Paducah Tilghman is Proficient

TILGHMAN BELLPADUCAH TILGHMAN HIGH SCHOOL 2400 WASHINGTON STREET PADUCAH, KENTUCKY MON. NOV. 25, 2013 VOL. 90 NO. 4

THE

by Will Hancock

The Bell’s November Spotlight Students have been chosen!

See who it is on Page 6

Eight T i l g h m a n s t u d e n t s have been selected for KMEA All-State Choir. Seniors Jai-lon Chism, Blake Den-son, Meagan Golden, Lo-gan Oatman and Cason Walden, Ju-niors Nathan Hawkins and Elizabeth Katz, and Sopho-more Micheal Hassel have been chosen to perform with students from across the state in the honor choirs. Jailon, Blake, Logan, Cason and Micheal will perform with the Men’s Choir, Meagan and Eliza-beth will perform with the Women’s Choir and Nathan will perform with the Mixed Choir. Students were se-lected through an audition

in which they sang with a quartet and completed the sight-reading test. Approximately 500 sing-ers from across the state made All-State. In addition to sending students for the Honor Choirs, Tilghman’s Men’s Choir has been invit-ed to perform at the confer-ence. The selected students will travel to Louisville in February to perform and continue Tilghman’s tradi-tion of excellence.

by Elizabeth Katz

Eight PT Students Selected for All-State Choir

Photo by Lily ShapiroFrom Left to Right: Nathan Hawkins, Elizabeth Katz, Meagan Golden, Cason Walden, Michael Hassel (front), Jailon Chism, Logan Oatman (back)Not pictured: Blake Denson

As of this fall, Paducah Tilghman is ranked among the top 25th percentile of Kentucky schools in proficiency. Scores from QualityCore End-of-Course exams reveal that 59.7% of all Tilghman students are considered proficient, a nine-percent jump from last year’s score of 50.7%. This jump has brought Tilghman from the bottom 25th percentile up to its current position. Tilghman currently uses four End-of-Course exams – American History, Algebra II, English 10, and Biology – which are taken by Freshmen, Sophomores, and Juniors as their final exams. Along with the jump in exam scores, 65.9% of Tilghman seniors are now consid-ered college or career ready, a major leap from the 34% that were college or career ready. College readiness is based off of ACT benchmark scores, while career ready students have been certified in a specific field of work, including carpentry, word processing, and broadcasting. Schools with 64% of their students classified as col-lege or career ready are considered “Distinguished Schools,” a designa-tion Tilghman is proud to bear with its well-prepared students. Finally, Tilghman has a school-wide average compos-ite ACT score of a 19.5. Compared to a national average of 19.8, Tilghman’s scores show signifi-cant improvement, particularly with school averages rising to meet benchmark scores of 18 in English, 21 in Reading, 22 in Math, and 24 in Science. College and Career proficiency and the QualityCore End-of-Course exams, in addition to ACT scores, are run by the American College Testing Corporation. A student’s designation as being career or college ready and a student’s ACT scores play heavily into the student’s success later in life, whether it is in the college ap-plication process or in entering the workforce. Tilghman’s proficiency in the Qual-ity Core End-of-Course exams also shows Tilghman’s ability to master curriculum more completely than other schools in the area, indicated by the fact that Tilghman is placed in the top 25% of the schools in Kentucky.

Congratulations to Paducah Tilghman High School for these exceptional scores. The Seniors, Juniors, and Sophomores have all contributed to these scores, and soon the Freshmen will join the proud ranks of Tilghman students taking standard-ized tests. Tilghman’s tradition of excellence has been continued, and the future seems bright for Paducah Tilghman High School.

Photos by Lily Shapiro

Mr. and Miss Tilghman of the class of 2014Photo by: Lily Shapiro

Three Tilghman Juniors named Paxton Scholars

Mr. Nantz has begun his annual canned food drive.

Bring canned goods to the Blue Room

Mr., Miss Tilghman of Class of 2014 have been elected!

See Page 5 to see the full list!

Superintendant Dr. Greene announces retirement plans

“ It is exciting seeing PT now empow-ering more and more students for success after walking the long blue line!”-Assisstant Principal Alan Paul

Longtime Paducah Public Schools Superinten-dant Dr. Randy Greene annouced on November 18th that he would be retiring this year. “After ten wonderful years of living in this community and working with the members of the Board of Educa-tion and the staff of this school system, the decision to leave has not come easily,” he remarked. “How-ever, I believe that it is time to move on. Change can be good. It keeps us on our toes, excited about our work and growing as individuals.” The City Schools are currently in the process of searching for candidates to select from. Dr. Greene’s resignation will be effective on June 30th, at the end of this fiscal year for the school system. The City Schools will dearly miss Dr. Greene.

by Will Hancock

Tilghman juniors Aleja Grant, Areann Orr, and C Bonesha Merriweather have been s e l e c t e d by the Mc-C r a c k e n C o u n t y Community Career En-d o w m e n t (MCCCE) to participate in the 2013-14 Paxton-S c h o l a r s p r o g r a m . The Pax-tonScholars p r o g r a m selects stu-dents annu-ally from the junior class-es around the area based on their GPA, com-munity service, attainable goals, and the strength of their nominaton, among other factors.

The MCCCE selected six students, including Grant, Orr, and Merri-

w e a t h e r , to be part of the pro-gram. They will recieve ACT prep t r a i n i n g , C o l l e g e Prep cours-es, help in the search for schol-a r s h i p s , and life skills train-ing. They will also r e c i e v e a laptop computer and, based on their GPA, an

opportunity to apply for cash scholarships when they begin the college search next year.

From Left to Right: Aleja Grant, Areann Orr, and C Bonesha Merriweather. Photo courtesy of Wayne Walden

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In recent years, the bizarre subculture of “weird sports” has been steadily in-creasing in popularity. The term “sport” continues to be stretched to its limits as we bring you our picks for the top 5 strangest, most interesting sports. Cockroach racing: Originating in Australia, the traditional home of the least traditional customs and strang-est animals, cockroach races first began when two local bartenders were engaged in a heated debate over whose establish-ment had the fastest roaches. Much like horse racing or dog racing, the object of this game is to pick the fastest roach. The roaches are released from under a jar in the middle of the table, and the winner is the first to reach the edge. It makes sense to race roaches because they are actually one of the fastest creatures alive, capable of moving 50 body lengths every second. The equivalent speed for a human would be around 200mph. Rumors were cir-culating of the sport’s emergence at the old Paducah Middle School, but unfor-tunately, the site has been replaced with cleaner, less roach-friendly facilities. Extreme ironing: For years, people (dozens of them) everywhere have done their household duties in a perpetual state of boredom, longing for a more captivat-ing and action-packed way to complete these jobs. If you are one of these people, rejoice for your waiting is over. Extreme ironing is the art of ironing your clothes in an extreme environment. In the words of the sport’s governing body, the Ex-treme Ironing Bureau, extreme ironing “combines the thrill of an outdoor activ-ity with the satisfaction of a well-pressed shirt.” Competitors have ironed on mountains, while parasailing, and (most spectacularly of all) underwater. Sheep counting: If you’re inter-ested in an activity that will have you on the edge of your seat one moment and

dead asleep the next, sheep counting is the ideal sport for you! Competitors line up, and a group of sheep are herded past them for about 10 seconds. The winning competitor is the one who can most ac-curately guess the number of sheep. Anyone who falls asleep is automatically disqualified. Chess boxing: A rapidly grow-ing sport, chess boxing is exactly what it sounds like. Two competitors alternate between round of boxing and chess un-til a competitor is either knocked out in ring or beaten on the board. If time runs out, a winner is determined by the score of the boxing rounds. Though it sounds strange, the sport is very balanced and has a lot of strategy involved. As com-petitors tire, their moves tend to get slop-pier and take longer. If your strength is in boxing, you have to try to knock out the player before he achieves a checkmate. If your strength is in chess, you have to last long enough in the ring to capture your opponent’s king. You can’t be too focused on your next chess move or you will lose the fight, but if you don’t plan at all, you will likely lose. Worm charming: The tradition of worm charming, which was previously used to get bait, consists of using vari-ous techniques to get the most worms up from the ground. It is most popular in England but has also been seen in the South. Competitors try to get the most worms out of a certain area of grass (usu-ally designated by the competition). The most popular technique is vibrating the soil. The vibrations make worms think there are moles in the soil, so they dart above ground. Birds and turtles use this technique to get worms as well. If you ever want to prove your manliness in the South, or just have a good snack, give worm charming a try!

Wacky activities stretch the realm of sports

Football team makes postseason run

Heading into the playoffs with a 5-5 record and a four game winning streak, the Paducah Tilghman football team started their road to the State Champion-ship with a game against Adair County. They ended the regular season with a blowout 48-6 win over Webster County and outscored opponents 157-20 in their final four games. With all this momentum, the team looked to carry it over against Adair County and did so fairly easily, winning the game 41-7 be-fore advancing to play Monroe County in the second round. Holding the top seed on their side of the bracket, the Tornado earned home-field advantage through-out the first four rounds of the playoffs. After defeat-ing Adair County in the first round, Monroe County faced a similar fate as they were also blown out by the Tornado in a 49-6 Tilghman victory. Tilghman jumped on Monroe County quickly and held a 35-6 lead going into the half. The two-headed monster backfield of junior running back, DJ Sherrill, and senior running back, Tre Coleman, was too much for the Falcon defense to handle. Sherrill and Coleman combined for four rushing touchdowns in the first half and were seemingly unstoppable throughout their time in the game. Sophomore quarterback, Jessie Dunigan, also added to the strong first half offense as he found senior receiver, Tyrae Caldwell, for a 25-yard touchdown pass.

With a strong defensive performance in the first half, holding Monroe County to only six points, the defense played even better in the second half as they shut-

out the Falcons for the final 24 minutes. Caldwell scored his second touchdown of the game on the defensive side of the ball after picking off the Monroe County quarter-back and returning it 45 yards for a touchdown. An extra point tacked on by senior kicker, Miles Butler, extended the Tornado lead to 42-6 with around seven minutes re-maining in the third quarter. Senior quarterback, Jordan Tyler, took some snaps under center in the second half with the reserves in the game and scored the final touch-down on a 20-yard run into the endzone. This would es-sentially push the Tilghman lead to 49-6 and allow a run-ning clock for the rest of the game. This victory moves the Tornado into the third round of the Class 3A Playoffs where they’ll play the 11-1 Spar-tans of South Warren. South Warren advanced to the third

round after an easy 48-16 victory over the Falcons of Fort Campbell. The winner of the matchup will move on to the State Semi-Finals held on November 29th and will be one game closer to the State Championship Game. The Bell would like to wish the Tornado good luck against South Warren as they look to win their first State Championship since 2009.

Coach Wyatt and Derik Overstreet named Coach and Player of the year

DATE Opponent H/A Time

Dec 3 Calloway County Home 6:00 PMDec 5 Carlisle County Away 6:00 PMDec 6 Christian County Away 7:30 PMDec 12 Mayfield Away 7:30 PMDec 13 Webster County Away 7:45 PM*Dec 14 Hickman County Home 7:45 PMDec 19 TBA Away TBA**Dec 19 Ohio County Away 5:00 PM**Dec 20 TBA Away TBA**Dec 21 TBA Away TBA**Dec 27 University Heights Away 5:30 PM***Jan 3 Graves County Home 6:00 PMJan 4 Community Christian Away 6:00 PMJan 7 St. Mary Away 6:00 PMJan 9 TBA Away TBA****Jan 14 Marshall County Home 6:00 PMJan 17 McCracken County Home 6:00 PMJan 25 Henderson County Away 2:30 PMJan 28 Mayfield Home 6:00 PMJan 31 Marshall County Away 6:00 PMFeb 4 Graves County Away 6:00 PMFeb 7 St. Mary Home 6:00 PMFeb 10 Massac County, IL Away 6:15 PMFeb 11 Community Christian Home 6:00 PMFeb 14 McCracken County Away 6:00 PMFeb 18 Calloway County Away 6:00 PMFeb 20 Murray Away 7:30 PM

*- Messenger Tipoff Classic**- Heritage Bank Hardwood Classic***- Murray Bank Lady Tiger Classic****- McCracken County Festival of Hoops

2013-2014 Tornado Girl’s Basketball Schedule

by Jordan Kendall

by Miles Butler

After an emotional win for the season opener against McCracken County, this year’s football team lost 5 games in a row to drop to 1-5 on the season. However, the team did not drop its head and give up. Instead, the players re-sponded by winning six games in a row leading into the South Warren game Friday Night. In that six game span, the Tornado combined to score 247 points while only giving up a combined 32 points. The Tornado proved especially dominant in district play. They went 3-0 and had a combined score of 116-19. The Bell would like to congratulate Coach Wyatt for winning the Class 3A District 1 Coach of the Year award and Derik Overstreet for winning the Class 3A District 1 Player of the Year award. Coach Wyatt is in his 6th year as the Head Coach of the PT Football Team, but he has been involved with the program much longer than that. Coach Wyatt played quarterback for the Big Blue Tornado from 1986-1989 and was also a stand-out track athlete. Coach Wyatt also came back as an assistant coach in the early 2000s under Coach Perry Thomas. Coach Wyatt already has one State

Championship under his belt and is seek-ing his second one this year. Derik Overstreet has played football at Tilghman for 4 years and has started at Defensive End since his sophomore year. Derik was All-State 3rd team as a junior and is on pace for a similar or better award this year. Derik has proven to be the backbone for the defense this year leading the team in tackles and is a nightmare for the offense as he is con-stantly in the backfield creating havoc.

Derik was very humble in response to his award. “I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Overstreet stated. “Now I’m ready to win State,” he added.

Photo courtesy of Wayne Walden

Photo courtesy of Wayne Walden

by Trae Hampton and Andrew Zanninovich

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A familiar face has been seen on the sidelines for the football team the last couple of weeks and can even be heard instructing players sometimes when they make mistakes on the field. This man was a big part of the football team’s State Championship in 2009 and is looking to help the team win another this year. However, his main goal in coaching is developing the boys into success-ful men. Of course, he is the one and only Coach Shanks. As many of you know, Coach Shanks took a break last year from coaching the sport that he loves. He has a strong belief in the importance of family re-lationships, so it makes sense that the only season he’s missed in a while is for his grandson. Last year, his grandson was a senior football player at Union City, so Coach Shanks took the year off to see his grandson play. Now that Coach Shanks’ grandson has graduated, he has come back to do what he’s done for the past 44 years: coach football. When asked why he came back, he said, “You know, I have good health and am retired. The seniors this year were sophomores when I left and I

liked them, so why not come back and coach?” However, football was not the thing he missed most during his break; the kids were. If you ever had Coach Shanks in Advanced PE or AA, it is more than likely that he offered some sort of advice on life during the class. When coaching football, he also looks to provide advice. He believes that foot-ball is more than a game and that it teaches one about life. “When you’re knocked down in football, you’ve got to get right back up, just like in life. Football helps you get through those ‘hills and hollows’ that are a part of everyday life.” He wants to teach his players about life while he’s teaching them about football and hopes to develop the players into successful men later in life by teaching them basic principles on life. “Life is all about choices,” he said, “When you wake up in the morning, it’s your decision on whether or not to have a good day; you make that choice.” Coach Shanks looks to instill this philosophy in his players, so that they will make good choices in their lives. When you see Coach Shanks on the football field, remember he is not all

about football as it appears. His main goal is developing the kids at Tilghman into successful adults, and we can all learn from him. It is truly an honor to have someone at Tilghman who can offer so much advice on life, and we are glad to have him helping the football team again.

Coach Shanks returns to PT football by Trae Hampton

Paducah Tilghman’s Boy’s Basketball Team returns the majority of their roster this year with all but three of the players dressing from the team last year. The three new additions to the roster are sophomores Jordan Prather and Brannon Warfield, as well as eighth grader J.J. Reed. Returning members of the team are seniors Mikey Davis and Andre Strayhorn, juniors Aaron Arm-strong, Nathan Hawkins, and Austin Mayes, and sophomores Parker Belt, Jessie Dunigan, Devon Hart, and Sayveon McEwen. The team will be much smaller than last year as they dress three forwards with the rest of the players playing the guard positions. Despite the loss of three seniors, the team is excited about the season and looks to contend for District and Regional Championships. With a newly aligned district including McCracken County, St. Mary, and Community Chris-tian Academy, the Tornado looks to win their eighth District Championship in the last nine years. Head Coach, Brad Steig, spoke highly of his team saying, “We are a young team, but still hope to contend for a Regional title. We’ll look to seniors Mikey Davis and Andre Strayhorn for leadership this year.” Looking at the guard-heavy roster, you can expect more shots from the perimeter and quick ball movement to score in half-court sets. With limited size in the post, the team will look to push the ball in transition and play an up-tempo style of play to score against bigger opponents. As one of the key returning players from last year’s District Runner-Up team, McEwen had this to say about the expectations this year, “Speed will definitely be our key to success. The experience that our young guys have is very unique. We’re very underrated going into this season, but I like that. We’re going to surprise some people and I’m going to look to take over.” The Bell would like to wish the 2013-2014 boy’s basketball team luck this season as they strive to surprise the region and reach their goal of Region Champions.

Young Boys’ Basketball squad looks to contend in region

by Miles Butler and Jordan KendallDate Opponent H/A Time

Dec 3 Fulton County Home 7:30 PMDec 5 Carlisle County Away 7:30 PMDec 10 Murray Away 7:30 PMDec 13 Christian County Away 7:00 PM*Dec 19 Hickman County Home 7:30 PMDec 21 TBA Home TBA**Dec 21 TBA Home TBA**Dec 23 TBA Home TBA**Dec 26 Daviess County Away TBA***Dec 27 TBA Away TBA***Dec 28 TBA Away TBA***Jan 3 Graves County Home 7:30 PMJan 4 Community Christian Away 7:30 PMJan 7 St. Mary Away 7:30 PMJan 14 Marshall County Home 7:30 PMJan 17 McCracken County Home 7:30 PMJan 20 TBA Away TBA****Jan 28 Mayfield Home 7:30 PMJan 31 Marshall County Away 7:30 PMFeb 4 Graves County Away 7:30 PMFeb 7 St. Mary Home 7:30 PMFeb 11 Community Christian Home 7:30 PMFeb 14 McCracken County Away 7:30 PMFeb 18 Calloway County Away 7:30 PMFeb 20 Ballard Memorial Home 7:30 PM

* - Toyota of Hopkinsville Classic** - Paducah Tilghman Holiday Tournament*** - McLean County Holiday Tournament**** - Superman Classic

2013-2014 PT Boys’ Basketball schedule

Photo by Trae Hampton

The 2013 KHSAA Cross Country State Meet was held on November 9th at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Among the participants in the 2A Class was Paducah Tilghman’s Aleja Grant. Grant finished second among the female athletes in her class and placed fourth among all classes with a time of 18:34.

Being a junior, Grant is very polished and experienced in her sport, as she has made it to State every year she’s been in high school. While being the State Runner-Up, she also brought home the Forcht Bank Award for Uncommon Excellence in Class 2A, which was awarded due to her great leadership and ability to perform above and beyond expectations.

Aleja Grant races her way towards runner-up at State, earns Forcht Bank Awardby Jordan Kendall

T H E T I L G H M A N B E L L P

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...A Wag of the Finger

A Tip of the Hat...

The Tilghman Bell The Tilghman Bell, a producT of The journalism class, is an open forum for sTudenT expression and is disTriBuTed monThly To The

sTudenTs of paducah Tilghman high school free of charge.

ediTor-in-chief: Will hancock

commenTary ediTor: cole spicer

feaTure ediTor: Will smiTh

arTs & enTerTainmenT ediTor: lilly BurBa

sporTs co-ediTors: miles BuTler and jordan kendall

Business manager: makayla holT

adverTisemenT ediTor: saBel overlin

sTaff WriTers: cassie arBoleda, elizaBeTh Behrens, lilly BurBa, miles BuTler, alex goreing, Trae hampTon, Will hancock, aBigail haWkins, makayla holT, amanda hooker, karlee humphrey, eliza-BeTh kaTz, jordan kendall, madeleine milford, saBel overlin, yasi razBan, lily shapiro, Will smiTh, cole spicer, molly Thompson, gracen WheaT, andreW zaninovich

phoTographers: Will smiTh, alex goreing, lily shapiro

carToonisT: alex goreing

advisor: susan hancock

Will Denton (9)

Micheal Hassel (10)

Rachel Benzing (11)

Jaleigh Winston (12)

Commercials draw your attention to new gifts and sales. Extravagant merchandise is displayed in hopes of drawing near the wallet in your back pocket. Stores have filled their shelves with reds and greens galore, not to mention the creepy, framed portraits of Santa Claus at Hobby Lobby. We rush to buy every gift for every person we know out of fear that it won’t be there when the Christmas season actually comes around. Money is thrown about like candy at a parade, but what are we really buying away? Stress? Worry? Dissatisfaction? How can we get back to the basics and slow down these once simple and more enjoyable holidays? One way to accomplish this is to only do what is necessary in preparation for planned events. You don’t have to go “above and beyond” for everything on your to-do-list. Hosting parties and giving presents to people are wonderful things, but don’t feel like each of these moments have to be the best experience of their life! Doing just enough to make the occasion special will relieve stress and help you enjoy it even more. Another way to reach this goal is to come up with new and exciting traditions to celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas. New traditions mean no expectations to meet! These creative get-togethers just might be more memorable and entertaining than the past traditions you made yourself sick over. One last route you could take is to simply remember why we celebrate each holiday. For Thanksgiv-ing, it’s a time of being aware of all your blessings and being content with what you have. For Christmas, we are celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ who brought hope and joy into the world. Both dates cause us to not just spend time with family and friends, but to step back and acknowledge something bigger than ourselves. They break us from our typical routines and lead us into a deeper meaning. In the end, getting stressed means we are missing the point. Without these truths of why we celebrate, we wouldn’t have anything to rejoice over in the first place. Our joyfulness and happiness of the season should come from the purpose of our gifts, not our gifts alone. Slow down and revive your perspective.

by Abigail Hawkins

Slow down the Holidays!

Hunting down the dinner turkey with my

bare hands.

Sitting on my granny’s lap.

The nap I always take after dinner.

Seeing my family andgetting to eat all of that

good mood food.

What is Your Favorite Part of Thanksgiving?

by Yasi Razban and Andrew Zaninovich

Photos by Will Smith and Lily Shapiro

by Miles Butler and Andrew Zaninovich

A tip of the hat goes to Rob Ford, the current mayor of Toronto, Canada, for his refusal to bow to pres-sure. Rob recently came under fire when a video surfaced of him smoking crack during his time in office. He publicly admitted to the accusations earlier this month saying, “Yes I have smoked crack cocaine… Am I an addict? No. Have I tried it? Probably in one of my drunken stupors…” Well said, Rob. The citi-zens of Toronto can now sleep at night knowing that the man entrusted to lead their city didn’t actually choose poorly because he was too drunk to choose at all. We congratulate you for your refusal to step down because after all, it was only crack. A tip of the hat goes to Miley Cyrus for really going against the status quo of celebrities and “finding herself”. Her life was so hard and oppressive as a teenage singing and television sensation and daughter of a famous, wealthy country musician. We congratulate her for boldly rebelling and going where no per-former has gone before (except Lady Gaga, Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Amanda Bynes…). A tip of the hat goes to the members of the Paducah community for their support of our neighbors in Brookport who have been so drastically affected by the recent tornado. We are proud to be a part of a community that can come together so quickly with such resounding support for our friends in these trying times. Hopefully, with the continued support of the surrounding area, Brookport will soon be back on its feet.

A wag of the finger goes to the teachers who take sweeping students to the extreme. The point of the sweep is to keep students from lingering in the halls during class times and ensure that class can start on time, not punish students for being inches from the door when the bell rings. It isn’t our fault that the lunch line was long and slow or that our schedule has us running from one side of Tilghman to the other in a dead sprint, with no time to stop at our lockers or the bathroom. Please cut us a few seconds of slack. A wag of the finger goes to the students responsible for the closing of Twisters. We are in high school, not kindergarten. You should have learned by now to pick up your trash and not cause an unnecessary disturbance during lunch time. All you have to do is eat your lunch and sit in either the blue room or cafeteria until the bell rings. Your ceaseless roaming of the hallways and crowding the area near Twisters has led to its closing, which is unfair to your fellow students who follow the rules and still want access to it. A wag of the finger goes to constant, pointless updates (cough Twitter, Apple, and YouTube cough). It is incredibly annoying to finally get used to and master a new layout/format and then have it immediately changed with no real improvement or added features. Instead of fixing any problems or making things better, most of these updates are making things worse! If nothing is broken, why change it?

“Wag of the Finger” and “Tip of the Hat” are trademarks of Stephen Colbert and his TV show, The Colbert Report.

Neither Paducah Tilghman nor The Bell Staff claim any own-ership of these trademarks.

T H E T I L G H M A N B E L L

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With the school year entering the second quarter, many high school seniors are being hit with a harsh reality—college application deadlines are looming around the corner, and they’re not going to wait for any stragglers. Although some may have known their dream school since they were tiny tots, many still don’t know where they’ll want to be at this time next year. As they struggle to apply to colleges before the deadlines, a single online application may become these senior’s saviors. This is the Common Application (referred to as, simply, the Common App), an online application that can be used for undergraduate admissions applications for over 500 colleges and universities in both the United States and overseas. Students only have to fill out this application once and can then use it to apply to any school that accepts the Common App. In theory, the Common App is an excellent idea. It saves students from filling out numerous applications from different colleges, and, if a student decides last minute to apply to another school, all the student has to do is add the college to their list and send the application to said college. Furthermore, if a college needs additional information about a student, the college will supply supplement essays/questions that the student sends separately from the Common App. It’s all designed to make the lives of students, teachers, guidance counselors, and undergraduate admissions advisors a bit easier. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case this year. Since the Common App launched the fourth edition of the online application and retired the paper application, users have been hit with glitches, bugs, crashes, and frustration. With more and more colleges becoming Common App exclusive, the Common App ended up being the bane of students’ existences, rather than their savior. The fourth edition of the Common App, which was released in August 2013, has a wide range of bugs and glitches. Problems range from frozen screens, untimely logouts, and a crashing site each time a student tries to review a section. The essay portion of the Common App is nearly impossible to format properly now that stu-dents have to copy and paste their essay from Word instead of uploading it directly to the application. The magical green check mark that shows that a section is completed

doesn’t show up…unless the student deletes the entire section and redoes it. Furthermore, the Common App greatly limits the creativity and individuality of students. Limited to ten activities, five honors/awards, and a 100 character (not word) count for details, honors, and awards, students have to be incredibly choosy when working on their applications. The Common App focuses more on grades and test scores, and there is more to students than just those two things. There was also an outcry when the new edition came out and the essay prompt that allowed the student to write on a prompt of his or her choosing was gone. Although the Common App still has five other prompts that cover a range of topics, the “topic of choice” allowed the student to write on a number of things that may not fit in with the current prompts. The Common App also got rid of the option of upload documents. Of course, that doesn’t seem like much of problem, that is, until one gets to the essay portion of the Common App. Forced either to type in the space provided or copy and paste from Word, the essay portion easily turns into one of the worst sections to complete. Especially since only way to check if the essay is properly formatted is to complete the entire application and then preview the completed application before submission. If it’s not formatted properly, you’re out of luck! Students have exit out of the PDF version of the completed application and then struggle to figure what went wrong; not to the mention the fact that you only have 650 words to write your life story. This editorial is over 200 words over the limit! With the glitches and bugs the Common App has encountered, many colleges have been forced to push back deadlines, and even though this relieves some stress, it’s sometimes not enough. Even after its fourth month since its release, the Common App isn’t living up to expectations. As a result, many colleges have turned to the Universal College Application (UCA), the Common App’s lesser known competi-tor. Although the Common App has been steadily and vigilantly working to unravel each and every problem, these glitches have plagued most students in at least one way. The Common App has become more trouble than it’s worth.

Let’s be real…Things can get out of hand quickly when you combine shopping, sales, and females. For those who struggle with the same addiction I do, Black Friday is one of the biggest causes of relapse. We’re the kind they call crazy; you know, the ones that stand in the freezing cold in front of our favorite store all night, just because we want to be the first ones inside. We’re the ones you see running when the doors finally open and everyone is let in: the ones who will knock you down and fight you for the last size in a pair of shoes. We’re shopaholics and we suffer from excessive shopping habits. Unfortunately, Black Friday is causing more problems than we’re “bargaining” for. The irrational behavior and disruption caused by this big event seems to escalate each year, and Black Friday is becoming “too big” of a deal. “Too big” of a “deal”? Get it? Haha. In other words, people are getting their priorities out of whack. It’s

like they think missing out on a good deal might kill them. I might be one of those people…However, from experience I can assure you that a deep breath and maybe an Auntie Anne’s Pretzel will cure you. You would probably be surprised to see how many people will actually pitch tents the day before and camp out so that they can be first in line. People act like Channing Tatum is going on sale or something. Even though the thought of getting a flat screen TV ½ off, or receiving free gifts with a purchase seems harmless, it’s doing invisible damage. The problem is con-sumers are being enticed by all of these nice things instead of being with family, celebrating Thanksgiving. It goes with saying, “too much of a good thing can be a bad thing.” Well, if the obsession continues to have this kind of effect, we may be eating turkey and dressing in the parking lot of KY Oaks Mall.

by Cassie Arboleda

by Makayla Holt

by Elizabeth Beherns and Sabel Overlin

Recently Clarksville, Arkansas, was hit with a tragedy when a student from Clarksville High School shot three students, all of whom were severely injured. Thankfully, Cheyenne Dougan was able to prevent more injuries or deaths by firing three rounds at the gunman. Dougan, along with 20 other teachers and administra-tors at Clarksville High, have been through an intensive 53 hour training program which allows them to be considered school guards and carry firearms. A major question surrounding this topic is, of course, “How do we prevent school shootings?” There are so many different factors concerning this that it might be hard to settle on a definite answer. However, what we can do is be as prepared as possible for these situations. A seemingly obvious, though controversial, solution to this is allowing teachers to carry guns. Critics of this idea say that this teaches children that violence is the solution to violence. However, when considering what the real issue is, it only makes sense that the school’s priority would be protecting students. While teachers carrying guns will provide an extra sense of security, it is students that will really be able to prevent school shootings and violence. Almost every major school shooting has been preceded by clues and warning signs. If students will pay attention and be willing to report these vital signs, they will hopefully be able to prevent further tragedy. Instead of repetitive seminars on topics like bullying and cyber safety, which certainly have their place, but have little new information in them, schools should have speakers that will teach students about what to do in these dangerous situations. Students are aware of the escalating amount of school shoot-ings in America, but may be unsure of what to do under these circumstances. Here at Tilghman, we are fortunate knowing that we go to a safe, secure school. Over the summer the Paducah Police Department held an intensive training at Tilgh-man. The training helped them prepare for these emergencies by conducting mock situations. It also helped them familiarize themselves with our building’s confusing layout. In the WPSD article Mr. Davis is quoted as saying, “These are the days and times we live in now. It’s reality now.” As schools are facing this reality, it is best that they prepare themselves in whatever way possible.

Source: http://www.nydailynews.comhttp://www.wpsdlocal6.com/home/ticker/Police-prepare-for-school-shooting-during--212382951.html

The Common App frustrates applicants

Black Friday distracts shoppers from Thanksgiving

Students debate gun policy for teachers

How would you feel if your teachers carried guns all the time? Imagine be-ing in your English class during a normal discussion and then you see a shiny flash on the hip of your teacher. Would you feel safe or threatened? The train-ing and qualifications for teachers who are trained to carry guns is extreme and is simply a waste of money for school systems. Teachers have their home lives, school lives, and they certainly don’t need cowboy lives. Why can’t schools just have a couple of police officers? Having teachers take more than 50 hours of training is ridiculous. First of all, someone has to pay for the classes and the guns. This government money spent on safety can simply be used to pay two qualified individuals (police officers) to take care of the school. Teachers have enough papers to grade without having to take time off for concealed and carrying lessons. Yes, it may have prevented one school shooting, but will all that training help in the long run? If teachers did carry guns, many other possible situations could occur. Teachers could misuse the guns, students could gang together and take the gun, and someone could be accidentally shot. Take the money that was used for the teacher’s gun preparation classes and pay a well trained counselor instead. Counselors purposely go to college to help and counsel individuals. In the state of Kentucky, the number of counselors in a school reflects the student population. Counselors could help prevent more than just school shootings. Kids that have mental health issues can be affected and persuaded in a posi-tive direction for their futures. This not only helps the student in high school, but it also helps them before they move on with their life. At Tilghman, we are blessed to be protected by one man instead of hav-ing all of our teachers carrying guns all the time. The students at Tilghman do not generally worry about a shooting or a bombing because they are too concerned with being an amazing Tilghman student. Teachers shouldn’t carry guns because they are teachers and not police officers.

With recurrent school shootings across the United States, many have begun to wonder how schools could improve the safety and security of their students. One possibility has been for teachers to begin carrying weapons on their person, should they need them to protect themselves and their students. Bell writers Sabel Overlin and Elizabeth Behrens present their takes on the issue below.

Sabel Overlin on the positives of preparedness Elizabeth Behrens on the dangers of carrying

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On November 9th, the Pad-ucah Tilghman Junior Varsity Academic Team competed in the Region’s annual JV Challenge, a competition for freshmen and sophomores in which they com-pete in Quick Recall as well as a series of individual assessments. It is the Junior Varsity version of the Governor’s Cup competi-tions that the Tilghman Academic Team competes in every spring. Paducah Tilghman Sophomore Reese Butler took first in the Math individual test, as well as fourth in the Social Studies test, while sophomore Meg Hancock took first in Written Composition and third in Arts and Humanities. Both Butler and Hancock, along with sophomore Palmer Stroup, freshman Roberto dos Remedios, and freshman John Holtgrewe led the Tilghman Quick Recall team to second place, losing only to Calloway County in the final round. The Junior Varsity team is coached by Mrs. Karen Smith. Other Tilghman students took home individual awards, as well.

In the Language Arts assessment, Shelby Browning (10) took third place and Palmer Stroup (10) came in fourth place. In Math, Grant Hutcheson (10) won sixth place, while in Arts and Humani-ties, Roberto dos Remedios (10) took fifth place. Along with the Quick Recall team, which placed above McCracken County, Mar-shall County, Murray, and Graves County to come in second place, the entirety of the Tilghman team took second in the overall compe-tition. The Tilghman Varsity Academ-ic Team is currently 8-1 in their regular season, having defeated McCracken County, Calloway County, and Marshall County, among others. The Junior Varsity Academic Team, meanwhile, has a record of 5-3, with one tie to Graves County. The team is look-ing forward to the spring compe-titions in which they can face off with teams from around the area and, hopefully, send multiple stu-dents to the state competition of Governor’s Cup in March.

Butler, Hancock take first in regional Academic Team Competition

by Will Hancock

The Tilghman Bell would like to congratulate Miles Butler on being selected as the Novem-ber Rotary Scholar. As a guest of the local Rotary Club, Butler will join other selected seniors to meet Rotary members and actively participate in and learn about relevant community af-fairs. Scholars have the opportu-nity to listen to the guest speak-ers that the Rotary Club invites to the weekly meetings and mingle with community leaders. When asked about being se-lected as a Rotary Scholar, Miles stated, “It is truly an honor to represent Tilghman in our com-munity, and I have enjoyed my time with the Rotary Club.” Miles is a member of the Foot-ball Team, Soccer Team, Base-ball Team, Interact Club, Student Council, Mock Trial, NHS, Beta,

Photo by Lily ShapiroSpanish Club, FBLA, and Aca-demic Team. After high school Miles plans to attend a four year university and major in account-ing.

Miles Butler named No-vember Rotary Scholar

by Cole Spicer

by Cassie Arboleda

Speech Team opens strong season

Every week, Mid-Continent honors one student in the region with the “Mid-Continent Teen of the Week” award. This week, Paducah Tilghman’s Logan Oat-man is the recipient of the award. Logan is a very active, well-rounded student and participates in many extracurricular programs as well. Logan is very studious- he is in the top 5% of his class, with a 3.875 GPA. Logan is a member of National Honor So-ciety, Spanish Club, Recycling Club, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and Beta Club. Logan is also musically gifted. He is a member of the Paducah Tilgh-man Concert Choir, as well as the prestigious acapella group, Prime Rib. He also was chosen to be a part of the All-District and All-

State Choirs. After school, Logan spends hours practicing swim-ming almost every day. Logan swims for his school team, club team, and offers lessons to ama-teur swimmers. Logan has placed at national and state levels and has accumulated 22 state champion-ship titles since 2004. Logan was awarded the KHSAA Region One 2011 Swimming Championships All-Region Swimmer. Upon be-ing selected as Teen of the Week, Logan responded, “I am honored to be chosen as the Mid-Conti-nent Teen of the Week. There are very many qualified candidates, not only in this school, but also in this entire region; being selected is such an honor.” Logan plans on attending Centre College and majoring in Physics.

Logan Oatman is the Mid-Continent Teen of the Week

by Karlee Humphrey

Freshmen:Nicholas BeenyNina BrownSkylar BundyRaina CainChristopher ChumblerJacob CurryReagan DavidsonKiana DavisVanessa DavisWilliam DentonJose dos RemediosMonyette DrewNakitia FinchMadison GolightlyHunter GrubbsEmily HahnJohn HoltgreweTalia HousemanAmiya JonesClaire KellyAnntoinette Mc-CallumCaroline MeinersDarby MoffattSophia PattersonJasmine PinaLandan RossLandon RutherfordAshley ShadoanMackenzie UlmerMichael-Ellen WaldenRiana WhiteDacota WilliamsTrevor WilliamsMadelyn Yba-rzabal

Sophomores:Logan Bakehouse

Parker BeltWesley BlondellShelby BrowningReese ButlerIvan ChwalikThailandria DanielsJesus dos Reme-diosCharli DossTeri DossBradley DuncanLauren EickholzHeath FordClare FroelichKatlyn FultonMag HancockAshlee HarrisAbigail HawkinsGrant HutchesonPhilip JohnsonWhitney Jones-ShawTamera LottJackson RudolphMolly ShannonMichael ThomasLee Carol ThreatJody TinsleyLucie TyrrellSamuel TyrrellMatthew Van-HooseKathryn Winfield

Juniors:Aaron ArmstrongKyle AtwoodSabrina BehrensRachel BenzingAndrew BorgiaZaria Brown

Trevor BunteNyamsuren By-ambaaKarlee HumphreyAerion JonesWarren JonesElizabeth KatzKevonte KilbyAnne LasherParker LoydTristen MillerMorgan PartainMcKenzie ReeseLucas ReedRiley SiglerVictoria TaylorMolly ThompsonLauran TravisAlexia UnPatrick WasherKatie Weather-spoonKelsea WhiteElizabeth WigginsChristopher WilsonMadison Wurth

Seniors:Cassie ArboledaRafiel BanksElizabeth BehrensMalcolm BlakelyAndrus BoydLilly BurbaMiles ButlerKelsie ClarkMichael DavisCaleb FarleyMeagan GoldenAlex GoreingMadison Guthrie

Trae HamptonWill HancockKathrin HarrifordDominic HephnerJustin HoltMakayla HoltJacob HoltgreweJennifer LeeEslobanka Loaiza AlvarezKimberly MaiYasmine MartinezMadeleine MilfordKeri MoganLogan OatmanSelenia OrtizSabel OverlinCade PerfiliMeredith RascheYasi RazbanHeather ReddJordan RileyEric RobertsonZenon RodriguezCurtis SevernsMack ShannonJeankyrean ShawWill SmithCole SpicerAlex StoryAndre StrayhornWill StuartJade TownsleyJordan TylerTyonna Wadling-tonCason WaldenKristina WestEdward WhiteJulie WilhiteAndrew Zani-novich

Tilghman releases the First Quarter Honor Roll

Tilghman speech kicked off the season at the Krider Tournament, which took place on November 2nd in Paris, Tennessee. Senior Will Hancock placed 3rd overall for Impromptu Speaking while junior Tristen Miller placed 3rd overall for Storytelling. Senior Yasmine Martinez and sopho-more Daly Spicer took 5th and 6th place, respectively, in Prose. Paducah Tilghman also emerged at the top during the Alben Bark-ley Invitational which was held at West Kentucky Community and Technical College on November 16th. Tilghman ranked second overall and had several individual top place finishes. In addition to top place finishes, nine earned Na-tional Forensics League recogni-tions, one moved up to a position on Kentucky’s All State Speech Team, and another achieved the coveted Academic All American

distinction. Sophomore Michael Hassell won for the team three top Final awards. He and his partner Brante Green (11) took first place for Improvisational Duo over twenty other competing teams. Hassell and Green swept their Final round with first place finishes and a full 100 points from each of the Final judges. Hassell paired with Mi-chael-Ellen Walden (9) for a third place finish in Duo Interpretation, and also individually took 3rd place in Storytelling. Senior Will Hancock unanimous-ly won 1st place for Impromptu Speaking, earning straight first place votes and 100 points from each Finals judge. Hancock also achieved the National Forensic League’s Academic All- Ameri-can distinction by earning a Supe-rior Distinction while maintaining a GPA of 3.7, receiving an ACT

score of 27 or above, and demon-strating outstanding character and leadership. Other top place finishers in-clude Tristen Miller (11)- 2nd Sto-rytelling; Alex Goreing (12)- 3rd Broadcasting; Meg Hancock (10)- 3rd Impromptu; Alexis Ash (12)- 3rd Poetry; Michael Ellen Walden (9)- 3rd Declamation; Cassie Arboleda (12)- 4th Declamation; Kimberly Mai (12)- 4th Storytell-ing; Hasaan Ali (10)- 5th Extem-poraneous Speaking; Alexis Ash and Yasmine Martinez (12)- 5th Improvisational Duo; Lilly Burba (12)- 6th Dramatic Interpretation; Will Hancock and Cole Spicer (12)- 6th Duo Interpretation; Ja-cob Holtgrewe (12)- 6th Extem-poraneous Speaking; Claire Kelly (9)- 6th Humorous Interpretation; Meg Hancock (10)- 6th Original Oratory; Yasmine Martinez (12)- 5th Prose.

Freshman Claire Kelly and Mi-chael-Ellen Walden earned their membership into the National Fo-rensics League. Brante Green (11) and Palmer Stroup (10) earned degrees of Honor while Meg Han-cock (10), Tristen Miller (10), and Jacob Holtgrewe (12) moved up levels of Distinction. Senior Yasmine Martinez also earned a spot on the Kentucky Speech and Forensic’ All State Team and has become the 11th member of the Paducah Tilghman Speech team to earn a spot on the list of the top 150 “decorated” speech students in the state. Speech Team Assistant Coach Todd Ross was also named as a coach of Outstanding Distinc-tion. Coaches receive ten percent of students’ points, and Outstand-ing Distinction is the 7th level of honor in the NFL.

Heather Redd has been chosen as one of ten students from around the area selected to Kentucky Oaks Mall Fashion Advi-sory Board. As a mem-ber of the board, she will get to work closely with businesses and retailers. She will be participating in mall fashion shows, fashion photo shoots, retail events and mall promotions. With each event, she will accumu-late points and be eligible to win prizes and receive scholarships.

STOMP for a CureOn November 14th, cheerleading teams from local high schools Marshall County High School , Massac County High School, McCrack-en County High School, Livingston County High School, Ballard Memo-rial High School, and Paducah Tilghman, went head to head in a dancing competition at the Car-son Center. The night’s theme was “Stomping Towards a Cure” and was sponsored by Texas Roadhouse. Tilghman raised $2,790 for Pros-tate Cancer. All proceeds went towards Your Fight, an organization funding cancer victims in the lo-cal area.

Tilghman Fresh-man John Holt-grewe read his winning essay about the impor-tance of service at the Veteran’s Day parade on November 11th. The Pad-ucah Tilghman NJROTC unit marched in the Vet-eran’s Day parade on the same day.

Interact Club is mak-ing holiday cards for ser-vicemen and women with the Paducah chapter of the Red Cross. Last yeat, Kentucky sent more cards than any other state, with the Paducah chapter con-tributing the second most of any chapter. If anyone is interested, materials will be available at lunch through Thursday.

Meet Marvin Nunn. For the last six years Mr. Nunn has been an officer at Paducah Tilghman. From day to day he works be-hind the scenes at school, solving mysteries as well as providing us with protection. Mr. Nunn begins his day at 6:30 each morning when he arrives at the school to set up the front desk and monitor the building. You may recall him being the spiffy, bald-head-ed man who greets you with a smile each morning as you arrive at school. Just by his looks, it’s easy to infer that he’s very well put together and ready to take on whatever might come his way that day. Typically, Mr. Nunn dresses in a nice suit and tie with his badge pinned visibly on his sport coat. Ru-mor is Mr. Nunn brought the bow ties back in style. “I like to give good first impres-sions because the way you present yourself the first time you meet someone is how they’ll remember you,” says Nunn. After speaking with Mr. Nunn, it was clear where he had adopted these sharp qualities. Turns out, he grew up under the wing of a military man—his father. “My father was a military man, and he raised me to have these quali-ties, too. I was nev-er late to anything, being on time was always important,” says Nunn. From a look into his background, his upbringing might have aided in his success. Marvin Nunn was born in Paducah, Ken-tucky. He attended Jetton until the 9th grade and then his family moved to Michigan. There he graduated from Mumford High School and enlisted in the United States Navy in 1970. While in the Navy, Nunn was exposed to a new style of life. For three years and nine months, he was stationed in Hawaii. Can you imagine living in Hawaii for that long?! Talk about an exciting life… Although the Navy was a huge experience for him, four years of it was enough. He had even more planned out for himself. In 1974, he enrolled in college at the Universi-ty of Detroit Mercy. During his junior year of college, he was recruited by the Michi-gan State Police Department. He might get

a big head if he heard this, but let’s just say that he was kind of a big deal. Fortunately, after 25 years of physi-cal training and experience, Marvin Nunn retired from the Michigan Department of State Police and has ended up where he is today. He has two kids: a thirty-five year old son and a twenty-one year old daughter. He’s been blessed with two grandkids; they are eight and six years old. Today, Marvin Nunn focuses on providing guidance and ensuring that we are secure at our school. As the security officer, he is responsible for breaking up any fights that may take place, but more often than not, he is usually busy monitoring the building and providing aid to any student that may need it. Nunn says he wants to be a figure that students can look to for guidance and feel comfortable talking to; passing out referrals isn’t what he enjoys doing. Mr. Nunn’s appearance, kind approach, and pleasant presence have helped him be-come very successful in all that he does and

particularly the police field. Mr. Nunn is a very intelli-gent, witty, and trustworthy man. You’d be surprised at how many mysteries he’s been able to solve here at Tilghman dealing with lost or stolen items. He’s also been able to resolve situations that required some investigation.

After 25 years of murder investigations and other “big dog” jobs, he’s pretty

experienced with this stuff. On the weekends, Mr. Nunn enjoys vis-iting his grandkids in Nashville and also visiting Memphis to see shows. He is also interested in antique cars; in his spare time, he likes to work on his newest investment. He’s currently working on a T10 1962 Chevy pick-up truck. Mr. Nunn also spends spare time working on his home that he bought as a “fixer upper.” Nunn mentions that he has a niche for fixing things and he enjoys doing it! Between jobs around the house, working on his cars, and being Paducah Tilghman’s security officer, Mar-vin Nunn doesn’t have much time to waste! Who would’ve thought Paducah Tilghman’s school officer was a hero?!

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5FEATURESTilghman Seniors Honored With Class Favorites, Superlatives, and Tilghman Titles

A day in the life of Mr. Nunn

November’s Spotlighted Students

by Elizabeth Behrens and Maddie Milford by Makayla Holt

by Will Hancock

Talia Housman is a freshman here at Paducah Tilghman who is new to the Paducah public school system. Prior to high school Talia had been home schooled, where she started taking Latin to improve her ACT scores. Along with taking Latin, she takes sculpture and photography with her fa-vorite teacher, Ms. Baggett. Talia swims for the Paducah Tilghman Swim Team, and her favorite subject is history. After high school, Talia wishes to attend Baylor University in or-der to become a missionary. She has gone on several mission trips with her church, First Baptist, to countries all over the world. She traveled to Ukraine, El Salvador, Honduras, and South Korea, where her family ad-opted her younger brother. She likes to read her favorite book, The Hun-ger Games, while cuddling with her dog Cinnamon. Don’t be shy to strike up a conversation with this cultured gal in the hallway!

Andre Strayhorn is a senior here at Tilghman and therefore a familiar face to most. Andre has been in the Band of Blue since his freshman year. He started out playing the tenor drums his freshman and sophomore years and advanced to bass drum his junior and senior years. Along with being in the Band of Blue, Andre shows his school spirit by playing guard on Tilghman’s basketball team. Another fun fact about Andre is that he was also recently named Most Creative by his senior class. Outside of school, Andre has a full time job at his studio, AC Produc-tions. Andre and fellow classmate, Corey Nance, got the idea to be musi-cal producers in the 8th grade. It wasn’t until senior year that they saw a realistic opportunity in the field of music production. Andre plans to at-tend West Kentucky Community and Technical College and then transfer to Southeast Missouri College. Andre dreams of playing basketball in the NBA but is eagerly prepared to find a career involving musical produc-tions. His favorite movie is Step Up 2 and he loves to dance. If you catch Andre in the hall between classes, he’ll happily give you a business card to arrange studio time or chat with you about music and basketball.

Andre Strayhorn (12) Talia Housman (9)

Photos by Lily Shapiro

With graduation fast approaching, Tilghman seniors have elected their Class Favorites, Senior Superlatives, and Mr. and Miss Tilghman. The Class Favorites are twelve boys and twelve girls elected by the seniors. The Senior Superlatives are Most Athletic, Class Clown, Most Creative, Best Looking, Most Likely to Succeed, Best Dressed, Most Likely to be Late to Graduation, Most Likely to Brighten Your Day, Most Likely to Bleed Blue, and Best Smile. The senior class has voted upon which seniors they find to best exemplify the qualities of each Superlative. This year, the winners of Most Athletic are Darrius Spivey-Nunn and Jaleigha Winston, the winners of Class Clown are Justin Wells and Tazhane Pettus, the win-ners of Most Creative are Andre Strayhorn and Alexis Ash, the winners of Best Looking are Nick Shumaker and Makayla Holt, the winners of Most Likely to Suc-ceed are Will Hancock and Cassie Arboleda, the winners of Best Dressed are De-vante Thomas and Heather Redd, the winners of Most Likely to be Late to Gradua-tion are Ben Redfield and Tyhesia Mackins, the winners of Most Likely to Brighten

Your Day are Rafiel Banks and Zaneta Moss, the winners of Most Likely to Bleed Blue are Curtis Severns and Keri Mogan, and the winners of Best Smile are Jer-emiah White and Ali Dempsey. The female Class Favorites are Aubrey Anderson, Elizabeth Behrens, Arius Brown, Alex Goreing, Amy Grover, Amanda Hooker, Heather Jackson, Tava Os-borne, Sabel Overlin, Meredith Rasche, Yasi Razban, and Tyonne Wadlington. The male Class Favorites include Rafiel Banks, Elliot Bickerstaff, Miles Butler, Sharras Caldwell, Lawson Connell, Jamey Donaldson, Jacob Humphrey, Gavin Ross, Dar-rius Spivey-Nunn, Devante Thomas, Cason Walden, and Jeremiah White. Finally, Mr. and Miss Tilghman are the male and female students that most em-body the spirit, tradition, and excellence of Paducah Tilghman High School. The teaching staff at Tilghman elects Mr. and Miss Tilghman based on their grades, ex-tracurricular activities, and good character. This year, Miles Butler has been elected Mr. Tilghman, and Cassie Arboleda has been elected Miss Tilghman.

Paducah Tilghman Class of 2014 Superlative Winners Paducah Tilghman Class of 2014 Class FavoritesPhotos by Lily Shapiro

Photo by Lily Shapiro

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6 FEATURES SPONGEBOB

LOOK-A-LIKESby Alex Goreing and Will Smith

Caroline Meiners (9)

Dominic Hephner (12)Pinhead Larry

Caleb Farley (12), Eric Robertson (12), Molly Thompson (11) and

Jay Smith (10)Patrick and Sandy

Imagination! Jacob Holtgrewe (12)

Surprised Patrick Patrick Washer (11)

On November 3rd, 1903, the Republic of Panama gained its independence from the Republic of Gran Columbia. Panamanian troops, with the support of the American gunboat USS Nashville, arrived in the Panamanian city of Colón. The Panamanians were supported by the American gov-ernment, and soon after the coup, construction on the Panama Canal began. Columbia refused to acknowledge Panama’s sovereignty until 1925, when a formal apology and $25 million was given to Columbia from the American Congress. On November 4th, 1862, American doctor Richard Gatling created the Gatling Gun, a six-barreled automatic weapon that was operated by teams of four men. First used in the American Civil War by Union forces, the Gatling Gun became standard in American arsenals, as well as British and Japanese arsenals during the Spanish-American War and the Meiji Restoration. While the Vickers Machine gun, which used only one barrel, took over for the Gatling Gun as the pri-mary emplacement anti-infantry weapon in World War One, the multi-barrel design resurfaced for weapons mounted on American helicopters in the Vietnam War. On November 5th, 1605, the plot to assassinate King James I of England and IV of Scotland was uncovered due to an anonymous tip. The “Gunpowder Plot” was led by Robert Catesby and included multiple co-conspirators such as Guy Fawkes, who was in charge of guarding the gun-powder that was to be used to destroy Parliament while the King was present. The conspirators, upon being discovered, were tried and convicted of treason and executed. The Night of Bonfires remains a holiday in the United Kingdom, where bonfires are burned to commemorate the near-burning of the gunpowder. On November 8th, 1923, Adolf Hitler and around 20 of his associates entered a crowded hall and announced to the 3,000 people inside that the Bavarian government had been deposed, the National Revolution had begun, and no one in the hall was leaving the building. However, none of this was true, except that no one was leaving, because 600 Nazi soldiers had surrounded the hall. However, the rebellion was ultimately put down by the Bavarian government. Hitler was arrested and imprisoned, during which time he wrote his book Mein Kampf. On November 17th, 1800, the American Congress met in Washington, D.C. for the first time in the newly constructed Capitol Building. President John Adams had occupied the White House for less than a month. The “Federal City” represented one of the greatest triumphs of the Federal-ist Party – a city in which the Federal Government could supply its own security and police force without the help of a state government. The city would only be abandoned once, during the War of 1812 when British troops occupied the capital. On November 22nd, 1963, American President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated during a visit to Dallas, Texas. While driving near the Texas School Book Depository, three shots were fired by Lee Harvey Oswald, killing the President and wounding Texas Governor John Con-nally and bystander James Tague. Officially, Oswald acted alone in the assassination, although many conspiracy theories have surfaced about the assassination, placing the blame on the CIA, organized crime, and the Soviet Union.

This Month in Historyby Will Hancock

Spongebob

Sources: Spongebob.wikia.com; twicsy.com; youtube.com; philadams.co; Photos by Alex Goreing and Will Smith

Source thehistoryplace.org

Oh, well, hello! I didn’t see you there! Come in, come in! Yes, yes sit down! Here, have a cookie! I’m sure that you’re well aware that the Dean isn’t here today, and of course, you know what that means… Story time! Alright, well, sit down, make yourself comfortable, and grab your badge; the story is about to begin. And don’t be afraid, this isn’t boys in the hood! Today, I’ll be telling you the story of Thanks-Tilghman and the chicken wing feast that ensued shortly after. Now, you see, about a century ago, the very first McCracken County High School, Heath High School, was opened, and shortly after, Lone Oak High School also opened its doors. Immediately, however, students felt like there was something missing, as if they deserved more than what they were getting. The students were having their free-doms infringed upon, and they began to “throw” riots that later included dumping 1500 gallons of chocolate milk into the Ohio River. This chaos continued until 1921 when Augusta Tilgh-man High School was built. The first students of Augusta Tilghman were sick of the county schools and had finally reached their breaking point. These students boarded the S.S. Tornado and traveled across the county to Augusta Tilghman High School and began to grow and bond to-gether. One day, their leader, Allan “John Smith” Paul, was invited to a chicken dinner hosted by General Loyd Tilgh-man of Kentucky. The General had prepared his secret

fried chicken recipe for his guests. It is rumored that Col-onel Sanders was present at the dinner and that the good Colonel slipped a delicious chicken wing into his pocket then was able to recreate the formula in his own home. Paul was so inspired by Tilghman’s chicken that he asked the General to prepare some for the Pilgrims. Shortly af-ter, all of the Pilgrims began a feast. The menu included mashed potatoes, green beans, delicious rolls, perfectly baked chocolate chip cookies, juice cups that would last them for days and, yes, plenty of chicken wings. Augusta Tilghman continued to be a beacon of hope and a safe place to hide from the McCracken County school sys-tem. All of this freedom and opportunity was put on dis-play in 1956, when the Paducah Tilghman High School, that you walk the halls of today, was opened. This once small cornucopia of students has now be-come the dominant force of both academic and athletic excellence in the Paducah area. Today, Paducah Tilghman houses around 850 of the most dedicated and tradition-ally planted students in the state of Kentucky. Our inde-pendence has continued to this very day and will remain for generations to come. We’re not going anywhere. Our faculty and staff are still top notch, our students are still the best, and, yes, our wings are still delicious. So, that’s the story of Thanks-Tilghman and how we managed to come about as a school. I hope you enjoyed the story, and, oh, before you go, make sure to leave your badge!

Story time with Mr. DavisXOXO,

“Dear Abby”Dear Abby, Thanksgiving and Christmas can be a time of joy and happiness, but it can also bring grief and sadness. People who are not able to celebrate the holidays with their family (for whatever reason) probably aren’t too excited about this energetic season. What can I do to reach out to these people?Sincerely,Anonymous

Dear Anonymous, Your point is so true! It is easy to push all the bad perspectives of the season away and just focus on the “prettiness” of it. As unattractive as these circumstances might seem, it is so important to address them and reach out. One way to accomplish this is to invite the affected person(s) you are considerably close with to one of your family get-togethers! Invite them to a dinner one night or de-liver dinner to them. You could even ask them to attend a Christmas Eve service at your church. Another way you could reach out is through A Soldier’s Child where you sponsor a child for Christmas whose parent is in the armed forces. For more information about this organization, visit www.asoldierschild.org. Starting December 1st, you could begin a month of random acts of kind-ness. You would do 25 of these random acts (one for each day of the month) leading up to Christ-mas. Some ideas for this fun challenge are buying a cookie for the person behind you in the lunch line, sending an encouraging letter, raking leaves, and going Christmas caroling with friends! No matter what you decide to do, your efforts and right motives are appreciated! Spreading the “Christmas Cheer” might be a little uncomfortable at first, but it will be so worth it in the end! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and a Merry Christmas!

Sincerely,

Photo by Will Smith

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The year is 2008. Your mom says to you, “Why can’t you be more like that nice Miley Cyrus girl?!” You’re catch-ing up with the antics of Zack and Cody when, during a commercial break, you hear a catchy beat from some rocking teens who look similar to each other. The little box in the corner tells you that you are listening to the newest pop hit from the Jonas Brothers, three teen brothers from New Jersey who are mak-ing their big break thanks to the Disney Channel. These bros, Kevin, Joe and Nick, would go on to be the soundtrack of your elementary and middle school days. They spent the first part of this decade apart, each pursuing his own projects. Fans were ecstatic when the Jonases announced in late 2012 that they were in the studio together, making new music. The excitement was short-lived, however. In late October 2013, the boys of Disney cancelled their tour and announced that they were no longer working toward a new album. Even though a full album will not be released, the music the brothers produced during their short time back together will be released digitally to Team Jonas Club (a Jonas-sponsored fan club with a $20/yr membership fee) members. Many fans mourned the loss of one of their favorite acts for reasons beyond just the music. Their lyrics were free of explicit language and mature topics, which made it appropriate for fans of all ages to listen to. The boys were also seen as positive role models by some parents because they were strong in their religious beliefs and wore rings to promise their purity. Nick, the youngest of the trio, has Type 1 diabetes and was a vocal advocate for diabetes research. They not only had looks that pleased the ladies, but they were well-behaved and acted their age, a

trait not seen in all artists popu-lar among the preteen crowd. The breakup does not mean that the world has seen the last of the brothers Jonas. Kevin, the oldest brother, is expecting his first child with wife Dan-ielle, and their lives can be seen on the show Married to Jonas, airing on the E! Network. Joe, the middle brother, doesn’t have any plans at the moment, but recently had to address ru-mors that he was a drug user (completely false, rest assured, JoBro fans). He is still young, so we will likely see him again in some musical capacity. Nick, the youngest of the former band members, can be seen in the up-coming film Careful What You Wish For. In the years since the

last Jonas Brothers album, he devoted some time to creating a name for himself as a solo artist; it was, after all, his musical talent that caught the attention of many in the music industry before the band was initially formed. His solo music career is still going strong; he began performing shows on his own within days of the band announcing their split. He spent some time in theater, starring as Marius in Les Misérables, so it is very possible that he will take the stage again. Though the Jonas era may be over, their influence is not. Countless bands of the future will take after these brothers in forming their sound, and even more fans’ music tastes were shaped by their sweet sound. They will have a place in music history and the memories of their fans for years to come. If they just wanna play their music, I just wanna listen.

by Lilly Burba

Fans mourn dissolution of brotherly music group made famous by Disney

In 2009, Scott Mescudi (oth-erwise known as Kid Cudi) re-leased his debut album, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day, and followed up with Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager in 2010. Though he has released three other albums since then, he has recently stat-ed that the highly anticipated third installment of his Man on the Moon series is due to come out in 2015. For die-hard Cudi fans like myself, the wait for a new album can be long and tough, but Cudi has taken this into consider-ation. While he is not changing the release date of Man on the Moon III, he will be releasing an EP as a prelude within the next three months to hold over those of us aching for more of his music. Cudi recently announced at a show on his Cud Life Tour that the album will flow seamlessly be-tween his most recent release, Indicud, and the much awaited Man on the Moon III. However, he also said that he’s not going to divulge the EP’s release date until 24 hours before it drops. So if you’re hurting for new Cudi music, help is on the way. Just keep a close eye out on your trustiest hip-hop news source because the release date is coming and the EP is short to follow.

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of Google Images

by Maddie Milford

Artist promises new music now and in future

By Elizabeth Behrens, Amanda Hooker, and Maddie Milford

by Amanda Hooker and Lily Shapiro

This September, the world was taken by storm when Drake released his new album, Nothing Was the Same. Selling over 658,000 copies within its first week and hit-ting No. 1 on Billboard’s Top 100 Charts isn’t because it has Drake’s name on it; it’s really just that good. Coming from nontraditional Drake fans, this record is truly great for all the right reasons. This album is significantly dif-ferent than anything else Drake has done before, stray-ing (slightly) away from the whiny, heartbroken usual. Now, fans are seeing the more egotistical and confident Drake and going crazy for it. What might be drawing audiences to this album ver-sus all the others is the emotional aspect of the work. Obviously, anyone can relate to the typical Drake “heart-break,” but instead of being so whiny, he draws strength from his weakness, a capability we all desire. Maybe this focus on his exes is a certain recipe Drake has been

formulating for years and just now perfected. Another reason this album is set aside from the rest is that it’s his “Drakiest” album yet, meaning there aren’t really a lot of features, besides Jay-Z, Jhene Aiko, and sporadi-cally throughout the album, an underrated Sampha. At the same time, traditional fans are probably wondering, “Where’s Wayne?” His absence is definitely noticed, even by a newer fan. Nothing Was the Same is an all around terrific album, but there are questions to be asked, such as, the “Tuscan Leather” controversy surrounding the infamous Illumi-nati, of course, the lack of Lil Wayne features, and what exactly is the bottom that you started from, Drake? If you’re a main character on one of the most popular TV shows, I don’t think you’d be “sleepin’ in ya Mama’s basement.” Either way, thanks for the awesome album, Drake.

New album resounds among Drake fans

Picture courtesy of Google Images

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by Elizabeth Behrens

Doctor Who celebrates fifty years

Production of Oklahoma! blows audiences away

by Alex Goreing and Abigail Hawkins

“Oklahoma! Where the wind comes sweeping down the plains, where the waving wheat can sure smell sweet when the wind comes right behind the rain!” This catchy tune dominated the stage the weekend of November 1st-3rd at the PTHS auditorium. Rodgers and Hammerstein’s light-hearted musical, Oklaho-ma!, was spectacularly performed by the Paducah Tilghman Choral Department under the direction of Matt Hinz and Diane Byrd and student director Zack Story. Excitement and intensity skyrocketed throughout the play as lead roles Curly, a handsome cowboy, and Laurey, a sweet but conflicted farm girl (played by Caleb Farley and Elizabeth Katz), kept the audience on the edge of their seats with their stubborn romance. As Curly and Laurey fall in love, the violent and threatening Jud (Jailon Chism) continues to fight the cowboy in order to claim Laurey for himself. The caring Aunt Eller (Alexis Ash) watches over Laurey and other young people in the town. Other romances include Laurey’s best friend, Ado Annie (Maggie Malone), and Will Parker (Cason Walden). Ali Hakim (Blake Denson) is the charming peddler who finds himself stuck in the middle of the town’s drama. The cast, consisting of both lead roles and the chorus, gave a polished performance. In addition to the professional acting, the authentic set, built by Chris Black and volunteer parents, seemed to draw you back in time. Tilghman student danc-ers, creatively choreographed by Kelsea White, expertly executed dance moves with style and precision. Accompanying the dancers was an orchestra made up of talented musicians from around the area. Last, but certainly not least, the auditorium rang with beautiful harmony. The many talented singers featured in the musical kept the energy high throughout the three hour showing. Chorus cast member include Millie Wyant, Bradley Duncan, Michael Hassel, Claire Kelly, Caroline Meiners, Michael-Ellen Walden, Anna Chambers, Hannah Massa, Rafiel Banks, Curtis Severns, Zane Birdsong, Will Denton, Will Smith, Meagan Golden, McKenzie Reese, Kelsea White, Madison Seifert, and Madison Smithson. When asked how it felt to be part of Oklahoma!, Caleb Farley responded, “It was an amazing experience to get to perform such a wonderful show with such talented friends. It was pretty awesome to get to open the show as well.” Oklahoma! is Mr. Hinz’s first play to direct at Tilghman; when asked to reflect on the show, he commented that, “It was a lot of hard work and late nights, but it was worth it in the end. The students have a lot to be proud of.” It was obvious that the cast was having a great time and shared the fun with the audience.

by Will Hancock

Commended author re-emerges with Inferno

Acclaimed author Dan Brown returned to the literary world in May, bringing his unique blend of the thriller and travel book genres back onto the market. With his novel Inferno, Dan Brown brings his recurring Harvard Professor of Symbol-ogy, Robert Langdon, into Florence, Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, where he races against multiple factions of shadowy enemies. For fans of history, travel, or action, Inferno is a unique book that pro-vides an immensely captivating read. The book opens with Robert Langdon awaking in a hospi-tal in Florence, Italy, with a gunshot wound in the back of his head and no memory of the past two days. Before he has a chance to discover why he is in Italy or who shot him, the hospital comes under attack from assassins, forcing Langdon to flee. Once into the city, Langdon uses his vast knowledge of the city’s history to evade well-connected mercenaries and dark organizations to investigate the threats of an insane genius, whose brilliance in the field of biology is matched by his chilling obsession with one of the great-

est poets of the Renaissance, Florence’s own Dante Allgheri. With the fast-paced action of the book, any qualms with the plot are rapidly for-gotten. The villain can at times seem to suffer from panache for absurdly com-plex plots, but the adventures of Robert

Langdon and the efforts of his shadowy pursuers make such concerns slip easily from the reader’s mind. The setting, too, is beautifully explored by Brown, as the city of Florence is brought to life in the text. Langdon fre-quents historical locations in Florence, as well as two other historical cities (sor-ry, no spoilers), and mixes explanations of their sig-nificance with espionage, stealth, and action. Inferno can appear to be a daunting read, clock-ing in at nearly 500 pages,

but it is a fast read, and time can pass rapidly while reading it. Even if you aren’t a fan of historical novels or ex-plorations of symbolism in art, Inferno is also chock-full of action and adven-ture that can make anyone looking for a good read happy. Inferno cannot be rec-ommended highly enough, and if you’re looking for a new book for the holidays, Dan Brown’s works are sure to please.

Five Tilghman students have been cast in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! at Market House Theatre. Freshman Caroline Meiners will play the narrator of the pageant, “Maxine,” junior Maggie Malone will play neighborhood gossip, “Mrs. Sloocum” and sing in the Vocal Ensemble, senior Caleb Farley will play “Rev-erend Hopkins” and sing in the Vocal Ensemble and freshman Claire Kelly and sophomore Bradley Duncan will sing in the Vocal Ensemble. The show is based on the book of the same name by Barbara Robinson and

follows the Herdmans, a family of terrible kids as they star in the church’s annual Christmas pageant. Maggie Malone says, “It’s a wonderful family show because it has a sweet meaning behind it. Plus there are a lot of adorable children.” The Best Christmas Pageant Ever! runs December 5-8, 14-15, Thursday and Friday at 7:00 and Saturday and Sunday at 2:30. Hilariously silly, The Best Christ-mas Pageant Ever! is fun for all ages and will definitely get you into the holiday spirit!

For the past 50 years, a fandom like no other has exponentially grown around the world. If you have never heard of the show Doctor Who, it’s okay, I forgive you. Now you will no longer have an excuse to be ignorant about the greatest show to have ever hit television. On November 23, 2013, an anticipated anniversary premiered on BBC, and all of the Whovian Fandom was finally relieved. For all of you who are Doctor Who illiterate, I present you a Doctor Who 101 course. Doctor Who began in the year 1963 with Wil-liam Hartnell as the first doctor. This first running time makes the show as old as most of our parents. The lovely British Broadcasting Company, BBC, produced this science-fiction program with large ambitions, and the show did not fail. Eight different Doctors appeared before McGann’s, “The Name of the Doctor.” The show stopped showing in 1996, and after the miserable hiatus, Christopher Ec-cleston returned as the ninth doctor in 2005, bring-ing the show back into the mainstream broadcast-ing of Great Britain. How does the doctor change character? Re-generation. This process occurs when the Doctor is aged or wounded and he transforms into a new physical form and a somewhat different personal-ity. This explains why there are different actors that play the Doctor. The Doctor does not have a name because he is simply the Doctor. Don’t question the fact he lacks a name because the producers have actually never discussed it. The Doctor is a time-travelling humanoid alien from the planet Gallifrey, or simply a Time Lord. He travels in time and space in his TARDIS, which stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. In simple terms the TARDIS is a blue police box that is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside. The Doctor uses a tool called a sonic screwdriver, which is not what we humans think of as a normal screwdriver. This tool is used for picking locks but can be

used to perform other functions. Tracking alien life and scanning individuals for medical whereabouts are two other functions for which the sonic screwdriver is used. On each episode, The Doctor travels to another time or place and saves civiliza-tions from aliens. It is a quite simple plot line but with many recurring characters.

The only episode where The Doctor has ever travelled alone was “The Deadly Assassin.” The other character in the show is a normal human to which the audience relates. Susan Foreman, Romana, Time Lady, Sarah Jane Smith , Jo Grant, Rose Tyler, Martha Jones, Donna Noble, Amy Pond, Rory Williams, Clara Oswald, and River Song are many of the past companions that have accompanied the Doctor on his journeys. If you haven’t taken anything from this Doctor Who course, just remember that Daleks are bad and that they exterminate things. Since the premiere of Doctor Who, thousands of fan-zines, books, conventions, and organizations have been dedicated to the show. There has been plenty of anticipa-tion for the anniversary. The running of “The Day of the Doctor” shows the development of technology used for the filming industry and the cultural development since the beginning. Matt Smith is the current doctor and is passing it on to Peter Capaldi after regeneration. We all trust Steven Moffat with the script, but can we handle saying good-bye to Smith? “The End of Time” was a lot to handle with David Tennant, so can the Whovian fandom actually handle an older doctor after experiencing younger ones? Whovians are ready for you, Capaldi,and what you will bring to Doctor Who. “People assume that time is a strict progression of

cause to effect, but *actually* from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.”

by Elizabeth Katz

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Picture courtesy of Google Images

Market House schedule brings Christmas cheer

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On November 11th, the Marvel Cinematic Universe returned to the big screen with Thor: The Dark World, the sequel to 2012’s The Avengers and 2011’s Thor. While Iron Man 3 (re-leased in May) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (to be released next April) deal with the stories of the human heroes in the Marvel world, Thor: The Dark World returns to the story of Thor, Odin, and Loki, three Norse Gods, in the fantastical realm of Asgard and the story of intrigue, plots, and cosmic threats to the universe. Before launching into the review of the movie itself, it is fair to say that I’m not a very big fan of Thor. In my opinion, the more human characters – Robert Downey Jr.’s Tony Stark/Iron Man, Chris Evans’s Steve Rogers/Captain America, and even Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner/Incredible Hulk – are far more interesting than the literal god that is Thor. While the writing of the script has given Thor some internal struggles, the fact that he is literally a god – some-thing the films state explicitly – makes it difficult to believe that he is going to ultimately be defeated. With that said, I found Thor: The Dark World to be rather disappointing. The story is am-bitious in scope, but handled poorly. Thor (Chris Hemsworth) returns to Earth to find Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) to have contracted the Aether, an ancient weapon of great power in the form of a virus. Thor takes Jane back to Asgard, where his treacherous brother, Loki (Tom Hiddleston) is imprisoned after the events of The Avengers. Soon, they come under attack from the Dark Elves, who seek to use the Aether to return the universe to darkness. For all the grand ambitions of the film, for the most part it falls flat when attempting to cre-ate suspense. The main reason for this is, surprisingly, the fight scenes. After the epic battles of The Avengers and the subdued but smart fights in much of Iron Man 3, the battles in Thor: The Dark World are markedly unimaginative and predictable. Adding to this are the rather flat characters. Jane Foster’s allies on Earth are little more than slightly-clueless comedic relief, and Thor’s fellow Asgardian warriors are typical, medieval knights. Even Odin, Thor, and Jane, three central characters, lack any major character development and spend most of their time advancing the plot. Standing head and shoulders above the rest is Tom Hiddleston’s Loki. Cunning, backhand-ed, and slightly insane, Loki is a brilliant character that keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats throughout the film. Without getting into spoiler territory, Loki’s ambition and scheming have returned in full, showing an unstable genius far better than he did in The Avengers. The worlds of Thor: The Dark World are also less than stellar. Asgard is so full of CGI effects that, when the scene cuts to London, it seems as if a different film has started playing. There are also scenes in which it is abundantly clear that the actors are simply in front of green screens, which makes the suspension of disbelief quite difficult. The nearly-absurd amount of CGI, while not bad in itself, is done poorly at times, making for rough transitions between real and animated shots and ultimately detracting from the storytelling. If I had to have one gripe with the film, however, it wouldn’t be the lackluster fight scenes or the overabundance of CGI. The story itself seems contrived and takes the viewer out of the film. Put simply, the plot is just too big. Compared even to The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World has an even greater threat – a force that wants to literally destroy the entire universe with a weapon of immense power. Yet, the plan to resist consists of Thor trying to fight the entire army of Dark Elves single-handedly. The entire plot rests on Thor trying to save Jane and protect the universe, but it quickly devolves into a simple slugging match that ignores much of the universe that the Marvel films have built up. Worse, the Loki subplot’s culmination makes the entire film seem to be a vessel for advancing Loki’s own story. Thor: The Dark World promised an epic story, but it ignores the characters. With the excep-tion of Loki, none of the actors get a chance to do much except be rote, clichéd caricatures of themselves. Here, there is no wise-cracking Tony Stark, snarky yet faithful Steve Rogers, or nervous Bruce Banner. Even the clueless Thor that first stumbled to Earth in the first Thor is gone, replaced by a stoic character that is hard to sympathize with. For all it’s weaknesses, though, Thor: The Dark World is still a Marvel film, and still an entertaining, if not enduring, film. After all, the problems of flat characters and excessive CGI have already been seen this year in Man of Steel, and Thor: The Dark World has been success-ful in the box offices. It may be a misstep for Marvel, but with the successes of The Avengers and Iron Man 3 behind them and Captain America: The Winter Soldier in the future, Marvel is certainly on solid ground, even if it isn’t as golden as their Asgard.

by Will Hancock

Marvel missteps in Thor: The Dark World

Ever since the film’s announcement, fans of science fiction across the country have waited impatiently for the release of Ender’s Game earlier this month. Ender’s Game is the story of Andrew “Ender” Wiggin, a young boy selected by the International Fleet to enter military training in hopes of eventually leading Earth’s army against an alien species that nearly wiped out Earth in a previous war. Its more notable actors include Asa Butterfield as Ender, Harrison Ford as Ender’s commander, and Ben Kingsley as a brilliant veteran acting as Ender’s mentor. The film opens up with scenes of Ender at home, where we see the set up of Ender’s character. Ender is brilliant and balanced; he has a heart of gold, but he is not afraid to resort to violence to ensure his enemy will never be a threat again. The story then follows Ender as he is shipped off to Battle School to train as a soldier. This part in the film fea-tures several entertaining zero-gravity fights between students as they play a strategy-based shooter. Ender is constantly facing ad-versity while at Battle School, namely in the forms of isolation from other students and an egotistic commander, whose sincere and in-timidating performance is often ruined by a comic height difference and a humorous child-star role as Rico on Hannah Montana. Af-ter various successes in Battle School, Ender is promoted to Com-mand School, where the film’s climax occurs in virtual battles with Earth’s enemy. The main faults in Ender’s Game stem from its origin as an adap-tation of a book. Like the majority of books turned movies, most of the book’s philosophical questions and psychological conflict is lost in the translation. Another problem with the movie is that it tends to escalate rapidly with very rough transitions. These quick transi-tions tend to ruin what should be profound, emotional moments by almost immediately moving to the next scene with no time for the impact to sink in to the viewer. All of these, however, are ultimately understandable remembering that the plot is being compressed from a full length novel into a 90 minute film. Most of the negative buzz surrounding this movie is coming from readers of the book who believe that the movie failed to adequately bring the book to life. However, the movie stays fairly faithful to the book in all but the smallest details, and it doesn’t leave out any major elements or add any ridiculous details like other, more recent film adaptations like The Hobbit or Eragon. It also does a good job in providing visuals for the complex battles throughout the story. Even if you haven’t read the book or aren’t really a fan of science fiction movies, I would still recommend seeing Ender’s Game for its thoughtful, interesting plot that still manages to keep viewers entertained and engaged.

by Andrew Zaninovich

Ender’s Game gives audience a good show, bad book adaptation

Sunday, December 1 @ 7:00 pm - Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas

Thursday, December 5 @ 7:00 pm - The Polar Express

Thursday, December 12 @ 7:00 pm - National Lampoon’s Christ-mas Vacation

Saturday, December 15 @ 6:00 pm - The Muppet Christmas Carol

Friday, December 20 @ 4:00 pm - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein-deer and the Island of Misfit Toys

Sunday, December 22 @ 1:00 pm - The Santa Clause Marathon

Monday, December 23 @ 11:00 am - Home Alone: Holiday Heist

Tuesday, December 24 @ 11:00 am - Scrooged

The Bell Staff’s Top 8 Picks: 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family!

by Yasi razban, Elizabeth Katz, and Molly Thompson

Photo courtesy of imdb.com

Photo courtesy of Google Images

Photo courtesy of Google Images

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Every year, the American Studies class ventures to our nation’s capital, Wash-ington, D.C. Students dream about getting to miss a whole week of school, and we did, too, but the trip turned out to be so much more than we expected. Our week in Washington, D.C. was filled with bonding with our classmates, more history than in our textbooks, and a new sense of respect for America. Our first day we arrived in Charlottesville, Virginia, where we visited Monticello. Monticello, which means “little mountain” in Italian, is the home of our third President, Thomas Jef-ferson. Built on top of a mountain, the home created by Jefferson him-self features revolutionary archi-tectural structures and a pleasing design. After seeing his gardens and graveyard, we headed to Wil-liamsburg. That night, we were guided through the Colonial streets and told ghost stories about the hauntings of the town. The next day, we toured Williamsburg and experienced what life was like for early Americans. Then we boarded the bus and headed to D.C. In D.C., we visited the National Cathedral which had beautiful stained glass windows and Gothic architecture. Afterwards, we went to the Holocaust Museum. We learned a lot about the events in WWII leading up to the Holocaust and how it affected so many people’s lives. At the Smithsonian American History Museum, we learned about the history of our country from its beginning to present day. Following the museum, we took a night tour of many of Washington’s monu-

ments, including the Lincoln Memorial, WWII Memorial, Vietnam Wall Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, FDR Memorial and Jef-ferson Memorial. The next day we visited the Arlington Cemetery and watched the Changing of Guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Afterwards, we went to Ford’s Theatre, where Lincoln was shot, and then crossed the street and toured the house where

he died. At Mount Vernon, we toured Washington’s beautiful home. Then we went to the Kennedy Center and saw the play Sheer Madness. It was a comedy/murder mystery about a flam-boyant hairdresser. On Friday, we went to the Library of Congress. There were two exhibi-tions, cartography and Civil War, and we saw Thomas Jefferson’s Library. Next we toured the Capitol and sat in the House of Representatives. We immersed ourselves in the different cultures of the world as we walked through the National Gallery of Art, as well as the Smithsonian Natural History and Air and Space Museums. At the National Archives, we saw the Declaration of Independence, the Con-stitution and the Bill of Rights. On the last day of our trip, we woke up early to see the White House, the

home of our President. Then we toured the Newseum, and we saw an exhibit

dedicated to the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination and an FBI exhibit. We boarded the bus for the 14-hour ride back to Paducah. Although the journey was a long one, it was well worth it to see what makes our nation great.

American Studies class enjoys trip to D.C.by Karlee Humphrey, Elizabeth Katz, and Molly Thompson

Call us food-lovers, eat-a-holics, or just plain fat: we don’t really care. If you fall under this category as well, then this is the perfect time of the year for you. So loosen your belts and digest these tips from two professional foodies. Admit it—you love food. You love food so much that you just don’t know when to stop eating! Well, here are some tips on how to fill your tummies with-out feeling full: 1.Start off with smaller portions. This way, you can get a variety of choices instead of filling yourself up on one item when you want more. 2. Don’t let your eyes be bigger than your stomach; be courteous to other foodies! 3. For those who don’t like traditional Thanksgiving foods (stuffing, turkey, cranberry sauce, etc.), bring something easy to prepare, but not only junk food so that it will annoy your family. 4. Bring Tupperware containers to take food home! For those of you who know you’re doomed to have a “food baby,” here are some more tips on how to cover it up: 1. Wear loose clothing. This is the easiest, most common way to hide your belly. 2. Avoid skinny jeans and belts. This takes away the awkwardness of having to unbutton your pants or loosen your belts. 3.Wear a scarf; layers make you look smaller! 4. Try not to moan and groan about how full you are. Instead, use positive expressions such as, “Wow! That was so good I don’t know if I will ever want to eat again!” Hopefully, this Thanksgiving you will be prepared to eat as much as you want without giving away your obsession with food. No matter where you go in life, never forget this quote. “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”-Virginia Woolf

Confessions of a foodie by Amanda Hooker and Yasi Razban

Photo courtesy of Alan Rhodes

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Fall in love at first bite this Thanksgiving with an offering guaranteed to stuff your tummy. Your gurus at The Bell promise that you’ll want to gobble up these fowl cupcakes before the real deal roasts. Aside from being cute, these tantalizing treats will have you shaking your tail feathers for more!

Ingredients: • 1 box cake mix. • 2 containers of milk chocolate frosting • 1 tube white decorating icing • 1 tube brown decorating gel • Candy Corn

Directions:1. Heat oven to 350°F (325°F for dark or nonstick pans). Make, bake and cool cupcakes as directed on box. 2. To decorate each cupcake, spread milk chocolate frosting onto the cupcake. Make eyes with white decorating icing and brown decorating gel; add candy corn for the beak. To make feathers, place candy corn on the frosting to look like feathers. If de-sired, add candy corn at base of cupcake for feet. Store loosely covered. source: http://www.bettycrocker.com

Crafting delicious turkey temptationsby Alex Goreing and Molly Thompson

The holidays have finally arrived. Say goodbye to limited bathroom breaks, busy work, busy hallways, and your busy schedule. We can now have a break from wak-ing up early just to sit behind a desk and struggle to stay awake. For a week, we get to relieve the stress of homework and late night studying/cramming for tests. So what, exactly, is there to do to occupy the five wonderful days off of dreadful school? You wake up Wednesday morning without an alarm and find yourself desperately looking for something to do. Luckily, this is the perfect time to get your holiday shopping out of the way. If your family is anything like ours, putting up the Christ-mas tree and other decorations is a must right after Thanksgiving. This is a great way to get some family time in. Since you’ve gotten your holiday decorating out of the way, Black Friday is the perfect opportunity to knock out your holiday shop-ping as well! Since Thanksgiving is the time to give thanks for all that we have, involving yourself in community service is the best way to do so. Your taking initiative will not only make you feel better, but will make someone else’s holiday worth celebrat-ing. If you’re looking to actually volunteer, contact local non-profit organizations such as Salvation Army—they are always looking for the extra help (especially around the holidays!) Go to a local soup kitchen and serve a family their Thanks-giving dinner. It’s the best time to donate warm clothes to local drop-off areas and money to the bell-ringers at the mall. If you’re not into putting yourself out there

and actually volunteering, then another great option is to drive through Noble Park during their Holiday Light Display. Be sure to bring canned goods to give to the donation house when they hand out candy canes! We get it—all of the holiday hoopla isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It’s always fun to curl up in a blanket with some hot chocolate and watch movies—we don’t get the chance to do this often due to the busy schedule of a high school student. Having all of this extra free time, it’s the best time to go into teenage hibernation mode. This means exactly what you think: catch up on the hours of sleep you miss for school, and add some more to the clock. Thanksgiving break is the best time to just relax at home. Now that your little brains are filled with plenty of exciting ideas to do over break, it’s time to begin planning with friends, family, and if you’re volunteering, your community. Put yourself out there if you haven’t before, we promise that you won’t regret it. Try and get your family and friends to join in on the fun as well, It’s never too late to start new traditions! The memories you’ll make over holiday break will be the ones that you’ll always remember, so be sure to make someone else’s just as memorable. Remember that after High School and college, you won’t have these kind of breaks. Think about it like this: you have an entire week to do anything you want; the possibilities are endless! Keep in mind that Thanksgiving isn’t all about stuffing your face with stuffing!

by Yasi Razban and Gracen Wheat

Planning your Thanksgiving break

Photo courtesy of cookingwithmykid.com

In the later years of high school, many students need to carefully consider the possibility of getting a part-time job. This is an important decision with many fac-tors to consider before deciding whether a part-time job is right for you. There are benefits and drawbacks of varying importance to each individual. The most obvious benefit of an after school job is income to pay for the things you want and need. Having income in high school will also teach you the basics of budgeting money and managing time, which are two very important skills later in life. The process of applying and interviewing for a part-time job will give you an insight into applying for colleges and jobs later in life. A part-time job also de-mands that you learn to cooperate with co-workers and superiors. The responsibil-ity necessary for a part-time job makes many teenagers feel more confident and independent.

The most immediate drawback is the time that a part-time job demands. The amount of time available for homework and studying is greatly reduced which could quickly lead to falling grades. The commitment also reduces the time available for social, recreational, extracurricular, and family activities. The responsibility of jug-gling a job and school can be very stressful for busy students. Whether these drawbacks matter to you or not depends on your personal qualities and schedule. If you take five homework heavy classes, play a sport and do a lot of other extracurricular activities, you probably don’t have time for a job. On the other hand, if you don’t have a tight schedule and are in need of money or experience, then the demands of employment are outweighed by the benefits, and a part-time job might be perfect for you. You should carefully consider these factors and make a decision based on what is best for you.

The pros and cons of having a high school jobby Cole Spicer

source: http://www.more4kids.info/