the herald Issue 2 - Vol. 8
harberherald.com
Har-Ber High School 300 Jones Road Springdale, AR
Madison Lisle becomes a Certified Nursing Assistant. page 3
FINDING UNDENIABLE
October 16, 2012
Three qualify for National Merit scholarship Ashlynn Mayes Reporter
One of the Undeniable Challenges was posting a picture of the school sign. This picture awarded the school its first badge and 100 points. Last year, the school finished in the top ten, awarding the school with an Undeniable banner hung in the main gym. Photo by Karla Sprague
School aims to win gear for all teams in spirit competition Ethan Wilson Managing Editor
Last year, students competed in Under Armour: Finding Undeniable competition by completing and documenting various challenges and getting students and the community to vote for the school daily online. After a late start and only two weeks of fierce competition, the school managed to land in the top ten. Now that the new year is upon us, the competition has started again. We are already registered to participate for this year’s challenges with the goal of making it to first place. The first place school of Under Armour: Finding Undeniable will receive $140,000 worth of Under Armour brand uniform, gear, and footwear. “The whole trick is to get people to vote everyday and have every student involved, and let it branch out from there to their friends, brothers, sisters, where the student works, and getting the whole community involved,” said Assistant Athletic Director Coach Chris Wood. Another part of the competition are the completions of various tasks, which could require the whole student
body to work together or focus more on a small group of students. While a lot of challenges may require a certain amount of physical ability, creativity is what gets more points. Challenges last year involved the entire student body and will take the same effort again. The awarded would benefit the entire school, not just the football team. “Its for all athletic teams,” said Wood. “Its not about football, this is for all sports. Really, it has nothing to do with football.” “I was under the impression that it only benefited the football team. I think they need to explain it to the whole school better than they did last year,” said senior and dance team member Alex Dudley. Under Armour sells equipment and clothing for many sports such as football, soccer, basketball, and baseball. The Wildcard is a new challenge, and each school must creatively prove undeniable. According to the Under Armour website, they are “looking for the gutsiest. We’re looking for the high school with heart to spare and whose commitment is the stuff of legend. On and off the field.” “If we won, the dance team could
FAST FAST FACTS FACTS How to vote!
1 Like Under Armour on Facebook. 2 Sign into Facebook on your account.
3 Click to support Har-Ber and Tweet for more points!
use some new uniforms for when we play away games,” said Dudley. With that being said, many members of the student body aren’t part of a sports team (or have no desire to affiliate themselves with helping the sports programs). How do you get them to participate? “The students who aren’t interested in athletics wouldn’t benefit directly but I’m sure those students have friends who are in athletics and would want their friends to have better equipment,” said senior Pierce Phillips.
After months of preparation and anticipation, senior Brenden Sorensen made it through the 2011 PSAT with a score of 210. Sorensen’s exemplary performance on the exam propelled him to National Merit Scholarship semifinalist status. Sorensen is one of three seniors to claim the title. “I was really happy. This scholarship means I can go to college. My family’s economic situation would not allow me to go otherwise,” said Sorensen. Senior Alex Stillwell’s performance on the test also allowed him to claim a semifinalist title. “It feels underwhelming because I expected it of myself,” said Stillwell. Senior Sam Rainey also qualified as a semifinalist although his reaction was one of extreme surprise. “My mom and I do not really read the papers so people were congratulating me before I knew,” said Rainey. Across the country approximately 1.5 million juniors complete the PSAT each year. Students who earn a score within their state’s selection index are then awarded a semifinalist title. Less than one percent of students who take the exam actually qualify to become semifinalists. Upon being declared a National Merit semifinalist, students must partake in an extensive application process in order to become a National Merit Scholarship finalist. “[Before this process] all they have is a statistic,” said Rainey. The process includes collecting teacher recommendations, logging service hours, presenting academic and extracurricular achievements, attempting the SAT, and writing a personal essay. Of the 16,000 students selected to become semifinalists, 15,000 are chosen to become finalists. Students who achieve the prestigious title exhibit traits that transcend the academic realm. A student who becomes a finalist is a “good solid person,” according to counselor Colleen Foster. While becoming a finalist is regarded as an individual achievement and is in no way an indicator of an educational institution’s success, the school has been home to six finalists and two semifinalists throughout its years of operation. See “Semifinalists” page 2
S.W.A.T. bridges gap between students, law Club distributes texting driving info Ethan Wilson
Managing Editor
The Safe Wildcat Action Team is a group of students who go beyond the normal bounds of enforcing the rules and reporting suspicious student activity. The organization is advised by School Resource Officer Tommy Wooten and the whole basis behind the program strives to try to bring students closer to understanding law enforcement. “S.W.A.T. is for the group of students who are interested in law, student safety, and working with me and the administration on releasing safety information to the student body,” said Officer Wooten. Lately, the club members have been helping distribute the information regarding AT&T’s initiative to
discourage texting and driving along with general information that students sometimes need to be reminded of – like seat belt awareness. As a jump-start fund raiser, S.W.A.T. recently participated in selling premium parking spots north of Bulldog Stadium at the Har-Ber vs. Bentonville football game. Each spot cost $5, and the organization received half of the profits. By the end of the night, they had raised more than $500. Throughout the year, S.W.A.T. plans to continue this fund raiser during the season for larger games such as the HarBer vs. Springdale, as the availability for those parking spaces only open up where overflow is expected. Officer Wooten also plans on converging fund raising with connecting the student body. They are in the process of designing T-shirts for safety campaigns that are not only targeted to S.W.A.T. members, but the student body as well. “We could even print extras
FAST FACTS
S.W.A.T. was established in the 2011-12 school year to work with students to promote safety awareness, laws, policy, and procedures. The club meets second Tuesday of each month during activity period. To become a member, see School Resource Officer Tommy Wooten for more information. specifically for the purpose of throwing them to the student section at home games,” said Officer Wooten. “We could possibly even throw some from the rotunda during passing periods.” S.W.A.T. is also a way for students to connect with the law in a positive way and become more educated on the position of law enforcers, why laws are the way they are, and reasons why
police officers on occasion may be in the position to override them. “It’s a way for me to connect with students in a positive way,” said Officer Wooten. “When it comes to students specifically, the [police] uniform has an image that is not always good – such as taking away freedoms or charging money for disregarding laws.”
InsideScoop Students gathered for National Day of Prayer. Sept. 26.
News 2
Students leery of legitimacy of paranormal activity in NWA.
Features 5
Sophomore Becca English works diligently at FFA’s dog washing fund raiser.
Features 6
Junior Anna Hudgeons serves the Lady Wildcats as libero.
Sports 11