2015-2016 Wingspan Issue 3

Wingspan WEST HENDERSON HIGH SCHOOL

May 2016 • Volume 35 • Issue 3

Act of war

Should women register for selective service?

Page 7

Face of West School has changed since 1977 incident

Page 12

STEM classes Math, science attracting more students

Page 16

Cena buena Area has options for authentic Mexican food

Page 22

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contents

(Cover art by Collin Huske and Ari Sen)

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5

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staff EDITORS-IN-CHIEF SPORTS EDITORS Carlie Gillespie Isabella Perron Caroline Ward Jackson Whiting MaryKent Wolff Kole Thomas

WEB EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OPINION EDITORS Ari Sen Katie Farina Zach Godwin asst. Brandan Naef, asst.

JUNIOR EDITORS NEWS EDITOR Samantha Gonski Dhuru Patel Sarah Stertzbach Graham Neve

FEATURE EDITORS FEATURE WRITERS Samuel Littauer Emily Mertz Emily Treadway Blake Kinsey Grant McIntyre

ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR STAFF WRITERS Emily Turpin Katlyne Featherstone, asst.

Bobby Slagle, asst.

Autumn Goings Bartel Van Oostendorp Aurora Sandoval Sean Sullivan Caroline Whiting

MANAGING EDITORS Rachel Raasch PHOTOGRAPHERS Kiersten Woodring Will Lindsey Annalyse Wilkins

ADVISER Brenda W. Gorsuch

DESIGNER Collin Huske

14

8 opinion

20

23

features 12 - 13 racism

5 staff editorial Looking beyond test scores, students learn best when active

7 pro/con

Should women be required to register for selective service?

news

School incidents bring to light issues involving racism

14 - 15 healthy habits Students looking for new ways to stay fit

16 - 17 class favorites Classes get students involved

8 primary voting

sports

Voting laws in N.C. differ from other places

9 virtual snow days

School system experiments with inclement weather plan

10 tiny house CTE classes work together to build a tiny house

Wingspan The student forum of West Henderson High School is published four times each year by the newspaper journalism class. The purpose of Wingspan is to convey school and community news to the students, faculty, administration and community.

Wingspan content is determined by an editorial board of student editors.

*Photo by James Blake

18 - 21 sports stories Spring teams looking toward postseason

a&e

22 - 23 the real deal Staff members review authentic Mexican food in the Hendersonville-Asheville area

CHECK US OUT ON WINGSPANONLINE.NET

Wingspan is a Southern Interscholastic Press Association All-Southern, National Scholastic Press Association All-American, Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Medalist and N.C. Scholastic Media Association All-North Carolina and Tar Heel Award publication.

Staff editorials express the opinion

of the editorial board. Columns reflect the opinions of the individual writers.

Circulation is 2,000. Printed by Target Printing & Distribution of Fayetteville, N.C. 28273.

Contact the staff at wingspan@hcpsnc. org. The Wingspan staff also publishes online at wingspanonline.net.

/ MAY 2016 / 3

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Staff Editorial:

(Cartoon by Carlie Gillespie)

Common teaching methods not effective for learning Highlights There are three •main ways people

process information they need to learn: auditory, visual and kinesthetic

50 percent •ofRoughly all students are

kinesthetic learners, meaning that they learn best when they are doing an activity

to 80 percent •ofClose instruction in the typical high school classroom is delivered through auditory teaching methods

(wizlearning.com and the University of Illinois)

S

“

chool is more than reading textbooks, listening to lectures and memorizing vocabulary words.

At least, it should be. However, the harsh reality is that with the rigorous Common Core curriculum, ever-increasing testing requirements and limited funding, our public schools are forfeiting many opportunities for hands-on learning.

The fact is that learning by “doing” eats up more of the limited instructional time than taking notes from a Powerpoint.

There are three main ways people process information they need to learn: auditorily, visually and kinesthetically. Auditory learners absorb knowledge best by hearing the material, and visual learners retain information best by seeing the material. But kinesthetic learners do their best learning when they are actively engaged with the lesson.

These children don’t need to be lectured at or shown daily Powerpoints. Many students benefit from experiencing real examples and guided trial-and-error activities.

Experts estimate that about 50 percent of students fall into the kinesthetic learning category. It should make sense then that a large part of instruction should be geared toward these students. However, according to researchers at the University of Illinois, “only 10 percent of secondary students learn best auditorily, but 80 percent of instructional delivery is auditory.”

School is more than reading textbooks and memorizing vocabulary words.

At least, it should be.

”

Should we widely adopt teaching methods that leave 50 percent of students out in the dark?

Although hands-on learning has been proven to be effective for many school-aged learners, there is not proof to suggest that it is the sole way to convey material to students.

Oftentimes, it is useful to provide a strong base of knowledge for students with experiments and observations, without providing all the specific details or background knowledge.

Hands-on activities are a tool used to teach practical problem-solving, which can be compared to problem solving in the “real

world.” It has been proven that the highest level of learning is reached when kinesthetic teaching methods are combined with auditory and visual methods. These combined methods lead to an increase in information retained by students.

Elective classes are leading the way in getting students actively involved. Carpentry students use tools to build and students in foods classes experience the kitchen.

Recently, these methods have been combined in West’s Career and Technical Education classes. The classes came together last fall to plan, design, construct and market a tiny house. This is the type of collaboration and learning that has proved to be the most effective in promoting deep levels of understanding about concepts. Doesn’t it make sense that we should put our knowledge to practical use in other subjects as well?

When it comes to learning, we do need textbooks, Powerpoints and vocabulary words.

Going one-to-one with technology would be a critical step in the right direction. But we also need practical applications of the material and concepts we are asked to learn.

Teachers need to provide information in a variety of ways so all students can learn. It just isn’t fair to leave out the 50 percent of students who learn information kinesthetically. Though it’s true that kinesthetic learning takes more time and resources, the scientifically proven benefits are too important to be overlooked.

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Should women register for Selective Service?

PRO:

The lottery used to draft American soldiers to fight the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s grew extremely unpopular as the war raged into a second decade and young men in college found ways to avoid the draft while others could not. Due to all of the upset over the draft, in early 1975, the Selective Service Act was suspended.

However, in 1980, President Jimmy Carter decided to reactivate the registration process. During this time, Carter proposed to allow women to sign up for the draft, but Congress ruled against allowing the funds for women to by / Kiersten Woodring sign up. The argument was that funding women in the draft would be a waste money if they are not able to fight in all positions. Women were not allowed to fight in combat. Since these positions are now open to women, the argument against women in the draft from the court case is now invalid.

Since that time, all young men have had to register for the Selective Service, even though military service has remained voluntary. But times have changed. To make Selective Service more fair, military leaders are wondering if young women should also be required to register as well.

Since the 80s, the number of women serving in the military has steadily increased. Women are now serving in all positions in the military, including some combat roles. Women love their country just as much as men do, and a number of women would be proud to serve their country if they got drafted.

Congress should consider requiring registration for the Selective Service for all 18 year olds. The country would have more people to draft into military service should it become necessary. However, the argument now is that women are not seen as qualified. This viewpoint still allows there to be prejudice toward women in the military. Women are not even seen as an equal member of our country to sign up for the draft. Women are perfectly able to go into war. The Military Selective Service Act is only one of the reasons why women are still seen as unqualified counterparts.

Considering that there are women already who have volunteered to serve for our country, the argument that women can not fight is invalid. Men and women already fight alongside each other in combat, so women should be required to sign up for the draft within a month after their eighteenth birthday as men do.

Women stand by while men are forced to sign up for the draft. The Military selective service act is also unfair to men. Men should not have to be the only ones to sign up to fight for our country in an emergency. Women are an equal counterpart to men, and they should held just as accountable when it comes to the responsibilities of citizenship. Since almost all combat positions are now open, women should be required to register. A soldier is a soldier no matter what gender.

Signing up for the Selective Service Act is important in a young man’s life. If an 18-year-old man does not sign up for the draft within 30 days after his 18th birthday, there are consequences. They could become ineligible for certain government opportunities when they get older such as student financial aid, job training and government jobs. If an immigrant does not sign up for the Selective Service, then there is potential to lose their citizenship.

All of these consequences exist only for men. Women are citizens, too, and should be included.

CON:

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley and Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller recently released a statement at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing saying that there is no reason women shouldn’t have to register for the Military Selective Service.

They claim that since women are allowed in all positions of the military, including infantry and special forces, they should be required to register at the age of 18, just like men.

I am aware of the arguments that have been proposed by these men, but I can’t say I agree. The last time the draft was by / Jackson Whiting used for active combat was the Vietnam War in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when we sent more than 9 million men to fight the Vietcong and the spread of communism. As of 2010, the United States has approximately 73.27 million men who would be available in a time of war. There isn’t a need for women to enter the draft when we have such a large number of able men to serve.

Another side of the argument is the physical attributes required to be a soldier.

The average Marine is required to carry 70 extra pounds of weight. The standard issue rifle of the U.S. Marine, the M16A4, weighs about 9 pounds by itself. An infantryman is required to move quickly and with a purpose under the stress of being under fire. It’s very similar to why women don’t play in the NFL. There aren’t a lot of 6 foot, 5 inch, 315 lb. women who can bench press 225 pounds 25 times. By human nature, women aren’t as physically built as men. In fact, according to a study by the University of Pittsburgh, the average male Marine volunteer is 178 pounds with 20 percent body fat whereas the average female volunteer weighs only 142 pounds with 24 percent body fat. Sure, there will always be exceptions, as with anything. But in the draft, every pick is random. You can’t pick out the exceptions.

Marine Lt. Col. Kate Germano is concerned about having to lower expectations if woman were required to register with the Selective Service. “When you have women under perform on the rifle range as recruits, and that gets accepted for decades, that says something,” Germano said.

Unfortunately the rifle range is not the only place women have under performed in the Marine Corps. In tests run by the Marines from 2012 through 2015 a select group of women were allowed to take part in infantry courses that had previously been closed to them. According to a Marine Corps official, in the tests the all-male ground combat teams outperformed their mixed-gender counterparts in nearly every capacity during a recent infantry integration test. The experiment also shows that Marine teams with female members performed at lower overall levels, completed tasks more slowly and fired weapons with less accuracy than their all-male counterparts. In addition, female Marines sustained significantly higher injury rates and demonstrated lower levels of physical performance capacity overall, Marine Corps officials said.

Commandant Gen. Neller said the Marine Corps will hold the same standards that it has for hundreds of years, regardless of gender.

“We have established a process to where any Marine who wants to serve in these physically demanding (jobs) has to meet a certain standard. We will see where the chips fall. Our hope is that everyone is successful. But hope is not a course of action on the battlefield.”

What do you think?

“I think that it’s an unnecessary step to take right now, and it’s striving for more equality than necessary. I wouldn’t want one of my sisters going into the military, so I think it’s a bad idea.”

— Bartel Van Oostendorp, 9

“I think women should register because it gives women more opportunities, but not all women are able to be in the military. There’s just a lot of women that wouldn’t make it. There would be a higher desertion rate. A lot of women would be drafted and not go.”

— Sydney Sitton, 10

“I believe that women should register for military service because women are always asking for equal rights. Women always say they are better at everything than men. I believe men and women should be treated equally; both should be drafted.”

— Brandon Day, 10

/ MAY 2016 / 7

news

A Right To

OTE

Students who will be 18 by Nov. 8 cast ballots in primary by / Zach Godwin/ News Editor

E

very four years, Americans have the opportunity to choose their state and national leaders. Before election day on Nov. 8, the Democratic and Republican parties are currently choosing candidates in primary elections. In North Carolina, the primaries were March 15 and June 7.

While the national voting age is 18, teenagers who are 17, but will be 18 before the Nov 8 general election were able to vote in the primaries.

“If they’re being allowed to vote in the general election and it’s only a couple of months difference, what’s the difference in letting them vote in the primary and letting them have a say in that as well because a couple of months is not any different. They aren’t going to be any wiser,” social studies teacher Vanessa Price said.

While the deadline for voting in the primaries has passed, there is still time to register for the Nov. 8 general election. The process for teenagers to register to vote is simple. It can be as easy as telling the officer at the Department of Motor Vehicles one’s affiliated party while getting a driver’s license, printing out a form online or registering at a voter registration drive like the one at West in February.

“It was really easy. You just go on the website and print out the form. Then it’s like a five minute thing you

JROTC finishes projects

On March 15, JROTC members went to Etowah Elementary, Mills River Elementary and West to help with voting.

On April 8, they worked the Raiders Sports Competition at Owen. The Military Ball was on April 16 at Hendersonville Country Club. On April 24, the color guard went to the Hendersonville United Methodist Church

8 / WINGSPAN /

fill out and send it in and you’re registered,” senior Alexis Whiteside said.

Teenagers can also register at the DMV office. Junior Rachel Gillette described the process as a simple one.

“It was easy. I was getting my after-nine license, and the DMV worker asked if I wanted to register. That was it, and it just took two minutes.”

The Henderson County Director of Elections Beverly Cunningham also described the process as easy.

“You can actually now go online, which any 17 year old has access to. They can download the form. Then they can fill it out. We do have to have the original because we have to have the original signature,” Cunningham said. ”But it’s simply a process of sticking it in the mail or dropping it by the office.”

Despite how simple the process is, many eligible 17 year olds haven’t registered. Out of all of the 17 year olds in Henderson County only around 220 had registered to vote in time to participate in the March primary, Cunningham said.

“I think teenagers don’t vote because they think they can’t make a difference or a change and they can’t do anything, but they can,” Whiteside said. “They make a difference because that’s how we decide who’s going to be the two candidates, and if you don’t vote and then you end up not liking the candidates, then it’s partially your fault because you didn’t vote in the first place.”

In other places, 17 year olds are not allowed to vote because some adults don’t feel they are mature enough to be making a decision such as voting.

“I think a lot of people aren’t super aware of who they’re voting for,” senior Leah Dorn said. “I think by the time they’re 17, they’ve already decided what party they are, but they’re too busy with school, sports and friends and such to watch the debates and figure out which candidate they side with.”

The students who voted in March had positive responses. Senior Vivian Rodriguez described her experience with early voting and working at the polling places on election day. “It was a little nerve-racking knowing that we were deciding our future. It made me feel like an adult. Working the polls was very exciting, knowing that I was a part of the election,” she said.

Civics became a senior-year graduation requirement this year. “It was a great time for the seniors to take the class,” civics teacher Frank Gerard said. “Most of the action in the political year takes place in the spring as opposed to the fall contrary to popular opinion, and most of my students were able to vote.”

The civics teachers said they hope seniors understand the importance of voting. “It’s good to start students off young in the voting process. Our voter turnout in America is horrendous, and one of the places we lack the most is our young voter turnout,” Price said.

and on May 8, they went to Blue Ridge Community College.

Art students awarded

Key Club gives back

SGA officers elected

Club members help

The art classes participated in the Scholastic Show January through Feb. Senior Annalyse Wilkins received two Silver Keys and one honorable mention and junior Hannah Wiemen received one Silver Key and two honorable mentions. Twenty-one art students also participated in Downtown Hendersonville’s bear designs.

Key Club members recently raised money for Mission Hospital’s children’s unit and UNICEF.

Key Club regularly volunteer at the local humane society and the Black Mountain Children’s Home.

Members will participate in Relay for Life on May 20. On Saturdays members volunteer at Books for Good.

The student body recently elected Student Government Association executive officers for the 2016-2017 school year.

Representing the junior class will be Parker-Paige Boline and Cami Wolff. The senior class will be represented by Sierra Jones and Anna Morrison. Rising senior Samuel Littauer will be student body president.

Pride and Junior Civitan members recently volunteered at the Special Olympics at East Henderson.

Members also participated in a campaign to end the use of the “r-word.” Members recently hosted a baseball games at Jackson Park.

by / Samantha Gonski / Feature Writer

Transylvania Co. tries ‘virtual’ snow days by / Samantha Gonski / Feature Writer

I

n January and February, the students and faculty in the Henderson County Public Schools missed six days of school because of inclement weather. Although “snowcations” seem fun at the time, making up the days by adding days to the end of the school year and going to school on Memorial Day are not ideal options.

But students in the Transylvania County Schools will not have to make up all the days they missed because the school board allowed them to attend “virtual days” on three of the weekdays that school was cancelled. Each student was expected to complete daily assignments online using their Chromebooks. This work was counted as a school day; therefore, they do not have to make up the days missed.

“This is a pilot program, so we’re exploring uncharted territory,” said Kevin Smith, Transylvania schools and community relations coordinator. “What seemed reasonable was (to) give the students the days that they are off and then five days after coming back to school. We didn’t set it so that every student had to check in with their teacher because not everyone has Internet. In a snow or ice storm, there can be any kind of interruption.”

Middle and high school teachers assigned work for each virtual day, and were available for questions by phone or email. All assignments for the three virtual days are downloaded at school and turned in once school

Jr. marshals announced

The junior marshals for the 2016 graduation ceremony have have been announced.

They are Michaela Bradley, Allison D’Augusta, Sophie Fortain, Charlotte Grush, Dallis Guilliams, chief, Carolina Herrera,Trevor Laffin, Claudia Martin, Sofia Molina, Jwalant Panthee, Dhuru Patel, Skylar Smith, Sam Staton, Sarah

reopens. This accommodates students that both do and do not have access to Internet at home.

“About 80 percent of our students have Internet at home, which means, 20 percent of our students don’t.

So we had to have a system that worked for any student, anywhere, to work on this material,” Smith said.

Transylvania County has been working on virtual days since last November, where they ran a test run with Brevard Middle School. They have also been one-to-one, meaning that each student is issued the same kind of technology for more than five years. Their first four years the county assigned NetBooks to each student, but now they have switched over to Chromebooks.

“We’ve settled on Chromebooks as something that makes a lot of sense for us. Google Apps, Google Drive and Google Chrome have worked very well for us. In fact, a huge number of our teachers also use Google Classroom,” Smith said. “So many things integrate with that little machine.”

Each teacher at West was issued a Chromebook this year to prepare in case the county does go one-to-one in the future. Science teacher Sergey Zalevskiy and math teacher Tyler Honeycutt have received classroom sets of Chromebooks this year as a pilot program. “(The one-to-one pilot]) has been very successful so far,” Principal Shannon Auten said. “All of their assignments are online. They are going to do their North Carolina Final Exams online, which will be the first for us

Stertzbach, Zach Whisenant and Samantha Wilkie.

Robotics Team competes

FRC Team 1225 of Henderson County competed in the district robotics competition March 19 and 20 at the University of North Carolina at Asheville

“The Gorillas” made it to the quarterfinals. The team is made up of students from Henderson county high schools.

other than English II for online exams other than benchmarks. So I think it will be very positive.”

One-to-one is one of the biggest factors that allowed Transylvania’s virtual days to become a reality. Auten said she likes the idea of virtual days for inclement weather.

“I definitely think (virtual days) are something West could handle,” Auten said. “A lot of our teachers now have their assignments, their tests, their whole lessons, everything online. I think it would absolutely be doable, especially at West with the way our teachers are jumping on board with the technology this year.”

Even students believe virtual days show promise. According to sophomore Ross Davis, giving up a few hours to get counted present for school would not put a damper on his snow day.

“I believe virtual days could be a very good resource to get school work done on days where it is unsafe to travel,” Davis said. “That way it won’t cause us extra days that have to be made up at the end of the year.”

Virtual days have had positive feedback in Transylvania County. From their flexibility, their accessibility, to their individualized approach, virtual days presented incredible results. Smith reported that 95 percent or higher completed their work.

“Any break from school puts students back a step or two, whether it’s in reading, in routines, you name it,” Smith said. “There are things that you have to retrain students to do every time we take a break and come back.”

Concert band competes

Orchestra competes

The concert band recently competed at the Music Performance Adjudication, receiving an excellent rating.

The wind ensemble achieved a superior rating.

The concert band will perform on May 19 for their spring concert.

The wind ensemble will also perform in the concert.

On March 17 the orchestra competed at Music Performance Adjudication in Charlotte at the Northwest School of Arts. They received an excellent rating.

Q&S members inducted

Twenty-seven juniors were inducted into Quill & Scroll Honor Society: Anna Allmond, Josh Conner, Katlyne Featherstone,

Sophie Fortain, Rachel Gillette, Sarah Gosnell, Charlotte Grush, Dallis Guilliams, Tasha Hartzfeld, Alyssa Hecht, Daniel Ippolito, Erin Kennedy, Samuel Littauer, Sofia Molina, Brandan Naef, Cristina Nieto-Lopez, Elizabeth O’Donnell, Maddie O’Hearn, Jwalant Panthee, Dhuru Patel, Skylar Smith, Sarah Stertzbach, Kole Thomas, Emily Treadway, Jackson Whiting, Samantha Wilkie and Lauren Williams.

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DREAM

HOUSE

Carpentry students this semester work on constructing the tiny house. This collaborative project in the CTE department is paving the way for classes to come. Photo by Ari Sen

CTE classes work together to construct ‘tiny’ home by / Blake Kinsey / Feature Writer

T

iny houses have become a big part of pop culture.

Communities of tiny homes are springing up all over the country, and TV shows, such as “Tiny House Hunters” and “Tiny House, Big Living,” are drawing large audiences.

Before the current school year began last August, West’s Career and Technical Education teachers approached Dr. Wendy Edney, CTE director for the Henderson County Public Schools, for funding for their students to plan, design, build and sell a tiny house as part of their CTE classes.

“I thought it was a great idea. Tiny houses are actually very popular in some parts of the country, and they’re fun to build,” senior Spencer Lance said. “Carpentry is very fun once you learn how to do it.”

In the past, carpentry and masonry students built full scale houses as CTE projects. These projects would take several years to complete, and issues arose with these projects, such as weather and driving time to the sites.

This is one reason the idea for a tiny house came up.

“Early in the school year, Mrs. (Courtney) Maddox, Ms. (Brittany) Willis, Mr. (Mark) Searcy and Mr. (Scott) Orr asked if they could meet with me to talk about the possibility of a tiny house,” Edney said. “And what they proposed doing was Mrs. Maddox’s drafting students design a house. Ms. Willis’ students come up with the interiors, of course the colors and the furnishings, but also the cabinetry, the lighting, the faucets, hardware and that kind of stuff. And they would work together with Mr. Orr and Mr. Searcy, who are licensed contractors, to build the house. They wanted to know if there was money available to build the house.”

The drafting class, taught by Maddox, created sets of blueprints to present to the Henderson County Board of Education along with the some interior design students before construction could begin.

“Mrs. Maddox’s students worked in teams to develop four different sets of blueprints, and they presented them along with the team of interior design students from Ms. Willis’ class,” Edney said. “The four plans that they proposed were all phenomenal.”

It took a few weeks to complete the blueprints for the house because of revisions and new ideas being put to action. Students are now able to see their designs are implemented, and see the result of their hard work.

“It’s a good idea for the CTE classes as a whole because you can integrate a lot of different classes into one project,” sophomore, Parker Gillespie said. “It’s studentcreated, but the teachers all still have input. They ask all the crucial questions about weight, height, all the things that make it function.”

The construction classes, taught by Searcy and Orr, were in charge of building the house. The building process was primarily done by students with a little help from the teachers.

“I was the student assistant for fourth period, first semester, so I was making sure everyone was on task and making sure everything was going well towards the progression of the house,” Lance said. “The project is actually going extremely well.”

Interior design, taught by Willis, created all the design plans for the tiny house. Students created design plans to advance the progress of the house.

“They worked really well surprisingly. I thought they would get in a lot of fights, and there was a little bit of arguing, but they worked really well with it,” Willis said.

“They learned to have a good work ethic. It has to be really good, so they have to put in more effort, but I also think they are taking away a decision if they want to do this for a career because this is exactly what they would be doing, not just sitting at a desk doing a project.”

A tiny house can be plenty of space for one person or a couple looking for an affordable place to live.

“This is really a way to think about affordable hous-

ing for people who may not have that option, so if the are living in substandard housing, this is an affordable way to put someone in a warm home with running water and all the toiletry access and everything they need at a very minimal cost,” Edney said. “It’s a source of pride when someone owns their own home. A tiny house can be very comfortable for a couple of people because you have that loft space, and everything else you need.”

The project was not solely about creating the house.

Students learned important aspects of this process, such as teamwork and determination.

“I learned to work as a team because it’s not just you by yourself,” Gillespie said. “If it’s by yourself, you only have one idea to go with the whole time when maybe someone else has a better idea or something that would function better.”

Tiny houses have more uses other than just a home for one or two people. They are not just used to live in full-time. Some people own a tiny house as a guest houses or vacation home.

“One thing I would consider doing is buying it for a guest house or a house for relatives on my property,” Edney said. “Also, I think it would be really cool if you were an outdoors person, like a hunter or a fisherman. If you had some property in the woods or on a lake, it would be really cool to be out there because that’s all you need.”

CTE teachers said that work on the tiny house is making progress and will be completed in time to show it in the 2016 Apple Festival in Hendersonville.

The house will be pulled in the festival parade on its trailer and displayed at football games. The anticipated cost of materials was $25,000.

Building a tiny house is a different approach for learning. “I think it’s great because a lot of times you do work in class that you’re just going to turn in and probably throw away,” Willis said. “But this is something that you know the outcome has to be good because someone is going to live in this so you better do a good job.”

/ MAY 2016 / 11

feature

Not quite so...

BLACK & White

(Graphic by Collin Huske and Ari Sen)

Event in Brevard causes students, administrators to examine school climate

By Ari Sen / Web Editor-in-Chief /

A normal school day in February 1977...

Feb. 17, 1977 — It was the day of the big game. Two county rivals facing off on the hardwood that night. Tensions were high.

Red, white and blue clad students filed into the gym for a pep rally. Junior William Anthony Shealy entered through the gym doors, crammed with students in the tiny space. A small scuffle ensued, but it was quickly resolved — that is, until the end of the pep rally.

Once the pep rally had ended, the fight began again. And then it got worse.

Ten students, both White and African-American, began brawling in the hallways. Soon it grew to as many as 60. In the fray, one student pulled out a knife and stabbed Shealy twice as Shealy attempted to break up the disturbance.

The school was plunged into confusion.

State highway patrolmen and local prison guards were dispatched to the school to stop the fighting and set up a roadblock in front of the school. Teachers fled to their classrooms and locked the doors. School officials worked to evacuate the school, afraid of further tension.

Black students began boarding buses at 11 a.m. Three students were taken to the hospital for treatment.

The next day, normally noisy halls were quiet. Students who daily filled the hallways remained at home, fearing for their safety. There were no lessons on history, math, science or literature. There was no county basketball match-up. There was only

12 / WINGSPAN /

silence.

West may have come a long way since that morning in February almost 40 years ago, but some would argue that racism still exists in area schools.

And racial incidents are not just a thing of the past. At nearby Brevard High School in November, a story of the race-related bullying of a Black student led to three men being charged with ethnic intimidation and concerns raised by parents at Transylvania Schools Board of Education meetings.

The situation at Brevard allegedly started out as an argument over a student’s girlfriend and escalated to the three men driving to the Black student’s house and yelling racial threats. Police reported that the three men were wearing ski masks and carrying knives, a rope and a stick.

The FBI and the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People are now investigating the incident and determining whether the three men should be charged with racial intimidation, North Carolina’s designation for a hate crime.

The recent incident at Brevard raises questions. Could it happen in the Henderson County Public Schools? Is the occasionally uttered racist rhetoric evidence of a systemic problem or simply isolated incidents of bigotry?

Differing views on diversity and discrimination

“I would probably say every minority student at West has (experienced racism),” senior Tyreke Dunbar, an African-American student, said. “Earlier in high school, I encountered more

racism than I do now. Freshman year there were a lot of seniors and juniors who thought they were hot stuff and (said some racist things).”

Students and administrators disagree over whether an incident similar to the one at Brevard could happen at West. Dunbar said he believes it is possible.

“I could guarantee that it’s possible to happen here,” Dunbar said. “Tensions can rise pretty fast in a situation, and there are enough white people here and enough black people here for something like that to happen.”

Principal Shannon Auten said she believes it is unlikely an incident like the one at Brevard could happen.

“I feel like this is a welcoming community. I’m so proud of West Henderson. We embrace the diversity we have,” Auten said.

“Obviously, we’d never want something like that happening at West Henderson. I just want all of our students and teachers to be nice.”

Senior Caitlin Fuentes, who has a Hispanic parent, believes racism may not be readily apparent inside the hallways of the school, but off-campus it is more prevalent.

“Oh, racism definitely goes on here,” Fuentes said. “Perhaps it’s more outside of school, not in the school — not in the hallways but like on the buses.”

Senior Jade Dunbar, an African-American student, said she believes students and teachers at West are friendly overall and that any racism is minimal.

“I can’t say that I have (encountered any racism),” Jade Dunbar said. “There might have been instances where I thought

“

I feel this is a welcoming community. I’m so proud of West Henderson. We embrace the diversity we have.

— Shannon Auten Principal

it might have existed, but I was never certain.”

”

Perplexing numbers

If racism exists locally, then one would expect there would be data to support that assertion. One metric that could show possible teacher discrimination is the number of short-term suspensions categorized by race.

According to a report from the Joint Legislative Oversight Committee of the North Carolina General Assembly, in Henderson County there were 885 total suspensions for the 2014-2015 school year. Of those, 116 involved African-American students or about 13.1 percent of all suspensions for that school year.

According to the N.C. Department of Public Instruction, AfricanAmerican students made up about 3.7 percent of the population of students in Henderson County that year.

Advanced Placement statistics teacher Tyler Honeycutt said the difference between the number of suspensions and the population could be statistically significant if the data on suspensions and demographics are accurate and from the same time period, but Honeycutt believes it is impossible to tell which school or schools the effect is coming from.

“It is impossible to tell which HCPS school the discrepancy is coming from without further breaking the data down from school-to-school, which the (Joint Legislative Oversight Committee) report unfortunately doesn’t do for us,” Honeycutt said.

“Another item that would be good to know is what the offenses that received suspensions were and whether those suspensions were doled out with fairness among racial groups. Again, unfortunately, the data do not indicate whether the punishments were the same for offense types among racial categories.

“This occurs mainly because students who were sent to the office, but who did not get suspension punishment (ISS, OSS, etc.) are left out of the data. This gives us little by which we can compare practices of disciplinary procedures for different racial groups. To me, that would be the true marker of whether discriminatory practices were in place. The questions posed here really illuminate the need for better data-gathering practices regarding school discipline procedures in general,” he said.

The discrepancy also occurs with other minority populations. For multi-racial students there were 69 suspensions for the 2014-2015 school year or roughly 7.8 percent of all suspensions for that year despite multi-racial students making up 3.6 percent of the total population. Multi-racial students face some of the same pressures minority students do. Fuentes said being biracial puts her into an awkward position that has sometimes led to her feeling discriminated against.

“I was put into ESL in elementary school, which is funny because I speak English perfectly. It’s my first language. I don’t really speak any Spanish at all,” Fuentes said. “They saw my skin color and said, ‘Oh, you should be in ESL.’ It made my mom really mad. I was kind of too young to understand, but now when I look back I’m like, ‘Really, guys, just talk to me, and you can see I speak English just fine.”

Henderson County is not alone in facing these racially disproportionate suspensions. A 2014 study by the University of Pennsylvania graduate school of education found that disproportionate punishment was systemic throughout the southern

United States. In North Carolina alone, the study found that “65,897 Black students were suspended from North Carolina K-12 public schools in a single academic year. Blacks were 26% of students in school districts across the state, but comprised 51% of suspensions and 38% of expulsions.”

The study also linked these types of punishments to the “school-to-prison pipeline,” a term used to describe the increasing patterns of contact students have with the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems as a result of the practices implemented by educational institutions. In its conclusion, the report laid out possible ways to diagnose the problem of disproportionate punishment.

“In most teacher education and administrator preparation programs, too little emphasis is placed on racial disproportionality in discipline and ways educators help sustain the school-toprison pipeline.” The report’s conclusions states, “More time and attention must be placed on educating aspiring teachers and school leaders about implicit bias and other racist forces that annually reproduce horrifying statistics such as those presented in this report.”

Auten said any perception of discrimination is unintentional.

“I think in Henderson County Public Schools and at West our goal is to treat each student and each disciplinary situation in a fair and consistent manner,” she said. “Every situation is different. If we are making this a place where we embrace everyone for their differences, we also have to be fair and consistent with our discipline.”

Another important metric to consider is the diversity of the school’s student body. According to Startclass, a service that ranks high schools and colleges based on academic performance, in the 2013-2014 school year, 87.1 percent of West students were white with the next largest group being Hispanics at 6.9 percent of the population.

There was a difference between the graduation rates of white and minority students for that year, according to Startclass. The Caucasian graduation rate at West that year was 95 percent while the Hispanic and multi-racial graduation rate was 80 percent — three percent less than the state average.

However, there was not a significant discrepancy in math and language arts standardized test scores for that year.

By the

Numbers HCPS 116 885

Suspensions in 2014-2015

were of black students

(N.C. Department of Public Instruction)

Racial Makeup of Henderson County Public Schools

A Southern school in a diverse world

Despite the numbers, Auten has faith that West is a diverse place for students to come to school.

“Diversity to me is based on culture and ability, gender, race, ethnicity, identity and expression, political affiliation, religion, sexuality, sexual identity and all sorts of different things. I feel like West is a diverse place,” Auten said. “What I’m really proud of is the way our students really embrace and accept each other.

I feel like this is a welcoming community. I’m so proud of West Henderson.”

Jade Dunbar said she would like to have attended a more diverse school, but she believes West is becoming more diverse.

“I feel like it would be better if it became more diverse, but we are becoming more diverse as the years go on,” she said.

“We’ve come pretty far since my freshman year. Now that we’ve had all these new African-American students, new Asian students and new Hispanic students, it’s made everything a bit more equal.”

Tyreke Dunbar would have liked attending a more diverse school, but he also feels it isn’t an issue. “I think it would be a lot cooler for just about every aspect of our school if there were more of a diversity around it,” Dunbar said. “It’s not too bad, though.”

But both Jade and Tyreke Dunbar agree racism is still a problem in American society.

“It’s pretty ignorant to ignore the fact that there is racism around black people,” Tyreke Dunbar said. “People still try to act like it’s not a big deal. It still is. It’s just not in the same way that it used to be.”

West 6.9 87.1

percent Hispanic students

percent white students

Blacks made up

But

North Carolina

26

percent of all students

51

percent of all suspensions

(N.C. Department of Public Instruction, Startclass University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education)

/ MAY 2016 / 13

feature

Cleanse it

UP

Detox dieting growing in popularity

by / Emily Treadway / News Editor

O

ne morning, junior Chloe Simmons woke up feeling hungry, but instead of going to the pantry for cereal, she reached for her detox lemonade.

Wanting to improve her health and possibly lose weight, Simmons was trying the Lemon Diet Master Cleanse.

A detoxification diet, or detox, is a process or period of time in which one abstains from or rids the body of toxic or unhealthy substances. The substances flushed aren’t all toxic, just leftovers from meals lingering in the intestinal tract.

The Lemon Diet Master Cleanse is a 10-day cleanse of nothing but a lemon water concoction. It consists of 8 ounces of warm water, 2 tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of Grade B organic maple syrup and 1/10 of a teaspoon of ground cayenne pepper.

“This probably doesn’t sound appetizing, but it does get results,” Simmons said.

“I did it for a week. Seven days was all I could stand,” Simmons said. “It made me dizzy and tired after a while.”

Junior Kasey Marsh had planned on doing the lemon cleanse as well. Sadly, her stomach problems made it dangerous for her to consume acidic liquids.

“My stomach produces too much acid and it causes obstructions,” Marsh said. “The acid from the excessive lemons would make it worse.”

There are other health concerns that come with the detox liquid diet. Because of the lack of nutrients, most participants report feeling fatigue, nausea and headaches. Most doctors agree it is not healthy to deprive the body for so long to such extreme measures. These concerns can be minimal for an average person, but for anyone with preexisting medical conditions, a cleanse

can be dangerous, especially with the extreme nature of a master cleanse.

“This detox was really difficult and taxing on my body,” Simmons said. “I wouldn’t recommend this particular diet to anyone, but I did feel a difference in my body afterwards.”

The master cleanse is fairly intense, but there are some milder options with reported good results as well.

They include the Colon Cleanse, Liver Cleanse, Master Cleanse, 10-Day Smoothie Cleanse, Juice Cleanse, Detox Cleanse, Natural Cleanse, Dherb’s Full Body Cleanse, Blueprint Cleanse, Isagenix Cleanse for Life and 5-Day Fast Forward Cleanse as well as others promoted on the Internet and Pinterest.

“I did this detox because it was so simple and so cheap,” Simmons said. “I thought it was going to be easy, but the only easy part was mixing the ingredients.”

Some detox diets are more commercialized and tend to cost more money. The Juice Cleanse is a popular detox diet, but can cost from $99 for a three-day cleanse and up to $165 for a five-day cleanse. The Lemon Diet Master Cleanse is also highly commercialized but much cheaper than the Juice Cleanse. The Master Cleanse was popularized by Beyoncé when she lost 20 pounds in 10 days, coining it the “Beyoncé Diet.”

Hitting closer to home, Mountain Juicery in Arden sells freshly squeezed juices that have health benefits similar to a detox. Some of the juices include vitamins and nutrients.

After a cleanse, most people gain an average of 2 pounds back because the original water weight loss is regained. The weight lost is a mixture of water weight and food remnants in the intestines that are dissolved and then flushed from the system.

5 Day Fast Forward Diet This cleanse is a 5-day meal plan that uses foods that naturally cleanse the body. This diet cuts portions to smaller sizes of healthier foods in order to cleanse the body, but still give the dieter the calories to function on a daily basis.

Most people report feeling hungry because of the small portions, but they do get results.

Meal One 1 egg plus 1 cup of spinach scrambled 6 oz. plain, fat-free yogurt 1 cup raspberries 2 T almonds Dash of pepper

14 / WINGSPAN /

Meal Two 6 oz. plain, fat-free yogurt 1 cup raspberries 2 T almonds Dash of cinnamon

Meal Three 2 cups spinach 1 cup raspberries 1 hard-boiled egg 2 T almonds Balsamic vinegar, squeeze of orange juice, dash of pepper

Meal Four 6 oz plain, fat-free yogurt 1 cup raspberries 2 T almond butter

One

STEP

at a Time

Students going high tech to help improve fitness by / Emily Mertz / Staff Writer

E

nglish teacher Dana Ferrell spends her free time walking, either on the track, in her classroom or up and down the halls. Ferrell wears a Fitbit and competes with her friends and family to see who can get the most steps in every day.

Fitbits have become popular with people who want to maintain their weight and improve their fitness level. Freshman KennedyClaire Boline is using her Fitbit to take on a challenge.

“Fitbit has helped me keep track of my miles for the 2,016 miles in 2016 challenge,” Boline said. “It’s so much easier than the pedometer that I was using, and that’s the main reason why I love Fitbits.”

Fitbits were founded on the idea that a person should be active in and out of the gym.

Other than counting steps and tracking sleep, Fitbits can also tell how many sets of stairs a person has climbed.

“Fitbits are cool because the tracker can track my weight,” Ferrell said. “It can do other things like that. It tracks my steps as well.”

Some people who have Fitbits enjoy competitions. There are week and weekend competitions, and when an individual wins, he or she gets bragging rights and badges.

Some people, including Ferrell, are willing to do anything to win the competitions.

“If I’m behind, and it’s night time or cold, I have been known to watch TV and walk in place,” Ferrell said. “I like being number one, and I’m unhappy when I’m not number one.”

A Fitbit will remind the wearer to be active if he or she hasn’t been at all during the day.

Fitbits will also give reminders about reaching daily step goals.

When the Fitbit wearer reaches his or her daily step goal, it buzzes and flashes to congratulate the individual on reaching the goal.

“The lights show how much progress I’ve made toward my goal,” Ferrell said. “When I hit 10,000 steps, my Fitbit vibrates and all the lights flash.”

One downside about having a Fitbit is that

“With a Fitbit, you’re more conscious of the effort you’re making. It sends a weekly report, so I know I did all of these miles, burned all of these calories, averaged seven hours of sleep. The Fitbit is great as long as you don’t go overboard.”

- Cathy Corliss, physical education teacher

they are not waterproof. They are only water resistant, so the wearer can’t go swimming with his or her Fitbit on.

Some people wear it in the shower because then they are not fully submerged in water; however, most people just charge their Fitbit while they shower and dress.

“I go hiking a lot with my family, and we always stop to get in the water,” Boline said.

“I have to take my Fitbit off because it’s not waterproof.”

Consumer advocates question if the various Fitbit devices count steps accurately.

The researcher who created the algorithm to go with the Fitbit used to work for NASA and made sure to address these problems.

“It’s a pretty sophisticated thing. “ Ferrell said. “You can’t just wave your arm to get more steps. If I sit here and wave my arm, it wouldn’t register. I have to be standing. I’ve tested it.”

Another downside to the Fitbit is some versions don’t have changeable bands.

While most Fitbits do have changeable bands that can be purchased, some of the least expensive models do not.

“I don’t really like how it looks,” Boline said. “It’s kind of ugly. “For me the color is just too depressing.”

The Apple Watch has become quite popular as well. It does just about everything the Fitbit does and more. For example, the user can send texts, play games and pay for things with an Apple watch.

An Apple Watch is almost twice the cost of the most expensive Fitbit.

“I would stick with the Fitbit over Apple Watch.,” Ferrell said. “I don’t need to see if I have a text on my wrist. To me that’s not important at all.”

In the past few years, being active and staying in shape have become essential to modern life. For many people, a Fitbit has helped them stay in shape and pushed them to be more active.

“I really love Fitbits and because of the information on the website,” Ferrell said, “it makes me aware of when I’m not getting enough activity. I feel better when I’m doing more walking.”

“I compete with my mom and my sister to see who can get the most steps. I like that you can see how many calories you burn and how much you sleep. You can also track how much you eat throughout the day and how many active minutes you have.”

- Bailey Austin, 12

/ MAY 2016 / 15

feature

IN THE NAME OF

SCIENCE

Seniors Izzy Denman, Meagan Brewer, Lauren Heywood, Caroline Ward and Olivia Hogan enjoy a break in anatomy class after completing a dissection. Anatomy is an elective science classes offered at West. (photo by Collin Huske)

West’s STEM classes have much to offer S by / Katie Farina / Opinion Editor

enior Samantha Creech’s eyes darted back and forth furiously between the star chart in her hand and the eyepiece of her telescope. She was determined to find the Andromeda Galaxy.

Gazing up into the night sky one final time, she spotted it. Creech was excited that she had found what she was looking for, but she couldn’t help but still be curious about the seemingly endless stars, galaxies and planets above her. As soon as she was given the chance, Creech jumped at the opportunity to enroll in Honors Astronomy.

“I really like stargazing, so I wanted to know more about what I was looking at,” Creech said. “When I started learning about the constellations, the stars became a lot more interesting. I was able to look up and know the stories behind them.”

Honors Astronomy, taught by science teacher Sergey Zalevskiy, had a huge impact on Creech’s perspective of her surroundings. She believes everyone should experience what she has and take advantage of the opportunity to gain knowledge about the universe.

“The class made the universe just seem so much more interesting to me than it was before,” Creech said.

“People tend to think that the only thing that matters is what they can see, when really there is so much going on outside of the Earth in the universe. Learning about the universe shows you about the processes that happen that aren’t on the surface of our planet. We need to stop looking toward the ground and look at the bigger picture.”

The United States offers a promising future for those who have an interest in science. According to the U.S. Department of Commerce, jobs geared in the sciences

16 / WINGSPAN /

are projected to grow 17 percent from 2008 to 2018 while other fields are only expected to grow 9.8 percent. Jobs in science fields also offer 26 percent higher wages than other occupations.

West provides students the opportunity to take advanced science classes, such as astronomy, physics, AP Chemistry and AP Biology. Many students have taken the classes because of their love for science while other students have used the advanced classes to prepare for college.

Senior Leah Dorn, who completed AP Chemistry last year, believes that the college-level class has prepared her for difficult work in college.

“Just the honors levels for classes like biology and chemistry don’t really give you all that you need to know about the subject,” Dorn said. “It’s just very basic. Anyone that has taken the honors version and the AP version of a class can tell you there’s a lot more involved in the AP classes. I think it gives you a lot better understanding of the subject that will help you in college.”

Dorn, who loved honors chemistry her sophomore year, enrolled in AP Chemistry to gain perspective on what real-world chemistry is like.

“AP Chemistry is a lot of what we did in honors chemistry, but up to a new level,” Dorn said. “The math was a lot harder, and the class had a lot more real-world examples. It’s the kind of math that you would actually have to do in a chemistry lab.”

Dorn has excelled in the science classes offered at West. She said she believes the instruction in these classes has been beneficial to her. “They’re really interesting to take,” Dorn said. “I feel like I got a lot more out of them, for me personally, than if I had taken an arts class or a CTE class, just because I feel like it’s geared more

toward college education.”

Chemistry and AP Chemistry teacher Amy Zalevskiy, believes AP classes give students the challenge they may have been missing in high school and are overall very beneficial to their learning.

“AP classes offer a chance to handle college-level material, but still with the support a high school student may need in order to be successful,” Zalevskiy said. “In college, the professors aren’t necessarily going to spend a lot of personal, one-on-one time. Kids in AP Chemistry are going to get that one-on-one time with me to get what they need to be successful.”

The advanced science classes that West offers are not required for graduation. However, according to freshman and sophomore guidance counselor Cole Church, an unusually large number of students at West are enrolled in them.

“We have several sophomores taking three AP courses this year, which I don’t remember ever happening before,” Church said. “It’s a lot, and the rest of their courses are all honors.”

According to Church, 10 sophomores applied to attend the N.C. School of Science and Math. Because NCSSM is a prestigious school, the competition for admission is intense. Sophomore Samantha Gonski worked hard during her two years at West to prepare for her application and was thrilled to learn she had been accepted into NCSSM.

“I doubled up on my math classes during sophomore year, so I’m in precalculus right now,” Gonski said.

“I also doubled up on science freshman year, so I took chemistry first semester this year. I made sure to stay involved. I’m in five different clubs; Student Government (SGA) and journalism are the big two.”

Social studies teacher Vanessa Price instructs a student in Civics and Economics. The N.C. Board of Education has changed the curriculum moving Civics and Economics to the 12th grade. Previously, Civics and Economics was a 9th grade requirement. (photo

by Annalyse Wilkins)

INTO THE

REAL WORLD

Civics and economics classes engage students by / Rachel Raasch / Managing Editor

S

tudents pass by colorful political campaign signs that line the roads as they make the daily trip to West. At any point in time, turning on the news brings up blue and red charts dotted with numbers and political candidates expressing their opinions on a variety of issues.

One can’t walk through the halls without hearing the name “Trump” or seeing a “Feel the Bern” shirt.

It’s easy to be bombarded with political information and have no idea what it means. One class is making strides in getting students to sort through it all.

The state recently revised the curriculum for the required civics and economics course, and the Henderson County Public Schools Board of Education voted to move the requirement from freshman to senior year. The class teaches students about government, the U.S. Constitution, political processes and economics.

Taking the class during an election year is a fortunate coincidence for seniors as they learn about the intricate and often confusing voting process. This year both the presidency and much of the legislative branch is up for election. Additionally, the election will determine who will replace conservative Antonin Scalia on the Supreme Court.

One of the main goals for the class is to enlighten students on the meaning behind the political spectrum from conservative to liberal.

“Going into it, I didn’t even know what socialism was or if I was Democratic or Republican. I had no stance on that, but after the class, it really gave me insight into what my views are,” senior Dara Case said. “I really just didn’t know a lot about where I was on the political spectrum and anything that pertained to politics in general. I kind of pretended to know before, so I didn’t look like I was dumb or something, but after I could actually hold a conversation with someone about politics.”

One of the reasons for all the buzz is the focus on current topics relevant to the lives of students.

“

Going into it, I didn’t even know what socialism was or if I was a Democrat or a Republican.

”

-Dara Case, 12

“I think it is at a time where students are more aware of things happening and are more well read on the news and have more of a background as far as their other classes to really understand how government works, and I think it’s more tangible to them than in previous years as far as wanting to know how the government works,” social studies teacher Vanessa Price said.

According to social studies teacher Frank Gerard, the local school system decided three years ago to move the civics and economics requirement class from the freshman year to the senior year. The idea was to provide the most benefits and relevancy as students prepare to enter the “real world.”

“I think any student is going to appreciate a class that is more along the lines of their daily lives or at least what you see on the news. I think seniors especially should be aware of that,” Gerard said. “It was an excellent decision.

Not every county in North Carolina teaches it to seniors, but we made the decision, county office made the decision to do that. It makes a lot of sense because that’s the age at which you’re voting and that’s the age where you get your first credit card. It’s a lot of the stuff that seniors are experiencing for the first time.”

Civics and economics is a class that stands out from the other social studies classes students are required to take. The class covers a range of topics associated with current political events to historical institutions.

“It’s different. With world history, American I and American II, you’re dealing with the history of countries and the history of the world and you’re going through a time and a series of events that made us who we are,” Price said. “This is current. It is always changing. It’s the inner workings of the government. Civics is so topical, because we go from the founding and the Constitution to political parties and elections, and then we go through the three branches of government and the Bill of Rights and then we go through criminal and civil law and economics. The only thing that connects us is really the Constitution and not even that with economics.”

The controversial nature of politics makes teaching the subject interesting.

“It’s very interactive, and I always get to ask questions and learn really in-depth about these certain topics, and because Coach Gerard is such a good teacher, you don’t really know his stance on anything. You get to think for yourself. He lets you think for yourself, and he doesn’t push any of his ideas on you,” Case said.

As election day comes nearer, both civics teachers recommend that students stay informed on currents issues and political platforms as the best way to prepare for the upcoming election.

They also specifically encourage seniors to take the lessons from the class with them as they begin to enter college and careers.

Gerard wants his students to remain informed in the future. “The class is (not) just another notch on the way to graduation. I want students to stay with the concepts because they may get a high school diploma, but they’re not going to leave American society. You’re going to be a citizen, you’re going to be a taxpayer, you’re going to be voting. So stick with awareness of current events and constantly keep abreast of events,” Gerard said.

/ MAY 2016 / 17

sports

Up to the plate

Baseball team ends season in 1st round of playoffs by / Grant McIntyre / Feature Writer

T

he 1992 state championship baseball team set the tone for West baseball for the decades to come. The most valuable player for that championship team was current varsity shortstop junior Will Lindsey’s father, Anthony Lindsey.

Anthony Lindsey holds 98 percent of the pitching records at West. Will Lindsey knows quite a bit about baseball as well. Lindsey had a batting average this season of .528, which led the team, and he cracked the record books as third highest in school history. Will Lindsey and sophomore pitcher Ryan Anderson were recently nominated to the Under Armour All-American Team that will play this summer.

“I’m proud of how this season went. The future is very bright for our program,” Will Lindsey said. “We finished really strong and have a lot to look forward to with such a young team.”

The other top batters this season were sophomore Mason Lyda, a second baseman, with a .461 batting average and junior Zach Whisenant, a first baseman with a .408.

Lindsey said he was proud of the way Lyda finished the season “Mason came into the season with potential through the roof. He met every challenge in front of him, and I love having him in the infield with me,” Lindsey said.

The pitching leaders were Anderson, who was 8-2 with 38 strikeouts and a 2.98 earned run average, senior Mitchell Henson, who is 3-4 with 26 strikeouts and 3.460 ERA and Whisenant, who was 3-1 with 17 strikeouts and .371 ERA. Will Lindsey credited the seniors for the team’s successful season. The team finished 15-8 overall, 8-6 in the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference. The team lost to Kings Mountain in the first round of the playoffs, 0-10.

“The seniors made this season very enjoyable. We were a brotherhood on and off the field, and the way they came out every day set the tone for our season,” Will Lindsey said.

Many junior varsity players like Lyda moved up to the varsity team during the season. Lyda said it was nerve-racking for him and the other JV players from last year to move up.

“I was nervous at the start,” Lyda said. “I had a lot of upperclassmen help me along the way, and I really came into my own. I got comfortable and loved every second of it.”

Assistant Coach Scott Orr said he was proud of the seniors.

“The senior leaders totally changed the vision for the future,” Orr said. “Last year we struggled with finding our team identity, and the seniors did a great job of finding it this year.”

Head Coach Brandon Ball said he was most proud of the off-season work his team did in preparation for the spring.

“They worked in the weightroom, and by doing team building activities to see what our team was going to stand for really got the season going in the right direction,” he said. “And setting some core values and seeing what is going to hold this team together was important to us. We will have a lot of returning players.”

Ball also said senior Scott Tippett became a leader this season.

“The atmosphere of the locker room was really team-oriented with the help of Scott, who is a three-year returner from varsity, and everyone looked at him as a leader on the team,” Ball said. “None of the players want individual recognition. They just want the team to do well.”

Will Lindsey said he was disappointed in the way the season ended.

“Even though we lost in the first round, the score doesn’t say how we played.

We battled to the last pitch, and we are really looking forward to next season,” Will Lindsey said. “We did much better than anyone thought we did. With such a young team, expectations were very low for us, but we stayed motivated and ended up finishing pretty strong, even with the playoff loss.”

18 // WINGSPAN 18 WINGSPAN / /

Determined to win the game, junior Zach Whisenant pitches the ball to an Owen player in an early-season nonconference game. The varsity team won, 3-2. “Winning over Owen was a great feeling. It was my first varsity win. I believe the win propelled us to a great season,” Whisenant said. (photo by Ralph Raesemann)

Track athletes headed to state meet by / Kole Thomas / Sports Editor

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Sophomore Graham Neve runs the 4 x 800m relay at North Buncombe.

Neve and his relay team placed 2nd in the meet with a time of 8:56.10. (photo by Brandan Naef)

enior Olivia Hogan lined up at the starting line, preparing to run the 4 x 400 meter relay race at the North Carolina High School Athletic Association 3A west regional meet.

Pushing to get an early 50-meter lead on the competition, she handed the baton off to freshman Shylee Stocks, who would continue to hold the lead.

By the time Stocks handed off to freshman Jaia Wilson, the Lady Falcons still held the lead. Wilson handed off to sophomore Taylor Meadows, who completed the win.

“My 4 x 4 team is just an awesome group of girls.”

Meadows said.

At the regional meet, the women’s 4 x 400 relay team qualified for state with a time of 4:12:45, finishing first over top ranked Tuscola.

“When I made my way to the start line in my lane, all I could think about was that this could be it for me. But it wasn’t going to be,” Hogan said. “As soon as they blew the gun, I had the mindset of giving this lap my all. I knew it was going to hurt, but I also knew the reward we could have at the end.”

With the potential of its being Hogan’s last chance to run if the team didn’t qualify for the state meet, she pushed hard to ensure that her relay team would be going to state.

“Excluding state, it will be the perfect finish to my senior year,” Hogan said. “Going into the last event

we were ranked second based on our PR (personal record), which we had only run one time. Placing top four at regionals, I knew wouldn’t be hard for us, but that wasn’t enough. We all wanted to place first, but we knew we had to fight for it.”

In addition to the women winning first in 4 x 400, the women’s 4 x 100 team placed second with a time of 50.92, and the women’s 4 x 200 team won second with a time of 1:48.26.

The women’s 4 x 100 team included junior Melena Robinson, senior Rylee Dean, junior Gracie Tate and freshman Moriah Fender. The women’s 4 x 200 team included of Meadows, Dean, Wilson and Robinson.

Tate placed fourth in the women’s 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.78, and Tate placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 48.65. Sophomore Madison Conner placed first in high jump clearing a height of 5-01.00. Senior Kendall Gilliam also qualified for state in triple jump, jumping 33-02.50.

“We have a pretty strong girls’ team. Fighting through some injuries and losing key people held us back in some meets, but when they’re all there, they’re hard to handle,” Head Coach Walter Fletcher said.

For the men’s team, junior Dylan Shamburger qualified for state, placing fourth in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:02.49. Shamburger also qualified for state in the 1600-meter run with a time of 4:32.64. Junior Bradley Barham placed fourth in discus, throwing a distance of 136-00.00 .

Softball team loses to Hibriten, 1-7, in 1st round of state playoffs by / Samuel Littauer / Feature Editor

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n ear-splitting crack ripped through the stadium, and the crowd jumped to their feet as senior Michaela Morris ripped the softball over the fence for a home run in her first at bat of the season.

The varsity softball team, in their season opener, hit five home runs, clinching a 9-3 win against nonconference T.C. Roberson. Senior Brittany Rucker hit two homeruns, and Morris went 3-4 with three home runs, and six RBIs. “It was nice to get off to such a great start,” Morris said, “I felt great to hit three home runs in my first game. It showed me that all the hard work for the past three years had paid off.”

Morris hit 11 homeruns for the season.

Following a tough 7-0 loss to Madison at home, the team took down county rival Hendersonville, 21-0. Offensively, the team collected 13 hits and seven stolen bases and scored 11 of their 21 runs in the fourth inning alone.

“That was a really fun night for us,” Morris said. “The Hendersonville game always means more, and it meant a lot to play that well.”

The season took a turn for the worse as the Lady Falcons suffered a four-game drought, losing crucial conference games to North Henderson, Smoky Mountain, Pisgah and Brevard.

Seeking a turn-around, the softball team sought a victory over conference rival Tuscola, which entered the West match-up undefeated in conference and sitting in first place in the standings.

“Going into that game, we were very familiar with the Tuscola team as we had faced them many times in previous years,” senior Meagan Brewer said. “We knew we had nothing to lose going into that game, so we were determined to play tough.”

The team scored 11 runs in the second inning. Overall, the team accumulated 19 hits and 15 runs to seal the 15-3 win over Tuscola.

According to Brewer, the win proved that the team could compete on the conference level as wells as remain consistent throughout the course of the season.

The team finished the season with a 9-14 overall record, 4-10 in the Western North Carolina Athletic Conference.

The team lost in the first round of the state playoffs, 1-7, to Hibriten in Caldwell County.

Graduating only four seniors, the young team hopes to rebound with a more successful season next spring.

“We have a great group of kids coming up,” Head Coach Mike Matthews said. “If they work hard, we’ll have a very successful year.”

Sophomore Hailey Gass catches a ball in the game against Madison. The Lady Falcons lost the game, 7-0. (photo by Ralph Raesmann)

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sports

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Women’s soccer team nurtures underclassemen by / Brandan Naef / Opinion Editor

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Senior Hope Johnston kicks the ball in a game against North Buncombe. The Lady Falcons lost the game, 5-1. (photo used by permission of Lifetouch)

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he varsity women’s soccer team swarmed around senior Hope Johnston after she scored a goal from midfield against Patton. This goal gave the team a onepoint lead, on the way to a win in double overtime. The celebration continued afterward as teammates congratulated her for her goal.

“After Hope scored goal it gave everyone a boost of confidence and gave the rest of the players lots of energy to finish out the game,” junior Erin Kennedy said.

“Everyone wished they had it on video because it was a once in a lifetime goal.”

The women’s soccer team finished the season with a 8-14-1 overall record, 5-9 in Western North Carolina Athletic Conference play. They ranked fifth in the conference standings.

“With how competitive the season was, it was nice to see that our hard work was paying off,” Kennedy said. “Our team got more and more competitive each game.”

Freshman Cayla Hughes led the team with 13 goals, 4 assists. Sophomore Amber Drake and senior Sheridan Patterson also had strong stats. Drake had six goals, 2 assists while Patterson had six goals, one assist.

Two sophomores made the cut for the varsity team, Drake and Brittany Kordonowy, to join the upperclassman and two freshmen, Hughes and Payton Smith.

“Last year was a little bit slower, but this year has a faster pace, and it was more physical,” Drake said. “I think it is because it is varsity rather than junior varsity. It is also a ton more competitive compared to last year, which is good because it pushed me more.”

The seniors on the team made the transition for the underclassmen easier by helping them on and off the field. They formed a close bond throughout the season and hope to continue the friendships for the years to come.

“It’s kind of sad because you get really close to the seniors and now they are leaving soon,” Drake said. “I’m glad they are going off to pursue their dreams in college. Having seniors on the team was good because they had a lot more experience in high school, and they gave us advice in school and on the field. I saw them as big sisters.”

The team had to overcome a number of injuries. Junior Bradleigh Robinson, the goalkeeper for the team, recently recovered from a shoulder injury that occurred early in the season. At times, seniors Lauren Heywood and Gabi Blake had to step up and play goalie when they had not played the position previously.

“It was really hard because we all really had to step up and put forth the effort and work together well to counter having so many teammates out,” Drake said.

“Once they all got back to full health everything got a lot better having more people to work with during the games.”

Senior LeighAnn DeVore was one of nine seniors. She had mixed emotions as she started her last soccer season of high school, a bittersweet moment she shared with all the seniors.

“It was definitely hard playing my last season of soccer in high school. I have made really close bonds with the team members, and it is going to be hard to leave them behind,” DeVore said. “At the same time I am glad to start a new chapter in my life.”

The team will have nine seniors graduating, leaving the juniors and underclassmen with a lot of room to improve so the team can make it to playoffs next season.

“Most of the seniors that I played with this year were sophomores when I was a freshman,” Kennedy said. “I feel like we all became closer than we were before.”

The seniors’ one regret was missing the playoffs. “We always make it to at least the first round of playoffs,” Heywood said. “It was upsetting, but we still made the best of the season, and I am going to miss playing with all the girls.”

Men’s tennis team finishes 8-3 season by / Graham Neve / Feature Writer

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ollowing the 9-0 sweep of conference rival North Henderson, the tennis team watched as their coach, Allen Combs, rolled out the cart of tennis balls and began running a drill with the team from North.

The win put West at 6-1 in conference dual matches. The team had an overall record of 8-3.

“Coach just started a drill with the other team. It was really chill,” freshman Ashton Tan said. “I even tried to finish my match early to join in the drill because it looked like lots of fun.”

With the strong legacy of the tennis program, every new tennis season welcomes players to join the rivalries against neighboring teams. Out of all the new players, Tan was the only freshman. His teammates said he was an asset to the team with a 5-5 record in singles matches.

“I feel like it was a chance for me to show what I am really worth because everyone suspects me to be one of the worst on the team,” Tan said. “It gave me a chance to prove everyone wrong.”

The tennis team included eight players, all of whom had winning records. The doubles pairing of Tan and senior Ellis Young was undefeated.

“We’ve only played together twice, but it was pretty easy playing with Ellis because we’re both pretty good. He messes around because he’s pretty confident we will win,” Tan said.

“Ellis, Nathan (Greer) and Evan (Langsdorf ) are the seniors on the team, and they’re all important parts. Ellis and Nathan are

the number one and two seeds on our team.”

Although West’s team was good, there was still a competitive rivalry between the neighboring schools.

“Brevard was the only team that was better than us, but they are not in our conference. They usually beat us. We have only beat them like once in the past few years,” senior Nathan Greer said.

With tennis vocabulary like the term “love,” the tennis team has learned to embrace the bad puns that are made.

Sophomore Josh Morrow said that learning the points system was difficult at first.

“The top six people on the team play, and then every match won per player is one point,” Morrow said. “They play up to six points, and there are three doubles matches, and those count as a point each. So there is a total of nine points.”

Even though there is competition between neighboring schools, there is also competition between individuals.

“Hendersonville used to be really good because they had this one guy named Fuqua. He kicked my butt. Then he moved away. We would still beat them because we were deeper,” Greer said.

Young felt that his final season went well.

“I felt pretty good about it as we had a really good season and a good team,” Young said. “We did great, and we won doubles first and third. As a team, we got to the state playoffs, which hasn’t happened in a while.”

The tennis team won the WNCAC championship, and then continued to the second round of the state playoffs against Weddington. They lost, 0-9.

Sophomore Mitchell Young returns the ball in a match against Polk County. The Falcons won the nonconference match, 7-2.

Golf team sees improvement from younger players by / Katlyne Featherstone / Entertainment Editor

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Sophomore Parker Gillespie hits a drive at the Etowah Valley Country Club. Gillespie was a member of the men’s golf team which included of Caleb Iversen, Chandler Bloomfield, Jake Ogren, Jayden King, Kyle Morrison, Logan Wyant, T.J. Hobbs and Tyler Pries. (photo by Mara Shook)

he sun beat down on the back of sophomore Parker Gillespie as he prepared himself for his next swing. This was the first conference match of the season, and he did not want to mess it up.

He was in the first group to tee off so everyone was watching. As he lined up his shot, time seemed to slow down.

He focused on the ball and took a deep breath. With all the courage he could muster, he swung his club. With a resounding ping, Gillespie lifted the ball high into the air.

Gillespie was ranked number one on the men’s golf team that included nine players. In the first conference match, he was satisfied with his score, but he knew he could have done better.

“I was in the first group to tee off, and when the first group begins everyone is watching. This includes parents, coaches and players that are waiting,” Gillespie said. “Having all eyes on you is a lot of pressure. In the end, I shot an 86, not the best I could have done, but a good opening for the first round in conference play.”

Gillespie has been playing on a golf team since he was in sixth grade and practices as much as possible at different courses around the area. When he is not stressing to achieve his best academically, golf is an escape from the hectic every day routine for him.

“My favorite part of playing for West is being able to go to a match or practice and be able to forget about everything else that is going on at the moment. Golf is a big release of stress for me,” he said.

Coach Jay Young said he was pleased with how the team performed during the season. He was not expecting such a young team to go very far, having only two juniors, four sopho-

mores, three freshmen and no seniors. His number one player, Gillespie, was number five last season.

“The team has by far exceeded my expectations,” Young said. “It seems like every match we have played we finish second or third. Sometimes there were eight schools there, and sometimes there were four schools there. We have finished first a couple times in the four school matches. My number five player last year is now my number one player, so they’re all dramatically improving. We are better than we were last year, and I didn’t think we would be.”

Sophomore Jake Ogren has been playing golf since he was nine years old and held the number two spot on the team. He also improved along with the rest of the team.

“I have improved a little because as a freshman I wasn’t really experienced and the level of play is higher so I had to adjust,” Ogren said. “I practice through the week as much as possible when we don’t have a meet.”

The team fell just short of qualifying for the regional team competition as they placed third out of eight in their regional qualifying match at Conesstee Falls in Brevard.

Although the team fell just one place short of making it to the next round in the regional competition, the team does not graduate a single senior.

Gillespie made it to regionals as an individual. He felt that although the team did not find a large amount of success this spring, they have a shot of qualifying for regionals next spring.

“The season went really well because the sophomores got lots of experience,” Gillespie said. “I went to regionals as an individual, but next year I hope we will go as a team.”

The other players on the men’s golf team included freshmen Jayden King and Tyler Pries, sophomores Caleb Iversen and T. J. Hobbs and juniors Chandler Bloomfield, Kyle Morrison and Logan Wyant.

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a&e Mexican food has always been a popular choice when considering places to eat, but what places are the best of the best? For this review, the Wingspan staff went on a search for the best Mexican restaurants in the area. We judged the restaurants based on food, service and overall atmosphere of the location.

Style and type of dining were also taken into account.

Comida Buena by / Emily Turpin and Bobby Slagle/ Entertainment Editor & Assistant Opinion Editor

Sol y Luna Sol Y Luna, with one location at 1715 Brevard Road in Hendersonville and the other location at 321 N Main Street, offers California Mexican-style cuisine. Open for lunch and dinner, Sol Y Luna’s menu includes appetizers, seafood, burritos, enchiladas, fajitas and dessert.

My personal favorite is the chicken quesadilla, served with guacamole and sour cream. The staff is friendly, making you feel welcome as soon as you walk in. I would recommend Sol Y Luna for a casual meal. Overall, I would give Sol Y Luna four out of five stars for excellent service, timely seating and appetizing options. 4.5/5

Papas and Beer Papas & Beer is located at 1996 Hendersonville Road. Its unique CaliforniaMexican style food and its Tex-Mex atmosphere offer a pleasurable experience.

We were seated immediately and served very quickly by very friendly servers. The food came rather quickly, but didn’t have any seriously distinct taste, leading to a rather disappointing meal. That being said, Papas & Beer offers many delicious dishes that they are known for. From burritos to fajitas, Papas & Beer has a wide variety of choices, and I would recommend them for when you want a sit down meal in the Hendersonville area. I give Papas and Beer three out of five stars for its fast service and atmosphere. 3/5

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Tequila’s Bar and Grill Located at 300 Freeman St. in Hendersonville, Tequila’s Bar and Grill serves authentic Mexican food, including Mexican cuisine, seafood, sandwiches and vegetarian options. Services offered include reservations, take-out, catering, and outdoor and indoor seating. This family-friendly atmosphere is open for lunch and dinner and offers daily specials. When I visited, the staff was friendly and the cheese burrito I had, served with rice and beans, was delicious. The atmosphere adds to the pleasant experience of dining here. I would recommend Tequila’s for a sit down meal.

I give Tequila’s Bar and Grill four out of five stars for its service and food options. 4/5

Mamacita’s Mamacita’s, located at 77 Biltmore Avenue in Asheville, offers an experience similar to Moe’s or Neo Burrito, but it is a local establishment and is a more pleasurable experience than the chain restaurants. From tacos to burritos, Mamacita’s has a wide variety of choices. The two tacos I got were actually surprisingly spicy. Mamacita’s has a very laid back feel with some indoor and outdoor dining available. Another thing I noticed was that Mamacita’s makes their own salsa for the salsa bar in-house. It was definitely an upside and was impressively high quality. Mamacita’s new restaurant located on Charlotte Street features tortillas that are made in-house in addition to the salsa and other sauces. If you find yourself craving Mexican and need something casual, then Mamacita’s is the place for you. I give Mamacita’s five out of five stars for the excellent food and atmosphere. 5/5

In Conclusion...

Each restaurant had many tasty, authentic options to offer. They all offered excellent food and featured a friendly and helpful wait staff. After experiencing each different atmosphere, we came to the conclusion that the best option for authentic Mexican food in the area is Mamacita’s because of its wide variety, convenience and overall high quality food.

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Driving Falcons Forward 4801 Asheville Highway Hendersonville, NC 28791 presleyautomotive@att.net Mark Presley, Owner