B6: Boys basketball begins under former player
The
A10: MTC develops students’ career skills, life lessons A6-A7: Students, staff arrive early, stay late
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where every person has a story
Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIC • Issue 3 • November 30, 2015
K2 drug causes alarming effects
Allergies impact more than diet
Faith Runnells Print Editor-in-Chief
Austin Swift Print Editor-in-Chief
With her diet severely limited, social the hospital this year because of its harm-
discovered allergies have proven to be an obstacle for both her, her friends and her family. The allergies, most of which were found less than two years ago, include most fruits and vegetables, latex, peppermint, cinnamon, trees, molds, grasses and all tree nuts. “I ate a peach and we were in the car and we did not stop at a hospital, but my face swelled up really large and I had trouble breathing. Then we got tested and
dle School last year, where there were also
adversely. You don’t know the chemicals [that] are in it, so you really don’t know what you’re inhaling when you smoke it. Most of the incidents here appear to be room of school last year was hospitalized because he passed out and threw up in class.
See K2 page A2
Leaman said.
source of her allergies, doctors suspect PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS
WANT A HIT? Due in part to its cheap price, K2 is becoming an increasingly large factor in the fight against high school drug usage. “I worry on a couple of different levels. One, that people are getting too relaxed [about drug usage]... I’m very fearful that something really really bad would happen on my watch here in this building,” Prieto said.
Berry’s influence felt throughout city, school communities Ellie Plass Online Editor-in-Chief
The food drive was the brainhe had spent years watching his fa-
food drive raised 47 thousand dollars worth of food. This year will mark the beginning of the seventh annual Brent Berry Food Drive. The drive is conducted every year by student Brent Berry and his father, Bucky Berry. The drives are conducted severbeginning Nov. 21 and the other
PHOTO BY ELLIE PLASS
JUST ONE CAN. Brent Berry hands out slips promoting his food drive at the Dayton Walmart. They encouraged shoppers to buy a canned food item to give to the drive.
in December. Principal Cynthia Prieto has only known Brent Berry for about a year, but he has already made an impression. “He’s very passionate. He likes to do things that are going to be good for people,” Prieto said. “He has good ideas, and he’s got a great support system. When he gets an idea the chances of it actually morphing into something successful
family, with help from Major Hank many volunteers. “Well, it started when my dad building and I said ‘Dad, how about we do a food drive to help the community,’ so that’s why we do this going hungry,” Brent Berry said.
leyball is seen as a women’s sport, the DECA club decided to give the boys a -
for charity. The teams were divided by grade, and the coaches of each team were girl volleyball players in that
money for the DECA club, pants $5 and spectators $3 as an entry fee to the event. The tournament was set up in three stages.
simultaneous games in the gym between the seniors and freshmen, and sophomores and juniors. Both games ended in two sets, as the juniors and seniors emerged victorious. In
that I was allergic to so many things, but it
really miss the foods and realize how it impacted everyone around me,” Leaman said.
can deal with that. But what’s really hard is
and those in your classes, because they can’t eat certain things around me, or they can’t be around me with certain things like perfumes or shampoos.” Leaman and her family have developed a system at home that they hope will pre-
“[My family] has had to go through our
of HHS, as well as the surrounding Harrisonburg and Rockingham County area. “We have about 72% of our students on free and reduced lunch, so that is why we make such an fast, lunch and then snacks,” Prieto
allergens, and shampoos and certain toothpastes and soaps,” Leaman said. “Now we just found out about latex, so we’re going to have to do that again. And then we just have “X’s” on top of things like lemon juice, so we have an “X” on top of that so I know
See FOOD DRIVE page A2
See LEAMAN page A2
Band sees improvement in competition season
Faculty retain title in DECA fundraiser Abby Hissong Print Managing Editor
members have known allergies, but are not as severe and are not triggered by as many things. “My dad and mom and brother all have tree and grass allergies,” Leaman said. “I have more molds, more trees, more grasses, more bushes. Like all of the outside world.” The impact the allergies have had on her friends and family have been harder for Leaman to adjust to than the actual dietary and lifestyle changes.
Maria Snell-Feikema Photography Editor
stage two, the upperclassmen played each other in a three set game. The seniors
preliminary stage, winning
lost the second set 13-15.
In spite of reigning vic-
Major, music, and gener-
The juniors then advanced
on Oct. 24, the band scored an excellent, rather than superior, on their overall state ranking at the Virginia Band & Orchestra Direc-
where they competed with twelve other bands from
to play the faculty team. The faculty defeated the students in two sets, end-
on Oct. 31, breaking their four year “superior” streak. Color Guard captain Megan Labarge says that although the band is mildly disap-
volleyball champions. DECA advisor Mallory Cromer was happy with the immense success of the fundraiser, and plans on in the years to come. “It’s always fun to see the kids you teach in class on the court, it’s like a whole new side of them comes out. Some kids are
See DECA page A2
Coming up Musical preview In-depth Streaks Leadership survey HCPS coverage Humans of HHS feature World page Winter sports Columns and editorials Hidden talents Holiday coverage
“The atmosphere in the stands wasn’t one of pure joy, to be perfectly honest, barge said. PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT
IN YOUR FACE. Junior Christian Whitelow spikes as senior Abner Johnson attempts a block during the first set.
Social Media www.hhsmedia.com @_HHSMedia @StreaksSports @hhsmedia15
the Blue Ridge”, a regional
place win for HHS. “[The win] felt amazing,” Labarge said. “Some of the bands we saw were really good, and since we of them, we knew that we
teen was a really awesome jump.” For low brass secwin was a bit unexpected. “It was really a surprise
See BAND page A2
On the Web Spirit week photo galleries Feature package stories Extended coverage of print packages Breaking news from school and the community Live video footage of sports Variety of reviews and blogs Featured photo of the day
November 30, 2015
News-A2
The Newsstreak
New K2 drug sees growing presence, impact within school K2 from A1 “I went to class and I remember coming up the stairs. It took me forever to get up the stairs. I couldn’t walk… Because it took me so long to get up the stairs, I was late to [my class],” a previously hospitalized student said, who we have chosen to include anonymously. “That’s when I had the whole freak out moment where I just passed out, threw up. It’s not something you should do.” Students who smoke out of these one hitters during school can immediately be affected by the drug, often causing them to pass out, which leads to their hospitalization. “What the drug does is it affects part of your brain that stops you from breathing. Your body doesn’t tell itself to breathe. So a lot
of times they’ll feed a tube down your throat, get an intubator, to have the [machine at the] hospital basically breathe for them just so they don’t die,” Kwiecinski said. “That’s happened in numerous cases throughout the city in the past year.” Although K2 usage has brought dramatically negative events in the classroom, principal Cynthia Prieto is glad these students are able to get immediate help at school. “Part of me is grateful [that it happens] in class because it means we have professionals here that can get you help. If you did this alone anywhere, there’s no control. Nobody can get you help, and that’s where it becomes even more dangerous,” Prieto said. A main factor of K2 is its unpredictability. Because it is man-made and laced with
many different drugs, a new batch has potential to have very different effects than other batches. “[K2 is] similar to other drugs, but you just don’t know how you’re going to react. There are kids that smoke it for a very long time and then they get a new batch and don’t know where it’s from, who made it, [or] what’s in it, and then all of a sudden it affects them,” Kwiecinski said. Although there have been fewer than 10 cases of students being caught with the drug at school this year, more students have been involved with the drug. Many students on probation turn to this drug because it is much less likely to appear on drug tests. “It gets out of your system quickly. It’s also cheaper than any drug. You can get a pack of K2 for $10 and
that will last you longer than a gram of weed, which is $20,” another anonymous student said. “One time, I did K2 at a very young age and had a very bad experience with it. I was basically not in reality; I was rolling on the floor for 10 minutes. Other times that I’ve done K2, it’s kind of like a high with a little bit of trip with it.” Although the school is assisting those whose high is obvious, Prieto is concerned that other students who have a less noticeable high are not being attended to. “[Students coming] in buzzed - that could be happening every day and unless you are so far that you are not in control, there’s nothing I can do about it. That’s troublesome, just for your health,” Prieto said. “The whole ‘it’s not that big of a
deal, I’m only smoking pot’ is very dangerous when you start mixing that with driving and academics and everything else,” Prieto said. “[I want to focus] less about the consequences… My concern is more your health [and] the long term effects.” To raise awareness about the topic, the administration plans to show a video that the broadcasting class composed concerning the K2 reactions to the entire school during second block. “We’re going to come to classes, show this little five minute video and then we’re going to have circle style conversation about it. The focus is K2. The bigger concern is any kind of substance abuse or drug,” Prieto said. There have also been two situations in which students have taken other substanc-
es, such as pills, and had a reaction that needed attention in school. Another four situations have occurred in which students have been identified as high and have had their parents called, but no serious medical attention was needed. “I would like for the students that are making the right choices to use positive peer pressure and talk to the ones that are making the wrong choices,” Prieto said. “If you’ve matured enough to know this is not what you do in school and this is not productive to your schooling, would you kindly reach back to the littler ones or the less experienced ones who are struggling in a different way to avoid addictions, to avoid accidents, to avoid health issues. Just use your positive peer pressure.”
Class rivalries show in powderpuff game DECA from A1 very competitive, and some are really laid back, but in the end they are all there to help us fundraise and have some fun while doing it,” Cromer said. Sophomore Sam Healy hopes for his team to make it past the first round of the tournament next year. “I don’t think anyone really knew what we were going up against, and got cocky. Next year we are definitely going to organize a practice or two before we play so we know what we’re doing once we’re out on the court. We have the potential to be really good,” Healy
said. Junior Chandler Hill was most excited to win against the seniors, even if the junior team did not end up winning against the faculty. “There was a lot of trash talking prior to the playoff game, so it was nice to put them in their place. I have to admit it was a pretty close game; they almost got us in the last set. I think what really set us apart from the seniors was the fact that we had really solid hitters, and were quick on our feet. I was glad that we were able to pull off a victory in the end though,” Hill said. Senior Sophia Hartman
is a member of the varsity volleyball team. After acting as a coach for the senior boys, Hartman gained a new respect for coaching. “It’s a lot more stressful than you would think. Trying to do what you think is best for your team doesn’t always please the players, and it’s hard to find a good balance. Basically, I learned that I would rather be on the court taking direction than calling the shots,” Hartman said. In all, the tournament managed to collect over $250, which is being used to help fund DECA’s trip to nationals in April.
PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT
RIGHT BACK AT YOU. Senior Devin Medley sends the ball to the junior side where Matt Meiser defends.
Leaman’s friends, family play role in coping with allergies LEAMAN from A1 not to use it.” Away from home, Leaman’s friends have created a safe environment for her to be a part of. “A lot of my friends specifically pack their lunch based on my allergies, so that they’re not causing a reaction around me. Friends look out for me when other people are chewing gum or stuff like that, so that’s helpful. But ultimately I’m the only one who can deal with it,” Leaman said. She and her family are gradually discovering new allergies, the most recent of which was found in early November and poses a particularly difficult challenge in the classroom. “We’re hoping [latex] is the last one [we find]. That’s why I can’t have gum, or people around me can’t have gum, because most [of] the gums have latex,” Leaman said.
PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT
IN CASE OF EMERGENCIES... Senior Kayla Leaman’s medical ID bracelet allows EMTs quick access to her medical information during reactions. Informing people of what they can and can’t have around her is the first
step in preventing future reactions. “I have to be constantly
aware of my surroundings. That’s something you’re not used to,” Leaman said. “I have to be able to be assertive and tell them I can’t be around them if they’re chewing gum or eating something, so at the beginning of every class this year I had to stand up in front of the entire class and tell them that they can’t eat certain things because I can’t breathe, which is pretty difficult because I don’t want to inconvenience people.” It will also present an issue for decisions later in her life, such as where she lives, what career she may pursue and where she might travel. “It’s definitely a big part of my college decision right now. Dorming is going to be difficult with allergens and shampoos and also just food,” Leaman said. “Eating in a cafeteria will be difficult, as well as controlling the classrooms for gum. I’m not sure how I’m going to
do that, we’ll figure something out. It’ll definitely affect me the rest of my life.” Allergies are caused by the body’s unfamiliarity and sensitivity to certain particles, which are then treated by the body as dangers, according to CNN. “It depends on the food [they are eating], like with gum my chest will start to tighten almost immediately. [In] bathrooms with perfume that [same thing] happens immediately. If there are nuts, I will go into anaphylactic shock immediately. If they’re being cooked or baked or broken a lot or if I get the oils on my hands my throat will close and I can’t breathe,” Leaman said. “With food like carrots or potatoes, those I have to ingest and my face will swell and it’s harder to breathe, so it’s just certain foods. [For] peppermint and latex [I go into] anaphylactic shock where my breathing is shortened.” Leaman has medical
equipment on hand and has prepared those around her for a possible allergic reaction. “I always have an epipen or two on my person and an inhaler and I have instructed all of my close friends and at least one person who would be with me at any point in time [how to help me during a reaction],” Leaman said. “I wear a medical ID bracelet, which has a number that the EMTs can call if I am unconscious and it will have all of my medical information.” It will be an ever-present obstacle in Leaman’s life, one she may never get used to. “I’m not totally adjusted to it, I’m not sure if I ever will be, it’s finding a new normal in your life. It’s becoming more normal for me,” Leaman said. “But it’s still prevalent, it’s not going away.”
Band members bring home top honors from Bassett competition BAND from A1 for me. I wasn’t expecting it. It was a good show, though, with good musicality. It felt great to finally have all of our hard work pay off. We’ve had a lot of trouble in my section, at least with the newcomers, but we’ve worked hard and it’s paid off. I didn’t think we were as good as we were,” King said. However, King says that the band has improved on many levels. “Our confidence in ourselves has grown a lot throughout the season,” King said. “I’ve learned to trust my section more, as well. We’ve also improved visually. Our fundamentals have gotten a lot better, as well as actually being on time. We’re all on time this year, which I’m impressed by. We haven’t been in previous years. We’ve recently added a lot of body visuals. We’ve been trying to make our show more exciting, rather than just down-to-the-wire good. I think it helped us win. It added some flare.”
In the opinion of front ensemble section leader Ben Blake, the reason for the win was because of the smaller freshman class. “We had a really big freshman class last year, so we had a great sized band, but a lot of the band were freshman. This year there are a lot of sophomores,” Blake said. “So there’s a big chunk of the band that has gotten good experience, compared to last year, where we ended up getting fifth place out of eight bands.” Blake also credits the senior class and the choice of show for the success. “I think our senior class is great. They’re all great leaders, for the most part, they’re all strong players. We also had a good show this year: good theme, good music, good visuals,” Blake said. This year, the band performed a show titled “Coming to America”, with music ranging from Rhapsody in Blue, by George Gershwin, to Beethoven’s Symphony #3, to the modern single Titanium, by David Guetta. The show depicts the story of a girl
immigrating to America. Labarge plays the lead role in the show. “[The show] is about her trials and tribulations and her adventures traveling to the United States for the first time,” Labarge said. “The show is a lot different than last year’s ‘Attraction’, which dealt with gravity and magnets and the like. This year’s show is happy. It’s a very go-lucky show.” As of Oct. 31, competition band has come to a close. For Labarge, the best part about being in band is the sense of community. “My brother was in marching band for four years before I was, so I was exposed to it, and I sort of felt like a part of it. When I joined Color Guard my freshman year, there was immediately a sense of family,” Labarge said. “You spend a lot of time with these people, from band camp to the end of the season, a lot more time than maybe you want to with some of those people. It just provides an opportunity for a lot of connections to be made.”
Father, son compete to help others with annual food drive FOOD DRIVE from A1 said. “[We] try to make sure that regardless of what anybody’s situation is at home they always have access to healthy, nutritious meals here.” The school is part of a federal funding program that allows it to provide this kind of thing, based on the amount of need it presents. Prieto acknowledges that the food drive and the work that Brent Berry does for it has a large impact on the students around him. “Aside from the fact that Brent is entirely
ours, and very important to us and for us, I think that he then has a logical audience in all of [HHS],” Prieto said. “He’s also fully aware that we have families that have needs and so the fact that he is basically modeling how to step up and help the community, consistently from year to year not just a one time thing, is huge. It says a lot.” The food that the drive collects goes straight back into the community through the Salvation Army. Brent Berry’s favorite part about the food drive is getting to interact with the customers.
“My favorite part is handing the papers out. We have a list and we hand a list out to customers that walk into the store, and I really enjoy it,” Brent Berry said. The list is made up of non-perishable food items that the Salvation Army is in need of. They are handed out to shoppers so that they can purchase needed items while inside the store. “I just hand the papers out and I help collect food as well, and we put [the food] in the transit bus,” Brent Berry said. “Well, it’s not so difficult, I mean, it’s pretty easy. I
enjoy collecting food.” This year, the father-son duo plans to step it up a notch. In addition to the food drive itself, they will be participating in a lighthearted competition to raise even more money for the Salvation Army. They will be taking a whole Saturday to bell ring in front of the local Walmart, competing to see which one can raise more money. “They’re very concerned, rightfully so, about the amount of hunger that we have in the world, the nation, and even more so in Harrisonburg,” Prieto said.
November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
News-A3
Young journalists attend Florida convention
No-Shave November lacks participation
.
Ava Reynolds HHS Media Coordinator
Nyah Phengsitthy Staff Reporter
At 5:45 a.m., the bus stopped. The 32 combined Newsstreak, yearbook and broadcasting staff members were four hours away from their destination: Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. After waiting for five hours on the side of the highway in Georgia with a shredded tire, the bus pulled away and continued its trip to the JEA/NSPA National High School Journalism Convention, where the HHS Media students joined more than 6,000 other students for four days of enjoying Disney and learning at the convention. This was senior Newsstreak Ad Manager Josh Byrd’s third national convention, although he noted that because this one was in Disney World, it created a balance of learning and having fun. “I had gone to the one in Boston and in D.C. so it was just different being in Disney because those, after conferences and stuff you just chilled in your hotel room, but in Disney we went to Disney which was cool. Nothing is not fun at Disney,” Byrd said. Byrd’s favorite session he attended at the conference was
Shock Talk. He had seen the speaker before, and knew that she had a good sense of humor but also was really interesting. Byrd hopes to bring the things he learned at the convention back to his own staff and implement them. “The Shock Talk session taught you how to cover controversial issues, so I think that’s something I'm going to try to bring back. I know we’re covering K2 in this issue, so just going about how to do that in an appropriate journalistic manner and not making it for shock value but doing it because it’s a story that actually needs to be reported,” Byrd said. Despite Byrd’s least favorite part of the trip, the 13 hour bus ride that became 18 hours, he was glad he went and enjoyed being at Disney World for the fourth time in his life to enjoy it with his friends. “Epcot was pretty fun. I hung out with friends and that was really fun just going around Epcot and seeing all of the different cultures. I had gone to Epcot as a kid, but when you’re a kid you don’t really appreciate all of that so it was really nice going back as a mature adult and experiencing that over again. It was just amazing,” Byrd said.
Senior Ellie Plass, the Editor-in-Chief of the online portion of the Newsstreak, really enjoyed the conference from the perspective of an online editor. “It was really awesome to be an online person, especially at this conference, because so many of the sessions were focused more on online media because it’s kind of like the up and coming thing. There were a lot of social media sessions as well, and so I’m just excited to bring all of the stuff that they talked about back to our school. We also got an onsite critique which was really helpful so I’m excited to implement her suggestions,” Plass said. Plass is a member of the Marching Blue Streak Band as well, which will also take a trip to Disney this year come April. She will also be attending the band Disney trip which she is excited about because she won’t feel rushed to see everything at the different parks. “It was so nice because I wasn't stressed at all because I knew I was going to go back,” Plass said, “It was my first time going when I went with the journalism conference, so now that I've already been once, it will be less of a shock factor so I’ll get to actually enjoy it.”
This month has been known for holding the event, “No Shave November.” The one month yearly event asks anyone who wants to participate, particularly guys, to not shave for the entire month. Many people use this month to see how much they can grow out their facial hair without shaving all of November. No Shave November started back in 2004 as a different way individuals embrace our hair, whereas many cancer patients lose theirs. The event is sponsored by a non-profit organization that focuses on cancer awareness. The goal is not only used to raise awareness for cancer, but to raise awareness for men’s health as well. The month begins by participants shaving on the first day of November, and then growing your hair out for the rest of the month. People have had different takes on this event. Some people use November as an excuse not to shave or just to have a break from it. No Shave November also gives individuals the opportunity to observe as others grow other their beard or mustache. Some teachers participate in this event. Most students don’t take part in No Shave November
because they dislike growing their hair out, while other students don’t grow as much facial hair as some teachers do. “I don’t really grow enough facial hair to shave. If I did have facial hair, it would be exciting because I could actually grow something, and then I would participate,” senior Chase Berkshire said. Some teachers participate in No Shave November as well, but their facial hair looks similar throughout the month. Math teachers Ross Foster and Avery Walker don’t shave at all. “I never shave my beard because I like the way I look with it. The last time I shaved was probably last December,” Foster said. Walker is participating in No Shave November this year as well. “I don’t shave at all, though I really like to annoy my fiancee with my bushy beard,” Walker said. Although the common connotation of shaving might be positive, English teacher Julian Dean has a varying opinion on the topic. “I don’t shave the whole year because I think shaving is a marketing tool for Gillette to make money off of you. I could just just save the money instead. The last time I shaved was back in November of 2013,” Dean said.
BRCC courses help learners get ahead with college plans Joshua Lichti Staff Reporter
Down to business. A critique from Renee Burke, a teacher in Florida, provided the online Newsstreak staff with insight on the HHS Media website, hhsmedia.com. Emphasizing Diversity. The entire Newsstreak staff that went to Orlando attended an on-site critique of the print edition of the paper in place of one session. Critic Bill Duryea spoke of the need for cultural coverage in our paper due to the diversity of the school, as well as the multitude of stories and pictures the large staff is able to produce.
PHOTOS BY AVA REYNOLDS
Kahoot’s a hoot. Newsstreakers play a trivia game before the keynote speaker’s lecture.
Juniors and seniors have an opportunity to attend Blue Ridge Community College (BRCC) and earn an associate degree. Senior Devin Medley and senior Daryl Carper are two students who attend BRCC. “After [first block] I’m [at BRCC] the rest of the day,” Medley said. The students go there every day. This opportunity can be a money saver for students who attend BRCC. “You have two years of community college out of the way,” Carper said. It is two years of college students don’t have to pay for. “[The work is] a lot more difficult than it is [in high school],” Medley said. The students take classes with college students, so the work is college level. It is also on a college timeline. “They assign work a couple months ahead, and then it is just
your job to separate your time and get it done,” Medley said. How students get their work done is up to them. If the students have a busy night, they can do little or no homework and do more on a less busy night. “It just varies, like some days it is a long amount of time [that I spend on work,]” Medley said. The work that they do not only helps them pay for college, but are classes that colleges admire. according to Carper. “I’m taking most of my core classes there,” Carper said. He is also taking some electives there. A BRCC student’s academic life is dominated by attending BRCC. “I’m barely at the high school anymore,” Carper said. Many of the dual enrollment students enjoy going to BRCC and recommend it to other, younger students. These students will walk into college a step ahead of others with just with a high school diploma, as they are adding an associate’s degree to the mix.
Senior first-time voters contribute to local elections Irene Liu Feature Editor The date this year to vote for State Senator, Sheriff, House of Delegate member, West District School Board member, Clerk of Court, Soil and Water Conservation Director for the Shenandoah Valley District, and Commonwealth’s Attorney was Nov. 3. On a sunny Tuesday, voters from around the city went to their local public school to elect their future office holders. For senior and first-time voter Mary Hallet Culbreth, taking the AP Government class played a big part in helping her decide whether or not to vote and how the decision will affect her transition into adulthood. “I think [voting] is a big step into adulthood, and I think it’s valuable that as seniors we do take AP Government because it gets us aware and gets us kind of involved in the government. I think the first step to becoming American adult citizens is to vote,” Culbreth said. Senior Douglas Ritcher is also enrolled in the AP Government class, which has helped him gain more of an
interest in politics. “[AP Government is] probably one of the reasons I voted. I’ve learned a lot more about government through that. And, probably like the whole Donald Trump thing, is brought into government to be more a part of pop culture. So that’s another reason that I’ve learned a lot more about it, just because it’s so present in the world now,” Ritcher said. Some new voters haven’t really figured out which party they align with yet or who exactly they are going to vote for. “I haven’t decided yet [what party I am], I kind of have mixed views, so, I hope this election will kind of solidify my party. I’ve always known I’ve wanted to [vote], I just haven’t really known where my values lie. I think all of the candidates have interesting ideas, so I am not for one particular candidate right now, but it’s going to be interesting to see who wins in the end,” Culbreth said. Meanwhile, others have already figured out where their interests lie with some help from others. Senior Robert Heitsch will be old
enough to vote in the presidential race next year. “I’d say I’m more of a Democrat than a Republican, but I am kind of in the middle. I think just most of our history teachers throughout where I’ve been taking different government classes [have influenced me to vote,] because they have PHOTO BY IRENE LIU been teaching us State Senator Mark Obenshain has signs placed throughout the area. CAMPAIGNING TO STAY. a lot of the backObenshain was running in the only opposed race of the election. ground, like which parties have what beliefs and why they be- ing, making his first time many students of the seVoting for the first time lieve it, so that makes a big voting an interesting but nior class participated in is a big step in the direcimpact on it. [My friends] fun experience. the statewide elections. tion of adulthood for many have given some insight to “They did mess up my “When you’re 18, you seniors by carrying out a what certain people believe name, and then the guy at might as well do what you right and responsibility that I haven’t heard about the end didn’t give me an ‘I can now, and [I] especial- they have as a citizen to yet, so that has been help- voted’ sticker, so that was ly [voted] since there ar- help select the people who ful,” Heitsch said. kind of annoying because en’t a lot of 18 year olds in will lead them. Senior Lexi Eberly that was a big part of it high school and not a lot “I’ve always looked forthought the process of vot- for me. Otherwise it was a of high schoolers vote, so ward to voting and exercising was pretty simple, as solid experience. The lines I just feel like we’re under- ing that right that I have, so there wasn’t much on the were really short,” Ritcher represented,” Ritcher said. I’m very excited about it. I ballot. said. “So I thought I’d do what I believe it [voting] is one “There wasn’t much to Since many seniors could. And in general since of the best rights that we vote for. Most of the sec- won’t be old enough to it wasn’t a presidential have as American citizens tions just had one name,” vote until the presidential election, less people voted to express our opinions,” Eberly said. elections in 2016, didn’t anyways, so I just felt like it Culbreth said. Ritcher experienced register in time, or just would be a good place to some difficulties while vot- didn’t want to vote, not represent.”
November 30, 2015 The Harrisonburg High School Newsstreak The Policy The Newsstreak is published by the students of Harrisonburg High School every month. Reproduction of any material from the newspaper is prohibited without the written permission from the editorial board. Advertising rates are available upon request. It is the policy of the Harrisonburg City Public School Board to comply with all applicable state and federal laws regarding non-discrimination in employment and educational programs and services. The Harrisonburg High School City Public Schools will not discriminate illegally on the basis of sex, race, religion, national origin, disability or age as to employment or educational programs and activities. Editorials appearing without a byline represent the majority opinion of the staff, but not necessarily the opinion of the adviser, school administration, or the school system. Signed editorials are accepted from people on the staff, but are subject to editing according to published guidelines and policies. Editorials may be edited for special reasons. Letters to the editor are encouraged and must be signed and a telephone number must be given. Names may be withheld if the editorial board feels there is a just cause. The Newsstreak reserves the right to edit and may refuse to publish ads or letters deemed inappropriate, libelous, or obscene. Please drop your letter by room 444 or give them to any staff member. Letters may also be sent to the high school. The Editors and Staff Editors-in-Chief: Print: Faith Runnells, Austin Swift Online: Ellie Plass Managing Editors: Abby Hissong (print), Garrett Cash (online) and Olivia Comer (online) HHS Media Coordinator: Ava Reynolds Advertising Manager: Joshua Byrd Photographers: Ava Reynolds, Maria Snell-Feikema, David Gamboa-Pena, Brian Alvarado Page Editors: Ava Reynolds, Faith Runnells, Austin Swift, Maria Snell-Feikema, Samantha Little, Hannah Miller, Audrey Knupp, Tazhan Jaf, Jackson Hook, Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Abigail Hissong, Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Sabrina Gerald Staff Reporters: Yusuf Aboutabl, Brian Alvarado, Yogesh Aradhey, Alissa Burnette, Kyle Brown, Joshua Byrd, Garrett Cash, Christa Cole, Olivia Comer, Danny Dombrowski, Sarah Earle, David Gamboa, Sabrina Gerald, Sako Haji, Sam Heie, Angel Hendrix, Abigail Hissong, Jackson Hook, Tazhan Jaf, Audrey Knupp, Joshua Lichti, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Bryan Luna, Owen Marshall, Hannah Miller, Alexia Munoz, Richie Pannell, Nyah Phengsitthy, Ellie Plass, Anna Rath, Doug Ritcher, Keyla Rivera, Christian Rodriguez, Faith Runnells, Lucie Rutherford, Noah Siderhurst, Maria Snell-Feikema, Becky Staton, Owen Stewart, Austin Swift, Emily Thurman, Austin Vanfossen, Madison Varner, Theo Yoder, Carrie Yoder Professional Affiliations The Newsstreak participates as a member of several journalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2010 Gold Evaluation and 2005 & 2009 Silver Crown Winner), Quill&Scroll Journalism Honor Society (2012 Gallup Award), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) All-American, the Virginia High School League, Inc. Trophy Class Award, and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association All Southern Ranking and 2010 Scroggins Award winner. hhsmedia.com opt out notice: If you do NOT want to allow your student’s full name or image to appear on the school newspaper site, please send an email to vkibler@harrisonburg. k12.va.us stating: I understand that the school newspaper, newsstreak. com, now has an online version of the publication. I DO NOT want my son/ daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on this online venue.
Op-Ed-A4
The Newsstreak
Red sea, blue sea working together to increase spirit Fortunately, they were able to join forces at the Oct. 9 home game and the It’s no secret we belong Red Sea was doubled in size to a wildly diverse school. and sound as a result. Ask With so many ethnicities any of the Red Sea leaders represented, cliques will and they’ll agree that the naturally form. It’s not a new group was both louder bad thing; it’s just people and more passionate than associating with their culthe group they stood next ture and identifying with to. And the homecoming what they know. However, game a week later saw the some groups are mistakbest Red Sea of the season. enly labeled as such when Score one for unity. they should really be seen Cultural factors could as entirely the opposite. also have some underlyWith the word “clique”, ing influence as well, as your mind will probably football is traditionally an travel to different culturAmerican sport and it might al groups, sports teams or not be as appealing to abgroups within the school, solutely everyone, it might but eventually it will find its be harder to stand for three way to the Red Sea. (Largely hours and be so passionate. negative) talk of it probably Fair enough, just a better peaked around that Streaks reason to have the Red Sea Leadership lesson that foat volleyball, basketball, cused on school spirit, but soccer and baseball games, in many cases kept coming too. back to the Red Sea and its A common misconcepprimarily “rich white kid” tion is the idea that the make-up. There is undoubtRed Sea is a membership edly a point to be made or some club you have to here, as the four leaders join. When people say “I’m in the Red Sea” they are just saying they The unsigned staff editorial appears in each issue and reflects the majority opinion were at some of the Newsstreak Staff Editorial Board. The Editorial Board is comprised of all edipoint physicaltors-in-chief, page editors, advertising managers, photographers and selected freshly in the Red man journalism students. In no way does our opinion reflect that of the school system Sea. By walking or the administration. NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL
are white and a majority of the faces seen in the group are as well, so it’s entirely understandable that this could be seen as an intimidating group to join. However, this doesn’t mean the group is exclusive; it doesn’t mean they’re all friends so therefore you must be too and it certainly doesn’t mean it’s a clique. The one and only goal of the Red Sea is to offer wild and energetic support for the football team and other sports teams, not to socialize with friends. Getting hyped doesn’t require a certain skin tone, income level, colored shirt or even the ability to speak English. If you heard about the Red Sea drama, you probably heard about the possibility of a Blue Sea as well. From an outside view, that would’ve been two separate student sections cheering for the same team all from the same school. Crazy, right?
WHAT IS THE STAFF EDITORIAL?
Cartoon by Genevieve Kennedy
up the stairs and standing within arms reach of the group (note that you don’t even have to cheer, although it is encouraged), you are and forever will be in the Red Sea. Similarly, some believe they aren’t welcome if they don’t have a Red Sea shirt. How silly. Honestly, you can probably get away with wearing the other team’s jersey, as long as you are offering support for the home
What you need to know to follow Trump Zach Benevento-Zahner Guest Columnist With the Iowa Caucus only months away, it is shocking to me and most political analysts that Donald Trump has been able to stay in the GOP presidential race for this long, let alone have a lead in most current political polls, according to TownHall.com. This made me think that there really must be people who actually agree with his xenophobic, misogynistic and derogatory campaign messages. You might ask, “Who are those people and how do I join them?” Well, I have three simple tips on how to become a Donald Trump Voter. First, a major ideological step that you must take in order to support Trump is to embrace greed at all costs. By outsourcing jobs to China and using his own company’s bankruptcies to further his business, Trump is a prime example of how finding
When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re sending people that have lots of problems. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. Donald Trump, Presidential announcement speech, June 16, 2015 loopholes and not playing by the rules benefits us all. You must believe that America needs to develop into a strong greedy nation that, in addition to spending more on military then the next 14 countries combined, extracts resources and economic value from other countries with even stronger free trade agreements. The next step to becoming a Trump Voter is to develop a strong sense of xenophobia. As the pulled Donald Trump quote highlights, a key step to vot-
ing for Trump is to believe that immigrants are destroying this country and stealing jobs from hard working Americans. You must also support Trump’s masterful project that includes making Mexico pay for a massive wall across our southern border. The final step to becoming a strong supporter of Trump is to develop a taste for toupees. They are one of the sexiest accessories available to the American man and Trump is a prime example. Trump’s head of hair looks stunning. You, as a Trump voter, must believe that it is the highest form of fashion to have something that resembles roadkill on your head. Since this is the most important step to voting for Trump, it is crucial that you develop a strong love for toupees. As a voter, if you can embrace these three simple steps then you, too, can join the group of Americans who support Trump even in the face of his racist, sexist and juvenile remarks.
Embalming harms environment Maria Snell-Feikema Feature Editor Walking through a cemetery, one finds tombstones, untouched for decades, most forgotten, a few embellished with faded fabric flowers, some tangled in weeds, sinking slowly into the earth, as if nature were reclaiming the bodies of those whose breaths were taken so long ago. And isn’t it sad that we reject the call of the Earth? The Earth, fueled by cycles and alternation, that doesn’t understand how a body could be preserved for so long. Cemeteries are the conventional, all-American way of dealing with the corpses of the deceased. It is not unusual to go to a funeral and see our loved one embalmed, as an attempt to immortalize their elderly body, well, at least, to keep it preserved for one hundred years. The process of embalming requires the removal of all the blood and fluids in the body, which are then replaced with formaldehyde, a common preservative. Formaldehyde has been found to be a human carcinogen, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer. After being buried, the corpse is susceptible to leaking the formaldehyde into the ground, tainting the ground water with the carcinogenic toxin. “Formaldehyde and phenol,” notes the EPA, “present human health risks if ingested in drinking water.” Embalming has even been under scrutiny by the Safe Drinking Water Act, due to the likelihood of the toxin leaking into groundwater. It’s slightly ironic that
the chemical used to manence of life. It is immortalize corpses considered an act of can harm actually livgenerosity and coming, breathing creapassion on the part tures. of the deceased, in Funerals are a huge giving their body to business in the United the wild to sustain Maria’s States. Families of the living beings. Tibetdeceased are highly ans believe that once Musing pressured into having life has left the body, their loved ones emthe body contains balmed, funeral directors claim- nothing more than simply flesh. ing it helps deal with the loss. Once the person has died, their According to the National Fu- body returns to nature, ripped to neral Directors Association, the shreds and is carried throughout average cost of a traditional fu- the skies. neral, including embalming and American culture teaches us a metal casket is almost $6,600. that death is something horrible, An additional $3,000 is needed something to avoid at all costs. for the cemetery services, in- We all have our time of Earth, cluding the gravesite and vault and when we die, void of preor liner. Death should not be servatives, we will decompose turned into a way to profit off of just as a rotting log or a decaying the mourning. butterfly does. We have no more In nature, when an animal right to immortality than wild dies, it decomposes where it lays animals and plants do. Death to rest, and in turn transforms can be devastating, yes, but it into the soil that fuels plants and should not be a thing to deny. trees to thrive. The body sustains Let the body rest, let it return to nature. Laying to rest in a coffin the soil and the wind. not only detaches the deceased When I die, I wish to have from nature, but it denies the a simple funeral. Maybe to be fact that they ever were part of simply wrapped in a sheet and nature in the first place. placed in a hole in the ground, In Tibetan culture, the corpse and to have a sycamore sapling of the deceased is placed on a planted atop my grave. The numountain top, left to the ele- trients from my decomposing ments, ripped apart by scaveng- body would fill the sapling with ing animals and carrion birds, a new life, and through my death ceremony that shows the imper- another life will sprout.
PHOTO BY MARIA SNELL-FEIKEMA
side. And if it seems intimidating, just come with a friend!! It’s not a requirement to socialize with everyone there. The football team is a very diverse group, probably one of the best representations of our school, in terms of cultural demographics, that we have to offer. So if the team is diverse, why shouldn’t the Red Sea reflect that?
Generation needs dating check Abby Hissong Managing Editor Our generation is pretty messed up when it comes to the whole dating thing. “I’ll pick you up at 7” has turned into arriving at 7:15 p.m. and sending a text saying, “I’m here,” instead of walking to the door and meeting the Dear Abby 2.0 parents. Snapchats and Instagram “likes” have become acceptable forms of flirting. A “like” on Instagram is way more common than a compliment in real life. Date night has evolved from going out to dinner, or doing anything relatively thoughtful, to watching Netflix and maybe ordering a pizza. It seems like no one is actually dating anymore. Everyone is “talking” or “has a thing with someone” or is “kind of dating” that one guy. No one wants the commitment of a real relationship, but they don’t want to be alone either. We are scared of labels and our generation is suffering because of it. A guy won’t take the girl he’s “talking to” on an actual date, but when he sees that her best friend on Snapchat is another guy, he freaks out. A girl doesn’t want to commit to the guy she “has a thing” with, but she gets mad when she sees that he is liking other girls photos on Instagram. I’m not sure when these actions became acceptable substitutes for real life conversations or dates, but it’s happened, and it needs to change. I think we should bring back dating. Real, honest-to-goodness, faceto-face dating. I get it. It’s scary. It’s much easier to have a casual thing with no definitive label then to put yourself out there, only to possibly be rejected. However at some point, we have to get over this fear and just go for it. Yes, there is some potential for it to be really awkward, but honestly, there are worse things in life. Sure, they might say no. That might be embarrassing, but it’s not the end of the world. I’m not saying that we all need to dive in head first and ask every person we’ve ever thought was cute out on a date right away. I’m not saying that these dates need to be extravagant and meticulously planned out. What I am saying is that really, there’s nothing to lose. Instead of Snapchatting your crush constantly, go get ice cream. Ask the person that you’ve always wanted to get to know better to hang out (in person! What a concept!). Do something fun and spontaneous. Don’t worry if it’s awkward. Don’t get mad over Instagram likes and Snapchat best friends. Life is too short. Plus, you never know what will happen. Who knows? That random date you ask someone on might be the start of something that lasts.
The Newsstreak
November 30, 2015
HOT or NOT EMU Champ: An EMU senior won a cross country championship for the school that EMU hasn’t gotten in 13 years. Hannah Chappell-Dick won the Old Dominion Athletic conference championships and brought home the awards for EMU. She completed the 3.7 mile course in just about 22 minutes. School Arrest: Controversy surrounds a brutal school arrest in South Carolina where an African American student was thrown from her desk and then hurled across the classroom by a white police officer. Houses for Veterans: New housing projects made for homeless veterans starting up around the country, free of charge to the residents. One Child Law: China ended its one child per family law bringing more people into society and out of adoption shelters. Even though you can only have two children, it’s still an improvement. The one child per family law lasted 35 years. Female President: Nepal elected its first female president, when might that day come for America? Chipotle outbreak: Chipotle closed due to an outbreak of ecoli in several states. The produce from the restaurant chain is thought to be the cause of the outbreak.
Op-Ed-A5
Two opposing opinions:
Should we modify an embryo’s DNA? We will not benefit from DNA modifications Faith Runnells Editor-in-Chief Preventing possible cancers or disabilities. Extending the average lifetime. Allowing more people to survive. It’s understandable why one would get excited about modifying human genetics… until you really think about it. There’s more to it than simply changing some DNA with a quick injection and boom, you have a completely capable and healthy person that you wouldn’t have had before. In reality, we, as humans, don’t understand the process or its effects in enough depth for it to be beneficial. In April of this year, Chinese scientists used 85 defective embryos (not soon-to-be babies) in an experiment to test this idea. These embryos were expected to have one gene altered while the rest of the DNA remained unchanged. However, none
of the embryos had Not only are we this result. In fact, not ready for this almost every embryo idea in terms of scidied or did not have entific technology any DNA alteration. and knowledge, but In some, the DNA we are not ready overcorrected for the for it in terms of attempted change human nature. InHave Faith and the entire gefinite possibilities. nome was changed. Unlimited power. It failed, utterly and entire- Uncontrolled potential. These ly. Even in the case of prevent- things could sound positive ing a fatal diagnosis, which is at first glance, but if you think what most advocates stress, about the way humans react this method is useless and irra- to these unrestrained opportutional. Based on the evidence nities, they are seriously negawe have so far, there is a 100% tive. Altering genes is powerchance that changing an em- ful for scientists or doctors to bryo’s DNA would create the have at their discretion. Power same or more damage than leads to harsh things in this any disease would cause by it- world; people get carried away. self. At least miracles have hapIf we were to originally inpened for the diseased before. troduce alternating an unborn If the scientists were to have child’s DNA due to a disease, it conducted this experiment would lead to alternating the on capable fetuses, 85 people DNA due to a disadvantage, would now either be dead or a which would lead to alternating failed experiment. We can’t af- the DNA due to a imperfection. ford to test this idea any longer. It’d become a competition for
the perfect kid. You want your kid to have blue eyes and blonde curly hair? You got it. Children would get picked out, head to toe, for every ideal trait. This is simply human nature. You can claim you would never do such a thing, but there is no argument that some people in this world would, and if they have access, there is no stopping it. I do believe that genetic diseases are horrid. I’ve experienced their effects in my family. But that is the way of life. I believe there is something greater than the diagnosis and that diagnosis would’ve happened for a reason. And we, as humans, should not change any other human’s DNA solely due to a potential defect. Science is beautiful and its benefits are immeasurable, but we can’t use them for the wrong things. We do need to use our discoveries and abilities to help mankind, but not to reconstruct mankind.
Shatterproof phone: Motorola has created the first “shatterproof phone.” Whether it is what it implies has yet to be proven, but expect to find drop tests on YouTube soon. California murders: Four people at California college were hospitalized after being stabbed by a student on campus. New schools in Harrisonburg: HCPS’ school board is looking for input on naming the two new schools coming to the area in 2016. You can pick up an application to submit a name at the school board office.
The graph shows that out of 245 students, 157 agree to DNA modifications while 88 disagree.
Meat causes Cancer: Several studies done by the University of Texas shows that meat can be a direct cause of certain cancers. Bye bye bacon! Racial tensions ends: University of Missouri president steps down amid racial tension on campus, which saw a hunger strike done by a student on campus for seven days because of several racist incidents. Paris terrorist attacks: An attack on several areas in Paris France left 129 people dead and 352 injured and wounded. This attack was coordinated and planned by the Islamic state, a terrorist group that has done many bombings and mass shootings before. France was placed in a state of emergency and closed its borders. ISIS Leader dead: Notorious Isis leader Jihadi John had been targeted by a drone strike in syria and has been killed according to British and American officials who are confident the attack killed the terrorist. Officer charged for sending nudes: A secret service officer was charged with sending nude photos of himself to what he thought was a 14 year old, when he was actually sending them to a detective in Delaware. Winter sports: Winter sports have begun at HHS. Winter sports include basketball, swim and dive, indoor track, cheerleading, gymnastics and wrestling. Charlie Sheen is HIV positive: Charlie Sheen revealed that he was HIV positive on the TODAY Show. He was diagnosed four years ago, but kept it a secret from the public. ‘Purpose’ Album Release: Justin Bieber’s lastest album, Purpose, was relased on Nov. 13, hiting number one on iTunes beating Adele’s album Hello. Ronda Rousey loses: UFC fighter Ronda Rousey lost her fight against Holly Holm on Saturday, Nov. 14. States are welcoming Syrian Refugees: 18 of 50 states have agreed to host refugees. Working on Black Friday: Retail workers prepare for the hot deals and mobs that will storm their aisles on Black Friday this year. Be thankful if you aren’t going to be on the other side of the cash register.
Changing DNA has potential to help mankind Brian Alverado Staff Reporter Changing the genetic code in the DNA of fetuses has been a controversial subject for a long time. While I admit that science has not progressed enough to completely understand the effects of tinkering with genetic code, I do believe when the time comes that we do understand this practice fully it will and should inevitably become a common service that is available to us. There are two main opposing forces in this argument, those who oppose it for religious reasons and for skepticism of the consequences of doing so, and those who are completely for it for the amount of medical benefit it can provide for growing human beings. I know that the main argument for most of the more conservative and religious group is that childbirth should be a natural process and that science shouldn’t mingle or tinker with ”God’s creation”, but we cannot let things that would help humanity be restricted and held back by religion when people have the freedom to be separate from religion. We
can not simply rely “Population on rare “miracles” to growth is most rapid help relieve the sufin economically unfering in this world. der-developed areas While changing where well over half the genetic code in of the world’s peofetuses can lead to ple now live in abeven more controject poverty. At least versial acts such as two thirds of all the Avacado’s changing aesthetbabies born each Way ic appearance, I do year first see the not believe that light of day in Africa, this will be the main focus of Asia and Latin America,” acthis scientific advancement. cording to The South African InI do believe that changing stitute of International Affairs. the aesthetic appearance of a I believe that the problem child is wrong and there should of overpopulation rises from be restrictions placed to pro- poverty stricken areas where hibit such acts, but if some- medical resources are scarce thing can be done to prevent and child and infant mortality is illnesses such as cancer, Alzhei- rampant, causing people to feel mer’s, Parkinson’s and other the need to produce more in deformities or illnesses found order to accommodate for the in human beings or other ani- possibility of them not survivmals, it is the duty of scientific ing, and there are many more research to strive for this goal. misconceptions just like this Despite the possibility of one. In fact, I believe that this humans abusing this power, I technology could potentially believe that the possibilities for be used to stop the problem of good definitely outweigh the overpopulation by increasing bad and in some cases, what the survival rate of infants and some people would consider children all across the globe. negative consequences are just As we speak, scientists are complete misconceptions. For already making humongous example, some say that the breakthroughs in this field elongated life in humans could of research that allow us to cause an even greater problem more accurately and precisewith overpopulation on Earth. ly make changes with little
to no effect on other genes. According to The Independent, “For the first time, scientists are able to engineer any part of the human genome with extreme precision using a revolutionary new technique called Crispr, which has been likened to editing the individual letters on any chosen page of an encyclopedia without creating spelling mistakes. The landmark development means it is now possible to make the most accurate and detailed alterations to any specific position on the DNA of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes without introducing unintended mutations or flaws.” The technology and science we are playing with now is very powerful, and potentially very dangerous, but that is to come with all technology as it gets more and more advanced. I believe if humanity can maintain a cool head and use this power for good then it will only make everyone’s lives better. Sure, as of today we are not ready to put this into practice, but the time when we will be ready is approaching fast, and it is inevitable that it will be used. All we have to do now is make sure that it doesn’t get used for the wrong reasons.
The amount of ‘Likes’ does not equal your worth Ellie Plass Online Editor-in-Chief Lately, social media has gotten a pretty bad rap. What with the reveal that Instagram star Essena O’Neil considers herself a fraud, and the fact that the word of the year is actually an emoji (?!?), people are seeing social media as merely a platform for pretty girls to show off their bodies and radicals to tweet rude things. In part, I must disagree. Social media does not have to be this crazy, all-ruling power. It is perfectly reasonable to assume that plenty of people use it to post artsy pictures of their neighborhood and let everyone know about their new haircut. There is absolutely nothing wrong with getting a
bit of a confidence Instagram does not boost from some equal your worth. nice comments on In any way. That your latest Insta. should not even be This kind of thing a question. Ever. can make someone’s If you spend day (which is why I your nights going “like” basically evthrough “fitspo” Plass ery photo I see). It photos, make sure Perspective that you’re not can be both innocent and kind. That’s comparing yourkind of the whole point, right? self to them in a negative You can share your life with way. It’s one thing to admire other people at the tap of a their hard work, but it’s combutton. You can see things pletely another to skip dinner you never would have seen in favor of a flatter stomach. (HONY, anyone?) simply by Truth time. Despite my scrolling down your feed. preaching, I’m pretty guilty of That’s pretty cool. this. It sounds pretty stupid to It only becomes dangerous even write down, but there are when all of your self-confi- definitely moments where I’ve dence comes from the reaction felt like I wasn’t pretty enough to your social media posts. The or my captions weren’t clever amount of “likes” you get on enough because of the amount
of people that double-tapped my photo, or because of the pictures of celebrities that crowd my feed. The thing is, that’s just ridiculous. There is absolutely no reason for me to feel like I need to have the same amount of likes as my friends, or the stomach and legs of Kendall Jenner. Hello, the girl is literally an Angel. Despite my knowing this, I still find myself wanting to delete things that did “worse” (got less “likes”) even if it was a photo that I really loved. So let’s do it together. Let’s stop caring about whether or not people felt like double-tapping our artsy photos of Starbucks. Instead, let’s post things that we think are beautiful. Let’s post things that make us feel beautiful. In the end, love is greater that “like”.
November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
Experience-A6
First to Arrive
School starts buzzing before dawn breaks over mountain Samantha Little Feature Editor Before the sun has risen and most students have woken up, a handful of teachers are already at the school beginning their work. Of those to arrive early, custodian Chris Shiflett and administrator Mike Eye show up the earliest, at 5:00 a.m. Shifflett spends his mornings cleaning the bathrooms and making any general repairs throughout the school. “It takes me all morning to try to get the bathrooms ready from when the kids trash them every day,” Shifflett said. “[Coming in early] allows me to get the bathrooms ready for the kids before they get here in the mornings so they can have a clean start in them every day.” While Shifflett has an early wakeup time, he enjoys the fact that he can leave after he has worked eight and a half hours. “I don’t mind [coming in at this time] because I get to the have the rest of my day to myself after 1:30,” Shifflett said. Another custodian who arrives early to get work done is Sandy Lane. Lane joins Shifflett in preparing the school so everything is ready for the students’ arrival. “We fill up the toilet paper and paper towels, mop the floors, sweep the floor, clean the commodes and just other general stuff like getting the cafeteria ready for breakfast,” Lane said. Lane usually leaves around 2:30 p.m to spend time with her mom and doesn’t mind coming in early since it gives her more freedom in the evenings. “[I benefit a lot from coming in early] because my mom has Alzheimer’s and in the evenings I go with her so that I can take care of her,” Lane said. One of the next staff members to arrive is JROTC’s Sergeant Major Russell Wilder, who comes in around 5:40 a.m. every morning. “I’ve been waking up early all my life, being in the army for 26 years. I like to get everything ready and then be able to do
anything without any disturbance, so then when the kids show up I’m ready to go,” Wilder said. Wilder doesn’t enjoy his alarm being set at 4:00 a.m. because of his hour long commute to work, but is now used to it and would rather get a start on his day early in the morning. “If I come in late, I feel like I’m behind the whole day, but if I come in early then I’m relaxed. I don’t feel pressured,” Wilder said. Unlike staff members who come in early to leave school early, Wilder stays after school lets out depending on his JROTC commitments. “Depending on if I have practice that day, [I’ll leave] anywhere from 4 to 4:30 p.m. If there’s a football game it’s not until after we pose the colors, so I leave around 7:30 p.m. When we have a flag detail it’s closer to 6:00 p.m before I get out of here,” Wilder said. “It just depends on what we’ve got going on with the corp cadets that evening.” A staff member with a situation similar to Sergeant Major Wilder’s is Social Studies teacher Joe Carico. Carico aims to arrive at school at 6:00 a.m. and leaves school around 8:00 p.m. “One of my duties is that I open the door for the faculty. I also deliver newspapers around to the different administrators and I try to play music,” Carico said. “I’m also an assistant football coach so the last thing we do as football coaches is make sure all of the laundry is done. So usually we’re out of here by 8:00 p.m.” Carico describes his life outside of school as nonexistent during football season, but his wife also works in a school and has her share of early morning work commitments. Special Education teacher Durmont Perry arrives around 6:00 a.m. and takes part in a different kind of work. He spends his early mornings at the school in the gym. “It’s the best time for me to get my workout in,” Perry said. “I lift weights. I
PHOTO BY SAMANTHA LITTLE
LIFT OFF YOUR DAY. Special Education teacher Durmont Perry arrives early to lift weights, run and train with students. While most teachers do school work in the morning, Perry does a different form of work. go running and I have students that stay with me in the morning so I can help train them.” Perry doubles as a girl’s basketball coach and also stays after school to fulfill that position. “Sometimes I’m here until about 5:30 p.m. Depending on if I’m coaching or not, it can be later,” Perry said.
Morning Timeline Michael Eye: 5:07 a.m.
Rachel Bolyard: 5:35 a.m. “I sure do have a routine, I come in say good morning to the fish and feed them, turn on my computer then get to work,” Bolyard said.
Sergeant Major Wilder: 5:54 a.m. Myron Blosser: 5:30 a.m. “In the morning, I check my emails and make coffee and plan what I need to do for the rest of the day,” Blosser said.
Mark Tueting: 6:00 a.m.
While many teachers arrive early to get started on school work, Perry utilizes this time to get his day going with exercise and stays fit in the process. “[Coming in early] allows me to get my workout in without any distractions. It also lets me know that once I’m done, it drives me forward and gets my day going,” Perry said. INFOGRAPHIC BY MADISON VARNER
Christina Oaks: 6:15 Joe Carico: 6:00 am.
Durmont Perry: 6:00 a.m. “I come early because it’s the best time to get my workout in. I run, lift weights, and I have students with me training,” Perry said.
Joyce Green 6:30 a.m. “The oldest lunch lady in there, but I’m the best lady in there,” Green said.
Admins engage in unique early morning routines Carrie Yoder Staff Reporter
and if timing works well then I start working on what we call Talent Ed, and that’s where our teachers put in their goals and we review them and either approve them or ask them to revise them, so teachers have homework too other than grading papers. So after that I usually, around 6-6:15 a.m., go down and get the radio that communicates with the buses, then I come back and double check emails.” By that time, after most of Eye’s routine, a few teachers have trickled in. “Usually I will see Mr. Shiflett and say good morning to him sometimes Ms. Lane I will run into, that’s the other custodian. Sometimes I hear from Mrs. Kibler to unlock a door,” Eye said. Eye said that he’s been trying out something new during the mornings. “I’ve gotten into this week doing a little
super brain yoga, just learned about that, isn’t doing anything yet but you know it isn’t hurting anything,” Eye said. The other principals arrive around 7 Assistant Principal Michael Eye starts a.m. although it varies for Eric Miller anhis school day arriving at the side enother assistant principal. trance at 5 a.m., a time when a lot of kids “It depends either right at 7 a.m. or it are still asleep. is at like 6 a.m. It’s at 7 a.m. if I’m driving “[I like arriving early because I can get] Hannah. If I come at 6 a.m. it’s because I alone time. It just gives me a chance to get like to get in and get stuff done without inmy brain organized around what needs to terruption. If I come at 7 a.m. it's because be done today [and] wrap up things that I like to relax and get a little extra sleep at haven’t been completed, because once home,” Miller said. again when the buses arrive, I don’t have Every teacher or principal has a routine as much control over the day,” Eye said. when they get to school. “[I] go to the ofWhen Eye gets to school he has a roufice, get my walkie talkie, come down to tine that he starts every morning. the cafeteria and [do my] duty,” Miller “Well, for me the routine is the first said. part of it, that’s picking up the library’s Assistant Principal Joe Glick usually newspaper and making the coffee. Getgets to school around 7 a.m. ting ready for the day, get the motor go“I usually get here ing, then I turn on at 7 a.m. because I visthe computer in the it my elderly father at office then usual6:15 a.m. and have cofly by about 10 after fee with him and start [6 a.m.] I take my the day talking to him. walk. Probably three 7 a.m. is the latest I can or four mornings a be here,” Glick said, “I week I’ll take a walk supervise the students around the building that are arriving till the as much for exercise start of the day till the and also just to see announcements, then I if anything’s really start doing my responout of place, I’ll get sibilities as a principal,” all the stairwells, Glick said about his that’s my routine for routine in the morning. my walk,” Eye said. Principal Cynthia “Once I’m through Prieto arrives between with the walk I come 7 a.m. and 7:15 a.m. in back and start sifting the mornings. through the email, “I] put down my they can pile up bethings, grab my radio cause they come and head out into the through everywhere, PHOTO BY BRIAN ALVARADO halls. I end up in the staff, central office, WELCOME BACK. Assistant principal Michael Eye oversees the students as they cafeteria [and] try to outside organizations unload the buses in the morning.
sit down with a couple students and talk or walk around. [I] touch base with teachers if there are teachers around. Two of the days I do the pledge and the moment of silence. Then I come back and touch base with my secretary to figure out what needs process what needs to be signed, paperwork wise. Touch base with the SRO with what went on over the weekend. Check with my administrators to see how things are going,” Prieto said. For the principals mornings are fairly similar, no mornings busier than other. “Pre-students are often much the same, I mean there can be a surprise on Monday morning but it just depends on if there is a chiller down which means I’ve got to get ahold of maintenance or if something’s fallen down but that can be any morning, so there’s not any morning that’s any busier before buses,” Eye said. Prieto said that she does have one morning that is busier than the others. “Tuesday mornings are busy because we have an 8 o’clock meeting for administrators so I need to get here in time to make sure any emails adding agenda items are put in there and xerox the agenda,” Prieto said. Prieto said that the reason she gets here at the time she does is because of her dogs. “I need to plan, I have dogs so if I leave the house at 7, I can be here at 7:05 a.m. and then I can stay till almost 5 p.m. and that’s nine and half hours and they can go comfortably nine and a half hours maximum 10, so I try to cover the beginning of practices and night school and make sure that I am available if anything [happens]. Also sometimes parents can’t meet very early so they would prefer to meet after school at 3:30 p.m. or 4 p.m. so I need to give enough time for the meeting to happen,” Prieto said.
November 30, 2015
Feature-A7
The Newsstreak
Last staff members to leave
Gingras, Cromer stay after for students, but miss out on time with own children Ava Reynolds HHS Media Coordinator Students spend seven hours a day at school Monday through Friday. Those who have after school activities or need help on assignments might stay after, but a few teachers are here after school longer than most, dedicating their time to students. Sara Gingras, a tenth grade English teacher, stays at school until around 5 p.m. every day. In her extra time, Gingras does everything from helping students, cleaning up her room, grading papers, recording grades online, planning and organizing her board. Coming in early isn’t an option for Gingras, so staying later than most is the only way. For Gingras, staying late is one of her most productive times. “I feel more productive at school because I have a three year old who wants to ‘do work with mommy’. This does not often yield good results in terms of my school work getting completed. When they go to bed, I will grade papers and plan for a couple of hours,” Gingras said. Gingras sees her extra time as a way to help her students un-
“My husband is very supportive in caring for our children, so I am an available teacher to my students. When we need child care, we have a nanny,” Gingras said. Mallory Cromer, marketing teacher and DECA adviser, has a similar situation to Gingras. Cromer started staying late six years ago. She stays until 6 p.m. to teach night school on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and if DECA is preparing for states, she stays on Mondays and Wednesdays until 5 p.m. If DECA has a special event or the apparel store needs to be open, then Cromer might be at the school until 9 p.m. One year she was even at the school until 2 a.m. working on the Finish Line Challenge video with her DECA students. For Cromer, staying late is for her students. “Anytime I am staying late, it is to devote time to students. Whether it’s one-on-one tutoring, practicing a case study, or preparing a project,” Cromer said. School is the best place for Cromer to get work done because she has small children at home. “I do not bring my work home
PHOTO BY SAMANTHA LITTLE
ALL FOR THE STUDENTS. DECA adiviser Mallory Cromer works after school with junior Christian Whitelow on a DECA roleplay project. derstand the class material better. It’s also a great time for her to prepare for the next day. “It is always students first (unless I have a meeting), but honestly students come anyway, and I help them after my meetings,” Gingras said. The biggest challenge in Gingras’ schedule is the fact that she has small children. She tries to avoid bringing them to school
because they get into everything and anything; however, staying late prevents her from spending time with them. “I miss out on time with them and my husband. Now that the nights are getting darker earlier, I rarely make it home to play outside with the kids,” Gingras said. She has a support system through her husband and outside care.
because with two small children it’s impossible until they are in bed to get anything accomplished. Usually by the time they are in bed, I am ready for bed. School is the best environment for me to focus, write lesson plans, grade, and help students,” Cromer said. Although Cromer tries not to miss too much by being at school often, she does often miss spending time with her children. “I have two. Carter 18 months, Hattie three and a half. My husband watches them in the evenings I work late and my parents pitch in a great deal, too. Sometimes one will come with me. It all depends on the event and what I need to accomplish. I have brought them to football games, the cheerleader competition and in the evenings on occasion. On teacher work days and early releases I am fortunate enough to have care for them. For both Gingras and Cromer, they feel lucky to have support systems through their husbands and other sources of care for their children. This allows them both to give time to students, and even keep their school lives organized.
When do you leave and what do you look forward to when leaving?
JULIAN DEAN
KIM HOOK
BILLY MARTIN
BRADLEY WALTON
PHILIP YUTZY
TIMOTHY MEYERS
DON BURGESS
3:45 p.m. “Reading, writing and spending time with my son.”
4:00 p.m. “Seeing my dogs [when I get home].”
4:00 p.m. “I don’t have a favorite part about leaving. I like it here.”
4:00 p.m. “It varies dayto-day based on what I’’m doing.”
4:30 p.m. “Just getting home.”
4:40 p.m. “Reading my mail [when I get home].”
5:30 p.m. “Getting the opportunity to see my family.”
Fury fulfills custodial duties until midnight
Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief Janitor Roxi Fury’s work hours run opposite to the rest of the staff’s, as she arrives for her night shift as students leave and she doesn’t depart until midnight. Within the system of janitorial shifts starting at 5 a.m. and and spanning 19 hours, Fury works from 3:30 p.m. to midnight. “That’s just the hours. You have people on day shift, people on afternoon shift and people on night shift,” Fury said. Although she works unusual hours, her routine matches that of a normal afternoon custodian’s. “[I do] pretty much the same thing. I go back through the classrooms, collect trash, mop, sweep the floors and then just move on down the line,” Fury said. In addition to the empty classrooms, the hallways are also vacant, which allows for further maintenance. “You have to be careful mopping the floor, because if the students or teachers are here, you can’t mop hallways or clean up spills because the floors are wet,” Fury said. Her workload spikes after sports games, performances and other gatherings within the school. “We clean up in the cafeteria after events; take the trash, put the tables back down, set up the chairs if need be, that kind of thing,” Fury said. Fury has a system in place with her fellow night janitors assigning their work to different parts of the building. “We each pretty much have our own responsibilities, our own things that we do,” Fury said. “You have a section here, Deb has a section here and David has a section, so that’s what [the job difference] is, different sections.” With an empty building, the janitors
TIMELINE BY BRIAN ALVARADO AND SAMANTHA LITTLE
Night school offers students additional support in core classes Audrey Knupp Feature Editor
PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT
BEHIND THE SCENES. Custodian Roxi Fury spends a portion of her eight and a half hour work day cleaning a classroom after all the students and staff have left.
take advantage of their breaks. “We just sit on our breaks and talk, talk about what’s going on, what events [are happening] and kids and a little bit of everything,” Fury said. Security is also a responsibility they hold in addition to custodial work. “We make sure the doors are locked, that kind of thing. You have to make sure the downstairs windows are closed. You know, just making sure no one’s walking in here when they shouldn’t be,” Fury said. Having worked at HHS for four years, Fury is still not fond of working the night shift. “[Working late] is terrible. It’s tiring. It’s just the hours,” Fury said.
Night school was started about 25 years ago by former principal John Heubach. Originally called “CORE” and occurred during day school hours, it was only for freshmen who were struggling. The purpose was to to get them caught up in their core classes and integrate them back into the day school classes at the end of the grading period. Eventually, that time schedule was adjusted to what we currently have, 36 p.m. The change in time
allowed for more students to be able to participate in other activities and also allowed for a better working schedule for the faculty who are involved in the program. Lynda Blackwell, the current coordinator for night school, is in charge of running most of the show. “Our students earn the same standard or advanced diploma that the rest of the student body earns. The requirements for the diploma are set by the state, not by the school or program,” Blackwell said. Night school is very similar to regular school in many ways. “The rules are the same.
Some kids think that the rules are different, but they are the exact same,” Blackwell said. The typical night for the students includes arriving and staying at school for three hours after 3 p.m. On Monday, Wednesday and Friday the students take three courses, while on Tuesday and Thursday they only take two courses. “My favorite thing about night school is getting to work with the students. Especially when they realize they can achieve their goals, and move forward in their lives. It’s awesome,” Blackwell said.
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November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
Humans of HHS-B10
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.
Junior Wendy Fumes-Martinez
“What’s a favorite memory of yours?” “[Being in] New York spending time with my grandma… She was in the hospital but then she got out and we spent time together. We went shopping and we went out to eat… It made me feel grateful that she was alive and to have someone to respect.”
Senior Walter Barahona
“What advice would you give to a large group of people?” “Just stay in school.”
HHS
Sophomore Katrina Kirilyuk
“What are you thankful for?” “Being alive and especially my family. I’m thankful for my family because they’re always there for me.”
Sophomore Adan Magana
Senior Oriana Washington
“I am very passionate about writing, because when I write I feel like I’m in a different world. I feel like all the anger and sadness and happiness, and everything can just come out whenever I do poetry.”
Juniors Las Rabaty and Moe Merawly
“How did you two meet?” “How did we meet? It was a while “What advice would you give to a large group of people?” “My best advice, to be honest, is just to keep your head up, regardless, in ago.” any situation you’re going through. Just fight through it, you know, just “We were five or six years old. Our parents were close and me and him keep your head up.” were really fat at the time.” “He took two boxes of pizza for himself and we went upstairs and [ate the pizza].” “We were really fat when we were little kids and as we got older we knew girls don’t like fat boys so we changed that.”
Junior Chris Estes
“What advice would you give to a large group of people?” “Stick together. Don’t separate yourself. Be strong. When you face your problems, face them in numbers. Make friends. Don’t fight each other. I’m thinking, like, a pack of wolves, and they’re a group of people, and they’ve got to fight together.”
Sophomore Maddie Blackwell
“How are you feeling about auditioning?” “I’m really nervous, but I think I’ll do okay. I’m hoping to do better than I did last year, because I think I bombed last year.” “What role do you want?” “I just want to get in. That’s all I want. I don’t care if I Junior Josue Lopez-Salines get ensemble or anything.” “The time I was happiest with my life was when I came to America… Because [that] was a time when I could have an opportunity that my place could not give me. So I could go to college here. I could work here, and over there I couldn’t.”
Junior Jean-Pierre Mwami & Freshman Pierre Mbala “What’s your favorite thing about your cousin?” Mbala: “He’s a pretty chill guy.” Mwami: “I am a pretty chill guy, same.” “Is there anything you have in common?” Mwami: “We’re both dark.”
Photos & Interviews by Maria Snell-Feikema & Faith Runnells
Freshman Marcus Robinson
“What has been your favorite memory with sports?” “Winning the state tournament with my travel baseball team. It made me feel like, I don’t know, I wouldn’t say a star, but important. In the tournament, [we were] the best team in the state. It just made me feel good because I was pitching that game.”
SophomoreHashaam Ahmed
“What are you thankful for?” “I’m thankful for a lot of things. I’m thankful for my parents for moving to America so I have a chance at a better education. I’m thankful for the people in my community. A lot of them support me, and they help me get through the day.”
November 30, 2015
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November 30, 2015
Sports Briefs BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
10/17 Varsity-4th place, JV-2nd at Running with the Wolves, Wolf Branch Farm 10/28 Varsity-3rd Conference at Woodgrove High School
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS
10/17, Varsity-3rd place, JV- 5th place at Running with the Wolves, Wolf Branch Farm 10/28, Varsity-4th place Conference at Woodgrove High School
BOYS SWIM AND DIVE UPCOMING MEETS
Invitational 12/04 Away vs. TBA (Divers Only) Invitational 12/05 Away vs. TBA(Swimmers Only) Meet 12/11 Spotswood, Stonewall Jackson - Quicksburg held at Westover Pool
GIRLS SWIM AND DIVE UPCOMING MEETS
12/11 Spotswood, Stonewall Jackson - Quicksburg held at Westover Pool in Harrisonburg
VARSITY FOOTBALL RESULTS
10/23 vs. Fort Defiance W 42-0 10/30 @ Robert E. Lee L 40-26 11/6 @ Turner Ashby W 55-29
BASKETBALL BOYS- Varsity
Game 12/05 @ John Handley
BOYS- JV
Game 12/04 @ John Handley
GIRLS- Varsity
Game: 12/05 @ John Handley
GIRLS- JV
Game 12/04 Home vs. John Handley
Gymnastics
UPCOMING MEETS
12/12 Away vs. TBA, Patriot held at Patriot High School Tri 12/16 Home vs. Turner Ashby, Orange County
Wrestling
UPCOMING MEETS
12/05 Invitational Away vs. TBA, Warren County held at Warren County High School Quad 12/09 Home vs. TBA, Grace Christian
Sports-B8
The Newsstreak
Football players move on from unforgetable season Alexia Munoz-Moctezuma Staff Reporter
support them the most. Sophomore Dylan Sanchez appreciates the time he spends with his teammates on a daily basis. “[I enjoy being] with the team; everybody as a whole,” Sanchez said. “I enjoyed making new friends. The amount of friendship that you get and brotherhood that you get from football is something else,” Mitongo said. Regardless of the wins, there were some strategies that just didn’t work for the benefit of the team. “Obviously, you like the things that you put in as a coach that worked and you don’t like the stuff you put in and spend time on that doesn’t work. You never know what it’s going to do until you get the ball game. Sometimes the stuff you do works and sometimes it doesn’t,” Thurman said. Now that the season has come to a close, Mitongo and Sanchez plan to adjust to their new free time and make the most out of it.
“I run track, so I might do [indoor] track or wrestling [now that the season is over],” Mitongo said. “I’m going to get in the weight room and start running,” Sanchez said. Even though the coaches and players are satisfied with the amount of work put into this season, they haven’t forgotten the losses against Charlottesville and Brookville. “[I would’ve wanted to] beat Charlottesville and Brookville,” Sanchez said. The head coach also agrees that the loss at Charlottesville was a time in the past that they would’ve liked to change. “[I would change that] we would not have lost at Charlottesville,” Thurman said. Thurman agrees that this team is filled with bright students who behave in a good manner, which could quite possibly be the reason for such success this season. “[They are] good kids, they worked hard, they listen and it’s a good group,” Thurman said.
The varsity team ended the season with a 7-3 record which had the town raving about the comparison from this season to the last. It is the reason for so much enthusiasm surrounding the team. Overall, the varsity players were proud of their team for such an improvement from the 2014 season. Despite the amount of success the team has had thus far, there is still room for improvement, according to coach Chris Thurman. In order for them to progress, they need to get more physically active in the weight room so it can transfer onto the field. “[We will improve] like we always do, we’ll get back in the weight room and try to get bigger and stronger and faster and hopefully continue things the way they’re going,” Thurman said. Winning their first home game of the season filled the players with faith and hope that the good luck streak would not stop. Junior David Mitongo even shed a tear once the last touchdown was scored, confirming the win against E.C. Glass. “I think [we won] because we really believed you know, we believed that we would win. The first time we won, it was against a strong team, E.C. Glass, and we just had faith that we were going to win,” Mitongo said. “Winning my first game was really exciting, my first football game. Everybody was happy. That last touchdown made me kind of cry a little bit.” In addition to the winning PHOTO BY ALEXIA MUNOZ-MOCTEZUMA record, the team agrees that ALL LINED UP. Members of the varsity football team line up before the last home game of the the best part of the season was making new friends and spend- season. The Streaks dominated the Indians of Fort Defiance with a 42-0 win. ing time with the people who
Cross country runners take on states Garrett Cash Online Managing Editor Leading up to the state cross country meet, freshman Hannah Miller, senior Abrham Amine and sophomore Mekonin Berhe were nervous, but they overcame their emotions as they began the race on Nov. 13. Each runner worked for their spot as they were followed closely by other competitors from different schools. Beginning to run for the very first time as a sophomore, Amine has participated as a three-season athlete in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track and has been to states multiple times in the past. For this cross country season’s state meet, Amine felt excitement about the new competition he would be facing and was anticipating what was to come. “It feels great because it’s tougher this year,” Amine said. “We had a really tough conference and regional meet because some really good teams moved up to 4A.” Going into the race, Amine
PHOTO COURTESY OF ERIC MILLER
FEEL THE BURN. Sophomore, Mekonin Berhe, runs to the finish during the cross country state meet. Berhe finished 21st. set a goal for himself as making All-State as a top runner during the event, but he would face competition from the other students going to the state meet from schools around the state of Virginia. Starting as a freshman, Berhe ran indoor and outdoor track, but not cross country. Despite the odds stacked
against him, he was still able to make the state meet during his first year running cross country. Before the race, Behre felt similar emotions as Amine, experiencing the excitement and nervousness that goes along with running at states. “I feel awesome because this year is my first time to go to states, and I started [cross
country] this year,” Behre said. Miller, the third runner going to the state meet felt that the race would be nerve-wracking, and she felt some anxiety before the race, much like the other two runners. “I’m excited I made it to states, but because it’s such a big race, it’s going to feel like a lot of pressure,” Miller said. According to the runners, a large amount of effort was put out in previous races and practices in order for them to qualify for states. “We had practices every day after school and then you’d have to put in runs on the weekends sometimes, but I think it was definitely worth it,” Miller said. The work each runner put in payed off during the season as they qualified for conference earlier this season, then regionals and finally states. At the meet, Berhe finished in 21st place, while Amine finished in 7th and Miller in 12th. Amine and Miller’s positions at the finish qualified them for the All-State status that’s offered at the race.
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November 30 2015
Sports-B7
The Newsstreak
Rath, Johnson hope to advance to states for swim, dive Danny Dombrowski Staff Reporter The swim and dive season is underway and daily practice has begun over at Westover. The team has almost a full month of practice before their first meet, an invitational in Christiansburg on Dec 4. Returning to the diving team for his fourth year is senior Abner Johnson. Johnson has come close to winning states in past years and wants to complete his goal in his final year. “My goal is to win states since every other year I have been close, but never won it,” Johnson said. His success in diving can be attributed to his exposure to the sport as a child. “I have always loved doing flips and I have had a diving board around for most of my life, so it just
came naturally,” Johnson said. One aspect of the sport that Johnson enjoys is practice. Typically, athletes enjoy game day, but practice is a necessary evil in athletics. “In a typical practice we start by doing hurdles, which is like a walk through on the board where you just practice getting height with no tricks, then we start going through our dives that we do in the meets. It’s always fun,” Johnson said. One upperclassman returning to the swim team is junior Andrew Rath. Rath started swimming when he was seven years old. He has swum every year of his high school career for the Blue Streaks. Although swimming is a team sport, in high school it is mainly an individual sport. “It is more individual than team, the team
doesn’t move on to states only individuals do,” Rath said. Rath competes in multiple events including the 200 IM, 100 back, and relays, he is looking to build on his performance last year. “I went to regionals last year, my goal this year is to make it to states for 100 back and the 4x100 relay,” Rath said. Another returning swimmer is junior Ciara Hampton. Like Rath, she has been on the team every year. She swims 100 free, 100 back, 200 free relay, and the 400 free relay. Hampton, who is also involved in cheerleading and softball, has enjoyed her time on the team. “The best part of it is the team, everyone supports each other and everyone is so close,” Hampton said. She has set her sights on improving from last year.
Hussack’s volleyball career at JMU led her to coaching roll Abby Hissong Managing Editor Growing up, broadcasting teacher Emilee Hussack never gave much thought to playing volleyball. However, all of that changed in the sixth grade when the volleyball coach saw her at field day and said she should consider trying out for the team. Hussack originally had her eye on cheerleading, but when she first laid hands on a volleyball, she knew she had chosen the right sport. “My team wasn’t incredibly organized or good, so the idea of ‘positions’ was loosely interpreted. The setter would just put the ball high somewhere and I would try not to hit it off the back wall. I prefered playing outside because I think I’m a more effective attacker with a longer approach, as opposed to the compact approach a middle hitter usually has,” Hussack said. As Hussack continued to play volleyball, her love of the sport grew as well. By the time she was a senior in high school, Hussack had multiple offers to play at various
PHOTO COURTESY OF EMILEE HUSSACK
GO DUKES! Broadcasting teacher Emilee Hussack spikes the ball for JMU’s volleyball team in 2005.
colleges along the east coast. “I took official visits to Drexel University and the University of Delaware, and the coach from Lock Haven University called nearly every night to just chat. I finally chose JMU because the team was wonderful when I came to visit, it was a good distance away from my hometown, and I liked their academic options,” Hussack said. As a student athlete, Hussack often experienced challenges that her peers who weren’t active in sports did not. With practice six times a week, there was very little recovery time for the players. Sore muscles and a testy shoulder often proved to be limiting factors in her everyday life. In addition to playing volleyball, Hussack studied at JMU’s School of Media Arts and Design, eventually majoring in Digital Media. “Academically, there were some classes I was not able to take because they had required studio or labs during our practice time. But, as athletes, we got to schedule classes before anyone else, because they all had to be between 8 a.m. and noon or 1 p.m. Also, because every afternoon, evening and weekend was scheduled according to games and practice, obtaining internships was not possible,” Hussack said. Though she had a different college experience than most, Hussack is glad she decided to play in college. Hussack developed a close relationship with her teammates and coaches that she still cherishes today. “Playing volleyball was very time consuming, but I didn’t mind it. My friends and roommates were on the team, and we had some sick dance parties in the locker room, so it didn’t seem like all of my time was dedicated to volleyball. It wasn’t until later that I realized college students joined clubs or had jobs,” Hussack said. When Skyline Middle School received funding to create a middle school volleyball team, JV volleyball coach Denae Delozier approached Hussack about the open coaching positions. Hussack soon took the job. As a coach, Hussack believes that building foundational skills is more important than winning matches because, in the long run, solid foundational skills will win games. She hopes that her players also will develop a love for volleyball like she did. “I hope that volleyball will open doors for my athletes like it did for me,” Hussack said. “Volleyball not only allowed me to attend an amazing university, but it took me to different cities, it introduced me to teammates who became my closest friends, it taught me to suck it up and, instead of complaining, to just sit in the ice bath for a couple minutes longer. Volleyball also got me a lot of free sweatpants and t-shirts, so you can’t argue with that.”
PHOTO BY BRIAN ALVARADO
TAKE YOUR TIME. Senior diver Abner Johnson takes position and prepares himself for a backflip dive at Westover Pool. “My goals are to beat all of my personal records and to try a new event that
I have never swum before,” Hampton said. If you want to catch the
Streaks in action, the first home meet is Dec. 11 at 6:15 p.m.
Fantasy sports better than popular opinion Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief
the leaderboards. Most fantasy sites will allow for a select number of starters and then a few If you’re like me and not good enough bench players, so choosing the startto play sports, but feel as though you ing lineup is next in the process. This is have the mind for it, you should proba- where your knowledge of the sport is rebly consider creating a fantasy team. As a ally tested. Keeping up with news, such seasoned veteran of the game, having at as knowing who is injured and who has one point managed 13 different teams, I bye weeks or double games can put you can offer a guide in starting a successful above the rest. Bench players don’t just sit fantasy team that will bring by the whole game week withbragging rights galore. out influence; in some sites, if A fantasy sports team is one starter doesn’t play, they where you select a lineup (a will be substituted at the end ‘draft’) from a pool of existing of the round for a bench playpro players, usually based on er, so they aren’t just a wasted their current form, imaginary roster name. There you have it, price and upcoming schedule. the basics to creating a starting Not-so-Swiftly Players earn points that are lineup. determined by their perforArguably one of the most mance in that round of games, and the exciting parts of fantasy is trading/transplayers that tend to earn more points fers. When a player gets injured, sustend to be priced higher- it’s like the acpended or just has a dip in form, you’ll tual sport! At the end of every round, look to switch him with another player, points are totalled and there will be winespecially if they’re one of great value. ners of that round, as well as an overall Similar to picking the original roster, tally that keeps track of season points. price, schedule and form should all facI’m a soccer guy, so I’ve only ever tor into a new buy. A strategy I’ve come played fantasy soccer, but I think many to value is swapping an expensive player of those strategies are applicable to othfor one of lower pricing, so you can later er sports. America’s obnoxiously isolated combine those leftover funds with that of sports world actually comes to benefit another heftily priced player and bring in fantasy gurus, as it features leagues for an absolute star with even greater value. baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Trading players certainly challenges The first step in starting a team is obviyour knowledge of the game as well, but ously picking a roster. While you want all as long as you’re keeping tabs on what’s the Bradys, Messis and LeBrons, they’re going on in with real thing, this can be an simply priced higher so you can’t have excellent method to climb up the leaderthem all. Therefore, you must find a board. balance between the guaranteed point If you want to make it personal, algrabbers and lesser known gambles. most every fantasy site offers the option The benefits of having the stars are to create your own league in which you the confidence you have in playing them can compete against your friends with a and the ability to have them as mainstays nice wager or simply bragging rights. Just in your team. On the other hand, those ask Richard Morrell or Paul Rath, who can hit-or-miss buys may just score big or get only dream about passing me in the taejected after two minutes and receive ble. negative points. To most who have never played, I’m There will be weeks where the stars sure fantasy sports look like boring video just don’t show up, so while everyone games, but when you’re sitting in front else is looking at ones and twos, you’ve of your computer screen just minutes got a seventh round no-name having a before the gameweek deadline closes lit200+ yard game or scoring a hat-trick that erally sweating about who to start, you’ll shoots you past all those conformists on realize it’s actually more of a livelihood.
Interested in in-depth cover of anything you saw in this issue? Check out our online newspaper at hhsmedia.com for a continuation of this issue and even more!
Sports-B6
The Newsstreak
November 30, 2015
WT
inter is coming: eams prepare for upcoming season
Basketball alum Don Burgess prepares boys for upcoming season Lucie Rutherford Sports Editor Basketball may be known as a winter sport, though for many of the players that season expands to much more than just winter. Coming in throughout the fall to practice and prepare for the upcoming season is something that the JV and varsity boys teams do to compete with other schools. Previously the coach at Bridgewater College, HHS alum Don Burgess is the new head boys varsity coach and has been running open gyms for players. “We’ve been having open gyms on Tuesdays and Thursdays where we just work on skills and drills to help with the fundamentals and to give them the opportunity to get a lot of shooting repetitions,” Burgess said. “The other thing that they should be doing on their own is getting some conditioning. Hopefully they are doing some running, so come try outs, they will be in shape.” Not only is Burgess the new basketball coach and an economy and personal finance teacher at HHS, but has also had a huge history with basketball - all starting right here. “I played at Harrisonburg High School and Radford University switching between wing, guard and forward,” Burgess said. “Then, I coached college basketball for 19 years at a lot of places. I coached at the University of Central Florida, Coastal Carolina University, Virginia Military Insti-
tute, High Point University, and I was the head coach at Bridgewater College. Then I came in here as a teacher.” With 23 years in college athletics, 19 as a coach, Burgess is prepared for a season of teenage players. This is senior Paul Gilbert’s first year of basketball, so having open gyms puts him a step ahead of other newcomers. “I’m coming in new this season playing center, so I’m just trying to work on ball handling and post moves,” Gilbert said. For players like sophomore Hakeem Sharief, who are trying to make the jump from JV to varsity, practicing even extends outside of the school gym. “Some of us practice outside of school, going to the rec center or Simms,” Sharief said. Simms is the local Boys and Girls Club where players can go to work on their skills on their own time. “Try outs are Nov. 9, so open gyms are there to prepare us. We do a lot of drills. Just working on things that can impact your games or season. Personally, I’m working on my shot and dribbling the ball better,” Sharief said. Simple skills are exactly what Burgess is aiming toward perfecting in his players. “In open gyms I just help them work on the basic fundamentals - ball handling, passing, and shooting,” Burgess said. “I try to help make corrections in regards to any deficiencies that they may have in their fundamentals. Then,
PHOTO BY BRIAN ALVARADO
DRIBBLE. Sophomore Edwin Gil-Feliz (back) and Freshmen William Daniel (middle) and Kobe Johnson perform a dribbling drill during the pre-season. Try-outs for the team started on Nov. 9 and continued for the next two weeks. other than that, [I try to] just get them acclimated to being in the gym and learning how to work hard.” Working hard will be the key to success in order for the team to surpass last year’s season. “[The upcoming season] might be better than last year because the team only got three wins last season,” Gilbert said. Though Burgess was not with the team last year, he is aiming
Perry preparing team for turnaround Bryan Luna Staff Reporter Coach Durmont Perry will coach the girls varsity basketball team for the second year. Although the first game will not take place until December, Perry has begun the training process. “Right now, we’re in the phase of conditioning;
out of season workouts,” Perry said. “We practice in the aux gym. We use the weight room. We go up to the football field and condition up there.” Last year, the team ended the season with a record of three wins to 10 losses. The two years before that also ended in negative ratios. This year, Perry in-
PHOTO BY BRYAN LUNA
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. Senior forward Soma Barzanji practices her shot during an out of season practice. “I want to...be the best leader on the team,” Barzanji said.
tends on turning the program around. “We’ve been down for so long,” Perry said. “We want the kids to learn how to compete, and competing is more than just winning; it’s earning the respect of other teams. Earning the respect of our school and our community, so it’s not like the girls show up to a game thinking: ‘We’re gonna lose.’ They need to see that we fight hard, and I just want everyone to see that for our team, too.” Senior Soma Barzanji, an avid basketball player since she was in third grade, has already set goals for herself. “I want to be ‘Athlete of the Week’ on WHSV,” Barzanji said, “and be the best leader on the team.” Barzanji is also set on defeating Fort Defiance this season, who had the same record as them last year. “The first time, they beat us. Second time, we went into overtime and we beat them,” Barzanji said. Goals aside, Perry and Barzanji both emphasize the team aspect of basketball. “It’s a team sport” Perry said. “If you don’t learn how to play together, you can’t play basketball.” “We’re a team, even outside the sport,” Barzanji said. “We’re like sisters. We have parties and we have fun.”
Poll from the students: What’s the most popular winter sport?
Boys Basketball - 37% Wrestling - 18% Girls Basketball - 15% Swim and Dive - 13% Indoor Track - 12% Gymnastics - 5% INFOGRAPH BY KYLE BROWN
high for the upcoming season. “I’m hoping that the season will go very well for us, but you know I’m just being optimistic because we haven’t even had our try outs or played any games yet,” Burgess said. “Right now everyone is undefeated, so that’s good.” For the players and coaches, not only is pre-season training a way to improve their game, but also a way to meet and work with
their possible teammates for the next four months. “I think the key [to pre-season training] is getting familiar with their teammates or getting familiar with each other. And also in regards to open gyms, hopefully to improve some of the student athlete’s’ skill level,” Burgess said. “I’m looking forward to the players coming out to work hard and to work well together.”
Wrestling season will continue, with or without a coach Sam Heie Staff Reporter The wrestling team is preparing and going into the start of the season with several uncertainties, as there is no set head-coach. Last year’s coach, Kim Thwaits, decided to resign from his position as head coach, leaving the team coachless just weeks before the start of the season. Eric Miller is starting this season as the interim head coach. Despite the fact of no full-time coach, junior Christian Zuniga is confident about the team’s success. “We didn’t lose too many good seniors last year,” Zuniga said. “Yad Kababchy was probably the greatest loss. [Last year,] I had a really good record. Most of our team had really good records, and we had the best coach I’ve ever had. I think we are going to do good this year.” Freshman Jorge Delgado is a hopeful for the wrestling team. Delgado attended Thomas Harrison Middle School and Skyline and has been wrestling for three years. To solve the problem of having no coach, Delgado had a possible solution.
“I think that if we can’t get a [full time] coach, we might want to consider having a senior coach,” Delgado said. Although this may seem to be the prevailing option to Delgado, other teammates are not so sure. Junior Jake Urbanski started wrestling in third grade and has continued through both THMS wrestling and HHS wrestling for the past two years. “I would rather have a more experienced adult coach. We have a couple candidates that have said they might coach and I am really hoping that one of them does,” Urbanski said. For Urbanski, an experienced coach could help him further prepare to make this season his best yet. “I’ve been doing a lot of wrestling with other clubs and I have been working with JMU,” Urbanski said. “I don’t think I’ve done as well as I should have the last two years, but I started picking it up recently and I hope to have a good outcome this season.” Wrestling tryouts started on Nov. 9 and the first meet of the year will be on Dec. 5 at Warren County High School with or without a coach.
Experienced runners ready for track Owen Stewart Staff Reporter The indoor track team had a strong season in 2014-2015, and with the season set to start on Nov. 19, the expectations are high for the team, according to head coach Tricia Comfort. “My goal is always to qualify our relays as far into the postseason as we can. I always like to see our relays run at the state meet,” Comfort said. That task will be taken on by both the girls and boys teams. The girls team is headlined by a pair of senior sprinters, Lexi Eberly and Faith Runnells. “[Eberly] is always a good sprinter, hurdler and jumper, and Faith is also a returner from last year who will be good,” Comfort said. The girls distance team is much younger, as it is headlined by conference cross-country champion Hannah Miller, a freshman, along with fellow freshman Abby Campillo, her sister Molly, a junior, and freshman Samantha Little. With so much youth on the team, Comfort and the other coaches hope that the seniors take on a leadership role. “All of [our top runners] are natural leaders, they all have experience with the sport of track, so they know the technical side of it. They know the stretches they need to be doing, the warmups, the drills, all those things, and we’re hoping they’ll be able to teach the younger kids. If we’re busy doing something at practice, we’re able to rely on our seniors a lot to help run practices and get things going,” Comfort said.
For the boys, senior Devin Medley, will be the jewel of the team, but overall, Comfort said she’s not quite sure what to expect from the sprinters. “Our sprinting team is going to be a little bit of a surprise. We had a lot of strong sprinters graduate last year, so I’m interested to see who shows up this year and what they can give us,” Comfort said. The boys distance team is topped by senior Abrham Amine, a cross-country runner, as well as senior Paul Weiss. Abrham’s brother, freshman Gebrehiwot Amine, keeps the youth theme going, as he has also had a strong cross-country season. While the indoor track season itself is short, many of the runners find ways to prepare during the offseason. “A lot of our kids, our distance kids especially, are cross-country runners, so they’ve been training all fall… As far as our sprinters who aren’t doing a fall sport, we’ve been encouraging them to train and run on their own so they can have a head start when the season begins,” Comfort said. Though Comfort believes the expectations she has are realistic, there are some obstacles to overcome. “[We need] lots of training, especially for the ones who didn’t do a fall sport. Our season is relatively short, so they don’t have a ton of time to get into shape. We’re also limited this year with indoor facilities, so I think we’re going to have fewer meets, which gives us less opportunities to qualify and run fast times.” Comfort said. “But other than that, I don’t think there’s going to be too many limitations, I think they should have a solid chance.”
November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
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November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
International Flavors:
Food-B3
New restaurants bring new favorites to the area
Jalisco’s allows Mexican food fans to expand taste buds Faith Runnells Print Editor In-Chief Everybody in Harrisonburg knows about El Charro; however, not many people know about the more authentic Mexican restaurant, Jalisco. Located on Neff Avenue, close to Macado’s, this restaurant has more to offer than any other Mexican restaurant in the area. Immediately after I walked inside, I was impressed by the intricate and genuine decorations throughout the entire restaurant. From painted vases to the 20 foot mural, to the dangling, soft lights, the environment provided a sense of honesty and authenticity. Then, the chips, salsa and coleslaw came. My group of three people (but mostly me) finished over two baskets of chips and more than one bowl of coleslaw. I have never been anywhere where one is supposed to put coleslaw on the chips, so if Jalisco invented it, even more credit to them. The first time I tried the chip and coleslaw combination, I was a little taken aback; I don’t even like coleslaw by itself. But after trying it again, it’s now my favorite food. Now, I always tell people that they have to give it at least three chip tries for the taste to really sink in. I ordered the arroz con camerón, and
convinced my two friends, who were there for the first time, to get the same exact thing; I’m embarrassed that I like it that much. The only complaint that I have about Jalisco is the amount of time that it takes for your food to come out, but luckily, the time passed quickly with my friends, the chips and the embellished surroundings. When our identical plates came out, my friends were surprised by the amount of vegetables that the dish came with. The arroz con camerón is very similar to the arroz con pollo at the famous El Charro, but the dish at Jalisco includes shrimp instead of chicken, and provides many more vegetables and more PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS flavorful rice. CHANGING THE STATUS QUO. Various paintings in Jalisco’s create a great ambiance that matches the One of my friends came unique slaw served with the chips before each meal. in skeptical, because of her intense love for the El Charro queso dip. Unfortunately, I couldn’t queso as soon as it came drizzled on her rules over any other Mexican restaurant in get her to switch her love from El Charro plate. I, however, think they taste exactly the area, and I’m glad I could at least let towards Jalisco, as she criticized Jalisco’s the same. I did have some success, as my one person see the light. other friend ended up agreeing that Jalisco
Mr. Sato Express, Mr. Sato Bistro provide Japanese culture experience Theodore Yoder Sports Editor Mr. Sato Express and Mr. Bistro are two Japanese restaurants located off of Reservoir St. near Smoothie King and Chipotle. They serve a variety of dishes including many teriyaki dishes and sushi. As soon as I stepped into Mr. Sato Express I was surprised how small the restaurant was.
The inside was very clean and nice music was playing. The staff handed me a menu with at least a hundred options. You could order anything from noodles and soup to steak or sushi. They offered drinks such as Pepsi products, tea and Gatorade. I ordered the teriyaki steak and went to sit down at a booth. There were about nine other people in the restaurant, mostly college students. Mr. Sato’s offers an excellent place to go hang
out with some friends if you want some Japanese food. In Mr. Sato’s, there are five booths lining both of the side walls. In the middle are a collection of tables and chairs where parties of two or three could sit. The walls were fairly bland with no pictures or different colors. Overall, it seemed a little crowded and homey, but at least it was clean. It took about 20 minutes for my food to be brought out. My steak was on a paper plate but
it looked delicious. All utensils were plastic and kept on the side of your table along with the napkins. The teriyaki steak came with fried rice and vegetables. The fried rice was filled with flavor and was really well cooked. The steak, on the other hand, very chewy. All of it was covered in a sauce that tasted very sweet and added lots of flavor to the steak. The vegetables were steamed and quite soft. With the sauce, they were very delicious.
The Bistro that is located across the street was built recently. Mr. Sato Bistro is more expensive and it’s intended to bring more Japanese culture to the customers. They even have excerpts on their menu describing eating norms in the Japanese culture. It was built to offer a nicer and fancier environment for customers whereas the Express is used mainly for carryout.
El Sol offers authentic Mexican David Gamboa-Pena Staff Reporter
PHOTO BY DAVID GAMBOA-PENA
KICK IT UP A NOTCH. El Sol’s ‘tacos especiales’ have incredible flavor, but not because of the sauce. The sauce adds to the already amazing taste, while not over powering it to the point of absolute ‘on fire’ heat.
On the outskirts of downtown Harrisonburg, sandwiched between a hair salon and a hispanic clothing store lies one of the few truly authentic Mexican food places around. For a long time, Mexican food in Harrisonburg has only been offered by fast food joints and Tex-Mex Americanized restaurants. El Sol along with a few taco trucks scattered around town are the only true mex-
ican food places in the area. El Sol being indisputably number one. A small sit down place, decorated sparsely to represent a humble and authentic hometown feeling. A dining area no bigger than a classroom, so small one skilled waiter can more than handle most of the tables. A simple crafted menu is presented among arrival and a smiling face asks you for a beverage choice. My food choice wasn’t found on the menu. One order of tacos especiales, or special tacos. Grilled beef
marinated in a secret recipe, topped with shredded lettuce, sour cream, a slice of ripe avocado and diced tomatoes, all of it perfectly folded into a warm homemade tortilla. Accompanied with a restaurant-made green hot sauce, not a sauce that was made to burn your taste buds, but to enhance the taste of the tacos and add a little kick to each bite. A Mexican-style soda called Jarritos is pulled out of the fridge for me and opened with the adorned bottle opener attached the frame.
Cooking class provides good opportunity for students to learn important responsibilities Yogesh Aradey Staff Reporter Walking through the science hallway, it is not unusual to catch a waft of freshly cooked food as you make your way past the cooking class room. Upon entering, the compelling smell is only that much more mouth watering. But cooking class has more to teach you than just how to make things that make your stomach thankful. Junior Alex
Osinkosky has been cooking for several years now, but is still learning new things in the class. “[We talk about] sanitation and other things that I don’t think of as much at home,” Osinkosky said. Osinkosky first started cooking in middle school. “At our house, if you are going to eat, you should know how to cook,” Osinkosky said. “We make cookies around holidays and I cook other things all year. I used to make dinner or dessert
a lot [in middle school.]” Now he only cooks about once a week. “I used to cook a lot more. Like two or three times a week,” Osinkosky said. Despite being interested in cooking since a young age, it was not that that brought him to the class. “At first it was just a hole in my schedule, and this one sounded fun, so I took it,” Osinkosky said. “But now I have learned techniques for cooking.” A returning member of
the cooking class, senior Victoria Rodriguez, had a similar start to cooking at HHS. “I had space in my schedule and I wanted to cook,” Rodriguez said. Although she has taken the class multiple times, she had no intentions of turning it into a career. However, she still enjoys it. “[My favorite thing to make are] arepas, from my country, Ecuador. It’s like a batter around a pupusa, but not a pupusa. It’s made with bacon and cheese,” Rodriguez said.
This class offered as an elective teaches you cooking, but also the sanitation and safety involved. It is hands on and serves a practical purpose in many people’s lives. “I would take it again,” Rodriguez said. Unfortunately, as a senior, this will be her last year. “I would definitely recommend this to a friend. If you have room in your schedule and you are looking for a class, take this one,” Osinkosky said.
November 30, 2015
Feature-B2
The Newsstreak
VA Momentum hosts Thanksgiving-themed turkey run Hannah Miller Feature Editor VA Momentum is a social enterprise whose mission is energizing the community for good. Set up by two buddies, the organization hosts runs throughout the year for all people in Harrisonburg to participate in. As Thanksgiving drew closer, so did Momentum’s second Rocktown Turkey Trot Run, hosted downtown on Thanksgiving morning. Kevin Gibson, a Co-Founder, worked with the community to provide an event that the public could engage in. “I do all of the back end [stuff] with just all of the planning pieces of the events. From talking with the city to get the streets closed for the event, to getting sponsors, to helping set up that morning,” Gibson said. The actual day of the race required the volunteers to be starting their day at 5 a.m. Last year, a snow iced the streets the day before the race. “We actually think it made
that atmosphere pretty unique and exciting for people as it added to the overall view of the event,” Gibson said. “We were really thrilled with the response from the community.” The race donated a portion of the proceeds to the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, and asked participants to bring non perishable food items. “We like to support local businesses and charities through local events. I think because of the holiday being one where we eat a lot of food and think about what we’re thankful for, it’s important to remember there are people in the community not as fortunate,” Gibson said. Earth Science teacher Nathan Hissong ran in the race this year and last. Hissong’s relationship with running is different from some. “I do not like running, so I prepare by walking around downtown and visiting different restaurants. At least that way I become familiar with the race course,” Hissong said. “Once I start run-
ning I am tired and want it to be over. Adrenaline doesn’t kick in for me running a road race. I just want it to end.” Although running is not Hissong’s forte, he does enjoy being active and helping the community. “Last year lots of HHS teachers joined in… Mrs. Soenksen, Mr. Ward, Mrs. PHOTO COURTESY OF KEVIN GIBSON Barr, Mr. Miller, TACKLE THE TURKEY. The participants of Rocktown Turkey Trot’s Kids Dash start the Mr. Snow. Lots race behind a turkey mascot. Gibson used the turkey to add excitement for the kids. dress up; I think After the kids dash, the turkey chose not to participate in the four mile. Mr. Ward was dressed as an Elf tivity,” Hissong said. last year, and many bring their song said. Hissong used the run as a way The race provided medals and dogs. It was unique because we pumpkin pie. got a bunch of snow the day be- to start his food-filled weekend. “Thanksgiving is a holiday “We try to emphasize that it’s fore the race. Most of the roads where you pretty much just eat open to all people of all skill levwere clear but you had to dodge a few snowbanks - they served as and sit around all day. I like this els. Might as well start the day out an excuse for my slow time” His- run because it kicks off a holiday with a fun event,” Gibson said. weekend with some physical acTHANKFUL FOR FOOD. Executive Director of School Nutrition Andrea Early tries to provide multiple options for able to eat by noon,” Sanchez said. students with mashed Sanchez’s family meal typically inpotatoes, green beans, cludes turkey, rice and beans, and varrolls and turkey. “If the ious desserts such as cheesecake or pie. Thanksgiving meal can However, for Sanchez the best part is make even one student the ‘scraps’ from the meal that did not happy, then we have get eaten. been successful,” Early “They can last us till the next day,” said. The plate of ThanksSanchez said. For Sanchez, the rice and giving food did not only beans were important to her as a kid. provide various options, “I mean, if we didn’t have the rice but still met the requireand beans it would just be like any other ments of a school lunch. PHOTO BY ABBY HISSONG Thanksgiving meal,” Sanchez said. However, the food is not the only thing that makes the holiday special for her. “I get to see all of my family, and it re24th,” Early said. ery year. ally just makes me excited. We are a big Abby Hissong To meet the require“My favorite part is the family on Thanksgiving. I just wake up Print Managing Editor ments for a school lunch, pumpkin pie, since we ready to see everybody,” Sanchez said. a standard meal must don’t usually get dessert One of Sanchez’s first memories of Every day, HHS lunch la- have two fruit or vegeta- for free with lunch. In midThanksgiving was when her friend came dies prepare multiple nutri- ble options, a protein, and dle school we didn’t have over for the Holiday and met her family. tional options for students a starch. Though it is not that good of a [Thanksgiv”She was one of my best friends and to choose from made with necessary, lunch lady Green ing] meal, so I never really I just remember that that is what made local ingredients including likes to provide several op- cared that my family didn’t Thanksgiving special for me that year,” a soup and salad bar, a deli tions for holiday meals. celebrate it. But when I Sanchez said. This was another reason line, and most recently a “Thanksgiving at my came to high school, I was that made her love this holiday. parfait line. house has a very southern like ‘this is really good, I “It makes me happy to know that no The cafeteria staff is comfort food. There is a wish we had this all the matter what, your family is always there committed to making their lot of grits, biscuits, gravy; time,’” Rivera said. for you when you need them,” Sanchez meals something that kids those kinds of things. In my Early’s favorite part of said. can look forward to, and family I am famous for my the Thanksgiving meal is holiday meals are no ex- macaroni and cheese rec- giving the kids a hearty ception. With Thanksgiving ipe, so when I’m making it meal before the break, and coming up, Executive Di- for the Thanksgiving meal knowing that they are gorector of School Nutrition for the students, I try to ing home on a full stomach. Andrea Early is already pre- put my own little spin on it. “As with every meal we paring for this highly antici- Now obviously at school we feed students, we want it pated meal. have to make every meal to be as enjoyable as pos“We try to keep our in- healthy and balanced, but sible. Giving students who gredients as fresh and un- we still try to include as don’t go home to a full panprocessed as possible, so much flavor as possible,” try over the break a good many of the ingredients we Green said. meal before they leave are using come from local Not all students have is always a goal I hope to sources. We are in a part- families who participate in achieve. The cafeteria staff nership with a few poultry a Thanksgiving meal. Junior here is committed to the plants in the area, so we Angelique Rivera’s family students they serve, and if are seeing if it would be doesn’t host or attend a the Thanksgiving meal can possible to get some tur- Thanksgiving meal, but she make even one student keys from them for [the still enjoys the holiday meal happy, then we have been Thanksgiving] lunch on the provided by the school ev- successful,” Early said.
Kids share Thanksgiving traditions Sabrina Gerald Food Editor Thanksgiving Day: Football Games, Macy’s Day Parade, and lots of turkey. No matter where you are from, everyone has different Thanksgiving Day traditions. This day is important to sophomore Nashaly Sanchez because it brings her family together. “We don’t have family meals like we do on Thanksgiving. It’s really just a pleasure to have the family in one place,” Sanchez said. Her family traditions depend on who cooks the meal that year. Most of her traditions involve the meal. “My mom and my aunt take turns with being in charge of the holiday. Usually, it’s all up to who wants to make the turkey that year. We all go over to my grandmother’s house,” Sanchez said. Whoever is making the meal in Sanchez’s family begins depending on how late they begin dining. “My mom cooks at eleven in the morning usually, and then we would usually eat at four in the afternoon. My aunt, she is really committed, starts at nine in the morning and we would be
Lunch ladies prepare various Thanksgiving meals
Neighboring turkey farm raises thousands of turkeys over their entire life span Christa Cole Feature Editor The turkey farm across the street from HHS experienced business as usual, despite the holidays. Clark Martin, the manager and partial owner of the farm, doesn’t feel the effects of Thanksgiving on his business. “Poultry growing is so different from what it used to be. It used to be Thanksgiving and Christmas was a big market, and it still is, but now they’re using so much turkey meat for further processing,” Martin said. “Normally, the highest price for turkey is from
August up until December because people are buying for the fall or the holidays… Thanksgiving and Christmas certainly do boost [profit] some, but it’s not like it was 50 years ago by far...we just raise turkeys just like normal and it doesn’t have any effect on us, not that I know of.” Martin feels he is a natural with turkeys because of his 43 years of experience. “I just [go through routine] without thinking because I’ve done it so long. I look at the turkeys; after you’ve looked at turkeys for so long, they’ll tell you what they want. If they’re out of feed, they’re chirp-
ing...they’re out of water, they make a lot of noise. If they’re cold, they’re huddled up. If they’re too warm, they’re panting,” Martin said. He keeps 9400 birds for their entire lifetimes, but for Martin it’s only a third of a year. “We keep them maybe on the average of 17 weeks...if we start 9400 we sell about 8800...we don’t butcher them, we have a dressing plant where the Virginia Poultry Growers Co-op is,” Martin said. “They bring the polts, they bring all the feed, take them, dress them and sell them, we just raise them.” Most turkey farms func-
tion differently than this one by taking the turkeys for only certain periods of their lives. For Martin, raising all of the turkeys in the same place requires extra work. “[My hours] depend on whatever age the turkeys are...how much care they require. They come in here one day old, [so we have to] have a lot of heat, hand feed them and hand water them...turkeys, when they’re really small it’s really labor intensified... there’s a lot more [work],” Martin said. “We have a brooding house for the babies and a grow out house for the large ones. We keep them in the brooding
PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE
GOBBLE GOBBLE. Turkeys occupy the grow-out house of Martin’s Turkey farm. The birds had just been moved from the brooding house. house... It’s six weeks, it’s a lot of labor to get them moved from the brooding house over to the growout house.” Martin finds satisfaction by knowing his work is helping others.
“The best part...it’s knowing that your work is going towards feeding the people, making food for the people. That would be the benefit for everybody...producing food for the public,” Martin said.
Students share their favorite Thanksgiving traditions
Senior Diego Avila “We first start off by going to church, and once that it is done, my family and I go home and cook a large meal for the remainder of the day, and it is ready by dinner time. We have family come from West Virginia, or vice versa.”
Junior Alanna Whitefield “My family and I feed the homeless from the Salvation army charity. We do not have any special dinners or celebrate ourselves, we just give back during this time, which is why it is my second favorite holiday.”
Senior Alec Lockey “Every year we make monkey bread the night before our big meal with our family. We always have a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, which is when we sit and watch the Thanksgiving special on television, and our meal is almost identical to the Thanksgiving meal in Charlie Brown”
Junior Anna Bishop
“My entire family, including my cousins, aunts and uncles, all bring a dish to my grandmother’s house where we all gather and have a big family dinner. The kids go outside and play football and or tag until everything is ready. It is one of my favorite holidays because of all the food.”
Priyanka Buhta “Since my family and I are from India, we do not really celebrate it for the true concept of it, but we do still have a friend and family gathering with a lot of Indian dishes. We do it our own way, and Indian style.”
Junior Kellie Serrell “[My favorite tradition is] probably helping my mom make cranberry sauce with fresh oranges every year.”
November 30, 2015
Feature-B1
The Newsstreak
Badia bonds with father over car restoration
PHOTOS BY YUSUF ABOUTABL
FATHER AND SON. Junior Patrick Badia and father Raymundo Badia’s current challenge is working on the 1963 Volkswagon van pictured above. Raymundo picked up the car from a junkyard and since then has been working with Patrick to get it up and running. Once restored, the Badias plan on keeping the car.
Yusuf Aboutabl Staff Reporter
If you look around in the school parking lot, you’ll see a 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle belonging to junior Patrick Badia, a sight
that is rather uncommon on the roads these days. He got the car as a present from his dad when he got his license. Badia’s dad restored the car and gave it to him. Raymundo Badia, Pat-
Man on the Street If you could start a business, what would it be? Sophomore Rawand Ali “I would start a repair shop for cars, so I can get them in, fix them up, and then sell for a profit. I love working around cars and fixing them up. I also love money and this is a good way to make some money.” Senior Abner Johnson “My idea is a shoe of the month business. You could pick the type of shoes and the number of pairs you want to receive each month and then at the end of the month send them back and get new ones.” Freshman Chris Johnson “I would open an international restaurant featuring foods from China, Portugal and Greece. It would be cool introducing new flavors of food to people who haven’t experienced it before.” Sophomore Faith Eberly “If I could start a business, I would open a clothing boutique downtown. I like style and I want to give people new options while keeping the cost low. Kind of like a mix between Bluetique and the Yellow Button.” Freshman Mikaela O’Fallon “I would open up a second Chipotle in Harrisonburg. We only have one and it is very successful, so if you opened another one on the other side of town by the high school and downtown it would be just as successful.” INFOGRAPHIC BY DANNY DOMBROWSKI
rick Badia’s dad, is a car collector. He buys cars from old junkyards, abandoned lots, or old timers who have no use for the scrap car. He purchases them for a low price, no more than $2000, and re-
stores them; he rarely sells them for a profit. “It’s a long tedious process; repainting, remodeling, rust refiguration,” Patrick Badia said. “It takes a year or two to get [the car] to where it’s driveable.
The motor is probably the hardest to fix. The underbody rust is also a tricky step. You have to make sure you get all of it.” Patrick Badia spends a lot of time with his dad working on restoring the cars. “The car I worked the most on was my Beetle, so I was impatient and wanted it to be done as soon as possible,” Patrick Badia said. “But at same time, it was an opportunity to bond with my dad.” Patrick Badia is a fan of what his dad does, but Raymundo doesn’t fully trust Patrick just yet. “He prizes most of the cars so he doesn’t let me drive them. I only consistently drive one, which is my beetle,” Patrick Badia said. “I drove [the Volkswagen van two weeks ago. I liked it a lot because it had a radio and could hold more people, but my beetle had better gas milage. The van ended up breaking down when I was in the middle of the road. My dad fixed it up, but he doesn’t let me drive it anymore.”
However, Raymundo’s pastime isn’t popular with the whole family. “My mom does not approve of it,” Patrick Badia said. “He buys the cars without her knowing. Also, a while back there was this old boat we restored. It was a cabin cruiser with a huge diesel V8 engine in the back. While we were working on it, my dad accidently poked a hole in the boat. It sunk and we lost the motor, but that was the funniest memory I have of restoring something.” His dad has been restoring cars for quite a while now; he took on the hobby when he was 20 years ago and hasn’t stopped since. 0Patrick looks to continue on this tradition when he grows older. Cars have been around for quite some time for the sole purpose of getting people around, but what some view as just a mode of transportation, others will view as an art form. “I’ve always loved cars,” Patrick Badia said. “I would enjoy doing what my dad does.”
Mehta gains work experience through family businesses Alissa Burnette Staff Reporter Senior Ami Mehta’s parents, Benny and Jagu Mehta, own the Clean N’ Brite laundromats in the Shenandoah Valley. Benny Mehta is a Managing Member of Clean N’ Brite since it’s creation in early 2004. “We used to live in New Jersey, and my parents were certified professional accountants,” Mehta said. “One day my dad was like ‘you know what, my job is too stressful, so we’re going to move, and then we’ll start fresh.” Since opening in Novem-
ber of 2004, The Mehta’s Clean N’ Brite has expanded to have two branches in the Harrisonburg area. “They kind of own it collectively, but they wanted to open another location so they could get more business,” Mehta said. As of now, Clean N’ Brite provides laundry care, dry cleaning, and restoration. The building started with the sole purpose of being a laundromat, but over time expanded to include other services. “They it set up, and they thought they’d get a lot of business,” Mehta said. “But, since it’s kind of a suburban area and everyone
already has their washers and dryers and everything, it didn’t really work out. They thought it would be a laid back job, they wouldn’t have to do anything, and it would be an easy way to make money.” After opening a laundromat, Benny and Jagu Mehta expanded Clean N’ Brite’s services to also include clothing restoration and dry cleaning. “They got into restoration for clothes that have been damaged by houses that were through fires or floods,” Mehta said. “Now the main thing they do is restore clothes, and on the side they do laundromat
and dry cleaning.” Time spent helping out at Clean N’ Brite shaped Mehta into who she is today. “I sort of had a job growing up, so I have work experience because, as I grew up, I would lend a hand in the shop,” Mehta said. “I know what it’s like to be that person behind the counter, or to be the person that’s helping instead of the customer. I know what it’s like to kind of deal with customers that aren’t very happy, or customers who take out their anger on you, so I feel like I have more job experience.”
Avila family brings traditional Mexican food to Harrisonburg Jackson Hook Sports Editor Tacos El Primo is a traditional Mexican food truck that has been apart of the city of Harrisonburg for nine years now. Junior Carlos Avila is a part of the family that runs the food trucks. “I work there during the summers when I don’t have football and school. I don’t really enjoy it because it is a lot of work, but it’s for my family, so I have to,” Avila said. Avila says the food cooked in the trucks is traditional Mexican food that was taught to his family by his mother and grandmother. “I love the food we make in the trucks, it’s pretty simple. It is the same thing we make and eat at home,” Avila said. Many simple options are available at the trucks including tortas, burritos, tacos and quesadillas.
PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLOS AVILA
A TASTE OF HOME. Junior Carlos Avila’s family has been providing authentic Mexican food out of their food trucks for eight years. Options include shredded chicken topped with spicy chorizo, along with homemade salsa verde and pickled radishes. “What we make is real traditional Mexican food. If you go to a big Mexican city, you can see all of these taco trucks on the corners everywhere. So that’s what we try to do here for all of the Mexicans in our city,” Avila said.
With two different trucks located in Harrisonburg, one on Reservoir Street and the other on Route 11, the family run business has been fairly successful. “I think we are doing great to be honest. We
were one of the first food trucks in the city and we’re still here. I think that we’re really popular around here and I don’t think we will be going anywhere anytime soon,” Avila said.
Zheng learns life lessons while working for parents Angel Hendrix Staff Reporter Senior Anna Zheng works at China Max in the mall. Her parents own the business and they’ve had it since she was in second grade which was around nine or ten years ago. “It was more of our cultural thing [to open a restaurant], because I’m Chinese [and] most Chinese people open restaurants, and my dad worked in a restaurant before so he felt more comfortable in running one and owning one personally with his experience in the food industry,” Zheng said. Zheng and her family serve traditional chinese food. “There are some [recipes] that are used throughout different Chinese restaurants, but there are some where we changed
it in a certain way to fit our secret recipe of some sort. But we definitely do add different things to change it up a bit compared to fake Chinese restaurants that are run by Americans or something. It’s definitely more traditional but not completely since we do have to change a bit to fit more of the populations liking because some people might not like real traditional Chinese food so we had to tweak it a little bit,” Zheng said. Since Zheng works at China Max, she eats a lot of the food. “No, I never [get tired of the food]. There’s a lot of different choices that I can choose from; there’s at least 20. I can add a little bit of extra sauce and it will have a completely different taste so I never get tired [of it],” Zheng said. According to Zheng, having a family restaurant
PHOTO BY ANGEL HENDRIX FAMILY FIRST. Zheng balances her school work, social calander, and work schedule to help out at her parent’s resturant. is tiring. teachers and using her free “It’s really tiring because block, but if necessary, she right now I’m taking a lot of will miss a day of work. classes and you have to be Zheng isn’t working as up to date and you have to much as she did last year. balance your school work Last year, she worked at and your work,” Zheng least five days in a week and said. In order to keep this 12 hours on weekends. This balance, she tries to finish year she works 12 hours on her work ahead of time weekends, but not as much by getting extra help from during the week. She main-
ly takes the cashier position and serves the food but if it’s busy she helps prepare the food in the back. “Even though I don’t personally like working because I feel like it’s taking a lot of my time as a high school student [and] it always takes half of my time up and I dont have a lot free to hang out with friends and other stuff, I think that owning one is different from working in one because it’s completely different especially in the way that you learn from it,” Zheng said. Working in the restaurant has taught Zheng life lessons. “I learn more management and dealing with money. It makes me more empathetic to other types of people because a lot of times customers, especially in the food industry, there can be some that are rude and with this I can be more
nice and understanding with different types of people,” Zheng said. According to Zheng, having the restaurant in the mall helps her have more interactions with people. “There are tourists in the summer and then there are a lot of different people it could be like high school [students], or churches that would come by and when I’m serving them I can have different interactions with them, learning more,” Zheng said. Despite the benefits, Zheng doesn’t plan on taking over the family business. “I hate actually working. I feel like it’s really tiring and I don’t get enough sleep already. If my family wanted me to continue running the business I would, but I want to get my own career and start my own stuff,” Zheng said.
The Newsstreak
November 30, 2015
Feature-A10
MTC: Preparing students for vocations
Brothers follow after father, consider welding Faith Runnells Print Editor-in-Chief
Welding is a family affair in the Rodriguez-Sanchez family; senior brothers Eduardo Rodriguez-Sanchez and Jonathon Rodri-
guez-Sanchez are both part of the Massanutten Technical Center’s (MTC) Welding II class. Many of their other family members have experience with welding as well. “My cousin talked to me about MTC and I like
to work with my hands. I went for a [visiting] day to see what [we] would do, and it was fun. I decided to choose the welding and it was fun and I like it,” Jonathon Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
The brothers’ uncle has a welding shop in which both brothers have helped out. This experience helped them to realize their affinity for welding. “I guess [it’s a family thing.] He does a lot of work
PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR GOGGLES ON. Senior Jonathon Rodgriguez-Sanchez works on welding a box on Nov. 19 at Massanutten Technical Center. He and his brother, Eduardo Rodriguez-Sanchez, attend a Welding course at MTC every day for three hours.
Engineering class promotes dedication Douglas Ritcher Staff Reporter One of the options available at Massanutten Technical Center is an engineering program. The Engineering Technology class at MTC has attracted many students. The class meets every other day in the morning and studies building concepts. Though Junior Fernando Varela-Hernandez was not originally signed up for the class, he has taken many things away from it. “I was signed up for welding, but you have to sign up for a back up. [I signed up for] Engineering which is involved in farming and I’m into farming,” Varela-Hernandez said. Varela-Hernandez and his classmates are all committed in a team effort. Each student has developed a role in the team. Senior Alec Lockey has found a role on the team as that of a voice of experience. Lockey has taken many engineering related shop classes throughout school. “Using a bandsaw or a drill press might be new for some
people, but not for me,” Lockey said. With his experience he has emerged as a presence in the building stages of many projects. Regardless of role, students in the class feel that focus and dedication are key in the class’ overall success. Most students bring this attitude every day. When students don’t bring these characteristics to class, it can result in frustration for the team. “[My least favorite part is] the others not taking it seriously. Everytime I go, I work and I pay attention. There are some times when the teacher gets mad at everybody, [even though] it is the same kids who always get in trouble,” Varela-Hernandez said. Though there are occasional problems, the class has been very productive with its projects so far. Their current project is the creation of a windmill. The class will enter their final product into the Kidwind Competition in April. Junior Matthew Biller has done hands on work with the windmill and hopes it does well in competition. “We send it into a competi-
tion. They see which makes the most power. Last year’s MTC class won,” Biller said. Lockey’s favorite assignment so far is still in the process of being made. “We’re also working on a project to make a gumball machine. You actually have to put coins in to work it,” Lockey said. Beyond the class, Lockey and Varela-Hernandez have many goals they hope to accomplish in the engineering field. Lockey hopes to connect engineering to his interest in masonry. “For masonry, you have to know about structural state: whether or not something will stand up and where. Engineering helps with that,” Lockey said. Varela-Hernandez will look to pursue farming engineering. “My stepdad has a farm and you have to know about what type of soil and how much of it and if I start engineering I can go into a certain type of engineering that has to do with farming and then I can work for him,” Varela-Hernandez said. “Or maybe he can work for me actually.”
PHOTO BY JOSHUA BYRD
PROBLEM SOLVING. Senior Alec Lockey and junior Matthew Biller work on a wind turbine project in their engineering technology class at Massanutten Technical Center.
and sometimes [me and my brother] help him. It’s fun to do that,” Jonathon Rodriguez-Sanchez said. When informed about the Welding class offered at MTC, the brothers were encouraged by their father as well. “My father says that what I am doing, welding, is good. He said it’s a nice, well paying job and that’s [part of] why I chose it,” Jonathon Rodriguez-Sanchez said. The Welding II class is offered for seniors who have taken an introductory course the previous year. The class meets every day for three hours, during the third and fourth blocks of an HHS school day. Students travel by bus to Massanutten Technical Center. The focus of the course this year is completing various projects, from a circular pie to a rectangular box. “We do a lot of projects to practice how to build. [Once, we did a project called] the tank. We had to build a box. It was just a box, but it was really hard to do it. I don’t know how to explain it,” Jonathon Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
“Also, [we work on] all the positions of welding like flat, vertical and horizontal. That’s really it, because it’s really hard to do [that]. You get nervous, and want to keep doing it and keep doing it to get better.” For Eduardo, the people at MTC help him overcome the harder projects. “The ‘X’ joint [has been the hardest project]. You have to make an ‘X’ and you need to weld everything for it,” Eduardo Rodriguez-Sanchez said. “[But] everybody can help you. The teacher is a good teacher.” The class provides many welding opportunities, but a complete and accurate final project is expected each time. “If you do something wrong, you have to write an essay. You have to follow all of the rules to get into the shop,” Jonathon Rodriguez-Sanchez said. Although neither brother is positive of exactly where they are working after graduation, they do know that welding is the plan. “I just like it. It’s fun,” Eduardo Rodriguez-Sanchez said.
Grogg uses skills he has learned in cosmetology skills as back-up to nursing plan Lucie Rutherford Sports Editor Within the school walls, there are students making moves to be that much closer to college. By using programs through Massanutten Technology College, students like senior Austin Grogg can study what they want in a college setting. Every day from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m., Grogg travels to MTC for a two hour cosmetology class. That all started with a field trip three years ago. “When they took our freshman class to MTC, we had to pick three classes. I needed to have a third choice, so I just picked cosmetology and I really liked it. I took that and nursing class last year and I’m in nursing and cosmetology this year because it’s a two-year program,” Grogg said. Though Grogg did need a third class, cosmetology was a not an entirely random choice. “I’ve always done hair for people,” Grogg said. “Everybody always asks me to do homecoming hair, prom hair, and I like to color hair. It kind of comes naturally, so I don’t practice it unless it’s a new thing I see, then I’ll practice that.” For senior Meaghan Shifflett, Grogg is not only her cousin, but the perfect option when it comes to a hair masterpiece. “He did my hair for homecoming and it turned out great. I loved it,” Shifflett said. “I would definitely recommend him to other people. He’s very easy to work with and he’ll make you laugh.”
Like everything, working with cosmetology has its ups and downs. “The best thing is the relationships that I make with people through doing their hair and my favorite thing is coloring. I like to see the transition,” Grogg said. “I also love the hands-on activities that we do, but all the bookwork is what gets to me. We take [tests] every other day that are about 180 questions each. We are in the class for two hours each day though, so it doesn’t require a lot of time after school.” In terms of a job, Grogg does get some money from his love of hair for things like highlights and coloring, though he is not focusing on cosmetology to support him. Looking into the future, Grogg plans on getting a degree in cosmetology, but sees nursing as his main goal. “My plan is to take the state board test in December to get my license, then I’ll be able to work if I would like to. Though since I got my nursing degree for a C&A, that’s my main thing to work for during college. If that doesn’t work out, since hair has more flexible hours because you make your own hours, I’ll fall back on that to make money through college,” Grogg said. “Right now, I see [cosmetology] as more of a hobby than wanting to do it as a job.” Looking even deeper into the future, Grogg plans on attending Piedmont Community College in Charlottesville, or Blue Ridge. “From there I may transfer somewhere but I don’t know yet,” Grogg said.
Collision repair class provides real-life, hands-on experiences Josh Byrd Ad Manager
PHOTO BY JOSHUA BYRD
SIMPLY SANDING. Senior Ulysses Correa-Covarrubias sands a bumper for his current project in the collision repair program at Massanutten Technical Center.
The Collision Repair program offered at Massanutten Technical Center (MTC) allows students to work on car repair, dealing with windows, the outside body, painting, sanding, polishing and other areas that deal with car repair after accidents. Eighteen HHS students participate in this program at MTC. Junior Jorge Acevedo-Pellicier is one of the students who participates in the program. “I like to mess around with cars,” Acevedo-Pellicier said. The course is broken into two sections. Within the first section there are two parts. One part is classroom and textbook work, while the other part is in the shop, working on cars. Junior Ulysses Correa-Covarrubias’ favorite part of the class in when they are in the shop taking parts out and putting parts back in the car. Throughout the
course, they are able to work on people's actual cars, but they practice for these instances with junk cars. “They are old junk cars,” Correa-Covarrubias said. “So most of them are already messed up or broken.” He does not enjoy the textbook work as much; both prefer working in the shop. One day, while in the shop, Acevedo-Pellicier saw the hood of a car hood fall and almost land on the student's foot. Correa-Covarrubias does collision repair was because of his past, growing up with cars. “I grew up around cars, and I thought it would be nice to fix them and make my own ones.” Correa-Covarrubias said. “[I] was around friends who built their own Hondas and started from scratch.” After graduation, Correa-Covarrubias plans to start his own collision repair business with his friends. Acevedo-Pellicier plans on either starting his own business or joining someone else's.
November 30, 2015
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November 30, 2015
The Newsstreak
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