test) scores are in that, and that’s a one day performance on a group of students -- not even all the students in the building.'

Below: KEEPING SCORE: College and Career Ready Performance Index (CCRPI) scores were released Dec. 8, 2016 for the Clarke County School District, with scores for elementary, middle and high schools in the district.

CCHS’ CCRPI score increased from 2015, while the CCSD’s overall score decreased.

Infographic by Lucia Bermudez and Elena Gilbertson-Hall

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>> FEATURES Featured: FROM STAGE TO SCREEN: Clarke Central High School junior Troy Deslatte stands on stage in the Mell Auditorium. Though Deslatte enjoys performing in school productions at CCHS, he has more of a desire to be on screen than on stage. “What I want to do isn’t more of stage acting, like broadway and stuff,” Deslatte said. “That’s fun and I’ll always love that, but I more want to do like movies and TV shows. That what I want to get into.”

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

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“I’m 17 and I have dwarfism” Junior Troy Deslatte has dwarfism, but he refuses to let his condition limit him.

A

t 4’6”, junior Troy Deslatte is shorter than most students his age. But in terms of personality, he has always been larger than life.

“Whenever someone’s counting the number of students and they go, like, ‘28 students,’ I go, ‘No, 27 and a half,’ and then everyone laughs,” Deslatte said. “I think it also kind of shows people that I’m open about this and it’s OK to make jokes about it.”

But despite being open about his dwarfism, Deslatte says that other than his mom Angela Powell, who also has his condition, he has only ever seen one other person with dwarfism in Athens. Being the only people with the condition can make going out in public difficult at times.

BY SARA GOODIE

Iliad Literary Art Magazine Editor-in-Chief

also comes with medical implications. His knees bent at an angle since childhood, and in second grade, he underwent surgery to correct this. The surgery was largely ineffective, so doctors operated on his legs again over the summer after his sixth grade year. The procedure mainly focused on his left leg, which was worse than the right.

“They actually went in there and cut the bone and twisted it, and I had a full leg cast all summer. And what’s funny is that was supposed to fix it, but it didn’t. It actually made it a lot worse,” Deslatte said.

Along with the ongoing medical procedures, there are other things that Deslatte’s body cannot do that average-height bodies can. His joints are sensitive and he is unable to stand for more than several minutes without his legs hurting. For this

“Sixth grade was when I did my first show and I got like this side role. It was a dumb little kid’s show. It was called ‘King Arty and the Knights of the Rad Table.’ Looking back on it now it was kind of dumb, but it was cool for the first experience I had.”

-- TROY DESLATTE, junior

“People in grocery stores like just stare at me as I walk by,” Deslatte said. “Kids, they just stop and they just like look at me and my mom.

Sometimes I hate it, sometimes I make faces at them,” Deslatte said.

Deslatte has a cross between multiple epiphyseal dysplasia and pseudoachondroplasia, a combination of growth-restrictive conditions that has run in his family for four generations.

“It began with Troy’s paternal great-grandfather and has been passed down to at least one child in each generation since then,” Powell said. “Dwarfism is very unique based on each person, so the challenges I experience medically are different in many ways than those Troy will experience.”

Other than his height, Deslatte’s condition FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

reason, he has started wearing a knee brace.

“Some people just think, ‘Oh, he’s just short.

That’s it. That’s all that it does.’ There’s a lot more to it than just that,” Deslatte said. “If we we’re walking Downtown with some friends or whatever, they can walk all of Downtown and be just fine. But I’m sitting there after like two or three streets and my legs are in pain, they’re on fire, I want to sit down and they’re not stopping.”

This year, Deslatte has started exercising regularly in the body sculpting class at Clarke Central High School and the Crunch Fitness gym in Athens. Though physical fitness is important for everyone, it is crucial for maintaining his joint strength.

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>> FEATURES Photo by Julie Alpaugh

because it doesn’t require getting hurt if you know how to do it properly,” Deslatte said. “And it’s nice when you go home, you take off your shirt and there’s a six pack there.”

But Deslatte’s dwarfism is not what defines him.

In fact, a major part of his identity is his love for theater and his dream to be an actor.

“I’ve kind of always wanted to do that since I was like a little, little kid. Well, littler,” Deslatte said.

“Sixth grade was when I did my first show and I got like this side role. It was a dumb little kid’s show.

It was called ‘King Arty and the Knights of the Rad Table.’ Looking back on it now it was kind of dumb, but it was cool for the first experience I had had.”

In his three years at CCHS, Deslatte has acted in the drama department’s productions of “The Lottery,” “Cabaret” and “Noises Off.” He has also performed as the lead character Shrek in “Shrek the Musical” at the Athens Little Playhouse Children’s Theatre. He is currently the Vice President of the CCHS Drama Club.

“He is clearly passionate about drama because he does it outside of school as well as inside,” senior and Drama Club President Isabelle Germain said.

“He is clearly passionate about drama because he does it outside of school as well as inside” -- ISABELLE GERMAIN, senior and Drama Club President

Above: LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Clarke Central High School junior Troy Deslatte reads play lines with senior Derek Mueller. Deslatte has been in several school productions and enjoys performing. “I like being (at CCHS) and doing the way bigger shows, and doing shows with other community theaters around,” Deslatte said. “It’s pretty cool and opening my eyes up more for stuff.” Opposite: A LIFELONG DREAM: Clarke Central High School junior Troy Deslatte laughs with senior Luis Vicente as they practice lines for the upcoming school production. Deslatte has always envisioned himself as an actor and enjoys playing different roles. “I’ve kinda always wanted to do that since I was like a little, little kid,” Deslatte said. “I just always liked pretending to be someone else, which is what acting is.”

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Many other drama students agree Deslatte’s acting abilities are unaffected by his physical condition. Although his legs hurt during long scenes, he takes ibuprofen before performing and powers through.

“He can act, and he has a good British accent for some stuff,” junior and fellow actor Mea Melnik said. “He just does it and goes for it, and then does it good. And nobody ever says anything.”

Deslatte says his inspiration is “Game of Thrones” actor Peter Dinklage who, among other famous actors of short stature, has found success in the acting industry.

“Peter Dinklage is kind of what I want to be. Actually, no, he’s exactly what I want to be,” Deslatte said. “And it’s cool to see someone with dwarfism in that field because it’s crazy competitive. Because sometimes the movie parts, they judge you based on your height. And so if you have dwarfism and you’re wanting to go for the main role, there’s a very good chance they won’t pick you,” Deslatte said.

Powell supports her son’s aspirations, citing DinFEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

Photo by Julie Alpaugh

FEATURES <<

klage, as well as actor Warwick Davis, as proof that people with dwarfism can be well-respected actors.

“Many little people have paved the way in the film industry for actors like Peter Dinklage to rise to the top in this profession. I fully support Troy in pursuing this as his profession,” Powell said. “There is a place for people of short stature in the industry.

And it’s not just playing elves and leprechauns and other ‘non-human’ roles.”

Deslatte is prepared to work for the career he

wants. He is considering starting a YouTube channel this summer as a free way entertain publicly.

“A lot of YouTubers actually become actors,” Deslatte said. “They’re not big name actors, but they become actors, and I feel like if I did that, I could work my way up. Because there’s also Dylan O’Brien, who started off making ridiculous videos on YouTube, and now he’s a huge actor.”

Deslatte plans to hold off on college and move to California after of high school. His overall goal is to

act in movies and TV. “Sometimes, people forget the people that dwarfs are humans, too. Sometimes, they treat us like there’s something wrong with us so they just push us aside,” Deslatte said. “I want to be kind of like Peter Dinklage just to be able to show that, ‘Hey, I can do this.’ Just because I’m shorter than the average person and look different and have a disability doesn’t mean I still can’t do this.”

“Peter Dinklage is kind of what I want to be. Actually, no, he’s exactly what I want to be. And it’s cool to see someone with dwarfism in that field because it’s crazy competitive. Sometimes the movie parts, they judge you based on your height. And so if you have dwarfism and you’re wanting to go for the main role, there’s a very good chance they won’t pick you,” -- TROY DESLATTE, junior FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

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In defense of rap and hip-hop Variety Editor Jurnee Louder explores the importance of rap and hip-hop to the black-American community.

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n 1957, great American writer James Baldwin published a short story called “Sonny’s Blues.” We discussed this piece in my Advanced Placement American Language class, and it quickly became one of my favorite pieces of the year.

In the beginning of the piece, we met the narrator and began to learn his innerworkings while simultaneously never learning his name. His name didn’t matter -- he was the medium through which the audience can attempt to understand Sonny, the narrator’s brother. Sonny is an aspiring jazz pianist who feels misunderstood and trapped by the world around him.

For Sonny, jazz is the way in which he can express himself. It’s a way to escape the thick, suffocating air of Harlem. But, Sonny’s brother doesn’t understand this — to him, jazz was vulgar and useless when it came to preparing for the “real world.”

“I want to play jazz,” he said.

BY JURNEE LOUDER Variety Editor

“‘I want to play jazz,’ he said.

Well, the word had never sounded as heavy, as real, as it sounded that afternoon in Sonny’s mouth. I just looked at him and was probably frowning a real frown by this time. I simply couldn’t see why on Earth he’d want to spend his time hanging around nightclubs, clowning around on bandstands, while people pushed each around the dancefloor. It seemed — beneath him, somehow.”

--Excerpt from “Sonny’s Blues” (page 10), James Baldwin While analyzing “Sonny’s Blues,” my mind made immediate connections to hip-hop and hip-hop’s birthchild, rap. While I knew the basic history of the genre, I wanted to learn more to affirm my guesses.

“Hip-Hop Evolution,” available on Netflix, is a four-part series that helped put some things into perspective. Narrator Shadrach Kabango chronicles hip-hop throughout decades, beginning in the Bronx, New York during the 1970s with the first emcees and ending with hip-hop’s travel to the West Coast with groups like NWA. Hip-hop was created as a direct response to the social and political climate that many black-Americans lived in. Racism, police brutality, economic struggles and more were all detailed in the music. Plus, making this kind of music was cheap— all that was needed was a voice and a beat.

Hip-hop was born on the heels of the Civil Rights Movement, a serious fiscal crisis in New York City and other urban areas, gang activity, etc. Since then we have been through the horrific Reagan era, the invasion of crack, guns, AIDS and an alleged economic boom in the 1990s — “alleged” because not too many Black people I know, even the ones with college degrees, are anything more than a paycheck away from poverty. Hip-hop has documented all of this, and more.

--Excerpt from “Hip-hop is the most important youth culture on the planet”, Time Magazine FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

Even the subgenre of gangsta rap detailed the lifestyles of black-Americans. While the lyrics were violent and in a way, negative, they were honest. It was a reflection of the lifestyle that these rappers either grew up in themselves or saw around them.

I grew up listening to rap. Public Enemy’s “Power to the People,” Jay Z’s “99 Problems,” Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up”, Nas’s “If I Ruled the World,” and Lauryn Hill’s “Ex-Factor” were all songs whose lyrics remained escaping from my lips and whose message I never forgot -even to this day.

“You know it’s funny, when it rains it pours They got money for wars, but can’t feed the poor Say there ain’t no hope for the youth And the truth is it ain’t no hope for the future And then they wonder why we crazy” --Excerpt from Tupac’s “Keep Ya Head Up” (1993)

Hip-hop has changed a lot from its beginnings. Can you blame it?

The ‘70s were almost fifty years ago, and it had to change along with the time. Over time, hip-hop became more commercialized, more mainstream. It built an audience overseas. It is the soundtrack to Honey Nut Cheerios commercials.

Now, rap songs can even make it to the Top 10 on the Billboard charts. “Panda” by rapper Desiigner made it to No. 6 on the Hot 100 songs of 2016.

As a result, its message became distorted. People saw the ugly. People saw the misogyny and the violence. I’ll admit that I did for a while as well. The history and the significance of it moved further away from its center.

Jazz and hip-hop are more alike than I would’ve ever known. For a lot of people, both genres represented freedom— for its detractors, it represented oppression.

I’m glad that I read “Sonny’s Blues” and watched “Hip-Hop Evolution” and I encourage others to do so, as well. The connections between the two, even though they are decades apart, is uncanny.

I also encourage others to rethink their negative opinion of hip-hop.

The misogyny and the violence can be alienating.

As a young black woman, I know this. But, when you see a kid listening to Remy Ma in the halls, you should also recognize that he or she is listening to something deeply rooted in black culture.

Rap is black history. It’s the black present and future. Whether hiphop has progressed or regressed is irrelevant. I will continue to claim it.

Opposite: RAPPER’S DELIGHT: From Sugar Hill Gang to Kendrick Lamar, rap music has always been a unique form of expression. Its importance to black-American culture in the United States and its impact on the sound of music throughout the world cannot be denied.

Illustration by Suncana Pavlic

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Living History Clarke Central High School students and staff put on the Black History Month celebration in the Mell Auditorium on Feb. 16. The assembly was composed of guest performers, musical arrangements by the CCHS orchestra and band, student speeches and poetry, along with staff performances. The assembly was held to unite the school and Athens community while sharing both old and new Black History.

Photo essay complied by Jurnee Louder and Lucia Bermudez

Photos by Zoe Peterson, Johanna Hall, and Lucia Bermudez

“Black History Month shouldn’t be just a month. I think things need to be celebrated all the time because a lot of things about black history, people don’t know. When I was in school, they taught black history, but they don’t teach that anymore.”

-- LINDA GLENN, CCHS secretary

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The assembly for me was a more powerful way for me to express how I feel about the mistreatment of African-Americans. I decided to do spoken word and write an original piece myself, and it took some work, but I enjoyed being able to speak my mind to a large group of people. It made me feel empowered and strong.â&#x20AC;?

-- JALISA GRIGGS, junior

>> VARIETY

Cultural Buzz FUTURE

POCKET POINTS

Prince royce - “FIVE”

After releasing hits like “Wicked” and “Low Life” on his previous album “EVOL”, rapper Future released his eponymous album, “FUTURE”, on Feb. 18. The 17-track album with no features shows that Future can produce quality music without the support of other rappers.

Trap music fans will be overwhelmed with the beat drops and bass in songs like “Rent Money” and “Zoom.” With no features, some of tracks sound repetitive, though it doesn’t take away from the quality of each song. A consistent heavy trap beat in each song makes “Future” different from other albums. Future lacks in variety, but it doesn’t need an assortment of beats to feel like a complete album.

In comparison to artists like Migos, Future strays away from the mainstream rap, which brings up the quality of his work even more.

In almost every class at Clarke Central High School, there are students on their phone. What if one could be rewarded for using phones in class?

Pocket Points is an app that allows students to earn prizes while at school. They only have to do one thing: turn off their phones. While the app is open and the phone is off, a point is earned every 15 minutes. Users can then browse a variety of businesses both online and local, to spend their points to get rewards.

This app sounds too good to be true and it kind of is. Most of the prizes are actually only coupons and some of them are offers already available on the stores website.

However, there are some good deals on the app, and for those trying to stay off their phone, Pocket Points may be the encouragement they need.

Prince Royce, the world’s modern-day king of pop bachata, released his fifth studio album titled “Five” on Feb. 24. Having already released various singles from the album prior to the album’s official release date, the piece of work can be found on Spotify, Apple Music, and some singles on Pandora.

“Five” includes features from various artists, a mix of song styles, and a consistent flow throughout. With songs including “Dilema” and “Carretera”, Royce remains true to his Latin roots, bachata vibe and lovesong sound. Guest artists including Shakira, Gente de Zona, Chris Brown, Zendaya and others bring diversity in sound to the album, as Royce’s bachata rhythm can become repetitive.

Though the album may grow tiresome for those who don’t love bachata, Royce’s sound remains true to his style, giving long-time fans more to love.

--Kiki Grifin, Broadcast Staffer

--Coles Ehlers, Online Staffer

--Lucia Bermudez, Editor-in-Chief

“L

LIVING IN LA LA LAND

a La Land,” the hot-button movie musical about chasing success and love in modern Hollywood, clearly hopes to be that thing for small-town kids across America.

Even as main man Sebastian (Ryan Gosling) is fired from a dinner club and forced to slum it as the pianist in an ‘80s cover band, even as leading woman Mia (Emma Stone) is soullessly rejected from audition after audition. Even when she decides to quit the game and move back home, viewers have no question that the characters and their noble artistic dreams are, to steal a term from the fan community, endgame.

The couple is almost as obsessed with Hollywood as Hollywood is with itself, as evidenced by “La La Land’s” six Academy Award wins and seven Golden Globe wins.

In a cultural climate where everything is contentious and nothing goes unsaid, Gosling and Stone’s characters’ commitment to chasing their dreams, and the actors’ commitment to a sweet, believable romance, is a breath of fresh escapism. To merely say each deserves his and her Golden Globe is a criminal understatement.

Perhaps that initial innocence is why the internet, in recent weeks, has been filled with headlines from “Let’s Talk About the Ending of ‘La La Land,’” to “‘La La Land’ Review: Average Flick with a Fantastic Ending” to “‘La La Land’ Ending is Perfect so Stop Complaining About It.” In the movie’s last 10 minutes, the audience is jerked five years into the future, into a world where its fairytale couple are split up, one half married and with a child.

However, in the alternate-reality viewers are spun through upon the duo’s first reunion after those five years (in the real world), only Mia has achieved her dreams; somewhere down the line Sebastian has evidently sacrificed his jazz club for his wife’s movies.

Ultimately, though “La La Land” is a beautiful, heartwarming-to-heartbreaking old-school romance, it’s also a strikingly modern prioritization of career over love.

Even if that is love fit to film.

BY KATY MAYFIELD Viewpoints Efitor

Photo illustrations by Lucia Bermudez. Photos used under Fair Use guidelines.

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Cultural Buzz TILE

santa clarita diet

RUN THE jewels 3

While apps like Apple’s Find My iPhone may be sensible to download when you lose your iPhone in between couch cushions, the Tile Slim and Tile Mate gadgets give users something new to keep track of: everything.

Tile devices are small, square-shaped tracking devices that come in two convenient sizes. The Tile Mate, $25, is bulkier compared to the Tile Slim, $30, which is as thin as two credit cards, making it more convenient for items that can only fit into thin objects. The Tile Mate, which comes with a keychain accessible hole, is perfect for clipping to one’s keychain, purse or strap of any kind.

Once the Tile product is connected to a device, users will be able to track their tile by either getting the gadget to play a sound or by simply tracking the device’s movement on a map using Bluetooth.

Netflix’s new show “Santa Clarita Diet” starring Drew Barrymore is deliciously good. The show takes the spin of the classic American sitcom, but with one major twist -- zombies.

Sheila (Barrymore), Joel (Timothy Olyphant) and their teen daughter Abby (Liv Hewson) are the typical suburban family living in Santa Clarita, California. Their lives change when Sheila dies and comes back to life with a completely new attitude and appetite for human flesh. The show follows the family’s search for a cure, but nothing goes to plan when killing people.

While “Santa Clarita Diet” is a comedy, it is gory with crude humor throughout all 10 episodes.

Somehow the show makes gory cannibalism seem OK and normal. The mixture of brutal and funny works, which keeps viewers coming back for more.

Rap group Run The Jewels (RTJ), composed of hip hop artists Killer Mike and EL-P, dropped their third studio album “Run The Jewels 3” on Dec. 24 as an early Christmas present to the world.

Containing 14 tracks and running 52 minutes, RTJ came back from their two years in the studio with golden tracks.

The unrestrained aggression pouring from these self-described “Rhyme animals” fills the listener with anarchical energy. Bars flying as fast as bullets give this project a playback value as strong as the militant nature of the content they cover. By using complex melodic structure over heavy bass riffs, RTJ’s beats leave listeners with an electric feeling of rebellion By the end of the album, listeners will be ready to take to the streets and raise a fist in the air.

--Jordan Rhym, Lead Copy Editor

--Emma Ramsay, Variety Staffer

--Gabriel Mantione-Holmes, Viewpoints Writer

unseen treasures

“H

idden Figures,” a historical look at the careers of three black American women working at NASA during the Civil Rights movement and the Space Race, is just as entertaining as it is important. The film, which premiered on Jan. 6, focuses on Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer), Mary Jackson (Janelle Monaé) and Katherine G. Johnson (Taraji P. Henson) as they break down racial barriers within their respective areas of NASA during the ‘60s.

Dorothy, taking on the role of a supervisor in the segregated West Area Computers division of the research center, finds herself fighting to be recognized with a title for the job she does. She also teaches herself, and the other women in the division, FORTRAN, a programming language, so as to not lose their jobs to the new International Business Machine (IBM) computers. Katherine is assigned to check computations for a group of white male engineers as they attempt to calculate trajectory for launch and landing to send people to space, and is tasked with proving herself to colleagues with implicit prejudices. Finally, Mary wishes to become an engineer and fights for her right to take graduate courses at an all-white school. While long overdue, the film’s portrayal of these women and their accomplishments remains relevant as ever and accurately depicts their drive and forward-thinkingness, as well as emphasizes their brilliant intelligence.

Along with its more general racial elements, such as the repeated workplace discrimination that the heroines face, the film does not shy away from a couple monologues.

These are expertly delivered by Monaé and Henson and highlight the injustices they face. Although the true triumph of “Hidden Figures” lies in the importance of its representation, the film’s merits also include 1960s-inspired pop tunes by producer Pharrell Williams and a strong supporting cast, including actor Kevin Costner as Space Task group director Al Harrison.

“Hidden Figures” is a crowd-pleaser that is sure to leave audiences cheering.

BY VALERIA GARCIA-POZO News Editor

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

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Photos by Zoe Peterson

Editor’s note: For each edition of “Quest for Athens’ Best,” the top two businesses from four reviews are selected for this Variety feature. Email editors@odysseynewsmagazine.net to comment on our selections and ratings, which are placed on a scale from one to five, with five being best and one being worst.

Utage sushi bar 440 E. Clayton St

U

tage Sushi Bar, located in the heart of Downtown Athens, provides customers with a pleasant dining experience.

Once customers are seated, they can choose from a diverse menu. The appetizers available include seaweed salad, edamame, miso soup and many other options.

Utage’s most popular sushi rolls are the UGA, Bulldawg and shrimp tempura rolls which consist of eight to 10 pieces. For those who do not eat seafood, Utage has the the Veggie Lover’s Special, Tofu Nigiri, along with other sushi rolls.

The friendly staff provides dietary accommodations for customers with special dietary restrictions. Utage also features a wide range of options for vegetarians, vegans, as well as those with allergies.

While Utage is known for its sushi, it offers other delicious Japanese cuisine. Udon noodles are a big hit on the menu with 12 different options for customers to choose from. Ramen noodles, while not as popular, are prepared to perfection.

If customers are looking for a cheaper meal, the five-piece Maki and one-piece Nigiri rolls range from $2.75 to $4.

However, if price is not an issue, the Sushi and Sashimi special, which consists of slivers of raw fish, is a popular choice pricing at $49.

Dinner service begins at 5:30 p.m. on Monday through Thursday and from 5:00 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Friday. However, weekend hours vary.

If you love good sushi, get yourself down to Utage.

SPREAD AND STORIES BY EMMA RAMSAY Variety Writer

Above: SUPER SUSHI: Utage Sushi Bar offers a variety of sushi rolls and other classic Japanese cusine. Left: SALTY SURPRISE: Located on E Clayton street, Utage Sushi Bar is right across the street from Athens Wok and sits next to Cafe Istanbul.

Photos by Julie Alpaugh

Variety

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sushi

Photos by Julie Alpaugh

For our February/ March issue, Variety writer Emma Ramsay continues the journey across the Classic City in search for the best sushi Athens has to offer.

Shokitini 251 W. Clayton St

L

ocated in Downtown Athens, Shokitini serves a wide range of Japanese dishes with a twist.

There are two separate menus: the regular dinner menu and the sushi menu, which has over 50 different types of sushi to offer.

A house favorite is the Hawaiian roll that features salmon, avocado, scallion and is topped with BBQ eel. It is priced at $9.95 and includes six pieces.

Most dishes are $8 to $10 for six to eight pieces.

While Shokitini does not allow for much customization, they do offer options for vegetarians and those with allergies. There are six different types of vegetable maki and countless seafood-free dishes. The avocado and cucumber roll is a great vegetarian option.

Not only does Shokitini serve sushi, but they also serve other traditional and Americanized Japanese cuisine as well. A popular dish is the Agedashi tofu, which is deep-fried tofu with a sweet soy sauce.

While not as popular, the vegetable tempura is light and crispy, and a must-have.

Shokitini is not only known for their food, but also for their fun karaoke. Customers can rent karaoke rooms while dining. There are small, medium and large rooms that can hold up to 30 people. Prices vary. With the karaoke and great food options, Shokitini is a great place for students to hang out or host a party.

Shokitini is open from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. on Monday through Saturday and 5 p.m. to midnight Sunday.

If you are looking for a good time and good sushi, roll up to Shokitini.

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Above: COME ON IN: Shokitini Sushi, Grill and Lounge provides customers with indoor and outdoor seating. It is a casual attire restaurant and offers variety of Japanese cuisine. Right: FLOWER POWER: The Salmon sushi special is delicately arranged into the shape of a flower. For those who enjoy spicy food, the special comes with a side of pickled ginger and wasabi.

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Photos by Julie Alpaugh

Variety

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>> SPORTS Layout by Hannah Gale Photo by Hannah Gale

The box score Above: SERVING LOOKS: Clarke Central High School varsity tennis player Christopher Dellaria, a junior, plays a practice match at the CCHS tennis courts during practice on Feb. 10. Dellaria has been on the team since his freshman year, and has seen improvement in the boys team this season after a loss of senior players. “It’s going really good. We had five seniors graduate last year so we have had a lot of new people in our lineup, but it’s working,” Dellaria said. “It’s a really fun team.”

GLADS AT THE NEXT LEVEL Clarke Central High School varsity football players Zay Brown, Rico Arnold and Bryson Kearney gathered in the Gladiator Gallery on Feb. 1, 2017 to sign their Letters of Intent to further their football career after high school.

“Everyone (helped us get to this moment). Our friends, family, the coaching staff, training staff, everybody,” Arnold said. “This is a great program that is coming together with Coach David Perno. We are glad that we had such a good coach.”

Brown signed with the University of South Carolina, Arnold with the University of North Carolina Charlotte and Kearney with Kentucky Wesleyan College. Brown and Arnold will be playing Division I football, while Kearney will play Division II. “They are three great players that we will miss next season. They all had outstanding careers and were good representatives of our program,” CCHS head football coach David Perno said. “They performed on the field, in the classroom and in the community.”

CAUSING A RACQUET

BY ELENA GILBERTSON-HALL Staff Writer

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larke Central High School tennis team members have high expectations for this season, and coaches plan to make another run at the state tournament.

“We’ve been really lucky the past three years. (The girls team) made state every year,” varsity tennis coach Stephen Hinson said.

“I fully expect the girls to make state (again this year).”

To make it to the state level, the team must finish as one of the top four teams in the region.

“I think (with) anything less than a region championship I’m going to be very disappointed because they are very experienced.

I don’t think there would be any excuse at that point, and it’s just something they’re going to have to go out and accomplish because they’re absolutely 100 percent capable,” Hinson said.

Varsity tennis player Mary Carroll Waller, a CCHS junior, agrees with her coach’s expectations for the team. “(The girls team) went to state last year, so (my goal is to) go back to state and maybe try to get higher than we did last year,” Waller said With the team returning very few experienced players, Hinson sees the boys program in transition.

“I think the guys are going to have a rebuilding year. Even though some of the players are really good we just don’t have the numbers,” Hinson said.

While Hinson is focused on team success, he wants players to feel accomplished regardless of outcome.

“I want the teams to be proud of themselves. Even if we don’t win region or even if the guys don’t have the best season, just as long as they can look at it and say, ‘Number one, we gave it everything we had, and we didn’t lay down for anybody, and number two, we had fun.’ That’s it.”

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TEE UP The Clarke Central High School girls golf teams held their first practice of the season at the University of Georgia golf course on Feb. 13.

“I guess right now we’re just trying to figure out who’s coming out. We always seem to have a lot of people interested, but then when it really gets to it, our numbers aren’t the best. So hopefully we get some commitment from the girls,” head girls golf coach Matthew Snow said.

Snow hopes that more girls will sign up to play golf this season, and has been working to recruit students he met in his former job at Chase Street Elementary School.

“I think right now, the last count, I think we had four (girls golf players).

Ideally, I think it’d be great if we got to like eight,” Snow said.

Snow looks for commitment, rather than experience in his players.

“We want kids to come out and have fun and learn how to participate in golf and just understand that it’s a fun game and just takes a lot of practice and perseverance,” Snow said.

SWIMMING TO STATE Eight Clarke Central High School swimmers attended the Georgia High School Association State Championship on Feb. 4.

“It’s based on time. So even in the first meet, if they swim a certain event under a certain time, they qualify (for state),” head swim coach Emily Hulse said.

Despite having less seniors, according to Hulse, the team is performing at a comparable level to last season. “(The season) has been pretty similar (to last year). We had some seniors, who graduated and we’re definitely missing them. But we had a few first time swimmers this year who kind of took those places,” Hulse said.

Freshman Lucy Yeomans will be competing in the state meet and believes that the effort she put into swimming for CCHS is paying off.

“I’ve been trying at the (high school) meets and this is actually the first year I’ve made it to any kind of year-round state meet, so that’s exciting,” Yeomons said.

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Photo by Lucia Bermudez

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AUDIBLES

There are going to be days where you’re going to want to throw up but you just gotta push through.

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ELISE BRAY, assistant long distance track coach, to the long distance track team on a workout day.

Soccer is one of the most fun, most strategic games you can play and you never seem to leave the field unharmed. But that only makes you tougher. That’s what I love about it.

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Nyah Carlson, freshman girls varsity soccer player, on why she loves soccer during science department teacher Valinda Miller’s first period advanced biology class.

Coach Hulse always tells us to be more thoughtful in our games and to work together more.

Above: DANCING UP A STORM: Head softball coach and social studies department teacher April Tedeschi dances at the first annual Clarke Central High School Zumbathon. The Zumbathon, a fundraiser for the CCHS softball team, raised money to support the athletes. “I think it went really well,” Tedeschi said. “We raised about 350 dollars and I think we’re planning on doing it again because I feel like if we make it annual and get the word out, more people will come.”

I think that Coach Aiken expects me to work my hardest and try my best every game, and that’s what I intend to do no matter the circumstances.

A SEASON TO REMEMBER

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ALEX BYRD, freshman and varsity soccer player, on head boys soccer coach Chris Aiken’s expectations of his players.

Our first step is going to be winning region and (we will) go from there. But we just take it match by match.

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BROOKE CRAFT, assistant tennis coach, on the tennis team’s goals for the season.

Below: TIME TO SIGN: (Left to right) Clarke Central High School seniors Zay Brown, Rico Arnold and (far right) Bryson Kearney stand with 2015-16 CCHS running back coach Tony Sorrells on Feb. 1 in the Gladiator Gallery. Brown, Arnold and Kearney will play football at University South Carolina, University North Carolina Charlotte and Kentucky Wesleyan College, respectively. “This is a great program that is coming together with Coach Perno. We are glad that we had such a good coach,” Arnold said.

Photo by Zoe Peterson

he Clarke Central High School varsity baseball team will return eight seniors this season, so head baseball coach Trey Henson is hoping for the most successful baseball team CCHS has seen in recent history.

“Since I’ve taken over as head coach, we’ve had five wins the first year, seven wins the second year, 10 wins the third year and then we’ve won 12 to 13 games last year. The goal this year is to be over .500 (winning over half the games) and to make the playoffs,” Henson said.

While Henson is counting on veteran leadership this season, the loss of eight senior players next season will bring a new dynamic and pace to the varsity and JV baseball teams. Henson will evaluate returning JV players to try to fill gaps in the varsity team.

“If we have five guys on the JV that can legitimately play the outfield and have the numbers to match that and we have three on the varsity, then we can move one to the varsity,” Henson said.

In preparation for this change, Henson plans on leading a prostyle workout to determine which players are fit for which positions and teams. This will also give the baseball coaches a firsthand look at players’ progressions over the year.

“We get six-yard dash times, glove-to-glove fielding times, home-to-first base running times, home-to-second base running times, and all of the measurable things we can kind of say, ‘OK, they fit here,’ or, ‘This isn’t so good,’” Henson said.

Freshman Sam Jones is trying out for the JV team and hopes that this year will earn him one of the eight varsity positions next year.

“To make it on varsity, I have to work hard in the classroom and on the field, I’ll keep going to work outs and not get behind in school,” Jones said.

BY KIKI GRIFFIN Broadcast Staff Writer

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AVERY MULFORD, sophomore and JV soccer player, on head coach Chris Hulse’s motivational speeches.

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More than a game Clarke Central High School senior Chris Ortuno has been impacted by soccer, a sport he has grown a passion for.

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or as long as Clarke Central High School JV and varsity goalie Chris Ortuno, a senior, can remember, he has loved anything and everything about sports.

Whether it be watching the Atlanta Falcons or playing soccer at Billy Henderson Stadium, Ortuno has been hooked on sports from the very beginning.

For Ortuno, soccer has been his passion and his outlet to cope with struggles he has faced in his life. “(Soccer) helps me keep my mind off of people who doubt me and tell me that I’m not good enough,” Ortuno said.

Although he has had experiences with bullying, dealing with difficult situations has helped Ortuno grow stronger as a person and motivates him as an athlete.

“Back in fourth grade I used to get bullied all the time, but that didn’t stop me from becoming a better person. (Being bullied has taught me to) never judge others and to not think about people who bring me down,” Ortuno said. “My mother always told me, ‘You’re better than them. You’re better than the people that hate you the most.”’

Ortuno considers head boys varsity soccer coach Chris Aiken a prominent role model in his life.

“Ever since I was a freshman, (Aiken has) motivated us players to work hard and to make the playoffs,” Ortuno said.

Aiken believes Ortuno’s determination, passion and work ethic are what distinguish him from other players.

BY MADDIE INGLE Sports Writer

“My mother always told me, ‘You’re better than them. You’re better than the people that hate you the most.”

-- CHRIS ORTUNO, senior and varsity boys soccer player

Featured: BALL ‘TILL I FALL: Clarke Central High School senior Chris Ortuno punts a soccer ball in Death Valley on Feb. 1. Chris has been playing soccer since he was younger, because he was inspired by his father. “In Mexico, (my father) used to play soccer in high school. Since I touched my first ball at 3 years old, he’s encouraged me to play soccer at a club level,” Ortuno said.

Photo by Zoe Peterson

Layout by Maddie Ingle

FEBRUARY / MARCH 2017

“Chris has shown his dedication because he’s not the type of player that only trains during the season.

If you ever come out to any physical education class, you will always catch him playing soccer,” Aiken said. “Last year, before school he’d play soccer in the gym, so just being able to work on his game outside of the actual practice schedule really shows his commitment to getting better and wanting to improve.”

According to Aiken, Ortuno’s attitude and dedication has been a great contributor to the team.

“I think his positive attitude is the biggest thing (Chris contributes to the team). He’s very uplifting, very encouraging. He’s never negative. He’s never said anything negative the four years I’ve known him,” Aiken said. “He also plays a position that we really need, so having a quality goalie, such as Chris, is important to the success of our team.”

Ortuno is not only prideful and dedicated to his team, he is also prideful in his school and feels CCHS has taught him many valuable lessons throughout his four years as a Gladiator.

“When I walk through the doors (of CCHS), I feel honored. I feel strong,” Ortuno said. “(Being a Gladiator has taught me that) sometimes, you have to learn to lose. You just have to know how to lose properly.”

Looking past his time at CCHS and towards the future, Ortuno has ambitious goals that he is determined to accomplish.

“I want to go to college and pursue being a surgeon (after I graduate). I’m a bit scared but I feel like I’m ready. Experiencing my grandmother suffer with Multiple Sclerosis has made me want to save lives,” Ortuno said.

When asked what his personal lifelong goal is, Ortuno could not help but smile when he answered.

“I just want to inspire others. I just have to follow my dreams and become what I want to be,” Ortuno said. “I just want to prove everyone wrong.” odysseynewsmagazine.net | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE

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INFOCUS Featured: SHE SHOOTS, SHE SCORES: Clarke Central High School junior Fernanda Becerra kicks a soccer ball in Billy Henderson Stadium during the CCHS girls varsity soccer game against Madison County High School on Feb. 10. CCHS lost the game with a score of 2-0. However, Becerra believes the team will continue to grow over the course of the season. “I feel like we’re doing pretty good so far. However, we haven’t played to our potential. As a team we’re getting better on building from the back,” Becerra. “But we’re doing a really good job on playing hard since we have a teammate to play for. Every game we play, we do it for Karla.”

Layout by Lucia Bermudez

Photos by Julie Alpaugh

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Featured: SOARING and SCORING: Clarke Central High School boys varisty soccer player Lorenzo Calabria, a senior, plays during the team’s match against Madison County High School on Feb. 10. Calabria feels head boys varisty soccer coach Chris Aiken has been a key to the team’s success. “He pushes us to do the best that we can and you can see how intense he can gets in our region games and in practice and stuff, and that helps us,” Calabria said.

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THE CURSE CONTINUES On Sunday Feb. 5, the Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point lead, losing the Super Bowl 51 and leaving Atlanta fans disappointed...again.

D’Won smith Grade: 11 Sport: Varsity basketball Years experience: 11 GPA: 3.25 Game day ritual: I really don’t have a game day ritual, I just listen to music before the game.

Favorite game memory: Every game day is my favorite memory. I just be glad that it’s game day.

Role model: Lebron James What coaches say: “D’won is one of the hardest working players we have in the program.

He always gives 100 percent no matter what we do.”

-- Andre McIntyre, head coach Photo by Julie Alpaugh

ODYSSEY Star Players are selected based on their academic standing and commitment to teammates, their sports program and Clarke Central High School. Star Players are selected each month by the Sports staff based on interviews with players and coaches.

Photo by Zoe Peterson

Caroline slate Grade: 11 Sport: Junior varsity basketball Years experience: 11 GPA: 3.9 Game day ritual: I always in my uniform, which is my lucky number 25.

Favorite game memory: I went to Monsignor Donovan Catholic High School my freshmen year when our basketball team made it to the state championship.

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or as long as we can remember, our family has had a traditional barbeque on Super Bowl Sunday. And for as long as we can remember, it has only once featured the Atlanta Falcons, and that was this year’s Super Bowl LI -- we weren’t alive when John Elway and his beloved Broncos rolled over the Falcons in Super Bowl XXXIII. This year was supposed to be different.

Not only did the Falcons make the Super Bowl, but they had done it in awe-inspiring style, blowing out the Green Bay Packers 21-44 in the NFC Championship, thus earning a ticket to Super Bowl LI. It was exciting seeing our beloved Falcons take a 28-3 lead early in the second half, but blowing it was devastating. From the countless penalties and annoying third down conversions to a crucial fourth quarter fumble by QB Matt Ryan off a careless missed block by running back Devonta Freeman, everything seemed to go south for the Falcons.

But to be honest, it’s not just a Falcons thing. It’s an Atlanta thing.

To put it in perspective, there has only been one championship won by any Atlanta professional sports team (home of the Falcons, Hawks, and Braves) and that was the Braves in 1995.

When compared to cities like Boston, home of the Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Red Sox, which has 36 titles, it’s just flat embarrassing.

To be an Atlanta sports fan is basically asking for a lifetime full of catastrophic losses and constant settling for mediocrity.

Just think about it, the Braves went to the World Series five times in the ‘90s and only won once.

And how many times have the Atlanta Falcons and Hawks fallen short of a championship season?

Every year promises a new hope for Atlanta sports fans, but no matter how different or promising that year seems to be, our teams always find a way to fall short.

Honestly, it difficult being an Atlanta fan, now more than ever.

BY OWEN & CAEDMON CHURCHWELL Staff Writers

Below: TRY AND TRY AGAIN:The squirrel in Ice Age, he always fails to reach the acorn, no matter how close he gets and how hard he tries. Just like the Atlanta Falcons tried to win the Super Bowl 51, and came so close but lost to the New England Patriots.

Role model: Jesus Christ What coaches say: “She brings to the team this sense of calmness. She can gather the team when everything is kind of chaotic, which is something you can’t teach.”

-- Lawanna Knight, head coach

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PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION

Usually, the catcher will take it easy before the game starts or on game day.

He will stretch, practice, warm up with the pitcher and get mentally prepared before the game. During warm-ups, the catcher will not wear his jersey, but he will wear his shin guards. Before the game, the coach will usually encourage the team. After the game, the coach will tell the team what they did right and wrong, and how they can improve for the next game. The catcher and the team will normally do the same thing after the game, whether they win or lose, but it is more fun if they win. The catcher and his teammates after the game will generally hang out in the parking lot, then go and get something to eat, to conclude the end of the game and night.

GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME

Before a baseball game, the catcher needs to have practice and drills. A catcher for the baseball team will be in the crouching position for two to three hours. This means they will need to be fit in the leg area. This ensures the catcher is fit and ready to play the next or upcoming baseball game. He does blocking drills to stop the balls, so runners can't get by.

He also does receiving drills. The receiving drills help the catcher make sure they can catch the baseball. The receiving drills also make the pitches look more like strikes. The catcher does need to make sure that they are not using all their energy because they will need that energy for the infield.

He will also, before the game, throw flat grounds, which is a smaller version of pitching.

TEAMWORK MAKES THE DREAMWORK

The catcher and pitcher work together to keep the baseball game going. With that being said, the catcher needs to know and have a good relationship with the pitcher. You also have to be a good sport with the pitcher. Like, if he does a bad pitch you have to make sure he does not feel bad. They work together during the whole game, that is how they get what they need to, done. Baseball also helps the catcher make friends off the field. All in all, the whole team is just a tight team and good friends.

IT’S ALL IN HIS HANDS

The catcher will not get as much recognition as the pitcher, but he plays an important role. They even control the game. He has to make calls, tell people where to go and they have to know a lot about the game. The coaches usually tell the catcher what calls to make, but the catcher also makes their own calls. The catcher can also be known by their calls. He has to be paying attention to the whole game, the runners, hitters, pitchers and the other team’s tendencies. The catcher also has to know the game situation. He has to mix up pitches and be able to adjust to what is working in the game.

GEAR UP

When playing catcher, you have to have gear. This ensures protection for the body while playing during the game. The equipment you will need is a chest protector, leg guards, catcher’s mask and catcher’s mitt. The chest protector can protect from a 90 mph pitch.

The leg guards protect you from when the spikes from the bottom of the runner’s shoe hit the catcher’s leg guards, instead of the catcher’s leg. The catcher’s mask protects from a baseball or a baseball bat. The mitt just makes sure when catching the ball, the catcher does not hurt their hand.

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THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT

BEING A CATCHER

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BY BEN GILLESPIE AS TOLD TO CRYSTAL FOX odysseynewsmagazine.net | ODYSSEY NEWSMAGAZINE

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