InFlight
Auburn Riverside Student Voice Oct 6, 2015 • VOLUME 21 • ISSUE #1
I N SI D E :
Fall sports roll. See pages 10-12.
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News
InFlight October 6, 2015
ASB provides new faces, ideas Sasha Terry Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY SASHA TERRY
The 2015-16 school year Associated Student Body. New ASB president senior Kasaiya Alaalatoa (front/ center) was among those who introduced the year’s theme: “That’s so Raven.”
On the first day of school, at the first assembly, students found out what the theme is for this year, which is “That’s so Raven.” This theme shows students what it is is to be a true Raven in the community. “That’s so Raven” also shows how the school is a welcoming environment where everyone can feel safe. The meaning of this theme might give students confiedence of what they have achieved or what they want to achieve positively in the future. This theme will make students think about how much they are involved in the community and how to be a good leader. ASB is working on a lot of activities that students could help or be involved in. ASB president Kasaiya Alaalatoa likes this years theme because it removes negativeness and brings in the good. “That’s so Raven brings a positive figure into the community, role model in who you are. It’s something that everyone can
catch onto,” Alaalatoa said. ASB thinks that this theme will encourage students to help others around the school. Senior Aso Atafua thinks this theme is something new and creative. When she graduates, she wants to leave the school behind with students being positive and joining more activities. “This year the school is like a family. The new theme is something to feel good and be appreciative about,” Atafua said. ASB sold many school-logo fanny packs after the first assembly and students can still buy them at the cashier’s office for 6 dollars. ASB is also helping with planning Homecoming with the cheerleaders. Homecoming will be held on Saturday, October 17, from 8-11 pm. ASB helped with Breaking Down the Walls, which was held on September 28 through October 1. Where students that were nominated, were able to participate in leadership activities like games and they were able to talk about big elephant and small elephant disicions.
Homecoming sparks excitement Tashana Williams Staff Reporter Homecoming week is right around the corner, with the dance being held on October 17. It will start at 8 o’clock. The dance will be held in both of the gymnasiums. The dance will be in the auxiliary gym, while pictures will be taken in the main gym. The theme this year is a surprise, and the dance is being put on by the cheer squad. A dance contract will be required to buy tickets as always. It’s located in the activities office. It must be signed by a parent or guardian, yourself and any additional attendees. When completed, it is to be
Greetings from Newspaper
Our new staff members would like to say “Greetings from the closet.”
turned back into the activities office. “The tickets should be the same price as the previous years [25 dollars a piece],” Cheer Captain Mikaela Brewer said. Many students are looking forward to Homecoming. “The most exciting part of Homecoming is getting ready, for me at least,” senior Mishaylla Etienne said. “I love just setting everything up the night before and then spending a few hours getting ready slowly, and also going to the different restaurants for dinner with a group of friends before.” How Homecoming is spent is different for everyone. “I guess it depends on the person you spend it with,” senior Alex See editor-in-chief Jessica Perez business manager Sara Koenig photographer Kira Kopcho social media editor Jessica Perez cover collage Jessica Perez adviser Patrick Swenson
staff reporters Aaron Baker ZaReah Barren Dylan Grenz Kayna Kliewer Kira Kopcho Sara Koenig Trevor Little Jessica Perez Sasha Terry Tashana Williams
said. “The slow dancing and the bond you have with the person makes it memorable.” New Ravens are planing on attending Homecoming as well. “If I get asked then I’d probably attend,” freshman Kassidy Siegel said. “I’m looking forward to go to my first official ‘high school dance.’ I’d be excited to get a new dress and shoes too.”
PHOTO BY TASHANA WILLIAMS
Sophomores Alex Bondarets and Jacob Casey model a proposal to Homecoming.
InFlight
InFlight Policies InFlight is compiled by the student newspaper staff at Auburn Riverside High School, 501 Oravetz Road, Auburn, WA 98092. The InFlight staff strives to maintain accurate and objective reporting for our stories. However, opinion stories are included. Any commentary which is signed by the author accounts for his or her opinion only, and not necessarily that of anyone else on staff. An unsigned editorial reflects the majority opinion of the InFlight staff. InFlight accepts student, faculty, and community members’ letters to the editor, artwork, opinions and comments. However, we will not print any unsigned let-
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News
Auburn Riverside High School
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Remodeling gives school facelift Sasha Terry Staff Reporter Renovations to the school improve the school’s reader board display, improves the safety and the learning environment for students. The renovation project started in June, after the last week of the previous school year. The new renovations were decided on by the “Ad-Hoc” committee, which was made up of parents and administrators. They recommended improvements, or renovations, for Auburn School District schools. Auburn school district used their facilitator improvement bond to pay for these renovations. The facilitator improvement bond is paid by the Auburn School District board when schools need money to pay for renovations. Some of the new improvements to the school include adding security cameras, redoing the fastpitch and baseball fields,
PHOTOS BY ZAREAH BARREN
Top: New bleachers were installed in the new gymnasium. Right: Most carpeted floors that were not in classrooms were replaced by new tile. Far Right: A new reader board was installed a few weeks ago.
creating new guest and staff wifi access, building storage closets in the band and orchestra rooms for instruments, installing stands in the gym, removing some walls in the Viscom and Yearbook classroom, and converting room 710 into a science classroom. Another improvement included new tiled floors in every hall downstairs and upstairs. Before this, there were carpets in the hallways except for the main hallway on the first floor. Junior Sabrina Khansila was surprised to come back to school and see the new floors. “The floors are so different from last year. It took some time getting used to it,” Khansila said. Sophomore Zachary Villanueva liked the carpet that was in the building last year better than the tiled floors. He believes that the carpet was a nice fit for the school. “The carpets made me feel like I was more at home,” Villanueva said. Principal Dave Halford believes that the improvements will make the school a better learning environment. These new renovations will “improve learning and safety for students," Halford said. "The school has been standing for 21 years and it's nice to make the building better."
Metje’s Shattered mirrors personality
Aaron Baker Staff Reporter Artistic expression is the cornerstone of the Raven family, and senior Micah Metje has taken that concept and run with it after releasing his first album, the critically acclaimed and recognized Shattered. Metje records his pieces as a solo artist, adding instruments and vocals to each song piece by piece. “I started off recording guitars, then drums, bass, vocals and harmony,” Metje said. “Then I added other instruments.”
PHOTOS COURTESY MICAH METJE
Between writing songs and keeping up with school, Metje’s free time is sparse. He is often faced with the dilemma of choosing to write more songs or keep up with his schoolwork. “Every day I have to choose between homework or writing new songs. I just wish that writing songs was my homework.” Metje’s album, while a critical success, came at a price steeper than just his free time.
“I spent 1500 dollars on recording and ordering CDs and CD cases.” While Metje’s music takes up a considerable portion of his life, he was very clear that it comes as a second priority to him. “My music is second to school. My songwriting is just a hobby unless it gets really big.” Shattered has been met with widespread critical acclaim and recognition. It was recently featured on the website Reverb Na-
tion, which helps starting artists make a name for themselves. Metje’s work is a product of self expression. Most of his work comes as an extension of his own personality. “I wrote two of these songs for my girlfriend, I wrote one in Spanish class, and the others just reflected some conflicts I was having.” Metje’s journey is far from over, and he hopes to continue writing popular music.
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Opinion
InFlight October 6, 2015
Bad drivers cause caution on the road Sara Koenig Staff Reporter I’m sure that everyone reading this is a phenomenal driver who abides the law and is courteous to those driving around them. I am also sure you won’t recognize yourself among the idiots pertained on this list. There are so many irritating, and in some cases dangerous, things that drivers do. It’s ridiculous to me that there are so many jerks on the road, ones that don’t use their blinker, that play video games on their cell phones at a red light, and plenty more. Let me start off by introducing you all to this wondrous invention on the left side of your steering wheel called a blinker. It’s a magical device that controls the flashing lights outside of your car, thus telling other drivers which direction you’re planning on turning. In many cases using this blinker can save you from provoking an accident. There’s also this concept called merging, that many people on the road don’t know how to do properly. When merging with another busy lane first one car on one side goes, then a car on the other side goes. When merging on the freeway you should speed up or slow down so that you
have plenty of space to move between two cars. Not like that jerk who drove me off the road because he couldn’t decide whether to speed up or slow down. It’s exceptionally irritating when you’re driving and on your phone. Whether you’re being that guy that’s playing video games at a stoplight and takes forever to realize the light has turned green, or texting and driving. It’s still dangerous and you shouldn’t be doing it. It is against the law for multiple reasons. Has it ever occured to you that you are endangering others lives with your carelessness by having your phone in your hand while driving? Seriously though, if any of these things apply to you I think you need to step back and see how your careless behavior affects other drivers who actually follow the law.
PHOTO BY SARA KOENIG
Freshman Trevor Little drives his car to and from school every day but has no official driving certification. His only experience with driving is while playing the game Rocket League. Remember, don’t drive like you’re playing Grand Theft Auto!
Unnecessary school supplies strain backs of many Dylan Grenz Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY JESSICA PEREZ
Help, ZaReah has fallen and she can’t get up! This is what it has come to: helpless students falling over because they can’t bare the heaviness of their bags. Teachers, please, this is a plea from all students: stop making us carry things we don’t need.
Every single period of every single day, students carry supplies to classes. Some of these things, such as pencils or paper, are necessary, but why must we carry the giant books? Or the heavy binders? I understand they’re for our learning, but I don’t understand why we must bring so many things. Teachers, please just stop making us bring so many things to class. The pencils and paper are fine, but we are sick and tired of carrying around things we don’t even use half the time. The first day of school is always interesting in this regard. Most teachers start by going over the class syllabus. It is here that you learn you are expected to bring a book, paper, a separate binder for that class, notebooks, highlighters. You name it, you bring it. Then it’s on to the the next period, where you need yet another binder, a brand new calculator, and 2.7 million note cards. It goes on and on, with every single class asking for more, until the end of the day. At this point you’re wondering how in the heck you are going to fit all this into your backpack, and secondly, how are you supposed to carry the now colossal thing.
After 20 minutes of utter frustration, you cram all the supplies into your backpack. The next day comes around, and you stagger into first period. That’s when the best part happens. Oh boy, here it comes. You walk into class and the teacher says, “All you’ll need is a pencil today.” Are. You. Kidding. Me. So, let me get this straight. We are required to bring in all of these supplies. Our backs are sore from carrying our 50 pound backpacks. AND WE DON’T EVEN NEED ANY OF THE SUPPLIES? Then another day you decide you don’t want to break your back, so you leave your things in your locker. Of course, that so happens to be the day where you need all of the supplies. You politely ask to go to your locker, but the teacher declines, of course, leaving you empty-handed. Speaking of lockers, why does there always seem to be that one class that is on the complete opposite end of the school? There really is no point of using a locker if you can’t even get there in time. Teachers, either stop making us bring in so many supplies, or let us store the supplies in your classroom so we won’t have back problems by the time we are 20.
Opinion
Auburn Riverside High School
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Don’t break bank for new dress, shoes ZaReah Barren Staff Reporter Homecoming is coming soon—October 17 to be exact. Everyone can go, but some students think they have to buy new clothes and accessories that will only be used once for the dance. I believe that students shouldn’t spend hundreds of dollars on dresses, and getting their hair and nails done. You can easily go buy some professional hair and nail products to do it all yourself in two or three hours. There is no need to spend five hours at a hair salon, and two more hours at a nail salon. Some students won’t buy an expensive dress because there has to be a certain event planned to wear it again. “I buy dresses that aren’t expensive because you can wear them another time,” junior Lauren Hales said. “Prom is where you can go over the top.” Even some teachers think girls spend too much on Homecoming accessories and dresses. “People spend more on Prom and Homecoming dresses than they do on weddings,” Activities Director Meri Benedict said. “I don’t think anyone should go broke on a dress.” No one should spend their life savings on a dress they probaly won’t use again. I mean I know it’s a formal dance, but can still wear a simple sun dress so you don’t go broke. Students want to look good when they go to Homecoming, but one can achieve “over the top” without breaking their budget.
If you need another option that does not involve spending hundreds of dollars on a dress, there are lots of other options such as, Kelly Jensen’s dress drive. The dresses they recieve will be sold to people who need a dress with prices ranging from $25-50. The proceeds will be given to a non-profit charity. Students can buy the dresses on October 10, from 12-4 P.M. You could also wear a dress you already own. That way, you already know that you look fabulous in it and you don’t have to spend money on a new one. Some people want to start partying before the dance even starts, and keep partying even after the dance ends. These are they types of people that overboard at Homecoming and get limos PHOTO BY ZAREAH BARREN and party buses. “We’re probably getting Homecoming outfits cause students to rack up a huge bill every year. Sophmore Ashleigh a party bus,” junior Claire Jackson said. Wilson (right) pays hundreds of dollars to buy an elegant black dress from sophmore It’s not necessary to get a party bus for Linsey Mcinelly (left). something as simple as Homecoming, that’s more of a Prom thing. It’s really not necessary to spend money on a party bus. have to buy an expensive dress and jewelry to have fun. Be This is not prom. I honestly don’t see the point in spending smart with your money and save it for a rainy day. You can money on things that you don’t need now, when you can use still have a blast at Homecoming without breaking your that money for something you may need later. bank. The tickets are already sold for $25 each.You do not
Journalistic interview process brings challenges Trevor Little Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY TREVOR LITTLE
Journalists (right) interview students (left) while the students look very uncomfortable in the picture.
At one point in my journalistic career I’ve had an interview that felt uncomfortable and I messed up that interview by making it uncomfortable for the interviewee. Interviewing is by far the hardest thing to do as a journalist because you can mess up an interview in many ways. If you do end up messing your interview up then you may not be able to get your article complete. When I’m interviewing someone, I make sure not to seem scared or uncomfortable, because I might be younger than someone. Feeling this, I’m freaking that person out and therefore making them feel uncomfortable. Journalists who are older than the person they’re interviewing have to try not to scare them or make them feel intimidated, because they will feel very uncomfortable and will not give a long enough answer because they just want the interview to be done. When I’m interviewing someone, I make sure to have some decent questions. I know that personally I like to be asked good questions, because the better the question the easier the answer. When interviewing someone, I
must not shorten someone’s quote! That’s one of the most important things not to do. When I go into an interview I try my best not to interview the same person twice for back-to-back editions. Also, I can’t interview my friends. Interviewing my friends is one of the worst ideas when it comes to interviewing because I might not get that interview done fast enough and in doing that not able to get my article done in time so its ready for deadline. Plus, it’s often a conflict of interest. One thing that is very important about interviewing is to never ask questions that can be answered by yes or no. If I ask a yes or no question, I’m going to get a bad quote and it could possibly ruin my article because I don’t get a long enough quote to fill it. When going to interview someone, I don’t just walk into a classroom and grab them, I wait and ask the teacher to interview said person. When I interview a teacher, I wait to catch them when they are not busy and see when they are available or ask if I can interview them then. Imagine this: you walk around the hall going to interview someone and when you get there you attempt to talk to them and you end up embarrassing yourself and never want to interview again. This has happened to me once and I really did not like that interview. That interview was by far one of my worst interviews ever. At that point in time I was new to interviewing and was not sure how to interview someone well because I had not known what I know now. I now know a good amount about interviewing and I am someone decent at interviewing. In time I’ve become better at interviewing because I have interviewed many people for many different articles, and with practice comes perfection.
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Feature
InFlight October 6, 2015
Let the race begin
Feature
Auburn Riverside High School
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Global warming provokes unimaginable damage Jessica Perez Editor-in-Chief Global warming affects our lives every day. “Everything we do is affected by global warming,” junior Juliet Yu said. “Every action we take affects global warming. Even the small things contribute to global warming.” As the affects of global warming are becoming more evident in the world around us, the things that never seemed to affect our lives before, such as lack of snowfall, are having a tremendous impact on our lives now. One of the things global warming affects is climate change. Washington’s weather has been breaking record temperatures of previous years all summer long. These temperatures are dangerously high because of the dry underbrush. According to the National Wildlife Federation, global warming has been a huge contributing factor to many of the Washington wildfires, this year and previous years. Washington state is now on the top 10 list for having one of the worst forest fires
this year. The high temperatures have also led to a lack of rain, meaning many rivers, lakes, and streams in our state are running very low. Not only that, but as the air temperatures rise the temperature of the water rises too. According to Climatehotmap.org, “Streams and lakes may become unsuitable for cold-water fish but support species that thrive in warmer waters. Some warmwater species are already moving to waters at higher latitudes and altitudes.” This could have a big impact on our fish population. Washington state is known for having well produced fish. Do you think you could ever imagine a future where all the fish and other sea life is killed off ? Our planet wouldn’t be able to survive without sea life. With temperatures in rivers becoming less suitable for cold-water fish, and oceans becoming more and more acidic each year, it is no longer something to imagine because it will happen in the near future if we don’t take preventative measures. According to Endangered Species International, “animals are going extinct 100 to 1,000 times (possibly even 1,000 to 10,000 times) faster than at the normal
background extinction rate, which is about 10 to 25 species per year.” Global warming has also been linked to things such as, “earlier snowmelt, precipitation that falls as rain rather than snow, and more severe and frequent flooding.” Climatehotmap.org explains that, “This may affect the reproduction of aquatic species. Some salmon populations have declined, for example, as more intense spring floods have washed away salmon eggs laid in stream beds.” Global warming causes temperatures to rise extremely high and extremely low. According to the National Wildlife Federation, “Temperatures in western North America are projected to be 3.6 to 9 degrees Fahrenheit higher by mid-century, enhancing evaporation rates, while precipitation is expected to decrease by up to 15 percent.” Higher temperatures won’t only be affecting North America. As most people know, the ice in the artic has been melting sooner and sooner each year. This is making it difficult for polar bears to hunt, and is forcing some mothers to abandon their cubs earlier in life because they cannot pro-
vide food for them. Another thing that contributes to global warming is carbon monoxide. Carbon monoxide is a gas that comes out of most cars. This gas is released into the air and pollutes it. This gas is a key contributor to the Ozon Layer ripping. This is one reason Earth has been getting hotter. Washington was called into a state of emergency this year because of our low levels of snow, and shrinking rivers. Our govner, Jay Inslee, decided that declaring us in an emergency would help with funding. Seventy eight percent of Washington rivers and streams were running below average this year. It is expected that we are going to have a 1.2 million dollar crop loss this year. A decrease in crops this year will definitely affect the human population. So even though some people don’t want to even recognize that global warming is a really concept, the is climate changing, and the Earth is getting hotter. Global warming contributes to many changes in our environment. These changes do affect us, maybe not severely now, but in the near future they certainly will.
PHOTO COURTESY CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE, WIKIMEDIA.COM
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Arts & Entertainment
InFlight October 6, 2015
The Intern’s message wins Jessica Perez Editor-in-Chief The movie The Intern stars Robert De Niro as Anne Hathaway’s new senior intern. Robert De Niro, or Ben, is a retired 70-year-old who is looking for something to do, since retirement isn’t as great as he expected. One day, on the way home from the market, he spots a flyer that says About the Fit, a fashion company Anne Hathaway runs, is looking for senior interns, and he decides to apply. After many interviews, he is assigned to Anne Hathaway, or Jules. He becomes her personal intern and eventually her best friend. I found The Intern to be a great and heartwarming film. The film has a wonderful message and I would highly encourage everyone to see it. The movie has a bit of a feminist aspect to it, but honestly, what they say about women who are more successful than their husbands is fantastic. I enjoyed watching the movie very much. The movie has many humorous scenes that are a total slap on the knee. I can’t remember the last time I laughed that hard. I went to watch it with one of my close friends and I’m sure she’d say the same. My favorite scene was when Jules got drunk at the bar and started puking outside and Ben had to hold
Watchman worth reading
Tashana Williams Staff Reporter
Beloved characters changed
After nearly 55 years, the sequel to To Kill a Mockingbird was released on July 14, 2015. The story takes place 20 years later in Maycomb, Alabama. Although Go Set a Watchman is a sequel, Go set a Watchman was written first. Lee didn’t intend for it to be published at first. She had said she never planned to write another book because all she had to say was in To Kill a Mockingbird. Jean Louise at 26 shows a different part of her father, Atticus Finch, who we have come to love. The book uncovers the illusion of the perfect father and shows the prejudice her family, and her home town, have against blacks. Reading this book was pretty disappointing. As hyped as I was to finally see that she was making another book, part of me was a little hurt. It wasn’t poorly written; it would’ve been a great book if To Kill a Mockingbird hadn’t been published first. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t read it again. I prefer the characters originally described in the first book rather than now. Other readers of the book aren’t necessarily thrilled about Go Set a Watchman. In fact, a little disappointed: “It was interesting and disappointing at the same time,” language arts teacher Karyn Williamson said. “To Kill a Mockingbird was such a well loved and iconic book, and my personal favorite. It was hard to see the characters change so much.” Since its release three months ago, over 3.3 million books have been printed. Amazon stated it was the most pre ordered book since 2007’s Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Although I prefer to have only read To Kill a Mockingbird, Go Set a Watchman is a must read.
back her hair. Another of my favorite scenes would have to be the one where Jules’ daughter laughed at the fact that Ben was her intern because he was so old, but when her father asked her how she knew what an intern was she replied, “I don’t, Daddy.” In the film Jules is trying to decide whether or not she should hire a CEO who is older so she wouldn’t be so stressed out and because she wants to spend more time with her husband to save her marriage. In making this decision Ben reminds her not to forget who started the company and made it great. The film ends with her having made her decision, and searching for Ben so she can tell him. Although the film was great, I highly disliked the way it ended. Jules finds Ben at yoga and she runs to join him and says, “I have to tell you something,” to which he replies, “Tell me when we are done.” She wants to tell Ben her decision, and although the audience already knows what it is, it’s frustrating that it just ends like that. That is seriously the worst ending I have ever seen in my life. For such a great movie I expected a big beautiful ending, not the crap they tried to pull as an ending. I definitely think they could have come up with something better than that. Overall, I enjoyed the movie and thought it had a wonderful message that most men and women in our generation need to hear. Even though the ending was extremely disappointing, the movie as a whole is a must watch.
Auburn Riverside High School
Arts & Entertainment
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Hotel Transylvania 2 lacks bite Kayna Kliewer Staff Reporter After Hotel Transylvania scored a solid $350 million in the box office back in 2012, the sequel aimed to be even better on September 25. With the director Genndy Tartakovsky working with actors Selena Gomez and Adam Sandler, all expectations were set high. Hotel Transylvania 2 opens with Mavis and Johnny’s wedding taking place. Johny’s human family all comes to celebrate, even with the added monsters. Johnny’s family is a completely over-the-top version of a modern family. Their dynamics, mixed with the dynamics of vampires and other monsters, creates tension between families. After the wedding, the timeline goes by really fast, including short snippets of Mavis announcing that she is pregnant, followed by then having the baby, and finishing at her son, Dennis’ first birthday. This entire sequence of events occurs in about two minutes, almost as if it was rushed in order to fit in fantastic scenes at the end. Somehow through the course of Mavis being an overprotective mother and baby-proofing the hotel it is announced that Dennis is almost five. It is explained that a vampire’s fangs usually come out before a vampire is five, and so Mavis accepts that her son is a human. This does not settle as well with Drac, who tries to scare
Dennis’ fangs out of him before Mavis and Johnny move away to California, where they believe Dennis will be safer. During all of this, Johnny barely acted as a dad at all. It was very confusing for me during these scenes because while Mavis is yelling at Drac for messing up Dennis’ sleep schedule, Johnny barely even talks to his son. The funniest part of the movie for me was when the vampire camp director threatened to call Child Protective Services on Dracula for throwing Dennis off a tall tower. Everything besides this made the film look like it was trying too hard. Towards the end of the movie, Dracula’s oldfashioned dad ”Vlad” pays a visit to see his greatgrandson, who he does not know is a human. Vlad’s goal becomes pushing Dennis to show him his fangs. In the end, the fantastic scenes I had been waiting for weren't so much fantastic as cliche. A love story between two five-year-olds—one human and one werewolf—pushes this movie more into a Twilight direction. Hotel Transylvania 2 had all the tools needed to become a fabulous movie, but that does not mean that it neccesarily was. This movie, though it seems like it was rushed and cliche to me, had my eight-year-old sister beside me laughing hysterically and sighing appropriately.
Maddie & Tae’s career “starts here” Debut country album amazes
Maddie & Tae’s first album was released on iTunes August 28, and the disk version came out on September 4, 2015.
Jessica Perez Editor-in-Chief Maddie and Tae’s brand new album, Start Here, was by far the greatest female country album I’ve ever heard. Now don’t get me wrong, I love country music, but most female country singers have really whiny voices. Maddie and Tae do not. Both these girls sing like angels and Start Here was a work of true art. This album was released on September 4, 2015 and has sold many copies since then and has received thousands of downloads on iTunes. Maddie and Tae originally had planned to release this album on June 2, 2015, but pushed back the deadline to improve the album. “What we had was good, but we knew it could be so much better,” Maddie and Tae said in an interview with Rolling Stone. This album was the girls’ first and they were determined to get it right. Start Here contains a total of 11 amazing songs. All 11 songs contain great hooks, catchy lyrics,
and a beat that makes you want to get up and dance. My absolute favorite song in this album is “Fly.” This song has a beautiful lyrics with a great message. Another favorite of mine is, “No Place Like You.” Oh my gosh, there are no words good enough to describe how amazing this song is. The beat is catchy and I think at one point I actually started dancing in my seat while listening to this song. These girls may only have one album so far, but they’ve sure made a fan out of me. One of the songs the album features, “Girl in a Country Song,” has created a lot of controversy. The song explains how they don’t wish to be treated like the girls they hear about in country songs who “shake their money-makers,” it also talks about how nowadays a girl is considered lucky if she gets to “get up in a guy’s truck, keep their mouth shut and ride along.” Many people began to call them men haters and express hate towards them because of what this song says. I listened to the song and honestly I agree completely with what the girls express in this song. Regardless of whether or not it attracts a lot of controversy, it’s a great song and I still loved jamming out to it in my car on the way home from school. Overall, I really enjoyed the album. I loved how catchy the songs are, and how even if you don’t know the song, you can learn it pretty fast and jump in and start singing along. This album is an all over country masterpiece. I hope to hear in the near future that they will be working on new music for all their fans.
InFlight October 6, 2015 Sports Raven golfers par for course Girls soccer young, confident
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Trevor Little Staff Reporter
but I’ve been all right,” senior William Knox said. Two seniors compete on the golf teams: one plays on the boys golf team and the other on the girls golf team. The girls golf team is playing against Auburn Mountainview today at home while the boys golf team is playing against the same team at home as well.
The girls golf team has been off to a good start at 6-2, while the boys team has had it rough at 1-7. Crystal Conant, head coach for the girl’s golf team, has good feelings about their standings this early. "We picked up two new players this year and they are playing varsity, and with the help I think we can do well,” Conant said. Senior Lexi Mey has had some difficulties at the start of the season. “I’m working on things that I need to practice, but not making any progress,” Mey said. Boys golf has not been doing as well so far this season, with a start of 1-7. Head coach Mike Huylar said they could do some things a lot better. "We should try to score more points every match,” Huylar said. PHOTO BY JESSICA PEREZ Many players on the boys team have not done too Sophmore Myles Veal, is showing a great deal of hard work when well this early into the sea- hitting the ball. son. “It’s been kinda rough,
goal is to get better every single game,” Coach Lewis said. “It’s the youngest team, so there is a learning curve.” Girls soccer has had a pretty decent Most of the players on the team have start to the season. Their roster is full of outside experience, whether recreational or fresh faces who have come together for their select. “I’ve played soccer for my entire life, chance to show their skills on the field. and I’ve played multiple years of select socThe girls fought hard in their games cer,” freshman Talia Samuelson said. winning 4-1 against Auburn High. “The Although the team is younger, they still have confidence in their ability to learn with every game. “I feel we’re a really strong team,” freshman Mercedes Johnson said. “Even though we didn’t win against Sumner, we’re still learning every game.” The team stacks up equally to some of their competition, giving the team a chance to prove what they can do. “There are about four to five teams in our league that are equal in skill,” Lewis said. “There will be some challenging games, but the competition is really good and fun to play PHOTO BY KIRA KOPCHO against.” Captain Izzy Creighton goes for the ball. The Ravens fought hard
Kira Kopcho Staff Reporter
against Sumner, and although they lost, learned some valuable lessons.
Cheer squad spreads spirit Boys waterpolo makes splash
ZaReah Barren Staff Reporter The cheer team spends their nights practicing to make their cheers perfect and be in sync with each other, until there is a game where they cheer on the ravens, or a cheer meet. The varsity team captains this year are seniors Chelsea Shearer, Nicole Johndrow, and Mikaela Brewer. They started cheer when they were freshman, and are PHOTO BY SARA KOENIG going onto their fourth year of cheer. The cheer team has been working very hard on their stunts trying to The whole cheer get them perfect. Senior Mikaela Brewer and freshman Skylar Ericksquad agrees that son fly for Riverside. qualifying for state is something they want to accomplish this score sheet, cheer coach Crystal Rohler conyear. “We’re going to give it a shot,” Brewer firmed this. They are hoping to get to State this year because they have a number of girls said. They don’t know if they will be eligible who can tumble. The Cheer team is dedicated to what for State because they have to have half of the team plus one girl who can do that spe- they do, and how they can make it better. cific skill or stunt. If they don’t have enough “We have a seriously hard-working group of girls to compete in the tumbling division girls this year,” coach Rohler said. “All our for varsity, that skill will not appear on their teams are improving.”
sonally like new players. It’s more fun to help the new guys do basic stuff.” Nelson hopes the team can get all the players to work together to win more games. “Everyone on the team has improved their speed and we’re getting better at being able to talk to everybody,” Nelson said. “Our most talented players are our PHOTO BY AARON BAKER captains, but everyone Senior Daniel Godfrey fights hard to keep the ball away from the opposplays decently.” ing team. The waterpolo team is looking forward to more competiKayna Kliewer tions coming up and hopes to have more Staff Reporter team improvements throughout the season. “We have a few people who really stand The season started for the boys waterpolo team on August 24. To kick off the out, but everyone on the team has their own season, the team started with a win in the skills,” Smith said. league in hopes of making it to State. “Usually in waterpolo everyone joins VISIT US ONLINE! the team because our numbers are small,” WWW.ARHSINFLIGHT.COM sophomore Chris Nelson said. Team Captain Tyler Smith welcomes the new players. “We’ve had over a dozen And see all the other new players this year and I think they’ve all Riverside sports come a very long way,” Smith said. “I per-
Sports
Auburn Riverside High School
Boys tennis smashes competition Dylan Grenz Staff Reporter Boys tennis is off to another impressive start this year, with the varsity team posting a 9-0 record as of September 30. Head coach Bruce Diehl compared the successes of this year’s team to that of last years championship squad. “Our doubles team was more experienced last year,” Diehl said. “This year’s team has been more dominant though, so we’ll see.” Diehl has loved the game of tennis for his whole life, and coaching is one of his favorite things to do. “I get to play with the kids,” he said. “There’s no other sport like that. I love just going out there and hitting it around with them in practice.” Although five seniors from last year’s team graduated, 26 players still remain. The players come in with a wide range of experience and skills. Many players believe that sophomore Colby Tong is the best player on the team. Tong himself is looking forward to the matchup with Auburn in particular. “They have a really tough number one player.”
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Diehl agreed Tong was one of the best, however he also had high praise for junior Garrett Miller. “Over the last couple of years he’s has really improved. He was on C team the first year and now he’s on our top doubles team. He’s been fun to watch.” Some players, such as freshman Dylan Smith, are playing tennis for the first time.“I just thought it would be really fun to play, and I had heard it was a good group of people to play with,” Smith said. “I’m just working really hard in practice and hoping I can get good enough to win some matches coming up.” The varsity squad has already had four meets in which the opponent hasn’t scored a point. Recently, they have beaten Enumclaw 4-1, Lakes 5-0, and Auburn 4-1. Last years team won the SPSL 3A championship, posting an impressive 14-0 record. This years post season begins on Monday, October 19. All three teams are working hard each and every day, hoping to bring home a championship for a second straight year. PHOTO BY ZAREAH BARREN
Many tennis players, such as freshman Isaiah Shin, work hard to improve every day. This has translated an undefeated season so far.
Girls swim dives into season Kira Kopcho Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY JESSICA PEREZ
The Ravens have swimmers from all four grades competing on varsity. While they haven’t won all of their meets, they continue to improve in hopes of qualifying for districts.
The Ravens girls swim team has already made a splash this season with multiple swim meets underway. These girls all come from a variety of skill sets for a few reasons their interest in swimming, and their chance to participate in school sports. The Ravens have already won a meet this season, beating Auburn Mountainview 100-75. With multiple meets already underway, the team has an equal amount of wins and losses. “I really want to get us qualified for districts,” Co-Captain Sabrina Aguilar said. “Two of our relays have already accomplished that.” Not everyone on the team has a background in swimming, because experience isn’t required. A few swimmers did already have experience in swimming before they joined the Ravens’ swim team. “I’ve been swimming for nine years, almost ten,” sophomore Victoria Cegielski said. “Since swimming was already a sport I’ve done before, I thought it would be easier than starting a new sport.” The team has some freshmen players who already have swimming experience.
These girls are valuable assests to the team. “I joined a swim team before eighth grade ended” freshman Catalina Lemus said. The team roster includes girls of a variety of classes, from freshmen all the way up to seniors. Some girls have already set personal records this season. “My best stroke is freestyle because that’s what I’ve mainly been swimming,” freshman Shae Fairchild said. “My best time is 30.10 on the 50 Freestyle, and it’s a personal record.” For the captains of the team, the expectations are raised. These girls not only have to worry about achieving their goals, but also setting an example for the team. “You have to lead by example,” Aguilar said. “By being a leader you have to do what you expect others to do.” Since the team has players with a variety of skills, the learning curve is higher for some players. The need for improvement is always there. “We’re actually pretty strong right now and we have a lot of fast freshmen.” Aguilar said. These Ravens still have a long season ahead of them. You won’t want to miss their upcoming meets.
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Sports
InFlight October 6, 2015
Football has high hopes Cross Country starts running
Aaron Baker Staff Reporter
Jessica Perez Editor-in-Chief
The football team has their work cut out for them. Despite a losing season last year, many on the team believe their determination will pave the way for victory. Even with a less than stellar season last year, junior offensive lineman, Angel Torres, thinks that their past performance won’t hold them back. “We’re using practice to better ourselves,” Torres said. “We’ll be great this year.” Head coach Bryant Thomas believes that the key to victory is PHOTO BY ZAREAH BARREN knowledge of football game me- Varsity football players train to improve their season. Shown chanics. above, players prepare with their pre-game drills. “[I’d like to improve on] our kids’ knowledge of the game. They work “After starting 0-3, we should be at hard and compete, but they lack overall least a .500 ball club, but only time will tell.” knowledge. Over our first three games, our Torres optimistically predicted a 7-3 guys are showing growth in that area. I al- win-loss record this year. ways challenge my players to be better than Thomas spoke at length about the imthey were yesterday.” portance of teamwork in the game, and that Despite a rocky start to the season, commitment and family are important in Thomas is confident that his team will end football. “We have to play for one another, on a high note. not just with one another.”
Boys and girls cross country recently started their seasons and have a 0-1 record. Both teams are extremely motivated to go to State and win the championship. “I’m hoping that we qualify for State and win,” senior Thomas Broch said. The boys cross country team had their first meet PHOTO BY ZAREAH BARREN on September 23. It was a meet that included several The girls cross country team runs each day to improve times. Junior schools. The Ravens lost Jessica Soerink and sophomore Olivia Roble take point front and centhat meet, but they still ter during this run. have a chance to improve. “I expect to have a pretty successful sea- “This season is better [than last year’s],” seson,” sophomore Kyle Bates said. “We have nior Autumn Lee said. “The team is much a lot of good runners and I expect to have a more together and bonded this year and we have a good captain.” The girls team lot of fun.” With the first meet out of the way and has a pre-game cheer they like to do to get many more to come the Boys looks forward pumped up at meets. “We motivate each other to run faster,” senior captain Amanda to many more meets. The girls cross country team had their Bunger said. first meet on the same day and lost as well.