wingspan WEST HENDERSON HIGH SCHOOL
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3600 Haywood Road, Hendersonville, N.C. 28791 • Volume XXX, Issue 1 • October 21, 2011
Remembering Students, teachers join nation to reflect on impact of terrorist attacks from 10 years ago
2011 Homecoming Queen Natalie Rice
M
9/11
LAUREN STEPP creative director
om, Mom…something terrible just happened, and people are going to be sad for a long, long time,” said Cody as he watched the television in his living room where he was playing with his toys. It was Sept. 11, 2001, and Cody, the 4-year-old nephew of social studies teacher Angela Perry, sat building plastic towers out of his Legos. Recreating what he had just witnessed, he guided his toy airplane into the stack of blocks. Like millions of Americans stunned by the terrorist attacks, Cody tried to grasp what was happening. “I remember my nephew Cody was sitting in front of the television. I couldn’t figure out what he was doing at first,” Perry said. “I had to figure out a way to explain to a 4-year-old something I could barely comprehend myself.” Today’s high school students were too young in 2001 to fully understand how the attacks impacted America, but as Americans marked the 10th anniversary of the attacks last month, students shared their feelings as teachers shared their memories. “When 9/11 happened, I was only in kindergarten, so I don’t remember much. I knew something bad had happened, but when you are that young, you can’t identify with something as big as this,” sophomore Emily Pruitt said. “I don’t have as much of an emotional connection with 9/11 as older Americans do because I was so young and truly only knew about it from the stories I was told.” Jennifer Gore Lewis, a West graduate from the Class of 1982, was a flight attendant on American Flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. She was killed along with her husband, Kenneth Lewis. Later that year, masonry students erected a small monument and planted a weeping cherry tree in her honor. “We had a very lovely ceremony. It was very solemn, and our students were as respectful as I have ever seen them be,” Perry said. “In a way, that too gave you a little bit of healing because although there was no funeral, there was a memorial that day for her. And that in itself promoted healing.” Social studies teachers tried to help U.S. history students understand the attacks and the impact they had. “In my AP U.S. history class, I showed a 9/11 ‘in memoriam’ video. Even though they were young, I thought that in the last 10 years they would already have seen the footage,” Ben Seneker, social studies teacher, said. “But I was shocked at the number of kids who had never seen any of the towers coming down or the planes actually hitting them. It was just absolutely silent in my classroom. So many people are critical of teenagers today being desensitized, saying violence doesn’t affect them anymore. But what I observed was different. We can’t forget what happened that day.” Some students questioned why so much attention was paid to the anniversary. “Many of my students felt that there was too much TV coverage of the anniversary,” Perry said. “I think this is a result of the fact that they were just kids when the attacks happened. Even though they know it happened, they weren’t teenagers or adults when it occurred. To them this is something in the distant past. They have grown up in a post9/11 world when things are different, and for them that is normal. I don’t think they quite have the connection to it that older Americans have because they really didn’t understand.” Not all the memories surrounding Sept. 11, 2001 are sad.
•Homecoming queen crowned Senior Natalie Rice was crowned the 2011 homecoming queen during halftime of the football game against Brevard on Oct. 7. Rice was escorted by senior Taylor Henderson. Also representing the senior class were Emily Albea, escorted by senior Dylon Johnson; Alisha Carland, escorted by senior Patrick Heafner; Savannah Carland, escorted by junior Robert Purcell; and Kennedy Galloway, escorted by senior Brad Baker. Representing the junior class were Logan Allen, Gabrielle Ball and Jamie Hunt. Samantha Younger and Savanna Austin represented the sophomore class, and Jessica Parce and Miranda Carnes represented the freshman class. Rice has played catcher for the Lady Falcon softball team since her freshman year. She is currently serving as a coeditor of the Wingspan.
Peregrine Poll
Did you dress up for spirit week?
Yes 81%
No
“I remember being in school that day. I was in second grade, living in Baltimore. I remember my mom came to pick me up, and I had no clue what was going on. When we got home, we turned on the TV and watched the news. It was so shocking that something like that could happen.” Vlad Siedlecki Senior
“My mom picked me up from school early, and she took me to work with her. Everyone at her work was watching the Towers on the TV, but I thought it was an action movie that they were watching. I kept telling everyone, ‘Turn this stupid movie off. This sucks,’ even though everybody was weeping.” Cassidy Nix
“I was called out of class so I could be picked up by my mother. When we got home, she turned on the TV. She explained to me that it was a terrorist attack that had happened. She told me how a plane had flown into each building. My mom started crying, but I just sat there not knowing what to think.” Bannie Stepp Junior
• See SEPT. 11, Page 2
19% (based on a survey of 434 students)
Heard Hall in the
“You guys should flash each other at lunch.” Betsy Squires, English teacher, (discussing flash cards) “We caught him shoving steaks down his pants.” Samantha Sherlin, senior (on a Food Lion theft) “Mrs. Hooker, my calculator died.” Anna Decker, senior “Would you like me to bury it?” Elaine Hooker, math teacher “Let’s all throw really sharp stuff naked.” Carter Holland, sophomore (on the first Olympics in ancient Greece)
Budget cuts force school to charge for services RACHEL SHOEMAKER entertainment editor
A
s students arrived on campus on Aug. 25, ready for the first day of school, it didn’t take long for them to realize that the new year would include many changes and that most of those changes involved their pocketbooks and wallets. In class meetings, Principal Dean Jones announced that students would have to pay $5 for their agenda books as well as a $20 transportation fee for every sport they participated in. A few weeks later, he explained to parents that students who needed to attend Saturday school to make up missed days would have to pay $10 per session or $20 for both sessions. According to Henderson County Public Schools Superindent David Jones, the school system has had to deal with the impact of more than $4 million in state funding cuts and $3 million in cuts and redistribution of county funds. As a result of state and county budget cuts, the HCPS have had to ask parents and students to fund services previously provided for free. Principal Dean Jones said the school sys-
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Fall festivals attract fans
tem has tried to impact students the least amount possible. “We have said, ‘Whatever we do, let’s let it have the least impact on students,’ but at some point that almost becomes a joke because everything is important,” Jones said. “We were already lean in the work $5 — Student agenda force, and the cuts just made it that $20 — Sports transmuch harder to deal portation fee with the budget we (per sport) have.” Sophomore $45 — Driver educaBailey Stokes said tion students are still feeling the effects $10 — Saturday of budget cuts. She school attenfelt that charging for dance (per agenda books was session) unnecessary. “I feel agendas should be optional. Not all teachers and students use agendas, so why should we pay $5 if we don’t use it?” Stokes said. But Principal Jones said the agendas were
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“This is a very good school to work in. It’s the best high school in the county, right?” -Kelly King, art teacher
necessary since students had to be given a copy of school policies. He said the staff would deal with students who did not pay on a caseby-case basis. Along with the implementation of the agenda fee, the make-up attendance schedule is being limited to Tuesdays and Thursdays. Last year attendance make-up was held Monday through Thursday each week. “There will be seven days for Saturday school this year (rather than the previous two) and the sessions will cost $10 each. If a student stays for both morning and afternoon sessions, the cost will be $20,” Jones said. “Students will only have until the following month to attend Tuesday and Thursday make-up attendance (sessions). We certainly hope it will help with the procrastination from past years.” Other programs being affected include sports and driver education. According to Assistant Principal/Athletic Director Kent Parent, this is the first year Henderson County has charged a fee to play a sport, but he said the term “pay-to-play” is misleading. “In the past, the county has paid for all
• See Budget, Page 2
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Technology changes how students connect