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November 14, 2012
community
SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Eastlake drama brings 1-act comedies to the plateau By Lillian O’Rorke
Theater fans can get two for the price of one this week when the Eastlake High School Drama team presents two one-act comedies, “This Is a Test” and “Making Nice.” Doubling up on the number of fall productions makes sense as the size of the club has more than doubled. When director Rachelle Horner took over the Eastlake drama club four years ago she had about 10 students to work worth. That number now fluxates between 20 and 30, depending on the season and students’ class loads. “I wanted to have lots of people in the show and two shows allow me to do that,” she said. The new addition of freshmen to the high school this year has also contributed to the surge in budding actors, and Horner said she wanted to them to feel involved. Keiley Backstom is one of those freshmen. She has been in several plays before, so joining the drama club seemed like a nobrainer to her. And she’s glad she did. “It’s time consuming but fun,” said Backstom. The 15-year-old plays the role of May, an understudy for Cymbeline in the play within the play “Making Nice,” and said
it’s her favorite of the club’s two productions because of the fun she and the other actors have on stage. “Making Nice,” a 40-minute farce by Alan Haehnel, opens with an angry director shouting at Cymbeline before going on to berate and belittle the entire cast and crew. It’s not long before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration, Theatre Division or OSHAT, steps in and tries to take control. Chaos follows as the cast prepares for opening night. “Last year we did a really serious show,” said Horner, referring to the club’s production of “Hello Herman.” “They like doing comedy. It allows them to express themselves and to play different characters.” “This Is a Test” takes a comedic twist on an all-too familiar feeling of anxiety. “Especially since I teach AP and I see how much anxiety they have — I think it’s hilarious,” said Horner, who also teaches AP U.S. History, honors English and American Studies at Eastlake. “We have all been in those moments, freaking out. I’m 10 years out of high school so I remember those tests where you feel like it’s in Chinese.” Written by Stephen Gregg and surviving more than two decades on the Thespian Society’s annual list of most-produced short
Photo by Lillian O’Rorke
Kevin Montez, playing the role of a teacher in “This Is a Test,” checks in with struggling student Allen, played by Andrew Tabit. plays, “This Is a Test” follows unprepared Allen as he struggles through a nonsensical test. While his cheating classmates breeze through their blue books, Allen
is plagued with thoughts of girls, insecurities about his looks and the lack of prospects in his future. “For me I know it’s a lot more
relatable,” said Andrew Tabit, a senior at Eastlake who plays the role of Allen. “If you’ve ever See PLAY, Page 9
Author raises awareness and money for disabilities By Lillian O’Rorke
In May 2011, Julie Anderson sat down to write a book that had been years in the making. “Through Christina’s Eyes” tells the story of her family, beginning with the author’s greatgrandmother emigrating from Sweden in the late 1880s and continuing to the present day story of Julie Anderson’s disabled daughter, Anna. “I just really felt called to write this. It was helpful for me with my daughter in working through issues that we face,” said Julie Anderson. “I wanted to tell her story because she is non-verbal. She isn’t able to express her voice like the rest of us do.” Before she was born, Anna had a stroke while in the womb. Now at age 15, Anna attends Eastlake High School where she works with an occupational therapist, but she’s far from being like other teenagers. Doctors estimate that she is developmentally about a month-and-a-half old, Julie
Anderson explained. “It is really hard to put out details of your personal life,” said Julie Anderson, Julia Anderson about wrote the book from deciding the perspective of to pubher great-grandlish her mother Christina. book through avenues like Amazon. com and Barnes & Noble. “In a way, it was probably better for me as an author to write it from the great-grandmother’s perspective.” The book, which teeters between being a historical fiction and true life story, is told from Christina’s perspective as she
Julia Anderson adapts to life in late 19th century Chicago and looks over her decedents long after her 1912 death. Julia Anderson wasn’t expecting to write a book when she first traveled to Sweden eight years ago and began researching her great-grandmother Christina, visiting the church where she was christened. But as she continued
to learn about her family, the idea of writing a book kept emerging until finally Julia sat down and Anna Anderson put pen to paper. “It was kind of a long path… The main point is to get the story out of what women go through and struggles that people with disabilities go through,” said Julia Anderson. “There is a chapter in the book called fighting and that is what she is doing, is fighting, every day…she is doing the best she can. Every day is some new medical challenge.” Her family’s medical challenges also inspired Julia Anderson to put another dream into action. Fueled by her daughter’s more than 50 visits to the emergency
room at Children’s Hospital, Julia Anderson has launched the ER Kids Foundation with the hope to raise money for emergency rooms across the country, including Children’s. “It’s been so important for my family,” she explained. “It’s just an area of the hospital that could use a little more attention.” According to the Chief of Emergency Medicine at Children’s, Tony Woodward, half of the patients that get admitted to the hospital come through the ER, which, he said, currently sees about 40,000 people a year. That’s why a new ER is being built and is set to open April 23. “We have an emergency room that was built many, many years ago. We are overcrowded every evening, which means that people have to wait,” he said. He said the hospital went out on a limb, committing to building an emergency department capable of serving 60,000 See BOOK, Page 9
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November 14, 2012
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SAMMAMISH REVIEW
Skyline 200 medley relay team wins state swim title By Lillian O’Rorke
When Skyline’s Maria Volodkevich marched out to the poolside for the state championships Nov. 10 the words ‘just race’ were scrawled across her palm. It was the first event of the 2012 4A Girls State Swim and Dive Championships and, after finishing two-tenths of a second ahead of Issaquah in the preliminary race, the Skyline Spartans 200 yard medley relay team was ready to battle it out for the state title. “Winning the 200 medley was my goal for the entire season, so I always write on my hand ‘just race’ before a race,” said the senior who anchored the team. “So that is what I thought about diving in — is just race.” First off the block in lane four was Spartan Kristaley Umezawa; next to her in lane five was Stacy Maier, swimming backstroke for the Issaquah Eagles. The two emerged for their first breath at the same time, throwing their arms back in synchronized windmills. Maier edged ahead and Issaquah’s Kayla Flaten maintained the slight lead over Andi Scarcello in the second leg. Then Stephanie Munoz of Skyline dove in for the third leg and passed Eagle Kellie-Marie
Lily Newton’s blazes through the water on her way to a12th place finish. Langan. “I didn’t know until the second 25 and I was like ‘OK I really need to bring it up for my team,’ it was really exciting,” said Munoz after the race. “I didn’t know what else to do but smile.” Keeping the momentum going,
Volodkevich dove in the pool for the final leg and pulled ahead of everyone to take the title for the Spartans. Skyline’s final time of one minute, 49.12 seconds was more than a second-and-a-half faster than their preliminary finish.
Photo by Greg Farrar
“Steph and I always have this thing where she brings it in, and I take it home every time. Before a race she is like, I’ll bring it in, you take it home,” said Volodkevich. “It felt like all the hard work I’ve put into this team and everyone’s hard work paid
off.” The championships were far from over for the Spartans, as their swimmers competed in seven other events. Munoz went on to swim the 100 butterfly in 59.30 to take eighth place. She also finished 13th in the 200 individual medley with a time of 2:12.38. Volodkevich took fourth in the 100 freestyle with 53.13. After coming in a little more than a second behind the state champ in the 50 freestyle, Volodkevich finished fifth in the 50 freestyle in 24.13. In the diving finals, Alyssa Holt placed 16th overall with 284.95 total points. Sara Elderkin finished the 100 butterfly in 1:03.6 for 15th. Swimming the 100 backstroke in 1:00.74, Umezawa placed 14th. Scarcello took fifth in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:06.97. In the championship’s final event, the 400 freestyle relay team (Umezawa, Scarcello, Munoz, Volodkevich) finished fifth with 3:40.41. In the end, the entire Skyline team combined for fifth place overall with 132 points. “Of course, the last three years have been different, but we are so pleased with our girls,” said See SWIM, Page 13
Skyline continues playoff dominance By John Leggett
Photo by Greg Farrar
Matt Sinatro, Skyline High School senior wide receiver, pulls in a second quarter bomb for an 80-yard touchdown and the Spartans’ first score against Lake Stevens.
To say that the Skyline High School football squad is above reproach isn’t quite accurate. Every team has its Achilles heel, but the Spartans are a perfect ten — 10-0 that is. The relentless gridiron machine that is the Skyline football contingent, currently No. 1 in the state at the Class 4A level, kept its untarnished accounting intact when it hosted Lake Stevens Nov. 9 at Skyline Stadium, annihilating its visitors from the north, 42-0. The onslaught began innocently enough, as at the end of the first 12 minutes of action the scoreboard displayed a scoreless tie, but in the ensuing quarters, the steamrolling Spartans slowly wore their formidable Vikings foe down, just as they had their previous nine adversaries. Skyline’s troopers on defense more often than not don’t relinquish much turf, usually one or two touchdowns per tilt if they
are feeling generous and zeroes if they are feeling stingy. On this rather chilly evening in front of a large partisan group of rabid followers, Skyline was its usual proficient self on offense, too, as senior Spartan signal caller Max Browne surgically shredded the Vikings’ secondary going 15-for-20 through the air for well over 300 yards and three touchdowns. Defensively, Skyline was downright miserly, never allowing the guys in the purple-andgold uniforms to encroach into their red zone. Defense wins championships, but offense sells tickets, and Browne, who will be helping the University of Southern California win games in the Pac-12 next year, was fashionably late, deciding to get the party started in the second frame, as Skyline exploded for 22 points in the second quarter. Browne blew things wide open See FOOTBALL, Page 13