Edge Pleasant Grove
“
We burned the big part of the mascot at the Homecoming bonfire on someone’s property.” - Mrs. Laura Bills-Weems
100
years of memories
(centerspread)
5406 McKNIGHT ROAD TEXARKANA, TX 75503 VOL. 31 #4 Feb. 8, 2017 PGEDGEONLINE.COM
High School
Textbooks vs. Techbooks
Aging textbooks and out-of-date information have students questioning the future of how they learn (story on page 3)
2 News
HAWK HIGHLIGHTS February
At
Every year on MLK day, STUCO and Drill Team use their day off to work in the community, helping organizations like the Retreat at Kenwood, Heritage Church, and Mary’s Closet
Valentine’s Day
14 18 21 25
A great day to stop by CVS and grab a box of chocolates for your sweetheart (or for yourself).
Regional VASE
YOUR Service
1
Art students will display their art in the old gym, hoping the judges will advance their pieces to state. Its worth a look if you can stop by.
Blood Drive
This is the second-to-last opportunity to donate blood this school year. If you’re going for your red cord, make sure to sign up.
Drill Team Competition
2
The Showstoppers will travel to Mt. Pleasant for their last competition before nationals.
4
March District OAP
3 9 13 23
Encore Company will perform their one-act play “The Wizard of Oz” at Texarkana College.
Regional Power-lifting Meet The Hawks will be traveling 3 hours to Malakoff for their regional meet. Be sure to wish them good luck before they leave.
Spring Break
Seniors, this is the last break before graduation, so take advantage of it. School will be back in session Monday, March 23.
3
You’re
talkingabout . . .
THE MUM BOYCOTT
Tennis District
“Mums aren’t relevant for Sadie because, most likely, the guy will take it home and throw it in his room somewhere. Compared to the bouquet at Homecoming, having the flowers matters a little more than a stuffed animal.” Emily Hilton (10)
Hawk Hustle
“I think the mums are kind of pointless. I honestly don’t even know where mine are from the past years that I’ve attended. I probably threw them away.” Caleb Bolden (12)
31
Tennis will be having their district matches at TC. The tournament will start Thursday and end Friday.
STUCO will be hosting a fun day in the indoor for the elementary and intermediate schools, so don’t be alarmed if you see your siblings in the hall.
CHICKEN EXPRESS “I love Chicken Express, but I’m pretty bummed about the Wendy’s being moved. It was my go to place.” Cage Watlington (10)
5 1. Students Nathan Miers and Ryan Lawing collect trash off of a trailer to recycle on MLK day. (AMaynard) 2. Seated around the table at the Kenwood Retreat retirement home, the Showstopper volunteers create a collage for the residents. (AMaynard) 3. Sophomore Cason Strawn paints props on the side of the stage at Heritage Church. (AMaynard) 4. Passing handfuls of hangers, juniors Madison Hinton and Allison Steed sort through clothes for the Mary’s Closest program at First United Methodist in downtown Texarkana. (AMaynard) 5. Miss Twin Rivers, junior Rachel Johnson, organizes shoes for the Mary’s Closet program. (MHinton)
News 3
Turning to
Technology
Lost and Found With old textbooks becoming a growing problem, students and administrators discuss the solutions, impacts of increasing technology at school
Senior Nathan Brinkley sits BEN NORTHAM down in his desk, wiping the
[editor-in-chief
]
thick layer of dust off his economics book and opening it to a common smell at Pleasant Grove. Old books. He flips to the inside cover, where signatures outnumber boxes two to one, and reads the date: 1999. “It’s important to have up-to-date books,” Nathan said. “With current information, students can better relate what they are learning in the book with current-day events and applications.”
Why they need to be fixed
That’s the problem with textbooks students are using. They’re old. Some of them have no cover while others have torn edges of paper where chapters once were. And there are a number of textbooks that don’t have the information students need for AP tests, STAAR tests, and their future. “There are so many books we use that are so old they’re probably not right anymore,” freshman Palmer Duke said. “I think students need reliable information in their classes so we don’t leave misinformed. We should replace the books at least every four years. Five at the most.” Textbooks need to be updated frequently to keep the information relevant to the students. If a student isn’t receiving current information they may not be prepared to take a new test. “In my opinion I think we should get textbooks at least every four or five years,” Nathan said. “Not so much with math classes because they don’t change that much but history, government and economics should be updated.” Although information needs to stay current, Nathan says that only using computers for our resources isn’t the way to go for the high school. He believes that students would have an easier time learning from a
Senior Diego Morlet uses an iPad to learn in class
“I don’t keep up with my books anyways, but I do spill stuff on my books and find missing pages all the time.”
physical book rather than staring at a computer. “Obviously the world is taking technology and advancing it every single day,” Nathan said. “I just think we should keep technology limited in the schools in the cases where it isn’t beneficial.”
What’s stopping us? Even though it’s the district’s responsibility to get new textbooks, it’s not their fault the school hasn’t gotten new ones for every single subject. The state went away from textbook allotments and now uses IMA or Instructional Materials Allotments. “About seven years ago the State Board of Education changed the way the textbooks are funded,” Superintendent Jason Smith said. “It gives us a little more flexibility, however when they passed that it also reduced - Jason Smith our funding.” Old textbooks are a problem for the school, a problem that gets more serious every year. One of the solutions to this problem is to transfer the school from physical textbooks to online textbooks, but there are barriers in the way. “The perfect scenario for Pleasant Grove High school would be for us to have 100% of our resources online,” Dr. Smith said. “The trouble at the high school is that even if every single one of our 650 students had a Chromebook, we wouldn’t have the technological infrastructure for everyone in the school to be on the internet.” It’s not a problem of bandwidth either. According to Dr. Smith, the school brings in plenty of bandwidth, but doesn’t have the technology for it. “The issue is that at the high school, when it was built in the mid 80s, they weren’t thinking about the internet. It’s a beautiful campus, but it has thick brick walls,” Dr. Smith said. “The WiFi just doesn’t go through the building very well. You have to have multiple access points, like repeaters, which would give everyone access to the internet.” With new technology comes expense, and the district doesn’t have the resources right now to afford the technological improvements it would take to get the internet at the school to function properly. “It would probably cost about $2 million to do and do it right, which just isn’t in our budget right now,” Dr. Smith said. “There are some things our technology director is looking into that might drop the cost to a third, but we’re still looking at around $700,000.”
“The perfect scenario for Pleasant Grove High School would be for us to have 100% of our resources online.”
How to get the money
The easiest way to acquire the money needed to fix the textbook and technology issues at the school, according to Dr. Smith, is to ask the community for help with a bond project. “We need to ask our community how they can help us because it’s probably going to cost $2 million to make sure every facility in the district is connected through fiber-optics so we’re not coming back to them in 10 years saying ‘Okay we’ve got to do it again,’” he said. “We need to go in, do it right, and have access points all through our buildings. I really do believe that our community would support that.” Although technology can be very expensive, buying new textbooks just for the high school would be almost as expensive. “If each kid has six books at $120 each, then we would spend $468,000 on a year’s worth of new books,” Dr. Smith said. “I’d much rather invest two years of textbooks in one lump sum and give our students access to a world of information on the internet than rely on a book that was published in 2000.”
What’s the Impact?
Even with the limited resources for internet access at the high school, some teachers think technology would be beneficial for the classes that could incorporate it into their lessons. “As much as classes allow technology to be used I think it should be,” Mathematics and Technology teacher Jil McKinney said. “There are some classes where it won’t be integrated as easily, but it’s good to move towards technology as a whole.” The use of technology in a classroom can help teachers as much as students. Changes in how teachers grade and receive information can have a lasting impact on a student’s learning. “If it’s online, a lot of the time teachers don’t even have to grade it themselves. That way as soon as a student answers a question or submits a quiz the teacher instantly knows what the student is struggling with,” Dr. Smith said. “This system takes away the classroom environment where a teacher teaches to the middle. Technology allows kids to accelerate their learning because it allows us to teach to each kid.” Switching to technology allows students to get more information from the internet than they would have access to with the textbook they are assigned in their class. “Many of our textbooks only cover about 40% of the information you need for the state exam. If you’re being taught solely out of the textbook, that means 60% of what you’re supposed to know, you’re not being taught,” Dr. Smith said. “This is a little extreme but I think it’s almost criminal that we’re not providing that technology to you.”
- June-Hee Heo (11)
Suck it Up
“I mean, it sucks that we can’t ever seem to get new textbooks but it’s never really affected me at school.”
- Thomas Beth (12)
Heavy Duty
“I hate carrying books around so I set them down and end up forgetting my books everywhere, especially US History.” - Tristen Williams (11)
Cover it Up
“I hate old books. The cover of one of my textbooks literally fell off and it had to be duct taped back together.” - Madison Howell (12)
Confidence Killer
- Jungrok Oh (12)
“It makes you feel a lot less confident when you’re carrying an old textbook around and you see someone with a brand new book walking down the hall.”
Who cares?
“I don’t really use or read from the book, but I can assume that almost all of the books are terrible.”
- Long Nguyen (12)
4 News
Surviving the Roundabout Texarkana’s latest ‘landmark’ requires extra caution been called SOPHIA TUTTLEBEE theIt’s worst idea
middle and drove across like he didn’t know what he was doing,” senior Allen Lambert said. Because of people like that, Attendance Secretary Joni Worley avoids the roundabout completely. “I am worried someone else is not going to know what to do and cause a wreck, so, as much as possible, I avoid the roundabout,” Mrs. Worley said. Even though the new roundabout has caused lots of confusion, and some people have made mistakes while driving on it, the instructions are straight forward. Below are some tips to help you survive the round about.
⬅
To make a left turn, enter the inside lane until your exit is next. Then slowly move to the outside lane and turn out of the roundabout.
⬅
To make a right turn, drive into the outside lane. Then take the first exit and leave the roundabout.
ever, a terrible disaster, an accident just waiting to happen. It’s Texarkana’s first roundabout and Texarkana’s newest Google Maps’ landmark. Constructed to ease traffic on the intersection of Gibson Lane and Pavilion Parkway, many drivers argue that the roundabout is hazardous. This idea originates from the unusual behavior students have witnessed while driving it. “We drove up on the roundabout and there was a car in front of us, but instead of going around the curb like he was supposed to he hopped up the
Hannah Haltom works on her portrait for the upcoming VASE competition that will be held at PGHS on Feb.25.
Down to a fine art
To go straight, first make sure that no one is already in the outside lane. If there is someone there take the inside lane instead and make your way through the roundabout.
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[reporter]
Art students, teachers prepare for VASE [reporter]
“The students begin the hard work of planning and completing two works of art and preparing for interviews to accompany the art,” art teacher Mrs Brisco said. “The students work all year, but they focus on one competitive work when we return from Christmas break.” The determination that the art students and teachers put into the projects are all to further one main objective. “My goal for the students is to create work in which they feel accomplished and successful. Regionally I hope that my students make 4’s, and that the jurors can recognize their excellence when selecting for state,” Mrs Brisco said. Since this is also Mrs. Manning’s goal, both teachers do as much as they can to help students reach their full potential at the VASE competition. “The assignments that we give are all tailored to have meaning, and this helps students when they are questioned about their art’s purpose. We also go through several critiques so they have every chance for feedback,” Mrs Manning said. “I am looking forward to the VASE competition. It is quite an undertaking, but the reward is seeing students proud of their work and being rewarded for their efforts,” Mrs. Manning said. “I also enjoy being able to see teachers and students from around our corner of Texas and all of the talent that they bring.”
To make a u-turn, turn into the inside lane and continue there until you reach your exit. Then drive out of the roundabout.
⬅
The PGHS art department has won 48 Gold Seals at state in the past seven years. Two of those 48 were awarded to PG students at the 2016 Visual Arts Scholastic Event Competition, also known as VASE. However, the work didn’t stop there; students and teachers immediately started preparing for the 2017 UIL VASE art competition. The first round will be held Feb. 25 at Pleasant Grove High School. “The VASE competition is a tremendous undertaking and planning for the next event begins immediately after the last one. So I guess you could say I am continuously planning for the event,” art teacher Melissa Manning said. With the VASE competition approaching fast, the art teachers and students are still working hard to get everything accomplished. Mrs. Manning and art teacher Nicole Brisco keep becoming more and more absorbed by the VASE season. “In January my position gets a little busier because I assume two roles, director and teacher. With being a teacher I have to enter a large sum of paperwork for each student who competes, as well as all my normal teacher duties,” Mrs Manning said. But it’s not just the teachers who have a big workload.
SOPHIA TUTTLEBEE
The word going ‘round about “I rarely use the roundabout, there are other ways to get around it. I feel like, for Texarkana, our size is not too [important] because we don’t have a huge traffic problem,” senior Jedd Ramos said. “I think once the other road gets built and people get used to it, and it will help traffic move a lot faster. Right now it is a bit confusing, but it think it will be good,” office secretary Joyce Cook said. “I am not apposed to the idea of a roundabout, but many people in Texarkana don’t know how to drive on the regular road, so why unnecessarily confuse them with a roundabout?” sophomore Tyler Stoeger said.
News 5
Out with the Old, in with the New With a new librarian comes new books, lunchtime activities new books to a new vibe, JISU CHOI theFrom school library has changed in
[reporter]
many different ways. “Well right now, I’m rearranging the library so that it makes sense,” the new school librarian Holli Easley said. “Everything was kind of out of order and it didn’t make much sense, so all the books are back in alphabetical order.” Although that’s her main priority right now, she has many new ideas that could improve the “My goal is to library. “I’m trying to make the make the library library a little bit more a safe haven for homey and inviting,” Easstudents that ley said. “And I’m pulling don’t like the out books that are newer we have in stock that loud cafeteria.” that nobody even realized that - Holli Easley we had and I’m trying to display them so that maybe people can be more interested in them.” She plans on putting more color in the library and playing soft music in order to change the old, dusty feeling of the library. “I have to run these ideas by the principal first,” Easley said. “But I plan on doing Movie Monday and Wacky Wednesday, where we can play games or color those adult coloring books that I would put on the tables so everyone can come in during lunch and color if they don’t want to be in the loud cafeteria.” While most students like to sit with their friends and talk in the loud cafeteria, some stu-
dents prefer to sit and relax in the quiet library. “I just come in here to work on my homework,” junior Joseph Saldino said. “And it’s nice to just relax. Sometimes I get on my phone and sometimes I just literally sit and think about my day or I’ll plan out what I’m going to do for homework.” For many students like Joseph, the librarian plans to make the library a safe place, where they can relax. “My goal is to make the library a safe haven for students that don’t like the loud cafeteria,” Easley said. “So they can come here and hang out and feel safe and just have a place to hang out and relax.” Other than making the library more relaxing, she has many more goals that she wishes to accomplish. “My goal is to get students to read more,” Easley said. “But I also want to make it more updated and put some more electronics in here and some games for relaxing.” Other than the same old checking in and checking out books, ordering books, and helping the students find books that they need, she has many more jobs that take place in and out of the library. “I help the front office with any overflow that they need,” Easley said. “I’ve helped with the online calendar and scholarship information that they might need help with.” And not only does she help the front office and
do regular secretarial work, she also helps the teachers. “I’ve been trying to get involved with the teachers to make sure that I can help them in any way they need,” Easley said. “I’m updating with the English teachers to see if they have any projects coming up for me that I can do.” “I help with any literary projects coming up, like research papers,” Easley said. “I had one student come in and ask me for a book and I helped him figure out a way to find it on the Internet and also find the book that he wanted to write about and references and how to use the references in here. I [also] pull books for the teachers and put them out on the tables and do any research that they might not have time to do.” Since the couple of weeks that she’s been here at Pleasant Grove, many things have improved in the library. “They put me in here because I’m hardworking,” Easley said. “And I’m willing to overhaul the library and try to revamp it to get students back in here reading and help be an asset to the school.”
How often do you use the library? “I come in here almost everyday because it’s quiet and I like to work on homework on one of the desks. I also use the computers to look up a Spanish word or something. Sometimes it’s nice to just relax.” -Joseph Saldino (11) “I don’t use the library because if I want a book, I’ll just buy it at Books-a-Million or online. I like owning things and I’d just rather have my own.” -Daniel Gibbons (12) “I check out books from the library at least once a month. I would definitely use it more if we had more books and had a bigger fiction section.” -Ashton Raney (11) “I’ve checked out a couple of books for debate class and for fun. I would probably check out more books and use the library more often if we had a wider selection of books because I like using books as a reference for school work and I just like reading in general.” -Andrea Luna (11)
Better Late than never
On
the Clock
Tardy policy changes in students’ favor due to improved attendance Late. Again. Senior Madison walks into the office [assistant editor ] with the eyes of anti-tardy administration staring her down. She gets her tardy slip and waits to hear the verdict: a warning. This came off as surprising to Madison, because she had expected to receive the usual punishment of lunch detention. However, lucky for her, the high school’s tardy policy was amended, giving students a free pass on their first slip up. “I was surprised that I only got a warning this six weeks, I’m so used to getting the same old lunch detention,” Madison said. “It’s nice to get a warning instead of a punishment on something as small as a tardy.” However, people who continue to be tardy on a regular basis will be punished with the same old lunch detention they were used to getting last semester. “People hate lunch detention, and it has done exactly what we wanted it to do: make people show up on time,” assistant principal Mrs. Eldridge said. The office has been able to track students’ tardies easier this year, thanks to the new system and software they implemented at the begin-
YATES FLOYD Howell
ning of last semester. The tardy scanner gathered and reported the high school’s attendance and tardy data. When the administration analyzed this information at the beginning of the year, they noticed there were lots of first period tardies. “I’m guilty of being tardy to first period a lot,” Madison said. “If someone is tardy, nine out of ten times it’s me. I do really bad in the morningI was actually late to first period 36 times last semester.” To fix this problem, the office awarded a lunch detention for every tardy students received. Lunch detention was intimidating to tardy students and even those who are normally here on time. “I’ve actually only been tardy once in the last four years,” senior Jacob Thompson said. “I used to show up early for a good parking spot, but when lunch detention started being enforced, I made sure I was here on time everyday.” For some students, there was a way to get around lunch detention: skip first period if you’re running late, and show up for your next class without getting lunch detention. The office caught whiff of this, but the policy never changed regarding unexcused absences.
“It’s important to remember that if you skip class, then the highest you can make on all your assignments in that class [for the day] is a 70. And once you get four of these, you get Thursday Night Live,” Mrs. Eldridge said. “Everybody oversleeps sometimes, and we don’t want anyone to get in trouble or miss a class because they were just a little late. So we’re listening to the students on this.” This act of mercy on the student body may have come off as strange, but there was a reason behind revising the policy. “Because we have the tardy scanner, we were able to see that there was a decrease in the tardies last semester,” Mrs. Eldridge said. “So we decided to change the tardy policy to only give a warning on the first tardy, instead of lunch detention.” While this may seem nice for students, nothing is permanent and they must be ready for changes at any time. Students will need to be responsible and follow this policy just like the old one. “We hope kids will be happier with this system in place,” Mrs. Eldridge said. “But if we see tardies increase, then we may have to revise the tardy policy again.”
with Attendance Secretary Mrs. Joni Worley “I skipped first period athletics because I got a spray tan yesterday and I didn’t want it to run.”
Best Excuse:
Worst Excuse:
“My mom forgot to wake me up, so I was late to school.”
5-20
students are late to first period each day
3-5%
of students are absent each day
6 News
Putting Food on the Table
Cafeteria plans meals around federal requirements, receives funding to feed students for less money Otis Spunkmeyer cookies, chicken nug[reporter] gets, ICEE slushies. A walk through the lunch line used to feature those foods, but now students who eat lunch at school see veggies and grains and a vending machine with granola bars. Healthy foods. The result is an increasing number of fast food bags littering the lunch tables, but the Director of Food Services for PGISD, David Blanton, is still trying to make cafeteria meals that are appetizing to students. Planning what is on the plates of students is how he earns his salary, but it’s also how he helps the school receive federal funding for student meals. “We wouldn’t be able to support our lunch program without federal funding, so in that respect, I do think it is better that we follow the guidelines,” Blanton said. And Pleasant Grove is only granted federal funding if the district follows the guidelines of the USDA (United States Department of Agriculture) when it comes to school lunches. Hence the vanished Otis Spunkmeyer cookies and slushies-no-more. “The switch to the federal funding plan has most definitely made my job harder. It is not enough to just put a vegetable on the serving line,” Blanton said. “Each day requirements
MADELINE HAAK
must be met in order to be in compliance at the end of the week. If a cafeteria changes one item on the menu, it can put the entire week out of compliance.” However, the high school has not always been on the National School Lunch Program. Several years ago, Blanton experimented with a non-federally funded cafeteria program. In 2013-2014, the cafeteria opened a lunch line with a salad bar that served hamburgers, fries, and chicken strips every day. “Because participation was not what was anticipated, we were not able to cover our expenses and subsequently had no option but to return to the NSLP program the next year,” he said. While Blanton knows his cafeteria isn’t the next Chick-fil-A or Taco Bell, he hopes students will consider grabbing a tray and trying the cafeteria’s options. Especially since trays provide healthy options and help the school when it comes to funding. “I would love to have suggestions as to what they want for lunch,” said Blanton, who has 25 years of experience in the restaurant industry. “[We can] make them fit into the program. Granted, they will be lower in calories, sodium and saturated fat, but that’s not a bad thing in itself.” When it comes to following guidelines,
Weirdly Warm Weather
JILL BULTEMEIER
Prefers it
[reporter]
SAMANTHA KNOWLES
The weather this January has been crazier than ever, with temperatures ranging anywhere from a freezing 12 degrees Fahrenheit to a sunny 77.
Goes with the
Pleasant Grove is not the only district that to eat with us.” does so. Blanton said that over 100,000 schools Yet some students don’t need to be brought across the country provide free and reduced to the cafeteria line. Junior Jack Foster eats priced meal to low-income children before and there every day. during school and sometimes after school and “I’ve eaten in the cafeteria since pre-school,” over the summer. he said. “For whatever reason, the government And Blanton believes that the federal pro- funding has made the quality of food decrease. gram helps the students in more ways than I used to look forward to lunch time, but now one. I don’t.” “I do think the food we serve is a healthier option to fast food. I have worked in the restaurant industry for over 25 years, 15 of which as an executive chef, and most of the ingredients you will find in most chef ’s creations are butter, cream, salt, and a lot of seasonings, especially in chefs from the south,” he said. Despite its benefits, the program has rules that are hard to follow. Still, Blanton is committed to following these rules to the letter. But restrictions and requirements haven’t stopped Blanton from working on different ways to bring more students to the cafeteria line. “Recently I started a pizza day on Wednesdays. These pizzas are made fresh in the cafeteria Wednesday morning,” he said. “I have told some of the students that we can make 1. Freshman Angel Barton selects a paper food any kind of pizza they want, just let us know. tray of chicken strips from the lunch line during I think that if more of the students gave us a A-lunch at the Hawk Rock Cafe. (GHiggins) chance to fill suggestions, more would choose
[reporter]
“I preferred the warmer part of January, because I really very much dislike the cold. I don’t like getting up early in the morning to start my car, because I have to warm it up or else it’s really cold. Also, I hate planning my outfits around winter clothes, because I only have crappy winter clothes.”
Flow
Valerie Shirley (English teacher) “I just roll with it, you know? I guess I like the colder weather, but when it was warm I thought, ‘How nice!’ It’s kind of fun that you never really know what the weather will be like every day.
Ashton Raney (11)
Hot
Prefers it
Cold Gavin James (11)
I really am a seasonal drink lover, though, and I’m already into my hot cider mode. I don’ t care what the temperature is, that’s happening.”
“I’m definitely more excited for the cold! Seeing snow was like being in the movie “Frozen”. I felt like I was in the movie, in a scene where I just throw my arms out and spin around in circles and stick my tongue out.
Today, just before school, I got out of my car, ran back into my house and changed m y shoes and grabbed a jacket. The clothes I would normally have handy in January aren’t handy for this weather, because it’s just so different from previous Januarys.”
My first time seeing snow was amazing, it was so great. I loved every second of it. If it actually starts piling up… I’m gonna make me a snowman, gonna slide down a hill… I’m gonna snowboard, that’s what I’m gonna do!”
Sports 7
Calling the Hogs
Senior gets ready to take the next step and audition for University of Arkansas cheer squad
ON THE EDGE SPORTS
Senior Jasmine Bruce beamed for I could focus on was the cheer squad. I remember the camera after the Pleasant Grove seeing how much energy they had. They looked like Hawks cheer squad took the state they were having so much fun and I knew that I championship. After coming in second last year by wanted to be a part of that,” she said. “I knew that if less than half a point, it was more than satisfying I set my mind to it I could be just as good as them.” for them to come back and To tryout for the University of Arkansas take the title. Now with her “When you watch cheer squad, applicants must first send in a successful high school career audition showcasing their tumbling the games on TV it’s video coming to an end, Jasmine is skills, partner stunting, and a performance toe touching her way into col- all about the football, of the Razorbacks fight song. If they pass the lege cheer. but when I went to video section, they will be required to come When she was nine years for a live tryout at the university and finalan actual game all I in old, Jasmine started taking ly a personal interview. tumbling classes and caught could focus on was “The video guidelines are very specific, on quickly. She was intro- the cheer squad.” right down to what you have to wear, and beduced to cheer in sixth grade cause it’s division one there’s a lot of compe- Jasmine Bruce (12) and from there she started tition,” Jasmine said. “You don’t want to send joining competitive teams and realized that she had in something that doesn’t show the best of your a lot of potential. abilities, and you need to be able to stand out from “I love cheering because it’s competitive and a everyone else.” huge team sport,” she said. “I want to be challenged, Jasmine will find out in April whether or not she and I know that college cheer is a way to make that made the team, and until then she’ll continue cheerhappen.” ing for PG as well as working at Twin City Cheer Jasmine spent her whole childhood calling the and Gymnastics. hogs. But it wasn’t until her first Razorback game in “It would be amazing to be able to cheer for ArFayetteville that she realized she wanted to pursue kansas. I already have friends on the squad, and I’ve college cheer. always been a Razorbacks fan,” she said. “It’s crazy “When you watch the games on TV it’s all about how everything has led up to this moment, and I’m the football, but when I went to an actual game all just really excited to see what happens next.”
DREAM LYNX
[managing editor ]
Who did you think would win the Super Bowl?
40% said Falcons
60% said Patriots Winner: Patriots
Senior Night
2 1. Coach Becca Collum poses in her “lucky golden pants” (ActionPhotography) 2. Junior Allison Michaelis beams as she gets fitted for her state ring. “Getting the ring showed how hard we had worked,” she said. “It made it real.” (THurst) 3. The whole cheer squad poses with their medals after taking the state champion title (ActionPhotography)
1
Cheering for
STATE
After losing by only .05 last year, the Hawk cheerleaders come back and win the state championship at the Fort Worth convention center
3
Edge
The boys’ basketball team is wrapping up their regular season and looking forward to the playoffs. Senior night will take place on Feb. 14 as the Hawks take on Atlanta. Six seniors will be honored before the game.
All Star Break The NBA all star break is coming soon, and all of the best players will be participating in the weekends events. There will be a celebrity game, a game between the best rookies and second year players in the league, a skills challenge, a three point contest, a slam dunk contest, and finally the actual All star game on Sunday night.
8 Ads
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More students, more stories, more school events
on Jas
Sports 9
Jerry
thing
In 1979 at Hooks SKYLER LEWIS High School, Coach
[reporter]
Girls’ Basketball Coach Jason Boston stands with Madi and Steve Morris as he runs over a play he designed with the team at a previous practice while they are huddled up on the sideline. (GHiggins)
Steve Morris and Coach Jason Boston’s paths crossed for the first time. Coach Morris was a post on the varsity basketball team at Hooks. The head coach at the time was Coach Boston’s father, Jerry Boston. “I grew up watching him [Morris] play,” Boston said. “I was a gym rat and a coach’s kid so that’s how we first met each other.” Jerry Boston retired from coaching Basketball in 1981, when Jason Boston was in 5th grade. Boston went on to play on the Varsity Basketball team all four of his high school years. His senior year a new assistant coach joined Hooks’ coaching staff, a young, fresh-out-ofcollege Coach Morris. “He was a good basketball player and shooter in high school,” Morris said. “Everyone teases him all the time about him never passing the ball and shooting a lot, and most of it’s true.” Under Morris’ and head coach Gage’s reign, the team had an extremely successful career that would be remembered for years to come. Coach Morris continued coaching at Hooks until 1989. “It was by far the best season of all four of my years on varsity with them two coaching us,” Boston said. “I wish I
Ste ve Mo rris
family
ton Bos
It’s a
Girls’ basketball team continues coaching dynasty
would’ve been able to play for them all four of my high school years instead of just my senior year.” Fast forward. Coach Boston graduated college in 1991 with a degree in Business Education. Coach Boston decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a basketball coach. When Coach Boston first began his coaching career, Morris was working with Coach McManus for Hooks’ basketball team. Eventually, Coach Morris and Coach McMannus moved on to Texas High to coach together. But Morris later moved on to coach at Pleasant Grove, and Coach Boston took the job of head girls’ basketball coach at Texas High, which led to his working alongside Coach McManus, where he picked up strategies and lessons along the way. Because of Boston and Morris’s close working relationship with McManus, they both have similar views on basketball. Now that Boston and Morris coach the Pleasant Grove girls’ basketball team, this proves to be a big help. “We have a lot of the same
Tennis
Golf
Feb. 10
Feb. 10
Jan. 30
Love Invitational @ Mount Pleasant
Feb. 14
Feb. 26
7:00p Home v. Atlanta
Varsity Braxton Watkins - 70 Jackson Giles - 81 Ben LeGrand - 79 Ray Norton - 77 Jathan White - 75
JV Team
March 3
Wills Point Invitational @ Wills Point
“We’re in position to win a district championship. The team has come together as the season has gone on. I’m very proud of each and every one of them. We focus on teamwork and unselfishness. Everybody roots for everybody and we share the basketball and that’s when we’re at our best.” - Coach Jason Boston
coaching philosophies because;;we learned them from the same guy,” Morris said. “It has been a real smooth transition.” And the Boston-Morris family coaching tradition doesn’t end there. Morris’s youngest daughter, sophomore Madi Morris, is playing on varsity for the second year in a row. “At times playing for my father can be really fun because he can see me improve and get better as a basketball player,” Madi Morris said. “But sometimes it can be very stressful because he pushes me harder and expects more from me.” For Madi, there are two people pushing her to be her best. “It’s a family thing and both me and Coach Morris are big on family,” Boston said. “So it makes sense. My dad would train Coach Morris, Coach Morris would coach me, and I would coach Madi.”
Spring Hill Invitational
Longview Eastman @ Longview
- Aaron Harmon
Ma
Bost on
Basketball 7:00p @ North Lamar
ris
or di M
- Jack Foster “I think we’re doing fairly well. Almost 75% of our varsity team is medaling each tournament. I really think we have a good chance of making it to regionals.” - Junior Clark Giles
Nick LeGrand Yates Floyd Parker Matthews Hunter Druhan Triston Thompson Jake Thomas
- Ben LeGrand
“I think our goal is to go back and try to win state this year. It’s fun but we like to challenge ourselves at the same time. We keep it fun but competitive.” -Junior Ben LeGrand
10 Sports
It’s as easy as
2
3
l
l
1
With the Harmon Brothers Three brothers share high school court together for the first time
Beginning in the fourth and second grade, Juniors Aaron Harmon, Luke Harmon and freshman Ben Harmon had their first chance of playing together on a PGYA team called ‘The Magic.’ Brothers who soon became competitors, grew up playing other sports such as baseball and football, but now seven years later, they’re on the same team. Again. With expectations and high hopes of a good season, here’s a Q&A with the lives of three boys who share the same love and gift of basketball.
1
2
What’s it like playing on the same team as your brothers?
B: Growing up, we were really competitive against each other. We would play every sport we could and especially with basketball we would play horse, knockout or two-on-two. L: I think we have good chemistry playing together. We obviously have grown up with each other so playing on the same team as them is easier. A: I’d say the three of us playing together is kind of weird at times just because Ben is a freshman and it just so happens that we are all three on the same team.
3
Who’s the most competitive out of the three of you?
B: I think I’m the most competitive out of the three of us, but with them always being older, I’ve had to work harder to try to keep up with them by doing tons of drills. L: We’re all pretty much the same competitive wise, but Ben is probably the most because he has to push harder and is more motivated to get a spot on the team. A: I’d have to say myself just because I’m older and have to take charge in a way.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of playing together?
B: I think one of the advantages of being able to play with them is that they can still help me and a disadvantage is they get annoying. L: I don’t think there are many disadvantages, but it does get frustrating sometimes having to show my little brother Ben different plays since he’s a rookie on the team. A: Advantages I’d say would be helping each other out and getting better and the disadvantages would probably be just arguing with each other.
- Ben & Aaron Harmon
5
If you guys could play on any NBA team, which one would you play on?
B: I’d have to choose the Cleveland Cavaliers because they’re my favorite team and I’ve always looked up to Lebron James. L: The Warriors would be my favorite team to play on because they all have good chemistry, kind of like we do together. A: Definitely the San Antonio Spurs. I love watching Kawhi Leonard play because he’s unselfish, he hustles, and plays good defense.
43
What do you love the most about playing sports with each other?
B: It’s competitive of course, but it’s still really fun. L: We know each other more than anybody else on the team. We know each other’s moves and what we’re going to do as creating the next play to score. It’s just we’re comfortable playing on the court as brothers. A: What I love the most is just the fact that we’ve always played together growing up and it feels good to know that I still have the chance to play with them now.
6
What’s special about having brothers that are close in age?
B: I get to go to events with them and do things with them since they’re around my age so it makes it easier to relate to them. L: I think competing together and just overall having a solid friendship with each other is what’s special. A: It’s nice because you can work with them. It’d be different if I didn’t have brothers to help me get better so I think it’s sort of cool to be able to have them close in age that play the same sports as me.
- Luke Harmon
Sports 11
Ouachita Bound
Soccer and football star Matt Day makes a decision about his future
Senior Matt Day had a difficult decision to make: would he stick with his long-time [reporter] passion, or would he take the new-found opportunity that just a few months earlier he never thought he would have? While Matt has always had a knack for soccer, this year he became a kicker in football and impressed everyone with a 50yard field goal during a game, and a 60-yard field goal in practice. “It was definitely crazy hitting those kicks,” Matt said. “I didn’t know if they had enough distance at first, but both of them eventually snuck over the bar.” Colleges have been asking about him ever since, saying he has what it takes to make it as their kicker, and it made Matt reconsider playing soccer at Ouachita Baptist University. “I love soccer and football about the same amount, so I knew I would be happy with whichever one I chose,” Matt said. “And when I did end up choosing Ouachita Baptist, I knew I’d miss football a lot, too. I just had to list out the pros and cons of each and look at it that way.” Playing football did not always seem like a possibility for Matt.
ZACH CARPENTER
We’re Committed
He was always set on playing soccer in college, but with a successful season for the Hawks, Matt proved to schools such as Arkansas, Tulsa, Stephen F. Austin, and Kansas that he had what it took to be a pro. “I had already received a scholarship to Ouachita to play goalkeeper for them,” said Day. “But then I had the really successful season kicking, and other schools started showing interest in me, especially Stephen F. Austin. It really opened up my eyes and made me think, ‘Oh, I should look into this.’ I don’t want to be 20 years into the future thinking that I might have been able to do something different if I had decided to go into kicking.” While ultimately the decision was Matt’s, Matt was not alone in the decision-making process. He often looks to his parents for guidance and encouragement, because he knows they will always have his back. “My parents wanted me to do what I wanted to do,” Matt said. “Which is good. But it’s also annoying because I still had to actually make a decision. But they would have supported me with whichever one I chose. They like watching me play both.” Even though Matt has always played both soccer and football., playing kicker was not always something that he had in mind.
Five seniors commit to play sports in college
“I was on a travel soccer team in the 8th grade, and I was also on the middle school football team,” said Matt. “I was playing receiver at the time, and I thought that I could give kicking a shot, and I turned out to be pretty good at it.” Some people venture into college sports because they don’t want to stop playing the sport that they have been playing since they were kids. Others believe they have a chance of turning their talents into cash at the professional level. As for Matt, he believes both things. “I love soccer, so going to college for it is special,” said Matt. “I also believe I have a chance to play in the pros someday, and going to play in college would really help.” When Matt started getting interested in playing college football and giving up his childhood sport, soccer, he thought about the positives and negatives of his decision. A decision had to be made at some point, and he couldn’t sit around thinking about it forever. “There’s not a lot of money in soccer so I’ll be paying for school, but I’ll get to play soccer and it’s always been my dream to play college soccer,” said Matt. There’s more money in football so that means I would have been paying less for school, and honestly I never thought about kicking at the next level until I started kicking this year.” When decision day finally came, Matt knew that his journey wasn’t over, and that he still has to go out and prove that he can perform at the highest level. “I’m just going to be the best I can be,” said Matt. “I want my coaches to know that I will give it my best no matter what.”
Matt Day dives to save a penalty kick in last season’s game versus Texas High
Caleb Bolden
Seminole State College
“I feel like I made the right decision in signing to Seminole,” Caleb said. “It was really cool to get to sign with my buddy Cade. We grew up playing together and it was also cool to see some of my friends signing as well.”
Cade Thompson
Arkansas Monticello
“It’s good to have everybody support us and show that they actually care about us and to prove that all of our hard work paid off,” Cade said. “I feel like I can go and improve and be the best person I can be in life at AMU.”
Hannah Haltom
McLennan Community College
“I’m really excited to see where my golf career takes me,” Hannah said. “And I am happy to start the next level at McLennan.”
Jackson Pace
Abilene Christian University
“I was extremely proud of myself and my fellow athletes for taking this step,” senior Jackson Pace said. “I know that it has been a dream for all of us since we were little to take our sports to the next level.”
Matt Day
Ouachita Baptist University
“It felt good to make it official because now we don’t have to worry about anything else,” Matt said. “I feel like I can be a better soccer player and better person and it feels like home on the campus.”
12 Sports
Shoot first, ask questions later
Varsity boys’ soccer takes win at Grimm Stadium for the first time It was the final minutes of the game. ALLEN LAMBERT The Pleasant Grove Hawks were trailing
[reporter]
the Texas High Tigers by one, and if the momentum didn’t change soon the Hawks were sure to follow their history of losing at Grimm. “We were down on ourselves for sure,” said senior Jungrok Oh. “ There were only five minutes left and we were losing at Grimm to a team that was probably better than us.” Knowing they had to score, the Hawks made some changes to their attack. “Because there wasn’t much time left we all pushed up for offense,” said Oh. “and that’s when Crawford put the team on his back.” “I saw some space” said senior Connor Crawford, “so I called for the drop. Then I opened up like I was going to cross, but instead I moved passed the defender, and that’s when I knew it was prime time for a shot.” “Crawford had a wide open shooting lane, and probably the best leg on the team,” said Oh, “but when he shot, I think he miss-hit it and floated it. The ball floated in the air for a good three seconds while I was thinking, ‘Please just hit a corner.’ Finally it went to the
far post corner, just passed the keeper and snuck in.” With the score tied up the Hawks felt as if the game was back in their hands. “We knew we had the best goalie,” said Oh. “ So all we had to do was to make it through regulation and take it to penalty kicks.” But within the last minute of the game that plan seemed to change. The Hawks were at the top of the eighteen and Crawford had another opened shot. “I was gonna shoot it,” said Crawford, “and I did, but I think it hit off of someone’s foot” And with only thirty seconds left, the ball that Crawford claims to have hit off of someone’s foot rolled over to junior Tristen Williams. “The ball came straight to me,” said Williams, “and I was just trying to do my job so I put it right in the goal.” Taking the lead with only thirty seconds left, the Hawks knew that they were
Boy’s Soccer
going to make history as the first Pleasant Grove boys’ soccer team to beat Texas High at Grimm Stadium, and they couldn’t hide their emotions. “When Tristen scored me and Connor penguin dove on the ground for twenty yards,” said Oh. “We were stoked. It was a feeling we had never felt before, because we knew had won, and it was the first time ever at Grimm.” With the Texas High win under their belt, the boys are little more confident in the rest of - Jungrok Oh (12) the season. “I think this was the first decisive victory we’ve had, because we usually just win in PK’s,” said Crawford. “So I think this game will be a good confidence booster for the rest of the season.”
“The ball floated in the air for a good three seconds while I was thinking, ‘Please just hit a corner.’ Finally it went to the far post corner, just passed the keeper, and snuck in.”
Girl’s Soccer
February 3
February 17
February 3
February 28
at 6:00 p @ Liberty Eylau
at 5:00p and 6:30p @ Paris
TBD Home v. Arkansas High
February 7
February 21
February 6
March 9
February 10 February 24
February 14
March 13
at 5:30p and 7:00p Home v. Paris
at 5:30p and 7:00p @ North Lamar
at 5:30p and 7:00p Home v. Atlanta
at 5:30p and 7:00p Home v. Chapel Hill
at 5:00p and 6:30p @ Pittsburg
at 6:00p @ Princeton
at 5:00p Home v. Tyler Chapel Hill
@ 5:00p @ Waskom
TBD Home v. Dequeen
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100 yearsof
Memories
Former students, teachers remember recent history at PG
MADELINE HAAK
Skeletons in the Office
[reporter]
ABBY SANDERSON
Cut and Run
[reporter]
Horsing Around “We didn’t have a lot of playground equipment. We had some, but there was a farm beside the elementary school when I was there and they had a pony. I am a horse fanatic. I always getting in trouble for going over and petting that horse because [the teachers] were scared that it was going to bite me or something. I would always get in trouble for petting that horse!”
- Mrs. Shali Martindale
“The year I graduated, the football players stole the Hooks Hornets mascot from their school because they were our rivals. When they got busted, they cut up the mascot and sold the pieces as keychains to raise money for the fine they had to pay for stealing it. We burned the big part of the mascot at the Homecoming bonfire on someone’s property.”
Take One for the Team “We had a purple towel in basketball that everyone had a piece of. We would cut it up at the beginning of the season. We were supposed to have it with us at all times to make sure we knew we were a small piece that kept the team together. It reminded us to make good choices, put the team first, and know every person is important.”
- Coach Amy Collvins
- Mrs. Laura Bills-Weems (Class of 1992)
The Wheels on the Bus “One year we had to drive kindergarteners over to First Baptist Church because we didn’t have enough room at our school. Our maintenance men loaded up desks every Sunday afternoon and took them to First Baptist so the kids could have class there. We had a central office secretary and teachers go over with the kids on a bus. The kindergarteners would march like little soldiers into the middle school when we went to eat lunch there. Every Friday afternoon, the maintenance men would load up the desks at the church again because Sunday church services were held there.”
- Mrs. Kathy Rehkopf
Sleepovers with Sculptures “I remember some of the kids sleeping by thethen new-sculpture in front of the building. I think they did it before games so kids from other schools wouldn’t vandalize it. We also had an April Madness dance where we would get up on stage for different performances. That was always so fun. It was like a mixture of the Follies and a school dance, and it was held in the cafeteria. Big hair. Neon colors. Lots of lip-sync acts.”
- Mrs. Gina Foster (Class of 1988)
“Ms. Francis Brown used to be the main secretary here and I was teaching in the Content Mastery room. One of the Anatomy teachers had left a skeleton and everything up here, and of course the office didn’t quite look like it does now. So Ms. Francis had to come back up here for something later in the night, and she had forgotten that the skeleton was in here. So she saw a person and she got really, really scared. She called me and she called several [other] people saying, ‘There’s somebody in the school and I can’t go in there,’ and so I said, and several other people said, ‘Well, you’re just going to have to call Mr. Spivey.’ She couldn’t reach him, so she decided to call the police instead. And so the police came and they examined the building to make sure everything was okay and it turned out to be a skeleton.”
Crash and Burn “I was the only one that saw [the athletic building] fall. Six years ago, they had my room completed and we had just moved in and I had an advanced art class that day. We had just started class and I was like, ‘What’s that sound?.’ It was the loudest sound. It felt like an airplane was about to come into the building. It was so insane. It scared me to death and we were all kind of ducking because it literally felt like a plane was going to crash into us. That building that was halfway built with those steel beams had been messed up on the engineering. That sound had been the metal beams bending. The whole thing collapsed on itself. There was about thirty people out there and no one was killed. When I saw it happen, I couldn’t tell what was bending where. I looked at it and I yelled, ‘Run!.’ We all started running, and I went down there and called 911 because I thought somebody had been killed. The whole thing literally imploded on itself.”
- Mrs. Nicole Brisco
- Mrs. Joyce Cook
Snow Surfing “The stadium wasn’t built yet, but it was still the shape so there were big slopes on the sides. We called it the Pit One year, during the epic ice storm of 2001, we all got our four-wheelers and tied trash can lids to them and snowsurfed down in there. That year, we were declared a national disaster area and so we started school later and didn’t have to make up those days.”
- Mrs. Melissa Manning
Hanging Around “There was this particular event that only happened once in high school. I was a sophomore, and I had Mrs. Yowell for Algebra 2. For each Algebra 2 class, Mrs. Yowell said if everyone passed the STAAR test or EOCs, we could do anything for a class period, so my class picked to do a movie with popcorn. One of my closest friends was in one of the other classes and, in his class, they wanted to duct tape Mrs. Yowell outside in the hallway. The day they did that I was in English and some of the English wing let out their classes, including my class, to watch it happen. Mrs. Yowell was standing on a chair, and once they taped her to the wall with a lot of duct tape, they took the chair out. She was hanging on that wall for a good while.”
- Ms. Ruth Kliewer (Class of 2014)
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Composing a career
Feature 17 Writing music a second job, first love for band director
Middle school band director Don Colquitt knew exactly what he wanted to do in col] lege. He had a career in mind, but it definitely HALEY HEARN wasn’t directing middle school bands. [reporter ] “I wanted to be a songwriter,” Mr. Colquitt said. “When I was in college I wanted to major in music, but I didn’t really want to teach.” Now, 28 years later, he’s doing both. Colquitt has written 40 different pieces including the halftime show music for the Pride in Motion band this fall and a piece written for the Texarkana Symphony Orchestra. “I have done a lot of arrangements for halftime and bands, like middle school bands, college bands, churches, and I am doing something right now for the Texarkana Symphony,” he said. Although being a teacher was out of the picture, that picture changed when he worked a summer camp at his college, Henderson State University. “I started working the junior high band camp and thought that I could really work with that age of kids,” Mr. Colquitt said, “so I started doing it.” Throughout his years of teaching, he has not stopped writing music. Though this is something that might seem complicated, Mr. Colquitt gets inspired easily. “A lot of times it comes from something that I have heard, or a song, or a piece of music, or sometimes just an idea about something, but every piece is different,” he said. “It’s more prac-
AVERY JENSEN [reporter
tical. It’s not like you’re sitting down and meditating, that’s not how I operate.” For Mr. Colquitt, writing music is like a puzzle. “You take some information and try to figure out what to do with it,” he said. ”Figuring something out is the best part.” The inspiration comes easy, but for a teacher, the time does not. “Here lately I just write when I need to, but I stay busy with marching band arrangements and the piece that I was doing for the symphony, so it’s hard for me to find time lately just to write,” Mr. Colquitt During AP Music Theory, band director Don Colquitt reviews students over chord inversions. (GHiggens) said. play my piece.” And when Mr. Colquitt first began writing muAlthough Mr. Colquitt didn’t foresee a future career in teachsic, he never imagined that it would go international. “I did have a piece of mine played in Japan for a band festival ing, his attitude has changed over the years. “I did everything I could not to be a teacher but it didn’t and I got some document about the piece being played,” he said. work. But I am very glad that I am a teacher. Sharing my love for “Apparently it caused a controversy because it was written for band and electric guitar and some of the people running the music with young people is an awesome job,” Mr. Colquitt said. said. “Some people have to work for a living. Not me.” festival wanted to not allow the band to play it since it was not
“I did everything I could not to be a teacher but it didn’t work.” - Don Colquitt
written for traditional concert band. They played it anyway and I got a document from the festival thanking me for letting them
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Feature 19
Sure as Sh
ting
Student finds there are more things to shooting than winning As the smoke es-
YATES FLOYD capes from the barrel [assistant editor ] of his Beretta DT11,
freshman Palmer Duke looks up to see his clay pigeon shatter into pieces. However, this is nothing to him. Palmer always hits his targets. Palmer lives in a family where hunting and target practice are a way of life. Shooting is in his blood. “I may as well have grown up on a gun range and out hunting in the woods,” Palmer said. “I started learning how to shoot guns when I was a toddler and I have been going hunting with my family since before I can remember.” Palmer wanted to transfer his hunting skills to the competitive scene when he found his passion: trapshooting. “My dad introduced me to trapshooting when I was 9 years old” Palmer said. “My dad told me that trapshooting could help me become a better shot when we went hunting, so I decided to give it a try.” However, living in a family that
teaches you how to shoot while you’re your zone, you can start competing young doesn’t automatically make you in some higher level tournaments. a good shot, it takes lots of dedication. Palmer has claimed this zone for him“I practice shooting for a couple self for the last couple of years and has hours at least twice a week,” Palmer been moving up in the bracket in his said. “My dad and I go to Maud Gun trapshooting league. Club, Grand View Prairie, and some“After winning this zone I went and times to an Air Force competed in a state conbase.” test with the winners of “The friends and other zones in Texas,” Practice helps, but experiences has Palmer said. “There, I at the end of the day it won’t get the title of been what’s made won the Champion of champion that Palmer award for it all worth it. Champions wants. All these hours the state of Texas.” Trapshooting isn’t of practice get put to However, for Palmer, good use in Palmer’s just a hobby for being the Champion of competitions across me, it’s something Champions isn’t good the state. Palmer wants I really want to enough. “The trap shootto win a bigger trophy continue doing for and a longer title. He ing tournaments I compete in can have the rest of my life.” has a bead drawn on his anywhere between a next goal. - Palmer Duke (9) hundred to a thou“I plan on going back sand people show up,” to state this year and Palmer said. “Although it’s harder to winning, because I lost last year in a win, I like to challenge myself.” tiebreaker shootoff,” Palmer said. “I Texas is divided up by zones, and also want to be the captain of the juPalmer’s journey to the top all starts nior state team this year, so I can lead here. In trap shooting, once you win a team and prove to myself that I can do this.” With his eyes on such a big prize, Palmer has realized that he will need to increase his workload to go further than the years before. “I’m going to start going to start throwing in an extra day of practice when competitions start up in the Spring,” Palmer said. “I have to be
1 1. Senior Diego Morlet looks down range at Maude Gun Club. Diego is practicing with freshman Palmer Duke for their upcoming trapshooting tournaments (submitted). 2. Freshman Palmer Duke aims down his sights waiting to shoot a clay pigeon that will fly out in front of him (submitted).
ready for the tournament this summer, if I’m going to do better than last time.” Palmer balances his seriousness with some fun though. Hunting isn’t just more practice for Palmer, it’s one of his favorite things to do. “I go duck and dove hunting with friends and it helps me stay sharp for competitions,” Palmer said. “A lot of my friends that I hunt with were friends I’ve made through these trapshooting competitions.” One of those friends is senior Diego Morlet. Palmer and Diego break the senior hazing freshmen stereotype with a much more constructive relationship. “Palmer and I met at a trapshooting tournament when we were little kids and have been friends ever since,” Diego said. “I’ve taught him a couple things and he’s even helped me out some, but we aren’t just ‘shooting buddies,’ we are actually good friends outside of the tournament scene.” Palmer hasn’t won enough medals or made enough friends yet, so that is why he’s into trapshooting for the long run. “The friends and experiences has been what’s made it all worth this,” Palmer said. “Trapshooting isn’t just a hobby for me, it’s something I really want to continue doing for the rest of my life.”
Shootin' doves and takin' dubs Palmer’s medal collection and shooting stats Singles- 1 clay pigeon launched at a time Doubles- 2 clay pigeons launched at a time
2017 Singles 94.3% accuracy 300 clay pigeons
2017 Doubles Lifetime Singles 98.5% accuracy 2561 clay pigeons
2016
86.3% accuracy 1554 East Regional clay pigeons
Champion
2
Lifetime Doubles
89.0% accuracy 200 clay pigeons
20 Feature
REAL REsolutions Popular health goals require proper nutrition.
Three… in white ranch dressing. Definitely don’t As the clock ticks dump dressing on your salad because that mine to 12:00 on New Year’s will rack up the calories a lot more and it said. “But I Eve, weight is the one thing on junior Katie won’t end up being as healthy for you as you make sure I eat Parker’s mind. intended it to be,” Ms. Dokupil said. “If you breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Two... can, you want to use romaine lettuce and [just] all healthy stuff and snack in She is going to lose those ten pounds, and not iceberg, because iceberg lettuce is mostbetween.” 2017 is the year to do it. ly just water.” And although it might take some One. But for many, it’s not just skimping on the dedication and research, that New Year’s The date on her phone reads Sunday, Jan. grilled chicken in a salad that’s the problem. resolution can do a lot of good. Katie, who 1. It’s a new year, and with it comes Katie’s When Ms. Dokupil comes across people has been keeping to her resolution, hasn’t new self. who simply don’t like vegetables at all, she lost her goal of ten pounds. But, she has had Katie is one of 37% of Americans who offers a solution that can be a little easier to some exciting results. pledge to be healthier or lose weight at the swallow. “Now that I’ve been doing it for a while, it beginning of the New Year. And with so “I’ve run into some people who do not really does make you feel better. You actually many people pledging to instantly change like their vegetables. Something I suggest to want to get up in the morning,” Katie said. “I their lifestyle, there are going to be them is making a smoothcan’t explain it. Your mood is boosted. My problems. When people don’t truie,” Ms. Dokupil said. “For face is clearing up. Life is good.” ly understand what a healthy diet instance, I don’t like kale. is, they can make unhealthy misBut, in order to get more takes. For many, especially women, of those dark leafy greens that New Year’s resolution equals into my diet, I’ll make strict dieting and plate after plate a smoothie out of it. It’s of salad. A dietitian from Christus going to look green but One of the more difficult St. Michael, Rebecca Dokupil, says it’s actually going to taste that salads can be healthy, but not okay.” things about eating on their own. Green smoothies can healthy is getting that “If it’s just lettuce and dresstake care of your veggies, Katie Parker (11) balance in your diet. From ing and maybe a few tomatoes on but Ms. Dokupil says that it then that’s not going to cut it,” Ms. a healthy, clean diet means a balanced diet the age-old salad to newDokupil said. “Salads take up a lot of room and that you need to get all your food groups comers like quinoa, we’ve in your stomach, so you’ll fill up on them in every day. Senior Jasmine Bruce, who quicker. Which is good because you’ll have began eating healthier to prepare for Miss got you covered. a quicker feeling of satiety, but they’re not PGHS, says she hasn’t cut back to just eating going to stick with you very long unless you salads to lose weight. have some type of protein with them.” “[I have] grilled chicken for lunch, and in And if you do have a salad with chicken the mornings I’ll have yogurt and some or beans, you still have to be careful about orange juice or something like dressing. Ms. Dokupil says that on a salad, a that. Then for dinner I’ll have little dressing can go a long way. a salad from Chick-fil-a or “The salad really shouldn’t be covered something like that,” JasNutsandSeeds
ABBY SANDERSON [reporter]
Turn a New Leaf
Less than 50% of people keep their resolution past six months, but these people are beating the odds. “I decided to get rid of all the socks [I have] that don’t match because I like matching a lot” -Faith Moya (10)
I wanted to be the best me that there is. I’m still in the process, but I’ve got some nice muscles now.” -Jordan Riddle (11)
-Taylor Robertson (11)
Food as Fuel
A Balance
Sugar, Sugar
When you make a bowl of cereal, be sure to check the label before you pour in the milk. Shy away from that whole milk and try and get skim or 2%.
Protein is important in every diet, but bacon is a step in the wrong direction. Try a lean meat with little or no fat. You can also have fish or chicken breasts.
Don’t kill your health kick with a Snickers or a Reese’s Cup. Check your labels and keep added sugars out of your diet. It won’t be fun, but it’s the healthiest thing to do.
6 servings a day
FatsandOils
2 servings a day
Meat
3-6 oz a day
Vegetable
3-4 servings a day
Fruit
4 servings a day
Dairy
2-3 servings a day
As Pie
Lean and Mean
et I
Grain
3-4 servings a day
Spilt Milk
d Di
asy sE
“I wanted to get closer to God. I actually went to church more, started being more open minded, and started seeing more things as miracles.”
“I want to lose 10 pounds. I’m just going to watch what I eat with just grilled foods, no more fried stuff, and lower salt.”
Feature 21
Food for
Adopting a vegan diet means a changed lifestyle
SAMANTHA KNOWLES [reporter]
JILL BULTEMEIER
Sophomore year, junior Joseph Saldino could be found during lunch eating whatever the cafeteria had served him: Nachos with taco meat and melted cheese, pepperoni pizza, spaghetti and meatballs. Now, Joseph’s diet is very different from what it was a few months ago. He now brings lunch from home whenever he can, consisting of anything healthy, from salads and PB&Js, to chips and salsa and assorted fruits. Joseph is a dietary vegan, meaning that, (similarly to a vegetarian), he doesn’t eat meat. However, vegans take things one step further than vegetarians; they don’t eat any food that comes from an animal. “Pretty much, a vegan is when you don’t consume any animals or animal products,” Joseph said. “Eggs, milk, meat, things like that. Everything you eat is from the ground; if it walks, you don’t eat it.” There are a variety of reasons that people become vegans. Some become vegan because they oppose animal abuse. Others do it in an attempt to protect the environment. And others, like Joseph, go vegan for the health benefits. “I was looking into it for a while, but I actually watched a YouTube video one time of a 98-year-old cardiothoracic surgeon,” Joseph said. “He was able to live for a really long time and stay healthy because he was a vegan, so he advocated for the vegan diet. He strongly suggested it and spoke very highly of it, and so from there I just kind of looked into it more, and it just seemed like there were so many reasons that go into it both morally and health wise, and the fact that it really does contribute to our environment.” After doing more research by watching documentaries on YouTube and reading through different studies, Joseph realized that he wasn’t doing this just for the health benefits anymore. “At first, I never really thought about it,” Joseph said. “I never really connected the dots that when I was eating a hamburger, I was
[reporter]
Different Diets There are a lot of odd diets out there, and there are usually several variations for each one. Here’s a look at some of the most popular diets
eating a cow that was enslaved, because that’s not something we really think about regularly. And I think a lot of people are like that.” Researching veganism led Joseph to change his views on things that are often seen as common knowledge and accepted as truth, despite the fact that almost no one has actually done their own research. “One thing that shocked me the most about converting to veganism and learning more about diets in the United States is that so many people are trained from when they are young to think that milk is good for you,” Joseph said. “And this is gonna sound so weird when people read this, but milk really is not good for you. And we know that now. That’s not a recent discovery. But people have to recognize that, especially in the dairy industry, the rich really do run this country, and they can change studies - Joseph Saldino (11) and bribe anyone to say things that aren’t true.” After looking further into the studies conducted by scientists on the nutritional benefits of milk, Joseph became increasingly more aware of the controversies surrounding the studies. “They did this study with mice, or rats, and they took this core thing from milk, called Casein, and they injected it into the rats, and did a wide variety of studies, with different percentages,” Joseph said. “And they found that there was a direct correlation between the casein found in milk and cancer. And I think it was liver cancer to be specific, but the thing was that it was direct, absolutely direct.” The more studies he read, the more Joseph felt sure that unlike what he’d been told since he was a kid, milk might not really be the way to go.
“There’s actually three people in my family, out of the six of us, who are vegan or vegetarian.”
Vegetarianism
Vegetarians can eat fruits, nuts, dairy and processed foods.
Vegetarians don’t eat meat of any kind.
“And the funny thing is that they really get people going on this,” Joseph said. “I mean, how many times have you heard someone, even doctors, tell you that milk is good for you? It’s just crazy because I have the most tremendous respect for physicians. But unless they specialize in people’s dietary needs, they really don’t have the dietary knowledge that would allow them to make the statement, ‘Milk is better than blank.” Becoming a vegan changes many aspects of a person’s life, because it’s not something you can just dabble in lightly. You have to think through three meals a day, and either learn how to make vegan foods, or memorize which packaged foods are vegan and which ones aren’t. In addition to learning which brands are vegan-friendly, vegans still have to worry about whether or not the safe brands are even healthy. All lot of the time, veganism is stereotyped to be a healthy way of living, and it is: to an extent. “You can get vegan stuff from fast food places, but I think it’s important to know that although it’s usually healthy to be a vegan, there are still ways to be unhealthy,” Joseph said. “French fries are generally vegan, and American Oreos are vegan, too, but neither of those are healthy.” Even with such solid reasoning for becoming a vegan, Joseph still finds that sticking to a full vegan diet is easier said than done. “Pizza was my favorite food, and when I say my favorite food I mean like every Friday my family had a tradition of having pizza,” Joseph said. “It was hard to give up my favorite food, but it’s not like there aren’t vegan substitutes for pretty much anything.” Being a vegan doesn’t stay in the house, either. When eating out, it can be hard to find restaurants that accommodate the vegan diet. “We had vegan pizza just over Christmas break at a restaurant called Mellow Mushroom, and it tastes exactly the same as pizza,” Joseph said. “Just about nothing is vegan at fast food places like McDonald’s, though. You have
Veganism
Vegans can eat fruits, vegatbles and nuts.
Vegans do not eat any animal or animal by-product.
Slow Food
to really specify if you want something vegan.” Becoming a vegan is obviously accompanied by many changes to someone’s life, so the idea of actually buckling down and starting the diet can be pretty overwhelming. Luckily, Joseph had a supportive family behind him that made it easier to make the change. “There’s actually three people in my family, out of the six of us, who are vegan or vegetarian,” Joseph said. “You could say, I guess, that the idea of becoming vegan was brought up by me, and that I introduced it to my sisters, but I don’t know that I ever would have done it and committed to it if it wasn’t for them.” There was no pep talk or motivational speaking when Joseph and his family decided to try going vegan; They merely sat down to dinner like any normal day, but with a new goal in mind. “My older sister was the one who actually made a vegan meal. And from there, we just, started. We all sat down and said, ‘Okay. We’re starting this. Right now,’” Joseph said. “We were originally only going to do this for a month. We were gonna treat it kind of like a challenge. But then, after a month was up, we realized that we didn’t really want to stop. We didn’t want to give up yet.”
- Joseph Saldino
Paleo
People on the slow food diet eat quality, regional food, like food from a local farm.
People on a paleoithic diet eat lots of high-protien, high-fat foods.
People on the slow food diet do not eat fast food of any kind.
Paleo diets do not include raw dairy, processed foods, high-sodium foods, or legumes.
22 Feature
To Be Continued... UIL documentary team films rewind of student’s life
1. Senior Matt Day works on editing the documentary, “Semicolon,” for the UIL competition (JOh). 2. UIL documenary team members; Matt Day, Brooklyn Puzz, Jesse Jenkins, and Jedd Ramos. (ASanderson)
1 HALEY HEARN
When the seniors on the
[reporter ] UIL documentary team
were deciding on a topic, they thought a tribute to the [reporter ] hundred years of PG was a great choice, until they came up with the idea doing a story over senior Caleb Hearn. “We chose Caleb because it was a really interesting story,” senior Matt Day said. “It’s really rare, and you never really hear anything about that stuff. We really wanted to show everyone what happened.” What happened was this: on Feb. 17, 2015, Caleb woke up mid-morning not remembering who he was or what was happening. Any memory before then was just simply gone. “My first thoughts were, ‘Who are you? Where am I? What’s happening?’” Caleb said. “I didn’t know what was happening because my dog jumped up on me and I just backed out of the bed into the corner. I didn’t recognize a thing.” Not only did he not recognize anything, he didn’t remember anything either. “I didn’t remember anything relation-
AVERY JENSEN
ship-wise, like people, places, foods, items, anything that there would be a connection with was gone,” he said. “But the more knowledge based things like math, science, reading, writing, and stuff, I remembered.” Caleb and his family consulted many doctors, physicians, and psychiatrists, but nobody could tell them what was wrong. Everyone would just say that “he seems perfectly healthy,” but it was obvious that he was not. Caleb’s story had piqued the interest of quite a few people, but no one had ever told his story. The documentary team of Matt Day, Jedd Ramos, Brooklyn Puzz and Jesse Jenkins thought that it would make an interesting documentary, but they had no idea that the story they would be getting would be so deep. “We knew he lost his memory, but we didn’t know a lot of the deeper things until we started interviewing him,” Jedd said. The team discovered that Caleb had gone through some difficult times, which he feels probably contributed to his amnesia. “I never really tell people about the harder things that I went through, but I wanted to share my story in order to help other people,”
2
Caleb said. As the team started the process of interviewing him, they began to find out that his story was not just about having amnesia, but also about second chances. The documentary explains Caleb’s discovery of a box of items under his bed that revealed that Caleb had struggled with depression and anxiety before he lost his memory. “When I was starting to find out stuff about myself, I realized that God had given me the realest do-over to remake my life to help people,” Caleb said. The film’s title was inspired by Caleb’s tattoo, a semicolon. While most people think of semicolons as just a mark of punctuation, to others it means so much more. A semicolon has become a symbol to people who have been suicidal and self-harmed, but have overcome their hardships. “He told us about the tattoo he has and I was like that should be the title of our video. Semicolon. It’s very vague and mysterious like what does that even mean?” Jedd said. “But once you hear the whole story it’s like, ‘oh some people choose to end their sentence and others
choose to add on to their sentence so semicolon.’ It’s like a second sentence.” While Caleb was glad he could share his story, the experience was a little out of his comfort zone. “It’s a little weird, but it’s kind of cool at the same time,” he said. “It was cool because I get a movie made about me and not everyone gets to say that.” The film was uploaded to the UIL website on Jan. 12 to be judged for competition. Since it is the school’s first year to have a documentary team, members said they often felt like they were flying blind. “It’s stressful because we’ve learned how to do a documentary so we had to figure it out as we go,” Matt said, “but I think that we did pretty well.” And while the film did not advance to the finals, the team felt good about the result. “We were all like that story could win at UIL,” Jedd said, “but when we heard the whole story we were like ‘this could go to Hollywood.’”
About the film Team: • Matt Day, Jesse Jenkins, Brooklyn Puzz, and Jedd Ramos Name of Film: • Sem;colon Link to Video: • Find the link on pgedgeonline.com under the feature category
Requirements: • Adult involvement is limited to sponsors and onscreen talent • Narrative and documentary films have to be 3-7 minutes • Submitted films must be original works
Advancing: • Entries go through a preliminary round and are judged • If they advance, they go through a second qualifying round • If they advance, it goes to the State Semi final round where they would be ranked 1st-6th
Entertainment 23
Coming Soon...
Movie Talk
Ever thought about what character you would play in a movie, or what actor/actress would play you in a movie about you?
With a new year comes new movies, and there’s a lot to be excited about in 2017. Whether you’re a fan of horror, action, thriller, or fantasy you’ll find something to enjoy With 14 theaters and KATIE HUTCHESON over 2,000 seats the loreporter [ ] cal Cinemark theater sounds like it should have many options for moviegoers, but that’s not exactly the case. “I don’t think we get lots of the award winning movies.” Sophomore Carter Brooks said “And I don’t like that because I enjoy seeing movies right when they come out.” Cinemark assistant manager, Jon Miller, explains why “Some movies are not wide release so we don’t get them, but there are certain movies we can get because we lobby for them.” Mill-
er said. “But most of the time we only get the wide release one’s.” Overall, there isn’t much say in the matter of movie selection though. “We are told what we get, and we are given them on the release date or the day before.” Miller said Even without the option of some movies, there are many to anticipate. “There are a lot of different sequels that are coming out and we are getting most of them.” Miller said While the busiest days tend to be Tuesday, it is worth fighting the crowd for a discount
on tickets, but if you don’t want to fight the crowd Monday and Wednesday seem to be the slower days. With premieres Thursday night, and opening days Friday, there are plenty of great movies to catch this coming year. “Movies normally come in on Wednesday, and then we have certain managers on staff that view the movies before hand to make sure there are no defects.” Miller said “And then the movie is previewed by most people on Thursday and it is officially released on its release date on Friday.”
Split
The Fate of the Furious
Three teens are captured by a man with multiple personalities. The man, known as Kevin, has 23 personalities, from a young boy to an old women. As Dr Fletcher attempts to figure out what happened to Kevin and how to fix it, the girls plot their escape
The team has found normal life. But then a woman tricks Dom into the world of crime he can’t seem to escape and a betrayal of those closest to him.
January 20
Logan
March 3 Wolverine and Professor X must protect a young female clone Wolverine from an evil organization led by Nathaniel Essex.
Beauty and the Beast
March 17 A young woman, Belle, is taken prisoner by a beast in his castle. She learns to love the enchanted staff and look past the beast’s looks and see is kind heart.
“I think Emma Watson would play me because I feel like I have the same face shape and I look the most like her out of the actresses I know.”
- Chandra Adams (10)
April 12
- Bryceson Laing (12)
“I think I would be Dug from “Up” because I’m a little ditsy and I’m small and sometimes I have ADD.” “I would be the background character or I would be like Daniel Craig in Star Wars the Force Awakens” “I think Chris Pratt would play me because he’s funny and I’m funny.”
“I’m not really sure who would play me because I don’t know very many actresses, but it would definitely be someone adventurous.”
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.2 May 5 The Star-Lord and friends continue their adventures to protect their galaxy against threats like Ayesha and the Ravagers as their team grows and Peter learns about his father, Ego the Living Planet.
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell no Tales May 26
Captain Salazar and his ghost pirates escape from the Devil’s Triangle and are set to kill every pirate at sea including Captain Sparrow. Captain Sparrow’s hope of survival is in the Trident of Poseidon, that gives its possessor control over the seas.
- Phoebe Robertson (9)
“I would be like a girl form of James Bond because its an action movie and I’m very action packed.”
Coming Soon... Wonder Woman- June 2 The Mummy-June 8 World War Z- June 9 Cars 3- June 16 Transformers: The Last Knight- June 23 Despicable Me 3- June 30 Spider- Man: Homecoming- July 7 War for the Planet of the Apes- July 14 Dunkirk- July 21 The Dark Tower- July 28 Annabelle 2- August 11 Blade Runner 2049- October 6 Thor: Ragnarok- November 3 Justice League- November 17 Coco- November 22 Murder on the Orient Express- November 22 Paddington 2- November 24 Star Wars: Episode VIII- December 14 Pitch Perfect 3- December 22 Ferdinand- December 22 Nine Eleven- N/A
24 Entertainment
Going places When there’s nothing to do, students end up at the same places, no matter the year NATALIE HALE
[reporter]
“There’s nothing to do in Texarkana.” It’s common knowledge, but it’s been the same thing for years. Everyone thinks there is nowhere to go and nothing to do, but students actually hang out around Texarkana all the time. They even found places to hang out back before there was a high school. And in fact, some of the places people hung out at 20 years ago are still the same and some are recent hot spots.
“We went out to A&W some, but the favorites were Lee’s on East 9th, where I first met my husband, and Charco’s on New Boston Road. We would travel between the two looking for familiar faces. I have many happy memories of those days.”
Spring Lake Park State Line
Genie Wright- Class of 1963
“It was where people from Texas High and Arkansas would socialize, and talk about what is going on around town.” There was a time where one of the boys drove his good looking red convertible with Sunflowers hanging out the back.”
Spark Ice Cream Parlor
1987
Barbara Hale - Class of 1991 “On the weekend kids would gather in restaurant parking lots and just sit and talk. The police eventually got involved because people who wanted to to the restaurants to eatt couldn’t because of the number of kids blocking the entrances and exits.”
1991 State Line Central Mall
Sam Penturf - Class of 2015 “While driving The Shuffle, I remember a friend throwing a CD out the window because she was worried it was cursed because the basketball team was losing. We would also drive on State Line because that was where kids from all the other schools were and we could yell things at strangers.”
1963 Lee’s Drive In
Mary Meadows Copeland - Class of 1962
2012
2010 Starbucks Target Chick Fil A
The Bridge at the Shuffle Sonic Reagan Adams - Class of 2019 “I usually go and hang out at Starbucks with Avery McEvoy. We sit and talk about what’s happening in our lives. We deal with the stress of school by drinking coffee and give each other motivational support.
Avery McEvoy - Class of 2019 “I was with Reagan Adams and we were at the coffee bar in Books-A-Million. There was a man who was there every Tuesday. He started off with giving us a hug and said ‘Y’all have a blessed day.’ After we got our coffee, he came over and sat with us. He asked if he could have our hands and pray for us. We were hesitant, but we did and he prayed for us and started quoting verses from the Bible. After he prayed for us, he left to go sit at another table.”
2014 Sonic The Shuffle Southern Tropics
2013 Starbucks Target
Avery Mathews- Class of 2019 “We go to Books-A-Million so much people who work there follow us around every time we come in. I think they think we are going to steal something.”
2017
Whataburger Starbucks Sonic Southern Tropics Books-a-Million
Out for blood First-time blood donation goes all wrong If that woman ABBY SANDERSON shanks me one more
[reporter]
time in my ever-loving left arm, I swear I’m going to lose my whole bag of marbles in one fell swoop, right here, right now. I’m trying to do something good. I want to help people, that’s why I’m here. I keep repeating that in my head, but the morality of this situation isn’t blocking out the pain. Maybe I need a brown paper sack. I don’t know. I do know that I definitely didn’t sign up for the Nine Circles of Hell as delivered by this smiley, stabby nurse lady. But here I am. Stabby nurse and all. I wrote my name down maybe a week ago on that sign up sheet for the blood drive at lunch. I might as well have just signed away my soul. I jittered my way through the registration and the finger prick (which hurt way more than “just a pinch,” by the way) and all those questions about whether or not I was absolutely freaking sure that I wasn’t pregnant in any way, shape, or form (And unless I’m the next Virgin Mary, I’m not.). I had a whole kaleidoscope of butterflies in my stomach, but I made it through. And as a reward, I now have the honor of being stabbed in the bend of my elbow for the seventh time (I think it’s the seventh time she’s stuck me. It’s hard to count when contemplating my mortality) by this nurse who keeps asking if I’m “doing okay.” Yeah, I’ll be doing okay as soon as you decide to QUIT TRYING TO KILL ME. But it’s fine. I’m fine. It’s for a good cause. I think we’re on try number nine now.
HALEY HEARN [reporter]
Give me a break
Plenty of lessons can be learned from living with a broken arm in the summer
I’m pretty sure I just heard her say that my vein was “being a little slippery.” That’s cute. Perhaps the biggest understatement I’ve heard to date, but cute nonetheless. She calls her nurse friend over to help, at long last. She sees my face (I’m an ugly crier, so I can’t imagine I’m looking fresh and glowing at the moment) and makes that face that I make at my dog when he’s begging for food. You know what I’m talking about. That face that’s followed by a “God love him” or a “Bless his heart.” Ugh. By try number ten (that’s a one and then a zero, folks.) she manages to get the needle in my vein. Apparently, you can still count while choking back screams and trying not to look at the sharp metal thing piercing your soft arm flesh over and over. Good to know. But of course, now that she’s got that demon thing in my arm, my blood isn’t flowing through that little plastic tube fast enough. Go figure. It’s probably afraid to leave the safety of my body after that needle fiasco. Now the little stabby nurse from earlier is sitting by my chair and dragging freaking blood pliers (sorry, I don’t know what they’re actually called—forgot to ask in the heat of the moment) down
When you play a soccer game, you figure that you’re going to get some bumps and bruises, but you don’t really expect anything serious. You especially don’t expect for your game to be ended inside an ambulance, in a completely different state, without any of your family. But, sadly, that’s life. If only I had broken my arm on April 24 in a cool way. That’s why, when someone asks, I just say, “Oh, I broke it in soccer.” No one wants to hear that you slipped on wet grass when there was literally no one next to you at all. That’s just not very intense. But, that’s how my six months of suffering started, with me lying on the wet ground, covered with a towel, and with another elbow in the middle in my forearm. It was a bad break, but I didn’t think that it would cause me to miss my whole summer and then some. I just thought, four weeks, and then “Poof,” all better. How deluded I was. When I found out that it was either surgery or a bent arm, I went for having a straight arm in the long run. Surgery added more delightful time to doing absolutely nothing. There are so many amazing things that you can do with two arms that you can’t do with one. So just take a little moment, and thank Jesus for your two fully functional arms. Who would’ve thought that putting on clothes, washing your hair, putting your hair in a po-
the tube to force my generous donation through. And every time she moves, that Satan-spawn of a needle twitches and shifts in my arm. Perfect. Every other donor has left, and it’s just me and good ol’ Stabby. She sighs and gets up, giving me a smile and a “you’re done!” As I’m holding my arm above my head and applying pressure with a cotton ball to stop the bleeding, I thank the Lord for my deliverance today. I walk out with a Nutter Butter (not nearly payment enough for my suffering and tribulation) and make the drive home, glancing at the blue wrap on my left arm and waiting for the blood from my grisly battle wound to seep through. It never happens. You’d think that after that hellish nightmare that I would wise up and wave sayonara to my days (or two hours) as a blood donor. I guess I have a penchant for suffering or something,
Opinion 25
Edge
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Online Editor
Lucas Marchesani
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Adviser Charla Harris
because I keep going back to donate. I mean, it is for a good cause. Plus, after that first donation from the depths of Hell, the rest feels like a cakewalk. I hope. nytail (actually just anything to do with hair) would be such a struggle. I became so helpless, which I am not a very big fan of being. I think the worst thing was the heat though. Not the surgeries, or the pain, or the constant itching. Nothing was worse than that heat. During surgery, they even cut me with scissors on accident. I have a pretty noticeable scar from it, but I don’t think it was as bad as that horrific heat. There were times when I would have rather cut off my arm than stand in the heat for any longer. You see, the problem with the heat isn’t that you’re hot. It’s the sweating that kills you, and when you live in Texas, you sweat a lot. And the smell that comes from the sweating gets stronger and stronger every moment you’re outside. It was terrible. The stuffiness made me have nightmares of what it felt like to be in a straight jacket. I just wanted to rip it off and smash it on the ground, but all I could do was sigh and stick my arm in the refrigerator trying to cool off or use my paint brush to scratch under my cast (which they told me not to do, but I totally did). Despite all the heat, itching, and embarrassment, I made it through the summer. I’ll admit, it wasn’t all bad. And, I learned an important lesson: NEVER EVER EVER try to catch yourself when you’re falling.
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Reporters Madeline Haak Samantha Knowles Katie Hutcheson Natalie Hale Haley Hearn Sophia Tuttlebee Love Lynx Jill Bultemeier Dawson Hatfield Avery Jensen Matthew Lindsey Allen Lambert James Tuttlebee Brooklyn Puzz Yates Floyd Zach Carpenter Abby Sanderson Skyler Lewis
Principal
Darren Williams
EDITORIAL POLICY Edge is produced by the newspaper students in the publications department of Pleasant Grove High School who are responsible for its production and content. The newspaper serves as an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to students. Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the student staffers and do not necessarily reflect those of the administration. Signed columns and reviews reflect the opinion of the author only. Edge encourages and accepts letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and will be edited to eliminate obscenity and inappropriate content. Letters may be submitted to the editor in room 603. Edge is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, National Scholastic Press Association and Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
26 Opinion
Staff Editorial
Open campus lunch would increase attendance, morale and grades of students Leaving school. A lot of students do it. A lot get caught. A number of students leave the school during lunch, and recently administrators have been cracking down on students who leave for a quick lunch at Sonic or Chick-fil-a. The problem is that cracking down on students leaving isn’t going to change anything. We’re creative, and we’ll always think of new and innovative ways to slip out of the school if we really want to. The easiest solution to this problem is to create some system for open lunches. Allowing students to meet a set of requirements to leave the campus and cracking down on other students who don’t meet the requirements would open up space in the cafeteria, and eliminate school liability for students who are already leaving school. If administrators free up space in the cafeteria and condense it down to one lunch, it would allow for extra time during Excel or extra time that could be given to each class period to increase student learning. For example, one system administrators could create would rely on students achieving an 85 average in all their classes, having their parent or guardian sign a form allowing them to leave the campus during their lunch period, and having no unexcused absences during the prior six weeks. If a student is tardy getting back from lunch, or they fail to come back from lunch at all, they would forfeit their open lunch privileges for the current six weeks and the next six weeks. This system, if implemented, would have a massive im-
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pact on student grades and attendance. Students would be encouraged to do well in all of their classes and come to school on time. It’s important to reward students who do well in their classes and show up to school so they’ll have more incentive to continue to do well. This isn’t just something that would appeal to the best stu-
dents at the school. This would create an environment that encourages all students to excel academically. No system is perfect, and there will be problems with any new program. But if administrators could create an open lunch policy that encourages students to do well in school, they would see an improvement in the grades and the morale of students.
- Art by Abby Sanderson
You have to say about . . .
Movies and videos being banned in the classroom “It’s upsetting to me because there are a lot of really valuable and useful materials out there. I think that by not allowing us to use those, it’s hurting our students and curriculum more than it’s helping us. I think videos and things like YouTube clips can give you a picture that words cannot.” -Katie Teer (Teacher)
“I think it’s pretty outrageous. I don’t think this will affect me though. Last year, with Mr. Baldwin, I didn’t struggle at all, and he showed us several movies in there. I was fine. Taking them away isn’t going to hurt us, but it’s definitely going to be less fun.” -Linton Colvin (10)
“I think that’s dumb because, especially in classes like history, we need to watch political videos because we need to know what’s going on in our country. You don’t need to be watching a whole bunch of movies instead of doing your work, but movies sometimes can’t really hurt that much.” -Avery Cornish (10)
“It depends on the class. For example, maybe the fashion class could get something out of “The Wizard of Oz,”because they have cool costumes, but I don’t think movies belong in a math class. If the teacher’s just too lazy to think of something to do, it’s not okay. But I think educational videos belong in certain classes.” -Trey Smith (11)
“I definitely think that movies help us learn better in classes like biology. Like, if they’re trying to show us something in, say, anatomy, a video would probably help because then we can actually see what the teacher is talking about with our own eyes.” -Hayden Dossey (12)
27 Ads Singers and dancers take the stage in the annual Miss PGHS pageant, senior Jasmine Bruce takes the crown
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1. Adding another bobby pin, junior Rachel Johnson, Miss PGHS 2016, places the 2017 crown on the head of senior Jasmine Bruce as Miss Outstanding Teen Texarkana Allie Graves looks on. (AClark) 2. Miss PGHS contestants Zoe Terral and Jasmine Bruce applaud as senior Noah Bates steps forward as the the winner of the Mr. PGHS contest. (AClark) 3. On stage for the talent portion of the pageant, senior Zoe Terrel performs her jazz dance routine to the song “A Little Party Never Killed Nobody.” (AClark) 4. Junior Andrea Luna sings “Part of Your World” from “The Little Mermaid” during the talent competition. Luna won the talent award for her performance. (AClark) 5. Junior Allison Michaelis performs a tap dance to the song “Proud Mary” (AClark)
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