PEREGRINE

Freshmen take lead roles in school production of Les Miserables

Requirement to instruct extra class stretches teachers thin

Tae Kwon Do athlete attends Korea for world competition

Volume 39 Issue 1 Jersey Village High School 7600 Solomon Houston, TX 77040

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October ‘10

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A SUMMER WELL SPENT

The day is early as senior Adam Ramirez gets his backpack ready to leave school early on Wednesday at Cypress Creek.

“I don’t have to pack much in the morn-ing because I know I’ll be back in about three hours,” Ramirez said.

Cypress Creek is experiencing their new block scheduling for the first time and Ramirez enjoys it because as a senior he has early release.

Students here are wondering about why students in another school in the district are getting out earlier on particular days.

“I would really like to know why Jersey Village can’t have an early release or perhaps a late arrival day for all their students,” Drake Lansangan, freshman, said.

The release of students at Cy-Creek does not however have to do with where the school is located, or the principal’s choice, but in fact because of a grant that provides transportation money, of which Cy-Creek applied for that lasts for two years.

“Cy-Creek got a grant, specifically a High Schools That Work Grant, and they were able to utilize some of that grant money to be able to provide after school or early re-lease transportation for their students, so with that grant money they [Cy-Creek] are actually getting the early release time frame so they [Cy-Creek] are able to transport their students home on that one early release day,” Stacie Wicke, associate principal, said.

The reason that Cy-Creek wanted the ear-

ly release day was because of teacher and staff conferences. Jersey Village has their faculty and staff meetings on certain days, but Cy-Creek’s block scheduling eliminates the sev-enth period on Wednesday, in order to have all of their meetings and conferences during that time. This is the reason that Cy-Creek’s schedule is only modified on Wednesday and Thursday.

“The extended time in class on Wednesday and Thursday allows instruction to reach a new level and students feel that they really have time to process the information from the day,” Margaret Wi-ley, Cy-Creek associate principal, said.

Another interesting fact about the shorter day is a short group called the ‘Advocacy Period,’ a time when students meet with a certain assigned men-tor.

“Part of Cy-Creek’s initiative is that they are assigning mentors to every student, every staff member at Cy-Creek will have an as-signed group for 35 minutes that would be like their advisory period,” Wicke said.

In this advocacy period, students are mentored, their grades are pulled up and the certain teacher or staff member would give them advice on their school behavior.

“During this time we discuss important issues on our campus, talk about career and college goals, and of course build relation-

ships,” Wiley said“I really find the advocacy period very

helpful, it gives me a chance to see my grades and plan with my mentor strategies to either maintain or improve them,” Ramirez said.

In fact Jersey Village tried to institute a modified schedule, but did not receive the necessary support that is needed from the district and transportation.

“We actually asked two years ago to do a modified block sched-ule, not necessarily doing the advocacy period, but we asked for a late arrival day,” Wicke said.

Jersey Village was not eligible for the modified schedule be-cause in the Cypress Fairbanks School district, there are too

many late arriving elementary schools. The district needs the busses in order to transport the elementary students later in the morn-ing, rather than transport the high school students at a later time.

No matter the future scheduling of Jersey Village, Cy-Creek is experiencing their first year of a modified block schedule, and ac-cording to the students and faculty, the year is going well so far.

“Staff and students have made many posi-tive comments. If at the end of this year our student achievement data supports improve-ment we will continue with this modified schedule for as long as it works,” Wiley said.

2Featureth

e PEREGRINE October ‘10

VinceFLORES>> news editor

>>

1st: Pink out day & Les Misérables 7:00pm in auditorium

2nd: Cancer Walk and Football game vs. Cy -Woods at Pridgeon (home) Les Misérables 7:00pm(auditorium)

5th: Volleyball junior varsity vs. Cy Springs 5:00pm (home) Varsity vs. Cy-Springs 6:00 (home)

7th-8th: Les Misérables 7:00pm (auditorium)

9th: Les Misérables 7:00pm (auditorium) Football game vs. Cy-Creek at Berry Center (away)

12th: Choir concert 7:30pm (auditorium)

19th: Interact club meeting room room-2462 2:40-4:20pm

21st: Key club meeting room-2462 2:30-3:30pm

26th: student council meeting room 2462 2:45-3:30pm

October’s save the date:

Cypress Creek High school’s Block scheduling days

First period: 7:25 -8:48 Second period: 7:25 - 9:02 Advocacy: 8:54 - 9:29 Fourth period: 9:08 - 10:45 Third period: 9:35 - 10:58 A lunch: 10:58 - 11:28 A lunch: 10:45 - 11:15 Fifth period: 11:34 - 12:56 Sixth period: 11:21- 12:58 Fifth period: 11:04 - 11:45 Sixth period: 10:51 - 11:37 B lunch: 11:45 - 12:15 B lunch: 11:37 - 12:07 Fifth period: 12:19 - 12:56 Sixth period: 12:12 - 12:58 Fifth period: 11:04 - 12:26 Sixth period- 10:51 - 12:28 C lunch: 12:26 - 12:56 C lunch: 12:28 - 12:58 Seventh period: 1:02 - 2:30 Planning : 1:15 - 2:30

Wednesday: Thursday:

Cy-Creek High School adopts block schedulingCougars experience new two day block system which includes advocacy period, teacher planning time

“ I would really like to know why Jersey Village can’t have an early release or perhaps a late arrival day for all their students.”

X-X

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the PEREGRINEissue one

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A crowded class talks, and the teacher tries to fo-cus their attentions back on her. She can’t be heard above the class noise, and feels helpless. When she fi -nally gains control of the class, she feels like she can’t pass on enough information to teach them enough new things. To top it off , this is only one class of six that she will engage during the school day.

Teachers have one additional class this year, mean-ing that they have to sacrifi ce one of their conference periods. Th is is time that teachers use to work on

their lesson plans, grade pa-pers. Teachers are feeling an extra strain, and are forced to either stay after school for a longer time, or to take more of their work home. Th is has led to a few teach-ers having family problems at home. Th e stress is af-fecting some teachers in various negative ways, and some claim that the lack of time for grading papers or planning makes the few weeks of school, so far, feel like much more.

“I feel like we have been here for a whole year, and it’s only been two weeks” Anne Barrera, English

teacher, said. Th e two class periods that teachers had were for

planning and a conference period where they could talk to students, parents, or grade papers. Th e teach-ers now lack the period used to plan, and they feel like they are running behind. Some teachers feel like they are not able to come up with a material to teach fast enough, and fear that they may get behind, and not off er the students an adequate education.

“I like big classes” John Grey, Chemistry teacher, said. “I feel like I am spreading more knowledge with bigger classes, but I am defi nitely exhausted when I get home.”

All teachers have received a raise this year, but it was not because of the additional class. Th e extra work load makes the pay raise seem meager though. In fact, some teachers feel like the raise is not making a diff erence at all.

“I feel taken advantage of, overwhelmed, un-derpaid, and exhausted,” Dana McMillan, English teacher, said.

One of the issues aff ecting teachers is class sizes. Th e class umbers range by grade level and which kind of class it is. Some claim that the class sizes have not change, some enjoy the new standard class size, yet others have room with too many students. Th e Texas Education Agency states that there should be no more students in the class than there is room for. One science teacher has said that he has only 32 spaces at their lab tables, but teaches three classes with more students than he has space.

“We understand the necessity of these things, but it’s unfortunate that we have to sacrifi ce planning time,” Elizabeth Crocker, drama teacher, said.

TannerSTOGSDILL>> feature editorTeachers get

more classExtra period createsadditional work load

INSTRUCTING- Writing equations on the board, Ron Hawkins, math teacher, tries to help one of his six classes understand the day’s worksheet.

Wednesday Tutorials

Bell Schedule

I-Pods

Ten-Ten

Absences

T.V’s

Th e teachers of the school have agreed to make Wednesday a tutoring day for all subjects. Extra curricular activities are not allowed to require attendance on Wednes-days until 3:30.

Students are allowed to have i-pods out and playing in the hallway and during their lunch.

Students are not allowed to leave the classroom ten minutes after, or before the bell as a tactic to help clear hallways.

Th e Commons is now the home to fi ve due to the recent spending of bond money.

Because H1-N1 is no longer a major threat to students’ health, the num-ber of allowed absences for exemptions has been reduced back to three.

Th e school has a policy regarding the bells. First: school time has been changed so that students can not check their phones to check the time. Th e school also has a new warning bell.

Up StairsTo reduce traffi c the two stair-cases near the Commons are up only staircases.

Falcon FlightTh ere is a new system of rewards in the school that gives out a cookie weekly, and a $25 gift card each six weeks.

photo by TANNER STOGSDILL

Because H1-N1 is no longer a major threat to students’ health, the num-ber of allowed absences for exemptions has been

3-5Because H1-N1 is no 3-5Because H1-N1 is no 3-5/3-5/3-5

Wi-fi

Online football tickets

Pink out spirit week

Th roughout the school, there are Wi-fi modems in the hallways to help the laptops become a school wide tool.

In support of breast cancer awareness, the last week of September was named “Pink Out Week.”

For consumer convenience, football tickets can now be purchased online. Th ere is a link to the website on the Jersey Village homepage.

Sophomore ParkingWith construction complete, and construction materials removed from parking areas, additional parking spaces are now open for sophomores.

NEW YEAR, NEW STUFF

4advertisingth

e PEREGRINE October ‘10>>

The Journalism Room 1720

Growing up in a time when the typecast for librarians included huge glasses and constant glaring at noisemakers, Amy Mitton, new school librarian, thinks of herself as the opposite of the stereotype and would not shush anyone for talking, as a big fan of conversation, herself. Mitton’s current role would have surprised her childhood self.

After getting a degree in education with a specialization in reading, Mitton spent the beginning of her career inspiring elementary school kids to love reading the way she does, and she takes the same approach when it comes to her position as a librarian. While she en-joyed teaching kids to read, she realized that she wanted to try sharing knowledge about books with older students. She has always heard kids say ‘Th e library is boring.’ and ‘Books aren’t fun.’

“Th at’s my challenge. I want kids to go, ‘Oh, this is a good book!’” Mitton said.

Mitton also emphasized the value of books as both en-tertainment and sources of information. In addition to improving writing quality, Mitton believes that lessons found in books can help change readers for the better.

In addition to getting the fi nished library up and functioning, Mitton has taken on the responsibility of organizing a book group.

In the past, Mary Dennison, former librarian,

planned and ran meetings of a few of the school’s book lov-ers. At the fi nal meeting of last year, members speculated about how a new librarian would handle the book group.

“I felt concerned about the new librarian, wondering if she would make radical changes or stop book

group altogether,” Jake Woodson, sophomore, said.

Mitton wants to make all book group mem-bers happy, and listens to concerns about

the meeting schedule. Various after school activities, the new Wednesday tutoring policy, and the introduction of a new librarian from a local college to assist in the meetings, presented stum-bling blocks to picking a defi nitive time

and date.Mitton values feedback from previous

and new members to show her how meets have gone in the past and how they want

to proceed in the future.“I’m most excited about our fi rst meeting.

I can use that meeting to see how it goes and know how to mold the next,” Mitton said.

In order to work out the most oppor-tune times, many students interested in book group met Mitton for the fi rst time on September 8th and voted on the best option

for them. In the end they decided on meet-ing after school once a month on Th ursdays,

much like last year. Before the vote, some students doubted whether they would come to any meetings if the schedule proved inconve-nient, but after the vote that con-cern dissipated.

“It [a pro-posed switch to lunchtime meets] would interfere with everyone’s schedule once a month and be extraordinarily short and rushed, because we would be trying to eat and discuss a novel at the same time. I’m defi nitely happier about the after-school meetings,” Alex Holler, sophomore, said.

In addition to picking times, students had a chance to get to know Mitton, and they soon warmed to her.

“She’s very enthusiastic. I think she’ll be fun to discuss a book with,” Holler continued.

Mitton indicated that she looks forward to plenty of dis-cussion and events for casual and avid readers alike.

included huge glasses and constant glaring at noisemakers, Amy Mitton, new school librarian, thinks of herself as the opposite of the stereotype and would not shush anyone for talking, as a big fan of conversation, herself. Mitton’s current

After getting a degree in education with a specialization

joyed teaching kids to read, she realized that she wanted to try sharing knowledge about books with older students. She has always heard kids say ‘Th e library is boring.’ and

“Th at’s my challenge. I want kids to go, ‘Oh, this is a

Mitton also emphasized the value of books as both en-tertainment and sources of information. In addition to improving writing quality, Mitton believes that lessons

In addition to getting the fi nished library up and

group altogether,” Jake Woodson, sophomore, said.

Mitton wants to make all book group mem-bers happy, and listens to concerns about

the meeting schedule. Various after school activities, the new Wednesday tutoring policy, and the introduction of a new librarian from a local college to assist in the meetings, presented stum-bling blocks to picking a defi nitive time

and date.Mitton values feedback from previous

and new members to show her how meets have gone in the past and how they want

to proceed in the future.“I’m most excited about our fi rst meeting.

I can use that meeting to see how it goes and know how to mold the next,” Mitton said.

In order to work out the most oppor-tune times, many students interested in book group met Mitton for the fi rst time on September 8th and voted on the best option

for them. In the end they decided on meet-ing after school once a month on Th ursdays,

5feature

the PEREGRINEissue one

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SaraZATOPEK>> staff writer

Fresh page Librarian brings novel perspective to book discussion group

Heavy rain dropped on that summer day, a red mini van, jammed with pink board sheets, drove into Neha Vaidya’s driveway. Inside student council members invaded the small living room. Th irty sheets of plastic, measuring eight by 11, laid spread out on the fl oor. Glitter and paint fl ew across the room, as they painted and cut out fi gurines.

“We got an overhead projector, moved my leather couch and removed all the wall decorations and projected a fi gure of Elvis Presley and one of the Eiff el Tower onto one of the plastic sheets,” Vaidya, senior, said.

Due to the earliness of homecoming, Student Council stepped up, and gave time out of their summer vacations to dedicate to the preparations needed for homecoming. Members then outlined images onto the plastic sheets, later decorating them with paint.

“Th e reason I was okay with this was because every year

there has been one center piece and no one ever remembers the rest of the decorations,” Vaidya said. “Having all these decorations is a change and maybe after this it will encour-age future Student Council members to do the same.”

What at fi rst started as a couple of members reuniting to help escalated to up to 30 members at once. Each room in Vaidya’s house was designated to a diff erent project.

“In the summer we had meetings at Neha’s house,” Huy Lam, senior, said. “Figures such as the Las Vegas sign and the Statue of Liberty were replicated.”

Th e hospitality of Vaidya went beyond as she off ered re-freshments and snacks. After everyone left her house, Vaidya vacuumed and cleaned for two hours after each meeting.

“My mom was paranoid they would die of heat stroke so we stayed inside,” Vaidya said. “Almost everyday was rain-ing.”

Lam not only donated his time but also donated some of the pink board sheets used, each costing fi ve dollars. Th e generosity continued when Oscar Gonzalez’s, junior, father helped obtain many of the pink boards free of charge.

“My dad owns his own construction business so he helped us get a lot of the pink boards for free,” Gonzalez said.

To maintain order, groups were formed, each given a dif-ferent responsibility. Th e hours spent working together cre-ated a bond between the groups and new friendships were formed.

“People came together,” Gonzalez said. “I got to meet

new people, like who the offi cers were.” Th e members did not only work as a group to bring about

the decorations for the dance, but they also created friend-ships and partook in an action of generosity.

“I saw a diff erent side of people,” Lam said. “We have a lot of dedicated members. We took our summer time to help out homecoming.”

From mid July to the end of August, Student Council members worked up to three hours to provide homecom-ing with glittery wall decorations and replicas of famous Las Vegas monuments.

“It wasn’t too bad because I had gone to a lot of places,” Gonzalez said. “Plus I knew it would feel good when I would see what we accomplished and knowing I did that.”

Th e trend of giving back continued when Student Council members along with other organizations teamed up with Houston Habitat for Humanity, a group aimed at building homes for the needy. Two hundred students volun-teered to attend the event.

“We decided to team up with Habitat this year and part of the proceeds for the homecoming tickets will go to them,” Vaidya.

OrfaPALACIOS>> staff writer

Student Council decorates for homecomingthere has been one center piece and no one ever remembers the rest of the decorations,” Vaidya said. “Having all these

new people, like who the offi cers were.” Th e members did not only work as a group to bring about

Student Council decorates for homecominggive & gain

Working Rollers in hand Neha Vaidya and Marcel Mattern, seniors, paint board sheets that will later be turned into replicas of famous Las Vegas monuments.

Sharing Reading an online comic book, Jose Flores, freshman, shows Amy Mitton, librarian what he found. Mitton, the new librarian, would like everyone to come check out the library’s new home.

Librarian brings novel perspective

Student Council members along with other organizations teamed up with Houston Habitat for Humanity, a group aimed at building homes for the needy. Two hundred students volun-teered to attend the event.

“We decided to team up with Habitat this year and part of the proceeds for the homecoming tickets will go to them,”

photos by ORFA PALACIOS

photo courtesy of NEHA VAIDyA

6featureth

e PEREGRINE october ‘10

What’s new, Teach?The high school hired 23 new teachers and staff.

Each had interesting facts and experiences at-tached to their journeys before arriving at Jersey Village High School.

Name - Clayton AndersonSubject -SpanishLived in - Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Rhode Island, Vermont, Idaho, Mexico, Utah, MontanaCollege(s) attended-Brigham Young UniversityInteresting Facts - Loves to watch and play every sport, and is awesome at video games.

Name - Kevin BenjaminSubject - AlgebraBorn - New Orleans Lived in - California, Virginia, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, New York, Connecti-cut, Tennessee, and Florida. College(s) attended - University of Connecticut, and Indiana Univer-sity.Interesting facts - Sold books door-to-door for four summers to pay for college.

Name - Melanie BujnockSubject - EnglishLived in - Never lived anywhere besides Texas.College(s) attended - Texas A&M UniversityInteresting facts - Has a cousin who plays for the NFL.

Name- Rosalynd CravinSubject-Business ManagementLived in- Memphis, TennesseeCollege(s) attended-Texas StateInteresting Facts- Says she is an open book; what you see is what you get.

Name - Nikki EalySubject -GeometryLived in - Only TexasCollege(s) attended-University of Texas at AustinInteresting Facts -Has a dog and two cats and a little boy who loves to chase all four of them.

Name - Thomas FitzgeraldSubject - HistoryLived in - Only TexasCollege(s) attended - Sam Hous-ton State UniversityInteresting Facts - Graduated from JV in 05’. Played football and baseball at JV.

Name - Virginia McKnightSubject - Ready Set Teach! Lived in - Only TexasCollege(s) attended - Stephen F Austin UniversityInteresting Facts - Loves JVHS.

Name - Ana NortonSubject - Spanish Lived in - Central AmericaCollege(s) attended - University of St.ThomasInteresting Facts - Loves JVHS.

Name - ChristineParrSubject - Business ManagementLived in - Only TexasCollege(s) attended - U of HInteresting Facts - Loves to decorate cakes.

Name - Scott PeslSubject - FFALived in- Only Texas College(s) attended - Sam Hous-ton State UniversityInteresting Facts - Enjoys the outdoors.

Name - Sheryl RagsdaleSubject - DiagnosticsLived in - California, Minnesota, Iowa, and Japan.College(s) attended - South-western University, and Univer-sity of Texas at Tyler.Interesting facts - Used to be a part of a tap dancing group.

Name - Caroldee RamosSubject -SpanishLived in - Puerto Rico & Cali-forniaCollege(s) attended - Sam Hous-ton State UniversityInteresting Facts - Has Been married for almost 30 years.

Name - Kyle SchofieldSubject - ScienceLived in - LouisianaCollege(s) attended - Louisiana Tech, Southern University, Louisiana State, and Mississippi State UniversityInteresting Facts - Loves old country music, Loretta Lynn is her favorite singer.

Name - Brenda TrottSubject - ECPLived in - Montana & NevadaCollege(s) attended - Rocky Mountain College & Montana State UniversityInteresting Facts - Life long learner; always enrolled in something.

Name - Jodi WichmanSubject - LatinLived in - Wisconsin, Indiana, Nevada, FloridaCollege(s) attended - University of Evansville and Florida State UniversityInteresting Facts - Loves to go bowling.

RavenMCKNIGHT & JoeyGILBERTt>> staff writers

Incoming staff reveal little bits about past, present

>>

A serene sense of melody glistened through the air as Shelby Clark strummed his guitar and Devin Holden set the beat on his drum. Neither musician missed a beat as excellence reigned in this game of rock band. As they played in David Hipps garage, they opened the

door and began to imagine a crowd of fans. After many times of just playing in the garage the dream came true.“We started out in an empty garage. Our guitarist made

up a guitar line and our drummer made a beat and our singer sang some lines. Th en we all decided to form a band and call it Series6,” Hipp, junior, said.

Th e band consists of six members, including nick dees, lead guitarist, Logan Dees, lead vocals, Devin Holden, drummer, Tim Gautier, lead vocals, Shelby Clark, bass guitar, and David Hipp, guitarist. Four of the six band members attend diff erent schools which makes it diffi cult to see each other and contribute ideas regarding the band.

“Instead of making band practice a problem because we all don’t go to the same school, we just go to our guitarist’s house and set up in his garage and practice,” Clark, junior, said.

S e r i e s 6 music genre falls under pop punk and modern rock. Th e band had their fi rst public appearance at a benefi t at the BFE rock club, opening for a band called six minute century, other bands they have played with include Epic, Th e Hectic, Skepticynic, P.R.I, and Marz.

“I don’t mind opening for other bands as long as long as I get to play a show, because that immediately becomes the happiest moment of my life,” Hipp, said.

Other than being the opening act for other underground bands, Series6 has had numerous shows of their own, and plans on continuing their dream.

“Well seeing how we’re recording sometime soon, I think we will have at least something nice, we hope but you may never know what the fu-ture may bring. It is always good to stay positive.” Holden, junior, said.

7feature

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LeandraLEE>>sports editor

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A 9 by 11 piece of white paper with black ink post to the call board is all it took for Sarah Rent-come, freshman, and Chris Mosley, freshman, dreams to come alive. After countless hours of

listening to the music, reading the book, and rehearsing both Rentcome and Mosley, as freshmen, receive lead roles in the play Les Miserables.

Ever since Middle School, both Rent-come and Mosley have been acting in plays. Th ey even shared the stage together in the play, Into the Woods. Outside of school, both attend the Houston Academy of Dra-matic Arts. Rentcome even lives behind Mosley. Both actors are close friends, even though in Les Miserables their characters do not interact, they still help each other.

In Les Miserables, Rentcome plays, Epo-nine, a love struck girl with no love from her parents, she plays one of four lead female roles in the play. “I love the character so much because she is strong and indepen-dent, and I wanted to play the part so badly I could cry,” Rentcome, said.

Another eason Rentcome aspired to be Eponine in the play is because

her idol, Sutton Foster, played her as well.

“Sutton Foster can belt out notes fl awlessly. Every-thing she does seems eff ortless and I wish to be that way when I am older,” Rent

come, said. In Les Miserables, Mosley plays Javert, a boy who tries to be tough in order to cover up many fl aws. His role is one of two major male leads. One way Mosley depicts his inner character is by playing around and pushing his younger brothers in order to become aggressive and feel the part. “I enjoy playing Javert in the play because I have never played anyone like him before and I like playing diverse roles.” Mosley, said. It is very rare for freshmen to receive lead roles in a play. However, in theatre when it comes to choosing roles, all boundaries are torn down.

“Age doesn’t matter in theatre; we look for the people who can fi t the role perfectly, and Sarah and Chris fi t the part perfectly,” Elizabeth Crock-er, Th eatre Teacher, said.

In order to audition for the play, Rentcome and Mosley left after school from their mid-dle school to try out. At the time of auditions, Mosley was fully aware of the probability of him not receiving a lead role.

“When I auditioned I was abnormally scared and nervous because I knew I was up against tough competition,” Mosley, said.

As far as future plans, Rentcome and Mos-ley both strive to shine on the bright Broad-way stage, and continue acting to live up to their full potential.

KinseyBUTTON>> feature editor

Rock Band to Rock Stars

I dreamed a dreamUnderclassmen land lead roles in upcoming play

Rock band game turns into real life

photo courtesy of SHELBy CLARK

photo courtesy of DAVID HIPP

photo by HENRy GARCIAphoto by HENRy GARCIA

photo by EMMA MCKENZIE

RECITING freshman Chris Mosley, and senior Daniel Roni-ger go over their lines for the school play.

Intense Freshman Sarah Rentcome and Junior Trey Stoker act out their parts.

Justin Bishop, senior, and Courtney Bishop, freshman, packed their bags and loaded up their car with all the ne-cessities needed for a two week road trip with their parents. Each member took their seat in the Honda Odyssey minivan preparing them selves for the long drive ahead. Only 2,600 miles until Canada.

What started out at one father’s journey through his fam-ily tree turned into a summer vacation for the whole family.

“It started out with a curiosity about my ancestors. I wanted to know who they where, what they were like, if I was like them, and what life was life for them all those years ago. I wanted to see if and how their life influenced my own,” Mr. Bishop, Justin’s father, said.

It started about twenty years ago. Bishop’s father began tracing his ancestry thinking it would only last a couple of weeks. He quickly became enveloped discovering over 5,000 unknown relatives.

“I felt like a little investigator,” Bishop’s father said.

While lying down in the grass admiring the dark sky’s vast array of illuminating stars Hillary Camp, senior, first experienced God’s overwhelming presence and accepted him into her heart.

It was her second year attending the Christian sum-mer camp T Bar M, but she had no intentions of it being her last.

“I’ve been going to T Bar M for seven years,” Camp said.

The first time she attended camp T Bar M was in fifth grade after hearing about it from her good friend Jes-sica Preble, who had attended the camp herself for a few years. Soon Camp found herself head over heels in love with every aspect of camp T Bar M.

“Everyone is selfless and servant hearted all of the time. Instead of appeasing their own needs, everyone’s priority is each other. It’s incredible to be surrounded by believers who love each other fiercely. Literally when I think of Heaven I think of camp with Jesus thrown in the middle,” Camp said.

This summer Camp not only had the privilege of be-ing a camp attendee, but she

was also selected to be-come a camp All-Star.

“People have served me for six years, and

I wanted to fi-nally be able to serve every-one else and hopefully be used in the smallest way for God to reach others like he did me,” Camp

said.

The All-Stars are in charge of camp maintenance. Their typical duties include cleaning up after meals, re-filling bathroom’s toilet rolls, watering plants and sorting and delivering letters. Their job requires them to think of and serve others. Although the being an All-Star was completely different than being a camper, Camp found that she enjoyed serving others more.

“Being an All-Star was infinitely better than being a camper. It was definitely hard work opposed to just fun and games, but it was so much more rewarding,” Camp said.

Her most prized and joyful memories from being an All-Star were when her campers would randomly ap-proach her while she was serving meals and hug her. Camp not only influenced the lives of the campers she interacted with, but she also left a lasting impression on her fellow All-Stars.

“Hillary was just an awesome person to be around at camp. Her joy is contagious. She was always some-one who motivated me at camp,” Natalie Ford, senior at Langham Creek, said.

Camp has been actively involved in Fellowship of Christian Athletes and hosts weekly bible studies at her house, after camp this year she felt as if God was calling her to do more.

“Oh man. God does crazy things with me. First of all he is pretty blunt with what he wants me to do. He di-rects me some where until I finally listen,” Camp said.

Camp, who has been a Girl Scout since she was in kindergarten, had been confused on how she would leave a lasting impression on her community so she could earn her Girl Scout Gold Award. Camp wanted to do some-thing for her church but was not quite sure what. After returning from camp God inspired Hillary to begin writ-ing her own bible study to host at her church St. Max focusing on her favorite book of the bible, James.

“It sounded like difficult task, but I knew of all people Hillary would be the one to be able to pull something like that off,” Hannah Cory, senior, said.

“I just want to be used in the smallest way so that God can reach others like he did me,” Camp said.

8 featureth

e PEREGRINE

MikelaMELAKIS>> co-editor

MikelaMELAKIS>> co-editor

>>

Deep In The Heart of TexasShe waited, jittery with anticipation, to walk

out onto the famous stage. While breathing deep-ly and smiling, she led the entire orchestra across the wooden floor to face the filled auditorium. The lights beamed, the audience chatted and then calmly applauded. The nerves hit. With her trum-pet set, she awaited the conductor’s flick of the wrist. She readied herself to accomplish a dream, playing Carnegie Hall.

In April, Colleen Crossley, senior, was invited by an orchestra manager to go on a trip to New

EmmaMcKenzie

>> co-editor

Oh,

Let’s Hear

Student dedicates summer working for church camp

A SUMMER WELL SPENT{ }

BLAST FROM THE PAST All-Stars dress up as their favorite decades. GOOD WILLED All-stars shop at Goodwill before visiting Austin.ADMIRING THE VIEW The Bishop’s stand in front of the Canadian mountains.

CELEBRATING Hilary Camp and Natalie Ford taking a break after serving food to celebrate the camp festival.

9the PEREGRINE

october ‘11>>

Senior meets new family members after tracing ancestry

Band member pursues once in lifetime opportunity

GOLDEN WAVES OF CANOLA Justin and Courtney Bishop explore their Great Uncle Gaston’s Canola farm.

REUNITING The Bishop family meets the Gaston family for a Canadian barbecue in Donnelly.

York City, to play trumpet at both Carnegie Hall and the Apollo Theatre, with a local jazz youth or-chestra who was desperate for a little assistance.

“The orchestra was short a few trumpets [play-ers] and so my chamber orchestra manager rec-ommended me [to play with the youth group],” Crossley said.

At first, Crossley was nervous about accepting the offer because she had never played, let alone been taught how to play jazz music.

“I have always been strictly classically trained in my trumpet playing,” Crossley said. “But when [the orchestra] informed me that the group had been invited to play at a youth festival at Carnegie Hall in New York City, I quickly agreed, as it is

every musician’s dream to play in Carnegie Hall someday.”

Playing in Carnegie Hall is like making it to the Super Bowl. So many legends, such as performers ranging from Mary J. Blige to Yo-Yo Ma, have performed on the renowned stage for over a hundred years. The opportu-nity to play Carnegie Hall is rare. After learn-ing of the orchestra’s planned performances at two famous theaters, Crossley, along with her family, were in shock and excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity.

“I was ecstatic and extremely proud of [Colleen],” Peggy Crossley, mother, said.

Crossley never expected to play at Car-

negie Hall and the Apollo Theatre at such a young age.

“Carnegie Hall seemed like such an un-attainable, legendary place, [and I never ex-pected] to play there,” Crossley said.

Traveling to New York City to play at both Carnegie Hall, in Manhattan and the Apollo Theatre, in Harlem, was an experi-ence that both Crossley’s Mother and grand-father, Bob Crossley, took part in.

“Participating gave me a wonderful sense of sharing my grandaughter’s richly deserved moment of triumph,” Bob Crossley, said.

Crossley’s life was forever changed after leaving New York. Her memory of the au-

diences’ reaction is one she will not easily forget.

“This experience was one of the most life changing events. I was introduced to the jazz world of trumpet playing along with the op-portunity to travel and play on two legendary stages,” Crossley said. “I remember when we began to play, I [was able to see] the au-dience’s faces change, their mouths open, and their eyes light up. And by the end, we had half of the audience swinging along with us.”

Despite all of his research Bishop’s father still lacked in-formation on his mother’s side of the family. Justin Bishop’s grandmother originated from Brussels, Belgium. Her maiden name was Cailleaux and in 1930, the Canadian government was offering free land and paid travel expenses for people in Europe who wanted to immigrate to some of the more remote regions of Canada. The Cailleaux and another fam-ily, the Mencke’s, immediately packed their bags and made the voyage to Canada settling in the city of Peace River, very close to Grand Prairie. While Justin Bishop’s grandmother returned home after a couple of years, due to hard condi-tions, the Mencke family stayed and made their living by Canola farming.

Knowing that the Mencke family would have more infor-mation about his own family his sister helped him contact one of the Menckes. After he contacted 82 year old Uncle Gaston Mencke, they soon developed a friendship online discussing different aspects of their lives and their family trees. It was not long before Gaston was inviting Bishop’s father and the rest of the family over to Canada.

“I was pretty psyched! I had never been to Canada,” Justin Bishop said.

Just like that, the Bishop family found themselves packing their bags to go visit Gaston, his wife Marie, and their six sons for the first time.

There were no awkward tensions upon arrival to Grand Prai-rie, where Gaston lived, only excitement about exploring a for-eign land. Although the families had never met Gaston was eager welcome them into his home and show the Bishops his Canola farm which his family managed.

“The Canola fields were in full bloom. It was pretty amazing looking down the hills and plains and seeing that everything was covered in bright yellow. It’s just one of those things that I have never seen anywhere in the United States,” Courtney Bishop said.

Gaston gave the family a 300 nuke tour of the area he lived in, showing the family Peace River Bridge, the monument to 12-Foot Davis, Mile Zero of the Alaskan Highway, and the tractor museum in Beaverlodge.

“The weather felt like spring time in Houston,” Justin Bishop said.

That was until they ventured farther north to Athabasca Falls where they were able to walk out on a Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia Icefeilds.

“It was really cool walking on a Glacier! It was kind of weird being in below freezing temperatures in the middle of summer, but it was a pretty awesome experience. At first it was scary because it was slippery and there were these holes filled with ice water, but the view was spectacular,” Justin Bishop said.

Sadly after only four days the Bishops had to begin head-ing home. There vacation was not over yet though. The trip home was even longer than the trip there. The 7000 mile ride home included stops to Yellowstone National Park and Grand Teton National park. They also stopped Cheyenne, Wyoming where a state senator gave them a personal tour. After they visited Salt Lake City, Utah where they swam in the Homestead Crater and rode the sky tram at Snow-bird Ski Resort. They then traveled to Estes Park, Colorado, where they drove up a mountain to Alpine Visitor’s Center (about 12,00 feet above sea level), where they were able to see a herd of 20 Elks.

“I thought it was one of the best trips I had ever gone on. Even though I thought it was going to be a little weird staying with family I had never met before, I ended up en-joying myself the entire time,” Justin Bishop said.

Canada

it for New York

10featureth

e PEREGRINE october ‘10>>

He devoted 34 years of his life to his teaching career. He participated in an after school tutoring program in apart-ment complexes to help students for several years. He tutors students everyday after school.

James Breuker, teacher of Algebra II and Precalculus served as the academic adviser for JVTV’s Homework Hotline, and now helps in the Scholars’ Program. Not only does Breuker participate in a variety of areas, but he also has the experience of teaching in different parts of the world.

First teaching in Monterrey, Mexico for two years, he taught seventh and eighth grade math. His next job was on the Island of Guam, where he taught for one year at a junior high and three years at a high school.

“Guam was beautiful,” Breuker said. “There was no air conditioning, but you could look out your window and you could see the Pacific Ocean so that was a nice thing about teaching there.”

After Guam, Breuker returned to the States to teach at a private school in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. After teaching at the private school for 14 years, he was tired of the cold, the snow, and the ice. After attending various job fairs and applying to different places, Breuker was offered a job at The Teacher Academy, in Edinburg, Texas, in the Rio Grande Valley. After teaching in Edinburg for three years, Breuker accepted his present teaching position.

Despite his love and history of teaching, Breuker had not always wanted to teach. As a child, Breuker’s teachers would only teach at his school for a few years before mov-ing elsewhere. Because he attended the same school from kindergarten all through high school, he went through the hardship of friends and teachers moving away.

“At the time, I thought that it would awful to have to move from school to school,” Breuker said. “And so I thought, the one thing I know I’m not going to do is be a teacher.”

Although he had determined not to go down the teach-ing path, Breuker was a studious learner, excelling in all subjects, especially math. During his middle school and high school years, other students would ask him for help in classes because he had the talent to explain well.

“Classmates always said, ‘You’re going to be a teacher when you grow up, aren’t you?” Breuker said. “I would reply, ‘No, no, I’m not going to be a teacher.”

Following his determination for a job other than teach-ing, Breuker attended Iowa State University after graduat-ing from Harris-Lake Park High School. He got an un-

dergraduate degree in computer science, tried programming for awhile, and disliked it. As a result, he went back to Iowa State for a fifth year and earned a teacher’s certification in math. It took him one full year to take extra education courses, math classes, and student taught before he was fi-nally ready to start his teaching career.

Breuker is, however, not just talented in math. He is also certified to teach French and computer programming. Oth-er subjects, however, cannot exceed his love and talent in math.

“When I was in school, I did well in all of my classes, but math was easiest for me and I liked it better,” he said. “So I can’t see myself teaching anything other than math.”

Breuker’s love and devotion to his job have stayed strong throughout all his teach-ing years.

“I try to do the best I can and hopefully that’s good enough. I like to take pride in what I do and may-be that’s why I work the number of hours I do,” he said. “I want to feel good about what I’ve done. That doesn’t mean I always do, but at least I’ve tried.”

Many of Breuker’s students appreciate the effort that he puts in his teaching career. Former class of his re-warded the hard-working teacher with a plaque that read, “To a good friend and teacher” at the end of the year.

“Personally, I think he’s a great Algebra II teacher. He fully explains everything, which is imperative for such a difficult course,” Alex Holler, sophomore, said. “He really likes and understands what he does, and wants his students to like it and understand it too, He makes learning much less of a pain than it could have been with a less patient etacher.”

Katarina Ritcher, junior, agrees with Alex.“He describes everything really well. He goes over

everything we’ve learned a few times, so we never forget it,” Ritcher said. “He’s extremely organized and will-ing to help. I never feel bad about asking questions in his class and he doesn’t mind going over everything we need. His attitude about teaching makes it great.”

Breuker, in return, is also grateful for the appreciation that his students show him.

“It’s satisfying when students come back and thank me for having taught them and they appreciate that I have done a good job and things like that,” Breu-ker said. “Those are the things that make it satisfying and worthwhile, when you get some positive feedback.”

all about BREUkERSarahCHO

>> staff writer

Love, devotion to job stays strong throughout teaching career

ATTENTIVE While James Breuker teaches the lesson for the day, Lydia Gonzales, LeAnn Dang, and Adoracion Aceves, juniors, follow along, and take notes off the overhead.

OBSERVING As James Breuker hooks up the graphing calculator to the television, students focus on the data tables present.

photo by KINSEy BUTTON

photo by ORFA PALACIOS

photo by KINSEy BUTTON

11feature

the PEREGRINEissue one

AlissaGUERRA>> staff writer

>>

His heart races, hands shake, and palms sweat, as Vince Flores’s stomach fl utters rapidly. Th e nervousness started to kick in, though Flores’s excitement overpowered the nerves. Flores’s eyes scanned the stadium to see his fellow competi-tors.

After fi ve years of practicing Tae Kwon Do Flores made history for himself. On June 29, 2010 Flores left for Korea.

“I just couldn’t believe that Tae Kwon Do would take me all the way to Korea for a

world competition,” Flores said.Although he has competed

in more than 20 competi-tions, being able to go to Worlds was the most re-

warding.Going to worlds was not easy, Flores had

to work for his accomplishment. Before Worlds competition there was national competitions, in which the contestants had to at least place third.

“When Vince qualifi ed at the nation-als we were really excited, nervous for him, and even overwhelmed at the commit-ment we were all making. I knew it was

going to take a lot of work by all of us

to make it happen. Th en when it did and we were there, I was full of emotions. Excited, extremely nervous, and enormously proud,” Selena Coleman, Flores’s mother, said.

Before reaching Korea, Flores had to stop in Alaska with Jeremy Selcoe, another competitor and friend from Hous-ton that would be attending the World competition. Flores and Selcoe met up with three Alaskans, Brandon Fears, Nick Woolf, and Johnnie Norton. All fi ve had three weeks to prac-tice and choreograph a team pattern, which is performed in front of the judges.

Th e main goal for a team pattern is that the team must look alike and stay together in their routine. Th is was a strug-gle for Flores’s team at fi rst. However their p r a c t i c e , practice, paid off

Th e silver medal for team pattern was placed around each boy’s neck. Flores medals did not end there, he won a gold medal in the event of team s p e c i a l t y b r e a k i n g . Also Flores won a silver medal in in-

dividual power breaking, and a bronze in team power break-ing.

“When Vince won his fi rst medal, I think I screamed so loud I embarrassed him. Th en he won another, then another. All I could do was laugh and cry. When he was on the po-dium holding the American fl ag I was so proud I started crying,” Coleman said.

Th e Junior Male team for USA was best overall at worlds. Th is was the fi rst time that USA had accomplished this title. Vince won three of the four medals it took for USA to win

.Every two years another Tae Kwon Do world’s competi-tion occurs. In 2012 it will be in Canada and by that time Flores will be in the adult division.

“I am nervous to think that I will be competing with adults. Th ey are tougher and stronger and it’s a completely diff erent division,” Flores said.

Tae Kwon Do has already done so much for Flores and Selcoe in their lives that

they would like to have their own Tae Kwon Do studio in the future.

“People that used to intimidate you no longer do, because you are confi dent in your ability to de-fend yourself. It also is extremely stress relieving physically and mentally,” Selcoe said.

National Tae Kwon Do champion travels to Korea, wins gold, silver, bronze in international meet

boy meetsWORLDSph

otos c

ourte

sy of

VINCE FLO

RES

ALL SMILES After placing second in Individual Power Breaking, Vince Flores, senior, poses for a picture with Reece Mayne, the Australian gold medalist.

MikelaMELAKIS>> co-managing editor

advertisingth

e PEREGRINE October ‘10>>

12

With a shrill of his Old Black guitar, the walls of the venue buzzed, and I felt a chill crawl down my spine. Th e crowd full of middle-aged hippies began to scream out, as he slouched his head down to reach the micro-

phone. His eyes shut tight, he began the fi rst lyrics in his raw nasal voice, “Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, we’re fi nally on our own. Th is summer I hear the drumming, four dead in Ohio,” and the crowd went wild. It was then, I felt I was both witnessing, and taking part in a piece of history.

June 5, 2010 was the day my family and I had the pleasure of seeing Neil Young live in concert at the Bass Concert Hall in Austin, Texas. With both my parents being hardcore Neil Young fans, he was a well-respected musician in my house-hold. Growing up, I remembered listening to Young’s folk-rock rhythms at family parties, on road trips, and even while my father worked in the garage.

As a child, my mother would always stress to me how Young’s music was based on real events of the 60’s and 70’s, and how important it was to learn from his lyrics. It is true that Neil Young is considered one of the most infl uential

musicians of his generation. Th e Rock and Roll Hall of Fame recognizes Young as “one of rock and roll’s greatest song-writers and performers.” Playing with rock gods such as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and bands such as Buff alo Springfi eld, Young has gained his respect within the music industry. Some even call him the “Godfather of Grunge”.

Young expressed his opinions on the Vietnam War, Presi-dent Richard Nixon, and other controversial events of his generation through his music. For example, Young’s song entitled “Ohio” was written after the 1970 Kent State Shoot-ings in which four innocent college students were shot and killed by Ohio National Guards for protesting against a pol-icy of Nixon. Young’s music ranges from issues concerning drug use, war, environmental issues, and racism.

Young’s music has always been bold and made a state-ment. It is so powerful to hear his voice through his lyrics, it’s almost as if you were there at that moment in time. Young’s music was important to my parents, so it is something im-portant to me.

When I hear Young’s songs on the radio, I immediately reminisce on previous memories I have shared with my fam-ily. Not only is there such a sentimental value I hold with his music, but there is also a sort of historic value. At the age of 65, it’s true that Neil Young is no longer young, so I’m hon-ored to have been able to see and experience his music and the stories he told through it.

13refl ections

the PEREGRINEissue one

Red vs. Blue

Coming out of the corner store, Icee in one hand bar-beque Lays in the other, I head towards the beaming seven-foot tall square vending machine, in-geniously named Redbox. Con-veniently snuggled in between the icebox and a stack of log, it’s in full sight from every angle of the place with its popping red

color. I begin by selecting the “Rent Now” option on the touch screen. I look through the selection of the new release movies. After looking through the list a good three times, I fi nally decide to go with “Blind Sight,” a perfectly mushy movie for a girls movie night. I check out and select the promo code option. Enter “break room.” Yes! Free movie for a night.

With 23,000 Redbox kiosks spread across the U.S. and even more popping up, don’t be surprised to fi nd one on ev-ery corner store, McDonalds or inside of Waltmarts. With its tempting $1 dollar per night off er, the Redbox monopoly is taking over the video rental world. Not only is it cheap, but also convenient. You can rent “Saw VI” at the Redbox located near your grandmas’ house that lives half an hour away, and the next day you can rapidly return it at the kiosk fi ve minutes from your house.

Beginning in 2003, the enterprise has grown, bringing in $271.2 million, as of 2009. Th e quickly growing enter-prise is shutting down video rental stores that can no lon-ger compete, including the once popular Blockbuster. Even though Blockbuster charges $5 for fi ve nights amounting to the same fee of $1 per night off ered by Redbox, not every costumer wants to keep the movie for that long. Plus with the late fees the other rental stores charge, more and more consumers prefer other forms of obtaining their movie and video games. Th e only leg up that traditional video rental stores have is their large selections of videos, from old clas-

sics to foreign fi lms.Video rental stores have lost ground to competitors that

do not have physical stores. Blockbuster began noticing the competing enterprises and decided to team up with NCR corp. and created Blockbuster Express.

Like its competitor, Blockbuster Express is a box, but in-stead wears its trademark blue. Like Redbox they off er $1 per night movies. As of September 2010, 6,000 kiosks have appeared at nation wide stores such as Randall’s. But Block-buster did not stop there, to compete with by mail plans and OnDemand streaming companies such as Netfl ix, they too began to off er these services.

Th e convenience of be-ing able to obtain a movie at 2 a.m. in the morning via internet combined with the cheap price and the multiply-ing movie kiosks, traditional video rental stores are dying down. But the question in mind is if these enterprises will be able to maintain their popularity with the ever changing fad era we live in.

Neil Young: A Life Changing Experience

OrfaPALACIOS>> staff writer

TaylorESPINOSA>> staff writer

Battle continues between Redbox, Blue Blockbuster

Concert inspires family through lyrics, powerful meaning

refl ectionsth

e PEREGRINE october ‘10>>14

When I think of America I think of brilliant red, white, and blue fl ags waving on top of build-ings, outside of schools, and on patriotic families’ lawns. I think of our Lady Liberty proudly standing with her touch held high lighting the way for immi-

grants seeking refuge. Th ese are the images I think of when I think of America. Recently these images were jeopardized by a small group of Florida church members who decided they wanted to burn the Islamic holy book, the Quran, on September 11th.

National and international news stations covered the story about Pastor Terry Jones of the Dove World Outreach Cen-ter in Florida declaring that this year on September 11th he would host the fi rst ever ‘International Burn a Quran Day’. He believed, and probably still believes, that by doing this we are all fi nally standing up against the Islamic faith.

He begs the question on a YouTube interview, “Have you ever really seen a really happy Muslim? Does it look like a real religion of joy? No, to me it looks like a religion of the devil."

Sadly this small church of only 50 people has been mis-representing America and the liberties it has always stood for.

President Barack Obama advised against the ‘Internation-

al Burn a Quran Day’ saying that it, “is completely contrary to our values as Americans. [And that] this country has been built on the notion of freedom and religious tolerance."

In the 17th century European immigrants fl ed to Amer-ica, then referred to as the New World, in order to escape religious persecution. Th e founding fathers who wrote the Constitution in 1787 made sure that the fi rst amendment included the right to freedom of religion.

America has historically been referred to as the melting pot of the world for becoming a home to a variety of diff erent cultures and uniquely combining them to create the Ameri-can culture. While the attack on the World Trade Centers was an eff ort to break the spirit of the United States, it ended up bonding our citizens with the one passion they all shared, the love for their country.

Th e Islamic radicals that mercilessly fl ew the hijacked plane into the World Trade Centers are not the same as the Islamic citizens of the United States.

On the day of the attack my very kind Muslim neighbors placed an American Flag in their front yard and hid inside their house in fear of persecu-tion. Th ose are Islamic fol-lowers, not Islamic radicals. In the same way the majority of American Christians are not the same as the radical acting Florida church proudly hosting a burn-a-thon.

Th is small church would

be unknowingly putting the already faltering American rep-utation in fl ames along with copies of Islamic Holy Book. What this church fails to realize is that it only takes one 30 second video to incite a vengeful fi re in the already angry, radical, Al-Queda soliders. Th is accomplishes nothing except putting more American soliders’ and American citizens’ lives in danger.

General David Petraeus, aware of this very real reality, publicly pleaded for the pastor to cancel his decision for the sake of our soldiers’ safety.

Although the Pastor has called off his plans to host the burn-a-thon, it could already be too late for America’s repu-tation. Countries around the world heard about the alleged “Burn a Quran day”. Protests erupted throughout the Middle East. Images of Middle Eastern people burning the Ameri-can fl ag consumed the news. It does not even matter that the burn-a-thon has not and will not happen. What one small church decided to do, has been refl ected negatively upon the United States as a whole.

MikelaMELAKIS>> co-editor

Reputation In FlamesQuran burning controversy creates confl ict at home, abroad

Required seat belts address safety concernsHigher precedent should be given to other areas involving transportation

EmmaMCKENZIE>> co-editor

We have all ridden on one at some point in our lives. We have all seen them on television and in the school parking lot. Th ey are recognized by their massive size and bright exterior color. Along with the obnoxious shade of yellow, school buses are also

known for their lack of seat belts inside of the 24-seat whale on wheels. Th is, however, has been a safety issue on the minds of many concerned parents across Texas, and the whole United States.

A bill, proposed in 2006, was made in to a law, stating at all school bues, pur-chased in the State Texas after Septem-ber 1, must require three-point seatbelts for every passenger. Th is means that there

will be three seat belts per seat, which are meant to buckle in three students. Th e new school buses, equipped with the required safety belts, have been dealt upwards to $10 million from the state.

I think that this new law is unnecessary. School buses are in less than one percent of all traffi c ac-cidents and in the ones that they are involved in, there are, on average, less than 15 school bus fatali-ties per year in the state of Texas. More so, students are not killed in a school bus accident, students are killed as pedestrians by their own buses.

Th e better use of Texas’ time and money should be spent on mandating compartmentalization and other forms of bus safety. Compartmentalization is a form of safety for school bus passengers without the use of actual seat belts.

Th is safety method is compared to that of an egg in an egg carton. Students are seated in a ‘compart-ment’ consisted of a tall, spring-loaded and fl exible seat-backing. Th is seat helps protect students in case of an accident.

Along with the continuation of producing com-partmentalization buses, I think that elementary and junior high schools should teach bus safety more intensely; not just how to exit, in case of emergency, but how to cross the street after exiting the bus. Th is is where most fatalities occur. Younger

and smaller students are harder to see once they step onto the street. Th e ‘danger zone’ is located ten feet around each bus. Th e driver is more susceptible to hitting a child if they are in this zone.

Seat belts in schools buses would help to some extent, but I do not think that students would take them seriously or use them correctly. I can only imagine an elementary school bully picking on a younger kid by placing him in a choke hold of sorts, and unknowingly and accidentally injuring the child. Th e bus driver and other students would not have time to react to this situation to save the life of the helpless child. I think that this should have been a major concern in the lawmakers. It is a very real possibility that I fear will become a reality in Texas once the new and improved school buses are purchased.

In Texas, 1.4 million students use school buses daily. Around 1,058 students are in-volved in a bus accident yearly and on average one of these students die.

Safety belts in school buses should not be a major concern. Instead of dealing out millions and millions of dollars for a safety that has not been a severe issue, the state of Texas should be providing money so schools have the option of late buses.

15editorial

the PEREGRINEissue one

>>

Just last year, multiple temporary buildings lined the side and back of the main building,

forcing students and teachers to make a journey outside of the main building. Walking outside to at least one class became the norm for most of the students. However, after returning to classes following summer vacation, all the temporaries were gone, access outside was completely cut-off, and the high school became a closed-campus.

The new closed-campus policy has generated mixed emotions among students and teachers. Prior to the change of having all doors locked during the school day, students were allowed to eat, during lunches, in the new courtyards, and walk outside to get students away from the typi-cal classroom setting, as well as doing outdoor activities pertaining to the lesson.

Now, with the new policy in place, students fear being locked out and teachers must make sure to have their keys with them or the whole class is stuck outside.

This change from an open-campus to a

closed-campus is to help prevent visitors from coming in through any side door and forcing them to go through the main entrance and sign in, if they want to enter the building. A closed-campus is designed to help protect the students during the school day and to ensure that all are safe. The new decision is made possible due to all of the portable buildings being removed off of the campus and all classes now being held inside the main facility.

However, many students feel as though they are on lock down for the whole eight hours that they are attending school. They do not feel a dif-ference in how safe the school is this year com-pared to previous ones and they just want to be allowed fresh air that the open campus once pro-vided them.

A possible compromise for dealing with this new policy should be giving students the option to eat in the courtyards, during the three lunches, like they once were allowed to. For the two and a half hours that lunches are going on, the ‘closed-

campus’ could become an opened one for the few that would rather eat outside, opposed to eating, camped up, in the crowded, designated, eating areas. This solution would still keep students safe during class time, but give them the opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and newly redone court-yards, as well.

The new closed-campus policy helps protect the student body, but also limits the freedoms students once had. Students should have the op-tion to return to eating outside instead of sitting on the commons floors due to overcrowding. If there is a good balance between safety and free-dom, the student body and faculty will ultimately be satisfied.

Peregrine Staff2010-2011

17YaYs 0NaYs

PEREGRINE positionthe

studentsspeakOUT

editorsEMMA MckENzIEMIkELA MELAkIS

sports editorLEANDRA LEEfeature editors

kINSEY BUTTONTANNER STOGSDILL

news editoradvertising manager

VINCE FLORESillustrator

EMILY WHITTEMOREstaff writers

SARAH CHO,AMBER DAY,

TAYLOR ESPINOSA,HENRY GARCIA,JOEY GILBERT,

ALISSA GUERRA,RAVEN MckNIGHT,

ORFA PALACIOS,MONSE PORTILLO,

SARA zATOPEkstaff adviser

MARGIE COMSTOCkprincipal

RALPH FUNk

LockedinChange to closed-campus forces students to eat in crowded commons

Jersey Village HigH scHool

student Publications’newsPaPer Policy

The Peregrine is the official student publication of Jersey Village High

School and is published by the Advanced Journalism newspaper

class at Jersey Village HighSchool, 7600 Solomon, Houston,

Texas 77040 (713-896-3400). It is distributed free to the student

body. Subscriptions can bebought for $15, and copies of

the paper will be mailed to your residence.

Unsigned editorials represent a majority agreement of the staff.

The Peregrine is read in advance of publication by the JVHS adminis-

tration.Advertising is sold by the 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and full page. The staff has

the right to reject, edit,or cancel any advertisement at

any time. The advertising policy is stated on the advertising contract.

Advertising is not an endorse-ment from the staff, the adviser,

the administration, or the Cypress Fairbanks Board of Trustees.

The Peregrine is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Quill and Scroll, and the National Scholastic Press As-

sociation.The Peregrine is printed by Mirror

Publishers, Inc in Texas City, TX. The opinion of readers is held in high

regard. Please send all feedback or questions to our address or room 1712. Letters to the editor need to

be limited to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit for spelling and

grammar. Letters must be signed.

“[The policy] is restricting, but it makes sense.” >> HEATH FARRELL

junior

“We don’t have the pleasure of go-ing outside and enjoying the nice weather during lunch.” >> MELISSA SALDAñA

senior

“I don’t like it because you can’t get something out of your car.” >> MEGAN ROCHE

senior

>>

16Image Essayth

e PEREGRINE october ‘10>>

1. TAKING CHARGEMaking a dash towards the end zone, junior varsity player, Trey Sandlin, sophomore, hopes to make a touch down.

2. SERVES UPSpringing up, Caitlyn Cooney, junior, prepares to spike the ball and win a point for the team.

3. SETTING THE BARWith her back to the net, Lauren Greenspoon, freshman, positions herself in order to set the ball.4. DETERMINED FALCONS Their eyes fixated on the game, Eric Daniels, junior, Nick Reed, junior, and Kristian Lampkin, senior, concentrate on the varsity game. 5. CROSS COUNTRy CHAMP Overwhelmed with placing in the top ten runners, Eunice Fulgeras, senior, receives a plaque for placing seventh at the Rice Invitational meet.6. FIGHTING WARRIORSHustling up and down the football field, Peter Coleman, se-nior, Leon Keith junior, and Caston Hunt, senior, play a hard game against Cy-Ranch at the Berry Center Stadium.

FOREVER FIGHTING FALCONS

BUMP ITWith her eyes fo-cused beyond the net, Amy Davault , se-nior bumps the ball in an effort to score yet another point for the Fal-cons. In the game against Cypress Falls, Devault was the leading varsity player with the most kills, coming in with 42 kills. The Falcons won against the Golden Eagles, keeping their hopes alive advancing out of district play.

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6photo by ORFA PALACIOS

photo by KATIE CARVALHO photo by ANDREA PRATHER

photo by TAyLOR ESPINOSAphoto by ORFA PALACIOSphoto by ANDREA PRATHER