Smoke Signal Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Twitter becomes popular, gives other networking sites run for their money.

SEE page 6

Baseballs swings for fences with new players and rigorous tryouts.

SEE page 4

the

Smoke Signal

Brooke Scruggs

Ricky Martin

Alli Lloyd

JaColby Hawkins

DaShawn Harris

Marcus Brown

Logan Jakcson

Taysia Gray

Billy Howell

33 Stafford Indian Lane, Fredericksburg, Va

Feb. 29, 2012

Liz Kleveno

Volume 67, Issue 11

Merritt Hempe

Stafford High School

Athletes Finish Season Strong Winter season sports end well, several progress to state level

BY BRIDGET PHILLIPS / Design Editor Athletes worked hard to finish the winter season strong and several teams or individual team members made it to the state level competition.

Three wrestlers, seniors Logan Jackson, Marcus Brown, and Ryan Bearon all competed in states, and Jackson took

APPX program coming soon, brings changes

a state championship title for his 195 pound weight group. State alternates were senior Joey Sorrentino and sophomore Devin Bornschein. The senior wrestlers finished their last high school match to the best of their abilities.

“Knowing it was my last year and that I was running out of time, I had to give it everything each day,” Jackson said. “I couldn’t waste a single day and I

MUSIC

The Advanced Placement Programs of Excellence is a signature program available to high school students in Stafford County Public Schools striving to “scale new heights and achieve new dreams,” according to the informational brochure.

“It’s actually a program developed

by Dr. [firstname] Martin, who used to be principal at Colonial Forge and is now the assistant superintendent,” Biggs said. “This is something that she is very proud of, and something that is going to give us a lot of opportunities.”

These programs will offer high school students exposure to collegelevel materials and skills, as well as providing students with the opportunity to earn college credit after successfully passing an AP subject exam.

“If you take a certain number of Advanced Placement courses in a concentrated area, like whether it’s Math, English, or Science and you score high enough number on the exams and you do a service project, you can get a schol

years just flew by fast,” Hawkins said.

“After the game I thought about our past seasons and how I could’ve worked harder so that the team could have been better, and I really couldn’t sleep that night.”

Also playing outstandingly on the court for the last time this season were seniors Merritt Hempe and Taysia Gray.

See WINTER SPORTS: page 2

I am so glad to have the opportunity to audition for such a prestigious ensemble.”

-Haley Russ

Making dreams come true

Band goes to states

New program arrives at the same time the VASS program comes to SHS

BY LIZZIE WALKER / Staff Writer

knew it’d be worth it after.”

Senior Jacolby Hawkins, and juniors Dashawn Harris and Evan Greening helped carry the team to the districts level. Hawkins playing his last season for Stafford. Some of the senior players were disappointed at the end of the game, which marked the end of a season and the end of an era.

“I was really sad. I felt as if all four

Chorus makes a fun weekend trip to Disney World.

To infinity and beyond!

Hanging out with Buzz.

“It was a great opportunity to have fun and learn a lot.” -Lexington Bowler

BY SHANNON COOKE/ Editor-in-chief

The band sent an unprecedented number of musicians to state auditions this year.

This year the students have been working tirelessly to qualify for states.

Before reaching the state level, they had to audition at the county and district level and be first or second in the district in their respective instrument.

During a typical audition, the student sits before a panel of esteemed judges and plays major scales, a chromatic scale, a prepared piece and a sight reading piece that they cannot see before they audition.

Senior Haley Russ is one of the 14

musicians from Stafford who had the opportunity to audition for states. Russ has been playing the baritone saxophone for six years and was first chair in the county and the district. She, along with the other students from Stafford, traveled to James Madison University to audition.

“I was really excited to meet other musicians at the auditions,” Russ said.

“I am so glad to have the opportunity to audition for such a prestigious ensemble.”

There were 11 total districts and over 100 total schools that had students qualify for states and Stafford had one of the larger groups of students to be See BAND: page 2

An award-winning band: The Stafford Tribe of Pride is no stranger to winning. Over the past twenty years, the band has acquired numerous trophies and awards for concert and marching band. Photo by Shannon Cooke

See APPX: page 2

Calendar

Countdown Days until GRADUATION

March 2 Talent Show March 9 Mr. Stafford March 17 St. Patrick’s Day

108 Days until Spring Break Purple and Gold Pride: Erin Gallivan signs contract with coach and parents looking on.

What’s Hot College Acceptances Unseasonable weather

Senior Gallivan signs to play college field hockey

BY MATT YELVERTON / Staff Writer

Signing day is a huge step in the career of an athlete. All the Summer Job Applications hard work, hours of practice, the weekends away at tournaTalents ments, all coming down to a dotted line on the bottom of a Chick Flicks page. The most recent Indian to experience this moment was Scheduling senior Erin Gallivan, a fouryear varsity field hockey player Spring Sports and member of the first team all-district, all-region, all-state, Karaoke and all-met teams.

index

Photo by Betty French

Following in the footsteps of Taylor Bailey, a Stafford field hockey great who graduated last year, Gallivan signed to James Madison University recently. She has been planning on playing there for some time.

“The moment is more emotional than I expected,” Gallivan said. “All of it is just hitting me now.”

Gallivan credits the Stafford hockey program a great deal in her progression as an elite player.

“This team has made me

more disciplined, because of the extremely high standard the Woodies set for all their players, they get the most out of every player,” Gallivan said.

As to which one she prefers, Gallivan coolly diverted.

“They both help the team in different ways!” Gallivan said.

“Big Woodie has the experience, and we’re sure she knows what she’s talking about. And Little Woodie’s enthusiasm always gets us hype.”

See GALLIVAN: page 2

38

Days until Summer Break

25 Days until Spring Concert

96

Feature............6-7 News...............1-2 Opinion..............3 Sports.............4-5 Spotlight............12 Student Life............9-11

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

News

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www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Celebrating Black History Month

BY B.H. KIM / Staff Writer Black History month is usually celebrated with quotes on the morning announcements every year, but the African American Alliance club decided to host a “Who am I?” competition this year.

Members of this club take turns every day with clues taped to their backpack or hung around their necks with questions ranging from birthdays to accomplish-

ments of famous African American figures to promote Black History month.

“I think the ‘Who Am I?’ questionnaire Mrs. Pellichero and Mrs. Vaerst came up with is a really good idea,” senior Darrian Johnson said. “This activity opens everyone’s eyes to the important African American traits and the difficulties they went through in order to achieve their freedom and admire their accomplishments.”

Students can guess the person based on the questions and put their answer in a box in Ulli Vaerst’s room.

A name i s drawn at the e n d of the d a y and the winner w i t h the corr e c t answer is given a prize, cour tesy

of Becky Woodside and Sue Gill.

Woodside donated school supplies to the club to use as prizes and Gill is offering a free cookie pass with a sign off by Monte or Delonte Harrison, the club founders.

“We only give three clues about each person so when you look online to find the answer, you can learn more about the accomplishments of these people,” said senior Monte Harrison, African American Alliance club co-founder. “The purpose of the ‘Who Am I?’ is to acknowledge the lesserknown African Americans that have had influences in the history of America and to show that everyone had a role in the equality we have today.”

Members of this club encourage students to guess who the person of the day is and to take the time to research the accomplishments of these figures.

Harrison enjoys this event and hopes that it will continue in the coming years.

The African American Alliance club has been promoting the awareness and importance of historical African Americans and their achievements through this activity.

APPX: New program comes to Stafford Continued from Page 1:

GALLIVAN: Senior signs to play hockey Continued from Page 1:

Next year Gallivan will play both midfield and forward, helping the Dukes with her speed and assist ability. Players report a few weeks early and have an opportunity

to bond with new teammates before the burden of college life bears down.

Gallivan recognizes that her success is a reflection of all the hours her parents and coaches put into teaching and coach-

ing her and the smiles of all concerned during the concerned reflects that.

“They’ve made me who I am,” Gallivan said.

“This moment is important, but it is only a step towards my future.”

WINTER SPORTS: Athletes excell Continued from Page 1:

The girls’ basketball team played exceptionally all season and made it to the regional level.

“The season went well,” Hempe said. “We made it to the second round of regionals, but we could have done better in district play.”

Track had an impressive and well-earned end to the season ending with

several placing on the state level.

“Our season went well, we had records broken and a good amount of people made states,” junior Ian Macleod said.

Senior Greg Bohmke, MacLeod, sophomore Luke Lysher and senior Brandon Hinton competed in the 4x800 meter relay, coming in fifth place and breaking eight minutes.

Sophomore Ashley Hinton took an impressive second place in pole vaulting, senior Brooke Scruggs took tenth place in shot put, along with seniors Ricky Martin and Robert Beckwith also competing in shot put.

The winter sports teams at Stafford did exeptionally well this year.

Records were broken, memories made, and hard work paid off.

-ar seal on your diploma and get recognition as a global studies or distinguished scholar,” Biggs said.

“There is also a requirement that if you take a certain number of AP exams and at least have one of your scores sent to a university oversees or outside the country you can get an Advanced Placement International Diploma,” Biggs said.

“You have to get certain scores on your AP exams for that as well. So that’s two different kinds of recognition, for a lot of hard work.”

Major Content Concentration Areas are James Farmer Global Studies Scholar, Sir Isaac Newton Science/Mathematics (STEM) Scholar, Thomas Jefferson Linguistic Scholar, Palmer

Hayden Arts and Humanities Scholar.

Students will have the choice of choosing one of two concentrations: Advanced Placement Distinguished Scholars (APDS) or Advanced Placement International Diploma (APID).

APDS and APID classes will offer the following a collegial college-preparatory learning environment composed of like – minded thinkers, summer APPX enrichment opportunities, a technology rich learning environment, and many more.

“For the APDS you have to do a servicelearning project, and they call it C.L.A.S.S.,” Biggs said. “It’s not volunteering, it’s were you identify a need in the community and you develop a project to address that need. It’s very similar to what learn

and serve does.”

APID is available to students attending secondary schools outside the U.S. and for U.S. residents applying to universities outside the country.

APID is not a substitute for a high school diploma.

It provides students with an additional, internationally recognized certification.

“In order to make this happen, they will have needed to taken the honors classes to help get them ready for the APPX classes,” Biggs said. “I think everyone needs to know that you register for the class, you don’t apply.

We’re not doing applications, were doing registering. Part of the registering is agreeing to study as hard as you have to, and do everything you need to, to pass the class.”

BAND: Members progress to States Continued from Page 1:

seen a group this large from Stafford.

“There is no comparison. This year we had 14 students qualify,” Hite said. “The most we’ve ever had in the past was maybe seven.”

So what is the reason

for their success?

“Mr. Hite is really good at preparing us for auditions,” Russ said. “We also work really hard on our own, so we were really driven and motivated to get to the state level.”

Hite believes that private teachers make all the difference.

“We had so many people that are taking lessons privately, which just makes them better players,” Hite said. “If our students would stop thinking having private teachers as remedial help, then there wouldn’t be anybody that could touch us.”

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Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Sports

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Varsity Baseball Clinic: Stafford’s varsity and JV teams held a clinic for younger students on Saturday, Feb. 25 from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Youngsters from younger teams came for instruction in catching, hitting, fielding and throwing by the boys selected just Thursday for the varsity and JV teams. Senior catcher Matt Yelverton demonstrates here how to field a grounder. Photo by Emily Pearce.

Baseball slams into new season

BY CODY BEACORN Staff Writer Like all spring sport teams, tryouts for baseball began Monday Feb. 20, a day where there was bone-shivering weather with wet snow covered roads from the previous night.

“It was freezing and the field was covered with snow but everyone had been dying to start playing so no one was going to let “bad” weather get

in the way of us trying out,” senior Marcus Bumbrey said.

The number of players who showed up on the frosty day proved just how much determination and love for the game the athletes had. They know that in order to play at full potential during the season they need to work as hard as they can during the off-season.

“Most may say the season starts on Feb. 20, but to the ball players that eat, sleep and

dream baseball, the season is all year around,” senior Shane Haley said.

Players have been going to conditioning every Tuesday and Thursday since the week after Thanksgiving.

“All the running and throwing during conditioning and after school had the boys extremely eager to start official practice,” said Scott Coleman, assistant varsity coach.

Waking up at five in the

morning and giving everything an individual has takes a toll on most but to these boys it is just another way of preparing for what they hope to be a championship season.

“Several of my teammates and I have not only been showing up at workouts but also going out to the field every single day since the last baseball season ended to try and keep improving for this season,” senior Tyler Creel said. “With all the

work we have been doing, I can only imagine how we will look come game time.”

The team’s first scrimmage is on March 3 against Woodbridge High and their season opener is on Feb. 13 against Massaponax.

“The team is looking pretty good this year but you never really know what to expect,” varsity coach Tommy Harrison said. “But just like in any sport the hard work will pay off.”

Tennis overcomes preseason struggles

BY SHELDON SHEINALL Staff Writer A new year brings new challenges for Stafford’s boy’s tennis team as they adjust to a new coach, move players around and welcome in new players in hopes of bettering the end results of past season records.

Tryouts began Tuesday, Feb. 21, with Stafford English teacher, Patrick Miller, as the new head coach. Junior Matt Coyne says that the team has really

worked on their game and is ready to produce a solid performance at the district competition.

“I played tennis at a young age and I coached the Stafford girl’s team years ago, so when I heard that the boy’s team needed a coach I volunteered myself,” said coach Patrick Miller.

“The team should have a solid line up,” said Coyne. “I hope to assume the number 1 spot on the team again this year, followed by senior B.h.

Kim.”

“Although I don’t think we will have many people, the players we do have are really good,” said sophomore Stephen Hannah. “We looked pretty good at tryouts, so I’m excited to see where this season takes us.”

The team welcomes back veteran players including sophomores Chris Vaughn, Ridge Dodd, and Stephen Hannah, as well as seniors B.h. Kim and Will Janney.

Being the only seniors on the team, a lot of pressure will

be put on Kim and Janney as younger players will look to them to set examples and to be the best that they can be.

“I’m glad the newer players can look up to me and Will.

Next Spring, if I make the team, I’ll be looking up to the more seasoned players at Virginia Tech, so I can sympathize,” said Kim. Depending on the cumulative effort of the entire team, they hope to beat last season’s overall record of 9-6. With Staf-

ford’s biggest competition being Riverbend and Albemarle, this won’t be easy.

“I believe our team is pretty strong and Stafford can expect at least a third place performance at districts, but we’re hoping for the absolute best,” Kim said.

Coach Miller said that along with teaching players to police themselves a little bit, tennis teaches athletes honesty and integrity.

Softball sets high standards

BY TAIA POLLOCK Staff Writer

After cuts, the softball team still has a great outlook on the upcoming season. Last year, the softball team was 18-4 and almost made it to districts.

They hope to do even better in the upcoming season.

“I think we should win a lot of games,” coach Cathie Tobin said. “I have a good attitude with the girls that are here.”

The beginning freshmen have also had a good experience with softball conditioning and the other girls on the team.

“For me, softball is a way of life, and I plan to keep playing,” freshman Jasmin McDougle said. “I also love my team mates, but would play softball regardless.”

Softball has played a big part in some of the girl’s high school experience, as some have played since freshman year. Dana Jacobs, Jennifer Quintero, Kristen Weadon, Lindsay LaFratta, Megan Reed, are some of the returning players for the upcoming season, and were also consistent starters. Reed, with support from LaFratta are the pitchers for the team.

“I have done softball since freshman year, and it has been

Junior Jeff Schultz practices during try outs for the lacrosse team Many students came out for the lacrosse team this year. Photo by Eric Stapleton

Lacrosse looks to make progress in new season

BY AUSTIN THOMPSON Staff Writer

Softball try outs ended Thursday with girls having to be cut. The first practice was Friday indoors because of rain but the JV girls didn’t mind as they got their new uniforms and took a run around school. Photo by Emily Pearce

a very good experience for me,” senior Lindsay Lafratta said. “I do not plan to play in college, but hope to play in any way I can.”

Softball has come to be something the girls really enjoy.

“I look forward to softball season, since I’ve grown close to the rest of the girls on the team,” junior Jennifer Quintero said.

Most of last year’s JV team has come back for conditioning, along with a few of last year’s varsity girls.

On the varsity level, the softball team is unaware of whom to keep a look out on, “The dynamics of the team have changed, since a lot of our great pitchers graduated last year,” coach Linda Keefer said.

In the past Stafford has been neck and neck with Mountain View High School, and hopes to come out on top. Riverbend High School and Massoponax High School have also shown tough competition for the JV team.

Returning lacrosse players are optimistic about the upcoming season. They feel this spring will be better than last year.

The only changse in rules being that the referees are going to crack down on certain hits, the players are already used to the play style and the same equipment as last year unless they are moving from JV to varsity. The former JV players have to buy a team helmet and team gloves.

Other than that they just need pads, mouth guard, and, a stick.

“Most of the seniors, as well as Jack Giscard, Will Stratton, and Rhett Teaster are looking good,” senior Ryan Sompayrac said.

Many of the returners agreed that Giscard is looking

like one of the top freshman in the off-season workouts.

“I expect our team as a whole to stop playing as individuals and work together as a team,” sophomore Andrew Karras said.

The team finished last season with 1 win and 13 losses, but have high expectations this year.

“We have potential. I think everyone will play hard, not quit, and hustle every second of the game.” Sompayrac said Alex Sypolt, a senior who was badly injured in a car accident recently, is unable to play for the whole season, however he has been made an honorary captain for the season.

The team will be starting practices in late February and their first scrimmage will be against Osbourne High School.

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Sports

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Girls soccer kicks into spring training “I want our team to have at least one upset,” said Gaesser.

Teammates plan to improve from last season with new additional players.

“There is a lot of new talent coming up,” senior Erin Smith said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing what happens.”

Smith plans on staying healthy and being safe during the season.

“My main goal is to not be injured for a third year in a row,” said Smith.

Players hope to make a positive contribution to the team.

“I plan to do my best and add to the team’s win,” sophomore Katelyn Walz said.

Walz believes the coach will have a positive impact on her and the rest of the team.

“The coach is great,” said Walz. “We do a lot of practicing and we work hard in conditioning.”

Past players believe with the hard work from freshmen, the team will grow.

“The freshmen this year are good,” Ayo said. “They will help us win a lot more.”

The girls soccer team will play their first game Tuesday, March 13 against Massaponax.

5

Rain, rain, go away: Girls JV and varsity soccer were forced to practice indoors becuase of rain and wind on the first real day of practice..

Photo by Emily Pearce.

BY SKYLA BAILEY Staff Writer Kicking off the season with tough conditioning and hard work ethics, girls soccer has high hopes for the year.

“I want our team to win

more games,” junior Larissa Ayo said. “We are going to have a better record than last year.”

With conditioning only on Thursdays, players practice hard outside of school to better themselves.

“I practice five days a week,”

said Ayo. “I’m on a travel team to help me get ready for the season.”

Coach has set expectations for the upcoming team and players individually.

“I expect the girls to be in good shape fitness wise,” coach

Laura Gaesser said. “I want them to work hard and give 100 percent every practice and game.”

The team will scrimmage twice against Osbourn and King George before their first game.

Travel hockey hits Forida

Already signed to play for Georgia, Merritt Hempe poses in Stafford’s gym.

The girls basketball team made it out of districts but lost the first game in regionals to end their season. Photo by Kaitlin Shacklette

Meet Merritt Hempe, more than basketballer

BY HANNAH HAUGAN Staff Writer Bounding across the court with the ball, 18-year-old Merritt Hempe’s talent stands out.

The blonde, six foot, three inch tall senior also stands out in in the hallways.

“My favorite animals are giraffes ‘cause they’re tall like me,” said Hempe. She is a fun person who enjoys cracking jokes and having fun.

Oftentimes, Hempe can be seen smiling or laughing along with anyone, even people she barely knows. Her bright and sparkly attire matches her outgoing and lively personality perfectly.

At the end of this semester, Hempe will be going off to college. She recently signed to play basketball for the University of Georgia.

Hempe misses having no responsibilities as a child. “Not having any worries or cares was probably the greatest feeling as a kid.”

Hempe’s favorite school subject is English because of her love of writing. There’s one more huge thing in her life that Hempe loves: basketball. When she’s not studying or with her friends, Hempe is on a court working on her game.

“I practice everyday after school, when we don’t have practice and sometimes before practice starts,” Hempe stated.

“I play basketball every chance I get!”

Ever since she was little, Hempe has dreamed of winning a WNBA championship.

Instead of getting pumped for each game, Hempe listens to slow, quiet music to get calmed down.

Hempe’s drive to succeed is evident in the way she plays. She models her game after WNMA player Elena Delle Donne.

Hempe said “I think that you should use everything you can and work hard to get where you want to be.”

BY SYDNEY SCOTT Staff Writer Local travel field hockey team, High Voltage, just recently returned from the Disney Showcase in Orlando, Florida on Sunday, Feb.12. The team placed in the top 16 out of the 80 teams that came from all over the country to compete.

Stafford has six players on the team that traveled to Disney and they have 22 years of playing for High Voltage between them but, the U-16 team also consists of players from Riverbend, James Monroe, Mountain View, and Fredericksburg Academy.

“Overall, we did well for never playing together and changing from an indoor hard court to an outdoor grass field,” freshman Shannon Fenwick said.

The competition was so tight that the difference between High Voltage making just the top 16 and a higher seed was one penalty stroke that was given to them in the middle of what turned out to be their last game.

“I loved spending time with the team and fighting for a spot in the finals until the end,”

freshman Kenly Belman said.

Sophomores E r i n C u n n i n g ham and Morgan French said that their favorite moment on the field was the face of “com- Members of High Voltage Field Hockey team traveled to p l e t e Disney World for a tournament. Several members are from s h o c k Stafford High School. Photo provided by Sydney Scott. and utter happiness” that Belman sportWhen they were off the field, ed after being in the right place they did some team bonding by at the right time which resulted seeing The Woman in Black, in a goal when they needed it shopping in Downtown Dismost during one of their final ney, singing Whitney Houston games. songs at the tops of their lungs, “The trip was really memo- team dinners at CiCi’s Pizza, rable,” freshman Brooke Har- tanning in parking lots and just mon said. “The far walks in hanging around the hotel. New between the fields and losing memories were made along when we should have won were with new friendships really the only downfalls.”

Hinton loves childhood sport

BY CARA SKEER Staff Writer Sophomore Ashley Hinton has been doing gymnastics long before she hit Stafford High’s floor mat. She has devoted her time and effort into gymnastics for over nine years.

Hinton first started gymnastics because her parents put her in classes for doing cartwheels and handstands everywhere.

Ever since, Hinton has always enjoyed the sport.

“I fell in love with it immediately, and it appealed to me even more because it’ definitely something many people can’t do,” Hinton said.

She does gymnastics year round along with being on the gymnastics team at Stafford. She is in level 9 of Royal Gymnastics.

Hinton has done competition gymnastics for seven years and continued her competition when she came to Stafford High School. She competes in vault, bars, beam and floor.

“I love preparing myself for competitions,” Hinton said.

“Imagining myself doing my routines correctly mentally prepares me for the meet.”

Hinton’s favorite events are floor and bars and her least favorite is beam.

“I feel like I am stronger on floor and bars,” Hinton said.

Shawn Thurston, Stafford’s gymnastics coach, has been coaching gymnastics years before Hinton was at Stafford.

Hinton tries to take Thurston’s

advice to further her skills in gymnastics.

“Just have fun with it and relax,” Thurston tell Hinton before she performs.

“I always try to improve myself and Coach really helps me motivate myself,” Hinton said.

Janet Barham, assistant gymnastics coach, believes Hinton can only get better from where she is now.

“She’s one of the best in the state,” Barham said. “She has accomplished so much this season, and I can’t wait to see her improvement next year.”

Hinton spends most of her days of the week going to gymnastics practices and meets.

She also spends hours at the gym practicing making sure she can improve as much as she can.

“Gymnastics is my life, and I love it,” Hinton said. “I love how close it brings you with people.

Your teammates become your best friends and family.”

Stafford’s gymnastics team as a whole and individual members have improved throughout the season according to the team.

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Features

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Top Trending Topics of 2011

#JustinBieber #FIFAWorldCup #LadyGaga #NBA #JonasBrothers #Christmas #SuperJunior #BritneySpears #JapanEarthquake #OneDirection

What are you doing?

Students contribute to the international social movement in 140 characters or less Ryan Sompayrac @ryansompayrac It’s been a rough year so far, but the best is yet to come #classof2012

Tori Garrett @toriii91 I’ve got 99 problems and they are all because of senioritis

Merritt Hempe @HempeDoesIt If you’re absent during my struggle, don’t expect to be present during my success.

175 million

Allie Siegal @siegalsnack Not doing my homework just because I don’t want to get up to get it #lazytweet

Number of registered Twitter users around the world

Sheldon Sheinall @thayshytshey Feeling like Black Swan when you peel off a hangnail #iamtheswanqueen #iwasperfect

Emily Griffin @EmmmaleeG Ashton Kutcher still looks EXACTLY the same from when he was on that 70s show. #itsbeenadecade

Why subtweet?

Dillon Baden Staff Writer Short for subliminal tweeting, subtweeting is a tweet directly referring to another person without mentioning their name.

People sub-tweet for several different reasons. Although it can be viewed as indirect and rude, not all sub-tweeting is negative.

“If I sub-tweet, it’s always in a positive way and the person knows it’s about them,” junior Larissa Ayo said.

A sub-tweet is almost never posted without a purpose.

“I usually sub-tweet when I’m angry atsomeone,” said junior Brianna Dunn.

Sub-tweeting provokes many questions because it is so indirect and it can often cause people to feel attacked.

When tweeters are the subject of a negative tweet, they often retaliate.

“If someone s tweets about me, I usually take it as a challenge to tweet about them even more,” senior Aaron Mays said.

Some tweeters are hesitant to respond to a sub-tweet due to its indirect nature, and would rather confront the person directly.

“Well since it’s subtweeting it is hard to tell if it is actually about you, so it is hard to react.” Dunn said.

Generally, people see sub-tweeting as cowardly and indirect.

Many tweeters are against sub-tweeting and avoid it completely in an attempt to avoid the unneeded drama.

“It’s cowardly because you could easily just text the person and tell them what’s wrong, but it can also helps you get some anger out,” Dunn said.

A sub-tweet can be as positive, or as emotionally damaging. Because sub-tweets are so indirect it is hard to accuse a someon for targeting a particular person. Does this mean sub-tweeting is a form of cyber bullying?

“Subtweeting is definitely like cyber

bullying because you’re saying hurtful things about someone,” Dunn said.

“However, the person doesn’t necessarily know it’s about them.”

Justin Bieber was a trending topic at least once every month in 2011

Elena Sisson @lenaarooo Grilled cheese and Cheetos #cheeseattack

Multi-platinum singer Beyonce’s pregnancy announcement set the world record at

8,868 tweets per second

Twitter, Facebook compete Caitlyn Green Staff Writer

Two of the most popular social networking sites are Facebook and Twitter.

At the end of 2011 Facebook had 845 million active users while Tw i t ter had only 200 million users, according to their websites, although Twitter has a considerably smaller user base it is growing in popularity.

“I prefer Twitter because it’s more social,” freshman Brandi Huffman said. “Instead of posting pictures and trying to get likes, it’s more about talking to people

and seeing what everyone else is doing.”

On Twitter, the user follows someone who has the choice of following back or not. On Facebook, the other person has to accept before the user can become friends someone.

“Twitter is more social than Facebook,” freshman Alexandra Casazza said.

“You can follow anyone on twitter without it being creepy but on Facebook I wouldn’t add someone that I didn’t know. I have made friends on twitter because random people find my tweets interesting.”

One major difference between Facebook and Twitter is the use of hashtags. If a tweet has the pound symbol fol-

PROS “It’s a fast and easy way to stay in touch with your friends, and possibly gain a little popularity if you gain enough followers.”

-Brandon Chon, sophomore

“I canare justgetting say whats on my mind “pros information out at any point in the day.and ” soquickly, like advertisements, -Tohlig Bugg, sophomore cial stuff ” -Aaron Haynes, sophomore “Twitter is a fast and easy way to keep in contact with your peers and favorite celeberties.”

-Kirsten Mitchell, freshman

lowed by a particular word or phrase Twitter will group the tweet with other tweets of the same topic.

When a lot of people use the same hashtag or have the same phrase in a tweet it becomes a trending topic. Trending topics are generally related to a recent event, a celebrity, or can be question like phrases.

“I feel like the trending topics are always funny and really good to tweet about,” sophomore Brianna Branson said.

Twitter users have the ability to retweet someone else’s tweet. This makes the tweet visible for the person’s followers as well and is commonly done with celebrities.

“I love Twitter’s

retweeting option,” sophomore Allie Siegal said. “It shows how people are thinking the same thing as you or if they said your thoughts better than you could and you can just retweet it.”

In 2010, 40 percent of Facebook users were between the ages of 13 to 25. Only 17 percent of Twitter users were the same age, according to the companies.

“Facebook is geared more towards younger users due to its simplicity,” freshman Kendrik Icenhour said. “Twitter is geared towards older age groups due to the fact that you can share what other people are

CONS “I think Twitter is a negative thing, at least for high schoolers, because it’s just another way for kids to be picked on.”

“People know a little too much -Dana Jacobs, senior about you and what you’re up to at all times.”-Brandon Chon, sophomore “It starts drama like any other social network might.”

-Caroline Major, junior “It promotes sitting on the computer or being on the phone all day rather than having any real life interactions.”

-Naomi Bower, freshman

Most popular celebrity Tweetters @LadyGaga 19.5 million

@JustinBeiber 17.6 million

@Shakira 14.2 million

@Rihanna @KimKardashian 13.8 million 13.3 million

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Taking second look at V.A.S.S Ryan Hazelgren Columnist Okay, it’s no secret that the hot topic of the last couple of weeks (besides Jeremy Lin) was the VASS grant and the whole idea of getting compensated for taking AP tests.

I’m not going to lie to you; my first inclination was to take the easy way out and play angsty columnist and write about how sad it is that we have to get paid to take advanced tests, that kids in Third World Country X would be incredulous about us receiving financial compensation for education. I’ll admit that there are a lot of kids in this world that would risk their lives to go to school while we’re here getting paid for it.

But, (not to go all Larry David on you), that being said, we can’t spend our whole lives comparing ourselves to those less fortunate than we. If we really went all out and completely empathized with them, we’d feel like guilty brats 24/7, even those who are considered

less fortunate by our standards.

I’m not saying that we should purposely be ignorant and self centered, or that we should stop thinking about the needy.

All I’m saying is this: to a certain extent, our lives play out on their own continuum. Constantly viewing our own lives in the context of being spoiled or rich is just ridiculous.

But here’s the thing: that’s exactly why this grant is unethical. Kids with just as much as just much money as we have been taking AP classes to get in to college or to save money on classes for 57 years. It should be an insult to all of us that the county brass thinks they have to pay us to strive for success in school.

Think about it; this basically means that those who came up with this whole VASS idea sat around a table and came to the conclusion that our generation is pathetic enough that we need to be essentially bribed to take AP tests. Awesome.

Look, this will probably work. More kids will take AP classes, the teachers will be happier, our scores will get higher, all that good stuff.

While all those kids in Haiti would risk their lives to go to school.

Opinion

3

3

Put off today what you can do tomorrow Taylor Jones Columnist Procrastination is the quickest way to lose track of what you are doing and need to do in the world, hence the definition.

“If you put something off that you can do today, you are just wasting one more minute in this world that you can’t get back,” sophomore Aaron White said.

It may cause your downfall at any time and in any place in society.

It is the easiest way for

someone in school to get a bad grade and someone in the work world to get fired.

“Procrastination is bad,” senior Bethanry Boyed said. “Don’t do it!”

Procrastination is delaying something until the last second in most cases.

Through procrastination you give yourself more time to plan and organize but less time to act. By doing that you are digging your own grave (in a sense).

“People who procrastinate don’t get things done

until the last minute and when they are done they have done poorly,” sophomore Samantha Mikelson said.

You are taught from day one in kindergarten not put off what you can do today until tomorrow but most people still do it anyway.

Doing a little extra bit

A F

Senioritis

D

Paying for AP tests

A+

States

B-

Spring Sports Tryouts

F

Snow on days off

D

Rainy practices

B+

Senior Karaoke

The students are seeing and feeling the first signs of spring. The warmer weather seems to be reflected in the lighter and brighter moods around school With the warmer weather comes the anticipation of summer. It doesn’t help that the college acceptance letters are pouring in. For many seniors, it’s a miracle we aren’t al flunking out.

Before the VASS mandate takes effect, students have to pay $87 for every AP test they are taking.

These fees quickly add up to a small fortune.

Wrestling, girls swimming, gymnastics, track, choir, and band are all sending members to compete at the state level and many students are winning big titles for Stafford.

Because of the high level of talent and competitiveness of the athletes this year, several upperclassmen were cut from their favorite sport to make room for the newcomers. However, there’s no doubt we will see an exciting season.

We all were pretty disappointed when the most snow so far this year fell the Sunday before President’s Day, which we already had off from school. What a waste of a snow day.

Although some athletes may prefer playing in the rain, the spring sports have had to practice indoors for the first few days of the season.

Admit it, there’s nothing funnier than seeing your peers prance around a stage singing to some of the cheesiest songs known to man. It’s no wonder the auditorium was packed for the event.

of work every day helps.

Give an extra 10% every time you walk into school or work.

People say just getting your foot in the door is the first step. The same thing applies to your school work. Just pick it up. Do the first few questions.

You may be surprised on how easy it may be.

smoke signal staff 2011-2012 Editors-in-Chief Shannon Cooke Emily Griffin

Making the Grade Warmer Weather

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Photography Editor Emily Pearce Online Editors Rebekah Kim Dani Raymond

Design Editor Bridget Phillips

Copy Editors Emily Byers Kathryn Lenox

Editors Leland Brooks Molly Podlesny Toni Sorrentino Page Editors Katie Brandon Megan Corsano Ana Nosal Kirstin Whiteside Business Managers Karri Chestnut Ashleigh Powell

Staff Writers Claire Adams, Allie Ahlm, Catherine Alfaro, Louisa Amenitsch, Dillon Baden, Jacob Barber, Cody Beacorn, Emily Billingslea, Natalie Bohmke, Luci Braun, Doreen Brindise, Moriah Briscoe, Kiana Burgos, Kirsten Burton, Travis Byram, Jackson Carmichael, Shawnail Cavender, Shannon Cocho, Megan Corsano, Erin Cunningham, Ridge Dodd, Amber Donald, Elizabeth Drash, Katherine Drumm, Megan Ebeling, Bradley Elmore, Austin Enfinger, Mariah Erickson, Shannon Fenwick, Ergys Ferruku, Starla Foosness, Tamara George, Michael Gordon, Caitlin Green, Tyler Haley, Kimberley Hall, Katelynn Halstead, Ryan Hazelgren, Hannah Haugen, Alexandria Hinkle, Patrick Holland, Billy Howell, Maggie Howell, Megan Humphrey, Taylor Jones, Bonnie Kamei, Eric Kauffman, Russ Kaus, B.H. Kim, India Kithcart, Valerie Lampert, Jessica Larson, Taylor Lisco, Courtney Mears, Erin McGraw, Kyle McGuire, Chris McMillen, Melissa Mercer, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Kirsten Mitchell, Maddi Mixon, Brittany Nealy, Patrick Oliver, Ellie Pare, Chadni Patel, David Pearson, Kelly Pedigo, Palmers Pelham, Abbie Pennington, Audrey Perrine, Marta Perrine, Taia Pollock, Charlotte Potts, Elizabeth Puckerin, Brynne Reeves, Isabella Rivas, Julianne Rogers, Rachel Rolando, Anthony Romanello, Hannah Rowlette, Tori Santiago-Troutman, Sydney Scott, Kayla Seal, Sheldon Sheinall, Brendan Sherman, Alyssa Sims, Cara Skeer, Morgan Silver, Bridget Stadelmyer, Blayne Stine, Marissa Stone, Tyler Sullivan, Madison Teaster, Justin Thomas, Austin Thompson, Ryan Thompson, Chiann Todd, Jessica Turner, Chris Vaughn, Kristina Varela, Elizabeth Walker, Jillian Weisbeck, Taylor West, Tyler West, Taro White,Taylor White, Brittni Wright, Matt Yelverton Photographers Kerstin Felton, Amber Griffith, Muhamad Khalid, Austing Pearson, Kaitlin Shacklette, Eric Stapleton, Keana Young Videographers Alisa Posey Jordan Reed Taylor Sutherland Advisor Sue Gill, CJE The Smoke Signal is an open forum for student expression of the student body of Stafford High School.

Unsigened editorials reflect the collective opinion of the Smoke Signal staff. Signed editorials represent the opinion of the auther and do not necessarily represent the opinons of Stafford HighSchool, its administration, or staff. Signed letters to the editor not exceeding 250 words may be submitted to room W206. Anonymous letters will not be printed. The Smoke Signal reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and content and to refuse advertisements.

Features

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

7

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

features

Election2012

7

Students lack interest in election, politics

BY KATIE BRANDON Section Editor For those actively paying attention to politics, it’s the beginning of a month-long marathon. The presidential campaign has heated up, the Republican Party presidential primaries have begun and both parties are preparing for that crucial day in November.

However, despite all of the national attention and coverage of the election, the majority of students are still indifferent

and uninterested.

Typically, the most politically active students join either the Young Republicans or Young Democrats clubs, but both organizations have seen a decrease in interest and membership. This is representative of a national trend in youth political participation since the presidential election of 2008.

Even with the substantial amount of media coverage of the upcoming election, most of it is aimed at older genera-

Demographics affect voter outcome, races A demographic can change effect an election.

A demographic is data of the population showing gender, age, income, race and education.

A candidate will appeal to a certain group of citizens, gaining their support.

“Depending on what kind of sample of people are in a location , it can affect the outcome of what candidate they might want, ”senior Amy Quantrille said.

Another example would be that 67 percent of Latinos in America voted for President Obama because they felt that he was paying attention to them, according to the New York News.

While most business owners and the wealthy are more likely to vote Republican assuming the Republicans would be more likely to stabilize the tax system, aiding the economy.

“In today’s world, the economy is playing heavily on most Americans,” said Sarah Jackson, social

studies teacher. “Subjects such as healthcare, social security, and combating terrorism are also important.”

According to Singapore’s Institute of Policy Studies, people rely on media to tell them more about each candidate.

“Any public information available to voters can sway them, but the biggest thing is the media,” senior Codie Hammond said.

If the target group doesn’t feel like the candidate will help them in any way, they’ll change to a different candidate impacting the election in big ways.

“If there’s a time to get interested in politics, the time is now!” Hammond said. “Whether people vote or not, the outcome will affect everyone in America.”

If a citizen ever feels the need to get involved with politics, they can campaign at local elections and even work at polling places like Hammond.

Voting is a way for citizens to make their mark

Mrs. Jackson, my global issues teacher, always encourages us to watch the news and to stay up to date with politics. It has definitely pushed me to stay involved.”

Student involvement in school elections is relatively simple compared with national elections. With school elections, just select the name you think will do the best job.

With national elections, there are many other factors besides

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Party in an election. Citizens are eligible to vote in the United States when they turn 18 years of age.

“I’m really excited to vote,” senior Quincy Dodge said. “I’m glad that

the first year I can vote is the year the presidential election is being held.”

The presidential election will be held on Nov 6, 2012.

Candidate Profiles

just knowing someone’s name or face to think about.

“I think a lot of younger people don’t realize the impact of politics on their daily lives,” said Danny Strock, senior class president. “For example, tax cuts aren’t viewed as being as meaningful to teenagers as they are to older generations.

Since the consequences of political decisions aren’t seen as a direct consequence to us, many decide not to become involved.”

Candidate’s role

What party would you vote for?

Number of supporters

BY JESSICA LARSON Staff Writer

tions, completely disregarding the youth demographic. The lack of teenage appeal leaves their political education and socialization up to classroom government or global issues teachers.

“Students should be encouraged in school to stay knowledgeable about politics because the issues we face today directly affect us in some way or another,” senior Amy Quantrille said. “I know that

BY CATHERINE ALFARO Staff Writer As the 2012 presidential elections near, citizens are overwhelmed with the campaigns.

Political campaigns are very different to academic ones. There are almost no rules for political advertisements.

According to “The Changing Face of Political Campaigns,” most political advertisements are attack ads. Attack ads are negative and criticize the adversary’s political position by highlighting the opponent’s faults and comparing them to the candidate’s own position.

Political advertisements have very few rules or guidelines that the candidate has to follow.

There is no regulatory group that controls what commercials are allowed to say, or what can be printed on flyers.

Political advertising can say anything no matter how misleading, unfair, or blatantly critical of the political candidates.

Some of the prohibited actions may include, but are not limited to: ly-

ing about numbers generated, going outside the chain of command, nonpress-shop members talking to the press, blogging, and being arrested.

Candidates can, however, sue for defamation of character.

To organize a campaign, the candidate must have a campaign manager, political consultants, and activists.

Millions of dollars are raised and spent each year during the elections.

The presidential candidates have raised more than 186 million dollars for their campaigns to date, according to reports filed with the Federal Election Commission.

President Obama raised 139.5 million dollars and has spent 126.4 million on his campaigns.

Mitt Romney, who is currently in second place, raised 57.1 million dollars and spent 37.2 million.

Candidates who are still in the competition with President Obama and Romney are Newt Gingrich, Gary Johnson, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum.

BY CLAIR ADAMS, JESSICA LARSON Staff Writers

Barack Obama

Ron Paul

Rick Santorum

Newt Gingrich

Mitt Romney

President Barack Obama is running for president again in the 2012 election. He has been elected the Democratic candidate with his vice president Joseph Biden by his side.

Obama went to Harvard Law School, where he became the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he took a job teaching constitutional law at the University of Chicago.

Obama was first elected to the Illinois State Senate in 1996.

During his time in Springfield, he passed the first major ethics reform in 25 years, cut taxes for working families, and expanded health care for children and their parents. He was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004.

As president, Barack Obama has dedicated himself to putting Americans back to work and restoring economic security to middle-class families.

He’s been driven by the basic values that make our country great: America prospers when we’re all in it together.

Ron Paul is a Republican running for the GOP in the 2012 presidential election.

He graduated from Gettysburg College and the Duke University School of Medicine, before proudly serving as a flight surgeon in the U.S. Air Force during the 1960s.

He served on the House Banking committee, where he was a strong advocate for sound monetary policy and an outspoken critic of the Federal Reserve’s inflationary measures.

He serves on the House Financial Services Committee and the Foreign Affairs Committee.

Dr. Paul’s consistent voting record prompted one Congressman to comment that “Ron Paul personifies the Founding Fathers’ ideal of the citizenstatesman. He makes it clear that his principles will never be compromised, and they never are.”

Rick Santorum is another Republican running for the GOP in the 2012 presidential election. Former U.S. Senator Santorum was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1990 at the age of 32, and from 1995 to 2007, served in the U.S. senate.

Along with John Boehner and Jim Nussle, Santorum was a member of the famous “Gang of Seven” that exposed the Congressional Banking and Congressional Post Office scandals.

Some other accomplishments were he was an author and floor manager of the landmark Welfare Reform Act which passed in 1996 that has empowered millions of Americans to leave the welfare rolls and enter the workforce.

But of all his accomplishments, Santorum is most proud of his role as a husband and father. Santorum and his wife of 21 years, Karen, are the parents of seven children.

Newt Gingrich is one of the other Republican candidates running in the 2012 presidential election.

Under Newt’s leadership, Congress passed the first balanced budget in a generation, leading to the repayment of over $400 billion in debt.

Newt served on the Defense Policy Board under President George W. Bush, which provided strategic counsel to the Pentagon and Secretary of Defense on how to better address threats facing the United States.

Newt is widely recognized for his commitment to a better system of health for all Americans. His leadership helped save Medicare from bankruptcy, prompted FDA reform to help the seriously ill and initiated a new focus on research, prevention, and wellness.

Mitt Romney has been around politics his whole life.

After graduating from Brigham Young University in 1971, he earned dual degrees from Harvard Law and Harvard Business School.

Romney founded the investment firm Bain Capital in 1984.

Romney is not a career politician. He has spent most of his life in the private sector, giving him an intimate knowledge of how our economy works. But he has also been an outstanding public servant.

Romney was elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002.

At that time the state was in a tough time. The state economy was in a tailspin, with businesses cutting back on investment or even closing and unemployment ticking up. He reconstructed the government programs, paring back when necessary and finding solutions throughout.

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Features

8

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

THE HEALTH OF S.H.S. Body odor causes problems for many

By Jessica Turner Staff Writer

Sleep deprivation can cause students, such as senior Ray Brock, to fall asleep and miss important parts of classes. Photo by Reid Murphy

Lack of sleep hits students

By Reid Murphy Page Editor

On various occasions, students like to make suggestions on how school can be more, for lack of a better word, enjoyable.

Besides a year-long summer vacation and “Principal Ryan Gosling,” what most students want is actually something students had in elementary school: nap time!

The reason why most students probably want nap time is because one of the most common problems for high school students across the country is not being able to stay awake during classes. It doesn’t mean that the class is boring (most of the time), but instead is a sign that students aren’t getting enough sleep at night.

“It depends on the student,” nurse Sharon King

said, “but the average amount of sleep students should be getting is eight hours.”

Studies have shown that while eight hours is the recommended amount of sleep for students, only 15% of students across the country get that much on a school night, according to sleepfoundation.org.

“I usually get five to six hours on a school night,” senior Ray Brock said.

“Usually it’s tough to sleep because of homework, or sometimes because I took a nap earlier that afternoon.”

Whether it be from an extreme amount of homework or talking to a boyfriend or girlfriend on the phone, it’s plain and simple that most students don’t get enough sleep, and lack of sleep can be very dangerous to a person’s health, physically

and mentally.

“One of the major problems of sleep deprivation is drowsy driving,” King said. “Many students, and even adults, drive while being very tired and this can result in possibly fatal car accidents.”

Along with these problems, another negative effect of sleep deprivation is the fact that it causes many students to fall asleep in class. Besides something being completely embarrassing by drooling and obnoxious snoring, sleeping in class is also an easy way to get on a teacher’s bad side.

“It makes me quite unhappy,” history teacher Margaret Bridges said.

“Unless they’re sick, I don’t approve of it at all.”

Now many doctors, teachers, parents, and students have tried suggesting to school boards

Along with stress over school, drama, friends and trouble at home, many teens deal with body odor issues on the daily basis.

Although most people think body odor is caused by sweat, it isn’t.

Body odor is the growth of bacteria which is fed by sweat, and other than that, the odor of sweat is often unnoticed by humans.

Stress, anxiety and, working out are all factors to body odor. Athletes are more prone to body odor because they do tend to sweat more when staying active and working out.

“Hygiene is very important, its keeps you clean preventing diseases and it helps you smell good,” senior, Jake Watters said.

Students deal with sniffles, colds

By Julianne Rogers Staff Writer Many people each year are affected by allergies.

Warm weather that brings blooming trees and grasses releases irritating pollen into the air.

Each spring, plants produce microscopic round or oval pollen grains to reproduce.

When the pollen is in the air, it enters a person’s airway as they breathe in.

This natural process is what puts the miserable feeling inside “spring allergies,” as said by www. pollen.com.

“My allergies aren’t too horrible,” sophomore Blaine Hugger said. “I mean they are really annoying but not bad enough for me to have to miss school.”

As reported by www. allergies.about.com, reactions to pollen occur because of the chemical makeup of the pollen. The immune system produces IgE antibodies that cause certain cells to release chemicals into the blood stream in response to the allergen.

“During spring my allergies really make me feel awful,” sophomore Haylie Harbin said. “I sneeze, get a runny nose, cough, and feel all congested.”

According to www. allergies.about.com one of the chemicals released inside the body is histamine. Histamine is what causes the symptoms of

Students go to war with acne, zits, skin

By Blayne Stine Staff Writer

Acne… that one word makes some people cringe. There are many sufferers who wish to get rid of it. Over 80% of these sufferers are highschool and college aged according to Acne-ltd. com.

Acne is anything from small blackheads to cysts that happen when pores or hair follicles get blocked by excess skin oils according to acne.org.

“My acne isn’t too uncontrollable or something I can’t cover up, but I do have friends with acne.” freshman, Charlene Wall said.

According to medicalnewstoday.com Acne affects more than just your skin. It affects someone’s self-esteem, confidence, and more. The real question is, how do you get rid of it?

“Acne makes people feel ugly and weird and uncomfortable.” freshman, Domenic Romanello said.

According to productreviews.com some of the best working acne treatment products are

Exposed Skin Care, ClearPores, Miessence, Minocycline, and Neutrogena.

“When I get breakouts I use a medicine called Benzaclin and it works really well.” Senior, Brianna Morring said. “It takes about a week and the acne is gone.”

A lot of things can make you break out including exercise, stress, foods, and much more according to webmd.com.

To help prevent and reduce acne, one can use almost any moisturizer daily, wash the face after sweating, don’t get hair spray or gel on the face, eating nutritious foods, and go to a dermatologist to find a good cleanser or treatment according to teenhealth.org.

“I break out the most when I’m exercising and all I really do to stop it is I wash my face.” Freshman, Jaelyn Wallace said.

Genetics is also a big acne controller according to webmd.com. “If it runs in the family, chances are at one point or another you will get something.

Body odor can be one of the most embarassing things to deal with during a school day. Many students combat it by using various forms of deoderant, including hard sticks and spray ons. Photo by Emily Pearce

Spring allergies wreak havoc upon many students! Photo by Amber Griffith

an allergic reaction making the eyes, throat, lungs, or skin become irritated.

Future exposure to the same allergen is recognized by the body, which then creates the same antibody response again.

However, scientists have developed new allergy medication that works to stop the steps of an allergic reaction. In some cases, the medicine is directly intended to block the cells that respond to the allergen; states www. ehow.com.

“I don’t know what I would do without my allergy pills,” sophomore

Zaynah Hildenbrand said.

“After I take them, my allergies seem to disappear and they don’t bother me anymore.”

Most people think of pollen as the source of their discontentment in the spring time, but some kinds of pollen such as bee pollen is very beneficial to the immune system and digestion according to www. kidshealth.org.

“Allergies really do suck,” freshman Aaron Morgan said. “But I don’t mind having them if I think of the fact that nature is just running its course of life.”

Victims of unpleasant odor should always wear clean and dry clothes daily. Some doctors recommend wearing cotton materials if sweat continues excessively.

If the unpleasant scent continues, doctors also recommend antiperspirants and deodorants.

The difference between the two is that antiperspirants dry and/or stop perspiration, while deodorant masks the scents with sorts of fragrances.

“Deodorant before and after work outs help keep the stink away,” said David Smith, freshman football player.

Anxiety also stimulates sweat, which creates feeding grounds for bacteria. Whether a student is working out or stressing over homework, should remember to shower, wear clean clothes and to always wear deodorant.

“I used Axe for a long time, but then I switched to Degree because it smelled a lot better, and worked a lot better,” freshman Michael Sterne said.

Elizabeth M Attreed, DDS, PC 2832 Jefferson Davis Highway Stafford, VA 22554 (540)-659-5161

Getting in shape for football is a high priority for juniors Wade Winner and Devin Stowell. Winner helps Stowell keep the weight from falling back onto him as bench presses help build more upper body strength. Photo by Ray Brock

Exercise brings health

By Eric Kauffman Staff Writer Teenagers everywhere have been using exercise to keep themselves physically fit and healthy. The recommended length of time teenager’s exercise and how often they should exercise has changed over time.

Many teenagers don’t exercise regularly and become unhealthy and many become obese or over-weight. People don’t have to exercise too rigorously. They just have to move enough from keeping from being overweight.

“Teenagers need to start slow,” gym teacher Robin Woodie said. “They need to stretch and take it easy for the first part of exercising. Exercising has been just as important as it always has been and when you do exercise it makes people feel good about themselves.”

People can exercise by doing easy, everyday things. Walking up stairs or carrying groceries can be easy exercises that can be done anytime.

Many people today forget about exercising with all of the other things happening around them.

But for many exercising is easy and can be fun.

“I exercise any day that I can,” freshman Taylor Bonney said. “I think exercising is really a fun way of keeping yourself in shape.”

Many people feel that they can’t exercise because they are obese and eat too much. Eating healthier can influence how long or rigorous exercising can be.

The food teenagers eat can also affect their bodies when they exercise.

Teenagers shouldn’t eat too much before they exercise but instead drink plenty of water.

“I never eat too much before I exercise,” freshman Nathalia Lima said.

“I am always drinking water when I am exercising so I don’t get dehydrated.

Many kids exercise many times a week.

Practicing sports in high school requires rigorous exercising, sometimes every single day.

“I exercise for 22 hours every week during cheer season,” freshman Haley Stine said. “After I have exercised I feel like I am being productive while having fun doing what I love.”

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

10

Student Life

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Gay-straight alliance challenges prejudical thinking

BY TARO WHITE Staff Writer

Students from Stafford competed against other high schools in the district at University of Mary Washington’s World Language Comepetion. Tiffany Kornegay, Rebecca Klopp, Hannah Lowery, Molly Podlesney and Alaina Nichols pose in front of a mural representing world languages. Photo by Muhamad Khalid

Spanish competes in UMW language competition

BY TAYLOR WEST Staff Writer Every year the University of Mary Washington hosts a World Language competition. Discovering world languages is this year’s theme. Most high schools in the district will be competing on March 24 in a poster, video, spelling bee, and poetry competition.

Spanish teacher Myriam Lorenzo is taking a few of her students to the university to compete.

“Right now we are working on the spelling bee and a video,” Lorenzo said.

While at the university students will receive free lessons in other languages and will get to see college students perform a skit for them.

“It’s going to be a lot of fun because the students will be exposed to other languages other than Spanish,” Lorenzo said.

The competition will also be open to other languages such as German and French but Spanish is usually the main language that enters.

Junior Patrick Siegmund will be competing with a few other Spanish students.

“I’m reciting a poem in Spanish,” Siegmund said.

“You learn the meaning, memorize it, and then act it out in a way; it’s like forensics, except in Spanish.”

Siegmund is just going to practice hard, try to get his pronunciations right and make sure that he is doing it all correctly.

Junior Kendall Wilkerson will be starring in the short video production and will also be in the music video.

“I played Ingrid Hoffman for a cooking show,” Wilkerson said. “Making the video was really fun

and it gave me some extra credit for Senora Lorenzo’s class.”

Alex Kniffin, junior, was featured in the short video and also a singer in the music video.

“It was so much fun. We were all joking around which is what made the video so great,” Kniffin said. “I’m lucky I got mostly English parts because I’m not good at Spanish.”

Students will be going to the University of Mary Washington on March 24 for the showing of the videos and to compete in the rest of the categories.

The Gays Straight Alliance held their first meeting on Feb. 7 in S210. With sponsor Nicole Cunningham, sophomore Samantha Johnson started the GSA in hopes of making a safe and secure place for gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, and asexual.

One of the organization’s primary goals is to educate the student body of Stafford high school about gays. It’s a support group for gays who mat need someone there for them and may not have anyone else. The group aims to spread tolerance and awareness to everyone.

The club has received support from many staff members and students, but the responses were not all positive. Their posters were torn down within two days of putting them up and students have been heard bad talking them in the halls.

“There is always going to be negative feedback whenever you do something that is brave, challenging, or controversial which unfortunately this still is,” Cunningham said.

The GSA meets every two weeks but they do not have specific dates yet. Their next meeting is on Feb 29. The group is still in its early stages but it is growing at a fast rate. The GSA has big plans in the future that they are hoping to fulfill in the close future.

“I think we definitely had more people who are gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual than people who are straight attend”, Cunningham said.

The goal of GSA is to make all students feel comfortable with them no matter what they are. They believe that society puts limitations on them and what they can do. They want everyone to be able to discover who they are in a safe way.

“I believe everyone has the right to explore who they are and what they want to become”, Cunningham said. “Everyone needs a safe, non-judgmental atmosphere.”

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

Student Life

9

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Japanese Club dishes pies

BY MAGGIE HOWELL ly Japanese club is selling sweet potato pies, but in Staff Writer the future they plan to sell Japanese Club is doing apple and cherry pies. a fundraiser to raise mon“I bake the pies homeey for their yearly trip to made using a recipe onthe Cherry Blossom Festi- line, but I also make my val in Washington DC. own tweaks and style that “Last year some peo- makes it my own,” Whiteple didn’t have enough side said. money for the trip,” KerFor example, as she stin Whiteside, their club kneads the dough she president, said. “A fund- adds butter to the mix. raiser was the best way to “It helps the dough have enough money for stay soft and moist,” Wheveryone to go.” iteside said.

Their fundraiser conShe also uses the Welsists of selling pies. Each come Home Brand’s papie is sold for $1. Current- per bakewear cups to

bake the pies into. When she fits the pie into the mold, she makes sure to press down on the sides so that it turns out well after it’s baked.

At the end of the fundraiser most of the money is put towards their trip to DC. “We don’t need all that money,” Whiteside said. “We are planning to donate some of it to the Hope House Foundation.

Whiteside is the founder of the Japanese club and English teacher Madeline Booth sponsors it.

How to make sweet potato pies: Paula Deen style

9

Peel twp cups worth of sweet potatoes

Ingredients • 9-inch unbaked pie crust

Boil the cut potatoes

• 2 cups peeled, cooked sweet potatoes • 1 1/4 cups sugar • 1/2 stick melted butter • 2 eggs • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1 to 2 tablespoons bourbon • 1/4 teaspoon salt • 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon • 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger • 1 cup milk

Mix together the potetoes, sugar, butter, eggs, vanilla, salt and spices

• 3 egg whites

Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. For the filling, use an electric hand mixer and mix together the potatoes, 1 cup of sugar, the butter, eggs, vanilla, salt, and spices. Mix well.

3. Add milk and keep mixing.

4. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake 35-45 minutes.

5. Place pie on rack and cool to room temp before covering it with meringue.

Pour filling into pie crust

6. For the meringue, use an ekectric mixer and beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, beat in the remaining ¼ cup sugar 1 tablespoon at a time.

7. Keep beating until the sugar dissolves and mizture is glossy and stiff, but not dry.

8. With a rubber spatula, spoon the meringue onto the pie, forming peaks.

9. Make sure the meringue touches the crust all around, and sprinkle with a pinch of granulated sugar.

10. Bake 10-12 minutes, or until delicately browned.

11. Cool and serve.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees

Student Life

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

11

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Mr. Stafford Competition

11

Key Club, Latin Club Friday, March 9 sponsor sock drive Sophomore Chris Ashton sorts through the sock drive. The Key Club collected socks and flashligts for the homeless. They earned over 50 doners. Photo by Muhamad Khalid

BY TORI SANTIAGOTROUTMAN Staff Writer The Key Club and Latin Club sponsored the second annual sock drive in order to benefit Micah Ministries, a church organization that provides services for homeless men and women throughout the county.

The clubs have collected men’s white socks and flashlights.

“This is our second year doing the fundraiser,” Key Club sponsor Margaret Bridges said.

“With the success of last year, we’ve decided to make this a yearly event.”

Students had seen

boxes in rooms N214 and S205, where they collected the donations from students.

“We had about 50 students sign up to donate,” Bridges said. “That alone makes a difference for the ministries.”

The number of members this year is larger than ever. Organizing events for the club is more difficult for those responsible.

“Key Club is a big club,” Bridges said. “Doing a fundraiser like this enables everyone to participate.”

Micah Ministries has become known throughout the country has a safe

haven for homeless individuals who have been left with nothing.

“The people that go there can get a shower, something to eat and have shelter for the night,” Bridges said. “With the club giving socks, they now have something warm for their feet.”

The Latin Club is also working in collaboration with the Key Club in the event. Member are donating certain toiletry products in addition to the socks and flashlights.

“We’re donating toothpaste, deodorant, and other things for the drive,” sophomore Kate Shillingford said. “Simple things

you need everyday for personal hygiene.”

All Key Club members that signed up are required to have their items donated, while other students can do it voluntarily.

“All you have to do is bring in a pack of socks or a flashlight,” Latin Club sponsor Gilmore said.

“With that, you can make a difference, believe it or not.”

Over 150 pairs of socks and flashlights were donated by students. The sock drive ended on Feb. 24.

Senior and juniors vote for Mr. Stafford in the first week of March.

Confirmed judges: Kristen Brady, Ulrike Vaerst, Rachel Sherman Students will be scored on

Round 1: Poise Interview Talent

Round 2:

School Trivia Stunt Round

Students, teachers honor black history with a quote-a-day

Born Feb. 29 means Cheyenne Scholes has only been able to celebrate her actual birthDAY four times. Many born on this day enjoy the teasing about being only four or five when they are actually 16 or 20 years old. Photo illustration by Toni Sorrentino

Juniors Deja Pressley and Taisia Smith (left to right) give the quote of the day on the morning announcements. Students and teachers worked together to present a quote a day pertaining to overcoming human diversity in honor of black history month.

Photo by Muhamad Khalid

BY AUDREY PERRINE Staff Writer In honor of black history month, assistant principal Felix Addo has worked with students to present a quote every morning during the morning announcements this month. Their goal is to raise students awareness of black history.

“When Mrs. Ellis asked me, I was a little hesitant at first,” Addo said. “I think I’ll only be on the announcements for black history month.”

These quotes by known and unknown African Americans show how not only African Americans, but humanity as a whole has worked to overcome diversity. The quotes represent themes of life like challenges, racism, anger, resentment, hate and love.

History teach Ryan Middleton and Milton Branch helped Addo and the students with the quote of the day.

“I would like to see more students and teachers involved in black his-

tory month, we need to involve everybody,” Addo said.

“Though I don’t have an urge to do announcements for the rest of the year, it’s a rush between patrolling the hallways in the mornings and making sure students are where they’re supposed to be, then I’m usually running to do the quotes, and I’m trying to find a balance between them.”

Students that have read quotes for black history month include Darrian Johnson, Leroy Strowder, and Amy Quantrille. Most students volunteered to read the quotes and reading the quotes has helped them notice an importance in black history.

“When I read a quote

by Hank Aaron, I tried to think what was going on through his mind, it stood out to me when he said throughout his career he never doubted his ability, but when all he hears is that he’s inferior, it makes him wonder if all the oth-

er guys have seen things he hasn’t and if they have he’s still looking for it,” Darrian Johnson said.

Senior Amy Quantrille says the words of wisdom on the morning announcements. The day she did the quote of the day was when she filled in for another student who didn’t show up. “My quote, by Hank Aaron, was interesting. It was about a black man’s struggle,” Quantrille said.

“He talked about how his failure didn’t determine his success.”

Some students decided to take a couple steps further towards establishing the Black History Committee. Monte and Delonte Harrison first came up with the idea to start the organization to celebrate black history month.

They contacted teachers to sponsor, such as Mrs. Pellichero, Mrs.Gilmore and five others. Then talked it over with Mr. Lewis, and organized everything with Addo, since then, Monte and Delonte

have gotten the word out by via posters, signup sheets, and student word of mouth.

“In black history committee we talk about future events; we’re planning to go to a wax museum at the end of the month, plus a field trip to the Smithsonian, and we dress as famous African Americans that are important to black history,” said Lyndah Lovell “right now we’re doing a canned food drive, production of t-shirts, and having representatives talk about black history.”

The meetings began the first week of February in the language hallway on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There is no club leader for the black history committee; it’s all based on group effort.

“I don’t consider black history month being represented in one month, I see it as 365 days a year,” Addo said. “We should be aware of it every day.”

Sophomore celebrates her fourth birthday

BY MARTA PERRINE Staff Writer For most students, birthdays are that one special day of the year that centers around them. Even the individual date has a nice ring to it, but that isn’t always true for sophomore Cheyenne Scholes.

Born on February 29, 16 years ago, Scholes is the only student at Stafford with this special birthday. She is only seeing her birthday for the fourth time in her life this year, but that doesn’t stop Scholes from celebrating that special day every year.

Q: What day do you celebrate on?

March 1, because my great grandma’s birthday was also a leap day and she celebrated on March 1, too.

Q: Are you ever teased about your birthday?

Not really, people will sometimes say, “Oh you’re four, haha” Q: Does your birthday at all affect your driver’s license?

It says that my birthday is Feb. 29, but that I turn eighteen on Feb. 28.

Q: How does Facebook work? Does it say that you’re birthday is the 29?

Facebook automatically tells people it’s my birthday on March 1.

Q: When doing little get-to-know-you type things with other people and you line up in birthday order, do you say that you’re a March or February birthday?

February, not March, definitely.

Q: What’s the difference between a leap day birthday and a normal birthday?

The only difference is that the day is missing.

Q: How do you celebrate?

I celebrate with cake and ice cream and stuff.

Issue 11, Feb. 29, 2012

12

Spotlight

www.staffordsmokesignal.com

Senior Karaoke 2012

Performing I Want Candy are seniors Brooke Scruggs, Hannah Lewis, Erin Smith, and Morgan Brooks. Scruggs danced around the stage as the other three girls pretended to try to get her attention. They finished their routine by tossing candy at the audience. The four girls moved onto the final round where they stole the show and became the Class of 2012’s Senior Karaoke Champions. Photo by Emily Pearce

Showing their tough side, seniors James Baron, Josh Elmore, Dylan Porter, Steven West, and Patrick Davis flex for the crowd. The five boys performed I’ll Make a Man Out of You before moving onto the final round where they performed Grenade. The boys took 2nd place overall. Photo by Emily Pearce

These five brought a little west coast to the stage. Seniors Michael Rynders, Bailey Mixon, Christina Pisciotta, Jazmyn Dove, and Aaron Mays performed California Girls while dressed head to toe in beach gear. The five were taken into the final round to perform Haven’t Met You Yet and came in third. Photo by Emily Pearce

Bringing a taste of the oldies music to the stage are seniors Morgan Iannazzo and Brianna Sayasithsena. These two girls performed Tainted Love by not only singing along to the beat, but also showing off some dance moves. Photo by Emily Pearce

Raising her voice solo is senior Jasma Oglesby.

Oglesby sang Unfaithful while the crowd cheered her on as she hit the high notes. Photo by Emily Pearce

Perforimg the popular hit Baby are seniors Briana Cornetts and Aroyia Jones. They acted out the song as they sang it to make it more entertaining for the audience. Photo by Emily Pearce

Rocking boas, neon leggings, and zebra patterned accesories, seniors Tatianna Tonnacliff, Samantha Krejdovsky, Sarah Shearer, Abby Mueller, and Olivia Shaffer perfmormed Diva. The five girls had their routine down including the flip Krejdovsky did and the slide Shearer did to the front of the stage. Photo by Emily Pearce