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5 4 0 . 4 3 3 . 2 6 5 1 • Vo l u m e L X X X I X • I s s u e 6 • Fe b r u a r y 2 8 , 2 0 1 8
Winter graduates walk the stage Olivia Comer Editor-In-Chief
The first graduates of 2018 have officially tossed their caps and finished high school. The winter graduation celebration began with a speech from principal Cynthia Prieto who was followed by school board chair Deb Fitzgerald. “The first thing I wanted to do is congratulate you, let’s look at what you’ve accomplished. You finished such a big step, you’ve completed such a huge milestone in your lives, it’s just such a wonderful day for you, for your families, for all of us here who were rooting for you every single step of the way,” Fitzgerald said. “I hope you get a chance to pause today to take a breath and celebrate what you’ve done. Congratulations from me and all of the rest of us here who are so happy to be here with you to recognize you on this awesome and marvel-
See GRAD page A2
PHOTO BY OLIVIA COMER
ACCOMPLISHED. Winter graduates throw their caps in the air out of celebration after successfully graduating high school. A total of ten students graduated on this day, Jan. 27, 2018.
Support shows out for city council vote
BSU presents to HCPS faculty Garrett Cash Editor-In-Chief
PHOTO BY SWETA KUNVER
TO THE FUTURE. HHS students and residents of Harrisonburg City hold up signs at the City Council meeting. The City Council voted in favor of a new high school being built by 2023.
Noah Sidershurst Feature Editor Students, school staff and community members
packed the city council chambers Jan. 23. The topic was the construction of a new high school to solve overcrowding. Ultimately, the council would vote to
Math SOL requires retest Lucie Rutherford Editor-In-Chief
Taking any kind of SOL is a dreadful experience in itself for many high schoolers, and this year, 81 Algebra I, II and Geometry students had to take the test for a second time. “There were factory-installed apps on the calculators that the state had designated needed to be removed prior to testing, and they were not removed,” math department supervisor Brian Nussbaum said. Junior Jaden Graham was one of the 81 students. “I was just very mad. Very, very mad that I passed and I had to retake
it. I shouldn’t have to retake it, especially because the teachers didn’t ever teach us how to use the apps,” Graham said. Yes, the experience was devastating for students, though the same could be said for Nussbaum. “The math department was responsible [for making sure] that the calculators were provided in working form, and that didn’t happen,” Nussbaum said. “When I found out the first night, I was sick.” Math teacher Eric Morris had many students affected by the retesting, and felt similarly about putting the students through a second round.
See TESTING page A2
A3: Clubs prepare fundraisers for competitions
build, but two years later than the school board had proposed. This means the second Harrisonburg High School is scheduled to open in 2023.
An atmosphere of anxious anticipation fell on the chambers as the topic of a new school took the stage.
See VOTE page A2
Counselors begin 2018-19 scheduling Jalyn Sneary Feature Editor Every year, the HHS counselors make schedules for current students and rising students. They do this by having a sheet with all the options for both elective classes and core classes. The counselors go and talk to every student individually to make a plan for the coming school year. After the counselors go and see what the students want, they make the final choice. Many factors play into a student’s final schedule, including what the student
wanted, teacher recommendations and what they still need to graduate. Korey Lamb is one of the counselors at HHS. “[Scheduling is] a lot of work after we get those requests from those students. Each of us has 300350 students on our case loads,” Lamb said. After deciding what classes each student will be in, counselors have to put that into the computer. “Manually entering all the requests into Powerschool is a very tedious process. It is not hard, [though] it takes a long time,” Lamb said.
See CLASS page A2
A10: See the cultural spots around the city
In honor of Black History Month, HHS’s chapter of Black Student Union hosted a spirit week at the end of February. However, BSU has been advocating for African American opportunities and history appreciation long before Black History Month arrived. So far, BSU has hosted two talent shows to raise funds for club-sponsored field trips, including a visit to Bowie State University in Maryland last year, which is a historically African-American college, as well as a culture field trip this year to see people from Ghana, Africa perform tribal dances in a performance at JMU. The most recent outreach that BSU participated in was a presentation to all the faculty of Harrisonburg City Public Schools for Martin Luther
How much work goes into scheduling 1,800 students? approx. 333 students per counselor
King Day in the HHS auditorium. Senior and BSU president Israel Kakule, fellow club members, as well as the BSU sponsor, guidance counselor Korey Lamb, were responsible for organizing the presentations at the event. “It was a good opportunity for BSU, and it was an honor for Dr. Kizner to personally ask us to do something for Martin Luther King Day, so I felt like it was really cool,” Kakule said. In addition to BSU discussing their background and what they’ve done so far and talking a bit about their future, students gave different speeches. One speech included a spoken word piece by Ivana Mensah titled “Your Average Black Girl.” In addition, Lamb invited Dr. Bryson Tiller, who gave a speech about equity. Kakule feels that giving this presentation was
See BSU page A2
9 different courses (STEM, BRCC, MTC, BSA, etc.) upwards of 253 class choices counselors spend many hours, days and weeks scheduling
B7: Spring sports start prep for 2018 season
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
News-A2
Students, admin distraught over 2023 decision VOTE from A1 high school. On the other Senior Joel McNett was there. “It was really boring for the first six or seven agenda items,” McNett said. “But once it got to the school, everyone got super tense and uptight.” After a short presentation on different potential time frames for construction, Vice Mayor Richard Baugh was the first to speak. “What we’re really being asked is to say that 2021 is the right place to draw the line between unacceptable overcrowding and unacceptable financial risk,” Baugh said. “Where do we think is the least bad place to draw the line between what in normal circumstances would be unacceptable overcrowding, and what would be unacceptable financial risk?” Baugh said. After further discussion by all members of the council, Baugh led a motion to postpone building the high school until 2023. Council Members Baugh, Byrd and Hirschmann all voted yes. Council Member Jones and Mayor Reed voted no because they wanted to see the school built earlier. “Basically everyone was angry once they approved it for 2023 because that’s not really what anyone wanted,” McNett said. McNett has mixed feelings on the result. On one side, he says, any high school is better than no
side, overcrowding is at a detrimental level right now. “Good compromise leaves both sides angry… I’m a little bit happy that they just approved it in general,” McNett said. “But I wish they would have approved it for 2021… I can understand that it puts a financial burden on the city, but I cannot understand why people are not willing to pay a little bit more taxes to help literally everybody in the entire city.” Senior Ashton Landes, who attended the meeting too, was similarly not impressed. “I think it’s a waste of two years,” Landes said. “I think it’s a waste of twenty years actually, we
no “ There’s better
investment than education.
”
Eric Miller, Asst. Principal
should’ve had a new high school a while ago… Honestly it’s negligence on the part of the city council that we don’t have a new high school already.” Assistant Principal Eric Miller is deeply ingrained in this issue. He served on the School Board’s Space Study Committee that analyzed different options to
solve overcrowding. The committee’s recommendation - build a new high school - eventually became the School Board’s proposal to City Council. “This is not just school people, there were community members, business owners, parents, teachers, school board members, it was a very diverse group of individuals that put many hours and a lot of work into coming up with a recommendation,” Miller said. “We did all of the leg work for [City Council]. We brought them what the best possibility was, and that was to build a new high school.” Miller is also in the buildnow camp, so he was upset with the end result. “My reaction was, ‘Oh, great, everybody loses now,’” Miller said. “We’re still going to be in a financial crisis and we’re still not getting the school when we need the school built. It was kind of sad actually.” Miller sees this issue from many angles, one of the reasons he was originally appointed to the Space Study Committee. “I wear so many hats,” Miller said. “I was a former coach, I am a parent of a current high school student, I am a parent of a fifth grader, I’m an administrator in the building, I’m a former teacher here. I get a lot of different aspects of it.” His son will be a freshman in 2021, the year the School Board wanted the new high school to open.
PHOTO BY SWETA KUNVER
CONVERSATION. Mayor, Diana Reed, talks to other City Council members about the proposal of a new high school. The City Council eventually voted in favor of a new high school, though two years later than what Reed wished for. Now his son will spend two years in the current high school. “[The 2021 proposal] meant that there would be relief in the near future for him and all his friends and all the kids that are younger than him,” Miller said. “Now, it’s like, wow, if we open it two years later, what is this building going to be like for him for his first two years of high school. This is me thinking as a dad.” Switching hats, Miller sees it another way. “Then me thinking as an administrator minus the dad thing: we already had an issue figuring out
what we were going to do for the next four years, so that issue is still there,” Miller said. “Now, it adds two more years… Is it really the best for kids? In my opinion, no it’s not. There’s no better investment than education, in my opinion. If you put band-aids on things and make sacrifices for kids’ education, then that’s not the right thing to do.” Associate Principal Joe Glick looks at the tradeoff from the viewpoint of community investment. “What do I put the highest value on for an investment of money? What are the highest priorities for me?” Glick said. “The
highest priorities [for me] are healthcare and education… Both of those things are benefits to the long term health of the community. I’m not the expert on what’s going on financially in our division… but I’m willing to take that stress.” When Glick’s father, now 90 years old, heard about the fight over a new high school, he was surprised that such an argument was even taking place. “This is a 90 year old guy who’s lived longer than most people will, and he says you pay taxes for quality education,” Glick said. “He said, ‘That’s the investment in the future.’”
Chupina-Lopez graduates early for family Apps cause GRAD from A1
ous day.” Bryan Chupina-Lopez, a winter graduate, came to the United States as a freshman from Guatemala who spoke no English. In doing this he was able to finally reunite with his mother who he had been separated from for seven years. “All my family was in Guatemala and just my mother came to the United States. She came because we didn’t have enough money, so she had to do something to help [me and my siblings]. It was six years ago that I wanted to meet her, I spent seven years without her. It was hard, really hard. [When I first came to HHS] I didn’t know anybody, it was hard for me because I didn’t speak any English, I didn’t have friends, I barely spoke with the teachers. It was hard,” Chupina-Lopez said. Despite a language barrier and a very busy work schedule, Ch-
upina-Lopez pushed through high school until the very last moment, which he decided should be in the winter rather than in June with the rest of his class. “I got a job and I couldn’t do both things at the same time,” Chupina-Lopez said. “I had to work at night, all night, and then come into school in the morning and almost all day. It was too hard and it was hard to do both things.” This being the case, Chupina-Lopez could have chosen to quit school and work a fulltime job with a full-time paycheck, but instead he decided to make graduating a priority. “It’s important because now I have more opportunities to get a better job, to be someone important to my family,” Chupina-Lopez said. The hard work and positive attitude put forward by Chupina-Lopez was noticed by multiple staff members, but the one who was given the opportunity to speak
SOL trouble TESTING from A1
PHOTO BY OLIVIA COMER
THE FINAL WALK. Dania Tejeda shakes hands with principal Cynthia Prieto as she receives her diploma and walks the stage during the winter graduation. about him was Laura Feichtinger McGrath. “For me, Bryan is a young man who did this incredible thing in regards to coming to the United States as a high school student who spoke no English at all. He managed to get through while simultaneously becoming almost completely
proficient in academic English and completing all of the requirements that native English speakers have to complete in order to graduate form high school,” Feichtinger-McGrath said. “He did it while he was working, he did it while he was reunifying with his family who he had been away from for
seven years, missing his grandparents who he had left in Guatemala and he was kind and he was respectful. Mischievous, but kind and respectful. He just did it… He committed, he really didn’t actually complain that much about it, he was present… We’re going to miss him.”
Lamb speaks on challenges scheduling brings CLASS from A1 changes. For Lamb,
PHOTO BY LUCIE RUTHERFORD
LOOKING AHEAD. Counselor Anda Weaver talks to junior Shadther Rosso-Feliz, giving her options for the following year. During this meeting, students are pulled out of class to talk about college and other future plans as well.
In addition to making schedules for all the new students, the counselors still have their normal jobs of being guidance counselors. “[We have] all that on top of our day-today responsibilities of being counselors; having to help students who are having social or emotional crises,” Lamb said. Sometimes students are not happy with how their schedule turns out, and they want to make
this is not necessarily hard, but when students request things that are not possible to get, he finds it challenging. “I think that the challenges come where students request things or want changes that can’t be made, so if there are full classes or if it does not fit in their schedule, then they can get kind of frustrated,” Lamb said. Even with these challenges, Lamb has fun at this time of year.
“[Scheduling classes] can be a little hectic because it is a lot to get through in a little amount of time, but I do enjoy the face-to-face connection,” Lamb said. For Lamb, the scheduling for the next year is mostly an enjoyable experience. “I enjoy getting to know [my students]. I enjoy hearing about their goals and what they want to do after high school,” Lamb said.
MLK Day recognized through Black Student Union presentation BSU from A1 an excellent opportunity for the club, and by doing so, they were able to get their name out there and establish themselves as a dedicated group of individuals.
“The club is a year old, really, so I feel like that helps people know that we’re serious and it brings awareness to us, and we’ve actually made a couple contacts with some of the teachers [at the presentation],” Kakule said.
With the help of members from all grades of the high school, Lamb and administration, Kakule is hopeful for the future, and is grateful to have principal Cynthia Prieto supporting BSU. “She’s advocated for us,”
Kakule said. “She’s supported every single event that we’ve hosted, she always makes sure that if we’re selling anything, she’ll always make sure to buy. She’s been really supportive.”
“The students worked so hard, and so many of them had to remediate again and get the knowledge again, so we were just really upset and frustrated,” Morris said. Despite what one may think the student reaction would be, Morris claims that many of the students were extremely cooperative. “I was very pleased with [the students’] reactions. [They said], ‘It’s okay, we’ll do it.’ On the whole, I would say 95 percent of the students [had the attitude of], ‘I’ll do what I need to do’ and were just very positive; it was encouraging,” Morris said. “They worked hard and in Geometry, I think all but one of the students passed; they did really well. Some of them did even better the second time.” After analyzing the retest data, Nussbaum calculated lots of statistics to back up the belief that students did much better the second go-around. “A significant number of students [improved]. There was a student who had a 77 point jump. There were eight students that had a more than 30 point jump and 15 students that had a more than 20 point jump,” Nussbaum said. “So we had some really positive growth from a lot of students, and a lot of students celebrated that.” Amongst much success, there were also individuals who had the opposite outcome: passing the first time and failing the second. Graham, an Algebra II student, was among those students with an ultimate score of 399 (400 is passing). “They asked if I wanted to retake it [for a third time] and I said no because that’s just so ridiculous, I’m so done with it,” Graham said. “It’s not required for me to get an advanced diploma, just as long as I pass chemistry, and I’m sure I’ll pass chemistry.” Nussbaum is aware of students’ frustrations, and ensures that each student is getting the help they need. “We are working with them already to make plans for them to have another shot,” Nussbaum said. Though the situation could be looked at from many negative points of view, Nussbaum and Morris have chosen to find a positive light in it all. For the department, the mistake brought an unexpected learning lesson. “We just don’t want to have to revisit this again, it’s never going to happen again. We are committed to that,” Morris said.
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
News-A3
Streaks find success in All-District Band All-District Band Results
Two-day event took place Feb. 2
Symphonic
PHOTO BY SOPHIA SALLAH
NAILING NOTES. Students from around the area competed at the All-District Band event held in the Harrisonburg High School auditorium on Feb. 2.
Samantha Little Feature Editor February marks the time of year when middle and high school band students ranging from Bath County to Page County come together to take part in the District V All-District Honor Band. The members of this regional honor ensemble, featuring about 17 middle schools and 20 high schools, were chosen after their Dec. 2 audition at East Rockingham High School. The approximately 170 high school students were accepted and then placed into either the Concert Band, made of 100 musicians, or the Symphonic Band, made of 70 top musicians. Of the 30 HHS band members to audition, 23 students won a seat in one of the two ensembles, with two winning seats on multiple instruments and five winning first chair seats in the top ensemble. Ethan Malcolm was among those 23, and one of three freshmen to make it into the district honor band, placing seventh chair in the Concert Band for percussion. Malcolm wasn’t expecting to place into the band, but
senior Nick Burzumato, who received first chair in the Symphonic Band, broke the news to him during the school day. “I didn’t really see that I got in… I was just going about my normal day and Nick came up to me and high-fived me, saying congratulations, and I had no idea what he meant,” Malcolm said. “Then he said that I made seventh chair percussion and, I mean, the rest of the day couldn’t be ruined for me. It was an amazing moment.” Though Malcolm didn’t find similar success in his middle school auditions, he devoted much more time this year to learn the basics that he didn’t previously know, in order to fully prepare himself for the audition. “I just practiced a lot. It’s a lot of dedication and hard work. You can’t just walk in with natural talent and just immediately make it. Hard work always beats talent, and somebody with just talent is always going to have to catch up,” Malcolm said. Beginning Feb. 2, the selected band members took part in the twoday event, which was held at HHS. Starting off at 9:00 a.m., their eight-
hour day consisted of rehearsals with their respective band led by well-known guest conductors to learn and prepare about six songs each. Senior Boroka Boisen, who was the first chair flute in the symphonic band, appreciated the opportunity to be able to work under her conductor, Brian Balmages, an award-winning composer and musician. With an intent to continue her music career post-high school through flute performance or classical voice performance, Boisen’s high placement in the band allowed her to be placed on Balmages’s radar and form a real music-world connection. “The first day he was super serious and I think we were all a little intimidated, but he had really great musical ideas and was good at conveying to us how he hears it. Then the second day he was a lot less intense and would tell jokes and seemed more light-hearted,” Boisen said. “I thought it was fun to get to work with him especially because he’s a big name composer.” In addition to rehearsing music for their own concert that
took place on the second day of the event, the band members had the chance to watch a performance from the Bluestone Wind Quintet of James Madison University, which is made up of five of their woodwind professors. “For me, I really, really liked hearing the flute professor Dr. Chandler’s sound, and hearing the higher level of music and just hearing their interpretations of it. They all had a much more mature and advanced sound and so some of the different ways they articulated certain expressions was really cool,” Boisen said. “It’s something I hope to eventually be able to also do, and it’s a way I hope to be able to play one day.” Though Boisen has noticed that each of her previous district band experiences has been different from year-to-year, she enjoyed this year’s, which was also her last as a senior. “It was definitely different than other district bands, but overall I had a pretty good time. One thing that [Brian Balmages] said that I’ll definitely take from it, is to play or imitate the musician you want to sound like,” Boisen said.
Tuba, 1st Andrew Ely Jaden Graham String Bass, 1st Nick Burzamato Percussion, 1st Katya Kirilyuk Percussion, 3rd Sam Schaeffer Percussion, 4th Weston Hatfield Percussion, 5th Trumpet, 2nd Ronal Gomez Trombone, 4th Jerome Li Nathan Ringle Euphonium, 2nd Flute, 1st Bo Boisen Clarinet, 9th Rachel Everard Oboe, 1st Irene Liu Oboe, 2nd Alice McNett Alto Sax, 2nd Noah Pope Concert Declan Leach Percussion, 6th Ethan Malcolm Percussion, 7th Kirk McClay Baritone Sax, 1st Trumpet, 2nd Juan Romero Horn, 4th Leif McCoy Horn, 6th Joseph Lockey Bass Tromb., 1st Leo Lopez Nathan Ringle Euphonium, 2nd Kevin Lopez-Rojos Bassoon, 1st Tenor Sax, 1st Philip Hart
Scholastic Bowl team DECA holds Valentine’s fundraiser finishes up season Hannah Miller Feature Editor
Jalyn Sneary Staff Reporter In order to stretch outside of her comfort zone, senior Olivia Kasidiaris joined the Scholastic Bowl team. This team competes in a Jeopardy-style game in which the competitors each use a buzzer and answer the question right to earn points. Ryan Henschel is the assistant coach of this team. “There are four students on one team and four students on the other team. We have buzzers and there will be a question read, and the first student to buzz in gets to answer it. If they answer the question correctly they get points,” Henschel said. History teacher Lawson Yoder is the head coach and Kasidiaris is the team captain. She became the team captain because she had the most experience with the Scholastic Bowl. “This year I was the only senior and a lot of new people came and I knew how the games worked,” Kasidiaris said. There are different responsibilities that come with being the team captain, such as setting up for practice and answering the other team members’ questions. “I’m normally the one who sets things up and tells people where to go. If anyone has any questions, they normally come to me,” Kasidiaris said.
In the high school that Henschel attended, they did something along the lines of the Scholastic Bowl which has contributed to his help or the HHS team. “[The Scholastic Bowl] is fun [because we get] to watch our kids grow and gain more confidence as they are buzzing in earlier,” Henschel said. Kasidiaris enjoys the competition that the Scholastic Bowl brings and the atmosphere at away competitions. “I do it because I am a really competitive person and it’s really fun. It’s always welcoming, especially at other competitions,” Kasidiaris said. This year did not mark the team’s strongest season, thought they are happy with the fact that they’ve tried their hardest. “We definitely did not win every match, but we worked our hardest,” Kasidiaris said. “I only joined last year and last year we had more seniors and more teams. I would say last year’s season went better, but [this season] still went good.” For Henschel, it’s the student’s progress that he enjoys the most. “It’s fun, I like the kids. I like seeing the kids compete, and I like how they learn the material as they get older from freshmen to seniors,” Henschel said.
Roses are red, violets are blue, DECA had a fundraiser and reached out to you. In this case though, roses were chocolate from Old Fashioned Candy and one dollar a piece. DECA teacher Cassandra Copeland and her students sold the candies to help raise money for their State Leadership Competition in March. “What the students [were] tasked with [was] basically selling the roses, particularly outside of the school, to their friends, the community, businesses, family,” Copeland said. Senior Lawan Rasul was just one of the many DECA members reaching out to people through word of mouth and social media. I personally [promoted] them through my Snapchat, and I had a lot of people get some on the first few days of selling,” Rasul said. “Some of those people liked the roses so much that they got even more. I also [told] people in all my classes to buy them for themselves or for their boyfriends or girlfriends.” After the Span-
PHOTO BY LUCIE RUTHERFORD
PETAL TO THE METAL. Junior Mikaela O’Fallon hands out a chocolate rose to Senior Krissia Lopez-Contreras during fourth block on Valentine’s Day. ish Club did a similar fundraiser last year, students in DECA decided they wanted to try something similar. “Since [Valentine’s Day] was a holiday coming up we thought that would be a way to take advantage of doing the fundraiser and making the most out of the day, with hopes that a lot of people have sweethearts out there,” Copeland said. Rasul believes the fundraiser was productive, and is looking forward to finishing his second year in DECA. “From my personal selling experience it’s been fantastic. I [had]
people stopping me in the hallways asking for roses, people in my classes and even some teachers. The other DECA members [were] also getting some really good sells out of them, and we’re making some pretty good profit,” Rasul said. “Personally, I think the roses taste awesome and it’s a really cool and nice thing to give to someone else or to enjoy themselves.” A need for the fundraiser stemmed from the increased participation in DECA this year. With three times the kids traveling to Virginia Beach, it was important
to raise as much money as possible. “We really needed to fundraise some money this year. Last year we had only about [eight to ten] people competing at Virginia Beach and this year we have a good 30 [to] 35 people competing, which is great,” Rasul said. “Mrs. Copeland, Lucie [Rutherford], Audrey [Knupp], Rawand [Ali] and I are trying our hardest to prepare everyone for the competitions, so we don’t want money to be an obstacle for those who are really passionate about competing.”
The Newsstreak
Feburary, 28 2018
Op/Ed-A4
HOT Or NOT The absurd life of driving cars BY EDITORS IN CHIEF
Mourning in Florida: Former student kills 17 students at a high school in southern Florida. Olympic Gold: Mikaela Shiffron wins a gold medal in giant slalom.
That sinking feeling: A sinkhole in Rome forces the evacuation of 22 families from their homes.
More Olympic Gold: Shaun White wins gold medal on the men’s halfpipe. Grand Am Slam: Actor Luke Wilson and pro golfer Bill Haas die in multi-car car wreck.
One Korea: North and South Korea compete as one team in the Olympics. Gotta Hand it to ya: Ex Wide Receiver Mohamed Massaquoi loses hand in ATV wreck. It’s looking stormy: Stormi Webster is born.
Blackberry battles: Parents boycott the new Peter Rabbit movie because of a scene which makes fun of food allergies.
No Fowl Play: Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl. Getting Low: Stock Market crash in early February puts up record breaking low numbers. Princely: Justin Timberlake does a tribute to Prince during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
Broken players: JMU Men’s Basketball cancels game due to mumps breakout.
Heavy Duty: Space X’s Falcon Heavy rocket test flight makes successful landing and launches Tesla into space. Flour Bomb: White powder scare causes Vanessa Trump to be taken to hospital.
Even More Olympic Gold: Chloe Kim becomes the first female snowboarder in Olympic history to land back-to-back 1080s. Day Zero: Cape Town, South Africa is dangerously close to running out of water, a day they will call Zero Day. Black History Month: This one’s easy. It’s Black History Month. Deadly crash: Russian plane crash kills everyone on board. Fairy-tale dream: The musical “Cinderella” debuted.
No Gold for Gold: Gracie Gold withdraws from Olympic figure skating due to struggle with anorexia. The Big News: Seniors are receiving acceptance letters from colleges. Abuse of power: Larry Nassar sexually abuses more than 100 women. Darkly colored large cat: Black Panther debuts with an almost entirely black cast.
Martin Beck Staff Reporter
The French philosopher Albert Camus famously said, “I know nothing more stupid than to die in an automobile accident.” I think I know what he meant. It hits me sometimes, the absurdity of driving cars. Everyone is so eager to drive, to drive across town to pick up eggs at the grocery store, maybe, to drive across the country with the kids in the backseat, to see giant heads carved into a mountainside. Everyone is more than willing to operate cars, big hunks of metal and cheap upholstery, at speeds exceeding 70 miles per hour. Whether for eggs or for giant heads or for an entirely unrelated reason, drivers drive, dismissing the statistical reality that 1.3 million people die in car accidents each year, many through no fault of their own, sideswiped by the drunk, t-boned by the negligent. If I could, I’d ask a victim of a fatal accident a few questions. Picture a Thursday evening, quiet, a sliver of moon overhead the location of the accident, an ill-trafficked segment of road on the edge of town where, just moments before, two vehicles had collided headlong into each other and ejected their respective drivers into the
gravel ditch by the roadside. I’d man commit suicide? kneel down next to them, their The Myth of Sisyphus combloodied bodies, and introduce pares the human condition myself, Martin Beck, staff re- to that of Sisyphus, a figure in porter for The Newsstreak. This Greek mythology who must might be a bad time, sorry to roll a boulder up and down a intrude. Would you be open for hill for all of eternity, under a brief interview? orders from the Mount OlymWhere were you pus’s head honcho, going when the acciZeus. When Sisyphus dent happened – the gets the boulder to soccer fields, to pick the top, it magically up your daughter rolls to the bottom from practice, the again, and he must grocery store, to pick start over. His entire up eggs? Was it worth existence revolves it? Given the chance, around the comMartin’s would you have takpletion of a menial, Message en your daughter out seemingly meaningof her youth soccer less task. According league, or gone without om- to Camus, human life itself can elettes, or moved to a small be described in the same fashNorwegian village whose res- ion – as menial, meaningless idents walk everywhere? Or – trapped in a state of absurdiis driving just an occupational ty that leads some to contemhazard of modern life? In your plate suicide. opinion? How does it feel, exThere’s this hill near my actly, to have your skull frac- house that overlooks I-81. tured in thirty-seven places? Sometimes, after sundown, I What’s your first and last name, walk up there to have a good and how do you spell it? think about my life. The high Standing near a busy road, I beams of the passing cars string often have to suppress the urge along like Christmas lights, to flail my arms at the passing Massanutten Mountain in the cars yelling, “Stop! Stop! Stop, distance looking pleasantly fesplease!” tive, hawks overhead, silent, In Camus’s most famous searching. Picture Sisyphus up work, an essay entitled The there with his boulder. On the Myth of Sisyphus, he discuss- upside, a lifetime of boulder es the absurdity of human life pushing would make you pretwithin the context of what he ty ripped. Picture Sisyphus at calls the “one truly serious phil- the peak, leaning on one of the osophical problem”: Should radio transmitters, watching
the boulder tumble down to the bottom for the millionth, billionth time. All this talk of absurdism and car crashes is enough to drive a man crazy. I recall the final lines of The Myth of Sisyphus: “The struggle itself toward the heights is enough to fill a man’s heart,” Camus writes. “One must imagine Sisyphus happy.” I guess that makes me feel a little better. On January 4, 1960, Camus was returning to Paris, where he lived. As his famous statement indicates, he didn’t take too kindly to cars and preferred to travel by rail whenever possible. This time, however, his publisher and good friend Michel Gallimard convinced Camus to accompany him on the return trip, by car. The next morning, on an ill-trafficked road in the French countryside, the two men were found dead, their bodies mutilated in an accident. In what I can only describe a grand show of absurdity, a sort of cosmic screwover, an unused train ticket was found in Camus’ pocket. What gives me the feeling that, had I been there to witness the accident, I would have heard him laughing?
Endangered bees means endangered humans Emma Lankford Staff Reporter
tinction. Without bees, the food supply would be significantly decreased. “If the bee disap- Foods that are produced pears from the surface only with the help of of the earth, then man bees account for one would have no more third of the total market, than four years to live,” according to Planet Bee. Albert Einstein once Based on information said. There is no great- from Buzz About Bees, er annoyance than the this market amounts to sound of a bee buzzing approximately 15 billion in your ear. However, dollars a year. Also, they while they may seem pollinate 70 of the top inconvenient, bees are 100 crops, feeding 90 in part responsible for percent of the world’s our survival. Since 1990, population according to more than 25 percent of BBC. If we were to lose the bee popthe pollinaulation has tion benefits disappeared of bees, we in the United would no lonStates alone, ger be able to reaching its eat broccoli, lowest point asparagus, in the past cantaloupes, 50 years, acc u c u m b e rs , Emma’s cording to pumpkins, Dilemmas the Nationblueberries, al Resourcwatermelons, es Defense almonds, apples, cranCouncil. This downward berries, cherries and trend has since contin- many others. ued, leaving the world Fortunately, there threatened with bee ex- are things that anyone
CARTOON BY MARTIN BECK
and everyone can do to make an effort to protect the bees. One of the easiest ways to encourage the growth of the bee population is to plant flowers and flowering herbs in open areas. This will provide habitats and nutrition for the bees, allowing them to continue their pollination practices. Also, letting weeds grow can have the same effect as previously mentioned. Bees will be able to get pollen for protein,
and nectar for carbohydrates with the help of common lawn weeds. It is also helpful to avoid using harmful chemicals and pesticides. These chemicals damage the environment as a whole, not limited to the bee population. Although it may take some extra effort, by helping the bees you are helping yourselves. Not only are humans reliant on bees, but also many other species require the pollination of
Be Selfish, Be Pro-Immigration Noah Siderhurst Page Editor When I say immigration is good, you probably think of the typical liberal argument that we should let everyone in because it feels good and humane. To the contrary, we should let immigrants in because it will benefit us (the ones already here). It’s about being selfish, not a snowflake liberal. Simply put, immigration increases the labor force, no matter the immigrant’s skill level. But what if those immigrants aren’t educated enough to fill the jobs we need and do end up as a drag on the economy? Research shows this generally doesn’t happen. In fact, 48 percent of immigrants nowadays (2011-2015) have college degrees, reports the Migration Policy Institute. Surprisingly, 18.4 percent of those recent, college-educated immigrants were undocumented. 43 percent of arrivals also spoke English “very well.” A report
by the National Academy The birth rate in the US of Sciences estimates 1.84: not awful, but if left that first generation im- alone it will still lead to migrants cost taxpayers population decline. about $57.4 billion a The downside of so year (based on data from many older people is 2011-2013), but that fur- that younger people ther generations actually have to support them. generate a net positive. Old people don’t work Second generation im- as much, and they remigrants add $30.5 bil- quire taxpayer dollars to lion to state and local survive (social security). governments. Third and Whether we like to admit onward genit or not, they erations add are a drag on $223.8 billion. the economy. So even if we So to keep our spend a little ratio of old to to help immiyoung where grants as they it needs to be, first arrive, the immigration Sagacious investment in has to hapSiderhurst the labor force pen. pays off in the So for me, end. immigration is all about A very useful anal- being selfish. I want imogy to illustrate what migrants to be here bewill happen if we do not cause we are getting old. embrace immigration I also want immigrants is Japan. Japan’s immi- here because I want gration laws are some the economy to continof the strictest world- ue growing. Immigrants wide. This coupled with should be welcomed not a birth rate of 1.46 per just for the sake of huwoman means Japan is manity but for the sake on pace to be one of the of us native-borns. We oldest (population wise) need them. countries in the world.
bees to survive. While the bee population may be in a steady decline, there are steps that can be taken to preserve the species. Without them, we would be greatly lacking in the produce department of the food industry. Bees are important to our environment, and helping them in any way possible is greatly encouraged. Just remember: a win for the bees is a win for us.
Immigration in the United States
INFOGRAPH BY FORREST MATTER INFO FROM AMERICANPROGRESS. ORG
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Reviews-A5
Best of the Globes
I,Tonya uncovers the mystery that split America apart Sarah Earle News Editor At a moment in time, the world once adored her, and in a matter of seconds, they wanted to ruin her. The heartless attack that almost everyone in the world was uttering about, contained another layer to the story that was not mentioned until now: the perspective of the accused perpetrator, Tonya Harding.
The devastating attack on Nancy Kerrigan that occurred in 1994, as depicted in this movie, was seen as the ultimate betrayal to the world, especially in the realm of figure skating, and even athletic competitions. At this point in time, billions idolized figure skating and the competition it comprised of, particularly with U.S. champion figure skaters, Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding. The two
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were complete opposites, Kerrigan being the elegant, wholesome “it-girl” and Harding being the rural, flashy redneck. They were highly ranked skaters who developed a rivalry on the rink, but a friendship on the front. It wasn’t until the Winter Olympics of 1994 approached, with a competition brewing for the U.S. team spots, that a blow to the knee cap left Nancy Kerrigan, and her chances of going to the Olympics, broken. After an unexpected, speedy recovery, Kerrigan won silver in the Winter Olympics that year, while Harding took seventh place. The investigation made way during this time, leading the tracks of the hitman back to Harding’s bodyguard, who then identified Harding’s ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly, as the conspirator of the attack. It was then Gillooly who told the FBI that Harding was involved in the attack on Kerrigan. Following that confession erupted a mess of lawsuits and outbursts from the media and public at Harding, which resulted in a conviction that would forever impact Harding’s life: no figure skating. The film starts at the beginning of Harding’s life, the moment she first stepped onto the rink, up until the moment she was forced to step off. It began by showing each of the characters being interviewed on their perspectives of Harding
and the incident, which became a continuous flash forward narration as the plot unfolded. At first, I didn’t know what to think about the back and forth plot pattern that would interrupt the storyline, however it didn’t take long before I appreciated the idea. Hearing each character’s commentary and input of each scene was fascinating, and at times hilarious. Every so often a pause in the scene would occur as a character would address the camera, putting in their two cents on what was happening and add some snarky comment, which grew on me. As it started taking place in the 70s, and eventually transitioned into the 80s, the film closely resembled my most desired decade from the groovy outfits and hairdos to the music, which I particularly favored the most. “I, Tonya” featured many of my favorite tracks of that time like “The Chain” by Fleetwood Mac, “Goodbye Stranger” by Supertramp, “Dream a Little Dream of Me” by Doris Day and many more classics, which complimented each scene well. I was amazed at how it transitioned from each decade and each time in her life so smoothly, and each scene kept you captivated. Just when you thought you would lose interest in what was happening, something deranged would happen, drawing you right back into the ac-
tion. “I, Tonya” represents the perfect formula of a comedy and drama film, while incorporating a touch of heartbreak into the mix. I had moments in tears of both laughter and sadness throughout the film. It depicted Harding’s central perspective as a victim through not only the incident in 1994, but also throughout her whole life, showing the many instances of tragedy. From the very beginning, the audience notices the imperfect, crazed life of Harding, as her mother, LaVona, shows no compassion and care for the well-being of her daughter. The physical and emotional abuse she received as a child, girlfriend and eventually as a criminal, left Harding as the sole victim as displayed in the movie with the intense scenes of the thumps, thuds and smacks called for many flinches. With a plot so tragedy thick, the movie did a terrific job of adding just the right amount of humor to make up for a film that could have been a yawn fest, since the ending is already known. The cast definitely contributed to the great work created. Margot Robbie almost did Harding too much justice, as she made it hard not to feel mercy for Harding. As she never fails to compel the audience to fall in love with her, Robbie did a striking job at recreating most of Harding’s ever
so flawless figure skating moves. Sebastian Stan took on the estranged husband of Harding, making it difficult to decide if you hated him or only kind of hated him, since his appearance did works for Gillooly. The bodyguard of Harding and her mother were probably two personal favorites throughout the film. Despite them being the most hated characters, they ended up being the most hilarious, which topped the film off. Nothing will beat the final scene in which Harding is at trial and receives the sentence of her worst nightmares. Robbie’s portrayal of this scene is spot on and literally brings you into tears. Although the audience doesn’t know what parts exactly were true and fictionalized since Gillooly and Harding’s narrations, at times, contradict one another, the film portrays the events as accurate as they occurred and were described in each person’s perspectives. The film depicted the attack that took place and the skating performances just as it looked originally, and brought each scene back to life. I would be utterly disappointed if Robbie didn’t win Best Actress at the Academy Awards. This film took one story that the world thought they knew and added the missing puzzle piece, all while breaking the ice for Harding.
The Greatest Showman shows why it is the greatest Olivia Comer Editor in Chief I rolled my eyes in the backseat of my cousin’s car as they dragged me to see “The Greatest Showman” for my first time, their third. The countless controversies surrounding P.T. Barnum and his circus made the movie unappealing to me, however, despite my initial skepticism, I bounced out of the theater with pain in my cheeks from smiling for two hours straight. The soundtrack is an inspiration that will have you running back through every seemingly irrational
dream you have ever pushed to the back of your head, and encourages you to bring them forward again, no matter how farfetched. The ambition of P.T. Barnum is utterly infectious and you are guaranteed to leave the theater with a resentment of reality and the will to pursue the irrational. The very first scene transports you to the “Greatest Show on Earth” and you really do feel like you are there. By the end of the first song, it was all I could do to not give a standing ovation as I would for a Broadway performance. Then it’s all a dream and the movie
flashes back to the reality of young P.T. Barnum’s world as a tailor’s apprentice, the classic tale of a rough start turned happy ending. Except P.T. Barnum had quite a few more hardships than portrayed in “The Greatest Showman.” The first time we see adult Barnum in the real world, he is getting laid off which ultimately leads to him getting a loan from the bank to buy his museum. In reality, Barnum did not get laid off or fired, he was released from jail for an editorial that he ran in his newspaper called the “Herald of Freedom.”
Yes that’s right, he was a journalist and entrepreneur before a showman. He even served as the mayor of his hometown Bridgeport, Connecticut for one term where he was openly accepting of all people which was nearly unheard of at the time. “The Greatest Showman” challenges Barnum’s legacy as a trickster and instead portrays him as a visionary who ultimately invented show business, according to Hugh Jackman who plays Barnum. It is true that the circus attractions did not accurately represent what was
displayed, but nevertheless, the audience enjoyed the show. Maybe they didn’t get exactly what they came for, but they enjoyed what they got. In 1871, Barnum reinvented what it meant to be acceptable, and in 2017 his spirit is being brought back on the big screen. “The Greatest Showman” is truly a movie you can feel; in your stomach with butterflies, in your eyes as they widen, in your feet as you struggle to keep them from dancing, and in your mind as it bursts with color.
Slow start, little humor hurts The Post Jackson Hook Page Editor I am the biggest Tom Hanks fan you will ever meet. His voice is music to my ears and his acting ability brings me chills. It started with “The Polar Express” where he was the voice of the conductor on the train to the north pole, an iconic voice in my childhood. Since then, I have always adored his movies, but “The Post” was different. I will admit that I went into this movie with high expectations considering I am very intrigued by the newspaper industry and Tom Hanks. The opening scene involves a reporter in the Vietnam War observing an operation in the jungle, where he learns the situation in Vietnam is getting worse, and he informs the Secretary of State. The Secretary disregards his comments and informs the media that the matters are going very well for the U.S.
The reporter then steals confidential documents from interviews with previous presidents and high-ranking officials and spreads them among D.C. publications. The Washington Post is the publication where editor Ben Bradlee, played by Tom Hanks, and first female publisher Katharine Graham, played by Meryl Streep, struggle to find a way to get their hands on the documents. This was the slowest start to a movie I have ever experienced in a movie theatre. The first 30 to 45 mins of the movie consisted of meaningless small talk between editor and publisher. I was starting to regret my decision to see this film. However, Ben Bradlee started to pick up his role as editor and I could start to hear the enthusiasm in his voice. He developed that leadership role throughout the movie alongside Graham, who was a female publish-
Pitch Perfect 3 Ethan Powers Staff Reporter
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON
er in a sexist business. Streep did a great job of maintaining a timid character to show the hesitation of being a female publisher. The movie had themes of empowerment of women in the workforce. The inspiration of the Washington Post publisher was absorbed by women of all ages.
This movie would have been great had it lost the first thirty minutes of development. It is still a good enough movie that it is worth seeing in the theatre as long as you do not mind sleeping through the first 30 minutes or not hearing the traditional Tom Hanks humor you are used to.
PHOTO COURTESY OF AMAZON
I thought Pitch Perfect 3 was actually good, and I will definitely be renting this when it comes out on Redbox. I rate this a 4 out of 5, mostly because of its good flow and a lot of (slightly corny) jokes. For the most part, it is a comedy with some excellent singing throughout, and it keeps the “a capella” puns to a minimum. It was worth the time and money, plus it was a genuinely funny movie. Also it was ever so slightly meta (when the movie acknowledged itself as a movie) in a good way. All throughout it keeps a good amount of side stories that seem to be unrelated, and unfortunately they are. I would have loved to see them all come together in some strange and mind blowing way but in the end it just wraps them up and leaves you asking yourself, “Why was that there?” If you are sensitive to anything that would make you feel weird watching it around a baby, then don’t watch this. It definitely pushes the PG-13 rating, however I also wouldn’t call it R so it’s some-
where in between, maybe PG15. Pitch Perfect 3 has one thing that makes it outstanding in my eyes: it is a great finish to a trilogy. Many movies can be great movies, but then the companies have to make a squall and a prequel and a third movie; they keep making that movie until it is run into the ground. This movie does a good job with making a new story with the same lovable characters. Speaking of which, you will want to watch the first two. It’s not necessary, but if you do,the story will make a lot more sense. The characters get a little bit of a, “Hey remember what we did a year ago?” But for the most part, they are characters you will be able to know the traits of. I liked the conflict. It was fairly well-thought out with a nice shift of main villain halfway though. My main complaint for this movie is that the first thing you see is a confusing flash-forward. It all makes sense in the end, but I feel it is a cheap trick to try and get the audience to stay and watch the movie until the end.
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018 The Harrisonburg High School Newsstreak The Policy The Newsstreak is published by the students of Harrisonburg High School every month. Reproduction of any material from the newspaper is prohibited without the written permission from the editorial board. Advertising rates are available upon request. It is the policy of the Harrisonburg City Public School Board to comply with all applicable state and federal laws regarding non-discrimination in employment and educational programs and services. The Harrisonburg High School City Public Schools will not discriminate illegally on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, disability or age as to employment or educational programs and activities. Editorials appearing without a byline represent the majority opinion of the staff, but not necessarily the opinion of the adviser, school administration, or the school system. Signed editorials are accepted from people on the staff, but are subject to editing according to published guidelines and policies. Editorials may be edited for special reasons. Letters to the editor are encouraged and must be signed and a telephone number must be given. Names may be withheld if the editorial board feels there is a just cause. The Newsstreak reserves the right to edit and may refuse to publish ads or letters deemed inappropriate, libelous, or obscene. Please drop your letter by room 444 or give them to any staff member. Letters may also be sent to the high school. The Editors and Staff Editor-in-Chiefs: Lucie Rutherford, Theo Yoder, Olivia Comer, Garrett Cash Advertising Managers: Madison Varner, Audrey Knupp, Photographers: Sam Heie, Theo Yoder, Olivia Comer Page Editors: Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Sarah Earle, Forest Matter, Garrett Cash, Samantha Little, Audrey Knupp, Nyah Phengsitthy, Sam Heie, Noah Siderhurst, Hannah Miller, Owen Stewart, Owen Marshall, Jackson Hook, Sweta Kunver, David Beck, Holly Bill, Mia Constantin Staff Reporters: Carlos Arevalo, Jenifer Bautista-Lopez, Simon Beach, Martin Beck, Madely Blas, John Breeden, Ryan Caricofe, Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Marvin Copeland, Jesus Cortes, Sarah Earle, Karleigh Gentry, Caleb Goss, Ariyah Green, Ellie Hammond, Sam Heie, Andrea Holgui, Jackson Hook, Ashley Iscoa, Lare Jalal, Adriana Jimenez, Shyann Keier-Litwin, Audrey Knupp, Josie Koogler, Emma Lankford, Jessica Lawson, Samantha Little, Somaia Mallek, Owen Marshall, Forrest Matter, Nicole Mayorga, Hannah Miller, Ni’Kiah MoatsBryce Mullins, Nyah Phengsitthy, Ethan Power, Betsy Quimby, Edwin Rios, Emmanuel Franco, Lucie Rutherford, Sophie Sallah, Noah Siderhurst, Jalyn Sneary, Owen Stewart, Dany T Medhin, Sid Tandel, Oziel Valdez, Madison Varner, Na’Diha Whitelow, Theo Yoder Professional Affiliations The Newsstreak participates as a member of several journalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2010 Gold Evaluation and 2005, 2009 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-A6
City Council decision neglects student education NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL It is not news to any of our students that our school is overflowing with bodies, 47% over capacity to be exact. Not only are our students aware, but our city council is as well, who has still decided upon a 2023 high school. Three of our five council members voted “yes” to this two-year delay, deeming it “fiscally irresponsible” to build in 2021, putting the city of Harrisonburg on a fiscal cliff for seven years. According to them, building in 2023 would give our city a slightly smaller period of time on the fiscal cliff, though this will only boost the overcrowding. At the rate we are growing, 100 additional students are pouring into our walls each year, and over these next five years until 2023, the temporary “band-aids” will only jack up the price tag. Not only this, but due to inflation, the final cost of the 2023 high school has the potential to become even more expensive. In the Jan. 23 meeting, the city council recognized their mistake, and the school board’s mistake, in ignoring this problem many years ago when it first arose, though what they are doing now is much of the same. If they were to address the problem all those years ago, the HHS student body would already be relieved amongst
PHOTO BY SWETA KUNVER
CROWD SUPPORT. HHS students came to the city council meeting to support the addition of a second high school. two buildings, and that final price tag would have been so much lower. Despite coming to terms with what should have been done, they are still willing to put the issue off for another five years, something that is simply not physically sane, nor possible. Our school already has an additional nine trailers, six of which are taking up space in our much-needed parking lot. A growing student population equals additional cars, and a growing number of trailers equals less parking spots. This is just one of the many cause and effects that simply
don’t add up. Vice Mayor Richard Baugh made it very clear that neither solution, to build or not to build, would have a happy ending. Not building would lead to extreme overpopulation, and building would lead to extreme debt. This decision was a matter of deciding upon the “least bad solution”, and what they have decided does not seem to have settled well with many community members, including much of the student body. It will be interesting to see what the school board and city council has in mind
for these “temporary bandaids”, and it will be interesting whether or not they will finally reach an amount of trailers deemed “fiscally irresponsible”. Really, the most irresponsible piece of this situation is the fact that our city council is willing to put the well-being of our students aside in order
to make up for the mistake they made all those years ago. The fact of the matter is that any “plan” will be deemed fiscally irresponsible, but what is more important here is the city’s responsibility to propel and aid our student’s educations, something they are not prioritizing.
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.
Internet filter limits Silent treatment proves educational experience an effective tactic
Theo Yoder Editor-in-Chief
In today’s world, the fastest and most reliable way to view current events is through social media. HHS Media has been blocked There is nothing more frusnumerous times preventing stutrating than having your access dents from viewing the news to educational research at school pertaining to Harrisonburg High blocked or hindered by an unnecSchool. This was due to the Twitessary filter. The school filter has ter feed posted on the left side of done more harm than good by the website. Twitter gives fast uplimiting a student’s ability to sucdates on events and information cessfully complete a project or asrelating to whoever the user is. If signment. Because administration a student wanted to get on twitbelieves that students will browse ter just for the fun of it, he or she social media or play games on the could simply go on their phone. computers, certain useful webThe filter does no good when it sites containing controversial comes to blocking social media. “key words” relating to subjects If a teacher believes that their not “appropriate” for school are students would search the inapblocked. For example, if a student propriate words or play games had a project researching the Virduring class unrelated to school, gin Islands, it would be impossithey should not be allowing ble for them to find information their students onto a because every webcomputer in the first site is blocked due to place. It should be up the keyword “Virgin”. to the teacher to deLast year, I observed cide whether their multiple students in a students are mature 10th grade English class enough to handle a that were doing their computer without a project on the effects filter responsibly. If of sexual harassment Get Ready, the teacher decided and assault. They were It’s Teddy that their students unable to conduct any are not responsible, research at school bethey can prevent them cause the filter prevented them from using a computer. This alfrom accessing any websites belows students who are able to cause of the key words “sex”, or use a computer responsibly to “rape”. Because every website use the internet filter free and associated with the words rape having unlimited access to inforor sex are blocked, the students mation to improve their learnwere unable to successfully coming and educational experience. plete their assignment at school. As I mentioned before, a maAlso, students who are not jority of the students in high able to afford a computer or do school own a cell phone with not have internet at home have data, or access to the internet. no option other than to use a With signal, they are able to school computer with the filter search anything on their phone in place. They are limited to a through their data and not the certain amount of information school wifi, allowing them to allowed by the filter while othnot be limited by the filter. Why er students who are able to afhave a filter when most students ford a computer of their own are can get around it with cell phone able to travel home and have an usage? High schools should elimunlimited amount of informainate the school internet filter, tion because the filter is not in allowing students to use useful place. In this case, those with websites that can help them with money are learning, while those assignments, projects and imin the lower class are allowed proving their overall education. access of limited knowledge.
Hannah Miller Feature Editor
Annoying people are the bane of my existence. In fact, I can assume that almost every person on this earth has in some form or way been affected by an annoying person. Right now, all of you have subconsciously, or maybe not, thought of someone that bugs you. This is a worldwide issue that needs to be addressed immediately. Tactics and defense mechanisms against such actions of annoyance are scarce and often times unreliable. Poking, prodding, eavesdropping, complaining, invading. All of these obnoxCARTOON BY MARTIN BECK ious habits (and more!) have one simple solution: the silent treat- well that the intended recipient of the treatment can hear every ment. Otherwise known as shunning word you’re saying. On rare occasions, you may find or giving the cold shoulder, the that the silent treatment increassilent treatment is a fool-proof method of shutting down irri- es annoyingness by encouraging tating people. Whether you aim more poking, prodding, bugging, to cut someone out of your life etcetera. In this situation, you completely (see: ghosting) or just have two options. One would nudge them in the direction of a be, for those of strong mind and willpower, to keep your different victim (possisilence. Eventually, the bly another annoying instigator will tire and person?), the silent cease to annoy others. treatment is a method Your second option is of grace and maturity. to slap them. This will It is a surefire way to hurt them emotionally ensure your message and physically, hopecomes across loud and fully causing them to clear. Furthermore, it is Hannah’s leave you alone. more likely to decrease Rambles Irksome people are annoying behavior in a threat to society. We the future. are all at some point a Annoyances denuisance to others, and therefore crease productivity and motivaneed to learn to take a hint. Retion, increase aggravation and lower overall morale. In order to member: those who annoy are flourish, a positive environment also capable of being annoyed. If requires civility between commu- the silent treatment was adopted nity members. Rather than start as a world-wide combat method a brawl as a display of physical used by everyone, signs would dominance, merely refuse to ac- become more recognizable and knowledge bothersome individu- therefore effective. This method als. Steps of the silent treatment needs to be universally adopted include avoiding eye contact, Please, unite as one and shun! pretending someone doesn’t exist and having conversations with other people while knowing full
February 28, 2018
The Newsstreak
Op/Ed-A7
Tran hopes for financial aid and math double major in college Oziel Valdez Staff Reporter Senior Ahn Tran is planning her future ahead with the various colleges she got accepted to. Tran has applied to out-of-state and in-state colleges, with the hopes of getting accepted with a good financial plan. “I started [my applications] earlier in the year, but not so early because I’m kind of a procrastinator. I started [my applications] in mid-September because some of the school’s deadlines were November 1st, so I had to get all my applications in with my essay, and [get] all the information I had available at that time [to the colleges],” Tran said. Tran’s biggest encouragement for going to college is her mom. Tran is an only child and both her parents didn’t go to college. Tran moved here from Vietnam a year and three months ago. Currently, her stepbrother is attending Blue Ridge Community College.
“I got here during the second semester of my junior year. Since I’m now in my senior year, everything has been quick. When I was in Vietnam I wanted to study abroad, especially in the United States. I did my research on CollegeBoard and another website at first to have my preparation to know what college I wanted to go to in the United States,” Tran said. Tran is currently planning to have a double major in college. She wants to major in international business and either math or science. “[I want to double major because] international business and math are somehow related and I also really like math,” Tran said. “[I want a career that lets me] talk to people and [lets me] talk to different types of people. That is why I’m choosing to do international business because you get to travel and you get to meet different kinds of people. I like math and that is why I want to include that into my ca-
reer.” Colorado State University, Miami University and Appalachian State University have all sent Tran acceptance letters. Each one is bringing their own offerings to persuade Tran to attend them, however Tran has a picture of what college she wants to attend. “My top college is Colorado State University. It is very far away at first, but I did a lot of research to know which is my best fit college. Colorado State University is a very big college, but I like big communities. It’s a very diverse school, which I also like because I am a minority so I also want to go somewhere that has a lot of people like me,” Tran said. Tran is waiting to hear from all the other colleges she’s applied to before deciding which college she wants to go to currently. She is expecting to hear from all of them all the way up until April and will decide which one she wants to go to then.
PHOTO BY OZIEL VALDEZ
ACCEPTED. Senior Ahn Tran has been accepted to Colorado State University, Miami University (OH) and Appalachian State University.
O’Brien looks for running career in college Nyah Phengsitthy Social Media Coordinator In his freshman year of high school, senior Jack O’Brien was introduced to the world of public school after being homeschooled for most of his life. From being part of the cross country team for four years, O’Brien not only found that his passion for running grew, but the relationships with his teammates was just as important as the sport. With that realization, O’Brien decided to join the indoor track team his senior year. “When cross country
ended this year, I realized that I was pretty sad about all the relationships [that] were going to be over, so I did track because a lot of people [who run cross country] do track, just so I can keep those relationships,” O’Brien said. With years of running experience, O’Brien has decided to take his cross country and indoor track skills to college. O’Brien has recently applied to Christopher Newport University (CNU), University of Virginia, William & Mary, University of Richmond and Stanford University. So far, O’Brien has been accept-
ed to Christopher Newport University and University of Richmond and is still waiting to hear from three other schools. While four of his schools lie near home and on the east coast, O’Brien applied to Stanford to expand his surroundings and for a particular program. “I wanted to apply to at least one school on the west coast to have that as an option. I’m also interested in studying psychology, and they have an awesome psychology program… I wanted to have at least one solid reach school,” O’Brien said. Out of the five colleges
so far, O’Brien has made it possible for him receive a major scholarship from CNU. “I applied to two other programs [at CNU] that come with scholarships, the Honors Program and Presidential Leadership Program, and I got into both of those. If you get into both of them, then you’re eligible [for] some huge scholarship called the Presidentials Scholars Scholarship, and that’s like $10,000, so I’m eligible for that,” O’Brien said. When it comes down to life after college, O’Brien plans on taking his interest
and major in psychology as a future career. “I’m interested in counseling or mediation. I like to work with people or help them work through things, and I also like working with groups of people and helping them come to consensus,” O’Brien said. While he hasn’t decided which school to choose yet, O’Brien does have rankings for where he would like to go next year. His top ranking goes from Christopher Newport University, Stanford, William & Mary, University of Richmond and then lastly University of Virginia. Although his college
experience won’t begin until the fall of 2018, hoping for a good college experience to whatever school he goes to is something he will focus on as well. “I just want to fit in and enjoy it. There’s so many colleges that have good academics, I guess there’s not that big of a leap from a school like CNU or a school like William & Mary,” O’Brien said. “I trust that any school I go to, I’ll enjoy the academics, but I think different schools will have different kinds of people that maybe I’ll enjoy being around more.”
Scholarships Available on the Counseling Website
PHOTO BY NYAH PHENGSITTHY
CAPTAINS. Senior Jack O’Brein was accepted into the Honors and Presidential Leadership Programs at Chrisopher Newport University (CNU), home of the Captains.
February 28, 2018
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February 28, 2018
Feature-A10
AROUND THE WOLRD With different cultures and ethnicities filling the city, Harrisonburg holds a number of international markets
Euro market brings Western European items to Harrisonburg Lucie Rutherford Editor-in-Chief Walking into the European Market on Neff Avenue, the colors and foods of at least six different European nations fill the senses. With a case of meat and cheese to the right, grains and spreads on the left, a case of dairy in the back and a floor-to-ceiling wall of authentic candy, the store meets the needs from young to old. Anna Pinkevich, the owner of the market, opened up the store in July of 2010 and has worked there since. “I [lived in] California before here, we lived there for a couple of years,” Pinkevich said. “[We decided to open] because there are a lot of Russian people here.” As emphasized in the name, the European Market serves much more than just the Russian community. “We sell things [from
many places]: Belarus, Ukraine, German, Poland, Turkish, Jewish,” Pinkevich said. With such a variety of customers, Pinkevich says there isn’t just one hot-list item in the market.
“There are many popular items: sausages, fish, sunflower seeds, waffles, cookies, tea, many kinds of tea,” Pinkevich said. With a large number of Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and other nationalities at HHS, many
students have visited the store for many years. Sophomore Nelya Dyachenko has been shopping at the market for the past five years, ever since moving in from Florida. Out of everything in the store, it is the floor-to-ceiling wall of candy that attracts Dyachenko’s sweet tooth. “[My favorite things to buy are] probably sweets, like ice cream and candy,” Dyachenko said. There is one sweet in particular that Dyachenko has memories buying. “There’s this specific cream we use from there, it’s like caramel, but not really caramel. We use that a lot in our desserts and cakes and things like that,” Dyachenko said. Being almost 6,000 miles away from her original country, Dyachenko enjoys having some of that culture in Harrisonburg with her. “It brings memories of home,” Dyachenko said.
PHOTO BY LUCIE RUTHERFORD
A TASTE OF EUROPE. Owner Anna Pinkevich finds the Euro Market as her piece of culture of home while living in Harrisonburg.
PHOTO BY LUCIE RUTHERFORD
FOREIGN PROTIEN. According to Pinkevich, sausage is one of the popular items.
PHOTO BY LUCIE RUTHERFORD
SWEET TOOTH. Euro Market holds a floorto-ceiling wall of European candies.
Market starts with Asian roots, Babylon: Built from the ground up Oriental later opens to multiple nationalities Q & A with junior Fahad Mohammed on Babylon
Sarah Earle Feature Editor
PHOTO BY SWETA KUNVER DETROIT INSPIRED. After he and his family took a trip to Detroit, Michigan, and witnessed multiple Arabic style restaurants, junior Fahad Mohammed and his family found themselves renovating a building that would soon become Babylon.
Q. What does Babylon offer to the community? A. “It offers a different food style, a different perspective on the world.
Some of these people in Harrisonburg have lived their whole lives in Harrisonburg. We think there’s a large immigration population here, but [if you] go up to Detroit, it’s almost the ‘Mini Middle East’.”
Q. What is Babylon a mix of? A. “It’s a mix of [Middle Eastern food] basically a store and a butchery.” Q. Is it family owned? A. “Well, my mom works there and my dad comes in there, grabs a sand-
wich sometimes. [But] we have close workers, we know them personally. My mom basically owns the place and she runs everything.”
Q. Do you plan on expanding? A. “No, not right now. We are trying to focus on this store and make it
the best that we can. We’ve been working on it for 2 years, we rented the place, and we waited for a long time to set it up. It wasn’t that hard to get the property though, it was a 7-Eleven that shut down.”
Q. What’s competition like for the store? A. “There’s a lot of Arab stores because of the population increasing. [It’s
all good] because once you have competition, you try to become better as a company.”
Q. Is it easier for expanding Arab community to open stores? A. “Not really. When you come in as an immigrant, it takes a long time.
It’s definitely a lot different from Iraq than here. They have to worry about taxes now [and stuff].”
Q. Do you plan on taking over the store? A. “I’m just planning to go to college, but there is definitely an opportunity
that I will own the store and go to college at the same time. I worked there last summer, but it’s not the same as [like] McDonald’s because your parents are your managers.”
Q&A BY SWETA KUNVER
Behind its sister restaurant, Taste of Thai, The Oriental Food Market blends a variety of foods and products from both Asian and Hispanic cultures. As the only oriental market in the area, the small, family-run store generates success in their business, supplying the specific, necessary products for both Asians and Hispanics. With three siblings all cooperatively running their three restaurants (The Oriental Food Market, Taste of Thai and Popeyes), co-owner and sister to the others, Nuanta Wareechatchai, mainly manages the market. “[The Oriental Market] is special. You cannot find [a lot of these foods] at a regular market like Walmart and Food Lion. We have curry paste, a lot of seasonings, oyster sauce, a lot fresh vegetables and fresh tofu. They make it fresh every Thursday morning and they bring it here from [Washington D.C.] for us. We also have frozen fish, quail [that] you cannot find anywhere [around here]. We have duck head, the whole duck and cow feet,” Wareechatchai said. “[Our market] sells a lot of rice and tortillas. Fresh vegetables get delivered two times a week [on] Tuesdays and Fridays...We sell Bok Choy, Bean Sprout, Napa Cabbage [and] Papaya.” Wareechatchai and her family first opened The Oriental Food Market in 1991. The idea to open an oriental market developed after Wareechatchai’s parents and family friends grew tired of driving two hours, once every week, to the closest oriental market in Northern Virginia for their groceries and traditional Thai food. After years of providing specialized, Asian-oriented products,
PHOTO BY SARAH EARLE HERITAGE. With Laotian roots, junior AnicaSylaksa regularly shops at Oriental Food Market. “They have many Asian spices that you would not find anywhere else.” the market began to incorporate Hispanic food items to increase business. “A long time ago, when my parents moved to Harrisonburg, they could not find the [ingredients they] were used to for cooking. My parents had a lot of friends living around here, and every weekend they [would] come to my dad to ask if he [could] go to Northern Virginia to get some stuff for them. That’s when my dad decided to open the market here,” Wareechatchai said. “When we first started, [our market] was very small. This town [does] not have many Asian people to support the market’s business, [so] we added Hispanic because a lot of Hispanics live around here.” While Wareenchatchai runs the market, her sister and co-owner of the family’s restaurants, Ponsi Phonelath, mainly oversees Taste of Thai and Popeyes. Wareenchatchai spends every day working at the market, and then most evenings helping out at Taste of Thai. “I have [a] big family here and we all work together. My sister (Ponsi) runs around to help Taste of Thai or she [will] go to Popeyes to check [on] what they need over there and
if everything’s okay,” Wareechatchai said. “We just run around here. Most of the time I work in the market and then when Taste of Thai is busy, [and] I can see a lot of cars, I just run down and help with whatever they need.” Although they provide specialized items of Asian and Hispanic culture, Wareechatchai sees customers with a variety of nationalities come to the market. Most tend to be of a Hispanic and Asian background, yet most customers that usually come to the oriental market are also familiar faces to Wareechatchai, and getting to interact with the regular customers tends to be the best part of her job. “Most of the customers are regular customers here. They shop here a lot, every week. I’ve worked here for a long time. Most of the regular customers I see coming back,” Wareechatchai said. “A lot of things you cannot find in a regular market, but you can find here. I enjoy working here. I mean, I love to work in here. I know all of the customers that are regularly shopping here. Working here is just like [being with my] family. Most of the customers that come here, I know just like a good friend.”
Customer on the street: Why do you shop at Food Maxx? Senior Lawan Rasul
Senior Liam McGehee
“My family is Kurdish, and we eat a lot of rice. My mom says it’s the best place to get a lot of rice and beans.”
“I was looking to see if Food Maxx had sushi, but when I went, they didn’t have it, it was actually really depressing because once I heard they had some.”
Junior Anahi Bravo
“I went looking for mango juice, and I found mango juice in a big box at Food Maxx.”
Junior Dayby Joya
“When I go to Food Maxx I get Fuego Takis, Pan dulce, and different types of seafood.”
Freshman Jenifer Romero
“I go shop at Food Maxx to buy groceries for my house.”
INFOGRAPHIC BY AUDREY KNUPP
February 28, 2018
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AFTER HHS February 28, 2018
The Newsstreak
Feature-B1 Feature-B1
We interviewed over 80 alumni last month for the special issue and all the stories didn’t make it into print. Here are a few more. Find additional stories at www.hhsmedia.com.
Karr gives up scholarship for Harvard campus Mia Constantin Feature Editor
Although the move from Harrisonburg, Virginia to Cambridge, Massachusetts was daunting, Mia Karr, a junior at Harvard University, appreciates an academic challenge and getting out of her comfort zone. “I liked the idea of going to a school where I didn’t know anyone even though it was really scary. I didn’t take applying to Harvard very seriously because I didn’t think I was going to get in, but I kind of felt like I might as well because I really liked Boston,” Karr said. “I got in and I was kind of freaking out because I hadn’t been expecting or planning for that possibility. I’m glad that I took the risk of going there because it’s definitely been a very eye-opening, once in a lifetime opportunity.” Even though her original plan was to go to UVA because of a scholarship she had received, she hesitated on the offer and decided on Harvard instead. “I wanted to do something that was very new and very different and would push me out of my comfort zone and out of my bubble,” Karr said. “UVA is an hour from home so it’s not exactly that.” During the year, Karr writes for Harvard’s newspaper, ‘The Crimson.’ She has written for this paper over the past two years and as of January, will become an associate managing editor. “We start our year term
in January, and I did two [year terms] as a writer and then your third one, which we’ll start this January, you become an editor, and it depends on what editor position you have. We don’t actually have an Editor-in-Chief,” Karr said. “At the very top of our management structure we have a president and a managing editor and a business manager. They all have slightly different tasks, but they are sort of the people in charge of the whole building, and then below the managing editor there are the two associate managing editors. I am one of the two associate managing editors.” For ‘The Crimson,’ Karr got to interview an economics professor right after he had gotten a Nobel Prize. For Karr, it is shocking that ‘The Crimson’ manages to print out a newspaper Monday through Friday, along with a graduation issue called the “Commencement Issue”. “Every year, at the end of the school year, so in May, ‘The Crimson’ produces a Commencement Issue. Commencement is what we call our graduation,” Karr said. “We produce this really long, 100-page color print edition where we write these big stories that tackle big questions or sort of analyze big events that have happened over the course of the year. That’s really hard because we have to pull together this massive thing in a week and a half. Everyone is working
PHOTO COURTESY OF MIA KARR TROPHY SEASON. Mia Karr (right) recieves the Virginia Association of Journalism and the Journalism Education Association award for Virginia Journalist of the year in 2015.
around the clock. We’re there from 9 A.M. to midnight for five days, but that’s also a lot of fun.” As most students at Harvard do, Karr lives on campus because it is a cheaper option that off-campus housing. She lives in an upperclassmen dorm called the ‘Adams House’ with three other roommates. “Houses are just bigger dorms and you live there for the next three years. This is my second year living in Adams,” Karr said. “It’s really nice. It’s very old, so the floors creak. It also has its own library which is really cool, it has
its own dining hall where I eat all my meals. That’s a really nice way to make friendships in the house. I have a bedroom there, I live with three roommates in one suite. We each have our own bedrooms and then we share a common room and a bathroom. It’s pretty nice housing for juniors, and then I’ll have even nicer housing when I’m a senior.” As for her experience at HHS, Karr has expressed much gratitude for her time spent here as a student. “It’s hard to see when you’re there, but I think
HHS is a special place because [it gives you] more perspective, and being with people who come from so many different backgrounds [is similar to college],” Karr said. “I feel thankful that I had the opportunity to be here and have the really passionate teachers that I did, and be exposed to so many different types of people from different places. I think that’s a pretty unique opportunity.” Although she wishes she would’ve been less stressed about college while at HHS, she knows that it’s always good to go
out of your comfort zone. “In high school I was very stressed about college and I thought about that all the time,” Karr said. “It would be nice to tell someone that even if you don’t go to a college that you always assumed you would go to, and you go somewhere that’s out of your comfort zone, it’ll still have the potential to work out and be a really good experience. I’d tell myself to stress less, probably, though I don’t know if I would have listened to myself.”
Anderson sisters follow mother’s footsteps Albrite finds love in work
Nyah Phengsitthy Media Coordinator
Sisters Becky and Emily Anderson found themselves similarly following their mother’s footsteps after she passed away in a hit-and-run accident in 2009. With Becky part of the class of 2003 and Emily part of the class of 2007, the sisters have parted their ways, have both landed two different careers, but are using similar skill sets. After graduating high school, Becky headed off to Randolph Macon College, where she majored in psychology. Immediately after, she went into helping students with autism at the Faison Center.
On the other hand, Emily made the choice of staying in her hometown and attending James Madison University, where she majored in communications. After finishing up her four years at JMU, Emily decided to stay in Harrisonburg, while Becky found her new home to be in Richmond. “I like Harrisonburg. While I was in high school, I didn’t mind it. I liked going to JMU and it became important later because my mom died tragically, so it was good that I was here where my dad lives, my brother lives, and my younger sister was living at the time because she was in high school. I want to stay here… I like knowing the people, I like knowing
the area and the history,” Emily Anderson said. Sherry Anderson was an educator in Harrisonburg where she worked as a special needs teacher and other careers related to kids, while Becky took on the career of being a teacher for students with moderate intellectual disabilities. “I serve students with significant disabilities. Most of them have limited verbal skills, students who can only read a couple of words,” Becky Anderson said. After holding this job for nine years, Becky has found her mother to be the reason why she continues to do what she does. “I think about my mom
PHOTO COURTESY OF EMIILY ANDERSON STAND BY ME. Emily Anderson assists an elderly perosn at her care facility. Anderson works at Legacy care in Staunton, Virginia.
everyday. The reason I’m even doing the job that I’m doing is because it’s kind of what she did. There are times where I need her advice… she was the backbone of our family,” Becky Anderson said. For Emily, keeping up with residents and their service plans at Legacy, an assisted living community in Staunton, is what keeps her busy. “I’m the social services coordinator there, so I go out and see prospects before they move in to determine what services they’re going to need and make sure we can meet all of their care needs. I keep up with them throughout their residency to see that they’re getting everything that they need,” Emily Anderson said. Emily also works at a homeless shelter where she puts her helping skills on the spot. After her mother being a big part of multiple lives, Emily has taken on what she did into her own hands. “She did everything. [She] volunteered in the community, and I remember her helping with the shelter when it was at her church. I realized that [helping] can be a part of your career. Going through the tragedy that I had, I can also relate to people on a lot of those issues,” Emily Anderson said. It’s been nine years since Anderson’s tragedy, but both Becky and Emily have seen the positive in their careers, thanks to the inspiration they’ve taken from their mother. “I’m happy with the way my life is. Obviously, I wish my mom was still around, but as far as the decisions I’ve made, I feel like I’ve learned and grew from them. If I didn’t have those experiences, I wouldn’t be where I am today,” Becky Anderson said.
with troubled children
Samantha Little Feature Editor Shortly after graduating from the College of William and Mary with a double major in psychology and religious studies in 2010, Jordan Albrite decided to move north from Williamsburg to Arlington in search of work. “[It] was a rough time for the job market, especially for someone with a liberal arts degree and without a clear picture of what they wanted to do professionally,” Albrite said. “[But now], I’ve found a community I like, which I think is the key to being happy anywhere.” Looking for any possible job, Albrite ended up working at Ideaventions, a children’s science enrichment center. “At that time I would’ve told you I was bad with kids, but it turned out that I actually really enjoyed teaching small groups of kids and like most things, I got better at it the more I did it. In high school, I always gravitated towards activities and classes that came easily to me, but when I was forced to take a job that challenged me in a new way, I actually really enjoyed it,” Albrite said. Eventually, Albrite wanted to find a job which better connected to her psychology degree. Albrite was working with a school science class one day when she rolled her supplies cart past the counselor’s office. She
then came to the realization that school counseling would combine what she already liked about her job and the other things she was looking for. With this, Albrite went back to school to get a Master’s in school counseling, ending up in her current job as a school counselor in a public elementary school. “I like working with the kids; it’s not an easy job, but they make me laugh every day. I love the variety, too; each day is different. I get to teach whole classes, work with small groups and individual students and work with teachers and parents. You never know what’s going to come up in a given day, and that keeps it interesting,” Albrite said. Albrite plans to continue with this work for the foreseeable future and enjoys the fact that she can take part in making school a positive experience for the students, and even further, have the opportunity to positively impact their futures. “When you work with people, especially in a helping role like mine, your work is never finished, and it can be hard to see what, if any, impact your work is having,” Albrite said. “A lot of the kids I work with are facing challenges far beyond anything I’ve dealt with personally, and I don’t always know what will be most helpful to them… At the end of the day, what a lot of the kids want is just for someone to listen to them, and I can do that.”
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Feature-B2
Bitcoin craze hits Harrisonburg Noah Siderhurst Feature Editor
denizer said. “By making purchases that are outside the scope of government… such as [being taxed] or being tracked through govUnless you’ve been living under a rock ernment currency and the banking system, for the past few months, you’ve probably it really helps enforce the role of the peoheard of Bitcoin. It’s become something of ple over the government. The government a craze, with the exchange rate for one Bit- is a tool of the people, the people are not a tool of the government.” coin peaking at over $19,000. To others, profit is a motive. Junior Blane But because of its uncontrolled, anonymous nature, many are wary of it. It can Murphy first bought Bitcoin three years ago be loosely called a currency, but it’s not when the price was hovering at about $200 backed by any government or commodity. a piece. In November and December 2017 The main thing driving its wild price swings when it shot up to over $19,000 a coin, he is popularity. Many economists have com- still owned three Bitcoins. “It was just like: adrenaline rush,” Murpared it to a Ponzi scheme or an asset bubphy said. ble. Nobel prize winning economist Paul At that point he decided to pull out Krugman warns that Bitcoin is a bubble, “but it’s a bubble wrapped in techno-mys- $1,000 to cover his initial investment but ticism inside a cocoon of libertarian ideol- kept the rest in. Then, in late December, ogy… This will end badly, and the sooner it Bitcoin’s price suddenly dropped. “My brother and I were like: ‘Oh, crap.’ does, the better.” But we had faith in the system because we didn’t think it was a bubble,” Murphy said. Because there is a set number of Bitcoins (21 million) that can be mined in total, Murphy is confident that the real rise in price will happen once it hits that ceiling. “Once it reaches that limit, that’s when Bitcoin really blows up,” Murphy said. “It’s simple supply and cryptography allows it to hackers have been able demand.” Murphy is conbe used as currency with to steal cryptos from ex- tentFortonow, sit back and see changes ($530 million of what the market will do. anonymity NEM was stolen in Jan.) “I let it run by itself. I’m kind of in it for the experience because I think it’s with a few exceptions a new wave of currency,” (such as South Korea), while some enjoy low Murphy said. “Eventually governments have not government involve- the government will step in, I think it’s revolutionary regulated crypto use ment, it can also makes but currency-wise. I just like becryptos more dangerous ing a part of it… I wanted to get that thousand back so I actually made a profit and wild price swings let you could say I received from make a lot of money in a wild price swings mean Ithis, I didn’t get something you might lose a lot of taken away from me.” little time Sophomore Gabe Eshmoney in a little time leman had a similar experience when he was first unlike stocks, you can introduced to Bitcoin in buy cryptocurrency be- many economists view eighth grade. “I saw a way I could make fore you are 18 Bitcoin as a bubble a lot of money in a fairly quick amount of time,” Eshleman said. “It was easy to Despite skepticism over its volatiliacquire and it quadrupled in price during ty, many people, including students and the time I had it.” teachers, find Bitcoin an enticing topic. The Libertarian ideas also played into his like anonymity and lack of government influof the up and coming cryptocurrency. ence that make it scary to some make it “I was really anti-government back then, attractive to others. One of these people is so I thought it was pretty cool,” Eshleman senior Blake Rhodenizer. “Bitcoin really fits into libertarian said. “Obviously I love the government, thought - not necessarily party libertarian- we’re in the USA… but it’s kind of nice to ism but ideas of liberty and small govern- see our government struggle with the idea ment - just simply because of the way it of this new currency. I think it would be rejects government currency. It makes the crazy to see it go mainstream, to see how government more obsolete in a way,” Rho- our government would react to that. Our
Why use Bitcoin?
Pros
Anonymous:
Little regulation:
Cons
Stealing and fraud:
Little regulation:
Volatility:
Ease of access:
Volatility:
Bubble:
government wants to regulate everything from food to currency, they want to regulate literally every part of our lives for the safety of the American people, so it’s really interesting to see something so unregulated go mainstream.” Teacher Andrew Summers bought in just as Bitcoin was in the process of going mainstream. “I just had an extra hundred bucks at the end of the month, and I decided it would be fun to buy Bitcoin,” Summers said. “So that hundred bucks got me a couple hundredths of one Bitcoin.” Unfortunately for Summers, he had invested at a peak and his $100 is now worth around $60. “I think it’s just interesting and fun,” Summers said. “Some people use it for a serious investment, I just use it for fun… I put an amount of money in that I said to myself, ‘If I put this hundred dollars in and I lose it, I’ll be fine.’” As far as the ideological or technological breakthroughs of cryptocurrency, Summers could care less. “There are a lot of people who are like, ‘This will be the next currency that’s unregulated and the man can’t control,’” Summers said. “I don’t care about that. It’s just for fun for me.” Bitcoin isn’t by any standards perfect. For Murphy, Bitcoin and other cryptos’ susceptibility to hacking is a concern. In late January, hackers stole 500 million NEM (another cryptocurrency), worth approximately $530 million, from an exchange called Coincheck. “I think where it is right now is very good because it’s not regulated. I think the privacy part about it is really fantastic; it’s hard to trace,” Murphy said. “But the one thing I would have a problem with is there’s so little regulation that people can steal Bitcoin from other people and there’s really nothing you can do about it.” Another concern is its bubble tendencies, a frequent topic for skeptics. Eshleman isn’t too worried though. “It may be standing on its own weight, but people are still going to buy Bitcoin. Everyone isn’t tomorrow going to be like, ‘Alright, I’m selling my Bitcoin,’” Eshleman said. “We have seen a decrease in cryptocurrencies as the popularity falls, but it will go back up. Then eventually I think it will flatline… it’ll find its resting point… You’re missing out on a lot of money if you don’t invest in cryptos because you say they’re a bubble.” However, Eshleman does concede that Bitcoin isn’t perfect. Like many pioneer innovations, it may be the herald for further advances. “Bitcoin was the first stepping stone for cryptocurrencies,” Eshleman said. “It was a good, secure form of transferring money anonymousl y ,
July 2017 October 2017
but it’s pretty slow, it has pretty high fees, it doesn’t work great. There are a lot of up and coming cryptocurrencies. [The question is]: which is going to be the next great one?” Rhodenizer agrees. Some new cryptos that have grabbed a stake in the market share include Ripple, NEM and IOTA. “[Bitcoin] is a step forward in how we think about money. While Bitcoin itself may or may not survive and move on, I think that it will definitely set a precedent for other cryptos to come and take over and become more popularized as an alternative means to government-issued money,” Rhodenizer said. The potential dangers of having little government control over currency doesn’t worry Rhodenizer. “Simply purchasing an item isn’t a violent act in and of itself. I see no real dangers to Bitcoin as its own entity,” Rhodenizer said. “I’d like to see cryptos not necessarily take over the government currency because that just won’t happen if the government decides they want to regulate cryptocurrency, but I definitely think that regulating cryptos in any way is a step in the wrong direction. If cryptos are regulated, that defeats the purpose of using them.” Lack of regulation also makes Bitcoin desirable over other financial assets like stocks. “[Bitcoin] is accessible,” Eshleman said. “For stocks, you have to go through all this corporate stuff whereas with Bitcoin I can hook up my credit card to Coinbase and I can buy. It’s that quick; it’s that easy. I made a couple hundred bucks as an eighth grader.” Summers also has money in the stock market, but sees a place for Bitcoin and stocks to coexist. “[Bitcoin] is more for fun because it has the potential to double or triple very quickly whereas stock market money doesn’t rise or fall nearly as fast,” Summers said. Whatever the long term manifestation of cryptocurrency is - regulated or free, bubble or stable, efficient or slow - Rhodenizer believes it will transform our world. “I think the technology could definitely propel us into the future,” Rhodenizer said. “And it will be the future.”
January 2018
Highest price: $19,783.06 Bitcoins in circulation: 16,864,475
Boom and bust. Bitcoin isn’t backed by any government or commodity, leading to wild price fluctuations, as seen in this chart.
Life cycle of a Bitcoin
Bitcoin a bubble?
Blockchain
The blockchain is a public ledger on which all Bitcoin transactions are recorded. These transactions are called “blocks.” Each time a block enters the system, it is sent to the peer-to-peer network of users for validation.
Bubble: trade in an asset far above it’s intrinsic value
Characteristics of a bubble
Bitcoin
Mining
New and exciting
YES
Boom: sudden uptick in prices and popularity
YES
Computers in the peerto-peer network solve cryptographic puzzles to generate new Bitcoins. The mining process also maintains the blockchain by verifying new blocks (keeping transaction records).
Inflated price: price is based on popularity, not real value
YES
Lots of leveraging: people borrow to buy it
NO
Exchanges
Exchanges allow people to trade traditional currencies for Bitcoin. This allows people to make money trading Bitcoins against currencies like the dollar.
Wallets
Different types of Bitcoin wallets hold each individual’s Bitcoins. Transactions can then be made between these wallets anonymously. These transactions are verified using the blockchain.
The Prince The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Feature-B3
Is Giving A Ball!
TO SEE MORE PHOTOS AND OTHER COVERAGE OF THE MUSICAL, VISIT HHSMEDIA.COM
Costume challenges arise from large dance numbers Caleb Goss Staff Reporter Lisa Klosinski and Julie Hatfield are just two of the many volunteers dedicating hours to the production of the school musical. With multiple years of memories and experience, both Klosinski and Hatfield work together in order to create the costumes. “Over time we’ve found that working as partners was better in a lot of ways. At the end of the year we say, ‘I’ll do it one more year if you do it,’ and we do it one more time,” Klosinski said. Not only has Klosinski enjoyed working with Hatfield, but she also enjoys the challenge that comes with preparing and designing the costumes. “It’s just fun. [Cos-
tuming is] like putting a great big puzzle together. You just [have to] fit a whole lot of things together and it’s a challenge,” Klosinski said. Timelines are one of the guidelines Klosinski and Hatfield must follow in order to convey the right story to the audience. Because of this, the two must do a lot of research. “We binge-watched all of the Cinderella movies, and we do a lot of Google Images of step sisters and stuff like that. We also get a lot of ideas from Stan [Swartz], the director, [who] says it’s all going to be 17th century, that kind of thing,” Hatfield said. Taking in the director’s decisions, the two must pick and choose what works best. “A lot of times Mr. Swartz will refer to this Broadway version or
the Broadway version fifteen years ago. We just go home and start googling because we don’t necessarily know what that is. We’ll say we like this about that one and we don’t like this about that one. Sometimes he’ll say he really likes this and we’ll say there’s no way we can do that in the time we have, but it’s a matter of choosing features. We don’t wanna copy any of them, so we try to put pieces together,” Klosinski said. Because each year brings a new musical with new requirements, there are all sorts of challenges both women face to produce enough costumes in time. “[The challenges] really depend on certain things. It’s not like there’s a straight trajectory up or down. It depends on the students
that are involved, it depends on how early we get decisions from directors about things, it depends on the time period, the setting. It varies so much,” Klosinski said. “You can have a very smooth year and then a really difficult year, and sometimes it’s hard to pinpoint what the difference is. It might be [because the musical] takes place in a time period where it’s hard to round up pieces that we need...so it can be very challenging one year, it’s always challenging, but [hopefully] it can be a little smoother the next year,” Klosinski said. Being one of the smaller casts this year, the two come across problems when working with the 59 cast members. “The bigger cast makes it more difficult. We actually have a small-
er cast this year so we’ve been going around saying it will be easier this year, but we always have the challenges,” Klosinski said. “It’s very typical that a couple of big dance numbers are in our shows, so that means just about anyone in the show is also going to appear in the big scenes, which means at least one more outfit for them. So when we have a cast of 75 or 76, a lot of [actors] will have two or three [costume changes], or sometimes four; it’s staggering. When we’re working with a cast of 59, it almost sounds easy, but it’s still a challenge,” Klosinski said. This year’s musical, Cinderella, will be performed from Feb. 21st through the 25th, where students can witness the costumes Klosinski and Hatfield have created.
MUSICALS OVER THE YEARS
Meet Me in St. Louis
PHOTOS BY SARAH EARLE AND OLIVIA COMER
SHOWTIME FOR CINDERELLA. (Left) Sophomore Kate Cummings, Cinderella, sings surrounded by her mice. (Right) Freshman Elizabeth Healy, a village girl, participates in a big village scene with other members of the ensemble.
Seniors reflect on Cinderella set takes over auditorium Knupp last year in musical Audrey Staff Reporter Betsy Quimby Staff Reporter While students from all grades are participating in this year’s musical, Cinderella, some seniors may take a larger part in helping with the rehearsal and production of the musical. Cinderella is senior Jane Wyatt’s second musical at HHS; she was also in the musical Meet Me in St. Louis last year. “Being a senior in the musical is great because I’ve worked with the directors for so long now that they know me pretty well as a dancer, an artist, and as a person,” Wyatt said. “They know my strengths and weaknesses, they know when I’m not giving my all or when I’m slacking so they know the right time to push me further in certain numbers and scenes.” Senior Nick Burzumato is also in the ensemble of Cinderella, but has been participating in musicals here at HHS since his freshman year, and before that at Skyline Middle School. Burzumato is, so far, impressed with how the production is going. As a senior, he has more experience working in musical productions and can assist other cast members when they need help. “We did a big run through with our costumes the other day, and it was pretty cool, and I think the cast is pretty prepared,” Burzumato said. “There are a lot of cool ensemble scenes, and some awesome leads, so I think the audience is really going to like [the musical].” As this is her last year to participate in the musical at HHS, Wyatt is feeling some nostalgia as Cinderella comes to a close. “I’ll definitely miss the people the most,” Wyatt said. “The musical has introduced me to such a wonderful community of beautiful people that are going to be hard to leave behind next year.”
The actors and actresses walked into rehearsal on their day-off from school to find a skeleton of a set for their upcoming production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s version of “Cinderella.” The show was open for public performances Feb 23 through 24. Sophomore Danner Rebhun was casted as one of the trumpeters as well as an ensemble lady. “The set this year has lots of moving parts that can be used in more than one scene. There isn’t a lot of space on the stage, so most of the large additions have two different sides for two completely different scenes,” Rebhun said.
The set consists of a pumpkin match, town market, palace gardens, step family home, the inside of the castle and a ballroom. “Most of the set will not be used within different settings. The curtain will just close and the action will flow to the next scene,” Rebhun said. Senior Madisyn Coburn has been in the musicals all four years of high school, and was casted as an ensemble women for her final show at Harrisonburg. “Most of the set is on wheels so it can be easily moved and transformed into other places,” Coburn said. The set of the show has taken over some of the auditorium seating on the right and left sides of the stage, as well and the first
row on the middle section. “Some of the show will actually occur in the audience within the middle section of reserved seating,” Rebhun said. “The Step Sisters and the Fairy Godmother will both have songs on the middle section to have more of a family friendly magical feeling.” Due to the amount of space needed for the many different sets, the live orchestra will be placed in front of the stage. Meaning that during the performances of “Cinderella,” the orchestra will be seen by the audience. “This is the first time since I have been in the show that the pit will not be behind the main stage set,” Coburn said.
Aida
Seussical PHOTO BY SARAH EARLE
GET YOUR STAGE FACE ON. Sophomore Grace Miller (center) points out above the audience next to sophomore Carly Corso (left) during the Stage Streaks performance of Cinderella on Feb. 20 for the eighth graders of THMS and Skyline.
February 28, 2018
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February 28, 2018
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February 28, 2018
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Every Person Has A Story
Macauley calls four different continents home Sid Tandel Staff Reporter Freshman Alex Macauley has traveled and lived a total of 35,330.25 miles apart in four different continents in his lifetime. “I was born in Boston because my dad’s side of the family lives there, and we decided to stay there for a few months. We then moved from Boston to a country in Africa called Angola where we stayed for six months. From Angola we then moved to Mozambique where we stayed for a year,” Macauley said. “After living in Mozambique we moved to Brazil, where my mom is from and settled there for two years. After living in Brazil, my dad’s job had him go to Vietnam for eight months and during that time we visited him and returned back to Brazil. After staying in Brazil, we moved to Alexandria where I lived up until third grade then moving to Harrisonburg.” At the time, Macauley’s parents held jobs involving lots of travel, making him move and travel along with them. “My dad worked as a tutor, I guess that would be the best way to define it. He traveled to underprivileged countries and helped kids learn how to read and write,” Macauley said. “My mom at the time worked as
a nurse who helped the sick in the poorer parts of each country we visited.” Traveling to all of these countries has given Macauley a different perspective on how we live in America. “Living in all of these places has really impacted my life by seeing all of the different cultures and incorporating foreign traditions into our everyday life here,” Macauley said. “These places helped me realize how much better we have it in America and really made me appreciate my life here.” Macauley’s favorite place he traveled was Mozambique. “Mozambique definitely has to be my favorite place because my family had a house next to the beach, so while we were there we had a lot of relaxation time and a lot of fun as a family, and it was a really beautiful country,” Macauley said. “While I was in Mozambique, [my family and I] stayed in a hut and lived with nine cats.” To this day, Macauley still holds a memory while in Mozambique from when he was just three years old. “My mom stayed at home while my dad took me to the beach, and while we were there these two Pakistani strangers who saw me walked up to my dad and started a conversation. They were nice, but a little too nice to the
PHOTO COURTESY OF ALEX MACAULEY
MONKEY BUSINESS. Macauley feeds a monkey in Mozanbique, Africa. He has traveled to five different countries in the world. point where it was creepy. They kept saying, ‘Oh what a beautiful boy,’ and one said, ‘You know what would make him more beautiful?’ Then they took out this substance called kohl [similar to Egyptian war paint/ makeup] and rubbed it around my eyes,” Macauley
said. “Then the other one got out this tiny perfume bottle and sprayed it on my head, and it was extremely strong smelling. My dad at this point was kind of getting scared because these guys were complete strangers and kind of creepy, so he quickly made his goodbyes
and brought me home. My mom freaked out when she saw this black stuff around my eyes and this strong smell took over everything, and [my mom] rushed me to the bathroom to wash it off.” Macauley has traveled to four continents, but still
Gotay overcomes traumatic accident Dany Medhin Staff Reporter Oct. 26, 2015 marks the day that freshman Isis Gotay had a really big and bad bike accident, which changed her life. “It all started when I wanted to go down this big hill, it looked very beautiful. I was kind of like the daredevil at the moment and I was like, ‘OK, I’ll go first.’ I started going down the hill, and then realized I was going way too fast. I panicked and I accidently
pressed the wrong brake, so that caused me to launcforward,” Gotay said. “My head made direct contact with the concrete and [I dislocated my jaw], fractured my gums, I chipped a tooth, scraped my shoulder, got a hole in my head and I had cuts on my stomach.” The accident didn’t only affect Gotay, but also many of the people who care for her. “It changed everything. The amount of pain I had to go through and the process to get to where I
was before, was just re“[That day] I realally painful. It not only ized that anything can affected me, but also happen, even if you’re my family. It caused all just going out to have of us to refun, you ally be on can alMy head edge and w a y s take more end up made direct careful prein a recontact with cautions,” ally bad the concrete. Gotay said. situation “I’m defiwithout Isis Gotay (9) nitely more even recareful alizing now than it,” Gotay before. I try to cherish said. “I had no idea I every day as much as was going to end up in possible.” the situation I did that According to Gotay, day. It really shows every day is different how every day can be and can bring on unex- unexpected, and bring pected challenges. challenges resulting
“
”
in good or bad outcomes.” According to Gotay, the best advice is to wear a helmet, do not go down steep hills and always know your brakes. “When people tell you to wear helmets, wear them. It’ll do more good for you. That day was a terrible day for me. It was so painful, I hope others learn from my experience and mistakes,” Gotay said. “I don’t want what happened to me to happen to other people.”
Toliver finds passion in criminal work, BSU Garrett Cash Editor-in-Chief Senior Stephany Tolliver joined a program at the end of her eighthgrade year that gave her the opportunity to observe police work in the community. She originally applied for this program to add an extracurricular to her life and had no intention of pursuing the law enforcement careers she observed. “On my application, for the essay, I clearly spelled out that I was not interested in any law enforcement career or anything, but I was interested in learning the skills that police officers need to know… but I ended up really enjoying it,” Tolliver said. She had no desire to follow this career path, but Tolliver discovered her passion for helping the community through this program. Doing the career exploration program for law enforcement piqued Tolliver’s interest in law enforcement, specifically criminology, the study of crime, and is now a prospective for Virginia Tech and Old Dominion University’s criminology
programs. Although Tolliver is interested in this career path, she has other interests she would like to follow as well. “I’m not sure that catching criminals is on my list of things that I want to do with my life. I want to just help the community out overall. I want to improve sex education in schools, I want to decrease poverty rates and stuff like that,” Tolliver said. “I’m not sure I’ll stick with it, but it’ll give me a good foundation, you know everything’s intersecting, so it’s a really good start for what I might want to do in the future.” In addition to learning more about the skills law enforcement careers use, Tolliver is also helping the community through her involvement with Streaks Leadership. Her role in Streaks Leadership is to lead a group discussion during her advisory period where personal, local and global issues and ideas are discussed, as well as participate in community outreach opportunities, like discussing bullying to children in elementary schools. Along with Streaks
PHOTO BY GARRETT CASH BSU. Senior Stephany Toliver attends a Black Sudent Union meeting this school year,
Leadership, Tolliver participates in the Black Student Union, where she gathers together with friends and supports them and advocates for equal opportunities among the student body. “We’re basically just trying to advocate for African American students in the schools, like give more support to their endeavors, just because we might not
have all the same opportunities or resources that other students in the school might have. It’s just good to have sort of a support group in the school where we all are supporting each other, advocating for one another, and it’s just kind of a home within all of the groups that are in the school,” Tolliver said. Even though Streaks Leadership and Black
Student Union meet on Thursdays after school, Tolliver manages to balance them both in addition to her law enforcement exploration. In all of these areas Tolliver serves in, she hones her ability to help the community and lays the groundwork for a future in supporting the people around her.
has one lifelong goal that he wants to achieve. “At some point in my life I would like to travel to every continent and revisit some of the ones I have already visited,” Macauley said.
Marquez dreams of pathology Somaya Malek Staff Reporter Sophomore Patricia Marquez wants to be a forensic pathologist because she likes knowledge and is interested in science and biology the most. A pathologist is a scientist who studies the causes and effects of diseases. Additionally, they examine laboratory samples of body tissue for diagnostic or forensic purposes. “I’m interested about learning human anatomy and human behavior. I believe that being able to examine a stiff [a dead body] may lead to new discoveries about diseases we previously didn’t have a cure for, or discovering a new cause of death and helping prevent it,” Marquez said. Marquez’s dream is to become a pathologist so she can learn more about the body “I want to be a forensic pathologist because, think that the body post mortem is the most interesting,” Marquez said. Even though she was close to death when she was born, she was able to survive and pursue her interests in life. “When I was born I almost died, we almost died both of us. I feel proud to be a survival,” Marquez said. Marquez wants to help other people with what she learned over the years. “I want to be a well respected pathologist. Perhaps [I can] teach what I learned over the years after I retire from that job,” Marquez said. An important lesson that Marquez learned in her life is to never fall, “Don’t fall, just don’t fall. If you fall, just pick yourself back up because you’re not going to go anywhere if you didn’t pick yourself up. You have to learn from your mistakes. If you didn’t learn from them, you’ll be a loser [because] you’re going to be stuck,” Marquez said. Despite facing challenges throughout her life, Marquez still pushes forward to reach her goal of becoming a forensic pathologist.
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Sports-B7
Soccer teams hope for another playoff run Owen Stewart Sports Editor Last season, the boys varsity soccer team fell just one win away from clinching a berth in the 4A state tournament. This year, the team is gearing up for another strong season, as they lost only three starters from last year’s squad. Head coach Paul Rath believes the lack of turnover on this year’s roster will be a big help to his team’s success, noting that he is prepared to fill the spots that were left empty by departing players. “The turnover [is] actually not too bad because we have some JV prospects that I think will fit in nicely... If we have someone who we know is going to play for us, we have them practice with the varsity team so they understand the formations, drills and concepts but we have them play JV so they’ll get playing time. Coming into this season, they know what our expectations are, so I’m not too concerned about that,” Rath said. Even with the team making a deep playoff run last year, Rath doesn’t think it would be much of a surprise to see this year’s team match that success, although he believes the level of competition will be heightened due to a realignment of VHSL regions. “I think we’ll do pretty
PHOTO BY THEO YODER
DEFENSE. Junior Eric Ramirez defends against a William Fleming in the 4A Regional quarterfinals. well against the South side in the new region [alignment]... Then it’s going to be up to playing against the Northern teams which are brutally strong in 5A, they’re unreal. I think we have a chance to make it to the [regional] semifinals and if we get depth in the roster, I think we can make it to the finals,” Rath said.
The team begins the year with a tough matchup, a road game against John Handley, a team that traditionally has given the Streaks a battle. While Rath stresses the importance of beating Handley, he believes his team will be able to bounce back even if it doesn’t end in a win. “They’re a tough team,
they’re physical. Will we play them hard? Yeah. If we lose, will it affect our whole season? No, not at all. I think we showed last year that we can come back from losses. We started 0-5 last year and we were one game away from the state tournament, and we won the conference championship. Starting 0-5 and then
doing that shows the mental toughness that we have and I’m expecting the same thing this year,” Rath said. Like the boys team, the girls team returns many starters from last year, and senior Meredith Goss, a starting center midfielder, believes that chemistry will allow the team to work better together.
“This year, out of all the years I’ve played, since the freshman year, we have the strongest chemistry out of all of [them]. Chemistry is very important in any sport you play, and so I think if we can have strong chemistry we’re going to be able to work all together on the team which will make things run a lot more smoothly this year,” Goss said. For the team to improve from last season’s conference tournament exit, Goss hopes to see more allaround effort throughout a game. “We tend to kind of slack off, give up a little bit,” Goss said. “We need to give 110% for the entire game no matter what the circumstance is.” Even with those weaknesses, Goss sees the team as being very versatile and athletic in terms of positioning, with the ability to be a very skilled squad. As a senior, Goss wants to see success from the team, and make it a season she remembers to end her high school career. “Our expectation is to win. Hopefully we’ll win and make it further than we’ve ever made it. This year, expectations for myself [are] to really just improve in my specific position and with my skills, but most importantly, it’s my last year, [so] just enjoy it, have fun and make every second count,” Goss said.
Tryouts by the numbers Varsity Boys
JV Boys
48 Kids
72 Kids
VS.
Varsity
JV
Girls
Girls
19 Kids
11 Kids
Tennis preparation begins Baseball would like to repeat success John Breeden Staff Reporter
PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDREA OSINKOSKY
SERVES UP. Junior Andrea Osinkosky gets ready to serve the ball in a varsity match. Osinkosky played in the two seed spot throughout her sophomore season.
Sophia Sallah Staff Reporter Andrea Osinkosky made it to the playoffs last year and is looking forward to what she hopes to be another great season for her and the tennis team. She enjoys every aspect of the sport and the group. “I just love everything about the sport in general. I love the team, I love how we all practice together and everything. [Last season] was exciting,” Osinkosky said. Osinkosky was second seed on the team last year and according to herself, she has improved greatly from when she began playing the sport casually. “When I first started, my previous experience with tennis was just a few lessons. Now, since I’m doing it more often, I guess I’ve built up my skills and I’ve noticed my stroke becoming a lot stronger,” Osinkosky said. “I
have worked with my grandfather, he used to play tennis here at the high school and did really well.” According to junior John Collier, tennis is a slightly different sport than others, but he believes that it is easy to get better at once you pick it up. “It’s different in that you have to put a lot of time into practicing and you have to have a good amount of hand-eye coordination,” Collier said. “I feel like it’s not super easy to pick up, but once you get it down, it’s super easy to get better at.” From tennis, Osinkosky has learned how to get better from her mistakes and create energy from frustration in a game setting. As for anyone thinking about playing tennis, she believes that it’s important to just go for it. “As long as you’re willing to come, work hard, have fun and work together as a team, I would say definitely go for it,” Osinkosky said.
2017 Boys Top Six
2017 Girls Top Six
1. Jason Muan* 2. Theo Yoder 3. Toby Yoder 4. Sam Heie 5. John Collier 6. Weston Hatfield
1. Lucie Rutherford 2. Andrea Osinkosky 3. Valerie Krasheninikov 4. Katherine Hulleman* 5. Alesazem Asuagbor* 6. Sarah Earle *Graduated
With the spring season on the horizon, the varsity baseball team is ready to pick up where they left off last year. After a heroic playoff run in 2017, head coach Kevin Tysinger is excited about going into 2018. “[We] had a good season last year and we’re looking to be competitive again. We’ve got some holes to fill from graduation, we’re going to have to work really hard to repeat what we did [last year]. It’s going to be a different season,” Tysinger said. Tysinger thinks one of the biggest challenges the team will face early on is filling in spots that the 2017 seniors left after graduating. He expects this year’s seniors to take on the leadership role, and lead the team to another playoff run. “Different guys get to step up, play a different type of role than they might have had last year. We lost five really key guys, so it’s going to be tough to replace those guys right away. It’ll be a work in progress to start. Generally each year you expect your seniors to take ownership and want it to be their team. We have several seniors coming
back: Tyler Kump, Jackson Hook, Sam Healy. We’re looking to make a mark this year,” Tysinger said. Like Tysinger, senior Sam Healy is also pumped up for the 2018 baseball season. He agrees that although they’re missing some of their senior team leaders from last year, he feels like the team will be as strong as ever. “I’m really excited. Last season we made it all the way to state tournament, and I’m hoping to [do it again]. We have a lot of the same people coming back, and we’re missing some key seniors from last year. I think we have people ready to step up in their spot,” Healy said. With this being Healy’s senior year, he wants to go out this season with a bang. Getting to the championship tournament last year was huge for the team, but Healy wants more. He thinks that if the team puts in the grind during practices, that they’ll be even stronger come playoff time. “I think we just need to always stay focused in practice. At the beginning of the season last year, we were winning, but we weren’t winning by a lot. We got some distractions taken off the team and we started playing a lot better. We just focused in practice and took every day one day at a time,” Healy said.
PHOTO COURTESY OF THEO YODER
HERE’S THE PITCH. Junior Jose Rocha delivers a pitch against E.C. Glass in the regional semifinals. The Streaks went on to win the game 14-13 in ten innings. The victory clinched a berth in the state tournament for the first time since 1992.
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Sports-B8
Torres continues winning fashion in final season Owen Marshall Sports Editor Holding onto an undefeated season with a record of 36-1, and holding hopes for a state title, senior Guillermo Torres’ final high school season is coming to an end. For the past five years of his life, Torres has dedicated time and effort to the sport he found a love for in eighth grade. He was honored for it Jan. 24 during the wrestling team’s senior night. “It [was] amazing especially with having [Eric] Miller there because he’s been a great mentor and coach to me and having my family there. It [was] awesome,” Torres said. With the postseason on the horizon, Torres believes that he has had a good final year. He bumped up a weight class to have better matches, in order to prepare for the more rigorous matches to come. “Last year I had like five losses before the post season, and right now I’m 270. I’ve bumped up a weight class just to get good matches and it’s gone really good. I’ve gone against some good wrestlers who have came down to some close matches, and I’ve had the victory over them. I feel pretty good and confident going into the postseason,” Torres said. Although this is his final
high school season, Torres hopes it will not be his last match. There will be some changes if he has the opportunity, but he would like to have a chance to wrestle at the college level. “It’s different in college for wrestling at least out of every other sport, because the lowest weight class is 125 pounds. People who are [wrestling] in [the 125 weight class] are probably cutting from 150 [pounds].,” Torres said. “I weigh [around] 122 [pounds] without cutting and right now like 110. So, I might be a little too small but I would love to wrestle in college.” Throughout his time as a wrestler, Torres believes that Eric Miller has been the most influential, helping him with some of his hardest times on and off the mat. “Eric Miller got me into wrestling and never let me quit. I remember ninth grade I wanted to quit so bad. We had probably the toughest coach I’ve had, coach Thwaites. I was really close to quitting but Miller wouldn’t let me and I’m really glad,” Torres said. “He takes me to practices an hour away, he has taken me to multiple national tournaments to get me some really good matches against ranked people in the nation. That is what has gotten me better. Everyone
PHOTO BY OWEN MARSHALL
ON TO THE NEXT ONE. Senior Guillermo Tores wrestles against Turner Ashby High School sophomore Payton Jackson. Tores went on to win the match 21-6 to continue into the regional tournament. else has definitely played a part, he has definitely been the top one up there.” There are many qualities that wrestling has taught Torres. “[Wrestling has taught me] the true meaning of discipline. My definition is doing something that you don’t want to do because you know you have to do it,” Torres said. “There is a lot
of times where I don’t want to get up in the morning to workout. There are a lot of times where I just want to lay in bed all day or half-ass practice. It has definitely taught me to not do that. It has taught me to work hard and push through it. I might be biased, but I’d say it’s the most mentally challenging sport because you are battling with yourself
and your body every single day.” It is time for Torres to pass the torch to the younger guys on the team, and he gives them the advice to push through the hard times because the work will pay off in the long run. “Keep going at it. We have a lot of freshman this year that have great potential and I’m really excited to
see them progress throughout their high school career,” Torres said. “Stick with it. It is an awesome, tough sport, but it will teach you everything you need to know in life. After you do wrestling, all your other problems will seem small.”
Lachance looks to teammates for further dedication
PHOTO BY ASHLEY ACOSTA-ISCOA
LAST MEET. Senior gymnast Abby Lachance receives a bouquet of flowers as part of her senior night ceremony for her final meet at Harrisonburg High School.
Ashley Acosta-Iscoa Staff Reporter With spring sports just around the corner, winter sports are wrapping up for
the season. Senior Abby Lachance is on the gymnastics team, leaving behind memories and friendships as she departs this year. Lachance has been a
gymnast since the age of three, and is an all-around gymnast. When it comes to preference on the event she favors the most, she would choose vault.
“I am an all-around gymnast but, I’d consider vault being my favorite because of the adrenaline I get,” Lachance said. Lachance values the support system that she is exposed to in the gymnastics program, making it easier to strive with the encouragement that surrounds the gymnasts and herself. Lachance uses her teammates for motivation, even when times are difficult during routines. “I’ve learned to keep an open mind, [and to] keep pushing through routines even when mistakes are made,” Lachance said. “I’ve learned to trust my teammates, and to take their encouraging words, keeping them in my head for motivation.” Over the years, gymnasts have come and gone throughout the season, but this year, Lachance thought otherwise; most of the gymnasts being freshmen.
Because of the dedication these gymnasts are showing this season, Lachance is sad that the action of endeavorment had to occur at this time of her high school career. “It’s bittersweet, I really like going off with my current team we have now,” Lachance said. “We have a lot of dedicated gymnasts, [which is why] I wish I could stay and continue but I have to graduate and move on.” Lachance is optimistic of the program established here at HHS and wishing the best of luck to the upcoming classes to come, which contain eager gymnasts who will flip and jump on the bars and tumble on the floor. She is also proud of the progress made from the minute she walked in the gym, to the minute she will walk out. “[I have] definitely [made] a lot of progress,” Lachance said. “I started with a few skills I didn’t
have before, and now I have more advanced skills.” The day every senior has been waiting for since the moment they walked into Harrisonburg High School is, walking across the stage with a bright smile, while thousands of people are gathered to witness their loved ones complete a huge part of their lives. This may be an emotional moment for the student who experienced many things in a four year span. Lachance is astonished how fast her years have gone by but couldn’t be happier for being a gymnast. She believes students should get involved in athletics and take the risk of trying a new sport. “Go for it, there’s a lot life skills that can be learned with athletics and gymnastics like body awareness,” Lachance said. “Get involved.”
Indoor track seniors will continue running in spring John Breeden Staff Reporter The 2017-2018 indoor track season is coming to a close, and for the class of 2018, it’s their last time they will get to run indoors. Senior Jacob Blagg is closing out his fourth season of indoor, and for all four years he was a runner in 3200m (2 mile) race. This season, Blagg’s best time was 11:19 at Liberty University in Lynchburg. He was not only the fastest two mile runner on the team, but he was also able to enjoy the ride along the way. “I feel like most of the races I’ve really enjoyed myself. I’ve ran good times and I’ve really worked hard for my last indoor track season,” Blagg said. The team has traveled multiple times to Liberty for meets on late Friday nights and Saturdays. Blagg says the thing he’ll miss the most about indoor is getting to hang out with his teammates at all the Saturday meets. “I’ll miss getting to spend all those Saturday meets with my friends,” Blagg said. Unlike Blagg who did indoor for four years, senior Evan Jost ran an indoor season for the first time. His best race this season was also at Liberty University, when he ran the 4x800 meter relay. His team consisted of freshman David Beck, senior Isaiah King and sophomore Tucker McGrath. While this was his first time doing indoor track, Jost has done
outdoor track for three years and will make it a fourth this year. He wants to do outdoor because of his love and passion for the sport. “I’m doing outdoor because running is a lifestyle. I don’t know any other life without running,” Jost said. Despite being one of the fastest runners on the team all year, Jost has a regret this season. He thinks his lack of protein in his morning diet kept him from running better times, and caused him to not have enough energy before races. “I wish I ate more protein in the mornings because that really keeps you going throughout the day. A good breakfast is the key to running well in the evenings. [My breakfast this season was] normally just a banana and some water,” Jost said. Senior Isaiah King is finishing up his second indoor track season. After joining last year, King’s best race this year was at Liberty University in the one mile run, with a time of 4:48. King will miss the experience of getting to run indoors, but when he returns to outdoor track in the spring, he’ll enjoy the warmer weather. “[I’ll miss] running on an indoor track, because you feel ten times faster. What I won’t miss is the cold weather,” King said. In sports, whether it be coaches, teammates or family, there’s someone there to help motivate athletes through good times and bad times in their respective sports. For Jost, he feels that his
PHOTO COURTESY OF HUNTER EVANS
PACE YOURSELF. Senior Isaiah King run his leg in the 4X800 meter race at an indoor track meet at Liberty University on Dec. 1, 2017. King has been successful in his indoor track season and plans on running outdoor track in the spring. coach, Jerry Hertzler, gave him the most support through all the hard practices and intense meets. “[Hertzler helped me the most] through his undying love
and support. It’s a very good relationship. We have that mental connection, he even said it himself. It’s like we’re telepathic or something,” Jost said.
Coach Hertzler also helped King through his indoor career, motivating him to run faster and to keep up the pace. King also has a good relationship with his coach. “He gives me rides in the Durango, he yells at me for not running my times during ladder workouts, and he gives me free truckloads of wood,” King said. Blagg has been putting the hard-work in for the past four winters. He came from the bottom, and rose to be the top senior in the two mile run. He’s had great moments and memories along the way, on and off the track. For Blagg, he recalls his best indoor track story was this season. On the way home from a meet, the team was joking around with senior Jack O’Brien, and his pillow. However, the story didn’t exactly have a happy ending. “We were coming home from Liberty, and Jack has this emoji pillow that he always has with him. It was being thrown around on the bus, we were on the interstate and out the window it went,” Blagg said. Like Blagg, Jost was also there when this story took place. He remembers it being sophomore Tucker McGrath who took the playfulness a little too far. “[My favorite moment] involves a pillow and a window. Usually [the pillow] comes back but this time it didn’t. The pillow is laying in the middle of Interstate 81 because Tucker threw it [out the window],” Jost said.
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February 28, 2018
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February 28, 2018
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Yoder, Gladd hit ski slopes during winter
skiing with friends. When everyone is there it is a big group: Sam Heie, Jack Fleming, Isaiah Va u g h a n , Ta n n e r Hoffman, Weston Hatfield, Gabe Eshleman,” Yoder said. “[They make it better because] on the lifts it’s not as boring and you can mess around on the slopes together.” For Yoder, skiing was once a family affair, though now with all of his family doing it at one point, though now only he and his brother continue to go. “My dad had skied PHOTO BY THEODORE YODER when he UP AND OVER. Junior Tobias Yoder does a trick while going off of a ramp at Massanutten Ski Resort on Massanutten Mountain. Yoder was in college, so skies with his brother and friends during the winter. when I was 10 he tried out their skis and snow“Skiing in general is just Gladd said. Owen Marshall boards and begin their sea- fun for me, whether it’s Junior Tobias Yo- to get our family into skiSports Editor son. Whether it is sending going fast or doing tricks der also enjoys the sport, ing. We knew someone who worked at Function Whenever winter rolls it down the terrain park or or jumps or just messing and he usually goes with 4 Sports and were able to cruising down the slopes, around with friends. It’s not a group of people from around, students from get skis. We got lessons and junior Nick Gladd loves all just one thing about skiing school. around the school break aspects of skiing. that’s fun, [it’s all of it],” “[My favorite part is] from then on I have [been
Vaughan, Merchant find passion in snowboarding Jackson Hook Sports Editor Junior Isaiah Vaughan spends the majority of his winters on a snowboard at Massanutten Ski Resort. His love for other sports that are similar brought him to the snow where he met a lot of his friends. “I got into snowboarding because I've always loved wakeboarding and skateboarding and I needed something to do during the winter months. And shortly after I started I found a bunch of friends that also snowboard,” Vaughan said. Tricks are usually associated with snowboarding and require the rider to be athletic and take risks to perform them. Vaughan can perform a variety of tricks and continues to work on more. “I can do a couple tricks.
Butters are my favorite and right know I'm working on tame dogs and fakie tricks,” Vaughan said. Weekends are the only opportunity that students have to go skiing or snowboarding. Senior Asher Merchant started learning to snowboard when he was nine years old because of his uncles. From them he learned to take every chance that he gets to go up the mountain because of the weather. “I go [to massanutten] whenever I can, when I’m not busy. It also depends on how the weather is… it’s been bad this year,” Merchant said. Vaughan also takes every opportunity he receives to go snowboarding. “[Snowboarding] pretty much takes up [my life] every winter,” Vaughan said. Massanutten Ski Resort is the closest place to Har-
Massanutten: What it has to offer Winter - 6,000 acres of mountain area - Downhill Skiing/Ski Instruction - Snowboarding Spring/Summer/Fall - 18 hole golf course - Tennis Instruction - Hiking Year Round - Indoor/Outdoor Waterpark - Arcade - Lodging Other Amenities - Aerobics Classes - Biking Trails - Ice Skating - Kayaking and Canoeing - Racquetball - Table Tennis - Volleyball
risonburg for skiing and snowboarding which makes the riders choices limited. Snowshoe is another resort in West Virginia which can provide a better experience for some snowboarders and skiers. It is a larger resort that provides more variety in the slopes for more experienced riders. “[Massanutten] is alright, but Snowshoe is definitely better. I like Snowshoe a lot better for snowboarding,” Merchant said. Merchant also spends time skateboarding where he applies some of the same skills that he uses on a snowboard. “I guess in terms of balance [snowboarding] is similar to skateboarding and your stance on a snowboard would be pretty similar,” Merchant said.
skiing],” Yoder said. Unlike Gladd, Yoder has experience skiing at resorts other than Massanutten. Yoder recently traveled to Snowshoe mountain to be in a new setting while skiing. He believes there are ups and downs to both resorts. “I feel really comfortable [at Massanutten] because I have been there for six years and it’s really small,” Yoder said. “Snowshoe is better because there are more slopes, harder slopes and the snow is better because they actually get real snow up there.” Gladd finds it unfortunate that he suffered a knee injury while skiing, forcing him to miss much of the season. He hopes to come back with a couple weeks left in the season. “It sucked, but I could focus more on other stuff. Today I just found out I should be good to go in about a week or two. While I did miss out on a bunch of the season, it allowed me to focus on other things,” Gladd said. Gladd has begun taking his skiing up a notch, learning tricks and doing runs on the terrain park. He is most proud of learning the “Japan Grab”, which is where you grab the back of your ski with the opposite hand. When preparing for these runs, Gladd emphasizes staying safe. “Don’t eat crap and try not to get injured. I know that’s pretty ironic because I did get injured this season. [Also], have fun,” Gladd said.
Popular Snowboarding Tricks 180°: A half-rotation while in the air
Japan Air: Front hand grabs the toe edge and knee pulls to board
Butter: Pressing the board into the snow to cause a rotation Ollie: Snowboarder springs off tail of the board and into air
Tamedog: Front flip off of a straight jump
Boras’ big expectations holding MLB free agents back J.D. Martinez. Mike Moustakas. Greg Holland. Jake Arrieta. What do these four Major League Baseball players have in common? Well, first off, they’re all still free agents (as of Feb. 16), and spring training is already underway. Second, they all have the same agent, Scott Boras. Coincidence? I think not. Boras has been working all offseason, pushing to get these guys, as well as many others such as former All-Star Pedro Alvarez, gargantuan contracts that would cause MLB teams to break the bank. The issue is that the prices Boras is asking these teams to pay is much too high considering the track record of the players he represents, and the teams are pushing back. Since 1967, the average MLB salary has risen over 20,000 percent, from $19,000 to $3.95 million in 2017. In comparison, calculations for inflation show that the $19,000 is worth only $140,000 now. In other words, players are grossly overpaid already, and teams are beginning to resist the continuous rise in salaries, which is understandable as luxury tax for going over a payroll of $175 million has also risen. Slightly above average players like Martinez and Moustakas aren’t going to get the
Lil Stew’s Sports
seven year, $150-plus million deal that Boras is trying to get them . (Update: Martinez signed with Boston for $110 mil-
lion over five years.) The way I see it, Boras is doing it more for himself than the athlete. As the player’s agent, he gets a cut of each of his clients salaries and money made from endorsements. The more his client gets paid, the more he gets paid. The players have all had offers already, and they have turned them down, likely because Boras thinks they could get more. At first, I expected this, but the 2018 offseason has become drier as spring training gets into full swing. This is a technique used mainly by football players during summer training camp called “holding out”, where they just won’t show up to anything until they get the money they want. While the NFL version of holding out is different because of the franchise tag, we’re seeing essentially the same thing right now in baseball, which is rare. Missing spring training can be extremely
detrimental to a player, especially one joining a new team. These players’ values are going to decrease as spring training goes on. Large market teams (like the Yankees, Cubs and Dodgers) have either already signed the free agents they want, or they are saving up for next year when Manny Machado and Bryce Harper (who both deserve $200plus million) hit the market. Small market teams (like the Athletics and Twins) just plain can’t afford the prices Boras wants. Supply of free agents is going to be high and demand (at least at current prices) is going to be low. While baseball isn’t a typical economy, the same principles apply, and because of this, if these players want to play in 2018, they will have to accept what a team offers them, even if the contact isn’t as lucrative. Boras is arguably the biggest agent in all of sports. He represents hundreds of athletes, and many of them are very successful. But right now, he has hit a roadblock that may force him to take a step back in his tactics. His players will have to sign eventually, and barring an extremely desperate team that is willing to overpay, Boras won’t be happy with the results.
The Newsstreak
February 23, 2018
Sports-B11
Basketball helps transform Whitelow’s life Jackson Hook Sports Editor Basketball has been a part of senior Carlyle Whitelow’s entire life. After being born with premature lungs and asthma, he was told to try playing sports to help his asthma go away. His father started coaching his first basketball team at the age of six which eventually helped his asthma to go away. Whitelow continued to play basketball in hopes of staying healthy and to continue making friendships that would last into high school. He has played at two different high schools for his high school basketball career. In eighth, ninth and tenth grade, Whitelow played at Broadway High School on the JV and varsity level. “Before [playing here] I played for Broadway, but I moved here because they had the JROTC program which I wanted to join and basketball. My family member is one of the coaches so I decided, why not go here,” Whitelow said. Whitelow has enjoyed his time in Harrisonburg
and believes that it has changed him as a person, whether that be through education or as a person. He believes that the move away from Broadway High School has been a major part in molding the person he is today in a positive aspect. “I’ve been more focused about how HHS has changed me and how much better HHS is… I would be completely different [if I went to Broadway]. I don’t know which part I like more but I am glad that I came to HHS,” Whitelow said. One of the highlights of Whitelow’s career was getting the opportunity to play at the national level for an AAU basketball tournament three years ago. He played for the Harrisonburg Hornets along with several other members of the current basketball team including seniors Stedman Clark, AC White and Collin Morris. “We went down to nationals in Myrtle Beach and when we got down there we got to the finals and we thought they were a really good team and it might be a hard chance for us, but we ended up playing
through everything and we ended up winning. It was really cool winning with all of my friends. So my most significant moment was probably when we won nationals,” Whitelow said. Basketball has been in
Whitelow’s entire life since he was young and has developed a close relationship with him. It is one of the things that helps him get through tough situations both mentally and physically.
“Basketball has been everything for me,” Whitelow said. “It’s been the reason I can function right now. It’s the reason I am physically healthy and mentally healthy because it has helped me through
a lot of struggles whenever I was down from some of my medical conditions or whenever I was just having fun with my friends. It has taken me a lot of places and it’s been one of the major parts in my life.”
place, but I really got into gymnastics because I am naturally flexible,” Yates said. There are things that Yates enjoys from being in gymnastics. One thing that she loves about gymnastics is how the team is like a family. While she has many friends on the team, they have all grown as teammates and as friends over the season.
“My favorite part of [gymnastics] is all the tumbling and flipping that we do, and that our team is like a family, and we all get really close with our other teammates. I could never ask for a better team,” Yates said. Normal gymnastics practices consist of tumbling, bars and beam. Even throughout their practices, the gymnasts still manage
to balance fun and work. “Once during practice, our coach overheard us talking about grammar and using words like ‘lit’ and ‘aye.’ After that, our coach said that it would be lit if we got on the bars! After that we all busted out laughing… we always bond over the dumbest things,” Yates said. Throughout her middle school career, Yates incor-
porated gymnastics while being on the cheerleading team at Skyline Middle School. Yates currently still does cheerleading and tries to integrate both cheerleading and gymnastics together. “I train in cheerleading so that it helps me with gymnastics because we do a lot of similar things in both sports. But it’s hard to manage both because of
my school work and managing my family at home. I still love both sports though and still manage to find a way to balance all of it,” Yates said. Yates has done other sports like soccer and swimming. However, Yates is currently planning on continuing with her gymnastics career through high school, along with cheerleading.
PHOTO COURTESY OF A.C. WHITE
AWARDED. Whitelow and his team, the Harrisonburg Hornets, pose after winning a national basketball tournament.
Yates grows relationships through gymnastics Betsy Quimby Staff Reporter
Despite Dorothy Yates being a freshman, she is currently competing on the Harrisonburg High School gymnastics team for a second year. “I started doing gymnastics because when I was around three years old my mom noticed that I was always flipping all over the
PHOTO COURTESY OF ABBY LACHANCE
POISED AND POSED. At left, Yates and teammates pose for a photo in their team attire. Yates performs her gymnastics routine with nothing but a smile crossing her face.
Danger in football inspires switch in sports Theodore Yoder Editor-in-Chief The decision by Senior Johan Roqueta‘s mother to no longer let him play football began Roqueta’s high school track career. Football was too dangerous for Roqueta’s mother’s liking and wanting to play another sport, Roqueta joined the track team which is non contact. “Running track has been great. I have met a lot of people by running track and some of my closest friendships formed because of track. It’s also been a great experience because you learn to be very disciplined,” Roqueta said. Having ran track since 7th grade, Roqueta has spent many hours on Saturdays during meets hanging out, competing and meeting new people. This season, he is trying new events such as the high jump. He also set a personal record in the 300 meters already this season. In addition to the the high jump, Roqueta competes in the triple jump, long jump and anything from the 55 meter to the
300 meter dash. Throughout his four years of high school track, Roqueta has had to overcome several challenges. “I’ve had really bad shin splints all four years. Anytime I am training intensity, the shin splints come back. I also like eating a lot and I can’t do that before many events because I’ll end up throwing up. I have to watch what I eat throughout the week,” Roqueta said. Even though Roqueta is a sprinter, he trains during the preseason by running long distance to build endurance. By running indoor at various meets, Roqueta has improved enough to begin setting personal records. One of the highlights of his season however, was meeting the top high school runners in the nation. “The coolest thing is that I got to meet the number one distance runner in the nation and I’ve also met a lot of other top guys and that is pretty cool,” Roqueta said. Roqueta is currently interested in running at Roanoke College but is unsure what the future holds.
PHOTOS BY DAVID BECK
BURST. Roqueta pushes off the starting line during a 300 meter heat at Liberty University on January 12th.
The Newsstreak
February 28, 2018
Humans of HHS-B12
HUMANS OF In keeping with our motto “Every person has a story,” the Newsstreak interviews students every month in the style of Humans of New York creator, Brandon Stanton. The idea is to tell the story of as many of our students as possible. Check out a similar project at www.hhsmedia.com.
HHS Sophomore Yoscar Nunez
Senior Joshua Wilson Why do you like robotics? “I’ve always been interested in computer science, I mentor at JMU for computer science and I’m intrigued by the programing side of robotics. I don’t know, I’ve always been excited by the innovation for technology and robotics is a huge part. Robotics… you want your robot to be autonomous, when your driving it that’s just an RC.”
Freshman Carlo Mehehan Carlo, tell me about doomsday. “Ok obviously doomsday would be if [teachers] stopped giving out homework, because I love homework so much and I don’t know what I would do in my free time if I didn’t have homework. It would just be the worst kinda life, that’s what my doomsday would be.”
Senior Steven Morillo
What is your favorite part about going to HHS? “Females, no I’m kidding. The sports, [I play] baseball.” How do you feel about tryouts? “I’m excited, I’m not nervous, why would I be nervous?”
Senior Brigitte Kuangu What ethnicity is your name? “From the Congo.” Do you stick with any traditions from there? “I do stick with some traditions from there like Women’s Day, we do something there, the food that we eat, the food that we cook, how we dress, the dashiki, how we wrap our head, how we talk, what music we listen to, all of that stuff.”
What’s your favorite thing about Harrisonburg High School? “Everything, the classes, the teachers, P.E. That’s my class.” What would be your personal doomsday? “I like playing basketball, not being able to play basketball would be the worst thing in my life.”
Sophomore Aram Darwish Do you think Valentine’s Day is overrated? “No, it’s a good thing.”
Freshman Isis Gotay
Sophomore Grace Mwami Senior Julie Hedrick Julie, tell me about doomsday. “I think for me personally doomsday would be finding out I had some sort of performance imperative; like [if ] I had vocal nodules and I couldn’t sing for the rest of my life, or if I tore my achilles and couldn’t dance for a year or something like that because performing has been a huge part of my life and having it taken away would be my personally doomsday.”
What does Black History Month mean to you? “A time where African Americans are celebrating just about our history and, you know, what we have done for this country, and you know black excellence.” Why did you join BSU? “I joined BSU because I wanted to be a part of a club that I’m most comfortable in and a lot of people here I know from outside of school so that’s why I decided to join. Also it’s a really fun place for me, I learned a lot of new things and I gained a lot of close relationships with people through BSU.”
Why did you join the BSU step team? “It looked interesting and I just wanted to be a part of it.”
Photos by Olivia Comer and Ethan Power