November Issue

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B3: Spotlight on JROTC. Class prepares all students to be leaders

The

A10: The grind on coffee

B10: Vetren’s day parade

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Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIC • Issue 4• November 20, 2012

Elephant’s Graveyard competes at VTA Celia Ehrenpreis Editor-in-chief

The show must go on.This seemed to be a common theme among cast member of this year’s one act, Elephant’s Graveyard, after their performance at VTA on Oct 27. “We performed well, but I really wish that we could have received a little more recognition from the judges,” freshman Jaymie Inouye, said. The cast did not, however, go without any hardware, receiving an honorable mention for their overall performance. “It was a great first experience at VTA, everyone who was there loved theatre, and I learned a lot,” Inouye said. Elephant’s Graveyard, a play set in the early 1900’s about a traveling circus. HHS performed well at districts, beating out Turner Ashby, Spotswood, Broadway, Fort

See ONE ACT on page A2 Tap workshops prepare actors for musical Students share their experiences about learning to tap dance A3

Veteran’s Day concert to honor war retirees PHOTO BY SUKRITI ADHIKARI

BRAVO! The one act this year, Elephant’s Graveyard perfomred at VTA on Oct. 27. Junior Tyler Edwards, freshman Jaymie Inouye, juniors Deb Halpern, Lillian Poriot, and sophomore Isabelle Burden perform a scene from the show.

The annual concert was performed by band and choir members, was held at HHS on Nov. 11 A3

Blood drive collects 41 pints of blood, saves lives Planned greenway to bring green space, recthose in need of it, includMark Duda ing accident victims and Editor-in-chief cancer patients. reational areas to city “We went down there Every day, according to the American Red Cross, over 44,000 blood donations are needed to satisfy the number of patients in need of blood. On Oct. 26, HHS students did their part to contribute to this number. In all, 41 pints of blood were collected at the drive, coming from students who fulfilled the minimum requirements to give blood. In the U.S. population as a whole, only about a third of the population is eligible to give blood, but this number is significantly higher among healthier high schoolers. Junior Jon Marks decided to give blood to help

and they had us fill out this massive survey to make sure we were able to give blood, probably to make sure we didn’t have AIDs and didn’t know it,” Marks said. The survey included questions about the frequency and type of sexual activity students participate in to screen them for potentially unwanted STDs. According to junior Chris Hyser, the actual process of the blood being drawn was an unpleasant one. “At first it hurt when they put the needle in,

See BLOOD on page

Brenna Cowardin Style editor

PHOTO BY SUKRITI ADHIKARI

HOLD STILL. Junior Ahmed Mustafa gives blood on Oct. 26. Sponsored by Virginia Blood Services and the HHS Student Council Association, the drive raised 41 pints of blood.

Parent night workshops focus on student success Mia Karr Managing editor For one night this school year, it was parents who attended class at the high school, instead of students. As part of their education and outreach, the counselors and mental health staff of the school division have hosted and will continue to host a variety of parent workshops on topics such as college planning, and academic, emotional, and social success. The workshops have evolved since their beginning two years ago. Guid-

“We have a daughter who is a sophomore in high school and we are aware that figuring out the whole college scene is a complicated process...we wanted to get a head start,” Ramona Stahl, parent ance counselor Rachel Linden has watched this process. “A couple years ago, Dr. Kizner wanted us to focus on bullying,” Linden said. Now the focus has shifted to more general outreach.

On the Web Updated sports scores for all seasonal sports an intramurals Feature package stories and extended coverage of print packages Advertising forms and information Breaking news from school community Video footage of sports Variety of reviews and blogs Poll of the week Picture of the day

The high school’s theme for this year is “How to help your child succeed,” Linden said. The middle and elementary schools have different focuses for their workshops. So far, a workshop

about setting limits for elementary age children was held on Oct. 11, at Keister Elementary School, as well as the workshop at the high school on Oct. 23 and a “community resource fair” on Nov. 5. Over the years, the workshops have also shifted from being held all on one night, to being spread out through the school year. April Howard, the Coordinator of Psychological and Student Services for the division, coordinates the workshops. “It’s our attempt at offering different resources

In the late 90’s, Friend’s of Black’s Run Greenway proposed an eight to nine mile path following Black’s Run through the city as a means of ecologically friendly transportation. That idea is now finally coming to life. By 2014, the first stage of a 2.5 mile trail will be completed, running from the Little Grill, downtown, to Virginia Mennonite Retirement Community in Park View. This plan for the Northend Greenway, an initiative of New Community Project, is much more feasible than the original idea more than 10 years ago. Suzi Carter, the Outreach and Development Coordinator for the Green-

way sees this as a stepping stone. “We want to use [the Northend Greenway] as a prototype. Someday we’d like to see greenways all over the city,” Carter said. Greenways are off-road walking and biking paths for communities to enjoy and utilize going to work, taking a run, or walking the dog. Pocket parks along the trail offer a beautiful look at nature. Carter also plans to help the community learn about the ecological environment and Black’s Run through the Northend Greenway. Greenways are not an uncommon idea. Places from California to North Carolina have Greenways running through towns and cities alike. Luray’s

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Coming Up Winter sports get underway Gift ideas on a budget Tap dance classes help actors prepare for Thoroughly Modern Millie Hitting the slopes this winter: everything you need to know National English Honor Society chapter begins at HHS Testing: Are you set for final exams, SOLs, SATs and Benchmarks?


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