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Transcript of Oct 31, 2014
@stratfordoracle @spartanoracle
OT H ESTRATFORD RACLE
Friday, October 31, 2014 Volume 42, Issue 3 shsoracle.com
What is your fear factor?pgs. 8-9
Laying the Foundation pg. 6
Chicago in Reviewpg. 10
More Than a Headachepg. 14
There is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting free candy. Trick-or-treating on Halloween provides a perfect way to stockpile candy supplies for the whole year. But are high-schoolers too old to par-take in this tradition? Plain and simple, by the time you reach your freshman year of high school, you’re too old to dress up and take candy from strangers. In case you still need convinc-ing, here’s a few reasons why you should leave the fangs and fake blood at home this year.
1. The people giving out candy are younger than you are.Everyone went through that phase in middle school when it wasn’t “cool” to trick-or-treat. Instead, you stayed home, pretending you were too busy to dress up and go out with your friends. These are the
people that give you the judgmental eyes and the Snickers bar when you ring the doorbell on Halloween. They know you’re too old to be there. You know you’re too old to be there. Why are you still there?
2. It is nearly impos-sible to find costumes that aren’t child-sized. If you’re one of those rare people who con-structs their own cos-tumes then more power to you, but the rest of us lazy high-schoolers in need of a costume tend to go the more tradi-tional route. Problem is, costume stores don’t re-ally carry Elsa dresses in adult sizes. They do have some interesting adult costumes, but that’s a discussion for another time.
3. There isn’t enough time. What with homework, extracurricular activi-
ties, senior college ap-plications, and all the other pressures put on high school students, it’s amazing that anyone can delude themselves into thinking that there is enough time to wan-der the streets of Hous-ton dressed in costume. The little kid who just got the last Kit Kat at the neighbor’s house doesn’t have to study for an AP English test. You do.
4. High school stu-dents just don’t try hard enough. How many teenagers that trick-or-treat ac-tually make an effort to dress up in fun cos-tumes? Not enough. Most of the high-school students you see roam-ing the streets on Oct. 31 are dressed in a simple t-shirt and jeans, paling in comparison to the third-grader dressed as a pi-rate. You look ridiculous carrying your plastic bag instead of a pumpkin to
hold all the candy, and your parents’ friends are definitely taking note.
5. There are better things to do with your time.Go to a party. Watch a scary movie with your friends. Go see varsity football play at Magno-lia West at 7 p.m. In the grand scheme of things, there are so many ways you could better spend your time than dressing up in a ridiculous cos-tume prancing around with nine year-olds.
6. It’s not for you. Trick-or-treating is al-most exclusively geared toward small children. The candy is in small servings, the costumes are tiny, the decorations aren’t that scary, and the average height of partic-ipants is about four feet. The window for trick-or-treating has closed. You had your turn. It’s time to move on.
Editors-in-Chief *Justin Todes
*Scott Kennedy
Associate Editor *Ashley Karolys
Opinions Editors *Emily Fishman
*David Humphrey
News Editors Cameron Henkel
Maxine Tran
Culture Editors Ashleigh Garrett
Olivia Siciliano
Sports Editors Jacqui Comparin
Reporters Taylor Morris
Tina Kang Noelle Flores
Caroline HargerDevin Mitchell
Photo Editors Maggie Vickers
Rebecca Williamson Taylor Brittain
Photographers Arturo Benitez
Abigail Boessling Riley Timmreck
Devin Mitchell Matthew Makowski
Christi Gregory Suzy Frazelle
Gabby Broussard Hannah Davis
Tea SharpKailie Henkel
Ads Editors Abbey Duke
Emily Copeland Sarah Sturgis
Ads Staff Rebecca Tarver
Kendall Marbach Phoebe Lamay
Harper Jones Lindsey Jenkins
Natalie RaleyGrace Heckmann
Emily Brown Lauren Carr
Kara Ferguson Matthew Chavira
Design Editor Victoria Shin
Staff Artists Erica Jeon
Molly Richter Rachel Torres
Allison Rice Claire Pena
Building Principal Christopher Juntti
Advisor Janice Cummons
*Editorial Board Members
The Oracle newspaper is the official, school-sponsored student media of Stratford High School, 14555 Fern, Houston, Texas 77079, 713-251-3454. The Oracle is published monthly by the Journalism Department, and is also available online at shsoracle.com. The newspaper is a member of Columbia Scholastic Journalism Association, National Scholastic Journalism Educators and Interscholastic League Press Conference.
The Oracle serves as a public forum of student expression, and is open to contributions submitted by the readers. Readers may submit material via email to [email protected].
All letters to the editor must be typed and contain the author’s full
name, grade and signature. Submitted material is subject to editing based on space and/or content. The opinions expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, the staff, the administration or the school district.
The staff is responsible for the content of the publication, and strives maintain professional standards of accuracy, objectivity and fairness. The editors reserve the right to determine whether submissions will be published.
The Oracle staff strives to produce a newspaper that covers the entire Stratford community, and welcomes freelance submissions.
STRATFORD ORACLE STAFF 2014-15
Cover Graphic: “The Principals Go Trick-or-Treating” by Paul Brastrom and Rebecca Williamson
Too old to trick-or-treatWhen is enough, enough?OPINION OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD
The Real-life Walking DeadFacing the dangers in the hallsOPINION OF DAVID HUMPHREY In my four years of high school, I feel like there has been one trav-esty that has troubled me more than anything else. It is an injustice that has constantly brought me down and has no reasonable jus-tification as far as I can see. This is an issue that affects the entire stu-dent body, and I believe it is time for it to be put to an end. That’s right: I’m talk-ing about people who walk too slow in the hall-way. Before I offend any-one, let me point out that I am not complain-ing about the people who are physically or otherwise unable to walk at a reasonable pace. I’m talking about the people who choose to walk slowly and make it very difficult for me (and
for others, I’m sure) to get to class in the timely manner I expect and de-serve. I treat the Stratford hallways like an inter-state highway: every-one is in their own lane, there are many exit lanes into other hallways and classrooms, and the sur-roundings and wall fliers are the billboards which, while informative, are not glamorous enough to distract drivers. The only component lacking from our highway is a common speed limit. If everyone were to share this mind-set, stu-dents would be able to make it to class quickly and even socialize with friends once they get to class. But this is not the case. There is an undeter-mined group in our school who treat the hallway as if it is a quaint
farm-to-market road, open for drivers to go whatever speed they want, pause to take in the surroundings, and even stop off on the side to talk to friends and en-joy locally-grown road-side peaches. (Side note: Texting and walking is just as dangerous as texting and driving. If you bump into me and drop your phone because you weren’t paying atten-tion, I don’t really feel sorry for you.) There is a reason why our administrators embrace the “walk and talk” policy. Those who choose to stand around and talk to their friends in the six-minute pass-ing period provide for large traffic jams in our hallways and stairwells, which actually threatens the ability of students to make it to class in the al-
lotted time. You may be think-ing, “Yeah, but that’s just with large groups. I’m okay if I’m just talk-ing to one friend, right?” Wrong. Even two people standing in the hallway can take up the neces-sary space for an entire lane of students to get to their location by their desired time. Make new friends in your classes that you can talk to once you ar-rive to the room. Check your phone once you get to class before the bell sounds so you don’t put yourself and others at risk in the dangerous hallway. If we all embraced these guidelines, the hallways of Stratford High School would be efficient, safe, and en-joyable. Otherwise, just stay out of my way.
Thank you eGraphics
for printing our poster each month ! !
How Harmful is TV, Really?Increased violence in the media could have negative implications on our generationOPINION OF SARAH STURGIS
The Disney Dream
an opinion ofAshley Karolys
Stop Your Snacking and Focus on LearningStudents should leave munching and gulping at the dining tableOPINION OF TINA KANG
We see violence daily. We see it on TV, we read it in books, we see it on Twitter. Violence is impossible to ig-nore, and our generation in par-ticular has become hardened to horrible acts that should shock and terrify us. TV shows are especially guilty of this, and the shows that show explicit material are the most pop-ular. The ratings of violent shows alone show the interests of our television-watching generation. As the future leaders of the world, we need to think before we click on footage that will expose us to graphic violence. TV shows that display this vio-lence have become easy to access, especially with the introduction of Netflix, Hulu, and old fash-ioned television. Anyone can ac-cess hours upon hours of violent images and videos with little has-sle at all. Should these scenes be so accessible to young people? As frequent viewer and fan I feel that I have become addicted to the adrenaline rush I get when watch-ing Dexter trap his next target, or the FBI BAU profile serial killers. In reflection, the interest I take in this violence is a bit concerning,
but for some reason I continue to watch it. Because of this, I find my awareness of violence heightened with the story plots of these shows. Thoughts about being abducted and the profiles of killers are al-ways in the back of my head. I even find myself watching my back in public places.
So as a genera- tion gains the ability to access violent ma-terial, more real-world violence could result in our society, but we aren’t necessarily becoming more violent. We may simply be getting
a better grasp on violence. The ever-growing access to vio-lence, watching the terror of ISIS on the news, or watching your fa-vorite TV show in the comfort of your bedroom makes us more and more exposed to the terror that ex-i s t s in our world, and,
like it or not, it
catches our interest. On social media like Twitter or
Vine, witnessing violence is be-coming so common that people have begun to find it humorous. They see someone with a shovel being thrown at their head in a fight and react with laughter. Laughter.
Why is that we react to some-thing hurtful with giddy laughter? We have started turning to humor when witnessing violence. Are we as a society not mature enough to process the violence, or are we too hardened to the violence being committed that we are unaffected by it? Young kids see these scenes and idolize the perpertrators of the vio-lence. We identify with the human-ity of the characters we have grown to know and love. How do we pro-cess seeing them commit murder
or other acts of violence so eas-ily? We know they are not real and
it’s just acting, but what will this result in throughout our society in the future? How will we raise our children when we have been ex-posed to this in our childhood? Will we change for the better as we mature, or will we self-destruct with de-sensitivity to violence? We don’t know how the world will end up when the children of today be-come the parents of tomorrow, nor do we know how much violence our children could be exposed to. But the prospects don’t seem too hopeful.
Ding! It’s class time, and stu-dents take out their potato chips, aluminum foil-wrapped sand-wiches, and cookies with colorful sprinkles. They open their notebooks and binders and start writing, si-multaneously opening a granola bar. They scribble down what the teacher says, while reaching for a handful of grapes. The noise in the classroom is similar to noise in the cafeteria. Unwrapping, chewing, munching, and endless eating. And much like the state of our cafeteria after lunch, it is inevitable that students will leave some traces of food such as juice spills, cookie crumbs, and wrappers. Some rooms have signs on the door that say “no food or drink” in red, bold font. There is a rational reason for not allowing the stu-dents to eat: teachers worry that swarms of insects will start crawl-ing for crumbs and eventually in-vade the whole room. They also worry that the food students eat to keep their brains
“on” during class will be a distrac-tion. If one student starts unzipping a bag, it grabs the attention of other students. The sweet odor of brownies overwhelms their noses. The noise of munching and crack-ing tickles their ears. They wonder what it is that their classmates are munching and crunching on, and turn their eyes away from their lengthy notes to look at the food. With their focus on the food, the math problem on the board quickly moves to the back of their mind. For busy students who like to get their tasks done as quickly as possible, snacks can be an obsta-cle. They get in students’ way and slow the progress of their assign-ments. An assignment that would take about ten minutes could take an extra five minutes or more if there is an open snack lying on the desk. Time can be wasted when spent unwrapping, taking huge bites, wiping crumbs, and throw-ing away empty bags — all while
trying to write. Carefully balancing a drink bottle on the desk can be a hazard and a distraction. Snacks and drinks also threaten cleanliness. It is likely that pencils will get slippery from oily chips, and notebooks will have huge orange-juice smear on the corner, making the writing blurry. And nothing is more upsetting than having to print an essay again be-cause of an ugly coffee-stain. After enjoying hot Cheetos, many students wipe their sticky hands on their pants and move on for the next page of the notebook. It is distracting to get some nap-kins just to take the spices off their fingers and gather crumbs off the desk. The expected contradiction is, yes, that students eat a lot. They need snacks for their activities such as sports and other extra-curricular activities. But are they eating regular full meals along with those snacks, or are they skipping meals in order to binge with snacks? The typical human is told to
eat three meals a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. These three separate meals should be most of what we consume daily. If we miss one meal, then we fill up on food at the next meal to satisfy our intense hunger. We are also more likely to eat three bags of chips at 9 a.m. if we don’t eat regular meals. Speaking of meals, some stu-dents seem to forget the real pur-pose of lunch. It is a time for stu-dents to refill their stomachs and provide them a break between classes. What use is lunch if stu-dents have already emptied their lunch-bags? If we ate three nutritious meals, then there should be no reason to dig our hands into the snack bag. Still craving a snack during class? Then make sure that wrap-pers and bottle caps are in the trash can, and that the environ-ment of the class stays within the academics. But if you can’t do that, then let’s just keep it simple, put down the snack, and shoot for three full meals.
When you’re a senior, you’re usu-ally thinking about what you want to do for the rest of your life. This decision can be VERY hard for some people, but for me, it was a piece of cake. If you know me, you know I want to be on Broadway more than anything in the world. But what some people might not know, is that before I move to New York, I want to work at Disney World. Now, I know what you’re think-ing. Disney World? Like, the best place to find screaming five-year-olds, feuding families, and random people in big furry costumes? Yes. That Disney World. Ever since I was little, Disney World was my “happy place” and I have always said that if I could live there, I would probably the happiest person ever. I mean, it IS the happi-est place on Earth. Duh. I don’t think people understand how satisfied I am with the thought of listening to “It’s a small world” all day every day and going to the parks for free whenever I want. And not only would I just want to work at Disney. I would want to work as a Disney Princess. So if you ever visit Disney World in the next five years, who knows, you might see me as Belle, Ariel, or any other princess where I fit the height re-quirement. Yup. Disney has height require-ments to be a face character. (Thank you genes for making me short). So yeah, that’s the dream. And it’s not like I’m going to be goofing off in Disney World. Believe it or not, the work experiences you gain at Disney will actually benefit you in the real world, or at least in musical theatre it will. I’ve talked to a couple people in show business who ended up work-ing at Disney at some point in their lifetime, and they have said that it was possibly one of the best deci-sions they had every made because they got to earn more credibility on their resume and grow as a person as well. I would suggest working at Dis-ney World to anyone. Obviously if you don’t want to be surrounded by small children, then don’t, but if you love Disney just as much as I do, I would highly consider working there at some point in your life.
To Vote or Not to Vote - That is the Question
Voting is a fundamental right of a democratic society. Voting is the only way to express to legislators your opinions. Voting puts the incredible power of choosing represen-tatives in the hands of the people. The choice is simple. Why wouldn’t you vote? For some seniors, this up-coming midterm election is the first time they will be eli-gible to vote. Yet, in the 2012 presidential election, only 45-percent of adults aged 18-29 voted. Those numbers are depressing, and must be changed. As young adults, our voic-es need to be represented in government more than ever. Think college tuition is too high? Legislators will never pass laws that put price caps on tuition if high school students do not make their voices heard. They need to be made aware of our genera-tions’ needs. If you don’t vote, they’ll never know. One of the main reasons why high school students do not vote is because they think they are uninformed. For some, this is sadly true. Most voting-age students simply parrot the views of their par-ents, voting the same way be-cause they do not know any better. This doesn’t need to happen. It is very simple to educate yourself on the current issues that will be relevant during the election. Current events websites like CNN, the New York Times, or even BuzzFeed run stories about everything from marriage equality to the war on terror. It’s easy to get a sense of what is going on as the election draws close. Once you’ve educated yourself on the current issues, all you have to do is form an opinion. As a generation, we have no problem expressing our opinions on the Internet or to our friends, so why is it so hard for us to express our opinion in the voting booth? It shouldn’t be. Armed with your newly formed and researched opin-ion, it is very easy to figure out who is running for the
various offices and for what they stand. Most candidates have websites that state their core tenants for all potential voters to see. Take this midterm elec-tion for example. The two major gubernatorial candi-dates, State Senator Wendy Davis and State Attorney General Greg Abbott, both have easy-to-navigate web-sites with a conveniently la-beled “issues” tab with their platforms nicely listed out. Once you are aware of what the different candidates believe, simply pick the one that agrees most closely with the opinions that you formu-lated earlier. It is that easy. Of course, no one is required to do any of this research to vote, it is just an easy way for first-time high school stu-dent voters to inform them-selves of the current issues and how the candidates plan to address them. Deciding which way you are going to vote is probably the hardest part of the whole process. From there, it just gets easier. Many people are confused about voting, or why they should vote, or even how to register to vote. In an effort to demonstrate how easy it is and therefore encourage stu-dents to vote, we registered Opinions Editor David Hum-phrey to vote. In all, the entire process took about 20 minutes. The Harris county tax office’s website was easy to navigate, and all you needed was your driver’s license. Any senior who thinks they cannot vote because it’s too complicated to register is mistaken. On the actual day of the vote, Nov. 4, first-time voters will report to a voting cen-ter to cast their ballots. The centers are open from seven in the morning to seven at night, and the nearest voting location can be found either in the newspaper or online. All you have to bring is the voter registration card you received in the mail following your easy online registration and a valid photo identifica-tion (such as a driver’s license
or passport). There is really no reason why any high-school student couldn’t drop by Meadow Wood Elementary, often a voting center, before or after school and cast their ballot. It would be simple and the whole process would take less than an hour. Many high school stu-dents will claim they do not care about politics, or that the issues debated in this midterm election do not affect them. This is com-pletely false, and it reflects a depressing fact that our gen-eration has adopted a totally apathetic attitude concern-ing the world around them. Voting is just another thing that requires too much effort. It’s not worth my time. My vote doesn’t matter. These are just some of the defeatist arguments that first-time vot-ers use to justify their lack of participation. Your vote does matter Harris County has statistical-ly lower participation rates in elections than other com-parable counties, with voter turnout about 25 percent be-low the norm. We can be the generation that changes that. Harris County is often sol-idly torn between Democrat-ic and Republican leanings, so if you feel at all strongly about either of these parties, it is up to you to express your passions on Election Day. Many historical elec-tions have been decided by just a few votes, such as the presidential election of 2000 where Republican George Bush beat Democrat Al Gore by just five Electoral votes. Those could have been votes from students here at Stratford. Your vote mat-ters, and officials will listen to what you have to say, but only if you make your voice heard. Please take the oppor-tunity to express your funda-mental right as a citizen.
Over the course of hu-man history, democracy has been viewed as the epitome of political s y s t e m s for it grants
p o w e r to the p e o p l e . The very base of d e m o c -racy, how-ever, is cor-rupted by one simple fact… most of you are idiots. Yes friends, it’s true, the bane of America, diploma-cy and, by effect, freedom, is essentially misinformed voters. Let’s be honest, how many times have you heard someone say “I don’t care who wins, politics don’t af-fect me” or “I don’t really care who wins, I’ll just go into the booth and use the ol’ eenie-meanie-minie-moe tactic” or God forbid when someone asks “Hey, who are you voting for, I’ll vote for them too?” If you answered “yes” to even one of those, it’s too many! Eenie-meanie-
minie-moe is used to de-termine what Halloween candy to eat first, not to de-termine who your vote will support. Politics affect everyone
whether you’re Black, White, Hispanic,
Persian, Asian, Pink, Blue, or Polk-a-dots. It’s people
like the aforemen-tioned that cor-r u p t d i p l o -
m a c y
through t h e i r
n e g l i -gence.
Far too often, when at-tempting to discuss politics with other people, we are met by sheer ignorance to what is actually happen-
ing. Many do not care for foreign politics nor do
they have any clue as to international af-
fairs. Last Feb-ruary, the Ora-cle conducted a study where the gov-e r n m e n t s t u d e n t s were given a short e x a m . This short e x a m featured s i m p l e q u e s -
t i o n s about the cur-
rent political state of our country. Simple questions like who controls each house of Congress, or who holds prominent political positions in the govern-ment. Incredibly, the aver-age senior answered less than half of these questions correctly; usually scoring about a 41%. These are exactly the people asking themselves whether or not they should vote. Also, as government students, they are the peo-ple that should be most informed on political mat-ters. It is a bit frightening, but
revealing, that the new gen-eration of voters is so un-informed. With the quan-tum leaps that technology has taken in the last few years, we would expect for this generation to be much more informed on a variety of topics, including politics. Many high school stu-dents do not realize this, but they are vastly affected by the issues that are rep-resented in the ballots. Whether it is textbook con-tent, property tax, speed limits, or school budgets, the issues matter greatly to students, yet they are too ignorant to take notice. It only takes a few min-utes per day to read, watch, or even listen to the news and stay informed. If you have the resources to be-come politically informed, please try your best to do so; but if you don’t know what the word politics means, stay away from the polls, just because you’re 18 doesn’t mean you known everything. High school students do not have the time to vote. It’s a hassle that has no room in our busy schedules. Besides, most high school students will vote the same way as their parents, mak-ing their vote irrelevant. At this stage in a voter’s life, it’s really not worth a trip to the polls. Now, this is not to say that our generation should never vote, but rather that voting should not be a pri-ority for of-age students. Later in life, when they are more mature and in-formed, they can vote on the issues that matter. For now, the fact simply re-mains that 18 year-old high school students wouldn’t know what they are voting for. It’s not worth the time it takes to cast a ballot.
Voting is the only way to make sure your voice is heard OPINION OF EMILY FISHMAN
High school students lack the knowledge to voteOPINION OF ARTURO BENITEZ AND MATTHEW MARTINEZ
GRAPHIC BY ERICA JEON
Do you plan to vote in the upcoming election? Let us know at shsoracle.com, on Twitter @stratfordoracle or on Instagram @spartanoracle
Politics a!ect us, but are we informed enough? Sta!ers share their views
And the Award Goes to... Yale University honors Darrell Pickard for his significant role in counseling STORY BY OLIVIA SICILIANO
Herbet’s
PHOTO BY ARTURO BENITEZ “If someone were to ask me who has influenced my life the most, and I could not respond with the name of a family member, then I would without hesitation respond with ‘Mr. Darrell Pickard,’” writes Nathaniel Barbour, a Stratford graduate of 2013. Now attending Y a l e U n i v e r s i t y , Barbour ex-pressed his gratitude to-ward his for-mer Stratford grade
level counselor, Darrell Pickard, by nominating him for the 2014 Yale Educator Award. The Yale Educator Recog-nition Program recognizes outstanding educators from around the world who sup-port and inspire their stu-dents to perform at high lev-els and achieve excellence. Stratford’s very own, Dar-rell Pickard, has done just that. Barbour mentions in his nomination of Pickard that he is “forever grateful for his passionate efforts.”
Out of the 306 educators nomi-nated, representing 39 states and 20 countries,
30 counselors were selected to receive the award. This honor was
bestowed upon Pickard, to which he responded, “For
(Barbour) to stop and
think of me in that incredibly busy time in his life, that just shows you the kind of person he is.” Pickard has been a class-room teacher and instructor for over 20 years in United States Air Force and in Spring Branch Schools. He became a master instructor in the Air Force while teaching stu-dents as an air weapons di-rector. “I’ve always felt that we are so lucky to be able to live in this country where we have the freedom and the ability to chose what we do... So, I felt like I wanted to give back,” Pickard said. In the Air Force, he was able to counsel and work with a lot of people, and “it just kind of went up from there,” he said. After interning at Stratford in 1994 as a student teacher, Pickard then began his high school teaching career as a 9th grade English teacher at
Northbrook High School. “As a student teacher,” Pickard said, “I had to stu-dent teach in English and Psychology. The people that I met, the teachers that were here at Stratford, it was like a family.” Both teachers he worked with during his internship profoundly impacted him. “What I sensed was, is that the people here (at Strat-ford) not only teach and work hard, they love where they are, and they really care about their students and the school... I knew that during my student teaching that I wanted to be at Stratford.” After teaching at North-brook for two academic years, he transferred back to Stratford to teach English and Psychology. In the fall of 2008, he tran-sitioned into becoming a grade level school counselor. “In any profession that I’ve had, whether it’s Air
Force, teaching, whatever it is, I like the service careers and helping others. Teaching was very rewarding to me,” Pickard said. “One thing I noticed is that a lot of times when stu-dents came up to me as a teacher I would be talking to them about the stress they had in their life or how they’re not being able to do as well in the class... Overtime, I real-ized I wanted to concentrate in that area, instead of just teaching content,” he said. As the counselor for the new class of 2018 this year, Pickard is already setting goals for himself and for students to focus on in their coming years of high school. “If you’re willing to work hard, then I will do every-thing I can to help you get where you want to go. That’s my job, whether its academ-ics, personal things that come up, anything, is that I’m here for you and I’m a
resource that will help guide you to where you want to be,” he said. Personally in his career, Pickard has a passion for what he does, and aims to consistently serve others. “Every student has dif-ferent needs, different goals, different dreams, desires, and my job is not to try to tell them what they should do but to help them discover themselves and what they want,” Pickard said. “Basically, if I looked in the mirror and said, ‘I have achieved what...’, is just the peace of mind that I can look in the mirror and know that I’m doing something to help other people,” Pickard said. Pickard says he wants to be there to help others, and that in doing so he is achiev-ing his goals. “It’s not about me, it’s about reaching out and help-ing out your fellow human beings,” he said.
STORY BY SOFIA JARRARD GRAPHIC BY VICTORIA SHIN PHOTOS BY ELLIE HERMANN & NICK LATIOLAIS
Mention the newly implemented “en-dorsement plan” to any student, and nine out of ten will reply with a blank stare of bewilderment. If by some chance they are in the know, they’re most likely not happy about it. So, what is this mysterious “endorsement plan? “Last summer, the last legislative session that we had, they passed what they call House Bill 5,” fresh- man counselor Darrell Pick- a r d said. “House Bill 5 created a n e w graduation plan for the classes starting with the freshmen this year. To graduate you need to earn 26 credits, you need to take all of the
required courses, plus you have to declare an endorsement.” To put it simply, all freshmen and future incoming classes are required to choose a career-area-specific endorsement. In the state’s attempt to focus students, the plan has left parents and their children in a whirlwind of stress. “I have no idea what I want to do with my life,” freshman Emma Holland said. “I’m worried if I do the business plan and end up wanting to be a doctor, colleges will see that I did the business endorsement on my resume and not let me in.” If all this is true, should students and teachers be worried? We had Pickard clear up some of the rumors.
Non-Restrictive Plan “Let’s say you are a business and industry endorsement, but you also like to be in the-atre, can you still take theatre electives? Yes. It does not restrict you. There’s never going to be a student who walks in and I’m going to say to, ‘well you can’t take that elective because it’s
not in your en-
dorsement.’ That’s not how they work.”
Do colleges and universities care about endorsements? “No,” Pickard said, “This is just a high school thing.” So, if endorsements are not something that lock you into a major, what is their pur-pose? The district must have some kind of motive in implementing the new plan.
Focusing Students “What was happening was, we had too many students going through high school, and they had electives all over the board,” Pick-ard said. “But if you had asked them, ‘ A r e you unde- cided?,’ many of them would say, ‘No! I wanna be a ‘this’.’ But they were leaving out a lot of electives at Stratford that would’ve helped them.” So, this is the endorse-ment’s pur- pose: to help decided stu- dents focus their energy on courses that will help them in college. Pick-ard gives us an excellent sce-nario. “If you re- ally want to be an engineer, and you apply to any school, they’re going to pull up Strat- ford’s profile and see what elec- tives we offer. If you’re serious about being an engineer and you don’t have engi-neering courses in your sched-ule, they’re going to think, ‘OK, this per- son says they wanna be an engineer, but they didn’t take the engineering electives offered at their school. What’s up with that?’ They think, ‘Maybe they’re not as serious about it as they should be.’”
Far-Reaching Benefits Aside from helping students focus, House Bill 5 has created some perks for non-ninth-graders. Along with endorsements, there is a new graduation plan, the Foundation Plan, that is already giving struggling students
newfound opportunities. “Last year, I had all of these people on the
minimum plan. For some reason, they couldn’t be on recommended, because
they were failing math. However, all of these students had enough credits
to be bumped up to the Foundation Plan. They are now able to apply to whatever school they want.” And these are only the House Bill 5 pros that are in action
today. Legislators are hard at work creating new courses for students. “Every endorse-
ment requires students to take an extra math and sci-
ence. But we don’t want arts and humanities students to
have to take calculus. They’re obviously not math people.
Hopefully by the end of this year, there will be alternate math class-es for non-math majors,” Pickard said.
Too Early? Everything sounds great, right? New courses, more options for stu-dents, and opportunities for the less ambitious. However, for many students, the pressure to decide what they want to do is overbear-ing. “Colleges, especially really competitive universities, are get-ting much more selective in who they let into their college,” Pickard said. “A lot of it, whether students get in or not, is the electives they
took to support their core classes.” Fortunately, Pickard provides us with some hope. “There’s a pressure on everyone; every-one’s thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I have to decide my major now,’” he said. This is far from the truth. “Endorsements are nothing more than a tool to help people focus. It’s an organiza-tional way to help students think about the things they want to do. If they’re not sure, they can just be multidisciplinary,” Pickard said.
10th-12th FoundationSTORY BY CAMERON HENKEL
As freshmen are now picking endorsements, many students in higher grades are wondering how they would be affected by the new plan from House Bill 5. In short, the new graduation plan offers no downsides to sophomores, juniors, and seniors. When House Bill 5, the bill that created the endorse-ment plan, was being drawn up in 2013, there was some skepticism that the new law would disrupt the graduation plans of current high school students. Fortunately the bill was worded so that sophomores and up could make use of the new foundation plan. Essentially, the foundation plan is in between the minimum and recommended graduation plans for classes 2015-17. The trouble for students under the minimum plan is that by law, the minimum plan is not sufficient to go straight onto a four year college. Graduates under the minimum plan previously had to go to a two year college first before going onto higher education. With the implementation of the foundation plan students can now graduate and go straight onto a four year college as long as they meet the requirements. Luckily the foundation plan is fairly simple and actually only requires 22 credits to graduate, the same as the minimum plan. The main difference between the foundation and minimum plan is that the foundation sacrifices required electives to fill out more core credits and includes a foreign lan-guage requirement that most students already fill. Additionally, as already stated, the foundation plan allows graduates to go straight into a four year college unlike the minimum plan. Obviously stu-dents should strive to graduate on the recommend-ed plan with 26 credits, but the new foundation plan allows students who fall behind another chance at higher education. After the class of 2017, all new students will fall under the endorsement plan and the minimum one will be retired.
New Graduation Plan Prepares Freshmen
Arts and Humanities. A piece by Rachel Peterson, art electives are perfect for students interested in a Arts and Humanities Endorsement.
STEM. The Science hallway of the school where you can find multiple classes o!ered to earn a STEM endorsement (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math)
LAYING THE FOUNDATIONThe ins and outs of how the state’s new graduation plan works, and what it means for all incoming students
news in brief: food drives, sisters, tamales, and leaders WRITTEN BY KATHERINE AUGENSTEIN
Sister School
This year, Stratford decided to adopt Northbrook High as its sister school. The volleyball team raised money recently to pay for Northbrook’s team to have meals provided before games.
Everybody has heard about the Ebola virus. It’s all over social media, it makes it way into al-most all conversations, but what would Strat-ford do if it came here? “I think I would prob-ably convince my par-ents not to make me go to school. What if that person came in con-tact with someone that came in contact with me?” freshman Julia Gelber said. “If someone were diagnosed right now I think that the appropri-ate authorities should be notified and that the CDC guidelines should
be enforced,” social studies teacher Warren Murphy said. Although it is a pos-sibility that Ebola will make its way to Strat-ford, not many see it as likely. “I don’t think it’s very likely,” nurse Kim Lusk said. “I think people should be more concerned about the flu, which kills thousands of more people in the U.S. and is much more easily transmitted,” Lusk said. Although there have only been a handful of recorded cases in the U.S., scientists at Texas A&M University are working restlessly to
come up with a cure. They developed a drug called Zmapp, which they are waiting to be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Admin-istration for mass pro-duction. Until the virus is un-der control, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention says you can protect yourself by do-ing things as simple as washing your hands and keeping out of contact with blood and other bodily fluids. It is im-perative that you seek medical care immedi-ately if you develop any symptoms.
“Preparing for Ebola”How can you protect yourself from this virus?STORY BY LAUREN BYRAM
7th Annual Tamales
for the Holidays
Support the band and color guard by or-dering delicious tama-les. Orders will be taken starting today until Nov. 25 and the tamales will be available for pick up on Saturday, Dec. 6. Go to stratfordband.com to order online using PayPal or a credit card through PayPal.
Deanna Harrington, a representative for Teen Leader-ship Summit, was interviewed by SHTV, on October 9th. She talked about the upcoming West Houston Teen Leadership Summit for high school sophomores and juniors, that is being hosted by State Representa-tive Jim Murphy. The summit’s goal is to connect students with executives, politicians, and leaders. If you are interested, email [email protected]. Space is limited! PHOTO BY ARTURO BENITEZ
One in every 691 ba-bies born in the United States is born with Down syndrome, but finding out that your soon-to-be sibling or child will have Down syndrome is still shocking. “At first I was sad but after he was born and I saw him, I was excit-ed for a new brother,“ freshman Jacob Berg said.
To Berg, Down syn-drome means “a thing that makes little people happy.“ Down syndrome or Trisomy 21, is a genetic mutation where the body makes a full or partial third copy of the 21st chromosome. Berg isn’t the only one who has a fam-ily member with Down syndrome, English teacher Megan Mennes has a son, Quinn, who was diagnosed with Down syndrome. Mennes is mother to
Atticus (4) and Quinn (22 months). When she was 22 weeks pregnant, she discovered that Quinn would be born with Down syndrome. After this shocking dis-covery Mennes sought professional help. “Coach Hoskovec’s wife [who] was our ge-netic counselor and shared the news with us answered all our ques-
tions in a positive and supportive manner,” Mennes said. Finding out your child will be born with a disorder can obviously be overwhelming and shocking to expecting parents. “We were initially sad and scared, naturally.” Mennes said. “We didn’t know what being special needs parents would entail, and we were har-boring old stereotypes about what Down syn-drome meant.“ Most parents strug-
gle balancing their job and spending enough time with their family, so how can Mennes do both? “I love my job too much to leave the class-room,” Mennes said. “And with the support of Stratford’s incredible administration, faculty, and students, I have a great deal of support to juggle my many respon-
sibilities. I couldn’t do this without all of the faculty’s help.” Last year Mennes’s blog went viral after writing a response to defend Quinn after a man called him ‘ugly‘. If any parent were to read this cruel comment, their natural reaction would be to fire back in a defensive re-sponse. The manner in which Mennes kept her cool was truly admiring. “I was angry at first, but the educator in me saw it as a teachable moment. I didn’t want
to allow that beautiful picture of my son to be tainted by such igno-rance,” Mennes said. Instead of taking it to heart and allowing the negativity to bring her down Mennes looked at it differently. “When someone takes the time to seek out pictures of children with the intent to in-sult, I can’t help but feel
sadness and pity for the individual slinging in-sults,” Mennes said in response to the hateful comment. Mennes said, “Down syndrome doesn’t de-fine Quinn, but it is a significant part of who he is.” Students who are interested in supporting children like Carter and Quinn can participate in the Annual Buddy Walk at Minute Maid Park on Nov. 8. To register visit houstonbuddyrun.org.
The Up Side to Down Syndrome
Author Meet and
Greet
The Darkest Minds
are a collection of books based in a dystopian society much like The
Hunger Games or Diver-
gent. The author of this thrilling series, Alexan-dra Bracken will be in the library from 3:15 to 4:15. All faculty mem-bers and students are welcome to attend on Nov. 3.
Students Fight To
End Hunger
Scaring hunger away was the theme of the an-nual canned food drive. This canned food drive kicked off Oct. 27 and ends today. Canned food drop-offs were at all entrances around the school. “The student council fills backpacks with the cans so that a student that’s been hungry, as notified by Counselor D’Ann Franklin, can have that one,“ student council advisor Mary Jackson said. All cans that are left over at the end of the drive will be donated to the Houston Food Bank. Students who donated two cans are allowed to wear costumes today.
STORY BY SKYLER DOCKUM
Fine Arts Results Pour In STORY BY EMILY FISHMAN PHOTO BY TAYLOR BRITTAIN
The band recently competed in the UIL competition, and both the choir and the or-chestra participated in TMEA (Texas Music Educators Association) Region competitions, all with favorable results. For orchestra, Isa-bella Bengochea, Grace Elphingstone, Max Heit-man, Justin Lee, Yuna Kim, David Mogilevsky, Jamie Song, Kaitlyn Kwon, Brian Lee, and
Annabelle Daniel all made it to Region. Wilson Hui earned first chair for violin and Kevin Han earned sec-ond chair for cello. The band repre-sented the school very well at the UIL com-petition, receiving first place overall. They were the only Spring Branch band to receive this honor. Finally, choir par-ticipated in the Region
competition on Oct. 18, performing very well overall. Eliza Masewicz earned the first chair spot for soprano one, Molly Richter achieved the fifth chair for so-prano two, Phillip Bev-ers got fourteenth for tenor one, Amy Deaton got eleventh soprano two, Matt Elliott, second for bass two, and senior Alyssa Hauser for alto one.
Drumming in concentration. The Marching band drum line focus on playing in concentration at half-time during the Homecoming football game.
“Down syndrome doesn’t define Quinn, but it is a significant part of who he is.” -Megan Mennes
7%Skittles
8.5%Snickers
31%Heights
What scares a Spartan?*
*The statistics shown are the result of 200 surveys completed by students. The percentages on the pumpkins were taken from a section of the survey asking students to mark anything they fear, while the statistics in the section labeled “3 Biggest Fears” were taken from a section of the survey asking students to mark only their biggest fear. To see a full list of the results, visit shsoracle.com.
3 Biggest Fears:Failure — 14% Spiders/Insects — 11.5% Death — 10%1. 2. 3.
Or not to Trick or Treat?
63%
—TOO OLD
—You can dress up or
hang out with friends
without trick-or-treating
—Other things to do
17.5%Kit Kat
Something’s Lurking in the ShadowsStudents share their fears, favorite candies, and Halloween plansWRITTEN BY SCOTT KENNEDY In a world where walking around streets at night while dressed in a disguise can get you arrested, Halloween is seen by many as a sweet release. Costumes and candy domi-nate, but what about the darker side of the popular tradition? The origins of Halloween prove the day has deeper roots than mere trick-or-treating (see “The History of Halloween” on pg. 9), and there’s much more to the day even now. While eight-year-olds prance around in fairy princess costumes, something lurks in the dark of the night and the subcon-scious. Fear.
On an average day, sup-pressing one’s fears is a fairly simple task, but on Halloween, virtually every possible terror is brought the surface. No matter how irrational these fears may be, on a night where ghosts an ghouls fill the streets and stores, everyone is on edge. Typical Halloween charac-ters like vampires and zombies aren’t what really scare stu-dents, however. In a survey giv-en to ten percent of the student population, the fear of failure was most commonly marked as students’ biggest fear. “I’m afraid to fail because failure is a sign of weakness, and I want to be strong,” junior
Evie Morris said. Some of the other most common fears include fears of snakes, heights, clowns, and spiders and insects, which was actually the most common fear among those surveyed. “I was bit by a spider in Cub Scouts, and the troop leader freaked me out because she told me it might be a brown re-cluse,” senior Josh Wright said. “I thought I was going to die. I still think a brown recluse is go-ing to bite me in my sleep.” While these are just some of the most common fears among Spartans, most stu-
dents are
afraid of a variety of things, with the average student indicating that they feared four of the 17 options on the survey. While it’s unsurprising that many stu-dents feared things like snakes, injections, and public speak-ing, some students have some truly unique fears. Worms, port-a-potties, girls, elevators, marshmallows, and Oprah all made the list of unique fears of certain stu-dents. And while most would consider these fears highly ir-rational, they aren’t completely without reason. “I am afraid of Oprah be-cause I know that one day, if the world is not careful, she will
overthrow the government,” junior John McGowan said. “She has too much power.” Freshman Elizabeth Cole has what she calls a “long, trau-matizing story” behind her unique fear of blow dryers. “I was burned by a blow dry-er when I was a little kid,” Cole said. “I don’t know what exactly happened, but I somehow wound up burning myself on my arm. My childish self prob-ably over-dramatized it, but it was one of the first instances of real pain I could remember. I still feel claustro-phobic if one is going on
near me or on me for a long time.” There are some students who are supposedly without fear, though, like junior An-dre Fredrick, who claims to be afraid of nothing at all. “There isn’t anything I’ve ex-perienced yet that’s given me any reason to fear,” Frederick said. “There’s nothing for me to fear in life but fear itself.” Even though fears dominate on the night of Oct. 31, some students go out of their way to make sure they are scared. “I like going to haunted houses on Halloween because
things pop out and scare you,” junior Keller Deal said. “It’s
l i k e you’re in a hor-ror movie, but you’re not. It’s a good experience.” Others spend the night go-ing to costume parties, which allows for the fun and creativity of dressing up while also get-ting to hang out with friends. Whether students plan to trick or treat, hand out candy, go to haunted houses, or hang out with friends at a party, two things will be a part of their night: fear and candy. To find out more about Spartans’ fears, candy preferences, and Hal-loween in general, check out the rest of the in depth.
ALL GRAPHICS BY VICTORIA SHIN
49.5%Spiders/Insects 27.5%
Darkness
11%Twix9%
Hershey’s
Here lies the
Clown costume of
Jalan Beck
Here lies the
Wizard costume of
Grant Lee
Here lies the
Caveman costume of
Clay Schnake
Here lies the
Princess costume of
Christi Gregory
Gangster Sumo
costume of
Carson Durham
Visit
S H S O R A C L E . C O Mto see old pictures
of Spartans in
Halloween costumes
Here lies the
The pictures mentioned to the left are only
a sample of those featured online
The History of HalloweenName:—It’s a shortened version of “All Hallows Eve,” which was the day before All Hal-lows Day, or All Saints’ Day, a Christian holiday
Origins:—Brought to America by Irish and Scottish immigrants in the 19th century—Ancient Celtics believed that on Oct. 31 the world of the living and the world of
20%Reese’s
the dead overlapped, and that the dead would harm their crops—If the crops survived, a festival was thrown that included masks and costumes, which were meant to mimic or appease evil spirits
American Traditions:—Trick-or-treating—Carving pumpkins into jack-o’-lanterns
What’s a Spartan’s Favorite Candy?
29.5%Clowns
To Trick or Treat...
33.5%
—FREE CANDY
—Hanging out with friends
—Dressing up in costume
—Getting to see neighbors
35.5%Public Speaking
Sudoku
All About That JazzPlayhouse welcomes first timers to ChicagoSTORY BY NOELLE FLORES
For answers visit shsoracle.com.
This fall, the Stratford Playhouse “razzle dazzled” the community with the acclaimed Broadway mu-sical Chicago. Auditions were held and the show was cast all within the first week of school, and since then, the actors worked very hard to give the best performance they could to the public. The show’s cast included fresh-man Marie Lauderdale and senior Erin Higgins, both of whom made their Playhouse debut in Chicago. Like many others, Lauderdale was already planning to participate in theatre before she started high school this fall. She attended the Playhouse’s shows last year (Legally Blonde, West Side Story, and Almost, Maine) and was further inspired by them to pursue fine arts. “It’s intimidating because every-one has experience with everything and I’m brand new, but it’s a lot less scary than I thought,” Lauderdale said. “I really liked working on this show - it’s been a great experience, and it’s a lot more student-run than I thought it would be,” she said Higgins danced with the Sparta-naires until her junior year of high school; this year, she decided to try something new and auditioned for the school musicals, starting with Bye Bye Birdie last May. She was cast in an ensemble role. “I’ve always loved theatre and Broadway,” she said, “my mom and
I have been going to musicals and operas since I could walk. Stratford shows are so infectious when you watch them, and I just knew I had to audition.” One of her favorite things about being in Chicago was getting to experience a whole new style of dance. “Fosse is very unique and styl-ized - unlike anything I’ve done before, but it’s been a blast,” she said. “One thing that I’ve always loved about Playhouse shows is the energy on stage between the sing-ing, dancing, and acting. You’re on stage thinking about twelve differ-ent things at once. I have so much respect for everyone who’s been making it look good for three years already.” Higgins will continue her Playhouse experi-ence in the winter musical, Bye Bye Birdie. The two la-dies are confident that Chicago was a huge success, due in part to the show’s vast popularity, and feel lucky to have been given the op-portunity to share the story with the
community. Higgins believes it was a hit because “Chicago is a fun show - very 20’s, scandal-ous, exciting - what more could a teenager be looking for on a Sat-urday night?” Higgins says that her favorite memory from the show will be all of the friendships she made. “With any show, but especially one with such a small cast and short amount of time to put the show together, everyone in the cast and the crew is so crucial to each other’s success. Everyone has been so amazing, both on stage and off. The atmosphere is definitely memorable for me.”
Practice, Practice, Practice. Marie Lauderdale joins the en-semble in dancing with Tucker May, who plays Billy Flynn, in the show-stopping number, All I Care About is Love.
PHOTO BY NATALIE BROUSSARD
Cassidy’s StylesIdeas to spice up your fall wardrobe this season
WRITTEN BY CASSIDY MENARD
Top Tweets of OctoberTucker May @tuckermaymay
PSA: there’s a new radio station called B92
(92.1 fm) that only plays Beyoncé #yourwelcome
6:27 PM - 8 Oct 2014
Maddie Markey @maddie_farley
“I hate Columbus Day, other than the fact that we have
school off, because we’re basically glorifying a man that
got lost” - @GentryBarton1
9:25 AM - 13 Oct 2014
Kirby Morris @kirbymorris222
“I wish I had glasses”
“Really”
“Yeah so I can like...wear them”
9:27 AM - 10 Oct 2014
Im gonna be Ebola for Halloween.
7:02 PM - 3 Oct 2014
PHOTOS BY GABBY BROUSSARD
@reilllyellis
Does anyone else look up actors and see how old
they are to calculate if they could potentially marry
you? No? K.
8:04 PM - 13 Oct 2014
Clothing proudly provided by Modern Ego Buy all things at ModernEgo.com
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Have a fancy event? Or you want to play dress up? This semi-body-con dress
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Have a safe and happy Halloween!
The Stratford Oracle
Kathryn Arcy
Q. Why did you decide to
be a tennis coach, and did
anyone inspire you?
A. I love working with high school students and tennis, so it was a natural choice for me. My personal coach in high school really believed in me and took my game to a whole new level. I still talk to her, and she made me want to be that person for the next genera-tion of tennis players.
Q. What is it like being a
new coach at SHS?
A. It is awesome! I love our players and am so blessed to have such an awesome support system. Coach Courson has been incred-ibly encouraging, and our parents are so supportive.
Q. What goals do you have
set for the team this year?
A. Our big goal for the fall is to make it to State. We have had multiple players make it to State individu-ally, but never as a team. I want to bring some fun games and my passion for conditioning to help our team improve.
Q. How do you motivate
your players?
A. My strategy to motivate players is to be encouraging but real at the same time. I am a “to the point” kind of coach who doesn’t beat around the bush. I hope my players appreciate that!
Q. What is your favorite
part of coaching tennis?
A. The team’s camaraderie during competition!
Q. What valuable lessons
do you want your players
to learn from this sport?
A. Mental toughness is half the battle in tennis. You are the only one that makes yourself win or lose. I hope to show my players that this applies to everything in life. You control your future. Don’t let anyone get in the way!
PHOTO BY JACQUI COMPARIN
ONE ON ONEwith...Coach Fain
Football:10/31 v. Magnolia West 7 p.m. @ Magnolia West
11/7 v. Waller 7 p.m. @ Tully
Cross Country:11/8 State Meet Championships @ Old Settlers
Park Round Rock11/15 Nike Cross National South Regional
Championship @ the Woodlands
Swimming:
T H E
S C H E DU L E
PHOTOS BY JACQUI COMPARIN, TAYLOR BRITTAIN, JORDYN RICHARDS
Douglas Baker
All Out,All Game,All Season
Position: Guard
Number: 24
Favorite Song: “Give It All We Got”- George
Strait
Hero/Inspiration:
Jacob Bradshaw
Favorite Class: Math
Toughest Game: Bren-
ham
Dream Vacation: New Zealand
Serves Up. Senior Grace Whitmire and freshman, Grace Shea-han play Magnolia West on Oct. 17th, winning 3 out of 4 games. This was Shea-han’s first varsity match of the volleyball season.
Favorite Food: Fajitas
Favorite Restaurant: Lupe
Tortilla
Best Cross Country Time:
16:23 for a 5K
Hero: Batman
Current Dream Job:
Civil engineer/ Missionary
Favorite Place to Run:
Camp Eagle through mountains
Favorite Quote: “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he can-not lose.”-Jim Elliot
Touchdown. Junior Rakeem Boyd runs in for a touchdown against Spring Woods. The Spartans blew past the tigers ending the game with a score of 59-7 on Oct. 17th at Tully Stadium.
11/6 Cinco/Atascostia/Clements @ Cinco Ranch
11/7 SBISD Diving @ SBISD Natatorium11/8 SBISD Diving @SBISD Natatorium
On Tuesday, Oct. 21 the varsity cross country team ran in the dis-trict meet at Spring Creek Park. Run-ning against the other schools in the district 19-5A, the Spartans came in 1st place with a total of 21 points, putting Magnolia West in 2nd and Spring Woods in 3rd place. For the varsity boys, seniors Austin and Hayden Richard came in 1st and 2nd place with only a 31 second time difference. Junior varsity received a perfect score with all Spartans taking 1st through 5th place. The freshman team had Evan Demerson in 1st, Seth Demerson in 2nd, and Colby Harper in 3rd. Dedication has been very im-portant for the boys who have been practicing for months to prepare for their season. “They met up as a team from about 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. Monday through Friday first day of summer and we trained six months out from district meet,” head boys cross coun-try coach Tony Brillon said.
Cross Country Wins District MeetSTORY BY TAYLOR BRITTAINPHOTO COURTESY GLENN CHRISWELL
Cross Country Success. Boys Varsity, JV, and Freshmen Cross Country secure first place in the district meet at Spring Creek Park.
CHRIS HACHTMAN, Junior
He didn’t know where he was. He didn’t know what day it was. He couldn’t even remember his mom’s name. Homecoming week 2013: It was just another day of practice for football.
But for Chris Hachtman, it would be the end of his football career. The team was doing 7-on-7 passing drills, and Hachtman went out to block a pass. Soon, he was in the hospital. Hachtman had been diagnosed with a moderate concussion, grade 2 out of 3 on the severity scale. He spent the next three days cooped up in a dark room, doing absolutely nothing. Having failed three ImPACT tests, Hachtman missed a week and a half of school. When he could finally return, he suffered from light and noise sensitivity, leaving class early to avoid loud hallways and eating lunch in the clinic during his first week back. Hachtman did recover from his concussion, but not without consequences. He suffers from migraines and can no longer play football (or any contact sport). This year, Hachtman plays golf and lacrosse.
JAMES SKELLY, Senior
James Skelly has been through not one, but two concussions. His first concussion took place during fresh-man year. Skelly had been beating up on a player for the entire game, and at the end of the game, the player
came back and knocked Skelly in the back of head. The next day, Skelly woke up with a headache, and remembers sitting in his pool and eating Popeye’s, not really knowing what was going on. His second concussion occurred in practice. Skelly was doing a pass rush and got hit, but finished prac-tice without sitting out. He later came home from school and slept. “I don’t take many naps,” Skelly said. He went to the neurologist and took an ImPACT test, which in-volves the memorization of sequences. After two weeks, Skelly was still failing the test, but was able to return to school with permission to wear sunglasses indoors and passes to nap in the clinic. Four weeks after the hit, Skelly passed the test and played the rest of the season.
C.J. FURY, Junior
It was the first play of the Elsik game, kickoff. C.J. Fury ran down the field, later hitting an Elsik player in the chest... with his head. Fury fell down, then got back up and ran off the field. He couldn’t remem-
ber what had happened, but later watched the hit on film. His head hurt after the hit, but trainers allowed Fury to go back out and play. After three more plays, Fury came back and sat out for the rest of the game. He was diagnosed the next day with a minor con-cussion, the least severe type. After missing one and a half weeks of school, he was able to return, but for the first three weeks he couldn’t do homework or any-thing requiring significant brain activity. Luckily, Fury had no setbacks and is still playing football. To get back on the field, he had to go through five physical stages, with stage five being the game. Fury said that his concussion was not a helmet is-sue, and could have been prevented by using the right technique.
MORE THAN A HEADACHE
Whether your favorite sport is ending its season or just starting up, the sports hype is growing. But slowly growing in the background is a different hype: concussion injuries. A concussion is defined as a violent shock to the head. While concussions are becoming more common in the professional realm, they are also taking a toll on SHS athletes. It seems that in recent years, the number of
concussions has risen. “The amount of concussions, especially in high schools, seems to have risen because the focus on them has increased. This means we see higher numbers because more people know the symptoms,” athletic trainer Cathlene Godwin- Webb said. “Also, the intensity of high school sports and the duration of their seasons has increased so there is a greater chance for athletes to get a concussion.” Concussions are a serious injury, which, if not properly reported can result in the victim enduring a series of conse-quences including issues with athletic ability, academic capa-bility, and change in personality. “Symptoms of a concussion can be prolonged light-head-edness, memory, and balance. If you think you may have a concussion, report it to athletic staff immediately,” Godwin-Webb said. Many athletes avoid telling staff they have a concussion, which can worsen the injury. “I wanted to play! I didn’t want to sit out the season,” junior Carsen Durham said. Durham received a concussion in Jan. 2014 as goalie for girls soccer. While athletes avoid telling their coach so they can keep playing, they actually worsen the injury which increases re-covery time. Durham was cleared a month later after com-pleting the concussion recovery program. “I had to pass ImPACT tests that were really difficult hear-ing tests, and sight tests,” she said. Durham was one of several girls soccer players to get a
concussion last season. “Football has the highest number of concussions,” Athletic Director and head football coach Eliot Allen said. “However, while football had the highest number of concussions last year, there are fewer players in girls soccer and the percentage of concussions in girls soccer is one of the highest at SHS.” Girls soccer is gaining popularity. With that comes raised intensity of the game, leading to higher injury rates. “There have been at least eight concussions in my three years here at SHS,” girls soccer coach Gena McGee said. “But I’m optimistic for several reasons. The number of reported cases of concussion is going up, while the number of deaths reported due to concussions is going down. Plus, studies have determined why female athletes are more susceptible to head injuries, which allows coaches to look at exercises that reduce the whiplash effect of hits or falls.” As the number of concussions rises, so does the awareness of the injury. Professional leagues such as NFL and MLS are increasing awareness of the seriousness of the injury. Thanks to their new training, coaches have become more aware of the issue and take better precautionary measures when stu-dents receive a blow to the head. “We communicate with our players about symptoms, how they should be reported, and explain the proper return-to-play protocol that is put into place by our district’s concus-sion oversight team. Our trainers are instrumental in that they monitor students as they are slowly working their way back onto the field,” McGee said.
Concussions pose a risk to athletes, trainers crucial in prevention and recovery of brain injuries
Their Own StoriesThree football players (one former and two current) share their experiences with concussionsWRITTEN BY JUSTIN TODES PHOTOS BY REBECCA WILLLIAMSON
Road to Recovery. Sophomore Ben Wharton does physical therapy on his ankle while sophomore Jake Robinson (back) works the elliptical as part of his concussion recov-ery. Sophomore Salvador Pardo (right) is takes a break from therapy.
STORY BY JESSICA SHELDON PHOTOS BY TEA SHARP
54500,000
STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL
GRAPHICS BY SCOTT KENNEDY CONTENT BY BAILEIGH TURET
12 204
Panels: 12 pentagon and 20 hexagon panels are on a soccer ball
Tennis balls: There are 54 tennis balls in one box
Games: Varsity has won 4 out of 4 district games.
Gallons: 500,000 gallons are in just one swimming pool
Fish Out of Water
Freshman Clayton Bobo takes his mark at the Green v. Gold Pentath-lon on Oct. 14.
Lax to the Max
The swim team gets ready to dive head first at the Gold v. Green Pen-tathlon. The meet held on October 14th gave the swimmers their first opportunity to see their swim times.
PHOTOS BY ELLIE HERMANN
On The Blocks
Flyin’ Fast
Take Your MarkFreshman Peyton
Moak is flying as he swims the 50 yard
freestyle at the Gold v. Green Pentathlon.
Freshman Elizabeth
Cole takes the block to swim
the 100 yard breaststroke
at the Green v. Gold Pentath-lon where she
placed 10th.
Fast and Furious
Chomping at the Bit
Junior Marie Nantz swims alongside her fellow Spar-tans in the girls 50 yard Butterfly at the Green v. Gold Pentathlon where she placed 12th.
Chicks with Sticks Lacrosse has become one
of the fastest growing sports
in the country, and the Lady
Spartans Lacrosse Club has
definitely jumped on the
bandwagon.
The team practices Mon-
day, Wednesday, and Thurs-
day at Spring Forest Middle
School. On Mondays and
Thursdays, practice is from
5-6:30 p.m. On Wednesdays,
the team conditions from 5-6
p.m. The players are always
hard at work.
“This is my fifth year play-
ing lacrosse,” sophomore
Julia Brice said. “Outside
of practice, I do wall-ball
as much as I can and run
around the neighborhood
with my stick.”
The Lady Spartans are
expecting their first tourna-
ment in Austin the weekend
of Nov. 7-8.
More tournaments to
come will be the Cypress
Burning Flower Classic in
early December, and the Ag-
gieland Classic in College
Station Feb. 6-8. Tourna-
ments are always a highlight
of the season.
The season doesn’t of-
ficially start until the spring
when the team plays some
of their big games against
the Woodlands, Cy-Fair Iron
Maidens, and Memorial.
If interested in finding
out more information about
lacrosse, visit www.ladyspar-
tanslax.com. Girls lacrosse is
still accepting applicants.
Lax Bros are the Pros With the stress and men-
tal trauma of school on your
shoulders all the time, every-
one needs an outlet. For ju-
nior James Lewis, lacrosse is
his escape from the hours
upon hours of school work.
Lacrosse is a sport where
the 10 players on the field
race around in attempts of
gaining the ball and getting
it into the opposing team’s
goal.
Plus, you can only use la-
crosse sticks to move the ball
around and to defend your-
self against the other 10 play-
ers.
“It combines a lot of my
favorite aspects of sports,
there’s obviously violence
with hitting people with
sticks, there’s a lot of running
involved which I enjoy. You
need hand-eye coordination
and other skills that make
you practice a lot.” Lewis
said.
If you want to come and
take part in this thrilling, ac-
tion filled sport, register on-
line on the Spartan Lacrosse
Club website at www.spar-
tan-lacrosse.com The uni-
form order deadline is Oct.
31.
All students, freshmen
through seniors, are wel-
comed to join in on the fun.
STORY BY EMMA HOLLAND AND LINDELL LEWIS