Serving Memorial Since 1962March 2011

MEMORIAL HIGH SCHOOL HOUSTON, TX. WWW.MEMORIALANVIL.COM

VOLUME 49 • ISSUE 6

Watkins voted Memorial’s finest

Like an apple, only better

A Jane of all trades. A Superwoman for the modern

masses. She does every-thing and anything with only the desire to help be-ing her motivation. She is Life Skills Teacher Chris-tina Watkins, Teacher of the Year.

Watkins dedicates her-self to her students, making sure they have the skills in life they need. By helping them develop

social skills with their fellow classmates and a good work ethic, they are prepared for a life where they can help support themselves.

She takes them around the school to converse with students and staff members, and others have noticed.

“People see when you’re out and about on the campus, talking with the students,” Watkins said. “They see you trying to teach them good things.”

Watkins and David

Leeder teach the Life Skills class of thirteen students. On top of this responsibility, she keeps her weeks busy all year

Protests launch revolutions

Fund set to honor Matthews

In memory of Chris Matthews, the girls soccer program has decided to begin a fund in his honor, focus-ing on assisting his family with the medical bills associated with his passing.

Matthews left behind a wife, three children, and the many stu-dents and soccer players who held him to very high regard.

“I have heard stories about him and how much he was loved,” se-nior Erin Hall said. “He was a great person, coach, dad, and husband.”

As Stratford High School girls’ soccer coach, Matthews, was an inspiration to all in the Stratford area as both a coach and a role model.

He tragically passed away on Jan. 30 due to head trauma. Many students and friends were deeply saddened, as Matthews was a very powerful inspiration.

“Our team is really close, so we’re leaning on each other and God to get us through,” Stratford junior Alyssa Johnson said.

“We spend as much time togeth-er as possible and just continue reliving past memories with Coach Matthews.”

To kick off this fundraiser, the girls’ soccer team plans to raise money before playing against Stratford on March 22.

They want to create t-shirts and bracelets with the engraving of “Play For Coach Matthews” in his honor.

The proceeds from this event are

By Emma Mattson Reporter

For the people of Egypt, Jan. 25 was not just a regular Tuesday. It was the dawn of a new day in their country, a new page, and the first step in a revolution that

would reshape their world. With thou-sands gather-ing in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to protest, the day was a shift towards change that could not be ignored.

“When the Tu-nisian revolts began, I knew that things would change,” junior Mayar Elabbadi said.

The revolts, though, were cer-tainly more than a day’s sit-in in Tahrir. People in Egypt, many of them young people planning through word of mouth and so-cial networking sites such as Facebook, made plans to protest and make their statements after morning prayers on Feb. 25.

Many protesting there were not oriented towards religious rule or any specific political parties, but were simply tired of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled over the country for nearly 30 years.

Mubarak, who faces accusa-tions of corruption and violent suppression of citizens’ protests, responded by putting the military into action. The population is proud to call this revolution one of the people, unbiased by politi-cal parties or religious opinions.

Among those proud to call

By Abigail GodfreyReporter

see EGYPT, page 5

Mostafa Rizkattends American University of Cairo in Egypt

Photo courtesy of Dena Craig

By Blake Keeling Editor-in-Chief

Dancers Simon Zhang, David Oh and Bryan Lee earned first place honors at the an-

nual MHS Talent Show on Feb. 25. Many students looked forward to seeing them on stage again, after their debut during an earlier pep-rally. Trying to change it up, The Freakazoidz decided to try some-thing new for the show, including a skit, dance routine, and individual performances.

Happy Feet. Juniors Bryan Lee, Simon Zhang, and David Oh peform their dance routine during the Talent Show, earning first place.

Whatateacher. Lifeskills teacher, Christina Watkins, high-fives her student, David Ratterree while playing bas-ketball in the school gym. She has been a member of the Memorial High School staff for six years now and is ackowledged for her positive attitude and patience by receiving the 2010-11 Teacher of the Year award.

TEACHER OF THE YEAR

Helping Hands. Beloved girls’ soccer coach Chris Matthews squats to encour-age his team members. The girls’ soccer team is now raising money to contribute to the cause.

see MATTHEWS, page 5

see WATKINS, page 5

Kelsey Smith

Mary Helen Klingen

Recent Recipients2011 Christina Watkins

2010 Patti Nommensen

2009 Bingiee Shiu

2008 David Leeder

2007 Gail Hassid

2006 Pam Calder

2005 Kim Buffey

2 NEWS THE ANVIL MARCH

NEWSIn Brief

Look sharp, wear your flats

Tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Don Cole-man Coliseum,

the district orchestras will play in the annual Orchestra Festival. The festival is for all SBISD schools to come and en-joy playing their music together.

“It will be interesting playing with the middle and elementary schools,” junior Michael Bone said. “Especially because many of us re-member playing with the high school when we were younger.”

Every year the orches-tras of all the districts from elementary to high school perform together. Each group plays their own pieces, and then everyone plays a giant number together. This year’s piece will be “Ode to Joy.”

“The skill level definite-ly varies between all of the schools,” junior Connor Waughtal said. “But it is cool with the large amount of instru-ments on the floor.”

The students in the el-ementary schools will

play songs from their beginner Suzuki books, middle schools will be split into beginner and advanced, and high school plays in one large mass. The festival is over a span of two nights.

Memorial will be play-ing with Northbrook High School.

“Playing with North-brook gives us the chance to play with peo-ple we are not used to being around,” freshman David Cremmens said. “I think it will be interest-ing to hear their style of music.”

This festival often brings back memories for the upperclassmen in the orchestra.

“We obviously play much simpler music with the younger kids but over all it’s fun,” Waughtal said. “It is amazing to think how far you’ve come when you look at those middle schoolers and remember you were once one of them.”

In addition to the mu-sic, awards are also giv-en. Orchestra director, Bingiee Shiu will give out the “Sprit of the Memo-rial Orchestra Award.”

This year’s orchestra is

playing a piece com-posed by senior Danny Cho. Cho won the com-position contest in Dec. 2010.

“Back in 2002, when I lived in Korea, I de-cided to compose my own piece,” Cho said. “I called it ‘Reminiscence 2002.’ When I moved here to America and my orchestra director told me about the composi-tion contest, I was fasci-nated with it and wanted to submit my piece.”

The Orchestra has been hard at work rehearsing Cho’s piece.

“So far we’ve been re-hearsing it every day in class,” Vickers said. “They’re pretty inter-esting, and considering that they were written by students around the age of 16, they sound really good.”

The festival will be open to the public, and the Orchestra is encour-aging all the support that they can get.

Orchestra gears up for festival

By Kirby SmithReporter

The Swearing Sailors have captured the attention of many with their loud cheering student section.The High School SportZone has ranked them as one of the top 10 basketball fans in Houston for their intense devotion to the basketball team. If you want to vote, send the word memorial via the e-mail zone@kube57.com to nominate our own sailors for the title of best high school basket-ball fans. The winner will be announced on March 14.

Stringing away. Playing her instrument, freshman Tiffani Smith is hard at work practicing for the upcoming district festival. The festival will be held tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. at Don Coleman Coliseum.

Travis BonnerThe Talent Show was held on Feb. 25 in the auditorium. The Freakazoidz took home first place. Camille De Los Santos placed second and Tim Kleinhenz received third place.

The Memorial High School Theatre department hosted a bake sale and car wash on Saturday, March 5 from 9 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. Theatre students volunteered to wash cars and bake and sell sweet treats. The pro-ceeds from this fundraiser will help to raise the $50,000 needed to cover the costs of the theatre trips this sum-mer. The theatre department is traveling to Scotland to perform at the Fringe Festival and also to Nebraska to compete at the National Thespian Festival. While the bake sale did not raise the full amount needed, it was succesful in helping the department reach their fundraising goal.

Theatre Car Wash and Bake Sale

MHS Talent Show

Swearing Sailors Get Recognition

3ADSTHE ANVILMARCH

4 ADS THE ANVIL MARCH

5NEWSTHE ANVILOCTOBER 5NEWSTHE ANVILSEPTEMBER 5NEWSTHE ANVILOCTOBER 5NEWS THE ANVILMARCH

WATKINS: Named Teacher of YearCONTINUED round.

Every Sunday, she teaches toddlers at church, and has done so for 16 years.

She also tutors young students Mon-day through Thursday nights, babysits on Fri-day and Saturday, has detention duty Monday through Wednesday and teaches swimming all year round.

“I love to work. I love to be around kids,” Wat-kins said.

With all of the work she willingly does, she never fails to recognize the ef-fort of her students. They are put to work in class to prepare them for jobs in the real world.

They do packing jobs, including mailing sub-scriptions for the school

CONTINUED Egypt home is Mostafa Rizk, a 2010 MHS graduate who now attends the Ameri-can University of Cairo and currently lives in the capital.

“This has no leader, no politics, no face behind it,” alumnus Rizk said, “It’s by the people and for the people.”

One person who chose to encourage this idea in particular was a citizen who went by the name “El Shaheed” which translates to “The Mar-tyr” in Arabic.

El Shaheed created a

Facebook page to help spread the word about the revolts and has since been identified as a Google executive, Wael Ghonim. With 29 per-cent of Egypt’s popula-tion under the age of 30, this seemed like the ideal way to spread the word.

“Right now the Egyp-tian people need to make the right changes towards freedom, while respecting the laws that keep everything safe,” Elabbadi said.

While the revolts con-tinue internationally, the world can only wait to

see what will happen. Until then, news re-

ports will keep the world informed. Mumbarak, after encouragement from protestors and other political leaders, stepped down on Feb. 11. This was met by much rejoicing from protest-ers.

“It is by standing united and thinking of what’s best for the people be-fore anything else that this is happening,” Rizk said.

“There is so much that can be learned from all of this.”

Hands on Learning. Christina Watkins helps her students Andrew Keith with every activity to ensure his best understanding. Watkins takes her job very seriously to help her kids get the best education possible.

newspaper. When they have proven themselves, the teachers help them get a job.

“Words can’t explain how proud I am,” Wat-kins said. “It seems every year my kids are more on target. They want to do better everyday.”

Her fellow staff and peers recognized this work ethic in her when they cast their vote. Not only are they recognizing her accomplishments, but they have been glad to work along side her.

“It’s an honor to work

with Ms. Watkins,” Leeder said.

“She holds the kids in the highest esteem. Ev-eryday she sets a new bar for our kids to achieve. We may not celebrate everyday, but we work hard.”

He’s not the only one who sees these qualities in her. Her own students appreciate the time and effort she invests in them. When asked if she was happy Watkins was her teacher, Diana Mat-lock smiled and said,

“Yes.”

MATTHEWS: fund to honor fallen coachCONTINUED going to assist his family with the medical bills associated with the incident.

“We wanted to do something special for their team and help them out while they’re going through a hard time,” ju-nior Reagan Porter said.

Stratford is also partici-pating in the efforts after raising money at their Kingwood Park game on Feb. 11.

At that game, the team cooked 800 plates of burgers with the pro-ceeds going toward Mat-thew’s fund.

Community members filled the stands to sup-port the players and pay tribute to Matthews’ pas-sion for his players and the sport.

Stratford’s first district game was Feb. 11, and all of the ticket proceeds went to the fund, accord-

ing to senior Emma Mi-ertschin.

Matthews’ sudden pass-ing has been a shock to the community, but the team has grown closer through the experience as they continue striving to honor his name.

His life has made an impact on many and he will always be remem-bered as a great coach and an even better role model.

Plowing the field. Senior Aubrey Kirkpatrick skillfully dodges junior Becky Allums while holding the ball tightly in her grip. Kirkpatrick played as the quarterback for the senior team in the pow-derpuff football game during Junior Bash week.

Mary Helen Klingen

Jaclyn Worbets

EGYPT: Protests for change

”“Words can’t explain how proud I am. It seems every year my kids are more on target. They want to do better every day

- Christina Watkins

6 SPORTS THE ANVIL Mar.

SCOREBOARDSCOREBOARD

After months of hard work, dedication, endless train-ing and preparation, the

swim team swam at the state level in Austin, Texas from Feb. 18-21. The girls, having placed 2nd at Re-gionals and District, placed 8th at State, a step up from their 2010 9th place record. The boys, after plac-ing 5th at Regionals and 2nd at Dis-trict, placed 15th at the State Meet.

To prepare for the State Meet, the team has been practicing hard since last year by training nearly ev-ery day. For two hours after school, the girls and boys swam about three-and-a-half to four miles. During the championship season, they began to reduce their yard-ages and dry land activities, which is known as the “taper season.”

“We focus more on the little things that matter most during races like turns, starts, finishes, and relay ex-changes,” coach Jason Mauss said. “This is the fun part of our season since we get to swim our fastest.”

The swimmers also mentally pre-pare individually outside of practice.

“To prepare for state we try to stay hydrated, carb up, visualize our races, get enough rest, stay re-laxed, and just pump each other up for our races,” sophomore Kelly Denkler said. “It’s a lot of pres-sure but we have so much fun to-gether and support each other.”

All of this hard work paid off for the individual and relay swimmers.

Six girls and five boys made the All-State team which is made up of the top 24 times per event in Texas.

Many also achieved Automatic All-American times. The National Swim Coach Association sets a time stan-dard based on past results from the 22 events. The top 100 are then selected as All-American from the automatic time standards. Senior Harrison Rob-inson was one of the swimmers achiev-ing Automatic All-American times.

“The end result of all the effort and training I put in for swimming is re-warding because I got to swim at State,” Robinson said. “I’m so proud of our team for making it to State; it was an accomplishment in itself.”

Senior Rachel Moody, junior Shelby Shelton, sophomore Danielle Yoon, and Denkler earned an automatic All-American time in the 200 Free Relay. The girls 200 Medley Relay, with se-nior Hannah Cooper, freshman Briana Burns, Yoon and Moody, also earned an automatic All-American time.

“My individual goal was to place top eight,” Cooper said. “But I got ninth. My time was fifth fastest over all though, and my 56.0 got a new school record!”

Individually, Burns, Moody, and junior Harris Pritchard improved greatly throughout the season.“Briana has come a long way in a very short amount of time in swim-ming,” Mauss said. “Harris dropped about 4 ½ seconds in the 100 Breast this year and broke the one min-ute mark. Rachel worked hard the whole summer and season, which has paid off by her winning the Re-gional meet in her 100 Breast event.”

Despite the different district the school is in this year, the swimmers were ready. They prepared all summer

and season for the challenging Katy and Strake district, knowing they would have to be ready since many of the best swimming schools in the state were in their new district. Be-cause of this, they had to focus more at the district meet and were able to see improvements from everyone.

“We may not have qualified as many to the Regional meet as we have in the past, but we brought a more re-fined team this year,” Mauss said.

This refined team included the se-niors who will be swimming in col-lege, including Cooper who signed at Kenyon College and Robinson who has yet to sign but is hoping to do so.

With the amazing season comes praise from Mauss.

“I’m proud of how much our team spirit improved this year as we became more focused on our goal of swimming fast,” Mauss said. “Senior Troy Hep-per kept coming up with awesome cheers to keep everyone focused.”

Overall, the swimmers had a rewarding season, advancing 11 swimmers to the State lev-el with 5 of them earning gold medals at the Regional meet.

“It continues to be an honor to coach some of the best ath-letes at Memorial,” Mauss said.

With their season wrapped up, the swim team is looking towards not only water polo but is also looking towards the future in swimming.

“My goal for next season is to have all three girls relays make it to state,” junior Eliza Bornman said. “I hope I’m on one of them!”

STUDENTS WIM TOTATE

Strokin for state. SeniorRachelMoodycompetesinthe100Breastevent.Moodyalsoswaminthe200MedleyRelayandthe200FreeRelay.“Itrainedsohardforthismeetthrough-outthesummerandseason,”Moodysaid.HerautomaticAll-Americanawardsprovethatthisdedicationpaidoff.

Shouting for joy.Tryingtopumpuptheirteam,seniorteamcaptainTroyHepperandju-niorsHarrisPritchardandCameronKatoleadtheboys inacheer.Duringthemeet,Heppercon-tinuallycreatednewchantstomotivateeveryone.

Tanya Peifer

By Tess Dennis Adam Mrlik News- Editor Reporter

Varsity BaseballLast Week: Beat Stratford on Mar. 1, 17-8. Won 4 of 5 game in Klein Tournament on Mar. 3-5. This Week: Game against Morton Ranch on Mar. 8, 7:00 p.m. at Memorial. Luftin Tournament on Mar. 10-12.Overall: 8-3 District: N/ABright Spots: The entire team is focusing on working together before district play begins.

JV BaseballLast Week: Won both games against Strat-ford on Mar. 1. Beat A&M Consolidated 11-7, Pasadena Memorial 15-0, and lost to CLear Brook 12-6 on Mar. 3-5 SBISD Tournament.This Week: Beat Morton Ranch on Mar. 7, 21-13.Overall: 7-2 District: 1-0Bright Spots: “The offense has been doing extremally well, and I’m reallly exicted about that.” - Coach Ruse

Sophomore BaseballLast Week: Beat Stratford on Mar. 1, 5-3. Beat Morton Ranch on Mar. 7, 13-5.This Week: Game against Morton Ranch on Mar. 7. Strake Jesuit Tournament from Mar. 10 to 11.Overall: 6-2 District: 1-0Bright Spots: David Hartman and John Waltham have been playing exceptionally well.

White BaseballLast Week: No games last week.This Week: Game against Alief Taylor on Mar. 14, 5:00 p.m. at Alief Taylor.Overall: N/A District: N/ABright Spots: The team is preparing fever-ishly for their upcoming games, and is look-ing foward with high hopes for their season

Varsity Boys SoccerLast Week: Lost to Morton Ranch on Feb. 25, 3-0. Tied Mayde Creed on Mar. 1, 0-0.This Week: Game against Cinco Ranch on Mar. 4, 7:30 p.m. at Cinco Ranch. Game against Katy Taylor on Mar. 8, 4:30 p.m. at Taylor High School. Game against Katy on Mar. 11, 7:30 p.m. at MHS.Overall: 6-6-7 District:2-2-5Bright Spots: Solid play from junior Dylan Betts despite playing out of position last two games.

JV A Boys SoccerLast Week: Lost to Cinco Ranch on Mar. 4, 3-1. This Week: Game on Mar. 8 against Katy Taylor.Overall: 2-10-3 District: 0-8-1Bright Spots: Daniel Tabor has been a leader for the team.

Varsity Boys TrackLast Week: Came in first at the Laporte Bayshore Olympics on Mar. 5. This Week: Next Meet is Mar. 10 at Cy-Creek.Overall: District: N/ABright Spots: The DMR, 800 SMR, 1600 SMR, and 4x400 relays all took 1st place. Jonathin Hardin won the 1600m and Carlos Arias won the 3200m.

JV Boys TrackLast Week: Competed in Cinco Ranch Re-lays, Mar. 3.This Week: Stratford Invitational at Stratford on Mar. 9.Bright Spots: Zach Fairbairn won second place in the pole vault and Jacob Leblanc won 2nd place in the 3200m. Connor McCampbell continues improving in the hurdles.

JV B Girls SoccerLast Week: Lost to Katy Tyalor on Feb. 25, 1-0 .Beat Cinco Ranch on Mar. 4, 2-1.This Week: Game against Katy Taylor on Mar.8, 4:30 p.m. at Memorial; Game against Katy on Mar. 11, 4:30 p.m. at Katy. Overall: 3-4-1 District: 3-4-1 Bright Spots: Sophomore Alexandra Garcia has improved tremendously on defense, and has become a staple on team.

7SPORTSTHE ANVILMar.

SCOREBOARD

Dom Picture

Shouting for joy.Tryingtopumpuptheirteam,seniorteamcaptainTroyHepperandju-niorsHarrisPritchardandCameronKatoleadtheboys inacheer.Duringthemeet,Heppercon-tinuallycreatednewchantstomotivateeveryone.

Ready, set, go! Takingoffatthestart,sophomoreDanielleYoondivesintothewatertobeginherrace.“Iswamthetheflylegofthemedleyrelayandthe100yardbutterfly,”Coopersaid.

Flying to finish. SeniorHarrison Robinson does thebutterfly stroke, racing to fin-ishfirst.RobinsonreceivedanautomaticAll-Americanaward.

Tanya Peifer Tanya Peifer Tanya Peifer

GIRLS BOYS

Danielle YoonRachel MoodyShelby Shelton

Kelly DanklerHannah Cooper

Briana Burns

Harrison RobinsonJason BoCameron KatoTroy HepperHarris Pritchard

TOP TIMERS

Margaret Rogers

H2-gO. Swimming the butterfly stroke, seniorHannahCoopersplashesthroughthewaterinherrace.“Mygoalwastoplacetop8atState,”Coopersaid.“ButIgot9th,andI’mhappy.”

Varsity Softball

Last Week: Lost to Morton Ranch on Mar. 1, 4-1. Lost to in LCISD tournament on Mar. 3, 5-2. Lost to to Mayde Creek on Mar. 4, 2-1 . Won LCISD tournament on Mar. 5. This Week: Game against Cinco Ranch on Mar. 8, 6:15 p.m., at Memorial. Game against Katy Taylor on Mar. 11, 6:15 p.m. at Memo-rial.Overall: 8-12 District: 0-2Bright Spots: The team won the Silver Divi-sion Championship at a Mar. 5 tournament.

JV A SoftballLast Week: Beat Morton Ranch on Mar. 1, 6-1. Beat Mayde Creek on Mar. 4, 18-1.This Week: Game against Cinco Ranch on Mar. 8. Game against Katy Taylor on Mar. 11.Overall: 5-1 District: 2-0Bright Spots: The entire team has been doing well and is looking forward to a good district season.

JV A Girls SoccerLast Week: Beat Mayde Creek on Mar. 1, 6-0. Beat Cinco Ranch on Mar. 4, 2-1.This Week: Game against Katy Taylor on Mar. 8. Game against Katy on Mar. 11, 5:45 p.m. at Katy. Overall: 2-5-3 District: 6-1-1Bright Spots: Maddy Sherwood and Riley Resse have been playing well defensivly and Ellie Smith and Meredith Cooper have been playing the best offensivly. Rachel Moore and Lauren Hackworth have im-

Varsity Girls SoccerLast Week:Tied to Mayde Creek on Mar. 1, 1-1.Won against Cinco Ranch on Mar. 4,2-1.This Week: Game against Katy Taylor on Mar. 8, 7:30 p.m. at Memorial. Game tonight against Katy at 7:30 p.m. at KatyOverall: 2-1 District: 4-3-1 Bright Spots: Emily Donnan is a consistent leader. She always gives 100 percent.

Varsity Girls LacrosseLast Week: Lost to Kinkaid on Mar. 2, 7-13. Lost to St. Edwards on Mar. 6, 10-11. Beat Westlake on Mar. 6, 16-6. This Week: Game against Episcopal on Mar. 10.Overall: N/A District: N/ABright Spots: Junior Lindsay Adams played exceptionally well defensively in the Kinkaid game, and senior Hailey Simmons played well on the offensive end.Varsity Girls TrackLast Week: Finished 4 overall in Memorial’s Will Taylor Relays.This Week: Mar. 11 meet at Clear Creek.Bright Spots: The 3200m re-lay team (Katie DeAlvarez, Caroline Sladic, Margaret Vonderhaar, and Sydney Hamp-ton) set a new school record of 9:35.21. The shuttle hurdle team (Taylor King, Faith Tolson, and Melissa Caldera) finished 1.The Distance Medley Relay (Sladic, Heitkamp, DeAlvarez, and Hampton) set a new school record at the Kingwood meet on Feb. 19. JV Girls TrackLast Week: 1 at he the Memorial Invitational.This Week: Stratford Invitational at Stratford on Mar. 9.Bright Spots: Anna Ngyuen, Kari Holagre, Angela Reid, and Jordan Trammell have been performing well in the relay races.

8 SPORTS THE ANVIL MARCH

So how ‘bout them Packers? …That is who won, right? The guys in green? Oh, forget it. My name is Sara Khan, and I am a sports illiterate.

It’s okay, I’ve come to accept it. Not having the faintest idea who won the football game last Saturday is almost liberating; there’s no pressure to give my alle-giance to any particular team or deliver thought out analyses of the past season. Instead, I cruise down halls, a lone figure cutting a path through a crowd garbed in a mul-titude of college-related colors.

That’s not to say that I have no sports experi-ence whatsoever. If you want, I’ll gladly show off my collection of primary school soccer trophies, hard earned at hours hovering uncertainly near the goal as a hap-less defender (although, if we’re being honest, most of those trophies were awarded for my excellent bench warm-ing skills).

But those days have long past; the only tro-phies I’m winning these days are the occasional debate award (although I’m plenty proud of those, too). These days I am content to luxuri-ate in my sports clue-lessness. They say that ignorance is bliss, after all. I just simply fail to see the draw of watch-ing a bunch of large men thunder down a field in pursuit of a ball; can’t we just play a nice round of Halo instead?

I know that I may just be written off as bitter about my lack of athletic ability, any semblance of upper body strength, and inability to under-stand football, and to the haters I say: you’re right. “I would get off the couch, if the donut glaze on the backs of my thighs hadn’t hardened into a thick paste, for-ever yoking me to the sofa,” to borrow a line from the fashion blog Go Fug Yourself. Per-haps the day I free my-self is the day that I join the sporty legions of this glorious nation.

By Sara KhanOnline Editor

Touchdown, homerun,

goal...WHAT?

After an immensely successful year in 2010, the varsity baseball team is more than ready to catch a winning season.

With some great returning players, as well as some new ones, the team appears strong and ready to face the season ahead.

“There are some awesome new players on the team this year with immense amount of promise, but we’re all really excited to play with four-year letter, Wayne Taylor,” junior Ben Carl said.

Practice is held every day during seventh period as well as after school. The team is practicing with the same winning strategies that helped them successfully complete their season last year. This includes daily batting, fielding and catching practice.

“We try to make every practice as game-like as possible so that when different situations present themselves in games, we’re well prepared,” junior Beau Rathjen said.

Although the team contains many returning players, there are also

some new prospects as well. These first time varsity players will bring some fresh competition to the other teams.

“The hype of being on varsity this year is pretty nerve racking, but it’s exciting too,” sophomore Kacy Clemens said, “I’m really looking forward to the season.”

This year will be the first time that the team will be playing against their new competitors in the Katy district.

Although this change in the competition will force the team to work extra hard, they are looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“This year, as we are faced with more challenging opponents, we as a team will have to practice harder and be more focused on improving,” senior Wayne Taylor said.

Although the season is just beginning, the team is already in full swing.

“We’re really eager for the games to finally start,” Rathjen said. “All of our hard work is finally starting to pay off with some wins.”

In the last week of February, they had their first four games, two of which they won by shutting out the opponents.

So far, the team has won eight out of the eleven games that they have played.

Last weekend in the Klein Tournament, the team won two out of their three games, beating Brazoswood 17-2, scoring eight runs in a single inning twice.

“We did really well

in the tournament, especially in the game against Brazoswood. Hopefully we can continue our good record throughout the rest of the season,” junior Ryan Doyle said.

Their chaotic schedule, involving practices nearly every day and two or more games per

week, will prepare them well for a deep run in the state playoffs again this year.

“We have high hopes to possibly win the State Championship this year,” Carl said,

“Hopefully without our great players that graduated last year we can still go far.”

By Kimberly LandaReporter

Baseball works to hold No. 5 state rank

Pitching for the win. With all his strength, sophomore Kacy Clemens earned the win against Stratford on March 1. The Mustangs dropped the Spartans for the second time this season, 17-8.

Travis Bonner

As the school year dwindles down,

the boys soccer team looks to make a name for itself with the play-

offs lingering only a month and a half away and four games remain-ing on their regular season schedule. Var-sity lost in a 2-0 affair against Cinco Ranch on March 4, and will need at least three more wins

to keep their postseason hopes alive.

In the first half of dis-trict, the boys varsity squad conceded only a single game to Strake Jesuit, the defending state champs, and were ranked second. A loss to Morton Ranch on Feb. 25 dropped the boys to fourth in district, but still left them very much in the runnings for playoffs.

The boys are led by head coach Jason Zim-merman and co-cap-tains Adam Inurria and Scott DeLone, both se-niors, and sophomore Josh Durham, who admit that they would be dead last in district without their coach.

“Coach Zimmerman really knows the game,” Durham said. “His en-thusiastic pep talks get us going when we are down in games, and I give him almost all of the credit when we win.”

The boys 3-6-5 record has nothing to do with

a lack of talent, but a lack of the players them-selves. From injuries to red cards, they have not played a single game with all the players at their disposal.

“We have a very strong team, stronger than most people think,” DeLone said. “We have just had a lot of trouble keeping a full roster on the field this year.”

Even with a limited ac-tive roster, Durham and senior Siegfried Casar helped the team start off district the right way with nine combined goals in the first five games. The boys have scored the most total goals in the district, in-cluding the single goal in the past five games.

Varsity looks to turn the season back in their favor with a win against Katy Taylor on March 8, which would possibly move them to third in the district. There are still four district games remaining, and the boys need to win at least

three of them to keep their playoff hopes alive.

“We really need to get back into the win col-umn, and a victory over Taylor [this] Tuesday would be a huge confi-dence booster for our remaining games,” De-Lone said.

The last game of the season will be against Strake on Mar. 22 on Memorial turf. Depend-ing on the preceding games, the final match could make or break the opportunity to play in the postseason.

“The Strake game is on the last Friday of spring break, but I hope we can still draw a big crowd, because the fans may provide the spark to help us clench the game and make the playoffs this season,” Inurria said.

Memorial has yet to lose a home game, and playing on their own grounds will give them an advantage over the number one ranked team in the district.

Soccer fights for 19-5A playoff spotBy Chase HudsonCo - Sports Editor

Fighting for the ball. With defenders at his side, se-nior Pierre Poupeau attempts to gain possession of the ball. Poupeau has played soccer since his freshman year.

Blake Keeling

9ADSTHE ANVILMARCH

Offer expires 8/31/11. Valid only at Red Mango City Centre. Not to be combined with other offers. No cash value.Not for resale. Limit one coupon per person, per order, per day. ©2011 Red Mango, Inc. All rights reserved.

now open

$1 OFFyour next Red Mango purchase!

Bring in this coupon and enjoy

801 Town and Country Blvd, Ste. A130

(Located in the heart of City Centre right next door to the open courtyard)

facebook.com/RedMangoCityCentre

redmangousa.com

Editor in ChiefBlake Keeling

The ANVIL is published monthly by Memorial High School Publications and uses high school-appropriate advertising to offset costs. The ANVIL is a nonpartisan newspaper.The Editorial Board writes an unsigned editorial which represents the opinion of the entire staff. Spring Branch Independent School District and MHS cannot discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or handicap in its educational, career and technology education programs, services or activities as required by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1973. The ANVIL is copyright 2010-2011 by MHS publications, all rights reserved. No portion may be reproduced by any means without written consent from MHS Publications. Subscriptions are available for $25 per year. The ANVIL is printed by USA Printing and is designed by students using Apple Macintosh computers, Adobe InDesign CS4, Adobe Photoshop CS4. The ANVIL is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, the Columbia Scholastic Press League and the Texas High School Press Association. The ANVIL welcomes letters to the Editor. Please enclose your full name (which we withhold upon request) and the telephone number. We reserve the right to edit all letters. Please bring letters to room R-204 or to the address on the left.

Adviser: Todd McCardleTHE ANVIL

Memorial High School 935 Echo Lane

Houston, TX 77024713-251-2500

Principal: Patti Pace

Callie Carson

Co-Sports Editor

Carson White

Co-Ent.Editor

The People Behind

The Anvil

OPINIONS THE ANVIL MARCH10

Tanya Peifer

Opinions Editor

Jaclyn Worbets

Photo Editor

Kelsey SmithCo-Ent. Editor

Tess DennisNews Editor

Online EditorSara Khan

Assistant EditorMary Helen Klingen

Chase Hudson

Co-Sports Editor

W

RIE

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W

SE

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Reporters: Abigail GodfreyAdam MrlikArman AvasiaCaroline SladicEmma MattsonEmmalee BergezKimberly LandaKirby SmithNick PohlSahar Sadoughi

Staff Artist:Jennifer Fan

Ads Manager:Emily SnowPhotographers:Bailey TsuruMakenna Van LiewTravis Bonner

Philadelphia, Pa.- A man entered

Verona Pizza on monday and dumped a bag full of live

mice in the restroom to sabotage the establishment. The owner

turned the bag over to the police who called the incident “food

terrorism by mice.”London,

England- Many day spas have began to offer fish

pedicures as a popular alternative to exfoliating. The

toothless fish, Garra ruffa, sucks off dead skin. Health officials

are investigating possible risks of infection.Tennessee-

An elderly couple who own two emus tried

to deduct the cost of feeding the birds in their tax returns.

The courts made them pay even though they occasionaly sold the emu feathers because it

did not qualify as a business.

The rest is still unwrittenGrowing up, everyone always told me I would “just know” what col-lege I want to attend or what I want to do with the rest of my life. But as I get closer to making those life-altering deci-sions, I realize that they couldn’t have been more wrong. I have never had a certain school in mind, and my career goals are constantly changing. I envy kids who went through their entire childhood dedicated to attending the college of their dreams. I, on the other hand, am not fixed on a particular path or any path for that matter. Some might call me un-prepared or indifferent, but I prefer to label it as “totally and completely unsure.”

With one SAT behind me (and many more to

By Emmalee Bergez Reporter

come), I frequently find myself wondering if I should take some prep classes, or possibly open one of those practice test books. I keep hearing my friends talk about the tricks they have learned and all their preparation for the exam that will “determine our futures.”

Although I recognize the importance of college admissions, I can’t help but realize that I have no clue where I want to go or what I want to do. Un-like many, I’m not one of those hard-core fans of one specific school. I have never been to a col-lege football game and I don’t know a single bat-tle cry or game tradition.

My opinions on colleg-es are strictly products of a few unhelpful tours, most of which consisted of my parents parading me through the schools’ bookstores rather than

actual tours. When people ask what

my future holds, I just shake my head and laugh. As a second se-mester junior, I should know, right? But is there really a good answer? Am I really supposed to know where I want to spend four years of my life when it’s a year and a half away?

It’s not that I don’t work hard in school to broad-en my opportunities, I’ve just realized that it’s not the only thing I need to concentrate on. Al-though striving to reach a goal gives me a reason to excel, my motivation for constantly trying my best is not because I’m just “supposed” to, but because that satisfies me.

So really, I’m not fo-cusing on studying for the ACT this month, but rather the two math tests, two history tests,

two physics tests, and five timed writings, pep-pered with quizzes and homework in between, which require my never-faltering attention.

I’m not researching possible majors because I’m more concerned with picking classes for next year. And lastly, I’m not limiting myself to a few schools when the number of universities seems infinite.

I’m taking life day-by-day, still trying to remember to set my alarm at night and pack a lunch. Although col-lege is right around the corner, it’s more impor-tant for me to focus on the “now” and less on the stress of my future. But when the time does come for me to make my decision, I know I will choose the best fit for me, and all that I’m look-ing for. But why now?

11OPINIONSTHE ANVILMARCHTh

eFace Off

I hate to sound like a dried up bag of prunes, but kids these days lack culture. If you need any proof, just flip through the channels to Cartoon Network. While we grew up on the solid, quality enter-tainment of the likes of Dexter’s Labo-ratory, The Powder Puff Girls and The Fairly Oddparents, the standards seem to be slipping. Cartoons have rapidly deteriorated to featuring fat, stupid char-acters who hate school and making fart jokes.

It’s not just that the shows lack sophis-tication; it’s that they lack any meaning at all. I realize that older generations were probably using the same arguments to disparage my favorite shows, but I happened to have found significance in them.

I used to love watching Dexter’s Labo-ratory. With fancy pants inventions that use science to make your wildest fanta-sies come true, frivolous ballet dancing and tantalizing red buttons, what’s not to love? There were never ending shenani-gans and hilarious groans of “Deeeeee Deeee,” but more importantly behind all of that, there was a message. There are many types of smart. Dexter spends hours experimenting and studying and Dee Dee mainly dances around the lab occasionally stumbling upon genius, who are we to say which is better?

Another one of my favorites was The Powder Puff Girls. They were made from sugar, spice and everything nice, but they still knew how to kick butt. They were the darlings of the city and managed to bal-ance their superpower duties with school and family. The underlying meaning here: you can have it all and also...Girl power!

Whenever someone says “I don’t be-lieve in fairies,” a fairy dies. It’s shocking, but true. The Fairly Oddparents aims to convince children of the existence of fair-ies to combat this startling epidemic. By following the life of Timmy Turner and his magical pals, the show brings a sense of believability to fairies. Apart from sav-ing little fairy lives the show also ignites a sense of whimsy and happiness as it reit-erates the magic in everyday life.

As I casually flip through the chan-nels, I can’t help but freeze with shock and horror on the cartoon channels. It is like when you pass a car wreck; you can not help but slow down and gawk a lit-tle. The shows of my childhood are long since gone and to fill this gaping whole the networks decided to throw on some unsatisfying and insignificant goop. If you disagree with me I challenge you to find significance in a show that is named Chum Chum and Fanboy. I feel stupider just writing the title.

By Tanya Peifer Opinions Editor

“The military should be able to

have secrets.”

“Wikileaks does what our

government should because we can’t elect officials we can trust.”

“Wikile-aks forces

corrupt officials and corporations to become clean or be

vilified.”

“National Se-curity shouldn’t

have to be compromised for [free speech].”

JuniorJack Wagner

SeniorDaniel Klein

Those meddlesome

kids

Art by Rachel Bennick

Wikileaks: necessary for democracy

What do you think about Wikileaks?

Editors

Poll: Agree: 4

Disagree: 6

Art by Rachel Bennick

Whether you agree with it or not, it’s impossible to deny the importance of Wikileaks. Its editor-in-chief, Julian Assange, was recently named the most influential person of the year in Time’s reader poll. Wikileaks acts as a force for good in the world by making information that governments try to keep se-cret available to its citizens.

Wikileaks made its first major contribution to the political landscape with a video it leaked of soldiers in an AC-130 gunning down ci-vilians, including reporters for Reuters. The video is in-famous for the casually cal-lous chatter of the soldiers as they shoot their targets. However, it wasn’t until their leak of over 400,000 documents related to the Iraq War called the Iraq War Logs that they became

internationally known.Wikileaks’ detractors

claim that it is harmful to America, and some of the most strident of these crit-ics want to label Wikileaks as a terrorist organization. Its proponents argue that it is performing a valu-able service by providing free information to all, re-gardless of the political repercussions it may face.

While it is true that Wikileaks has published information that is embar-rassing to America, labeling it as a terrorist organization is completely inaccurate. Wikileaks uses nonviolent methods to obtain, review and spread the information it receives. And spreading information is all it does. If we were to label Wikile-aks as a terrorist organiza-tion we would be forced to consider The New York

Times and The Guard-ian as terrorist organiza-tions as well for t h e i r parts in making t h e leaked documents public.

One of the more absurd arguments against Wikile-aks is that it is treasonous. Julian Assange is an Aus-tralian citizen, and there’s no evidence that suggests anyone else on the Wikile-aks team is American.

It’s also important to rec-ognize the positive effects Wikileaks has on other countries, especially those overrun by corruption or ruled by despots. The re-cent revolution in Tunisia , which inspired revolutions across the Middle East, was at least in part fueled by revelations of the govern-ment’s systematic corrup-tion provided by Wikileaks.

Another common tech-nique used against Wikile-

aks is to attack Assange who is currently being accused of rape. These charges reek of a smear campaign; in fact, Daniel Ellsberg, who helped distribute the Pentagon Papers, said “If I released the Pentagon Papers today, the same rhetoric and the same calls would be made about me.”

More importantly, the charges against Assange are completely irrelevant. Wikileaks can and does exist as a separate entity. Any crime that Assange may have committed in his personal life should not reflect on Wikile-aks as an organization.

By publishing secret doc-uments Wikileaks helps empower citizens of op-pressive governments and help inform the citi-zens of democracies.

12 PHOTO ESSAY THE ANVIL MARCH

AnimAlsBy Makenna Van LiewStaff Photographer

Woof! Meow! Quack! Ribbit! Neigh! Oink! Moo! Chirp! Did you know that having an animal friend can decrease blood pressure, cholesterol lev-els, feelings of loneliness and increase opportunities for exercise, social interaction, and survival after a major illness? With those benefits, why not love animals? No matter how small or large, fluffy and cuddly, lovable or shy, skinny or fat, animals never fail to provide comfort when our friends don’t answer our text messages. While most of us may think that animals are mainly used as pets or an accessory, they can evolve to be true friends. We don’t take the time to truly appreciate the animal species and the fact that animals outnumber us hu-mans by millions. We should take a moment to realize how beneficial animals really are to our society. Take a look at these pictures and we’re sure you’ll agree.

Makenna Van liew Jaclyn Worbets

Makenna Van liew Jaclyn Worbets

bailey tsuru

bailey tsuru

ThunderThe Anvil Issue 6 Features/Entertainment

Insid

e

the

is

sue

NEW KIND OF NEW YEARBy Sahar Sadoughi, Emily SnowReporters

Spring CleaningRodeo Stresspage 4-5tpage 3t page 7t

We’ve all watched the ball drop in Times Square on New

Year’s Eve. Most of us were probably wearing silly hats and blowing noisemakers while we counted down the seconds until the New Year along with the reporters and excited New Yorkers on our televisions. Many of us hugged our friends or sent mass texts to our entire contact lists. A few of us got a special New Year’s kiss.

Although New Year’s Eve is fun and memorable, it is usually just a one-night event. Sure, you may have kept your resolutions for a few days afterwards, but the celebration ended soon after the clock struck 12. In many Asian and Middle

Eastern countries, however, this is not the case. Around the world, New

Year’s is welcomed in a series of weeks throughout February and

March.“ C h i n e s e

New Year is a huge

occasion, and it usually lasts for about two

weeks,” junior Simon Zhang

said.

“China celebrates with firecrackers, music, and dragon dances in the streets.”Though the Lunar New Year is not typically celebrated in America to its full extent, many students of Chinese, Korean, and Taiwanese heritage continue to celebrate traditionally.

“We dress up in traditional formal wear known as ‘Hanbok,’” junior Howard Kim said. “Then we visit our grandparents and perform a deep bow called a ‘Saebae’ while we give them a Korean blessing of long life and happy New Year.”

Students of Persian heritage also celebrate New Year’s with traditional symbols such as apples for sweet life, coins for faith, and mirrors for reflection.“It’s always fun to set up symbolic objects on tables called ‘haft sins,’” sophomore Maryam Amjadi said. “The best part is making Persian cookies to go on the table.”

Additionally, many Persian students celebrate at festivals like the one given annually by the Iranian Culture Foundation at Discovery Green Park. “Last year the festival was really exciting,” sophomore Golbou Shariatmadar said. “I loved listening to the live music and celebrating with the Houston Persian community.”

However, Persian students particularly emphasize the importance of both immediate and extended family during their celebrations, especially during the countdown to New Year’s itself, which is reminiscent of the ball dropping in Times Square.

“My immediate family counts down until New Year’s Day, or Noruz, together, and then we visit friends and extended family during the thirteen days of celebration after the New Year,” junior Yasi Khanlou said.

Similarly, Asian New Year celebrations also focus on one’s family.

“The New Year is the only time that my entire family gets together,” senior Jane Yoojin Kim, who celebrates Korean New Year, said. “It’s a reunion for parents, children, grandparents,

everyone.”In both Asian and Middle

Eastern countries, the New Year’s often carries some religious or mythical significance. However, even students who adhere to traditional customs do not always accept the cultural beliefs that surround the celebrations.

“This year’s Chinese zodiac sign, the Rabbit, represents peace, warmth, and good relations,” junior Jennifer Fan said. “However, I don’t really believe in this because it came from a very old story that could have just been a myth.”

Whether you celebrate the New Year by watching the

ball drop in Times Square, setting a Persian haft sin table, or exchanging Chinese “lucky money” with family, the holiday is a time for reflection and anticipation.

“The New Year is an inspiration to me because it represents a new beginning,” junior Tekku Kuo said.

”“The New Year is an

inspiration to me because it represents

a new beginning.-Junior Tekku Kuo

”“I loved listening to the live music and celebrating with the Houston Persian community.-Sophomore Golbou Shariatmadar

Blake Keeling

2TTHUNDERTHE ANVILMARCHCH

EMIST

RY

Teachers, contrary to popular belief, do not sleep under their desks at night or hibernate in the cafeteria during the

summer. So what do they do once the final bell rings? Surely it's nothing interesting right. There's no way the same people who assign us hours of homework and fail our tests could possibly find enjoyment outside of tor-turing us, right? Wrong! The truth is, once their students are gone, our teachers go through complex reactions, not unlike the ones they teach us about in chemistry class, altering themselves from one substance to another. Some become mothers, husbands, graduate students, and some even have secret talents and identities like heavy metal band members. So what do your favorite teachers become once they leave? Well you've got two options to find out, and the first involves Google maps and some night vision goggles, so it's probably not a very good idea. The second, keep reading, but a quick warning, prepare to be shocked and take good notes as this is something you definitely don't want to forget.

TEACHERSSecret Lives of

MARY REEDDay Job: Geography TeacherSecret Identity: Geo-cacherThis educator's secret hobby is one most of her students have never even heard of. She's a geo-cacher, a modern day sort of treasure hunter- minus the trea-sure part. Confused yet? The way it works is you find coordinates of a hidden cache and then search for it until you find it, whether it’s buried in the ground or between mounds of junk. Inside the cache can be any sort of trinket, from coins to plastic dinosaurs. "But the main thing is not the object, instead it's the fun in finding it," Reed said. Her students also agree that although this hobby is out of the ordinary, it makes their teacher even more unique. "I love hearing all her stories and the random things that happen," sophomore Ryan Massey said.

SHANNA CIARELLADay Job: English TeacherSecret Identity: Young Life LeaderThis teacher sees many of her students outside of class, leav-ing her identity not-so-secret. She works with Young Life as a leader for sophomore girls. She can often be seen at Young Life events talking with students and has been known to show up at Campaigners to talk with her girls weekly. "I like being a leader because I get to truly know my students not just in class but also as people," Ciarella said. Her students also appreciate the chance to know their teacher outside of the class-room, and when talking to her often realize that “cool teacher” is not an oxymoron. "Having Mrs. Ciarella be my Young Life leader and teacher is really cool. She's a really awesome person and I think that when she teaches her students can see that," junior Meg Carrigan said.

TREVI BILESDay Job: Math TeacherSecret Identity: Hot -Sauce makerTrevi Biles is the definition of a jack of all trades. He juggles teaching, bass playing, riding his motorcycle, and even making his own hot sauces. In fact, his talents are probably more interesting than the hobbies of his students. Biles began making hot sauce 6 years ago when he was dissatisfied with the current ones available. Now he has his own pepper garden, and line of sauces. He "sells the sauces direct to the public at festivals, where it has done really well, winning numerous awards around Texas," Biles said. His students enjoy their teacher’s wild antics and agree that it's interesting to learn from someone with such crazy experiences. "I like that Mr. Biles is so

relatable, it makes his class more enter-taining," senior Connie Gilbert said.

“Don’t they sleep at school? Like under their desks or something, sophomore Ellie Hopper said.

What do you think your teachers do after school?

Photo courtesy of: Mary ReedGet your horns up! Mary Reed poses with the Texas Cheerleaders as part of her Urban Scavanger Hunt, an-other gaming activity she participates in. This involves racing around a city accomplishing different tasks and unscrambling clues to find your items. It's similar to geo-caching but with more of a twist because it's a race. "I love any sort of game activity," Reed said.

“I think they have really cool second jobs, like deep sea fisher-men, with their own secret reality T.V. show,junior Adam Mrlik said.

“I think they all hang out together. And have slumber-parties,”junior Emma Mattson said.

Campaigning! Shanna Ciarella smiles for the camera with some of the girls she leads. In being a leader she is able to relate to and understand her students. "By being a leader, I know my students’ struggles and priorities, and I can teach them in a way that lets them know I care about them," Ciarella said.

Photo Courtesy of: Mason Meador

Fired Up! Trevi Biles shows off his award-winning sauce. Hisoriginal sauce “Big Daddy” is named after the maker himself, who has been called by the moniker by friends since high school. "Also 3 of the other 4 sauces are named after bands that are friends of mine like Flaming Lips” and “High on Fire," Biles said.

Kelsey Smith

””

By Kelsey SmithCo-Entertainment Editor

3TTHUNDERTHE ANVILMARCH

Every year over 2,000,000 Texans pull on boots and cowboy hats and mozy up to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Most guests come for the carnival, the livestock auctions or concerts, completely unaware to the immense amount of work that goes on behind the scenes. As any member of the cowboy community will quickly tell you, the Rodeo runs on the blood, sweat, and tears of a team of incredibly dedicated volunteers.

“The volunteers are pretty committed,” junior Ricki Reese said. “For the Junior Rodeo committee we work mostly during the Rodeo and right before. For the adult volunteers, though, it’s year round. Rodeo season never ends.”

Despite the hard work, the opportunity to get hands on with one of Houston’s largest

events (and to get one of the infamous special badges that let volunteers get into all the shows, concerts and carnival rides for free) attracts Houstonians from all walks of life, and all age groups. Even a few Memorial students are involved.

“You can’t serve on a real committee until you’re 21 so I’m a member of the Jr. Rodeo committee,” junior Kathryn Hancock said. “We sign up for five shifts a year. They’re about four hours each. We spend them visiting and learning about other real committees and volunteering with them.”

Sounds pretty easy, right? Maybe even a little glamorous? Think again.

“Seeing the other committees usually just means sitting in on their meetings,” junior Kelly Walker said. “Sometimes though we have to do real work like cleaning out animal stalls.”

The free shows and work experience aren’t the only things pulling in high schoolers. A huge part of the appeal for star-struck volunteers is their potential co-workers.

“The best part is being able to work with the people that make the rodeo happen and possibly getting to know the bull riders and the artists,” junior Adam McCauley said.

Of course, working for the Rodeo as a teenager isn’t all gumdrops and lollipops. A position on the Junior Rodeo committee comes with its downsides.

“The only bad part will be when the Rodeo comes and I’m working while all of my friends are having fun at the carnival,” McCauley said.

Obviously not even that is going to scare off Junior Rodeo committee volunteers who, in the end, love seeing the Rodeo from the inside.

2011 Rodeo Lineup

March 11: Lady Antebellum

March 12: Gary Allan

March 13: Tejano Day La

Arrolladora banda El Limon La Leyenda

March 14: Kid Rock

March 15: KISS

March 16: Miranda Lambert

March 17: Zac Brown Band

March 18: Alan Jackson

March 19: Brad Paisley

March 20: Jason Aldean

Rodeo RoundupBy Carson White

Co-Entertainment Editor

Ricki Reese, 11Adam McCauley,11Kelly Walker,11 Kathryn Hancock,11

JR. RODEO COMMITTEE volunteers

4T THUNDER THE ANVIL MARCH

STRESS MESS

Stress Through the Years

Each year brings along its share of fun as well as stress. Freshmen have to deal with the stress of a new school, harder classes and fitting in. Sophomore year introduces cars and driver’s licenses, and all the responsibilities that come with them. Junior year is known as one of the most stressful years and means more difficult classes, AP exams, the beginning of the college admissions process, and class rank worries. Senior year is the most anticipated year of all. A stressful first semester full of application essays, test scores (or last-minute retakes), and the dreadfully long wait to see what schools accept you, doesn’t quite make up for what most would agree is a rather laid-back second semester.

FRE

SHMA

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SOP

HOMO

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School (56%)

Parents (20%)

Work (8%)

Sports (8%)

Social (8%)

By Caroline Sladic, Nicholas PohlReporters

EFFECTS:• chronic fatigue/tiredness • headaches• back pain• depression• procrastination• weight gain or loss• mood swings• panic attacks• lack of productivity

Sources of Stress There are two different types of stress; the fleeting stress that you feel for short term things such as school work, tests, or arguments; and chronic stress, which is stress that occurs over an extended period of time. Chronic stress has many more repercussions and long term health effects. • Social: Anything from the girls-ask-boys dances to weekend parties cause

stress with all the details they entail such as dresses, rides, and dinner plans. Friendship and relationship troubles occur often and long enough to give anyone a headache.

• Family: Most students have chores and obligations that require time and commitment, which can be hard (and unpleasant) to balance with other requirements such as school. Goals and the pressure to succeed or follow in certain footsteps are also a major source of stress especially in overachievers.

• Personal/Health: Falling ill and trying to manage exemptions is stressful enough without all the makeup work and sleep you have to catch up on.

• speech impediments• social withdrawal and isolation• illnesses• loss of appetite• breathlessness• insomnia• acne• cold or sweaty hands

Source: American Institute of Stress

“I try to always think to myself, ‘If you don’t mind, it don’t matter,’ but basically homework and fitting in at a new school is stressful freshman year. Balancing sports and school is tough along with trying to capitalize on your new high school career,” freshman Laurent Chenet said.

What stresses you the most? We polled 25 students to see what stresses them out the most.

MARCH 5TTHUNDERTHE ANVIL

STRESS MESS

“Grades are really important to me and are a huge source of stress, as well as all the stress associated with packing and moving, since I’m about to move soon. To deal with stress I like to run, listen to music, and organize or make a plan,” junior Kelley Dickey said.

“School, and grades are pretty stressful, and it’s also stressful trying to balance my time with everything going on. I like to plan ahead and get things done on time to help reduce stress,” senior Connie Gilbert said.

How to DealExercise

A very wise Elle Woods once said: “Exercise gives you en-dorphins. Endorphins make you happy.” In short, exercise increases endorphins (the “feel-good” transmitters in your brain), causing a happier mood. Doctors and health ex-perts recommend at least thir-ty minutes of exercise a day. Try roller blading with friends, spending the day at Discovery Green, or taking your dog out for a walk.

“You” TimeIndulging in some time just for you is a great way to de-stress at the end of a long day or week. It can be as easy as putting down your schoolwork early for a change, going to bed earlier than normal to get more sleep, taking a bubble bath, or finding something soothing to eat. Allowing yourself some time to do things just for you can be one of the most help-ful ways to lessen your stress load.

Power of the MindBy feeling in control of the situ-ation and maintaining self-confi-dence, you’ll be able to success-fully get through life’s problems. When you hit a major road block in life, you feel like everything is spinning out of control and you can’t do anything. Keeping your sanity can be as simple as con-trolling your thoughts. Research shows that even fake smiling makes you happier. Like the saying goes, “Fake it till you can make it”.

SOP

HOMO

RE

JUN

IOR

SEN

IOR “School itself stresses me out. Not only the

school work, but all the stuff that goes with it, like my social life, extra curriculars, philan-thropies, and sports. The fact that you have to deal with all of that while the whole time the college process is also lingering over my head,” sophomore Taylor Phillips said.

When your hands start sweating, your head starts aching, and your emotions begin to fly wild, it’s time to take a deep breath and relax. All of these symptoms can be caused by stress, whether it’s short term, like right before the big history test, or long term, like when your parents threaten to take away your car (again) if you don’t get your grades up. Just being a teenager brings along enough stress with everything from peer pressure to making ends meet, but add to that the stress of high school, and the load can quickly become too much to handle.

6T THUNDER THE ANVIL MARCH

7TTHUNDERTHE ANVILMARCH

Spring Cleaning

At this point, your room and closet probably do not look like they did at the beginning of the school year. Christmas presents, winter clothes, and a semester and a half’s worth of junk have accumulated to

the point that you have probably forgotten the color of your carpet. Spring is the perfect opportunity to pack away your winter wardrobe, stash your blankets, and get ready for the hail of a new season. Getting your space cleaned out can be over-whelming,

especially if you feel ill-equipped to handle the clutter. But cleaning out doesn’t need to be stressful or expensive. Here are six things that can help get your mess under control and be ready for the new season.

NowWhat?

Post-Its: Remembering everything

in your life can be a challenge. Post reminders to your mirror so

that you can refresh your memory every morning and every night.

(Walmart, $7.43)

{

}

By Callie Carson Co-Sports Editor

{ } { } { }“ Sometimes I get a little lax about staying

organized. But then I see someone whose backpack is a mess, and it prompts me to keep organized.”

- Lisa Zulkarnain, 11

“I just try to keep orga-nized and not let anything get messy because I know that if I do, it’ll be hard to

get re-organized.” - Kai Jones, 10

“I have to clean my room once a week! Otherwise

it’ll get so bad that I won’t even know where to start.” - Sarah Stiff, 11

The Scarf Hanger: This year’s record-breaking cold might have inspired you to

stock up on scarves. Although cute and useful, scarves can be a pain to store. A scarf hanger will get those scarves out of

your drawers and keep them in good condition. You’ll also be able to see all of the scarves in your possession, which is useful

when you need to put together an outfit quickly. (The Container Store, $9.99)

Clear Boxes: They may not be the most beauti-

ful storage containers, but they do allow you to see what’s inside. You should also

label your boxes, but be sure that your labels are removable so you can use them for years

to come. Painter’s tape is an easy to see and easy to remove labeling material.

(Target, $4.08.)

Cellphone: You most likely already have one of these.

Use your cell to help you keep track of your calendar. It’s easy because it’s small, and you always have your cell phone with you. Plus, with the new cell phone policy

practiced at schools, it’s even easier to enter things into your phone

calendar.

3-Inch Binder: Get rid of

all of your messy papers from last semester by storing your old

papers in a 3-inch binder. Label the binder and store it in your closet or on

your desk in case you need to look back over your work in the future.

(Office Depot, $7.29)

Bracelet Holder: Turn your

closet or bathroom into a chic botique with an acrylic bracelet holder. Displaying your bracelets and watches on the holder will make it easier to remember what you have, and perhaps dig out that bangle you

forgot you had. (The Container Store, $14.99)

Photos by Callie Carson

8T THUNDER THE ANVIL MARCH