September Newsstreak

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B6: Fall sports team dynamics

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Harrisonburg High School • 1001 Garbers Church Road • Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • 540.433.2651 • Volume XIC • Issue 1• September 30, 2015

Red Sea wants to up attendance in new season Ava Reynolds HHS Media Coord.

PHOTO BY AUSTIN SWIFT

S-T-R-E-A-K-S! (From left) seniors Lettie Rose, Chase Berkshire, Josh Byrd and Faith Runnells lead a chant during the Sept. 18 football game against Brookville. The four will take charge of the Red Sea for the new season.

The HHS Red Sea, the football team’s 12th Man, has a new look this year as seniors Lettie Rose, Chase Berkshire, Faith Runnells, and Josh Byrd have become the leaders of the student section.

The Red Sea, a literal sea of students in matching red t-shirts, hoodies, and hats in the bleachers on Friday night home football games, has one major goal this year: involvement.

However getting involvement can be harder than it sounds, according to Chase Berkshire reflecting on past years of the Red Sea’s existence.

“This year we’re just trying to make something to build off of. Last year’s school spirit was definitely at a low, so the main thing is that we’re just trying to get as many people. Numbers are what we need.

Numbers are what we lacked last year,” Berkshire said.

The Red Sea is open to all grades, but the leaders feel that it is especially important to get underclassmen involved because they are the future of the Red Sea. In order to increase underclassmen involvement and just involvement in general, they have several plans for the season, including more

See RED SEA page A2

Band adds to leadership as numbers increase Faith Runnells Editor-in-Chief Although the HHS band had over 100 members last year, there was only one drum major: Ava Reynolds.

This year, because of the continuing expansion of the band, senior Hollyn Slykhuis and sophomore Emily Werner were selected to be new assistant drum majors,

alongside Reynolds.

“Most bands over 50 [members] have multiple drum majors, but we are unique because we have had one [drum major] for our size for a long time and that’s really strange, because if [a band member] is way on the 30 yard line, it’s hard to see at times. So one of the reasons we have two new ones is so we can do side conducting and back

field conducting so [the drum majors] can stay on time better and everybody can see a drum major at one point in time,” Reynolds said.

Both Slykhuis and Werner went through an interviewing and essay process to be selected as the assistant drum majors. They also each attended a three-day conducting clinic to learn the basics of conducting.

“We auditioned when everyone [in the band] auditioned for leadership interviews. So we had an interview and then we also had conducting that we had to do for [the people interviewing us],” Slykhuis said.

For Werner, as a sophomore in such a high band leadership position, having this role has been a change

See BAND page A2

Students to receive individual computers in 2016-17 Abby Hissong Managing Editor Starting in the fall of 2016, classroom activities and homework assignments are going to be very different for students at HHS. Diana Flick, the instructional technology resource

teacher, has played a huge role in making this technology grant happen.

“We [HHS] are now eligible for a huge chunk of money that will allow us, over four years, to give every student their own personal device. The logistics of what the device will be are still up in the air,” Flick said.

Next year’s junior class will be the first grade level to receive their individual technological device.

Those devices will have to be turned in the next year when they graduate. However, in the coming years when sophomores and freshman receive the devices, those devices won’t have to be turned back in.

If all goes as planned, in the fall of 2019, all students at HHS will be equipped with their own technological device.

Superintendent Dr. Scott Kizner believes this grant could mean great things for the education and participation of students who

See TECH page A2

Glick returns to HHS in administrative role Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief HHS graduate, long-serving teacher at the same school and now back in an administrative role, Joe Glick climbed the educational ranks and currently finds himself as the new assistant principal at HHS. He has offered his services around the community, gaining administrative experience along the way.

“I’m in my 28th year. I taught biology and a little chemistry at HHS for 14 years, that’s where I did my student teaching, that’s where I graduated high school. I was an assistant principal at Thomas Harrison for six years and for the last seven I’ve been principal of Skyline Middle School,” Glick said.

Glick felt it necessary to experience a new side of education when entering

administrative work.

“I’ve never been an administrator at a high school, but I’ll tell you this, when the opportunity arose to go into administrative work it was important to me to go to the level I wasn’t familiar with, and after teaching 14 years of high school biology I was familiar with high school kids. I wanted to go to middle school to see how kids move through that really difficult time, so that’s why I chose to go into administration at the middle school,” Glick said.

The mindset of both students and faculty appeared to be different than in high school.

“What I was expecting to be different was how the presence of a finish line effects kids’ ability to learn and how that affects their own motivation. When you

Online programs see improved accessiblity Lucie Rutherford Sports Editor

PHOTO BY MARIA SNELL-FEIKEMA

ROUND TWO. HHS graduate Joe Glick is back as an assitant principal after working in similar positons at THMS and SMS.

See GLICK page A2

Coming up Fall sports updates Food reviews Homecoming Round-up Humans of HHS feature One act Competition band Columns and editorials Military feature Junk in the trunk

PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS

ON MY COUNT. Senior assistant drum major Hollyn Slykhuis helps conduct during the band’s first football game on Sept. 18.

Social Media www.hhsmedia.com @_HHSMedia @StreaksSports @hhsmedia14

As each new year rolls around, the new technology is not far behind. Some wouldn’t believe the advances in technology that HHS has made from a few years ago until now, and this year is no exception.

Instructional Technology Resource Teacher (ITRT) Diana Flick is one of the minds behind this new access, giving her more insight than most on the addition.

“You’re going to see more and more teachers using Google Classroom,” Flick said. “It’s very easy for them to organize information and get it out to students, and for students to turn in information that way. Documents are already saved, and the name is already attached to that document.”

Google Classroom is a

one year-old program that HHS was with last year as well. Flick is hoping the program will help in the hopes of using less paper this year. “That’s the hope, but teachers really love their paper.”

This is English teacher Sara Gingras’ second year with Google Classroom, and she can see a big improvement from last year to now.

“I had many failures of lessons first semester last year because we couldn’t log in,” Gingras said. “We would spend a lot of time trying to get on the computers and my entire lesson would be shot. That’s not happening so much. It was a little rough the first couple of days, but I think it has all resolved itself.”

A big change to the 2015-16 school year is the

See ONLINE page A2

On the Web 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 Video footage of sports Variety of reviews and blogs

September 30, 2015

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Joint planning periods for English teachers Yusuf Aboutabl Staff Reporter Although collaboration between teachers has been a longstanding theme, the English department has taken their collaborative efforts to a new level this year.

Last year, there was no system in place that allowed teachers to work together in a joint effort. After some scheduling was done by guidance, the 2015-2016 school year has all English teachers from the same grade sharing a planning period. The decision was very popular amongst the teachers.

This allowed them to pool their ideas and to build on one anothers lesson plans, leading to higher quality classes. Tenth grade English teacher and co-ITL Peter Norment believes the collabora-

tion has affected his teaching.

“My lessons are definitely changed because they’re more thought out,” Norment said, “More people have thought about them.”

The English teachers also benefit from creating similar experiences for the students.

“One of our big goals this year was to make sure that every 10 honors class was similar in nature to another 10 honors class, that kids have similar experiences,” Norment said.

This change not only benefits the students, but the teachers as well. According to tenth grade English teacher Sara Gingras, having a collaborative planning period with other English teachers saves time.

“Last year Mr. Norment and I would spend hours, sometimes four hours, after school on Fri-

day afternoons and write our lessons for the entire week together,” Gingras said, “And that was just very time consuming” Now teachers don’t have to spend time outside of school for these improved lesson plans. Quality education does not have to come at the expense of teachers’ time out of school.

Collaborative teaching has its benefits, and one of them is that it allows for the teachers to pick up new things from each other.

“It’s definitely a learning experience for me,” Gingras said, “It’s changed our planning.”

Teachers have already found this system to benefit them, and hope it continues this year and on into the future.

“I was ready for a change. I started the school at Skyline. I was the first principal there. Being a principal is a wonderful job, but at this point in my career I was looking for an opportunity to do something very different, almost to reenergize,” Glick said, “I felt very fortunate Dr. Kizner gave me an opportunity to come back to where I started, so professionally this is going full circle, which is really cool. I believe that being able to go back to where you started with the knowledge that you’ve learned over 27 years is a really wonderful thing.”

He found his understanding of the people he works around has changed as he gains more expe-

rience.

“As you get older, I think you get much wiser. I believe that my perspective has changed more to really be a nurturer of kids and recognizing the fact that all kids and all people have things going on inside of them that you need to be cognizant of, I think more so than when I was a teacher,” Glick said, “When I was a teacher I was very concerned with how my kids did within the block of time, and since being an administrator and getting to know families and getting to know kids in really great detail and understanding that there’s a lot going on in the lives of these kids and families and teachers and administrators, that

PHOTO BY YUSUF ABOUTABL

TEAM WORK. English teacher Richard Morrell will hope to improve his lesson plan this year by collaborating with fellow English teachers within his grade.

After 14 years away, Glick comes back with administrative experience GLICK from A1 go to the high school I always felgo to the high school I always felt the students used the frame of reference that they need to graduate. That provides a great motivation for kids,” Glick said, “When you’re in middle school you have no concept of finishing, at the middle school level it’s all about being in that moment and as a principal or a teacher, you’re doing the best you can to shape kids so that they can be successful, but there is no finish line like there is in high school.”

Wanting a change of scenery, Glick was offered a job back at the high school.

you need to be cognizant of the fact that you have to take care of the individual and make sure their emotional needs are being met and they have the support and resources they need, so I think I’ve grown wiser in my 27 years. I think I’ve become better at taking care of people.”

Fellow assistant principal Eric Miller worked with Glick during his time at SMS and thinks his prior experience with some students will benefit him.

“I think one of his biggest assets is going to be he has relationships with all of the kids that went to Skyline. That was one of my biggest assets last year, that relationship piece, and he’s so good

at building those relationships with students,” Miller said.

Having recently arrived at HHS, Miller can advise Glick based on his experience.

“Make it a point to get to know the kids from Thomas Harrison that you might not already know, because although it is a big asset to know the kids from Skyline, one of the [downsides] of that is you don’t know the kids from Thomas Harrison, so just make it a point to build a relationship with those kids as well,” Miller said.

Back to where his professional career started, Glick will look to apply his experience and wisdom in the coming school year.

ITRT staff members help students with technology ONLINE from A1

PHOTO BY ABBY HISSONG

JUST EMAIL ME. Junior Athena Benton uses a Chromebook, where students can now access their school email.

new access that students have with email. In previous years, only teachers have been able to send and receive emails on school computers, though the plan is for students to be involved this year as well.

“The student email accounts that we had before was our own server,” Flick said. “Because of certain guidelines and certain funding, we have to protect anyone under 18. We have specific guidelines for what is said, who can send and who can receive.”

Last year, HHS lost access to My Big Campus - an educational community website for students

and teachers to get assignments, interact, and play games.

“My Big Campus is where our student email has been the past couple years,” Flick said. “Once that access ended, we knew we had to get something for students. In turn, it is now easier to open up Gmail.”

Network administrator Dwayne Hottinger is the one in charge of the student emails.

“Once he found out he was comfortable with the new email and it met the federal guidelines, we were able to open that up,” Flick said.

With all the new technology, the network also has to keep up.

Wireless connection has been

a big issue and HHS is on that problem as well.

“You’ll see more wireless access points - the funny things hanging out of the ceiling - we did get a grant coming our way for a hefty amount of money allowing us to put more and more of them in the ceiling. The more of those we get, the better your access is going to be,” Flick said.

With everything new this year, Flick’s job - along with the other technology staff - is far from over. Flick and others will continue helping students and teachers throughout the year with the inevitable technological problems and the many questions.

want when she’s a senior for there to be no red sea at all. I just want something to build off of, find some good leaders for next year, keep it moving in the right direction,” Berkshire said.

Luckily for the teams at HHS, the Red Sea plans to be active for all sports seasons this year.

“We are going to try to keep it going for winter sports like basketball and we’re trying for even in the fall like volleyball too,” Rose said.

Berkshire also expressed interest in planning Red Sea events for soccer season in the spring.

According to the leaders of the red sea, the administration is also trying to increase student involvement this year by creating a T-shirt that substitutes as tickets.

“Mr. Wilson, the athletic director, said that they are trying to do something where in the fall you can buy a shirt that’s $15 and it says “HHS Fall Sports” and then every time you come to a game and you wear a shirt you get in for free, and doing that for each season, so it’s $45 a year if you bought all three shirts, but you’re saving money on tickets. I think that would increase people coming,” Rose said.

For now though, the focus of the Red Sea is the football season. The leaders just want to see people excited to come out for the Red Sea, and make up for lacking involvement and enthusiasm in past years to lay a solid foundation for the future of the student section.

Red Sea leaders aiming to support various sports RED SEA from A1 organization and more engagement and hands-on activities, and better advertising and social media.

“Last year we had no meetings, no one really knew what was going on. When we have home football games this year we’ll try to do one big meeting so everyone just has an idea of what we’re doing that week, what the theme is. We just need to get more things, more activities involved, more things at the tailgate, consistently have food every week so people know what to expect when they come out,” Berkshire said.

At every game, the Red Sea has a theme. The first football game was American themed, and every-

one came out with flags painted on their faces and clad in American flags and red, white and blue.

To increase involvement at the tailgates, the leaders plan to do more interactive things, such as a paint party theme night where everyone starts out in a white shirt that will be painted on by others.

At the root of the leaders’ desire to make the Red Sea better this year, are the exciting memories they have from when they were freshmen becoming involved in the student section.

“I had an older sibling and she was always in it and that’s what motivated me, but I always noticed the seniors. Do you remember Sarah Bell and Robby Ross? I thought they were cool because they were always super excited for

sports so I just want to show them that we’re exciting people, that it’s fun, that tailgates are fun, that you’d rather be at the tailgate than home,” Rose said.

Berkshire also has a sibling connection to the Red Sea, but this time he is the older sibling wanting to pass on a great experience.

“I’ve known about it [the Red Sea] since I was a kid, just coming to all of the football games and seeing that. I couldn’t wait till I became a freshmen because that just looked like- literally a big giant red sea -how could you not want to be a part of that? That’s why I was kind of disappointed coming in my freshmen year- ever since my freshmen year it’s just slowly died down. That’s what I’m scared of. My sister’s a freshman; I don’t

Band plans for future by adding drum majors Devices allow online access at home first will be to install more TECH from A1 The wireless access points around the

BAND from A1 in dynamic for her.

“It is a little bit intimidating because I went from being a freshman where I just have to march to having all of this responsibility and being up in front of the band... Working with my peers and being friends with them but also being in a position of leadership [has been the hardest thing],” Werner said.

Reynolds emphasized the need for a younger drum major, so she is glad to Werner is around.

“I wanted someone to train. It’s awesome for continuity to have someone who knows what they’re doing. I’m so glad I got to do it for two years because I know what’s going on this year. And for [Werner], she’s going to have three years to really get used to the position,” Reynolds said.

Slykhuis, field commander of the band last year, worked with Reynolds in a leadership position before, but not in the same way that the tasks of an assistant drum major require.

“This year it’s really different being a drum major. So it’s nice to have Emily in the same position with me so that we can be working together to figure out what our role is,” Slykhuis said. “It’s really nice having Ava already there because she was there last year and she knows already what’s going on... it’s really nice to have a mentor like that.”

As Werner is a woodwinds player and Slykhuis is a brass player, the drum majors are now not only able to conduct more at once, but they are also representing more sides of the band.

PHOTO BY FAITH RUNNELLS

EARLY START. Sophomore and new assistant drum major Emily Werner conducts during the Sept. 18 football game.

“I think it worked out really well… Also, it’s just nice to have people to confer to when I have to make a decision.. I have two other people and we can bounce ideas off [of each other],” Reynolds said.

would receive these devices.

“I hope this grant will make it possible for our students to take things home and continue learning outside of school. In a sense, I really do think these devices could be an equalizer. It doesn’t matter where you live, or who you are in Harrisonburg; if everybody has access to technology, then no one has an advantage over someone else,” Kizner said.

While this technology grant would solve the problem of providing students with the resources to work online outside of school, it doesn’t address the issue of internet access.

“We are aware that if a student doesn’t have money for necessities, wifi is the least of your concerns. The reality of that is those students just have to find access elsewhere. So either through a phone, or public building that is close by, you can almost always find wifi,” Flick said.

In order for this grant to be put into action, several changes will have to take place at HHS.

school in order to have a stronger network connection.

Next, the school plans on implementing training sessions for all students and teachers on how to properly use their device.

English teacher Joseph Beppler thinks that without proper training, students and teachers won’t be taking full advantage of their devices.

“Technology is a wonderful thing when used properly. Personally, I’ve had classes who have been really successful using [technology], but I’ve also had classes who just messed around, and ultimately suffered. By training everyone, I think it will make it much easier for teachers and students to reach that happy medium,” Beppler said.

Flick has a lot of work ahead of her for the upcoming year, but is looking forward to seeing the result.

“I am very excited and a bit nervous to help implement this grant. This whole process is going to be baptism by fire, and we’ll see how it goes,” Flick said.

September 30, 2015

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The Newsstreak

Teachers honor Anderson in annual 5K race Samantha Little Feature Editor The annual 5K to honor the life of Sherry Burcham Anderson will be held once again this fall, marking the fifth year of its existence since it first began in 2010.

On Oct. 11, various members of our community, including middle and high school students, college students and school teachers will line up to participate in this event created by the Harrisonburg Education Foundation. It is dedicated to Anderson, who was struck and killed by a drunk driver while running the morning of Jan. 6, 2009. The event emphasizes who she was as an avid runner, committed HEF supporter and diligent area educator.

“The Harrisonburg Education Foundation wanted to honor Sherry, as she was a teacher in the city schools and also has children who attended the city schools.

Because of her love for running, it made sense to do a run in her memory,” secretary of the HEF executive board and Sherry Burcham Anderson 5K race director, Tracy Seefried said.

One new addition to the Sherry Burcham Anderson Run-Walk is the 5K training group. On Aug. 29, HCPS employees and any beginning runners interested in bettering their runs gathered at Bluestone Bike & Run to begin a no-cost six

week training session for the upcoming 5K. “The HEF board decided to offer the training as a way of encouraging more participation by those who might think a 5K is beyond them and who want some camaraderie and encouragement during their runs,” training group faculty liaison, Cathy Soenksen said.

They will meet every Saturday until the race to run or walk at Purcell Park and listen to multiple guest speakers such as marathon runners, triathletes and gym trainers.

Kris and Paige Vass, both teachers at HHS, will be participating in the 5K for the second time this year with their two children, Emmy and Gram Vass.

“It’s a nice fitness-oriented fundraiser to honor Sherry. Fitness was really important to her as was education,” Paige Vass said. “5K’s are really hip right now, so lots of people want to do them.” The run-walk is a fundraiser that not only supports education programs implemented by the HEF but celebrates the imprint Anderson left on our community.

“She was an exceptional educator who very clearly was dedicated to student success,” Paige Vass said.

She plans to attend the training sessions to focus on her personal fitness goals and to begin to enjoy running. “I would really

like to like it, I’m not there yet. In my mind I think it’d be fun but in practice it’s really pretty torturous,” Paige Vass said.

While Paige Vass looks forward to training and being able to participate this year after working it last year as an HEF executive board member, her husband Kris Vass doesn’t enjoy running and sticks to walking with his children.

Vass and his daughter finished behind everyone last year but it didn’t affect his will to participate.

“We definitely weren’t trying to win the race.

We were happy coming in dead last,” Kriss Vass said.

He’s also a big supporter of the HEF and the work they do in the area.

“I’ve received two HEF grants before for AVID, so they’ve been good to me so I wanted to participate,” Kris Vass said. He never met Anderson, but taught her daughter the year she was killed, so he mainly runs this for the cause.

“I’m not a runner. I don’t understand why people do it for fun, but they love this,” Kris Vass said.

Behind the organization of this event are the people who volunteer to work it.

Each year, HHS’s Key Club has put in service hours at this 5K directing traffic, helping with registration, distributing t-shirts and water, helping runners find their way along the course and picking up trash. Angela Knupp, one of the lead-

PHOTO BY SAMANTHA LITTLE

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT. 5K training group faculty liaison, Cathy Soenksen, participates in the training run on Sept. 5 at Purcell Park. Soenksen first began running through this 5K in 2010 after making it her New Year’s resolution to honor Sherry as her friend and to support the HEF. “Once I had run one 5K, friends talked me into running more longer distances, though I generally stick to walk-run intervals. I’ve finished four marathons and several in-between distances, mostly ones that support charities I care about, like the HEF,” Soenksen said. ers of the HHS Key Club, knew Anderson through working with her at Keister Elementary School.

Former student fills athletic secretary position Comfort also coaching track in the winter Theodore Yoder Sports Editor The new year at HHS brings new job opportunities to the community and faculty. HHS alumni, Patricia Comfort, has filled in the position of the athletic secretary. Comfort graduated from HHS in 2010 and attended James Madison University to become a P.E or Health teacher.

“HHS feels like home to me and I love being able to see all the familiar faces,” Comfort said.

Some responsibilities of the athletic secretary include keeping rosters of the athletic teams and checking student eligibility as far as grades and physicals. Comfort also works with coaches to order equipment and supplies for their team. She works with HHS’ bookkeeping and financial operations as well as ticketing operations for all sporting events.

While attending JMU, Comfort worked as track coach for HHS and Thomas Harrison Middle School. This year she is coaching for HHS. “I love being able to spend time with the kids. In the office, I don’t get to interact with them as much as I

hoped, so coaching is a great way to do that,” Comfort said.

The former athletic secretary, Kim Hill, is now the administrative assistant for the school principal, Cynthia Prieto. Hill handles any requests Prieto has throughout the day as well as overseeing payroll for staff. Hill plans to hold this job for many years to come and possibly retire in the position.

“I like the diversity of not only having to accommodate faculty and staff but also having that student interaction as well,” Hill said. “HHS is a great school. Athletics, academics, everything about this school is great. HHS offers great opportunities for kids.”

Prior to coming to HHS, Hill worked as a bookkeeper at Smithland Elementary School.

Hill began in 2008, when the school opened, stayed several years before coming to HHS as the athletic secretary. Hill worked in that position for three years.

“I miss the interaction with the athletes on a daily basis.

I don’t get to see them as much. The whole atmosphere of HHS athletics was always fun for me,” Hill said.

While Hill held the position of athletic secretary,

she worked alongside athletic director, Darrell Wilson.

Wilson believes that Hill will have more of a leadership role with the secretarial staff in the building. Also working directly with the principal carries more responsibility.

“I felt it was a great move for her and a great move for us at HHS. She is a great person to have up front,” Wilson said. “[Hill] was very organized and very focused, she would do a lot of things for me and for us that I wouldn’t have to think about.”

Wilson also feels good about Comfort filling the athletic secretary position. “[Comfort] is a great coach.

She’s a great young lady. We are able to use a lot of her skills and abilities to the benefit of athletics,” Wilson said.

Wilson believes that this job will also give Comfort good experience for teaching in the future.

The new year brings Comfort to the position of Athletic Secretary and Hill to the position of administrative assistant.

Comfort plans to eventually teach health or P.E. Hill plans to hold her job for the upcoming years.

Leadership class returns to HHS Sako Haji Staff Reporter An addition to the 20152016 school year is a new leadership class. It’s taught

by Donald Burgess, who is in his first year teaching at HHS. “I feel great about this leadership class, Burgess said. I believe all 19 students will come to appreciate this class. It is the first time there has been a class like this at HHS, and I personally wish I had the opportunity to take a class like this when I attended HHS.” Burgess plans for the leadership class to spread school spirit through different means, such as producing commercials for the morning announcements.

“The leadership class will execute projects around the school to bring back the

Blue Streak spirit by promoting upcoming events such as football games, spirit week and homecoming,” Burgess said.

Through the different aspects of the class, Burgess hopes to create leaders who positively influence their community.

“I believe this class is important because at the end of the day, society needs positive leaders for the future, and if I can start with just one class to become more effective and efficient students, then these students will be like a domino effect, and their leadership will be contagious to the rest of the school and community,” Burgess said.

The goal of the leadership class is to help the students achieve goals throughout the school year.

“I plan on having each and every student achieve

this before the school year is over,” Burgess said.

The students plan on traveling to other schools to share their experience with leadership roles with other students and faculty.

“I plan on doing so by having my students do activities with a lesson behind each. I want my students to make a change around the school and community,” Burgess said.

The class consists of all grade level students, with a total of 19 students who have varied opinions on the class.

“Most students came into the class not knowing that they were on the road to becoming a leader,” Monee’ Willingham said.

“A few joined the class because their guidance counselor signed them up for it, but they could not be more happy with their guidance

“She was an amazing teacher with unlimited patience and love for her students. This event is a

community one that brings together lots of people by doing what Sherry loved to do… run,” Knupp said.

Special SCA election results in

Class officers, homecoming court nominees chosen Josh Byrd Ad Manager School wide elections were held on Sept. 21 to fill two vacancies on the student council. The two positions were secretary and reporter. Senior Peter Kim was elected secretary and junior Zach Benevento-Zahner was elected reporter. Elections were also held to elect every class officer.

Class officers are president, vice president, secretary and treasurer for every grade.

“I felt good that I won,” Kim said. “I didn’t really prepare for that campaign, but I felt like I had a good chance of winning.”

Kim looks forward to planning and helping with SCA events like homecoming.

Benevento-Zahner also was happy about his win.

“I was pretty excited,” Benvento-Zahner said. He looks forward trying to get the SCA to do more.

“I am also excited to figure out what SCA does and the impact and change I can have on it,” Benevento- Zahner said. “I want to make the SCA be more of a force because right now I don’t think they are doing enough.”

Junior class presidential winner Alanna Whitfield was happy to hear that she had won and looks forward to possibly making some changes to after prom. She accredited her run to the new leadership Education Class.

Sophomore Gabby Wilson won her election, allowing her to continue to serve as her class’s President. “[I ran] Because I was freshman class President last year,” Wilson said. “It was cool and I want to continue it in the future.”

Senior class president Faith Runnells looks forward to her last year in high school.

“I’m excited to organize things for the senior class. I feel like we can step up the activities, especially our potential reunions,” Runnells said.

2015 CLASS & SCA OFFICERS SCA President: Josh Byrd Vice President: Karan Chalishajar Treasurer: Mina Koo Reporter: Zach Benevento Secretary: Peter Kim Senior Class: President: Faith Runnells Vice President: Josh Byrd Secretary: Peter Kim Treasurer: Nicholas Deutsch Junior Class: President: Alanna Whitfield Vice President: Oreoluwa Funmilayo Secretary: Abby Hissong Treasurer: Briana Cheng Sophomore Class: President: Gabby Wilson Vice President: Iliya Zudilin Secretary: Garrett Cash Treasurer: Rawand Ali Freshman Class: President: Chris Johnson Vice President: Warren Fitzwater Secretary: Audrey Knupp Treasurer: Christa Cole

PHOTO BY SAKO HAJI

DISCUSSING SOLUTIONS. Donald Burgess talks with his leadership education students about the ways students could have better school spirit at the school. counselor’s decision.”

WIllingham has attended HHS for three years and has aspirations to help the student body.

“I would at least like to

make things that I experienced in a bad way better for people who have not experienced them yet,” Willingham said.

Willingham believes

that the class can help the school community.

“It’s a class that will not only benefit the students taking it, but the school as well,” Willingham said.

September 30, 2015 The Harrisonburg High School Newsstreak The Policy The Newsstreak is published by the students of Harrisonburg High School every month. Reproduction of any material from the newspaper is prohibited without the written permission from the editorial board. Advertising rates are available upon request.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Letters may also be sent to the high school.

The Editors and Staff Editors-in-Chief: Print: Faith Runnells, Austin Swift Online: Ellie Plass Managing Editors: Abby Hissong (print), Garrett Cash (online) and Olivia Comer (online) HHS Media Coordinator: Ava Reynolds Advertising Manager: Joshua Byrd Photographers: Ava Reynolds, Maria Snell-Feikema, David Gamboa-Pena, Brian Alvarado Page Editors: Ava Reynolds, Faith Runnells, Austin Swift, Maria Snell-Feikema, Samantha Little, Hannah Miller, Audrey Knupp, Tazhan Jaf, Jackson Hook, Theo Yoder, Lucie Rutherford, Abigail Hissong, Garrett Cash, Olivia Comer, Sabrina Gerald Staff Reporters: Yusuf Aboutabl, Brian Alvarado, Yogesh Aradhey, Stephen Barranco, Alissa Burnette, Kyle Brown, Joshua Byrd, Garrett Cash, Christa Cole, Olivia Comer, Danny Dombrowski, Sarah Earle, David Gamboa, Sabrina Gerald, Sako Haji, Sam Heie, Angel Hendrix, Abigail Hissong, Jackson Hook, Tazhan Jaf, Audrey Knupp, Joshua Lichti, Samantha Little, Irene Liu, Bryan Luna, Owen Marshall, Hannah Miller, Alexia Munoz, Richie Pannell, Nyah Phengsitthy, Ellie Plass, Anna Rath, Doug Ritcher, Keyla Rivera, Christian Rodriguez, Faith Runnells, Lucie Rutherford, Noah Siderhurst, Maria Snell-Feikema, Becky Staton, Owen Stewart, Austin Swift, Emily Thurman, Austin Vanfossen, Madison Varner, Theo Yoder, Carrie Yoder Professional Affiliations The Newsstreak participates as a member of several journalistic evaluation services including the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA-2010 Gold Evaluation and 2005 & 2009 Silver Crown Winner), Quill&Scroll Journalism Honor Society (2012 Gallup Award), National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA) All-American, the Virginia High School League, Inc. Trophy Class Award, and the Southern Interscholastic Press Association All Southern Ranking and 2010 Scroggins Award winner. hhsmedia.com opt out notice: If you do NOT want to allow your student’s full name or image to appear on the school newspaper site, please send an email to vkibler@harrisonburg. k12.va.us stating: I understand that the school newspaper, newsstreak. com, now has an online version of the publication.

I DO NOT want my son/ daughter (place student’s name here) to have his or her name or image published on this online venue.

Op-Ed-A4

The Newsstreak

School’s increasing enrollment isn’t so bad NEWSSTREAK STAFF EDITORIAL If you haven’t noticed, the hallways are packed.

I mean, literally, packed.

Have you tried going up the main stairwell after lunch?

You probably have, because it looks like 1600 of the 1619 students in this school are all trying to go up at one time.

Our school is getting bigger. We have new students every week. People are moving to Harrisonburg.

And with people come families and with families comes students. Our school brought in many new students over the summer, and our enrollment is still increasing daily.

Our school is currently

hosting over 100 students more than its intended capacity, 1500. This is why we got the trailers outside.

And why there are constant rumors of adding on to or building a new school. And why we added over 15 new teachers this year. We, as students in this school, often think of this new influx of students as a problem in our school. Something we need to fix. A frustrating aspect of HHS. But imagine if this school were shrinking?

Imagine if this school had to start cutting teachers instead of hiring new ones, all the way up to the day before school started.

If this school had to start closing off classrooms instead of using every avail-

able one at all times. If this school had to start cutting clubs and athletics because our budget was falling, because so many students and teachers were leaving.

Yes, Harrisonburg is growing at a fast rate, and some things about that are not ideal. Some classrooms are crowded and some sports teams are not going to have the best record because of the higher and therefore better competition. Sometimes the hallways move slowly. Sometimes the lunch line takes a long time to get through.

But don’t we always end up getting lunch? And don’t we always end up getting to class through the hallways?

And in the crowded classrooms teachers are always

Sixteen didn’t turn out as expected Abby Hissong Managing Editor Growing up, I couldn’t wait to be 16. Sixteen was the age where you were old enough to be invited to parties, date boys, and most importantly, drive a car. So, Oct. 28, 2014, when I was exactly 15 years and six months old, I went to the DMV and took my learner’s test. I had studied for the test for weeks, so it was no surprise when I walked out of the building victorious. My mom was ecstatic and promised to take me driving the following weekend, and I happily agreed. I had no idea what I was in for. You see, I had never actually driven a car.

To make matters worse, the car my parents were handing down to me was a manual shift model.

So on Sunday morning when we pulled into my high school parking lot, I was practically bursting with excitement. This was it. As my mom got out of the car and motioned for me to switch places with her, I happily obliged.

I sat down in the driver’s seat, adjusted my mirrors, snapped my seat belt into place and….turned the key the wrong way in the igni-

tion. The horenough. She gave rible noise, a me an ultimatum, noise I can only either I pull myself compare to a together enough cat stuck in a to drive us home blender, was or I wouldn’t go enough to tell driving again for me that I had Dear Abby 2.0 a very, very, very no idea what I long time. was doing.

My heart sank.

My mom, not so dis- Saying no wasn’t an option creetly, buckled her seat because that meant no drivbelt in the passenger seat ing, and in order to get my and told me to try again, and license, I needed at least this time turn the key away 45 hours of experience. from myself. Shrugging my So I drove. I went 10 miles mishap off, I turned the key under the speed limit, and away from me and the car may or may not have cried jumped into life... before as I stalled out four times on stalling out two seconds lat- the same hill, but I drove. er when I took my foot off And when we came rolling the clutch. This process of up my driveway, I set my car starting and stopping, stall- into neutral, put my parking ing out and screeching halts brake on, turned the igniwent on for the next hour or tion (toward me this time), two. and got out of the car beamNow I won’t give you all ing with pride that I hadn’t the gory details of every- killed anyone or wrecked thing that went down in the car. that parking lot, but I will tell Today, I am proud to say you that it ended in so much that I can drive a stick-shift frustration that I screamed car with ease. However, if at my mother and told her my mother hadn’t forced that I was never going to be me to drive the car home able to drive that car. Seeing that day, I’m not sure if I the look on her face, I could would’ve ever gotten past tell that I had just made a big myself and been successmistake. After hours of un- ful. Sometimes in life all successfully trying to teach you need is a little push, (or me how to drive, and hav- in my case a big one) to get ing undoubtedly suffered you on the path for where whiplash from my sporadic you need to be. driving, my mother had had

able to work some system out. We may have some inconveniences or crowding, but if the situation were reversed, then that would be a real problem.

The school’s increasingly diverse population also exposes us HHS students to so much more than the average high school. We have so many different programs and clubs and organizations that students can be a part of. If you want to do something, you can do it. Kurdish

club? You got it. Pre-Med club? You’re in. STEM Academy, just fill out an application. The musical? All you have to do is audition.

We are fortunate to go to such a prosperous high school. And in the long term, this is better than being able to run down empty hallways during class changes or having roomy classrooms. We don’t really need an extra seat for our backpack to sit in anyway.

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.

All lives matter Sako Haji Staff Reporter

exists or not. It’s not just a matter of overt discrimination,” President Barack Obama said.

2012 was the year As a nation, we can American media re- no longer be in denial minded the rest of the of what is right in front nation how racof our eyes. Trayism never disvon Martin, Jorappeared. Even dan Davis, Eric today, the UnitGarner, Sandra ed States has Bland and the list numerous signifgoes on. icant and infaThese beautimous events ful lives were that made all taken for The Socks the people of the color on Blog the black race their skin. feel unsafe This is no for being who they are. longer an opinionated The system identifies topic, it is a real matter the higher the melanin, where innocent lives the greater the crime, are taken for the color and the less justice giv- of their skin. We must en. “Black Lives Matter” realize that if they were is not a moment, it is a of white color all these movement. would have been hanAfrican-Americans dled in more of a constiare, without a doubt, tutional manner. treated unfairly. A perWe should all stand son of color is seen dif- up together and do ferently in the eyes of something about the the law. This movement discriminatory actions highlights how some the law enforcement blacks have even unfair- has taken upon the peoly died as a result of po- ple of color. We are all lice force and brutality. human and we all de“Racism. We are serve justice. Black Lives not cured of it. And it’s Matter, All Lives Matter. not just a matter of it Standing up will cause a not being polite to say domino effect, because the ‘n’ word in public. the change starts with That’s not the measure us, and our voices. of whether racism still

Homework becomes overwhelming burden for many Garrett Cash Online Managing Editor It’s always said that school is a fun learning environment, and that’s the truth. It’s what comes afterward that weighs down the students.

Most students taking Honors and AP level classes have at least four, if not more, hours of homework on a daily basis. How can a school expect kids to pass all of these classes without immense stress levels? That’s where the issue arises: they can’t. The workload of the average-achieving student is insane. How are they expected to get good grades, get a reasonable amount of sleep and have even a

slight social life? They homework, how can can’t. The amount of they be expected to not homework they experistress? ence is an atrocity.

And the athletes.

Does it seem that withHow could they possiout homework, students bly go about their daily will turn to anarchy? I lives without stress? believe all that would Ask any athlete how result would be a Garrett Shares It late they stay up, and more relaxed student they’ll laugh and tell body. Students need you. Most of the time, their free time. They need to have they get less sleep than they need. the ability to relax. Some students Nine hours is how long they should don’t know how to calm down be- sleep, but on average, teenagers cause they’re so wound up from all get around seven hours. Juggling of the work that’s put on them. homework and sports events is no Occasionally, students are too easy feat, not by a longshot. shaken up by the amount of homeAnd what does a lack of relaxwork they have to start doing it. ation time, elevated stress levels That is not teaching students to be and sleep deprivation cause? You more productive. If they can’t even guessed it, illness. muster the gumption to start their The health of the students is of

utmost importance to the school, so in order to improve the health of the student body, the students need more free time. They wake up at godforsaken times and arrive at school before the sun has risen, spend seven hours locked in a building and then go to sport events or some place to do their homework. It’s no wonder everyone who graduates is so joyous; there’s time to relax in college.

It’s understandable that the school can’t meet the needs of everyone, but all that’s needed to solve the stress problem is slightly less homework. Give the students time to be with their friends, to sleep and to relax. Let them live a little.

We need faucets on water fountains to help environment Maria Snell-Feikema Feature Editor Humans are around 60% water, according to U.S. Geological Study.

I, as a human, need to drink a sufficient amount of water in order to stay alert and to function. The obvious way to solve this is by drinking water every so often within the day; however, at school there are a few options for this.

I can drink from the water fountain, bring a bottle, or buy water from the vending machine. Disposable plastic water bottles are sold in the commons for students to buy so they don’t have to go through the pain of constantly asking to go to the water fountain to keep their body at a solid 60% water.

Not only does this cost money, but it also wastes resources, and supports

the massive corthe counporation, Aquaftry, but the ina, who “owns” “disposable” the water. plastic that What’s so inthey use for credibly ironic their bottles about buying is made in disposable wa- Maria’s Musing massive facter bottles is that tories that their water is takpump out en from drought-stricken tons of toxins into the air.

California, which is current- These chemicals are often ly being devastated by se- carcinogenic, raising the vere forest fires. risk of cancer to people in And that “purified the surrounding area near mountain water” that is plastic factories. bottled up in those nice, And then, of course, convenient plastic bottles, there’s the fact that the is essentially just treated plastic is “disposable.” tap water, the water that After being tossed in the comes out of the kitchen trash, it is thrown into a sink. And so when some- landfill or littered, where one buys that $1.50 bottle it eventually finds its way of water, they are essen- to the ocean. Landfills are tially just buying water already filling up, and the they could be getting from very bottles we are drinkhome, or from the water ing water from are pollutfountains at school. ing our limited water reNot only do water cor- sources. porations take water from During school I usually drought-stricken areas of keep a water bottle with

me. It’s annoying to constantly get up to go to the water fountain, so a water bottle makes sense for me.

Unfortunately, the water bottle eventually becomes empty. And so I go to a water fountain, and awkwardly jam the bottle underneath the spout, which is obviously not designed for this purpose.

And so what I am proposing is for the administration to install faucets on the water fountains here at HHS; faucets that allow easy refilling of water bottles.

Along with this, the vending machines that sell disposable water bottles should be limited in use. Not only would this encourage using reusable water bottles instead of disposable, but it would also be less expensive for students, seeing as students would be more likely to bring reusable bottles if

they were easier to fill.

As a generation that will have to face the effects of change on our planet, our schools should be encouraging sustainable ways to get water.

Our school should not be supporting corporations that deplete the freshwater resources in the United States, corporations that pollute our air and damage the health of our people, corporations that continue to fill our landfills and oceans with plastic.

The very least we can do is put faucets on our water fountains to facilitate filling water bottles.

It would make water more accessible to students at school while lessening the amount of resources being used, allowing our student body to stay at 60% water without increasing the environmental impacts of disposable plastic water bottles.

The Newsstreak

September 30, 2015

HOT or NOT Presidential Primaries: Although the elections are not until 2016, the presidential race is in full swing with a total of 17 candidates for the republicans and five for the democrats so far.

European Migrant Crisis: This year alone more than 300,000 migrants have crossed the Mediterranean into Europe due to war, persecution, and poverty.

Iran Nuclear Deal: After many months, the United States, China, Russia, and the European Union have struck a nuclear deal with Iran.

Shooting of Reporters in Roanoke: A reporter and photographer were shot during a live interview by a former colleague near Smith Mountain Lake, VA. COP21/CMP11 Climate Summit in Paris: The UN conference to address climate change will be held from November 30 to December 11 in Paris.

Bangkok Bombing: A bomb exploded at a popular shrine in central Bangkok, Thailand last month leaving 18 dead and more than 100 injured.

World Indigenous Games: Athletes from indigenous groups all over the world will participate in this event taking place this September in Brazil. This is as an exciting precursor to the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Kanye West is Running for President: Kanye West announced he is running for president in 2020 at the VMA’s.

The Start to HHS Football Season: HHS won its first two football games against E.C. Glass and Handley.

Egypt’s Government Resigns: Egypt’s president, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, is forming a new cabinet because of low performance and corruption in some of Egypt’s ministries.

New Solar Panels at EMU: EMU will be expanding their commitment to solar energy by building a new solar complex over the existing parking lot next to the University Commons building.

Wildfires on West Coast: So far this year 56 large wildfires have burned a total of 1,961,095 acres in the western U.S. Northend Greenway Bike Path: A bike path connecting north Harrisonburg to downtown has received funding with construction planned to begin in the spring of 2016.

Federal Reserve Interest Rate Hikes: Although this is a good sign that the economy is improving, over the next 18 months the rate hikes are predicted to reduce job growth by 500,000 and increase unemployment by 0.2 percent.

School Starts: For many young people across the country including HHS students, school is starting up once again.

Explosion at Restaurant in India: Gas cylinders caused the explosions that killed more than 60 in India this month.

Explosion at Chinese Chemical Plant: Two explosions at a chemical plant housing several dangerous chemicals killed hundreds and wounded more last month in Tianjin, China.

Please stop asking me about college Ellie Plass Online Editor-in-Chief I’m already tired of college.

The thing is, I haven’t even been yet. I haven’t seen the grass on the quad, or taken a shower in a gross communal bathroom, or known what it’s like to survive only on ramen noodles and cereal. Even so, I’m tired of it. Well, tired of hearing about it.

This year is my senior year.

I’m supposed to be enjoying myself and doing stupid things with my friends, but instead I find myself completely bogged down by the prospect of college. I am yet to have had a conversation with an adult this year that didn’t at some point bring up the dreaded “Where are you applying!?” or “Have you started applications?!” or “What’s your top choice?!?!”

The answer (before you can ask me) is I have absolutely no idea.

I know. It’s shockingly luda-

Joshua Byrd Ad Manager Over the summer the news cycle was dominated by reality TV star and business mogul Donald Trump. This is because of the many, and by many I mean multifarious, outlandishs comments over immigration, famous celebrities, and news anchors he made.

Among his most notorious are his comments about Rosie O’Donnell, Megyn Kelly, and Hispanic immigrants. To put it simply, Trump is an ignorant and uninformed buffoon. The damage he is doing to his im-

Olivia Comer Online Managing Editor Social media is to millennials as the sun is to the Earth, in that many of our lives revolve around it. Believe it or not, there was a time when people used to use a phone to call someone to hear emotion in their voice, or better yet, maybe even have a face to face conversation so that they could see emotion first hand!

Before critiquing this statement, think about how many ways we have modified online messaging to simulate a real live conversation. There are emojis (which I have actually grown fond of) and there are even ways of complimenting someone with the push of a button. This is the notorious, and very much stressed about, like button.

On Instagram and Facebook they have not only made a way

According to NBC news, the California Medical Association called for a legalization of marijuana, saying such a move will allow doctors to better study the drug and counsel their patients about its use. What I understand by this news article is, doctors are very intelligent human beings. They know how to help and potentially cure their patients. They believe in legalizing this substance because they know in their heart it will work.

We need to make marijuana legal under a doctor’s prescription in all of our 50 states

Homework: With school comes homeowrk, be prepared for the tedious amount of paper work coming your way.

age is not what I am The electoral map worried about; it is stands at a base of the damage he is 212 electoral votes doing to the Repubfor democrats and lican Party.

191 electoral votes Trump is souring for the GOP. If the the appeal of the GOP wins those five GOP with key demostates, then they Byrd is the graphics that could are at 240 electoral Word make the difference votes, just 30 shy of between winning the 270 votes needor losing the White ed to win the White House in 2016. Hispanics are House. Those votes could be now more of a necessary vot- gained by pairs or triplets of ing block than a helpful block. Iowa (6), New Hampshire (4), Doing well with Hispanics could North Carolina (15), Ohio (18), be the key to holding onto Ar- Pennsylvania (20), Virginia (13), izona, winning Colorado and and Wisconsin (10).

Florida, and flipping New MexiIf Trump continues on this co and Nevada. tasteless tirade, the GOP will

lose all five of those states, thus losing the election. If the GOP loses Nevada, New Mexico, Florida, and Colorado, but holds onto Arizona the democrats are just nine votes shy of winning. Those votes could easily be picked up by winning one of the remaining states (North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin) or a combination of both Iowa and New Hampshire.

To put it simply, if the GOP has any chance of winning in 2016, they must do better with the Hispanics, therefore Trump can’t be the nominee.

to put parts of your life online, but also a way to share your admiration of other posts. But what happens if you don’t like a photo someone has posted?

It’s not as if you could have a civil conversation with them about it, so what do you do?

Facebook has solved this “problem” by introducing a dislike button.

Even though I do believe that maybe at times teens are a little too sensitive about things that get posted online (twitter wars), I still think that adding a dislike button is just extra drama that the social media has enough of as it is.

I understand the like button because it is yet another way to make people feel better about themselves. Everyone finds it exciting when they get a high number of likes. Whether you just smile then shake it off or bounce with excitement is up to you, but everyone finds some sort of happiness

from being apprecibutton for a while ated by their peers. now. While skeptical at first, he evenWith that said, tually caved in and why is there a need decided to appeal to to put a damper the public. on someone’s day “It seems that by hiding behind a we have been bescreen and telling Live and Let come so fragile that them you don’t like Liv any sign of negativwhat they have to ity -- even a simple say or post about? thumbs down on This causes unneeded drama in an already too a social media website -- is dramatic life. I would even go something that must be avoidas far as to say that it could be ed at all costs. All we want is a constant stream of thumbs a form of bullying.

Social media can be fun up. The slightest sign someand informative in the best one might disagree with us way, but it can be hurtful, too. is enough to send us into an Anything said online should be emotional tailspin,” Zuckerable to be said in person. You berg said in an interview with wouldn’t walk up to someone CNN. I fully agree that civil deand tell someone that you don’t like what they’re wear- bate and confrontation can be ing or how they look, so why is healthy, but I think that the dislike button that he has just it okay to say it online?

The creator of facebook created is nothing but an easy Mark Zuckerberg has been start that will lead to drama getting requests for the dislike and hurting someone else.

Legalize marjiuana for medical purposes only

OPM Hack: China hacked the Office of Personnel Management and stole the personal information, including social security numbers, of 22 million people earlier this year.

Dress Code: With summer over, the students of HHS are not used to being addressed about their apparel. It will take some getting used to being told that showing your shoulders is ‘against’ the rules.

Homecoming: This year’s homecoming theme will be black and white. It starts on saturday October 17. Rememeber you don’t need a date to go to the dance. Admission is only $15.

reer? What does she know?!

To that I say, not much. Not much at all. My career-driven friends are able to look for colleges that have programs designed specifically for their goals. I’m alone again, floating in the abyss.

But, the abyss is a good one.

It’s happy here in this abyss.

I have plenty of time. I’ve got high school to figure out my college, and college to figure out my career. I’m choosing to stress about narrowing down my huge list of colleges instead of frantically raising my scores to get into my dream school.

I’m stressing about figuring out what I want, instead of the possibility of what I want not wanting me back. Both are stressful. Pick your poison, seniors.

So, before you shoot me a look and ask me for the fiftieth time if I’ve considered UVA, just know that I’m content not knowing. Even if you aren’t.

Dislike button could lead to bullying

Sako Haji Staff Reporter

Ahmed Mohamed: To be accused of being a terroist just because you built a clock is defently a ‘Not.’ Ahmed a 14 year-old boy was arrested in Texas after a teacher misstook his hommade clock as a bomb. Some claim its because of his methinic background.

cris. A senior who I can for lots of unidoesn’t know exactversities. I’m not ly where she wants only applying to to go to college? one place, because The horror! But the I have to keep my thing is, I don’t care options open. If you that I don’t know. ask me, not knowing I’m okay with it. I’m is almost as sweet as Plass okay with taking my knowing.

Perspective senior year to figure I’ll admit. There it out. At least, I’m are downsides. A lot okay with it until you of my friends were give me that pitying “she has basically born into knowing no idea what’s ahead of her” which college/career path look. Then I’m not okay with it. they’re planning on pursuSo to all you doubters, I ing, and with this knowledge say this. Why should I already comes power. The power know exactly what I want to not have to spend hours the next four years of my life researching seemingly ranto look like (better yet, why dom colleges and feeling like should you know)? I think that they’ve gotten nowhere. They the fact that I don’t know has also have the power to work extreme benefits of its own. specifically towards that uniI’m not overly attached to any versity’s requirements (which university, so a rejection isn’t can really benefit them in the going to ruin my life. I haven’t end). been working my test scores I’m most jealous of my to show one single universi- friends who know what they ty I’m good enough for them, want to do. I know what you’re I’ve been doing the best that thinking. No college? No ca-

Donald Trump can’t be 2016 GOP nominee

Cuba-US Relations Improving: The U.S. has started work on dismanting its embargo on Cuba.

Straight Outta Compton: Based on a true story, this movie revolves around gansta rap that made history by Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Easy E, DJ Yella, and MC Ren. It topped the weekend box office with $56 million

Op-Ed-A5

in America. The legalization of marijuana will also help scientists and doctors study and examine the substance. Doctors in California have discovered that marijuana helps with multiple illnesses and diseases.

They have also suggested that the substance must be legalized so they can reclassify so better and more accurate research can be done on it. Phinney said that he was skeptical that marijuana would in the end be found to have many significant medical uses.

What I propose is, marijuana will be legalized only for medical purposes. Doctors should be able to prescribe these to their patients, in pill/capsule

formation. dependent on the Marijuana will drug, compared with only be legalized 15 percent for alcohol, for medical purpos23 percent for heroin es, not for pleasure and 32 percent for toor enjoyment. This bacco. This shows it’s will be overseen safer than any other by the Department life risking drug.

The Socks of Agriculture. Le83% of Americans Blog galizing this subfavor allowing docstance can be very tors to prescribe small useful and has been proven in amounts of this substance to the state of California. It has its patients with serious illnesses. benefits, but it also has risks if This shows people in the Unitwe do not use this substance ed States believe in this bill. We appropriately. We must give cannot just prescribe it to any doctors a chance to discov- person. They must not have er what is so great about this any history with criminal drugs substance. Scientists generally and must be at least 18 and or agree that less than 10 percent older. This is why we must or of marijuana smokers become should legalize marijuana.

One Direction concert leaves great impression Alissa Burnette Staff Reporter After the departing of member Zayn Malik, the ongoing questions about breaking up and the rumours of Louis Tomlinson being a dad, 2015 has been a quite a difficult year for One Direction and their ever-so-loyal directioners. But, after attending their show in Baltimore on Aug. 8 for the “On the Road Again Tour,” it seems as though the hit boyband are only headed in one direction, and that direction is up.

A filling meal at the Cheese-

cake Factory left me in somewhat of a food coma, but that coma didn’t last for long. Arriving at the stadium and realizing I was witnessing One Direction perform in a few hours definitely got my blood pumping.

Icona Pop, the Swedish electropop duo, started off the show with a bang and definitely got me off my feet with their energy. They performed their new single Emergency as well as their hit (and only song I’ve heard of them for) I Love It. Ads played on the big screen that were starting to test the fans’ patience. But it was definitely worth the wait.

As the sun went down and the artificial lights inside the stadium glowed brighter, there was a certain buzz of chatter and excitement about the crowd. The lights of the stadium were suddenly turned off, and it was pitch black. The crowd burst into screams, and my heart started beating insanely fast. The opening video came to an end and before I could comprehend One Direction would actually be right in front of me, the stage lit up and there they were. They started off the show with my personal favorite song, Clouds, a booming jam with sing-along vo-

cals. Most of the tracks played were from their newest album, Four, which was released in November of 2014. The night was full of high energy, with bubbly songs like No Control and Act My Age blasting, as well as their newest single Drag Me Down. The four-man band didn’t forget the classics though; Little Things and What Makes You Beautiful were also played. Overall the experience was exhilarating, and if you ever get the chance, or should I say “chonce,” to go to a One Direction concert, you should.

That concert was hands down best night of my life.

September 30, 2015

The Newsstreak

Humans of HHS-B10

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

HHS

Junior Destiny Pitsenbarger Freshman Nina Andrews

“What’s a piece of advice that’s guided you through life?”

“What other people think of you is none of your business.”

“Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

“I really want to become famous. I want to be a singer and an actress.”

Junior Nicole Nicklas “What is the hardest thing about HHS?” “Finding a group that I fit in to... Because I don’t fit in at one place. I kind of just surf around and a lot of people don’t want that. They want someone that can commit to that group.”

Juniors Mala’kh Jackson and Brianna Benn Junior Wilmer Hernandez “What has been happiest experience of your life?”

“When both my brother and sister were born... Because I’ve been wanting siblings for like 14 years.”

“What is like to have them around now?

“It’s annoying.”

“How long have you two been friends?”

Benn: “About a year.”

Jackson: “Since last year when I moved down here.”

“What’s your favorite thing about her?”

(Mala’kh) “Her attitude.” (laughs)

Junior Daryan Ferguson “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

“Military.”

Senior Jaden Nix “Where do you see yourself in 10 years?”

“Either in the national guard or working in the county jail.”

“If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would you say?”

“Learn to accept.”

Freshman Troy Dean “What has been the hardest thing about high school?”

“Tests and studying for them... Because [it’s hard to] get the topic.”

Freshman Da’Ton Bumbrey “What would you do with a million dollars?”

“Buy a mansion.”

“Where?”

“In the woods.”

Junior Josiah Phillips When are you happiest?

“Summer break.”

“What do you do?”

“Chill”

Photos and interviews by Faith Runnells & Maria Snell-Feikema

Junior Kelvin Jimenez “What’s the saddest thing that has happened in your life?”

“When my dad passed away.”

“What was your favorite thing about your dad?”

“Everything.”

Freshman Erik Amaya “What has been the happiest moment of your life?”

“Playing soccer.”

September 30, 2015

2015-2016

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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+.

Fleisher Betty Smith Bill and Nancy Byrd Cadet Campbell Rutherford Carroll and Nancy Yoder Diana Flick Dominique Evans Dori Ottaviano Drew and Tracy Koch Emilee Hussack Hayden Rutherford Jackie Zito and Dick Johnson Jasmine Charlton Jay and Pat Supko Jim and Julie Kramer Jim and Kathy Yoder Juan and Veronica Moreno Judy and Dean Newman Julia and Brad Stewart JW Johnson and Erin Johnson Kat Staton Kim Runnells Kristine Long Marika Runnells Mark and Virginia Healy Melody Cash Mia Karr Nancy and Greg Simpson Nancy Miller Paul and Jane Walton Rev. Robert and Dee Dee Jordan Rob and Anneke Rutherford Rob Runnells Robert and Judy

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September 30, 2015

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Sports Briefs Game delay doesn’t crush school spirit BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

9/12 Third place at Burtner Farm Invitational 9/16 Valley District Champions

UPCOMING RACES

Hannah Miller Staff Reporter After a two hour delay on Friday, Sept. 4, the crowds finally managed to get into the stands for the first home varsity football game. Two touchdowns later, HHS had claimed the Sullivan-Potts Cup over the

Handley Judges with another win under our belts.

Chris Thurman, the varsity head coach, was glad we had one win going into the season, and no doubt is happy about another.

“You can build off of a win.

You get momentum off of a win. It was huge to start out with a win,” Thurman said.

10/7 5:30 p.m. District Mini Rockingham County Fairgrounds 10/10 2 p.m. Invitational Bull Run Regional Park

GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY RESULTS

9/12 Second place at Burtner Farm Invitational 9/16 Valley District Champions

UPCOMING RACES 10/7 5:30 District Mini Rockingham County Fairgrounds 10/10 2pm Invitational Bull Run Regional Park

FRESHMAN FOOTBALL RESULTS

8/27 vs. E.C Glass L 0-44 9/2 vs John Handley W 42-0

PHOTO BY HANNAH MILLER

HOPING FOR A VICTORY. Members of the varsity football team watch intently on the sideline during their home game against the John Handley Judges. After a tough fought game, the Streaks went on to win 14-0 .

Thurman wanted to ensure the team didn’t go into the game overconfident. His focus each week is to work them hard in practice, and then have them go out and perform to the best of their ability.

Senior Abner Johnson, a wide receiver and captain of the team, scored the first touchdown of the game.

“As one of the leaders on the team, me and my guy Devon [Medley], we tried to come at a different look this year than the other years. We tried to focus more on hard work instead of just coming out expecting to win games. Focusing on the little things.”

Johnson said the biggest improvement to the game would’ve been their offense.

He thought the delay was a cause of sloppy offense, saying it was the biggest improvement they could’ve made to the game, but the support of the Red Sea helped.

“It was one of the biggest things, it would’ve been a totally different game. We all expected, during the delay, that everyone was just gonna go home, so we were pretty bummed. But when we came back outside, we were excited,” Johnson said.

During the delay, most people stayed in cars or the gym

commons, just waiting. Even through thunder, lightning, and rain, many people stayed to show their support. Once back outside, the Red Sea tried to keep spirits up by serving cake and chanting in their American gear.

“Teams can really thrive off of a crowd. The crowd can make guys play harder. I hope the kids come out with the Red Sea and really get behind them because when you’re tired and you need that little extra, it’s the crowd support that gets you going and pushes you through when you’re tired,” Thurman said.

The win was an achievement for the team, and, according to Johnson, the reasons why were due to some of Thurman’s focuses this season.

“I think it was hard work.

Each one of us knew our job, and we trusted each other on it,” Johnson said.

This season is looking to have different results from last, with our record already 2-2, compared to last, coming off of a 2-8 record in the previous season. But even with a second win, the team will continue to work hard in practice each week, taking the season game by game.

UPCOMING GAMES

Freshman football team looks forward to season

10/1 6 p.m. vs Waynesboro 10/8 6 p.m. @ Spotswood 10/15 6 p.m. @ Broadway

Doug Ritcher Staff Reporter

VARSITY FOOTBALL RESULTS

8/28 vs E.C Glass W 14-0 9/4 vs John Handley W 14-0 9/11 vs Charlottesville L 28-6

UPCOMING GAMES 10/2 6 p.m. @ Waynesboro 10/9 6 p.m. vs Spotswood 10/16 6 p.m. vs Broadway Abner Johnson (Senior Wide Receiver) “From the beginning of the season we emphasized on hard work, we didn’t stress about winning, we knew if we did the right things the wins would come.”

JV VOLLEYBALL RESULTS

8/24 vs Sherando L 1-2 8/27 vs Woodgrove L 0-2 9/1 vs Eastern Mennonite L 0-2 9/8 vs James Wood L 0-2

UPCOMING GAMES 10/1 6 p.m. vs Spotswood 10/6 5:30 p.m. @ Waynesboro 10/8 6 p.m. vs TA

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL RESULTS

8/24 vs Sherando L 1-3 8/27 vs Woodgrove L 0-3 9/1 vs Eastern Mennonite W 3-1 9/8 vs James Wood L 1-3

UPCOMING GAMES 10/1 7:30 p.m. vs Spotswood 10/6 7 p.m. @ Waynesboro 10/8 7:15 p.m. vs TA

COMPETITION CHEER UPCOMING MEETS 10/3 @ Buffalo Gap 10/5 @ Robert E. Lee 10/14 @ Millbrook Sophomore Deja Gentry “I feel like we will do okay [in our upcoming meets]. We have a lot of new girls on our team and they came in good so we feel pretty confident.”

GOLF

RESULTS 9/9 vs. John Handley, Millbrook, Sherando, Woodgrove and James Wood 9/16 @ Waynesboro Country Club 9/24 Conference Tournament Junior Molly Bauhan “Our conference is insanely good.

Our conference is better than any conference around here. One of the team’s number six seed is better than our number one seed.”

The freshman football has high expectations for the upcoming season. After a 2014 season in which the team only scored 70 points over the entire season, the team is energized this year with a week two 41-0 victory over Handley.

The team currently sits at one and one with eight games remaining in the season. Freshman lineman Chris Johnson thinks that record will only improve. Johnson has much confidence that the team is better than last year and can run the table over the rest of the season.

“I expect to go nine and one,” Johnson said.

To Johnson, the fate of the team lies in the trenches at the line of scrimmage.

“It all starts up on the line,” Johnson said.

Many other lineman, like Johnson, are entering their second year on the team. This experience as well as mental and physical growth on the line and throughout the team shows promise for the upcoming season or many members of the team.

The attitude of the team has also changed due to the increased maturity.

“I feel we’re more comfortable with each other… we have more of a mutual respect for each other,” Johnson said. Others on the team feel PHOTO BY KEN RUTHERFORD this same sentiment. The plethora of experience LETS GO! Freshman Chris Johnson gets fired up before the freshman football on the team has helped not only on the field, game against E.C. Glass, the second home game of the season. The Streaks went but off the field as well. on to lose 0-44 but team spirit was not lost.

“We’ve grown to be more of brothers,” said Johnson. Over the time they have worked together the team looks to have formed close bonds with each other. timism seems to be a theme for the team. There is a long season Coming on the heels of a week two shutout win, many players ahead for the team, but many players expect great success in the coming year. Johnson described the team’s attitude in one word. are excited, but still have perspective on the season.

“Fearless.”

“I’m very humble about that win,” Johnson said. Cautious op-

Sports teams train, condition over summer Abby Hissong Managing Editor During the summer while most students are on vacation, working or relaxing, athletes are already training for their upcoming seasons. Junior Molly Campillo has been a member of the varsity cross country team since her freshman year and is used to summer workouts.

“Every year we officially start training at the beginning of July, but many of us have already been running before that to prepare ourselves. During the summer, it is all about getting back into shape for long

distance and building our endurance,” Campillo said.

Girls cross country coach, Lauren Jefferson, is proud of her team for working so hard outside of their regular season.

“I don’t have to force these girls to do anything; they are here because they want to be.

None of the summer workouts are mandatory, but everyone showed up. I think the motivation that these girls have is what makes them so successful, and I’m lucky to have such a dedicated team,” Jefferson said.

“The biggest benefit to running over the summer would definitely be growing as a whole team. A lot of the team

doesn’t run track, so the work at the beginning is really hard because you have to transition from running short distances to long, which can be a difficult switch. It’s also really good that through the summer, you get to meet all of your team and figure out who you’ll be running with all season,” Campillo said.

Cross country isn’t the only sport that had out of season training. Boys basketball has also been hard at work. Sophomore Collin Morris has attended multiple open gyms for both basketball and baseball over the summer months. Regarding basketball, Morris believes that summer training is essential to the team’s success in the

upcoming season.

“We have a new coach this year, so the whole team dynamic is a lot different than in past years. So far it is going really well. We are working on a lot of our individual skills and collaborating as a team,” Morris said.

As far as baseball goes, the summer workouts are more focused on conditioning than technical training.

“We usually lift for an hour or so, then go on a run or do something involving some cardio. I think this will help make our team a lot better this season, and the results will show when we start our season already in shape,” Morris said.

Band’s contribution at football games is underrated Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief The “12th Man” is what makes a home game a home game. High school or college, most look to the student section to fill this position, but there is one group that is consistently overlooked: the band.

More than 100 strong, the HHS marching band deserves more credit for their contribution at football games.

Granted, I may be biased, being it that basically my entire social group is deeply involved in the band, but I think most would agree with me after some thought. Or at least the band moms will.

When I decide to brave a

high school football in the game, and game, I rarely find there was a notable myself going out of absence in the game my way (or stream environment. Had of consciousness in we been losing the this case) to listen game I think there to them, apart from would’ve been an the halftime show.

SPORTS COLUMN even greater noise I don’t really think absence, as the that’s their purpose crowd would have anyway, and I bet they would obviously been less excited, agree. The 30 second long and there would have consetunes are there more for hype, quently been less noise. because whether we’re aware On the other Hand(ley), the of it or not, it substitutes for away team’s band travelled crowd noise. And the band’s with them, and although they noise is not just equal to the were losing, the band was still crowd noise of 100 people, it’s easily audible from across the loud enough to be double or field. The same goes for the triple that.

HHS band, had they been in the In the win against Handley same situation. Down by 14 or on Sept. 4, the weather delays up by 14, the band will make prohibited their participation noise.

They might not have produced any instrumental noise, but band members who still came to the game made up about a third of the Red Sea student section, and, as I heard it, produced more than a third of the noise. Hopefully no one misinterprets that as a hit against the Red Sea, I’m simply suggesting that the band can bring the hype without blowing it through metal tubes.

I’m not saying the band prevents losses (just ask last season), and the band-less Handley win means they don’t necessarily spark wins either, but they undoubtedly have a great influence on game environment and are the backbone of that “12th Man.”

September 30, 2015

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The Newsstreak

PHOTO BY BRIAN ALVARADO

FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT! Junior Sarah Jackson practices her routine after school at colorguard practice on Sept. 22, preparing herself for a double competion.

Vasquez-Murillo takes on cheer and color guard Carrie Yoder Staff Reporter Being a part of competition cheer and color guard has never been done before; Karina Vazquez-Murillo is the first to try.

“I decided to do both marching band and competition cheer because I was first doing color guard and other friends were like ‘oh, do competition cheer’,” Vazquez-Murillo said.

Band director Daniel Upton praised the coordination between him and the cheerleading coach.

“The cheerleading coach has been really nice

to work with,” Upton said.

Upton talks about how Vazquez-Murillo gets to both practices. “[Karina has] been to a majority of our practices, a majority of their practices.

At times she leaves a little early, gets there a little late, it’ll vary with that,” Upton said.

“There is a 15-minute difference or 30 that I have to choose which one I’m going to stay in,” Vazquez-Murillo said about her schedule and balancing both.

“Other than my friends are in there, I like to shout and have fun and dance.”

She also explains why color guard was something

she chose to do.

“I like the environment there. It’s really positive and groupie,” Vazquez-Murillo said.

Kristy Sims is the coach of the competition cheer team.

“I think the big thing is her coach for flag and me working together, we kind of email each other back and forth and kind of had to compromise a schedule.

I felt it was important that she could do both and so was she,” Sims said.

Vasquez-Murillo says she has been backed by her coaches and teammates.

“Mrs. Leeper is very

supportive and so are Mr. Upton and my other coaches, Shay and Kristy,” Vazquez-Murillo said. She still makes time for school work, putting off an hour or two for homework.

Vazquez-Murillo explains her favorite part of color guard and competition cheer.

“From color guard, I like it when we run the whole thing, the whole performance, from cheerleading it’s the same thing,” Vazquez-Murillo said.

She also explains the difficulties in both.

Vazquez-Murillo had a concussion about a week before.

“Trying to learn the flag work, because I have been missing days because of my concussion, for cheer it’s nothing really,” Vazquez-Murillo said.

Besides balancing cheer and color guard Vazquez-Murillo also participates in fine arts.

“I am in fine arts academy and we are doing a showcase and so I have to, after those two I have to learn my dance, because I am in dance for fine arts,” Vazquez-Murillo said.

Vasquez-Murillo will be able to fully participate in competition cheer later in the year.

“The cool thing is the

competition cheer schedule is kind of pretty much over at the end of September, so she’ll be able to be fully engaged in what we are doing, come October when we get to the busy part of our season,” Upton said.

Sims hopes Vasquez-Murillo will set an example for other athletes.

“We are hoping this will open up the door for athletes who want to do both, like flag or any fall or winter sports,” Sims said.

Coach Grant Thompson comes back to football Emily Thurman Staff Reporter

PHOTO BY KEN RUTHERFORD

LOOKING AHEAD! Varsity football coach Grant Thompson looks on the field in friday’s game against Brookeville.

The streaks went on to lose 35-7.

Many students and teachers may know Grant Thompson as a Physical Education teacher and wrestling coach at Thomas Harrison Middle School, as well as a football coach here at HHS. Last year, Thompson went to coach at Spotswood High School, but after one year decided to come back to HHS. “This is home. This is where I coached. I just thought I could come back and help a little bit. I’ve been lucky to have been a

part of the success that’s here at Harrisonburg,” Thompson said.

No stranger to success, Thompson coached here when the varsity football team won the state championship in 2002.

“I just try to teach the guys a different thought process. How they can go about their business and how to work hard in practice,” Thompson said.

Seniors Luis Pinedo-Lafferty and Payton Hedrick agree that Thompson helps them become a better person individually and as a team.

“I really think [Thompson coming back] is a pos-

itive thing to our team. He’s a great coach. He’s strict on us, but it’s not just about football. He also teaches us a lot of life lessons and how to be a man,” Pinedo-Lafferty said.

“He’s a real stand-up guy. He is a great contribution to our team and I’m happy he’s back,” Hedrick said.

Having gained experience in his last coaching stint, Thompson hopes to contribute many positive changes and help the team advance toward their goals for the season.

Sophomore A.C.

Hussack guiding first middle school volleyball squad Garrett Cash Online Managing Editor For the first time ever, students at Skyline Middle School have the opportunity to play on a school volleyball team.

Broadcasting and English teacher Emily Hussack is the coach of this new team.

“It is the first year that Skyline Middle School has had a team,” Emily Hussack said. “So it’s a really exciting step for the whole Harrisonburg City Public School division.”

By introducing a middle school volleyball program to Skyline, a competitive nature is able to be instilled into the students to give them a com-

petitive edge before they get to high school.

“The most interesting [thing] about coaching middle school [is] that fine balance between still maintaining, kind of cultivating a little competitive edge, while still maintaining that fun atmosphere and a place where they’re not afraid to fail as they learn the skills,” Hussack said.

While still creating a competitive atmosphere, the program is open to novice players and to any mistakes athletes may make while learning.

“It is middle school. It’s not quite as serious. It’s not as big of a commitment as high school. Our practices are pretty short. We still want to keep it manageable for parents,” Hus-

sack said.

The popularity of the program has been surprising to Hussack, as she was shocked by the numbers that flowed into the program “They’re a really great group,” Hussack said. “Amazingly, we had to make cuts because we had so many people and a limited number of uniforms.”

Coming from a background of volleyball experience, Hussack feels that she brings experience to the court when it comes to teaching the kids how to play.

“I have coached a lot of different levels,” Hussack said. “I really like the sport. I have fun playing it.”

Hussack has not only coached the sport, but had experience playing the sport, which she enjoys using to help aspiring athletes to pursue the sport.

“I played in high school. I played at JMU,” Hussack said.

“It’s fun to be able to use my experience to help younger players begin their own volleyball journey.”

Through her coaching, Hussack hopes to give the players an opportunity to show them a path that the sport can take them.

“I think that if I can get one person to love volleyball and keep playing it the rest of her life, I think that’s really important,” Hussack said.

Competition cheer squad in middle of rebuilding year Anna Rath Staff Reporter This year, tryouts for the HHS competition cheer squad started on Aug. 3. Twenty girls tried out for the squad with 14 appearing on the final competition cheer roster.

Head varsity competition cheer coach, Kristy Sims is excited about starting her first season at HHS. “With this being a building year, my goals are not as focused on wins per say. While I would love a clean sweep this year, my goals are to begin hitting harder stunts, progress the

girls’ tumbling abilities, jump heights, and overall impressions. With my team being so young, I am looking forward to three years with them. My ultimate goal is to get this group on the mat at states,” Sims said, “Tryouts went as well as could be expected.”

They had girls with years of competition experience, some with only sideline cheer experience, and some brand new to the sport.

Open gyms for competition cheer started in early July and continued until tryouts started in early August.

“We don’t really [participate in preseason or out of season

training] other than open gyms that start as soon as school ends, but a lot of us do gymnastics when cheer is not in season,” sophomore Emma Trevino said. “Last year there were a lot more experienced people so we knew we were going to do well, this year there are a lot of new people, so it’s nice to see people grow.”

This year, seven of the 14 varsity competition cheer team is made up of sophomores, the other half is made up of one freshman, three juniors, and three seniors.

“Mainly all the seniors that graduated were a loss for the team because they were all the

most experienced, and now they’re all gone,” Trevino said.

The competition cheer team had practices after school almost every day to prepare for their first competition of the season on Sept. 16 at East Rock High School. Tenth grader Ehrica Orbera-Ortiz is a member of the varsity competition cheer team.

“So far we’re doing good.

I think we need to do better, I mean we’re improving, but our first competition is coming up and we just need to work harder on it,” Orbera-Ortiz said.

“We need to stay strong and be positive to each other.”

White had Thompson as a P.E. teacher at THMS and has formed a long-term bond with the coach.

“I think he’ll bring back the old Blue Streak traditions,” White said.

Varsity football coach, Jay Hook, has worked with Thompson in previous years and was glad to have him back on the coaching staff.

“He’s been coaching for a long time. He truly is a Blue Streak, and I think his intensity is going to help us a lot this year,” Hook said.

How many freshman made the team?

Varsity competition cheer Boys cross country Girls cross country Golf Varsity sideline cheer JV volleyball Varsity volleyball Freshman football

September 30, 2015

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Varsity football bounces back after last year’s record Owen Stewart Staff Reporter The varsity football team came into this fall season off of a 2-8 campaign in which the defense allowed almost 43 points per game and the offense scored 13 or fewer points six times. Head coach Chris Thurman wants to see the aggressiveness and physicality of his team improve this year.

“We needed to get bigger and stronger. We got pushed around last year, and we wanted to be in a position where we can do that to other teams,” Thurman said.

The Streaks defense allowed 95 total yards in a 14-0 win over EC Glass in the season opener, and added another shutout win over John Handley one week later. Harrisonburg forced three turnovers in that match-up.

“It was great. The kids hustled to the ball, they were where they were supposed to be. It was what we’ve been looking for the past two years,” Thurman said.

Last season, Harrisonburg lost their first three games by a combined 140-7 and Thurman believes it influenced the rest of the season.

“It is very important [to start well]. If you start with a win, then things start to snowball in a positive direction. If it starts in the other direction, you have a hurdle.

Now we don’t have a hurdle,” Thurman said.

Thurman values the returning experience as well, as starting quarterback, sophomore A.C.

White and running back senior Devin Medley return for their second season together in the backfield.

“Anytime you have a starter returning, it helps, but those two in particular will really help the team as the season goes on. They have experience, they know what I want, they know what we’re trying to accomplish,” Thurman said.

PHOTO BY KEN RUTHERFORD The Streaks also returned receiv- GET YOUR HEAD IN THE GAME! Offensive coach Moses Tinsley talks to players on the bench during a home game ers in senior Abner against E.C. Glass. The Streaks won 14-0.

Johnson, junior David Gamboa and sophomore Stedman Clark as well other players such as senior Luis Lafferty, and senior Nadeem Bitar, who had an interception against Handley. They also picked up junior Malachi Simmons, who last played freshman year and junior Rakweon Smith. The team added new transfers as well with juniors Darrel Hughes and Da’ Ryan Ferguson from surrounding schools.

With two wins to start the season, Thurman is staying evenkeeled and isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“How far this team can go, I’m not sure yet. Later in the year, I can PHOTO BY KEN RUTHERFORD answer that question,” Thurman DOWN, SET...HIKE! Defensive players line up against John Handley in the first game of the season. said.

Girls XC stays strong for second year Avanelle Luhn Staff Reporter For the members of the girls cross country team, cross country is a beloved sport, although at times it requires quite a lot of effort.

Head coach Lauren Jefferson and assistant coach Tricia Comfort ran throughout high school, bringing their own challenging coaching styles to the team. Last year, Jefferson was the head coach of the boys team, though the two teams are combined this year.

Freshman runner Abby Campillo is new to the team this year, though not new to running.

“The most I think we’ve run is seven miles,” Campillo said.

Hannah Miller is also a new addition to the team this year. Miller, just a freshman, has been a top finisher this year. Miller has been running for the Streaks for two years now, running with high schoolers as a seventh and eighth grader.

“I like the feeling you get after a race,” Miller said. “Before a race you feel like you’re going to throw up, and you don’t want to do it, but when you’re done, you feel like you can do anything and you’re on top of the world!”

Overall, the team is seen as very energetic and excited about spending another season with their teammates.

Sophomore Faith Eberly ran with the team last year and is ready for the new season.

“My teammates motivate me because they are good and like to run,” Eberly said.

The team has started off their season well. Placing first in their first meet on Wednesday, Aug. 2.

The runners are excited for the new season. After becoming Valley District Champions for the second year in a row, they are striving for first throughout the rest of the season.

The regular season lasts until Oct. 16, but with state meets, it extends the practices until November.

Volleyball team remains enthusiastic through toughest teams of season Jackson Hook Sports Editor The varsity volleyball team hopes to make this 2015 season count. With an early win over Eastern Mennonite High School, head coach Andy Thompson, in his twentieth year of coaching, is very excited about this season.

“They look great. We’ve faced some tough opponents early, but I feel like we’ve given max effort on every match, every set and I’m proud of them about that,” Thompson said.

Though the team has struggled at the start of the season with a 1-5 record, middle hitter Becky Staton tries to stay positive about what is to come.

“I think we’re going to perform really well and look really good this year. I think we are better because we are a stronger and taller team this year definitely, and we’ve been working a lot harder,” Staton said.

Staton is also the only freshman player on the team along with two sophomores, four juniors and three seniors. “[Being the only freshman on the team] was pretty nerve wracking at first, because I didn’t want to mess up and all that, but it’s pretty fun now,” Staton said.

Thompson believes that the team is a special one, based on the fact that the team is successful because they work together. One athlete that Thompson says has made a difference is junior Athena Benton.

“I think the cool thing about this team is that it really is a team. I don’t feel like we have a star player,”

Thompson said. “Clearly Athena Benton, our libero, is a talented libero. She was first team all conference, second team all district. I think she certainly helps, but she can’t do anything without the rest of them. I think it’s truly a team.

Benton has set goals for herself this season and says her success so far is brought from her coaches and teammates.

“They’re good motivational coaches during timeouts...so far this year I’ve done okay, but I hope to improve a little bit more than last year. I hope to get more digs and serve receive [passes] as always,” Benton said.

Coach Thompson is excited for the future of the team.

“I’m excited about this team, they’re a fun group to work with. They’ve got great attitudes and I’m pleased with where we’ve been and where we’re headed,” Thompson said.

PHOTO BY ERIC MILLER

STAY TOGETHER. The team runs together for a race workout day. The girls previously won this course but the race was rescheduled because of the boys’ rainedout race.

Golfers share their inspiration for game Richard Pannell Staff Reporter Golf is a strategic game with multiple obstacles to play around or over. It is unlike any other sport in the sense that the winner has the least amount of points.

HHS has a small golf team consisting of six members and coach Mike Ruckman.

Senior Sam Clarke is a returning member for the golf team.

“My inspiration for joining the team was my grandfather, who isn’t very good, but enjoys the game,” Clarke said. “The best part about playing is that it isn’t extremely competitive, it’s relaxing to play. During our two and a half hour practices, we just play the game.”

Every day, the team has a two hour practice after school, driving the short distance to Heritage Oaks

Golf Course. Members simply play golf against each other, hoping to get better each time.

The only girl on the golf team this season is junior Molly Bauhan.

“Everyone on our team has been good friends ever since joining. We’re also friends with some people from other schools that we compete against,” Bauhan said. “My inspiration to play was my dad. I’d say he’s a decent player.”

Golf is a game that has been played and enjoyed throughout generations.

Most members on the team started because of family members, and junior Cade Templeton is no exception.

“When I was younger, I saw my brother playing a lot so I picked it up from him and just kept playing,” Templeton said.

Templeton started playing when he was in ninth

grade, making this his third year on the HHS golf team.

During practice, the team does drills such as driving and putting. Head coach Mike Ruckman has golfers run a certain drill known as the “bump and run”.

“A bump and run is just a thing that our coach says to us when you hit a six iron.

A six iron is a certain type of golf club, categorized as a mid iron for mid range shots,” Bauhan said. “We use a bump and run to not hit the ball too close or too far.” “[Ruckman] has us use that technique to avoid hazards or woods that our ball could get stuck in,” Templeton said. “It’s his goto shot” The team has tournaments throughout the fall, playing in six matches against other high schools in the district.

PHOTO BY KEN RUTHERFORD

STREAKS! Senior Sophia Hartman breaks down the team after a time out at home.

What sports are students most excited to watch this fall?

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Picnicking and

Packing

Junior Casey Wilson packs lunch every day Maria Snell-Feikema Feature Editor Despite HHS providing lunch to buy, students still have the option of bringing their own lunch to school.

Junior Casey Wilson, who has been packing lunch since last spring, believes that packing gives her the option of a healthier, more balanced meal with variety. “[School lunch] has less options. They only have one vegetable within each meal,” Wilson said. “I just

wanted better variety which I could get at home and more volume of fruits and vegetables.”

According to Wilson, packing lunch doesn’t take an excessive amount of time; for her, it only takes a few minutes the night before to create a balanced meal. Wilson finds those few minutes packing lunch are made up for during lunch, when that time would otherwise be used to buy school lunch.

“It’s not really a hassle.

Junior Ciara Hampton Angel Hendrix Staff Reporter

Four best picnic spots

Junior Ciara Hampton, packs her own lunch every day. She has been since last year.

“I used to not mind eating school lunch but, at the beginning of tenth grade they ran out of food during third lunch and I didn’t have anything to eat so, I started packing,” Hampton said.

She also does so because she doesn’t like the lunch that the school provides.

According to Hampton, packing her own lunch is also healthier.

On Sept. 7, her lunch contained a turkey and hummus sandwich, watermelon, and carrots. She

always packs carrots in her lunch.

“They’re really healthy and they’re really easy to pack in the morning because I don’t have to cut them up,” Hampton said.

However, she does like to switch up her fruits.

Sometimes, she likes to eat grapes, plums, or a banana with her lunch. She says she usually eats some of her fruit for lunch and saves the rest to eat before cheerleading practice.

She likes to eat the same turkey and hummus sandwich everyday as well.

Hampton likes to consume her lunch with water. It only takes her about 10 minutes to prepare her lunch each morning before school so, it’s not inconvenient.

Packing it the night before makes it easier in the morning because I can just grab it and go the next morning,” Wilson said. “It gives me a little more time during lunch to eat, instead of standing in line waiting to buy.”

Having packed lunch herself, Wilson believes that she is able to get a larger, more fulfilling lunch. She usually packs a similar meal every day.

“I pack a salad and put chicken on it with salad dressing. I’ve been taking

hummus and either carrots or crackers. I usually take fruit and buy a milk here so I don’t have to carry that,” Wilson said.

One of Wilson’s favorite lunches, however, is packed leftovers, which she either reheats in the microwave in her father Darrell Wilson’s office, or eats cold.

“Just whatever we have in the fridge,” Wilson said.

Although Wilson believes packing lunch gives her more options and variety, she says that packing

What’s in your lunch?

Because of low government funding and strict regulations, general opinion is that school lunches are less healthy than packed lunches. But a study by Virginia Tech students suggests otherwise.

The study compared

Sabrina Gerald Feature Editor

man.”

Q: “What is your typical packed lunch?”

A: “Peanut butter and jelly, some chips, and like a piece of candy.”

Q: “Do you ever eat some of your lunch in class, before or after lunch?”

A: “Oh, of course. I get so hungry because I’m a teenage boy.”

INFOGRAPHIC BY BRYAN LUNA

Sophomore Alice Perrine packs her lunch everyday due to the increased options.

“There’s a lot more vegetarian options at my house because I don’t eat meat, and it’s a lot easier to just customize it to the way you want it, exactly,” Perrine said.

She says that she enjoys preparing the meal herself.

“Also I just prefer it over the cafeteria lunch,” Perrine said. She has been packing lunch since she was in second grade.

Perrine packed tofu, sticky rice, and kiwi on Sept. 22.

“I usually pack rice, fruits, and then something like a protein so tofu or egg,” Perrine said.

She says that it doesn’t take a long time to pack lunch.

“I usually do it the night before hand, and it takes me about twenty minutes or so,” Perrine said.

PHOTO BY SABRINA GERALD

Hillandale Park 801 Hillandale Avenue

Hill at EMU 1200 Park Road

Purcell Park 41 Monument Ave.

JMU Quad 58 Bluestone Drive

Located near many homes, Hillandale offers 12 picnic shelters, playground equipment and a 1.3 mile walking trail. All of these are on a 74-acre piece of land in the city. There are also two asphalt basketball courts and a regulation volleyball court.

This is one of the best views of the city that Harrisonburg has to offer. There are multiple spots to lay down on a blanket, and relax.

With the famous Kids’ Castle nearby, this 67 acre park has three softball and baseball fields, four tennis courts, two playground areas, and three picnic shelters.

During the hot summer months, the Quad is crawling with kids from all over the city.

The activities that you can do range from playing frisbee to studying for an exam.

INFOGRAPHIC BY AUDREY KNUPP

Federal regulations dictate many cafeteria options Sam Heie Staff Reporter

thing that you have to carry because I can’t fit mine in my backpack,” Wilson said.

“You lose a hand to carry something else but that’s it.”

For Wilson, a packed lunch is a way to have a picnic during school hours.

“You W to sit down, unload all your little lunch pieces, then pack it all up and then carry it around.

So it’s like a mini-picnic,” Wilson said, “I don’t really go on picnics, so it’s kind of like my mini-picnic.”

Sophomore Alice Perrine

Senior Nick Deutch Q: “How often do you pack lunch?”

A: “I pack about three times a week.”

Q: “For what reasons do you pack?”

A: “For economic reasons and health-wise.”

Q: “Who packs your lunch?”

A: “Well, I wear the pants in my household and I tell my aunt to stand down as I pack.. by myself because I’m a

lunch is a personal matter, and depends on the person and what they want and decide.

“I think it’s a personal choice,” Wilson said. “If you want to pack you can, if you don’t want to that’s fine. I don’t really see a groupwide benefit, it’s just a personal benefit.”

Wilson says the only downside to packing lunch is having to carry it around, but overall she believes it’s worth the trouble.

“It just makes one extra

560 packed lunches with over 750 school lunches served to pre-K and kindergarten students in three different schools, tracking nutritional values for more than five days.

The packed lunches, on average, had more sugar and calories and had deficiencies in vitamin A, calcium, protein, and

PHOTO BY BRYAN LUNA

COOKING LUNCH. Lunch lady Marty Carpenter packages lunch for students every day.

fiber.

Although the Virginia Tech study may show evidence against packed lunches, certain packers do not want to change to school lunch.

Julia Inouye is a freshman at HHS. “I don’t like the taste and the portions are too small,” Inouye said.

She had a container of carrots, peppers, radishes, a bag of pretzels, a sandwich with apples and brie on it, and a key lime pie yogurt.

Da-Sean Despatch is a freshman who buys school lunch and school breakfast.

“I eat breakfast and lunch at school. I like it.

The guidelines for how much you can eat are not very strict. You can get more portions if you want,” Despatch said.

Students who choose to buy another lunch have to pay more making it difficult for free and reduced lunch buyers A study by students at the University of Vermont photographed images of students’ lunch trays at the paying counter, and again at the end of their lunch as they passed the trash cans. They found that while children placed more fruits and vegetables on their

trays, they consumed fewer of them.

The amount of food wasted increased by 56 percent since the USDA mandates were put in place. On the other hand, statistics show that packers tend to throw out much less due to the fact of individualization of their lunch.

Tricia Newcomb is the manager of the HHS cafeteria.

“We have a main distributor, but we also source a lot of local food. We have government commodities that require us to buy certain foods from certain distributors,” Newcomb said.

“All of the lunches we make are healthy because we have strict regulations. We have strict regulations on calories, sodium, fat, and all the different subgroups we have to meet for vegetables. So I think you’re good to go with school lunch,” Newcomb said.

While the Virginia Tech study has brought the issue to attention, packers, like Inouye, are not keen to start eating school lunches, but others, like Da-Sean Despatch, enjoy school lunch and are happy eating it.

What’s a picnic COST? +Pack of 40 water bottles from Costco: $3.49 +Pack of 500 napkins from Walmart: $7.58 +Chicken for fried chicken from Walmart: $3.92 +Materials to make ham & cheese sandwiches from Walmart: $7.05 +Blanket from Bed Bath and Beyond: $19.99 +168 Utensils (forks, knives, and spoons) Walmart: $7.18 +100 Paper plates from Walmart: $3.15 +Picnic basket from Walmart: $18.66 +Chocolate chip cookies from Walmart: $1.78 +Watermelon from Walmart: $2.99 +One pound strawberries from Walmart: $1.98 +32 oz potato salad from Walmart: $2.98 +Tortilla chips and salsa from Walmart: $4.96 +Cold Lemonade from Walmart: $1.98

TOTAL PRICE: $89.18

Picnic basket: $18.66

Cold lemonade: $1.98

Watermelon: $2.99

Strawberries: $1.98 INFOGRAPHIC BY IRENE LIU

September 30, 2015

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Janitor’s job requires hours over summer Lucie Rutherford Sports Editor There is much more to being a janitor than one may think. Not only do they have to be here during the school year, but also throughout the three months of summer.

Between Sandra Lane and Chris Shifflett, two of our janitors, they have 37 years of experience at this high school.

Every day they keep the trash cans from overflowing onto the floor, clean up the inevitable throw-up of sick students, and wipe down the bathrooms after they’ve been used by over 1600 teenagers.

Lane has been at HHS for 11 years. Before this, she was working at Wampler Foods for 25 years after graduating from Turner Ashby High School.

Neither Lane nor Shifflett have many days off.

“During the summer, I work from 6 a.m to 2:30 in the afternoon. We just do

the general cleaning, scrub and wax the floors, stuff like that,” Lane said.

“My jobs vary so much,” Shifflett said. “Sweep the floors, change the lights in the ceiling tiles, make a bunch of repairs.”

Shifflett has been working at HHS for 26 years.

Shifflett graduated from Harrisonburg in 1981, and has been a part of the custodial staff ever since.

Lane enjoys coming to work because of the student interaction.

“I like the kids,” Lane said. Even with all the havoc teenagers are capable of putting on the school, janitors are not fazed, and that goes for senior pranks, too.

“I like senior pranks, they’re not bad,” Lane said.

“We don’t care about them too much, we actually think they’re funny. The worst one was at the old high school when they dumped all the books onto the library floor. All the shelves, they knocked them all over.”

Even with cleaning up a prank as time consuming as that one, Lane and Shifflett enjoyed seeing the students have some fun.

“It’s a tradition,” Lane said. “You’ve got to have a senior prank.”

With every job, there are worst parts along with the best.

“Shoveling snow, that’s the worst part,” Lane said.

“That’s a hard one, there are a lot of sidewalks out there.” During the winter, Lane and other janitors have to get to the high school an extra hour early to make sure students have a clear pathway to the front doors.

“We get here around 6 a.m. on normal school days, so in the winter we’re usually here by 5 a.m.”

Lane and Shifflett leave the school and students with one request: to simply throw away trash instead of throwing it on the floor.

Small acts like that can make the janitors’ jobs so much easier.

PHOTO BY IRENE LIU

SHOVELING, SWEEPING AND STACKING. Janitor Chris Shifflett is shown stacking chairs in the cafeteria at the end of the week. Before school starts and long after it’s over, he is here cleaning and fulfilling his job as a janitor. Shifflett has been working to keep the school clean and repaired for the past 26 years.

Foster uses different approach to teaching math Sarah Earle Staff Reporter For the fairly new Algebra teacher, Ross Foster, teaching has always been his main career in interest.

Foster, a current algebra 1 teacher, started working at HHS in the beginning of last January, teaching algebra explorations. Taking on his first teaching job, Foster started in the middle of the year feeling anxious.

He now teaches two full year algebra 1 blocks and a semester block, as he begins his first full year.

“Last year was pretty crazy,” Foster said. “It was in the middle of the year I came in, so that was an interesting time,”.

Foster studied Middle School Education, attending James Madison in

2009. Between the age differences, expectations, and responsibility differences of middle and high School, he explained how teaching high school ended up being the right choice after all.

“I love teaching high school,” Foster said. “It’s the age where you become yourself and you decide what you want to do, and who you want to be, and who you want to hang out with, and it’s a really cool atmosphere to be a part of that.”

For Foster, the transition from last year to this year ended up being a lot smoother. This year everyone was starting at the same time.

Students in summer school for variety of reasons Jackson Hook Sports Editor Summer school can be taken to get ahead in a class or to retake one, and for sophomore Collin Morris, it was both a good thing and a bad thing.

“It was worth it but it wasn’t worth it,” Morris said, “I got ahead, but I still had to go to school in the summer.”

Morris took health and physical education 10 over the 2015 summer.

“I took it so I wouldn’t have to take it during this school year.

The teacher was pretty chill and I learned a lot,” Morris said.

Health and physical education 10 also includes driver’s education, which poses an incentive for students taking the class in the summer. Morris talks about why he took P.E. and not another class.

“It’s totally worth it, because then you don’t

have to go through school all sweaty in the middle of the day,” Morris said.

Another sophomore in summer school, Rawand Ali, has a different reason for taking this P.E. course.

“I took it because I had a couple friends who were taking it too.

It was worth coming to school in the summer in the end. I mean it’s pretty boring, but the teachers are pretty cool and chill and they don’t take it that hard on you,” Ali said.

Ali decided to issue a message to the new freshman class at HHS about.

“For all the freshmen, I recommend that they take it earlier in the summer, because it’s just a waste of time if you take it during school. You could take a bunch of other classes if you finish up with an elective and you can do other stuff your senior year,” Ali said.

“I got to go through the new teacher orientation, which was great to lay the foundations for working for HHS,” Foster said. Since he previously taught algebra explorations, Foster had to think a lot more about algebra.

“It’s a totally different curriculum, so I had to learn the pacing of that, the content, the topics, and how things flow, but my department and my mentors have been great about sharing ‘these are the things that students have struggled with’ and ‘you might want to spend a little extra time here’.”

Foster started this year off on an unexpected note by receiving his very own classroom.

“A lot of the math department shares rooms and I was lucky enough to get my own room,” Foster said. Foster is also excited to see where this year will take him.

“I’m looking forward to the success of my students,” Foster said. “It’s my goal and their goal to be successful in my class, so it’ll be fun to be with them through that and then at the end they can say this is what they put together.”

Foster is passionate about teaching to show students the good in math, as well as the different sides to it.

“Teaching as a career is fun because it’s different every day. I change every day, my students change every day, the material changes occasionally. It’s not the same thing every

day and things are changing all the time, which is fun,” Foster said. Foster is trying to convince the all students, whether they like math or not, that it is not a bad thing.

“Some people really absorb math well, and like math, and some people come into my class saying I hate math, but then hopefully I can show them that math is not a scary, yucky thing.” Foster describes his teaching style as comfortable and very conversational.

“I want people to be comfortable in my class. I think I try to be comfortable in front of my students so they feel comfortable in making mistakes or saying they don’t understand something.” Foster makes his lessons so students can engage and understand

the material better.

“It’s not me talking at them, it’s more of a ‘what are you guys thinking right now?’ and ‘how can you respond to that?’”

As for the future, Foster plans on teaching for a while or until it is no longer fun. He has considered possibly teaching other subjects such as a technology and shop class.

Foster’s motivation in teaching is everyone’s common goal to be successful in algebra.

“We are all here doing the same thing,” Foster said. To him, math goes beyond just taking the SOL test.

“We all want to be successful in algebra, we all want to pass our algebra SOL to go onto bigger and better things.”

Guidance counselors work hard over break

PHOTO BY AUDREY KNUPP

CALL THE COUNSELOR. Counselor Emily Barnes talks on the phone with a parent to adjust a student’s schedule.

Audrey Knupp Op-Ed Editor While students were enjoying their summer, guidance counselor Emily Barnes’ work had just begun. She is an 11-month employee here at HHS. Two weeks after teachers finish

up school, she is still in her office beginning the work for the following fall semester.

“During that time we are wrapping up and checking students credits toward their diploma for the upcoming year,” Barnes said.

Her part of the scheduling puzzle is to make

sure there are no holes or gaps in schedules, assuring them that they will get the schedule best suited to their needs while attending HHS. Another part of the job for Barnes is to help students register for summer school.

“I make sure that students are placed appropriately in summer school as well as at the end of the year,” Barnes said.

When it comes to actually creating the HHS master schedules, co-directors of the counseling center, Rachel Linden and Lisa Warren are the experts. They start creating the master schedules in April before fall semester, and don’t finish until July. This year, they had to create over 1,600 schedules for all of the students.

Each department at HHS submits their recommendations for which teachers will teach which courses, and how many sections will be offered for each class.

“Rooms are a big problem, because we don’t have unlimited spaces, and classes might fit better in a certain block, but if we don’t have rooms we can’t schedule the class. We also had

to work schedules around common planning for teachers in some departments like algebra 1, so that all of the teachers who teach those subjects could have a planning period together,” Linden said.

With unique programs that HHS offers such as Massanutten Technical Center, which actually has a completely different bell schedule, Governor’s STEM Academy, and Massanutten Governor’s School, the counselors must take many things into account.

“It is hard to make everyone happy in every department and impossible to give students everything they want. PowerSchool software is not designed to handle our “hybrid” schedule, so we have to manually schedule a lot of classes that PowerSchool doesn’t “understand” how to work out,” Linden said.

PowerSchool makes 80 percent of the schedules, making the guidance department’s job easier. All staff members in the Guidance Department strive to adjust their students schedules as close to the requested options as they can.

How many hours did teachers work at HHS over the summer?

Key: One stick figure = one teacher

200+

150

100

50

20

0

September 30, 2015

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HHS THROUGH THE YEARS It’s been 10 years since we moved from the site of the original HHS on South High Street which is now owned by JMU. Much has changed in both locations, but education remains the focal point in both buildings.

Doug Ritcher Staff Reporter The 2015-2016 school year marks the 10-year anniversary of the Garbers Church Road location for HHS. According to U.S. history teacher Mark Tueting, who has been here for 14 years, remarkable changes have occurred during this period.

Tueting spent four years at the South High Street location.

“It was a very odd, awkward building,” Tueting said. He regarded the new building as more beautifully crafted. However, he did not observe a change in his or others’ teaching when the high school changed location.

“As far as the quality of teaching, I don’t think the building has affected it that much,” Tueting said.

In fact, he has noticed certain positive things maintained through the

transition and the 10 years following. He is very proud of the social studies department that he is a part of and how consistent it has remained.

“We have maintained a very strong department. I am very pleased with the quality and professionalism of my colleagues. We share ideas well together, we work well together and there’s such a breadth of knowledge here that if I have a question about just about anything, somebody knows,” Tueting said.

However, a few problems have arisen in his 14 years here. SOL standards have grown more strict and thus more time has been devoted to them. He feels this has taken away from some of the more important parts of learning.

“We have a lot of kids that have been taught to bubble in boxes… How much have we lost with the whole ‘joy of learning’ and ‘its cool to understand

PHOTO COURTESY OF HARRISONBURG HIGH SCHOOL

NEW DECADE, NEW SCHOOL. In 2005, HHS resided on 395 South High Street. When the need for expansion arose, plans for the new school were drawn and resulted in a new building with room for growth in student population. stuff’ and ambiguity and ‘let’s think critically’?” Tueting said.

This has affected him on an individual level. Tueting likes teaching class with argument and critical thinking and the SOL standards have restricted this. However, according to him, this affects more than just him and his colleagues.

“This is not a HHS thing.

This is a Virginia-wide thing, and with the standards based movement it might be a country based thing.”

Tueting has also pointed to cutbacks in education

funding during the recession as an issue that has arisen. The budget had an inverse correlation with the number of students leading to teachers doing more with less.

“We, during the downturn of the recession, cut all the fat out of the educational budget... The resources of the school have not kept up with the increase in population of the school,” Tueting said.

Tueting has also seen extracurricular programs make changes over his time here. He has seen the dra-

Overcrowding in schools becoming problematic Owen Marshall Staff Reporter The school’s property has really changed over the past couple of years.

Every year, students come to the school and see the changes, this year HHS added two new outdoor classroom trailers. The new trailers were installed because of the capacity issue in the schools. Each trailer adds four slots a day, and for semester classes eight

slots a year. Health/physical education, social studies, and MTC study hall are all currently held in the trailers and more trailers are expected to be needed as the campus has been fitted for up to six.

The school is completely packed. The engineers who built the school said it would hold roughly 1,500 students. The school has 1619 students enrolled now. The reason the population is growing so much is

because last year HHS graduated 312 students and this year the freshman class has 465 students.

“We have a space for everybody and everybody for a space,” Prieto said.

Classroom space is not the only thing being affected, as the infrastructure is also an issue with HHS. The cafeteria will see additions as well, including tables, chairs, and food storage space.

“We are doing deliveries

almost daily, so we are also talking about buying another walk-in refrigerator and another walk-in freezer to accommodate just all the meals we are serving,” Prieto said.

The school board is now searching for a long term resolution for this situation so the students and faculty can be more comfortable in the school environment.

They have just begun this process, so no idea is yet set in stone.

Population growth over last 10 years

Current school blueprints allow for expansion PHOTO BY CHRISTA COLE

WE HAVE A PLAN. When developers originally built the school in 2005, they created a way for future expansion in the case of overcrowding. Though the builders didn’t predict the student growth to occur so rapidly, they made it possible to add on classrooms to the left side of the building. History teacher Mark Healy provieded insight on the topic.

“When this school was first built, they knew that we would eventually run out of space. So under the blacktop we have footers, that if needed we could potentially build up to 20 plus additional classrooms,” Healy said.

Although this was the original plan, the school system might be headed in a different direction. Superintendent Scott Kizner recently announced plans to build in the open lot across the street from the high school.

ma team at HHS flourish.

“Drama team. That’s certainly something to celebrate,” Tueting said. Along with a tip of the hat to HHS Drama teacher Stanley Swartz, Tueting had an explanation for the group’s continued success.

“You’re also drawing from a smaller group of kids and you’re always goiong to have that group of kids, but for bigger sports teams, it’s kind of changed,” Tueting said. “Who’s coming out for teams? Who’s had 10 years of pee wee football versus ‘I’m going to put on

a helmet for the first time today’?”

Where drama team has maintained success, Tueting has seen large team sports struggle for consistency because of lack of experience.

One of the most positive changes Tueting has seen in the last 10 years is not about education at all: promposals. Tueting mentioned a lack of school spirit and enjoys seeing students being silly and having fun.

“That’s an awesome change I’ve seen in the last 10 years, promposals… You guys are the headphone

Possible new high school plans in works Yogesh Aradhey Staff Reporter Ten years ago, a big change was made to our school system. A change that still affects 1,400 students and 202 staff today, yet we take it as a given. Anyone going to school or working at school 10 years ago saw the transfer of HHS from Memorial Hall to the current building.

Of the many teacher working at HHS at the time, Andy Jackson was one of the many teachers working at HHS at the time.

“I remember making lots, and lots, and lots of boxes,” Jackson said.

“They came flat and it was like a Domino’s add.” He recalls a huge task at hand coordinating the moving of everything, including lots of chemicals for chemistry.

“This building has a much simpler floor plan and it’s easier for students to get around and figure the building out,” Jackson said. Although he recognized it as a necessary change because of overcrowding, he still misses some things from the old school.

“What I miss is the mentality,” Jackson said.

“Each teacher had their own classroom and it expressed the teacher’s discipline.” But he was quick to reaffirm that it was a good thing that we switched to the new building and that the

pros far outweighed the cons.

On the other hand, Jerry Hertzler, another teacher during the transition, was not so nostalgic.

“Some people complained that it was at the edge of town [and would be a long drive],” Hertzler said, but he felt that it had to be done.

“There wasn’t much to miss,” Hertzler said.

He talked about how he felt it was crowded and how the floor plan was impractical.

Now, as our population starts to rise, we may be seeing some deja vu from 10 years ago.

“We are starting to face the same problem as before,” Jackson said.

We walked through the office at HHS and he showed me the picture of the groundbreaking ceremony at the site that was to become Memorial Hall.

“Architects have proposed plans for additions or maybe a second high school,” Jackson said. He pointed out that one of the major inconveniences of the old building was the many additions that had been linked together. Another idea floating around is to have separate additions to the school for academies such as fine arts or STEM. “I like the idea of talking about ideas,” Jackson said, “But I don’t think we are quite ready for a [a new high school] yet.”

Numbers Don’t Lie

2005 2015 STAFF MEMBERS

STAFF MEMBERS

STUDENTS

STUDENTS

181

202

1,250 1,667

September 30, 2015

Feature-A10

The state of social media at

HHS

Social media has impact on students Brian Alvarado Staff Reporter Many students are now involved with some form of social media which have a varying number of applications.

The way that students communicate changes with the times and modern social media has created new mediums where students can express themselves online. They provide access to both news and the lives of your peers. However, questions have been raised on how social media might affect students in high school.

English teacher Julian Dean believes that although social media serves as an outlet for students to express their opinions, it hinders them from making a change in the real world.

“So social media has

two facets that are similar in outcome but one is positive and one is negative. It gives them a release valve for talking about things that bother them, for getting things out there with a fair amount of anonymity where they can just get a catharsis by releasing whatever tension they have. The flip side to that same coin that I figure is problematic is that it allows them to do so, to get that catharsis, without actually changing anything. So instead of changing the problem they just complain about the problem on social media.

So social media becomes this outlet...which is good but yet it prevents them from actually making a material change in the world,” Dean said.

An extended amount of time on social media could

affect their real life interactions, but STEM teacher Myron Blosser believes that this is not actually a negative aspect of social media and that it is the same human need for communication being expressed through a different format.

“Social media goes back to the beginning of humans...humans have always had a need to communicate with each other whether it may be smoke signals, painting on a cave, students communicate, in fact, Blosser thinks that the 40 to 50 year old age group has seen the most change.

“As a teacher I don’t necessarily see anything different happening today that hasn’t been happening for thousands and thousands of years...I’ve been teaching for 32 years and students today are similar

to students 32 years ago in their need to communicate… What I’m actually noticing is that it is probably the 40 to 50 year olds that are abusing social media more than the 15 to 20 year olds because it’s new to us.

It’s like someone who grew up without a TV and when they get 30 years old and get a TV and all they want to do is watch it,” Blosser said.

Guidance counselor Tim Meyers believes that social media is a mostly positive thing, but that students should take the time to put it down every once in a while and speak to people face to face.

“I don’t see anything wrong with it. I walked into five classrooms this morning and they were all on technology doing their thing and sometimes may-

be they’ll drift off and get on another page but nope, I see a lot of learning going on…Yea, I’d rather be sitting on a boat fishing, hitting a golf ball, and enjoying the outdoors. I think that more than anything sometimes Ideas are better expressed face to face, person to person. Sometimes written word gets taken out of context and at the same time a little bit of everything is good, everything in moderation. I was born a long time ago and we used to go to the movies… we went fishing and we shot basketball,” Meyers said.

For assistant principal Eric Miller, social media has a lot of academic benefits. It gives new mediums for teachers, students, and parents alike to interact and share information with each other and allows people to

maintain connections easier.

“Positively for teachers it’s an awesome way for sharing work, like Mr. Wilson taking a picture of his classroom working and tweeting out and his class and parents can be looking in on that and it’s awesome…

Now with social media you can just hit somebody up and boom someone is going to have it in the palm of their hand. In theory you would think it would help academics because what we’re pushing right now, let’s say a teacher can take a video or have a student take a video of a small lesson or take a picture of the notes and when you tweet that for all the kids, you could review and go back and study for a test. I don’t see how that couldn’t improve academics,” Miller said.

Do’s and dont’s of social media: Snapchat and Twitter Snapchat

Twitter

DON’T

DO

Don’t post over a 100-second story.

Snapchat has time limitations for a reason.

Don’t snapchat a whole concert.

A short story can be cool, but the whole concert is a no go.

Don’t screenshot when it’s not appropriate. Snapchat pictures and videos disappear for a reason.

Don’t send inappropriate pictures or videos. While it can seem like a good idea at the time, it’s not worth it and can be illegal.

Don’t send people a snapchat that’s also going on your story. That’s getting them excited for no reason.

Do send pictures of cute things. As long as you don’t over do it, nobody minds a cute snap.

Do add funny moments to your story.

Make sure it is okay and appropriate.

Do screenshot when appropriate.

When you get that ugly picture of a friend, save it for later use.

Do send ugly selfies for fun. It’s only fair to send one and accept the jokes.

Do keep the selfies off of your story.

Save it for instagram.

Do add hhs media. Add us on snapchat, @hhsmedia15. Don’t worry, we are completely student run and won’t look at your stories.

DON’T Don’t get sent to twitter jail. Tweeting 100 times in an hour or 1000 times in a day sends you to twitter jail and the unfollow button.

Don’t hashtag every tweet. Hashtags are like power, use them wisely.

Don’t use bad grammar and punctuation. Keep emoticons and abbreviations to a minimum, most of the time.

Don’t subtweet others. Twitter is not a place to resolve problems, go to a counselor.

Don’t neglect to respond to people. If someone goes out of his/her way to be nice, give them a favorite or acknowledgement.

DO Do tweet often. Twitter is for tweeting, after all.

Do keep up to date and often. Nobody wants to follow a ghost.

Do keep it short. Even though the limit may be 140, that’s often too long.

Do learn the lingo. Abreviattions such as DM, LT, and RT can make twitter eaier and more of a pleasure.

Do have a relevant handle. Your @ name on twitter is important.

Do follow HHS media. Follow HHS Media on twitter @_HHSMedia.

Also, we have an independent sports account, @StreaksSports for HHS sports.

Up close and personal: a Snapchat addict Theodore Yoder Staff Reporter Most students at HHS are users of social media in one way or another.

Sophomore, Bo Boisen uses apps such as Twitter and Instagram, but there is one that she likes more than the rest. Boisen admits to being addicted to Snapchat.

“I like it because you don’t have to look good in the pictures you send because they disappear quickly,” Boisen said.

Snapchat is a social media app that is used to send quick pictures or videos to your friends.

By adjusting the time setting, you can decide how long the picture or video can be viewed before it is gone forever. Recent-

ly, Snapchat updated to new features that include connecting with popular websites or current events through the app. You can also send texts instead of sending photos or videos that will then disappear after closing them. Boisen uses the app for other things.

“I love sending pictures of my dog to my friends. Or if you are at the store and

you see something that reminds you of a joke with your friend, you can send them a picture of that,” Boisen said.

Boisen has used Snapchat for a total of of three years and believes that Snapchat will remain popular for years to come. She snapchats people instead of texting them and uses that app about an hour and a half to two hours

each day.

“Snapchat is quick communication and you don’t have to hold a conversation with people,” Boisen said.

Snapchat also has a feature that allows you to add a photo or video to your “story” which allows everyone to see it. The photos or videos disappear after 24 hours and people can no longer view them.

Snapchat also includes stories from cities around the world as well as popular events occurring at that time.

“I like adding photos to my story because I don’t have to individually send it to everybody,” Boisen said.

Boisen likes to use social media, mainly Snapchat because she feels it is a good time waster whenever she is bored.

Time spent on social media per day

50%

POLL OF 100 PEOPLE COMPLETED ON SEPTEMBER 9, 2015 INFOGRAPHIC BY YUSUF ABOUTABL

25%

17%

8%

September 30, 2015

The Newsstreak

Feature-A9

New Faces At HHS: Teacher Edition Lisa Long Special Education

Caitlin Francis English

Ashley Kave ESL

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “I’m certified to teach special education in grades K-12.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A: “I taught myself how to sew, and I love photography. I love to take pictures.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “I wanted to work with children who were in special education. I actually grew up with two cousins who were in special education, and my best friend had epilepsy, so I felt like it was my way of helping.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “Well, I taught at Waterman elementary school last year. But I’ve always wanted to teach high school, and they said we might have an opening at Harrisonburg, so I said I want it. They let me have it... I’ve wanted to be with the older students and try that, because I’ve taught elementary school for 18 years. I was ready to try something new.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: “I love all the people; there are so many people. Just getting to know new people, and it’s fun in the high school.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “We made sugar cookies today and we were all covered in flour. That was kinda fun, besides that I don’t know, nothing too crazy yet.”

Q: What has been the most difficult thing about teaching here?

A: “Learning the bell schedule, just figuring out ELT day, and just getting to know the scheduling, and environment, and how things work here. Everything. Scheduling was hard.”

Q: What are you trying to put an emphasis on this year?

A: “In my classroom we are working on vocational skills. We really want to get out in the community, and get some of our students jobs.”

Q: What has most surprised you about being a new teacher here?

A: “I think how crowded the hallways are, but I enjoy it, it’s fun to watch all the people. That’s probably the biggest surprise.”

Q: What do you most look forward to for this year?

A: “Definitely getting to know my students better, and taking my students out into the community.”

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “I am a first year teacher and just graduated from JMU in May with my masters degree. This is my first teaching job.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A: ‘I am from Tappahannock, VA, which is the hometown of Chris Brown. It is not something we brag about anymore, so I don’t usually talk about it. Also, I tried out for Jeopardy once. I got invited to an audition in New York.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “I have just always loved school and learning.

Whenever anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I was younger, it has always been teaching.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “I was here for practicum last fall and I got to work with some of the amazing teachers here and meet a lot of the students. And because of going to JMU, being here for 5 years and I love the area, so I knew I wanted to stay locally because the school district is so great. I find myself lucky to be at HHS.” Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: ‘Everyone has such a positive attitude in terms of the people I’m working with and all the students have a lot to say and share. It’s a very unique experience getting to work with everyone.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “The first fire drill was a little bit hectic, because they had warned us about it and we were waiting for it to happen, so everyone was up and out of their seats. When we came back inside, we lost a couple of kids because they didn’t know which class to go.”

Q: What has been the most difficult thing about teaching here?

A: “I’m just trying to keep up with all the students.

The students go a mile a minute in terms of what they have to say and bring to the table. I’m just trying to keep up with them and all the classes and stay ahead.”

Q: What are you trying to put an emphasis on this year?

A: “My biggest emphasis overall with all my kids is getting them to try their best and put forth their best effort, but specifically since I teach tenth grade and the writing SOL has been moved, we’re focusing on our writing skills a lot this year.”

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “I taught for the past six years in Shenandoah County at Central High School.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A: “I’ve traveled a lot, I’ve seen a lot of the world.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “My Spanish teacher in high school was amazing and she really showed that she cared about people, and this is why she taught the language so that she would teach us to engage with people that were different from us, so that’s why I teach Spanish, because I enjoy teaching people how to connect with somebody that’s different than them.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “I wanted to test my skills at teaching English as a second language.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: “So far my favorite thing is that there is a huge diversity here, and so many cultures and things that people have to offer that is different from my old school.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “I don’t know, I don’t really have anything.”

Q: What has been the most difficult thing about teaching here?

A: “It’s like drinking out of a fire hose here, there’s a lot of details that are really different from my old school, so it’s just getting used to the way someone else does it, not that that’s a bad thing, it just is a different thing, I have to change my thinking. Oh that’s not the way I used to do it there.”

Q: What are you trying to put an emphasis on this year?

A: “Surviving.”

Q: What has most surprised you about being a new teacher here?

A: “I don’t know, no huge surprises for me. This is a great school, the diversity is what I expected but it’s what makes this school so exciting for me to teach at.”

Q: What do you most look forward to this year?

A: “Just growing as a teacher.”

Q & A by Kyle Brown

Q & A By Josh Lichti

Q & A By Alissa Burnette

Niloufar Yashmi Math

Marcos Quintana World Languages

Don Burgess CTE

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “I taught for 12 years in Iran and I was an assistant teacher at HHS for five years in the Blue Streak Academy.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A: “English is my second language, so that may be interesting to some people.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “I always loved the idea. It was my dream, so I try to be a good teacher.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “Like I said, I taught for 12 years back home in Iran.

I used to teach in a high school and this is only high school in Harrisonburg so I tried it and I love it.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: “Just knowing the different students. I love the students.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “Nothing crazy has happened this year, but before when I was teaching some crazy things would happen.”

Q: What has been the most difficult thing about teaching here?

A: “Nothing has been difficult, everything has been okay for me.”

Q: What are you trying to put an emphasis on this year?

A: “I just want to have the students listen and do their work.”

Q: What has most surprised you about being a new teacher here?

A: “There’s a lot of paperwork. When I was an assistant there wasn’t much paperwork.”

Q: What do you most look forward to for this year?

A: “Right now I have my provisional license and I look forward to getting my permanent license, so I’m trying to finish that.”

Q: How was teaching in Iran different than teaching here in Virginia?

A: It was completely different. Girls and boys were in different high schools, and all schools in general.

I feel that the technology here is more advanced so students have more opportunities here, compared to Iran.”

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “I taught ESL for 15 years.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A:“I’m certified to open water scuba drive.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “I never planned on becoming a teacher, it all happened by accident. I started as a long term sub and ended up staying on and it just turned into a career after that.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “Because I lived in Harrisonburg for awhile after I graduated.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: “Working with the kids of kids I taught so it kind of feels like you’re a grandfather almost.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “Oh I don’t know, the craziest thing to ever happen to me while I was working in a school was a earthquake, the earthquake that we had five years ago.”

Q: What has been the most difficult thing about teaching here?

A: “I think a lot of our students were raised very differently than how I was raised and…. there is just a big gap of what students approach as appropriate and respectful behavior. I’m always surprised when students think certain kinds of things are okay when for me those ideas would never even enter my mind to talk to a teacher or to treat another student in some of the ways that students treat each other and treat teachers.”

Q: What are you trying to put an emphasis on this year?

A: “I’m teaching new classes that I’ve never taught before, this is my first year teaching Spanish, so all the preparation that I’m doing is completely new to all the preparation that I’ve done in the past.”

Q: What has changed since you last taught here?

A: “Cell phones. Students have smartphones which they didn’t have before, It’s just one more thing that allows them to be distracted.”

Q:What do you most look forward to for this year?

A: “The thing right now that I am enjoying the most is working with the colleagues that I have in my department. They are pretty amazing people, and they’re supportive, and their professionalism and knowledge base is inspiring to me.”

Q: What is your teaching background?

A: “My teaching background is in college athletics for the past 20 years. Four years as a college student-athlete and 19 years as a college basketball coach at both the division one and division two level. So I’ve been teaching but in a different facet. I’ve been teaching on the basketball court, doing some speaking at basketball camps and so forth.”

Q: What do you think is the most interesting thing about you?

A: “I’m a people person. I love being around people and have a passion for watching the students grow into young adults.”

Q: Why did you decide to become a teacher?

A: “I decided to become a teacher after being at the collegiate level for over 20 years because it was a nice opportunity. I have a business management degree and, like I said, I’ve been coaching for over 19 years.

So I wanted to be able to come back in a different way in regards to having a positive impact on the students at a young age, ninth to twelfth grade as opposed to early years in college.”

Q: Why did you decide to come to HHS? A: “Harrisonburg High School is actually my alma mater. I graduated in 1990 from HHS and I have a lot of fond memories of the excellent teachers that were able to have an impact on me as a young student.

So hopefully I can have a positive impact on a lot of teenagers here at Harrisonburg High School.”

Q: What has been your favorite thing about teaching here so far?

A: “The students. The students, in regards to their personalities and how eager they are to learn. My team, being the teachers, having a family atmosphere which has been very inviting. That has been most impressive, how the faculty and staff have taken me under their wing.”

Q: What’s the craziest thing that has happened in your class so far?

A: “Probably me calling a student by the incorrect name. I’m the type of person that tries to learn names as quick as possible and that’s always been a goal of mine even when I’ve had basketball camps with over 200 students. The other thing is the A day and B day.

As a new faculty and staff member, getting adjusted to the A and B days would probably be the most interesting thing.”

Q & A By Samantha Little

This year, HHS hired 19 teachers for new positions to replace others who retired, left teaching or relocated. Of those 19...

Q & A by Josh Byrd

Math - 6 Science - 3 English - 2 Social Studies - 2

Q & A By Samantha Little

Special Ed. - 2 CTE, Counseling - 2 World Languages - 1 ESL - 1

September 30, 2015

The Newsstreak

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September 30, 2015

Experience-A6

The Newsstreak

Camping Essentials HOW TO SURVIVE AND THRIVE IN THE WILD

Mehta camps for first time Ava Reynolds HHS Media Coordinator

PHOTOS BY AVA REYNOLDS

WAKING UP. Senior Ami Mehta experiences elements of her first camping trip: waking up after sleeping on an uneven ground, and making and eating fire-toasted bagels in the morning with Senior Allison McGranahan.

What to Bring: Food

Breakfast:

-Cereal/Granola/Oatmeal -Bread or Bagels -Fresh milk or milk powder -Yogurt parfait

Lunch:

-Wrap w/ veggies and meat -Pita bread -Sandwiches

Dinner:

-Pasta -Canned tuna -Canned soup -Chicken salad -Roasted hotdogs

Other Food:

-Fruit (fresh or dry) -Energy bars -Marshmallows -Granola bars or trail mix -Crackers/chips -Jelly/jam -Bottled water

Equipment -Strong, sturdy tent -Sleeping bag(s) & small pillows -Air mattress for extra cushion -Flashlights and lanterns -Matches and dry wood (fire) -Utensils (pots, bowls, spoons) -First aid kit -Maps or portable GPS -Pocket knife -Hammer or mallet

Other -Camera -Cell phone -Toilet paper -Radio and headphones -Books & board games -Sunscreen -Bug spray -Mirror -Hair essentials/cosmetics -Long pants & old t-shirts -Toiletries (shampoo -Camping hammock -Foldable chairs -Hand sanatizer -Extra water

Snow camping presents new challenges Austin Swift Editor-in-Chief Snow camping is on the extreme end of the comfort spectrum and comes with additional dangers and obstacles, but Junior Hunter Manzano embraces the challenge.

“Snow camping adds that getting wet part of it, and when you’re wet and you have wind and it’s really cold, that’s perfect for hypothermia,” Manzano said. “So you really have to be wearing the right clothes and controlling your temperature when you’re doing that, and you don’t have to worry as much about that when you’re just cold weather camping.”

Beyond warm clothes and sleeping bags, proper foods are required to keep the body functional in these conditions.

“You definitely want to bring food with more calories, more carbs because you really want

to amp up your body’s temperature so you don’t freeze to death while you’re sleeping.

Water you just put in an insulated thermos,” Manzano said.

After clearing snow, damp ground can still be a hinderance in starting a fire.

“You just kind of clear a spot in the snow and put tin foil down to keep it dry,” Manzano said.

Sleeping options vary as they do with normal camping.

“We do tents, hammocks, or you just sleep on the ground.

When I was with ROTC we just slept on the ground and just cleared the snow with our feet and put down a mat they gave us and laid on that,” Manzano said.

For Manzano, activity during the day can suppress the cold, but the temperature is an issue when he winds down at night.

“The hardest part is getting to sleep. It’s not too bad [during

One week, no phones, hot weather and even hotter uniforms. The members of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (JROTC) program strapped up for the annual Junior Cadet Leadership Camping (JCLC) trip. This year its was held at Fort Pickett, Virginia. Higher ranked JROTC staff members supported the cadets as they trained to become better leaders. Fifty schools throughout Virginia and North Carolina were tested in an unfamiliar environment grouped in platoons with people they had never met before. Sergeant Major Russell Wilder has been assisting JCLC Eagle for 10 years and every year he sees his cadets grow from the courses they take over the week.

“It teaches you how to work as a team, understand your strengths and weaknesses in leadership. The test is to lead people you don’t know,” Wilder said.

Quite the controversy of what people may think, JCLC is not a military camp.

“Some of the things they do at the army they do it here, but they are all tailored for a high school cadet,” Wilder said.

On the first day of JCLC, students are required to take a physical test and go through all the procedures on what you should do in order to be safe. The next three days different stations are set up with obstacle courses and activities. Throughout the week each company (group) would have

the day] because you’re moving around and you’re pretty active during the day, because if you don’t move you’re cold, but once you settle down your heart rate starts to go down, your body starts to get cold and it’s just hard to sleep through the night,” Manzano said.

As both body and natural temperatures decrease, Manzano thinks proper clothing is vital. “[Clothing] definitely depends on temperature. The lowest I’ve done was about eight degrees and that was cold. [At night] I was in thermal underwear, everything I was wearing during the day and I was in a sleeping bag,” Manzano said.

Similar to the food, snow camping requires more equipment and supplies.

“You definitely have to pack for getting wet, you have to have waterproof gear, you have

to have a change of clothes just in case, you have to have the thermos for the water,” Manzano said. “You just need more gear because the elements are harsher. Bigger sleeping bags to stay warmer, more clothes, stuff like that.”

For future first time snow campers, he has just one piece of advice.

“Don’t sleep directly on the ground, make sure you have a barrier between yourself and the ground because it’ll suck the heat out of you like it’s nobody’s business,” Manzano said.

Manzano has been on a group trip to Frazier Farms through JROTC, as well as individual mountain excursions in snow as deep as five feet.

“I think anybody can go camping during the summer, but I think [snow camping] shows a passion for camping,” Manzano said.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF HUNTER MANZANO

BRAVING THE COLD. Left: Junior Hunter Manzano’s winter campsite set up, complete with hammocks and and a tarp to sleep under.

Right: The warmth of the fire blazes through the freezing snow.

JROTC attends leadership camp Tazhan Jaf Staff Reporter

Prior to Labor Day Weekend, senior Ami Mehta had never been camping. Before going, she didn’t know what to expect; however, she was nonetheless looking forward to her first camping trip at Reddish Knob, a mountain top on the border of Virginia and West Virginia with a 360 degree view of the surrounding valleys.

“I expected it to be an uncomfortable struggle; pitching tents, mud everywhere, and being unable to fall asleep on the hard, uneven ground. But camping was an experience I wanted to have, so I was happy to try it out,” Mehta said.

After the trip, Mehta reflected on how her expectations changed.

“Setting up tents wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d imagined, but starting a fire is. I also realized camping doesn’t equal bad or limited food options; we all stuffed our faces,” Mehta said.

Highlights of Mehta’s first camping trip was the fire pit and the stars.

“I loved stargazing. The number of stars I could see were unbelieveable; I could have watched the sky for hours,” Mehta said.

The location of the campsite also made Mehta’s trip memorable.

“I didn’t expect to be at such a perfect

camp site. We were just a couple hundred steps from a clearing overlooking the mountains and the sunset. I loved watching the sunset standing at the edge of the cliff,” Mehta said.

Just as she suspected, the uneven ground did not make a perfect area for the tent, but other than that Mehta experienced few challenges.

“Sleeping on uneven ground was not the easiest thing in the world, but I was pretty warm despite the weather, so it wasn’t that bad. Playing cards on the slanted ground and lighting up a tent at night was a bit of a struggle. It was also a little chilly in the morning, but definitely bearable,” Mehta said.

Mehta realized that her first camping trip was definitely completed by who she went with.

“It wouldn’t have been nearly as fun if I hadn’t gone with a bunch of friends. You can’t beat jokes over s’mores and deep talks under the stars, and the location was a huge plus. We’re so lucky to live in the Valley,” Mehta said.

Although Mehta has been hiking more times than she can can count, Mehta’s first camping experience was so great that she definitely wants to go again, although she can’t imagine how it could top her first time camping.

had a chance to visit all the stations. Some of the courses they experienced were rope bridge, shooting rifles, first aid, repelling, field leadership, reaction course, rockwall, survival training, drown proofing, how to build a fire, and land navigation. The living conditions during the week consisted a building filled with bunk beds and lockers, indoor plumbing was included as well.

On the last day the cadets are lined up and moved across the field to their closing ceremony, where Sergeant Major and the company commanders and first arms hand out the awards that determined the top cadet at camp. Senior Battalion Commander Isis Gutierrez-Ledezma overlooked the cadets in training, her fourth and final year attending JCLC Eagle.

“They’re in their uniforms the whole week. Every single morning they have to clean the barracks, it's always outside. We are sweating, it's hot, and our cadets have five different uniforms but some of them have one for the whole week and they get it wet because they go drown proofing,”Isis said.

Twenty-four representatives from HHS attended JCLC Eagle.

“They overcome their fear of heights or things that they thought that never they could ever do, they do. They overcome fear danger and adversity by preserving and pushing through. So between the leadership and confidence building that they get there, [JCLC] is incredible. You can't duplicate JCLC eagle unless you take them over there,” Wilder said.

Places To Camp: Endless Caverns Campground

Misty Mountain Camp Resort

Fees: RV parking fees are $34.99 for a day and weekly rates are $239. Tours for the caverns are $18 for adults and are $8 for children of the ages four to eleven.

Attractions: If you go on a tour you will see many different rooms of the cavern.

There are also nature trails for hiking and biking.

Other info: Cavern tours are two hours long and you will see about eleven different rooms of the cavern.

Fees: Cabins range from $50-$199 depending on the size of the cabin.

Attractions: Explore the nature trails, swim in the pool, sit by the creek, fish in the pond.

Other info: The Rivanna is a great float trip. Floating during the spring and summer is the best because the canopy shades much of the river. The water is very clear, and there are different fish, rocks, and underwater grasses.

Shenandoah Valley Campground

Fees: Tent sites are $40, RV sites are $53 and a camping cabin is $72 rates include two adults and up to four children (under the age of eighteen years old).

Attractions: Waterfalls, river tubing, trout and bass fishing.

Other info: Shenandoah Valley Campground is the only campground in Virginia with a waterfall and four 6-person indoor hot tubs. There are many trails to hike and one of them goes right beside the waterfall.

Shenandoah National Park Fees: Vehicle entrance prices are $20 for that day and the next six days. Commercial tours cost $25 for one to six passengers. Annual passes are $40 per year.

Attractions: Popular attractions include Dark Hollow Falls, Old Rag hike, and overlooks of the Shenandoah Valley.

Other info: Dark Hollow Falls is one of the most popular hikes at Shenandoah National Park not only for the short distance, but the beautiful views.