Septemeber issue

ct Grand Ledge High School’s

The Comets’ Tale

Check Don’t miss your favorite out local Comets on the field­—get the Lansing full schedule band On Page 4 Lights & Caves Students attend summer camps around the country On On Page 6 Page 3

Archers take the world

Volume 47 Issue 1 September 2014 820 Spring St. Grand Ledge, MI 517-925-5848

“When I finally went up to shoot, I stood up there shaking,” sophSTAFF WRITER omore Grace Long said. “It was super nerve racking.”

Long, along with 13 other GLHS students, competed in the world tournament for archery June 11-13 in Madison, Wisconsin. Being that is was their second year as a team, the Grand Ledge Archery team was excited for the chance of higher competition.

“I was shocked,” junior Tasia Bird said. “I didn’t expect to make it and it was interesting seeing how our team was going to do there.”

The team had two invitationals before competing in the state competition. A team has to get 3,000 points at the state tournament to advance to nationals. Then they must score 3,200 points at the national tournament to advance to the world tournament.

“The toughest part of training is simply practicing as much as they can,” head coach and high school history teacher Kelly Shaltry said. “It helps that we also have our own archery range in the high school.”

Shaltry also attributes his team’s success not only to their talent, but to the dedication they have towards archery.

“Our training motto is ‘shoot until your fingers bleed, and then shoot some more,’” Shaltry said. “We have kids like sophomore Anthony Strukel that will shoot 300-400 arrows straight when he has enough time in the range.”

Even with all the dedication the team had, their were still mental hurdles to overcome. Like in any sport nerves are a huge pitfall that one can succumb to.

“I would do really well in practice,” Long said. “And at nationals I shot a lot worse.”

Even though the team placed 25th at the world tournament, Shaltry has high hopes for the coming years.

“We will take the state championship within the next two years,” Shaltry said. “Our main rival is Hartland High School, who is ranked third in the world. I know we can do it.”

Because of all of her practice time, Long was able regain her focus in Wisconsin relying on what she already knew she could do when she was in the GL archery range.

“I wanted to do really well,” Long said. “So after every shot I stepped back and thought about if it was a good or not and if I could do better.”

Jackson Vanderlaan ‘16

All Photos Courtesy

During competition, the GL archery team celebrates their achievements together. To qualify for the world tournament a team has to score 3200 points. After qualifying, the archery team made their way to Madison, Wisconsin to compete. They placed 25 in the world tournament and hope to attend again in years to come.

Nationals Team Roster

Grand Ledge 2014 graduate Cecilia Burton shoots at her target during the competition.

Burton got the opportunity to compete at worlds after the team received a qualifying score at nationals.

Collin Fox ‘16 Grace Long ‘17 Anthony Strukel ‘17 Shawn Theis ‘17 Bilal Baeza ‘17 Emily Magoon ‘16 Tasia Bird ‘16

Becca Dietz ‘17 Cecilia Burton ‘14 Malorie Hefron ‘15 Hannah Edwards ‘17 Mickey Nottage ‘17 Caleb Smith ‘16 Spencer Holly ‘17

Coaches:

Coach Bronson Coach Powell Coach Sturley Coach Shaltry Coach Powell

New staff members appear in GLHS halls

Sarah Collins- Art Where you went to HS: Grand Ledge High School Where you went to college: Northern Michigan University Top song: “Into the Mystic” by Van Morrison What’s your vice?: Hairless cats Pet Peeve: Chewing with mouth open

First Day of school Sept. 2

Jerry Conoon- E2020 Casey Mcdonnell- Math/ Trista Hanson- E2020 Science Where you went to HS: Grand Ledge High School Where you went to college: Michigan State University Top song: “Play it Again” by Luke Bryan What’s your vice?: Strawberry Shakes Pet Peeve: When people say “like”

Where you went to HS: Harrison High School Where you went to college: University of Michigan Top song: “Take me home, Country Roads” by John Denver What’s your vice?: Golf Pet Peeve: Not having my coffee

Delayed Start 9:45 a.m. Sept. 24

Home football game vs. West Ottawa 7 p.m. Sept. 5

Homecoming Oct. 3

Where you went to HS: Hamilton High School Where you went to college: Lake Superior University Top song: “God Gave me You”

by Blake Shelton What’s your vice?: Sports Pet Peeve: Stupid questions

Yearbook prices increase to $70 Oct. 11

Senior Portraits due Oct. 31

Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale

As the school year fast approaches, staff in the student service office finalize schedules. On the right is Dawn Anderson who will be the A-K counselor.

Comet-in-Charge As students enter GLHS on the first day of the 2014-2015 school NEWS EDITOR year, some changes can be noticed. Renovations have been done to the high school, school days are slightly longer, and ACT prep classes ave been added to the schedule. Counselors are also going to be assigned differently this year. All of the changes have been made in hopes of improving our high school on different levels.

Renovations - Last year, many students noticed the oozing brown goop coming from the ceiling. The kitchen, English and foreign hallways as well as the pool steps were coated, causing concern from students and teachers alike. The piles of snow and ice built onto the roof caused the leak, which was composed of tar from the inside of the ceiling. This summer, the roof was redone to prevent this problem from happening again this winter.

ACT Prep - Ms. Pippin, Hamelton and Westen will be teaching a mandatory ACT prep class for juniors this year. The class will be based off the ACT prep test that was taken the previous year. A target group of students have been selected, who are expected to have the largest jump in their test scores.

Student Services - Counselors will be set up based on alphabetical order this year, rather than grades. Ms. Anderson will be the counselor for students with last names starting with A-K, and Ms. Woodworth will work with students from L-Z. This system is in hopes of helping students get to know the workers more personally and vice versa Bry Leach ‘15

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Craving a creative business The Comets’ Tale • Feature • September 2014

Chad Jordan strongly beNEWS EDITOR lieves that “when somebody opens a door, walk through it,” because you never know what opportunity is on the other side.

And that is exactly what he did.

When on a trip to Frankenmuth, he first visited a popcorn shop. After seeing their business plan and how “easy” it was, Jordan set his mind on his next step. When a couple retired from their popcorn business, Jordan took the opportunity to buy their old materials and start up his own, new popcorn store. Putting $5,000 on a credit card, he “probably overpaid them by $3,000,” but as he says, “sometimes you have to pay the price to get in the game.”

He opened Cravings Popcorn in the Lansing City Market in 2005.

Bry Leach ‘15

The basis of the business Jordan built his business deviating from the business practices he hated.

He runs his store the way that he wishes his prior employers would have run their own businesses, and treats his employees the way he wishes he would have been treated.

“I want my employees to have the creative freedoms to do their job,” Jordan said. “If you are micromanaging, employees have a tendency to work in fear and have ideas, but may be afraid to let them out. When you’re in an environment that all ideas are welcome and you know you won’t be criticized for having a bad idea, it comes up with an environment where people can foster ideas.”

The union experience At 18, Jordan worked at Sam’s Club, where he had bad experiences with his management, particularly the pay and health care offered. After that, he had experiences working as a union representative for prison guards. There, he felt targeted, like the bosses had favorites and his job was always on the line.

“Everything you do can be a trap,” Jordan said. “Those experiences over time give you strength and [teach you] how to be confident in yourself.”

While at Sam’s in 2001, Jordan started a unionization campaign against Wal-Mart that lasted a year and a half, and became the third largest union campaign in the country - so big that he was flown to Miami to accept an award for it.

“We all have situations in our life where you get sick of bull crap happening and you realize that either you’re going to stand up and do something about it, or you’re going to do nothing and just keep taking it,” Jordan said. “I just decided that enough was enough.”

He quit his job with Wal-Mart before his senior year of college at Michigan State University to focus on schoolwork.

“I hated that somebody else was con-

trolling my future and I wanted to go off and do my thing.”

The bad fosters the good Jordan’s experiences have given him characteristics and knowledge that have allowed him to branch out and become more successful in life. While campaigning against Wal-Mart, he learned how to build websites, do press releases, talk to media, and skills for working with unfriendly bosses and supervisors.

He tried and failed at many businesses.

His ideas ranged from selling clothing on Ebay to a two year plan for opening a nostalgic candy shop, but he didn’t have the experience or advertising ability to keep them afloat. He still kept trying new ideas.

“I don’t think that I ever feared failure in business because I knew that if I didn’t succeed and the whole thing crashed and burned, I could always go out and find another job because of the experiences that I’d created for myself,” Jordan said. “I’ve been able to create a resume that has most skill sets that employers want, and I’ve proven myself to be a high value. My biggest concern was getting enough money to start because I didn’t want to be in a perpetual cycle of not having enough money to fund my business.”

The next step Nine years after Jordan’s door opened, Cravings is blooming in Lansing. After two years, it relocated from the Lansing City Market to a more permanent spot in Old Town, and just this year another location opened in Okemos.

But Jordan, who describes himself as driven and competitive, is not done there. He hopes of branching out into metro Detroit and the Grand Rapids area.

“I want to be a marquee business - so when someone says ‘Cravings Popcorn,’ I want you to know where that is - I want to be the #1 in the state,” he said.

Jordan says he is “happy where he is, but not satisfied.” He attributes his success now to the changes that he made for himself after working in unfair environments. He acknowledges that from where he started, he has come far, but he still has a lot he wants to do in the next 20 years to please himself.

“The truth is, if I hadn’t done all the things that I did I’d still be working at Sam’s Club making $12-$13 an hour,” Jordan said. “I still see all the people I used to work with and they all look miserable - that could have been me.”

One piece of advice that Jordan gives to future entrepreneurs is this: “Turn off your TV. Every single minute that you’re watching The Real Housewives or Kim Kardashian, you’re filling their pocketbooks instead of doing your own work so if your goal is to get your pocketbook filled stop filling other people’s.”

All photos courtesy

Top Photo: During this past summer Cravings Popcorn owner, Chad Jordan, opened his second location in Okemos, MI. Jordan worked at Sam’s Club before starting his own business, and made his own worker’s union against Wal-Mart. He hopes one day he will be able to expand into the Metro-Detroit area and Grand Rapids.

Lower Left: Owner Chad Jordan holding fresh popcorn that he makes for his business Cravings Popcorn. The business was first started in the Lansing City market in 2007 before being established into a

building in Old Town Lower Right: Chad Jordan gets interviewed by a local radio station about his business. His current locations are in Lansing and in Okemos. There are many different flavors of popcorn, including dill pickle, buffalo, bacon, caramel and white cheddar cheese

Key findings in spring ACT practice scores English: Only 32%

of test takers correctly used a dash

Math: Only 41%

Science: Only 53%

of test takers of test takers correctly correctly used read graphs fractions

Reading: Only 52%

of test takers could correctly find the main idea in a passage

New ACT prep class pops up on students’ schedules Juniors can take a deep breath knowing they’ll be better preNEWS EDITOR pared for the ACT this year. A new preparatory class is now required for students who only received qualifying scores on the practice ACT that they took the previous spring. It is currently only being offered to juniors. The first day of the class will be in the library to tell students more about the class and how it will work.

In 13 weeks students will be rotated into three classes focusing on the subjects covered by the ACT: English, math and science. The English portion of the class will be taught

by Jennifer Pippin, Katie Westen will teach math and Michelle Hamilton will teach science.

“Hamilton actually tutors for Sylvan specifically on the ACT,” assistant principal Sara Hamelink said. “She’s really knowledgeable about it and knows what helps students.”

The goal of the class is to help juniors prepare better for Bry Leach ‘15

the ACT and be more college ready. May I add something here? A overall trend that Hamelink has seen in students scores is that they struggle on comma questions, so the English class will focus on that.

An important part of the class is that students will receive an elective credit for it. At the end of the trimester students will take a practice ACT again, and based on that score they could receive a letter grade which would impact their GPA. However, if a student does not get a letter grade they are happy with then they can choose to accept the credit but not have it impact their GPA at all.

“This isn’t a class for ‘struggling students,’” Hamelink said. “Students can be good at school but not at curriculum.”

The average for last year’s ACT score was 21, and Hamelink hopes this course will better prepare 160 students’ to score higher.

Mission Statement Editors-in-Chief Sarah Sims a Jake Thomann

The Comets’ Tale, 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.

Managing Editor

Sarah Clinkscales

Business Managers

Mary Vu Brianna Martin

Copy Editor

Katie Twarozynski

News Editor

Bry Leach

Staff Writers

Gabrielle Cushman Katherine Davidson Taylor Kennaugh Bobby Mitchell Angela Pontius Savannah Wear Michael Wilson Jackson Vanderlaan

Sarah Sims/The Comets’ Tale During an icebreaker activity, junior Andrea Malloy and senior Lucija Matkovic discuss different aspects of themselves. During the game they each had to pick candies, and each candy came with a different questions they had to answer about themselves. After the activity, they met and talked about this year’s upcoming events.

Student council kicks off school year with summer meeting The planning started before EDITOR-IN-CHIEF the first day of school even hit. During a summer morning, student council met in advisor Alexander’s room to kick off the school year. New freshmen faces, and returning veterans grouped up, mingled and started the basic outlines for the school year’s upcoming events.

After spending time getting to know one another, leadership students picked the fall events they will specialize in, such as spirit week, pep assembly, parade, homecoming court and the powder puff game.

During the meeting dates were picked for different events and planning for activiSarah Sims ‘15

Adviser

Sara-Beth Badalamente

ties, student involvement and games were started.

For the powder puff game sign ups will begin during the first week of school. It is the football game where the junior class girls and the senior class girls battle it out in a game of flag football.

The homecoming theme this year will be based off of movies. During the week leading up to the Oct. 3 homecoming, there will be daily themes to coordinate spirit wear, as well as lunch activities where classes battle each other to win. The week will end with the pep assembly and a football game that same night against Lansing Eastern.

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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The Comets’ Tale • Entertainment • September 2014

The benefits of Amazon purchasing Twitch Jake Thomann ‘16 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Courtesy Photo

The Lansing-based band Lights & Caves opened for Civil Twilight at the Frost Fest 2013, just one of their many performances. The band also performed at the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association on the night of Aug. 5. They were the headline show for the journalism camp.

Life in the spotlight with Lights & Caves Lights & Caves guitar player Dillion Gorden talks about his band’s history and goals Bry Leach ‘15 NEWS EDITOR

Q: A:

Tell me a little bit about yourselves.

Q: A:

My name is Dillon and I sing and play guitar for Lights & Caves. I also go to school and hold down a job while trying to make the band happen.

What are your lives like outside of the band?

Q: A:

Lots of Netflix and trying to relax. Whatever free time I have leftover after school, work and the band is typically spent with friends and family, or trying to catch up on the countless hours of sleep that I can’t seem to track down otherwise.

What are you like as a group?

Q: A:

I like to think we’re a close knit group of friends who happen to play music together.

We definitely try to hang out as much in a non musical setting as we do in a musical one. The coolest part about this group compared to previous ones is that for the most part, we’re all on the same page. Especially when it comes to being on stage. If something were to go wrong during a performance, we would all either catch it immediately, or non verbally communicate what’s going on in an effective manner. It’s cool to always be in the loop and know that the rest of the guys are in it as well.

How did you get started?

Well, I think we all got our first instruments during our preteen/teenage years, and were immersed in not only playing guitar or drums for example, but more so the creative output that we were provided with these instruments.

From there we all joined bands, and some stayed together for a while, others disbanded

Q: A:

shortly after forming. But I know for each of us it’s been an awesome journey leading up to something we’re all so passionate about which is this band. Without any of the past experiences, we might not be where we are now, or at least in this facet.

What has the band been up to recently?

Q: A:

We’ve been writing a bunch of new songs in hopes of putting out a follow up to In Satori sometime in the next year or so. A vast majority of those new songs will be debuted on September 13th at The Loft in Lansing. Other than that, we’ve just been preparing for an increasingly busy end of the year and kind of just hanging out.

What are you short and long term goals?

Well, I’ll start with the short term ones as those are a bit more defined at this point. We have a goal of reaching capacity at the show I mentioned above. We really want to send these new songs out into the world on the best foot possible, and we think that involves somewhere around 450 of our closest friends, family members, and fans being in the room with us.

Another short term goal would be to get the recording process started for our sophomore release.

Long term would be to achieve success based on the definitions we each hold of the word.

What that looks like isn’t really defined yet, but I think we all want to take this band as far and wide as it can possibly go.

Lastly, we’d love to see anybody who reads this interview out at the show next month (Sept. 13 at The Loft in Lansing).

It’s an all ages event, and we’re gonna be dancing our faces off. It’ll be an exciting time, and I can’t wait to share that experience with you all. If you would like more information, head over to www.fusionshows.com. There you will be able to listen to all of the bands who are slated to perform that night, in addition to grab tickets if you feel so inclined!

Courtesy Photo

Guitarist Jason Marr performs in front of over 600 people during one of his performances. The band will perform at The Loft next on Sept. 13. More information can be found at www.fusionshows.com.

“The Giver” film adaption will leave audiences hooked

The Weinstein Company

The film adaption for “The Giver” stars Jeff Bridges as The Giver and Brenton Thwaites as Jonas. Meryl Streep also stars in the movie as The Chief Elder. This was be the first time that the book was adapted to the big screen.

Bry Leach ‘15 NEWS EDITOR

This movie was brilliant.

Until it

ended.

For the whole 94 minutes it lasted I was wanting more - more about Jonas’ life, more about The Giver and his past, and more about how the society became the way it was. Although I did not get all of my questions answered, what I did get was a 94 minute flood of every emotion I’ve felt in my life. From grief to love to fear, “The Giver” had it all - and I clung to it. Admittedly, I walked out of the theater in a little bit of a distressed state due to

the harsh cluster of emotions, but the confusion led me to grow fonder of the movie and all of the states it held.

When Jonas becomes the Receiver and stops taking his daily medicine that allows him to see the world the way that everyone else in his dystopian society does, his whole perception changes. The Giver shows him emotion through memories of the past.

Jonas starts to fall in love, value human life unlike his peers do, and becomes more curious. The Giver’s teachings and Jonas’ new outlook anger his shortsighted Elders, who think the world needs to be the same to keep peace. Jonas must show them their damage before he is caught, and his time runs out.

As a fan of the book, I was a little disappointed

The Weinstein Company

when I saw that mega-star Taylor Swift would have a role, fearing she would take away from the genuinity and purpose. I was glad when she was only featured for a couple minutes, with lesser known actors playing the lead roles. Rush & Thwaites’ unfamiliar faces made it easy to appreciate them as only the characters and not see real people, although Holmes and Streep’s performances added much character to the movie as well. I couldn’t imagine any other actors in this movie.

I can replay “The Giver” in my head even several weeks later, and the imprint will last to me. Children and adults alike should see this movie. If the point was that we need to appreciate differences and culture - point taken.

Big companies buying smaller companies isn’t an uncommon business tactic; in fact, it has recently become more frequent. One of the most notable examples of this was when the social media service company Facebook bought virtual reality company Oculus VR for $2 billions last March. Another recent situation of this happening was when fast food chain Burger King purchased coffee shop chain Tim Hortons for $11.4 billion. But among these buyouts was a deal between the online marketplace service Amazon and a video game live streaming service called Twitch.

Twitch is a three year old service that allows users to broadcast themselves playing video games and to commentate over them live. The service has been used for several uses other than video game broadcasting, which include podcasts, tournaments and even charity events. Rumors back in May reported that Google, not Amazon, was in talks with buying Twitch. It was later confirmed that these rumors were true, but Amazon later on presented a better deal to Twitch, resulting in a buyout between the two.

People will have their doubts in this deal, and it’s understandable.

Ever since Google bought the online video service YouTube, it has become crowded with ads and now enforces strict copyright rules. But I have the feeling the deal between Twitch and Amazon will result in a good outcome.

This deal will present each party with amazing opportunities and, in the end, will end up being a extremely beneficial business deal for the consumers and the two companies.

My first fear that I had with this deal dealt with the individualism that Twitch had. The way the company did most of their business by themselves and the commitment to making their users happy was something I admired, something that I felt YouTube was missing. When the announcement came out that Amazon bought Twitch, I had the feeling the two would merge and the business tactics Twitch has wouldn’t exist anymore. This concern I had was luckily put to rest shortly after the announcement when Twitch CEO Emmett Shear said in a blog post that they would be “keeping most everything the same” which included Twitch’s brand, office, employees, and their independence. The dismissed possibility that these qualities that Twitch had would be gone immediately made me change my whole opinion on the whole situation.

But there were still lingering questions that I had over the deal, mostly on what the outcome of this agreement will have. Obviously the biggest one is what Amazon is planning on doing with Twitch, whether or not they would be bringing any big alterations to the service, and when these changes will take effect.

Shear also said during a stream on Twitch that the service will “remain unchanged for a while,” but what my biggest concern is what changes will occur when the time comes. Shear did add that Twitch will now have access to Amazon’s cloud services and engineers, probably to point out that this business deal does have its advantages for both services.

So now comes the period of time where there aren’t any notable changes to Twitch, at least according to the CEO. We will continue to broadcast our games using the service and we will also watch others. We will tune into tournaments and we will listen to the weekly gaming podcasts. But most importantly, we will wait until we see this business deal help Twitch grow and flourish into the video platform it deserves to be.

Illustrations by Jake Thomann/The Comets’ Tale

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September sports The Comets’ Tale • Sports • September 2014

Sun.

Mon.

1

Tues. Wed. Thurs.

2

Boys’ varsity tennis 4 p.m. @ Okemos

Girls’ freshman & JV volleyball 5 p.m @GL vs. Lansing Sexton Girls’ varsity volleyball 5 p.m @GL vs. Lansing Sexton

7

8

Boys’ JV B soccer @ GL vs. Charlotte 5 p.m Boys’ varsity soccer @Okemos 5:30 p.m

9

Boys’ varsity tennis TC Central/Lansing Eastern 2 p.m Girls’ varsity volleyball @ Okemos 6 p.m

3

15

Boys’ JV soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Eastern 4 p.m Boys’ varsity soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Eastern 5:30 p.m

16

Boys’ varsity tennis @ East Lansing 4 p.m Cross Country (CAAC Blue meet @ Jackson) 4:30 p.m Girls’ varsity swimming @ GL vs. Haslett 6 p.m

10

Girls’ JV golf vs.

Holt- Home 4 p.m Boys’ JV B soccer @ GL vs. Parma Western 5 p.m

17

Boys’ JV B soccer@ GL vs. East Lansing 5 p.m Boys’ varsity soccer @ Everett 5 p.m

Girls’ varsity volleyball @ Jackson 6 p.m

21

22

Girls’ varsity golf- East Lansing Invitaional 10 a.m Boys’ varsity soccer @ East Lansing 5 p.m

23

Freshman/JV volleyball @ GL vs.

Lansing Eastern 5 p.m Girls’ varsity swimming @ Williamston 6 p.m Varsity volleyball @ GL vs. Lansing Eastern 6 p.m

28

29

Boys’ varsity soccer @ Mason 6:30 p.m

30

Freshmen/JV volleyball @ GL vs.

East Lansing 5 p.m Boys’ JV B soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Christian Varsity volleyball @ GL vs. East Lansing 6 p.m

5

24

Girls’ JV golf vs.

Okemos 4 p.m

11

Girls’ varsity golf- Holt invitational 9 a.m Boys’ varsity tennis @ Lakewood 4 p.m Girls’ varsity swimming @ GL vs. Holt 6p.m Boys’ JV football @ GL vs. Fowlerville

18

Boys’ varsity tennis @ GL vs. Holt 4 p.m

6

Sat.

Girls’ varsity golf Marshall invitational 9 a.m

Boys’ varsity tennis Brighton Quad 8:30 a.m

Boys’ varsity football @ GL vs. West Ottawa 7 p.m

Varsity cross country West Bloomfield/ Brother Rice Invitational 9:30 a.m

Boys’ varsity soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Sexton

Boys’ varsity soccer @ Jackson 6:30 p.m

14

4

Varsity cross country Boys’ varsity tennis meet @ Fitgareld @ Jackson 4 p.m Park 5 p.m Boys’ varsity soccer Varsity cross country @ GL vs. Haslett 5 meet @ Fitgareld p.m Park 5 p.m

Fri.

12

13

Varsity cross country Spartan Invitational 3:50 p.m Boys’ varsity tennis @ GL vs. Lansing Sexton

Varsity volleyballGrandville Invitational 9 a.m Boys’ JV soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Catholic 11 a.m

Varsity football @ GL vs. Lansing Sexton 7 p.m

Boys’ varsity soccer @ GL vs. Lansing Catholic 12:30

Boys’ varsity football @ Okemos 7 p.m

Girls’ varsity swimming- Marshall Quad 12 p.m

26

27

19

Freshman football @ GL vs. Okemos 4:30 p.m

20

JV football @ GL vs.

Okemos 6:30 p.m

25

Boys’ freshman/JV football @ GL vs.

Jackson 4:30/6:30

Boys’ JV soccer @ GL Girls’ varsity vs. Holt 4 p.m swimming @ GL vs.

Boys’ varsity soccer St. Johns 6 p.m @ GL vs. Holt 5:30 p.m Girls’ varsity volleyball @ Lansing Evertt 6 p.m

Boys’ varsity football @ Jackson 7 p.m

Girls’ varsity swimming- Haslett Invitational 8:30 a.m Freshman/ JV volleyball - GL Invitational 9 a.m Cross countryCoaching legends classic 10:30 a.m

*Games and dates are subject to change

Check out the schedule online

Taking a trip down the fairway

Bringing home a first place win was “My favorite part of golfing is getting to go to different golf how the GLHS girls’ golf team started courses,” Wells said. “My team and I get to experience someCOPY EDITOR their season. In addition to the big win thing new if we have never played there before.” at the Portland Invitational, on Aug. 21, four of the girls placed The girls’ next closest to Grand Ledge match is 9 a.m. Sept. in the top 10.

11 at the Holt Invitational.

One of the girls who placed in the top 10 was junior Veronica Mills.

“We practice almost everyday for two hours,” Mills said. “The practices helps us improve and helps us achieve our goals.”

When the team has a home match it is held at the Grand Ledge Country Club. Many times, the girls’ matches are held during the school day preventing fans from making out to the course. Helping the girls gain momentum and confidence usually comes from their families.

“The game is a lot harder than it looks,” Mills said. “I am glad I have support from my teammates and my family behind me.”

Winning is important to the team, but the girls like to focus more on perfecting their individual game.

“I am looking forward to this season a lot,” Mills said. “My team is good and I really want to improve my skills. I have been golfing since my freshman year and my goal is to improve each season.”

Senior Ashlee Wells has been on the team for four years.

Katie Twarozynski ‘17

All Photos Courtesy

Photo left: On Thursday Aug. 21 the girls’ golf team placed first at the Portland Invitational. The golfers are Kit Sharp, Ashlee Wells, Veronica Mills, Lauren Mida, Lexi Gallie and Katie Ransom Top photo: Sophomore Lexi Gallie, junior Veronica Mills, senior Ashlee Wells and sophomore Lauren Mida after they placed in the top ten and won individual medals

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The Comets’ Tale • Feature • September 2014

Goats, cows and pigs, oh my!

Sophomore Jessica Proper STAFF WRITER is a member of the Wacousta Creates 4H club. Over the years, Proper has shown chickens, goats and entered pieces of art she has drawn.

Throughout the week of July 28, the city of Saint Johns held the 76th annual 4H youth fair. The fair kicked off its week on Saturday, July 26 when children from all over the county gathered at the 4H fairgrounds to enter their projects. A handful of this year’s exhibits were painted crafts, baked foods, animal science presentations, flower arrangements and sewing.

Proper’s favorite project is a tie between showing lambs and writing short fiction stories.

“They are both so much fun to work on,” Proper said. “Seeing the lambs grow and develop personalities is fun to watch.”

Proper also would like to start performing with her flute and her voice. She also wants to continue in lambs and poultry, and hopefully add beef and swine into the mix.

Emma Volk of Dewitt was also one of the many children who entered a project this 4H fair. For the second year in a row, Volk baked a cake completely made out of fondant.

One of her favorite things about working with fondant was making the decorations.

“Fondant is like play dough,” Volk said. “It’s really fun to shape and work with.”

Working with a play dough like substance is not all fun and games though. Cake decorating gets tough when you have to keep the foundation fresh.

“It’s food, so you have to make it close to fair time so the cake does not get sticky or melt,” Volk said.

In the future, Volk would like to continue doing cake decorating and other projects like drawing and painting.

GLHS senior Elisabeth Grace Billman Benveniste is also a member of the Wacousta Creators 4H club.

Billman-Benveniste first heard about 4H through close family friends. For the past two years, she has entered projects such as painted ceramics, Angela Pointus ‘16

and this year she tried her hand at quilling, which earned her a blue ribbon. One of her favorite things about 4H is learning how to create new craft projects.

During the week, the fair holds an auction for the participants to sell their market animals. An auction is a public sale that buyers from all over the state attend to be able to buy meat at a discounted price. During the auction, each kid is assigned a job to do - like setting up chairs or handing out water. The auction is one of the fair’s more successful events and it gives the kids a chance to earn a little extra cash.

Jackie Grimes Hipolite, mother of three and former member of the 4H youth council, has been contributing to the fair success for over a decade.

This year, Grimes Hipolite was the head captain for the food and snack shack.

“I am in charge of ordering all the food and other products needed to run the food stand and snack shack,” Grimes Hipolite said. “It can get pretty hectic trying to coordinate it all.”

She has also helped children with projects such as macrame in years past.

“I love checking out all the projects that everyone worked so hard on,” she added.

At the end of the week, the fair council hosts an award ceremony where trophies and rosettes are presented. The council also gives out scholarships to people who are about to go to college who might not be able to afford it.

“It’s fun to see what people have won,” Volk said.

4H is the nation’s largest youth development organization and reaches out to more than 6 million youth all over the country. 4H gives children the opportunity to learn how to stand up for themselves and make the world a better place. From the experiences a child learns in 4H they are able to build a foundation of leadership and learn new skills that can benefit them in the future. In the words of the 4H creed, “I believe in 4H Club work for the opportunity it will give me to become a useful citizen.”

Top Photo: Fifth grader Dalton Barnes shows a goat named Judy. During the goat judging, the presenter gets asked questions and is judged on how he or she handles the goat.

Photo right: Sophomore Emily Huhn with her goat at the 4-H fair.

R i g h t : Sophomore K a t h e r i n e D a v i d s o n participates in the dog show.

During the week of July 28, St. Johns held the 76 annual 4-H fair.

The fair has goat shows, crafts and cakes.

Check out the new bell schedule

Start times:

Delayed Start:

First Hour: 7:45-8:57

First Hour: 9:45-10:33

Second Hour: 9:04-10:17

Second Hour: 10:41-11:28

A Lunch: 10:17-10:47

A Lunch: 11:28-11:58

Third Hour A: 10:54-12:07

Third Hour A: 12:06-12:54

Third Hour B: 10:24-11:37

Third Hour B: 11:36-12:24

B Lunch: 11:37-12:07

B Lunch: 12:24-12:54

Fourth Hour: 12:14-1:26

Fourth Hour: 1:02-1:50

Fifth Hour: 1:33-2:45

Fifth Hour: 1:58-2:45

Ft.

6

The Comets’ Tale • Feature • September 2014

Students give back at Montana mission trip

Beaver Creek summer camp motivates more than just the campers

Thunder cracked overhead and strong winds shuddered the teepee; rain ran onto the floor soaking the three nine-year old MANAGING EDITOR girls along with their counselors who were trying to stay dry in their sleeping bags. It was seniors Savannah Wear and Savannah Todd’s first time sleeping in a teepee. Wear and Todd were two of many camp counselors at Beaver Creek in Fort Belknap, Montana, who were spending a week with kids who are Native American. Wear learned about Beaver Creek and being a camp counselor through Campus Life, a youth group.

“A lot of the kids at the camp didn’t come with much more than a blanket and the clothes on their back, but they didn’t seem to care,” Wear said. “Most of the kids had some sort of relative there like a cousin or sibling, and it was really cool to see how they valued family so much.”

Wear took care of three campers, Amilia, Lydia and Stephanie. Amilia came from a good home and was the sweetheart of the group, Wear said she grew closest to her. Lydia was a troublemaker, always running around and didn’t listen to directions.

“Stephanie was kind of difficult,” Wear said. “She hated playing any sort of group games, but she was very very affectionate and loved to give hugs.”

These kids did not come from the best homes, 29 percent of Native American families live in poverty, which is the highest rate of any race group, according to the 2012 American Community Survey. Wear says that her girls had the best week ever. They made bracelets, played group games, went swimming in a natural spring and rode horses.

One of the things that was eye opening to Wear and other campers was how useless material everyday things were. Phones were pointless because there was not any reception for a week.

“It was actually really relieving to not check your phone all the time,” Wear said.

At the end of the week Wear learned a lot about herself and the lives of the three girls.

Wear hopes she made a difference in these young girls lives and they’ll always have a special place in her heart. Amilia sent Wear a package with homemade earrings and a necklace along with a letter.

“It was really hard saying goodbye, but especially for Stephanie because she came from bad home,” Wear said.

Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

All photos courtesy

Top: Amilia jumps into the water as senior Savannah Wear plays below. The group got to go to The Plunge, a natural spring, to swim during their time at camp. Amilia was one camper that Wear grew close to during her time as a camp counselor for Native American children at Beaver Creek camp in Montana.

Left: Campers and counselors cram into the back of a pickup on their way to The Plunge. The country road leading to the spring was too narrow, so they had to transfer from the bus to the pickup for the mile long ride.

Leadership camp inspires senior Bry Leach

“I am a woman, but I am a leader; I am louder, bolder and MANAGING EDITOR stronger than many men I know; I love feeling beautiful but that doesn’t mean I’m not smart too; I dress to impress myselfno other woman or man.”

These are the words GLHS senior Bry Leach pledged to herself this summer at the Youth Leadership and Diversity conference this year. One week during the summer Civitan hosts the conference at a college in the Midwest, this year it was at Trine University in Angola, Indiana. Civitan is a organization that does civil and volunteer work on national and international levels.

“At camp we learn and practiced the values of Civitan and how we can reach out in our community and world to make it a better place,” Leach said. “Overall I think it broadened our mindsets to accept and help all people of the world.”

One of the programs that Leach learned about and really impacted her while at camp is Global Village. Everyone at the conference, roughly 80 people, represented the world population and showed how many people are of certain religions, how many are rich or poor, who does not have electricity or water. Civitan does non profit work from homelessness to fighting AIDS. “It widened my view of the world as an American,” Leach said. “Especially because we think we’re a melting pot but really we don’t represent the whole world how it is, and now I see that for myself.”

The small size of the camp made it easier to form bonds that are still strong even now, Leach still talks to the friends she made. Every student was changed into a better leader, and hope to do something that will impact and help the world.

Even though there is still so much more Leach can learn from Youth Leadership and Diversity conference, every student can only attend once. But she won’t let that stop her from impacting lives and helping to change the world by educating other students. She plans on either applying to be a camp counselor or creating a local Junior Civitan Club so that she can further pursue her passion to make a Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

Top right: At Civitan International’s Youth Leadership and Diversity conference, senior Bry Leach made many friends as well as learning leadership skills. Students from the Midwestern U.S. and Canada participated in activities with Leach. Games like the Circle Hoop were played to enhance group work skills.

Top left: Students were asked what one word that describes their culture would be. This activity was used to show different people’s experiences and perception, as Civitan works to broaden the minds of people throughout the world.

Middle left: Group activities are done everyday at YLDC. On Tuesday night, all delegates were split into groups of about eight to compete in The Ultimate Challenge. Groups went through a variety of activities, using many skill sets. in hopes of getting the highest score. The activity promoted participants to use their leadership skills, work together, and realize individual strengths and weaknesses.

Bottom left: Leach stands on stage with fellow delegates to read their Gender Authenticity Pledge. The pledge motivated students to break down gender barriers in order to be themselves, rather than the society based definition of boys or girls. Leach proudly shared her pledge on Instagram in July, encouraging her followers to follow the pledge.

First camp fits for GLHS student Sarah Clinkscales Walking into the dorm room at MSU I MANAGING EDITOR couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed.

The muggy room would be my home for the next week: Two little beds side by side with pea green sheets and one window that let in the hot midsummer air.

“Mi casa es tu casa,” my roommate Allie Marier, from Saint Johns, said.

Allie quickly became my best friend and partner in crime at Girls State, a camp I was sponsored to go to by the GL American Legion Auxiliary.

Girls State was the first camp I ever went to. It’s a unique experience that left a lasting impression on me. Roughly 300 girls at camp made an entire mock government, from local to state level. Girls were broken up into their “cities,” about 25 for each city, which we worked with all week and lived with and were given a packet filled with their cities problems that they needed to solve. There were four “counties,” Sarah Clinkscales ‘15

Senior Sarah Clinkscales stands with her roommates from Girls State in Shaw Hall at MSU. Sarah is in the middle, with Allie on her left Jess on her right. Girls State teaches the camp-goers about government and social issues. Clinkscales felt that she fit in there alongside girls who were interested in social issues, just like she is.

difference.

each county had three cities, and in total made one “state.” Everyone had to work together and follow the steps of an the actual parliamentary procedure as closely as possible, which made it difficult and slow because every girl had varying opinions and beliefs. Girls were also individually broken up into “Nationalists” or “Federalist” which were our two main parties, because we had to follow a two party system.

I learned so much at Girls State about our government and communities. I was a member of the city council and my biggest goal was working on lowering crime, at the end of the week I received an award for my hard work. In one week I learned more hands on then I did from years of sitting in any classroom.

“Can I be a witness in the mock trial?” I asked Allie. She was a part of the Bar association and helped set up a mock trial for the week.

“No because I know you’ll say that you’re the killer and mess up the whole trial,” She laughed.

Being surrounded by other women who cared so much about the problems that we are faced

every day was empowering. I felt like I had found my group of people, other feminists like me. It’s teaching young girls more about their government and how they can make a difference.

One of the best and most memorable moments of Girls State is when governor Rick Snyder met us at the capital to inaugurate our “governor” Rachel. It was one of the funniest moments because all the girls swarmed him and whipped out their phones to take selfies with him. We’d been waiting two hours to see him and he was the first guy we’d seen in over a week, needless to say we got a little over excited.

The ending ceremony was bittersweet. Allie and I had lived together, shared things so deep and personal that we knew each other better than our own best friends, had stayed up till two in the morning working on writing ordinances, were saying goodbye. Even now months later I still talk to Allie and we’ve seen each other a couple of times since. Girls State left such a lasting impression on me, that it’ll always be a past “mi casa.”