A&E Review: Act of Valor 12
Act of Valor made its debut in theaters on February 24, 2012. The movie has been promoted as a film about the Navy Seals, featuring real Navy Seals performing. The early version of the film was actually meant as a recruitment film. First, the viewer meets the co-directors Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh who speak directly to the audience and they explain how they were in a Seal unit and did in fact use real Seals, not actors. It is said that the men who were in the movie were on active duty during filming and still are. The viewer gets thrown into the action of what their real life is all about. The audience is shown the fights, missions, and trips that actual Navy Seals could go through every day. Act of Valor is filled with patriotism and respect for all the men and women that sacrifice their lives for the freedom of America’s citizens every day.
“The movie was full of action and very inspirational! I loved it,” junior Abi Kramer said. In general, this may be more directed toward a male audience as it feels similar to being in the video game “Call of Duty.” Viewers do get connected to some of the characters throughout the story and it is somewhat of a tear jerker near the end. Overall, for those with a love for action and a love for the U.S.A, then Act of Valor is absolutely the movie to go see. “There’s a brotherhood between us. And if you’re not willing to give up everything, you’ve already lost.” -Act of Valor
Rated R 1 hour 41 minutes
Xavier High School
Who’s in the hallway?
Jacob Schmitt ‘14 Jacob enjoys track, in which he is a distance runner in the 160, and cross country, but also enjoys hanging out with his friends. In his spare time, he likes to run.
Rating:
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Rachel Fortman A&E Writer
He is the only boy with three sisters. “They can be quite annoying sometimes,” he says. Another annoyance of his are high pitched voices.
State Individual Speech The Xavier speech team had At state, there will be three their Individual Events District Contest on Saturday, February 25 in Tipton. This was the first contest of the year where students have participated individually. Thirtyseven Xavier students participated in forty-nine events, while some were double entered. Out of those forty-nine, over twenty-one will go to state in Clinton on March 10.
judges, and at least two must recommend that the participant go on to All-State at the University of Northern Iowa on Monday, March 26. All-State will be a competition for the top speech performers from all over the state of Iowa. Lauren Nachman A&E Writer
Band ends on a high note The Xavier instrumental music department had their spring concert on Thursday, March 1. The concert was held in the RegisLaSalle Theatre at 7 p.m. “Music In March” included performances by the Xavier Jazz Ensemble and the Symphonic Band. It began with the Jazz Ensemble playing three songs: “Groove Merchant” which features the saxophone section, “For Lena and Lennie” with a trumpet solo by senior Megan Reiman, and “Dance Like No One’s Watching” with solos by junior Chris Williams, sophomore Mike Fay, junior Bryan Banowetz and senior Alex Rehman. The concert continued with the Symphonic Band. Their songs included “The Star-Spangled Banner,” “Bolero,” “Shenandoah,” “Adagio and Tarantella” featuring senior, two-year All-State clarinetist Bridget Karnik, “Earthdance,” and “Semper Fidelis”. Three out of their six songs are patriotic songs to get ready for their performance at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
Lauren Van Hoeck A&E Writer
Upcoming Events for the Xavier Band include: • March 3-NEIBA District Jazz Festival • March 6-Metro Catholic Band Festival • April 3-Corridor Jazz Concert • April 9-Instrumental Solo/ Ensemble Open House • April 14-IHSMA State Solo/ Ensemble Festival • April 16-Xavier Jazz Ensemble Concert • May 1-Music Department Spring Concert • May 5-IHSMA Large Group Festival
Senior Bridget Karnik plays at the Spring band concert. Hannah Brown Photo
Jacob Schmitt, speed-demon sophomore at Xavier. Have you caught a glimpse of him?
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His favorite food is pizza and his favorite subject is math. If you would like to get to know Jacob more, take a trip to his house or his friends’ hangouts, such as Pancheros. iClipart Photo Lauren Hunstad A&E Writer
Metro Catholic Choir Festival
Monday, February 12, 2012 Xavier High School hosted the Metro Catholic Choral Festival. There were a total of 370 students who sang at the concert, 210 of which were middle school students from Regis, LaSalle, and St. Joseph’s. Students performed for their friends and families in the Ron Thillen Gymnasium. The performance started at 7:30 p.m. with the combined choir singing “Gloria in Excelsis Deo” followed by each choir singing songs that they had been practicing separately. This was the first performance for the new Xavier ensemble, La Armonia, which is a select women’s choir that is new this year. The concert concluded with the combined choir singing “Set me as a Seal” and “Stand upon the Rock.” “I enjoy coming together as a whole group with the middle school students. It’s neat to hear the final product after all our hard work,” sophomore Morgan Delaney said.
Above: Xavier Chorale sings “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel.” Below: Women’s Chorale performs at the concert. Jenna Schulte Photos
Jenna Schulte A&E Writer