The Sentry, February 2016 by The Sentry, Jackson Preparatory School

J A C K S O N

T H E V O L . X LV I , IS SUE 5

P R E P A R A T O R Y

S C H O O L

S E N T RY

NON-PROFIT U.S. POSTAGE Paid Jackson, MS Permit #93

FE BRUA RY 2 016

INSIDE: •Reveillon Wows Audiences •Student Group Visits NYC •Plus: Cookin’ With Sam!

If you could tickle anyone in the world who would it be and why?

If you could pick anyone to be president who would it be and why?

“My mom for payback” -Maddox Henry

“Reagan because the 80s were born.” -Olivia Flynt

“ Macy Abraham becasue she is an Ostrich” -Beth Graeber

“Myself because I’m great” -Shelby Stump

“Brooklyn Decker because she is pretty cute” -Nevin Wells

“Kayne becasue it’s Kayne” -Jay Rucker “Jeb Bush because he is cute” -Jake Maloney

“The Pope” -Olivia Flyint

Who is your Valentine? Ellis Abdo- Alex Morgan Paul Andress- Allie LaForce Holman Buchanan- Jack Davis Ann Clardy Byrd- Creed Bratton Matthew Clay- Fabio Hays Dubberly- Kate Upton R.J. Green- Brittany Griner Haynes Horsley- Ashley O’Mara John Keeler- Marie Merrell Chatham Kennedy- Jared Padalecki Gracie McCraney- Chace Crawford Tanner McCraney- Beyonce

Brendon McLeod- Bar Rafael Lee Meena- Mrs. Buttersworth Sam Mosley- Melissa McCarthy Patrick Phillips- Patrick Phillips Russell Roberts- Octavia Balank Blair Stockett- Jordan Spieth Healy Vise- Tiffany Trump Elliot Weill- Michelle Obama Brittany Wilkinson- Scott Eastwood Michael Wilson- Jennifer Lawrence Mr. Hughes- Stephanie Zimbalist

The Sentry

7PM 9-7* *TTVF t 'FCSVBSZ Table of Contents

Affiliated with MISSISSIPPI SCHOLASTIC PRESS ASSOCIATION www.mississippischolasticpress.com The Sentry is a student publication printed and released six times a year.

student writers, we try to reflect the thoughts of our most important readers-- the News & Features...........................................................................................4-9 As of Jackson Prep. Because of this, we attempt to approach many issues, some Entertainment...........................................................................................10-14 students more controversial than others. Nevertheless, the Sentry staďŹ&#x20AC; serves the school--her Sports........................................................................................................15-20 students, her faculty, her family, and her community. The staďŹ&#x20AC; hopes to inform, to to entertain, and to question for the betterment of Prep and the lives of people Fun & Games.................................................................................................21 educate, the Jackson community. The newspaper is produced by the Sentry staďŹ&#x20AC;, consisting of Opinion.....................................................................................................22-23 instudents both in and out of the senior high journalism class. Questions or comments? Junion Class Garage Sale................................................................................24 Our mailing address is P.O. Box 4940, Jackson, MS 39296. We would love to hear your opinions.

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EDITORIAL POLICY The Sentry accepts outside editorial pieces under the following guidelines: Op-Ed pieces are not simply rants. Pieces should be about things that can be changed or alleviated, or pieces may suggest a solution to a problem. Pieces should not simply jab at things of which the writer does not approve. Humorous opinion pieces are subject to the judgement of the editorial staďŹ&#x20AC;. All opinion pieces are the views of the author, and the author only, with the exception of staďŹ&#x20AC; editorials, which are unsigned and reflect the consensus view of the students in the Sentry class. StaďŹ&#x20AC; editorials are the only columns in the paper that express the unified view of the Sentry StaďŹ&#x20AC;. This staďŹ&#x20AC; editorial process is comprised of two main steps. First, the staďŹ&#x20AC; talks amongst themselves about a topic and organizes a position on the issue on which all class members can agree. The editorial is then written and run past the staďŹ&#x20AC; members for approval. Letters to the Editor are a great way to make your voice heard. To submit a letter, simply write to sentry@jacksonprep.net To submit a Guest Editorial, simply type your opinion, double-spaced with a minimum of 250 words, and submit it to sentry@jacksonprep.net.

Cover photo courtesy of Lisa Patti

Sentry StaďŹ&#x20AC; Editors-in-Chief Haynes Horsley â&#x20AC;˘ Paul Andress

Copy Editor Matthew Clay

Managing Editor Chatham Kennedy

Assistant Copy Editors Brendon McLeod â&#x20AC;˘ Lee Meena

Business Manager Healy Vise

Sports Editors Brendon McLeod â&#x20AC;˘ RJ Green

Assistant Business Manager Patrick Phillips

Assistant Sports Editors Ellis Abdo â&#x20AC;˘ Russel Roberts Video Editor Tanner McCraney

Photography Editor Brittany Wilkinson

Graphics Editor Blair Stockett

February 2016

Opinion Editors Elliot Weill â&#x20AC;˘ Sam Mosley Website Editor John Keeler Assistant Website Editor Gracie McCraney Social Media Editors Lee Meena â&#x20AC;˘Holman Buchanan

Assistant Photography Editors Ann Clardy Byrd â&#x20AC;˘ Gracie McCraney Entertainment Editor Michael Wilson

Fun & Games Editor Hays Dubberly Assistant Fun & Games Editor Patrick Phillips

Assistant Entertainment Editors Ann Clardy Byrd â&#x20AC;˘ Ellis Abdo

Advisor Mr. Lain Hughes

Contributors Jacob Aron â&#x20AC;˘ Hannah Biggs â&#x20AC;˘ Veronica Chough â&#x20AC;˘ Preston Dubberly â&#x20AC;˘ Jackson Phillips Maddie Grace Puckett â&#x20AC;˘ Forrest Smith â&#x20AC;˘ Anna Stack â&#x20AC;˘ Will Russell Ward â&#x20AC;˘ Nevin Wells â&#x20AC;˘ Jack Young

News & Features Reveillon Has a “Grand” Start HAYS DUBBERLY JACK YOUNG The Jackson Prep Showchoir Masters is the annual showchoir competition that Prep has been hosting in the Fortenberry Auditorium for three years now. The Showchoir Masters competition was hosted by Fusion and Reveillon on January 22nd and 23rd. Nearly thirty schools from four different states competed in this competition. The junior high division was held on the 22nd while the high school division was held on the following day. On the 22nd, groups began performing at 5:00 in the afternoon, and the winners of the junior high competition were not announced until later that night. The high school performances began at 8:30 in the morning on the 23rd with the small and mixed division winners were announced at 1:00 p.m., and the overall winner of the competition was announced around 12:00 a.m. Petal Middle School “Spark” were the Grand BY

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Reveillon performing on stage competively for the first time in Ellisville. Photo courtesy Macy Richardson.

the Midwest and maybe places like California. Ms. Holbert says that doing this will “bring in more diverse judges with less biases to keep the competition credible.” She also wants to integrate more technology into aspects of the event, such as a twitter feed. On January 29th, Reveillon traveled southward to Ellisville to compete in the

Mississippi Showchoir Competition hosted by South Jones High School. In the preliminary round, Reveillon seized 1st place and advanced into finals along with four other groups. Lawson Marchetti received the honor as the best male solo for the song “Johanna” from the Broadway musical Sweeney Todd. After the five groups performed, Reveillon received

many awards in sub categories such as Best Visuals, Best Show Design, and Best Vocals. Reveillon was then presented the title of Grand Champions in the Mississippi Showchoir Competition. Reveillon captured their first Grand Champions title in almost two years. Many juniors and sophomores were very excited because it was their first showchoir competition that they had ever won. Avery Harmon, who is a senior Reveillon member, said, “The joy we got to experience together was really special. We put a lot into what we put on stage, and it was great to know that it paid off.” Reveillon traveled the following weekend to Poplarville, Mississippi. Reveillon was awarded with Best Vocals and Best Show Design and was awarded second runner-up. On February 20th, Reveillon will compete in Homewood, Alabama and will look to capture a Grand Champion Title once more.

Students Make Most out of The Pursuit LEE MEENA For the second year in a row, the Jackson Prep high school led a school wide ministry week known as The Pursuit. The sole purpose of The Pursuit is bringing the school together through the discipleship of learning about Christ. The Pursuit took place January 5-8, during activity period and homeroom. Throughout the week, students would go to the auditorium where they would hear prayers/testimonies by other students, sing praises, and listen to a sermon. What makes The Pursuit special is the ministry given by a guest speaker. This year’s speaker was CJ Stewart. CJ grew up in Central, MS and attended Madison Ridgeland BY

Champions in the junior high division, and Homewood High School “The Network” captured the title of Grand Champions in the high school division. “The Showchoir Masters was a major success due to the student and faculty volunteers,” Ms. Dianne Holbert said in reference to the show choir competition held at Prep. “One thing that I have enjoyed about this year was how little problems occurred and ease of operation thanks to moms like, Ms. Young and Ms. Mitchell.” Ms. Holbert is excited with the ability to host so many choirs and consistently have a large competition. She accredits the continued success to the hospitality the Reveillon and Fusion students use when hosting other schools’ choirs. Hosting a choir is simply the job of a Reveillon or Fusion member to answer any questions a director might have and also to help direct them anywhere on or off campus. In the future, she hopes to bring in more schools from areas such as

Academy. He would eventually join the military as a medic, which eventually led to a serious injury in Afghanistan that almost took his life. CJ now owns and operates Camp Downrange in Clinton. The theme of The Pursuit was to answer two questions: “If your life was summed up in a sentence, what would it say?” and “How do you gain from your experiences?” This year’s organizer, Matthew Clay, enjoyed the opportunity to carry out The Pursuit. That being said, there were a few challenges that Clay had to face in order to get the week together.“It was kinda stressful to find just the right speaker,” Clay said, “We originally planned on having three dif-

ferent speakers, but that number was brought down to one.” Another challenge was finding guys to sign up as small group leaders, so he really appreciated those who gave their time to help out. Matthew’s favorite experience from The Pursuit was listening to the testimonies given by some of the students. Last year, The Pursuit was organized by Millie Waller and Ashley Johnston. This year, Matthew took on the responsibility of continuing this tradition, and he hopes that the torch will be successfully passed down to next year’s senior class.

Students singing praises in the Auditorium. Photo by Matthew Clay

The Sentry

News & Features Prep Students Raise Stock Market Prices

JOHN KEELER The Jackson Prep financial management class, along with a few other brave students, took on Wall Street and the rest of Manhattan, New York at the end of January. The group, led by Coach Malcolm Saxon, experienced a fully loaded weekend packed with activities, sightseeing, tours, eating, and classic New York events like Broadway or a Knicks game at the historic Madison Square Garden. The students arrived late to their hotel near Wall Street on the night of Wednesday, January 27 and woke up early the next morning to begin their adventure. They started the trip touring Wall Street and the National Federal Reserve where they saw over $200 billion worth of gold belonging to countries and organizations all across the country. After that, they experienced the 9/11 Memorial Museum where they saw pictures, videos, and artifacts from that grave day. The students then were BY

able to get off their feet for a little while and hear from James Herring, who has hit it big in the financial world and an elder at Redeemer in New York, the home to the renowned preacher Timothy Keller. The students then heard from two Prep graduates, David Hobbs and Cal Wells. Both are hedge fund managers and work with hundreds of millions of dollars. The night was ended by skating around the ice skating rink in Rockefeller Center. Day 2 in New York was another business day as they called it. The group heard from Dr. Neil Boothby, who is a professor at Columbia University and deals with human trafficking issues around the globe. From there the future Wall Street Warriors took on the Bank of New York Mellon and JP Morgan, where they heard from various finance professionals and toured each of their trading floors. After that, they went to the NASDAQ where they went on the set of CNBC and saw the trading floor there. To close the day, they

heard from banker Tom Jones and Nick Dawe. Dawe is a rowing coach at Columbia and also a world competitor in the same field. That night, they took the subway to Madison Square Garden to watch Carmelo Anthony, Kristaps Porzingis, and the New York Knicks take on the Phoenix Suns. The group had a great time interacting with the fans around them as they cheered on the Knicks to a blowout victory. Day 3 was the group’s day to be tourists. After they heard from former Prep student Alexandra Franklin, who works as an editor in Manhattan, they went to a surprise venue. The group went to the top of the new World Trade Center Tower. At the top of the one hundred story skyscraper, there is a 360 degree view of New York City and neighboring New Jersey. The group ate lunch in Grand Central Station where most students experienced Shake Shack, which is a new burger and milkshake chain spreading all across the country.

Then, they were able to stimulate the economy on Fifth Avenue and shop for the rest of the afternoon. The night ended with a show on Broadway. The, now, Wall Street Warriors watched the production of “Aladdin” and felt that it was a great end to a great week. On Sunday, the group went to Redeemer Church on the East Side and then called it a week.

View from the top of the World Trade Center looking over Brooklyn and Washington Bridge. Photo by J. Keeler

(L-R) Lee Meena, Sam Mosley, William Garrard, and David Powe standing on top of the new World Trade Center Tower. Photo courtesy of Sam Mosley.

Merrell, Mangana Join Prep Leadership BRENDON MCLEOD Recent hires at Prep have brought new leadership in two vital areas. The school has recently hired Adam Mangana. Mr. Mangana will serve as the Chief Diversity Officer, a new position created at Prep. “Diversity and inclusion are key components of Jackson Prep’s new strategic plan, the #PrepJourney, which was unveiled last fall. Our goal is to attract and nurture students, families, and faculty from all backgrounds into Prep’s safe and welcoming environment. Having a Chief Diversity Officer can only make us a better school, employer, and community partner,” said Dr. Walton, BY

February 2016

Newly-minted GLI director Lt. Col. William Merrell (far left) and Chief Diversity Officer Mr. Adam Mangana (far right) with Dr. Walton and guest speaker Derreck Kayongo.

Head of School. “That’s why we’ve created this new position and filled it with a proven lead-

er like Adam.” A graduate of Brown University, Mangana has more

than a decade of experience in education. He recently played a big role in the founding of Midtown Public Charter School, one of the first charter schools in Mississippi history. Mangana also previously worked at St. Andrew’s. “My first days here have been outstanding, visiting with students and faculty,” said Mangana. “Prep is so much more diverse and forward thinking that I could have imagined. I look forward to this new role at Jackson Prep and am excited to see this type of innovative progression.” Lieutenant Colonel William Merrell has been hired as Jackson Prep’s new Director of the Global Leadership Insti-

tute. He has replaced the previous Global Leadership Institute director, Dr. Cindy Townsend. Merrell brings to the job 32 years of military experience. Prep is a familiar place for Merrell, as he graduated from Prep in 1985. Merrell also has 3 daughters who attend Prep. “Inspired, passionate, and courageous student leaders willing to step forward out of their comfort zones to make a difference in this complicated and complex world,” said Merrell, “that is our vision for every student here at Prep. I plan to make leadership here at Prep come alive, with more hands on opportunities for students.”

News & Features Student Profile: Peyton Harrison ELLIOT WEILL During Jackson Prep school hours you may have seen a 5’ 9’’ and one hundred seventy three pound student roaming around campus. This is senoir Peyton Harrison. He has grown up in the Jackson area his whole life with his two siblings Hunter and Ashleigh Harrison. Peyton challenges himself academically by taking many AP level classes. Peyton plays soccer and has been playing for Prep since seventh grade. He starts at the position of defender. Peyton’s favorite part about soccer is “winning a lot.” He can be seen practicing every day after school trying to get better. You may have seen Peyton running around the school for the past couple of years. This is because Peyton ran cross country, which unfortunately he had to quit his BY

senior year to focus more on school. Peyton is still running looking forward to track season. In an ordinary day after school, Peyton goes from soccer practice to the gym. He works out at the River Hills Tennis Club. Peyton works out daily to get better at soccer and track. When asked why he works out Peyton responded “to get big”. In his spare time, Peyton tries to help the homeless in Jackson through his church. Next year Peyton will be attending Ole Miss. Peyton was in between Ole Miss and Mississippi State but ultimately ended up choosing Ole Miss. Peyton’s sister, Ashleigh Harrison, also attends Ole Miss. Peyton plans on majoring in mechanical engineering. When asked what jobs he is pursuing he responded with “a company called Jobs, Steve Jobs. But in

all seriousness I really do not have any ideas for jobs yet”. When Peyton was asked where he sees himself in ten years he responded with “In a mirror, Just Kidding maybe the head of America or something”. Peyton is quite the jokester around school and if you need a witty comment just find him.

Interesting Facts About Peyton Favorite Color- Blue Favorite Movie- Fight Club Favorite TV Show- Breaking Bad Favorite Food- Medium Rare Filet Favorite Smell- Yankee Candle Shoe Size- 10.5 US

Peyton Harrison busily working on homework. Photo by Elliot Weill

Teacher Profile: Dr. Luke Nealey GRACIE MCCRANEY Dr. Luke Nealey is currently the Assistant Head of School, Head of the Senior High, and teaches Advanced Placement Chemistry at Jackson Prep. This is Dr. Nealey’s 17th year working at the school. He was born in Butte, Montana. Dr. Nealey has one older and one younger brother, Matt and Paul. He has lived in various places but grew up mostly in Brookfield, a suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He also lived in cities such as Salt Lake City, Appleton, Philadelphia, and Pensacola. During his senior year of high school, he was an exchange student in Thailand. He also spent time living in Japan. While in Japan he worked for a chemical company known as Harima Chemicals. He also spent a year in Stockholm at the Stockholm school of economics. He attended college at Rice University in Houston, BY

“Doc” at the pottery wheel. Photo courtesy of Hubert Worley.

Texas where he majored in religious studies. He also attended the Wharton School. He received his doctorate in cell wall polysaccharides from the Institute of Paper Chemistry. He did Research and Development with Plasmine Technology. While living in Pensacola, Florida, he came across a job opening at Prep on the internet. He only knew one person in Jackson at the time. He then reached out to him and luckily, he said good things about Prep. He is very busy with his job at Prep. In a day he teaches, attends meetings, plans, and looks in on classes, all while enforcing rules. He says that his favorite part of his job is the students. The hardest part of his job is dealing with suspension and other big problems. In his free time he enjoys to throw pots on the wheel. He also enjoys walking his dog Mike, who sometimes visits the

school, and cooking. His favorite food to cook is pizza. He is married to LeAnn Nealey who is an attorney at Butler-Snow.

Some of Dr. Nealey’s favorites: Favorite color: red Favorite vacation spot: Pensacola beach Favorite band: The Band Favorite food: bean soup Favorite quote: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t--you’re right” -Henry Ford Favorite book: Sometimes A Great Notion by Ken Kesey

The Sentry

News & Features

STAR Students, Teachers Honored HEALY VISE The Mississippi Economic Council sponsors STAR (Student-Teacher Achievement Recognition) Program in an effort to encourage scholastic achievement among the state’s high school students. It emphasizes scholastic excellence, encourages greater scholastic effort among Mississippi students and recognizes the teaching profession. Seth Lenoir and Marina Joel are Jackson Prep’s STAR students for the class of 2016. A student becomes a STAR student if they score a thirty-five or above on their ACT or if a school does not have a person with at least a thirty-five, then the school awards the student with the highest ACT score in its senior class. The student must also have an average of at least a ninety-three. Seth and Marina each scored a thirty-six on their ACT before the December 31st dead line for submissions. BY

Seth and Marina are now in the running for ALL-STAR Scholastic Scholars, which is given to the top twenty STAR students in the State. If Seth or Marina is selected as an ALLSTAR Scholastic Scholar, then they will be awarded a scholarship with the amount varying due to their ranking. The decision date for ALL-STAR Scholastic Scholars will be announced April 28th. Each STAR student selects a STAR teacher, and Seth selected Ms. Kimberly Van Uden, while Marina selected Ms. Marsha Hobbs. Ms. Van Uden taught Seth in tenth and twelfth grade, while Ms. Hobbs taught Marina in tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grade. Seth and Marina will not know what college they want to attend next year until they receive their acceptance letters this spring. They both are eagerly counting down the days until they can decide their futures.

(L-R) Ms. Kimberly VanUden, Seth Lenoir, Marina Joel, and Ms. Marsha Hobbs. Photo courtesy Jackson Prep.

Debate Team Travels

Faculty Team Reps Prep at the Blues

PAUL ANDRESS The Mississippi Blues Marathon is a huge event held annually in the city of Jackson. Every year, hundreds of runners come to Jackson from all over the country to participate in this marathon, which is held in January. The Mississippi Blues offers a full marathon, a half marathon, and a quarter marathon. MarathonGuide.com ranked the MS Blues as a four star course with five star organization. This year a group of five current and past Prep faculty ran the marathon as a team. This is the ninth year a team from Prep has run in the Blues Marathon. This year’s team members were Ms. Christina Jackson, Ms. Chere Guilbeau, Ms. Gail Derryberry, Ms. Tracie Mallard, and Coach Rusty Burke. The first four legs of the race ran five miles. Ms. Mallard ran the last leg of the race which BY

February 2016

Prep team after completing the Blues (from left to right) Ms. Derryberry, Ms. Guilbeau, Coach Burke, Ms. Jackson, and Ms. Mallard. Photo courtesy of Ms. Mallard

was a little over six miles. The weather did not cooperate on the day of the race. It started to downpour during the race. Ms. Mallard commented on the weather saying, “The weather was rough, and I had to run through the rain and lightning. However, at the end the sun came out, and it was

beautiful.” Ms. Mallard says she enjoys doing the race because she likes spending time with her colleagues. Even though the weather wasn’t the best, the Prep team enjoyed running the race together and representing Jackson Prep.

JACOB ARON JACK YOUNG After early competitions at Oxford and Oak Grove, the Prep team participated in a tournament October 15-16 at St. Andrew’s. Reed Peets and Jacob Beard were awarded semifinalist in Duo Interpretation, and Peets also went on to earn another spot in the Prose Interpretation. Ann Kat Ireland made quarterfinals for Novice Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Mitchell Boulanger came in fourth overall for Congressional Debate, and George B Fike and Seth Lenoir took second in Policy Debate. Ganon Hayes said, “The feeling of being in your first debate is like aaaaah., but I felt that I was well prepared.” T h e debate team showed out at the last three competitions, with members earning a total of over 300 National Speech and Debate points. Marina Joel and Michelle Boulanger qualified for Super Congress, with Boulanger placing in the top 5. BY

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Debaters had an astounding start to the new year with many advancing into the quarter and semi-finals of the St. Thomas More Catholic School “Cougar Classic” in Lafayette, Louisiana. Team Captain Abi Burton advanced to quarterfinals in impromptu speaking and Lauren Williams made it to quarterfinals in oral interpretation. Petal High School held a qualifying tournament February 5th and 6th. Two of the attendees were Prep students Reed Peets and Mitchell Boulanger, both sophomores hoping to advance to the next level of the tournament. Reed and Mitchell were two of the 14 students who were selected by the judges to be a part of the Super Senate Session that was held Saturday afternoon. Though they did not advance past the Super Senate, Reed Peets said “The atmosphere was intellectually stimulating”, and also compared himself to a young Kobe Bryant in the debate world.

News & Features

Global Leadership Institute Speakers Inspire Students Thomas, Kayongo Share Lessons from Their Life Stories CHATHAM KENNEDY LEE MEENA On January 25, Sarah Thomas, the NFLâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first full time female referee, came to speak to the Prep student body in an event put on by the Global Leadership Institute. Thomas, a native of Pascagoula, Mississippi, began her career as a high school football official and worked her way up the ladder of officiating to make it to the NFL. She currently resides in Brandon. Thomas says that she did not set out to be an official in the NFL. Her goal was to do what she loved to the best of her ability which brought her to the ranks of the National Football League. Along with her officiating career, she maintains her life as a mother of three and works as a pharmaceutical sales representative during the week days. On the weekends, she travels to venues all across the country to work with her

officiating crew as a line judge. The NFL community has widely accepted her arrival into the league. She says that players and fans that she has spoken to have been very congratulatory of her accomplishments. Thomas encouraged students to have confidence in whatever ca-

HOLMAN BUCHANAN Merita and Donnie Bane have decided to retire from their long time at Prep. Ms. Merita has been working at Prepâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dining commons (and before that, the old cafeteria) for the past 32 years, and Mr. Donnie for the past 25. The two got married in 1973 and shortly moved to Jackson from Ripley, MS in March of 1974. Merita was referred to Prep through a friend who worked at the cafeteria and she began working here in 1984, with Donnie coming to Prep a few years later. After a few years, Ms. Merita became the cafeteria manager and has been ever since. The couple has three daughters and six grandchil-

dren. The eldest daughter, Tina, currently works at the cafeteria. Tina came to Prep this past year to help with the transition to retirement for Donnie and Merita, and to continue working managing the cafeteria. Merita says her most important things in life are her faith, her family and friends, and Prep. Tina says Merita lived and breathed Prep. Through her battle with cancer this past year, Merita was at Prep every day she could possible. Tina expressed how much of a love for the school Merita had, and that she missed only a handful of days over her many years at the school. Merita truly considers her friends in the cafeteria her family, and has been working with many of them for over

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(Left) Derreck Kayongo describes his vision for helping impoverished people around the world. Photo courtesy Elizabeth Neon. (Right) Sarah Thomas gives the inside scoop on being the first female NFL ref. Photos courtesy Hubert Worley. reer path that may be. After the speech, Thomas spoke to a smaller group of students at a luncheon. Derreck Kayongo and his funny socks danced across the stage of Fortenberry Theatre on February 9th, 2016 as he talked to the Prep student body about his non-profit organization known as the Global Soap Project.

His lighthearted demeanor greatly contrasted from his earthshattering life experience. After terror struck his Ugandan home, Kayongo and his family fled to Kenyan. Later, he traveled to the United States as an adopted refugee. While he was a student at Harvard, Kayongo visited a ho-

tel where he was amazed by the multiple different types of soaps that were displayed in his room. Because soap was a scarcity in his refugee camp, Kayongo took the soap, which was placed in his room daily, and stored it in suitcase. After talking to the concierge about the excess amount of soap he had received, he learned that the remainder of the used soap was thrown away and never seen again. Thus the idea for the Global Soap Project was born. The Global Soap Project uses leftover hotel soap and creates fresh bars of soap to be handed out to impoverished nations. Currently, the Global Soap Project aids one hundred countries, but the company hopes the list will grow. Kayongo shared his ideas about a new dream that he hopes to see fulfilled within the next four years. This dream evolves using milk that is about to expire, turning it into powdered milk, and giving it to natives of third-world countries. He encouraged Jackson Prep students to use their extraordinary abilities to make a difference in their community, nation, and around the globe.

Merita and Donnie Bane, Prep Legends, Retire

20 years. Merita was planning to retire a few years ago, but kept working so that Donnie could keep coming to do what he loved every day. Donnie was diagnosed with Alzheimer's about seven years ago, and being at Prep truly gave him joy and a purpose everyday. Tina expressed how much Donnie loved the students at Prep and how kind he thought the students were to him. Merita and Donnie Bane are truly Prep legends with a over 57 combined years working at the school. They will certainly be missed.

The Sentry

Junior HighbyNews our JH correspondents

Sixth Grade Report Geography Bee Maps VERONICA CHOUGH This semester the students have been moving on to harder lesson and new classes. Sixth graders have started band and art with Mr. Kincaid and Ms. Louis. Also, Owen Abney participated in the Junior High Geography Bowl. The sixth graders even started a new learning system in math. Moving on from character and computer, the students have begun art and band. The students who are in art have been finishing their collages and their still life drawings with charcoal. In band, the other students have been learning how to play the recorder along with learning the notes, chords, rhythm, and scale. The sixth graders love these new classes and look forward to what else in store for them in these classes. In the Geography Bowl, Owen Abney participated along with other students in seventh through ninth grade. Earlier in the year all the Junior High students took a geography test and if you made a high enough grade you qualified for the Geography bowl. Owen was the only sixth grader who qualified. In math the students are doing something new. The sixth graders who don’t need much help on math can advance on their own without having to learn the lesson with the whole class. In science the students are learning about cell structure and viruses along with a few projects. In social studies they have moved from Canada to South America and ancient civilizations such as the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas. The students are being opened to new opportunities as the school year goes by. As the lessons advance so do the students. All the students are so excited for what will happen as the semester goes by.

Student Knowledge

February 2016

HANNAH BIGGS On Wednesday, January 27, ten students from the six, seventh, and eighth grade competed in the National Geography Bee on the school level. Prior to the bee, all students in the sixth through eighth grade took a qualifying test in order to decide which student would compete. The ten students selected had the highest scores in their grade. Ethan Herrin, John Sanders Watson, Joe Bryant, and Hannah Grace Biggs represented the eighth grade; Kimberly Blount, Tanner Gough, Owen Lundberg, Mason Nichols, Bradley Stafford represented the seventh grade, and Owen Abney represented the sixth grade. The Bee was held during activity period and homeroom and included trivia about the US, a map portion, in which students were given a map and asked question pertaining to the information shown and BY

many questions on world geography. The Champion of Jackson Prep’s National Geographic Bee was Mason Nichols from the seventh grade. The runner-up was Tanner Gough, also from the seventh grade. Mason will soon be taking another test in order to qualify for the state level bee. The winner of the state bee will travel to Washington DC for the qualifying rounds of THE National Geographic Bee. If Mason is to get through the qualifier, he will advance to the finals. The winner of the bee will receive a special prize from National Geographic and a $50,000 scholarship. The national finals will air on the National Geographic Channel; check your local listings for the date and time. The junior high wishes Mason luck in competing in the state level of the Geography Bee.

Fusion Showchoir ANNA STACK This year, Jackson Prep’s Fusion showchoir consists of 47 boys and girls. Since August, they’ve been practicing their World War II show, which was choreographed by Zach Watson, Helen House, and Christopher Spalding. Recently all their practice was put to the test. Under the direction of Mitchell McGinnis, they competed at South Jones High School against four other showchoirs in their division from across Mississippi. They sang a total of seven songs, including “Safe and Sound” by Capital Cities and “Opportunity” by Sia. Many 8th graders are experiencing the first of their many competitions with Fusion. Aidan Hinton, a new student at Prep this year, says, “This year BY

Student Profile: Tori Newsome

PRESTON DUBBERLY Tori Newsome, a current ninth grader, came to Jackson Prep in sixth grade. Before Tori attended Prep, she went to Northshore Elementary School. Coming to Prep in the sixth grade was good for her because the classes were smaller and she was able to know her classmates better. Tori is involved in the Jackson Prep community by being a representative of the 9th grade class and as a starter on the Junior High Girls Basketball Team. Sports have always held a special place in her heart. In seventh grade, Tori ran cross-country, played basketball, and ran track. In eighth grade, she continued with basketball. After Tori graduates, she wants study abroad. Tori is a native Pennsylvanian which means she says “you guys” instead of “y’all.” Her friends constantly mess with her when she says “tournament” or “peanut butter.” Having lived twenty minutes out of Philadelphia, her favorite NFL team is the Eagles. She moved to Mississippi when she was eight years old. Tori has two siblings:

The author (left) with Tori Newsome. Photo courtesy of Preston Dubberly.

Courtney, a sophomore at Ole Miss, and Jake, an eleventh grader at Prep. She also has two labradoodles: Jewels and Drake. In Tori’s spare time, she likes to hang out friends, waterski, and listen to music. Her favorite concert she has been to was Taylor Swift’s 1989 World Tour. She also loves to go on family trips. Her favorite vacation spot is the beach. Tori’s dad, Jack, taught her how to water ski when she was eight years old and has been skiing every summer since then.

Science Bowl MADDIE GRACE PUCKETT On Saturday, January 30, 12 Prep students competed against students from other schools at the Science Bowl. These students had to get on a bus at 5:30 in the morning headed to Columbus where they spent the day competing with other schools. There, they went through several rounds of questions about math and science. Some of the questions that they were asked ranged from problems like “light years per meters per seconds per day” to one that asked what was the process in which zinc BY

has been the best year of my life. I couldn’t ask for a better family or friends, and I love everyone in Fusion!” On February 5th, Fusion will travel to Pearl River Community College in Poplarville, Mississippi to perform their show for the third time this year.

was removed from the earth. After the first few rounds, they were served a delicious lunch. When they returned to the competition, they continued on their journey to try to win the first place trophy. The team that rose the highest included eighth graders Olivia Moore, Lila Geddie, and Russ Upton and seventh grader Owen. Sadly, they lost after the fifth round to D’Iberville. They tried their best though, and that’s all that really matters. Good job to all of y'all who participated in the Science Bowl!

Entertainment

G-Eazy Then and Now MICHAEL WILSON Gerald Earl Gillum, more popularly known as the hip-hop artist G-Eazy, dropped his 3rd studio al-

had the songs I Mean It and Lotta That become radio hits. The album as a whole had great production, catchy choruses, decent rhymes and delivery, but lacked mainly in emotional substance. The only emotion that is prevalent is in his fairly generic RnB meets rap love songs. That area was really taken from an underdeveloped

bum, When It’s Dark Out, on December 4th 2015. On Spotify he is known most popularly for his songs Me, Myself & I, I Mean It, and Calm Down. This album has

This album is really an exciting piece of work that has fans looking forward to Gerald’s next release, whenever that may be.

really established G-Eazy as a power player in the current rap industry. The rapper’s potential was first realized in the industry with his first album, Must Be Nice, with his song Lady Killers back in 2012. Since then he has only grown and developed with his lyrical and delivery skills. In the beginning of 2014 he released his album These Things Happen which

Why You Should Follow DJ Khaled

RUSSELL ROBERTS If you’re not already following DJ Khaled on Snapchat, then you’re playing yourself. Khaled Mohamed Khaled is a rapper from New Orleans, Louisiana. Khaled is easily the most entertaining person on the app, as he brings fans into his world with a weird point of view of the stuff he does throughout the day. Khaled Khaled loves Listerine and watering his plants while saying random motivational speeches that sometimes don’t make sense. If, whatever reason you don’t follow DJ Khaled on Snapchat, follow him and you will experience his speeches of wisdom. DJ Khaled’s captions seem to follow the same track: “Follow me on the journey to success”, “Keep following me on the journey to MORE success”, “We just seen two dolphins”, “ They don’t wanna see you succeed”. Those are just a few of his many confusing quotes. BY

stage and worked on for When It’s Dark Out. When It’s Dark Out is a lot darker (no pun intended) in subject matter than its predecessors, as G-Eazy talks about his long lasting relationship with depression and goes into much of his earlier life.

DJ Khaled was a known rapper, but Snapchat really brought him out. DJ Khaled usually spends his day waking up to success at breakfast. Then he will go on an adventure, for instance climb a mountain, which is really just a hill. He also occasionally goes jetskiing in Miami. Khaled then either

spends his night in Miami or he will head back to California. This is when Khaled isn’t busy with real success. So, if you ever want a little bit of laughter, follow DJ Khaled on snapchat at djkhaled305.

The Sentry

Entertainment

Review: 13 Hours Puts You in the Action

HAYNES HORSLEY If you liked American Sniper, Saving Private Ryan, Lone Survivor, Black Hawk Down, or any other war movie, then you will like 13 Hours. The movie cast is made up of John Krasinski (Jim from The Office), James Dale, Pablo Schreiber, David Denman, Dominic Fumusa, Max Martini and many more. The movie is a true story about the events that occurred during an attack on a United States Embassy in Benghazi. It goes into great detail about what took place over about half a day when the United States Embassy was under attack. While staked out at a secret CIA base, six men decided BY

to take things into their own hands while the U.S. government stalled in making any decisions. The movie shows what these men and women had to go through in order to survive. They had to fight hundreds of natives off in various waves before any help ever arrived for them. At about two and a half hours, the movie is pretty long, but the time goes by rather quickly. The movie is gruesome, so if you don’t like seeing blood you might have some issues watching it. 13 Hours is not only thrilling to watch but also very emotional, especially towards the end. It also depicts what it was like for these men to be away from home for so

long during the times of war. I would highly recommend this movie to anyone. It is personally one of the better movies that I have seen in a long time, and I think that everyone should be well informed of what actually happened during that time in Benghazi. Although Rotten Tomato did not give 13 Hours great reviews, they have not given hardly any war movies good reviews, especially in the last five years. Both “Lone Survivor” and “American Sniper” got poor reviews from them, so I wouldn’t let that stop you from going and seeing 13 Hours.

App Reviews: MyScript and Sketchup

MyScript

JACK YOUNG Myscript Calculator app is an app available on both the Apple App Store and Android store available for free but has more functions for a small extra cost of 99 cents. The idea behind the calculator app is that instead of searching through all of the functions on your calculator, whether it be on your phone or an actual calculator, you can actually write the equation directly on your phone using your finger. The app can use many functions available to an average calculator include the use of trigonometric functions, log, absolute value, roots and raising a number to a certain degree. In the time I have taken to use this app I have found that the digital rendering of the handwriting is very accurate and I have had very little errors while writing them. I enjoy the idea of being able to write out a long equation more so than I do the idea of slowly typing one out key by key and also having to find each function. The ability to write an equation makes BY

February 2016

the entire process much quicker, and also solves it in little to no time. Myscript Calculator app is a software editor that was created in Nantes, France that provides online handwriting recognition tools and software development kits. The company was founded in 1998 and has a website for other apps involving the use of handwriting on a digital device.

Sketchup

JACOB ARON Sketchup is a free, non ad-supported downloadable application for the Mac and PC users. This app allows users to design and build 3-D architectural designs on their computer and even have their own motto “3D modeling for everyone.” . But this program is not for everyone in order to download it you need to at least 1 ghz processor, 4GB of RAM, 16 GB of total hard-disk space, 300 MB of free hard-disk space and a 3D class Video Card with BY

512MB of memory or higher. There is two different versions of Sketchup you can have Sketchup pro and just normal Sketchup, you get a free 30 day free trial of sketchup pro when you first download Sketchup but if you want to continue to have Sketchup pro you have to pay a small fee or otherwise you will just have to use normal sketchup. Sketchup was recently bought by trimble from Google who used it to help them design many of the buildings in Google earth.Sketchup Started out as a program designed by @last software and was bought

out by Google in 2006 to help with making Google earth 3-D. Even though it is mostly used by college-level and architectural students, this program has a very easy learning curve and can be downloaded and used efficiently by anyone in no time at all. This program can be very useful in the everyday lives of non-architects the tools the user is able to utilize are very easy to understand and pick up very quickly. Sketchup is easy to use and has a myriad of options in designing your dreams.

Entertainment

Fifteen Things That You Should Keep In Your Car MATTHEW CLAY Cars. They’re our home when we’re away from home, and we spend a lot more time in them than most people think. Packing light is nice sometimes, but why not make sure that you have everything when your car is doing all the lifting? The following is compilation of things that every needs and should have in their car. We’ve all been there: the dead car battery. Often the battery dies in a parking lot somewhere, leaving the vehicle useless. This is why everyone should purchase a set of jumper cables to keep in the trunk of their car. They are relatively cheap ($10 on Amazon), and will let you restart your car as long as there is another car around to hook the cables up to. I recommend getting a 12-16 foot set. It’s hard to jump start a vehicle at night if you can’t see anything. That’s why the next most important thing to keep in your car is a flashlight or two. Again, these are inexpensive at $8 or $9 on Amazon but very handy. It’s probably best to put the flashlight and extra batteries in a ziplock somewhere convenient. For those awkward moments when you forget your wallet when you go out to eat, or when you’re low on gas and you’re debit card is empty, it’s a great idea to keep $20 in cash in your car. It usually costs around $20. You never know when a little money might help, but be sure not to place it in plain view (so people don’t break into your BY

car). Stow it in your glovebox or somewhere out of sight. Nearly 4,000 people are hit by cars and killed per year, and changing a spare tire on the side of a highway at night is not a safe thing unless done properly. Roadside flares are a great way to make yourself visible to drivers; simply pull the cap off, place the flare on the side of the road and it will burn bright red for 15 minutes. Not only are they a safety tool, but they are also a blast to play with (please use responsibly). The local Tractor Supply store carries them for $3.50 per flare. See photo at bottom left of page. No one likes getting in a car with greasy fingers after eating a hearty meal at Raising Canes. Do yourself and your car a favor by purchasing a bag of baby wipes so you and your passenger can keep your car clean. Wipes can be found at any CVS or Walgreens for about $2 per box. Now there must be a place to put those baby wipes so your car doesn’t turn into something resembling a dumpster. The solution: a trash bag. Just find a good grocery bag or a large zip lock to put all your trash in so it doesn’t end up strewn about your car. From my own experience, it is not fun being stuck on the side of the road in the rain because your windshield wiper fell apart. Keep a spare in the trunk of your car so that (in the event of a failure) you can clip on the new wiper and keep driving. Depending on the car, a Bosch single windshield wip-

Road flares shooting their signature red glow

er costs between $15-$20. If you don’t have a few USB chargers and iphone cords, you are living on the edge. Phones are the most important tool in a car, and you don’t want to risk letting it run out of battery. USB plugs cost $9.99 and Iphone cords cost $7.99 on Amazon. Just go buy a bunch of them; your passengers will love them too. Please be advised that it is not safe to use a phone while you are driving. You never know, with Mississippi’s weather, when you might end up getting soaked by rain, muddy, or hot to the point of sweating. So be sure to put some extra clothes, socks, a jacket, and a towel or two under your back seat. That way if you are on the go and don’t have time to run home, you still have your fresh clothes. Up until now, most of the things listed have been tools or things that you might need. But the following are all things that you want. The sun is rising above the horizon, and as you turn onto Lakeland Drive, you are met with a blazing glory of blinding light. Unfortunately, it is not very safe to drive while blind, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation advises against it. To cope with the light there are two options. One may either use sunglasses or a solarscreen. Most people are familiar with sunglasses, but very few know about solarscreens. A solarscreen is a small sheet of window tint that sticks to the window by static electricity, so you can slide it around or put it wherever the sun is. solarscreens are used mainly by pilots and can be purchased for $5.99 on Aircraftspruce. com. See photo at the top right of page. You’re taking a nice cruise with the windows down, the phone rings and it’s Shakira. She’s asking you to go out to eat, but she needs you to pick her up right away. Your heart breaks when you look into the

rear view mirror and realize your hair isn’t looking on fleek. The solution? Keep a hairbrush in your car so you will look your best next time Shakira calls. Speaking of your date with Shakira, that brings up another item you will need: Gum or Ice Breakers. Be advised that neither of these are a substitute for brushing teeth and flossing, but it still is a good idea to use these. Cupholders are a great, convenient place to put your gum containers. Tired of getting tickets on the highway? Avoid the law by having a CB radio installed by a local professional. Nothing protects you from tickets than the word of Big Rig drivers who are driving ahead of you. Simply tune in your radio to frequency and listen for code word

Standard CB radio

“bear,” which stands for policeman in the truck driving community. The average CB radio costs about $49.99 on Amazon plus an hour of labor to install at a local radio shop. See photo above this paragraph. The Sentry does not condone speeding, as it presents inherent danger and the possibility of fines. I hate nagging passengers more than anybody. If you’re as tired of the question “are we there yet?” as I am, than take this advice: keep a deck of cards in your car. It’s great way to kill time when you’re bored, and you can even take them into restaurants to play while you are waiting on food. A deck of cards costs $3.99 on Amazon. Abraham Lincoln, Thom-

Sunscreen on windshield Photo by Matthew Clay

as Jefferson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and George Washington all have one thing in common: they love to hide in the cracks and crevices of your vehicle, wasting the remainder of their life. Don’t waste all those coins. You can pick a place to store change or get a small bowl to put your money in. Every time it fills up, just take a trip to the Coinstar at Kroger to get cash. If you have these fifteen things in your car, you may not have everything you need, but you’re off to a great start. It will never hurt to overprepare.

Perhaps the most vital tool to keep in your car: the hairbrush

The Sentry

Precis Pageant: Senior Winners

Dynamic Duo

Most Intellectual

Most Versatile

Most Likely to Succeed

Friendliest

Ross Edwards & Creed Franklin

Kelsey Harmon & Thomas Kirby

Kara Cook & Connor Watson

Wesslee Parks Patti & Kendall Clark

Mr. & Miss Senior Class

Marina Joel & Seth Lenoir Most School Spirited

Most Artistic

Wittiest

Most Charming

Anna Miller Rebich & Noah Slack

Beth Graeber & Jacob Whitaker

Alex Uschmann & Ross Edwards

Matthew Clay & Olivia Flynt

Most Talented

Most Athletic

Avery Harmon & Philip Herring Most Handsome & Most Beautiful

Mr. & Miss Jackson Prep For a full list of winners go to www.JPSentry.net

All photos by Hubert Worley Page layout by Haynes Horsley and Paul Andress Emily Box & Logan Clarke

February 2016

Tori Jones & Kaleb lovertich

Mallory Abraham & John Wooley

Haley Litchlighter & J.C. Pride

Sam’s Simple Sushi Success Story

SAM MOSLEY ‘Twas the night of January twelfth when my fellow companions and I set out on the daring culinary task of creating the daunting sushi dish. First, I gathered the best chefs I knew, which included Elliot Weill, Haynes Horsley, John Keeler, Paul Andress, and also guest starring Hays Dubberly. BY

Entertainment

We then set off to gather information from great Oriental restaurants to help our culinary dish. This included Panda Express, Sushi Village, and Tokyo Express. With these phenomenal examples to follow and learn from there was no way we could fail. We then set off to Kroger. There we found all the key ingredients which included: sushi wraps, gluten-free white rice, pre-cooked crab meat, cucumbers, and guacamole. While finding these ingredients we did have some minor mishaps such as when Haynes fell and

blacked out for a short period of time. Other than that we found the ingredients with relative ease. We then set off to to prepare the dish at my favorite cooking venue, John Keeler’s house. Of course, some waivers had to be signed by the parents saying I was not responsible for any damage or harm that came to the house or kitchen before we could cook. Next came the hard part which was actually cooking the dish. Since I had so many people, I was able to divide the tasks so we could make the ten

sushi rolls. I gave Haynes the job of steaming the rice because of his dexterity. Next, I gave Paul and Hays the job of cutting the vegetables and wetting the sushi wraps. Unfortunately for Elliot and John, I gave them the task to roll the sushi rolls. The two constantly protested to me, asking why I entrusted them with this task. I replied by saying “You two possess nimble fingers which makes y’all the only ones that can handle the fragile sushi wraps.” Once I told them this, they became inspired and wrapped

the best sushi rolls one has ever seen. When we presented the sushi rolls to the Sentry class, many people were very surprised of how good looking they were. Ann Clardy Byrd even declared, “They were better than my mom’s cooking.” What can be learned from this cooking success is not so much the final product as is the lesson I gave to my young assistants. This lesson was that good leadership and kind words can inspire people to do great things that they would not normally do.

Sam Mosley, Haynes Horsley, Paul Andress, Elliot Weill, and John Keeler going to the grocery store and cooking the sushi. Photos by Hays Dubberly.

The Sentry

Sports

Baseball Goes for Four Peat

HAYNES HORSLEY This year the Jackson Prep baseball team is going for their fourth straight state title. Each year they have had dominant senior classes and won over thirty games in each season. This years team has big shoes to fill after losing eleven seniors from last years class. Luckily for the patriots, seniors Worth Eskridge, Cole Swayze, and Drew Kincaid have already taken on the leadership role for the patriots. With them along with strong junior and sophomore classes, the Patriots should be in good shape for the rest of the year. When asked who the biggest competition this year was Coach Box stated, “Just playing the game the right way... I am concerned with us, not really what everyone else is doing.” He also stressed that this years team doesn’t have to be the best in Prep history, just the best team on the field each time they suit up.

Jackson Prep’s hardest MAIS team they’ll face this year looks like it will once again be the MRA Patriots. The two teams have met in the championship series the last three years, and a repeat of this would not shock anyone. The Jackson Prep Patriots already have players committed to play on the next level, and a few more being recruited. Sophomore Knox Loposer recently committed to The University of Mississippi after starting for the Patriots as a ninth grader. As well as Knox, Matthew Myers also committed to The University of Mississippi in the past few weeks. This will help the Patriots considering they lost four D1 baseball players from last years team. This year’s baseball team should be fun to watch. With the opening game on February 15, the team looks to continue their dominance over

Top: 2015 Prep Seniors pose after winning their third straight State Championship. Photo courtesy of Jake Mangum Right: Gene Wood and Jake Mangum holding fallen teammate Walker Wilbank’s jersey after a win last season.

the MAIS.

Golf Season About to be in Full Swing JOHN KEELER This year’s Jackson Prep Golf team is looking to be one of the most talented yet. All team members will be returning to play, which will give the Patriots full confidence in knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses. The team’s leadership will need to come from the only senior, Haynes Horsley. Horsley has been on the team since the seventh grade and will use his experience to help guide the team to a State Championship. This year’s junior class is loaded with talent especially coming from the two Division 1 talents in Charlie Miller and Cecil Wegener. Miller has committed to play at the University of Mississippi and Wegener is in between Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and BY

February 2016

“I will be shocked if we lose a tournament this season.” - Haynes Horsley Georgia. These two prospects are looking to lead the team to another outstanding season. The Patriots will receive some help from younger talent on the team. Sophomore Parker Daily and Freshman Simms Abney will be huge contributions to the older team members. These two were able to help the team last year and are looking to step up even more this year to be a major factor in the State Tournament. On the girls side, the lack of seniors will be made up for with the talent in the lower classes. Juniors, Mary Dun-

bar, Blair Stockett, and Ally Walker, will have to step up and lead the group through the challenging season. Helping the juniors will be freshman Kennedy Marble and eighth grader Sara Hederman. All girls on the team have experience, which will be crucial when heading into the postseason. The Patriot Season starts February 29 at the Country Club of Jackson where the team will play in a local tournament called “The Gator.” Throughout the course of the season, the Patriots will play in nine to ten tournaments extending all the way towards the end of the school year. These tournaments include one at the famous Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, MS. This historic course will play host to the Heritage Academy Tournament.

This years team is confident in their play and are excited to get back out there to compete for the AAAA State Championship.

(from left to right) Simms Abney, Cecil Wegener, Haynes Horsley, Parker Daily, and Charlie Miller showing off their Gator Invitational trophies from last season. (bottom)

Sports

Girls’ Basketball Looks to Make Overall NEVIN WELLS The Jackson Prep girls basketball team has impressed many this season. With 4 starters returning they have just as good of a chance to take the State Title as anyone. The girls have won 19 games this season and have only lost 7. The team is lead by a host of seniors and some big time sophomore playmakers Katie Walker and Dakota Jones that come into the ball game at key times. Senior point guard Clayton Noblin sees Katie and Dakota as the key players of this team, “They step up when we need them to.” All season the team has been focusing one game at a time and never overlooking any team. The team plays with great confidence and that confidence will be key to achieving the team goal. The goal of the team is to “get to the overall tournament at MC” says Noblin. Noblin also said that “the team is much more successful than the start of the year” and that the BY

Fill out your bracket for a chance to win a shoutout next issue.

Boys’ Basketball Shows Potential HAYNES HORSLEY This year’s Jackson Prep basketball team has shown spots of real potential and times of slight growing pains. Despite having five seniors on the team, the team is somewhat inexperienced past those five. Graham Eklund, Mitch Redding, Healy Vice, Jake Ray, and Grant Robinson are the teams leader, and each have started multiple games for the squad. The team is 15-12, but has lost seven games by single digits, not including an overtime game they lost by ten to Parklane Academy. They are also the only team to lose by single digits to MRA, who is the favorite heading into tournament time. Senior’s Jake Ray and GraBY

team is better than prior teams in the past. The girls basketball program has not won the overall title since 2006, could this be the year? This team has everything it takes to be overall champions, they just have to keep focusing one game at a time. The team knows they have a special chemistry with each other, “we are capable of doing really big things this season” says senior guard Beth Graeber. This team has not had an easy schedule either, the lady patriots have played in very close games against these two teams, they will most likely face these teams again. Seniors Noblin and Graeber both agree that the current team is one of the best suited teams for the playoffs. “We just have to keep working hard” says Noblin, the regular season is coming to an end, they need all of your support, come out and cheer on the Lady Pats and get them to the tournament.

ham Eklund have become true threats on the offensive side of the ball, both being major options to score any time they’re on the court. Grant Robinson looks like a young Ray Allen while shooting threes in the corner. Every once in a while Healy Vice is confused with Shaq in his prime, but is quickly recognized for obvious reasons. Mitch Redding is a spitting image of Steve Nash while going up and down the court. Along with the seniors, sophomore John Ahanotu has been doing his best impersination of Lebron James dominating the rest of the field. Junior Brendon McCleod is also a major key to the team, coming off the bench looking like Allen Iverson. Jared Dodd doesn’t

resemble James Harden in the face, but their three ball looks like an exact copy of one another. Jackson Prep’s boys basketball team has the ability to beat anyone in the MAIS this year. They’ve shown how good they can be when shots fall for them, and with the right game plan and execution, this team has the ability to make a real run into the tournaments. The Division 1 tournament is being held at PCS and the team goes in as a two seed. The State tournament is being held at Jackson Prep and the Overall tournament is being held at Mississippi College. Participation and seed will depend on how the team plays in the tournament prior to the Division 1

and State tournaments. With Coach Moore in his second year as head couch, the team looks to complete their season strong.

Graham Eklund doing his thing and making a St. Andrews player look silly. Photo courtesy of Graham Eklund.

The Sentry

Sports Tennis Team Looks to Stay Strong BRITTANY WILKINSON BLAIR STOCKETT The 2016 tennis season is right around the corner, and here is all you need to know about the upcoming season. With a successful season last year, the Patriots are hoping to come out on top once again. The upcoming season officially starts on March 1st, and the players are ready to dominate. Currently, the girls are practicing on Mondays and the boys on Wednesdays. All of the players are playing each other to find out where they rank on the team. Once they are finished with that, the boys and girls will practice together in seperate A and B team practice groups. In a normal day of practice, the players will begin with some stretching followed by drills and then practice matchBY

AND

es against one another. The team will be practicing with Northwest Rankin again this year, playing practice matches throughout the year. The Patriots will have some exciting matches this year including Jackson Academy, Madison-Ridgeland Academy, and St. Andrew’s. They will also be facing high level opponents like Madison Central, and a trip to Memphis to play MUS and St. Benedicts. At the end of the season, the top players will get to compete in the MAIS State AAAA tournament. Be sure to cheer on the players and attend a few matches to show your support. Every home game, the parents set up a huge amount of food for the players, which gets them energized and ready to play. This year, Chick fil a is

generously providing a chicken nugget platter for every home match at Prep. Tennis team member Grace Gourlay talked about her favorite parts of being on the tennis team. “My favorite thing about tennis is probably the people on the team! I love hanging out with everyone and getting to know everyone on the team throughout the season!” The tennis team has a great time together, and they really bond over the course of the season, especially on the bus trips. The team lost many great seniors from last season but gained many younger players this year who will step up and help lead the team to victory. The team is led by Coach Rachel Causey and assistant Coach Amber Stack. When asked about the upcoming sea-

son, Coach Causey replied, “I am looking so forward to see what this 2016 Prep tennis team accomplishes. All of our boys are returning, and both girls and boys teams are showing a great deal of young talent! It will be fun to watch this group of kids compete!” Photos courtesy of Holman Buchanan

Equestrian Team Rides into Victory CHATHAM KENNEDY The Jackson Prep Equestrian Team kicked off their second season with a bang. The season started in November with a show in Birmingham, AL, the Southern Equestrian Challenge. The team left the show with ribbons piled high. The Senior High team came came in third and the Junior High team placed first. In individual events, junior, Sarah Riley Jicka won in her over fences division. Madison McCreery, a senior, was another top performer during this show. The FrostBIET (Birmingham Interscholastic Equestrian Team) Classic took place January 9th-10th in Birmingham, Alabama. The team brought home another impressive victory with freshman BY

February 2016

Darby Tipton as a regional qualifier. Tipton will travel to the Georgia International Equestrian Center in Conyers, Georgia on February 20th. The team practices every Saturday in one hour intervals at Providence Hill Farm in Pocahontas, Mississippi. They are sponsored by Coach Brett Shufelt and coached by Providence Hill Farm trainer, Mandi Powers. The JP Equestrian team is home to members from other schools such as First Pres. and Christ Covenant. Olivia Patch, a junior, stated, “The the team has done really well this year, and everyone has improved so much in their riding.” Recently, the team added a new member to their roster. Tango, a sixteen-yearold

warmblood

from

New

Mexico, is expected to make an appearance towards the end of the season. Sarah Riley Jicka reflects on the year’s equestrian competitions proclaiming, “It was our best season yet. I’m so proud of Darby and everyone else who competed this year.” The team is looking forward to another incredible season next fall.

Hannah O’Bryan competing in Birmingham, Alabama. Photo courtesy of Darby Tipton

Jackson Prep Equestrian team members smile after another successful show. Pictured from left to right are Miranda davis, Gayle Grantham, Mandi Powers, Miriam berry, and Sarah Riley Jicka. Photo courtesy of Sarah Riley Jicka

ANN CLARDY BYRD This season of boys’ soccer has been very successful. They have had good results against public school teams, and have dominated conference play. Practice started back in the fall and they have been working very hard to get to where they are right now. They are working towards their 6th straight championship. Their biggest competition this year has been JA, MRA, and a plethora of public school teams. Jacob McNeely, Jacob Crawley and Tate Fowler are the fastest front three that BY

ELLIS ABDO The Pavilion, which is the new basketball arena at Ole Miss, opened on January 7th. The Pavilion cost $96.5 million for the school to build. The construction of the arena began on July 31st, 2014. The arena includes famous restaurants such as Steak and Shake, Old Venice, and Raising Cane’s. It also includes a C Spire “speed zone” which includes free wifi for fans. The restaurants and C Spire store will be open to stuBY

Sports Boy’s Soccer Team Shooting For Six Prep has ever had. Kaleb Lovertich, Peyton Harrison, Taylor Wallace, and J.C. Pride have provided a strong anchor on the defensive side of the ball. Other seniors like T.K. Griffis, Griffin Draughn, and Davis Clayton have been able to use their experience to provide support in the mid-field. Brent Hall, Hunter Patterson, Leland Meadows, and JohnNix Arledge have been key contributors to the Prep lineup this season and will be counted on later in upcoming playoffs. In December during the Oxford Invitational Tournament, Prep went undefeated against Desoto, Oak Grove, and

Southaven. This year they are striving to finish number one in conference. Thursday, February 4th Prep defeated JA 4-1. Playoffs start on February 18th and Prep will automatically be in the semi finals. Head Coach Jon Marcus Duncan stated, “It’s been an exciting season and the guys have trained hard everyday, we feel like we have the ingredients to win a 6th state championship.” Prep was about to face JA as of time of press. The team looks to continue its dominance as playoff time comes near.

Pavilion at Ole Miss Opens dents at all times. The first game in the Pavilion was between the Ole Miss Rebels and the Alabama Crimson Tide on January 8th. The first points scored in the Pavilion were by Ole Miss senior forward, Tomasz Gielo. The Rebels got off to a fast start, leading 20-10 ten minutes into the game. Despite this fast start, Alabama went into halftime with a 40-32 lead. The Rebels responded early in the second half, quickly erasing the deficit. Ole Miss ended up winning the game 74-66. Stefan Moody and Sebastian Saiz led the way each scoring 21 points. The atmosphere at the game was incredible as the arena was completely sold out. The men’s team continued their success in the Pa-

View of the largest video board in the NCAA Photo by Ellis Abdo

vilion in the second game versus the Georgia Bulldogs. This game was much like the last, as Ole Miss got off to a good start only to face an 9 point deficit at halftime. In the second half the Rebels had a deja vu moment as they once again had a major comeback trailing by 1 point with 6 seconds left. As the nervous crowd held their breath Stefan Moody drove into the lane and scored a go-ahead layup to give the Rebels a 73-72 lead with 3 seconds remaining. Georgia had one last chance to steal the win. Kenny Gaines got an attempt at a 3 pointer but it was no good. After the buzzer sounded the crowd erupted as the ecstatic Ole Miss fans celebrated the win.

The Pavilion will be a great new addition to the Ole Miss athletic foundation. It will also be a huge boost for both the men’s and women’s basketball programs. Though normally known as a football school, Ole Miss hopes to shed this stereotype and become well rounded in all sports. When asked about visiting the Pavilion for first time Junior Elkin Crews said,

“I think the Pavilion is really nice and I look forward to attending more games in it.”

Overhead view of the Pavilion Photo Provided by Ole Miss Pix

The Sentry

Sports

Broncos Defense Shuts Down Cam Newton in Super Bowl PAUL ANDRESS This year’s Super Bowl was one of the most hyped Super Bowls there has been in a long time. It was fiftieth year of the Super Bowl, and it was the young Cam Newton against the veteran, Peyton Manning. Many people believe it is the last game Manning will be under center. The majority of football fans felt as if the game could be very ugly in favor of the Panthers. The Panthers had been the talk of the league all year. From the Odell Beckham Josh Norman Fight to Cam Newton dabbing all over his opposition, the Panthers were the face of the league. The only team that had managed to defeat the Panthers all year was the Falcons, but they had started to hit cruise control because they had BY

already secured home field advantage for the playoffs.

Danny Trevathan dabs after recovering the fumble.

The Panthers were facing the AFC Champions the Broncos. The Broncos had a successful regular season, but their regular season included

many bumps in the road including their quarterback, Peyton Manning, fighting through injuries all year. The strength of the team was the defense. The defense was led by outside linebacker, Von Miller. Many of their twelve regular season wins were not pretty, but the defense rarely let down the offense that seemed to under-perform most the season. All of the Broncos skeptics were quieted on the first drive of the game as Peyton was hitting on all cylinders and led the Broncos down the field. Even though they only got a field goal, it gave the defense something they had rarely given up all season: a lead. The Broncos defense was the difference in the game as they forced three fumbles including a sack which turned

into a fumble which was recovered in the endzone for a touchdown. Another fumble came at the end of the game when the Panthers were only down six. This fumble gave the Broncos first and goal, and they increased their lead to fourteen with less than two minutes to go.

Cam Newton did not want to talk after losing the Super Bowl.

The Panthers did not lead at any point in the game. It was also the first game all season Cam Newton did not throw or run for a touchdown. Another huge stat for Newton was he was held to zero “dabs”. All season long Newton celebrated touchdowns or big plays with the dance move called the dab. He has helped made the move famous. The Broncos ended up winning the game by the score of 24-10. Peyton did not answer any questions about his retirement, but he was looking forward to a night of celebration. Von Miller got the well deserved MVP of the game as he forced two fumbles, both of which resulted in the only two touchdowns the Broncos had all game.

The Student Section is Making a Name for Itself

Students as My Chemical Romance. Photo by Cole Swazye

February 2016

SAM MOSLEY In every sport at Jackson Prep, the attention mainly goes to the team, and rightfully so. However, much of the attention has recently been going to the student section that has been attending the basketball games. The student section is currently making Jackson Prep one of the harder places to play. The team almost always seems to play hyped in front of their peers. The students are always loud and rambunctious against opposing teams by doing chants such as “You let the whole team down.” This chant has seemed to become a crowd favorite whenever an opposing team misses a free throw. The students come to every game in a choreographed theme. These themes include, toga, My Chemical Romance, jersey Thursday, and, most recently the Wall street theme. Many fans of opposing teams BY

question why the student section does these themes. The answer is that the students will do anything to distract the opposing players. Now, when asked about their rowdiness at the games, many of the students respond by calling themselves the Jackson Zoo. Zachary Gay said, “No team is coming out with a win when the zoo is going berzerk.” Basketball player Jake Ray said, “The zoo is what makes

this game so much fun to play.” Then I started asking the students what their favorite part of the games were. Elliot Weill responded by saying “The half court shot, even though it is rigged.” So one can definitely say: opposing teams beware if the whole might of the Jackson Zoo is there.

Students dressed in toga theme. Photo by William Purvis

Sports National Signing Day Comes and Goes BY

RJ GREEN

Overview:

24/7 Composite Top 10 National Prospects: 1. Rashan Gary-DTMichigan 2. Dexter LawrenceDT-Clemson 3. Gregory Little-OTOle Miss 4. Shea Patterson-QBOle Miss 5. Jacob Eason-QBGeorgia 6. Ed Oliver-DTHouston 7. Levonta Taylor-CBFlorida State 8. Nick Bosa-DEOhio State 9. Derrick Brown-DTAuburn 10. Ben Davis-ILBAlabama

National Signing Day is like Christmas for football coaches and fans as all programs sign the 24/7 Composite players of their future. The drama each year is like no other as recruits decide between rival schools. Each Top 25 Team Rankyear there are many creative methods for announcing. There is always the typical hats on the table, but ings: this year brought many different ways. Recruits made videos with local stories to their decisions. Bleacher Report took the lead in making creative videos. Even one recruit, Ole Miss signee Deontay Anderson, jumped out of a plane to announce his decision. 1. Alabama

Mississippi Signing Day Drama:

2. Florida State LSU Ohio State Michigan Ole Miss Georgia USC Auburn Clemson Texas UCLA Florida 14. Tennessee Ole Miss Recruiting Overview: Ole Miss brought in a consensus top 10 class, and it was definitely one of the best classes in school 15. Notre Dame history. Ole Miss went out of state to sign the top QB in the country, Shea Patterson, and they signed 16. Stanford one of the top offensive tackles in the country, Greg Little. Ole Miss signed one of the top WR classes in the country which included 4-star AJ Brown, 4-star DK Metcalf, and 4-star Tre Nixon. Other headliners 17. Baylor in their class were 4-star safety Deontay Anderson, 5 star defensive tackle Benito Jones, 4-star tight end 18. Texas A&M Octavious Cooley, and 4 star running back Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Vaughn Pennamon. This class should help Ole Miss replace 19. Penn State their offseason losses to graduation and the NFL Draft. 20. Oklahoma Mississippi State Recruiting Overview: 21. Miami Mississippi State had a much smaller class than usual due to the very small senior class. State had many disappointing misses in the last few months, but they still had some key pickups. To go along 22. Michigan State with top in-state prospects Jeffery Simmons and Kobe Jones, they also signed 4-star offensive lineman 23. TCU Stewart Reese, 4-star LB Errol Thompson, 3-star corner CJ Morgan-Walker, and 4-star defensive end 24. Nebraska Marquiss Spencer. Some prospects who have gone under the radar and could make a big impact are offen25. Arkansas sive tackle Greg Eiland, corner Cam Dantzler, and wide receiver Jamal Couch. This year there was a lot of drama inside the state of Mississippi. Most top recruits waited until the end 3. of the cycle to decide. Noxubee County 5-star defensive end Jeffery Simmons chose Mississippi State over Ole Miss, Alabama, Tennessee, and many others. Simmons was considered by many to be the top player in 4. the state, and he is the jewel of an overall disappointing class for Mississippi State. Mississippi State also 5. had another important pickup by signing 4-star Starkville defensive end Kobe Jones. Jones chose MSU 6. over Ole Miss, Alabama, Miami, and Missouri. Jones and Simmons will join a very good defensive line 7. for the Bulldogs for years to come. Ole Miss made a massive pull when they signed Starkville 4-star WR AJ Brown over Alabama, Mississippi State, California, and many others. Ole Miss was able to overcome 8. 9. Brown living in Starkville. Alabama hit Mississippi hard this year, and they had three huge pickups. They stole 4-star West 10. Point offensive tackle Scott Lashley from Mississippi State. This may have been the shock of the whole 11. class. Lashley had long been considered a Mississippi State lock. Alabama also signed 4-star Germantown cornerback Nigel Knott over Mississippi State, Ole Miss, and Oregon. The third Alabama signee from Mis- 12. 13. sissippi was Meridian 4-star defensive tackle Raekwon Davis.

Starkville WR AJ Brown smiling for pictures just after choosing Ole Miss.

Noxubee County DE Jeffery Simmons posing for pictures with his family just after picking Mississippi State.

The Sentry

Fun & Games

FInd the FIB! HAYS DUBBERLY

The game is Find the Fib. It’s extremely simple; each person has given three facts about themselves, but one of the facts is a lie. Find the fib!

John Nix Arledge 1. “I like Hays Dubberly!!” 2. “I got stung by a scorpion.” 3. “I went to Pinelake before I came to Prep.”

Mallory Abraham 1. “I’ve been hypnotized.” 2. “I’m allergic to seafood.” 3. “I’m Polish.”

Biggs Henry 1. “I was born in the backwoods of Copiah.” 2. “My nickname is Mr. Stealyogirl.” 3. “I single-handedly killed a bear with my own two hands.”

Kristina Zouboukos 1. “I eat cottonballs.” 2. “My dad is Brad Paisley’s twin.” 3. “John Luke Robertson and I had a spark when we made eye contact.”

Gnomes Wanted: Well, members of the Jackson Prep community, it is time to start the search again. Jackson Prep is a big campus and now it’s time for you to keep your eyes opened wide. Hidden on campus are two garden Gnomes named Brodie and Gnaomie. You may be asking yourself, what do I get if I find one of these Gnomes? You get a shoutout in the next Sentry issue and a prize. The rules to this game are simple. Find the Gnome and bring it to Hays Dubberly or the student publications room. Last issue, only one gnome was found. Brodie was found by Anna Kat Ireland in the Hub on a shelf. The other gnome will remain in its original spot while Brodie will be given a new hiding place.

Answers to Find the Fib

February 2016

Mallory Abraham: 2 John Nix Arledge: 1 Biggs Henry: 3 Kristina Zouboukos: 1

Shoutout to Anna Kat Ireland for finding Brodie in the Hub!!!

Opinion

Vaping... Not as Cool as You Think Staff Editorial An unfortunate, new trend has taken hold among young people, including some in the Prep community: Vaping. Vapes are an alternative to smoking and use a heated, propylene glycol liquid mixed with nicotine to make vapor, which is inhaled by the user. Vape is mostly water vapor; it can be

used inside buildings and in smoke free areas. It also does not contain the strong odor that cigarettes have. Vaping is relatively new and has just started to become the next big thing. Vapes can come from single-use e-cigs to refillable vape machines. Some students are joining the vape

life. Vaping can give students the feeling of being cool without having to smoke. Many youngsters are starting to vape because as it is seen as the cool new thing. Vapes were intended for use of smokers trying to curve the nicotine use, not for the recreational use by adolescent children. Vaping could be the gateway into the world of smoking. The adolescent vapors are not doing it to quit smoking. This is exposing their young bodies to nicotine addictions, which is harder to shake when first exposed as an

adolescent. Since vaping is a relatively new idea, the health risks have not been identified yet. This has sparked controversy over whether vapes are a better alternative to smoking. The vaping industry markets vapes as the safe way to rid a smoking addiction, while they have little evidence that it truly helps. Although some students are for the vape, many students are against it. One student at Prep, Vann Crawford says, “Don’t you hate when you get secondhand vape smoke in your eyes? I am

not eighteen yet so I hate it when I get a buzz from second hand vape smoke. I am afraid I will get an addiction to vape juice.” For non-vapers, we find vaping annoying and childish if done by adolescents. Vaping at the school is not seen as cool (and violates school rules). Vaping should be used for breaking the habit of smoking not for recreational use by teens. To all the vapers out there, if you are going to vape, do it off of the school’s campus.

For this and other student opinion pieces related to on-campus and school-policy issues, read our print edition.

All opinion pieces are the views of the author, and the author only, with the exception of staff editorials, which are unsigned and reflect the consensus view of the students in the Sentry class. Staff editorials are the only columns in the paper that express the unified view of the Sentry staff. This staff editorial process is comprised of two main steps. First, the staff talks amongst themselves about a topic and organizes a position on the issue on which all class members can agree. The editorial is then written and run past the staff members for approval.

Call of Duty Disappoints Opinion: Patrick Phillips The Call of Duty Series is arguably the most successful game series of all time. Many Prep students have enjoyed playing the game over the years. However, I find that the more recent Call of Duty games have been hurried, and as a result, they have had a poor outcome and seem to be repetitive. Call of Duty used to fall under the fiction category, but now if falls under science fiction, similar to Halo. Call of Duty needs to re-make the old style of the other COD games. Players are becoming tired of this Sci-Fi madness. Call of Duty Black Ops II and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 have been voted the best games out of the Call of Duty Series multiple times. Recently we have seen new games

released with new sci-fi gadgets like the Exo suit, which launches grenades, thrusts you into the air, makes you invisible for a short amount of time, gives you super speed, and much more. However, with the addition of the Exo suit, it has changed COD forever. Now, future Call of Duty games will almost be forced to include a jetpack or Exo suit to show some consistency in the series. In the most recent COD, we have a jetpack, which is very similar to the Exo suit. Also, there have been more Sci-Fi things released in recent Call of Duty games. In Black Ops 3, you can be human Cyborgs, Robots, Assassins, and someone who shoots hives of fireflies at

enemies. Science Fiction has ruined Call of Duty. The players just want a real game, not science fiction. The two favorite CODs (MW2, BLOPS2) were not categorized as Science Fiction. Black Ops II cost only about 28 million compared to Advanced Warfare, which cost up to 50 million. Black Ops II sold over 1 billion in the first 15 days of being release. It is unknown what the total sales of Blops II are. COD advanced warfares sales were down 32% from Black Ops II. Even more amazingly, Cod Modern warfare 2 sales were over 3 billion, which is the second best selling Call of Duty game. Not only is it obvious that the older games were more popular, but they were by far much more profitable. There is even a petition to bring back the old COD games. The petition has already received over 250,000 signatures. There is truly no reason for Activision to continue the Sci-Fi COD series.

Is Our GPA System Fair? Opinion: Haynes Horsley Before I start talking about how I think that our GPA system is wrong and that we should change it, I must admit that I have benefited greatly from the one that is in place now. However that does not mean that I think that the current system is fair. Jackson Prep’s standard GPA system is done on a scale where a C=2, B=3, and A=4. That sounds very simple and maybe the easiest way to do it, but it is benefiting lackluster effort. For example, do you think that a student who had to beg his teacher for three extra bonus points in order to get a 89.5 in a class deserves the same thing as the student who worked as hard as he or she could and got a 99 in the class? The answer is pretty simple, No. They don’t deserve a 3, but they also don’t deserve maximum credit for their work. The same goes for students trying to get B’s in a class. If one is doing their best and comes away with an 89.4, do they deserve the same standard GPA as a kid who isn’t doing any of

their homework and barely gets an 80? Again, no they don’t. The way that Prep is handling the GPA system is a double edged sword. It may benefit students in some cases, but it also hurts other students in some cases. It also isn’t a fair indication on how hard students are working. The solution to this problem could come in various ways of changing the system. For example, if a 95 and above got a 4, 90-94 got a 3.85, and so on, there would be much more competition for students to keep a 4.0. If Students had to get a 95 in order to keep a perfect GPA, then numeric GPAs would probably also see a rise. I know that the amount of 4.0 students at Jackson Preparatory School of Excellence might drop a little bit, but GPAs overall would look better for students putting in the effort to keep a good GPA. Besides, Prep is supposedly preparing us for college, so shouldn’t they implement a GPA system that mimicked colleges? I think that it’s time to see a change at Jackson Prep.

For this and other student opinion pieces related to on-campus and school-policy issues, read our print edition.

The Sentry

Opinion Soccer Coming to SEC? Sports Opinion: Tanner McCraney After the 2014 FIFA men’s world cup, the fanbase of soccer in the USA is growing. This has caused the MLS to gain popularity and success in the following seasons. For example, Sporting Kansas City’s average attendance that only trails the Royals, Kansas City’s

baseball team, by about 3,000 people. This success has lead to the upcoming additions of Minnesota United, Los Angeles FC, and Miami FC, Atlanta FC, and Nashville FC. With the popularity of soccer rising, one would think that most colleges would have

are men’s teams too. Well, in the SEC there are only two colleges with men’s teams. This is the University of South Carolina and Kentucky. Both teams are forced to play in conference USA because the SEC does not support this. A big reason for men’s soccer not being in the SEC is because of the title XI. Title XI is a rule in the NCAA that states that the same money must be spend on men and women’s teams. This means that the same scholarships must be given to men and women alike. Because football takes most of the scholarship money for men’s sports in the Southeastern Conference, a lot of money is put into women’s soccer in the SEC to equal it out. If soccer would be added to the

SEC, the schools would also have to add another woman’s sport that would equal it out. This is the main reason for no soccer. Another thing is that universities in the south will claim that soccer will not have the fan base to bring money in to pay for the expenses. This is far from true, according the stoppage time soccer, Major League Soccer averages higher fan attendance numbers than both the NBA and NHL. This proves that it would be financially beneficial to any SEC schools that would add a soccer team. Even though most of the colleges in the SEC have club soccer teams and intramural soccer teams at their schools, I believe it is time for the next level now that soccer

popularity is at an all time high. This would allow boys living in the south eastern United States to be able to play soccer at a higher level near their home town. Chandler Hoffman, two time Gatorade soccer player of the year out of Alabama, was forced to play all the way in California in order to play at the high level he was able to. Also, 5 of the 23 players on the USA national soccer team come from the South Eastern United States. Each of these players were also forced to take their talent to far away schools bringing them revenue. I hope to see the introduction of soccer into the to SEC very soon and would not be surprised if it happens in the next couple of years.

Exploring Options for Sleep When the common Jackson Prep student is asked to describe his or her worst feeling, he or she may describe the grief after a harsh breakup or the frustration of getting a four wheeler stuck in the thick Mississippi mud. But if you’re like me, there is nothing worse than the feeling of waking up in the morning without a full night’s rest. Anyone who feels this way knows the age old response to this claim: well, why don’t you just go to bed earlier? I could argue that the busyness of homework and activities outside of school keeps me from going to bed earlier, but so could anyone else. I think students shouldn’t have to stress out about being asleep by ten o’clock to get a full night’s rest.

Rather, students should be able

Opinion: Lee Meena

For

February 2016

ing, directed study would be shortened by 10 minutes, lunch would be shortened by 5 minutes, and the final bell would be moved to 3:30 PM. This means that there is now only 30 minutes of accounted time lost in the day. This amount of time could be made up by adding 4 days of school before the school year usually starts and 4 after it ends, causing few to even realize that school has been extended. This plan benefits Prep since recent studies have shown that a later school start time increases the overall ability of students. Researchers from the University of Oxford, Harvard Medical School, and the University of Nevada, Reno say that moving the school start time to 10:00 AM increases concentration, cognitive performance, and motor performance

in students. They say that too little sleep causes poor communication, unintended naps during class, and changes in mood pattern, that can cause depression. This plan gives students the life-changing advantage of an adequate amount of sleep without a noticeable change of lifestyle.

this and other student opinion pieces related to on-campus and school-policy issues, read our print edition.

to stay up later into the night, if they choose, and still get the benefit of a healthy amount of sleep. For this reason, I have made a plan that could make your dreams a reality, while also keeping directed study, activity period, and the same amount of class periods. Every day, Prep students would arrive to school at 9:30 AM, adding an hour and 15 minutes to everyone’s sleep schedule. Now, of course, this time has to be made up by the school in order for us to receive the full education that we pay for. So, to chop away at the time we’ve lost in the morn-