March 2015
Volume 90
Issue 7
College Crossroads Derrick Johnson Editor-in-Chief With scholarship season underway, it is crucial to start learning more ways to earn financial aid. Iowa is one of the top states when it comes to national student loan debt but has just as many chances for scholarships as the other forty-nine. Here at TJ, counselors are working hard to help give students a chance to walk out of college with manageable student loan debt. With clubs like the College Bound Club, the College Access Program, and Talent Search, there are already many opportunities for students. TJ senior class counselor Mrs. Carla Hartenhoff is playing her part by hosting the first annual College Crossroads convention on March 25th. Along with Abraham
Advertisment for the College Crossroads informational convention.
Lincoln senior class counselor Larella Rangel and TJ volunteer Ben Thorpe, Hartenhoff plans to have the convention teach students from 8th to 11th grade about how
to prepare for college with a number of sessions that give information about volunteering, internships, standardized testing, and more. Due to the lack of
exposure, students can fail to realize the importance of college involvement early. With this convention, Rangel hopes students will see that college is attainable and will eventually make
Inside look: Cheerleading
Buzzing For More News? Follow #TJPride Check out more of our stories and ‘like’ our Facebook page at cbjacketjournalism.com or follow us on twitter @TJHSJournalism the steps to see it through. “It’s about doing things now in high school that can set you up on a path to success,” said Hartenhoff. “A lot of these students deal with the thought that they can’t go, we don’t want to close doors of opportunity for them.” In addition to the 14 sessions held throughout the school, there will also be a college fair during the day featuring representatives from 17 regional colleges such as the University of Iowa, Drake, the University of NebraskaOmaha, Simpson and more. Students that attend the convention have a chance to win prizes such as college apparel or even an iPad. To learn more about the College Crossroads, email Ms. Hartenhoff at chartenhoff@cbcsd.org or Ms. Rangel at lrangel@ cbcsd.org and make sure to attend March 25th.
Megan Carroll Reporter
Unlike most sports at TJ, the cheerleaders spend nearly everyday of their school year in season to support TJ athletics. In order to stay in the cheerleading program, it takes lots of hard work and motivation. Cheerleaders must make sure to attend all practices in order to perfect their routine, as well as do good in the classroom. Although it may seem stressful, each cheerleader manages to enjoy their job and stay motivated throughout the year. “Making so many friends, creating so many memories and cheering for our awesome sports teams have kept me motivated to cheer” said Varsity
2014-2015 cheerleading team in front of school. Provided by TJ Dance and Cheer.
cheerleader Jessica Shew. One of the unknown parts of cheerleading are the expenses that come with it. During sporting events, the cheerleaders help with concessions and also sell merchandise and cookies to help raise money to cover uniforms and traveling expenses. The cheer and dance team also fundraise by holding clinics
for younger cheerleaders. As a TJ Cheerleader, there may be many memorable moments but obstacles in their season can occur as well. Difficulties such as forgetting routines or having stage fright can affect a cheerleaders’ performance. These difficulties cause the veterans on the team to step
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up and help the rest of the cheerleaders. Throughout the year, the Jacket cheerleaders practice all of the time which benefits not only themselves but the student body as well. The many days of conditioning make them a better program and the blood, sweat, and tears pay off. “Practice makes perfect,
especially in cheerleading. Routines, jumps, cheers, and eight counts are hard to just master the first time around so practice is always necessary” stated Shew, a cheerleader for all four of her years at TJ. “When one of us is optimistic it helps the whole team overall,” concluded Shew.
ENTERTAINMENT
Pure:
disasters for protection. However, those that were outside were left to try to survive on their own. The intensity of the Ana Aguilar explosions changed Reporter everything forever, Living under a Dome, especially for those who and knowing nothing but survived it. Because of the the scary stories of the explosions, they were fused dangerous creatures outside to whatever was beside is what is what life is like for them as the detonation the characters in the book, went off, such as animals, Pure. Some characters objects, and even with the however, aren’t so lucky earth. Those who are lucky as they are living outside, can still function, getting struggling to survive after used move around and facing the explosions. learning how to survive. Sometime in the future, The main character a series of detonations is Pressia, a 15 year-old destroyed the world. Only survivor that lives with a few people were given her grandfather in a the opportunity of taking ruined barbershop. The refuge in a Dome, a highdetonations hit when she tech bubble that was built was only six, killing both to withstand any kind of of her parents, as well as
Book Review
giving her a doll’s head instead of a right hand, remembering barely nothing of what the world used to be like, but having only the memories of what her grandfather tells her. Partridge, another main character, lives inside the Dome and is also the son of the primary architect of the Dome. However, he is very distanced from his dad and still grieves from his brother’s death. His mother who was not able to make it into the Dome and he was told that she is dead, even with the news, he still believes she is somewhere outside and has hopes of finding her. The author, Julianna Baggott is an award winner novelist and poet that works as a professor at
Space EP: February 16th, a not so known artist with the name of Rozzi Crane released her first extended play (EP), Space. She does not have much of a fanbase, but this album in my opinion is enjoyable to listen to and should be heard by others. Rozzi is signed to 222 Records, a label owned by pop-rock band Maroon 5’s
lead singer, Adam Levine. When Levine discovered Crane, he did not have a label of his own, but he thought she was so talented, so he had to start his very own for her. Levine is the reason I discovered her and her album. She expresses songs about both the benefits and hardships about relationships through upbeat pop music. Her strong and soulful voice makes the tracks on album
Florida State University. She has published about twenty books and received awards for the Pure Trilogy such as the New York Times Notable book award, and a best book of 2012 list selection from Suspense Magazine. Overall, the book has adventurous events which
keep the reader entertained throughout reading it. I give it a 4 out of 5 buzzes, due to having a young girl as the hero which makes it inspiring towards us, the readers. I also think it has great suspense making the readers want to find out what happens in the next book, Fuse.
The Duff:
Music Review Alejandro Vieyra Copy Editor
The book Pure. Photo taken by Ana Aguilar.
Movie Review catchy and fun to sing along to. My favorite song of the EP is called Painkiller, a song where Rozzi does a duet with Adam Levine. The song is about how although there are disadvantages of being in a relationship, the person you are with can make whatever struggle or bad times that are at hand, better. The song fits the type of music I like, starting off slow but gradually leading to a somewhat upbeat tune. I did not expect this EP to be great, since this would be her first one. However, I enjoyed the music a lot. I often find the lyrics coming across my mind, as the songs to me are easy to get stuck in my head. They have me wanting to listen to it whenever I get the chance. Overall this being Rozzi’s first set of original songs, I give this album 4 out of 5 buzzes. No real flaws other than me wanting more than four tracks, which I find more of a compliment than criticism. I look forward to more of her music and hope Space gives her more recognition for her career.
Alejandro Vieyra listening to the Space EP. Photo by Hannah-Grace Northam.
Taylor Stanfill Reporter This last month, I went to see the movie The Duff (Designated Ugly Fat Friend), a movie about a girl named Bianca Piper who has a rude awakening when she comes to find out she is secretly labeled as the “Duff ” of the school. Bianca Piper, and her two best friends, Casey and Jess, have came along way with their friendship. Bianca is kind of the oddball out of the three. When they go to Madison’s popular party, Bianca bumps into an old friend Wesley and informed of her new title. When I first saw the previews for this movie, I thought it was going to be just another recreation of the movie Mean Girls.
Movie poster for The Duff.
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However, I really enjoyed it and all in all it was a great story. The main characters in this movie were Mae Whitman (The Perks of Being a Wallflower), who played Bianca Piper, Bella Thorne (Shake it Up), who played as Madison, as well as Bianca A. Santos, who played the role of Casey. Also, Skyler Samuels who played Jess, and Robbie Amell who played Wesley acted their role very well. In my opinion this movie was amazing. I feel it could have been made a little longer but overall it was a great show. I give this movie four out of five buzzes.
SPORTS
Eight to State Morgan Wooton Reporter For the first time in 49 years, the Jackets can proudly say that eight of our wrestlers went to state. After the Sioux City North meet, seniors Gage Fisher, Brendan Anderson, Jason Wallace, and Colton Downing as well as juniors Jacob Jones, Nick Mitchell, Colton Clingenpeel, and sophomore McGwire Midkiff qualified to compete at the Wells Fargo arena in Des Moines, IA. Wallace, Clingenpeel, and Midkiff have gone to state every year they have been at Thomas Jefferson. Also, Wallace is the first wrestler from Thomas Jefferson since 2005 to go to state all four years. “We worked hard in practice and always made sure we were pushing each other to get better
THE SIGNAL Editor-in-Chief Derrick Johnson Copy Editors Alejandro Vieyra Paginator Angela Gardner Web Content Hannah-Grace Northam Staff Ana Aguilar Morgan Barth Megan Carroll Dylan Montgomery Kaylin Skillett Taylor Stanfill Morgan Wooton Adviser Rob Lindquist Phone: 712-328-6493 Facebook: CBJacketJournalism Twitter:@TJHSJournalism Web: cbjacketjournalism.com The Signal is a school-sponsored publication of Thomas Jefferson High School 2501 W. Broadway Council Bluffs, Iowa 51501. The Signal’s office is located in room C128. The Signal is printed by OH-K FASTPRINT in Omaha, NE. The Signal is a school-sponsored-publication and therefore recognizes its responsibility to stay within the boundaries that the school administrator sets. The Signal will therefore inform its readers using a high standard of morals and ethics. The Signal encourages readers to respond in the form of letters to the editor, which can be sent to room C128. The Signal’s editorial staff reserves the right to edit the letters for grammatical errors and to remove any profanity. The editors also reserve the right to exclude letters that are false in their statements or accusations. The Signal will not accept advertisements that promote activities illegal to minors. Advertising rates are available upon request.
March Sports Boys Track Mar. 17th @ Ames Mar. 20th @ Buena Vista
Girls Track Mar. 16th @ Iowa State March. 21st @ USD Dakota Dome Top Row: From left to right are Jason Wallace, Nick Mitchell, Brendan Anderson, McGwire Midkiff, Jacob Jones and Colton Downing. Bottom row: From left to right are Colton Clingenpeel and Gage Fisher. Photo provided by TJHS wrestling.
everyday” said Wallace when asked how the team came to be so successful this season. Another senior, Gage Fisher, went to state for the first time this year. “It felt pretty great, I didn’t start wrestling until freshman
year, so being a state qualifier at all was a pretty good feeling.” said Fisher. Fisher also went on to say “The best part was knowing you’re one of the best in the state of Iowa, which is the toughest state for wrestling”
Sophomore McGwire Midkiff was in the semifinals this year, he is the first Jacket wrestler that has competed in the semi-finals since 2005. Wallace placed 7th for the 145 weight bracket, Clingenpeel took 3rd place
NEWS
for the 138 weight brackets, and Midkiff wrapped up his year in 5th place for the 106 weight bracket. Along with such success at state, the jacket wrestlers also won the All City, and their conference meet this year. Congratulations jackets!
TJ Pride Kaylin Skillett Reporter TJ’s pep rallies are usually loud, and exciting, but something had went wrong on February 18th. When cheerleaders had tried to involve the crowd with their famous ‘battle cry’ some of the students had failed to stand up and yell. The band had ended the pep rally with Thomas Jefferson’s Victory song. While teachers were standing and clapping, they were trying to involve other students. When students still did not make the effort to stand, teachers had tried to
encourage them to do so but their embarrassment got the best of them. “I feel like a lot of students were hesitant to participate because they are afraid to put themselves out there,” said freshman Timmy Ginn. “They don’t want to stand out.” “Students involved in extracurricular activities like sports tend to have more pride than others, but overall I think we have pride” says sophomore Megan Tietsort. Even though cheerleaders could have been more encouraging, a portion of the crowd should have tried to show
Bleachers in the TJAC. Photo taken by Kaylin Skillet
more pride. It seemed more quiet than usual and it killed the mood of the pep rally. As certain clubs were introduced, the crowd seemed to lose enthusiasm and the clubs lacked the recognition they deserved. Sophomore Wyatt Wakehouse believes that only certain sports like football are cared about
by the student body and it does not seem fair. In future pep rallies, all members of TJ should try to cooperate. Students should not feel intimidated to put themselves out there. We as students should try to encourage others to participate and come together in order to show qualities of pride.
PREGNANT & NEED HELP All Services Free & Confidential
IRTHRIGHT Call 712-322-2100
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NEWS
Recipe: Marching Rangoon Morgan Barth Reporter Ingredients: 1 package of Cream Cheese 1 package of crab sticks A small cup of water Wonton Wraps Oil Green food coloring Procedure: 1. Set a burner to medium heat. 2. Pour enough oil in the pot the wonton wraps can cook.
3. Put your block of cream cheese in a bowl and microwave for a minute 4. Cut crab into little pieces and mix with cream cheese 5. Take the green color and put drops into the mixture 6. Pull out a wonton wrap. 7. Wipe water on one corner of the wonton wrap, and repeat. 8. When all sides have been wiped with water, take a little spoonful of the cream cheese/crab
mixture and dab it in the middle of the wrap. 9. Take the opposite sides of the wonton wrap and pinch them together, then take the other sides and combine them all. 10. When the oil is heated enough set the Crab Rangoon into the pot 11. When the Crab Rangoon becomes crisp and a golden brown, it is done and ready to eat.
that are available Apple vs. Android devices at more various prices, and
Ana Aguilar Reporter iPhone users tend to be leaders, while Android users are more into following others, and according to Hunch, there are even more differences that distinguish these two brands apart. Between the two big companies Apple and Google, there are constant comparisons that show which of the two brands make devices better
than their counterpart. For the iPhone, their design is more user friendly, which makes it easy for people to transfer into it. In addition, iPhone is known to be much better on having software upgrades more often, as well as being able to offer more privacy to their users every time they download apps into their devices. However, between the both of them, Android has a much larger number of
hardware. Users are also able to customize their home screens with the use of different widgets. When students were asked about which one between the two thought was better, juniors Brittany Blocker and Brook Preston both have comments towards the devices. “I like Android better, because I think they’re faster and are able to hold more storage,” said Blocker. Preston went on to say although she had an iPhone and liked the look, but now has an Android and prefers that. She likes the perks such as the battery life lasting longer. However, there are students like junior Marbella Avalos, that prefer and think that Apple is better. “I have an Ipad and I love
Congratulations to TJ’s VEX Robotics teams for their accomplishments this year. The team consisting of Kateland Bryan, Jorge Cisneros, and Brandon Vermilyea won the Excellence award which qualifies them for the world chamionship this April in Kentucky. Also, Seth Arthur and Kenny Foote won the Sportsmanship award for their actions during the tournament. Congratulations! that I can do practically anything with it…”, said Avalos. There are also differences between the users of the two companies. According to a research reported by DazeInfo, iPhone users are more loyal and optimistic than Android users, in terms of who stays with the iPhone when new upgrades are out. iPhone users also tend to have a higher income than those with Android, as well as spend more time in the internet. On the other hand Android users are most likely to lean toward a republican political stance. Their users are also more pessimistic in comparison to iPhone users and may act more shy and serious. Studies also show that they would rather have a fullfeatured phone than an attractive device.
Friday, March 13th 8 am - 2 pm Old Fieldhouse
Although the companies have differences, they are both great in their own ways. The bigger screens and faster internet may persuade the consumers but is up to them to pick the device that best fits their tastes.
Cheer and Dance try outs March 21st At TJ 9:30am
902 Dodge St, Omaha, NE 68102 (402) 315-4301
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