Volume 8 issue 2

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Vol. 8 Issue 2

THE CHRONICLE

Mill Creek

Chronicle September/October 2015

October Movies &

SAT Changes

Football Breaking Records

Theater Spotlights

Micah Bull Sidney Otiwu

Alyssa Eblen Sam Augustin

Miss Mill Creek

Hawk With a Story

TV shows

MastHead Editorial Staff Alyssa Casole Marisa Hernandez Kaitlyn Neher Ashley Baptiste

Online Editor Gavin Childers Staff Writers Julie Akin Kelsey Bruce Faith Montgomery Madeleine Moody Eric O’Hara Michelle Ortiz Olivia Parks Amauri Richardson Collins Sainovich Megan Smith Camron Williams

Photographer Kyle Lowe

Corrections from Issue One- We apologize for the misspelling of Erika Padgette’s name on page 24 and the misnaming of Ms. Kathryn Cassidy as Meghan Cassidy on page 12

Photo: Isaac Lee

How to Get in Touch: Email: MCHSChronicle@gmail.com Phone: 678-714-5899 Website: www.mchschronicle.com Address: 4400 Braselton Hwy 124,

Hoschton, GA 30548 The Chronicle is a student publication of Mill Creek High School. It is distributed to students, faculty, staff and the Mill Creek community.

The statements and opinions expressed in this publication are those of individual writers and do not necessairly reflect those of the entire Chronicle staff or Mill Creek High School, its students, faculty, staff or administration.Content is edited by student editors.

Cover Photo: Kyle Lowe Cover Design: Kaitlyn Neher and Ashley Baptiste

PHOTO: Mari Bachan

TABLE OF

Contents

4 The New SAT / Eric O’Hara 6 Catching Zzz’s / Michelle Ortiz 8 Young American Voting / Kyle Lowe 9 5 Seconds of Summer Convention / Olivia Parks 10 20th Anniversary of The Million Man March / Amauri Richardson 11 Life After High School / Madeleine Moody 12 New Faces at Mill Creek / Faith Montgomery 14 Hawk With A Story / Collins Sainovich 15 Beta Club / Julie Akin 16 Creek’s Freeks / Julie Akin 18 Varsity Football Interviews 20 Volleyball and Softball/ Camron Williams 22 Explore Outdoors / Gavin Childers 24 Miss Mill Creek / Megan Smith 26 The First Play of the Year is One, Long Elaborate Pun / Michelle Ortiz 28 Netflix, Movies, and TV Shows / Kelsey Bruce 30 Reflections/ Marisa Hernandez

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THE NEW By: Eric O’Hara

SAT SAT by the Numbers

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Since 1926, the SAT, or Scholastic Aptitude Test has been quizzing students on subject matter deemed important by domestic colleges. The current SAT encompasses core classes such as math and language arts, and an essay. The test is broken up into three main categories: math, critical reading, and writing, presenting a total of 2400 available points with 800 in each category.

Points are deducted from each wrong answer selected to discourage guessing.

However beginning March 2016, the SAT is being reformatted and renovated.

The College Board, who designs and administers the SAT, is changing several components associated with the SAT. The test removed penalties on wrong answers and also limited the answer choices from 5 possible answers to four.

In addition, College Board pulled out the obscure and arbitrary vocab people have been required to learn for years. The new test will be scored differently as well. Instead of 3 sections amounting to 2400 points, the new SAT will contain four sections counting 400 points each adding up to a possible 1600.

The SAT has seen a significant content reboot as well. College Board has attempted to shift the focus of the SAT from cramming the night before to a more approachable test.

Senior Cole Hray approved of the change saying, “I kind of don’t like the current SAT in a way because people have created a formula for how to take it, requiring minimal actual knowledge to succeed.”

They encourage students to take challenging classes and try to the best of one’s abilities instead of taking expensive SAT classes or ordering test practice books.

For instance, College Board’s website explains saying, “If you think the key to a high score is memorizing words and facts you’ll never use in the real world, think again. You don’t have to discover secret tricks or cram the night before.” Instead of focusing on taking SAT courses, reading SAT books, or cramming the nights before, one should focus on their education now and how they can excel in the classroom. By taking control of one’s education, he or she is essentially preparing for the SAT.

Although the SAT will be changing one thing will remain constant, SAT score and GPA will still be the number one thing a college will use to evaluate a student’s aptitude for college success. College Board has addressed student’s concerns of lack of

preparation by partnering with Khan Academy in order to give students the proper tools they would need to excel on the SAT. PHOTOS: Kyle Lowe

Top picture: Grace Lowe, Haley Eason, Nathaly Torrealba study in preparation for the SAT. Middle picture: Lindsay Stevens, Trey Brennan study together for the math section of the SAT Bottom Picture: Angela Korol Students study in the library during lunch and after school

For more information contact your school counselor or go to 5 collegeboard.com.

Catching Zzz’s By:Michelle Ortiz

Daylight Saving Time begins on November 1st, and everybody will be gaining an extra hour of sleep. This is especially good news to the teenagers of the Mill Creek community, since, according to CBS News medical contributor, Dr. Holly Phillips, teenagers are one of highest risk groups for not getting enough sleep.

“Teens need about 8 to 10 hours of sleep each night to function best,” The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) says. Mill Creek students were surveyed and asked how many hours of sleep they had on a nightly bases. Among the 63% of the students surveyed in Mill Creek, most are not getting the amount of sleep required to function properly. Erika Clark, 12, said “what keeps me up is my struggle to balance an overwhelming amount of

Are Teens Getting Enough Sleep?

homework, having to deal with personal problems, extracurricular activities, college stuff, and trying to maintain a social life.”

Another contributing factor that’s keeping Mill Creek students from getting the sleep they need is “their natural biological clocks which keeps them up later at night...they’re up too late and school starts too early and they’re working with a sleep deficit which ultimately affects their ability to learn,” says the NSF. When a person goes without sleep for too long, they begin to become sleep deprived. WebMD, an online health website run by a team of medical workers says, “Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.

Sleep-deprived people who are tested by using a driving simulator or by performing a hand-eye coordination

Students walking into school in the morning.

task perform as badly as or worse than those who are intoxicated. “JP Fontaine, 11, recently experienced this very danger of sleep deprivation. “I stayed up until 1 am to study and write some essays, so I didn’t get my 8 hours of beauty sleep.

The next morning I was driving to school and the music I was listening to was so soothing and the lights in front of me seemed like a dream that I found myself falling asleep. I closed my eyes for what seemed to me like five seconds, and then at the sound of horns I woke up. What had happened was that while I had my eyes closed all the cars in front of me had left and I was blocking traffic. I shouldn’t have driven to school; next time I’m that sleepy I’m going to ask someone else to drive me,” says Fontaine.

PHOTO: Michelle Ortiz

Photo: Michelle Ortiz

Poet Lambert is napping before class. Students sometimes nap in their cars or secluded parts of the building before the first period bell.

sleep hygiene

tips recommended by WebMD. 1. “Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed.

The bed should be used for sleep…

If not, we can associate the bed with other activities and it often becomes difficult to fall asleep.

3. Try not to drink fluids after 8 p.m.

This may reduce awakenings due to urination.

4. Avoid naps, but if you do nap, make it no more than about 25 minutes about eight hours after you awake.

But if you have problems falling asleep, then no naps for you. ”

Photo: Knowzo.com

2. Minimize noise, light, and temperature extremes during sleep with ear plugs, window blinds, or an electric blanket or air conditioner.

Even the slightest nighttime noises or luminescent lights can disrupt the quality of your sleep. Try to keep your bedroom at a comfortable temperature -- not too hot (above 75 degrees) or too cold (below 54 degrees).

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Young American

Voting

For many seniors and a few select juniors turning 18-years-old before November 8th 2016, an exciting moment in their lives is up coming.

Voting when you first turn 18 is a rare moment for those lucky enough to have their 18th birthday during the year of an election. The upcoming primaries are becoming more pertinent in American citizen’s minds, including the younger population who are old enough to vote. Although, due to the increased amount of media causing young voters to be drawn to attend other events, there has been a recent drop in young voting (YoungAdult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections, 1964– 2012).

It is common for young voters to have a disinterest

in politics due to the feeling many have that their vote does not count, or not being able to connect with or agree with a candidate. “In our world there are so many things keeping our attention away from politics that it’s hard to keep up with what all the candidates support,” said Justin Thongsouk, 12.

All these factors come together to form a mere 45% voting rate among Americans 18-years-old to 29-yearsold (Young-Adult Voting: An Analysis of Presidential Elections, 1964–2012). When looking at the numbers there seems to be little hope in revamping voting participation, though a website called “I Side With” has set out to solve this issue for young Americans. On this website, there is a free quiz which takes the quiz taker’s

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By Kyle Lowe

answers to political, social, foreign policy, and economic questions, and matches them up with the candidate that they would most agree with. The website designer’s plan was to explain what the different candidates support and oppose in a way that young voters are able to understand. “If young voters understand what the candidates stand for and be able to recognize with a candidate they might vote more,” said Candler Curtis, 12.

This website might help restore young voter’s turnouts.

Any Mill Creek student interested in figuring out which candidate or political party they support based on their beliefs, this quiz would be a good one to take.

Magic Moment Photography

OFFICIAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF EVERY MILL CREEK MAGIC MOMENT.

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5SOS convention Luke Hemmings, lead singer of 5 Seconds of Summer, posted this picture on his twitter page. This is the main logo for “The New Broken Scene” convention.

New Broken Scene By: Olivia Parks

“We’re hosting a big event for you guys next month. It’s called THE NEW BROKEN SCENE. We’re flying some of you from around the world to join us somewhere special. There’ll be a live performance… and a load more stuff! If you wanna come check out, ‘The New Broken Scene’ website, and if you don’t see a flyaway for your country yet, keep checking back!!” 5 Second of Sumer tweeted from their twitter account after announcing their convention.

To win tickets, fans must visit the website “The New Broken Scene” and enter. In order to enter, you only need to click a button and log in to your twitter. Be aware, this does allow 5sos to practically take over your twitter account, replacing your icon and header with their classic “broken heart and safety pin” picture.

“I just logged into the website, The New Broken Scene, and it automatically changed my icon and header on my twitter,” says Sam Jollay, 11.

people, but I know my chances of winning this are so small.

I’d love to meet them and go to the convention, but it’s so hard to win and I really don’t have the time to spam on twitter or listen to the radio and call in,” says Maggie Muzi, 12.

Last year, the Australian Pop Punk band, 5 Seconds of Summer, hosted a convention called “Derpcon” in Los Angeles, California. This year the convention, The New Broken Scene, will take place on October 30th and 31st here in Atlanta. Everyone can go to Atlanta, walk around, have fun, but not everyone can take part in the events of the convention.

The trick is to win tickets to this event since you cannot buy tickets.

But, this was not the only way to win. The radio station Q100 also hosted a contest for fans and listeners in Georgia.

In order to enter, fans had to enter their email on the Q100 website and also listen to the radio station at certain times.

The Q100 twitter would tweet whenever fans needed to listen to win. People attentively listened during these times in an attempt to win. “I love them so much, Calum Hood and Luke Hemmings are definitely two of my favorite

The contest continues until the 29th of October. Anyone and everyone can apply to win, people in Georgia, people all over the United States, and even people all over the world through the website, “The New Broken Scene” and Q100’s website, “Q100 Atlanta” and their page on their website titled, “Q1oo is Getting You into The New Broken Scene”.

Winners of this contest will recieve tickets to The New Broken Scene Convention in Atlanta, Georgia. Several people have won already, including multiple people in Lawrenceville, Buford, Dacula,.

PHOTO: courtesy of Luke Hemmings twitter

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PHOTO: Justiceorelse.com

20th Anniversary of the Million Man March

By: Amauri Richardson

Where were you on October 10th, 2015? Home, at a party, at church? A select few were in Washington, D.C., attending the 20th anniversary of the Million Man March.

The Million Man March was held in D.C. on the National Mall. Many speeches were given by members of the Nation of Islam, members of the Black Lives Matter organization, as well as speeches from the parents of Michael Brown and Trayvon Martin. Headlining the 20th anniversary was a speech by the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan, who help orchestrate the first Million Man March in 1995, where Farrakhan spoke about prevalent problems in the U.S., problems amongst black people, and also speaking on justice.

The Million Man March was first organized on Monday October 16th, 1995, and led by Minister Louis Farrakhan millions of people all creeds, colors, and religions stood together in the fight for equality and justice. On October 10th, 2015 they stood together again, just as united as they were 20 years ago. Many celebrities and philosophers came as well in support of the cause. Among the faces that were in attendance were J.Cole, Sean “Diddy” Combs, Snoop Dogg, Common, Ty Dolla $ign, Dr. Cornell West, Dr. Umar Johnson who came in support of the cause. This year’s theme was, “Justice or Else,” and in support of the cause millions were filing in around the National Mall.

Though the title, Million MAN March, suggest an abundance of men, women played a major part in the event. Women like Trayvon Martins mother, Sybrina Fulton, spoke. Sharon Cooper, one of the late Sandra Blands’ siblings, spoke at the march in remembrance of her deceased sibling. Women like these, stood in unity shouting, “Black Lives Matter,” to the top of their lungs. In attendance were women of all creeds of colors from Africans to Palestinians to whites. Erida Menha Nsi, a woman who came all the way from Brazil, told the Pittsburgh Courier, “I feel stronger seeing a lot of black people united. We need to be united to take care of our children.” Nsi’s statement asserts a mutualistic feeling for many in attendance that everyone should unite.

Minister Farrakhan spoke to the youth, practically saying that we are the future and letting parents know we are the ones they pass the legacy to. Fortunately, plenty of youth were there, able to listen to the Honorable Ministers message for themselves.

The Minister also spoke on the importance of the message not being contingent to black rights, or civil rights, but more specifically about human rights. The message was extended to stress the importance of treating women equally as well. Farrakhan touched on several different platforms like, men being better fathers, women treating themselves with respect, and everyone individualizing and fulfilling their destinies. As he did so, the hands and voices of the crowd joined in unison with claps of rejoice and screams of one simple phrase, “JUSTICE OR ELSE!”

Other participants, such as Jamal Hooks an, independent music professional father and husband from Chicago, say the march had an impact on their lives. Hooks told USA Today, “It (the march) changed my life, it gave me more consciousness, more responsibility…reaffirmed my choice in spiritual transformation.” Wanda Washington, who also attended the march, told New Pittsburgh Courier, “We need to become more self-reliant as a people so that we are not so controlled and oppressed anymore.” Minister Farrakhan was quoted (New Pittsburgh Courier) telling “10,000 fearless men to go into our community and clean it up.” The people of our economy have united for justice, the question now among them is, “What’s next?”

After this gathering in honor of the 20th anniversary, who knows what the growth will be like 20 more years from now? If you want to be a part of the cause, or just read to find out the message and purpose of the million visit the website, “Justice or Else”. There, you’ll find numerous statistics, mission and vision statements and a brief history of the event.

Planning for...

after High School By: Madeleine Moody

If you need help finding the right college for you, need help preparing for college or you have questions about the school you’re looking into go to Mrs. Vanderpool in the PAD located at F115. Mrs. Vanderpool can also help with choosing the right career path for you even if you are not looking to go to college.

Left: At the 2015 Mill Creek graduation, Dr. Markham handed Matt Arend, alumni of Mill Creek, his diploma in representation of his accomplishment of graduating high school.

Right: Pictured are different flags representing a few of hundreds of colleges in Georgia, such as Georgia Tech, University of Georgia, Georgia State, and Coastal Georgia.

College is one of the most difficult decisions to make, and where you study after high school can affect the rest of your life, so it is very important to get the help you need in making this decision.

By October of senior year, students start thinking about their plans after high school. Nearly 90% of Mill Creek seniors in the 2013- 2014 school year planned on going to college after high school.

Mill Creek seniors were surveyed about their plans after high school. Of the students surveyed 38% said they are undecided on what college they’re going to but they know they are going to college after Mill Creek. About 51% are going to a college in Georgia, and 11% are going to colleges out of state including, Harvard in Massachusetts,

PHOTO: Katie Hill

Photo: Collins Sainovich

Life

The PAD where Mrs.Vanderpool is located in F115

Liberty in Virginia, Birmingham Southern in Alabama, US Naval Academy in Maryland, and Trevecca Nazarene University in Tennessee.

When trying to pick the right college for you, Mrs. Vanderpool, college and career counselor located in the PAD at F115, says, “think about the area you want to live in, the field you want to go into, find a school that offers you’re major, and the climate/ how far away the college is from home.”

Choosing what you want do after high school can be difficult but not too hard if you have the right advice.

“It’s not as hard to get into college as people believe it is but you have to find the right college, be realistic in the grades and test scores that you have and choose colleges that apply to those scores,” says Mrs. Vanderpool.

PHOTO: Collins Sainovich

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New Faces at After Mill Creek’s enrollment jumped to 4,004 students this fall, class sizes were too large for their classrooms which led to a need for more teachers. Administrators visited classrooms in order to see which courses needed the most relief.

Afterwards, new teachers Ms. Crystal Boland, Ms. Amy Carmichael, and Ms. Bryce Tuggle were hired in order to even out class sizes.

Ms. Boland is a Geometry teacher new to Mill Creek who has been teaching for 6 years. Before Mill Creek, Boland was a math teacher at Loganville Middle School in Walton County which had an enrollment of approximately 1,100 students. She switched schools this year to work closer to her children who attend Gwinnett County Schools. Besides being closer to her children, Boland says that her favorite part about Mill Creek is how friendly

everyone is. Even though her students were all given schedule changes, Boland says, “Most of my classes were excited to be in classes with me.” She goes on to explain that she tries to keep her classes interesting “by incorporating lots of technology.”

Aside from teaching, Ms. Boland’s favorite thing to do is water ski, and her favorite musical group is Collective Soul although she explained that they are pretty old. One of Boland’s pet peeves is when people don’t match such as “when people are wearing a brown belt with black shoes.” Overall, Ms. Boland says, “I’m just excited to work at Mill Creek, and I’m looking forward to having a good year.”

Although Ms. Carmichael is considered a new Mill Creek faculty member, her first time teaching at Mill Creek was in 2004 when the

Mill Creek

By: Faith Montgomery

school first opened. “I came back because I have a lot of friends here, and I know that Mill Creek is a great school.” Still, coming back to Mill Creek required a transition because “It’s not the same as it was before.” Carmichael went on to say, “There’s a positive energy; there’s a better sense of community now.” Since the Mill Creek family is so close, not all of the students were excited when they were moved from their original classes to Ms. Carmichael’s class. “Some (students) had already established relationships with teachers,” Carmichael says, “but now I feel like we’ve been together all year.”

movies.” Additionally, she does not like when people use improper grammar such as misusing “who and whom” but especially dislikes when artists use bad grammar in songs. Tuggle went on to say that she changes the lyrics of the songs when she is singing them so that they have proper grammar.

Besides decreasing the sizes of overcrowded classes, the new teachers have added a new light to Mill Creek with their innovative styles of teaching and different personalities. Welcome to the Creek!

The 2015-2016 school year is Ms. Tuggle, a 9th and 10th grade Language Arts teacher’s first year teaching. However, this is not her first time at Mill Creek since she was a Hawk while she was in high school, and she worked at Mill Creek part time before schedules changed. In college, Tuggle attended the College of Charleston in South Carolina where she majored in English after first planning to major in Marine Biology, Communications, or Public Health and to minor in English. Tuggle says she changed her major to English after having such a hard time understanding biology, the subject her major was in at the time.

In the past, Ms. Tuggle has been a vegetarian, a pole vaulter, and a cat smuggler. While in college, Ms. Tuggle snuck in her brown Tabby cat, Harrison, into her apartment complex, where pets were not allowed, by placing him in an Ikea bag. He resided in the building for 6 months, and no one ever found him. Speaking of pets, the biggest pet peeve she has is when people read over her shoulder, but she also said, “I don’t like it when people argue that Pixar movies aren’t Disney

Photos: Magic Moment Photography

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Hawk with A Story:

Kathleen Clayson

Saturday September 26th, freshman Kathleen Clayson went and packed meals at the Feed My Starving Children (FMSC) Norcross warehouse.

Little did she know that in total, the group she went with would pack 92,664 meals, enough to feed 254 kids for an entire year.

“We had a great time packing meals. It was very fast-paced so we could get as many meals packed as we could, and it was a lot of fun,” Clayson said. Clayson went as part of a group from Hamilton Mill Presbyterian Church (HMPC). A group of roughly 40 people went from the church. According to Clayson, events like this occur often at the church and really help the church grow as a family.

“Seeing how many meals we packed made us realize that we made a difference in the world, and it feels good to know that,” said Clayson.

Feed My Starving Children is an organization founded by Richard Proudfit in 1987. The organization has 7 permanent locations around the United States along with a warehouse in Norcross, Georgia and many mobile units used to travel to different places. Its impressive statistics have helped it grow into the nationwide organization it is today. Approximately 92% of total annual donations are spent directly on feeding. According to FMSC.org, they have earned the highest 4 star rating from Charity Navigator for ten years in a row. This puts them in the top 1% of nationally rated charities for integrity and trustworthiness.

With hundreds of packing opportunities every year, the company has managed to pack over 1 billion meals in its 28 year history according to Jamison Pals, a writer for FMSC. This year, FMSC has stepped up its game. Their goal is to pack 270 million meals this year, more than they have ever done before. So far, they have packed over

140 million meals and still have 130 million to go.

However, this should be no problem as fall and winter are its busiest seasons.

Clayson participates in charity events like this multiple times a year. She has gone to Charleston, South Carolina on a mission trip, packed toys for Toys for Tots, and volunteered for various jobs at Hamilton Mill Presbyterian.

“Supporting the community is very important to me as I feel like I am really helping to improve the world,” said Clayson. “It is also a lot of fun to volunteer with my church as we are a very tightly knit family. I will definitely be returning next time they have another event.”

Join Clayson and others from our community on November 13th and 14th at North Gwinnett High School in Suwanee, GA to help pack meals for kids in need all around the world.

Kathleen Clayson packs meals for children in need of food with the Feed My Starving Children organization.

PHOTO: Courtesy of Kathleen Clayson

By: Collins Sainovich

Beta

Club Helping Hands Hawks volunteer

By: Julie Akin

Many members of Beta Club volunteered to help for The Harvest Balloon Festival. From face painting to selling snacks, Hawks are always happy to help. Heeju Cho, 10, a Beta Club member from Mill Creek, planned on volunteering Saturday at 11 am to 4:30 pm. Cho, 10, said, “actually I don’t quite know yet what I will be doing. They are going to tell us what we are going to do on the festival day, but the optional things include face painting, sand art, and many games are likely to be presented during the festival! I’m very excited to be able to participate in the festival.” Another representative of the Mill Creek Beta Club was Sierra King, 11, who volunteered her time at the Harvest Balloon Festival. King, 11, said, “I am excited to represent my school and be able to see something I’ve never seen before, which is a hot air balloon. At the harvest balloon festival, we help with crafts and watching children, I do not know exactly what I will be helping with until I show up to the festival but I’m excited to find out.” Along with these members, multiple other students at Mill Creek involved in Beta Club helped out at the festival, representing Mill Creek positively through their volunteer work in order to help make the festival run smoothly.

Newland Communities 6th annual Harvest Balloon Festival

PHOTO: Sterlingonthelake.com

The 2015 Harvest Balloon Festival was held on Saturday, October 17th from 1:00pm to 8:00pm and Sunday, October 18th. The admission was only $1 Per Person at Sterling on the Lake in Flowery Branch. There was much to do at the festival on Saturday such as pumpkin carving, concerts, food, and live entertainment along with so much more throughout the day; on Sunday there was the balloon rides and balloon race. Every year this event is hosted as a charitable event with all proceeds from the festival benefiting two local organizations, Challenged Child & Friends, an organization created to serve children with disabilities and their typical peers, and the Hall County Animal Shelter. The event is sponsored by multiple different companies, the presenting sponsor being Duncan Pipeline Inc., and other smaller companies such as Fidelity Bank, Aldi, and Target.

Food Drive

Beta Club is a club at Mill Creek that is always participating in helping others during the school year. One example of how they have already helped out in the community this year, 2015, is through their hosting of a food drive. The members of Beta Club helped bring out the food to deliver to people in need. Grace Grahm, 10, said, “I enjoyed helping collect and load all of the donated food. It brings me a lot of joy to know that I am helping someone in need.” Beta Club makes sure to represent Mill Creek in a positive way through its help around the community such as through their Food Drive. Students in Beta Club brought around 1000 different food items to donate. Each student brought items from home, went to buy new food items such as cereal, and/ or a variety of canned foods. Michael Robinson, 10, is in Mrs. Proctor, one of Beta Club’s club sponsors, class. “During the week of the food drive, Mrs. Proctor kept the foods donated in her class. I have never seen that many cereal boxes in my life. It almost looked like a grocery store,” said Robinson, 10.

PHOTO: Kayla Phillips

Balloon Festival

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Creek’s Freeks

By: Julie Akin

Mill Creek’s student section is known throughout Gwinnett County as one of the best high school student sections. Smack High, a famous twitter account, has posted several tweets raving about our student section. One tweet said, “Mill Creek’s Student section is on point!” The turnout of Mill Creek’s student section is always huge and Twitter knows it “#smack”. With all of the paint, chants, streamers, powder tosses and students, it is always sure to be a fun Friday night football game! Because the games always create such huge turnout, there definitely needs to be leaders to keep everyone pumped throughout its entirety.

The student section is led by three Mill Creek students: Clayton Schuetz, Dez Mitchell, and Cooper Henderson. Many students at Mill Creek enjoy

Black out

Photo: Isaac Lee

PHOTO: Kyle Lowe

Friday night football games because of the energy generated by the student section and its leaders.

“I’m a freshman this year, and there’s a huge difference from this year to last year. Hanging out in the student section is a lot more fun than being at the concession stand the whole game. I feel welcomed in the student section and I also believe the student section shows unity of our school,” said Kyndal Prince-Lewis, 9. Our school unites into one during football games, it doesn’t matter what grade someone is in for them to experience a good time. “The grades are spread out; they aren’t as grouped as past years. It’s kind of nice because people used to be pushed to the back due to them being younger than someone else,” said Christina Gormely, 10.

American out

Photo: Sydney Grimes

PHOTO: Kyle Lowe

Student Section Leaders

Dez Mitchell

Cooper Henderson “There’s definitely a lot of excitement going on in the student section.

I’m glad I get to be part of making the student section louder and more fun.”

Clayton Shuetz “I have had such a great football season this year. Screaming and starting chants with everyone in our school is very cool to be able to do; it’s one of my favorite parts of being a student section leader.”

Neon out

Photo: Kayla Phillips

“I enjoy being a part of the student section. It’s been the highlight of this school year to be able to spend time with my friends and make the student section a more fun place to be on Friday nights. For future leaders, you’re lucky to be able to be a part of such an amazing experience. I got involved when Clayton was looking for help and he thought I’d be a good fit to help represent the spirit of Mill Creek and to be a leader.”

White out

Photo: Kyle Lowe

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Photo: Isaac Lee

Micah Bull In some major games, how do you handle the pressure?

“The coaching definitely helps to keep the players calm as well as other players surrounding you and just giving you confidence even though you’re playing a good team.”

Do you have any superstitions or pre-game rituals?

“I usually wear the same socks for every game.”

What would your ultimate achievement in football be?

“The ultimate achievement would definitely be to win the state championship. That’s everybody’s goal going into the season, and so, to do that would be fantastic.”

What was the best advice you were ever given?

“The best advice I’ve ever been given is to put in 100 percent effort no matter what. If you’re sick, or hurt, or tired, you can still go 100 percent.”

Tre Alston What is your motivation on the field: “My family watching, because I work hard to make them proud.”

What do you think is your personal impact on the football team?

Sidney Otiwu The team has never been 5-0 before, nor has it ever beaten North Gwinnett.

How does that feel?

“I feel like I can make a lot of situations better with my sense of humor. It’s never a dull moment with me. I be chillin’.”

“It feels good because we have been preparing a lot, and the preparation that we do throughout the week definitely shows on Fridays.”

How are game days different than every other day of the week for you?

What has been your toughest game so far?

“It’s a different vibe as soon as I wake up. And when it’s game time, I can finally let out all the work we put in all week. Plus the fans love seeing our dabb (how we do things).”

What changed this year that allowed you to finally win against North Gwinnett?

“We started playing for each other and being less selfless.”

“Probably North, just because of how the first half turned out.” (The game was won 280).

What are your plans for football after high school?

“I want to study exercise science in college and be a physical therapist. I’m going to go to college on a football scholarship.”

Varsity Football Jona Gipson How do you assert your status on the Varsity team although you’re only a sophomore?

“I feel like I’m taking a really big role, and the other players help me fulfill that role.”

If you could play for any team, which would it be?

“I would love to play for the Eagles because that’s where my mom is from.”

What is the most exciting/your favorite part of football?

“I say the Friday Night Lights, maybe 3rd quarter when we are trying to stop the offense.

That’s the best part.”

Breaking records

Quotes “It was a weight lifted off our back when we finally beat North Gwinnett for the first time in Mill Creek history.” -Daniel Leconte, 12 “Playing football has opened a lot of doors for me, and I am thakful for the experience that I have had at this school” -Tyler Vernon, 12

Records -MOST TOUCHDOWNS THIS SEASON: Daniel Leconte (#28) with 11 TDs -MOST SACKS: Tyler Vernon (#87) with 6 sacks -The team has never been UNDEFEATED after 7 games. At press, we are 5-0 in our region and 7-0 overall.

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Volleyball The volleyball season is at a close, but our team had a great season.

Although there were some close losses early on in the season, in later games Mill Creek showed excellent growth and beat some of these same teams which was a big victory. “My favorite memory of thisyear was playing in the Mountain View game. I feel we played our best game as a team, even though we lost,� said Rebekah Machovec, 10.

Softball

By Camron Williams

As we go to press, the varsity softball team is competing in the state championship tournament.

Currently they are in the sweet sixteen. “We had a lot of new players, and because we had a new head coach it was very different. But over the year we have grown together, gotten better, and worked as a team, “ said senior outfielder Sydney Grimes, 12.

All Photos by Magic Moment Photography or Abbey Roberston or Sean Floyd 21

Explore in

Outdoors

Stone Mountain

Mount Yonah

Mulberry Park

PHOTO: Hallie Froh

PHOTO: Lexi Froh

Modern day pessimists love to claim that technology is causing vulnerable people, especially teens, to become more out of touch with nature. However, a new phenomenon seems to gripping young people which sheds light on the falseness of this claim. It seems that more and more young people are taking the outdoors and the untamed spirit of adventure and making their exploration into a new and exciting hobby.

In other words, more people want to get outside.

With fall in the air bringing cool weather and changing leaves, there is no better time to get out and explore than now. Furthermore, the thrill of the wild is closer than some people may think. This is because, while Hoschton may be an objectively suburban area, one doesn’t have to travel far to find transcendence. The following natural wonders can all be made into a fun afternoon trip for Mill Creek students.

North Georgia

PHOTO: Sam Costa

By: Gavin Childers

Pictured: Hallie Froh, Sarah Bevel

Mulberry Park 3855 Hog Mountain Rd, Hoschton, GA 30548

Cost Free

Attractions Disc Golf, Hiking, Ponds, Playgrounds,

Distance 5 miles 8 minutes

“I spend so much time at Mulberry for cross country but it is such a beautiful, breathtaking park that it never gets old.” -Robby Gore, 11

PHOTO: Emily Kuzmowycz

Pictured: Lexi Froh, Daniel Castillo, Abby Nannis, Kaylee Kennedy

PHOTO: Sam Costa

PHOTO: Daniel Castillo

Pictured:Lexi Froh, Abby Nannis

Mount Yonah

Yonah Mountain, Georgia 30571

Cost Free

Attractions Hiking Trail, Scenic View of White County, Yonah Burger

Distance 53.1 miles 1 hour

“I had such a great time climbing to the summit; it was tiring at times but watching the sunset was definitely worth it.” -Sam Costa, 12

Stone Mountain

Stone Mountain, Georgia 30087

Cost

Adventure pass for $24.95 (plus tax)

Attractions

Mountain Hike, Antebellum Plantation, Farm Yard, The Great Barn, Ride the Bucks, Geyser Tower, Summit Skyride, Sky Hike, and more

Distance 40.4 miles 45 minutes

“Stone Mountain may be a popular tourist spot but you can still really connect with nature and see some breathtaking sights in the meantime.” -Lexi Froh 12

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Miss Mill Creek

Miss Mill Creek has been a part of the Mill Creek community for many years and has influenced dozens of young girls.

WHile pageants carry a stereotype that they are simply judged based on a girl’s outer appearance and physical beauty;in reality they have come to be much more than that.

Last year’s Miss Mill Creek freshman winner, Logan Sanders, said, “I got into pageants when I was twelve and I was so shy and lacked confidence, and pageants have brought me out of that and helped me overcome so many other things in my life.” Pageants allow girls more opportunity then they could have ever had otherwise. It allows them to reach out in the community and even gain scholarship money. Mill Creek offers this opportunity to girls ranging from elementary school to seniors in high school. This year, Miss Mill Creek falls on October 17, 2015 and fully encompasses the theme “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

Sanders, stated, “Preparing for a pageant is hard work. Before a pageant I always practice my routines and interview questions a lot. The hard work and practicing pays off. I’ve done pageants for years and it still amazes me how much work goes into it.” The competition is no easy

2015 Mill Creek winners greet the crowd at the close of the event.

Photo by: Katherine Torres

task. These girls rehearse for weeks and prepare for months. A contestant in this years’ Miss Mill Creek, Kathleen O’Neal said, “The pageant pushes you out of your comfort zone to learn different things. It’s a lot of work but at the same time it’s not because it is so much fun.” Rehearsals began October 5 and continued constantly all the way through October 15, two days before the pageant itself.

The pageant takes more than practicing the walking and talking, it takes a big investment in nails, makeup, and hair.

Although not the main focus, the outer appearance during a pageant and how you present yourself is important.

This process takes a long time and has to be done the right way. At Mill Creek, they strictly enforce the contestants to not be “unnatural”, with fake eyelashes and fake hair pieces. This encourages all contestants and onlookers to realize that this pageant is not a face that does not even belong to the young girl herself, but just the young girl that is enhanced with simple makeup. However, this does not mean that they do not put a large amount of effort into how their hair and makeup looks. Kathleen O’Neal, stated, “I start preparing for finding the right dress and

Taylor Key, Miss Mill Creek 2015 Photo by: Katherine Torres

nail appointments and spray tans about a month in advance. The week before it’s just a cram getting everything in like getting my nails done and getting a spray tan. The day of the pageant I spend about 2 hours on my hair and makeup.”

In order to qualify for Miss Mill Creek, contestants must meet high standards of scholarship and present recommendations from the community attesting to their character. During the pageant the contestants are judged in several different categories: judges interview (prior to pageant) - 40%, formal wear - 30%, casual wear - 20%, onstage question - 10%. The scores in each area earned by each girl are added together to determine her place in the pageant. The process is very competitive.

Most of the girls have had coaching and practice in previous pageants making them well prepared and very good. O’Neal went on to say, “some girls have been in dozens and dozens of pageants and hold many titles and some are competing in their first one ever. The talent and experience levels definitely range.” This leaves the audience on the edge of their seats throughout the competition.

The rewards and titles range greatly.

Each grade has four runner ups and one winner. In addition to those awards there also is an opportunity to win Most Photogenic, Miss Congeniality, and Miss Sweetheart.

The scholarships include fourth runner up with $250 third runner up is also awarded $250. Second runner up earns $500 in scholarship money and first runner up recieves $1,000. The winner of Miss Mill Creek gets the grand prize of $1,500 towards their college funds.

This pageant offers immense opportunity and has affected many girls positively over the years. Even if they do not win a crown or a title they achieve the feeling of confidence. Sanders stated, “The confidence that pageants have given me is incomparable to anything else that I have gone through.”

Pageant winners of many ages were introduced at the Miss Mill Creek pageant Photo by: Katherine Torres

Miss Portray is one of the many community events that are a part of the Miss Mill Creek family. The Miss Portray pageant allows all girls a chance to participate in Miss Mill Creek and show their pageant skills. The director of Miss Portray, Mrs. Camille Larkin, said, “The meaning of Miss Portray is showing and displaying that inner beauty. It is not about the dress and the looks, but about how beautiful these girls’ hearts are.”

The idea of Miss Portray started seceral years ago with some fifth graders’ persuasive essays. Mrs. Thetford, a teacher at Puckett’s Mill Elementary School, gave all of her students an assignment: write a paper on “how to change the world.”

Two of her students, Jodi Dills and Lauren Davlin, came up with the idea of putting on Miss Portray and donating all of the money brought in by the pageant to cancer research. At that point it was just words on a page, but Dr. Markham, who was principal of Mill Creek High School at the time, got hold of those fifth grade girls’ persuasive writing pieces and wanted to make it a reality.

Both Jodi Dills and Lauren Davlin are currently tenth graders at Mill Creek and are able to see the pure generosity that they implemented in Mill Creek five years ago. What started as an assignment on how a fifth grader would “change the world” ended up genuinely changing the world and will continue to do so.

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Mill Creek Theatre

By: Ashley Baptiste

alyssa eblen PHOTO: Kyle Lowe

Alyssa Eblen, senior, began her theater career in 4th grade. She intends to get a BFA in musical theater, perform for a while, get her master’s degree, and then teach either high school or college theater. Her favorite play that she has performed in, out of all 9, is Annie, in which she played an orphan. Her favorite character that she has ever played was Lydia in Pride and Prejudice, because she thought the character was fun, young, and exciting. In the Mill Creek Theater’s most recent production, The Importance of Being Earnest, Eblen starred as Gwendolyn. Eblen is currently an officer of the theater department and will be directing two shows this year, including this semester’s Freak. She is a part of the teen nation core ensemble at the Aurora theater, and is currently working to get into college theater programs. Eblen says she could not be happier to be moving into a more professional theatre setting, and to be learning about theater in a much deeper way than she has ever before.

Alyssa Eblen and Jack Skeean preform on stage during the showing of “The Importance of Being Earnest”.

Sam Augustin preforms as Brawn in “Power play”.

sam augustin

PHOTO: Courtesy of Sam Augustin

Junior Sam Augustin, Governor’s Honors Program nominee, started his theater career when he was 13 years old, and plans to continue it through college and after, preferably in movies. His first experience in movie work was as a background character in The 5th Wave (slated to release January 2016). At Mill Creek, Augustin has starred as a versatile character in 2014’s one act play, Tuna Fish Eulogy, and as Doctor Chasuble in this year’s one act, The Importance of Being Ernest. His favorite role that he has played was as Brawn in the senior directed one act Power Play of 2015, because he thought it was fun that he got to play the villain.

e

By: Michelle Ortiz

On October 13, Mill Creek Theater presented Oscar Wilde’s most well-known play, The Importance of Being Earnest: A Trivial Comedy for Serious People, starring Jack Skeean as John ‘Jack’ Worthing and Brendon Darby as Algernon ‘Algy” Moncrieff who pretend to have the name Earnest to win the hand of their beloveds. The story is during the 1890’s, and mainly focuses on Jack as he faces many obstacles preventing him to marry Hon. Gwendolyn FairFax (played by Alyssa Eblen). MC Theather took this play to a one act competition on October 21.

The play began with Jack visiting London in the home of Algy where he is preparing himself to declare his love to Gwendolyn. Everyone in London knows Jack as Earnest, his alter ego, which he created to escape the drudgery of his highly conservative life. However, Algernon comes to suspect that Jack is leading a double life when he finds a personal message in one of Jack’s cigarette cases.

Jack confesses his real name, that he pretends to have a poor younger brother named Earnest that lives in London, and that he is the guardian of his young and attractive niece, Cecily Cardew (played

by Leah Merrit).

Then the audience’s attention is shifted to entrance of Gwendolyn and her guardian Lady Augusta Bracknell (played by Emily Brown) who are there for tea. While Lady Bracknell and Algy are distracted, Jack asks Gwendolyn for her hand in marriage, and she accepts as long as his name is Earnest. Lady Bracknell opposes this decision and refuses to give consent because of his inability to define his

family background. The only thing that Jack has from his parents is the leather hand bag in which he was found at King’s Cross Station.

The played continued with Algernon who uninvited, turns up on the estate pretending to be Jack’s brother--Ernest--in order to woo Cecily.

Then Jack’s fiancée, Gwendolen has also arrived and argues with Cecily that she is engaged to Earnest not her which kept the audience roaring with laughter. Caught with their lies Jack and Algernon admits to them that they are, in fact, not called Ernest. However saddening that both women cannot consider marrying anyone who does not go by Earnest, the irony of the name and the actions of the characters really caused a smirk. The women do forgive the men, but the weddings are still not possible. Lady Bracknell will not allow for Gwendolen to marry Jack and as Cecily’s guardian, Jack will not consent her to marry Algernon unless Lady Bracknell changes her mind. This standoff is brilliantly solved when, on inspection of the handbag, Lady Bracknell reveals that Algernon’s brother had become lost in just such a handbag, and that Jack must be that lost child. What’s more is Jack’s name is actually supposed to be John Earnest. When Jack sees that he does have a younger brother and his name is Earnest he clings to Gwendolyn’s legs and says it is “a terrible thing for a man to find out suddenly that all his life he has been speaking nothing but the truth.” The play ended with a prospect of two very happy marriages and an audience of facing palming after understanding such elaborate pun. (Jack is named Earnest and was earnest).

the first play of the year is just one long pun 27

Movies, and , TV shows

By: Kelsey Bruce

Movies

TV Shows

New Episodes

PHOTO: Movie photos courtesy of IMDb

PHOTO: Television show posters courtesy of Netflix

This Month’s New TV Shows!

The Walking Dead Season 6

The hit series “The Walking Dead” released the first episode of its sixth season October11th on AMC. “Walking Dead” fans are excited for this new extension of the previous seasons.

New episodes featuring Norman Reedus and Andrew Lincoln premiere every Sunday following the 11th on AMC.

Supergirl

The new show “Supergirl” premiered its first episode on October 26th on CBS at 8:30/7:30c. The show follows the story of a woman named Kara Danvers, played by Melissa Benoist, who turns out to be Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El. After years of hiding, she decides to go public with her powers under the name Supergirl. The show will then proceed to come on CBS every Monday night at 8/7c beginning November 2nd.

American Horror Story: Hotel The fifth season of the hit FX series “American Horror Story”, called “Hotel”, premiered its first episode October 7th on FX. Many teasers dropped since the announcement of the show, showcasing the main cast including singer Lady Gaga as the hotel’s owner. The show will have its own storyline independent of the other seasons, but will feature previous actors such as Evan Peters and Emma Roberts, much like the previous four seasons. AHS Hotel will release new episodes every Wednesday beginning the 7th.

Grimm Season 5 After an eventful season four, the new season of “Grimm” premiered October 30th on NBC. With Juliette dead, Nick going down a dark path, according to the trailer, and the mystery of the seven keys finally being revealed, this new season should be a good one.

New Show

Ridiculousness Season 7

PHOTO: “Supergirl” television show poster courtesy of CBS

The comedy show “Ridiculousness” hosted by Rob Dyrdek and cohosted by the three judges Chanel West Coast and Steelo Brim premiered its 7th season on MTV on October 8th.

Who doesn’t love a show that thrives off of the failures of others? Tune in every Thursday for new episodes of “Ridiculousness”.

What’s New on Netflix?

Beasts of No Nation

This original, intense war drama was released to Netflix October 16th. The movie, starring Idris Elba, follows the story of a young child, played by Abraham Attah, who is forced to become a child soldier at a young age. Fans of war movies should check out this Netflix original.

Hemlock Grove Season 3 This ten episode horror season of the show “Hemlock Grove” featuring lead actors such as Famke Janssen, Bill Skarsgard, and Landon Liboiron premiered on Netflix exclusively on October 23rd. The show’s producer released information on the final season of the show saying, “We are looking forward to taking the last and final season into some dark and unexpected places, and to giving viewers the killer finale you’d come to expect from “Hemlock Grove”.”

Movies in Theater Now! The Martian

Mark Watney played by Matt Damon, an astronaut on his mission to Mars, is left alone on Mars by his crew after a storm that rips through the planet. Watney is presumed dead, but as he is not, he is forced to live on his sense of humor and the few supplies that were left to him. In a battle to stay alive, he tries to find a way to signal to anyone of Earth that he is alive. “The Martian” premiered in theaters October 2nd and is at your local movie theater. Go grab your tickets now!

Victoria

The new movie “Victoria” follows the story of a young woman, played by Laia Costa whose date night out turns deadly when her date played by Frederick Lau happens to owe someone something that requires repaying that night. With the film getting high ratings and reviews from critics, it might be one to check out. The movie was released into theaters October 9th.

Steve Jobs Also in theaters October 9th, the new movie “Steve Jobs” gives the audience a backstage pass into the life of Steve Jobs. The movie follows three major Apple product launches, ending with the unveiling of the iMac. Featuring a cast that includes Seth Rogen and Kate Winslet, the biography may interest any fan of Steve Jobs or Apple.

He Named Me Malala This important new documentary portrays the events that led up to the attack on a Pakistani school girl named Malala Yousafzai. This is brought about by her outspoken opinion on women’s education in her country of origin. The film also features her speech at the United Nations.

The film has been in theaters since October 2nd.

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Artwork by Ju Hyun Bae (10) Second Place

artwork by Morgan Fields (12) First Place

photo by Hannan olive (9) First place

Artwork by Morgan Buschman (12) First place

Photo Sarah Jackson (9) Second Place

photo by Meagan Skoczen (12) first place

photo by Amari Bachan (12) Second place

art by Krista Knapp (11) Second place

photo by MAckenzie Smith (11) First place

Reflections Gallery Let your imagination fly

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