September 2016 Print Issue

A3: Streaks ELT Leadership focuses on school

The

B1: Two ‘Seas’ from last year become unified

B8: Changes coming to football team

Newsstreak

where every person has a story

Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIIC • Issue 1• September 29, 2016

Turner, Turner defying odds on football field Owen Stewart Print Managing Editor

PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

NOT JUST A FOOTBALL SIGN. Sophomore linebacker Camron Turner communicates with his interpreter, Reba Turner, during a football practice in September. Turner and Turner, unrelated, have worked with each other for a long time and plan to continue throughout the season. It is Reba Turner’s job to translate all of the coach’s instructions, and Camron’s job to play the game. “Work hard and learn the game. Then the game will be fun, and you can enjoy it with your friends,” Camron Turner said.

If you attend a Harrisonburg football practice, you’ll see a sophomore lineman going through drills. At first glance, Camron Turner looks like any other football player, but when you take a second look, you’ll notice he’s watching the signs of an interpreter as he works his way through practice. Turner is deaf, and has been since birth, but he is on the varsity football team for the first time this year.

“I think that football is fun, I really enjoy it. I also have some friends on the team,” Turner said.

Despite his lack of hearing, Camron says he doesn’t really feel at a disadvantage on the field.

“I don’t get frustrated [on the field]. I’m fine with it,” Turner said.

His interpreter, Reba Turner, has worked with deaf athletes before, but interpreting for a football player is a new experience for her.

“I’ve worked in basketball and track before, but this is my first time in football. Wherever he is, I am. If he is practicing or at a drill, then I am at the drill with him making sure he understands what he is asked to do, and so he can do it at the best of his abilities,” Reba Turner said. Reba has been working as an interpreter for the school system for 15 years, and has known Camron for most of that time.

“He remembers me from VSDB (Virginia School of Deaf and Blind) because my daughter went there with him. We’ve known each other for a long time, but professionally, I’ve been working with Camron for five years,” Reba Turner said.

For Camron to communicate, Reba has to sign him the coach’s instructions. This usually goes smoothly, but occasionally, there are some obstacles to overcome.

“The toughest part is that sometimes there can be distractions.

See TURNER page A2

Over 900 Chromebooks given Gear Up program aids underclassmen to freshmen, sophomores Abby Hissong Noah Siderhurst Op-Ed Editor “Good afternoon, I brought your chromebooks,” instructional technology resource teacher Diana Flick said. “If you turned in your paperwork, yes, you get your chromebook today. I need to go over a couple of things… and then we’ll hand them to you.”

This is the way Flick begins the talk she has given to more than 900 freshman and sophomores. The 5-minute talk is usually followed by another 10 minutes of handing out chromebooks and chargers to 20 underclassmen.

“I don’t get tired [of giving the same speech], but I forget what I’ve said,” Flick said as she prepared to go into another classroom.

Flick thinks that for students who might not be able to get their own computer at home, the chromebooks allow for success, especially in an increasingly electronic school environment. “[Chromebooks] level the playing field. No matter what your background, everyone gets the same machine, so students who have not had access before have

something,” Flick said.

Sophomore Aaliyah Jordan thinks chromebooks will help save both time and make things fair for everyone.

“I think [chromebooks] will help everybody be more responsible,” Jordan said. “I think [school is] harder for people who don’t have a laptop at home. When they have to write a paper, they have to stay after school. This is better because they can just go home.”

Besides this, Jordan thinks that it will also be nice to have a computer to herself, though she has one concern.

“I’m afraid that one day I’m going to drop my book bag and it might hurt the computer,” Jordan said.

However, the administration behind the decision was one step ahead of her. Included with the chromebooks is a warranty and insurance plan. This warranty covers “liquid spilled on or in the unit, drops, falls and other collisions, and electrical surges” but does not cover “theft, cosmetic damage, normal wear and tear, intentional damage, or damage due to fire or

See CHROME page A2

Editor-In-Chief

PHOTO BY MALAK BANI-HANI

HUG IT OUT. Freshmen D’Shawn Fields celebrates with fellow freshman after completing one of their team building challenges at the freshmen orientation day made possible by the Gear Up grant.

With the arrival of a new school year comes a new freshman class, and with them, a few thousand dollars in grant money. Recipients of the “Gear Up Virginia” (GUV) grant, HHS’s class of 2020 will receive college preparatory services and support that will follow them in various ways all the way through their first year of college.

Assistant principal Lisa Warren is the head of the site team for the Gear Up program.

“Gear Up Virginia is a grant supported through the State Council of Higher Education in Virginia, (SCHEV). They selected so many schools in Virginia that met certain criteria, based on diversity, free/reduced lunch, having colleges in your community and so on.

Harrisonburg was one of the schools chosen to receive extra funding for the freshmen class in regards to increasing post secondary schooling. What that means is that over the years, as different opportunities arise, we will apply for grant funds that allow us to provide resources for the kids,” Warren said.

See GEAR UP page A2

New tardy policy produces improvements from previous years Lucie Rutherford Print Editor-In-Chief New year, new rules.

With an additional two minutes between classes, and HHS’s new Blue Streak Way which focuses on expectations of a Harrisonburg student, Assistant Principal Eric Miller and the rest of the admin team have cracked down on unexcused tardies.

“Last year, one of the major concerns was the number of unexcused tardies in the building, and

one thing that we recognized was that when we did have issues happen in school, if we had a fight or disruption in the hallway, it was when kids weren’t to class on time,” Miller said.

Over the summer, the admin team, made up of principal Cynthia Prieto, Joe Glick, Mike Eye, Eric Miller, Lisa Warren, Darrell Wilson, Chris Vass and Rachel Linden, decided to do some research. The 8-person team called different schools, looked to see what was working at other schools similar to HHS, and

Next issue...

Fall sports updates College application process Homecoming Round-up Humans of HHS feature One act Competition band Columns and editorials Breast Cancer Awareness Coverage Farm-to-table week

was able to tweak it in a way that works for the Blue Streak student body.

“We talked for a long time,” Miller said. “We had to discuss what is an acceptable amount of tardies…

We also had to think about how we would communicate between students and the parents when somebody is tardy, because it’s a lot of work on a teacher every time a student is tardy to call the parent at night.

I mean, if you had 15 kids that were tardy throughout the course of the day, and you had to sit there and

make 15 phone calls, that’s a lot of time that a teacher is spending outside of their work hours.”

The team found a way to take that pressure off of teachers by using PowerSchool, an app that records grades, tardies, etc.

“We looked into PowerSchool being able to make an automated robo call generated by a list,” Miller said. “If a kid is marked unexcused tardy, [we recorded] this message that gets sent out every time they are late.”

The new policy works

Follow Us! @NewsstreakOnline @_HHSMedia @StreaksSports @hhsmedia16

in a warning-based system. The first two tardies in the same class receive a warning as well as a robo call home, the third tardy in that class will receive an additional personal call home from the teacher, and the fourth tardy results in a referral that places that student ‘not in good school standing’ for one week, including that Saturday and Sunday. “‘Not in good school standing’ means they can’t do any after school activities for the week,” Miller said. “That includes sport-

ing events, that includes practices, academic academy, band, chorus, things like that.”

In order to regulate who is and isn’t allowed in after school activities such as sporting events, students will be obligated to show their student ID badges to get in.

“PowerSchool now has a way that you can mark a student ‘not in good school standing’, so before the events Mr. Wilson [athletic director] can run that

See TARDY page A2

Find us on the Web www.hhsmedia.com Updated sports scores and schedules for all seasonal sports Feature package stories and extended coverage of print packages Advertising forms and information Breaking news from school and the community

September 29, 2016

News-A2

The Newsstreak

Growing population moves Warren from counselor to vice principal Hannah Miller Copy Editor With HHS’s population growing to over 1700 students and counting, the need for regulation increases as well. At the end of last school year, former co-director of the counseling department, Lisa Warren, learned she would be taking on a new position as an assistant principal.

The demand for extra administration stems from not only overcrowding, but also from the necessity of instructional supervision over teachers and control of certain programs.

“My position is kind of different from the other administrators. I’m AP coordinator, I’m in charge of Massanutten Regional

Governor’s School and the Summer Residential Governor’s School, dual enrollment [classes] and I also currently carry a caseload of about 120 kids as their counselor,” Warren said.

Principal Cynthia Prieto knew Warren’s 10 years of counseling experience would prepare her for the new role.

“I think it’s fantastic because she has the knowledge of the credits, the various diplomas and the requirements. She’s got the connections, so she can talk to MTC, she can talk to Blue Ridge [and] she can talk to JMU,” Prieto said.

Warren is not the only recent change to administration. This year Prieto tried to focus on the skills of everyone to ensure an

efficiency that will help things run smoothly.

“Each assistant principal is now responsible for things that pitch to their strengths. She’s got all of our programs that are Blue Ridge Scholar, Advanced Placement [and] Governor’s School [and] continues to work on the dropout rate, which is great and continues to get better,” Prieto said. “She’s in charge of graduation, getting people across that line, getting creative with programs and everything else so we can get people ready to start work and life.”

Warren had already played a big role in many of these things when she worked in counseling, so certain aspects of the new job were already familiar.

Grant presents opportunities for 2019, 2020 classes GEAR UP from A1 The ultimate objective of GUV is to increase the academic performance and college readiness of students in addition to raising awareness of financial aid among teens and their families.

“The freshman class is the only class in the high school that has access to this grant. However, what we are trying to do is use a lot of the same programs that we have been using, and enhance them with the new funding that we have been given and apply more resources,” Warren said.

So far, HHS has implemented the Gear Up grant by hosting a day-long freshman orientation for rising ninth grade students to make the transition to high school easier by getting familiar with the school, staff and classmates. The day included a tour of the school, team bonding activities, free lunch and ended with a carnival run by student ambassadors.

“We’re really happy with the way everything came together. We were able to get a lot of students on campus. They got their Red Sea t-shirts so they were ready for the first football game, and they got the chance to bond with some new people in their grade they might not have known before,” Warren said.

Other plans for implementation of the grant include college visits, summer programs and after school tutoring in several subjects. Coordinator of the tutoring program Peter Norment is excited about the new possibilities the program provides for Gear Up students.

“The [tutoring] program is still in it’s infancy, but Gear Up provides funding for several tutor positions for after school as

well as during ELT. Eventually we’ll have tutors available for students during the regular academic academy hours. The big focus will be on freshman math classes, like Algebra 1 and Geometry, as well as English 9, since those are the two areas that have been targeted,” Norment said.

Norment urges students who are part of the GUV program to take advantage of the unique opportunities available to them.

“Gear Up has a lot of money attached to it that will allow us to do some really cool things that students should be getting involved in. I think when other grades hear about it, they’re going to be like, ‘why didn’t we get to do that?’,” Norment said.

Later this year, HHS plans to pay for all of the freshmen to take the pSAT 9, which is like a pre-pSAT that promotes college post secondary education. Additionally, when the class of 2020 graduates, they will be eligible to receive a scholarship ranging in value from $600 to $2000. The scholarship isn’t merit based or need based, it’s based on the fact that their parent filled out the paperwork and they are part of the program.

“This grant is basically just constantly reminding freshmen students what the ultimate goal is, and giving them all the resources to reach it. Some kids that usually wouldn’t take the SAT or pSAT because they’re worried about finances are able to take them because the grant covers those fees,” Warren said. “Just signing their name to a piece of paper has opened so many doors for students to think about college after high school.”

PHOTO BY NYAH PHENGSITTHY

GLIDING THROUGH LIFE. A group of freshmen students participate in a team building activity led by JROTC members at freshmen orientation to encourage camaraderie within grade levels.

“The [counseling co-director] position met with the leadership team, which has the administrators on there, so a lot of what I was doing was collaborating with administration,” Warren said.

Her unique position allows her to still keep in touch with the aspects of counseling that she loved so much.

“I’m looking forward to finding ways to open up last class options to students, and helping students better prepare for AP classes.

Just being able to continue to work with kids, while still having a caseload of kids I can continue to stay connected with [is going to be fun],” Warren said.

Overall, Warren finds her job enjoyable because

she gets to interact with students and help aid their education.

“I really liked bringing the Gear Up program with the freshman orientation.

That’s probably my favorite part, finding ways to support teachers and students by doing some of the behind the scenes stuff to make learning fun,” Warren said.

Though Warren feels slightly nervous about possible failure that can come along with trying something new, her goal for the year is to have a positive impact on the school by supporting the students and staff.

“I’ve been a counselor for 10 years, so in counseling, I know right from wrong very easily. The thing

that I’m the most nervous about is… just stepping into a new role where I’m not 100% confident,” Warren said. “I think my overall nervousness is just making sure that I can do all the things that are being asked of me and be able to be a good assistant principal for the students [while] supporting the administration team as well.”

With Warren’s extensive knowledge of our school’s college-related programs, her presence in administration is seen by Prieto as nothing less than perfect.

“I think she’s an asset for our school... She just brings that one puzzle piece that solidifies everything and makes us the best team possible for this year,” Prieto said.

Deafness does not stop lineman’s game TURNER from A1 [There are times when] he has a hard time focusing on what I say because he wants to look at other things that are going on,” Reba Turner said. Camron, however, has a different view of his biggest obstacle.

“My toughest challenge is that I haven’t had a chance to sack the quarterback yet,” Camron Turner said. To achieve that goal, Camron hopes to improve as he gains more varsity experience throughout the year.

“The more I’m out there the more I learn, and the more training I have the more I am able to improve,” Camron Turner said.

Even when not on the field, Camron stays involved with football as a fan of the Buffalo Bills, just like his dad. Camron likes many things about watching football, but one stands out in particular.

“I love watching the quarterback throw the ball and see how far he can throw it,”

Camron Turner said.

When on the field, however, Camron’s favorite part of the game takes part on the other side of the ball.

“I enjoy playing defense and being able to tackle any way I want to,” Camron Turner said. Camron also suggests that students get involved, and take their liberties with deciding what sports they play.

“Playing football is your decision...I would think that any student should [be able to] decide on any sport they want to play,” Turner said. Camron knows he isn’t the only high schooler in this situation, and he wants to send those other kids a message. “[When I] explain that I’m deaf, people think I’m weak. I want to show them that I’m strong and can be a good football player just like anyone else,” Camron Turner said. “Work hard and learn the game. Then the game will be fun, and you can enjoy it with your friends.”

Admin team works for tardy enhancement Estes has been working at

TARDY from A1 HHS since 2008, and nolist of students. So as kids come through, they have to show their ID badge or you don’t get in.” The student ID badges are expected to come later on in the school year.

There is another addition to the four-tardy policy. If a student is late eight times total, throughout all of their classes within one semester, then the same ban from school activities occurs.

“After that [one week], if they continue to be tardy, then that gets ramped up to an actual disciplinary referral and we’ll look at progressive discipline,” Miller said.

When looking into the new policy, the admin team focused on skills students need to survive in the real work world.

“When you think about it, if you’re late five, six, seven, eight, ten, fourteen times, you’re going to be fired,” Miller said.

“We can’t fire [students], we don’t want to fire [students]. Our job is to educate the students, so we are going to do everything we can to do that.”

Math teacher Geoffray

ticed extreme tardiness throughout last year, picking up near the end. Estes is also a believer that students need these kinds of rules in order to deal with the real world.

“Punctuality is important in most social situations, and if you don’t get into that habit now, it’s going to be hard later on and might come back to bite you,” Estes said. “I think [the tardy policy] will end up with a good, positive outcome if everybody would just buy into it.”

Attendance secretary Cathy Grogg has been working in the attendance office for 30 years, and during the second week of school, she received a report that had never before crossed her computer screen.

“Yesterday was the first day that I’ve had one block with zero tardies. That’s a good start, so hopefully tardies will lesson...Yesterday was a first, so I was excited,” Grogg said.

So far, the tardy policy has proven itself well.

“After the first week we ran a report, and there wasn’t a single athlete that was late to a class in the first week of school, so

that’s pretty cool,” Miller said.

Estes has also seen improvements and changes in how seriously students now take being marked tardy unexcused.

“I have seen students hustling to class, of course you’re going to have some that still want to test that and that’s fine, I mean that’s just society, that’s how things happen. But I’ve seen some positive results from it so far,” Estes said.

Some students have expressed negative feedback towards the policy, that it’s too harsh, though some have expressed that they think it is fair, Miller said.

But, in the eyes of the admin team and staff of HHS, it is a way to support the number one job of a high school, to enhance the students’ learning.

“The goal is to have kids in class on time so that when the teacher starts class there are no interruptions and the students are getting the full amount of education that they’re here to get,” Miller said. “It’s a way to really strengthen the community and the climate in the building so that everything feels safe, and so far it’s doing that.”

Flick, ITRT team assist with technological growth CHROME from A1 during school hours. This is damage, or damage due to fire or natural disasters” according to the Chromebook Handbook distributed with the machines.

In the case of theft, which is not covered by the warranty, the administration can lock down the chromebook, making it essentially a “paperweight” according to Flick.

The administration reserves the authority to filter chromebooks and place certain restrictions on their use, which Flick hopes students understand.

“I hope that students realize that because of funding and because of age, we have to filter,” Flick said.

The technology department is working on a possible way for students to access YouTube for educational uses. One possibility would be for YouTube to be unblocked after school hours so that students could use it for homework, although Flick says it will likely remain blocked

not only because it could cause a distraction during class, but also because of the strain it could put on the internet network, potentially making it slower.

“Probably the best teaching practice is that a teacher shows a video and then there are activities. Of course there is some value in the student at home learning. We’ll work on that,” Flick said. “This is all new to us, so we’ll address things as they come up.”

The idea to give out chromebooks originally evolved from a program that has been in place in HCPS for several years now called Transforming Classrooms, which allows teachers to apply for electronics like chromebooks or iPads to have in their classrooms.

Looking to expand the program, administrators found a grant from the Virginia Department of Education called the eLearning Backpack Initiative that would pay $400 per student for an electronic device that the

students would take home.

From there, the decision had to be made as to what kind of device the district would purchase.

“We could either get a really cheap, lousy laptop, or we could get the best chromebook money could buy at this time,” Flick said.

So, the district went with the chromebooks. Other advantages of the chromebooks included ease of management for the technology staff (chromebooks automatically update and are connected to the network all the time) and the fact that chromebooks had a keyboard while other devices such as iPads or tablets did not.

All in all, the state grant covers the cost for the $400 chromebooks to all of the more than 900 current sophomores or freshmen and each rising freshman when they enter high school for the next two years. However, the state did not cover the cost of insurance, from $18-$25 per chromebook, which the dis-

PHOTO BY NOAH SIDERHURST

GET YOUR CHROMEBOOKS. Resource teacher Diana Flick hands out Chromebooks to one of many sophomore classes with the help of English teacher Caitlin Francis. trict decided to add itself.

“We have two more years that the freshman class will get them, so by the time [the sophomore] class are seniors, everybody will have them, but that’s it. That’s all the DOE money we have,” Sheets said. “Four years from now

we have to decide whether we’re going to fund it ourselves.”

With the influx of chromebooks also comes an increased workload for the technology staff. It takes work by the technology department to keep the school network run-

ning at peak performance with so many new devices while still managing other electronics like projectors, document cameras, the main servers for the whole district, which are located at HHS, and all the other computers in the building that are not chromebooks.

September 29, 2016

News-A3

The Newsstreak

Ambassadors lead streaks ELT meetings Class officers use Nyah Phengsitthy Social Media Editor After a year of receiving various feedback from students on the school community, student ambassadors plan to get more responses from the students in our school through Streaks Leadership.

Streaks Leadership is a group normally run on Thursdays during ELT periods. Consisting of class meetings talking about the school community, last year’s goal for Leadership was to discuss bullying and to increase the number of students helping to prevent it.

As the previous school progressed, the goal changed to discussing school spirit by helping students feel like they were a part of the school community. The student led discussions were heard by the administration which soon resulted in everyone at HHS receiving a free Red Sea T-shirt.

As of this year, counselor Dave Ward plans to leave the topic of discussion to the students.

“I think one of the main things that’s going to make this year different is that it’s going to be even more student led than last year...students helped and students gave ideas, but our goal has always been to make this group a student led, student run group,” Ward said.

Along with making Leadership more student led, there have been numerous changes to the classroom meetings. This year, Leadership classes have been randomly mixed with multiple grade levels, rather than with first block classes like last year’s meetings. One of the main goals for the meetings is to get more of a diverse group.

“Our community isn’t just your English class, it’s not just your sports team, it’s not just whatever club or activity you’re in. We can get together as a bigger, broader community

from people with way different backgrounds and perspectives, and we can learn to grow and respect one another just as Blue Streaks,” Ward said.

Being a member on the student ambassador coordinating committee, junior Gabby DelBiondo believes that mixing up the grade levels will have a positive impact on the meetings.

“I think that mixing the grades is going to be a great opportunity for students to meet new people and see different sides of the spectrum on the issues we discuss in the meetings,” DelBiondo said.

Even though there are changes that have been made, Ward plans to keep some of the same things from previous years during the meetings.

“I think one of the main things we want to keep doing is to be responsive to what the students are talking about...because of conversations in Streaks Leadership, people have the opportunity to be heard,” Ward said.

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

MiX IT UP. Students listen to discussions during ELT Leadership, a 50 minute block held every Thursday for the first five weeks of school. In class, students were given the chance to express their ideas and opinions on different issues at HHS. Leadership will be interspersed with ELT directed and choice activities throughout the year.

their voice to plan

Yusuf Aboultabl Staff Reporter Sophomore Parker Rising became a class officer to help represent his class better.

“I wanted to be more involved in the decisions being made. The majority of the ideas I get are from other students that don’t have a voice. I talk to them and find out what they want to see,” Rising said. “As class officers, we’re planning on having one more meeting where we’re going to discuss decorations and what we need to get and do, so by homecoming we’ll be able to set everything up.”

So far, class officers have planned homecoming, which will be taking place on Oct. 1. Senior class secretary Athena Benton took part in the committee.

“One of our main goals was to go out and survey people for what they want. We asked about what homecoming themes they wanted,” Benton said. “That’s how we wanted to represent the wants of our classes.

Homecoming isn’t all we do. One of the things we wanted to do is make the Red Sea more unified.

We’re already working on that with SCA, and we also want to improve the school environment in general.”

Benton tries to be involved with activities associated with the school

to show involvement.

“We only have meetings once or twice a month, so it’s not that bad of a commitment,” Benton said. “You still have to try to be present in the Red Sea during football games, and be involved in the school community as much as possible.”

The officers try and use their voices to communicate with administration about school festivities.

“We have meetings with Ms. Prieto. We’ll talk to her about our ideas, and she’ll give us feedback. We’ll usually come to an agreement of something in between,” Rising said. “We had a few meetings over the summer about the pep rally we had the first Friday of school, and we gave her our ideas.

She gave hers back and we found something we both liked.”

Junior treasurer Mariam Da’mes also participated in planning for homecoming, as well as powderpuff football for the junior class.

“We planned homecoming in our last meeting, but I helped plan the powderpuff game. I get to take people’s ideas…

Since I’m the junior class [treasurer] I had to recruit girls that would be interested. I had to get their t-shirt size, design the shirts, collect the money and send in the order,” Da’mes said.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH AS A CLASS OFFICER?

Senior Class President Cameron Neary

Senior Class Vice President Yusuf Aboutabl

Junior Class President Maritza Valencia-Rocha

Junior Class Vice President Iliya Zudilin

Sophomore Class President Chris Johnson

Sophomore Class Vice President Parker Rising

“I ran for senior class president because a couple of counselors and teachers told me I should. Zack, the SCA president, and I are really going to try and focus on getting the red sea to be all inclusive, getting all of HHS at... pretty much any sport at HHS.”

“I decided to be a class officer because I wanted a role of leadership...To the best of my abilities, I’m going to try to represent my class.

I’m not just going to give ideas that are mine, I’m going to ask people in my grade what they want to see happen.”

“I ran for office because I was asked to by my classmates, and because I wanted to represent them and give [them] a voice.”

“The reason that I ran for my office is because... I really like helping in a higher position than me. I didn’t want to run for president because I wouldn’t have had the time to do that position’s job well, but I would have the time to help the president exceed in whatever {they’re] doing.”

“I decided to run for sophomore class president because I felt like I could represent the sophomore class by setting a good example.”

“I ran for office because I wanted to make a difference within the sophomore class. Some things I plan on doing is to plan more events for the sophomores and maybe the freshmen as well.”

New trailers create extra space for growing population Anna Rath Feature Editor Over the summer, the North side parking lot got a little bit smaller thanks to the addition of four new trailers, or outside classrooms(OCs). Before the past school year, HHS got its first two OC’s, making a total of six outside classrooms because of the overcrowdedness of classrooms in the main building.

Principal Cynthia Prieto believes the temporary trailers are a positive thing if it means education can proceed in a decent manner.

“We need more classrooms.

Right now we don’t have another building, we don’t have another option, so if we can provide a clean, nice sized welcoming space, where learning can happen, it’s a win,” Prieto said.

Prieto is appreciative of the students’ and teachers’ willingness to adapt to the additions.

“I would just like to thank the students and the teachers, the teachers especially, that have put such a positive spin on [the trailers], they went out there and they made the places welcoming and they set them all up carefully. When I went out there, there was a lot happening and there was good learning going on and I heard laughter. That to me is a win-win,” Prieto said.

Health and P.E. teacher Jennifer Thompson teaches drivers education 10 in OC 5. She has found the switch difficult due to space

PHOTO BY ANNA RATH

TRAILERS FOUR THE WIN. As the size of the HHS student body grows, teachers find that the number of available classrooms has dropped drastically. To temporarily fix the issue, four new trailers were added to the front parking lot over the summer. The structures serve as classrooms for P.E., math and other subjects. issues, but Thompson has found that, overall, the situation is manageable.

“It was a hard transition [from classroom to trailer], to go out there especially when we had the classroom space, but we have adjusted. A positive about being out there is that we can control the heat and the air conditioning. It’s a little bit cramped, so I don’t like that aspect of it, but in terms of the flexibility of how you set your classroom up, it hasn’t been awful,” Thompson said.

Thompson hasn’t heard anything negative about being in the trailers from students despite their appearance. Instead, she

believes the students find the breath of fresh air a positive.

“I think [the students] like them. I don’t think they like the way they look. They’re ugly, so aesthetically, they’re not very nice, but I don’t think they mind having classes outside. If nothing else, it gives them a break to get outside the building. They’re outside for a couple seconds to go inside to the trailer. It’s just like being in another classroom, it’s just not attached,” Thompson said.

English teacher Jill Hagmaier enjoys the silence of being in a secluded classroom. The lack of students rushing to class is a plus for her.

“There’s a lot of positives. It’s quieter out here, so when the bell rings inside there’s a lot of traffic and it’s very loud and crowded, but when the bell rings out here, there’s two minutes of quiet before the first students start to show up,” Hagmaier said. “That’s nice because then you don’t feel the overcrowding that everyone else is feeling. And the room is spacious, even though my class size is large. I have a class of 28 and a class of 27, but it doesn’t really feel like there are 27 students in here.”

Hagmaier also likes having her own classroom. She has found that she can better educate her students this way.

“I’m actually glad not to be on the cart. For the last two years I’ve been pushing a cart through the crowded hallway between classes trying to end one class, get [my materials] on the cart, push it down to the other one to be ready to roll once class starts again,” Hagmaier said. “Just having my own classroom, that does matter. I can be a better teacher because I have time to be here for my students, turn around and be ready to teach again without pushing a cart through a crowded hall and endangering students with my cart. I’m a teacher, I’m going to come in and do what I have to do whether it’s in this room or another and I’m glad to have a room.”

Despite the benefits expressed by these teachers, having outside

classrooms does have its drawbacks. One of these includes the weather.

“If it was pouring rain, that would be a bummer to go outside,” Prieto said, “One of the teachers said something like, ‘Can we have a couple spare umbrellas in the trailers, so if somebody has to go inside they can snag an umbrella?’ So if there is a need we will try to find solutions.”

Thompson also expressed concern about outside conditions, though it is bearable at this time in the year.

“The worst part is battling the weather, when it’s raining or snowing and having to go inside and outside and the safety of the students in that situation. It hasn’t been awful but probably the other worst part is the size, because it’s not your typical classroom size and plus we have 30 some students in the class, it gets really, really cramped in there,” Thompson said.

Hagmaier thinks overcrowding is a problem as well, even with the addition of trailers. She thinks this situation is going to need a much bigger solution than the current one.

“Certainly it gives us another classroom, so [the trailer] is [effective] in that way, but it is not effective in handling overcrowding because you still have 1800 students trying to get through the crowded hallways. So it puts a bandaid on a problem that has to be addressed at a larger level,” Hagmaier said.

The Newsstreak

September 29, 2016 The Harrisonburg High School Newsstreak The Policy The Newsstreak is published by the students of Harrisonburg High School every month. Reproduction of any material from the newspaper is prohibited without the written permission from the editorial board. Advertising rates are available upon request.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letters may also be sent to the high school.

The Editors and Staff Editor-in-Chief: Abby Hissong Print EICs: Lucie Rutherford, Owen Stewart, Christa Cole Online EICs: Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Angel Hendrix Advertising Managers: Madison Varner, Audrey Knupp, Anna Rath Photographers: Christa Cole, Andrew Rath, David Gamboa-Pena, Yogesh Aradhey Page Editors: Kyle Brown, Anna Rath, Yusuf Aboutabl, Christian Rodriguez, Nyah Phengsitthy, Yogesh Aradhey, Hannah Miller, Jackson Hook, Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Abigail Hissong, Christa Cole, Noah Siderhurst, Sam Heie, Owen Stewart Staff Reporters: Yusuf Aboutabl, Yogesh Aradhey, Kyle Brown, Garrett Cash, Christa Cole, Olivia Comer, Danny Dombrowski, Sarah Earle, David Gamboa, Sam Heie, Angel Hendrix, Abigail Hissong, Jackson Hook, Audrey Knupp, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Owen Marshall, Hannah Miller, Nyah Phengsitthy, Anna Rath, Christian Rodriguez, Lucie Rutherford, Noah Siderhurst, Owen Stewart, Madison Varner, Theo Yoder, Carrie Yoder, Max McDaniel, Hannah Daniel, Lene Andrawas, John Breeden, Ryan Doerr, Andrew Ely, Lily Gusler, Jackie Mateo-Sanchez, Forrest Matter, Jewelia Rodriguez, KiYosia Wallace, Andi Fox, Zoey Fox, Andrew Rath, Edgar Sanchez-Bautista, Vivian Neal, Carson Rising, Iris Cessna, Ty McDaniel, Anzhela Nyemchenko, Victor Ruvalcaba-Flores, Jake Urbanski, Josh Wilson, Kenyaa Wright, Samantha Little Professional Affiliations The Newsstreak participates as a member of several journalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2010 Gold Evaluation and 2005, 2009 and 2015 Silver Crown Winner), Quill&Scroll Journalism Honor Society (2012 Gallup Award), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) All-American, the Virginia High School League, Inc. Trophy Class Award, and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association All Southern Ranking and 2010 Scroggins Award winner. hhsmedia.com opt out notice: If you do not want to allow your student’s full name or image to appear on the school newspaper site, please send an email to vkibler@harrisonburg. k12.va.us stating: I DO NOT want my son/daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on the new online version of the newspaper, www. hhsmedia.com.

Op-Ed-A4

New take on cell phone policy isn’t so bad NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL Although the cell phone policy has not changed from previous years, this year, teachers and administrators are enforcing the policy more strictly, with hopes of less cell phone usage in classes. Despite the fact that teachers like to have student’s full attention, it is necessary for students to use their cell phones, due to the fact that it can be effective in order to complete schoolwork. At times, cell phones can be distracting, but to not allow them in sight during class isn’t the best option.

Since technology has become more advanced, cell phones have been a handy resource in learning and getting work done in school. In Newsstreak, reporter’s notebooks are not needed for interviews because the voice recorder on a cell phone can pick up everything the interviewee says. Although teenag-

ers are known to always mess around on their phones, it is actually not the case for many. To some extent, teachers ought to rely students to get their education. Cell phones have mostly all of the tools a student needs in one device. As understandable it is, the cell phone policy is almost too harsh.

It is a common problem for the typical high schooler to need to have immediate contact with their parent. Would you rather have your mom texting you a thousand times disrupting class or be able to shoot her a text so she doesn’t freak out? While cell phones have the ability to sidetrack us from our lesson in class, not allowing students to set their phone on their desk is not fair to students. If the cell phone policy didn’t allow us to use our cell phones at all, students would want to use them more, and probably be on them anyway. Even though the policy is understandable, it is necessary to use cell phones in class.

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

ART BY FORREST MATTER

Living as introverted extrovert is different Introvert Vs. Extrovert

Abby Hissong Editor-In-Chief Once upon a time, I took the Myers Briggs test to find out what my personality type was to be told that I was INFJ- a term that in simpler words, basically means that I’m an extroverted introvert.

This oxymoron can be difficult to live by, as I often find myself stuck between wanting to be included in social situations, but at the same time also kind of wanting to be home by myself watching One Tree Hill in sweatpants.

In general, I would say that I am a friendly person for the most part, but actually maintaining my relationships with people is what usually ends up being more of a challenge for me.

Small talk is not my forte but meaningful conversa-

tions, on the other hand, I absolutely live for. It takes a while for me to open up to people, but once I do, I’ll be the most outgoing person in the room.

I have to be careful to maintain a balance though, because if I cater to my extroverted side too often, then I neglect my internal introvert and become anxious and uneasy.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m always up for making new friends at all, but the effort that requires can honestly be physically painful at times, so I tend to stick to my circle of close friends opposed to reaching out to others.

The biggest misconception that comes with my personality is that I’m rude or I just don’t like you, when 99.9% of the time that isn’t the case at all. When I’m in one of my more reserved moods, I can get really quiet and unintentionally have a scowl on my face.

I can’t even count how many times people have asked me during a conversation if I’m upset about something, to which I always reassure them that I’m fine. I don’t need to constantly talk to still feel engaged in the conversa-

tion at hand, and to some people, that may sound a little weird.

Being an extroverted introvert means having to dig deeper to understand your own wants and needs.

It means having to become flexible, not only with other people, but also with yourself. It means allowing yourself to cancel plans when they become too much, but also pushing your own boundaries. It means accepting that there will be days when you want to go out and socialize, and days that you need to spend 12 hours by yourself with a cup of tea.

I love being a leader and taking charge in things that are important to me. I don’t mind public speaking, and enjoy class presentations.

I don’t portray the stereotypical qualities that come with being an introvert, yet technically that is what I am classified as.

Personality is not a black- and-white matter, and it’s time we stop saying it is. Etroverted introvert, introverted extrovert or whatever -- we all process the world differently, and there’s not a single thing wrong about that.

= two introverts

58%

= two extroverts

42%

Random poll of 100 people Conducted on 9/13 INFOGRAPHIC BY SAM HEIE

Self-love is toughest self-imposed law to live by

Hannah Daniel Columnist This summer, I read a book that changed my life.

The book itself was not particularly spectacular; the writing was plain and poetic, the humor was funny (but not hilarious), and the pages were a glossy print that made them hard to read in the sun. However, Amy Poehler’s novel, Yes Please, changed my views of how I see the world, others, and most importantly, myself.

There are three laws I have come to embrace, ever since reading the book. The first law is a relatively simple one. A positive attitude is just a stepping stone on the way to true happiness. It begins with gratitude, and never truly

ends.

I try to find excitement in each of my days, and I try to be thankful for anything and everything I have. I have learned to love making friends, because each one has a story that I have yet to hear.

I have learned to be thankful for the food in the school cafeteria, because I am reminded of how remarkable our school is in the fact that we offer free lunch for anyone that can’t afford it.

Your daily happiness can can come from something as simple as enjoying a favorite food at the end of the day, or being able to watch TV after a long day of work, or even being able to see your mom or dad for the first time after a weekend away. No matter the circumstances, there is always room for happiness and perfection in every day.

The second law is troublesome because it is a law that’s been frowned upon ever since we were young.

Teenagers, especially females, are self-deprecating creatures. Last year, if

someone commented on my work ethic, I responded by calling myself an overachiever. If someone said I looked pretty, I told them I worked hard for it. But I am not an overachiever, and I that morning I had just thrown on an outfit (and hoped for the best).

Why do we do this to ourselves? Why do we trivialize our achievements just to make others feel better?

The second law deals with honest appraisal.

There are so many things that you do well, and there is no good reason to pretend like there isn’t anything special about you.

Once you realize your worth, it gets easier to understand the third law: selflove.

Self-love is the hardest law of all. We are our own biggest critics, and it can be a struggle, day after day, to accept ourselves. We see our flaws and we dramatize them. My thighs stick together. When I turn to the side, my stomach sticks out. I have more acne than I’d like. My fingernails are short and stubby. When I put my hair in a ponytail, the baby hairs frizz up. I

have scars on my legs from scratching bug bites during the summer. My voice is too high and lisp-y. The list can go on and on, but I’m working on rewriting it.

It’s not about learning to love my flaws, because my flaws suck, and that’s the truth of the matter. Selflove is about learning to admire yourself past your idiosyncrasies. It’s about loving the other parts of you, the ones you can change, like how often you laugh, how wide you smile, or the beautiful sound of your shoes on gravel. I guarantee you, no one sees your insecurities unless you let them.

Y o u can either love the way your hair shines in the water or hate the fact that you chose to get bangs.

You can

either love your toenail polish or hate the shape of your feet. You can either radiate confidence or emanate revulsion.

And ultimately, it’s up to you. It’s your choice, but you just can’t do both.

You’re never fully dressed without your confidence When you came to school on the first day, you probably walked in with your best outfit on. Everything was brand new, from your head to your toes.

How long did it take you to put your look together? Did you have it picked out the night before, or even days before the start of school?

Why? Before you left the house that morning, you

probably double checked yourself in the mirror hoping that everything was just perfect, you didn’t want to forget anything. But most of you did.

There is one thing that is essential to each and every outfit. Without this one thing, you don’t look so great. It completely throws everything off. I guess you can call it an accessory,

Angel Hendrix Web Managing Editor

except you won’t find it in your jewelry box. No matter what, always wear your confidence.

It doesn’t matter what you have on, whether it’s the newest shoes or the hand me down jeans you got from your older brother, wear them with confidence. Don’t let others change how you feel about yourself. Some of you may

have been extra pleased with your outfit that morning, but by the end of the day you didn’t like it anymore. Just because what you like isn’t up to someone else’s standards, doesn’t mean you should no longer like it. As long as you have confidence in yourself, all of the negative things people have to say are completely irrelevant.

The Newsstreak

September 29, 2016

HOT or NOT FDA bans some types of soap: Really clean doesn’t always mean really clean. FDA bans antibacterial chemicals in soaps.

Football now on the rise: HHS Football looking to have winning season led by senior captains David Gamboa, Jeremy Pultz and Rayquan Smith.

Gene Wilder dies: Willy Wonka actor, Gene Wilder dies, at age 83. Wilder kept his secret of having Alzheimer’s so kids wouldn’t know Willy Wonka was sick.

Musical announced: Stage Streaks had their annual potluck to announce this year’s musical on Sept 6. The musical this year will be, Meet me in St. Louis.

Gun violence: Boy in Pennsylvania kills grandmother to skip school. The 14-year-old gunned down his grandmother while she was in her car to be able to skip school.

One act announced: HHS Theater One Act performance will be a musical this year. It is being written by senior students and is based on a staff person’s life.

Louisiana flood: Devastating flood in Louisiana is now the worst natural disaster to strike the United States since Hurricane Sandy four years ago.

Better student achievement: How to help students do better in school? A new study from the University of Nevada finds that students taught by good-looking teachers do better in class.

Donald Trump and Mexico: Trump to cross his own wall. Donald Trump is considering a meeting with Mexican President Enrique Nieto. The meeting is to discuss various political and economic issues.

VMA’s: Beyonce stole the show. Beyonce has talent that can’t be denied, but winning eight awards on the VMA’s proved that it was her night to shine.

Ryan Lochte: Ryan Lochte gold medal for lying?

Olympic swimmer was caught in a web of lies when it came to light that his supposed robbery was made up.

Little League World Series: Little League baseball team MaineEndwell from upstate New York comprised of eleven 12 and 13 year olds completed a 24-0 season to win the Little League World Series.

Chris Brown alleged abuse: Chris Brown is in the headlines again.

A woman reported to the police Brown Allegedly pointed a gun at her head and told her to get out. While police try to obtain a search warrant, Brown goes off on Instagram defending his innocence.

Walk of Hope: Sunflower field east of Harrisonburg is opening fundraiser for Walk of Hope.

The Frazier family started this fundraiser to raise awareness for mental health after losing their son in 2009.

Dwayne Wade’s cousin killed: Dwyane Wade has had enough with gun violence when earlier this week his 32-year-old cousin was caught in crossfire and killed while pushing her child in a stroller.

Obama commutes sentences: Obama has said for years we have too strict of sentences for drug convictions.

He has granted the greatest number of commutations for a single month of any president.

Explosion at restaurant in India: Gas cylinders caused the explosions that killed more than 60 in India this month. iPhone 7: Apple does it again. They removed headphone jack from the new iPhone 7.

Drug smuggling: Two bikini-wearing Canadian women 28 and 22 years old were arrested in the largest capture of drugs in Australia. They were running cocaine on cruise ship when caught.

New legal steroid: Is it really safe? Top trainers and athletes say it’s the safest alternative steroid for us to use.

Taylor Swift break-up: Taylor Swift moving on. Tom Hiddleston and Taylor Swift have split after long summer romance.

NFL season start: The 2016 NFL regular season kicked off Thursday, Sep. 7 with a superbowl rematch between the Broncos and Panthers.

Op-Ed-A5

Legalizing all drugs could solve problems Sam Heie Feature Editor We have come a long way since the war on drugs was declared by the Reagans, and since the incarceration rates skyrocketed through the roof.

States such as California, New Hampshire, and 23 others have legalized marijuana for medicinal and medical purposes. We are also starting to see states legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.

Marijuana is a much lighter drug than some of the other chemically processed death dosings that you would watch on a reality T.V. show, so why should we legalize such harmful narcotics? And yes, all of them.

On the surface it seems counterproductive and pointless, but if we look at the data and the benefits, it makes sense.

The goal of the war on drugs is to stop bodily harm and decrease the amount of illegal activities that happen in every city, town, and state. This hasn’t worked.

We have seen the drug rates consistently rise since the 1960’s. Alcohol, cigarettes and car crashes kill more people in any given year than drug overdoses of any type, pharmaceutical or recreational, but

no one seems too keen on attempting to end them. Agreeably, that is because if used in a safe environment and in a moderate manner, they are seen as completely safe.

This is the same for all drugs. In fact, the European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction rank alcohol first on the list of the deadliest substances.

Now this is not to say that hard drugs are good for you, but there are undoubtedly some positive effects of narcotics such as heroin and cocaine

such as an increase in stimulation and pain relief. Nothing is bad for you in a reasonable dosage.

If the government truly wanted to stop drug use entirely, the best idea would be to legalize all narcotics and have regulated dispensaries sell the drugs to those of a reasonable age.

If there were high taxes and costs on the drugs, the government would make a profit on fewer people using hard narcotics, which benefits society.

Jeffrey Miron, a reporter from The Week, estimates that taxation on drugs would

Which drugs should be legal?

Marijuana Ecstasy Cocaine LSD Methamphetamines Heroin K2

96% 72% 64% 56% 40% 36% 24%

INFOGRAPHIC

BY NOAH SIDERHURST

Economic equality tied to social stability Noah Siderhurst Op-ed Editor Michael Brown, Eric Garner, and Alton Sterling are just a few of the names that come to mind when thinking about police shootings of unarmed black men. These and many more are the people who helped kick off the powerful movement known as Black Lives Matter. These names are even one of the reasons that drove Micah Xavier Johnson to kill five police officers in Dallas earlier this year.

Issues involving police brutality towards black people and more general issues involving race in America are extremely politically and socially charged right now, but the basic economic mechanisms behind them have been going on for a very long time. There has been a divide growing between rich and poor in this country ever since the earlier days of our independence, and police shootings of black men are only the most recent manifestation of it.

It all began in 1619, when the first slaves were brought to North America. Ever since, the oligarchy that is the American government and the swindle that is capitalism have exploited those with less power. First, it was slavery, driven by plantation owner’s desire for free labor. Next, came segregation, an effort to keep the recently freed black underclasses in a position of subservience so as to be better taken advantage of. Even after segregation, our current economic system made it hard for African Americans, who were essentially starting with no money in a system which, despite our ideological dreams, does not make it easy for someone of little means to make it up the economic ladder, to obtain enough money to live on.

Even today, according to a report in 2013 by the Census Bureau, “the highest national poverty rates were for American Indians and Alaska Natives (27.0 percent) and Blacks or African Americans (25.8 percent).” The same groups that have been exploited the most are also the most prone to poverty. Coincidence? I don’t thinks so.

According to another report by the The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Russell Sage Foundation, “children born into different economic circumstances can expect very distinct economic futures. The degree to which family advantage is transmitted suggests that op-

portunities for economic success are very unequally distributed. Although no one would be surprised that children from higher-income families enjoy some advantages, this report reveals them to be dramatic.”

Thus, for the past hundred or so years, the gap between rich and poor has only grown bigger, and has manifested itself in the tensions between those with power and economic security, who are generally white, and those without power and economic security, who are generally black.

The gap will only continue to grow if we are not able to do something major about this problem, and fast. People without power, which is often tied to money, feel the growing divide, and those with power are too often apt to turn a blind eye. Frequently, people without power and economic means have been treated as other, as can be seen in such cliches as: “the lower class” and “the working class,” the latter implying that those who must do physical labor for a living have somehow failed, even while we preach that hard work is the only way to success.

In order to solve these social problems, we must solve the long economic injustices present under the surface. I believe the first step to solving this problem is reparations paid to those put at an economic disadvantage due to slavery, although the exact logistical details are up for debate.

What we must ultimately do is move towards a society in which money is not as much of a constraint, where we truly do have class mobility instead of just a misguided notion of class mobility. We must move towards a society where everyone has the right to a basic standard of living, where no one has to worry about where they will spend the night and about where their next meal will come from.

If we can solve our economic issues as a nation united, we will also take a huge step toward solving our social issues. If we had a more equitable economy, we most likely would not have the same kind of divisive issues revolving around race.

Feminist movement again in forefront Ryan Doerr Staff Reporter There have been a number of misconceptions about feminism in the past few months, especially with Hillary Clinton campaigning for presidency under the title. The assumption that feminism is anything other than a desire for equality between the sexes stems from a deep misunderstanding of the topic, and an issue with sexism on a fundamental level within the human race.

Feminism is, by dictionary definition, “the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men.” This simple phrase has been warped beyond belief by the sexist groups of men (and sometimes women) in government, the media, education, and various other pockets of society in recent months.

Anyone under the impression that feminism is the notion that women do not want equality, but rather are fighting for supremacy, is sadly misguided. Since the dawn of civilization, women have been pushed to the bottom of

the social heap, thrown into unfair positions in society, abused, stepped on, and demeaned simply because of their perceived inferiority to men. The word “hysteria” literally stems from the Latin hustera, meaning uterus— women have been given unfair stereotypes and stigmas for as long as men have been able to think, and the idea that we have reached equality in this short amount of time is ridiculous; sexism is the oldest prejudice known to man, and it will be the last to be overcome.

Many misogynists see feminism as the Westernized feminazi-ism that so many feminists are fighting against, where women are fighting against men as a whole and burning bras in the streets. To say this is an accurate depiction of the feminist movement is like saying that Donald Trump is an accurate depiction of the whole Republican party. It’s inaccurate, and frankly, it’s insulting.

Women don’t want to destroy men, and the idea that

they do is simply absurd; however, the idea of men wanting to destroy women doesn’t seem to be as implausible, so perhaps that is where the misconception comes from. Many men simply assume that women are trying to do what men would, given they were in our situation.

The bottom line when it comes to feminazis is this simple statement: misandrists are irritating, misogynists are dangerous.

While these blemishes on the face of feminism may be tarnishing its reputation with idiotic ideas of female supremacy, they are (in the grand scheme of things) harmless.

Women already have not been given the real power to create influential change in political spheres. However, men have been put in positions of power for as long as power has been a human concept (for God’s sake, look at our presidents), and the odd misogynist in the mix could have the ability to cause real damage.

generate a total of $85 billion every year. Portugal, a country that legalized all drugs, has seen a significant decrease in crime as well as drug use. If that’s not convincing enough, gang and cartel violence would be seriously hampered because people will automatically switch to safer options than sketchy street deals on the wrong side of town in the wrong neighborhoods. The U.S. would save billions of dollars from not having an active war on drugs and gain billions from tax revenue. It’s a winwin-win situation for everyone but the cartel and drug gangs.

Finally, if the well-being of everyone in America is not in the government’s best interest, making drugs illegal is hypocritical given other extreme behaviors that are legal. We allow people to eat as much as physically possible and become morbidly obese. We allow people to go to bars and drink until they can’t tell the difference between their wallet and their phone. Are any of those activities good for our wellbeing? No. That is why we are taught moderation every year in school.

It is about time we started teaching the moderation of drug usage instead of teaching the false benefits of a full ban.

Kaepernick’s actions justifiable, but not necessary Jackson Hook Sports Editor Many athletes h a v e stood up for the B l a c k L i v e s Matter movement in the past year to raise awareness for police brutality and social injustice.

In recent news, San Francisco 49er’s backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick was blasted on social media for not standing for the national anthem in every preseason game in the 2016 season.

Kaepernick’s actions caused an uproar on social media developing two different sides.

Many people began to hate Kaepernick saying that veterans fought for his right to stand for the anthem. The reality is what veterans really fought for was our right to either sit or stand.

Players in the National Football League are not required to stand for the national anthem, but it is recommended.

The fact of the matter is that Kaepernick is kneeling for the national anthem because he feels that rights are being deprived from African American citizens, which I can agree with.

But, while he is kneeling for the anthem, he is also not respecting the rest of the rights our country has to offer, like freedom of speech. I could understand doing this for one or two preseason games, but Kaepernick has made it clear that he wants to continue kneeling for the anthem until the social injustice has ceased.

These actions make our country look weaker. A place where people will not stand for their country does not represent a strong government.

If Kaepernick continues, based on how it has played out so far, more and more players will begin to not stand for the Star Spangled Banner, a national anthem that represents the freedom that we fought for.

A person who does not have full respect for our anthem does not have full respect for the people who fought for our country to be as great as it is today. I am not going as far as to say that the United States is the best country in the world, but we are up there. We live in a country where troops experience extreme environments overseas and sacrifice their lives to keep us safe, and I will proudly stand for everything they have done.

Do not get me wrong, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for Kaepernick, as do his teammates and coaches, and the fact that he has all of this respect as a non-starter says a lot about him as a person. I respect that, but it is hard to respect a person who doesn’t respect his country.

September 29, 2016

Experience-A6

The Newsstreak

Taste of India prepares to open new restaurant

Christian Rodriguez Staff Reporter Sita Kunver has been the mastermind behind Harrisonburg’s Taste of India for 19 years and has been so successful that her husband decided to open another restaurant.

Ashuk Kunver will be opening Taj of India. Through the Kunvers, a dining experience with generations of Indian recipes can be found at now two local restaurants. The journey of Taste of India began in 1997, and has its roots just outside of Harrisonburg in West Hartford, Connecticut.

Kunver explains why he is happy with his new downtown Harrisonburg location.

“It is a prime location, Harrisonburg is getting bigger and bigger. We also like this town so we decided to stay here. Our kids are happy, we are happy,” Kunver said.

Though Taj of India and Taste of India come from the same family, Kunver made sure to differentiate the two.

“The downtown restaurant will be fancier. Not only will the food be Indian, but the atmosphere will have sort of a taste of India. It’s going to be a full bar so there will be new items added. We will have momo (Nepali dumpling) and other things of the variety,” Kunver said.

Taj of India has a different meaning in the Indian culture.

“Crown of India,” Kunver said.

Because of similar cuisine, Kunver anticipates some competition between the two restaurants, and he believes he and his wife specialize in different aspects of a restaurant.

“Yes, there definitely will be,” Kunver said.

The recipes have origins of a generation before himself.

“His dad, my grandfather,” Kunver said.

The idea of Taj of India has been around for a while according to Kunver.

“It’s just a plan that has been set on my mind for a while,” Kunver said.

Kunver describes his passion toward

PHOTO BY SWETA KUNTER

Tastes like Chicken. Taste of India serves a main course of Chicken Tandoori with garlic Naan, rice, and a fish curry. The Chicken Tandoori is cooked in a Tandoor oven, a cylindrical metal oven that usually uses open fire or charcoal to cook the meat in it. The chicken is glazed in a yogurt and spice mix and then placed into the oven. opening restaurants and how he and his wife specialize in certain aspects of a restaurant.

“I am very passionate about the cooking, and my wife is very passionate about the customers,” Kunver said.

Kunver is excited about the upcoming unveiling of the restaurant and adds he

couldn’t have done it alone.

“It’s exciting. We love to work with the community, and serve it. We love to give to it. Our city is growing, and one restaurant cannot handle it, so we have two. We appreciate the support of the community, and hope to continue with opening more restaurants,” Kunver said.

What’s your favorite kind of food?

26% 21% 17% 16% 13% 5%

MEXICAN

ASIAN

HISPANIC

AMERICAN

ITALIAN

Results are from 100 students polled

INDIAN

2%

GREEK

INFOGRAPHIC BY DAVID GAMBOA

Dream Cones creates new ice cream environment Forrest Matter Staff Reporter Across from Court Square lies a new ice cream shop, wedged between Jess’ Lunch and Taj Of India. This place is called Dream Cones, and features around thirteen flavors a week.

It’s a shop made specifically for the elderly and the young.

Dream Cones is owned by the same owners as Jess’ Lunch, Thomas Marchese and Angeliki Floros. They both wanted something new for downtown.

“We had an empty building that needed renovation, and we wanted to do something for the community,” Marchese said.

The ice cream shop is an attempt to make up for the adult store Hole In The Wall, a place deemed unsafe and closed by local authorities.

“Take a negative and turn it into

a positive,” Marchese said.

To bring home that positive turn, Marchese and Flores thought that there was no place more positive than an ice cream shop. The two owners began getting ideas for the interior of their new business.

“We looked on the internet, and we pulled off all the pictures we could find of old downtown,” Marchese said. “We wanted that to be the motif. We wanted the older people to come in and reminisce, and see something from the older days, [and we wanted] the younger kids to come in and enjoy ice cream,” Marchese said.

With three small tables for kids, three big tables and a number of other small tidbits, the narrow room was transformed. The room is colorful, with a chalkboard in the back displaying that week’s flavors. “[It’s] just a place for kids, old people, families to come in and enjoy themselves. Where they can come in, sit down in a relaxed atmosphere, listen to some good music, and just enjoy the ice cream store,” Marchese said.

As of now, Kunver is working 12-13 hours a day in preparation for the grand opening, and still loves what he does.

“My motivation would be my family and staff,” Kunver said.

Taj of India will open to the public on Sep. 22.

Babylon opens in old 7-11 Middle-Eastern restaurant adds variety Owen Marshall Staff Reporter Three months ago, a Middle-Eastern style shop emerged on Main Street. Unlike traditional restaurants, Babylon includes a small convenience store inside the restaurant.

They have a butchery, bakery, produce and take-out food section of the store.

Ban Fadhil and her family have wanted to open a place like this since they moved to America in 2006.

“The community was very small. In 10 years [it has gotten much] bigger, and [our culture] is in need. The Middle-Eastern culture needs this kind of business in this area. Even the American people and other cultures would love the experience of this culture. New food, and everything new, we have some stuff [for sale] to [represent] the Middle Eastern culture,” Fadhil said.

Babylon caters to many people in Harrisonburg and some from out of town. James Madison University has over 20,000 students, which brings more business to the Harrisonburg area and the beginning of the school year has brought new business to the restaurant.

“College students [have recently arrived] so we see a lot

Hokkaido serves unique sushi for low price Jake Urbanski Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY JAKE URBANSKI

Let’s Roll! The Volcano Roll (front) and the Dragon Roll (back) are served together with a wasabi dip.

The Dragon Roll is comprised of eel meat and the Volcano Roll was made with crab.

of them here. We even have... a lot [of customers] from Charlottesville [and] some from Roanoke, so we aren’t just supporting Harrisonburg, but the area around it, too,” Fadhil said.

Fadhil believes that Babylon gets a lot of customers because of the area.

“We felt that this was a good location because it’s Main Street. [There] is a lot of traffic here, it’s close to JMU, and [residential areas], [I think there is] more traffic here and, [it’s] quieter,” Fadhil said.

Fadhil believes the most successful section of the store is the take out section.

“Prepared food of course, we have a meat section and bakery section, the prepared food and bakery are the two most sold items, [there is] flatbread, regular bread, sandwiches, kabobs, shawarma,” Fadhil said.

Fadhil and her family want to expand their business and are taking notice of the more popular foods to prepare.

“We started with the grocery, deli, butchery, bakery, and take out food. We have been looking at our sections [to see] which items are selling more [compared to] others. [We are] hoping to be able to open [our own] restaurant instead of just making take out food,” Fadhil said.

Since its inception in Oct. of last year, Hokkaido has become a popular spot for Japanese cuisine. Close to Valley Lanes, the restaurant is located on South Main Street in Harrisonburg. Unlike most other Japanese restaurants, Hokkaido serves unlimited sushi.

Senior Emma Nouri, who has been to Hokkaido three times since its opening, recommends Hokkaido for their good quality and cheap prices.

“They have a really good lunch price, I think it is like $10.99 for one person and it is as much as you can eat. It’s really cheap for broke students like us… Their sushi is really good. Most places that you go to would be $6 for one [plate] of sushi, but you can get as much as you want [at Hokkaido],” Nouri said.

One goal for Johnny Dong, own-

er and founder of Hokkaido, is to give customers the opportunity to purchase a full Japanese meal at a good price.

“Working in a Japanese restaurant, the Japanese food price is very high. Then most people… would spend a lot of money for their whole meal, like [an] appetizer and Hibachi meal. That’s why I wanted to supply [a] sushi and hibachi combination for the customers,” Dong said.

Social studies teacher Wesley Livick goes with the history department about once or twice a month to Hokkaido. He enjoys the all you can eat factor that the restaurant provides.

“I think it’s brilliant, honestly.

The way they set it up is where you can order as much as you want, but if you don’t eat it, you get a little charge. So that, I think, is a way to eliminate people abusing the all you can eat,” Livick said.

September 29, 2016

James McHone Jewelry

Ads-A7

The Newsstreak

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

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

Phone Number: (540) 433-1833

Located at 258 Timber Way, Broadway, VA 22815 Phone:(540) 896-7095

Miller, Earle & Shanks, PLLC Attorneys and Counsellors at Law

560 Neff Avenue, Suite 200 Harrisonburg, VA 22801 Telephone: (540) 564-1555

GO STREAKS

L & S DINER

MUTERSPAUGH

Insurance Agency, Inc. Large Enough to Serve,

Small Enough to Care 234 E Market St. #2 Harrisonburg, VA 22801

540-433-2423

Established in 1979

BAR-B-Q Ranch Family Restaurant and Caterer

Mon-Fri 5:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

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

Take the challenge at Bridgewater College

College is the time to raise the bar for yourself.

Consider all the ways you could grow. Think about what you could accomplish. Surrounded by faculty, peers, advisors and experiences that bring out the best in you.

Ask questions. Stretch beyond what you thought possible. Achieve excellence. It’s all here, waiting for you. Start your future today.

bridgewater.edu Call the Office of Admissions at 540-828-5375 or 800-759-8328 admissions@bridgewater.edu

3311 North Valley Pike Harrisonburg, VA 22801 (540) 434-3296 Sunday - Thursday: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Friday - Saturday: 11 a.m. - 10:30 p.m.

September 29, 2016

The Newsstreak

Ads-A8

10-31-16

September 29, 2016

What are you looking most forward to this year?

WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR?

Poetry Out Loud program new this year Kellie Serrell (12) “Passing all of my AP tests, getting through my dual enrollment classes and helping my freshie babies get through cross country season,”

Steven Gilbert (11) “I am looking forward to basketball season,”

Eleanor Alger (12) “Graduating, because I’m looking forward to going to college,”

Miguel Miza (12) “Graduating…. So that way I can later study to be an electrician,”

Diana Calixto (10) “ To be graduating soon... and to pass my English 10 sol,”

Feature-A9

The Newsstreak

Jackie Mateo-Sanchez Staff Reporter Poetry Out Loud is a new program this year where students up through high school are able to enhance their poetry skills and compete. It’s done through a mixture of spoken poetry and forensics.

Across the United States, more than 350,000 students participate in the program.

English teachers Melody Wilson and Richard Morell are in charge of the program.

“It’s to instill a love for poetry and make poetry relevant for today,” Wilson said.

During competitions, participants compete with poems that have already been selected, though they do get to choose

what poems they want to read.

From there, students have to memorize the set of poems.

Original poems will not be performed for competitions.

Competitions are based on your interpretation and presentation of the poem in the style of spoken word poetry. Just like other competitions, it starts from a school competition then moves on up through nationals.

On the school level, all the winners win money packages for their school.

In order to see which student advances to regionals, a school competition will be held.

One of the main events during ELT will possibly be for the program where the school competition champion will be revealed.

From there, the school win-

ner will go off to regionals. In order for HHS to participate, there needs to be a minimum of two students who enter the competition, and the school competition must be held before December.

“I know the enormous amount of talent that we have here at HHS, and I feel certain that anybody who represents our school will do very well at the regional and state level,” Wilson said.

Some teachers from the English department will unveil poetry as a unit within their lesson plans, so there are no given days that the program will meet.

Not all the teachers will be able to do it. The teachers who want to incorporate the unit into their lesson plan will take approximately eight classes to prepare for the competitions.

Hissong adds AVID to his teaching load Yogesh Aradhey Staff Photographer There are many programs that you can decide to be a part of at HHS such as STEM or the Fine Arts Academy, but there is another that teaches you how to learn. The AVID program aims to give students the tools they need to succeed in the classroom.

Science teacher Nate Hissong added AVID to his teaching schedule this year for the first time.

“I definitely enjoy helping students succeed ,and the AVID coordinator saw that I was interested in the AVID strategies and thought I would be a good fit. I also had used some of the strategies before in my classes,” Hissong said.

He first got acquainted with the program a few years ago.

“I went to the [AVID] summer

institute in 2015, so I have been aware of AVID strategies,” Hissong said. “But I would say that this is my first formal year as a part of the program.”

There are a few different strategies that AVID endorses in order to help students all over the country.

“The strategies are multifaceted, it involves organising a binder and taking notes, but also learning how to ask for help from teachers and other students,” Hissong said. “[We do a] lot of re-writing of notes, a lot of asking questions about [those] notes. It is a mental process of going through your notes rather than just writing them down.

The major advantage is that it gets you to interact with your notes multiple times.”

AVID has attracted students to its classes and Hissong feels that the freshman class is a big

group. “[These are] students who are interested in helping themselves and it is a privilege to work with them,” Hissong said.

Oliver Idi is a freshman in the AVID program who moved to the country two years ago.

“I’ve been here for two years,” Idi said. “In my country, ... we speak French, but when I came here, I started speaking a lot of English.”

Now, a fluent English speaker, he has goals for college and believes that AVID will be a great help in getting him there.

“I am aware of many student successes from AVID,” Hissong said. “You look at the AVID graduation ceremony and you see all those kids getting scholarship money. A lot of those kids are AVID kids who are going to college for the first time in their family.”

Fourth lunch block added to alleviate crowding

Irene Liu Staff Reporter

HHS added a fourth lunch this year to help alleviate crowding in the cafeteria. Because of the rapidly growing population in the school, the “D” lunch was added to make sure all students have space at a table to sit while they are eating.

With the addition of a fourth lunch, the lunch ladies have seen a few changes in their preparation. Lunch lady Patricia Newcomb says that adding a lunch just requires more preparation time.

“I think [a fourth lunch] makes it easier, especially for the students since they can get [to lunch] very quickly. For us, we just have to be very on top of how much more food we need to cook,” Newcomb said.

Newcomb thinks that the cafeteria was very crowded with just three lunches.

“I think I’m going to be leaning towards liking the four lunches better,” Newcomb said.

Lunch lady Joyce Green also says that having the extra lunch requires more efficiency to make the food. “[Four lunches] makes it more difficult because we have to make more food in a shorter amount of time, but we’ve got a great crew here,” Green said.

Green says that the best part of having a fourth lunch is that all the kids can get fed. She also hopes in the future they can get more staff to help with the new lunch shifts.

Even though another lunch means more work, the lunch staff are optimistic about the year to come.

“We’re doing a great job. We have a great staff here. We’re doing the best we can,” Green said.

Newcomb would also like to remind everyone that they are doing what they can to make our lunches better.

“I always just like to remind everybody that we don’t get a lunch account so we never know what the kids are going to eat. We do our best to make educated guesses on what to make and how much,” Newcomb said.

September 29, 2016

Feature-A10

Every Person Has A Story

Armstrong not hindered by medical condition

Christa Cole Managing Editor Freshman Destiny Armstrong has been diagnosed with diabetes for almost 11 years, but she doesn’t let it consume her. Instead, she focuses on others and making their lives better.

“If you’re able to wave at someone or smile or say hi...that might make their day or it might be able to help them get through a tough spot… How I see it is, I’m able to help somebody, they might be able to help someone else, and just have that huge chain. Or maybe they’ll end up remembering me, being like, ‘Oh, she did this for me.

She’s going through a hard time. Maybe I could do this for her’,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong has also been heavily influenced by her military family members and their way of

thinking.

Having a positive “I’d like to say and focused mind [that the military is crucial to Armhas given me a strong, considering positive mindset]. all the things loomMy great uncle... ing over her head. he was a marine “If I drop too low, and he was as if a I’ll actually go into second father to seize and that’s hapme...I think of him pened around two every day when different times alI go to JROTC,” ready. Even though Armstrong said.

I blackout and I “And [the military don’t know anymindset] does thing about that, help you keep a it’s still nerve-rackstraight mind and ing because that’s think about you a couple minutes want to reach for, out of my life that your goals.”

I’ll never know...It’s Sergeant Major a constant struggle Wilder believes PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE trying to keep it at that Armstrong ATTENTION. Freshman Destiny a certain range,” exemplifies this Armstrong joined JROTC after being Armstrong said. “It’s idea. just me being influenced by family members she also “She doesn’t a teenager. Hortry to push the had looked up to as a child. mones are going evlimits, not her. erywhere and that one of the tip-of-the-arrow She follows the affects my blood line, you know, and she’s kind of people, she’s gonna sugar, so I’ll be fine one focused driven and she’s stay straight,” Wilder said. minute and then I’ll drop

down low really quick and then I’ll get high again.”

When it does get to her, Armstrong is comforted by looking on the bright side.

“There are always people that have it hard...Just trying to keep optimistic [helps me stay calm] and trying to think of something better instead of trying to get depressed about something...just list all the pros instead of focusing on the cons,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong’s goal is to study criminal justice, graduate college, get her master’s degree, then join the army. She may not be able to do this, depending on how they react to her being diabetic. If they do not accept her, she wants to go to the police academy and work towards becoming a detective.

“I just know that I want to be able to make a difference and possibly make the world a better place,”

Armstrong said. “If I can help someone, that’s it. I just want to give back to the community and possibly make this place safer for other kids to walk around so they don’t have to worry about carrying guns on their hips or worrying who’s going to end up jumping them if they turn their back.”

Wilder sees the potential for her to accomplish this or anything else she sets her mind to.

“When you see her, she’s always fired up. You know she’s got the cando, I’m-not-going-to-quit attitude, and she lets no physical limitations stop her from accomplishing her objectives, no matter what it is,” Wilder said.

“Wherever she wants to go, I think she’ll be able to achieve what she wants to achieve. She has the potential to be everything.”

King spent summer vacation spreading word in Kenya Yusuf Aboutabl Feature Editor Junior Isaiah King traveled across the globe to Kenya this summer for a mission trip with the Grace Covenant Church.

He stayed at the Mikindani Royal Kids Academy for 12 days with several other volunteers spreading The Word.

“This year, a couple from my church decided to bring a team over to Kenya for a mission trip. I decided to put my name on the list and next thing you know I hopped on a 14 hour plane trip to Kenya,” King said.

“The academy we stayed at was pretty small. It was three stories with a separate building acting as the cafeteria. We were in the school for the majority of our stay. We’d sometimes go out to a big field and play baseball or soccer or whatever the kids wanted, but our purpose for being there was to spread The Word.”

King was involved in much more than just preaching to the kids. He also taught elementary through high school students a variety of different subjects.

“I went to the second graders and taught them the different fruits and vegetables. I taught the

seventh graders American History, and I talked about the American political system to the high schoolers,” King said. “I was nervous at first, but once I sat down and talked to them, I realized that they were just like me and that got rid of the nervousness that I had.The greatest thing I saw in the Kenyans was their friendliness. They were really happy to meet someone who was around their age from a different country that they could learn from and talk to.”

Kenya is a vastly different country from the United States, culturally and socially. Some things that King could do freely in America would be frowned upon in Kenya, so he had to adapt his mindset.

“A big thing I had to be aware of while I was over there was how to present myself. The Kenyan lifestyle is a lot more modest, so even my watch that was only $10 from Walmart brought a lot of attention to me,” King said. “I had to dress modestly so I could just focus on hanging out with the kids. Some Kenyans, very few though, won’t take kindly to outsiders. Yeah, there were some people in the streets who didn’t like us because we were foreigners, but the big majority of them were really friendly.”

King tried not to compare the United States and Kenya so he could enjoy his stay, but there were some things he wasn’t able to ignore.

“Mombasa is very different from where we were in Mikindani, which is on the outskirts of Mombasa. Mombasa was very tourist friendly with hotels and what not, but in Mikindani there were clay huts, tin roofs and a lot of trash.

People just toss the trash in the street or burn it in their yard,” King said, “Also you could say that the kids over there are.. better...

They strive for the very top.

They value their education a lot and they like going to school. They’re very motivated people. One thing that was a shock for me was the level of academics that they had. I talked to eleventh graders and they were taking stuff that I would be taking as a sophomore in college. Some of the kids that are lacking a lot still have the greatest motivation I’ve ever seen.”

King learned a lot from his stay and hopes to go back to Mikindani one day.

“I would for sure do this again. It was hard to explain to them that I was only staying for 12 days.

I still keep up with them over facebook or skype. I’d definitely want to go back one day,” King said.

Banks finds hobby in fishing Danny Dombrowski Staff Reporter Junior Jerome Banks joined the HHS community during the last two weeks of the 2015-16 school year. Banks and his brother, senior Carl Banks, moved to Harrisonburg after their mom took a teaching position at JMU. Originally from Northern Virginia where he attended Centreville High School, Jerome’s first impression of HHS wasn’t what he was expecting.

“Honestly, when I first got here there was a ton of fights, so I thought everyone was ghetto,” Banks said.

Banks played football and lacrosse at Centreville and joined the HHS football team this year. However, Banks season came to an early end when he suffered a season ending injury in the team’s third game. His hobby outside of school and athletics is fishing.

“Last spring break, I went down to my grandparents house and they bought me a fishing rod and we went out fishing. I just thought it was cool that I caught a fish. After that, I started researching and buying new fishing stuff,” Banks said.

His interest in fishing in addition to some free time led him to start a YouTube channel.

“When I first moved to Harrisonburg, I was super bored. I would come home and just do nothing or play Xbox. So I asked my friend if he wanted to make a YouTube channel. I had just started fishing, so I said why don’t we make it about fishing,” Banks said.

The channel is Gorilla Fishing Company on YouTube, and is worked on by a combination of Banks and his friends.

“My friend Shane, who goes to Centre-

ville and my cousin, who goes to EC Glass, both help with the videos,” Banks said.

Banks and his friends now make weekly videos for their almost 300 YouTube subscribers.

“I was making videos every week, but since I am hurt, I will start making videos once I can walk again and go fish,” Banks said.

The videos are either product reviews or of them actually fishing somewhere.

“I pretty much just go fishing with my friends and talk about products that I buy,” Banks said.

Banks uses his laptop to edit each video before he posts them.

“A video for a product takes like 10 minutes to edit. If I am going out somewhere to fish, it probably takes 30 mins to edit and like an hour to film. I just cut everything up.

The hobby that started six months ago has now grown into YouTube channel with thousands of views, but Banks doesn’t see it as anything more than something fun to do in his spare time.

“I don’t really have any goals for it, I just think it is fun to post fishing videos. If it stops here at like 250 subscribers or goes up to over 1000, I will still be doing it for fun,” Banks said.

Banks’ favorite part of all of it is just catching fish and he eats what he catches.

“My favorite part of it all is catching fish. I eat trout that I catch. I like my fish filleted and rubbed with butter and sprinkled with lemon, salt, and pepper,” Banks said.

Videos are on YouTube and those interested can subscribe to Gorilla Fishing Company or follow them on Instagram @ gorilla_fishing_company.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ISAIAH KING

MAKING NEW FRIENDS. Isaiah King enjoyed spending time with new people in Kenya. “My greatest takeaway was all the friendships I made,” King said.

September 29, 2016

Feature-B1

The Newsstreak

STUDENT BODY UNITED Students come together to plan the year, share pre-game meals, support the Red Sea

THE HEAD:

THE STOMACH:

SCA officers get to business

THE FEET:

Friday Night Feasts

Stand as one Sea

JROTC ‘Blue Sea’ and Red Sea unified in support Kyle Brown OpEd Editor Friday nights for the JROTC have traditionally consisted of helping direct traffic in addition to presenting the nation’s colors at the start of every football game. However, last school year, some JROTC members started their own student section as well, known as ‘The Blue Sea,’ rather than joining the Red Sea. Senior Hector Carcamo was involved in the creation of this new student section.

“About [the blue sea], it started off as people coming up to us and saying that they didn’t feel welcome at the Red Sea because they were too scared or they didn’t feel welcome, or when they tried to join them, some people would look at them and be like, why are you here?’, and make them not feel like they were welcome. So we created the Blue Sea, so everyone could join, and nobody would be scared,” Carcamo said.

When the administration found out about what was happening with JROTC

and the Red Sea, they called a meeting to figure out what was going on. Together, they were able to come up with a solution.

“Mrs. Prieto found out and we had a meeting about it, and ended up having Streak-nation. That is a spot where everyone could get together and be like a family,” Carcamo said.

Alum Chase Berkshire was a lead figure in the Red Sea last year, and Command Sergeant Major valued him for the effort he put into bringing the Red and Blue Sea together.

“Chase Berkshire, he is really going to be missed, because he really helped break down that wall, because at the time it was more of an us and them thing. [He] helped meld the thing together and say, ‘no it’s not an us and them, it’s an us,” Command Sergeant Major said.

Command Sergeant Major really wants all of JROTC to be able to go to the games and participate in the support of the team.

“I want us to be at every game, in the stands going stupid every game. I would

like to have 100% participation, but that will never happen. But I would like at least 85-90%. I think we’re in the 70’s right now, and the more we encourage it, the more it will grow,” Command Sergeant Major said.

Carcamo believes that all the new members they have to add to the Red Sea will be very good for them.

“For the Red Sea, it’ll actually help them out a lot, because they wanted more people, and they wanted more school spirit. We want the other schools to be like ‘oh, this is Harrisonburg High School, they really have school spirit,’ and make them want to join us, and show them who the Blue Streaks really are,” Carcamo said.

Command Sergeant Major is trying to put an emphasis on school spirit and wearing the Red Sea shirt on Friday night games.

“They got energetic about being part of the Red Sea, so I told them to get the Red Sea t-shirt and support the Red Sea t-shirt campaign, because in our program we’re not supposed to be the followers,

but the leaders, and the leaders wear Red Sea shirts on football games,” Command Sergeant Major said.

Carcamo has thought about the past Blue Sea experiences, and would like to let that go and keep the Red Sea how it is.

“Right now, with all the stuff that happened last year, I like it just fine now as Streak-nation, and show the school that we have spirit. Once a streak, always a streak,” Carcamo said.

JROTC as a whole expects to continue their in-

volvement in the Red Sea throughout the season.

“Can you count on us being there Friday night?

Yes you can, the Red Sea can count on ROTC every Friday night,” Command Sergeant Major said.

LOVIN’ THE LEIS. Red Sea leaders and other students dress in a tropical beach theme for the Friday night home football game against the Charlottesville Black Knights.

Friday Night Feasts essential to game night for band, color guard members PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

RED BEACH. The Red Sea stands in support of the team.

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEREDITH GOSS

SWIMMING IN SELFIES. The students watch as the game unfolds.

PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

Garrett Cash Online Editor-in-Chief Friday Night Feasts are a staple of the band’s diet. To junior Andrew Robinson, the meal is in irreplaceable tradition.

“After a long day of working during practice and getting ourselves set up for the football game, it’s a time for us to come together, cool down and then get hyped up for the football game,” Robinson said. “It just feels really good.”

Co-drum major Emily Werner calls the entire band up for seconds shortly after they made their first round. Each band member is able to get a piece of pizza, a fruit and a vegetable the first time around the tables and scramble for what’s left when the call for seconds is made. To orchestrate the buffet, the parents fundraise and organize the meals. Collectively called the “dinner momma,”

Brandee Boggs heads the meal prep alongside Yolanda Blake for 140 students and 20 adults. “[It takes] a lot of patience,” Boggs said. “When my son was a freshman, I started volunteering on Friday nights, and then I was asked to take it over… I love it.”

Boggs does everything possible to get the kids a well-rounded meal, and she does everything she can to provide for the kids. She feels an affection towards the kids and sees herself as a maternal figure, filling her “momma” role for not only the meals, but for the band as a whole.

“I do everything else [the band] needs me to do,” Boggs said. “I’m kind of like a second mom to them. If they’re not feeling well, I go behind them and make sure that everything’s okay. [I do this] because I love the kids.”

Fueled by the meals provid-

ed by Blake and Boggs, band members see the gathering as crucial to Friday nights. For junior Jojo Walke, every meal contributes to the game-day mentality “Friday Night Feasts are an important part of every preparation before Friday night football game,” Walker said. “It gets you in the mood; you ate, and now you’re ready to perform and kick some butt.”

To newcomers like freshmen Julia Lawton and Alice McNett, Friday Night Feasts are simply a way to meet new people.

“It’s a time for everyone in the band to talk to each other, and they don’t have to be stressed out about it. [They can] just have pizza and have fun,” McNett said.

Whether it be for socialization, or pre-game hype, band members agree that Friday Night Feasts are an important part of every Friday night.

LEI ON. Juniors Emily Coffelt and Faith Eberly participate in tailgate.

SCA officers encourage student requests for effective year Zoey Fox Staff Reporter

and encouraging HHS students to come forward with suggestions and ideas.

According to SCA President Zach Benevento, the SCA has already been

busy this year. The SCA is responsible for organizing tailgates before football games, running the pep ralThis year’s SCA officers lies, overseeing the Red Sea are emphasizing their roles and planning the homeas student representatives, coming dance. At one of their first meetings of the year, the officers chose five homecoming themes for the student body to vote on during ELT. As they plan homecoming, SCA members are focused on repeating the success of last year’s dance. They have spent time brainstorming activities, games and contests to include as part of the student-chosen homecoming theme.

Towler said last year’s homecoming turnout was great, and this PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH year’s goal is to match BANNER PLANNERS. Students in Don Burgess’ leadership class paint a sign to ad- those numbers, or do better. vertise for the homecoming dance.

Benevento and Towler are considering bringing back the ‘idea board,’ where students post their suggestions on a bulletin board in the cafeteria.

Whether the idea board returns or not, HHS students are encouraged to communicate with SCA officers what they’d like to see in the school, from tailgate themes, to adjustments to the pep rally, to cheers for the Red Sea. SCA Vice President Kyel Towler and the other officers are focused on making what the student body desires come to life. “We’re only five people. So we want to figure out not just what the five of us want to do for you, but what you guys want to do for you,” Towler said.

Jessica Denton, one of the leaders of the Red Sea, has been asking classmates

and teammates whether they have suggestions for themes for the tailgates.

Benevento encouraged students to talk to SCA members they know, or to approach him directly with suggestions. Additionally, this year’s officers are trying to make sure that the student body is aware of them.

“If Zach and I are going to be... class officers, we need the people we represent to know who we are. That was one thing we wanted to change [from last year],” Towler said.

In past years, students expressed that the Red Sea was too exclusive, so this year, they’re looking to trying something new.

“I liked what we were doing the first game: there were [members of the Red Sea] literally out there in the path telling people,

‘Hey, come join us.’ I want to keep that from this last game... And we were talking about adding some Spanish cheers to it, which would be kind of cool,” Benevento said.

He also feels that the first pep rally of the year went well. However, Benevento and Towler want to continue improving the pep rallies in the future. When Towler overheard a student at his church saying that he didn’t like the pep rally, Towler asked him what he’d like to see next time.

“The goal is to have everybody like it,” Towler said.

“We’re open to suggestions,” Benevento said.

Towler and Benevento are making listening to students a priority.

“You elected us,” Towler said. “We want to hear what you have to say.”

September 29, 2016

Feature-B2

The Newsstreak

Thompson adjusts to different environment Lily Gusler Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

BUDDING ARTISTS. New HHS art teacher Laura Thompson helps a student with the day’s lesson. Thompson became the third art teacher at HHS as the student body grew rapidly and more electives were needed to complete student requirements for graduation.

Maybe you’ve seen her, the woman with the pink hair walking down the hall. Her name is Laura Thompson, the new art teacher at HHS. She was previously at Thomas Harrison Middle School for five years. The transition between schools was challenging for her because she didn’t know what to expect.

“I knew that the teaching wouldn’t change very much, but the environment is unlike Thomas Harrison’s. The expectations of students and teachers are very different than at the middle school. It was kind of a culture shock for me,” Thompson said.

Before starting at THMS, Thompson worked as a receptionist at Color Solutions, a printing company.

“It was miserable. I felt like I just churned out a bunch of junk that I was not proud of, “ Thompson said.

“I worked as a ‘glorified receptionist’ at Color Solutions. I was made to do design work, so I was basically being used, and also I’m a terrible receptionist because I have a terrible memory,” Thompson said.

“I worked as a receptionist for several months, then started as a weight loss consultant. I worked part-time there, as well as at Color Solutions. I eventually quit

working for Color Solutions and started work at a stained glass studio. A year after I graduated, I took a teaching position in Page County for two days a week. After I quit weight loss consultation, I started working full time for the teaching position. I then quit at the stained glass studio,” Thompson said.

Her inspiration to become an art teacher came from her professor at JMU. Her professor was a very positive person who convinced Thompson she would make an excellent teacher.

“I found through the Art Education program that I was well suited for an art teacher job. The more that I’ve learned about teaching art, the more I realized that teaching is something I do no matter what. I always find a way of teaching someone something, so it’s almost like ‘if I can’t really help it, I may as well get a job’,” Thompson said.

In most schools, art teachers don’t have a team to work alongside. Despite being able to steer an art program in whatever way they feel when working alone, Thompson says the job can get lonely.

“There is a lot of work that goes into teaching art, and eventually doing it by myself became too overwhelming. The prospect of being able to work at the high school with two other teachers was really enticing. I knew Mrs.

Brooks and Mrs. Shradley-Horst for a long time, and I knew that we would jive well together, so when the opportunity came, I jumped on it,” Thompson said.

After being in the teaching field for many years, Thompson has a few words of advice for teachers.

“It’s important to love what you do and when it really comes down to it, it’s about the students and the relationship you have with them. If you ever find yourself dreading going to school to teach your students, then you need to reassess your life and what it is that you want to do. If you are ever telling students that they aren’t capable of doing something, then you’re in the wrong place. Teaching is not easy, and if you are easily frustrated, then this job is not for you. You have to have lots of patience. Students always remember the impact a teacher has had on them and the teachers that connected with them,” Thompson said.

Freshman Whitney Purcell is glad to have a familiar face around the school.

“I had Mrs. Thompson for all four years of my middle school.

She is super understanding of all the students and gets along with everybody. I really wouldn’t be able to draw in any way if it weren’t for her. She taught me everything,” Purcell said.

Copeland replaces Comer in marketing Danny Dombrowski Staff Reporter Marketing teacher Cassandra Cason-Copeland is filling the role that Mallory Cromer left after taking a new position at Broadway High School. Copeland’s family is originally from New Jersey, but she has found her way to Valley because of her husband’s job.

“Originally I am from Maplewood, NJ which is about 30 minutes from New York City. My mother is a retired special ed teacher and my father was an engineer for General motors,” Copeland said.

Copeland finished high school in Jersey, but came down south for college.

“I graduated high school there and went to college in North Carolina. North Carolina A&T State University which is a historically black university,” Copeland said.

She has degrees in a mixture of majors and has wide variety of work experience before coming to HHS. “ I majored in print journalism and english. Most recently I received a masters in integrated marketing communications from West Virginia University. I have worked for a number of corporate firms, from New York to Atlanta. I worked for Comcast, New York Clearing House, and the state of New Jersey,” Copeland said.

Her husband’s job moved them to the Waynesboro area.

“My husband’s job brought us here, he works for a pharmaceutical company which relocated us here,” Copeland said.

She has two kids who are now enrolled at Thomas Harrison Middle School after switching from their previous schools.

“My son Marvin lll is an eighth grader and my daughter Addison is a fifth grader at Thomas Harrison.

My son previously attended Stuart Hall in Staunton and my daughter was in the public school system in Waynesboro. I thought it would be easier to bring them to work with me. I also really like the diversity that the school systems offer here, that played a role in my decision of bringing them to this area,” Copeland said.

Copeland, who is in her first year of teaching, wanted to begin teaching for a couple reasons. “[I wanted to teach] for a few reasons, first education has always been imperative in my life through my parents. I try to instill that in my kids to take education very seriously. For me, seeing a lack of diversity in the school systems here kind of prompted me to want to teach. I think having a diverse staff as far as teaching is concerned, especially when you have

a diverse student body, it really offers the student an opportunity to learn from a different perspective because I think learning from perhaps a woman may be different than learning from a male as a teacher.

We all offer different life experiences that we can share with the students which I think is important,” Copeland said.

Copeland is teaching multiple classes including sports marketing, principles of business, economics and personal finance, and advanced marketing.

She has a couple goals she wants to accomplish in her first year at HHS. “My goals are to first establish a really good relationship with the children.

Also I would like to establish a few partnerships in the community since I don’t actually live in Harrisonburg, then be able to bridge those relationships and partnerships together at some point,” Copeland said.

In her free time she likes to do a variety of activities.

“I like poetry, going to concerts, spending time with family, and I love to attend professional basketball games,” Copeland said.

In addition to teaching, Copeland will be the adviser for DECA and students can sign up by stopping by her classroom and grabbing a form in room 452.

PHOTO BY YOGESH ARADHEY

ARE YOU READY? Guidance Counselor Gwen Baugh works with senior Jake Urbanski to discuss his college preparation. Baugh moved to HHS from THMS this fall.

Baugh joins counseling staff from SMS Madison Varner Advertising Manager The counseling center has added a few new faces this year, one of them being HHS graduate, Gwen Baugh. Baugh hopes to help students find the right path for them so they can figure out what they want to do.

“Just giving back and helping students get where they need to be. I think every student has different needs, wants and desires. My goal is to help them find where they should go next,” Baugh said.

Baugh has had a similar job helping teens. During undergraduate school, she worked for the city of Charlottesville as an at-risk youth counselor.

“The job involved working with local students who had a criminal record in the area and helping them find community

service and engage in summer activities to keep them out of trouble,” Baugh said.

Baugh has also worked for Harrisonburg Public City Schools. Her previous job was across town at Skyline Middle School.

Baugh likes seeing some familiar faces from Skyline, but enjoys seeing new faces as well.

“I’ve enjoyed working with all of the students especially the ones I’ve worked with at Skyline for five years, and even the ones that aren’t on my caseload, but I see in the halls. It’s just really cool to continue those relationships,” Baugh said.

Baugh has enjoyed her first few weeks of working at HHS, but all of the schedule changes have kept the counseling center busy.

“Schedule changes have been crazy, but they are ending soon,” Baugh said. “Hopefully things will start to slow down in time.”

Mentors guide new teachers Iris Cessna Staff Reporter Just like students, new teachers have to figure out how to navigate the ordeal of the first day at a school.

While students have a support system of friends and teachers willing to help them through the first days, weeks and months, first-year teachers have colleagues who help them find their way - teacher mentors.

These mentors are tasked with guiding the new teachers through the ins and outs of working at HHS. There are several pairs and trios (some mentors have taken on two mentees) currently in action at the school.

One such pair, French teachers Sally Young (mentor) and Emilie Culbertson (mentee) enjoy the program. Mentoring has benefited Young as a teacher, as she appreciates Culbertson’s enthusiasm.

“I guess her enthusiasm is infectious...I think that in-

spires me,” Young said.

Culbertson, however, feels that the formal mentoring setup has not changed things much.

“I feel like she already was my mentor in a lot of ways,” Culbertson said.

“We’ve had correlate meetings where you meet with the other person at your school or in the district who teaches the same thing as you do. I asked her for advice,” Culbertson said. Culbertson was teaching at Thomas Harrison before taking on a class at HHS. Young is new, in a way, as well. This is her first year in the mentoring program.

“I feel like I have a good basis...that familiarity with the way things worked has really helped,” Young said.

Young hopes her mentorship will pass on that “good basis” to Culbertson.

Rachel Linden, another of the mentors, is a mentor to Danielle Brino and Anda Weaver. Linden has been a part of the mentoring program before, and learned from her previous experi-

ences.

“I used to rely on just kind of connecting with my mentee in passing, or just checking in kind of randomly, but now I have learned that it’s important...to carve out space for those people,” Linden said. “[The mentoring program] keeps me on my toes,” she said.

Brino, one of Linden’s mentees, is transitioning into being a high school counselor from a previous position as an elementary school counselor.

“My goal is to really learn the ins and outs of being a high school counselor and get to know everyone. [My mentor will help] by answering a lot of questions and keeping us focused and on track with what needs to be done for students,” Brino said. The mentor-mentee system has eased that transition.

“It’s been really helpful… she’s definitely got my back,” Weaver said.

“Overall, I’m glad we have the program,” Weaver said.

PHOTO BY IRIS CESSNA

Bonjour. New French teacher Emilile Culbertson displays verb translations to students in her French 1 class.

September 29, 2016

Feature-B3

The Newsstreak

Mumaw brings variety of experiences to classroom Nyah Phengsitthy Social Media Editor It isn’t every day that a former pastor in a church, a professional lifeguard and an aquatic director becomes a teacher at HHS. New math teacher Jeff Mumaw, in his free time, enjoys playing soccer.

With that being said, Mumaw has coached the sport for years at a variety of levels. Mumaw also enjoys doing water activities, particularly swimming and sailing, and being with family.

“I was always the first one in the pool and the last one out. I didn’t swim competitively until I was an adult,” Mumaw said.

Growing up in a town north of Philadelphia called Hatfield, Pennsylvania, Mumaw regularly followed sports, rooting for all of the Philadelphia teams.

When it came to school, Mumaw found that going to high school was something he strongly enjoyed. Participating in a large amount of school activities and learning new things every day is what made his interest for school grow. For college, Mumaw attended Eastern Mennonite Col-

lege in Harrisonburg before it became a university. When at EMC, Mumaw found that his favorite subject started to become harder.

“For me, math always came easy until I got to college, and then I had to work harder. I discovered that just because [math] comes easy, [it] won’t always make us the best teacher. You have to work at the craft of teaching,” Mumaw said.

He didn’t exactly have a certain inspiration when it came down to deciding what he wanted to do in life, but when he did, Mumaw soon found his answers just from going to school.

“I think back to my third grade teacher. I connected with her and I learned a lot from her...That was when my abilities in math were situated, and I could see myself being a math teacher,” Mumaw said.

Mumaw has worked with people who are recovering from mental illnesses, and was also in business with his dad. Although Mumaw has done other things before becoming a math teacher, education always came back to him. Now, when it comes down to teaching his own math class-

es, Mumaw reflects to his time from when he was in school.

“In elementary school, I struggled with reading and writing...I had been in summer school a lot of times, so as my students struggle with math, I think back to the times I struggled with my reading and my writing,” Mumaw said.

Mumaw has experienced different aspects of teaching from being in multiple schools. Before teaching at Harrisonburg, Mumaw taught at Christopher Dock High School in Pennsylvania.

He also moved out to Goshen, Indiana to work at Goshen Community Schools, and later on, Mumaw became a substitute teacher in Harrisonburg City Public Schools PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFF MUMAW for four years.

SAIL AWAY. Math teacher Jeff Mumaw enjoys a sailboat during his trip to “One of the things you Greece, Spain, and Turkey. discover is as you are in different schools, they have for new opportunities and fun great place. There are some amazdifferent cultures, and so I’d like to things to happen in the communi- ing things that happen here at the study the cultures and understand ty. So far, the new high school has high school and any school comhow things function and work,” been suiting him well. munity, and I want to be a part of Mumaw said.

“I think that Harrisonburg is a it,” Mumaw said.

While he’s here, Mumaw looks

First-year history teacher sharing love of subject Abby Hisong Editor-in-Chief From sitting in a classroom to leading one, Andrew Summers took the leap when he joined the HHS community as a new history teacher in August.

Growing up in Winchester, Virginia, he attended Sherando High School where he first began to think about pursuing a career in education.

“I had a lot of teachers in high school who inspired me, and I always thought [teaching] would be fun. My swim team coach taught me that the relationships teachers and coaches have with their students can be really meaningful, and that really stuck with me,” Summers said.

After high school, Summers went on to Bridgewater College where he took several general education courses with hopes of determining what subject matter he wanted to focus on. Eventually, Summers decided to major in history and minor in education.

“I got into history at Bridgewater when I had a professor who just really made history come alive.

When he taught, history stopped just being facts and turned into these stories that were just as interesting as anything on TV or in the movies. Except all these things had really happened, and it made me realize how important it was that history was retold,” Summers said.

Taking both history and education classes in college, Summers primarily studied about how kids learn and the most effective way to teach. However, most of the content he picked up couldn’t be put to use until he was actually in the classroom setting.

“Until I student taught last year, I had no idea how all those things would work. I don’t think you can really practice being a teacher, you kind of just have to learn as you go along,” Summers said.

“Something I wish I had been taught is the importance of creating meaningful relationships with students. I think it’s the bonds

PHOTO BY ABBY HISSONG

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE. History teacher Andrew Summers works with his students to develop a deeper appreciation for the past. you have with your students that motivate them to learn. Even if they could care less about history, they’re only going to listen to you if they respect you.”

Teaching three separate courses this semester, Summers tries to switch up how he teaches each subject to his students in order to keep things interesting.

“With World History 2, I try to make a lot of connections to today. Things

like the current election, and issues that students are relatively familiar with make it a little easier for them to make those associations. With World History 1, we talk a lot about ancient civilizations and cultures, and I think students find it interesting to talk about the origins of society. So it’s all about making connections that will help students retain the content,” Summers said.

Though satisfied with the classes he is currently teaching, in future years Summers hopes to one day teach an AP history course of any sort to HHS students.

“I think having those upper-level content discussions would be really, really interesting. Talking with students about how we learn and how we write, and things like that would be really cool to talk to upperclassmen about,” Summers

said.

In his first month of teaching, Summers has started to get a hold of what all his job requires.

For him, the most challenging part isn’t actually teaching students, but rather what he has to do outside of the classroom.

“The biggest obstacle I’ve faced so far would have to be managing my time.

Juggling planning, grading, reviewing content, making

Burkholder carrying on family profession Nyah Phengsitthy Social Media Editor Outside of school, firstyear English teacher Cassidy Burkholder enjoys hiking, spending time in nature and with her family, and doing anything exercise related.

Within the walls of HHS, though, Burkholder enjoys being a brand new part of the English department.

Born and raised in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Burkholder attended Mountain View Elementary School, Wilbur Pence Middle School and graduated from Turner Ashby High School. When it came time for college, Burkholder attended Bridgewa-

ter College, majoring in English. As she furthered her education, she found her interest in English getting stronger.

“As I got older, I really started enjoying English class more and more, and I had really great English teachers. That’s what led me down the English teacher path,” Burkholder said.

Deciding that she wanted to be a teacher was not only influenced by her English teachers and English classes, but by her family as well. Growing up, Burkholder was surrounded by many of her family members involved with the school system, strongly influencing her in becoming a teacher.

“A lot of my family members are or have been teachers. Both of my grandparents were teachers and I have an uncle who’s a teacher. My mom also works in the education field, so it was natural for me and it was something I wanted to do,” Burkholder said.

Wanting to become an English teacher was something that Burkholder has thought of for a very long time.

“As a younger kid, there was always, ‘Oh I want to be a professional athlete or things like that’, but when it came time to thinking about what I really want to do, what I really want to do for a career, it was always teach-

ing,” Burkholder said.

Last year, Burkholder was involved with the education program so she could become certified to teach.

In the program, she student taught at different Harrisonburg City Schools including Thomas Harrison Middle School, Skyline Middle School, and HHS. When Burkholder officially became certified, she chose the option of being a secondary teacher, which allows her to teach any grade level from sixth to twelfth grade.

So far, Burkholder has enjoyed working at HHS for her first year of teaching.

“I like being able to work with kids and make a difference for them, teach

them things. I also really like working in this environment, working with all of the [teachers] in the English department,” Burkholder said.

With only being in her first year teaching, Burkholder has set goals for the year and plans to achieve them as it progresses.

“I think that my goal is to just grow as a teacher throughout the year. There are a lot of things going on here at the beginning of the year, a lot of things to learn and get use to, but as time passes I hope to become more familiar with everything and grow as a teacher and be there for my students,” Burkholder said.

sure everything you’re doing in class is connected to student success and everything in between can be a little daunting at first. That said, I’m learning and definitely getting better at it,” Summers said.

Overall, getting acclimated to the classroom has been a relatively manageable task for Summers.

He looks forward to seeing how the rest of the year will play out and getting to know his students better.

“I’ve only been with my students this semester for four weeks, but already some of the relationships I’ve established have been so rewarding,” Summers said. “So far, my teaching philosophy has been to emphasize the relationships I make with my students. It helps get the history part across, but it also helps to make an impact on them.

My hopes for my students would be that in 10 years from now they might remember very little content from my class, but they might remember the connections I made with them or a lesson I taught them, history related or not.”

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

KNIGHT TURNED STREAK. First year English teacher Cassidy Burkholder works on lesson plans.

Burkholder completed her student teaching at HHS last spring. She is a graduate of Turner Ashby High School and Bridgewater College.

September 29, 2016

Ads-B4

The Newsstreak

Riner Rentals is a family-owned, locally-grown, second-generation property management and rental company. We have been specializing in residential housing in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County for over 15 years. Let us help you make Harrisonburg home, or help with your property management needs. Riner Rentals: For ALL your housing needs in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County.

(540) 438-8800 P.O. Box 1391 Harrisonburg, VA 22803 RinerRentals.com

TOWNHOUSES

APARTMENTS

HOUSES

PANO’S

Restaurant

Serving the Harrisonburg area for over 20 years HOURS: 3190 South Main St. Tuesday-Thursday Harrisonburg, VA 22801 11 - 9:30 Exit 243 off I-81 Friday - Saturday follow us on facebook 11 - 10 @panos restaurant Harrisonburg Sunday www.pano-s.com 11 - 9

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

Chris Hite Sales Consultant HHS Class of 1987

Bus. Phone (540) 434-3900 FAX (540) 434-3130 chite@bobwadeautoworld.com Larry & Christy Boyett, Owners 540-849-9367

You will receive a free authentic NFL football with every purchase.

September 29, 2016

The Newsstreak

Hugo Kohl Precious Gems

Ads-B5

September 29, 2016

Sports-B6

The Newsstreak

Volleyball teams hoping to bounce back from tough ‘15 season Vivian Neal Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

KILL IT. Senior Jessica Denton attacks the ball over the net during a Sep. 1 conference matchup against James Wood.

For the Blue Streak varsity volleyball team, last year’s 3-17 season is over and done with.

This upcoming year will mark changes for the volleyball girls, as Coach Hannah Bowman turns over a new leaf as head coach of the varsity team, but that is only one of many changes taking place on the volleyball court.

Senior team captain Casey Wilson, one of the three varsity captains this year, marks 2016 as her fifth year of playing. The changes being put into play by Coach Bowman are not going unnoticed by her.

“It’s definitely a much different dynamic, [Coach Bowman] is doing new stuff [like] going to the weight room [and] we’ve been doing a lot more conditioning stuff with her….. At Eastern Mennonite it was a really hot gym, so all the conditioning and training has really been helping,” Wilson said.

Coach Bowman has put in her own work as she allows herself

to be fully engulfed into the role of head coach and the new responsibilities that come along with the job.

“I think I’ve got a lot more control over what happens during practices, so I try to keep things a lot more upbeat. [I] try and keep things really focused on being an athlete, so weightlifting, conditioning, positive attitude and not just the skills of volleyball,” Bowman said.

Coach Laurie Kraus has been the JV coach at HHS for five years and she has also begun to see improvement on JV. Middle school teams have been added in the past year, giving more experience to the players coming into the high school.

“Thankfully with the addition of the middle school teams, we’re bringing up our first group of freshmen that have played on the eighth grade teams last year. I am seeing a big difference in terms of that little amount of time getting touches with the ball and just being comfortable with the ball. As opposed to straight out of middle school

coming in and learning everything from scratch. The skill we have this year is definitely much improved from that of last year,” Kraus said.

Although JV and varsity act as separate entities, a change has been made on the court to allow for the girls to learn from each other in order to develop their collective team skills. The team overall is also younger as four freshman, a sophomore, and two completely new juniors have joined the squad. This is where the role of team captains come into play. Senior Athena Benton has been playing for seven years and as it is her second year being a captain. She is no stranger to the leadership role she must take on.

“This year we have joined JV and varsity a lot more, so we practice together sometimes and that puts a lot more responsibility on the captains. It’s been an interesting experience, but it is fun being captain and watching the other players grow,” Benton said.

Golf optimistic going into conference play Andi Fox Staff Reporter With only two weeks left before the conference tournament at Blue Ridge Shadows, the golf team has high hopes. Senior and team captain Cade Templeton has played on the team all four years of high school and has made it to regionals individually three of the four years. This year, he hopes to go even farther. “[One of my goals] is definitely making it to regionals, but the overall goal is to try to make it to states, because I’ve never been before,” Templeton said.

The main difference from this year and previous years is the number of team members.

The size of the team shrunk, but they still have enough players to place as a team. The team’s most recent addition is freshman Jane Thompson. She started playing early on with her dad and her brother, sophomore Walker Thompson, who is also on the team. Their fourth team member is senior Molly Bauhan. With a team score, they could potentially make it to regionals, which they missed out on last year.

“If we shoot well as a team,

I think [regionals] is possible,” Templeton said.

Coach Mike Ruckman just wants the team to play as well as they can under pressure for the conference tournament.

“You always want to play your best at the end of the year when it matters. You want to give it your best shot,” Ruckman said. “[I am most excited for] the conference tournament and seeing how well we do in it.”

The size of the team isn’t the only difference this year. For Thompson, the whole experience is new.

“I’m looking forward to being able to play with my friends and traveling to different golf courses,” Thompson said.

Her main objective is to shoot a par of 40 or under for this season. The courses the team plays on have a total of nine holes and an average par of 36.

For Templeton, golf is all about mentality.

“Every round you’re going to have some bad shots, so just being able to overcome that and minimize your score is the biggest thing,” Templeton said. “Just keeping your mind in the game and not losing focus.”

Thompson agrees that focus is a key factor.

“You have to be really accurate, or else you’ll get a really bad score,” Thompson said.

For Ruckman, sharing his love for the sport is the best part about golf.

“I love the kids. I love showing them a game that lasts a lifetime.

You can play golf for the rest of your life, and that’s the greatest thing about it,” Ruckman said.

After 24 years of coaching, this year is Ruckman’s last.

“I’ve decided it’s time for me to step down. We need a new face in the program, and as a coach, you just know. This is the time for me to get out. You have to stop sometime,” Ruckman said.

Ruckman has learned a lot throughout his time at HHS. “I learned a lot about dealing with people. I learned you have to be patient. It’s all about compromise and being behind the kids. It’s all about the kids. I have had so many good memories, but what I will remember most is the kids,” Ruckman said. “It has been one of my greatest honors to represent HHS as their golf coach for 24 years. The Harrisonburg com-

PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

PUTT IT IN. Senior Cade Templeton attempts a putt during a golf tournament on Sep. 6. Templeton has big goals for his final high school season, hoping to qualify for regionals and even states munity welcomed me with open arms. I’m proud of the 24 years and what we have accomplished.

More importantly, I am proud of the quality of kids and what they have done after they’ve left the

program. When I see them in town, and I see them being successful, that’s what I’m proud of.”

XC runners improving Fiske transitions from QB to WR Olivia Comer Online Editor-in-Chief Most athletes hate running. However, there is a select group of students who not only run for enjoyment, but run for miles and miles at a time (while maintaining one of the highest cumulative GPAs in Blue Streaks athletics). They are the members of the cross country team.

Junior Ashton Landes is among the top five on the boys team, and for him, seven miles is nearly a piece of cake.

“We usually run to Thomas Harrison and back, which is about three miles, then we work out. A lot of days we’ll do seven miles, it’s not that much,” Landes said. “We [also] do circuits which is when you run a lap around the track, do a bunch of workouts, and then you run another lap and do more workouts.

Then you just keep running laps.”

Landes expects the team (including himself) to finish well this year, hopefully going as far as states once again.

“Our team is really good. Our top five runners, including me, are under 19 minutes which is really good, so I hope we go really far,” Landes said. “[My personal goal is] to break 18 minutes and go to states.”

The girls cross country differs from the boys team slightly in the way they choose to bond off the field. A season highlight for sophomore Abby Campillo is simply getting to know her teammates.

“We have team dinners and sleepovers and since we’ve been running all summer together, I’ve had a lot of fun getting to know them. We watch movies, eat, and sometimes we cook [at the sleepovers].”

Campillo said.

The boys cross country team chose to buy yellow hats for everyone to display their nicknames on. Nicknames are established during the season, for better or worse the nicknames are earned.

“Last year we got hats for everyone and then we put our team nicknames on them and this year we’re going to do a bunch of team dinners. [I’m] the mailman, because I ran into two mailboxes when I was running,” Landes said.

Campillo’s goals have altered from last year to this season. After breaking 21 minutes for the first time in the Glory Days race, she has focused her goals more on the team as a whole.

“I think that I just want to do my personal best and I think that everyone is just driven by their mental strength I guess,” Campillo said.

Owen Stewart Print Managing Editor Last season, Timothy “Bubba” Fiske spent his sophomore year as the backup quarterback on the varsity football team, stuck behind now junior AC White at the position. This year, Fiske decided it was time for a change. During the offseason, Fiske and his coaches agreed on a decision to move the former QB insurance policy to wide receiver, making it the first time he’s ever played the position.

“Last year, I wasn’t getting a whole lot of playing time, and I didn’t like that. So, Coach decided it would be best if they could use me at receiver. I thought it was a good idea, so I went with it,” Fiske said. Jay Hook, the receivers coach for the team, also noted Fiske’s playing time as a reason for the switch.

“We knew Bubba would have a chance to help us at receiver, and that he’d have a chance to start. We didn’t want to waste his ability as a backup to a pretty good quarterback. He

has pretty good ability as a receiver,” Hook said. Coming into the beginning of practice, Fiske had to adjust to a new position and all the things that came with it.

“It’s like a different perspective of the game. At quarterback, you’re in charge and you’re in control. At receiver, you’re just someone the quarterback gets the ball to. It’s a whole lot different,” Fiske said. Coach Hook found that while some of the adjustments of changing positions are tough, Fiske did better than most.

“Like anyone switching positions, it takes a little bit of getting used to, but he’s pretty coachable so it worked for him faster than it does for other people. [Also], he knew he was switching in the offseason, so he had already started to transition,” Hook said. Even with the time to transition, however, Fiske still had some things to work on early in practice. “[The main thing was] being more physical. As a quarterback, you’re getting blocked for all the time. [As a receiver], you’re the one doing the blocking of getting used to, but he’s

PHOTO BY ANDREW RATH

A BRAND NEW SPOT. Junior Timothy “Bubba” Fiske lines up at receiver in a game against Charlottesville. This is Fiske’s first season at receiver, as he played quarterback during his freshman and sophomore years.

pretty coachable so it worked better for him than it did for some other people. [Also], he knew he was switching in the offseason, so he had already started to transition,” Fiske said. Even with the solid transition, Hook did find some things for Fiske to work on early in camp.

In the two months since practice began, Hook has seen lots of improvement from Fiske in multiple aspects of the receiver position.

“His routes have gotten much, much better. His blocking has improved tremendously since the beginning of camp, and he’s just more reliable than he was at the beginning,” Hook said. Despite his improvement, Fiske knows he still has some things to work on, and he wants to keep on pushing.

Another difference from QB to receiver is the one-on-one matchups they deal with, up against the cornerbacks. Fiske lists one of his own teammates as his toughest matchup to date.

“Collin Morris is the toughest corner I’ve faced. He’s quick and he’s big, so when you’re blocking him, you have to stay in front of him, and when you’re running routes you have to get off of him,” Fiske said. As for the rest of the season, Fiske and Hook both want to see continued improvement. “[I have to work on] everything.

I’ve got to get better at catching the ball, blocking, [et cetera]. Since it’s a new position to me, I’ve got to get better at almost every part of it,” Fiske said.

As for Hook, he would like to see more open receptions from Fiske as the year progresses.

“Most of all, [I’d like to see him work on] explosiveness coming out of his routes to make sure [he’s] open on his cuts,” Hook said. “[Also], like all our receivers right now, just consistently catching the ball. Catch, tuck, put it away, run like heck.”

September 29, 2016

Sports-B7

The Newsstreak

Adamek enjoys first year Junior makes varsity volleyball team after attending multiple open gyms, learning intricacies of game Olivia Comer Online Co-Editor-In-Chief The athletes of the varsity volleyball team have made for a diverse group. Players range in experience from some who have played their whole life, to some who only ever touched a volleyball in gym class.

New varsity player junior Marley Adamek in particular has never played a team sport, with the exception of her try at third grade recreational soccer.

“It’s so much more fun playing on the volleyball team. I hated soccer and I was really too small and I didn’t know anyone on the team, but volleyball is so fun,” Adamek said.

Head varsity coach Hannah Bowman was shocked when she found herself keeping inexperienced players, but good attitudes and coachability made the decision clear.

“I never thought that I would keep someone who had never played before, on a varsity team, but both of our players, who this is their first season, are extraordinarily hardworking and kind individuals. I figured one, they would be extremely coachable so they could get up to speed fast, and two, I thought they could impact our team in terms of team chemistry and positivity and attitude. They were going to be making an impact on the team whether they were experienced or not,” Bowman said.

In preparation for volleyball tryouts,

Adamek came to every open gym offered to her, even during the summer. This action showed Bowman work ethic, which made Adamek an easy choice to have on the team. “[Adamek] asked a lot of questions and was willing to take a lot of criticism. I told her at the beginning that I would be giving her a whole lot of tips all at once and every day she asked if what she was doing was right or wrong and what she could improve on. She came every day all summer even though she was new. That showed a lot of dedication as well,” Bowman said.

Adamek has had multiple seasons of experience running track and cross country, however, they are not what she would consider true team sports.

“It’s really, really nice because I have a group of people that is my group of people now, and I can talk to them all the time and see them every day. It’s fun because some of my best friends are on the team. With other sports like track, it’s just a bunch of small groups but [in volleyball] we’re just one big group,” Adamek said.

Although Adamek admits that tryouts were quite terrifying, in the end she believes it was worth it. Adamek came to every open gym offered, and by the end of tryouts had earned a spot on varsity. “[If you’re thinking about playing a sport for the first time], I say that you should do it because you never know. Even if you think you won’t make the team, you might so it’s worth a shot,” Adamek said.

PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

WARMING UP. Junior Marley Adamek warms up prior to a volleyball match against James Wood High School in Winchester, VA. Adamek stepped out of her comfort zone and tried a sport she had never attempted before. By coming to multiple open gyms throughout last spring and all summer, Adamek was able to improve her skills and make the squad.

Johnson following in siblings footsteps John Breeden Staff Reporter Sophomore Chris Johnson isn’t new to the sport of football. After playing JV football his freshman year, Johnson has made the step up to varsity this season as a sophomore.

“Being on the varsity team is a good experience.

It’s a physical battle everyday because the players are a lot older, stronger and more mature. It’s just different from JV physically and mentally,” Johnson said.

Taking the step up from JV to varsity in any high school sport can be a big transition in competition.

“The guys are a lot bigger, the coaches want to win more and they expect a lot out of you. On varsity, not only do more people come out to our games... you have the potential to

take the next step as a collegiate player. I just think varsity is taken a lot more serious than JV,” Johnson said.

Last season, the varsity team had a record of 7-3, and this season Johnson expects good things as well.

“I think we’re going to go to the playoffs, hopefully we don’t lose another game this year,” Johnson said. With Johnson moving up to varsity, he hasn’t been the only Johnson to play football for HHS. His older brothers, Brad Johnson and Tony Johnson, played as well.

“My oldest brother, Tony, started right guard during the year we went to state championships.

My brother, Brad, he was a sophomore in that year, and he played his junior and senior seasons as a captain, linebacker and fullback,” Johnson said.

Because both of his

older brothers previously played for HHS, Johnson feels more motivation to play.

“I do feel like I need to live up to my brothers‘ standards, because I get reminded that my brothers were once Blue Streaks every day in practice,” Johnson said.

To reach those standards, Johnson knows he needs to reach newer heights, more than his brothers did.

“I need to work harder than my brothers did, and I think I already have a good start on that. I think just to have two years of football experience, I’m pretty good, and if I just combine hard work with a little bit of talent that the guys give me, I think I can go far,” Johnson said.

For Johnson, football started for him because of his brothers.

“I do think I did play

football because of my brothers. My first love was basketball, and then they practically forced me to play football, but after my first year, I wasn’t that good. It was a question if I was going to return to the

team. My second year was my breakout season. My ninth grade year, I led the team in sacks, forced fumbles, tackles for loss and pancakes. I think that now it’s something that I want to do personally, just because

I’m good at it, and again the Johnson last name has run in Harrisonburg High School, so I do think that’s why I’m playing.” Johnson said.

Mickey Glago GUITAR STUDIO All Styles, All Ages!

Lessons in Harrisonburg, VA. Guitar * Bass * Mandolin * Ukelele (703) 861-8723 (540) 442-8833

30-minute and 1-hour lessons available!

Books-a-Million Educator’s Week October 8-13

Books-a-Million is hosting an educator week from Saturday, October 8th through Thursday, October 13th. Teachers coming in this week will get 25% off on merchandise for the classroom, as well as the opportunity to enter their name in a drawing for a $20 Books-a-Million gift card.

Books-a-Million’s free Educator Card offers teachers 20% off merchandise for the classroom all year long. To sign up, simply bring in a valid school ID. Teachers providing school e-mail addresses are also eligible for additional coupons throughout the year.

We’ve Got Our Game Face On. When an athlete suffers an injury, Sentara RMH Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Specialists is ready.

Our dedicated sports medicine physicians and surgeons, many of whom are athletes themselves, have the knowledge and skills necessary to get the athlete back in the game.

When it comes to an injury, we’re part of your team.

• • • • • • • • • • •

Back and neck injuries Concussion care Foot and ankle injuries Fracture care Hand and wrist injuries Knee injuries Same-day appointments for emergencies Shoulder injuries Sports performance and rehabilitation Sports physicals Team physicians for many local high school sports

Now seeing patients in our new, state-of-the-art facility, Sentara RMH Orthopedic Center.

540-689-5500 | Sentara.com

SENTARA IS A PROUD SUPPORTER OF THE HARRISONBURG BLUE STREAKS!

September 29, 2016

Sports-B8

The Newsstreak

Sports Briefs Robinson excels in varisty debut BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

8/27 Third place at Central High School Invitational 9/7 Third place at the District Mini at Thomas Harrison Middle School

UPCOMING RACES 9/28 District Mini at Robert E. Lee 10/5 Burtner Farm - Peak View Elementary, Penn Laird, VA

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

8/27 Third place at Central High School Invitational 9/7 Second place at the District Mini at Thomas Harrison Middle School

UPCOMING RACES 9/28 District Mini at Robert E. Lee 10/5 Burtner Farm - Peak View Elementary, Penn Laird, VA

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL RESULTS

8/25 At E.C Glass 7-42 L 8/31 At John Handley 7-30 L

UPCOMING GAMES 9/29 At Waynesboro 10/6 vs. Spotswood

VARSITY FOOTBALL RESULTS

8/26 vs. E.C Glass 34-37 L 9/3 At John Handley 26-14 W 9/16 vs. Charlottsville 21-33 L

UPCOMING GAMES 9/30 vs. Waynesboro 10/7 At Spotswood

JV VOLLEYBALL RESULTS

8/23 At Woodgrove 0-2 L 8/25 At Eastern Mennonite 0-2 L 9/1 At James Wood 0-2 L 9/6 At Sherando 0-2 L 9/13 At Waynesboro 0-2 L

UPCOMING GAMES 10/4 vs. Spotswood 10/6 vs. Waynesboro 10/11 At Robert E. Lee

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL RESULTS

8/23 At Woodgrove 0-3 L 8/25 At Eastern Mennonite 3-1 W 9/1 At James Wood 0-3 L 9/6 At Sherando 0-3 L 9/13 At Waynesboro 2-3 L 9/15 vs. Robert E. Lee 0-3 L

UPCOMING GAMES 10/4 vs. Spotswood 10/6 vs. Waynesboro 10/11 At Robert E. Lee

COMPETITION CHEER UPCOMING MEETS 10/3 District Tournament at Robert. E. Lee 10/6 Jamboree at Woodgrove High School 10/8 Invitational Buffalo Gap High School 10/12 Invitational at Wilson Memorial High School

GOLF

RESULTS 9/1 Tied for first vs. Turner Ashby at Heritage Oaks Golf Course

UPCOMING 9/22 Conference Tournament vs.

Woodgrove Sophomore Walker Thompson “We’re just gonna get better by the end of the season.”

Theo Yoder Sports Editor

Since he was five years old, sophomore Marcus Robinson has been sprinting down the field with a football in hand. Robinson registered for junior league football in kindergarten, but didn’t play tackle football until middle school.

“I’ve been playing with a ball since I was a baby, and I always wanted to play with a football. My parents decided to let me play, so I joined a flag football team. I was pretty good, so I just stuck with it and worked hard,” Robinson said.

In addition to playing football in the fall, Robinson also plays basketball in the winter and baseball in the spring. Out of the three sports, he prefers football.

“I love the adrenaline. It’s different in basketball because if someone hits you, you can’t do anything about it. But in football, if someone hits you, you can take them out,” Robinson said.

During his freshman year, Robinson was an active player for the Streak’s JV football team. This year, he has to adapt to the ways of varsity football as a running back and a cornerback. “[Playing on varsity] has been a big change. There’s bigger, stronger, faster people and more competition. It is a big leap from JV to varsity,” Robinson said.

During the offseason, Robinson worked out with various members of the football team such as quarterback AC White, and fellow cornerback Collin Morris. Before each game, he makes sure to well hydrate himself as well as eat a healthy meal the night before.

For his varsity debut, Friday, Aug. 26, Robinson led the Streaks with two rushing touchdowns and an interception returned for a touchdown. He scored more than half of the Blue Streak’s total points against the Hilltoppers of E.C Glass.

“It was my first varsity game and I had butterflies. I wasn’t really nervous, I was just anxious. When I scored my first touchdown off the interception… it was pretty exciting,” Robinson said.

The starting running back for the Blue Streaks, Ray Smith, was injured for a majority of the game, causing Robinson to take control.

“I felt like I played really strong, and because Smith got injured, we were missing a big part of our team. I had to step up and that’s what I did. Even though we didn’t

PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHNNY STRADER

POWER THROUGH. Sophomore Marcus Robinson refuses to go down after receiving a hand-off against E.C Glass. Robinson scored a total of three touchdowns Friday night for the Streaks in his varsity debut. They went on to lose to the Hilltoppers 34-37. win, we gave it our all,” Robinson said.

The varsity football team is coached

by Special Education Teacher Christopher Thurman. Thurman has been coaching the Streaks for six years, and was grateful for Robinson’s performance Friday night. “[Robinson] is a tenth grader, and the first time I had actually seen him play with us was Friday night. I was very pleased with how he played. He ran the ball hard and played well on defense. For his first varsity start, I thought he did very well,” Coach Thurman said. “He’s tough, he’s a very good runner, his speed helps him on both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. [Robinson] understands the game and knows where he is supposed to be.”

Junior Collin Morris plays the position of cornerback with Robinson. Morris scored

the team’s first touchdown of the season and was impressed as well with Robinson’s performance.

“He brings intensity to the game and gets everybody hyped up when he touches the ball. On Friday, he watched a lot of film before the game and knew what [E.C Glass] was going to run. When we are both on defense, I can trust him to cover the other side of the field and he can trust me,” Morris said.

Despite the loss on Friday, Robinson still has high hopes for the upcoming season.

“I hope we take it all home and get that state championship, I think we can do it, we just have to stay together. We have to be very disciplined, very conditioned and we all have to play together,” Robinson said.

Smith makes move to running back Sam Heie Feature Editor Senior Rakweon Smith has played football for three years on the HHS team. He played as a freshman, skipped his sophomore season, but continued on the varsity team as a junior.

He has made the transition this year from defensive end and wide receiver to the team’s starting running back.

“As a player, I’ve got to stay more focused because, as a running back, there are more players you need to know. I have to know where my block is. I played receiver last year and I wanted to play running back too, but Devin [Medley] already had it. So I asked again this year and they said yes,” Smith said.

Varsity coach and BSA teacher Moses Tinsley has worked with Smith all three years of his high school football career. This is his thirteenth year of coaching for HHS and his ninth year of teaching.

“Rakweon has adapted to his new position well… We needed some senior leadership

at that position because that’s an important part of the team. We have to rely on someone who’s not going to turn the ball over and someone who’s going to make the plays,” Tinsley said.

Smith sustained a knee and ankle injury in the team’s opening game against EC Glass.

He had to be assisted off the field and attended to by a trainer. “[Smith’s] biggest challenge is his knee injury right now,” Tinsley said. “He had to get PHOTO COURTESY OF JOHNNY STRADER his knee looked at. He said it feels fine. The CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Senior Rakweaon Smith sprints down the doctor cleared him, so field during Saturday’s game against the Judges of John Handley High we probably want to School. The Streaks went on to win 26-14. get him a couple reps tomorrow in the game see how my knee felt,” Smith of the plays,” Smith said, “The [against Charlottesville].” said. wide receiver position has such “[My knee] feels better. I’ve Smith still alternates be- a skilled group of kids. Jackson been doing a bit of progression tween running back and wide Hook and Sam Healy have reto see how I’m going to do this receiver, depending on the ally stepped up their game to Friday. I just have to wear an needs of the team that day. fill in the gap left by Rakweon,” ankle brace and a knee brace, “I’m playing receiver again Tinsley said. but besides that, I’m good. Yes- this Friday. I think there won’t terday I ran around the field be much of a challenge beand did some figure eights to cause I still remember most

Baseball Hall of Fame selection committee needs to reconsider Owen Stewart Print Managing Editor On Aug. 12, New York Yankees designated hitter Alex Rodriguez played the final game of his incredibly polarizing Major League career.

A-Rod, as he is better known, finished his career with 696 home runs, fourth all-time, 3,115 hits, over 2,000 runs batted in, and a .295 batting average, the statistics of a sure Hall of Famer.

However, Rodriguez’s chances of actually being inducted are very slim because of his usage of performance-enhancing drugs. The voters are never going to allow a player with a history of drug use in, but come on, he’s one of the best players of all-time.

He made it to the majors at age 18, becoming one of the youngest players to ever play in a MLB game, and then went on to play parts of 23 seasons in the league before the Yankees released him at age 41. Three times, A-Rod belted 50 home

runs in a season, his pre-suspension and totaled 100 numbers weren’t RBIs an incredflukes. That should ible 14 times be enough to get throughout his him elected into the career.

Hall of Fame.

He was truly Rodriguez isn’t a game-changthe only deserving ing star athlete, player snubbed by and keeping inductees for steLil Stew’s Sports someone like roid reasons. Mark that out of the McGwire hit 70 Hall of Fame is nonsense. Re- home runs in a season, Sammy gardless of the mistakes A-Rod Sosa hit 66, and Barry Bonds hit made, he was still without a a record 73. However, all three doubt an all-time great. have been left out of CooperFor example, after missing stown for their alleged steroid an entire season in 2014 for a use.

PED suspension (banned for Why? They were some of the a year by the MLB commis- greats, just like A-Rod. Sosa has sioner), Rodriguez came back 660 career home runs. Bonds in 2015 and hit 33 home runs has 762, the most all-time, and at age 40. Some may say that was a truly dominant player. He performance shouldn’t matter can make a case for being the because he broke the rules, best player of all time. What but in reality, he showed that I’m trying to say isn’t just that he could perform at a top level, A-Rod should be inducted, my without the steroids, and at an point is that the Hall of Fame age where most guys can’t even is supposed to recognize the take the field. greatest players the game has Sure, his 2016 season didn’t ever seen, not pick and choose work out very well, but the depending on the off-field incipoint is that A-Rod proved that dents of the players.

If the sports “experts” who pick baseball’s Hall of Famers were logical, they would realize that baseball players have been developing tactics to get a hand up ever since the game started being played competitively.

First, it was the baseball glove. Later on, the spitball.

When that was outlawed, pitchers began throwing breaking balls. Hitters would cork their bats, allowing balls to go farther, and pitchers would scratch baseballs with nail files to make them move more when thrown.

The steroid era was just a more extreme step of players trying to get an advantage, and that’s what it needs to be seen as.

Am I condoning the use of PED’s or other drugs? No. However, everyone makes mistakes, and even with steroids, hitting nearly 700 home runs over a career is an accomplishment that deserves to be honored with a plaque in Cooperstown, no matter what type of mistakes a player made off the baseball diamond.

September 29, 2016

2016-2017

HHS

NEWSSTREAK

PATRONS

NEWSSTREAK SUPER SPONSORS Bobby and Valerie Kibler Cynthia Prieto Eleanor P. Adams Ervin and Patricia Yoder Kim and Ken Rutherford Mark Varner Michael A. Fornadel Nathan and Regina Hissong Ralph and Carolyn Custer Sallie Strickler Ted and Stephanne Byrd Judith S. Strickler Dick and Nancy Krause GOLD SPONSORS Amanda Dombrowski Bonnie and Bill Stewart Donna and Chuck Schwers Dr. Rob and Ann Rutherford Gloria Ottaviano and Greg Stewart

Gwendolyn Baugh Jane and Paul Walton Jeanette and Steve Shepard Karen and Brad Newcomer Karen and Burnes Earle KBMG Consulting Associates, LLC Kira and David Newman Larry Leffel Laura FM Meredith Read Mike and Pam McNallen Mike Eye/ Joan Eye Nancy Miller Noland and Barbara McHone Richard and Martha Sider Susan Newsome Wayne and Betty Jo Fleisher Carrie Stevens Sandra Quigg David and Lisa Varner Gretchen and Stephen Cessna Joe Glick Eric and Becca Miller Scott C. Cole

Ads-B9

The Newsstreak

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

SILVER SPONSORS Ann Niland Bernita Claxton Betty Smith Bill and Ellen Carpenter Bob Martin Caitlin Francis Campbell Rutherford Carl Droms Carolyn Earls Carroll and Nancy Yoder Casey Cangelosi Cyndi and Chad Gusler Darrell Wilson Diana Flick Dominique Evans Don and Marilyn Pedersen Dori Ottaviano Emilee Hussack Erica Lewis Frank and Sherrel Hissong Garry and Peggy Miller Geoffray Estes GranMa and Pop Miller

Hayden Rutherford Herman Horne Jan Eckert Jerry and Jane Detweiler Jim and Julie Kramer Jim and Shelby Cash John and Marian Fitzwater Julie Slykhuis Kris Vass Krisztina Szekely Mary and Michael Hoysradt Mary Jean Cross and John Asa Hertzler Matt and Maria Swartzentruber Moriah Hurst Myrna Taylor Paul Johnston Rachael C. Eckard Robert and Judy Wolfe Roger and Patricia Cole Sara and Dan Gingras Susan Comfort The Shaver Family Tim and Gwen Stewart

Tripp and Linda Denton Chad and Cyndi Gusler Chris and Chia-Wei Yoder Austin Swift Faith Runnells Dawn and Chris Womack Deb and John Kugel Jack and Mary Broaddus Gloria Phoenix Annie and Mark Carpenter Nora Maguire White BRONZE SPONSORS Anda Weaver Beth and Curtis Cash Dennis and Penny Vondrak Gwen Sloop Jere Borg Kelly Hammond Kim and Randy Hook Laura and Sam Measell Lynda Blackwell Michael and Sandy Briggs Pat and Earl Martin

Peter Norment Tamra Atkins Teresa Haase Melody and Dennis Wilson Carolyn Stauffer David Galgono David Shenk Joe Carico Kathy Starick Sam Nickels Steve and Anne Turner Sue Pittington BLUE SPONSORS Becky Mintzer Burton Buller Cassandra Copeland Danae Delozier Daniel Upton Debbie Lohman Faye and Emery Yoder Kevin Mary Beth and Grace Tysinger Lisa Thurman

Lisa Warren Marc Healy Marcus Quintana Moses Tinsley Ms. Laura Thompson Nathan Barge Phil Yutzy Quillon and Karin Hall Rich Ingram Ryan Henschel Tamra Atkins Terry McCusker Tim Meyers Tricia Comfort Tricia Cummings Beth Clatterbuck Korey Lamb Seth Shantz HHS SPONSORS Steve Young Bradley Walton Cathy Grogg Chris Shifflett

Clara Yoder Colleen Morris Hope LInd Jane Garber Jauan Brooks Jay Hook Kim Hill Roy McCutcheon Russell Wilder Suzanne Smith T. J. Butler The Wards Veronica Ryman Victoria Giron Tracey Calderson Ross Foster Delynda Hendricks Luga Samson

September 29, 2016

Humans of HHS-B10

The Newsstreak

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

HHS

Senior Molly and Sophomore Abbey v

Senior Sara Penrod

“[My sister and I] run together and push each other a lot. When we race together we will make passes together. We make each other better.”

“What has been the happiest moment of your life?” “...When I finally became comfortable with myself and I no longer cared about what other people thought about me... I just remember walking down the hall and not caring if people liked what I was wearing. I remember I stopped talking to people that I didn’t want to talk to. I just became comfortable in my own skin.”

Junior Zainab Ibrahim “What is this biotech lab about?”

“We are observing bacteria and how it grows in the water.”

“What is your favorite part of the class?”

“I like working in lab the best.”

“How does this class relate to your career path of choice?”

“I know I want to be a doctor but I have not decided what specific type I want to be.”

Richard Morrell

“I coach swim and dive … [but] about seven or eight years ago I started going to all the cross country meets. I started because my daughter started running. It is one of the more grueling sports so I go out to support them, and I love watching the sport.”

Junior Sam Healy

“I’m looking forward to the football season. I want it to go well, win more games and make it to the playoffs.”

Senior Erika Mitchell

“What do you want to do with your life?”

“Right now I want to be a wildlife biologist so that I can go on adventures around the world and hang out with elephants...I guess I want to be like the characters I read about.”

Junior Steven Gilbert

“I’m looking forward for basketball to start and to win some games. I do want to start on homework and classes. I like the lunch food, pizza.”

Senior Chandler Hill

“What’s your best pick-up line?”

“Hey girl, want to get in my truck?”

Sophomore Carlos del Rio

Freshman Talbot Johnson Nick Delves-Grodon “What do you look for in a friend?”

“Loyalty, respect, and trust.”

“Why do you look for those qualities?”

“It shows who is true to you and who is fake.”

“How is it living the [workout] lifestyle and every day going through that same routine?”

“Every thing’s just healthy because you’re in shape. You’re over here doing something that’s good for you. You’re not bored, you’re not drinking soda, you know, all of that. You’re working out, you’re not doing drugs, anything.”

“I like the freedom. The teachers treat us like we are older, not like we are kids and they don’t baby us anymore. I’m definitely looking forward to the chrome books and having our own laptops.”

Senior Javier Rodriguez

Senior David Kapimba Mitong Freshman Justin Peake “What’s something that nobody really knows about you?”

“That I’m not Hispanic, I’m African American. Everybody sees me and starts speaking in Spanish.”

“What do you like at HHS?” “At Harrisonburg, I really like the diversity of the people.

There’s so many different races at the school, and I just find it really comfortable to be in an environment like this.

I don’t like the homework. For me, I just don’t want to go home and repeat what I did at school.”

“Where is your happy place?” “McDonalds.”

“What do you get at McDonald’s?”

"The Bacon Clubhouse, because that’s my favorite”

Photos by Andrew Rath, Christa Cole, Yogesh Aradhey & David Gamboa