April 2014

ct Grand Ledge High School’s

The Comets’ Tale

Volume 46 Issue 8 April 2014 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge, MI 517-925-5848

Brushing past art credits Page 4 Students become parents for a weekend: The baby project Page 3

Softball endures winter training Page 5

Oakland not validating art credits

Oakland Community College joins trend of not crediting art classes for non-art majors

Courtesy Photo

During Phantom of the Opera at GLHS, graduate Erin Fillingham performs as Christine Dale. She made a list of the best Christine Dale performances and was the only high school student to be in the top 10.

Spotlight on GLHS graduate Rachel Rayl ‘15

FEATURE EDITOR There is a lot of skill that goes in to nailing the stellar role of Christine Dale, the leading lady in the Broadway musical, “Phantom of the Opera;” and what will make or break the performance is perfecting the Act Two aria, “Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again.”

BroadwayBox.com, a site for musical enthusiasts, surfed YouTube to find the top 10 videos of the actresses performing the Andrew Lloyd Webber tune.

Erin Fillingham, GLHS 2012 graduate, made the cut at number seven, beating Emmy Rossum, the star of the underrated “Phantom of the Opera” film. To top it off, Fillingham was the only high school student to hit the top 10.

“I was looking for who was doing a performance to one that would be contemporary to people like Emmy and Sierra or Sarah,” editor of BroadwayBox.com Josh Ferri said. “And Erin’s was a really strongly realized performance.”

Currently, Fillingham is double majoring in engineering and economics at Northwestern University.

She is keeping her talent going, performing in the a capella group “Extreme Measures.”

Although her graduation was two years ago, Fillingham still appreciates her GLHS musical roots.

“We take these performances seriously and the whole cast pours their entire self into the production; for our show to be recognized on a national level is just a really great accomplishment,” Fillingham said.

For many students at GLHS, STAFF WRITER art class is the one time of day to sit back, relax and just create. Art has become a big part of the GL community over the years and there are even some students seeking art careers in the future.

“Art is important to me because it is a good way to express myself,” senior Mark Mills said. “Art helps me understand who I am.”

GLHS art teachers are a driving force behind these students’ passion for ceramics, drawing, painting, jewelry making or whatever form of art that may be interest them.

“Art class is a great outlet for students because they have the freedom to express themselves,” art teacher Doris Thompson said.

Thompson added that art classes are a place where students can just be creative and feel that it is okay to make mistakes.

For these reasons, many students at the high school choose to take art classes every trimester of every year, and receive credits for the courses. However, a recent report from The Detroit Free Press states that Oakland Community College is thinking of joining the growing trend in community colleges to make art courses taken in college worth no credit to students not seeking an art major.

“Taking away credit for these classes Jenna Jardine ‘14

is terrible,” Thompson said. “The people saying this obviously don’t understand that everything we have comes from creativity which comes from art.”

Thompson teaches a college class for GLHS students after school and says the people in her class deserve credit for what they are doing because they are working very hard, and some of them do not want to go into art related careers.

“Art classes should be worth credit because they are still really demanding and require a lot of effort,” Mills said.

Oakland administration says the reason behind this idea is that these classes are costing the school money but, for most students, are not providing skills they will use in their future careers. However the benefits of art to those who are not pursuing a career are still bountiful according to Thompson.

“Art helps students in many ways,” Thompson said. “I think art nurtures the ability to think creatively and take risks.

Students feel safe here and think that if their idea doesn’t turn out it is okay.”

A press release from Oakland Community College stated that even though Oakland does agree with minor benefits that art provides to students not seeking art majors it still believes that the change will benefit students because the school will save money and students will focus on the skills they will need for their future careers.

All Photos by Jenna Jardine/The Comets’ Tale

Senior Mark Mills sculpts during an art class he takes at GLHS. Art class is his place to express himself and understand who he is. In the photo above Mills is working on one of his creations.

Photo top left: Painting an octopus sculpture, junior Lanay Clark expresses her creativity during sculpture, one of the many art classes offered at GLHS. Some of the classes offered are sculpture, art one, ceramics, metal and jewelry, and printmaking.

Monthly News from the Comet-in-Charge Once a month, Principal Steve Gabriel meets with the staff of The Comets’ Tale to keep the students up-to-date on what is NEWS EDITOR happening in the school. Below are important subjects he talked about for April.

Changes in 2014-2015 - After analyzing the survey results and looking over them, there are many aspects of the school that students want to see changed or added. One of those is zero and sixth hour, which is being seriously considered as an option on next year’s schedule. The classes offered will be based on students’ responses when signing up for classes. Support classes also are being considered. An ACT prep class for upperclassmen and math support and reading support at lower levels may be offered in the future.

AP classes - There will be a new AP physics teacher next year, as Mr. Hackborn left earlier this year, causing students to take the class on Michigan Virtual University. No other AP subjects are being added or removed, but more sections of specific classes could be added Bry Leach ‘15

based on students’ interest in taking them.

ACT Scores - As of April 3, three out of four students had their ACT scores back. Of these students, 15 students received a composite score of 30 or higher and “three or four” had a 35. Although there is no official composite score for the junior class as a whole yet, Gabriel anticipates it being slightly higher than the score that the current senior class received, which was a 20.9.

PBIS - Gabriel has seen good results from the program this year. Tardies and absences have gone down, and so have the failure rates in classes - something he sees as a direct result. Teachers have presented lessons on good attendance and the new policy for this school year as well as good hallway behavior. One more presentation will be shown this year supporting the dress code and pushing teachers to enforce the rules for those who dress inappropriately.

Reading proficiency declines with lower testing scores It is well known that the ability to read and comprehend plays a big role in a person’s STAFF WRITER economic success. It is hard for anyone who does not have a proficient understanding of how to read for information to get a job in America. Over the past few years, substantial advancements have been made to start preparing students for these types of reading situations early on in the education system. However, a study done by The Annie E. Casey Foundation in January showed how reading scores of fourth graders were affected by policy changes in every US state and cited teachers’ lack of information about these scores as a main cause.

Michigan took one of the hardest hits in the study seeing a one percent drop in student scores overall. Michigan also ranked as one of the states with the biggest difference between reading proficiency rates of students from low and high income communities. The efforts set forth

by GLPS included a big emphasis put on reading for understanding and preparing for the reading portion of the ACT in the English 10 and 11 classes at the high school. Classes in the middle and elementary schools also place a big emphasis on reading to prepare students for the more advanced texts they will have to read in high school.

Still, some GLHS teachers run into problems when students have a difficult time understanding books that are part of the required curriculum. “The Scarlet Letter” in English 11 can be particularly rough because it is written in 18th century English, and students can struggle with “Fahrenheit 451” because of all the hidden meanings behind the words. English teacher Jeanine Cull teaches English 11 and has experienced these things first hand.

“Many students struggle with the texts we read in English 11,” Cull said. “[Their] reading proficiency has an enormous effect on student performance.”

The understanding and carrying out of reading strategies also is something that can be affected by difficulty reading. For example understanding symbolism is essential for reading “Fahrenheit 451” and the ability to map

Jenna Jardine ‘14

character relationships is used often when reading “The Scarlet Letter”.

English teacher Richard Pochert believes that students who struggle reading one text, like “The Scarlet Letter”, may thrive when reading another text, like “Fahrenheit 451”. Even if these different proficiencies in different types of literature are normal, they can still affect how a student does in a class because the books read are based on a standard curriculum that may not align with a student’s skill set.

“There are many students at GLHS who struggle with various reading strategies at any given time,” Pochert said. “It all depends on the context of what is being read. Reading proficiency for one task may not translate to proficiency in another.”

Teachers like Cull and Pochert struggle to teach certain students how to read these texts because they lack enough information about the students’ specific reading needs. For many students this, alongside other factors, causes a drastic change between elementary and high school learning.

“Just because a student learned to read in elementary school, the question remains whether or not they have been able to successfully transition from learning to read to reading to learn,” Pochert said. “Just because someone may have learned to read does not necessarily translate into the ability to read for specific learning goals.”

The learning goals that Pochert points out were implemented by the school to help students reach the levels required to perform well on tests like the ACT and MEAP. These goals are supposed to be posted in classrooms and discussed with students every trimester. The goals include understanding difficult texts and being able to utilize reading strategies taught in class.

Still, even the specific GLHS changes are in line with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s findings which has left some wondering how scores dropped when more efforts were in place. The reasoning in the Foundation’s analyzation of its study saying that high school teachers not having access to early reading scores makes individualized teaching of reading hard has been widely accepted.

“If we had this kind of information on incoming students we might be

able to help them better with the texts or adjust them if necessary,” Cull said.

However, every reading test is different and can help teachers in different ways. Some types of tests offer little to no real information about students to teachers because they are not an accurate representation of that student as a whole.

“They are merely an isolated snapshot of one type of reading at one particular moment,” Pochert said. “As with all tests, one snapshot is not enough to give us the whole picture of a student’s learning or ability to learn.”

While it does depend on the type of test that is being given, it is widely accepted that information about how well students read, or what types of text they read best, could be helpful to teachers. Most say that these scores would likely help bring up overall reading scores on the ACT test and better prepare students for college.

Junior Jennifer Le writes during her English 11 class.

Recently reading scores have declined, along with the comprehension of the material being read.

High school English teachers have no access to past test scores so it is hard for them to analyze where their students are.

Jenna Jardine /The Comets’ Tale

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Blue and Gold profiles:

Opinion • April 2014

1. Track and Field.

Taylor Kenaugh ‘16

Jacskon Vanderlaan ‘16

STAFF WRITER

STAFF WRITER

1. What sport do you play?

2. What do you think you need to improve the most?

3. Do you have any pre-game rituals?

4. Do you have a lucky charm?

2. My speed, I can go a long ways but not very fast.

3. Chocolate milk is always good luck.

4. I used to have a pink headband that I would wear, but it broke.

5. Definitely, I’m very irritable and tired.

6. What’s your favorite part of the sport?

6. Skipping school and hanging out with my friends.

8. Who’s your favorite school to play against?

9. Do you have a sports figure that you look up to?

1. Tennis.

2. Probably ball handling.

2. Being aggressive at the net.

3. Not really.

3. Not really.

4. This is my first year so not really.

5. How’s the weather affecting how you play?

7. What’s your least favorite part of the sport?

1. Lacrosse.

4. No. 5. Yes, we have tried to get indoor court time but that hasn’t worked out so well.

6. I like in the game when it gets close.

5. Right now yeah, we haven’t gotten any time outside, it’s all been in a gym.

6. Probably the hitting.

7. Okemos and East Lansing are our biggest rivals.

7. Holt.

7. I don’t really have one.

8. When we go against Jackson and Sexton.

8.Waverly.

8. Okemos.

9. Calvin Johnson.

9. Not really.

9. Our team captain Krista Magnus.

Becky Golisch

Spencer Brittain Diana Thompson

Taco Bell’s new breakfast menu hits the spot Jake Thomann ‘16 STAFF WRITER On March 27, 2014, the famous fast food chain Taco Bell made their attempt at revolutionizing breakfast by releasing their own vision of fast food breakfast. The news was very well received by some and hated by others.

Since its arrival, thousands of Taco Bell customers have had the opportunity to try the famous breakfast menu. Here are my top four items that are currently on the menu: 1) A.M. Crunchwrap Surprisingly, this item turned out to be my favorite on the menu. The hash brown astonishingly went well with the tortilla. Customers have the choice of whether to add bacon, sausage, or steak to their crunchwrap. Along with the hash brown and meat, the tortilla also packages eggs and cheese. Although the eggs are a bit flavorless, it still manages to come out as the best breakfast item I have tried at Taco Bell.

2) Cinnabon Delights This item has been previously available at Taco Bell, but as an outcome of its cinnamon roll taste, it has been marketed and sold as a breakfast item.

The Cinnabon Delights are a warm ball-shaped pastry with cinnamon sugar coating the outside and icing filling the inside. These are definitely worth a try if you stop by Taco Bell in the morning, but if you do end up buying them, be Emily Bellar/The Comets’ Tale cautious over the icing inside; there’s a lot of it and can result in a messy Sophomore Jake Thomann takes a bite out of the Taco Bell A.M. Crunchwrap. Taco Bell came out with breakfast. breakfast items on March 27. Thomann believes that some of the items are on point.

3) A.M. Grilled Taco although it tastes slightly better with a syrup the try if you stop by in the morning.

Similar to the AM Crunchwrap, the packet that Taco Bell provides. However, this 4) Waffle Taco breakfast taco is simply fluffy scrambled eggs, does not make up for it’s poor setup because Unfortunately, the flagship of the Taco Bell melted cheddar cheese, a choice of bacon or when I first tried it, a lot of the eggs ended up breakfast menu does not fare to well with the sausage, and a tortilla to wrap it all up. It’s not falling out into the box. In the end, this item other items. The breakfast item consists of a quite as good as the AM Crunchwrap, but it is a is probably worth a try but is best forgotten waffle, eggs, cheddar cheese, and your choice lot healthier and it is also lighter as well as more afterwards, at best. of bacon or sausage. The taco is a bit bland, portable. Along with this cheap cost, it’s worth

Mission Statement The Comets’ Tale, a newspaper produced for and by students of Grand Ledge High School, will provide the student body with information pertinent to events, activities and issues that affect GLHS students.

Editor-in-Chief Krystin Verran Managing Editor Jake Thomann Design Editor Sarah Sims Business Manager Mary Vu Photo Editor Elizabeth Wood

Copy Editor Sarah Clinkscales Student Life Editor Amy Case News Editor Bry Leach Sports Editor Zach Kramp

Entertainment Editor Katt Gonzalez Feature Editor Rachel Rayl

Staff Writers

Emily Bellar Rollin Brummette Jessica Cotter Gabrielle Cushman Kathrine Davidson Alicia Degroat Zoë Halbeisen

Allen Hendrick Jenna Jardine Taylor Kennaugh Emily Magoon Brianna Martin Robert Mitchell Angela Pontius Rachel Rayl Ciera Roberts Katie Twarozynski

Female sports need more hype

Major sporting events dominate the headlines every EDITORIAL year and it is a fact everyone has to accept is true. For some, they enjoy the coverage of events because it allows them to track the progress of their favorite sports team. It also gives people a chance to bond with others that share the same athletic interest.

There are even those who do not enjoy the coverage of sporting events for reasons of their own. Athletic coverage can be good or bad, but over the years people have noticed something that upsets both several sports fans: the downgraded coverage of women athletic teams.

A prime example of the neglect women sports teams have to deal with is the NCAA basketball tournament, or more commonly referred to as ‘March Madness.’ The month long event happened very recently and millions of basketball fans spent hours hoping their chosen team would be champion. Every day, there would be coverage on who won, who lost, which team had the biggest upset or which team had the greatest victory. The problem is the men’s tournament coverage dominated the headlines while the women’s tournament coverage sat on the sidelines. Throughout the two NCAA tournaments, barely any discussion was conducted on the women’s division whereas the results of a game for the men’s division would almost immediately be posted on social media.

Locally, women’s sports are also sometimes overshadowed by men’s sports. Thankfully, local women’s sports teams are not as ignored as they are national women’s athletics are. Just recently, Grand Ledge High School’s Girl’s Basketball Team played against Canton at the Breslin Center in East Lansing for the MHSAA Girl’s Basketball Tournament semi-finals.

The game caused a lot of buzz on social media and it was nice to see them get the coverage and support they deserved.

However, this one event does not change the fact that women’s athletic coverage and interest are glanced over when comparing them to men’s sporting interest both locally and nationally. Some people find that the student section sits down during GLHS basketball games but stand up and act more excited when the men’s team comes out. A reason why this occurs may be the cause of opinions over women being inferior to men, but even if someone had this opinion, it is not an excuse to completely downgrade the importance of coverage over women’s sporting events.

Sports are important, but we need to make the effort to ensure both women’s and men’s athletics are equally important. The GLHS semi-finals game at the Breslin Center was a prime example of how we should treat women’s sports teams. They should be promoted more and the importance of women’s division should no longer be downgraded.

Jackson Vanderlaan Alexis VelasquezMayhew Nathan Werner Michael Wilson Adviser Sara-Beth Badalamente

Letters to the Editor are encouraged by The Comets’ Tale staff. Letters may pertain to an article written or simply act as a form of student expression. All letters must be deemed publishable by the Editorial Board including the adviser. They should be 200 words or less but may be edited for content of length. All letters to the Editor must be signed. To send a letter to the Editor, students may drop them in the publications room (room 113).

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Feature • April 2014

C O M E B A B

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Once or twice a STAFF WRITER trimester you will see your classmates carrying them around for a week. You can hear their cries echo throughout the hallways. Babies. Not real babies, of course, electronic babies that students take home for teacher Sara Zeko’s Parenting A Class. The babies need to be cared for all throughout the day for rocking, changing and feeding just like a real baby. Each student taking this class must care for one of these robotic rug-rats for five days without neglecting it or being too rough. The entire project accounts for about a third of the class final grade, and 20 percent of the project is graded off of the journals and a summary paper due a week after the project starts.

Each bundle-of-joy is worth a whopping $750 complete with diaper and bottle, but they were not always this high-tech. Mrs. Zeko has been doing this project with her parenting classes for 14 years now ,and the babies have evolved from simple dolls to the robots she uses today.

“When [the students] take care of the babies, they have to take care of them,” Zeko said. “I have a computer that reads them out that will show if they were neglected, if they weren’t taken care of ,when they cry, or if they were abused, if they were dropped or hit or injured in some way.”

This project teaches important life skills for students that plan on being parents.

“It’s the one project that gives you a glimpse into real life, and 95 percent of people that go to this high school are going to be parents someday,” Zeko said. “You want to talk about a class you can use in the future? Knowing what it’s going to be like to take care of a baby, most of them are going to go through that.”

Many students also value what the project teaches. Students, such as senior Courtney Hansen, enjoy this project for the important life lessons.

After completing the project, Hansen shares her input on the class, and gives future parenting students tips.

“I would really recommend this class, It teaches you great parenting skills.” Hansen said.

If a student is planing on taking this class, they should be prepared to lose some sleep. To avoid getting points off for the project due to neglect, the students must take care of the baby when it cries during the night even if it means pulling an all-nighter.

“A tip would be to get a lot of sleep. When the baby is sleeping, sleep, take a nap.”

Students like junior Mackenna Munson had hardships sleeping with the constant need to care for their children.

“The hardest thing to do for me was getting up and going to my first hour,” Munson said “I didn’t want to get up in the morning.”

The babies come with their hardships but based off of these students’ experiences it seems this class is a very valuable experience and the baby project has a lot to offer future parents.

“People come in and they think ‘Oh its a doll, its a baby how hard can it be’ well it can be pretty hard.”

Catch some Z’s and pay attention because the real deal will not even be this easy, instructions not included.

Michael Wilson ‘16

After the baby dolls became obsolete, they were upgraded to an electronic version which required students to insert a key into the baby’s back when it cried, or needed any kind of attention.

When Mrs. Zeko first created the baby project 14 years ago, she used stuffed baby dolls. The dolls she used did not cry and to simulate waking up to care for the baby, the students had to call Zeko and leave a message.

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Above: Sophomore Nicole Hengesbach holds up her new baby, Cullen, and his birth certificate on the first day of the project.

Top Left: Junior Brianna Boston receives the bracelet that is required to care for the baby when it cries. The bracelet she is getting contains a magnet that signals to the baby that the student is taking care of it while it is fed, changed, burped, rocked etc.

Bottom Left: Senior Michael Moore is using a baby bottle, with similar magnet technology as the bracelet (which is used to indicate rocking and burping,) to feed his baby.

Now, after modern science has kicked in, Mrs. Zeko uses the current models. The baby comes with a diaper, bottle and a bracelet that all uses magnetic technology to care for the baby when it is in need.

After the key method and until about five years ago, Zeko used a model much similar to the current ones, but not quite as complex. These babies had a single magnet in the back and this was the only way to stop it from crying.

2014

All photos and illustrations by Michael Wilson/The Comets’ Tale

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Feature • April 2014

Art protégé takes every art class at GLHS

The only thing senior Cassandra Fraley will miss about graduating STAFF WRITER early is taking Studio Art one last time. She has taken Studio Art two out of the three times she is allowed it to take throughout her high school career. Fraley has taken Ceramics 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B, Metal and Jewelry 1A, 1B, 2A, and 2B, and Studio Art with art teacher Doris Thompson.

Art is what keeps Fraley relaxed and away from boredom. If it were not for all of Thompson’s art classes, Fraley wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the art she has. She just wouldn’t know how to. Fraley’s favorite classes throughout her high school career were the ones she took with Thompson.

“I think that Mrs. Thompson likes me because I treat her better than the other students, and I don’t try to control the class like everyone else,” Fraley said. “I try really hard in Studio Art because it’s fun and worth my time.”

Fraley is an art protégé at home and at school. She frequently creates amazing projects for Studio Art early and continues to make extra project series. She makes beautiful sculptures and paintings and drawings. After the sixth project in Studio Art, the seventh is extra credit, and none of the other projects Fraley or anyone else makes are graded. Fraley has made around 10 or 11 extra projects in Thompson’s class just this trimester.

“You can create anything you want to as long as it is art, and it’s super fun for me to work on,” Fraley said. “I like Studio Art because I can do what I want when I want and express myself the way I absolutely love to.”

Fraley finds art to be stress relieving and relaxing. Once a piece is finished that looks good, she feels proud and confident in herself. Fraley does everything and anything she can in Studio Art. Passion drives Fraley to create homemade Courtesy Photo gifts and projects.

Fraley’s favorite kinds of projects are watercolor paintings.

Above is one the many creations of graduate Cassie Fraley’s artwork from her high school art classes. Fraley has taken every art class possible in the GLHS student handbook. During these classes, Fraley has made several paintings, drawings, sculpting and more. Fraley graduated last trimester and Fraley is very independent and is extremely good at most art types. Her passion is strong and Studio Art helped her reveal plans to continue doing art on her own. her astounding art skills.

Alexis Valasquez-Mayhew ‘16

GL students use daily actions to show gender equality Freshman Lacey Buycks is the first female rigger for the school’s Tech Crew. A rigger STAFF WRITER pulls the ropes that bring down the curtains, backdrops and other props, and even lifts actors up into the air. Seeing that the job takes a lot of upper body strength, it’s usually considered a “guys-only” job.

“There haven’t been any other girl riggers because there haven’t been any girls who wanted to do rigging,” Buycks said. “They had rather been doing lighting or sound. I wanted to be in rigging partly because there haven’t been any girl riggers before, but also because I’ve always wanted to work with the curtains and the sets. It never really occurred to me that it was usually guys who worked the line.”

Buycks’s male rigging partners welcomed her with open arms and “showed her the ropes.” They were completely open with a female taking on the position.

“The veteran riggers taught me how to work the line and gave me tips whenever necessary,” Buycks said. “I actually really liked being on rigging, despite the calluses.”

Rigging has been considered a male-dominated activity for a long time, and that has not stopped Buycks from joining. Many women like her gain interests that are related to males, but it is not everyday when a guy takes an interest in a activity regarded as “feminine.”

When it comes to competitive dancing, many guys compete, but are put down for it. Experts in dance make sure that males are encouraged to keep participating in the sport.

“When it comes to judging, having a boy in your group is an advantage because the judges want boys to keep dancing and will give the dance Gabby Cushman ‘16

a higher score,” sophomore Olivia Conaty said. “At conventions, a lot Wright is a big sports fan. She understands almost every sport just as of guys get scholarships- not just because they’re a good dancer, but much as any guy, yet men still see her as another girl who just bought the because they’re a guy.” same sweatshirt as her friend at Campus Den. Guys are often mistreated for taking interest in a “girly” thing such as “I’m a girl who knows a lot of things about sports, and yes sometimes dance, and that can lead to bullying and even worse. guys do disregard my knowledge about sports,” Wright said. “Until I “A guy gets told he’s gay, or that he’s a girl or he’s weird because he prove them wrong.” doesn’t play any ‘real’ sports,” sophomore Alexis Williams said. “People Even in sports the genders are greatly differentiated. Men who play a just think he’s weird because he picked dance over other sports.” sport are treated with much more respect than women who play a sport.

Some students treat others equally, no matter “When it comes to sports between what their gender is. Buycks said that the work on men and women, I don’t think it’s the rigging line was distributed fairly. fair at all, especially when it comes “On the line, I got the red curtain that came to professional sports,” Wright said. down during ‘Be Our Guest,’ which was kind of “Here you have guys making millions a pretty big part in the play,” Buycks said. “Every of dollars for playing a sport and a person on rigging originally had one rope. Due woman plays the same sports and gets to certain events, one person had two ropes, but paid only half or even less than half. otherwise the work was pretty equal.”

Most people just usually pay attention When it comes to sports, men are the only ones to the guys when there are girls out associated with enjoying a football game on the there with just as much or even more T.V. or going to a basketball game. Yet many talent than them.”

Photo illustration by Krystin Verran/ women have taken an interest in sports, but the The Comets’ Tale When it comes down to it, most men just shut them out. students recognize that gender “I totally disagree about men being the only ones interested in sports,” equality is still being worked towards and that it should be achieved. freshman Mckenna Wright said. “There are plenty of girls out there “I don’t think that anything should be restricted for a certain gender,” who absolutely love sports. They would do anything to get out and play. Buycks said. “Women can do pretty much anything a man can do, and Whatever sport a man can play, a woman can play, and maybe even vice versa.” better.”

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Celebrate National Library Week @ Grand Ledge Area District Library

Come to your Grand Ledge Area District Library and enjoy an entertaining and enriching experience!

THURSDAY, APRIL 17th from 6 pm to 8 pm

“Adult Lives Change @ your library” series will host “Bichini Bia

Congo” African Dance Group. An authentic Congolese dance company.

Bichini Bia Congo introduces the audience to Congolese tradition and culture through music, song and dance to promote African cultural awareness and celebrate the connections between Africa and the world.

High school students are invited to attend!!

Grand Ledge Area District Library Main (GLADL-Main) 131 E. Jefferson St., Grand Ledge MI 48837 517.627.7014 http://grandledge.lib.mi.us

sp.

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Sports • April 2014

Strengthing players’ softball skills

Softball team prepares for tryouts during winter training for the 2014 spring season

MCT Campus

During a 2013 playoff game against the Oakland athletics, Miguel Cabrera breaks his bat during an at-bat. The Tigers went on to win the American League Division Series.

Newest MLB season starts with high expectations

American League: AL East: Last SPORTS EDITOR years World Series winner came out of the American League in the Boston Red Sox. This years version of the AL East should be one of the most competitive in baseball with Boston, New York, Tampa Bay, Baltimore, and Toronto all having rosters that could win the division. Boston won with a team filled with second choice players that embodied a team mentality by playing as one. This year that might be hard to replicate as no one will overlook the Red Sox like last season.

New York lost the best closer in Major League Baseball history in Mariano Rivera to retirement and before spring training Derek Jeter announced his own retirement at the end of this upcoming season. Not only will those players be leaving, but Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano were lost to free agency. The Yankees won the sweepstakes for Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka and also added Jacoby Ellsbury and Carlos Beltran during the offseason, as well. The Tampa Bay Rays coming off a playoff appearance last season look the same but the addition of closer Grant Balfour replaces the production of Fernando Rodney who left for Seattle. In Baltimore you have a small market team with a superstar in Adam Jones, a young All Star with 21-year-old Manny Machado, and Chris Davis who led MLB in home runs and runs batted in (RBI’s) in 2013. The Orioles have the players but will need things to go their way in 2014 to return to the playoffs where their last appearance was in 2012. After the moves the Toronto Blue Jays made in the 2013 offseason their season was a disaster compared to the expectations they had. If they can live up to those expectations, the Blue Jays could make some noise in the division.

Winner: Tampa Bay Wild Card: New York

Zach Kramp ‘14

Emily Bellar/The Comets’ Tale

At the girls’ softball training during the month of March, freshmen Cassidy Kamrada (left) and Emily Songer learn how to strengthen their skills in the sport in time for tryouts.

With the new season of softball starting, new recruits and old players were excited for tryouts STAFF WRITER and getting back into the sport. But preparation is key in sports, so the girls that participated in the winter training program had been getting ready for the new season since January.

The winter training was held in a warehouse on Promec Drive two to four times a week. Winter trainer Abbey Malloy has finished her second year working with the Grand Ledge softball players, and now that winter is over she hands them off to her father, coach Paul Malloy.

“The winter training is mostly for endurance,” Abbey said. “We do a lot of cardio and it does really help. It has a huge impact compared to girls who just show up for tryouts. We focus on just keeping them active over the winter instead of letting them sit around like they usually would.”

Emily Bellar ‘16

For players involved that were in the winter program, they had a pretty tight schedule. Between school, homework and practice there was little time for themselves. But according to junior Alex Long, it was worth it.

“It keeps you in shape,” Long said. “It keeps your arms loose and ready.”

Tryouts for softball started March 10 and are now over. For the players that participated in the winter training had an extra edge. So if a player did not participate this year, the trainers and other players will strongly encourage it for next year.

“I have a blast and the girls have fun being here,” Abbey said. “I did it too when I was there age, and it is hard. It is hard balancing between softball and school and friends and everything else going on, but it really is worth it.”

The first game was scheduled for March 28, but was canceled. The next game is scheduled for April 17.

L E D D N A G R E G

Baseball

Good luck Comets!

Sunnyside Café

AL Central: One of this year World Series favorites, the Detroit Tigers, who call the AL Central home. Detroit made big moves this offseason by dealing Prince Fielder and $30 million to Texas for second baseman Ian Kinsler and trading pitcher Doug Fister to the Washington Nationals for prospects and bench players. The one aspect of the Tigers that denied them a return to the World Series was its bullpen troubles in the postseason. Detroit took care of that area in signing Joe Nathan to close games in 2014. The Tigers may be losing some power in their lineup, but were considered a bad defensive team in 2013, they look to be much improved heading into Opening Day. Kansas City Royals and the Cleveland Indians look to be the only contenders to take the division title away from Detroit with the Royals being the main threat. KC signed former Tigers infielder Omar Infante during free agency, and the young players are finally showing signs of producing on the field. Minnesota and the Chicago White Sox will battle for the fourth and fifth spots in the division.

Winner: Detroit Tigers AL West: The reigning AL West champion resides in Oakland, but it will be tough for the Athletics to repeat for the third time after losing closer Grant Balfour to free agency and Jarrod Parker for the season to Tommy John surgery. Oakland still should have a chip on their shoulder as people still believe the last two years have been flukes and are waiting for the athletics to fall apart. After missing out on the playoffs last year, the Texas Rangers reloaded on offensive talent by adding Prince Fielder, Shin-Soo Choo, and will have Alex Rios for the whole season. With Ian Kinsler’s departure, the second base position opened up for one of ESPN’s top prospects Jurickson Profar to take in 2014. Look for Texas to overthrow Oakland as the best team during the 2014 season. The Los Angeles Angels have arguably the best overall player in the MLB with Mike Trout and superstars like Albert Pujols, Josh Hamilton and Jered Weaver, but are lacking the results to be a contender for the World Series. These players will have to live up to the expectations when they came to LA to just get out of the division and advance to the playoffs. Seattle Mariners made the biggest signing in the offseason acquiring Robinson Cano. Although this shows the Mariners want to win, they will need more of these signings to compete in this division. The Houston Astros held the worst record in baseball last year and should expect similar results in 2014 finishing in last place in the division.

Winner: Texas Wild Card: LA Angels National League: NL East: The returning winners of the NL East, Atlanta Braves, might have trouble fending off the Washington Nationals this year as injuries might be their downfall. Two Braves’ pitchers will have Tommy John surgery that will most likely end their season before it begins in Kris Medlen and Brandon Beach. To try and make up for those losses, Atlanta still has a scary middle of the lineup with Jason Heyward, Freddie Freeman, and Justin Upton along with Craig Kimbrel who might be the best closer in baseball. The Atlanta Braves overachieved in 2013 when they won a national league second best 96 games, but don’t think they will go away quietly in 2014.

The Washington Nationals took a step back in 2013 from their MLB best 98 win season in 2012 to missing the playoffs entirely. This year adding Doug Fister makes their starting rotation the best in baseball 1-5 and a formidable offense to take back the division crown from Atlanta. Philadelphia, New York Mets, and Miami will not compete with the Braves or Nationals, but with adding Curtis Granderson the Mets have become an interesting team in this division.

Winner: Washington Nationals NL Central: This is the most competitive division in all of baseball sending three teams to the playoffs last year with the St. Louis Cardinals, Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds. The Cardinals should repeat as the champions by keeping the almost same roster as last year, but they add all star shortstop Jhonny Peralta. The Pirates are looking to remain a consistent contender for the division that they have failed to do in the past. This could be hard because of the departure of AJ Burnett who was their best pitcher last year, but with Andrew McCutchen nothing is impossible for Pittsburgh. Cincinnati has made two straight appearances in the postseason and will beck for a third time behind the bats of Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. The Chicago Cubs are in rebuild and will need a few more years behind former Red Sox General manager and now President of Baseball Operation for the Cubs, Theo Epstein. The Milwaukee Brewers will challenge the Cubs for the fourth spot in this division.

Winner: St. Louis Wild Card: Cincinnati

Nothing fancy, just good food

517-655-7006•725 W. Grand River, Williamston MI

NL West: The NL West is the Los Angeles Dodgers to lose in 2014.

After getting off to a horrible start last year, LA came back and won the division by 11 games. With the best national league pitcher if not in the MLB, Clayton Kershaw, and the surprise of the 2013 season when Yasiel Puig came out of nowhere and became a household name in a few short months. The 2012 World Series champion San Francisco Giants missed the playoffs in 2013 but are poised to make a return to the playoffs via the Wild Card. Both pitching and hitting are good enough to come in second in the division and try to recapture their postseason magic. Arizona will be good but not good enough to challenge for a playoff spot after its best pitcher from last year, Patrick Corbin, will be shut down the whole 2014 due to a tear to the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. Colorado and San Diego will compete for the last two spots in this division with the Rockies coming on top.

Winner: LA Dodgers Wild Card: San Fran Giants World Series: Detroit Tigers

ps.

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Photostory • April 2014

GLHS archery team aims high this season as they move on to nationals

After last year’s success at the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP) STUDENT LIFE EDITOR National competition, history teacher and archery coach Kelly Shaltry quickly got back to Grand Ledge and formed more teams across the district. This year, the GLPS archery program has teams at two elementary schools, Hayes Middle School and at GLHS. The number of shooters quickly grew, with 84 students on the high school team alone. Gaining so many new archers, Shaltry and English teacher and coach Shawn Bronson had to ask teaching assistant Kathlene Powell to assist them and divided up the team into three parts–all practicing on different nights.

“The high school teams consist of 28 kids per practice team with training running on Mondays (coach Powell), Thursdays (coach Bronson) and Fridays (coach Shaltry),” Shaltry said.

The team practices from three to five p.m. on their practice day.

Some kids will even practice multiple days of the week to get ready for the state competition.

This year, students wanted to shoot archery at even younger ages. Third grade teacher Christopher Terranova and sixth grade teacher Greg Almy coach the Willow Ridge team. Gym teacher Mary Jo Barrons and sixth grade teacher Melissa Hinojosa coach the Wacousta team. GLHS math teacher Kirk Sheren coaches the Hayes team.

“I like to coach because it is fun and provides exposure to a unique sport not traditionally taught [in schools],” Sheren said.

Terranova and Almy together have 38 years of archery experience total. They hope to instill discipline, self-confidence, goal setting, and a sense of being a part of a team.

“We really enjoyed the opportunity to coach this years archery team,” Terranova said. “Most of our team prior to this year had never held a bow in their hands let alone shot one. Mr. Almy and myself were looking for an opportunity to encourage student to try different things. We asked the kids to put down the technology, and try something new, like archery. I am so proud of how our archers improved over the year. We went from trying to consistently hit the target, to having a competitive team shoot in the state tournament.”

The elementary teams had a total of 30 shooters competing in the State tournament.

“The kids really seemed to enjoy seeing how much improvement they have accomplished during the course of the season,” Terranova said. “Students enjoyed playing competitive shooting games with each other such as tic-tac-toe or break the balloon.”

The Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has partnered with NASP for 10 years. They really want the archers to serve not only an educational purpose, but also a conservation purpose. Michigan NASP Archery Education Coordinator Kathy Garland is responsible for assisting schools trying to get the NASP program in their district. Garland works with Regional Coordinators across the state to arrange certification training for teachers to become certified Basic Archery Instructors.

She helps schools get equipment they need by providing a 50/50 matching grant, which is also available through the DNR. Garland gives coaches techniques, problem-solving skills, and answers any questions they have about the program. She is ultimately the database for anything needed in the entire state of Michigan. When Shaltry wanted to start Amy Case ‘16

All Photos by Elizabeth Wood/The Comets’ Tale

Freshmen Eric Batz (left) and Ben Hudland (right) shoot at the 10 meter line, both competing for the highest score. Archers on the GLHS archery team practiced once a week on either Monday, Thursday, or Friday to prepare for the upcoming State tournament. The top 24 archers at the State tournament were selected to be on the Nationals team. the program at GLHS, he contacted Garland and she helped him set the entire thing up.

“NASP is coordinated within a division of a state’s natural resources or fish and wildlife department to operate the program within that state,” Garland said. “Here in Michigan, the DNR operates NASP through our Marketing and Outreach Division.”

The DNR also wants the shooters to learn to explore and try new things.

“One of the DNR’s goal is to encourage students to get outdoors and explore archery and bow hunting,” Garland said. “Increased participation in shooting sports and hunting provides financial and public support for wildlife education and conservation. In addition, the DNR’s involvement in these education programs assures longterm growth in recreational archery and bow hunting.”

Archery taught through NASP is coached from fourth through 12 grades. NASP created a curriculum based program that can be taught not only in physical education classes, but also in science, math, physics, social studies, and history. It gives team members a chance to meet people they may have otherwise passed in the hallways without a second glance.

The State competition was held at Central Michigan University on March 8.

“We will have a team of 18 going to Nationals if we qualified,” Shaltry said. “We [will not] find out officially until April 18 if we qualified.

They [NASP officials] have to wait until all the other states do their state tournaments to see who qualifies. I feel good about it though.”

The qualifying scores from States will determine if they get to go to the National tournament in Kentucky on May 9 through the 11. The lowest score an archer can possibly get to qualify as a team is 3,200.

Individual students can qualify but that will not mean anything if the team does not score over 3,200 as a whole.

This year, only students from the high school team are going to be attending the National competition. Shaltry wants to wait at least one more year to send the elementary and middle school teams to Nationals so they gain more experience.

GLPS administration has also been very supportive of the team.

GLHS principal Steve Gabriel allowed Shaltry to renovate the old auto shop into the archery range.

“If the bond proposal [of 2014l goes through, they will take away our range to build something else there,” Shaltry said. “The superintendent said that he would help us find another home because he sees how great the program is.”

However, the team is not willing to give up on their determination to expand the program any time soon.

“We will also be offering some summer camps to expose more kids to archery and raise more money for the team and expansion,” Shaltry said. “The first one in June will be run through the Grand Ledge City Recreation program. The other two haven’t been finalized yet.”

Emily Magoon/The Comets’ Tale

Top Left: Junior Malorie Hefron pulls her arrows out of the target, tallying up her score for the round she shot.

Top Right: On February 15, the Grand Ledge High School Archery Team went to Portage to compete at the Portage Invitational. This was the teams first real face-to-face competition. The team finished second overall.

Left: On a Thursday practice day, Coach Shawn Bronson preps the team for the States competition by encouraging them and letting them know about who they will be facing.