Vol. 20 No. 2

the

Roar

A&M Consolidated High School

Go green with Environmental Club on page 7.

1801 Harvey Mitchell Pkwy. S., College Station, Texas 77840

people

10

john tohkubbi

Athletes share off-field stories of harassment, bonding

14

swimming

et cetera

peter pan

Vol. 20 No. 2

HAZED & CONFUSED

inthisissue

sports

Friday, Oct. 31, 2014

16

O

SHILPA SARAVANAN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF & AUSTIN COATS, SPORTS EDITOR

n a Saturday night in January, five minutes before curfew, junior Alex Acton-Petronotis (then a sophomore) found himself lying on the carpet of a hotel corridor outside of the door to the coaches’ room, apparently alone and more-thanapparently ensconced in ten rolls’ worth of cellophane.

Minutes earlier, four senior and junior soccer players had seized ActonPetronotis to perform the requisite wrapping, pull a pair of goggles over his face, draw on him with Sharpies and attempt to fit a condom

on top of his head before dragging the younger player down the hallway and depositing him in front of the coaches’ door.

“It was the second-tolast day of [a soccer tournament],” Acton-Petronotis said. “I walked into my room, and they were just waiting there for me, and then they closed in.”

The rest of the team waited in the wings, out of sight, as head soccer coach Stefano Salerno opened his door to the mummified Acton-Petronotis. As Salerno remembers it, “everyone

started laughing.” Salerno reminded his team about their curfew, and they all returned to their rooms—except Acton-Petronotis, who merely flopped around on the floor.

“I was his roommate,” sophomore (then-freshman) Fernando Flores said. “We had to drag him back to the room, and he was so heavy.”

Flores helped ActonPetronotis extricate himself from the body cast, which was, at that point, causing the latter to lose circulation.

The process, according to the two, took over half an hour and involved a knife.

wheretolook

news viewpoints snapshots student life people sports entertainment

pages 2-4 pages 5-6 page 7 page 8-9 page 11-12 page 13-14 page 15-16

“hazing” continued on page 3.

2 | news | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

New social studies curriculum provides freshmen with choice between classes elizabeth reed | photography editor Incoming freshmen now have the option to choose the first social studies class they’ll take in high school—world geography or world history.

“In the 1980s, [students] started out where in social studies you basically got to choose [between] world geography or world history, and you had to take U.S. history, government, and economics for graduation purposes. Then [later] in the 1980s they decided that [students] need to take both world history and world geography,” geography teacher Debbie Lange said. “At that point, [Consol] decided that we would offer world history at the ninth grade level and geography at the tenth grade level.

Each district got to choose where they put each of the courses.”

Consol is one of the few schools in Texas that had previously offered world history first. The plan was to teach students based on what they had learned in earlier schooling.

“The concept was you build [on] what you know in elementary up to the state [history], up to the U.S. [history and] up to the world [history], and then we would go beyond globalization,” Lange said. “World history would take it up to basically World War Two, and geography would be more

from to the present, and then [students] would get into government and economics.”

However, Consol decided to offer the option of world history or world geography since there were incoming students from different high schools. Also, the introduction of AP World History class influenced the decision.

“It was decided that because of the reading requirements for world history, another year of maturity would help support that,” Lange said. “[In] geography, even though it [has] a difficult AP exam in that you have to think geographically, people felt like the students would do as well as freshmen in the geography class because [those are] the students we would be compared at for the national level from Texas.”

Students who enroll in world geography as freshmen are expected to take world history as a sophomore and vice versa.

Sueji Han is one of the many freshmen this year to take the new route offered.

“I decided to take AP Human Geography first because as I signed up for my classes as an incoming freshman, I asked many of my current sophomore and junior friends what the two [classes] were like, and they said that it would be easier to take [AP] Human [Geography] first because it’s easier than [World History AP],” Han,

said. “It wouldn’t be as hard for me to adjust to the way high school works.”

Many wondered what issues would come with teaching a combined group of sophomores and freshmen, especially when freshmen are coming in from social study classes that cater to one level of students.

“It’s a challenge. You have the maturity aspect of it, particularly at the AP level.

They’ve never been exposed to the rigor,” Lange said. “There’s no differentiation between interest level [and] learning capability [in middle school]; you don’t have the honors or advanced academic course.”

Surprisingly, freshmen are enjoying the chance to have a combined class with sophomores.

“Some benefits are that you can see what an AP class is like for future reference and [you can] meet new people,” Han said.

“It’s a lot more fun [learning] with older people.”

Even though freshmen are coming in to world geography straight from junior high, the same responsibilities are expected of freshmen as sophomores, according to Lange.

“Pacing might be a little bit different.

I have high expectations for them and you know, yes, with the first couple of weeks, month or so, I try to help them learn how

to take notes, how to organize material, how to study, and then as we go further, I’m trying to get them ready for college,” Lange said. “I have the same expectations whether they’re freshmen or sophomores.”

Han finds that the class is different from previous ways of learning, but not impossible.

“This class is not hard; [it’s] the amount of time and work it takes is [challenging] to get the kind of result you want,” Han said.

About three-fourths of freshmen have decided to take world geography this year.

But whether they’re freshmen or sophomores, “students are students” to Lange, and she has the same end-goal for all of them.

“I want to [give them] a curiosity of the world—why does their music have the topics that it does, how does that fit in with their culture, what’s going on right now in the world in terms of the Ebola virus or the ISIS group in the Middle East, how does that impact them as potential drivers in terms of petroleum—how that all changes and works together,” Lange said. “By trying to get them interested in the topic and trying to make it worthwhile to them, hopefully that will open their eyes up and so when they get into the next level or course, they can bring some of that curiosity with them.”

the roar | news | 3

friday, oct. 31, 2014

Past hazing experiences lead to varying opinions on traditions “hazing” cont. from page 1 WHAT CONSTITUTES HAZING? “I would definitely call it a hazing,” Acton-Petronotis said, regarding what he was subjected to. “But I would call it a good hazing. [The upperclassmen] were being nice about it—they weren’t hurting me or anything.”

However, the lines between “good” and “bad” instances of hazing—just as the lines between what’s hazing and what’s not—tend to blur. Neither Acton-Petronotis nor Flores, who was hazed in a subsequent tournament, remembers finding their respective situations all that funny while they were in them.

“I was pretty mad,” Flores, who was a freshman at the time, said. “They just… left me there.”

“There” was a stall in a women’s restroom, below and across the hotel from the rest of the team’s rooms.

Several older players had pushed Flores into one of their rooms, put him in a swivel chair, wrapped him in a duct tape straitjacket and placed a helmet on his head before wheeling him into the elevator, out of the elevator and into the restroom, where they left Flores for the duration of an hour.

“I couldn’t do anything,” Flores said. “I was in the chair, taped around. I couldn’t move.”

None of Flores’s other teammates, to his knowledge, knew where he was. Afterwards, though, photos were posted to Twitter, where they live on.

“After you get hazed, you’re part of the team,” Flores said. “It’s funny. Anyway, I’ve heard worse from baseball.” *** Baseball player junior Harold Sanchez* describes the systematic hazing he experienced as an underclassman (as opposed to Acton-Petronotis’s and Flores’s one-time happenings)

as simply a series of incidents of “older people picking on younger people”—physically and mentally.

“After [the upperclassmen] showered,” Sanchez said, “they’d come around and [vulgarity deleted]. No one ever complained.”

Sanchez describes, too, a tradition of “goating,” which did not limit itself to freshmen, but could be applied to anyone who “did something really stupid: said something, did something or didn’t try something.” Upon consensus, team members would organize a time at which the offender would be subjected to the “goat.”

shape of peer pressure: Sanchez felt pressured by upperclassmen on the team to partake of various tobacco products, such as electronic cigarettes and chewing and dipping tobacco. As dip in particular became more popular, underclassmen began to buy it from upperclassmen.

“It was like a network,” Sanchez said. “It’s the baseball stereotype: like, baseball kids dip.

I guess that’s just a reputation that baseball players have.”

Mann is unaware of this pressure, but he is aware of both the baseball stereotype and of the fact that some members of his team use dipping and chewing tobacco (and are particularly

“It was the second-to-last day of [a soccer tournament]. I walked into my room, and they were just waiting there for me, and then they closed in.”

— junior Alex Acton-Petronotis “[The offender] would have to stand on top of the lockers, bend over, and pull down his pants,” Sanchez said. “[The rest of the team] would get a tennis ball and either hit it with a bat or throw it really hard and try to hit [the offender] in the [genitals].”

According to Sanchez, these incidents were “the norm” when the baseball team had several senior members.

However, baseball coach Chase Mann says that he speaks regularly to his players—at preseason meetings and before every road trip— about how his coaching staff does not condone any kind of hazing or mistreatment, and he maintains that he is willing to speak with any victims.

“My door is always open,” Mann said. “[Hazing] is not something that we do.”

But hazing can also take the

notorious for the use of said substances). Naturally, he takes the same position towards illegal substance use as he does towards harassment: he doesn’t tolerate it and furthermore, he takes measures to discourage it by checking the locker rooms for dip usage during any downtime.

“At the start of the year, there are some guys who will go in [the locker room] and [use illegal substances], and I have to tell them to stop,” Mann said.

“There’ve been some guys, if they’re known for it, and I see them doing it, they run.”

THE CONSEQUENCES “You can’t really get mad at hazing,” Acton-Petronotis said.

“It’s kind of like an initiation or a bonding experience.”

Soccer coaches Stefano Salerno and Mark Hollis

agree, so long as what “hazing” encompasses doesn’t involve upperclassmen taking action against underclassmen with any sort of malicious intent, and the underclassmen don’t end up with long-term “hurt feelings” afterwards.

“It’s mainly just a way to have fun,” Salerno said. “It’s a way for the team to bond and welcome the freshmen.”

Both Acton-Petronotis and Flores say that, given the chance (as upperclassmen) to haze younger team members in the fashion in which they themselves were “initiated,” they would do so for similar reasons: because afterwards, they were able to laugh about their experiences with the upperclassmen who hazed them.

Sanchez finds his experiences far from funny, even going so far as to describe situations in which he felt unsafe—such as when he found himself on buses on which everyone in the back was using electronic cigarettes. The combination of hazing and use of illegal substances, he says, created a “cool” group within the team made up of those who participated: everyone else was left out.

“A team should be working together towards the same goal, pushing each other to get better, and calling each other out if they’re doing something bad,” Sanchez said. “That didn’t happen.”

Sanchez recognizes three types of people on any team when it comes to hazing: the ones who haze, the ones who let hazing slide and the ones who stand up for themselves and others.

“It always comes down to good judgment,” Sanchez said.

“Even if a tradition has been going on for years, if it’s not good, you need to stand up to that.” *Name has been changed to protect the identity of the source.

HAZING

STATISTICS 55%

of college students involved in clubs, teams and organizations experience hazing.

40%

of athletes who reported being involved in hazing behaviors report that a coach or advisor was aware of the activity 22% report that the coach was involved.

For every 10 students being hazed, only 1 of them realizes that they have been hazed.

2 in 5 students say they are aware of hazing taking place on their campus. More than 1 in 5 report that they witnessed hazing personally.

36%

of students say they would not report hazing primarily because “there’s no one to tell,” and 27% feel that adults won’t handle it right.

SOURCES: stophazing.org, the University of Dayton and the University of Maryland

4 | news | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

Newly enforced rules transform how clubs operate on campus zach kluver | entertainment editor Last year, during club meetings, it was relatively easy to get by without documenting anything or writing down the names of every person attending. It was also fairly easy to start a club, as long as the club had a unique purpose. However, when Consol’s clubs met again this year after a long summer, they were surprised to find a whole new filing cabinet full of rules and regulations.

As it turns out, these regulations are not being implemented by CSISD alone.

“There have been many TEA (Texas Education Agency), state and federal policy regulation changes,” budget analyst Kimberly Voelker said. “To make sure all campuses across the district were aware of the changes and consistent in implementing the current laws, CSISD created a district handbook.”

In order to avoid breaking rules, the new regulations had to be mandated. Many of the changes in club policy remained unknown by some schools across CSISD for a few years, so CSISD created the handbook to make it easier for staff to learn the new rules.

With the unpopularity and difficulties created by the new conventions, many students may want to have an unofficial club.

However, this is not recommended by any

CSISD staff. The club would be unable to use school grounds for any purposes.

“The district is responsible for the safety of the students and staff,” Voelker said.

“We need to be aware of when students are meeting or traveling and know that they are properly supervised.”

For new clubs, the process of making sure their purpose is different from other, already existing ones is more difficult.

“I don’t really know if [the changes] are necessary if nothing’s going to change.” senior Lily Xiao A proposed club would need to complete and submit a Club Application Form.

If there are no other clubs in existence with a similar purpose and the administration approves the club, they will be notified and asked to prepare a constitution or by-laws and submit a list of their elected officials.

These new rules not only create new procedures for clubs to follow, but have forced the integration of the Ping-Pong and Chess club and the Ultimate Frisbee club.

“The clubs are integrating because they are supposed to have the same purpose, which is to play games,” senior and

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president of Ping Pong Club Lily Xiao said.

“Also, the Rubik’s Cube club is going to be part of this, instead of the three separate clubs they used to be.”

The combination of the clubs will make all the previous sponsors become cosponsors. How the club’s integration will affect anything seems to be up in the air, however.

“The separate clubs will meet at normal times, and it won’t really change them,” Xiao said. “I don’t know if it will really have an impact.”

This lack of change makes it feel a little forced for Xiao.

“I don’t really know if it’s necessary if nothing’s going to change,” Xiao said. “All the clubs will function the same way.”

The biggest thing that’s changing in the club is how the club treasury works.

“That’s going to affect how supplies and club dues are used.” Xiao said.

Most of the people attending the clubs won’t even notice a difference, except for the leadership.

“I think that all members [of a club] should be willing to participate in most of the activities,” Xiao said. “In this case though, most people in Ping Pong won’t attend the cubing meetings or the Ultimate Frisbee meetings.”

EXISTING CLUB CODES Club expenditures must be approved by a majority of the club’s members.

Minutes of the organization’s meetings must be written and retained. These minutes must be read and approved at the subsequent meeting.

No other club shall exist that has the same or similar goals and purposes as any proposed club.

A student organization must have a constitution and/or bylaws.

The campus principal must approve all fundraisers.

Source: CSISD club handbook

the roar | viewpoints | 5

friday, oct. 31, 2014

INEQUALITY EXISTS • Only 17% of the seats

WHAT IS FEMINISM?

in Congress are held by women.

• ONE out of every FOUR

women will experience domestic violence in her lifetime.

Feminism still important, necessary for modern age haley mitchell

staff reporter

Remember the Alamo? Remember the countless male historical figures we learned about? Remember the little mention of influential females? Remember learning about any influential females at all in history? Remember when somebody called feminism irrelevant?

Guys and girls are most definitely different, but academically, politically and economically they shouldn’t be. The movement dedicated to basic human equality gets a lot of hate and invoking its very name could lead to several people wadding this newspaper into a ball and setting it on fire before they actually finish reading my column: feminism.

Though feminism is clearly defined, there are still a lot of different, occasionally skewed interpretations of what it might actually mean. So here: the doctrine advocating social, political, and all other rights of women equal to those of men. Literally, this is all it is. No angry mob, no Sister Suffragette musical number.

These conflicting versions exist because of the negative connotations that come with feminism. Feminism is a word

that comes with baggage—phrases like “man-hating” and “bra-burning”—and many think that feminists hate men and solely exist to disenfranchise male power in society. What these people fail to realize is that feminism isn’t a political party.

It’s a group of people striving for equality— no more, no less. Feminism aims to look above political hackery to encompass all women and men to strive forward and attempt to achieve equality.

This is hard to accomplish when the behavioral expectations society sets on me, a girl, are different from those for a guy.

Why is it okay to use excuses like boys will be boys to explain and justify some male conduct, like catcalling and the attitudes towards sexual assault and rape? Saying what did she expect, wearing clothes like that? perpetuates rape culture. Using this logic, that’s like saying that if a person gets shot, it is their fault because they should have been wearing a bulletproof vest.

It’s when politicians like Richard Mourdock say things like “rape is something God intended to happen”, when society defends athletes charged with rape and call the victims career-ruiners, and when a 41-year-old man only spends a month in jail after raping a young girl.

Equal Pay Acts exist too, but the fact remains that Caucasian women make 78 cents for every dollar a man makes, and women of other races make significantly less.

Feminism is flawed. It has a history

of racism and classism. Its technicalities are constantly the cause of dispute among feminist groups, and to some, it is no longer necessary.

But I still need feminism. I need it because I shouldn’t be worried that my friends will be attacked if they stay after school, because having breasts shouldn’t be a disadvantage, and because I can make my own decisions, and my gender shouldn’t mean you can stop me.

Influential people like Beyonce, Taylor Swift and Emma Watson are emerging as feminists from a biased media, shining a more positive light on feminism and drawing attention to it.

Their new and inclusive brand of feminism advocates for fair representations in media and in leadership positions, and control of our own bodies. I mean (and sorry to make some squirm here), the slogan is “no uterus, no opinion”, right? (the slogan has been repurposed as a rebuttal to the abortion restrictions being proposed by male senators) Seriously, though. Stop it with the victim-blaming, the sandwich orders and the get-back-to-the-kitchen jokes. The very fact that I have to deal with this on a daily basis means that feminism justifies itself.

Haley is a staff reporter for The Roar.

Want to share any of your ideas about feminism with her? Contact her at the.roar. mitchell@gmail.com.

• ONE out of every SIX

women will be sexually assaulted and/or raped in her lifetime.

• Although 48% of law school graduates and 45% of law firm associates are female, women make up only 22% of federal-level judgeships.

• America’s top female CEOs earn, on average, 33% for every dollar earned by a male CEO.

source: womensissues.com

6 | viewpoints | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

OPPOSING NO

rojas oliva managing editor

It’s dangerous. It’s mean. Very few things justify hurting people and some vague concept of team bonding certainly doesn’t.

Team dinners and games are better ways of creating memories and relationships.

Find something that works for your team.

Hazing has the potential to create an environment where athletes don’t feel safe, and can’t compete to their fullest.

YES

austin coats sports editor

Hazing is typically neither mean-spirited nor illegal, and is just a prank as a sign of initiation into a team.

The resulting interaction between older and younger teammates builds relationships. The moment provides a starting point and a lasting memory.

Relationships between teammates create chemistry and morale on the field.

This shows through better communication and less infighting.

Is hazing ever justified?

the roar's consensus

Means do not justify theoretical ends The justification for hazing relies on the claim that it builds camaraderie within a team. But in the short term it’s immediately humiliating for those on the receiving end, and it’s sad to think that someone should have to be shamed and exploited in order to gain acceptance into a group, especially a high school sports team. Team bonds should, and easily can, be based on more wholesome experiences.

Bottom line: hazing is unnecesary. There are simply far better ways to build team unity. The physical activity of competing against teams and having to rely on each other should be enough to form the bonds people claim justify hazing. Also, the daily practices any sport requires give a team something to suffer through together. Beyond these, there are countless ways to allow for bonding in a non-threatening environment.

And with regards to the argument that a little hazing is necessary to put freshmen “in their place,” underclassmen should learn to respect upperclassmen from the upperclassmen’s actions and leadership on and off the field. Scoring a crucial point and motivating teammates both benefit a team and command respect. If a team’s supposed leaders feel the need to assert physical dominance through hazing to gain respect and fail to see the real consequences of their actions, it’s easy to see how hazing could, in fact, tear a team apart.

Lastly, hazing creates a cycle in which underclassmen repeat the behavior they’ve learned and cruelty is slowly made into tradition. In its own demented way, only when hazing has crossed the line from humilating pranks to pure sadism will it defeat itself. Until then, teammates and coaches should do their best to stop it.

The Roar 2014-2015 Staff Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Executive Editor Senior Editor Online & Photography Editor News Editor Opinions Editor Sports Editor Entertainment Editor Staff Reporter

Faculty Adviser Assistant Adviser

Shilpa Saravanan Rojas Oliva Annie Zhang Stephanie Palazzolo Elizabeth Reed Aaron Ross Alex Coopersmith Austin Coats Zach Kluver Vi Burgess Sydney Garrett Rachel Lamb Haley Mitchell Michael Williams Chauncey Lindner

The Roar Editorial Board

Shilpa Saravanan • Rojas Oliva • Alex Coopersmith

How far is too far?

“Older kids should help out the younger kids. They should be leaders and not bully kids into doing what they want.”

junior JORDAN GANTT

“I think hazing is different for guy sports. I have never been on a team that hazes.

It isn’t justified though.”

senior MAMIE BARNHARDT

“Hazing isn’t justified, since its just another cruel form of bullying that puts a victim into a place where no good decisions can be made.”

junior FRANCISCO MACKIN-PLANKEY

The Roar is produced by the Advanced Journalism class at A&M Consolidated High School, 1801 Harvey Mitchell Parkway S., College Station, Texas, 77840. The opinions expressed are those of the writers and are not reflective of the administrators, faculty or staff of the College Station Independent School District.

Submissions to the editors are welcomed but must be signed and should not exceed 300 words. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions in the interest of clarity and length or to not print a letter at all. Letters containing obscene or libelous material will not be considered. The Editorial Board consists of the editor-in-chief, managing editor and opinions editor.

The Roar is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference (ILPC), the National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) and the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). The Roar is a winner of the CSPA Gold Crown, the 1997, 1998, 2000-2014 ILPC Award of Distinguished Merit, the CSPA Gold Medal Award, the NSPA All-American distinction and 2005 & 2014 ILPC Bronze Star and 2007-2013 Silver Star.

College Station Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, sex or handicap in providing education services. Glynn Walker, Director of Human Resources, 1812 Welsh, College Station, Texas 77840 (979-764-5412) has been designated to coordinate compliance with the nondiscrimination requirements of Title IX. Catherine George, Director of Special Services, 1812 Welsh, Suite 120, College Station, Texas 77840 (979-764-5433) has been designated to coordinate compliance with the nondiscrimination. requirements of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act.

the roar | snapshots | 7

friday, oct. 31, 2014

GREEN TEAM

Enviromental Club hopes to increase membership, pursue lofty goals annie zhang | executive editor

The Enviromental club changes out the recyling bags once a week. Senior Phillip Dusold sorts through a recycling bag. PHOTO BY ANNIE ZHANG

Enviromental club planted a few flowers in hopes of selling them in a fundraiser. They also plan to plant vegetables. PHOTO BY ANNIE ZHANG

Members of enviromental club seniors Mamie Barnhardt, Phillip Dusold, and junior Ester Araujo take out recycling bags. Members are also responsible for the aluminum recycling. PHOTO BY ANNIE ZHANG

Environmental Club has been planting the seeds of interest among students with its latest projects and experiments, such as elephant toothpaste, school gardens and filleted fish.

Its current project, led by president Savannah Troy, includes a new portable garden that will be placed in front of the club sponsor, Matt Young’s, room.

“Pollinators like bees are very threatened right now because of our pesticide use, so the garden will be a safe haven for them,” Troy said.

Although the flowers have been growing relatively slowly, the flowers will be used for Valentine’s Day and Earth Day fundraisers.

“We have three flowers now, but they’re cold weather plants, so we can definitely do some winter and fall veggies,” Troy said. “Once our garden is up and running, we would like to facilitate a fundraiser, in which we sell bouquets of flowers. It’d be something unique, something we’ve never had at the school before.”

In addition, the club plans to hold a fish fry fundraiser in November, where they will cook and serve fish to attendees.

“Mr. Young has a two hundred gallon tank filled with tilapia,” Troy said. “We’ve got all the legal part cleared, so we just have to cook and fillet eighty fish. It’ll be a lot of fun.”

But a major limitation of the banquet, and of the club

itself, is a shortage of members.

“It’d really stink, literally, if I had to fillet eighty fish by myself, but we have a reasonable base of support that is steadily growing,” Troy said.

Although College Station is largely agricultural-based, Troy believes that many people still scoff at environmental issues.

“They think [we’re] just tree-hugging hippy problems, which is false. Without the environment, there is no

“We’re all just nerdy and crazy and fun.” senior SAVANNAH TROY humanity,” Troy said.

To advocate their ideas, Troy plans to visit elementary schools to expose younger students to environmental concepts.

“Right now, we’ve got two fall carnivals we’re going to work at, where we’ll be doing cool experiments, like the one with elephant toothpaste, which will hopefully make the kids more excited about science,” Troy said. “Also, we’re going over to Cypress Grove once a month to have an environmental club over there, and my plan for the first meeting includes teaching

them how to extract their own DNA just by spitting into a test tube and adding various chemicals.”

As for the actual club, which is held on Thursdays in Young’s room, the members are responsible for the plastic and aluminum recycling.

“Plastic recycling can get real gross sometimes, like when there are gnats flying out,” Troy said. “I’ve got to say, just for those of you reading this article, please do not throw food into the recycling bin. It’s disgusting. Thank you very much.”

Junior Kyra Dotson, too, recalled several instances of finding and digging out some objectionable items.

“We find food in it, and one time I found a piece of weave in it. Like, seriously? Weave in the recycling bin? I picked it up and gnats flew out,” Dotson said. “I mean, if these people are already walking to the recycling bin, they might as well go to the trash can; I can guarantee it won’t hurt them.”

But regardless of the occasionally grimy work involved, both agree that that should not be a deterrent for anybody interested in joining the club.

“Don’t be frightened when I said that plastic recycling is gross, because we have Lysol and gloves,” Troy said. “But really, we have a relatively eclectic group of people, so don’t be afraid that you won’t fit in, because in the end, we’re all just nerdy and crazy and fun.”

10 | people | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

SPIRITUAL CLEANSING Head janitor recounts unique spiritual path, effects on job

P

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JOH N TOH

KUBBI BY

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rojas oliva | managing editor

DO Y O

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John Tohkubbi is smiling.

“I feel right being here,” Tohkubbi said.

‘Here’ is working as Consol’s head janitor, a position Tohkubbi has held for 22 smiling years.

“There’s never a dull moment interacting with you guys [and] feeling like I can really do a lot of good by helping others,” Tohkubbi said.

Tohkubbi started working as a janitor when he was fresh out of the army, where he spent two years after graduating from Consol in 1989. A friend told him about a job opening at his old school and he fell in love with the opportunities it offered him.

“You make people happy cleaning,” Tohkubbi said. “For me it’s, you know, a job, but it’s also a means to help serve others.”

That kindness and the fulfillment it brings has been a mainstay of Tohkubbi’s life, and what can only be described as his unique spiritual path. He grew up in a Christian home—his earliest memory is sitting in Sunday school—but independence opened the doors for him to redefine what he wanted from

religion.

“Once I got out on my own and became an adult and started to explore life for myself, I realized that fundamentally there was something that I was searching for, something deep inside, that my upbringing—it’s fine, I’m not talking against it—just didn’t fulfill,” Tohkubbi said. “That feeling that I just haven’t discovered something of this wholeness, this true happiness that is actually there, kept yearning me on to look at other religions.”

Initially, Tohkubbi’s conversations with religious leaders didn’t lead anywhere, as the concepts seemed “too foreign” for him to apply to his life—that is, until he found Zen Buddhism. Within six months of finding a local group, the Brazos Buddhist Association, and starting meditations, he discovered he was “primed” for the teachings of Buddhism. He suspects his intense response to meditation might be a result of having been a monk or spiritual being in a past existence.

“I recognized very naturally this wholeness that’s already there,” Tohkubbi said. “Like the Christians can say the Spirit of God or the Love of God, but in Buddhist terms it’s just we’re naturally this way, deep inside. We get busy in our minds and want this or want that, and that distracts us from what is already there.”

While Tohkubbi found the wholeness he’d been looking for in Buddhism, Tohkubbi still considers himself a Christian spiritually.

“That means I spiritually recognize the Love of God and the reality of Christ, and that salvation is very real,” Tohkubbi said. “It’s funny because once I went on the Buddhist path, Christianity, for me, became more meaningful.”

Thus, his Buddhist beliefs and practices mainly allow him to find a balance between what he refers to

IN GET

FORMED !

john’s book picks: “Buddhism for Beginners“

by Dominique Francon “After the Ecstasy, the Laundry”

by Jack Kornfield

original scripture: “In the Buddha’s Words”

by Bhikkhu Bodhi

as the “mundane,” our feelings and our psychological composition, and “the super-mundane,” a mystical understanding of the wholeness of the individual.

“In our life, we go through the motions, which is fine, it’s how we make our way,” Tohkubbi said. “But the way the Buddha saw it, we tend to be entangled in great hatred and delusion for most of our life, and he saw the way through that.”

This clarity affects his workday and explains how he feels he’s able to do so much good at the school.

“I try to realize that I should try to be as wholesome as I possibly can in everything I do,” Tohkubbi said. “I’m not perfect, most people aren’t, but I try to say ‘OK, let me look at the wholesome qualities that I can cultivate in a workday and cultivate those, and if I get angry, I try to not involve myself in those feelings.’”

Recently, Tohkubbi has been helping students in a directly spiritual way. Following a presentation he gave to Interfaith in 2008, he again presented to the club on Zen Buddhism.

“If there’s someone who really faithfully believes in something, it’s really cool to hear about that perspective and what that does for them,” Interfaith president Mattie DeWitt said. “Tohkubbi offered a lot of insight into what Buddhism had done for him, and as a person he’s very happy and clearly it’s working positively in his life.”

Tohkubbi initially approached Interfaith because he believed he could offer something unique, something that people in Western cultures aren’t typically familiar with, but his fundamental beliefs are universal.

“Our life is very precious,” Tohkubbi said. “It doesn’t last forever, so [we should] take care of what we have, make the most of it, try to better ourselves, and follow our dreams.”

INVOLVED! GET The Brazos Buddhist Association meets every Sunday from three to five at the Unitarian Universalist church.

Set apart some time in your day to meditate, even just to calm your mind with the process.

friday, oct. 31, 2014

Students struggle with balance between religion, school alex coopersmith | opinions editor

BELIEF OVER

BOOKS

Sandy Koufax became a Jewish hero because he refused to pitch a World Series game on Yom Kippur. Hamza and Husain Abdullah skipped a NFL season to do the Hajj. When religious holidays and school occur on the same day, many students must make the same decisions that adults and sports stars have to make as well. Do they go to school, or go practice their religion?

Under state law and thus CSISD policy, discrimination of all kinds is banned, and the school can’t place an undue burden on religious students. As a result, religious holy days are an exception to mandatory attendance policies.

But even so, missing school can be a problem. “[School administrators] don’t count it as an absence, which is really nice, but you still have to make up work,” sophomore Nooran Riaz said. “If you are taking higher level classes, there is a lot of stuff to do even if you just miss one day. But there isn’t anything they can do about it. It is how it is.”

Riaz is a Muslim and tries to go to mosque once or twice a week. In addition, she misses school for the Islamic holidays of Eid al-Fitr (the end of Ramadan) and Eid al-Adha (the Feast of the Sacrifice).

“This year, the two events already passed,” Riaz said. “One was in the summer, and one was on the weekend, so I didn’t miss any school.”

Although Islamic holidays took place during the weekend this year, Jewish high school students weren’t as lucky.

“Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year, fell on a Wednesday this year,” sophomore Samantha Mallen said. “I have missed school for the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur ever since elementary school.”

CHRISTIANITY Christmas, one of the most recognizable holidays in the world & one of the two main Christian holidays, celebrates the birth of Jesus. Over two billion people around the world, both Christian and non-Christian, take part in this holiday.

the roar | people | 11

In addition, the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur (the day of atonement) fell on the night of the homecoming football game, and continued until nightfall the next day, which was the homecoming dance.

“I’m in Student Council, and I couldn’t help set up,” Mallen said. “Homecoming is one of our major fundraising opportunities that we have, so that was really hard for me.

I almost couldn’t go to homecoming, but I ended up showing up late.”

But like Riaz, she hasn’t had any problems missing school for religious holidays.

“My teachers were always very helpful,” Mallen said. “They would give me my work beforehand, and I wouldn’t have a lot of makeup work to do.”

Mallen and Riaz agree that the school is welcoming to people of all religions.

“They mostly are,” Riaz said. “I cover my head every day, and nobody has ever said anything negative about it. I’ve only gotten positive comments.”

One of the holiest times for Muslims is the month of Ramadan. During Ramadan, which is determined by the lunar calendar, all Muslims have to fast, from sunrise to sunset, for the month of Ramadan. A unique situation occurs when a small percentage of the student body must fast and everyone else doesn’t.

“The first week is hard,” senior Sibba Al-Kahtani said. “I used to force my friends to pay me three dollars every time they ate in front of me. Now, I’m kind of over it, mostly because you get used to the hunger, and there is always a sense of purpose to the mild discomfort.”

In addition to Al-Kahtani, Riaz also has grown comfortable being one of the few fasting.

“I’ve gotten used to it. It doesn’t bother me anymore,” Riaz said. “I know why I am fasting, and that is enough.”

ISLAM Islam has two main holidays celebrated by Muslims worldwide.

Eid al-Fitr begins after Ramadan, a month-long fast, and Eid al-Adha is the “Feast of Sacrifice” originating from a sacrifice of a goat where many Muslims take place in a hajj, or a pilgrimage.

HINDUISM

Although holidays differ from region to region, one holiday that most Hindus celebrate is Diwali. The “festival of lights” takes place during autumn every year. The holiday lasts for five days and celebrates the triumph of good over evil, light over dark and hope over despair.

12 | people | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

the parent trap

Students in child development class experience ups, downs of early parenthood

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vi burgess | staff reporter Forget familiar names like Jack and Jill: “Two Test Grades” is a perfectly acceptable name for a baby, according to the students in the Child Development class.

The baby in question doesn’t care—it’s a plastic eight pound doll with keen sensors and a net worth of two test grades for the “mothers” or “fathers” in charge of caring for the babies. “[My favorite part was] whenever it would laugh, because it’s so cute,” sophomore Kaylee Ramos said.

“Whenever it would sleep, it would breathe; [normally] I hate hearing people breathe but that is the happiest sound I have ever heard.”

The baby is connected to a particular sensor bracelet worn by the student taking care of it for the week. Once the baby starts crying, students have seconds to scan the bracelet to the baby and start taking care of one of its needs: feeding, changing, burping, or holding.

“We have some really good mothers and we have some very neglectful mothers who admit to tiring of the project and leaving their baby abandoned in a place where they don’t have to hear them cry,” child development teacher Janet Petersen said. “It’s good for them to know parenthood is serious and it’s a huge obligation and responsibility.”

The 16 students have chosen to take the class and simulate parenthood for a variety of reasons, ranging from wanting to join the Ready, Set, Teach I class next year to getting out of Journalism.

“I love kids, and I started babysitting over the summer,” Ramos said. “I just feel like I need to know why [children] do things that they do and to know what I need to do [whenever I have kids].”

However, many students, including sophomore Logan Darwin, find that carrying around the robot babies in public generally causes shocked or negative reactions.

“I go to the park every day to walk around and I had to take it with me [the day I had it] and there [were] just a lot

of parents staring at me, giving me nasty looks,” Darwin said.

To make their babies look less masculine and factorystyle in public, a number of students go above and beyond meeting their robot child’s needs. Some keep it for the weekend for extra credit and make headbands and other accessories.

“Some of my students love this project and have brought their own diaper bags and their own clothes,” Petersen said. “[Some babies are] more beautiful; kids bling out their babies.”

However, the lost sleep caused by the baby waking up as many as eight times each night has turned many, including junior Emilia Gibbs, off of the experience.

“Sometimes it would just cry if it wanted to be held, so I would have to hold it and then I would start falling asleep so the bottle would fall and it would start crying again,” Gibbs said. “Towards the end, I wanted to hit that baby.

My grades started slipping really badly, because I would just go to school and sleep in all my classes.”

Some students believe that the robot baby does not accurately simulate the fickleness of an actual infant, despite the mere setting on “medium” instead of “terror mode”, according to Petersen.

“I like babies, just not computerized [babies],” Darwin said. “My brother is five and I’ve basically helped raise him since he was born and [he] was pretty chill.

If he wanted something, he would not cry as hard as the computer baby, and [I] just kind of knew what he wanted, or if [I] didn’t know, [I could] just put him in a swing and he would be fine.”

Though the babies create very mixed reactions among both students and strangers, teenagers continue to sign up for the semester long class in hope of learning practical skills.

“My goal is the reality [of being a parent]. I want my students to be prepared and to not go into parenthood naive, especially as a student,” Petersen said. “We’re learning about infant care. We’re learning about pregnancy.

We’re learning about development. All of that goes along with carrying around that eight pound piece of plastic.”

Towards the end, I wanted to hit that baby. junior EMILIA GIBBS

the roar | sports | 13

friday, oct. 31, 2014

PHOTO OF DIEGO CRUZ-VESPA BY AARON ROSS

The Marshall Plan

Dynamic coach leads tennis team down long path to success aaron ross | news editor After two years of preparation the tennis team is now well on its way to achieving its goal: to do what the team has not done in over 20 years.

“Win the regional tournament,” tennis coach Daniel Marshall said. “Only one team from each region goes to state. Out of four regions only ten teams have ever gone to state and we’re one of those teams.”

So far, Consolidated has had a phenomenal season, and sweeping doubles against CSHS and beating the ranked 6A Montgomery team are just a few of the highlights. The cause of this recent upswing in success can be chalked up to a number of factors, mainly the talent of the players.

“Two years ago we were in 5A, which is now 6A, and it was impossible to get to state because of how good the teams were,” senior Diego Cruz-Vespa said. “We’ve been preparing for when we move down to 4A, which is now 5A, and we have a much better chance.”

The recent district change has allowed Consol to dominate the district. The team is doing so well they have to look for challenges elsewhere.

“We are in an easier district now tennis-wise so we had to schedule a lot of matches with 6A schools to stay at the level we perform,” Marshall said. “We had to schedule The Woodlands, College Park, and Montgomery to keep us competitive, because if not, our level of tennis would come down from playing lower- level competition.”

Besides switching districts, one other major change occurred within the last two years. Marshall arrived.

“Our old coach, Mercer, was a good coach, but he was a lot more relaxed and passive,” senior Julian Dunmore said.

“Marshall is a lot more on top of things, ‘do these drills and do them correctly.’ It’s a lot more intense. I’ve gotten a lot better under Marshall.”

Since then, the team has been working tirelessly to achieve their goal.

“It wasn’t a ‘Oh it takes three months to do it’. We started last summer working on being successful this year,” Marshall said. “Every day it’s hard work and we do a lot of the boring stuff. Some of the stuff we do is repetitive, repetitive, repetitive.”

However, this constant repetition enables the Tigers to improve.

“It’s not the popular thing to do, but they’re things we need to be successful and we’re playing a lot better,” Marshall said.

“We cut a lot of the fun stuff out and we work hard.”

Marshall, Dunmore and Cruz-Vespa all cite their participation at The Plano West tournament as evidence of their success.

“We went to The Plano West tournament in the summer which is the biggest, most prestigious team tennis tournament in Texas and finished fourth, which for us is a big deal,” Marshall said.

“Of course we’d love to win it, but it was mostly big 6A schools.”

With so much success under its belt the tennis team looks positively towards the future.

“We set a goal two years ago to get to state in team tennis, and we’re trying to realize that goal,” Marshall said, “The reason we work hard, the reason we worked in the summer, the reason the kids do everything they do is to try and get to state in team tennis. It’s an elite class.”

Meet the Seniors SHERIDAN SCHOLTZ: “Freckles” MARY NELSON: “Mulan” JULIAN DUNMORE: “Afroninja” EVAN GAN: “T - Rex” DIEGO CRUZ - VESPA: “Diablo” CONNOR DUNMORE: “Shaun White”

14 | sports | the roar

friday, oct. 31, 2014

getting along swimmingly

Swimmers dive into the water at the Bryan meet on Oct. 16. Swimmers go through hours of grueling practice everyday and form strong bonds with their fellow teammates. PHOTO BY SYDNEY GARRETT

Seemingly self-motivated sport creates team bond, sense of family sydney garrett | staff reporter Swimming is often thought of as an individual sport with its separate lanes, separate scores and separate medals. However, for Consol’s swim team, the sport is anything but individual. Every swimmer depends on the others, for encouragement, for support, and in the act of cheering their teammates on and working together, this so-called individual sport becomes something much more communal.

“Swimming can be almost depressing to train for, because you just go back and forth in a pool,” freshman Tobias DowerGarcia said. “Having teammates there is important to get you through practice almost, because you’re not the only one going back and forth by yourself.”

This spirit is what makes swimming a group sport, junior Ras Goodwyn said.

However, from time to time, the individual achievements are compared directly.

“It’s a team atmosphere, no different from any other sport,” Goodwyn said.

“Only sometimes you’re racing your teammates.”

Competition is a huge factor in understanding what makes swimming such a multi-dimensional sport because, unlike many other activities, swimmers often directly race their teammates and friends, with whom they share close bonds. “[Swimming coach Ryan] Goodwyn

will always say while we’re in the water, ‘Right now, they’re not your teammates, they’re your competitors,’ because during practice we’re trying to race them,” junior Maria de Figueiredo said.

Of course, racing the students that you train with can be difficult, but junior Victor Huff described the benefits of competing against your teammates.

“Since you’re teammates, you’re trying to build a better team,” Huff said. “You know even if [your teammates] beat you, you’ve got to work harder.”

Goodwyn also explained how training and forming friendships with teammates and potential competitors transforms racing into a more rewarding process.

“You want to see them succeed as much as you want to see yourself succeed,” Goodwyn said. “The points sometimes are secondary, but the friendship and competiveness are the primary aspect.”

Consol’s swim team has a large spectrum of speeds and abilities, but this variation does not limit the ability of its swimmers to encourage his or her teammates.

“Whenever someone accomplishes something, we all feel proud of [him or her],” de Figueiredo said. “If they’re doing their best and trying hard, we all try to encourage them.”

Although the swimmers argue that swimming is a group sport, the achievements of the athletes are, for the most part, entirely individual, so the success or failure

a swimmer experiences are solely a product of his or her own work.

“You ultimately control how far you can get,” de Figueiredo said. “It’s your hard work, and how much you’re willing to put into the sport.”

Goodwyn points to the more individual aspects of swimming as the source of joy after winning a race.

“The amount of effort that you put in reflects the results that you get back,” Goodwyn said. “However, [your success] is a mixture of how much time you put into [swimming] and also your passion for it.”

The team achieves this devotion by maintaining a desire to be successful, but additionally through the constant encouragement of Coach Goodwyn. His primary goal is to teach the swimmers the value of hard work and dedication.

“It doesn’t really matter if you’re the fastest person on the team or the slowest person on the team,” de Figueiredo said. “[Goodwyn] wants everyone to have the same positive experience and learn from it.”

These experiences, above all, have taught the swimmers the value of a positive, constructive environment.

“We definitely are a family,” Ras Goodwyn said. “Even though people see swimming as an individual sport, we care about the success of our team members just as much as the success of ourselves.”

UPCOMING MEETS Support the swim team family by attending their next swim meets:

Nov. 1 Nov. 8 Nov. 14&15

Nov.

21 &22

Dec. 11

Dual Meet @ Cinco Ranch Bob Stallings @ REC Center 5A Invitationals @ Fort Bend Gulf TISCA @ Conroe

Tri Meet @ Tomball Memorial

the roar | entertainment | 15

friday, oct. 31, 2014

the devil’s hand

R

eminiscent of Arthur Miller’s “The Crucible,” recent horror flick “The Devil’s Hand” partially redeems its cliché elements with interesting twists.

“The Devil’s Hand,” set in a small Amish community, begins with the birth of six girls on the sixth day of the sixth month.

(Sensing a pattern?) Skip forward 18 years, and five of the girls are best friends. A community leader believes that the strongest girl will join Satan after her quickly approaching birthday. As the community begins to shun and attack the girls, one girl realizes that her town isn’t as flawless as it appears.

“The Devil’s Hand” can be described in one word: overdramatic. Director Christian E. Christiansen (ah, the irony) places characters in the most improbable situations just to add a little suspense. At one point, one of the girls literally hides in an old, squeaky well in order to escape her killer instead of simply running to the nearby town.

Later, there are a series of theat-

stephanie palazzolo senior editor

rical suicides, where instead of just killing themselves, several parents of the cursed girls jump off the church and impale themselves on sharp poles placed in the most convenient locations, or else put nooses around their necks and attach themselves to galloping horses. Although the scenes do make for a good jumpscare, there is always a point at which the viewer cannot suspend their disbelief any longer— and “The Devil’s Hand” reaches this point early on in the movie.

In addition, the film attempts to create a romantic subplot between Mary and Trevor, one of the boys from out of town, but it ends up as a contrived attempt at romance.

Although the movie makes up for some of its faults with a surprise ending, it fails to leave the masses of bad horror flicks and rise to the level of classics such as “The Shining” or “The Exorcism.” “The Devil’s Hand” is, at best, a good movie with which to waste a Saturday night.

NEW

the

zach kluver entertainment editor

T

his strange Italian horror movie (filmed entirely in English) follows 15-year-old Jennifer Corvino (Jennifer Connelly), who has the power to communicate with insects. Jennifer is sent to Switzerland to attend an elite school, but quickly finds that a serial killer makes it his business to target the girls at the school, and the police cannot keep up with him. So, it’s up to Jennifer to use her abilities with insects to try to find the killer before she herself becomes a victim.

The most obvious thing about “Phenomena” is how phenomenally bad the acting is.

Connelly gives one of the most wooden performances ever (be-

phenomena sides those in awful films like “The Room” and “Troll 2.”) To make things worse, some of the dialogue is so goofy that even a master actor couldn’t make it sound good.

Despite the awful acting and scripting, “Phenomena” is still enjoyable. It is genuinely frightening at parts, and laughing at the cheesy dialogue is like laughing with the movie, as if it’s some comical deadpan put on by the director. If you’re into strange, obscure horror films, “Phenomena” is certainly a good one.

(Fun fact: A chimpanzee bit off Jennifer Connelley’s finger during the filming of this movie.

The finger was later reattached.)

QUIRKY

the

the thing

J

aaron ross news editor

ohn Carpenter’s “The Thing” is a lot of things. It’s grotesque, terrifying, intense and surprisingly thrilling. Most classic horror films are predictable: they’re terrifying, yes, adrenalinepumping, yes, but do they keep you guessing as to what’s about to happen next? Not usually. That’s w h e re “ T h e Thing” excels. It has elements of a thriller, a mystery, a survival and, of course. a horror movie.

The premise of the movie?

There’s a Thing. The Thing can become a perfect replica of any living organism and is nearly impossible to kill. If any bit of the Thing survives an attempt on its

life, it will continue to live and find a new ‘‘host’’. Its only goal is to try and take over every single living being.

You can’t trust anything or anybody. The characters are relatable and intelligent, and unlike most horror movies, which function mainly with dramatic irony, the audience is left in the dark with regard to the characters. There are a few jump scares in the movie, but for the most part it’s all atmosphere, tension, and horrifying visuals.

“The Thing” is a superb film.

It’s a movie that keeps the audience guessing untill the very end.

It’s John Carpenter at his best.

CLASSIC

the

EN

LLOWE A H N O H C T A W O WHAT T

16 | etcetera | the roar

here’s to never growing up

PHOTO BY RACHEL LAMB

friday, oct. 31, 2014

Theatre emphasizes unity among community rachel lamb | staff reporter For most, Tiger Theatre’s upcoming performance of “Peter Pan” will only last one night, but for a group of students, the performance is more than that. These committed students work for months, not only forming a show, but also creating a close-knit family that is almost impossible to leave.

“The idea is that Tiger Theatre is a great place for students to express themselves and feel comfortable with being themselves, who they are and who they want to be. That’s kind of what we are doing here,” theatre advisor Randy Williamson said.

This year, Tiger Theatre will perform Peter Pan, a children’s story and a change of pace from the darker plays from the past few years.

“One thing I’m really looking forward to, with it being a children’s show, is the kids coming up and meeting Wendy and Peter after the show,” senior Allyn Jasperson, who plays Wendy, said.

The idea of being scared to grow up, which is central to the play, is still relevant to many high school students.

“Even though this is a kid’s story, it can relate to people in high school, because in high school you start out your fresh-

man year kind of like a kid.

As the years progress and you become a senior, you become more and more mature, and more and more adult,” Williamson said. “That is kind of what Wendy is facing in the play, having to grow up and the struggles of not wanting to do that.”

Senior Betz Mayer, who plays Peter Pan, is struggling to play a character so different from her.

“

[Theatre] is not my department, it’s not their department, but it’s our department.

advisor

Randy Williamson “It is a unique challenge because a lot of what we do in acting is we take our old personal experiences and we figure out what we have in common with our characters,” Mayer said. “So a lot of my challenge has been trying to figure out how to play a super energetic ten-year-old boy who never ever, ever wants to ever grow up ever. And I’ve always been a little bit of the opposite.”

Additionally, the backstage crew is instrumental in the production of the play.

“Without a crew, we would all be in the dark, we would have no clothes and we would have no set,” Jasperson said. “If you don’t have a crew, you don’t have a play.”

The actors and crew agree that the best part of theater is the close knit community that develops through the production of the play.

“We come together, all of us, and together we create something,” Williamson said.

“What I tell the kids is that it is not my department, it’s not their department, but it’s our department, and everyone has valuable input. We all work together to create this play.”

But the long hours and effort pay off as the show closes.

“You finish everything and you look at all this stuff that we just did [and realize], ‘Wow, that’s so great’,” Mayer said.

“Theatre is magical because it’s only there for a little while, not like a perennial bush that comes back and you see each year, but like a beautiful wild flower that is unique and rare, and a little bit funky smelling, but you still love it anyway, because it’s the most beautiful flower you have ever seen.”

Peter Pan will be showing from Nov. 13 to 15, in addition to a breakfast with the characters on the morning of Nov. 15.

Seniors Betz Mayer and Allyn Jasperson, who play Peter Pan and Wendy, respectively, spy Captain Hook in the distance. PHOTO

BY SHILPA SARAVANAN

Senior Rachel Reckling, who plays a mermaid, scares Wendy by attempting to kidnap her as the other mermaids try to hold Wendy down. PHOTO BY SHILPA SARAVANAN