December NS

A6: Married couples work together in HCPS

The

B1: Students’ stories, coming to America

B6: Wrestling team off to strong start

Newsstreak

where every person has a story

Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIC • Issue 4 • December 18, 2015

Overcrowding in HCPS leading to new building possibilities Faith Runnells Print Editor-in-Chief The growing student population within the Harrisonburg City Public Schools (HCPS) has led to all five elementary schools being at capacity and the two middle schools and high school being well over capacity. In 2008, not a single grade was over 400 students. Now, all of the grades from kindergarten through eighth grade have over 400 students and there will soon be a grades with over 500.

In late November, the high school’s student body totalled 1,620 students in a building that was built 10 years ago for an intended 1,340 students in the classrooms.

However, the school board and city council are starting with the foundation and currently working on two projects unrelated to the high school itself: building a new elementary school and building an early childhood preschool center. Superintendent Scott Kizner is a main figure behind the decision to work from the bottom up. “[The additional elementary school will]

See OVERCROWDING page A2

PHOTO COURTESY OF BOB MOJE

EXERCISING TO CLASS. Although no plans are set in stone yet, a possible temporary solution to the overcrowding at HHS seems to be placing a multitude of trailers to hold classrooms until either an entirely new high school or a new building is built to add to what is currently HHS. This design was done by VMDO, a company who is in charge of creating the new school plans, which Dr. Kizner hopes to have finalized in January.

Rawls releasing raps from heart, exhibiting truth Students grow from Austin Swift Print Editor-in-Chief While most students are just beginning to contemplate a career, senior Karim Rawls has already begun his. He has been rapping since sixth grade, and now has five finished songs and is awaiting the releases of his Sorry For The Wait EP and Redrum mixtape.

“I’ve always loved listening to music, and I have an uncle that used to rap and one day I was like ‘whoa, I want to rap’ so I rapped and I was actually not so bad at it. So years went by and I’ve gotten better and now it’s getting more real,” Rawls

said.

Of his finished songs, he has some available on Soundcloud, with the others being released on Datpiff when his mixtape comes out. Rawls’ songs can also be heard on his Twitter acount @karimrawls_7. His EP, which contains more songs than a single, but less than a full studio album, is set to be released in late December and will act as a preview for his mixtape.

“Redrum is my upcoming mixtape that’s dropping Jan. 15 of next year, and it’s still going on. I’m actually finished writing all the

See RAWLS page A2

Costa Rican exchange Lucie Rutherford Sports Editor

PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS

CHECK OUT MY NEW MIXTAPE. Senior Karim Rawls’ EP is planned to release in late December, along with his mixtape in Jan. 15, 2016. “I tell the truth, and what really sets me apart is I’m trying to influence other people as well,” Rawls said.

Beginning in 1997, the Costa Rican Exchange program has been an experience for any student to take part in. Not only do they have the opportunity to host an exchange student, but to also spend a month in another country, fully submerged in Costa Rican life. Spanish teacher Philip Yutzy was one of the first to be a part of the program, and still plays a big role.

“I communicate with the school in Costa Rica, Colegio Metodista, and set up dates,” Yutzy said. “I also coordinate the host families and do the orientations of the host families. I make sure they have an itinerary put together for when they’re here in Harrisonburg.”

See COSTA RICA page A2

STEM creating lasting program for HCPS Free Red Sea t-shirt to

be given to all students

Christa Cole Staff Reporter STEM, short for Science Technology Engineering and Math, is a program known worldwide for the areas in which they specialize. The hope for our country in it’s low academic standings, STEM education is established here in the schools of Harrisonburg City and Rockingham County, focused on the integrated, experiential application of the fields to stimulate young minds. The goal is to inspire future adults to PHOTO COURTESY OF JON DEVIER-SCOTT choose a science-based career, with escalating tastes HARD AT WORK. STEM students at THMS George Shirkey and Jacob of what they will be facing Seefried cut cardboard to layer the side of their insulation panel. Their green lunch box is spherically shaped to appear like “Shrek”. They lined in the real world.

In the Harrisonburg City their cooler with bubble wrap to cover an inflatable ball.

Schools, Thomas Harrison Middle School and Skyline Running these classes are Jon believe it to be more of a stuMiddle School both immerse DeVier-Scott at THMS and Pa- dent-lead course. their students in this program. tricia Watson at SKMS, but they See STEM page A2

Coming up Musical preview Unknown rooms of HHS Landon Turner feature Humans of HHS feature Indoor track updates Basketball updates New column from Mr. Miller Other columns and editorials Four extra pages in the paper

Abby Hissong Print Managing Editor Through continuous efforts this year to increase school spirit at HHS, students and faculty have debated how to increase moral in various discussions led by the Streaks Leadership group during ELT. As a result of these meetings, the idea that everyone in the school could receive a Red Sea t-shirt free of charge was established.

Since then, Student Assistance Counselor David Ward has been heading the initiative by meeting with various SCA, Red Sea, and JROTC leaders after school once a week to see if the idea could be implemented.

“Right now we are working through the kinks of fundraising money to be able to pay for all these shirts. So far we have gotten a grant through HCPS, and various businesses. Recently, the SCA

Social Media www.hhsmedia.com @_HHSMedia @StreaksSports @hhsmedia15

pledged to donate $1,000 to the fund as well,” Ward said.

In the past, issues with the Red Sea have been brought up, specifically concerning the fact that some students didn’t feel like they were welcome in the student section.

Ward and students plan to resolve this issue by starting fresh, and creating a new shirt rather than using the shirt from past years.

“I don’t think that the shirt is going to be the thing that changes everyone’s attitude about the school, or is going to solve every issue we have concerning school spirit.

However, I do think [the shirt will] act more as a symbol of coming together as a school around something,” Ward said.

Art teacher Jauan Brooks is one of the many faculty members involved in making this idea become a reality. In her visual art lab class,

See SHIRT page A2

On the Web K2 video Feature package stories Extended coverage of print packages Advertising forms and information Breaking news from school and the community Live video footage of sports Variety of reviews and blogs Featured photo of the day

December 18, 2015

News-A2

The Newsstreak

Architectural firm pitching solutions to overcrowding issue OVERCROWDING from A1 Moje said. take the fifth grade out of the two middle schools like they used to be before 2008. That will give immediate relief to the two middle schools and then will give relief to the elementary schools. Relief, this is far from a final solution,” Kizner said. The early childhood preschool center is then planned to take the 260 students in elementary schools that are in the preschool program out of the elementary schools. This will open 16 classrooms in the elementary schools.

VMDO Architects Principal Bob Moje has been working at VDMO, the company that is currently working on all school building projects, for over 39 years. The vast majority of those years have been working on schools.

“The growing student population is a primary concern for the school system. It is exacerbated by the fact that it is affecting all grade levels and all schools,”

In terms of the high school’s overpopulation, the school board is exploring three options: a combined high school and middle school complex, a brand new high school, or a new building near the high school that allows flow between two buildings as one high school. The latter two options are the ones being most heavily considered. Although a brand new high school is expected to be more expensive, Kizner believes that is the best option for the long-term growth. “[A brand new high school] would be the most expensive.

You would need more land... You would have to increase your administration, your custodial staff, your secretarial staff… But if the community is going to continue to grow and grow, even adding a new building on the property of the high school - we may outgrow that very quickly,” Kizner said. “So do we spend $50 million for a new building to [the same high school]

to serve 600-800 students, which would only get us up to 2,200 students... or do we just say in the future we need a new high school?”

However, adding an additional building to the current high school and remaining with one high school provides its own advantages as well, including a lesser cost and quicker relief.

“You end up creating a campus atmosphere [by placing another building near high school]. That could be where your math and science classes are. That could be a fine arts [building], a STEM [building], whatever you want,” Kizner said.

Although the school board is creating the plans, the city council still holds the funding responsibility, and they also have a capacity of how much they can take on debt.

The city council is still paying off the current high school, Skyline Middle School and Smithland Elementary school, along with many other projects.

“It all comes to economics.

What is the city willing to fund?”

Kizner said. “There’s a lot of debt.

So the city has to decide how much more debt do they want to take on in the short term. If we were really looking long term, a second high school probably makes the greatest sense.”

The population growth in Harrisonburg doesn’t appear to be slowing anytime soon. There have been over 340 kids added to HCPS this year alone, growing 6%, the greatest growth that Harrisonburg has experienced as long as data has been kept.

“It is a little misleading when people say [the population growth] is all due to the immigrants and the refugees. Honestly, that’s not accurate. There’s no question that has made us grow faster, but we still have many people who are coming to our community who are not immigrants or refugees,” Kizner said. “People want to be in a place like Harrisonburg.”

By early February, school

board and city council are expected to come to an agreement on what the final plans for the high school project are going to be.

The debate will continue to be between the economics and the long-term versus short-term relief for building each high school project.

“The biggest hardship is to make sure that the decisions on what is built are smart decisions.

There is a strong tendency when there is rapid growth to add the cheapest, easiest space just to accommodate the number of students without regard for the qualitative and strategic issues which are always present,” Moje said. “We live in a time where education has never been more critical to a student’s future... School facilities are going to be around for 50 or more years. Therefore, the decisions we make today and what gets built are going to be significant factors in both the lives of the incoming students as well as the future of Harrisonburg.”

Exchange program practices immersion COSTA RICA from A1 teachers throughout the here how they feel.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHARLES BLAIR

HOLD ON TIGHT. Junior Cameron Neary is helped by a Costa Rican instructor as he begins to zip line the longest zip line in Central America.

Rawls releasing first album RAWLS from A1 So Tupac, Kanye West, Nas, guys like that songs; I wrote every single one,” Rawls said. “And it’s more like a classic mixtape with other rappers’ beats and [me] just rapping over them, you know, freestyles, remixes, stuff like that. I have a couple that are going to be beats that I have my own producer making.”

Part of the Redrum beats were originals made by Mike Witcherman.

“I have a friend who lives in Elkton, and he was the first person I recorded with [a few years ago]. Then he was like ‘hey, you can come to my house and record.’ And then he told me that he could produce my mixtape,” Rawls said.

Rawls picks the existing beats based off of what matches his rapping style.

“It’s just what fits my flow. I like a lot of Kanye [West] beats. I’ll hear a Kanye song and be like ‘oh wow, I kind of want to do something to that.’ But as far as picking beats, it’s just whatever beat I could flow on the best,” Rawls said.

The obstacles Rawls has faced domestically provide content for his work as well as motivation to achieve and allow his family to move past those issues. “[I rap about] my struggle, and how my family [is] not the richest family and stuff like that,” Rawls said. “Just years of seeing my mom struggle inspires me to want to do better for my siblings as well as my mother.”

A quality he values both in his own lyrics and in others is relatability, as the experiences famous rappers have been through has impacted Rawls’ work.

“Tupac Shakur [influences me], that’s my favorite rapper of all time, just because I relate to him in a lot of situations, [like] growing up without a father and drugs being heavily related [with] family. So as a younger child I was seeing a lot of things younger children shouldn’t be seeing,” Rawls said. “Just trying to overcome odds.

[have influenced me] just because they overcame the odds when people told them they couldn’t be anything. And they’ve done it, they’ve chased after their dreams, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Rawls’ versatile rapping ability allows him to rap over beats that are different musically and in speed.

“I think [my style is] very diverse. I like to go off on beats where I don’t really have to rap and I can just talk, like smooth beats.

And then hardknock beats, I like to go off on those as well,” Rawls said. “And then sentimental beats, like smooth jazz tracks and stuff like that. So as far as style goes, I don’t know if I have one exact style.”

He believes the difference between him and other rappers is in his genuine message.

“I tell the truth. I make sure that I tell the truth in all of my raps. Because there are a lot of rappers nowadays that ‘says this’ or ‘says that’. It’s not very truthful. I tell the truth, and what really sets me apart is I’m trying to influence other people as well. Me rapping isn’t just for my benefit or for my family’s, it’s for the benefit of other up-and-coming rappers who come after me, because that’s what I feel the rappers who inspired me did for me,” If rapping fails, he hopes to stay within that world, but on the other side of the microphone.

“As far as college goes, I want to major in business marketing, so if rapping doesn’t work out, I want to own my own record label and I want to manage other people,” Rawls hopes to perform in front of a large audience for the first time at the spring talent show, but until then he will continue to revise and improve his rapping.

“I want to make sure [the writing] is perfect, 100 percent perfect and that people can relate,” Rawls said. “Because that’s the most important part; if people can’t relate, then they aren’t going tune into it.”

Shirts set to arrive in January SHIRT from A1 one of the assignments she has given to her students is to come up with a design for the new Red Sea t-shirt. Once the designs are completed, the best will be voted on and chosen by students and staff around the school. The winning design will be the shirt that every student will receive at the start of next semester.

“I think that this is a great idea for all students to be able to have these shirts for free. A lot of people don’t think about the fact that some students simply can’t afford the luxury of spending $15 on a shirt and therefore are left out because of it. When I assigned this project to my class I could tell the kids were really motivated to do well,

seeing as their work was going to be voted on by the whole school. I am confident that they are going to produce some really amazing designs,” Brooks said.

Red Sea leader senior Chase Berkshire is invested in making sure that students feel welcome to participate in the student section. Through the new shirts, Berkshire hopes to create a sense of community and an increase in participation in the student section at school events.

“I hope that [through the shirt] people will grasp the fact that if you go to Harrisonburg High School, you are a part of the Red Sea. Once everyone is on the same page, I think that we will be able to do more things as a school and as a student body,” Berkshire said.

For three weeks, the Costa Rican students get the full American experience: four or five days in New York City, Harrisonburg for two weeks, and the last few days in the nation’s capital, Washington D.C. The time they come is no coincidence either. Coming in January, the students are able to experience wintertime, something they don’t get in their own country.

History teacher Jay Blair has played a variety of roles in the program, from hosting families to planning winter activities, to attending the trip twice.

“I run the ski program for the Costa Rican students when they visit in the winter,” Blair said. “On top of Massanutten, I have also chaperoned some of the other trips down to UVA, ice skating trips, things like that.”

Sophomore Tina Serrell has hosted two Costa Rican students over the past three years, and attended the trip down to Central America this past summer.

“Applying to host [an exchange student] was difficult because so many people wanted to host,” Serrell said. “But, once they’re here, it’s great. When you host them you just think ‘Oh!, there’s someone new at my house.’ But when you go there, you just think, ‘Woah, I’m in a completely different world.’”

For the students and

program, hosting foreign students is an experience second to none.

“It’s a way for us to share our culture with people from other countries and to invite those people into your homes, share your culture, and share your perspective on the world,” Yutzy said.

Not only does that experience go for HHS members, but also for the students and teachers from Costa Rica. Every other summer, 10-12 Harrisonburg students make the trip down to Central America for the opportunity of a non-touristy foreign experience.

“You know you can travel to a country and stay in a hotel and that’s a good experience, but it’s not the real life experience,” Yutzy said. “This gets closer to what’s it’s actually like to live in Costa Rica.”

Though it was Serrell’s first time traveling to Costa Rica with the program, she had her sister along for the ride.

“I went because my sister wanted me to go. She thought it would be a cultural difference and we could see a different part of the world,” Serrell said.

“It’s a shock to reality, you see what’s different and although you have fun, you live their life and get to see what it’s like. It gives you more respect for what you have and it makes you think about when they come

Throughout the trip, students are completely surrounded by Spanish, though it isn’t a necessity.

However, there is no backing out.

“Developmentally, the best thing is that this is really an immersion experience for the students,” Blair said.

“We have students at varying levels of ability as far as Spanish speaking and if you can’t speak Spanish - we actually had a French student on the trip this year who spoke no Spanish - you’re going to be okay. But, everyone is immersed so you have to use your Spanish.

You’re going to develop an understanding of a foreign culture at a really deep level because you’re spending three weeks and you can’t back away from it. It’s not like you can just stop, watch TV in English and eat a burger. You’re a part of it.

It’s a part of everything you do.”

Together, Blair and Yutzy are hoping this program will open the eyes of students and take them a step toward wanting to study abroad in college.

“The Costa Rican Exchange Program gives our students a chance to work on their language, make international friends, and to really see what it’s like to live in another country, even if it’s for a short time,” Yutzy said. “It’s something that many people will never have the opportunity to do.

STEM program seeks more females STEM from A1 “I plan the structure of the class… but students are really responsible for their own learning,” Watson said.

“Likewise, with the engineering design challenges, I give them guidelines and criteria of what they have to accomplish, but the way they do that is up to them.

Students frequently surprise me with their creative solutions to problems.”

Both the teachers and students at the middle schools enjoy projects including hovercrafts, water filters, lunch boxes, gardening and more. Each engineering project the students are assigned links to their current topic in science.

“STEM allows students to make connections between the science content they are learning,” DeVier-Scott said.

“I also think our program [should] be [promoting] independent learners while also learning how to work cooperatively. I just think it is a more real way of learning.”

These middle school programs lead into the classes at the high school. After evaluations of applications and letters of recommendation, co-directors of the HHS Governor’s STEM Academy, Myron Blosser and Andrew Jackson, send acceptance letters to the new STEM freshman. The students have a choice of two pathways: the Math and Science pathway or the Technology

and Engineering pathway.

Freshman Gebrehiwot Anime makes his own portable chargers. After his move from Eritrea, Africa, middle school STEM was slightly difficult and he wasn’t struggling because of the class, but because of the scientific vocabulary. He was not well-established in the English language, so Anime came after school and early some mornings to learn the words. Aspiring to be an electrical engineer, he went onto the Technology and Engineering pathway.

“Since I started STEM, I just loved it. I like the things we build and learn about, so I’d tried to do that too. I had my own ideas at home similar to what we did at school, but a little bit different. [The lessons] helped me make my own projects.

They are small, but they are interesting...I wanted to see if I could fix my own problems. I wanted to see if they would work, that’s why I want to be an engineer,” Anime said. “Every day I design something. I build it and I’m like ‘that’s who I’m going to be, an engineer.’ That’s why I’m proud of myself and that’s why I’m taking these engineering classes.”

The STEM academy also has many activities taking place throughout the year.

Whether it’s one of their many STEMinars, traveling to Green Bay for their radio telescopes, or venturing to Florida for summer STEM, the students are always ac-

tive.

“You get to see more than sitting in a class, sitting in a chair,” Blosser said.

With the newest freshman class, the STEM Academy faced a dilemma. There weren’t any girls who transferred into the Technology and Engineering pathway from the middle schools.

“We feel passionately that they belong in STEM and we desperately need female scientists and engineers mathematicians and computer programmers.

That is on our agenda, to see if we can encourage ladies coming from the middle school into the high school to consider the Governor’s STEM Academy because we feel we need them in the STEM fields, absolutely,” Blosser said.

STEM education is not only motivating adolescents into taking on specific careers, but aiming to capture and enthrall them in the world of science as well.

“My goal is not only to have students learn about science, but do it and often times in high school,” Blosser said. “That’s my goal in our instruction here at high school...they’re actually learning science by doing it and I think that’s appealing, not only because it’s a fun way to learn, but also genuine way to learn because students really get a good understanding of science and you can apply that to all [subjects].”

December 18, 2015

News-A3

The Newsstreak

Gordon’s poetry skills impress peers, teacher Ellie Plass Online Editor-in-Chief Aaron Gordon is a rapper. He’s actually a writer, a varsity wide receiver, a junior taking APUSH, a little brother, a military boy and a lover of music, but his passion lies in the spoken word. He defines himself as a rapper, although realizes that a lot of what he does inches toward the poetry side of things.

It wasn’t always this way. He only discovered that he had a talent for rapping when he and his football buddies started gathering in rap circles after games.

“After every guy would circle around, we’d play some hard core beat or something like that, something fun, and then we’d just go off, randomly freestyle or just spit about the game, like what happened at the game, or how we just won,” Gordon said. “It was just a fun time.”

Before he started doing it in public for his friends, Gordon would mess around with rapping on his own time.

“I started listening to a lot of rap music when I was a kid, and I got into rapping,” Gordon said.

The first time he was recognized seriously for something he had done was in English teacher Peter Norment’s class. Although he considers what he wrote to be more of a poem than a rap, he performed it for the class spoken word. It was a poem about a book the class had read, “Parrot in the Oven: Mi Vida”. It was a poem that dealt with the trials of life as a migrant in America.

“One [thing that stood out] is his rhythm. If I remember correctly it just flowed really nicely. It’s not forced, it just seemed incredibly natural,” Norment said. “I’m assuming Aaron is not a migrant, but he seemed like he was real-

But who cares about cloche stereotypes, won’t define the way I’m livin.

We are guardians, maybe not of the galaxy, call me groot \ We are this world’s backbone, you can see our scarred roots \ Deep within the soil, we are the ones bearing the most fruit \ I’m damned to this eternity someone save me from this loop. ly authentic to that struggle and was open to exploring it in ways that kids, I feel, can be uncomfortable doing otherwise.”

Gordon was originally falling behind on the project.

“I was slacking the project honestly, but [Norment] was like ‘Aaron you got to get this project done,’ so I went home and I started writing,” Gordon said. “I just presented it and he was like, ‘Wow this is really, really good.’”

The presentation of his poem was met with silence, in opposition to the usual chatter that goes on during presentations. After he was finished, applause filled the room.

“He’s hilarious. He’s energetic. He’s one of my AVID students.

He’s really, super bright and smart,” Norment said. “He can be distracted easily, but I think a lot of creative people can, so that makes sense.”

Performing the poem he wrote for Norment was something that gave Gordon a large part of his confidence and made him realize the benefit of writing down his raps instead of just always freestyling.

Gordon has drawn inspiration from books on occasion, in particular from his favorite book, Castaway.

“I can relate parts of my life to [the book]. [The main character] was outcast; he wasn’t really liked,” Gordon said. “When I was a kid, I grew up in Arkansas and

Wisconsin, those two areas, and I had a hard time making friends.

As I grew up, I became more social and then it really wasn’t a problem after that.”

He came out of his shell long before he started rapping, although he still believes that it helped him a little along the way.

“I was definitely out of my shell before even in middle school. I don’t really like to follow. I’m not really the type of person that’s following people or doing bad things, but I definitely love chilling with my friends,” Gordon said.

He doesn’t need specific influences, however. Gordon will rap about anything.

“I’ve always been kind of creative with it. I just come up with things and put it together and then just rap about it. Whether it’s life or just problems going on,” Gordon said. “Sometimes I’ll just rap on what people give me. Like, give me the word ‘door’ and then I’ll rap off of it.”

Gordon is the younger sibling to two sisters and one brother, all of whom live together in a different state. He is the closest to his brother, who introduced him to rap music when he was younger, and who he credits with some of his success.

His earliest influence was rapper Kendrick Lamar, and he has expanded his influences to include Futuristic and Lecrae.

Despite his main interest in rap,

Gordon appreciates all kinds of music.

“I listen to a little bit of everything, even a little country, just because it’s good to get a different feel of different types of music,” Gordon said.

“When you get a grasp for all the different types of music it’s cool that you could apply it to what you’re doing, or you have a more base knowledge.”

Gordon comes from a musical background. Despite participating in drama, PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS choir and band in middle school, he SPITTING SOME BARS. Junior Aaron Gordecided that those don performs one of his many raps. “I started dreams would come listening to a lot of rap music when I was a second to his educa- kid, and I got into rapping,” Gordon said. tion once he got to HHS. “I just really wanted to get my boss of his one job. I’m happy for advanced diploma just as fast as him,” Gordon said.

If he decides to go a different possible, and then I would worry route than West Point, Gordon about this stuff later on, senior is considering American Univeryear,” Gordon said. sity for its well-renowned music Despite this choice, he is still and radio stations.

This would be active in the school’s football and the place he would choose if he JROTC programs. He considers wanted to continue rapping or West Point, his father’s alma mamusic as a career.

However, Gorter, as one of his top choices for don knows that rapping is not college.

“In the military kind of aspect, something that comes without I love the military way they ex- hard work.

“It takes a lot of practice, honercise and things like their disestly.

I was good but I wasn’t ciplinary system. I guess it gets nearly as good as I am right them mentally strong and physnow.You got to be familiar. You ically strong and stuff like that,” definitely got to get a large voGordon said. cabulary so that you know how Because of his father’s history to make things rhyme and keep in the army, Gordon has moved it on the topic, words that are three times and lived in four difrelevant to what you’re talking ferent states. His family has found about.

Practice, expand your lexa home here. icon.

Just do it over and over,” “We’re in a pretty good situGordon said. ation right now. [My dad is] the

Buying local for school cafeteria helps economy Sam Heie Staff Reporter Every year, HHS is issued a food budget that usually contains around 1.3 million dollars. Of that amount, 10% is dedicated to buying agriculture and produce from local farms within Virginia. HHS purchases from a selection of 14 local farms throughout the year, depending on the season. The one constant meal served every day, the salad bar, buys its lettuce from a hydroponic greenhouse garden called Portwood Gardens in Dayton.

Marlon Showalter is the owner and worker of Portwood Gardens.

He makes a delivery of freshly grown lettuce to HHS and surrounding public schools once or twice every week.

“We grow two different types and depending on the season we do a little bit different. We grow in a greenhouse so we have a little more control, but it’s farming so there are always variables,” Showalter said.

Showalter has been serving Harrisonburg City Public Schools since 2007. Portwood Gardens does not only produce lettuce, but kettle corn, cut flowers and herbs as well.

“We grow good lettuce no matter who we sell it to. My kids eat the lettuce that we produce,” Showalter said.

Portwood Gardens starts the growing of the lettuce by planting the seed of any desired type of lettuce into small tubes. After about three weeks of the pod developing, the lettuce is trans-

ferred into the main growing beds. Hydroponics are grown without soil, using mineral nutrient solutions in water. The lettuce takes anywhere from 6-12 weeks to mature enough to be consumed.

When the lettuce is fully matured and has been harvested properly, Portwood Gardens transports the lettuce directly to HHS. When Showalter arrives, he enters the kitchen and stores the crates of lettuce in the refrigerated room.

Tricia Newcomb is the manager of HHS’ cafeteria services. She is one of the workers who greets Showalter.

“Local farmers are awesome to work with. They listen to your feedback and are right on it. I think our local lettuce, Portwood Gardens in Dayton [is my favorite]. He was our first farm. We get all of our hydroponic lettuce from him year round and we have been getting it since 2007,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb decides what is being served on a given day, and informs the executive director of school nutrition, Andrea Early, to place orders on what amount and what type of food the school needs. Early is in charge of making sure that all school meals are up to par on standards that are set by the state and federal government.

“Tricia is very creative with her menu options. She keeps up with what students like and don’t like,” Early said.

Although a large portion of the food served at HHS is fresh and

local, prices and time of the year make it difficult for HCPS to buy local all of the time.

“Sometimes we can actually get better prices at the start of the school year because more produce is in season. For example, the locally grown apples versus the apples we would get from Washington state cost less, so we would actually get a better deal. But sometimes, like the local beef, it does cost more than the larger industry, because local farmers do less to the meat than the larger industries. We are able to afford this, though, because we do use cooperative buying with surrounding school districts. It can’t all be local because we don’t have the infrastructure.

What I would like to see is us be able to work with a local processing company so that we can utilize those local foods in the winter,” Early said.

When HCPS buys from larger corporations, they buy in bulk and share the price with Page County Public Schools along with other school districts in the area.

“I think it’s very important to build relationships with our local farmers. Everything we do in this program, the students come first. We feel like it’s good for students. It is the most nuPHOTO BY SAM HEIE tritious, fresh and tasty option. LETTUCE EAT. Owner of Portwood Gardens, Marlon Showalter, shows It is also important to teach off his local lettuce. students to be good citizens by buying from a local market and nutrition instead of food service, tatoes plopping onto your tray supporting local businesses,” because when you think of food and that’s not who we are,” Early Early said.

“We do call ourselves school service, you think of mashed po- said.

Aida requires fewer cast members than typical musical Nyah Phengsitthy Staff Reporter After holding three auditions for this year’s musical “Aida”, the cast has been chosen. Auditions were held Nov. 16-18 after school, where students there were required to sing a song from the show and read a one- minute monologue.

Freshman Parker Rising attended an audition for his first high school musical.

“I felt pretty confident during my audition, though there were some parts I felt uneasy about,” Rising said.

Senior Jaymie Inouye auditioned for the play as well this year and received the lead role, Aida. Inouye has participated in musicals

all throughout her middle and high school years.

“I felt comfortable during my audition. I’ve done it so much and I just had to read a monologue and sing a song. It was a really laid back experience,” Inouye said.

Callbacks were held immediately the week after auditions consisting of students singing additional songs and reading more of the monologue. With “Aida” being a small show, many students were cut that otherwise would have not been.

“Aida” is a pop-rock musical set in ancient Egypt with a Romeo and Juliet story.

“The music is fabulous.

I already love Elton John’s music anyway, so the fact

that he wrote the music for this musical is amazing.

The music is so good, and it’s so emotional,” Inouye said.

Fine arts teacher Stan Swartz was in charge of choosing the musical.

“I always base my choice of musicals on multiple criteria. One of the things that I do is that I want to balance any given four years that a student is here. I want them to have a balance of variety of shows and style, so that they are learning what they need to learn,” Swartz said.

Many of the students who auditioned have been apart of the drama and musical world before.

Junior Genevieve Cowardin is one of the students who auditioned and casted

in the musical. Genevieve is part of ensemble, playing many small roles.

“I’m really excited. I love being apart of all the theater productions here and I think it’s amazing,” Cowardin said.

Rehearsals for the musical have already started and will continue until showtime in February 2015.

“This show is a big risk, but I think we’re up to it,” Swartz said.

Students casted in the play and around the school look forward to this year’s upcoming musical.

“I’m so excited. This is my favorite part of the year, so I can’t wait. I think it’ll be great,” Inouye said.

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

WARM YOUR CHORDS. ‘Aida’ cast members Julia Inouye, Sophia Thomas and Mary Hallet Culbreth warm up in preparation for vocal rehearsal.

December 18, 2015 The Harrisonburg High School Newsstreak The Policy The Newsstreak is published by the students of Harrisonburg High School every month. Reproduction of any material from the newspaper is prohibited without the written permission from the editorial board. Advertising rates are available upon request.

It is the policy of the Harrisonburg City Public School Board to comply with all applicable state and federal laws regarding non-discrimination in employment and educational programs and services.

The Harrisonburg High School City Public Schools will not discriminate illegally on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, disability or age as to employment or educational programs and activities.

Editorials appearing without a byline represent the majority opinion of the staff, but not necessarily the opinion of the adviser, school administration, or the school system.

Signed editorials are accepted from people on the staff, but are subject to editing according to published guidelines and policies. Editorials may be edited for special reasons.

Letters to the editor are encouraged and must be signed and a telephone number must be given.

Names may be withheld if the editorial board feels there is a just cause.

The Newsstreak reserves the right to edit and may refuse to publish ads or letters deemed inappropriate, libelous, or obscene. Please drop your letter by room 444 or give them to any staff member.

Letters may also be sent to the high school.

The Editors and Staff Editors-in-Chief: Print: Faith Runnells, Austin Swift Online: Ellie Plass Managing Editors: Abby Hissong (print), Garrett Cash (online) and Olivia Comer (online) HHS Media Coordinator: Ava Reynolds Advertising Manager: Joshua Byrd Photographers: Ava Reynolds, Maria Snell-Feikema, David Gamboa-Pena, Brian Alvarado Page Editors: Ava Reynolds, Faith Runnells, Austin Swift, Maria Snell-Feikema, Samantha Little, Hannah Miller, Audrey Knupp, Tazhan Jaf, Jackson Hook, Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Abigail Hissong, Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Sabrina Gerald Staff Reporters: Yusuf Aboutabl, Brian Alvarado, Yogesh Aradhey, Alissa Burnette, Kyle Brown, Joshua Byrd, Garrett Cash, Christa Cole, Olivia Comer, Danny Dombrowski, Sarah Earle, David Gamboa, Sabrina Gerald, Sako Haji, Sam Heie, Angel Hendrix, Abigail Hissong, Jackson Hook, Tazhan Jaf, Audrey Knupp, Joshua Lichti, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Bryan Luna, Owen Marshall, Hannah Miller, Alexia Munoz, Richie Pannell, Nyah Phengsitthy, Ellie Plass, Anna Rath, Doug Ritcher, Keyla Rivera, Christian Rodriguez, Faith Runnells, Lucie Rutherford, Noah Siderhurst, Maria Snell-Feikema, Becky Staton, Owen Stewart, Austin Swift, Emily Thurman, Austin Vanfossen, Madison Varner, Theo Yoder, Carrie Yoder Professional Affiliations The Newsstreak participates as a member of several journalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2010 Gold Evaluation and 2005 & 2009 Silver Crown Winner), Quill&Scroll Journalism Honor Society (2012 Gallup Award), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) All-American, the Virginia High School League, Inc. Trophy Class Award, and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association All Southern Ranking and 2010 Scroggins Award winner. hhsmedia.com opt out notice: If you do NOT want to allow your student’s full name or image to appear on the school newspaper site, please send an email to vkibler@harrisonburg. k12.va.us stating: I understand that the school newspaper, newsstreak. com, now has an online version of the publication.

I DO NOT want my son/ daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on this online venue.

Op-Ed-A4

The Newsstreak

Starbuck cup controversy is embarrassing NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL The holiday spirit is in the air, along with the numerous Santa hats, Black Friday sales, and of course, the apparent “war on Christmas.”

It all began in November. Starbucks, the $100 billion dollar coffee franchise that fuels Americans every morning with their overpriced lattes and 550 calorie mocha frappucinos, has issued a holiday cup every year since 1997.

Over the years the designs have evolved, from hand-drawn reindeers to minimalistic snowflakes.

This year, America’s favorite monopolistic coffee chain has issued a simple design for the holiday season, a simple bright poppy red to cranberry red ombré.

Starbucks Vice President of Design & Content Jeffrey Fields states that the reason behind the minimal design is “to usher in the holidays with a purity of design that welcomes all of our stories,” presumably to provide a more open-minded view of the holidays, and to stray from circumscribing

an entire nation of cultures to one holiday, a.k.a. Christmas. One would think the population would appreciate this heartwarming display of acceptance. It seems to go along with the winter holidays’ themes of love and good cheer.

But of course, the seemingly innocent cup has created controversy throughout America, namely from the many Americans who choose to watch Fox News as their daily ritual. Fox News is known for it’s in-depth coverage of the supposed “war on Christmas”, in which they swear America is turning against Christians, from towns taking down nativity scenes in public places to people saying “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.

While Fox News host Bill O’Reilly woefully sighs that “every Christmas season there are people who try to diminish the celebration of Jesus's birthday,” even though we see Christmas trees in department stores in September with the Halloween decorations, and Donald Trump suggests that “maybe we should boycott Starbucks,” actually relevant events are hap-

WHAT IS THE STAFF EDITORIAL?

The unsigned staff editorial appears in each issue and reflects the majority opinion of the Newsstreak Staff Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is comprised of all editors-in-chief, page editors, advertising managers, photographers and selected freshman journalism students. In no way does our opinion reflect that of the school system or the administration.

pening in the news, and the time being filled with discussion of the “war on Christmas” could be spent covering those very events.

This “war on Christmas” cannot even compare to the actually legitimate issue of the persecution of the black, Hispanic, LGBT, and Muslim communities in the United States.

The very people who are supposedly fighting for Christmas, a holiday grounded on the concepts of love and acceptance, willfully berate and demean those fighting for equality, completely discount Syrian refugees in need of a safe place to live, support the wars and bombs that cause these people to seek refuge in the first place, deny the humanity of immigrants, and don’t even agree that women deserve equal treatment and respect.

The Christmas that Fox is fighting so heartily for is a phoney Christmas. It’s the superficiality

It’s okay to say Merry Christmas Joshua Byrd Advertising Manager It is Christmas time once again and I have begun to wish people a Merry Christmas whenever greeting or saying goodbye, as I do every Christmas season.

However, this year, there have been people who have “corrected” me by telling me I should wish people a happy holiday.

Their reasoning behind this is so that I will not offend others. Am I pushing my religion on to you because of it? Am I wrong when I call spruce tree used during this season a Christmas tree? Am I

and petty that we go wrong when I call the parade during this up in arms over a “reseason a Christmas ligious” phrase that Parade? Is my salutahas been used for tion really offensive? years?

Our great nation If you want to call a was established on Christmas tree a holithe principle of reli- Right-Winged day tree that is fine. I gious freedom, freewon’t correct you as Byrd dom of and freedom long as you do not to correct me. from. That means we If you would like to wish othas Americans have the right to practice any religion we want, or ers Happy Holidays, that’s also no religion at all. It is protected fine. It is your prerogative. Again, by our First Amendment, which do not correct me and I will not also gives us that right to speak correct you.

We need to go back to a soour minds freely.

It should go both ways. Have ciety where all speech is welwe really become so intolerant comed. Merry Christmas!

GPA conundrum will always exist Garrett Cash Online Managing Editor Every single day of our four years in high school there’s a weight on our shoulders. It’s just outside of our vision, yet we can almost grasp it. It’s tangible, yet imaginary. We revolve our standardized lives around it, kept in orbit by the force of grades.

We are planets in the scholastic solar system and a perfect grade point average is our star.

We go in circles around it, but never get any closer. Those at the outer ring aren’t able to come closer, and those at the inner ring don’t have to worry about getting far away.

It’s just out of reach. We are stuck in our elliptical orbits around the star of GPA, and just as we begin to get a bit closer, we move back to where

we started. After stress a student has your freshman year, correlates to how hard you’re either set up they’re working to get to succeed or fail. If that good grade. As you want to get closwe get closer to the er to a perfect GPA, GPA star, we get hotthen you must literter and hotter. We’re ally bend space and burning not with fire, Garrett time to succeed. but with stress. The Shares It What are we to more you work for a do about it? An anGPA, the bigger the gry letter will do nothing to lift load of work. This makes sucthis weight from our shoulders. cess in life based on a grade.

That letter has about the same To get that success, you have to effect as throwing rocks at the stress yourself out. sun. What happens if we all try All we can do to counter this to overpower it, to break free? paradox is to encourage and Well, we can’t. There will still be hope for the best. No matter competition in everything we what, there will be people in do. If everyone gets a 4.0 GPA, first and people in last. There colleges are going to start only will always be people at Ivy accepting incredibly high GPAs. Leagues and people who can’t All this will do is stress us out get into college. But we can still more. hope and work hard, and if you I just don’t think people who do that, you will achieve suchave a powerful say in the mat- cess, regardless of that perfect ter even see the problem. The GPA star.

Planned parenthood offers more than stereotype Ryan Doer Guest Columnist On November 27, 2015, Robert Lewis Dear injured nine and left one police officer and two civilians dead in Colorado Springs, Colorado when he opened fire on a Planned Parenthood clinic in the early afternoon.

He attempted to “save” the lives of unborn children by taking the lives of fully grown humans, doing so with the kind of backwards logic that seems so common these days. I would be surprised, but with 353 mass shootings so far this year, I find it hard to be.

Dear’s act was only one among many violent acts committed in 2015, and the war against Planned Parenthood has been raging on for years. Planned Parenthood clinics around the country have become victims of bombing, arson, murder, physical assault, and attempted kidnapping for several decades, and many times the perpetrators of these acts do so in the name of their religious or political beliefs.

Let’s get one thing straight: Planned Parenthood provides access to birth control, sex education, screenings for cancers,

and STD testing, among other services--abortions are not offered by all clinics, and account for roughly 3% of their total services.

In fact, the number of abortions performed annually by Planned Parenthood averages around 216,000; split among 700 facilities, that’s 308 abortions per clinic a year. Those who are so vehemently opposed to Planned Parenthood are terrorizing it based on misinformation spread by evangelical and often ultraconservative media outlets, simply referring to the non-profit as “baby killers”, or greatly exaggerating numbers in the hopes of stirring up support for their agendas. This misinformation often spreads through social media, and the disgusting truth is that people believe it. Many took to Twitter after the shooting to praise Dear’s actions: “Folks upset that murderers & murder enablers died at #PlannedParenthood but babies die at #PlannedParenthood every day, why shouldn’t adults?” (@enviro_mint) “planned parenthood kills a million babies and no one bats an eye. But 1 brave hero tries to put a stop to that, everyone los-

es their minds” (rouge_th3_bat) While some may regard these acts of terrorism as brave and justified, the bottom line is that being pro-choice does not mean being pro-abortion, just as being anti-abortion does not necessarily mean pro-life.

Many extreme pro-lifers are also actively fighting against the welfare system, racial equality, gender equality and LGBT rights.

Their pro-life outlook often does not extend past birth, and while they define abortion as murder, the murder of those in a lower socioeconomic class or who are of different sex, race, or orientation is in very many cases something they support, or do not think is wrong.

No one in their right mind will condone murder, but fetuses have not developed consciousness until week 24, which is when abortions become illegal in 41 out of 50 US states. If you were pregnant and could not possibly give a future child the life it deserves, with so many people fighting against you and the success of your unborn (and unfeeling) fetus, what would you do? Regardless of your answer, would you be willing to take away that choice from others?

Cartoon by Genevieve Kennedy

that Christmas has been contorted into in order to fuel economic growth and consumer profits.

Last time I checked, Jesus’ main goal was for everyone to love and acknowledge each other, not to provide an entire season dedicated to consumption and the celebration of capitalism. In this sense, we should be having a war on the faux Christmas that Fox so ardently wants to be saved, by sharing love instead of exchanging dollars, and by welcoming all stories instead of just one.

Junior year offers typical love/hate relationship What you choose to make of it could impact your future Abby Hissong Managing Editor Junior year is so bizarre. It’s the in-between year by all standards. You have already made it through your first two years of your high school education by this point, yet you are so far from completing it. As a junior approaching the second half of the year, it’s starting to set in that I’ve already gone through more semesters of high school than I have left - and that is amazingly scary.

People often say that junior year is the most a c a d e m i c a l l y Dear Abby 2.0 rigorous year you will undergo during your high school education, but nothing can truly prepare you for the conundrum that is junior year.

While juniors always seemed to be the most stressed out when observing from a freshman’s perspective, only now, being in the shoes of those people I looked up to two years ago, can I finally appreciate just how overwhelming it all can be.

More so than ever, what you do now actually matters and if you screw up now, there really isn’t much time left to fix it. With having to balance jobs, sports, friends, and more AP courses than you can count, you pretty much feel like you are drowning in the ocean that is responsibility.

There are countless reasons why all juniors should be afraid.

We're looking at being seniors one year from now, and someone is going to expect us to know what we're planning on doing in life.

For me, (and I’m sure many others,) junior year has proven itself to be the most difficult, load-bearing, stress-cry inducing year yet, but there is a redeeming quality to it. The good part is that hopefully the hard work will pay off and by senior year, you will know exactly what you are capable of academically and (maybe?) have a plan for your future.

Now that I’ve scared you, let me be clear; junior year isn’t always completely terrifying and stressful.

Your junior year will feel fastpaced, and magical because everyday is a reminder that adulthood – a stage that many could never have imagined they would reach – is just a stone's throw away.

It’s weird to think how fast we are all growing up, how quickly the trajectory of our lives is rocketing us towards responsibility, realness, and out of the high school bubble.

It’s an exciting time to be alive.

Terrifying, yes, but only in the best, most unimaginable sense of the word.

December 18, 2015

HOT or NOT

Mark Zuckerburg donates 99% of shares for charity: On Dec. 1, Mark Zuckerburg and his wife, Dr. Priscilla Chan, announced that not only would they be having a child, but that they would also be giving $4.5 billion dollars to charitable associations.

San Bernardino, California Shooting: Syed Rizwan Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik opened fire at a holiday party after being radicalized allegedly from ISIS online. The couple killed 14 and injured 17, and their attack has caused an outrage over accepting Syrian refugees into the country.

Presidential Campaign update: More of Former Secretary Clinton’s emails have surfaced on the Benghazi attacks. The Democrats have rejected the GOP bill that was going to limit rules for Syrian refugees. Also, the national polls say that as of November 25, Clinton is up 9 points and on November 24, RealClearPolitics said that Trump was up 2 points in the Iowa Caucus’.

Colorado Planned Parenthood Shooting: On Friday, Nov. 27 Robert Dear opened fire in a Planned Parenthood clinic in Colorado killing three and injuring nine.

AMAs: Jennifer Lopez hosted the night. Many stars performed their new singles such as Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato and Alanis Morisette, Charlie Puth and Meghan Trainor, Nick Jonas, Coldplay, Gwen Stefani and many more. One Direction won four awards, Taylor Swift left with two, as well as The Weeknd being awarded “Favorite Soul and R&B Album” for his debut album, “Beauty Behind the Madness”.

Donald Trump’s Comments on Syrian Refugees: On Dec. 8, Trump announced that we should close off the borders of our country to Syrian refugees until we are aware exactly what is going on. His comments sparked outrage on social media. He has also commented in the past that if we do let the refugees in, they should be registered into a system.

Oxford Word of the Year Oxford dictionaries has made history on Nov. 9 by making their word of the year the “Face with Tears of Joy Emoji”.

Oxford says that the laughing emoji was chosen because it was the most used emoji globally in 2015.

Update on Laquan McDonald shooting: Laquan McDonald, 17, was killed in October of 2014 but a new video has surfaced that shows he was shot 16 times

by Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Captain America: Civil War trailer : The highly anticipated two part finale to the Captain America movie series has arrived. It is scheduled to premiere on May 6, 2016.

Federal Investigation of the Chicago PD: Since the release of not only Laquan McDonald’s shooting tape, but also Ronald Johnson’s shooting tape, the Chicago Police Department is now being investigated by the U.S. Justice Department for legal infractions.

Color of the year: For the first time, this year’s color is a blend of two colors: Rose Quartz (a kind of mineral pink) and Serenity (a light blue). It’s a movement towards gender equality and fluidity. #TrumpisDisqualifiedParty Trump’s statement that Muslims should be banned from entering the United States “disqualifies” him from being a President. White House press secretary, John Earnest noted that every president must take an oath to “preserve, protect, and defend” the U.S. Constitution. So, Trump would not qualify.

Star Wars ticket sales: Early tickets sales for “Star wars: the Force Awakens” broke IMAX records with more than $6.5 million. The movie airs on Friday Dec. 18.

North Face Founder Dies: On Dec. 8 Douglas Tompkins died in a kayaking accident. He was boating when his kayak capsized in a lake in Patagonia.

Tompkins died later in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Coyhaique.

More equipment to help against ISIS: Defense Secretary Ash Carter says the U.S is prepared to assis the Irai army with more personal and equipment to help them fight Islamic State militants.

Brace yourselves, it’s flu Season: Public settings are the perfect way to get sick, make sure you wash your hands and cover your mouths when you cough.

The Newsstreak

Op-Ed-A5

Why you should pick plastic trays at lunch Samantha Little Staff Reporter Every day when walking through the lunch line, each student makes a decision. That decision is whether to use the reusable plastic blue trays or the disposable styrofoam trays.

Making this decision can generally be overlooked due to the natural action of just grabbing whatever’s in front of you or what’s easiest to get rid of after use, but the consequences of choosing a foam tray over a reusable tray are much more serious and harmful than one may think.

Styrofoam is made from polystyrene, a petroleum-based plastic that isn’t sustainable because petroleum is a nonrenewable resource. Furthermore, petroleum production creates heavy pollution and contributes to global climate change. This polystyrene that is used in packing peanuts, foam cups, some take-out boxes and our school lunch trays is manufactured

by using hydrofluoroand mammals die carbons, or HFCs for each year because short, which have negof their ingestion ative impacts on the of plastic. About 10 ozone layer and global percent or 10 milwarming. There are 57 lion of the 100 milchemical by-products lion tons of plastic Sammy released during the produced each year Little creation of styrofoam ends up in the sea. that not only pollute the If we continue to use air, but produce a substantial foam trays that will make their amount of liquid and solid waste way to a landfill and eventually that needs disposal. a waterway, the number of sea To continue, styrofoam’s re- bird and mammal deaths will sistance to photolysis causes it only stay stagnant and could to “last forever.” Photolysis is even increase. the breaking down of materials If 90 percent of the student by photons originating from a body at HHS used a styrofoam light source, but doesn’t have tray every school day at lunch, any effect on the seemingly non approximately 267,300 trays degradable styrofoam. would be thrown away by the What do you get when you end of the year. While that numpair a stubborn material that ber may not seem to be very won’t decompose with light- large, imagine what that numweight properties? One of the ber would be if most elemenmain components of marine tary, middle and high schools debris. Because styrofoam has across the country gave the opsuch a light composition and tion of a styrofoam tray over a therefore floats, it easily collects reusable tray? along coastlines and waterways Schools districts in New York all across the globe.

City, Los Angeles, Chicago, MiMore than a million sea birds ami-Dade, Dallas and Orlando,

six of the largest in the nation, have made the decision to rid their cafeterias of polystyrene trays and as a school district we should mirror their actions.

Now, this doesn’t all mean that the cafeteria workers will in turn have to spend extra time washing the countless dirty trays that would be produced by our large student population.

Instead, our schools could just replace the polystyrene trays with disposable biodegradable trays that would reduce the amount of harmful effects on the environment.

Biodegradable products take anywhere from 45-180 days to decompose, which is considered a miracle when compared to styrofoam that takes nearly one million years to degrade.

Of course, there is a cost difference between foam trays and biodegradable trays, but the benefits of switching to eco-friendly material outweigh the negative of an added tray cost. We can’t continue to contribute further damage to the world around us.

D.C. holiday decorations rival NYC any day Olivia Comer Guest Columnist The Macy’s Day Parade, window shopping on 5th avenue and ice skating shadowed

by Rockefeller Center’s world famous Christmas tree. These are all iconic pictures that I personally think about whenever I make a list of places I would like to visit for the holidays.

All of these activities take place in the one and only New York City (NYC). However, there is a city, not too far away, that transforms for the holiday season. This city is our nation’s Capital, Washington D.C. D.C. is not just a city of marble monuments housing our government. It is also a very charm-

ing city that truly about air travel or lights up during the everlasting car rides holidays, and I highly in order to see iconrecommend a visit. ic holiday lights. It’s The best part about a common misconit is that it’s only a ception that New day trip away and York is the only place Live and Let that celebrates the compared to NYC, it Liv is a bargain to visit. holidays in bulk, but This season is a in actuality, Washbusy time with the arrival of ington D.C. has quite the setup. family, cookies to bake and The tree itself sits in the presents to buy. With all of this shadow of the White House, activity, funds are limited and so which is covered in Christmas is our time. We may not have finery. It is outstanding and Rockefeller Center within our dressed differently every year, reach, but we do have a giant but if you can manage to weave glistening tree, ice skating and your way to the front of the world class shopping at our crowd, you will see a charming disposal in Washington D.C. model train chugging through We are extremely lucky to a little village covered in fake live in Harrisonburg because snow. The track runs all the way we don’t even have to worry around the tree so you can see

it from anywhere you stand.

If you choose to keep walking past the centerpiece tree, you will see a collection of 50 small trees in alphabetical order, each representing a single state.

Usually the trees are decorated with ornaments made by students using characteristics that symbolize their unique state.

I have even visited when ornaments from Elkton, VA, just 20 minutes away from Harrisonburg, have adorned VA’s tree.

The whole event is one gigantic celebration of the holidays, hot chocolate stands, 51 Christmas trees, caroling, and ice skating on the National Mall.

A D.C. Christmas definitely rivals Rockefeller Center for me.

Growing up Jewish in 2015 requires respect, responsibility, ruach Hannah Daniel Guest Columnist My name is Hannah Daniel.

I am 5’5”, I wear size 8.5 shoes, and I’m on the HHS Swim Team.

I turn 17 this month, and I have brown eyes. I enjoy reading, biology, reading biology, and household pets. I have a goldfish named Gela. I have spent a substantial portion of my life on Instagram. I have three cats.

I find happiness in all that I can.

My favorite food group is fruit.

I’m also Jewish.

But you probably knew that.

My religion is hardly a secret; I wear a Magen David (Star of David) necklace everywhere I go. I joke about it openly with my friends, reference it on social media, and speak to my classmates about the subject regularly. (Speaking of which: no, I probably won’t join Young Life anytime soon.)

Even in elementary school, my mother brought latkes (potato pancakes) and jelly donuts to talk to my class about Hanukkah (the Jewish Festival of Lights).

Judaism doesn’t define me as a person, but it does make up a huge aspect of my personality.

However, the its way into our everychoice to be open day lives. I have been about my religious told most every holobeliefs wasn’t excaust joke (they aren’t actly mine to make funny, by the way), (though I accepted and I learned many it wholeheartedly). of the hateful Jewish The Jewish comstereotypes not from Hannah munity in this area the media, but from Banana is tiny - miniscule, my peers. even.

It’s not that I’m reOur synagogue (the only sentful of my childhood, either; one for a 30-minute radius) I’m just trying to put it in perhosts about 100 families, pull- spective. Many of my Sunday ing from Harrisonburg, Rock- School friends have decided ingham County, Staunton, and not to be as open with their even Charlottesville. I am one religion. They aren’t any less of only a handful of Jewish kids Jewish, they just aren’t as outin HHS… out of almost 1700 spoken as me. Religious expresstudents. As an outspoken in- sion comes in so many different dividual, I have a responsibility shapes and sizes; mine is the to represent the Jewish faith. I type that lives out loud. want to be open, kind, acceptAnd that is where the ruach ing and a role model for those comes in. Ruach, pronounced who are unfamiliar with Juda- roo’-akh, is the Hebrew word ism. meaning “spirit” or “enthusiComing from a Chris- asm”. I was just introduced to tian-dominated communi- the word recently, but in that ty, I’ve had to adapt quickly. short time it has become my In Sunday School, teachers mantra. With people taking taught us the Hebrew alpha- sides in foreign policy, Israel’s bet, prayers, and about Shab- conflicts, and religious stereobat (the Jewish day of rest), types, the hardest part about but they also taught us how being a Jew in 2015 is staying to stand up for ourselves, em- positive. I have to remind mybrace our religion, and defend self to meet hatred with love, ourselves against the disguised negativity with kindness, and anti-semitism that would snake antisemitism with information.

As a Jewish teenager, I am the future of my ever-growing religion. My job is to educate those who are ignorant about my faith and be patient in the face of adversity. Not every Jewish teenager is going to embrace his/her religion, and not everyone is going to accept it, either.

But the least I can do is to try.

Judaism isn’t the only minority religion in the school; I am just one minority within the spectrum of different races, ethnicities, and religions at HHS. I didn’t write this article to brag, or to complain, but to raise awareness. Growing up Jewish in a Christian-dominated town has made me more accepting of differences- because I have always hoped people would accept me- but not everyone has had that opportunity. So I encourage you to try a little harder, to look a little deeper, and to appreciate the wonderful diversity we have at this school. Because we’re all different, in our own ways, and that’s what makes us who we are.

Have any questions about the article? Email me at hadani81@harrisonburg.k12. va.us.

When it comes to following school rules, enough is enough Eric Miller Guest Columnist One of my favorite parts of my job as an administrator is greeting students as they arrive every morning. Standing in the cafeteria commons, where a large majority of our students pass each morning, it is so awesome to see their faces, say hello, good morning, and have a great day!

On occasion, I have to remind some students about the school rules: take your hood off, take your hat off, cover your stomach, no tank tops, etc. For the most part, students are very respectful of the rules and follow them, and I thank you!

However, there are a select few who have no respect for rules, and think the rules do not apply to them. Enough is enough – rules are rules and are expected to be followed, whether in school, in public, in a work place,

or anywhere. Period! them and respect them. If you Not following simple rules is want to change a rule or policy, not a serious crime, but rules are rebelling and breaking that rule in place for reasons. I understand to make a point is not the answer. if you forget one time, but when It is just rude, immature and distold of a rule, it should only take respectful. one time, not multiple times for Take the hat/hood rule for inThriller that rule to be followed. stance. It is not in place because Rules don’t change from one it is just an old rule from the turn Miller block to the next, if you can’t of the 20th century and we enwear a hat first block, you can’t force it just because. The rule is second, third or fourth either. This is not in place for school safety, so adults can easan authoritarian act. We are not asking stu- ily identify individuals in the building and dents to bow down to adults, but a simple keep it a safe place for all. request to do what you are supposed to do.

I thank those of you who follow rules We ARE teaching life lessons. and respect yourselves and your school. To I feel bothered when students can’t fol- those who choose not to follow the rules, I low rules and just do what they want to do. leave you with a quote from John Wooden: That is not how the real world works, kids. “The true test of a man’s character is what There are policies and rules that you may he does when no one is watching.” not agree with as you grow up and work, Enough is enough – follow the rules, it is but the bottom line is you still have to follow the right thing to do.

Follow us on social media

FACEBOOK: TWITTER:

HHS media

@_HHSMedia @StreaksSports

INSTAGRAM: SNAPCHAT:

@hhsmedia15 @hhsmedia15

December 18, 2015

Experience-A6

The Newsstreak

Married couples in HCPS Harrisonburg City Public Schools is home to over 30 married couples that work within the school system. A few include:

Thompsons met, stayed at THMS Yusuf Aboutabl Staff Reporter

Jason and Alexis Rutt

“We both love working in the schools.

It's especially helpful to have a spouse that works at the same building for all the times you forget your lunch at home,” Alexis Rutt said.

Regina and Nate Hissong

Maria Toggas and Derrick Smiley

Dianne and Terry Murray

Patrick and Amy Werner

“Patrick and I met at THMS and both still work there. He is a seventh grade history teacher and I am a home-school liaison. It is nice to have a common work experience and to be a part of the same team,” Amy Werner said.

“We were married on August 4, 1979. Both of us worked in different fields at the time. Terry decided to go into education first and then a couple of years later, I changed to education also. We've been employed by HCPS for over 20 years and it is wonderful having the same schedule and being able to sit together for the opening meeting each year. We've enjoyed cheering our students on at ball games and other events over the years and have enjoyed teaching many of the same students - me at the elementary level and Terry at the high school. We've seen many wonderful Harrisonburg students grow up and turn into fine adults,” Dianne Murray said.

Bonnie and Craig Shoemaker “A really nice benefit of working within the same school system is we have the same holidays off. Our wedding was in 1977,” Craig Shoemaker said.

Andrea and Curtis Nolley

“Andrea and I were married July 2, 1977. We had both been teaching for a year before we got married in Augusta County. We met at Bridgewater College, and were friends throughout our four years there as we were both very involved in the music department. It was not until our senior year that I finally "saw the light" as it were, and we begin dating.

Our commitment to public education has been a high priority. We both understand the importance of an educational experience that challenges and inspires the whole child - creatively, intellectually, physically - in an educational community that is nurturing and accepting of all children. The professional educators in the Harrisonburg City Public Schools work to make that a reality each and every day.

That's why we continue to love what we do even after nearly 40 years of teaching,” Curtis Nolley said.

Cara and Bradley Walton

Kevin and Sandy Byler

Hunter and Melissa Rush

“We both ran/walked in the Sherry Anderson fundraiser this fall,” Sandy Byler said.

Andy Thompson and Jessica Mendez-Thompson are both teachers at Thomas Harrison Middle School, and they’re also married. Andy Thompson is a Health and P.E. teacher and Jessica Mendez-Thompson teaches Spanish for all grades, but that’s not always what they’ve been doing.

“Andy began at THMS as a Special Education assistant for two years before he moved into a Physical Education career,” Jessica Mendez-Thompson said. “He is currently a team leader.”

Jessica Mendez-Thompson began working as an assistant at THMS but they had met before that on the volleyball court when Jessica served as a volunteer coach with a team Andy was coaching for the high school.

“Our career choices were made before we met,” Andy Thompson said. “However, we did meet at THMS.” The couple has been together for 13 years, but their careers have been ongoing for longer than that. Andy Thompson has been in Physical Education 21 years and coached volleyball at HHS for 20 years, only retiring after this past season. Jessica Mendez-Thompson has been teaching Spanish for 10 years. Although they work in the same building, there are differences in their jobs.

“Our positions are similar yet different,” Jessica Mendez-Thompson said. “We both teach many of the same students; however, a difference is that I teach in a classroom while Andy does not most of the time. I average teaching 80 plus students daily while Andy averages over 150 students daily.”

The couple both found an interest working in Harrisonburg for the opportunities it offers their family.

“We both always wanted to work for HCPS and raise our two children here,” Jessica Mendez-Thompson said. “Our daughter is in the dual immersion program, which we love.”

The couple agrees that there are upsides to having a job with the same hours, allowing them to be at home at the same time.

“It is nice to have the same teaching schedule while raising a family,” Jessica Mendez-Thompson said.

The fact that they are both teachers means they know what their partner goes through, which helps one empathize with the other when they’re having a sub-par day.

“Although we both teach different subjects, we have an appreciation for each other's work and struggles,” Andy Thompson said.

While they are both teachers right now, that might change in the future.

Jessica finished her Masters in Education Administration with hopes of becoming an assistant administrator within HCPS.

Fennimores return to Harrisonburg for family feel Douglas Ritcher Staff Reporter

Skyline Middle School English teachers Rebecca and Rob Fennimore are in their thirteenth year of marriage and second year together at Skyline. The Fennimores were brought together when they both chose to attend Eastern Mennonite University as English majors. Rob Fennimore recalled first meeting his now wife, Rebecca Fennimore.

“I saw her in class and wanted to marry her freshman year,” Rob Fennimore said.

“We started dating our senior year,” Rebecca Fennimore said.

While at EMU, Rob Fennimore spent a fair amount of time in the campus mailroom.

“I would sweet talk my way [into the mailroom] and leave her notes,” Rob Fennimore said.

His courtship didn’t stop there.

“I basically told all of my male friends that if they pursued her, I would beat them up. I said ‘That’s the girl I’m going to marry, so if

you wanna fight about this, we can fight about this,’” Rob Fennimore said.

All of his love notes and persistence payed off as they began dating their senior year and were married two years later on June 28, 2003.

Two years before the wedding, Rebecca Fennimore found her way into Harrisonburg City Public Schools as a student teacher at Thomas Harrison Middle School. Though the original plan was to move to Pennsylvania, their home state, she found a reason to stay. “[I] fell in love with the people of Harrisonburg and fell in love with middle school. [I] never ever ever thought I’d teach middle school,” Rebecca Fennimore said.

Rebecca Fennimore eventually became a longterm substitute at THMS and then a full-time sixthgrade English teacher. After this, Rob Fennimore began teaching eighth grade at THMS. They spent two years both at THMS, but eventually moved back home to Pennsylvania.

In the summer of 2013,

the Fennimore’s welcomed their first son, Henry, into the family. “[Henry] likes to be wild,” Rebecca Fennimore said.

Henry is now two and a half years old and the Fennimores are expecting a second child in March.

In 2014, the Fennimores returned to Harrisonburg.

They had heard positive things about Skyline Middle School and found two job openings in the English department. Rebecca Fennimore appreciated that HCPS organized their middle schools into teams.

“The team structure has been fun for a teacher because you have so much support from fellow team members. Coming from teaching in Pennsylvania, where I didn’t have a lot of family, I knew that Harrisonburg City would offer [a team structure] again,” Rebecca Fennimore said, “And [my experience] while in HCPS as a an employee has been familial.”

Now in their second year together at Skyline, the Fennimores have much to be thankful for.

“The best part about

working together is just having a chance to see each other in the middle of a work day. We’re on opposite schedules so we don’t run into each other that much,” Rebecca Fennimore said.

“We know it’s a luxury to be able to teach in the same school. We have the same daily schedule, we have the same days off, we have the same work days,” Rob Fennimore said.

The nature of their employment however has created a few difficult situations with a two and a half year old in their house.

“The hardest days are when you have a sick child.

Here, if you don’t come in that day, you’ve got to write your plans, get everything in order and there’s a lot of unknown variables,” Rebecca said.

It can be tough sometimes, but the Fennimores find much joy from working at Skyline.

When they aren’t busy teaching and taking care of Henry, the Fennimores enjoy cooking together and spending time outside.

“We are very thankful. Harrisonburg City is

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE FENNIMORES

MATCHING SHIRTS, MATCHING JOBS. Rob and Rebecca Fennimore pose in a classroom at Skyline Middle School. The Fennimores like being able to see eachother throughout the day. very kind and a very family-friendly place to work.

We’re very appreciative of

our jobs and it’s wonderful just to work near each other,” Rob Fennimore said.

December 18, 2015

The Newsstreak

SMJL Youth Bowling

every Saturday at 9:30 a.m.

Now-April 23, 2016 At Valley Lanes 3106 S. Main St, Harrisonburg, VA 22801

No Experience Needed Ages 3-19

L & S DINER

255 North Liberty Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Mon-Fri 5:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.

Sat 7 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

3094-A John Wayland Hwy, Dayton, VA 22821 Phone: 540-879-3636 Like us on Facebook

36 Flavors

Ads-A9

December 18, 2015

Ads-A8

The Newsstreak

Dance & Company

We offer serious classical and contemporary training from youth to adult in a positive and progressive program of study. Performance opportunities are provided through annual spring concert performances, informal showings and student participation in the dance center's repertory youth performance companies. Classes are offered year-round in ballet, modern, tap, jazz, musical stage, hip-hop, and Irish step dance.

For information and guidance in class selection please call: 810-3631 or 433-7127 or 234-8317 115 South Main St. Harrisonburg VA 22801

“I like working with numbers, the vendors and orders. it is interesting to watch each year unfold and then wrap that year up to start all over again. I truly enjoy what I do and we have a good group of people in the Finance Department to work with.”

“I support teachers and principals grades K through 12 in the dual language program, in Foreign Language in the Elementary Schools, in our traditional Spanish and French programs, and in all of the Career and Technical Education areas.”

“I love our students and believe that a great education includes becoming career ready and learning to use more than one language. My favorite part of the job is when a student finds something they are passionate about and we are able to support them in pursuing their goals.”

Jeremy Aldrich Foreign Language and CTE Coordinator

“I am the Alternative Education Teacher at Central Office (CO). My position requires me to tutor, advise, encourage and monitor students who have been assigned to CO for various reasons.”

“What I like best about my current position is that it provides an encouraging option for students to learn at their own pace, with individualized attention, in a non-traditional learning environment. Additionally, I LOVE the personal interactions with the students. The intimate setting provides an opportunity to establish rapport/trust with the students and to foster a positive student-teacher relationship, thereby enhancing student confidence and encouraging student success.”

Sherry Frederick Alternative Education Teacher

“It is so rewarding to be able to serve teachers and ultimately their students by the small things that I can do.”

“My work each day is to provide support for our teachers. It can vary from providing in-classroom support to approving tuition reimbursement for courses that teachers take.”

Ann Conners Supervisor of Teacher Training and Development

“I decided that I would like to work for the public system because I knew it would present me with unique challenges and opportunities for personal development. I was also familiar with the position and staff from my prior internship with the school division.”

“My title is Computer Resources Technician. I provide service on computer hardware and software in instructional and administrative settings in the school division. I install, test and maintain computer equipment and peripherals and network infrastructure.”

Charles Getz Computer Resources Technician

“As a psychologist, I work with students and other members of school communities to support learning, mental health, and positive behavior through assessment, intervention, consultation, and partnership.”

“Regarding my role at a high school versus an elementary school, different challenges and experiences come with working with such a diverse age group. For example, I may spend my morning working with a three-yearold in their home exhibiting delays in their development and my afternoon working with an 18-year-old student who has exhilarating academic difficulties in school.”

Christine Henderson School Psychologist

What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to students?

“Learn from your mistakes.”

“ I am responsible for school safety, facility maintenance, building construction and renovation, transportation, school division-sponsored after school programming, and chair of the Superintendent’s Discipline Committee.”

Craig Mackail Executive Director of Operations & School Safety

“I am the division leader that oversees and implements all laws, board policies and programs related to personnel, students, learning, budget and facilities.”

Superintendent of Schools

Dr. Scott Kizner

Kimberly Seifert Payroll Supervisor

“If a person works in any capacity in the school system, I am responsible for paying them.“ “I chose to work at HCPS because I knew the former Payroll Supervisor who was retiring. She had always raved about what a great atmosphere Central Office was to work in and how much she loved her job.”

“I am responsible for ensuring that HCPS’s youngest students receive high quality pre-school services. In addition to coordinating and monitoring services for children & families enrolled in Virginia Preschool Initiative, Head Start, and Early Child Special Education, I also work collaboratively with Smart Beginnings, United Way, & the Young Child’s Program at JMU.” “I like being able to support my preschool teachers in a way that makes them better teachers. That is what I like best about my job. Ultimately, when teachers are better, children are happier and learn more.”

“Assistive Technology evaluations, supports and strategies are presented by a multidisciplinary team so that we can meet all students needs.

Our team consists of a Speech Pathologist, Vision Teacher, Occupational Therapist and Physical Therapist. [I couldn’t do my job without them].”

“I serve as a specialist supporting special education teachers and students who are learning to use and implement a variety of assistive technology devices and systems. The Assistive Technology teacher works collaboratively to provide ideas, resources, and training with a variety of assistive technology tools in the general education and special education settings.”

Joan Wingfield Assistive Technology Resource Teacher

Sharon Shuttle Early Learning Services Coordinator & Child Find Specialist

“I am responsible for managing, and planning K-12 STEM programming. I also work with teachers to create programs and curriculum. I am also the PK-5 science coordinator and work with elementary teachers to enhance science instruction.”

As for worst moment [while doing my job], it was when I had just started teaching and a student broke an old mercury thermometer, I was unsure what to do, so I alerted the principal and the whole school had to be evacuated, then a Hazmat team had to come in.

Amy Sabarre Science Coordinator and Integrative STEM Coordinator

“[What keeps me motivated to do my job each day is] making school a positive experience to students for whom it might be a challenge.”

“As a school psychologist, I work with students and other members of school communities to support learning, mental health, and positive behavior through assessment, intervention, consultation, and partnership.”

Maria Toggas School Psychologist

“My main role is to coordinate the delivery of psychological and student services to the schools, including directing mental health services staff, leading social emotional division initiatives, coordinating homebound and homeless services, organizing parent outreach and providing social/ emotional support to meet needs of all students.”

“I enjoy collaborating with many different professionals within our division to meet social and emotional needs of our students. I am very proud of the progress we have made in embracing the importance of social emotional development within the overall mission of educating the whole child.”

April Howard Coordinator/School Psychologist

REPORTING BY TAZHAN JAF, LUCIE RUTHERFORD, KYLE BROWN, NOAH SIDERHURST AND SAMANTHA LITTLE

Featured here are a mere sampling of the many employees who work at the Harrisonburg City Public Schools central office at One Court Square in downtown Harrisonburg to provide a solid educational experience for every child.

Central Office staff rule the school [system] Laura FeichtingerMcGrath ESL Coordinator

‘What motivates me is constructing positive relationships and seeing parents engage in their child’s education.”

“I am a resource person supporting parents of preschoolers in this important first school experience. I help to facilitate communication between families and teachers because together we can better support the children’s social and academic development.”

Anita Warner Pre-School Family Liaison

“I had joked with my co-workers that truly my motivation, as most adults who work, would be to get a paycheck.

But truly, why I chose this job, in this school district is because I thoroughly enjoy working with my co-workers.”

“The primary role of the School Social Worker is to identify and assist students, families, and school systems to overcome barriers that interfere with learning through the use of assessment, counseling, consultation, coordination of school and community resources, and program development.“

Sarah Wygant School Social Worker

“Many years ago when I was a cafeteria manager at Keister, I had a student ask me how I was able to buy all those groceries and get them in my car. It was one of many things during my time there that made me realize how the world looks through a child’s eyes.”

“I am responsible for all aspects of school nutrition program management including menu planning, food procurement, food distribution, free and reduced lunch data collection/ reporting, and staff training and development.”

“The best part of my job is knowing that each day I come to work, I play a role in making sure that hungry students are fed well so they are ready for learning in the classroom. I have been in this position for 13 years and I love my job. Our HCPS “lunch ladies” are the absolute best.”

Candice Mauzy Secretary of School Nutrition

“What I really enjoy about my job is the wide variety of things I get to work on, and the many different people I have the opportunity to work with.”

“I work with the superintendent and the school board to create and revise school board policy. I also manage our division communications, such as our website, newsletter, and social media, and I serve as a liaison to the press.”

“I am the administrative assistant to Andrea Early in the Nutrition Department. My job consists of processing all free and reduced lunch applications, recording revenue and expenditures, maintaining inventories of all schools kitchen supplies and food, billing and paying invoices, and calculating nutrition payroll among other tasks.”

Executive Director of School Nutrition

“Working closely with dedicated staff who are committed to meeting the social, emotional and learning needs of the students in HCPS schools [keeps me motivated to do my job each day].”

“My job is to provide support and assistance to the elementary school principals to meet the learning needs of their students. I also work closely with the instructional coaches K-12 in providing them support in their work with classroom teachers in each building.”

Jeremy Weaver Executive Director of Elementary Education

Kelly Lineweaver Coordinator of Policy and Communication

ALL PHOTOS BY BRIAN ALVARADO

“I support teachers/school staff in meeting needs of students/ parents identified as English Language Learners, advocate for access and equity for our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Morina Lamb students, and facilitate outreach Teacher of the Visually Impaired for parents new to the U.S. school “I work with any students with a visual impairment who system.” need assistance or special instruction. Although I am locat‘Besides the people, I love coned at the Central Office, I travel throughout the city to all the stantly challenging my own schools and homes where my students are.” perspective. ” “It is my goal to help all my students to be successful and to support the instructional staff who work with them.”

Andrea Early

“I work with students and other members of school communities to support learning, mental health, and positive behavior through assessment, intervention, consultation, and partnership.”

“My favorite part is building relationships with students and supporting skill development. My belief is that students feel good when they demonstrate competence, whether it is academic, social, emotional, or behavioral competence.”

Jason Rutt School Psychologist

“I will be working with behavioral issues in the classroom. I will help develop and implement plans that help mitigate behavioral concerns while promoting a positive classroom environment.”

“I personally enjoy seeing someone experience success; this is especially rewarding after the person has struggled in a classroom. This position will allow me to help more students achieve success in school.”

Mattias Clymer Behavioral Specialist

The Newsstreak

“I edit, process, encumber, order, match invoices and forward for payment all materials, utilities, leases, service agreements, etc. for the school division. I’m the one who makes sure the supplies are here for the students to use each day.”

Purchasing Specialist

“Although the finance department does not make decisions on curriculum issues, we work hand in hand with the educational leaders to insure that they have the necessary resources - materials, textbooks, technology, equipment, facilities, and transportation - to provide a quality educational program for every student in the school division. We administer and manage the business side of operating a school district. - including such functions as accounting, accounts payable, payroll and benefits, budgeting, procurement, assisting with facility planning, and providing nutritious meal offerings through our school nutrition program.”

“My least favorite memory working in this role is that I miss interacting with the students on a daily basis at Harrisonburg High School. ”

Tracy Shaver Executive Director of Finance

“I am motivated to give my best self every day knowing that I am looking at the long term vision to ensure creative learning and artistic expression opportunities for our students and teachers.”

“I support, advocate, and celebrate Harrisonburg City PreK-12 teachers and students engaging in the fine and performing arts through curriculum development, professional development, and special programming.”

JR Snow Fine Arts Coordinator

Tammy Spitzer

“It is rewarding to connect families and students to community resources and to be able to support families in removing barriers to success for their children. ”

“The primary role of the school social worker is to identify and assist students, families, and school systems to overcome barriers that interfere with learning through the use of assessment, counseling, consultation, coordination of school and community resources, and program development.”

Chloe Jerlinski School Social Worker

“I work directly with the Executive Director of Human Resources at Central Office. I process hiring paperwork for all new hires, such as student teachers, substitutes, teachers and teacher assistants for all of our schools. I do a wide variety of business reports related to how many people we have working for us.”

“I love what I do because I love meeting new people. It is also satisfying to know that you provided them with a job that they really wanted.”

Human Resources Assistant

Yeevonne Connolly

“For as long as I can remember, I have thoroughly enjoyed helping my family, friends, peers and/or colleagues succeed. It’s part of my core value system. I chose to work with the Harrisonburg City Public Schools because of their innovative, inclusive and student-oriented culture. It felt like it was a place where I could provide value and thrive personally.”

“[This job requires] knowledge of laws and regulations that impact personnel decisions, teacher licensing requirements, personnel laws and human resource functions such as recruitment, dismissal and retention of staff.”

Executive Director of Human Resources

Andrew Ansoorian

December 18, 2015

Feature-A7

The Newsstreak

December 18, 2015

Feature-A10

A LOOK INSIDE:

How prominent are these issues in the school?

23%

of HHS students have smoked marijuana at least once before

of that 23%...

4 in 10 50%

have smoked or been high in school before

72% of students feel racism exists at HHS

25% 1 in 2

of that 23%...

have felt bullied while at HHS before students have witnessed bullying at HHS before

smoke marijuana daily or weekly

45% 24%

of students claim to have been disrespected by a teacher in the past month

of students nationally claim their teachers don’t treat them with respect

10% 1 in 10

of students nationally have felt bullied while at school before of students nationally claim they would help someone being bullied

What is the biggest issue in our school?

33 39 10

percent feel it is respect

percent feel it is drugs

percent feel it is equality

8

percent feel it is bullying

10

percent feel it is something else

On Thursday, Dec. 10, the Newsstreak staff polled the student body in a Streaks Leadership period about the topics that the Streaks Leadership group has covered so far in the school’s ELT periods: diversity, drugs, bullying and respect. The Newsstreak staff then took it a step further to ask about other relevant issues and how common all of these issues are. The Newsstreak staff was able anonymously to poll 879 students out of the student body of just over 1600. National statistics are taken from schools nationwide that took the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program survey in 2013.

41

48% 70%

According to...

of students, smoking marijuana is unsafe

percent of HHS students have consumed alcohol before

According to...

Of that 41%...

of students, drinking alcohol is unsafe

percent consume alcohol on a weekly or daily basis

23

107 17 Of that 41%...

of the 879 polled students have done a drug other than marijuana, alcohol or tobacco

percent have drunk or been drunk at school before

Lesbian couple overcomes challenges, finds comfort at school Austin Swift Print Editor-in-Chief Couples are common within the school, but those consisting of only one gender are not. Seniors Yasmine Rodriguez, who identifies as bisexual, and Eva Ramirez, who declined to provide her sexuality, have been dating for a year and eight months. For Rodriguez, the discovery process began with confusion, before she gradually became certain of and comfortable with her sexual orientation.

“There were some tendencies in elementary school, but in middle school [I was sure],” Rodriguez said. “I didn’t really understand the concept, I didn’t even know that was even an option, because I grew up in a very Christian home where you’re [supposed to be] straight. I didn’t really understand my feelings for girls, but now that I do, I can look back and be like ‘oh, I liked her.’”

Ramirez’ family had to warm up to the idea, but are now comfortable with it.

“At first, they weren’t okay with it, they got a little mad, but they learned to accept it. Before they knew, they’d always talk about how they wouldn’t like it if their daughter was like that,” Ramirez said.

Rodriguez has been faced with keeping her relationship from part of her family, as only her father, brother and grandparents are aware, while her mother’s side may not be as supportive.

“When I told my dad, I don’t think it was a big shock to him, because I would always talk about Eva all the time, and he knew [we] were more than just friends,” Rodriguez said. “Finally I told him and he was just like ‘well maybe it’s just a phase, but if it’s not that’s fine too.’ He was always very accepting, so it made it really easy to tell him.”

Rodriguez has found it harder to approach girls than guys, as determining their sexuality isn’t as straightforward as it is with the other sex.

“It’s really hard [to find someone] because we’re at that age where we think about what others think so much that people who are gay or lesbian or bi, they’re not really open to it because we’re so self conscious about what others think and there are some that are brave and courageous and very open,” Rodriguez said. “So it’s very hard to figure out people’s sexualities, because you can’t really be like ‘oh, they have this characteristic so they must be [lesbian/ bisexual].’ And then [it’s hard] liking someone straight, and that’s what’s weird, because you can’t really do anything about that because they don’t like you.”

The couple is yet to be able to be their true selves at all times; however, they have found school to be a safe place where they can openly display their feelings towards each other without feeling threatened.

“At school, people will find me and Eva holding hands because it’s a very controlled environment. It doesn’t really bother me. It took a long time for [me to become comfortable with it]. It was a process, but once I got to that moment where I’m like ‘okay, well I’m with her and if someone doesn’t like it then that’s on them’ I was very confident,” Rodriguez said.

The public reaction has varied for Rodriguez, but she has been able to extract the positivity while ignoring the negativity from it.

“I’ve actually lost some friends because I started dating Eva. I guess at first it really got to me, but at the end of the day they weren’t my friends to begin with if they could leave me over something that’s so important to me. They’re not friends that I want to be with

or be around if this is the breaking point with me dating a girl,” Rodriguez said. “And then there are people who see us hold hands and stare for a really long time. At first I was so self conscious about it, [but now] it’s really funny. Now Eva will say ‘hey, kiss me’ just to see their reaction. There are other people who are very supportive and

that question really bothers me, because I didn’t just ‘turn’ lesbian.”

The problems they encounter are unique to same-sex relationships, but going through it together and having the same experiences have assisted them in overcoming those obstacles.

“I always tell my dad, it’s not

PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT

EVERYBODY NEEDS SOMEBODY. Seniors Yasmine Rodriguez and Eva Ramirez feel comfortable discussing their relationship at school.

Streaks leadership classes have really focused on tolerance and not bullying others during the weekly sessions opposite ELT days. Both girls encourage others to be more accepting and comfortable with people. then there are people who ask me ‘when did you turn lesbian?’ and

our inside problems, like what every [straight] relationship goes

through, it’s outside. Having the courage to be in the relationship, because in society we are still not at that point where [it can be okay]. Even though marriage has been legalized, there are still people who are going to be like ‘that’s disgusting’ and it hurts sometimes. There are some people who just cannot hold down their reactions, so they’re going to act crazy and do whatever they want to do and sometimes I let that affect me a lot,” Rodriguez said. “So that’s why I’m really thankful for Eva, because she gives me a lot of strength and she is the type of person [who will say] ‘that’s them, that’s not us. It’s me and you, not me, you and them.’ She’s always encouraging me to just push myself and keep going, and of course it’s easy when you have someone like her by your side, because she’s a big motivation [for me].”

Rodriguez believes that when looking at it the right way, an LGBT couple can be perceived the same as a straight one.

“There are a lot of things people don’t see, because they don’t allow themselves to see them, but I think if they just for one second thought of us as a regular couple, they would see that there’s so much emotion and so much beauty and so much respect. In some ways, I think there’s even more respect and emotion, because you’re dealing with a lot of other things besides what’s inside of the relationship, you’re dealing with the outside things too,” Rodriguez said.

Keeping her relationship with Ramirez from part of her family has become a particularly difficult challenge for Rodriguez.

“I want to be able to [tell them] ‘this is my girlfriend,’ because she’s the best person I’ve ever had,” Rodriguez said. “She’s so- I don’t know, I don’t have a word for it.

She’s perfect.”

Ward leads Streaks Leadership program to empower students

David Gamboa-Pena Photographer Dave Ward is the Student Assistance Counselor and one of the main leaders of the school community program, Streaks Leadership.

He helps students deal with mediation, peer issues and Student Assistance Program Referrals, along with being involved in Streaks Leadership.

Over the course of the year, during ELT periods, Streaks Leadership has spurred discussions in the classroom regarding bullying, whether it be in real life or cyber, drugs in the school, respect, peacebuilding and school spirit.

In the future, meetings on the importance of education and accepting others are being looked at.

“Every topic we want to cover is around making the school a more safe, more accepting and where people feel more comfortable being at school,” Ward said.

Topics covered in the the Streaks Leadership meetings are driven to make to school a better place for everyone. While in previous years, students were sprayed with anti-bullying meetings, the course of action has changed. Different topics that can relate to bullying are addressed in order to help the big picture.

“Bullying is a topic that all of these other top-

ics touch on, so instead of hammering on all the students on bullying, we thought we would cover a lot of different stuff that may have to do with bullying or may have something to do with bringing people closer together, rather than spreading them apart,” Ward said.

According to Ward, Streaks Leadership meetings have been making a positive impact on the school so far and havecaused a lot of response from the student body.

“We have gotten a lot of feedback from students in classroom meetings.

It has been really amazing to see the amount of feedback, especially from the last three.

School spirit has had a lot of feedback,” Ward said.

While it isn’t a very publicized occurrence, the leaders of the two student bodies at HHS, the Red Sea and Blue Sea, have been meeting to find ways to collaborate. Once a week they meet about what they can do together. As a result, the Red Sea has made a text reminder and is working to get all the students in the school a shirt for free.

Student feedback showed a desire for more pep rallies and spirit weeks, so that is a part of what they are planning.

“I think it is good that the students in the building know that administration and the adults in the building, we are listening, we

want to listen,” Ward said.

In the drug meeting, the conversation consisted of talks that led to more adults and more monitoring around the school. More activites are trying to be planned to keep students out of the drug culture as well as more cameras around the school. K2 classes are going to be going around because that is an issue now Ward explained.

“I talked to one of the leaders of the Red Sea and he was talking about trying to plan events right after school that these different groups could come up with to try to give people more things to do after school so that they don’t have to fall into

this culture,” Ward said.

Streaks Leadership has been combating the problems at school that may be harmful or dangerous to the students and staff. It has been working to make the school a safer and more comfortable place for people to be.

“I want students to understand that they have a voice and their voice deserves to be heard. You guys have great ideas that many of the adults don’t think about because we don't live as HHS students. You see a lot of the things we don’t, and we want to respect your voice. My hope is that out of all of these meetings students feel like they are heard,” Ward said.

December 18, 2015

Feature-B1

The Newsstreak

Rotary Exchange Program gives Orozco new opportunities

Irene Liu Feature Editor Joaquin Orozco is a student from Venezuela who came to America to study abroad through a program called the Rotary Exchange Program, introduced to him through other exchange students who once visited his neighborhood. Orocco has been at HHS for four months and will complete his senior year here before returning to Venezuela to study Mechanical Engineering.

With this trip being his first to America, some things differ between the two countries. “[Venezuela] is very different. I mean, everything here is big. The school is big and it has more people and more land,” Orocco said.

Orocco enjoys the sports at HHS, which are mostly similar to the sports in Venezuela.

“I want to join the soccer team.

If that doesn’t happen, then maybe the tennis team. I’m on the swim team right now. [Sports in Venezuela compared to the U.S. are] the same.

The only thing that is different is the football. We don’t have football at home,” Orocco said.

Already, different activities in and around Harrisonburg are becoming Orocco’s favorites.

“Football I think is my favorite thing right now. [I’ve been to] football games and basketball games. I went to Smith Mountain Lake. It was really fun,” Orocco said.

As of now, Orocco is staying with the family of junior Seth Bontrager, but stayed with the family of senior Joshua Byrd before Thanksgiving.

The Rotary Exchange Program is a program that provides 8,000 students (ages 15-19) the chance to travel and learn abroad anywhere from a few weeks to an entire year. “[The program is] really awesome. There’s a lot more exchange students, so you get to know people from France, Brazil and Germany, not only American people,” Orocco said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOAQUIN OROZCO UNDER THE SEA. Orozco enjoys adventures such as exploring and hiking in America as well as back home in Venezuala. Orozco was on a diving expedition in Morrocoy National Park where he got the opportunity to scuba dive by himself. “I love getting to experience new cultures and people, it has opened my eyes to a lot of things. There is so much you can learn from traveling. Everyone here has been so generous to me in America, I would [recommend the exhange program] to anyone who is open to new things,” Orozco said.

42 countries represented at HHS All shaded countries signify at least one HHS student’s home country

Hameed plans to take advantage of his freedom Faith Runnells Print Editor-In-Chief

INFOGRAPHIC BY AUDREY KNUPP

Lopez- Salinas endures hardships coming to United States David Gamboa Photography Editor At eight years old, Josue Lopez-Salinas made the long and dangerous trek through the Sonoran Desert to come to America.

Coming from Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, Josue first landed in Arizona after crossing the border, eventually going to New York and ending up in Harrisonburg. In Mexico, Josue’s life was plagued with oppression and hardships. Coming to America meant a new life and new opportunities.

Accompanied only by his mom, Josue made the extensive, sweltering and treacherous journey through the desert and eventually crossed the border.

His mom had previously been in America, but when it was his time to come, she went back to make the journey with him. The trip to America was very grueling and posed many obstacles.

“Going through the extreme heat, looking for a ride to the apartment we were supposed to be in and getting a job after, none of the crossing was easy,” Lopez said.

In Mexico, Lopez was working

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOSUE LOPEZ-SALINAS A LONG JOURNEY. Josue Lopez-Salinas lived in Mexico with his father until the age 8, while his mother was working in America to save money for Josue to come to the USA. with his father at a fabric company. In harsh conditions and making very little pay at the age of seven, it was an environment of poverty and oppression he wanted to escape. “[I came for] better opportunities, a better life and it also helped me escape the oppression back in Mexico,” Lopez said.

Now in America, a first world

country, Lopez has access to good schooling and job opportunities.

He is protected by the law and lives a better life. “[My life is] a lot better now, I have a job, I have a better education and I can speak three languages, Spanish, English and Portuguese. In Mexico, I wouldn’t have any of that,” Lopez said.

Born over 6,000 miles away, senior Kaywan Hameed made the move from Kurdistan to America three years ago, alongside only half of his family. After his brother had been injured serving in the U.S. Army while in Kurdistan, Hameed’s parents, bringing along Hameed and three of his brothers, decided it was time to move to America.

“My brother was in the U.S. Army and he got bombed in Mosul, Iraq and he lost his leg. After that, we moved to the U.S.. We came here because he needed help,” Hameed said. “I was thinking about going into the Army, but when that happened to my brother, I decided not to go.”

According to Hameed, life in the two countries resemble each other.

“Life in Kurdistan is basically the same as American [life]. You wake up, go to work or go to school, spend some time with family. I was a soccer player, so I played for the city [that] I lived in. I had practice three times a week,” Hameed said.

“Winning was [the best part of that], because it’s awesome.”

The decision to move was so immediate that Hameed didn’t even get the chance to say goodbye to some of his family members, including his aunts, who he has never been able to see since he was told he was moving to America.

“I couldn’t believe [we were moving] until I got here. It was one day, my dad came and was like ‘we got a call. We’re moving next week. We’re going to America.’

And I was like ‘what? Are you serious?’ and saying bye to all [my] friends and family was hard. Some of them I didn’t get a chance to say bye [to, like] my aunts. I never saw them,” Hameed said.

After the actual packing of bags and travel to America, Hameed’s adrenaline settled and it set in

that he was actually in America for good.

“I couldn’t speak English. It was tough. I had no friends and had to start making friends over [again]. I didn’t like it here at first, but now I do,” Hameed said. “[Making friends again] was hard.

Just talking to people, just saying words and watching TV [helped me learn the language.]”

Two of Hameed’s brothers and his sister still live in Kurdistan, which Hameed finds to be his greatest regret of moving. However, he has never been back to visit Kurdistan and doesn’t have any set plans to go in the future.

“My parents thought if we came here, we could get a better education. But [my family still in Kurdistan] are married. They just want to stay there,” Hameed said. “It was hard when my parents came here because they left their family back there and all they had was [me and my brothers],” Hameed said.

Although his family has been split, Hameed is grateful for the advantages that living in the U.S. provides compared to those offered in his home country.

“I like America because I have more opportunities. Back there, my brother graduated from college and was a teacher, but he couldn’t find a job. If you graduate here, you can get a job easily, so I like it,” Hameed said. “The education here is better. The people and government [are different]. Here, people have freedoms. They can talk. They can say whatever they want, but [in Kurdistan] it’s not like that,” Hameed said.

Hameed emphasized the education in America especially because he plans to pursue a career in engineering after receiving a college degree at either James Madison University or Old Dominion University.

“When I first got to America, I looked around. I liked it. Everything was green,” Hameed said.

“I was like, ‘[America] is beautiful.

I’m going to go have some fun.’”

Noori hopes to find permanent home for family in America Abby Hissong Print Managing Editor Mohammad Noori is not your average freshman. For most of his life, Noori lived in Iraq. When he was 16, his family had to leave behind everything they knew because living there was no longer an option because of the war raging around them.

Noori and his family relocated to Jordan for a year, until it became clear

that it was no longer safe to live there either. Noori and his mother left to go to the United States in July of 2014, but he didn’t enroll in high school until this year.

“I was working at Shenandoah Growers to save up money for the rest of my family in Jordan. We didn’t have much money coming here, so only two of us could come [to America]. My mother and I worked a lot to get money, so I had to wait a year

before I could come to school,” Noori said.

When Noori first moved to America, he was 17 and didn’t speak any English.

Noori quickly picked up on the language through his coworkers, and became fluent within a matter of a few months.

“There are still a few words I have trouble with, but I am pretty good at English. I almost always know what someone is telling me, but sometimes I have to think about how to re-

spond. Being in school this year has helped me understand [English] more, so it’s not very hard anymore,” Noori said.

Being able to go to school is a privilege that Noori didn’t have when he lived in Jordan, so coming to America is a big step in getting to where he wants to be.

“I went to school in Iraq, but when we moved to Jordan I couldn’t go anymore.

School here is different and in another language,

so I’m trying to get better.

The opportunities here are really good,” Noori said.

Noori is currently working towards getting an advanced diploma from HHS, as well as working part time to help his mother pay for rent and food. Noori has very little free time, but doesn’t mind helping out.

“I am happy that I can go to school this year. Last year I worked full time, and I didn’t like it. I usually try to finish my homework at school so that I don’t have

to do it after work because then I am too tired,” Noori said.

After high school Noori plans to pursue higher education in the medical field.

“I want to be a doctor or a dentist. Right now I am trying to get good grades so that I can get a scholarship to college. It doesn’t matter where I go, as long as I get to go. Eventually I want to save enough money to bring my whole family here,” Noori said.

Man on the Street

If you could participate in an exchange program, where would you go?

Sophomore Bollin Sevilla “Spain.”

Freshman Aiden Kearney “Brazil.”

Senior Andy King “New Zealand.”

Freshman Parker Rising “Australia.”

Junior Ninoska Betran “India.”

Senior Bianca Pierson “Japan.”

Teacher Mallory Cromer “Croatia.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY ABBY HISSONG

December 18, 2015

Feature-B2

The Newsstreak

AP Enviro sports one of top averages AP BY THE NUMBERS Olivia Comer Online Managing Editor All year students slave over notes, studying, and homework for the immediate purpose of a good grade, but for AP students none of that work matters at all unless they pass the dreaded,AP exam.

The grading scale ranges from 1 to 5, with 5 being the very highest you can get, and the scores are based upon how the student does compared to the rest of the students who took it.

Every teacher has certain ways of teaching to the test. Some like to assign lots of homework to help you remember by writing, and some mimic the AP exam in their own tests, but whatever method they use, there is a method behind it.

Adam Goble teaches AP environmental sciences at HHS. He has been teaching an AP level course for six years now and in that time, he has found a way to drive his students test scores to be some of the highest in the school.

“I’ve more or less learned what they are really picky about and so I know key topics that show up every year in and out, and I pay attention to what they talk about and what they’re emphasizing. They tend to give hints like people aren’t doing so

well on this category and so they start to emphasize that more. So basically just paying attention to what the College Board says about the overall tests,” Goble said.

Not only does Goble pay close attention to what the AP exam is looking for, he also incorporates the exam style into his personal tests.

“So the AP test is made up of 100 questions. That’s a mixture of a really short concise matching section, multiple choice sections and then it’s laid out with four very large essay questions.

It’s about a 60-40 split, so I try to keep my tests around a 60-40 split as well. There is usually a matching section or two that is related to a few key ideas. For example, matching up different types of oars with like extraction techniques they need to know so getting different types of metals or oars there will be a matching section on that or something similar. [I use] the same vocabulary style with a lot of multiple choice questions that are in the same format as the AP test. We call them free response questions in AP environmental, but they’re math problems, essay questions, short answer questions, listing and that kind of stuff. I format the wording almost identically to how they do on the AP test so they know what I’m looking

for,” Goble said.

Goble’s methods extend to outside of the classroom as well.

The idea is that there is plenty of time to get the homework done between day one of the unit and the test, so it is not necessarily required to do it until the night before, but here’s the catch. A lot of the homework questions will be on the test and if a general understanding of the homework is met beforehand, it will translate to better test scores.

“So I think that reading and doing the homework and putting your time into it does increase your grade, also I think it prevents my students from burning out because a lot of them are in other AP classes that have a lot more material to cover and so they feel like they have some breathing room. I”ll tell them what to do at the beginning of the unit and say this is when it’s due and then when they find time to do it, they do it and I tell them as long as it is in by the test date, even if they have to move some stuff around or ask for an extension, I’m not too picky about it. But there is definitely a better understanding of the material when you do the homework and you get it done on time. I also put a lot of homework questions on the test in a different format so it really benefits them to get it done early,” Goble said.

Online AP classes present challenges Hannah Miller Feature Editor AP classes are an option for those who want a more challenging course, but with grades that contribute to a higher GPA. Junior Ryan Doerr is taking AP Spanish online, and it’s not her first experience with the virtual classroom.

“I took two [online courses] last year: online Econ and Personal Finance and online World History,” Doerr said.

HHS only offers Spanish Five as an independent study, so Doerr took this class out of obligation for her scheduling.

“I’m taking this AP out of necessity because our school doesn’t offer Spanish Five. It’s only an independent study class, which I don’t really have time for. So I decided to take AP Spanish online because it’s a lot more convenient even though the class work is significantly harder than it would be if I were taking it in a classroom,” Doerr said.

Online AP classes help many students in the school who can’t fit what they want into their schedule, but they don’t provide everything a classroom can.

Junior Sara Mustafa, taking AP Human Geography, says it’s easy to forget your priorities.

“You get kind of lazy. You tend to forget about your as-

signments because they’re not physically there in front of you,” Mustafa said.

Even though an AP class taken online can be different from a classroom, Mustafa sees the upside as well. “[The class is an] easy A. You can go at your own pace and the assignments are easier,” Mustafa said.

Junior Molly Campillo is taking AP World History online, and says the choice of pace is one of the best parts. “[The best parts are] the more advanced learning expectations and opportunities...You have more flexibility and the AP gives a higher GPA. You can do things at your own pace,” Campillo said.

Certain classes taken as an online AP may seem like an easy grade, but the work load differs depending on the course.

“It’s a lot harder getting oneon-one help when you have to do it over the phone or on the computer. It makes getting all of the work done a lot harder,” Doerr said. “There’s a lot more structure to the class when you’re taking [AP Spanish] online because when you do independent study a lot of the times it’s review, and you’re in another Spanish classroom, so it’s not the same kind of help that you would be getting as opposed to the kids that are actually in that

class.”

Online AP classes do not have an actual teacher because there are many options, and not always a class-sized amount of students. In Doerr’s Spanish class, there is one teacher for the entire state.

“There’s an online teacher who is available to email or to call for anything you have to ask questions about. But she does the class for the entire state, everybody who’s taking AP Spanish online, and it’s a lot harder getting one-on-one help when you have to do it over phone or on the computer. It makes getting all of the work done a lot harder,” Doerr said.

While Mustafa is taking her online AP Human Geography for an easy A, Doerr sees quite the opposite for her Spanish class.

“I personally think [online AP classes] are a lot harder because you are required to take the AP exam at the end of the year, regardless of whether or not it was in a classroom, but it sort of depends on your learning style. As far as AP Spanish online is concerned, I would not recommend it because it’s a lot more difficult than I had anticipated it would be,” Doerr said.

Whether the AP online courses are seen as worth it or not, they help students earn the credits they want without the fear of jeopardizing their schedules.

OVERALL: Total # of AP students Total # of AP exams given Total # of AP with scores 3+ % of AP with scores 3+ % of AP in VA with scores 3+ % of AP in world with scores 3+

2012 226

2013 248

2014 248

2015 226

417 166

477 175

469 178

512 151

73.5% 64.4% 61.5%

70.6% 64.3% 60.9%

71.8% 65.3% 61.3%

66.8% 65.7% 60.7%

SPANISH LANGUAGE AND CULTURE: 5

2012 17

2013 12

2014 14

2015 10

4 3

8 1

14 8

9 10

6 2

2 1

2 0 28 4.43

3 4 41 3.66

0 0 33 4.12

0 0 18 4.44

TOTAL EXAMS MEAN SCORE

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE: 5

2012 3

2013 4

2014 1

2015 2

4 3

6 3

8 9

5 5

9 3

2 1

6 14 32 2.31

8 10 39 2.69

0 1 12 3.42

0 0 14 3.93

TOTAL EXAMS MEAN SCORE

ENGLISH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION: 5

2012 3

2013 8

2014 2

2015 7

4 3

12 13

7 17

10 12

9 8

2 1

18 0 46 3.00

8 3 43 3.21

6 3 33 3.06

9 1 34 3.35

TOTAL EXAMS MEAN SCORE

UNITED STATES HISTORY: 5

2012 9

2013 6

2014 7

2015 10

4 3

8 12

11 10

10 5

11 9

2 1

20 6 55 2.89

11 4 42 3.10

15 4 41 3.02

6 6 42 3.31

TOTAL EXAMS MEAN SCORE

INFOGRAPHIC BY BECKY STATON

540.801.8989 “We serve authentic Chinese Food and Sushi!”

Located at 563 University Boulevard Suite 110 (Across from Costco)

945 S. High St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Toll Free: 866-434-7632 Local: 540-434-7632

Eat in, Carryout, Delievary, and Catering, Order Online orientalcafeonline.com www.facebook.com/orientalcafe

December 18, 2015

The Newsstreak

Benton travels between Japan, America every year Sarah Earle Staff Reporter Not everyone can say that they go to school in two different countries year round, but freshman Marena Benton can. For Benton, Japan is a second home.

“I was born in Hokkaido, Japan,” Benton said. “I came to America for the first time when I was four months and then we’ve been going

back every year for a couple months.”

Marena has lived in other states here in the U.S.. before living here in Harrisonburg.

“When I was four months old, we came to America, New Jersey. We had a house in New Jersey, but every year we still went back [to Japan] for a couple months. We lived in both Japan and New Jersey

and then when I was five, we moved to Harrisonburg.

When we’re in Harrisonburg, we still go to Japan.”

Benton said.

When Benton is in Japan, she attends school.

“I go to school there, so the difference there would be that we had uniforms.

School is a lot stricter and more orderly. It’s custom everywhere in Japan to remove your shoes when you

PHOTO BY SARAH EARLE

NO PLACE LIKE HOME. Freshman Marena Benton eats her usual lunch, influenced by her culture.

go inside of most buildings.

When you go inside, you had to change your shoes.

There are these big boxes at the front door and there are slots, so everyone goes up and takes their shoes off, and they have indoor shoes,” Benton said. “[I like school better] here definitely because in Japan, up until middle school, there are no advanced classes. Everyone learns at the same pace.

So basically it means that you’re learning at the pace of the slowest person there.

Sometimes it’s a bit of a drag.”

Benton also played volleyball in Japan, as well as playing on the JV team for Harrisonburg last year, just like her sister, Athena.

“I have one sister, who’s a junior [Athena Benton] and on the volleyball team.

My dad is American and he’s from Virginia. My mom is Japanese, so I have duel citizenship, that way it works out,” Benton said.

“My dad went to Japan right after he graduated from college because he wanted to travel. Then he started teaching English at a school and my mom was working at that school. That’s how they met.”

The classes Benton takes in Japan are similar to those here.

“There is language arts, math, science, history, geography, art, etc.” Benton said. “[The classes are] the same schedule as America, Monday through Friday.”

Benton moved from Japan because her dad was only temporarily living there, and had to attend graduate school to get his Doctorate/ Ph.D. “A lot of things are dif-

ferent [about Japan]. The language, the people, etc.”

Benton said. “While I’m in Japan, I stay at my grandparents house in this tiny town called Hidaka Monbetsu, on the south coast of Hokkaido. Most of the time I’m there, I don’t have time for anything other than school, but I get to spend time with friends and family that I usually don’t get to see.”

Benton lived in NJ for five years before she moved to Harrisonburg.

The school that Benton attended in D.C. was called the Washington Japanese Language School.

“I don’t remember that much because I was five, but I went to a little private school, that was like my little world,” Benton said.

“Because I would go to school in Japan, the entire time I was in America, basically I was missing all the material we were learning.

So on Saturdays I would go up to Washington D.C. and I had Japanese school there, every Saturday, every year.

I’m not doing it anymore.

Every weekend I had Japanese school, so I had no weekend basically,” Benton said.

Benton said that the Japanese Language School was a lot like a regular public school in Japan.

“I went almost every week from kindergarten to eighth grade,” Benton said.

“The whole reason I went to a Japanese school was to keep up with the school work in Japan while I was in the U.S., so that when I went back in April, I wouldn’t be super behind.”

Benton said that her least favorite part was having to get up before 7 a.m.

every Saturday and driving two and a half hours there and back.

“The last year I was in Japan was actually [the] summer of seventh grade because I didn’t get to go last year. My friends and my class had a big party for me and they made a little photo album and that was pretty cool,” Benton said. “I left for Japan in April, before the school year ended because I go to school in Japan, so I got to miss the SOLs every year, up until eighth grade.

Eighth grade was the first year I ever took an SOL, apart from the writing one in fifth grade.”

Benton is bilingual in Japanese and English.

“Because I was both raised in Japan and America, and I go to school in both countries, I can read, write, and speak [Japanese]. Generally for me, English is easier, just because I’m in America more.

I guess I’m lucky in a sense.

Most people that are from two countries, their parents won’t be able to do both,” Benton said. “I’m actually not learning any languages at the high school, just English and Japanese because I’m testing out. I’m going to take the AP Japanese test, so I don’t have to do any. So that fills up all of my foreign language credit, so I don’t have to learn Spanish or French.”

Although Benton has moved a lot, she hasn’t traveled much. “[I haven’t traveled] many places, but I’ve been to New Orleans and Canada,” Benton said. “I don’t do a lot traveling. [I’ve also been to] New York, Florida, and Japan.”

Joven family moves to US from Phillipines Jackson Hook Sports Editor Harrisonburg is largely known for its diversity which is seen easily in its school system. Harrisonburg City Public Schools contain families from many different backgrounds.

Whether it is kindergarten or twelfth grade, the diversified community prevails.

This multiplicity can be largely defined by Stone

Spring Elementary second grader Randell Joven. Joven is native to the the city of Naga in the Philippines and arrived to the United States at age four along with his parents and his three older sisters Randee, Jan Marie and Mariel.

“We came here for my dad’s work for being a physical therapist. We went to Disney when we came. There was a heat wave, so we didn’t get to do much, but my sisters

went to the Tower of Terror which is really really cool, but I didn’t get to go since I was too little,” Joven said.

Upon his arrival to the United States, Joven and his family traveled to many different places. For a fouryear-old child who is just learning to speak English, traveling to all of these different places can be a bit overwhelming.

“I was kind of confused when we got here because

I was young, so I didn’t know much about the U.S. and I was sleepy a lot of times because of the time change,” Joven said.

Joven and his family spent time in different states and also visited some extended family before settling down in Harrisonburg.

“We stayed at Florida and then we went to Georgia to meet our cousins and then we went here to Virginia and then we went straight to Harrisonburg.

We rented an apartment before we got a house,” Joven said.

While the Joven family left their home in the Philippines, they brought all of their spirit with them.

Joven says they bond together as a family through music.

“My family is usually a singing family, so once one person sings then everyone else sings and we make a band. Once I come in sometimes I ruin the the

whole thing because I’m not really good at singing, but I like it,” Joven said.

With extended family still living in the Philippines, Joven hopes to be able to return to his home country one day.

“I think we are going back [to the Philippines] next year. My dad always says we’re going in winter and summer but he never actually does it, but we’re gonna do it [in] 2016,” Joven said.

Efraimson family appreciates local school system Ellie Plass Online Editor In-Chief The Efraimsons moved to the Keister Elementary school district in 2010. It was just before their oldest son, Aiden was about to start kindergarten and they knew they wanted him to attend Keister.

“Where we lived before was not in the Keister district, so when we first moved here, our address was still on the north side of town and I had to drive him [to Keister] because the bus wouldn’t take him from where we lived,” father Benjamin Efraimson said.

They had heard from people

around the area that Keister Elementary was the best in the area and that played a part in the decision they made to move to their neighborhood.

The Efraimson’s son now attends Thomas Harrison Middle school but their daughter, nineyear-old fourth grader Ava, can remember when she used to be at Keister with her brother.

“It was cool. When I went to lunch, I used to see him still sitting at the tables, but ready to go, and I’m like, ‘Hi!’” Ava said.

The thing that Ava most likes learning about in school is math. She loves practicing division and multiplication during her classes.

“I heard that [learning math]

makes you successful in life,” Ava said. When she isn’t practicing math, Ava enjoys her “Encore”, or elective, programs, especially physical education and music.

The music programs at Keister are one of the things Benjamin loves most about the school as well.

“I like how in P.E. you get to be active and run around and stuff, and in music I like learning about the composers and the notes, and I like playing piano,” Ava said.

A typical school day for Ava starts out with breakfast and then morning meetings and “sharing” time. After that she has her “Encore” classes, language arts, lunch and recess.

“[My friends and I] love to play around on the playground,” Ava said. After recess is over, she attends her math class. Once math is over, she packs her things and gets ready to go home.

“We put in our planner and our folder [into our backpack], but sometimes when we’re studying for a test we put in our binder, too, because she gives us these papers that let us write in the blanks,” Ava said.

Ava loves all of her teachers at Keister, especially Ms. Saunders.

“She’s just really nice,” Ava said.

Benjamin gets basically only positive feedback from his children about the school system.

“They’ve never had any kind

of bullying, [there have] not been a lot of complaints really about the school system. [In] the meetings that we’ve gone to, you know the group get togethers, the principal clearly had control of the entire school really easily,” Benjamin said. “[Keister is] really involved with the community.

[It’s the] positive things like the field trips that they do, just the walking things they do in town; going to farmers market, having the fire department right across the street, things like that.”

Ava has nothing bad to say about the school, nor does Benjamin.

“Even though I haven’t been to other schools, I feel like it’s the best school ever,” Ava said.

December 18, 2015

Ads-B4

The Newsstreak

Up to 40% OFF HOLIDAY SALE (only one discount applicable per visit)

UPPER 90 SOCCER Buy any top & get 40% OFF matching accessories (Certain restrictions may apply)

Jackets & hoodies starting at only $34.79

Placing an order?

Let us order for you! FREE shipping & 20% OFF any in-house purchase during pick up!

GIFT CERTIFICATES NOW AVAILABLE !

1756 South Main St. Harrisonburg, VA 22801. (540) 435-6521 upper90soccer.va@gmail.com

49 W. Water Street Mon-Thur 7 AM - 10 PM Fri-Sat 7 AM - 11 PM Sun 9 AM - 9 PM

80 W. Water Street Mon-Thur 11:30 AM - 10 PM Fri-Sat 11:30 AM - 11 PM Sun 11:30 AM - 9 PM

Buy one scoop of gelato and get a second scoop FREE! Must present this ad to receive special.

Limit one coupon per customer. Offer expires 1/1/16

December 18, 2015

Ads-B5

The Newsstreak

Hugo Kohl Precious Gems

1663 Virginia Avenue, Suite 210 Harrisonburg, VA 22802 Hours of Operation Monday - Thursday 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Phone: (540) 442-9100 Fax: (540) 442-9096

Location: 217 South Liberty Street, Suite 103 Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Phone Number (540)564-2755 Hours Mon-Fri 11-6 Sat 10-2

www.staciedietzdds.com

J. Todd Fowler, DDS, PC General Dentistry

2870-B South Main Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801

Phone: (540) 434-2423 Fax: (540) 801-0493 Located at 258 Timber Way, Broadway, VA 22815 Phone:(540) 896-7095

Sports-B6

The Newsstreak

December 18, 2015

Wrestling starts season with large numbers, young team Yogesh Aradhey Staff Reporter As the the year progresses, fall sports have made way for winter ones.

Wrestling, which starts in November, and has now competed in their first scrimmage and tournament. Junior Jake Urbanski, a captain on the team, has wrestled for HHS all three years of his attendance, as well as in middle school.

“Practices have started every day and we are starting to get into the swing of things,” Urbanski said. Only a handful of wrestlers are returning veterans.

“We have about 25 guys coming out so it is a pretty young team. There is a lot to learn,” Urbanski said.

“Hard work and dedica-

tion is key,” Urbanski said.

“If everyone comes out every day and works hard and wrestles hard, then they will become better wrestlers.”

Because of the number of students on the team, the team has been getting help from assistant coaches including two JMU club wrestlers.

“It really helps kids get their foundation if a coach can work directly with them or with a small group. With this many kids, we need the extra hands to get everyone started,” Urbanksi said.

Just like all other sports, wrestling has a varsity and junior varsity team. In this sport, varsity sports are determined by a wrestle-off between all the members of a weight class. The winner of each weight class

PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC MILLER

RUNNER-UPS. The wrestling team relaxes after their second place plaque after their season opening tournament in Front Royal. The team lost to Warren County in the finals. gets the varsity spot.

“With all these people competing for the varsity spot, it makes new guys better because you are competing to get on var-

Freshman takes on busy season

Theo Yoder Sports Editor

During this winter sports season, freshman ATreyl Wade is involved in three extracurricular activities: band, gymnastics, and wrestling.

This year is Wade’s first in gymnastics, but wrestling has been a part of his life for almost nine years. “[Wrestling] really is a challenge. You get to take other people down, take your anger out on them,” Wade said. “The team helps out a lot. They teach you valuable lessons about certain people. Also, wrestling is a team sport and you have to really put in work and help out your teammates, and be together as much as you can.”

The wrestling season started with a meet on Saturday, Dec. 5.

Wade finished his first high school wrestling meet with a 3-0 record as a freshman.

“Music is the main thing for me,

but it was also my family and my teammates that pumped me up,” Wade said.

Aside from wrestling, Wade is the only male on the gymnastics team. Many schools in the area do not have a boys gymnastics team and this means Wade cannot compete in the meet on Dec. 12. During practice, Wade is used to helping and does many things for the team.

“I am forced to do everything for the team, I am the guinea pig.

But I am going to cheer the girls on this Saturday, they should be pretty good.” Wade said. “My little cousin, she challenged me to do gymnastics as long as I could and see if I could be better than her, so that’s what I am doing.”

Unlike most of his teammates, Wade will not stop wrestling at the end of the season. He will participate and practice wrestling all year long. Wade plans on pursuing gymnastics and wrestling all four years of his high school career.

sity,” Urbanski said. Wrestle-offs take place several times during the season, a few tournaments apart, to give athletes several chances to be on the varsi-

ty team.

In the wrestling post-season, teams, as well as individuals, are scored.

The goal for all junior varsity athletes is to get a varsity

spot by conference.

“It’s not magic. You get out what you put in. You work hard and you get results,” Urbanski said.

Barranco expects success Jackson Hook Sports Editor Ever since she was a little girl, senior swimmer Jessica Barranco has always loved to swim. The swim and dive season is underway and Barranco will be competing alongside her team as a captain this year.

“A lot of [being a captain] is just getting to know the team and just being a part of all the administrative stuff. You have to work your way up and do it well, that sort of thing. A lot of it is just seniority though,” Barranco said.

Barranco found she enjoyed the sport and the people that come with it. This drives her to continue her swimming in her fourth year for the team.

Like most of the swim team,

Barranco was a part of the Westover Waves swim team growing up which helped her build her foundations of swimming.

“I’ve been competing for about 10 years now and I’ve been swimming since I was little. I started swimming with the Waves when I was seven or so. I just really liked [swimming],” Barranco said. “I also liked the people a lot, which is one of the big reasons why I’ve kept at it. I have always had a good team.”

From what she has seen so far, Barranco believes her team will be successful this season. “[The season] is going really well. We have a really big team this year; we’re doing really well. I think we will be ready for our first meet this season,”

Barranco said.

With goals set for both the team and individually, Barranco looks forward to a successful season of broken personal records and post-season appearances.

“I would like to see some of the people on the team go to states this year. I believe that we have a very strong team and that we can make it very easily. That would be very, very nice,” Barranco said. “Personally, I am not really sure what my goals are. I’d like to beat my times by quite a bit. Particularly my 500, I would like to bring that down and as a team I just want us to have a really good season. I think that we have a fantastic team this year and we have the opportunity to go very, very far.”

Soccer should be considered new sport of century Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief Look, I made it three issues without a fact-based soccer rant. I deserve this.

It’s my age-old argument that I’ve regurgitated enough times to write a novel: soccer in America is on the rise.

I’ll give you five reasons why soccer is set to be the sport of the century and why you should start paying attention now.

1. Because of football.

No, it’s not an obnoxious “soccer is the real football” spiel, I’m talking American football. As soccer rises, football will fall.

Every other week, you hear about a high school football player who died because of an on-field injury, and it certainly isn’t going to go away during the offseason.

As more and more former professional and college players encounter mental issues, the danger to football players’ health has become a widespread point of controversy. Somewhat recently, LeBron James said he likely won’t allow his children to play football, and if names as big

as his are saying they reach high SPORTS COLUMN it, a lot of parschool, and then ents will be, too. college, and And as those then with their parents begin own children. to divert their 3. The (growkids away from ing) beast that is football, it’s inthe MLS. Not-so-Swiftly creasingly likely If I had a nickthey will pick up el for every time soccer. I’m not I had to defend saying football will go away, Major League Soccer. Yes, and I really hope it doesn’t, it’s not the Premier League I just predict a decline in or La Liga... but it will be. participation at the pee- Never in the history of wee through high school modern sports has a league levels that will ultimately grown so rapidly as has the lead to a larger participa- MLS. tion in soccer.

Since the first kickoff in 2. High school (and rec- 1996, with only 10 teams reational) soccer is gaining involved, the league has momentum. grown to 20 teams (24 by Last season HHS had 2019) in just 19 years. At over 100 students try out the start, teams played for the soccer team. The in football stadiums, but recreational soccer league now, more often than not, in Harrisonburg last spring find home in soccer-specifhad hundreds of partic- ic stadiums. As teams have ipating players and has built their own stadiums, since run out of room in they’ve built tremendous its city fields, resulting in fan bases as well, as teams expansion to the county. like Portland, NY Red Bulls, This isn’t just a local trend, Columbus and Seattle are it’s happening all over the comparable to decibel levcountry; I’m not the only els found only with Europesports writer reporting an teams. And recently, as those stats. If that many those big European teams more kids are playing at come to America during a young age, imagine the their offseason, MLS teams numbers trying out for are consistently beating their school teams when them, proving their quality

level is approaching that of the bigger leagues.

And I’m not done! Soccer fan or not, you’ve heard of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Andrea Pirlo, Didier Drogba and Kaka. Those names, among other legendary soccer figures, have all played, are actively playing, in the MLS in recent years. Credit largely goes to Beckham for triggering the wave of big names crossing the Atlantic, but with that wave brought a vital flood of new supporters leaguewide.

In addition to foreign names, members of the US national team are now a common sight in the league, as American heroes such as Clint Dempsey, Jermaine Jones, Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are all MLS regulars.

To reiterate my claim that the quality level in the MLS is comparable to the best, England legend Steven Gerrard recently acknowledged the surprising competition level he encountered. “You see how strong [the league] is and how fit and professional the players are,” Gerrard said, per ESPNFC.com 4. Our Men’s National Team that likes to tease us.

We find ourselves in the group of death, make it out and take Belgium (who, just a year later, is number one in world rankings) to 120 minutes, completing one of the best World Cup runs in our short history, but then proceed to fall into awful form in the following months. It just about sums up the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT); they come close to proving themselves to be among the world’s best, but then spontaneously combust for no apparent reason.

Don’t fret though, it’s just because the team is pretty much all past 30. We need youth, and it’s coming.

The few bright spots in recent months have come from excellent displays by unknown, up-and-coming talent, like Gyasi Zardes and Jordan Morris. The one thing the team has been missing is an outstanding star. They’ve come close with Dempsey and Donovan, but need a Neymar or Ronaldo, and that name is coming sooner rather than later, especially with the growing popularity of soccer in our youth- outstanding athletes like LeBron or Cam Newton that would otherwise fall into differ-

ent sports are now playing soccer. Before long we’ll have one of them in the USMNT ranks.

Now that the oldies have solidified us as a premier team, it’s time to rotate them out and rotate in the new generation that will bring the team to the next level.

5. The beauty (both in play and appearance) of the Women’s National Team.

Have you ever seen Alex Morgan, Hope Solo or Sydney Leroux? Well, they’re reason enough to become a soccer fan. They’re gorgeous. Looking at them was almost as exciting as watching their team smack Japan and win the Women’s World Cup last summer. The tournament broke all kinds of national viewing records and the team experienced unheard of support from home. If the problem is none of our teams are good (which I object to), then maybe a dominant team such as the USWNT can kick us into gear.

Whether we realize it or not (and I think we’re finally beginning to), American soccer ain’t nothin to mess with.

James McHone Jewelry Hours: Monday - Friday 9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Saturdays 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Phone Number: (540) 433-1833 Located off Court Square James McHone supports the Streaks!

December 18, 2015

The Newsstreak

Sports-B7

December 18, 2015

Sports-B8

The Newsstreak

Sports Briefs Massanutten provides jobs for students BOYS VARSITY BASKETBALL UPCOMING

12/18 vs. Woodgrove @ Harrisonburg 7:30 p.m.

12/22 vs Fort Defiance @ Fort Defiance 7:00 p.m.

GIRLS VARSITY BASKETBALL UPCOMING

12/18 vs. Woodgrove @ Woodgrove 7:30 p.m.

12/22 vs. Fort Defiance @ Harrisonburg 7:30 p.m.

SWIM AND DIVE UPCOMING

12/18 vs. Turner Ashby and Louisa County @ Cecil F. Gilkerson Community Center, Harrisonburg, VA - Westover Pool

GYMNASTICS UPCOMING

1/9 @ Park View High School 1/16 Home Invitational vs. Turner Ashby, Battlefield, Park View (Sterling), Woodgrove, Loudoun Valley

WRESTLING UPCOMING

12/19 vs. Greenbrier East @ Greenbrier HS - Greenbrier, WV 9:00 a.m.

INDOOR TRACK UPCOMING

12/19 Invitational @ Virginia Tech 1/6 Polar Bear Meet @ Fort Defiance 1/9 @ Liberty University

Christian Rodriguez Staff Reporter Every year, the weather and holiday spirit-filled days of winter does not only serve as a time for a break from school, but as a chance for skiers and snowboarders to embrace life on the mountains.

Sophomore Sam Healy and junior Ella Shulgan are involved with instructing opportunities at Massanutten Resort.

Healy is ready for his second year of instructing the youth through the basics of the sport and progressing on in difficulty. This job suits him well as he has been skiing since he was four years old and has many years of experience under his belt.

This program provides employment as Healy expresses there is a job application, learning session, and a try out in order to land this job.

“It pays minimum wage. You must try out and have to go to a teaching session in order to teach the sport,” Healy said.

Throughout this process, Healy must show leadership qualities through the difficulties of teaching as he learned in his first year of instructing. He believes the reward outweighs the hardship in this situation.

“A lot of kids cry. You have to talk your way through it. It’s a long day, but when you get money it’s worth it,” Healy said.

Healy also says some of the perks help out with the difficulty throughout the day and provides motivation with the job.

“When the parents see you working with their kid, they will usually give you a tip,” Healy said.

The teaching aspect of the job and its feeling of accomplishment makes it worth the while for Healy.

“It makes me feel good because I don’t have to pick [the kids] up anymore [after I’ve taught them], and once they’ve really learned it and can enjoy it, it’s worth it,” Healy said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MOLLY BAUHAN

FEEL THE BURN. Junior ski instructor Molly Bauhan tests her balance while skiing at Massanutten Resort.

Shulgan, another experienced snowboarder, hopes to be a part of this new experience as this is her first year trying out.

“This will be my ninth year snowboarding, but this is my first year as a ski instructor,” Shulgan said.

The love of the sport has great influence on passing down the skills and techniques needed for younger generations.

Girls basketball coach building program Bryan Luna Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY THEO YODER

BALL, BALL, BALL. Sophomore Katherine Hernandez attempts to break away from junior Jeraldine Martinez as they prepare for their upcoming game at Woodgrove High School.

The opening of the season can be vital for any sport because it gives the teams a review of their current status. Coach Durmont Perry has taken notes of where the varsity girls basketball stands.

“We’ve got a lot to work on,” Perry said.

“What do we need to work on? Pretty much got to work on everything. We want to build our team through our defense.

Make our offense come from our defense.

We’ve got to get stronger on that. What do we do well? We show up to play. Now that we’re showing up to play, we have to learn to compete in each game. Winning will come later, but we have to learn to compete first. When we get that, we’ll get the ball rolling.”

After going through tryouts, the team consists of nine players.

A match against Rockbridge County on Nov. 18, however, temporarily affected the team make-up.

“We just had some things at the first scrimmage that I had to deal with,” Perry said.

Perry is optimistic about the team’s forward progress and looks forward to this year and working with these girls.

“We’re gonna build a program here...

We’re gonna move forward. That’s the number one goal. Build a program here at Harrisonburg where we’re gonna be respected. We’re still a work in progress.”

Boys basketball underway for winter season Angel Hendrix Staff Reporter As of Nov. 30, the boys basketball team had played two scrimmages and won both.

The first official game for the JV team was held Friday, Dec. 4 and the first official game for the varsity team was held Saturday, Dec. 5.

Don Burgess is the coach for the varsity team. “[I think we won the scrimmages] because of effort and attitude and teamwork, but we still have a long ways to go,” Bur-

gess said.

Freshman Marcus Robinson plays for the JV team. He played basketball last year for THMS and has had to adapt to high school basketball this year. Robinson thinks the season is going well.

“I like it more than last year. It’s more strict,” Robinson said.

Freshman Jakari Deaza plays for the JV team and thinks the season is going well so far as well and enjoyed their first win. “[The best moment was] probably when we won our first scrimmage by a lot because we actually played as a team,” Deaza said.

PHOTO BY SAM HEIE

ALL LINED UP. (Left to right) Freshmen Jakari Deaza, Joshua Lichti, Tommy Karageorge and Taz Lockhart watch their fellow teammates during the JV game against John Handley. They went on to win 59-26.

Sophomore Carson Rising plays for the varsity team. Rising loves to play basketball because he is able to do what he loves every day. He believes that one of the best moments of the season so far was a win for the team.

“The best moment so far was the win against East Rock, just seeing how far we’ve come since we lost to them last year,” Rising said.

Burgess has a different opinion about the best moment, having more to do with the team as a whole.

“I think the best moment is watching the growth of the team and their fundamentals and team chemistry,” Burgess said.

The boys practice every day after school. At the beginning of every practice, they warm-up. The warm-up features stretching, high knees, karaokes, and running.

“The more we practice and take practice serious, the better we’ll play in the game because we practice the way we play,” Deaza said.

“I think the season is going well with having a new coach. He’s bringing new statements for the team,” Rising said.

Junior KeeShawn Perry plays for the varsity team and has a passion for basketball. Perry uses the sport as an outlet for his energy. He played basketball last year for HHS and he has been enjoying this season more than last year’s.

“It’s better than it was last year because Coach Burgess knows what he’s doing and he has high expectations. There’s better involvement with the team,” Perry said.

“The teaching aspect is pretty cool,” Shulgan said.

Shulgan can’t find a reason not to participate as she spends a lot of her winter break in that region.

“I’m up in the slopes all winter anyway, so it’s just another thing to do,” Shulgan said.

Derrick, Kennedy skiing in unusual places Alissa Burnette Staff Reporter As winter quickly approaches, skiing becomes a more popular recreational sport because of the cold temperatures causing snow. Massanutten and Wintergreen resorts are the closest skiing destinations, but junior Anna Derrick and freshman Genevieve Kennedy have skied in places far from Virginia.

“I’ve skied in Virginia, Colorado, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine,” Derrick said.

Derrick isn’t the only member of her family who participates in skiing.

“We go there on vacation, because my family likes to do it together,” Derrick said.

Derrick started skiing when she was 10 years old.

“My dad did it a lot when he was little and so he wanted to go with us,” Derrick said.

Kennedy started skiing two years ago and visits her stepfather in Colorado to go skiing.

“I usually ski around here, but my family goes out to Colorado where there are resorts like Breckenridge and Beaver Creek,” Kennedy said.

Colorado is a hot spot for skiers looking for a range of terrain and slope difficulty.

“I do want to go back out to Colorado because it’s the nicest place to ski,” Kennedy said. “When it snows, and you can ski on the fresh powder, it’s the best thing.”

Kennedy has plans this winter to go skiing in Colorado.

“We skied in [Colorado] twice last year in January and over spring break, and we’re going again in January,” Kennedy said.

Derrick is also going to hit the slopes during winter break to go skiing in a location far from Harrisonburg.

“We’re going to Maine on Christmas break, and I’m really excited,” Derrick said.

Colorado sees approximately 20 percent of U.S. skier visits yearly.

“The mountains are super pretty [in Colorado] and my mom is a sucker for that,” Kennedy said.

See more online at www. hhsmedia.com “Gomez uses futsal to prepare for regular season” “Eighth graders on boys JV basketball team”

December 18, 2015

2015-2016

HHS

NEWSSTREAK

PATRONS

NEWSSTREAK SUPER SPONSORS

The Brown Family Tom Little and Carmen Moreno

Alex Truong Amanda and Joey Beppler Anthony Torres Betty Danti and Anthony Danti Blue Ridge Insurance Services Bobby and Valerie Kibler Bucky and Carolyn Custer Camila Domonoske Chayo Moreno Cynthia Runnells Dawn Wine Ruple, P.C. Dr. Scott and Lori Kizner Eleanor P. Adams Judith S. Strickler Kathy and Larry Whitten Kevin and Karen Rose Kim and Ken Rutherford Mark Varner Michele Hensley Noland and James McHone Richard and Sally Morrell Russell and Nancy Grimes Sallie and Scott Strickler Scott and Bobbie Cole Ted and Stephanne Byrd

GOLD SPONSORS A Touch of the Earth Abe Shearer Aiden Newcity Alex Johnson Alison Domonoske Amanda Dombrowski Anita Lambert Barranco Barranco, Joyce Bill and Bonnie Stewart Bill Beppler Bill Rath Brad and Karen Newcomer Brian and Michele Dombrowski Carolyn Flueckiger Chad Rummel Cynthia Prieto David and Lisa Varner Dick and Nancy Krause Edwin L. Taylor Emily Sharrer Eric Miller Esteban and Lizet Moreno George and Kara Miller Gloria Ottaviano and Greg Stewart Guadalupe Moctezuma Inge Kutchins

Ads-B9

The Newsstreak

Jackie Fitch Jason and Lori Lichti Joan S. Eye Joe and Felicia Glick Joel and Chia-Chi Yoder Joy Strickland Karen and Burns Earle Kent and Sherry Brown Kevin and Sivilay Phengsitthy Laura F-M Lauren Jefferson Martha and Ray Shifflett Martha and Rich Sider Melody Cash Melvin Hendrix Michael Eye Nancy Byrd Nathan and Regina Hissong Noland and Barb McHone Phil and Heidi Klim Phillip Bannister Ralph Hostetler Raymond C. Ewing Roger and Linda Williams Steve and Jeanette Z. Shepard Sue and George Swift Susan Newsome Wesley Livick SILVER SPONSORS

Patrons are members of the Harrisonburg community and others who support the pursuit of excellence in the journalistic publications of Harrisonburg High School. Money generated from the patron program is used to offset costs of attending journalism conferences, to print our paper, and to purchase up-to-date technological equipment for our journalism lab. To become a patron, see any member of the Newsstreak Staff or stop by room 444. You can also visit www.hhsmedia.com to download a patron ad contract. Patron level is determined by the following scale: HHS Patrons, $5; Blue Patrons, $10; Bronze Patrons, $15; Silver Patrons, $25; Gold Patrons, $50; and Newsstreak Super Sponsor, $100+.

Adrie Voors Andy Jackson Ann and Neal Menefee Ann Schaeffer and John Ashenfelter Annie and Mark Carpenter Anonymous Anonymous Bernita Claxton Bethany Everidge Betty Jo and Wayne Fleisher Betty Smith Bill and Nancy Byrd Brent and Tracy Kephart Cadet Campbell Rutherford Caitlin Francis Carroll and Nancy Yoder Cathy and Roger Soenksen Charity O’Connor Charlie and Patty Hade Danae Delozier Darrell Wilson David and Fernando Gamboa Dawn Cockerham Deb and John Kugel Diana Flick Dominique Evans Don Burgess and family Donna and Chuck Schwers Dori Ottaviano Drew and Tracy Koch Ellen and William

3175 South Main Street Harrisonburg, VA 22801 540-214-3200 Mon-Fri 7-5

Carpenter Emilee Hussack Emily Anderson Gail Collins Garry and Peggy Miller Gary Bugg Hayden Rutherford J. R. Snow Jackie Zito and Dick Johnson Janelle Latham Jasmine Charlton Jay and Pat Supko Jessica Dombrowski Jill Hagmaier Jim and Julie Kramer Jim and Kathy Yoder Jim and Shelby Cash John Garasimowicz Juan and Veronica Moreno Judy and Dean Newman Julia and Brad Stewart JW Johnson and Erin Johnson Kat Staton Kavya Beheraj Kendall Bailey Kim Runnells Kristine Long Laura and Sam Measell Margaret Gardner Marika Runnells Mark and Virginia Healy Melanie Smith Mia Karr Mitch Depoy Mr. and Mrs. George W.

Hamrick Ms. Mary Ottaviano Nancy and Greg Simpson Nancy Miller Paul and Jane Walton Peggy Plass Rev. Robert and Dee Dee Jordan Richard and Nancy Morrell Rob and Anneke Rutherford Rob Runnells Robert and Judy Wolfe Sara Gingras Sarah D. Whitmore Sean Rolon Sherrel and Frank Hissong Tamra Atkins The Coin and Gift Shop Tim and Carolyn Lichti Tim and Gwen Stewart Tim Meyers Tricia Comfort Tripp and LInda Denton Tyler and Christian Rodriguez Vickie McAlister Wesley Livick Yutzy Family BRONZE SPONSORS Anonymous Beth Cash Cosette Johnson

Geoffray Estes Isaac Falk Jeremy and Tara Sonifrank Kerri Hofacker Kevin and Sivilay Phengsitthy Lynda Blackwell Mallory and Adam Cromer Melody Wilson Patricia Kelley Paul H. Rath Theresa Eckstein

Luke Gibson Mark Healy Mary Inge Mary Strickler Michael Evans Moses Tinsley Peter Norment Rachel and Ian Linden Ryan Phengsitthy Sr. Claudia Dombrowski Tammy Atkins Terry Murray William L. Stover Yolanda Blake

BLUE SPONSORS

HHS SPONSORS

A friend of HHS Aaron Cosner Andrew Jackson Barry Hart Beverly Combs Charles Getz Chris Shifflett Craig Shoemaker Crys Roach Delynda Hendricks Durmount Perry Emily Barnes Glen Dor Farm Heather Hostetter Jay and Beth Hook Jay Hook Jere Borg Johonn Zimmerman Kasey Hovermale Kevin Tysinger Kim Hook

Alison Whalen Amie Kwiecinski Amy Wheeler Anne Martin Arlene Wiens Bethany Houff Bradley Walton Brenna Cowardin Cara Walton Cathy Grogg Cheryl Helmuth Logan Chris Thurman Christina Norment Claire Leeper Clare Yoder Colleen Morris Constanza Rojas CSM Russell Wilder Daniel Upton Dave Ward Debra Witman

Class Location: Stone Spring Elementary School 1575 Peach Grove Avenue Harrisonburg, VA. 22801 Phone: (540) 476-3395 www.skylinegymnastics.net

Delynda Hendricks Dennis Vondrak Dwayne Hottinger Edson Arango Emily North Erich Sneller Hannah Hrasky Heidi Green Jauan Brooks Judie and Brent McNett Kathy and Gary Ritcher Kelley Shradley Kim Hill Kirk Moyers LaKisha Clark Lily Daye Lisa Long Marcia Lamphier Mark Beppler Marty Carpenter Morgan Benton Phoebe Copeland Rachel Bolyard Roy McCutcheon Seth Shantz Susie Bocock Suzanne Smith T. J. Butler Tracey Calderson Veronica L. Ortiz William Dickerson

December 18, 2015

Humans of HHS-B10

The Newsstreak

HUMANS OF In keeping with our motto “Every person has a story,” the Newsstreak interviews students every month in the style of Humans of New York creator, Brandon Stanton. The idea is to tell the story of as many of our students as possible. Check out a similar project at www.hhsmedia.com.

HHS Junior Ali Maroufi

“What would you do with a million dollars?”

“I would put it in a Swiss bank and buy lots of stocks from different companies and make casinos.”

Junior Megan Lebarge

“Seeing other people happy makes me smile, because everybody has something that they’re worried about, and when seeing people being happy, I know that that is out of their minds temporarily.”

Junior Patrick Badia

“They don’t know me I guess, and they just see what’s on the outside.

I’m kind of shy and kind of standoffish. Sometimes I’m kind of a loner because I don’t really like to talk to a lot of people. I don’t know what to say to them, unless I can have a decent conversation with them. But small talk? I’m not into that.”

Senior Kristin Rich

“When did you get your first tattoo?

“My dad had just died. It means peace and tranquility.

He was 40-something when he got pneumonia, and he ended up dying. He was my best friend for a while, so it struck me really hard. And not too long after that happened, a girl who I really liked finally asked me out after I’d liked her for four years, and now we’re engaged. She’s in culinary school. I’ll be going to culinary school. I was supposed to graduate last year, but when my dad died, I missed a lot, so I’m finishing up credits.

I do most of the tattoos. I’m trying to get an apprenticeship. There’s a shop downtown that I’m going to work for.”

Junior Noelle Warne

“What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever had to overcome?”

“Accepting failure, and not caring what other people think. It’s hard to accept failure because we live in a world that tells us that failure is a horrible thing and that we should strive to be the complete opposite, when in reality we need to fail, so that we can learn from our failures.”

Junior Lucy Moss

“I’m really confident. I’m in tune with my soul. If I want to do something I do it. My friends call me Lucifer.”

Freshman Tobias Yoder

Sophomore Edwin Gilfeliz

“I always really like to help people. If someone asks me to do something, I won’t say no, because they need help. I help out around home, and sometimes during class. If my friend missed a question and asks me, I’ll give them help. It makes you feel good. Sometimes I understand why people don’t help, because they’re busy or something, but it kind of annoys me when people are too lazy to help.”

Senior Jose Angel Martinez

“I play around too much, especially in serious situations. I could be failing a class, but I’ll be playing around, even though I understand what I’m doing. I feel like if I get too concentrated in a class, I get too stressed about it, so playing around in it doesn’t get me as stressed. I’ll make up for it eventually, like I am right now.”

“We went to a pool we weren’t supposed to go to. It was last summer and I don’t [know] what happened, but we heard people and a dog started barking, and it was coming our way, so we started running. It was funny, because my shoe fell off and I had to go and get it back. But it was scary, because the dog was a big, black, tall dog.”

Junior Andrew Ansah

“What do you like about graphic novels?”

“It’s sort of like watching a movie on paper, and I just find that really cool. And with a novel, you’re not relegated to those two hours, you can make as many volumes as you want to complete your story.”

“Have you done it before?”

Freshmen Kaitlyn Cue and Precious Carper “What is the worst thing about her?”

“She’s too perfect.”

“And she’s a liar.”

Yes, 25 chapters. I haven’t named it yet. It’s a long story. It takes place in New York in 1999 and there are things that blur fantasy and reality.

Recently I’ve gotten better at it. At first it was really hard, and it’s still really hard. But as I became better, what was two hours became an hour, and what became an hour became half an hour, and what became that became 10 minutes. Looking back on it is really fun. Just improving a lot and looking back to see how you have improved is just really fun.”

Sophomore Ethan Scribano

“What do you like about being in band?”

“It brings all of us together. We all have something in common; we all like music.”

Photos & Interviews by Maria Snell-Feikema & Brian Alvarado