Newsstreak December Issue 2016

A3: Lip sync battle at Court Square

B7: Odd sports during winter season

The

B11: Swimmers compete outside of HHS

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where every person has a story

Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIIC • Issue 4 • December 16, 2016

BUILDING FUTURES Lintner will lead BES Hannah Miller Print Copy Editor The population of Harrisonburg is rapidly expanding, and so is our education system. There has been discussion upon discussion about a new high school, annexes and other ways to accommodate for students in future years. For now though, immediate action needs to be taken for younger grade levels, and that’s why a new elementary school is being built, moving all fifth-graders back down.

Located on Garbers Church Road, across from Harrisonburg

High School, Bluestone Elementary School will hold fifth graders as well, making it the bigger than the other five K-4 schools within HCPS. Starting next August, newly redistricted students will be attending the brand new three-story school, as will a new principal. Former principal of Keister Elementary School, Anne Lintner will be taking on the job as head administrator next year.

“My initial reaction was just absolute excitement, I felt very honored to have the opportunity. It’s a big job, so it’s a little overwhelming if you start thinking about all the

See BLUESTONE page A2

Therapy dogs help students in the classroom Fights having impact Rigorous training Noah Siderhurst Opinion Editor So far, there have been 12 fights this year. The national average of violent incidents (fights) in schools as of 2014, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, was nine for every 1000 students per year, equivalent to about 15.7 fights if adjusted for HHS’s population. We are currently on course to have approximately 27 fights this year unless the rate slows down.

Many fights start out as trivial disagreements, but can morph into something else, like what happened to sophomore Miranda Dennison.

“We got in this conflict because I was asking about a Facebook status, which is pretty stupid,” Dennison said.

But before she knew it, it had gotten out of hand, with insults being thrown back and forth. In fact, principal Cynthia Prieto thinks that most conflicts start with social media.

“Most, 95% of the fights, have been predetermined. They’ve been cooking, there’s been trash talk, there’s been looks,” Prieto said.

In Dennison’s case, administrators tried to step in, using mediation as a way to create a reprieve in the conflict. This tactic worked for a little bit, but ended up failing.

“I dropped [the conflict] because we had an agreement,” Dennison said. “We did mediation, [but] she broke [the agreement]. She walked by me

See FIGHTS page A2

12

Number of fights this year so far - 6 male - 6 female - 2 of the female fights involved the same groups, as did 2 of the male fights

9

Number of fights at this same time last year

Next issue...

Winter sport highlights Workers and riders of Massanutten Every Person Has A Story features Story behind the wifi hacking Maternity/Paternity leave feature Columns and Editorials New course proposals Winter break festivities Humans of HHS

program prepares man’s best friend to assist kids in HCPS elementary school classrooms

Sam Heie Feature Editor

Man’s best friend, the dog, earned its name because of the strong bond and relationship that forms between the pet and the owner. Dogs exemplify many human characteristics, such as love and compassion. These relationships and characteristics not only gain human trust, but can also be therapeutic.

Therapy Dogs International (TDI) is a volunteer organization that works to train and use therapy dogs in different communities around the world. The local chapter, Chapter 296, is based in Augusta and Rockingham counties.

There are 35 full-time members of the organization that serve in nursing homes, libraries and for HCPS’s elementary and middle school students with emotional and mental troubles. The whole chapter only meets once a year, but they work every day and coordinate over email and phone.

Nicole Rath is a kindergarten teacher at Keister Elementary School. She became a member in August of 2016 after training for four to five months.

Her dog, Maggie, is a yearand-a-half old labrador. The

PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

KID’S BEST FRIEND. Maggie, owned by kindergarten teacher Nicole Rath, entertains Rath’s students at Keister Elementary School. After six weeks of training, Maggie now has the job of providing emotional therapy to children in need. Rath is now in the process of starting a therapy dog program at Keister. training process for Rath and Maggie consisted of a six week instruction camp at the Cecil F. Gilkerson Recreation Center, a special test that Maggie had to pass and then a final TDI approval of health. The whole process cost Rath $125, plus an annual $45 registration fee.

“I originally wanted to train my dog to be a therapy dog for three reasons,” Rath said. “First, I wanted a well trained, gentle dog.

Second, my father-in-law lives at Sunnyside and no longer has a dog of his own, so I wanted to be able to take Maggie to visit him and other residents there that enjoy being around dogs.

Lastly, having a large variety of cultures in my classroom

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each year, I thought having a therapy dog would be a wonderful way to bring my students together as a classroom community.”

These goals were not easily attained, however.

Maggie has to be able to function in the classroom environment.

“As a therapy dog, Maggie’s job is to provide emotional therapy to those who need it. At Keister, I plan to have the students in my classroom read to Maggie as a reward for completing their reading homework charts,” Rath said. “However, I also have students from many different cultures and English language levels in my room, so this is also one way to bring the class together. In turn, they will

learn to get to know, how to treat and take care of dogs using gentle hands.”

Rath hoped to provide emotional help, a learning tool and an all around companion to the students through Maggie. Despite her hopes, Rath has yet to be approved to begin her program at Keister. Permission forms have to be signed by parents, allergies have to be accounted for and several other discrepancies have to be overcome for the program to be installed.

“Due to the growing numbers in our kindergarten, I have 23 students in my class this year compared to 15 students last

See DOGS page A2

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December 16, 2016

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Bluestone Elementary will hold 740 students BLUESTONE from A1 details, but [I mostly feel] just basic excitement,” Lintner said.

Although the prospect of running a new school is big news for Lintner, she is leaving Keister for the first time in 11 years.

“I had a very, very strong connection to Keister; to the families, to the staff there, and it was very hard to leave. [There were] lots of mixed emotions, because I was very excited about the opportunity to open a new school… For educators, education is your vocation, meaning it’s something that’s sort of at the center of who you are. We always talk about, ‘Well if we could open our own school… this is what we’d do’,” Lintner said. “I read something years ago in a mindfulness book that talked about closure… it’s hard, it’s an emotional time. Sometimes people just try to close their eyes and barrel through, but this reflection was about experiencing closure to its fullest, because even though its hard, its an important part of life.”

Having been an administrator for 18 years of her life, Lintner has had the opportunity to experience the setting of an elementary school with fifth-graders.

“My preference is to have fifth-graders, because

we never want the kids to leave anytime. After the fifth-graders left [elementary schools], we would always say, ‘Oh, if we just had one more year we could do this’, so I’m thrilled to have fifth grade back at the elementary [schools],” Lintner said. “This gives them a [chance] for great leadership opportunities at the elementary school. When they started middle school in fifth grade they [were] the babies, so [now] they get to be the oldest. I think they’ll love it once they sort of wrap their heads around it a little bit.”

Bluestone is designed to hold up to 740 students, providing a large space for education. The focus of the new school consists of utilizing this space to adapt to the individual needs of the children.

“The building itself, it’s

open spaces in this school.

There are more open spaces in the hallways for people to come together in all sorts of ways to work together,” Lintner said. “[There are] at least three different kinds of seating in every room, because individual children learn in different ways at different times. Some students want to stand up, some students want to be on one of those little stools that move, some people want to be on a beanbag. We’ll have desks that can be tables you sit at, or tables we can move higher if you want to stand and work, so we’re trying to be really flexible to meet the needs of individual students.”

Another focus of the school is collaborative learning, and trying to help everyone feel comfortable in working together and

are central to our work.

Probably one of the most important pieces of our work is building relationships with students, with families and with each other,” Lintner said. “[We want an environment where] everybody is valued for who they are… [and] want to participate and feel like they’re willing to take a risk, in terms of sharing their ideas. Learning is risky.”

The goal is to get everyone working together in a realistic way so that kids can take away more from their education.

“In the connected learning piece, we’re going to work pretty heavily in terms of teaching for deep understanding and project-based learning, which is a way of making learning real and authentic for children,” Lintner said. “In integrating curriculum… there’s a

school is unique, and the ways people work together and come together…

You grow and you become different with each new opportunity,” Lintner said.

“When that staff comes together, the ways they work and the ways they think and the things that they do collaboratively will be unique.

Because every individual is going to be in a new environment, from the youngest student to the oldest staff member, Lintner feels it’s her personal responsibility to help everyone adjust comfortably.

“I think that the critical piece is to design opportunities for students to share their voices so that they feel valued [and] we learn to know who they are.

We’ll find unique ways to make the fifth-graders feel like leaders and develop

PHOTO COURTESY OF CRAIG MACKAIL

FULL STEAM AHEAD. Construction at the Garbers Church Road site of Bluestone Elementary School continues in full force in preparation for the fall 2017 opening of the facility. spectacular. The architects that we’ve worked with are just really innovative, [and have a] really clear vision for the importance of the form of the school to fit the function, [which are] the things we’re trying to do and create. Because… we want to encourage students to work collaboratively, and teachers [as well], [so] there are more

sharing ideas.

“Some of the things we’re going to focus on pretty heavily are creating a culture of connected learning and collaborative voice, so that’s sort of a slogan that we’re starting with. As we think about creating a strong school culture there, we’re going to be creating a place where everyone is known, where relationships

strong question that you’re trying to answer… [so] it’s relevant for students.”

Bluestone’s new aim for instruction is not the only exclusive aspect of the school. Lintner feels the staff is one of the most important parts of the operation as well.

“What makes every school unique is the staff.

The community at every

their leadership skills [by] giving them opportunities to be mentors for younger children,” Lintner said. “[We’ll] dedicate the time to really learning to know who students are, and give them opportunities to express their ideas. [We want] our instruction to reflect that we listened to what they wanted to learn about, that we listened to

their ideas.”

With a project this big, though, there are challenges presented at every turn.

“Well obviously the biggest challenge is to bring the staff together. To hire and bring a group of people together and then find ways, in a short period of time, to help them develop collaborative teams [and] learn to know each other,” Lintner said. “At the end of the day, the greatest challenge will be to hire staff that are very student-centered and very collaborative… Because people come with all different skills and all different experiences, it’ll be my job to say, ‘Hmm, it appears as though this is an area that we need to begin with’.”

Responsibility will be a major focus for students.

Lintner wants to ensure they take their learning into their own hands.

“That was a driving force, we want students to take responsibility for their own learning. If young children can set responsibilities for their own goals for learning, and see that if they work hard [they can] meet those goals, that’s really what education is.

That they have opportunities to say that, ‘This is what I want to learn now.

I’m gonna work really hard at this, and I’m gonna be responsible for following through’,” Lintner said.

Restorative justice program expected to limit fights FIGHTS from A1 haven’t yet,” Eye said. with her friends and she was like, ‘See, I told you she wasn’t about crap…’ I ended up going to hit her.”

Dennison thinks that the mediation went wrong when it switched hands from one principal to another.

“I don’t really like people speaking for me. I think [the mediation] was [good at first, because] I didn’t hit her at the time, but when the other person took over, it messed up everything,” Dennison said.

The tactic of mediation that the administration used with Dennison is one of many new strategies that fall under the umbrella of restorative justice, a relatively new technique of dealing with conflict that the administration has been using increasingly.

Restorative justice is a means of rehabilitation and prevention for those involved in conflict, specifically designed to build community and repair relationships between people rather than just penalizing. Assistant principal Michael Eye is one of the administrators who has been most involved in restorative justice at HHS. “What we may miss about restorative justice… is that it really is community building and it’s doing a lot of these things before there’s conflict. That’s what we’ve [tried to do] with this whole thing of leadership, and I know some students are buying into it and like it and other students

Restorative justice can take many forms, including conversations in classes with disciplinary problems (mainly handled by Christina Norment), leadership (overseen

by Dave Ward), and the disciplinary tactics that Eye is involved with. Eye, Ward and Norment are all currently enrolled in a restorative justice in education program at Eastern Mennonite University. For his spring semester, Eye has an independent study class, in which he plans to formalize the school’s plan for restorative justice going into the future. He hopes to roll out this plan to teachers and students next fall.

However, at least for the moment, the restorative justice practices at the school may not work for everybody. In Dennison’s case, she thinks that mediating was a mistake by the administration.

“I wouldn’t have mediated. It was a better deal to get it over and done with because the same stuff happened, even after mediation. Basically it was a waste of time,” Dennison said.

There were nine fights last year at this time and 12 so far this year, which indicates that the number of fights has plateaued, but Prieto still thinks that restorative practices are an improvement on just using suspension and other traditional disciplinary practices.

“I am not sure we can conclude that [restorative practices] prevent [fights]. I very much believe that restorative practic-

es have had an impact in hallway behavior and classroom flow. The restorative practices like circle conversations have an impact on environment and character,” Prieto said.

Even if not all fights can be stopped using restorative justice, there is still a use for restoration even after a fight has happened. For junior Jorge Tejeda-Molina, some of the restorative practices, especially the opportunities available for keeping up on school work, was a positive influence after he was in a fight last May. Tejeda-Molina was suspended for ten days, during which time he was allowed to work on school work at the downtown school office.

“For the ten days you’re suspended you could be at home doing nothing and falling behind in classes, but instead of that you’re working,” Tejeda-Molina said.

This same sentiment was echoed by Prieto, who pointed out that suspension is not really that much of a punishment anymore. Simply sending people home to sleep in and sit on the couch all day does not do much but put students often weeks behind on school work.

“Ultimately we want kids in here to be academic, we want them getting their education, we want them learning,” Prieto said.

The rationale behind suspension in earlier years was to set students apart so as to cool down any residual conflict, but nowa-

days, thinks Michael Eye, social media can keep conflicts fresh in mind.

“We have social media that keeps the pot boiling, keeps things stirred up. You can’t count on time anymore because there is no time away,” Eye said.

With a rapidly evolving nature of conflict, it can be hard to find one panacea for fights. Even restorative justice doesn’t solve everything, as was the case for Dennison.

“It is not a quick and easy fix, it takes a lot of time,” Eye said.

Eye feels much of the drive to solve conflict must come from the people involved, but even so, some conflicts may be inevitable. Senior Kairell Taylor believes that after he was in two fights, both with the same person, the administration was justified in just leaving him alone.

“They tried to talk to me, but I wasn’t really trying to talk to them. So, they suspended me. The next time, they didn’t even really try to talk to me,” Taylor said.

Still, Taylor doesn’t think he would do it as readily again.

“I’ve matured since I fought. I’m not going to say I wouldn’t fight, but because I’m a senior, it would take something a little more serious,” Taylor said. “Like… if somebody messed with my brother, I’d probably fight them. I wouldn’t fight someone because they were talking about me anymore, I’ve grown out of that.”

Wilson, Rath use dogs to make difference in the classroom DOGS from A1 year when I started her training. I think 23 kindergarteners in a small room with Maggie might be too stressful for her and for them. I am trying to work out a way to have my class meet her in an outside setting for a shorter period of time. My students are very excited to meet her,” Rath said.

These programs are not exclusive to elementary schools, however. The programs extend into the middle schools as well.

Kathleen Wilson is another member of Chapter 296. She drives with her 92-pound labradoodle, Rory, from Churchville where she works as a real estate agent, to Thomas Harrison Middle School once a week to work with the children there.

“My work is primarily with children that have varying levels of autism.

Rory and I will work with the students for about an hour.

Throughout that time, we do several exercises such as having them read a book to Rory and sometimes just play with him,” Wilson said.

Wilson’s reason for choosing to make Rory a therapy dog differs from the norm.

“I didn’t really have too much of an interest in becoming a therapy dog [owner] before Rory. When I got him, I noticed that people had a really strong attraction to him and he loved it.

He had something that was different. I became a [therapy dog] owner because Rory wanted to,” Wilson said.

Rory has been trained to make attachments with the kids and, in turn, help them cope with their issues.

“I have worked with the same kids for three years now and the change I have seen is tremendous.

There were some kids in the beginning that were really scared of Rory. They couldn’t even touch him.

We worked really hard with Rory and the children and now they all love him. Rory could sense which ones were afraid and he worked the most with them,” Wilson said.

People with autism can suffer a lack of social ability and the skills required

to form relationships. Wilson believes that Rory has helped with this.

“The goal of therapy dogs depends on what that dog is doing and where. A nursing home and an elementary school won’t have the same goal for the dog.

In our case, we really try to work to build relationships.

Over the time I have worked [at THMS], there has been a shift in the way the kids perceive things. They have become more and more compassionate, and that is really powerful for me and Rory,” Wilson said.

Wilson plans to continue her work at THMS and eventually expand it so more dogs are a part of the program.

“Dogs are therapeutic because they don’t judge,” Wilson said. “If you take a troubled child and put them in front of a classroom and ask them to read, the kids might laugh. Put that same kid in front of a dog and they will be able to practice and learn. That relationship has allowed so many talented kids to grow and develop.”w

PHOTOS BY ANDREW RATH

A LICK OF HAPPINESS. Kindergarteners of Keister Elementary School play with Maggie, a member of Therapy Dog International. Through dogs, TDI hopes to bring emotional and mental help to elementary and middle schools, nursing homes and libraries.

Chapter 296 services people throughout Augusta and Rockingham counties.

December 16, 2016

News-A3

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Lip sync battle earns money for charity Sarah Earle News Editor It’s the final showdown.

The top six people who competed in the Lip Sync Battle in the ‘Burg qualified to the final rounds taking place on Dec. 10 at Court Square Theatre, including Aaron Epstein, Tammy May, Paige Vass, Ryan Corriston, Kathy Holter and Donna Preziuso.

Assistant Principal Eric Miller competed last year, and this year performed during intermission.

“It’s nice not competing this year because I don’t have the stress of trying to win. I’m just hoping to get the crowd on their feet, having a good time and getting rowdy,” Miller said. “It’s actually a really fun event because you get to see other people in a different way than you normally see them on a regular basis. It’s funny, entertaining. Ms. Holter is so charismatic. Her presence on the stage is just amazing.”

Miller wouldn’t reveal his song choice in advance, however, he would say that it was a mash-up of five or six different songs.

“I’m looking forward to performing because I’m [dancing] with a bunch of students from Harrisonburg High School. They have actually chosen the songs and matched them up and made the dance routine themselves. I’m just kind of there to do the lip syncing and having fun with them,” Miller said. “We’re working out, practicing in the morning with the dance kids here at the high school. [I’m also] practicing at home and listening to the songs in the

PHOTO BY SARAH EARLE

SILENT SINGING. Paige Vass sings a Beyonce mash-up for her first performance featuring the HHS Drumline. The lip sync battle, which raised money for the charity ‘Any Given Child’ , was held on Dec. 10 at Court Square Theatre. car.”

Miller has predictions on who will win the battle.

“If I were to place my bets, the best performer is going to be Kathy Holter.

People can raise money before they come and that counts towards votes, so some of these other people might come in with higher amount of votes because they get people to pledge money, but I would say the top two seeds going in would be Kathy Holter and Aaron Epstein, the two that won each individual night,” Miller said.

Miller believes lip syncing can replace the inability to sing.

“I like getting up on

stage. If I could sing, then I would sing, but I can’t, so lip syncing is perfect because you don’t have to make the sound come out,” Miller said. “As long as you know the words and love the song, you can make it work.”

Special Education teacher Paige Vass also competed in the Lip Sync Battle, after qualifying at the preliminary rounds. Once given the opportunity to participate, Vass couldn’t decline.

“Mr. Snow asked me early in the fall, almost at the start of the year, if I would be a Lip Sync Battle contestant, so I matched up my songs,” Vass said. “The night of [the performance] is the only night where you

get to practice. I stayed after school with the band, I rehearsed choreography with my dancers and then we went downtown. We did not rehearse on stage at all, but the drumline had rehearsed after school. Then, it was showtime.”

When choosing which songs to use, Vass decided to stick with songs that she knew well. Band director Daniel Upton wrote parts for the drumline, and Kennedy Wolter choreographed the dancing for the four backup dancers.

“For the preliminary round and the finals round I had to do two numbers.

For each one, I picked one number where I knew all of

the songs already. For the finals round, I did a TV theme song mash up, so I arranged those in Garageband and got the props to go with it. I picked theme songs that I already knew, so learning the lyrics for those was easier.

For my big ensemble number, I did a Beyonce mashup and Mr. Upton, the band director, did a mash up of four different songs,” Vass said. “[The songs] inspired me…[they were] something that could be fun and silly, and I knew the lyrics.”

Vass had trouble hearing the music because she was close to the drumline, so she had to change some of the choreography. The audience was able to vote throughout

the show online, as well as by contributing money. Due to the website crashing, a winner wasn’t announced.

“I honestly don’t have any idea [who won]. Based on pre-bought votes, [the winner] would not be me.

At the preliminary round, I did well with night of [performance] votes. At the battle round, where we had to do holiday songs, my fouryear-old came on stage and I got to sing ‘Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town’ with her, so that’s a huge win because it was really fun,” Vass said. “The Corristons [performed the best]. Ryan Corriston was another lip sync battle contestant and his wife, Mrs. Corriston, is the dance teacher [at HHS].

Their dancing was amazing and their whole routine was unbelievable. They were my favorite.”

Vass enjoyed revisiting her passion for performing on stage, as well as contributing to a good cause. “[The best part] was being back on stage....it was amazing. The Lip Sync Battle] is one of the most fun things I have ever done.

Being able to do something so fun that is supporting a charity I believe in, which is ‘Any Given Child’ giving kids in grades K-8 arts opportunities, that’s something that’s really important to me,” Vass said. “My own children get a lot of [opportunities], but not all children are as fortunate as mine, so being able to help make sure that all kids have access to the arts and have an opportunity to feel that they’re an artist and to shine is important to me. It was my honor to help do that.”

Nursery provides teen parents guidance Seniors start on college apps

PHOTO BY SARAH EARLE

BABY LOVE. Volunteer senior Karla Reyes reads a book to a child in the nursery.

Kyle Brown Op/Ed Editor The school nursery provides necessary care for children of teen parents who may have had to drop out of school otherwise. The nursery currently holds 10-12 children a day, ranging from the ages of six weeks to three years.

Liz Orebaugh has been working at HHS for nine years, and has a full time job caring for the children in the nursery.

“I think it’s really fun. I love to see the children grow. Some kids we have for three or four years, and it’s just fun to see them [go] from an itty-bitty infant and grow up to be preschoolers, and I really enjoy it,” Orebaugh said.

Orebaugh looks back on her favorite moments while working the school nursery.

“There are so many [good memories]. Graduation is always so emotional, especially if you’ve had the mother and babies for all four years; you get real sentimental about it. There’s so many times when you get to see them take their first steps walking and first time crawling. There’s just so many moments you remember,” Orebaugh said.

Once a month after school, the nursery runs a program called We-Care. These classes help to inform the parents on various tasks they might have to do, including car seat safety, nutritional values, and other topics they may not know.

“It also provides them with a peer group of other teen parents that they can relate to and ask each other questions,” Orebaugh said.

Orebaugh explains that the parents can be a little anxious leaving their kids in the nursery all day, but Orebaugh shows how this is actually a good thing for the parent.

“I think they’re normally kind of nervous because they have never dropped their kids off before, and they don’t really know what to expect.

It’s really good though because it gives them a taste of what it’s like out in the real world, and once they graduate, they know what to expect from a childcare center. I think they’re pretty relieved once they get in here and realize that we’re pretty casual, and we have their children’s best interest at heart,” Orebaugh said.

According to Orebaugh, there is nothing bad about working all day in the nursery. On the contrary, she says the job brings many benefits.

“There are a lot [of benefits]. It’s fun to be childlike. I mean you get to play all day. There’s a lot of dirty work though, you can just tell I’m covered in ick completely. But it’s fun, you just get to read books and play games, and just have fun with the kids,” Orebaugh said. “You also really feel like you’re helping someone. You’re helping the children and you’re helping the teen parent, and that’s a good feeling.”

Ryan Doerr Staff Reporter College application season is in full swing, and the class of 2017 has faced a number of ups and downs on the road to higher education. For some, the application process is the hardest part of this year. Senior Maria Snell-Feikema is becoming very familiar with the college applications.

“I’m applying to five or six schools, and I think the most difficult part [of applying] has been the essays. It’s hard to talk about yourself in a full-length essay, or find a story that fully encapsulates your personality— that’s bizarre to me,” Snell-Feikema said.

A myriad of college and scholarship opportunities have been presented to the student body through a variety of school events aimed at making college a possibility for all.

For senior Natalie Proctor, money is a factor in a different way.

“Money isn’t an issue for me, but I think it’s not a smart decision to pay a lot more for the same level of education, so I’d rather go to Blue Ridge and pay less,” Proctor said.

Proctor has made this decision for both her own mental health and her work ethic.

“I like community college because I can go anywhere in VA, as long as it has a transfer pro-

gram, and I can always come back to [James Madison University]. Mental health is something that also influenced my decision, because the pressure of school and schoolwork would feel less strong if I was living at home and getting a less traditional education,” Proctor said.

While most of this year’s graduating seniors have college plans, some have chosen alternatives to attending universities next fall. Senior Kinsley Neff, an active member of JROTC, has opted to join the armed forces after graduation.

“I’ve always sort of disliked school. When I came to high school and found JROTC, my perspective on life changed...

Throughout my high school career, I have had this inner battle over going to college or enlisting.

I decided to do both. I’m going to do college through the Army, instead of going to a big university. This way I can be educated, receive benefits and serve the country that I love,” Neff said.

The path to college is difficult for many high schoolers to navigate. Even with the stresses that come with applying, students know that the payoff of higher education will be greater than they can see right now.

“It’s exciting starting a new chapter in your life,” Proctor said. “I know there’s so much more to do, and I’m really looking forward to it.”

The Newsstreak

December 16, 2016 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.

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The Editors and Staff Editor-in-Chief: Abby Hissong Print EICs: Lucie Rutherford, Owen Stewart, Christa Cole Online EICs: Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Angel Hendrix Advertising Managers: Madison Varner, Audrey Knupp, Anna Rath Photographers: Christa Cole, Andrew Rath, David Gamboa-Pena, Yogesh Aradhey Page Editors: Kyle Brown, Anna Rath, Yusuf Aboutabl, Christian Rodriguez, Nyah Phengsitthy, Yogesh Aradhey, Hannah Miller, Jackson Hook, Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Abigail Hissong, Christa Cole, Noah Siderhurst, Sam Heie, Owen Stewart, Owen Marshall Staff Reporters: Yusuf Aboutabl, Yogesh Aradhey, Kyle Brown, Garrett Cash, Christa Cole, Olivia Comer, Danny Dombrowski, Sarah Earle, David Gamboa, Sam Heie, Angel Hendrix, Abigail Hissong, Jackson Hook, Audrey Knupp, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Owen Marshall, Hannah Miller, Nyah Phengsitthy, Anna Rath, Christian Rodriguez, Lucie Rutherford, Noah Siderhurst, Owen Stewart, Madison Varner, Theo Yoder, Carrie Yoder, Max McDaniel, Hannah Daniel, Lene Andrawas, John Breeden, Ryan Doerr, Andrew Ely, Lily Gusler, Jackie Mateo-Sanchez, Forrest Matter, Jewelia Rodriguez, KiYosia Wallace, Andi Fox, Zoey Fox, Andrew Rath, Edgar Sanchez-Bautista, Vivian Neal, Carson Rising, Iris Cessna, Ty McDaniel, Anzhela Nyemchenko, Jake Urbanski, Josh Wilson, Kenyaa Wright, Samantha Little 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 and 2015 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 DO NOT want my son/daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on the new online version of the newspaper, www. hhsmedia.com.

Op-Ed-A4

Keep your resolutions simple NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL As 2017 quickly approaches, for the most part everyone looks forward to starting the year out with a clean slate. And let’s face it- we need it. December is known for being the most wonderful time of the year, but in reality it often times becomes the most stressful.

With the end of the semester looming after winter break, a time that is supposed to be spent relaxing and celebrating the holiday season is masked by imminent exams. We spend so much time getting worked up about grades and college acceptances that we forget how little any of it actually means. Stop. Breathe. Forget about your upcoming final/midterm, and this winter break, spend some time on bettering yourself.

Now is the time to change things up. After all, people across the world are beginning to set new standards for themselves this New Year, too. Just ask around: people want to lose weight, dress better and spend less. These are just a

few of the most prevalent goals people set for themselves, but what’s popular may not necessarily be realistic. According to a survey done by Columbia University, only eight percent of people who make resolutions are successful in achieving them. However, those who explicitly make them are still at an advantage. They are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than those who do not.

This year, we encourage everyone to make 2017 their best yet. Though it may seem cheesy, the key to a fulfilling and happy year may be the very act of forming and working toward a New Year’s resolution. The most important thing to remember when forming your own, is that a good resolution lies in its simplicity. It’s easy to want to make remarkable changes in our lifestyle and world, but resist that temptation.

It’s much more satisfying to set attainable goals that allow you to track your progress with reasonable checkpoints throughout the year.

That way, you can actually see how far you’ve come.

Instead of resolving to never procrastinate again, tighten your goal to be a little more specific. For example, try to limit the time you spend procrastinating each day. Specify a certain point in the evening to start homework, or cut down on the hours you spend binge-watching Netflix. And if you’re looking for a way to fend off an inevitable case of senioritis, maybe start by keeping a weekly checklist or planner to stay on track and stay academically motivated. When you hold yourself accountable with a goal, you will see yourself become a more successful student.

This is just one example, as there are plenty of small things that each of us can do every day. We just need to overcome the barriers we put up for ourselves, and push harder to actually fulfill the standards we set for ourselves. By setting a specific goal for yourself this year, you will sharpen your focus for the New Year and become the best version of yourself with each day.

ART BY ZOEY FOX

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.

Red Sea could do more to fulfill mission Noah Siderhurst Op-Ed Editor If you have ever attended a football game during your time here at HHS, you probably know what the Red Sea looks like. At a casual glance, it looks like a veritable “sea” of school spirit. But get closer, and something different becomes apparent.

For all of my freshman year, I spent my Friday evenings during football season with cramping legs and sore vocal cords standing in the Red Sea. I was displaying my school spirit and cheering on my team, though I rarely had time to glance at the game or even the score board over the chatter all around me. But it was all worth it, or at least that’s how I felt at the time.

My grievance with the Red Sea only really started this year (my sophomore year). At first it was just a nagging sensation. I remember sitting on top of the press box during one of the rare times I wasn’t standing in the Red Sea (helping with the livestream of the game for Newsstreak) and looking down from above. I noticed how many of the people I saw in the Red Sea were people I knew, and how I saw many people I didn’t know mostly scattered around the crowd,

subtly voicing my connot in the Red Sea. cerns to some of my I dismissed the feeling friends. as useless. Did I have a To my surprise, problem with my friends though, many people I doing the same things I knew felt the same way. did? I didn’t think so, so I For some, the dissatiskept my mouth shut and faction was generated stilled my mind.

Sagacious by reasons other than But the feeling Siderhurst my own, such as the wouldn’t die, and after annoyance of standing several more games I felt like I finally had the right word to for hours on end with few breaks, describe the phenomena I was or the seemingly arbitrary and ofwitnessing. The word was clique: ten sporadic cheers the Red Sea is a narrow, exclusive circle or group so fond of, but the end result was of persons (definition straight from the same: almost everyone I talked to could find some annoyance, big Merriam-Webster).

Was the Red Sea really a clique? or small, with the Red Sea. So on one cold, blustery night, It was a term I had heard used by several other people when talking for the first time ever, I watched the about the Red Sea, and I felt that game sitting away from the Red Sea it applied. What the underlying (and not in the press box).

The Red Sea still holds some forces were that had turned it into a clique, or at least made it appear novelty value, and many people I cliquish, I don’t exactly know, but know still buy into it, but the truth the effects were visible. The reality is that the Red Sea is much less of it was, and still is, that the ma- open and welcoming than they jority of the people I saw in the Red would like to believe. Despite efSea were people within a certain forts such as distributing Red Sea social sphere. How could I tell? Be- T-shirts to everyone in the school, cause, grudgingly or not, I realized it seems to remain a fairly exclusive that I too was part of the same so- organization.

There just seems to be somecial sphere.

So, armed with this new vocab- thing about them. Maybe it’s the ulary and bravely preparing myself extravagant display of over the top to be dismissed outright, I began school spirit that turns some away.

Maybe it’s the sentiment I’ve heard expressed by some that standing in the Red Sea is the only way to show school spirit, which, far from recruiting new people to the Red Sea as it was intended, ends up generating resistance and driving people away because they don’t feel they are a welcome part of the group.

Maybe it is any number of smaller annoyances. But the end result is the same.

What makes this issue even more complicated is the administration’s association of the Red Sea with school spirit. I have no problem with school spirit, but the difference between the feeling of unity generated by being in an auditorium filled with red during a pep rally is very different than the feeling of exclusiveness generated by standing in the Red Sea at a football game. It is difficult to reconcile this dichotomy, but it seems the administration has decided to ignore (or maybe is simply not aware of) the Red Sea’s exclusiveness and continued to market them as a vessel of school spirit.

If we want to become a more unified school, something has to change. So until the day when I feel I can safely say I am not a part of the Red Sea clique, there will be one less face in the Red Sea.

With political climate, we need more human connection Zoey Fox Staff Reporter In the 1990’s, there was a popular game called the Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon. The object of the game is to connect a celebrity to movie star Kevin Bacon through “friendof-a-friend“ statements, and for the purposes of the game, if two actors have been in a movie together, they count as friends. For example, Emma Watson’s Bacon number is 2.

Watson was in Harry Potter with actor John Cleese (1), and John Cleese was in The Big Picture with Kevin Bacon (2). Thus Kevin Bacon and Emma Watson may never have met in real life, but they are only two steps away from each other.

Donald Trump, it turns out, also has a Bacon number of 2.

The President-Elect had a cameo in a movie called The Little Rascals in the 90’s, with country singer Reba McEntire, who was in a movie called Tremors with the prolific Bacon.

Connecting people through social networks doesn’t just work among movie stars and millionaires.

The Kevin Bacon game is based on the theory that everyone in the world is connected to everyone else within six steps.

M a t h e m a t i c a l l y,

that makes sense: most ized the other side, people know 50 other peoand the animosity ple, and 50 to th power is a has continued, even bigger number than Earth’s though the elections current population. But are over. Both sides conceptually, that’s hardhave continued to call er to grasp. It means that each other monsters, through a few people, I’m but with renewed What Does connected to a woman grofervor. The elections the Fox Say cery shopping in Romania weren’t the cause of right now; or to an office all this opposition and worker in Toronto; it even means belligerent; I think they were the that I’m only a few steps from Pres- symptom of a bigger problem in toident-Elect Donald J. Trump. day’s political climate.

For me, the sad lesson of the With the amount of information 2016 election has been realizing just available to us online and on TV, how much people hate each other. we construct our own landscapes Throughout the last year, each polit- of information out of sources that ical side has relentlessly dehuman- will just reflect our existing beliefs

back at us. No longer exposed to the other side’s perspective, we’ve grown farther and farther apart.

This rift between political sides in America is enabling us to dismiss the opposing side as crazy or brainwashed or racist. It’s allowing us to reduce every issue to a battle between “us” and “them.” Now, these divisions run so deep that it’s hard to view the opposition as anything other than villainous; they certainly aren’t people like us.

I genuinely cannot wrap my head around why anybody would want Donald Trump to be the leader of the free world. I don’t get it. And that’s not a good thing. It means my perspective is so separate from Trump supporters’ perspectives that we can’t understand one another at all.

After weeks of feeling helpless after this election, this feels like something I can change. I can make an effort to recognize the opposing side as people.

That’s why the theory of six degrees of separation appeals to me. It forces me to understand how small the world is, and how, despite gaping political differences, we’re all connected, and we’re all a little bit the same.

If we learn anything from Kevin Bacon, let it be this: we’re all people in the end.

The Newsstreak

December 16, 2016

Op-Ed-A5

HOT Or NOT Perfect gift is useful, personal

BY OWEN MARSHALL

West facing mental issues: On Nov. 21 Kanye West was checked into the hospital due to a meltdown; there is not a set release date yet.

The musical is coming: Musical cast for Meet Me in St. Louis is now set and the opening show is Feb. 15 and the closing show is on Feb. 19.

JMU basketball has a rough start: JMU men’s basketball falls to 0-6 as of Nov. 29.

Christmas is coming: The Christmas countdown is here with only nine more days until the holiday.

Bus crash causes six deaths: A Chattanooga bus crash killed six children. The driver, Johnthony Walker, has been charged with five counts of vehicular manslaughter, reckless endangerment and reckless driving.

Hunting season is underway: Deer season for firearms began on Nov. 19 and will continue until Jan. Fire forces thousands to leave their homes: A forest fire in Gatlinburg, Tennessee has caused approximately 14,000 residents to be evacuated. Also, a fire in Amherst County has increased to 11,000 acres.

“Turkey Trot” raises food for the needy: The annual “Turkey Trot” was held in downtown Harrisonburg on Thanksgiving day to benefit the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank.

Suspected terrorist attack on Ohio State: An attack at the Ohio State campus has left nine injured after a car and knife attack.

Holiday shopping frenzy: Black Friday and Cyber Monday offer great deals on a variety of items.

Plane crash leaves 76 dead: A plane crash in Colombia has killed 76 people, including a Brazilian soccer team.

First lady admires HHS cafeteria staff: The first lady of Virginia visited HHS on Nov. 29 because of the food services offered in the cafeteria.

Cyber Grinches: Cyber hackers have taken advantage of many online shoppers over Cyber Monday.

Boy calls 911 to invite responders to dinner: Billy, a young boy in Walton County, Fla., called 911 to invite deputies to eat with him on Thanksgiving.

Roof is his own legal council: Dylan Roof’s is acting as his own attorney after allegedly killing nine black parishioners in a South Carolina church.

Winter break begins: Winter break starts on Dec. 16 at the end of the school day. We return on Jan. 2.

Former Luray HS graduate killed in Georgia: Police officer Patrick Carothers was slain on duty and will be transported back to the Valley for his funeral.

Winter sports officially begin: All winter sports have officially started as of Nov. 28.

Basketball teams fall short in first game: HHS varsity basketball teams both lost to the Sherando Warriors on Nov. 29.

HHS is one of the most diverse in the state: HHS is among the top 25 diverse schools in Virginia.

JMU student found dead: JMU student Hailey Moore was found dead on Nov. 9. There is no foul play suspected in her death. $450,000 is going towards new transit system: Harrisonburg is allocating $450,000 for new public transportation bus technology.

Man walks into D.C. restaurant with assault rifle: A yet unnamed man walked into a restaurant in D.C. on Dec. 4 with an assault rifle looking to investigate a fake news story about Hillary Clinton.

Hannah Daniel Staff Reporter

collect dust. And that brings me to my next tip…

Useful gifts are alHappy December! In the past few issues of this paper, ways appreciated.

It’s tempting to get I have written more serious your girlfriend a teddy and (hopefully) thought-provoking columns. This month, bear and flowers for however, I want to write about any special occasion, something a little lighter and but what is she going cheerier: how to choose the to do with them? Yes, they are a beautiful and perfect gift.

If you’re anything like me, heartfelt gesture, but in you’ve been too busy to even a month that bear will consider buying gifts for your be a spiffy new dog toy beloved family members and and the flowers will friends. And, if you’re anything be brown and wilted. like me, you just want that Want to really show perfect idea for a perfect gift someone you care? that will be both meaningful, Get them something useful, and make whoever is USEFUL. Was your on the receiving end of your best friend complainPerfect Gift™ love you forever. ing about her favorite So if you are like me, fear not! straightener breaking?

Get her a new one. Was Here are some your uncle upspecially curated set because tips for giving the he shattered perfect gift. his phone screen?

Homemade Treat him to a repair. does not automatYour loved ones will ically mean better. be so surprised that You have been you cared enough to told all your life that a gift from Hannah-Rama listen to them and that you helped make the heart is the their lives easier. best gift of all, but you’re old enough now to When it comes to gift giving, know the harsh reality: your utility trumps beauty any day.

Personalize your gifts. mom will love the first 10 YouDon’t get your boyfriend Made-It mugs you give her, but the 11th is where she draws the new NBA 2k game just bethe line. I’m not saying that cause you think he plays video you should ditch the sentimen- games, customize your gifts tal card or the hand-painted for the person you’re giving collage of you and your broth- to. (Unless he is super into it er’s greatest hits, but don’t and has been talking about spend your time slaving over a it forever; then you should pencil holder or pottery piece pre-order the game and be the that will sit in your house and gift-giver of the year). Especially with best friends, this can be

ART BY ZOEY FOX

a powerful gift-giving strategy. Use inside jokes to add an extra laugh to your present. Add specific mementos that evoke fond memories. Tailor your gift to the person on the other end.

For instance: instead of buying your mom candle, give her a pine-scented candle to remind her of the time you and your brother went to cut down your Christmas tree, and you found a bird’s nest in one of the pines and it began to snow lightly and the whole experience was something right out of a Hallmark movie. It may take a bit of thought, but it’s worth the work for the people you love.

And there you have it: Han-

nah’s foolproof tips for giving the Perfect Gift™. I do want to add one more small piece of advice: gift-giving is not the only way to show people you care. ‘Tis the season to share love, after all! So now, more than any other month, tell people how you feel. Spread happiness, joy, kindness, and love; you’ll find that the best gift of all is the way you can make someone feel.

I wish you all the best on your gift-giving journey!

Electoral college should be abolished Sam Heie Feature Editor

State government and federal government are two separate entities. We vote for state officials separately from federal A common misconception officials. The federal governabout the U.S. is that we are a ment serves the entire U.S. and purely democratic nation. On the its officials should be elected by surface, this seems like an absurd the entire U.S. as well instead statement, but if we delve into Heie-er of the current state system we the constitution and our foundPower have.

The electoral college gives ing fathers’ morals, it makes more too much of a say to the individusense. Democracy’s roots spawn from the idea that the majority have the al states instead of the mass population. By final say. It’s accepted that if you have to giving one state more power than another, choose between several options, the op- or vice versa, you create inequality. For extion with the most support should be uti- ample, if you live in a state with less peolized. This is where the U.S. strays from the ple, you have more of a say in the election.

Wyoming has three electoral votes, idea of a pure democracy.

The electoral college has been in the or one for every 135,000 general news lately, most pointedly, outrage over voters. California has 55 electorthe president-elect Donald Trump. Chants al votes, or one for every 411,000 of ‘Not My President’ continue to rattle the general voters. That means it takes U.S. as protests ensue after the election. three times as many Californians to These chants are wrong, but are on the equate to one Wyoming voter just right path. Trump was elected even though because he or she lives in a differhe didn’t win the popular vote. This is be- ent state. This causes the attention cause of the electoral college. This year’s of the candidates to be directed at election is not a rare occurrence. There individual states instead of the enhave been five elections in the past that tire voting body.

In many cases, the electoral colone candidate won the most electoral lege doesn’t even represent what votes and the other won the popular vote.

If you don’t remember from eighth grade its state voted for. It is completely civics, the electoral college is a group of legal in 24 states for the electoral 538 electors who represent the area where college to vote for whoever they they were chosen from. When you cast a want, even if that state’s vote was ballot for a candidate, you are actually vot- for someone else. This takes our ing for an elector who is a representative democracy down a whole new tier. of that candidate. If it sounds confusing, Our officials have to represent us.

Every election year, the talk althat’s because it is. The idea behind the electoral college is to give smaller states ways centralizes around the swing more of a voice so they are not ignored. states (Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Essentially, we have 50 smaller state elec- North Carolina, etc.). It seems that tions to determine one presidential elec- those states are the only ones who tion. The problem created by doing this matter. You wouldn’t be far from wrong if you thought that. Accordhowever is very substantial.

ing to fairvote.org, 80% of the votes cast had no effect on the final result. This is because of the overwhelming power differences caused by the electoral college. The mentality behind not voting at all, although tragic, is understandable if your vote isn’t going to matter.

None of this is intended to encourage the overthrow of Trump. He won on the rules that were predetermined. But if we want to call ourselves the democracy that we so desperately try to, we need to change. We need to stop giving more power to less people and get rid of the outdated electoral college.

INFOGRAPHIC BY RYAN DOERR

Use our unity to move forward after election Ryan Doerr Staff Reporter I woke up on November 9, 2016 and one look at the grey clouds outside my window told me the results of the election before even Twitter could. I did not get out of bed all day; it was because of the fever I was running, but it may have also been because of the elephant in the room that made its home on my chest. I am not angry about these results. I am hurt and afraid.

I have never seen a country so heartbroken over what should be a normal political process, and that says a lot. We are grieving. This election has shown us that hate and fear run far deeper in the veins of this nation than anyone could have ever imagined. There are no words left to discuss the consequences that the election of Donald Trump will have on this country. If there are any left, I am at a loss about where to find

them.

The people fear the Protests have consequences of the broken out across election, consequencthe country, and es far greater than many conservatheir candidate losing. tives are eager to Many didn’t have a tell these protestcandidate at all in this Ryan’s ers to “respect the election--they did not Ramblings process” and acvote FOR anyone, they cept that Trump voted against Trump. is the new presThis is a distinction ident-elect. These are many some conservatives do not of the same conservatives know how to make. who were so eager to protest For marginalized groups in Obama’s presidency in 2008. the United States, losing this The only difference between election meant potentially losthe two is that the Trump pro- ing a way of life and basic human testers are fighting to give a rights. Being idealistic in this voice to those who are margin- election by casting a third party alized by the system, while the vote, voting for Trump because vast majority of the Obama pro- by some twisted logic someone testers simply didn’t agree with decided Hillary’s emails were the idea of a black president. more important than the lives These discontent people do of millions or skipping voting ennot fear Donald Trump. They tirely because both candidates fear the fact that almost half of were not satisfactory may have the United States supports their just pushed us back another 30 destruction at his hands. Staying or 40 years in American politics. passive in the face of his bigotry So much was at stake. People is just as bad as approving of it. are not angry with these results.

They are terrified.

I have seen communities in tears over the victory of this man. I have seen the youth come out in droves to protest his policies. I have seen Muslim girls tweeting about how their families have given them permission not to wear the Hijab in public because it may not be safe. I have seen old women who cast their vote for the first female president heartbroken at Hillary’s loss.

I am disillusioned with the political process, but I am hopeful for the future.

I have seen a greater sense of unity in the past couple of weeks than I’ve seen in America in several years. The youth of our nation are building a future that we can believe in, and one man’s victory will not be our downfall. It is so easy to let hate win, but so hard to live in its shadow. Now we grieve, but it will not always be this way. We will cry, we will go to sleep, and we will try again tomorrow.

Family dynamics The Newsstreak

December 16, 2016

Feature - A6

Oldest kids share responsibility Zoey Fox Staff Reporter

charge, but no one ever listened to me,” Mitchell said. These responsibilities are paired with some extra pressure from her parents, too. But Mitchell’s least favorite aspect of being the oldest is being the target of her younger sister’s pranks.

“Lauren likes to hide places and jump out and scare me...

When I was 10, Lauren made me drink lemon juice… Yeah, Lauren just likes to find little ways to torture me,” Mitchell said. Mitchell feels she has another unfavorable duty as the oldest.

“Of course, [there is] the self-sacrifice of being the older sister: when other people want to get on the TV, I get off,” Mitchell said.

However, neither Mitchell nor Thompson feel defined by their roles as oldest sister. A popular topic in recent parenting books is the way the order children are born in a family can influence their personality traits. Although this assertion is contestPHOTO COURTESY OF ERIKA MITCHELL ed by some scholars, others say that the hallmark traits of the BIG SISTER. Senior Erika Mitchell (right) vacations with her family at Half Dome Rock in Yosemite first child include being a per- National Park, California during the summer of 2016. fectionist, an overachiever, and a people-pleaser, being overly does the best that they can. If I have some- don’t define who she is, being the oldest cautious, and being unwilling to admit to thing and I’m not happy with it, I don’t is part of Thompson’s identity. Overall, she being wrong. strive to perfect it. I accept what it is as it appreciates her position in her family.

Some of these general traits fit Mitchell. is… I’m the kind of person that doesn’t talk “I’m happy that I’m the oldest because “Well, I definitely don’t like to admit to other people. I’m more of an introvert. through the years, I’ve had more opporthat I’m wrong,” she said.

I stay to myself, whereas everyone else in tunities than my little siblings have had…

Thompson doesn’t think those charac- my family will just talk to a random strang- I don’t think I would change anything,” teristics represent her at all. er,” Thompson said.

Thompson said.

“I’m more of a quiet person that just Though the alleged first-sibling traits

Despite the extra pressures and responsibilities of being the oldest child, neither Erika Mitchell nor Taija Thompson wishes they could be a younger sibling.

Senior Erika Mitchell is the oldest of three sisters. She believes the best thing about being the first child is being the first to experience certain milestones.

“I got to drive first. [My sisters] don’t have their licenses yet,” Mitchell said.

Another example of her older-sibling privileges is getting to watch R-rated movies with her parents when her sisters aren’t at home. She also appreciates being the oldest because she’s closer to graduating.

“If I were younger, I’d still have two more years of high school,” she said.

Freshman Taija Thompson agrees that knowing she will graduate first is an advantage. She is the oldest of nine siblings, and she admits that it might be nice not to have to deal with her siblings after high school.

For Thompson, being the oldest also has some distinct disadvantages. For example, she faces higher expectations from her parents.

“I’m the one that should be more mature, and not goof off as much,” Thompson said. For Thompson, the hardest part of being the oldest is having to be a role model to all the little kids in the family. It’s also difficult to be responsible for the little ones— like so many older siblings, Thompson has done her share of babysitting.

Mitchell also had to watch her younger sisters sometimes, and she recounts her babysitting experiences with a laugh.

“My parents would tell me I was in

Being middle child not as bad as it seems Forrest Matter Staff Reporter

Lily Gusler Staff Reporter

Middle children are often believed to have it tough. Freshman Samantha O’Fallon is a middle child thinks it has its ups and downs.

“I like being not as noticed as my siblings. In large crowds, it’s nice to be able to blend in,” O’Fallon said.

But there are downfalls to being the middle child.

“Not being as noticed can be a bad thing. My sisters get noticed everywhere, and I’m just [asked] ‘Who are you?’,” O’Fallon said. “My older sister thinks she is the boss, and my younger sister thinks she is the boss. I enjoy being the middle child, though. I guess it’s like I’ve been the middle child so long, I’d rather not be the oldest child or the youngest,” O’Fallon said.

Senior Mark Aguilar has a similar opinion.

“I like being the middle child. My siblings used to pick on me, but not anymore,” Aguilar said. “ [It’s not like] I’m not distant in age [from them]. I feel the only person who ever opposes me would be my little brother. That’s just the way it’s been [with my siblings],” Aguilar said.

He also agrees with O’Fallon about not being as noticed.

“In my opinion, parents don’t look at you as much as your siblings. I’m not too big or too small; maybe that’s why I’m not noticed as much,” Aguilar said.

Emily Chirinos, a sophomore, has a slightly different twist on the same idea.

“I can get away with more things [than my siblings], because I don’t get a lot of attention. I also hate that I don’t get as

PHOTO COURTESY OF SAMANTHA O’FALLON

MIDDLE OF THE BUNCH. Freshman Samantha O’Fallon (left) with older sister sophomore Mikaela O’Fallon and younger sister Hannah take their traditional first day of school picture. much attention, [though],” Chirinos said.

“I’d rather be the younger child. I used to be... but then my sister came along.” “[I enjoy] having someone to look up to, and having a little brother to show things to, all while learning from my older one,” junior Rahel Askari said. She has a slightly different view on being the middle child.

“I like being the middle child. [I like] knowing that I have two shoulders to lean on when I need them. I have to be nice to my little brother, but it gets to the point where I’m not always [nice to him],” Askari said.

What is the ideal number of children to have?

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Youngest children face both advantages, disadvantages

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4+ INFOGRAPHIC BY ANDREW ELY

Being the youngest child has many benefits, but also some downfalls.

Freshman Kate Cummings knows what it’s like to experience them.

“One advantage is that my parents loosened the reigns on me a little more than on her. My parents would always take my side in conflicts because I was the baby,” Cummings said.

There are also some downfalls about being the youngest.

“I would see my sister doing things that I couldn’t do because I was younger, and that was frustrating. Another thing is that I’m always compared to Camille, my sister,” Cummings said.

In the end, the good and the bad things tie together to create an overall younger sibling experience.

“It’s a bittersweet situation, because on the one hand I end up getting more than my sister does, but I have to wait. I was always seen as the baby in my family, which could be a good thing, but also a bad thing,” Cummings said.

Freshman Danner Rebhun has gone through many of these experiences as well. She grew up with one brother, Graham.

“One of the benefits of being the

younger child is that you don’t have to do as much work. My older brother already knew how to do all of the Freshman Kate chores around Cummings the house, so I really only needed to start doing things when he left for college,” Rebhun said.

Although there seems to be many benefits about being a younger child, there are some bad parts.

“One of the downfalls is that the older sibling always gets a lot more attention. It’s not that I’m being ignored, it’s just that Graham has already done everything that I am proud to have done. For example, if I won an award, it would be impressive, but my brother has already won that award so it doesn’t matter as much,” Rebhun said.

Rebhun has created her own overall experience.

“The overall experience for me isn’t that bad. I’m a bit of an introvert, so it never really mattered to me if Graham was the center of attention. In fact, it’s quite disconcerting now that he is away at college and the attention is solely on me. My mistakes are seen a lot more, but then again, so are my achievements,” Rebhun said.

Life as only child has impact Hannah Miller Copy Editor The timeless struggle of siblings is one that most people can relate to. Some students, though, have never experienced getting blamed for what they didn’t do, sharing within their household or having their secrets and embarrassing stories told. These children have the convenience of being an only child, but it’s not always such a perfect thing.

Sophomore Hannah Brown felt the impact of being an only child growing up.

“When I was little, it was weird because I didn’t have anyone, so I was really lonely.

But as I [get] older, it’s not really that big of a deal,” Brown said.

Now, Brown doesn’t get lonely, but wishes she had another person to interact with.

“I’d prefer having a sibling, because then I could have someone that I could either look up to or that I could be a role model for,” Brown said.

Junior Olivia Kasidiaris feels as if her independence as a child hasn’t impacted her in the way she expected.

“From what I’ve heard, only children tend to be really shy since they don’t really have kids around them, but I’m really social and I love to talk, so that’s probably a [misconception] I could think of [about

being an only child],” Kasidiaris said.

Unfortunately, Kasidiaris’ bubbly personality can’t be put to use so much at home because of the lack of a sister she wishes she had.

“I definitely wish I had a sister… so we could talk and do girl stuff together, hang out,” Kasidiaris said.

While having a sibling presents the chance for different experiences, being an only child provides the advantage of an entire family’s attention to yourself.

“The best part about being an only child is not really having to share stuff, like getting your own room,” Kasidiaris said.

Brown experiences the same benefit, but finds it frustrating when she can’t relate to many of her friends.

“I don’t really have to share anything, I kind of get everything to myself,” Brown said. “The worst part [would be that] most of my friends have siblings, and then I don’t, so I can’t really relate to what they [get to experience],” Brown said.

Freshman Ethan Lovelace, on the other hand, can’t find a single issue with his situation. “[The best part is] not having to share, [I like] free time and my own space. I can’t really think of any [disadvantages],” Lovelace said.

Sometimes being an only child gets a bad rap, but maybe the one-and-done parents know what they’re doing.

December 16, 2016

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December 16, 2016

Feature-A9

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Neary enjoys traveling with father as pilot Abby Hissong Print Editor-in-Chief For most people, getting to fly in an airplane is reserved for special occasions. However, for senior Cameron Neary, flying is just a regular occurrence. Neary’s father, Marty Neary, is a pilot for United Airlines. He has been a certified pilot for 35 years after graduating from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1981.

“At Embry-Riddle he had to go to college for four years to get his aviation degree and take a lot of aerodynamics classes and the other prerequisites for that major.

He also needed a lot of mandatory flying hours in order to obtain his flying license,” Neary said.

After completing the academic courses necessary to become a pilot, Neary’s father also had to practice actually flying a plane.

Neary says his father has compared the process to that of getting your driver’s license.

“You have to fly with someone next to you the whole time you train, so they can give you pointers and help you to get better. Then, once you are deemed fit to operate a plane after a certain amount of hours, you get your official pilot license to fly by yourself. From there, you just have to work your way up to being a commercial pilot,” Neary said.

At the start of his career, Marty Neary worked as a pilot at lower level airlines before working his way up to captain. His first job as a captain was through Business Express Airlines, where he worked for years before transferring to United Airlines, where he currently is employed. Through United

Airlines, Neary’s family gets to fly for less cost wherever and whenever they want. “[I’ve been to] Cancun, Ghana, Montana, Colorado, Arizona, Michigan, Philadelphia, New York City, etc. Basically all over the United States as well as a few places out of the country,” Neary said.

“Because my dad works at an airline, he gets this special privilege where he can get family and friends on the ‘stand-by’ list. What that means is if there are any open seats on the plane, those people can just hop on the flight.”

Along with being put on the airline’s ‘stand-by’ list, Neary and his family have the privilege of skipping the standard line and going through employee security instead.

“It’s really quick. When other people fly, they have to get to the airport like two or three hours early, but we only have to be there 30 minutes before the plane takes off.

It’s really nice because I don’t have to wake up super early or spend the whole day at the airport,” Neary said.

Throughout his travels, Neary has gotten to experience many cultures and lands he otherwise wouldn’t have been able to. Of all of his travels, his trip to Ghana with his father and stepmother was the most enlightening.

“We went over there for a mission trip to help some of the people living in extreme poverty, and I really took away so much from it…

It was really cool to see how other countries work. For example, over there they don’t have stop lights, they just honk at each other. It was also very eye-opening for me to see how fortunate I am in regards to so many things,” Neary said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF CAMERON NEARY

TAKE FLIGHT. Cameron Neary’s father, Marty Neary works as a pilot for United Airlines.

One experience in particular that stuck with Neary even after coming back to America was an interaction he had with a child from the village in Ghana where he was staying.

“One time I was just sitting down watching a soccer game, and this little kid from the village came over and just started touching my face and my skin. It was really funny and a little weird at first, but then later I found out that we were the first white people that he had ever seen and he just wanted to know if my skin felt different than his. I remember that just re-

ally hit home with me,” Neary said.

Despite the various benefits Neary has received through his father’s profession, it is not to say his job doesn’t have a downside.

“My dad usually works for about half of every month. The airline usually requires him to work at least 15 days a month. He’s been a pilot my whole life, so I’m used to him being away a lot. It’s just part of the job,” Neary said.

Though Neary is grateful for the multitude of opportunities that he has gotten as a result of his father’s job, sometimes he just wants to relax at home instead of

constantly travel.

“This is just me personally, because I know everyone else would love to fly, but I’ve been doing it my whole life, so sometimes I kind of get sick of traveling. My dad always asks me like, ‘Hey! Where do you want to go next summer?’

And I’m always just like, ‘I just want to stay home’,” Neary said. “That’s really just a tiny thing though. I am so thankful for all of the opportunities that I get. I think sometimes everyone just wants what they don’t have.”

Al-Shebsani family put in danger by father’s job in Iraq Lucie Rutherford Print Editor-in-Chief Though senior Ali Al-Shebani never experienced the accomplishments of his father, he still hears about them to this day. Before Ali’s time, in the late 80s and into the 90s, his father held the title of Secretary of State of Iraq, and later the vice president for the Freedom Fighters after the fall of President Saddam Hussain.

“He was originally under just the Iraqi army until Saddam came into power and decided that killing people and killing their own people was okay, and my dad was not one for that,” Al-Shebani said.

“So, he more or less joined the freedom fight with the U.S. against Saddam’s regime, and it was stated that once they overthrow Sadd-

am and the [new president came into power], he would then become the vice president.”

After only a year in office, events took a turn that put the Al-Shebani family in danger, initiating their move to the states.

“There was an issue where the President more or less left; he fled and it kind of destroyed the entire idea behind modernizing Iraq, and it all fell. They got intel that my family was part of the Freedom Fighters, and so [Saddam] would send tanks and things against us.

He would send anything to kill my family,” Al-Shebani said. “So, my parents then picked up their bags [and] decided it was a good idea to flee… [My parents] fled to Kurdistan and Guam and many other places until [my dad] eventually started working for the government in the U.S.”

Having three kids at the time, the journey was a hard one. Too hard for that of Ali Al-Shebani’s sister, who was a newborn at the time.

“They left her in Iraq with my grandmother and grandfather. She came back 18 years later,” Al-Shebani said. “My sister came back in 2009. I went to Iraq in 2006, so I didn’t know I had another sister until I was six or seven years old.”

Since moving to the U.S., Ali’s father has drastically changed his occupation.

“It’s funny, it’s like a huge transition, but he owns a Middle-Eastern grocery company and then he also has a store, but he’s thinking about retiring and getting rid of all of that and settling down,” Al-Shebani said. “Since a college degree from Iraq is pointless here, [my siblings and I] are

kind of their best bet as a 401K, so they’re invested in us.”

Even though the move to the U.S. took place two decades in the past, Ali’s father has since gone back to rekindle what he worked to do many years ago.

“There was a short period of time where he went back to Iraq.

This was when I was a sophomore, but he went back to Iraq again to fix whatever type of government that was there, and modernize it more,” Al-Shebani said. “He was there for some time, we didn’t see him for months until he came back.”

While there, he was given an opportunity to work full-time for the Iraqi government once again.

The deal was that he would live there for five months, come back to the states for a month, and then repeat that process again

and again. “[During that time] I think [he would become] either Secretary of Defense or Secretary of State; he said that he’d be able to make a seven-figure salary. Which, I mean that’s very impressive, however, it’s not safe at all over there,” Al-Shebani said. “We kind of came in as a family and just said, ‘No, we spent so much time getting here and investing our time here so that we can better ourselves in the future’. Money wasn’t really the problem, we are living very well right now. So he decided to stay in America. He was just really disappointed that all of his friends that did stick with it rather than flee back then all became millionaires… So he just misses the point where his family was on top.”

Seefried parents both in medical field Andi Fox Staff Reporter Tracy and Andrew Seefried, parents of freshman Jacob Seefried, both decided to go into the medical field. Tracy Seefried is currently a volunteer nurse at The Free Clinic as well as a graduate student at JMU to become a Family Nurse Practitioner. She found her desire to be a nurse through her elective classes in college.

“I started out as a Psychology Major in College; one of our electives was Anatomy and Physiology. While taking the class [with mostly nursing majors], I realized how fascinated I was by the human body. I truly loved learning anatomy and physiology and decided nursing would be a great profession as we focus on caring for the human body,” Tracy Seefried said.

After 18 years of working as a nurse, Tracy Seefried has found the job to be very rewarding, and she loves working with her patients.

“I love being at The Free Clinic as a nurse, because it’s providing health care for those who wouldn’t be able to afford it otherwise. Our work environment at The Free Clinic is very positive. We take pride in treating our patients with respect and dignity. I love offering up a smile, a hug or words of encouragement to the patients when they visit.

It’s a great profession,” Tracy Seefried said. “I truly enjoy being in a caring profession.”

Her love of being a nurse has allowed her to learn new things continuously and has led her to become a better person.

“I am always challenged academically in the nursing profession as medicine and treatments are ever-evolving.

One will never become academically stagnant if they pick a nursing career,” Tracy Seefried said. “[Plus], being a nurse has made me a more empathetic person in general.”

However, being a nurse does have a terrible downside, according to Tracy Seefried. “[The hardest part is] seeing patients die, especially young ones, and not being able to help particular patients.

Those are the saddest moments of being a nurse, especially when you get to know the families. You actually ache for them,” Tracy Seefried said.

Tracy Seefried has found that her schedule has been pretty flexible, so she has had plenty of time for other hobbies such as Cross Fit. “As a volunteer, I make my own schedule. I have plenty of time for working out, going to my kids’ activities, enjoying life,” Tracy Seefried said. “I do love working out and have done one Cross Fit competition in Richmond and two bodybuilding competitions. I just workout for fun at Rocktown Cross Fit now, [however].”

Tracy Seefried’s love for working out began when she

worked as a personal trainer. She took a four-year break from being a nurse in order to stay at home with her kids when they were young.

“I did personal training, on the side. I love working out and motivating others to take care of their body and soul,” Tracy Seefried said.

Similar to Tracy Seefried, her husband Andrew Seefried decided to pursue medicine. He currently works as an ophthalmologist at Rockingham Eye Physicians, which means he specializes in medical and surgical diseases of the eye. Andrew Seefried didn’t always know that was what he wanted to do, however.

“When I was a kid, I wanted to be a basketball player. In high PHOTO COURTESY OF TRACY SEEFRIED school, I thought I wanted to join HELPING HANDS. While on a mission trip to a hospital in Tongo, West Afthe CIA, [but] early in college, I de- rica Andrew Seefried does a debridement procedure on a six year old boy cided I wanted to pursue a career with a staphylococcal scalded skin syndrome, while his wife, Tracy Seefried in medicine,” Andrew Seefried said. assisted.

“Initially, I thought I might pursue heart surgery, [but] when I was in with the patients that I’m not able to help. Some people medical school [and] I was trying to decide which surgical end up going blind no matter what I do. They still need sub-specialty to pursue, I met a number of doctors in dif- me to be there for them and express compassion and help ferent fields that were really unhappy with their lives and them cope with it.” careers. I then got to work with an eye surgeon who loved Similar to Tracy Seefried, Andrew Seefried has plenty of what he did and seemed to enjoy a really balanced life out- time for other hobbies and for all of his kids’ activities. The side of work. I was sold.” main time management issue in medicine according to AnAndrew Seefried has been in practice for 11 years, and drew Seefried is the 12 years of school after high school. has enjoyed his job.

“The biggest issue with time commitment in medicine “Helping restore a patient’s eye sight through surgery is the education and training. I had 12 years of education is the most rewarding thing I do professionally. We tend to after high school to become an ophthalmologist. Now that take our vision for granted until we are at risk of losing it. I’m done with my education, I think I have a pretty balLosing sight is one of the most fearful things that can hap- anced life,” Andrew Seefried said. pen to an individual. Being able to help people see again is Tracy and Andrew Seefried’s son, Jacob Seefried, has an incredibly rewarding thing,” Andrew Seefried said. “My received some influence from his parents’ hard work, but job has allowed me to provide a good living for my family. Seefried isn’t planning on pursuing medicine.

It also gives me satisfaction knowing that I’m making a real “I’ve never been too interested in medicine and things difference in the quality of my patients’ lives.” like that; [I want to do] something related to either busiThe job has taught Andrew Seefried a lot about how to ness or technology. I’ve been interested in technology and carry yourself around patients and how to deal with peo- computers my whole life, [and] I either want to be the ple in general. owner of something or get into a partnership [of some “One important thing I’ve learned is to treat every pa- sort],” Jacob Seefried said. tient with the same level of respect and care. Some paHis parent’s influence, however, has helped Jacob tients are wealthy and powerful, while some are very poor Seefried realize that hard work pays off in the end. and desperate. Some are kind and easy to deal with, while “My dad went [through] a lot of school, and it ended others are difficult and unappreciative. It is my job to treat up paying off for him,” Jacob Seefried said. “It showed me them all with dignity and respect and to do my best to take that if you work hard for stuff, it might take a long time, but care of every patient regardless of these issues,” Andrew it will all pay off eventually.”

Seefried said. “The hardest thing about my job is dealing

December 16, 2016

Experience-A10

The Newsstreak

Whetzel family raising multiple pets Christa Cole Photography Editor

“Every day they have to be let out for two hours [of] exercise and training, so I would train him. And he had to be trained, otherwise he would get really fat, and that would cause him Two parakeets, two dogs, two cats, two rab- to have a heart attack,” Whetzel said. “My guinbits, two fish. Guinea pig coming soon. No, not ea pig was a male and it was really weird, beNoah’s Ark, but sophomore Heather Whetzel’s cause he had a fat butt and he was huge and I don’t know why. They have leashes you can buy household.

Whetzel has a home full of animals, adding if you want to walk them. I actually brought him them on by request, gifts, trips to the fair or just to school with me in eighth grade...and I walked him with a leash [during] lunch.” Whetzel had because no one else will take them in.

“Everybody in my family is a huge animal taught her late guinea pig to perform multiple lover. We all just love animals so much, and we tricks, including begging and jumping stairs on just like having pets around. It’s a way to fill our command.

Even though there are many different anihome and we have a lot of people, too, so everymals in Whetzel’s home, getting along is not a one likes to have their own pet,” Whetzel said.

Whetzel’s own pets are her fish, Gale, and problem for them.

“My one-year-old dog [would] do anything German Shepherd, Delta. Because there are so many animals in her home, each owner must to get in my room and sit there and stare at my take care of his or her own pet. Whetzel had to guinea pig when I had him. Now she does it with the bunnies too, and it can be quite annoying, shoulder this responsibility very recently.

“Since [Delta] was becoming older, [we were but we know she’s not going to hurt them beworried that] she would have puppies. So that’s cause she just wants to play with them. We’ve my responsibility: I raised up money to get her introduced them to each other and they’re fixed. Her surgery happened just [awhile ago], fine,” Whetzel said. “My two dogs will fight for and it’s my job to buy medicine for her, to make attention, but they usually get along pretty well, sure that she doesn’t get an infection, make sure and then my two cats are just like, ‘We don’t inshe gets her meds every day and feed her. I also teract with anybody’.”

And despite the fact that there are 10 of have to clean up after her because she sheds, so I have to make sure to vacuum a lot,” Whet- them, the animals’ odors are not a big problem zel said. “Everyone has to take care of their own either.

“If you are really close to [the guinea pig] pets, so my mom is like ‘Hey, we’re going to get rid of it if you don’t take care of it, so you need cage, you can smell it, but I have a deodorizer that I have for his cage and I spray it when I put to take care of it’.”

The total count of animals was once 11, but new shavings in, [so] it’s really good at keeping Whetzel lost her guinea pig, Ash, this past sum- the odor in and not spreading it all around my mer to old age. She will be getting a new one room. We also do that with the bunnies,” Whetthis upcoming Christmas. Don’t be surprised if zel said.

The family has had to deal with a few probyou hear about them in the guinea pig Olympics lems, though. someday.

“Clover the rabbit...can be sort of aggressive at times.

And if we let him out, he will find a way to hide anywhere so that we don’t find him. It takes forever to find him, and then when we find him, we’ll try to pick him up and then he’ll jerk and we’ll drop him, and he’ll run away again and go hide again. It’s like countless hide and seeks,” Whetzel said. “[This happens] three PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE times a week. He stays normally in my sister’s HOP TO IT! Whetzel’s rabbits hang out and play on the dinner table. room… but there’s so

many places to hide in the room, so he’ll go in her closet or… if the attic door is open, he will bolt for the attic, because it’s dark and he goes underneath the dresser [or] underneath the beds; he’ll go everywhere.”

They have made some adjustments as well.

“The only time [the birds] come out is when we open their cage and they feel like flying. Normally they fly right back to their cage. They’ll fly around for about an hour and you’ll hear them squawking, but we’ve gotten used to it,” Whetzel said.

Fortunately, the dogs are the only ones who frequently require a visit the vet. “[Trips to the vet are] multiple times a year...considering [Delta] is a puppy, she needs to go more frequently for her shots and vaccinations and everything. My older one, since he’s used to it, loves car rides.

Normally he’s okay with it since he’s blind in both eyes, and so he’s like, ‘Ok, wherever I go, I go.’ My other one is still young so she’s like, ‘Where are you taking me?’, and so she’ll bark the whole way. So when we go there, she’s like, ‘Animal! Animal!’, and she’ll go crazy,” Whetzel said. “Normally they’re pretty good about staying healthy.”

Whenever Whetzel has free time, she can be found playing with one of her pets.

“If you’re bored, you realize you can always just go play with one of the animals,” Whetzel said. “Our house is never dull. It’s always a party at our house. There is never a boring moment, there are always things going on.”

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

Pets and owners of HHS Click travels from farm to school No pet

35

Dogs

34

Cats

15

Fish 6 Bird 6 Bunny Cow

1

Other

1

2

RANDOM POLL OF 100 PEOPLE

Man on the Street

Senior David Mitongo

Theo Yoder Sports Editor If you were to visit the Click farm in Augusta County, you would find goats, sheep, chickens and donkeys scattered throughout the pastures. Sophomore Kaeden Click travels every other day from Harrisonburg to Augusta County where the 16-acre farm, belonging to his stepdad, grandfather and stepuncle, is located. Together, they raise the 20-30 goats and 60 sheep to sell.

“Since [my stepdad] was young, they have owned these animals. They grew up with it and I kind of just joined in.

They were raised with the sheep and goats and wanted to continue that because [the responsibility] was passed down from their grandfather,” Click said, “It’s great raising them, it is a different experience from the city. Living on a farm is more peaceful, quiet and you have room to do whatever you want.”

While raising these farm animals requires work, Click’s nine-year-old sister has some fun by naming a few of the sheep. These names consist of Sparkle, Fuzzbucket and Ham. The name Ham comes from the original name Pam. The Click family lives in a farm community. The neighbors keep horses and cows as well as grow corn. The Click family, however, does not keep their sheep and goats for their job, but as a hobby.

“Their grandfather raised them as more of a job, but [my stepdad and stepuncle] took it on more of a hobby because they all have jobs that they do regularly. They spend Saturdays and Sundays taking care and working on the an-

“Pets provide me a general sense of family and compassion that only they can give.

They don’t judge as much.”

imals, but there is still pay from it by selling the babies,” Click said.

Along with the sheep, goats and chickens, Click’s stepuncle has owned a couple sheepdogs that live on the farm.

Click has been traveling to the farm from the city of Harrisonburg to Augusta County for a number of years now.

The farm is a source of relief for Click as he goes there to get away from the city.

“[I like pets] because they can give you the love that people can’t.”

Freshman Alyce Kilby-Woodward

Senior Andy Osorio

“They’re fun to have around you as a second family and they’re really entertaining.

That’s a lot more than some people.”

Gladd battles severe animal allergies, still loves pets Vivian Neal Staff Reporter For the past five years, sophomore Nick Gladd has been finding ways to defy his allergies to pets.

Instead of staying away from them, as an avid animal lover, Gladd has been taking care of animals for his neighbors and friends. At best, Gladd is able to stay in a house with pets for about 30 minutes before his breathing begins to stagger and the normal symptoms of

allergies onset (sneezing, runny nose, watery eyes, etc.). Despite this obstacle, his love for animals would not be hindered. “[To get around my allergies] I use lots of Benadryl and Dimetapp,” Gladd said. “[My work starts picking up during] the holidays that I stay in town, like Christmas. It kind of depends if someone is going out somewhere; I’ll help them out by taking care of their dog and save them the time.”

Despite his severe reactions to pets, Gladd’s parents had few worries about allowing him to

pet-sit.

“My mom is a big dog person.

She loves dogs and she grew up around Great Danes, but she is also allergic to cats and dogs severely just like me. That helps [me], because she has been around it more than me, so [I] use her experience. If we weren’t allergic, we would probably have dogs, horses, cats, pretty much anything,” Gladd said.

Through pet sitting, Gladd has been able to experience what it’s like to have pets without ever owning one. This also

includes the memorable experiences a pet can add to life.

“I was taking my friend Nancy’s dogs for a walk. I was with one of my friends and he opened the gate too early and both [dogs] Willie and Freddie got loose, so I had to chase them down. I got Freddie, who is a big Golden Retriever, and he dragged me along the gravel path while people just watched,” Gladd said. “That was probably my most crazy experience.”

Gladd has been able to control his allergies, and doesn’t believe that they could get in

his way later in life. He would love to continue working with animals as he gets older, and he has been able to learn valuable lessons from taking care of them already.

“Give [animals] love. They love baby talk. You can’t just go in and feed them and then leave. It’s not worth people paying you to do that. Just help take care of them to the best of your ability. Give them love and affection,” Gladd said. “Obviously I’m not around [animals] 24/7, so as me and my mom call it, this is my animal fix.”

The Newsstreak

December 16, 2016

Feature-A11

Every Person Has A Story Xanoubane’s popularity grows Social media will propel teen into world of modeling after high school Nyah Phengsitthy Social Media Coordinator With over 3,000 followers on Instagram and 141,000 on her most popular video, sophomore Jenny Xanoubane has had thoughts of going down the modeling road. At the beginning of her journey, Xanoubane created an Instagram account for fun, but when the followers and likes kept increasing with every post, Xanoubane decided she wanted to be something more than just a person on social media.

“I didn’t think of being a model when I was growing up, but people thought of me as a Barbie doll because I’m really skinny. Now that I think about it, I guess I do [plan on being a model],” Xanoubane said.

From just posting a photo or video, many accounts will immediately direct message her and ask if she is willing to work with them.

“I like posting pictures to Instagram and then getting feedback from accounts that want to promote me,”

Xanoubane said.

Many companies have contacted Xanoubane, some even as far away as New Jersey and California. Because of school and wanting to stay close to home, Xanoubane plans on graduating before officially starting her modeling career.

Other than Instagram, Xanoubane is also well known on other social media accounts such as Facebook, Musical.ly, and Snapchat.

Xanoubane’s fame most likely began when she posted a video of her dancing to a challenge on Facebook.

“I did a challenge from this famous Facebook person[BGZTV], and he reposted my video, and that’s how I really got known,” Xanoubane said. The video had gotten 70.1k views along with 431 shares. Xanoubane then began to upload more videos of her doing other challenges.

When other Instagram accounts began reposting them, her likes, views and followers skyrocketed on her different accounts. Xanoubane had also received a little over 27,000 views on a 15-second video she uploaded on

YouTube.

Although getting attention from social media has been giving her positive vibes, Xanoubane has had times where she hasexperienced negative ones.

“I get negative comments sometimes, but that doesn’t really stop me from doing anything… Whenever I look at negative comments, I can’t really do anything about it,” Xanoubane said.

Xanoubane always receives many messages from other people through the web saying how much they look up to her or admire her. Since she is not the full-out Instagram star where most direct messages wouldn’t be answered, Xanoubane has the time to respond to everyone who sends her something. Xanoubane likes to encourage anyone that looks up to her, and tries to send out an inspiring message.

“Just be yourself and do whatever you want to do,” Xanoubane said.

“Don’t let anyone stop you.”

Quinones plans to use STEM experiences in future Kenyaa Wright Staff Reporter Enrique Quinones is not just a junior here at HHS, but a Streaks Leadership Ambassador as well as a member of TSA. TSA is a nationwide association that promotes STEM job fields.

“I joined TSA at first, because I enjoyed the challenging competitions they offer, then I realized how useful TSA is by teaching you skills you can only learn in TSA,” Quinones said.

Quinones takes his education very seriously and has had many academic achievements throughout his schooling career. In his eighth grade year at Thomas Harrison Middle School, he received eight awards at the end of the year, all-grade assembly. In Addition, Quinones also received a nomination from the congress of Future Science and Technology Leaders.

Quinones aims to challenge himself in his academics.

“I take STEM Chemistry Honors, AVID, AP Environmental Science, English 11 Honors and World Geography Honors,” Quinones said.

“I take these classes because I need the credits and I also take them [because] they exercise my brain and make me think

about what I’m learning.” Quinones Quinones favorite subject is math and he feels very passionate about it.

“My favorite subject is math. Most, if not all math, can be applied to at least

one real world scenario,” Quinones said.

Quinones experiences many hardships in class, because he has a certain drive to complete all his work by the end of the class period.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SETH SHANTZ

FIELD EXPERIENCE. Enrique Quinones eats blue crab on a STEM field trip to the Chesapeake Bay.

“One of the hardest parts about my classes is leaving. I don’t like to leave my classes without having all my work done,” Quinones said.

In regards to his future, Quinones has set many goals for himself.

“I want to be able to learn as much as I can through high school and college.

Everything I learn can be applied to life,” Quinones said.

Quinones is in the process of choosing between four career choices.

“I want to become an architect, politician, a civil engineer, or a businessman. I want to leave behind a legacy, ” Quinones said.

“I want to leave behind a legacy, so when I am no longer around, I will still be remembered. I don’t want to be seen as a publicist, but as a role model to anyone that will listen,” Quinones said.

Quinones is interested in a variety of colleges.

“I am interested in University of Virginia, Virginia Tech, Massachusetts Institution of Technology, and the University of Florida,” he said.

Quinones describes himself as thoughtful and balanced. He plans to apply to his future career, whatever it may be.

MacAdam can’t seem to escape uncoordinated nature Angel Hendrix Online Managing Editor Junior Alanna MacAdam is somewhat famous for being a complete clutz. Her long list of mishaps started as young as three years old.

“I was at a family cookout in the summer, and my brother and I were bored, so we went out and started swatting flies because..I don’t know I was three,” MacAdam said. “As most people know, I’m a little clumsy, so I went running full speed towards the grill because there was a fly on it, so I run and I trip and I land with half of my face just stuck to the grill. I had to peel my face away.”

Fortunately, no skin graft was needed and her face fully healed. Fast forwarding to freshman year of high school, MacAdam dropped a 45 lb weight on her head, without getting a concussion. Howev-

er, during soccer tryouts she they’re like, ‘Alanna, don’t forwasn’t so lucky. get to breathe.’ Who needs to “Freshman year, when I got be reminded to breathe? Me.” my concussion, surprisingly the Adding to her clumsiness, 45 lb plate thing didn’t give me MacAdam doesn’t walk when it a concussion. During tryouts, comes to stairs. She falls. the girl slammed me into the “I fall down the stairs a lot, I wall so my head hit the wall fall up the stairs a lot. I don’t Alanna MacAdam and it snapped,” MacAdam mean to, I’m just walking said. and I think I just get too excited because In addition to playing soccer, MacAd- I trip over my feet a lot. I’ve tripped just am also runs track. Sometimes she needs walking in a hallway. I don’t know how, it a little reminder to do something people just happens,” MacAdam said. normally don’t forget to do.

Recently, MacAdam had a similar prob“I have this thing where I get distract- lem while hiking with some friends. ed in my mind during sports and [Athletic “I went on a hike with my friends. Keely Trainer Jen] Glazer said it’s because I for- was like, ‘Oh is this the path,’ because we get to breathe,” MacAdam said. “It caus- were supposed to be going down. Chrises me to hyperventilate and have panic sa goes, ‘Yea I think that’s a shortcut.’ It attacks. I’ve passed out in track because was not a shortcut,” MacAdam said. “The I was running in the hall and I’m like, mountain literally just went boom, it was ‘Y’all I can’t breathe,’ because I just forgot a straight drop, it was filled with rocks and to breathe. So now people remind me, sticks. We just slid down the mountain,

did a few rolls, a few butt scooches. I fell on a stick… I was literally sitting on [it]. I got this [scar] from it [and] it ripped my leggings. So you know that shortcut really was short because we rolled down a mountain.”

Because MacAdam finds herself on the ground quite often, her friends are pretty much used to it by now.

“I’ve learned that I am very clumsy. I have great friends that laugh at me when I do stupid things. They have learned to just accept me for what I am,” MacAdam said.

“When I fall down the stairs everyone’s like, ‘Oh my gosh, are you okay?’ and they’re like, ‘Yeah she’s fine.’ If I’m crying they’re like, ‘Yeah she’s fine,’ because I’m fine, I’m all good, nothing new.”

To all the fellow clutz, MacAdam gives some advice.

“Be better. Don’t do what I do. Pay attention to what you’re doing,” MacAdam said.

Haji repairs cell phones to earn cash Jake Urbanski Sports Editor

PHOTO BY JAKE URBANSKI

TECH TIME. Junior Zhear Haji repairs a smart phones. Haji taught himself to repair the phones by watching YouTube videos.

With the amount of cell phones being used today, repair stores are popping up in Harrisonburg. Along with these stores, junior Zhear Haji has begun fixing phones himself, and has made a name for himself throughout the school.

“One day I was just looking through Craigslist, and I found a phone that just needed a screen replaced. I was like, ‘How hard could it be? There is good money in it if I just learned how to do it.’ I just slowly learned. I watched YouTube videos, I did the little tutorials, then eventually I just got the hang of it. I do all types of phones,” Haji said.

To compete with Gadgettown and other repair shops around the area, Haji has a lower price than his competition. Getting a screen replaced at Gadgettown for an iPhone 6 costs $95, but Haji only charges his customers $70.

“You have to have a lot of patience. If you don’t, you could lose a bolt because the bolts are really small and you can’t panic. Everything is really fragile on the phone. Let’s say I take the home button cord off, it can rip. If I take the camera off, the camera cord can rip. You just have to be calm with it… You can’t be stiff,” Haji said.

Along with phones, Haji also fixes cars.

Growing up with a life long mechanic for a father, he has learned a few tricks of the trade. In fact, he spends much of his free time in the shop helping his family’s business.

“Our family owns a mechanic’s place called Fast Lane Auto and I usually spend my free time there,” Haji said. “Every weekend I go and let’s say we have a break [in school] or something, I go. When summertime comes I’m there every day from eight in the morning until seven in the afternoon. I’m just helping out, and learning slowly.”

December 16, 2016

What’s your biggest pet peeve?

English teacher Aaron Cosner

“Aggressive drivers.”

Art teacher Laura Thompson

“Mispronounced grammar.”

History teacher Cara Walton

“People who assume that because I’m female that I’m weak or can’t do something. Also, people biting forks and bad drivers.’’

English teacher Jen Diggs

“Someone who is unhappy in their circumstances and refuses to try to make changes.”

Secretary Lynda Blackwell

“Lying, and people chewing with their mouth open.”

English teacher Crystal Roach

“I hate it when someone is smoking around me. I don’t smoke, I find it disrespectful.

I also hate being in public and seeing someone not watch their children.’’

Feature-A12

The Newsstreak

First concert sparks memories Iris Cessna Staff Reporter While many of us students here at HHS are just now experiencing our “firsts,” the teachers have, in large part, already been through the big ones. While there are many new things that even teachers have yet to experience, one that most have already enjoyed is their first concert.

English Teacher Cathy Soenksen experienced her first concert at 13, seeing John Denver with her dad as a birthday present.

“I loved his music when I was middle school age, [including] songs like ‘Sunshine on My Shoulders’. We had moved to West Virginia, and he had ‘Take Me Home, Country Roads,’ which has the line about West Virginia in it. That sort of all correlated with his coming to Richmond and having a concert, and my birthday, [which is why we went to the concert],” Soenksen said.

Beyond just liking his music before attending the concert, she was impressed with the way he allowed his band a break while he continued to play.

“He let the band take a 20-minute break, but he stayed on stage, with just a stool and his acoustic guitar and he continued to play…

There was a spotlight circling around, and he’d point at somebody, and they’d yell out what they wanted. It was really a very personal experience,” Soenksen said.

Assistant principal Mike Eye, also had a memorable moment from his first concert. He was in high school, like the students he now oversees, and went to see Nitty Gritty Dirt Band at Wilson Hall at JMU. He, too, has a story of the main singer staying on stage while the rest took a break.

“The song I remember the most

from the concert was a song called the “Whippoorwill”... He played the banjo on this song, and everybody else took a break. It’s about a 10-15 minute song, which tells the story of this fiddle contest. What makes the difference is he’s talking about a fiddle contest, but he’s playing the banjo to accompany the story.

It’ll get your eyes a little watery at the end of the story, I think. I recommend it,” Eye said.

Eye also noted that the band didn’t just play the music, they provided comedy for the audience.

“I guess the other thing [that made it good] was that they injected a lot of humor, as well as just playing music, into their show.

They talked to the audience and things,” Eye said.

The band doesn’t fall perfectly into one genre, according to Eye. “They sold out shows, fromwhat

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUDREY SHORT

CONCERT TIME. Math teacher Audrey Short experiences her first concert at the performance of famous country band, Lady Antebellum.

I remember. They claimed to be Americana in their style, but they played a little bluegrass, a little country, a little rock and roll. It’s a nice mix of music,” Eye said.

Math teacher Audrey Short had her first concert in Cleveland, Ohio, a couple hours from her home as

First concert: Who? Where? Price?

ISS supervisor Destiny Anderson “My first concert was in 2005. I went to see Trey Songz and Young Geezy at the Richmond Landmark Theatre. My tickets were free, a friend of mine won two tickets from our local radio station.”

PE teacher Amy Wheeler “Reba McIntire in the fourth grade with my mom. Free, third row seats.”

English and broadcast teacher Emilee Hussack “When I was a sophomore in college, I saw Yellowcard and Something Corporate in DC. Tickets were $35, I think.”

Counselor Christina Norment “I can’t remember the first, but one of the first was Radiohead at 9:30 club in D.C., right after the release of OK Computer. Can’t remember the price but it was priceless.”

JROTC instructor Russell Wilder “16 years old, The Doobie Brothers, on the beach at Merritt Island Florida. $6.00.”

Strickler, Ward remember first kiss Lucie Rutherford Print Editor-in-Chief

didn’t even give the girl a kiss on the cheek, I just fell into her and felt like a fool.”

Looking back many years later, Ward wishes he could have told himself a very valuable piece of We all have our awkward years. With those advice. awkward years comes one of the most awkward “[I would tell myself to] talk to her instead of moments of them all, the first kiss. At the time, just rolling up and being a weirdo about it. Probthat first kiss was most likely the best or worst ably my middle school self would’ve been like, moment of a kid’s life, but looking back, almost ‘No, I would never do that. I would never talk to everyone can reflect and laugh. Some of us may a girl, that’s crazy’. I don’t know if people in midstill even be in those awkward years, though for dle school are like that still, but certainly it was yearbook and English teacher Mary Strickler, and like that when we were in middle school, like you counselor Dave Ward, those awkward years are can’t talk to girls because it’s weird,” Ward said. long gone, though the memories of their first kiss For Strickler, her story is more along the lines still stick with them. of a hero getting the kiss at “It was in middle the end of the movie. But school, and there was in this case, instead of savthis girl that a bunch of ing the world, Strickler’s people in my friend group hero simply got revenge on had a crush on at the Strickler’s long-time eletime. I was one of those mentary school rival. people, so I decided that “My last name was Tyson, I was going to show her her name was Diane Wells. I that I liked her by just givwas always in front of her in ing her a kiss,” Ward said. line, and she hated me, and Ward explains that he put gum in my hair,” Strickler had terrible social skills said. “At that time I had hair at the time, though he I could sit on, it was really, believed he was the king really long, and so they had of the middle school. Alto cut my hair. My mother most every day, Ward didn’t know how to get gum would walk the girl to out of hair, so I ended up her bus, and that day he with pixie hair.” decided to make the big After the incident, Strickmove. ler was scared to go back “So the buses pulled to school. This is where the up right to the curb, and hero comes in.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MARY STRICKLER I remember just walk- “So this little boy who ing up to the bus having A KISS FOR THE BOOKS. English and year- liked me said he would take butterflies, my heart’s book teacher Mary Strickler remembers her care of it for me, and he did. racing, and I’m just like, first kiss with a guy who had a crush on her All I remember is his name ‘Do it Dave, just do it.’ I back when she was younger. was David, and I didn’t leaned over to give her a know how he was going to kiss and she was stepping towards the bus and I take care of it. I didn’t care,” Strickler said. “He stepped off the curb...I basically fell into her more brought a snake to school, a garter snake in a than giving her a kiss. It wasn’t a real kiss, but I shoe box, and he gave it to her and said if she consider it my first just because it just speaks to bullied me anymore, he was going to throw it on how terribly terrible at romance I was in middle her or something, I don’t know… and so she never school,” Ward said. bothered me again. So, I had to kiss him. That was After the incident, Ward realized he wasn’t as his reward.” confident as he had thought.

After the snake event and the rewarding kiss, “[Before], I just didn’t care and I thought I was Strickler says she never talked to her hero again. the coolest kid, and then after that I was like, ‘You “It was one of those learning [situations], and have no idea what you’re doing’, and that was so there wasn’t any real love associated with it,” pretty clear. So I look back on it and just kind of Strickler said. laugh at how cool I thought I was,” Ward said. “I

a teenager. Short attended a concert by Lady Antebellum, a country band that played their concert outdoors, an aspect of the show that was enjoyable for her.

“It’s like a newer country. It’s a man and a woman, singing together. There’s another guy…but the main man and woman sing. Kind of watered down country. It’s not real twangy or anything like that,” Short said.

She emphasized how the drive out and back from the concert was part of the experience as well.

“That was probably the farthest from home I had driven without my parents, because I was only 17, and we drove and it was outside... we drove back late [which was also fun],” Short said.

The band included Darius Rucker, who had played in a band called Hootie and the Blowfish earlier.

Short liked how he played some of his old songs at the concert. “[Hootie and the Blowfish is] an older band, like from when my parents [were young]. They’re probably from the eighties. [Darius Rucker] now sings country, but he did a lot of the old Hootie and the Blowfish songs, so that was really cool. Just old songs; that stood out,” Short said.

My first kiss went a little like this...

“14, hammock in the back yard, that’s all I will say.”

-Assistant Principal Eric Miller “Oh jeez. Jennifer Rodriguez, 4th grade...coat nook in our classroom...It was special.”

-English teacher Peter Norment “After a summer pool party for middle schoolers, a block from our houses, we were neighbors,... I walked her past both our homes as I tried to gain my courage to ask her for a kiss.”

-English teacher Richard Morrell “Hospital, minute I was born, Mom, age zero.”

-Science teacher Myron Blosser “Kindergarten in the woods while on a nature walk. His name was Mike.”

-English teacher Cathryn Soenksen “Seventh grade. A girl named Amy Montesarro. School roller skating party.”

-History teacher Jay Blair “My first kiss was at age 19 and was pretty forgettable for both parties involved.”

-ESL teacher Benjamin Kurtz

Butler levels up on long-time candy crush addiction Lene Andrawas Staff Reporter If you look on the app store, you will find Candy Crush Saga ranked as 29th on the popularity chart. In the game’s description, you will read that there’s a journey awaiting you of magical lands and delicious characters. While there are thousands of levels in the game, PE teacher and Behind the

Wheel instructor TJ Butler has found himself on level 1,829 in Candy Crush and plans to continue playing.

Although the game takes time and effort to get through the levels, Butler believes that there shouldn’t be a reason to stop playing.

“Many people quit on things when they get hard,” Butler said.

Butler started playing Candy Crush in the summer

of 2014. Butler says he continues to play because of the challenge the game gives him. Each level is a puzzle, you have to work your way around it in order to move on. With each level being more difficult compared to the previous one, you have to reach a certain number of points in a set amount of time, getting rid of the jelly surrounding the candy in a certain amount of moves, or by dropping various treats

at the bottom of the grid.

With limited lives at risk, you have to be careful and think wisely.

Surprisingly, the number of times he plays doesn’t affect him at work or during the day.

“I play probably 10 to 15 minutes before I go to bed. It’s a nightly routine.

I also play a lot on Sundays when the Patriots play,” Butler said. Butler manages his time well by complet-

ing all of his grading before succumbing to the app. For almost a year, Candy Crush was the top grossing game in the app store.

The amount of money being spent on this addicting game can be expensive depending on how you use your lives and power ups. Butler, though, has restrained himself from using too much money. “ [I] definitely [have] not [spent] over $20,” Butler

said. When he has to use his money, Butler uses it for extra lives and different boosters to help him complete each level.

“If you like Candy Crush, you should start, [but] maybe you shouldn’t because you’ll get addicted,” Butler said. Like any game, the threat of getting addicted can make it hard to put the phone down, which lead Butler to reach level 1,829.

December 16, 2016

The Newsstreak

Popular gifts this season Hatchimals Pie in the Face games

Regular Version: Walmart: $14.88 Target: $14.89

Feature-B1

Target: $59.99 Toys R Us: $69.99 IF you can find them! People are lining up at delivery trucks just to get this product!

DJI Phantom Drones

Pie in the Face Showdown: Walmart: $19.49 Target: $24.99

DJI Phantom 4 Quadrocopter Amazon: $1,059.00 DJI site: $1,199.00 (older version pictured)

Samsung and LG 4K HD TVs Best Buy: Samsung 60”: $1,199.99 LG 60”: On sale for $699.99 (reg. $999.99)

Apple Products Apple: MacBook Pro 13”: $1,499-1,999.00 iPad Pro: $599-799.00 iPhone 7: $649-769.00

Amazon products Amazon (Prime) & Best Buy: Echo: $179.99 Echo Dot: $49.99 Fire stick: $39.99

Playstation 4 game console Best Buy & Gamestop: $399.99 (Pro Version)

Lego sets Star Wars Advent Calendar Kit (Amazon): $39.99 Minecraft Crafting Box (Amazon): $34.49

NERF Modulus Tri-Strike Blaster

Amazon: $29.74 Walmart: $34.99 Target: $49.99

Num Noms Lip Gloss Truck Craft Kit Walmart: $24.88 Target: $32.99 Amazon: $29.59

What is the best gift you have ever received for Christmas?

Deborah Wakilongo, 11 “A long white and pink dress. It was really beautiful.”

Juniel Rodriguez, 10 “A Hot Wheels collection. I already had the hot wheels, but it’s the thought that counts.”

Ashia Burns, 12 “When I was younger I got a pink radio with some CDs.”

Mark Khatman, 9 “A drone...it was cool, but one day it flew away and I couldn’t get it back.”

Aaron Hostetter, 12 “A photo album from my grandma... [with] a lot of pictures of my childhood and a lot of pictures of me and her.”

Wendy SantiagoHenriquez, 9 “A [halter top] dress from Mexico. It was green and sparkly and poofy.”

December 16, 2016

Feature-B2

The Newsstreak

Envirothon pursues new opportunity Iris Cessna Staff Reporter Envirothon is a little known activity at HHS. In fact, it being so little known has been a major factor in why senior Jaci McGranahan didn’t partake in the activity in previous years.

“I didn’t know about it [in previous years],” McGranahan said. “This year, I was in Goble’s [AP Environmental Science] class, and he told us about it.”

McGranahan was referring to AP Environmental Science, BSA, DE Biology and Horticulture teacher Adam Goble who is the instructor/coach of the Envirothon team.

“We learn about different environmental topics, and then we use that knowledge to apply it to real world scenarios...There is a station [at the competition] where there is a group test on soil science, there is a group test on forestry, aquatics and fishery science, wildlife and then what our special topic is, which this year is conservation stewardship,” Goble said.

Conservation stewardship is a program farmers can take on to improve how environmentally friendly their land is.

Envirothon has attracted a small group of students, largely those in one or more of Goble’s classes. The group meets after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays so far as well as on the occasional weekend, to grow their knowledge of the Envirothon topics.

Eventually, the participants will also begin

PHOTO COURTESY OF TRISTIEN BROWN

TAKE THE MEASURE. Cecily Lawton uses a biltmore stick to find the height of a “tree.”

The stick allows a person to quickly estimate the height of a tree, or a light post, as the case may be on our mostly treeless campus. working on their presentation of the special topic. One of these students, besides McGranahan, is senior Kellie Serrell. Like McGranahan, this is her first year on the Envirothon team.

“I enjoyed having Mr. Goble as a teacher,

and when I realized there was another class that could possibly help me in AP environmental science, I decided to take it. It’s also additional help, as well as other skills. Plus, it’ll look good on a college application,” Serrell said.

Students in Envirothon tend to choose a “specialty” within the four core subjects of Envirothon.

“My favorite part has been when we do the aquatics because I like fish and anything that has to do with water,” Serrell said.

McGranahan, on the other hand, has shifted between the subjects, and still hasn’t quite made a decision.

“At first, I told him that I would do the tree math stuff. But now I’m really interested in doing soils, so I don’t know. I’ve still got time [to decide],” McGranahan said.

Although Envirothon is similar to science classes in some ways, the difference has been part of what has drawn McGranahan to it.

“I really like going outside, like [on] the first day, when we played in the dirt. And then going out and actually seeing the leaves [when we learned tree I.D.] instead of just sitting in a classroom and learning about it,” McGranahan said.

With lots of new members, and rival Fort Defiance High School’s team that had many seniors graduate last year, Goble thinks that his team has a better chance than in previous years.

“I think we [have a better chance] simply because my team members are very motivated. They’re working hard this year. And we’re much more organized than we have been in years past. Fort’s team was good last year, but they all graduated, so there is a power vacuum in the district that I’d like to fill,” Goble said.

Habitat members volunteer Nyah Phengsitthy Feature Editor From creating gingerbread houses for the children in the nursery to making hot dogs for the forensics and debate tournament, the Habitat for Humanity club volunteers for others. In the past, the student-led club has done shed building, landscaping and a bike riding 5k.

For aiding the community, Habitat for Humanity focuses on giving back to anyone who lives here and helping families seek a place to live where they can find peace and comfort.

Math teacher and leader of Habitat for Humanity Patricia Kelley is in charge of what fundraisers and projects the club will work with. Kelley believes the first fundraiser of making food for a forensics tournament went well, and so will future events later on in the year.

“The first event we held this year was a great success. Part of the reason it was a success is because these members have worked together in years past, and they all have such great personalities. When there is such a strong work ethic combined with a spirit of cooperation, you get a really positive result,” Kelley said.

President of the club, senior Ninoska Bertran, has

been a member for three years and still remembers her first impression upon joining.

“I remember freshman year just passing down the hallways and seeing pictures of Habitat for Humanity, and I was always interested in building, so I was like, ‘I feel like I’d be a great fit for it’, and I joined sophomore year. I found out that we aren’t actually building the houses, it’s more of the adults doing that, but we get to experience that by helping out,” Bertran said.

With her friend’s mom directing the club and wanting to help the community, freshman Kathy Cue joined Habitat for Humanity as one of her first high school club choices. After completing the first fundraiser, Cue found the club more interesting because of the people in it.

“There wasn’t a specific reason on why I wanted to do it. It was just fun to be around the group,” Cue said.

This year, the club consists of all females, which is something everyone in the club enjoys.

“It’s all females, so you don’t have to worry about saying this and that. We’re all like sisters, and everyone is so sweet and nice,” Bertran said.

One goal the club would like to focus on is to elimi-

nate poverty housing by working more in the community to make sure everyone has a roof to stay under.

“Our goals this year are to continue fundraising as a way to support local and international [Habitat for Humanity] and also to participate in local area housing construction projects.

We will find out in January if we will be invited to build another storage shed for a local housing project,” Kelley said.

Kelley hopes that after Bertran, the only senior in the club, graduates, an impact will be left on the underclassmen in the future.

“Our president, Ninoska, is a great inspiration to our younger members and I am sure that when she graduates this year, the future of the club will be bright as our younger members carry on the good example that Ninoska has been demonstrating,” Kelley said.

As a senior and last year member of the club, Bertran wants those who don’t know about Habitat for Humanity to know that it is something everyone can join and enjoy very much.

“I know most students… don’t really pay attention to it because of the name, but behind it, there’s just so much more meaning,” Bertran said. “I’d recommend it because there is no other club like that.”

2475 S.Main Street - Suite D, Harrisonburg, Virginia 22801 Phone: 540-434-1738 Fax: 540-434-1338

PHOTO BY GARRETT CASH

COLLABORATION. Senior Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum, junior Israel Kakule, senior Taya Whitley and senior Kyel Towler plan out who the student announcer will be for the talent show and also assigned members to a business that they will be visiting in order to acquire sponsors for the club.

BSU organizing talent show Garrett Cash Online Editor-In-Chief As a young club founded at the beginning of the academic year, Black Student Union is exploding with energy from its broad member base and motivated leaders. Deciding they wanted to make a positive impact on students in their early days, the leaders teamed up with the class officers to put on a talent show where students can showcase their unique abilities.

Last year, a talent show was attempted, but few people showed up to try out because of a lack of advertisement. As a result, this became the number one priority of BSU’s president senior Evangeline Mensah-Agyekum for this year’s show.

“We [advertised] by getting the word out about the talent show auditions. We had to go to the office to get on the announcements that there were auditions,” Mensah-Agyekum said. “There was [a talent show] being planned last year, but I never heard it over the announcements or anything… We were trying to get it out there that there’s going to be a talent show, and there are auditions, so you need to just come on over. We’ve also been trying to make posters, get more publicity about the talent show and also trying to get business sponsors for prizes for both the audience and those competing in the talent show.”

Black Student Union planned on a show where everybody can perform, but because of such a successful advertising campaign, they will be forced to make cuts if more people try out. The show is split

into two sections: one part will be dedicated to those who simply wish to show their skills, and the other is a competition judged by a panel of student judges. Prizes for both the audience and those competing in the talent show came from local businesses as part of a collaboration with the marketing class, organized by marketing teacher Cassandra Copeland, who brought the idea to senior BSU vice president Kyel Towler and Mensah-Agyekum.

“The last thing I did was to develop a letter of sponsorship to businesses over Harrisonburg,” Towler said. “And actually, Ms. Copeland’s using her class because they have to do something like that. She [said], ‘This would be a good way for my class to do that,’ so we just paired up with her class so her class would have to go to businesses.”

Amidst the planning, Towler, as well as the other leaders, began to see just how much work went into planning an event.

Although caught offguard by the newfound weight of the task, they learned from the experience and saw the benefit of discussing and voting on even the tiniest of things.

“We went through a lot of voting about little things like, ‘Are we going to have a student judge?’ [and], ‘What time are we going to have this?’ I didn’t realize everybody wanted something different. I had assumed everyone would go one way,” Towler said.

Despite disagreement and a seemingly insurmountable task, the leaders executed planning an engaging talent show for the student body on Dec. 9.

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Kizner’s religion has taught him respect for diversity Hannah Miller Copy Editor Harrisonburg City Schools are known for their diversity, so it’s no surprise that the approaching winter break will bring the celebration of several different holidays. Whether it’s Christmas, Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, superintendent Scott Kizner believes the variation in our school system should be celebrated. Being Jewish, Kizner has always respected other religions.

“There’s always been a huge emphasis in my family of acceptance and respect of others.

[Before] coming to Harrisonburg, we’d been in other communities where my children were the only Jewish kids, so it’s been something that I think in many ways has been good for [my kids], because they’ve gained a greater appreciation of other religions,” Kizner said. “At the same time, it’s been a challenge as a parent because you don’t want them… to leave their traditions, culture and religious beliefs. I think overall it’s

just made me and my kids much more accepting of people [with beliefs] different than our [own].”

This winter break, Kizner’s family will be honoring their faith by celebrating Hanukkah.

“Hanukkah would be best described as… a festival that celebrates accomplishments of a time in Jewish history when we were concerned about our safety and our existence. It’s a celebration of triumph over bad odds,” Kizner said.

Though Harrisonburg’s diversity makes minority holidays more common, being Jewish is still far from majority. Still, according to Kizner, the city allows more people of different religious, ethnic and cultural groups to feel content.

“Harrisonburg is a pretty good place to be a minority, because it seems like there’s a lot of people who might consider themselves minorities. I’m very comfortable. [Since] I left New York in 1981, I’ve always been a minority,” Kizner said.

Growing up, Kizner and his family had traditions they followed for all holidays,

even if they didn’t always celebrate them.

“My family felt very strongly that we have dinners together for all holidays, [and] that we spent time to understand what the holidays meant, that it wasn’t just a time to get gifts or be off from school,” Kizner said. “I think the other thing that my parents did was, being Jewish, we recognized that on Christian holidays, many people who worked in settings where they were helping others would like to be with their families [as well], so we often volunteered at food shelters and food banks. That was something I didn’t realize until I was older that I thought was pretty special about my parents, that they always felt like giving back to the community.”

Now that Kizner is a parent himself, he has tried to pass on traditions and values for his own children.

“My oldest daughter… is married to a really great guy who’s not Jewish, so I really have learned to respect different religions in a [new] way. We still all get together for our holidays, and we learn… to respect other holidays and traditions,” Kizner said.

With the holidays approaching, Kizner believes it’s important to keep in mind the values of others. Whether people are celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah or no holiday at all, the diversity should be a cause

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT KIZNER

HAPPY HANUKKAH. During Chanukah, the Festival of Lights, Jews around the world lights their chanukiahs, the candelabrum with nine candles.

for celebration on its own.

“I think the beauty of any society in the world we live in is that we all are different, and even though we all are different, we have certain things in common,” Kizner said. “If you only believe that your religion or way of life is the way that everybody should be, then you’re really doing a disservice to yourself personally to learn from others and grow.”

Students cut their own Christmas trees at local farms Max McDaniel Staff Reporter Junior Isaiah King goes to a Christmas tree farm with his family each year in order to cut down their own tree. King prefers to go to a commonly known farm just outside the hustle and bustle of the city.

“There’s one out in the country somewhere... it’s the main one that everyone goes to,” King says.

Evergreen Christmas Tree Farm is just outside of Harrisonburg, providing an ideal spot for families to look for holiday pines. When at the farm, sophomore Alissa Burnette and her family have their own set of ideal qualities that they look for in a tree. “[I like] one that’s tall and evenly proportioned, green, the leaves aren’t dying... maybe a little hint of blue” Burnette said.

She doesn’t always get her way, though, as her parents make the executive decision on which tree comes into their home.

“I have a small say [in what tree we take home]...

Everybody chooses, but my mom and dad have most of the power,” Burnette said.

Junior Coltin Aleshire has to accommodate for his ceiling when looking for trees, aiming for seven or eight feet tall. Aleshire is open to the idea of cutting down his own tree, compared to buying one from a store.

“As long as you don’t mind getting dirty, it doesn’t take a lot of

work,” Aleshire said.

Once the tree has been cut down and lugged to a residence, the next step is decorating. King uses a plethora of ornaments his family has collected over the years.

“We have white lights, [and] we don’t have a set of ornaments, it’s just a collection of ones we’ve gotten from friends and family,” King said.

Once the task of decorating is complete, the families look towards and appreciate their work. The warm feeling of a new tree doesn’t last long for Burnette, though. Instead, she now attempts to ignore the nuisances that come with it.

“The needles falling are kind of annoying,” Burnette said. But, although the needles associated with a real tree can be annoying, it’s not a deal breaker for her family.

“It has that Christmas tree smell, so it’s kind of worth it over a fake tree,” Burnette said.

Aleshire believes real pine trees, opposed to fake ones, are integral to the holiday.

“You’re not really celebrating Christmas if you get a plastic Christmas tree… Cutting down Christmas trees has been a tradition in my family my whole life, and a plastic Christmas tree doesn’t really express the Christmas spirit,” he said.

In the name of Christmas spirit, families bring the iconic tree into their home.

For these students, though, it’s not the same unless they’re fresh pine.

PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILY NORTH

SEDER THE TABLE. The North-Sandel children read aloud before Seder, a Jewish ceremonial feast that marks the beginning of Passover. Afterwards, the family had dinner together.

North-Sandels celebrate both Hanukkah, Christmas Carrie Yoder Staff Reporter Hanukkah and Christmas are usually celebrated separately by different families with different traditions and religions. However, this is not the case for the North-Sandels.

With one side of the family being Jewish and the other Christian, rather than choose one religious holiday to honor, the North-Sandels decided to compromise and celebrate both.

Emily North, mother of three, brings the traditions of Christmas to the table.

“I am Christian and my husband is Jewish. We decided that before we had kids, we would be celebrating our own holidays, in our way, together as a family, but each person had to kind of be in charge of putting that celebration together,” North said. “My husband Ben was in charge of Hanukkah and I was in charge of Christmas. Once the kids came along, we decided it was important that they understand and celebrate both those holidays.”

Sophomore Henry North-Sandel has celebrated both holidays every December for as long as he can remember.

“I’m used to celebrating both because I’ve done it my whole life, but I think it’s different. I think it’s weird, but not a bad weird, just different,” Henry North-Sandel said.

North has never considered celebrating both holidays strange.

“It’s always been a much more interesting, enriching thing rather than something to get over or figure out or deal with, so it’s always been positive,” North said.

As both religions are intertwined, so are the families on either side. North explains that both sides are open to the different holidays.

“Both of our families are pretty understanding and flexible [and] they are fine with us celebrating [both holidays]. In fact, one year Hanukkah overlapped with Christmas and we lit the menorah candle when all of my family was present,” North said. “None of them were Jewish and they really appreciated being able to experience that. So while it was different, it actually enriched our time together instead of making it tense,” North said.

Because both holidays fall around the same time, travel plans can interfere with the different holidays. Ruby North-Sandel, a ninth grader, pointed out that both holidays did coincide some years.

“Every other year we travel for Christmas and if Hanukkah falls on Christmas then we just skip a day or two or however long we’re away,” Ruby North-Sandel said.

As a result of the family participating in both holidays, their schedule is always very full come time to celebrate.

“We always go to a Hanukkah party with a bunch of friends. They’re all not Jewish, but usually we go to their

house, and my grandma and my aunt come down and celebrate with us on my dad’s side. Then for Christmas, every other Christmas we hang out with all my family on my mom’s side and we usually go to Highland and Burton. The other years we’re just in town,” Henry North-Sandel said.

Each holiday for the North-Sandel family is represented by different traditions.

“For Hanukkah it’s eight days, so every evening, we’re lighting the candles and saying the prayers that go with that. [For Christmas] we have an advent calendar [that] we put an ornament on the tree for every day,” North said. “Christmas… much bigger deal because it’s a one day sort of thing, and we give presents… but we also try to emphasize the real meaning of Christmas instead of all the materialism… that helps make it special for everyone.”

Engaging with other families that understand and also celebrate both holidays has helped create a sense of community for the North-Sandel family.

“We get together with three other interfaith families and we do the Jewish holidays together,” North said. “And that’s been really meaningful to have other families that are in similar situations. We have a Christmas-Hanukkah party that we do Passover together and that’s been a really great way of having a great community that does things similar to us.”

Muñoz family celebrates with Mexican traditions Samantha Little Feature Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALISSA BURNETTE

QUALITREE DECORATIONS. Burnette’s stepfather, Joseph Beppler, cuts down a tree. Chosen by the family, the tree was a good fit for their home.

Many families have holiday traditions that are characteristic and unique to their own culture. Sophomore Alexia Muñoz, being of Mexican descent, participates in holiday traditions that are tied to her heritage.

Differing from the customs of some, Muñoz waits until Jan. 6 to open presents, instead of Christmas Day, because of a Mexican and Latin American custom called “Los Tres Reyes”, which translates into “The Three Kings”, a Biblical reference to the story of Jesus.

“In Mexico the little children would put out their shoes under their beds with grass, similar to leaving cookies out for Santa, but the grass is for the camels. Then [“The Three Kings”] reward you with presents... on Jan. 6, and you open them,” Muñoz said.

Another Christmas tradition that Muñoz’s family partakes in is to make traditional food that they don’t usually eat year-round. The main dinner cele-

bration takes place on Christmas Eve, instead of Christmas Day. Since her family isn’t very religious, they turn to the food and social gatherings to celebrate.

“In the Mexican culture, it’s common that we make tamales or pozole for dinner the night before Christmas.

It’s usually like a big family reunion,” Muñoz said. “My family here in America is pretty small; it’s just me, my mom and my grandpa, so we usually invite guests and other family friends and just have fun.”

Aside from Christmas, Muñoz and her family take part in New Year’s superstitions to bring good luck for the upcoming year.

“On New Year’s Eve we have certain rituals that we do. We go outside and run around with our suitcases empty so that can bring us traveling opportunities for the next year. We also eat 12 grapes for 12 wishes that we hope to come true in the next year,” Muñoz said.

Muñoz enjoys having these tradi-

tions and the cultural aspects they provide to her family during the holiday season.

“I get pretty into it because without the traditions, I think the holidays would get pretty boring. I also believe in the New Year’s traditions and that, [for example], they actually will give you travel opportunities if you go around outside with the empty suitcases,” Muñoz said.

Not only has Muñoz been participating in these customs ever since she can remember, but her mom has also been doing them since she, herself, was younger. Because of this, Muñoz plans to continue the traditions with her own kids to ensure that they don’t fade from the family.

“It feels rewarding in some way, because I know we’re continuing the traditions and other Hispanic families are doing them around us,” Muñoz said.

“It brings a unique sense to Christmas compared to a more traditional American holiday.”

December 16, 2016

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Eighth grade swimmers contribute to team’s success Samantha Little Feature Editor

only come maybe twice a week,” Morrell said. “These nine seem pretty focused on wanting to be participating with the team, so that’s nice. Their swimming skills are advanced. They’re able to keep up with the varsity practices and aren’t hanging on the walls. They really push themselves.”

All JV swimmers have the chance to practice with the varsity team each day.

Comprised of dry land, a series of strength building exercises on the pool deck, and various drills and sets in the water, their practices are two hours long. They also

have the opportunity to participate in an exhibition race before varsity at the home meets against the eighth graders from other teams.

This year’s JV swim team, comprised of “It’s just familiarizing them with the nine eighth graders from Thomas Harrison program to see if they like it. It’s no presMiddle School, is the biggest that the swim sure and there’s not an obligation that they team has had in past years. Head coach swim at every practice, so it’s to acclimate Richard Morrell is pleased with not only them to our program. They learn our drills, the number of eighth graders on the team, what to expect and they decide if they like but the dedication that they all present. it or not. It may help them decide, come “One of the benefits this year is that all their freshman year, whether or not they of them are attending every practice. In the actually want to participate in the varsity past we’ve had eighth graders who would program or not,” Morrell said.

While the current numbers are promising, Morrell hopes to keep the eighth grade swimmers when they arrive at the high school as freshmen. In the past two years, the return rate has increased from fifty percent to about sixty-five percent.

“My biggest fear is that they don’t continue when they get to ninth grade if something else overwhelms them or they get caught up with other activities that they want to be involved in and don’t continue to swim,” Morrell said. “I don’t want them not swimming because they get discouraged their eighth grade year, but I don’t think that’s been the case in the past.”

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE Nathan Brown is one of ON DECK. Freshmen Lily Gusler and Luna Fulgueiro-Fuches talk before a swim practice at Westover the three eighth grade boys pool. Gusler has been a member of the team since her eighth grade year. This year, she welcomes the on the team, and plans to new swimmers to the team. “Having the eighth graders on the team is really fun because even though continue next year. He uses they can’t compete, they come to all the meets and cheer us on anyway,” Gusler said.

the practices as a way to get in shape for other sports he does, such as soccer. He also enjoys the social aspect of swimming, something he gets from being on the high school team. “[My relationship with my teammates is] good. I’d say I’m pretty close with the other eighth graders, but I don’t really talk to the older swimmers on the team that much,” Brown said.

Stella Alexiou is another member on the JV team who feels close with those in her grade, but hopes to continue to grow her relationships with the upperclassmen throughout the season.

“I don’t know the [older] boys as well, but in the locker room, I’ve gotten pretty close with the girls. We support each other and they’re like our moms. I want to hang out with them to see them more as friends instead of awkward swim teammates,” Alexiou said.

With her only other swim team experience being the summer league Westover Waves team, Alexiou looks forward to being able to compete at meets with her older team members.

“The meets are going to be a lot more fun. I’m used to swimming with the younger people, so I think I’m going to grow as a swimmer by competing with more involved swimmers,” Alexiou said.

Morrell enjoys having the eighth graders as an addition on the team and sees that their commitment benefits the program overall.

“The skill and ability level continues to grow, so there’s a lot of potential for excellence,” Morrell said. “I think they’re pretty excited for the season. Everybody is really upbeat and I think there’s a lot of expectation for success.”

Yutzy, Ramirez maintain soccer conditioning in offseason Yusuf Aboutabl Feature Editor The boys JV and varsity soccer seasons are still a few months away, but players have been preparing for them starting as early as the summer. Sophomore Eric Ramirez takes advantage of this time off to improve his technique through several offseason activities.

“Right now, I’m doing the indoor turf league over at Simms [Center]. I think the Spanish Club helps with that. I’m also doing Futsal, but during the summer I play in the outdoor turf league in SVU and SOCA,” Ramirez said. “They don’t really help you to gain muscle or become more fit. They help you more with technique than anything else. They help me with stuff like passing the ball and how to get your footwork better. If you want to work on getting faster or getting more endurance, you have to work individually, like running or going to the gym.”

Sophomore Micah Yutzy also does offseason training to make sure he’s prepared for the spring. Currently, he’s playing in SVU in the U18 league despite only being a sophomore.

“It gives you a level of skill that is higher than what you would normally get by just playing rec soccer,” Yutzy said. “I’d be at a

different level if I didn’t do any offseason preparation. I’d be pretty bad if I didn’t do SVU.” Despite being just 15 years old, Yutzy competes against players that are up to three years older than him. He still manages to compete well despite the age gap.

“The only difference is my age,” Yutzy said. “I’m basically as big as the older kids I play against, so it has no effect. I’m still able to play well.”

Doing offseason preparation doesn’t come without risks, however. Injuries are still a real possibility and they might affect how players perform in the spring.

“I’ve thought about injuries before. I currently have a strained quad and hamstring because of SVU,” Yutzy said. “I’m just trying to let it heal.”

While Ramirez himself isn’t injured, he has experienced injuries this offseason first-hand. He tries to prevent them by taking care of his body and eating well.

“I’ve thought about [getting an injury] because my friend tore his ACL recently, only five weeks ago. I don’t want to end up like that,” Ramirez said. “He actually tore it pretty easily. I’m trying to avoid all of that, so I go to the gym and eat lots of protein.”

Tryouts will begin in late February with the season starting in early March, giving the players more time to prepare.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MICAH YUTZY

STREAKS ARE NUMBER ONE. Sophomore Micah Yutzy looks down field in a soccer match in Richmond, VA for his U18 Shenandoah Valley United soccer team.

Travel volleyball helps students meet players from other schools Yusuf Aboutabl Feature Editor There are many differences between travel and school sports. In school, you usually have practice every day after school hours, and probably have two games/ events per week. Your classmates are also your teammates. When you play a travel sport however, it’s different.

You play with different people from different schools, practices may not be every day and the times for them vary. Volleyball is played here at school during the fall, but in the offseason during the winter, there’s an opportunity to play travel ball.

Freshmen Suzanne Fornadel and Lily Harmison, along with sophomore Shadther Rosso-Feliz, are players on the volleyball team who take the time during the offseason to play travel. Harmison and Rosso-Feliz are playing for the Lady Aces that practice at East Rock, and Suzanne is playing with the Valley Juniors who practice at TA. “In travel, you only meet twice a week, you only have six tournaments and you’re

with different people from different schools. In school, you’re with people that you know, you have to be there every day for practice and you have games twice a week,” Rosso-Feliz said.

In travel sports, the schedule is usually believed to not be as stressful as playing during the school season. There are not as many practices, which opens a lot of space for other activities during the week. During travel volleyball, Harmison believes her schedule is a lot less stressful.

“I think it’s a lot easier because I only have practice on Thursday nights instead of having practice every day, so I still have time to do schoolwork and other things,” Harmison said.

Not only is your weekly schedule less tight, but the practices themselves are slightly different. You’re playing with people you might not know, and you don’t have the same coach. However, Fornadel thinks coaches have high expectations for the travel players in that they should know what they’re doing during practice.

“You get more freedom and more position playing because you should probably

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know what you’re doing by [travel season] and what position [you’re playing].”

Travel sports can be fun, but one of the main focuses is usually getting more practice and experience for the next school season. Fornadel and Rosso-Feliz agree that seeing different players from different schools and teaming up with them help them learn and improve their skills.

“You definitely get more competition.

You play girls that have been playing for a really long time, and they know what they’re doing,” Fornadel said.

Rosso-Feliz thinks watching players that are better than her helps her improve.

“You get to see other players that are above you, so you get that same example, and you keep practicing volleyball,” Rosso-Feliz said.

However, Harmison thinks that getting better at volleyball through travel season involves more playing time during games, rather than watching other people during practice or in the game.

“It just gives you more touches on the ball, and that’s what’s really important when you’re playing. Sitting around

and watching film doesn’t help you at all.

When you get touches on the ball, it improves your skills and furthers your activity,” Harmison said.

Although you should be focused on improving your skill in the game during travel season, travel sports are about more than just that. According to the girls, they think all the fun in travel volleyball comes with meeting new people and teaming with different players.

“I really like playing with girls from other schools; it gives you more friends, more competition and I like going to tournaments, they’re really fun,” Fornadel said.

Rosso-Feliz believes her favorite thing about the travel season is getting better at the game.

“Seeing other people that are better gets me to do better,” Rosso-Feliz said.

Harmison’s favorite thing about playing travel is getting the connection and bonding time between the players.

“It’s a great team environment. We all become like a family...especially since we all go to different schools, [travel] helps you meet other people,” Harmison said.

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Velker sparks McGranahan’s interest in biking

PHOTO COURTESY OF JACINTH MCGRANAHAN

HANDLES. Senior Jacinth McGranahan sprints to the finish line in her race at the Woodberry Forest school in Madison County Virginia.

Owen Marshall Sports Editor Massanutten is mostly known for its skiing and snowboarding in the winter, but in the spring and fall it is also a home for 30 miles of mountain bike trails. One of the riders is junior Diedrah Velker who began her mountain biking career in her freshman year of high school after an injury while running cross country. Her family influenced her to join a local team. “[I ride for the] Shen-Rock composite team, there are kids from all around Shenandoah and Rockingham. There are kids from HHS, Turner Ashby, Spotswood and East Rock. In the fall it’s high school and middle schoolers, and in the spring

we allow some elementary school kids to come. You are always [able] to come and just practice, but some can’t race,” Velker said.

Senior Jacinth McGranahan also rides for Shen-Rock and likes the positivity with her teammates. ”Everybody on the team is pretty great and were all supportive of each other.

Even if you're not doing great that day, someone is saying ‘Come on you can do it’ it's just a really great environment,” McGranahan said.

McGranahan started biking when Velker introduced her to the sport. ”I started last year when Diedrah told me about it. I mostly road-biked, but it sounded interesting, so I gave it a shot,” McGranahan said

Sonexay hopes to carry on his fathers hunting hobby Owen Stewart Print Managing Editor With fall passing by and winter on the horizon, hunting season has picked up around the country. The beginning of the season draws plenty of people out into fields and forests, one of them being junior Jason Sonexay.

Sonexay was first exposed to hunting at the age of seven, though he didn’t actually begin hunting until a few years later. Since his hunting career started, Sonexay has picked up some experience, learning the sport from his father. Sonexay mainly hunts for doves and squirrels. For dove hunting, he uses a 20-gauge, a smooth-bore shotgun, meaning it has an unrifled barrel.

“The most fun I’ve had was when I started using my 20-gauge and I got my first kill.

The first thing that I shot was a dove,” Sonexay said.

Sonexay notes the experience and the kills as two of the best parts of hunting.

“The biggest reward of hunting is probably going out there and having a good time and then coming back with a kill that my parents can eat,” Sonexay said.

Despite sometimes bringing home meat from his expeditions, Sonexay doesn’t eat what he kills for multiple reasons.

“I’m not a vegetarian, I just don’t trust the meat. It’s also kind of weird thinking about it; you just killed it, and now you’re going to eat it,” Sonexay said.

In addition to his 20-gauge, Sonexay also owns a .22 rifle, which he uses for squirrel hunting. Sonexay typically hunts with his father and his father’s friends, and they

usually find spots to hunt in a nearby town.

“I usually go out to Dayton [to hunt]. We go ask farmers if we can use their land, like their corn fields,” Sonexay said.

While he currently stays in the area, Sonexay hopes to venture to other parts of the country to hunt later in life.

“I’d like to try hunting in Iowa where my family is from. In Iowa, they have corn fields everywhere, and there’s not many of them [here],” Sonexay said.

When he is older, Sonexay hopes to hunt different animals as well, and also to pass his learning down to his children.

“I want to try deer hunting, but my dad doesn’t have the time to take me right now,” Sonexay said. “I do want to teach my children how to use a gun, and then possibly take them out hunting.”

While going hunting usually brings its share of fun, it isn’t a danger-free activity, and Sonexay has experienced the risk first hand.

“I’ve definitely had a lot of scary moments. This past hunting season, my uncle did not know I was lower than him, he was on the top of the field and I was on the bottom of the field. He shot low, and one of the bullets hit me on my thigh,” Sonexay said. “I wasn’t bleeding or anything, but it still hurt a lot. I started yelling at him, and I wanted to shoot back, but not like right back at him obviously.”

Overall, Sonexay describes the hunting experience with a comparison to a much different aspect of life: the school day.

“Hunting to me is like taking a test,” Sonexay said. “You learn, you take all of what you know, and then once you get that first kill, it’s like acing the test.”

Velker likes to ride locally, but also sometimes travels for a more advanced ride.

“I ride mostly [at] Massanutten on the western slopes. It has a lot of variance between technical as well as climbing. I also ride out in Stokesville in George Washington National Forest, which is a lot bigger and [more fun],” Velker said.

Velker enjoys biking because of the environment of the races.

“It’s super fun and crazy with a lot of loud music. Everyone's there because they want to be there. It's a whole different community and all the bikers are really fun. It’s really hype and everyone is excited for you to be there and cheer you on even if they don't know [your] name,” Velker said.

McGranahan gets anxious before her races, but likes the atmosphere. ”It’s really fun but kind of nerve racking because you're waiting for them to call your section. I get very nervous,” McGranahan said.

Velker believes that being with other bikers and seeing the sights are rewards for finishing a ride.

“The people and the environment make it super fun even though it hurts all the time when you fall and your muscles ache. It's so relaxing afterwards when you're out in nature. It’s beautiful and calming,” Velker said Velker is ranked second in the state for JV biking, which unlike school sports, you do not have to move up in your junior year. She believes that practice has helped her reach where she is.

“I have done a lot of training. I ride five days a week; four for practice and one on the weekend with my family. I have really great coaches who really inspire me,” Velker said.

The team practices constantly with many age groups which allows athletes to work with people of their skill level.

“We practice two days a week and some of the older kids go four days. We normally split up into groups so that the older kids can get a harder practice and the younger kids can get something a little more available to them to learn and help,” Velker said. “Sometimes we do time trials, sometimes we do sprints, sometimes it's as long and as far as you can go. Some days we have a professional rider come and teach us different things.”

McGranahan believes her best moment in biking is when she finished her first trail. ”The first time I got to the top of Massanutten, we went up a trail called 2K, it was the first time I got all the way up and it felt very rewarding,” McGranahan said.

Velker’s most memorable moment was when she moved up at the end of the year for first varsity race when she came just short of placing in the top three.

“I raced for varsity last season in the championship race. I was in third place and someone was behind me. In the last 100 meter sprint my chain broke, so I had to run my bike in and the girl passed me. I guess you [could] say I was a little upset,” Velker said.

When racing, the sound of other racers following her is what drives Velker to keep her lead.

“Girls race in the morning so [it's] usually really cold. Sometimes you're alone in the woods, in first, second or third and you get pretty spread out,” Velker said. “If you hear someone behind you it’s really scary and you’re like ‘Oh God, someone's behind me, I need to pick up the pace.’”

Clevenger continues his family’s tradition playing rugby David Gamboa Staff Photographer Joel Clevenger is no stranger to a busy and athletic lifestyle. Clevenger is a two-sport winter athlete where he wrestles and pole vaults; however, he is also part of the Rocktown Rugby club.

Clevenger was first influenced to play rugby by his father and brother.

They had both played the sport before, and thought the exercise would be good for him.

“My brother forced me to go, and now my dad does. They wanted me to get the exercise and stay fit for all school sports,” Clevenger said.

On Mondays and Thursdays, a team of mostly adults goes to practice at Purcell Park or Eastern Mennonite University. However, players of 16 years of age or older can participate with parental consent. Games are Saturdays around the state.

“They have it all over Virginia. Right here it’s not a lot because people come in and out, so the team is constantly getting bigger or smaller. There’s only a few people on the team, like 10 or 15, that actually stay,” Clevenger said.

For Clevenger, basic positions are the backs and fronts.

“The backs are the fast people, like

skinnier, and the fronts, or forwards, are bigger and they just run through people,” Clevenger said. “[I play] back wing. I’m the last person to get the ball. I have to try to outrun the other team because I’m closest to the sideline, and after I get the ball, there isn’t really anyone else that I can pass to.”

Along with his dad breaking his nose and his brother’s friend having broken a finger during their time in the sport, members of his team have broken noses, had shoulder injuries and damaged groins. Clevenger looks to stay away from the contact during play.

“I look to try to not kill myself. As little contact as possible,” Clevenger said.

He worries that he will get injured or get a concussion, both of which would affect his wrestling season.

According to Clevenger, American football and rugby have their similarities and differences when it comes to the physicality of the game.

“They are a lot alike, except in football you get a lot more concussions even though there are helmets. In rugby, you are always taught to keep your head on the outside so you don’t fall on it,” Clevenger said.

For Clevenger, the sport was difficult to learn at the beginning, though he now enjoys the sport very much. Even after years of playing, he is continuing to learn new things every season.

December 16, 2016

Sports-B8

The Newsstreak

Sports

Photos of the Month

PHOTO BY OWEN MARSHAL

READY. SET. GO. Freshman Grace Gabriel dives into the pool during practice. The swim team practices in Godwin Hall at James Madison University. Gabriel has swam for the Streaks for two years and VAST for even longer.

PHOTO BY YOGESH ARADHEY

CROSSOVER. Junior Steven Gilbert dribbles against senior Rakweon Smith during basketball tryouts. Gilbert was called up to varsity during his sophomore season.

PHOTO BY OWEN STEWART

WE BELIEVE. Sophomore Marcus Robinson-Jenkins hits the “We Believe” sign, held by senior Carlos Avila, prior to the varsity football game

PHOTO BY YOGESH ARADHEY

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

ROUND THE BEND. HHS cross-country runners try to keep up during a meet.

POWER SERVE. Senior Jessica Denton serves during a varsity volleyball matchup against Eastern Mennonite.

NFL refs need to learn rules Owen Stewart Print Managing Editor

Rules have been put in place over the past few years in the hopes of protecting the quarterback from certain The rulebook of the National Foot- hits with the idea that it would lead to ball League is complicated as it is, but fewer shots to the neck and head area. lately, it seems like even the referees However, anyone who has watched aren’t even sure what they’re doing. the Carolina Panthers play this season Calls on penalties such as pass inter- would see that even those rules aren’t ference, roughing the kicker and even working, as Cam Newton has taken ilsomething as simple as whether a legal hit after illegal hit without a flag player caught the ball or not have being thrown.

The rules have become completebeen missed at an increasing rate this ly inconsistent on QB hits, as season, for no good reason there are instances where a other than that the enforcdefensive lineman will barely ers of the rules don’t know tap a quarterback about a half the rules themselves. second after the pass, and a In a game between the late hit flag is thrown, penalizSeahawks and Falcons, Seing the defense 15 yards. attle cornerback Richard The issues with NFL refSherman all but jumped Lil Stew’s Sports erees absolutely have to be on Falcons receiver Julio addressed. Not only are they Jones, on a play that likely would have been a game-winning inconsistent with their calls, there’s touchdown. No call. Despite plenty always a 10 to 15 second meeting beof plays where a receiver is barely tween the referees, basically to distouched and a flag is thrown, this one cuss the flag.

If you aren’t sure about the penalwas let go. ty, why did you throw the flag? Fans Another example would be Cowboys receiver Cole Beasley having his would much rather watch a game with helmet turned an entire 180 degrees, a few controversial no-calls (as long as with the back of it ending up on his it goes both ways, obviously), than face. Seems like a pretty easy face- see the yellow ‘flag’ icon pop up on the TV after every other play. Coachmask call, but nope. Nothing.

Finally, in another Richard Sherman es and players are speaking out on missed call, Bills kicker Dan Carpenter the problem, and each time, they get was basically tackled on a field goal at- fined a few thousand bucks, another tempt, a sure roughing the kicker call. pointless scheme by NFL commissionHowever, the only call was offsides, er Roger Goodell that won’t get him and because Carpenter was injured anywhere.

My solution? Don’t fine the playand the Bills didn’t have a timeout, he was forced to sit out the next play, ers, fine the refs for not knowing what meaning Buffalo couldn’t attempt the they’re doing. Maybe then they’ll study the rulebook a little more. field goal.

A look into winter sports teams rosters

Name: Rakweon Smith Height: 5’11” Class: Senior Fact: I got my first tattoo in seventh grade Position: Guard

Name: Suzanne Fornadel Height: 5’8” Class: Freshman Fact: I used to make and sell tie dye shirts during the summer.

Position: Forward

Name: Keeshawn Perry Height: 6’2” Class: Senior Fact: I love to eat food, I am almost always hungry Position: Forward

Name: Collin Morris Height: 5’9” Class: Junior Fact: I am 40% Indian Position: Point Guard

Name: Mikaela O’Fallon Height: 5’2” Class: Sophomore Fact: I have had two ACL surgeries before the age of 15 Position: Point Guard

Name: Marissa Madden Height: 5’4’’ Class: Junior Fact: My favorite color is purple Position: Point Guard

Highlights of 2016 fall sports season Aug. 15

Aug. 26

Oct. 6

Nov. 7

Nov. 12

Nov. 30

Four freshman girls made the varsity volleyball team this season, compared to just one last year.

Suzanne Fornadel, Atilia Thomas, Whitney Purcell and Jakaya Brandon all played on the team.

Sophomore Marcus Robinson scores three touchdowns in his varsity football debut, two on rushes and one on an interception return. Robinson finished second in the district in touchdowns.

The JV volleyball team ended a nearly twoyear losing streak by beating Waynesboro at home.

Coming into their final game at 0-9, the freshman football team broke out for 56 points against Waynesboro, avoiding a winless season.

Two cross-country runners, sophomore Hannah Miller and senior Mo Berhe, ran at the state meet. Berhe finished in 17th and Miller placed 48th.

The wrestling team won their first meet of the season, defeating Robert E. Lee 42-40.

December 28, 2016

2016-2017

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December 16, 2016

Sports-B10

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Hart credits Corriston for love of dancing

Christa Cole Print Managing Editor

Senior Ana Hart has been dancing for 14 years, and she is still in love with it. Hart has taken the classes within school in addition to those through the local Dance and Company, experimenting with different styles of dance as well as furthering her skill in her favorites: contemporary, jazz, lyrical and modern dance.

“I started for all the typical reasons any three-year-old would have to dance: I loved the costumes and the music,” Hart said. “Eventually this grew into a love for movement; I was able to communicate with other people through dance, and I could embody different emotions or share different stories, messages and ideas.”

Now, her love has gone so far as to become her intended college major.

“I want to be able to share art with other people, specifically how dance can relate to social justice and tell a story that is meaningful,” Hart said. “I was very nervous to even consider majoring in dance, so this past summer I took a summer dance intensive at [James Madison University] to see what it would really look like if I decided to continue dance in college. It was such an incredible and transforming experience for me, and only convinced me further that this is the right thing for me.”

Hart says she owes it all to dance teacher Amber Corriston.

“I don't think that I would be pursuing a dance major if it weren't for her,” Hart said. “Taking her classes first exposed me to different ways of moving, how to improve my technique and my transitions.

She motivated and encouraged me to step outside of my comfort zone, try new things and she showed me that I am able to continue to pursue dance after high school.”

Not only did Hart take classes to further her dancing techniques at JMU, she also has hopes of attending the university next fall. She has already applied and auditioned to their dance program, an act she was comfortable doing.

“It's tough in the dance world [and] art world in general. There's a ton of competition because everyone is incredible and amazing,” Hart said. “Overall, the audition was okay. I felt fairly comfortable because I’ve been in the room that they held the auditions in before, but it's still very nerve-racking. Ballet is also not my strongest style in dance, but the modern went well, and my favorite section was improvisation….improv is so amazing because you can't really make any mistakes, something works or it doesn't.”

Even with her years of experience, Hart believes she has never had a perfect performance.

“I don't think I've ever really had a performance where I'm truly satisfied with what I've done… [But I still enjoy] being able to connect with an audience and share a story or help them escape from everyday life,” Hart said.

And those she performs alongside makes the experience even better.

“I've been lucky to grow up in a community of dancers who are all very loving and supportive of one another. We all want each other to succeed; there isn't really any competition happening. It's easy to make friends when everyone is so supportive,” Hart said.

Hart’s dancing career has not come without its challenges, though.

“I had ankle and knee problems a while ago when I would put too much pressure on them or overuse them, but I recently got shoe inserts that have been really helping with my alignment. I also got shin splints this past summer, which was fun.

I'm still somewhat recovering from them.

Right now, I have some back problems since I did something weird to it. But other than that, I'm fine,” Hart said.

Obstacles have also come in the form of movements.

“Turns have always challenged me. I never really considered myself to be a turner, but this year, everything somehow clicked. I'm still not the best, but it's always nice to see that I can improve and move forward,” Hart said.

PHOTO BY BOB ADAMEK

BREAK A LEG. Senior Ana Hart takes the stage at the 2016 spring arts showcase. Hart has been dancing for 14 years, both at the school and at Dance & Company, located downtown. Hart participates in many different dancing styles, including contemporary, jazz, lyrical and modern. She hopes to dance at James Madison University next fall.

Just like Hart jumped through her own obstacles and progressed because of it, she advises other dancers to do the same.

“Don't give up on yourself. Take every opportunity you can get to learn and to grow. Always aim for growth, not [to be the] principal dancer with the most tricks

or the person who does 10 turns in a row,” Hart said. “Always challenge and push yourself [as well]. If you feel like you're not making any progress, take the step that will get you where you need to be.

Use every opportunity that you get and learn as much as you can.”

Warne wants to continue dancing, acting at JMU performed an annual spring concert with styles including ballet (soft shoe & pointe, musical stage You may have seen her as Cat in and modern). I also started taking Suessical, Mereb in Aida, or Hope dance classes with Mrs. Corriston in That Was Then, her latest role. last year, and we have had four Senior Noelle Warne has been im- performances with styles including mersed in the arts throughout her modern contemporary, lyrical, and community, beginning her dance jazz. Through FAACL, I have been a career at just age three and her part of two Fine Arts showcases. I have also done two One Act roles,” theatrical career at age four.

“I've been going to the Dance Warne said.

A long list comes to mind when & Co studio for 14 years and have Warne addresses each production she has had a contributing role in.

“I have been a part of the 2016 One Act as Hope, Aunt Eller in Oklahoma, the Cat in Suessical, Cary/ensemble in The Origina, Mrs. Lum in The Insanity of Mary Girard and Esther in the upcoming musical Meet Me In St. Louis.

When it comes to favorites, Warne has a hard time choosing just one out of the many characters she's embodied.

“I don't know if I could ever pick a favorite, but I would say that ‘Cat in the Hat’ was the craziest and just a ton PHOTO BY BOB ADAMEK of fun,” Warne said.

CAT IN A HAT. Senior Noelle Warne performs Warne has different in the 2015 HHS musical, Seussical. Warne has influences when it comes danced for 14 years, but also performs in theto the different strands of atrical productions. arts.

Christian Rodriguez Feature Editor

“For dance, I really don't know.

I just kind of danced around the house all the time, so my parents decided that I might like taking dance classes [like] my sister. I watched her in everything she did and she was very involved in theater. She's definitely been a huge inspiration,” Warne said.

Warne went through a major switch in the FAA this year in order for her to decide what would help her achieve her goals.

“I was originally in the visual art strand (freshman through junior year). It was actually kind of an awkward thing, because I never intended on switching strands. FAACL requires that you take at least one class in your strand every year. The problem was that Art 4 and Dance 4 were both only offered at the exact same time, so I had to choose between art class and dance class.

Since I'm auditioning for musical theater/theater programs and will hopefully be in one in college, I decided that dance was more important for my future than visual art,” Warne said.

Warne has a lot of experience when it comes to overcoming stage fright through her many years of performing.

“I think that everyone, even professionals, gets at least a little bit of stage fright every once in awhile.

For me, I always remind myself that the viewers are my audience, not my judges. Deep controlled breathing sometimes helps as well. I've found that you don't really get over nerves, but just learn how to work

around them and/or use them to your advantage,” Warne said.

Time preparation is something that is key to her performances.

So much of it has been devoted to perfection, she has lost track of how much she’s occupied even for one performance.

“I honestly have no idea. All I know is that it's a lot. Many people don't realize how much goes into a character. Memorization, line delivery, and blocking are all important, but they're not even the half of it. It's actually a lot of research and soul searching. You need to fully understand the person you are embodying. I have countless hours of videos and voice recordings of me trying things out and spouting ideas about character development. Honestly, it's probably hundreds of hours (not including rehearsals),” Warne said.

Warne has big plans of going into the arts as a future career path after high school.

“Absolutely. I'm auditioning for a few musical theater/theater programs right now. There's no guarantee that I'll get into anything.

But I know that no matter what happens, I'll at least have to take some dance and acting classes and try out for shows or I would just go insane. As of right now, JMU is my top choice because of their amazing musical theater/theater programs, state of the art facilities, and top notch math department.

This would also have in-state tuition and wouldn't be far from family.,” Warne said.

Types of Dance Ballet: -uses music and dance to tell stories -when old enough, dancers use special shoes and go “on pointe” Jazz: -often uses bold, dramatic body movements (body isolations, contractions) Tap: -dancers wear special shoes with metal tips to create rhythms Hip-Hop: -includes moves such as breaking and popping -improvisation Modern: -focuses on expression of inner feelings

Thomas advancing in different dancing styles Kyle Brown Op-Ed Editor Sophia Thomas is a sophomore, and is now dancing at the school and for the Rec Center since the age of seven. Thomas takes the dance class every other day throughout the school year, as well as dancing at the Rec Center for over an hour Tuesdays and Thursdays. Outside of school Thomas participates in ballet and and jazz classes, while in school they do a mixture of all dances including modern, hip-hop, lyrical, and a little bit of tap dancing.

“Ballet is very rigid, and it’s very precise in movement and arm possession and things like that associated with it.

Modern is kind of the opposite of all of that because it’s very much about doing whatever movement you feel, and jazz is more exciting and more about performance, but like ballet, it has more specific movements,” Thomas said. “Lyrical is kind of like modern, but it is more about telling a story, also musical stage is choreography that is part of a show that helps communicate something.”

Thomas believes dancing provides

many benefits, both physically and mentally.

“It’s very fun and it’s a great way to exercise, but it also helps with your mind, too, because you have to learn how to control yourself and pick up the choreography quickly and stuff like that,” Thomas said.

Thomas believes that the memory involved in dancing can also help her away from the stage when she’s in school.

“It really helps you with having control over your body, and being more aware of your movements and things like that.

Also, memorizing choreography can also transfer to memorizing facts or monologues,” Thomas said.

Thomas says that one of her most memorable moments in dance was a few years ago when she accomplished something that really made her stand out.

“In seventh grade, we went on pointe in ballet class, and that was really cool because I felt like I made it into the next level in dancing. I also love doing pointe dancing so that was the beginning of a new chapter in my dancing,” Thomas said.

Thomas explains how the rehearsals and routines they go through can change

depending on when the date of the performance.

“It varies, usually both in school and after school. If we’re not preparing choreography, it’s more rigorous because we're learning new moves and steps, and doing more strengthening types of things, but when we choreograph for a dance concert, it’s usually more focused on the choreography and a less strenuous activity,” Thomas said.

In terms of dancing, Thomas would like to continue dancing throughout her life, but not necessarily do it as a full-time job.

“I don’t think I would go into it as a profession. I think I would probably do it more for fun, or I may teach a class or something like that, but I don’t think I would be right for being a professional dancer. I would do more of dance as a minor, rather than having that as my main focus,” Thomas said.

Thomas has participated in a few concerts and showcases for the fine arts program and her biggest moment performing just happened a few weeks ago for the fall showcase.

“The Monday before Thanksgiving break, we had a dance concert here and

we did a really long dance routine, it was like seven minutes. I’d say that was pretty memorable because we learned the choreography quickly, and we executed it really well,” Thomas said.

Prior to a performance, Thomas goes through various routines to prepare, both mentally and physically, for the showcase.

“I usually just think through the choreography in my head, rather than actually practicing a specific move, but when I’m choreographing for fine arts showcases and things like that, sometimes I use the stage at Waterman and I’ll practice the dance there,” Thomas said.

Performing can be an exciting time, and Thomas explains the different emotions and feelings going through her head while on stage.

“It’s really exhilarating. There’s a lot of adrenaline and things. I’d say for me, usually when I perform I rely more on muscle memory, and just already knowing the choreography, rather than thinking specifically on what I have to do,” Thomas said. “Also, it’s different than just doing it in class, because you really have to think it out while performing, and usew your face to convey the emotions of the dances.”

December 16, 2016

Sports-B11

The Newsstreak

Thompson joins varsity team as freshman Anna Rath Feature Editor Not only did Jane Thompson excel on the golf team earlier this year, she is also one of only three freshmen to make the girls varsity basketball team this season. Thompson started playing basketball at a young age, and her enjoyment of the sport led her to continue it, playing for her middle school team, a travel team and currently the HHS varsity team.

“Competitively, I started [playing] in sixth grade but I really started playing when I was five or six,” Thompson said. “I played for the seventh and eighth grade team at Skyline Middle School. I just wanted to try something new, I’ve always just been pretty athletic, so I thought it would be a good way to hang out with my friends and try something different.”

The atmosphere on the HHS varsity team is a component Thompson really enjoys.

“I’m a little nervous, I never played JV, I didn’t play in eighth grade for the high school. It’s a pretty big leap I think, but I’m pretty excited,” Thompson said.

“A lot of the upperclassmen on the team try to find ways to encourage younger

people on the team. [The upperclassmen] really encouraging and they find ways to make us better and get us adjusted.”

Thompson has played on the Harrisonburg Hornets AAU basketball team for the past two years and plans to continue on playing this year.

“Travel is not like school, you get to play a bunch of different teams and sometimes the players are more advanced, because they come from all over the place to play on that one team. I’d say it’s harder, and you get to play a bunch of different people,” Thompson said.

Thompson also participates in a number of basketball camps to keep her skills up throughout the year.

“I’ve been to a lot of team camps, for the Hornets and for the Harrisonburg team. I’ve been to JMU and EMU individual camps too, I go to a pretty good amount,” Thompson said.

Thompson’s travel team helps her get ready for the high school season by training her in new and different ways.

“I think exposure and completely different coaches helps. All coaches have a different point of view on

things, so they’re able to give you different drills that will help you in different ways,” Thompson said.

After finishing the season playing for Skyline Middle School’s eighth grade basketball team last year, Thompson went right into HHS basketball off-season training to prepare herself.

“There’s mental training, and there’s physical training. There’s such a big leap [from middle school to high school basketball] and some of the girls, I’m not going to lie, are pretty strong, a lot stronger than me, so I gotta be mentally tough and ready for it,” Thompson said. “Going into [the season], I think we’ve been putting in a lot of work, we’ve been trying really hard to implement more plays. I feel pretty confident about what we’re going to try.”

Although the team practices hard all throughout the year due to off-season training, Thompson believes there is still improvement to be had.

“Communication on the court is something to improve,” Thompson said. “A lot of times we’ll be playing and then we’ll get stuck and we’re not talking to each other, we won’t really know what we’re doing. If we talk better, we play better.”

PHOTO BY SAM HEIE

FREE THROWS. Jane Thompson practices her free throws at practice. “We do [free throws] during our warm-ups... I’ve definitely gotten a lot better at them. They’re good practice whether you shoot them in a game or not,” Thompson said.

VAST league swimming outlet for Gabriele Olivia Comer Online Editor-In-Chief

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISAIAH KING

RELAY TEAM. Alumni Diego Avila, juniors Mekonin Berhe, Isaiah King, and Evan Jost after competing in the conference meet last year. “Our coach told us to run like it hurt and run faster. Everyone ran a [personal record] and we qualified [for regionals],” King said.

King commits to running

Jackson Hook Sports Editor

Junior Isaiah King was one of several divers who competed in the state diving meet during the 2015-2016 season. He has dove, ran track and ran cross country since middle school and has had success in the postseason for all of them, including the state level for the dive team. Although he has had success in diving, he has decided to run indoor track for the winter sport’s season.

“I have been thinking about [running indoor track] the past couple years, and despite my performance in diving, I really

missed running. [There was pressure put] on by my [indoor track] coach, so this year I really want to put my focus back into running and it’ll also help me for [outdoor] track,” King said King has run outdoor track every year and has developed friendships with other runners in the sport.

His friends who ran with him encouraged him to be a part of the 4x800 team.

“The team was looking for individuals to help them with their relays and the possibility of going to states for indoor track. A lot of my buddies I run with year round also run, and they are all running that, so I kind of missed running with them and being with them

and being able to do well in the relays,” King said.

After feeling like he had been pressured by other coaches and teammates on the swim team, King decided to go with what he wanted to do.

“I kind of felt pressure by others to continue diving because of my performance, but this year I just decided I had to go with what I wanted to do,” King said.

While he did enjoy diving, King’s love for running was more important than anything else.

“I definitely will [miss diving].” King said. “It was fun, but I just really missed running honestly.”

The Harrisonburg area has a plethora of different travel sports for kids (and adults alike) to participate in. The obvious of those are soccer and basketball, but one you might not have thought of, swimming, also exists.

Freshman, Grace Gabriele, has been swimming since age five, and now participates in the year-round swimming club, the VAST Gators.

“We travel anywhere from our home meet, which is held at Godwin at JMU, [to Pittsburgh].

In December, I’m going to Pittsburgh to compete in a bigger meet,” Gabriele said.

The club offers all members the chance to compete in swim meets, but bigger meets like Pittsburgh are

not for everyone. In order to compete in Pittsburgh, a time limit is set. Only those who pass are eligible to go, though there is not a limited number of people from each club who can participate. If you qualify, you can go.

“I would say probably 30-40 percent of our team is going to Pittsburgh this year,” Gabriele said. “The percentage is a lot higher than it was last year, so we’re really excited about that.”

The club extends its welcome to not only young adults, but to small children as well.

“I believe [the age range] is somewhere around six or seven years old all the way up to 18 year olds,” Gabriele said. “We have three separate practices. We have practices for the very little kids, the ones who are just learning how to swim.

We have practices for the 12 and unders and then the 13 and overs practice together. No one really has to try out; if you’re really good, you might be able to move up and practice with the 13 and overs.”

VAST is not the only swim team Gabriele is a part of. She has been swimming year-round with VAST for three years, but she has been with her summer league team, the Spotswood Dolphins, since the age of six.

“I usually do VAST all the way from August until May, and then I will stop VAST in May to do the Spotswood Dolphins league for June and July,” Gabriele said.

Gabriele started swimming for HHS as an eighth grader and plans to continue doing so throughout the rest of her high school career.

PHOTO COURTESY OF GRACE GABRIELE

MAKING A SPLASH. Freshman Grace Gabriele dives into the pool during warm ups at her swim competition for the Spotswood Dolphins. The Spotswood Dolphins are a local summer league team. Gabriele has been swimming for nine years.

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December 16, 2016

Humans of HHS-B10

The Newsstreak

TEACHERS 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, or in this case, teachers. Check out a similar project at www.hhsmedia.com.

HHS

Wesley Livick, Government Brooke Hudson, U.S. World History What is your best memory from high school?

“Probably the year that my sister was a freshman and I was a senior. She just followed me around and we made it very obvious that we were sisters and I got to kind of show her off because I love her... We watch a lot of Netflix and make cinnamon roles, that’s our thing.”

What is the most vivid memory from your childhood?

“I was crossing the street and there was a car down the street, and I thought I had enough time to cross the street. You know, I’m not really thinking about crossing the street, go, go, go, so I fell, and then all I remember is the car screeching to a halt and my mother yelling.

I was like four years old.”

Roy McCutcheon, Senior Army Instructor Eric Miller, Vice Principal “I want to start the day off with a positive vibe, whether it’s hot, cold, rainy or snowing! Smiles and laughter set the tone for an awesome day!”

What is your favorite thing about teaching high school students?

“I don’t even like high school students! Let’s see, they keep me young.”

Why did you choose to be a teacher?

“Teaching is just fun. Everyday is different and you never know what each day will bring. It’s just fun when you see kids learn and it’s really empowering when you can make them enjoy learning.”

Adam Goble, Biology/Environment

Michael King, Physical Education/Gymnastics “We will have eight meets in the season. We have four smaller meets, like a track quad meet, and then four invitationals. We had this meet [at HHS] and we will also host an invitational.”

Andrew Kamp, Math

Seth Shantz, STEM Engineering/Science What is so great about FTC? “What makes this great is that it is an incredibly collaberative competition. It is very student-lead, it is their robot that goes to competition. I also love the emphasis on accomplishing things. Rather than trying to beat another team, you are trying to work with another team to accomplish a goal. There are many different ways that you can score, so you can focus your robot on a different element of the playing field, and by doing that you can kind of work collaborativly with the other team to try and score points.

You are going up against another two teams, but you are not allowed to disable the other robot or anything like that. It is more focused on accomplishing tasks.”

How long have you been a part of FTC? “This is actually my first year and it has been a lot of fun. I have really enjoyed the creativity that the students show.”

What is the best part of teaching environmental science?

“It’s really interesting studying the way that humans interact with the environment and looking at all the ways we’re interconnected with our environment. It’s really fun to teach it because a lot of students don’t know the ways we’re interconnected with our environment in different ways. It’s really great the eye-opening experiences they have.”

Paul Rath, Physical Education How did you start weight lifting?

I was introduced to weight lifting more seriously when I was in the military. I was a helecopter pilot for five years.

Delynda Hendricks, Biology/Earth Science Why do you teach science?

“Science is everything that we do in life from eating, driving, to school; science permits everything that we do.”

Christy Oakes, World History What is your favorite time period in history?

“Probably the Civil War, because it’s so close to home. I grew up in the Virginia and North Carolina area, and there is just so much rich history in those areas. It was just a really complicated time in America’s history.”

Sally Young, French What do you teach and how do you feel about it?

“I teach French and I love it. I’ve always loved languages, to me they’re like a secret code that it’s my job to crack.

Also, you can talk to people who maybe don’t understand English, so it just makes you feel really good to be able to talk to people and make them feel at ease.”

Photos by Andrew Rath, Christa Cole, Yogesh Aradhey & David Gamboa