815 E. 13th St. Des Moines, IA. 50316 Des Moines Independent Community School DistrictVol. 80 Issue 6 December 19, 2011

East High Scroll“For the Service of Humanity”

S

Iowa Lt. Governor visits East High

Administrator Kris Byam (left) speaks with Lt. Governor Kim Ryenolds (center) and her colleague outside an E2020 classroom during their stop at the Walker Building on December 6, 2011. Photo By: Aaron Hosman

The debate is on:

finals after winter break

The results are in for ‘Get Schooled’

ome may say it might be eas-ier to take finals after a long break from school. How-ever, for others, it means the

exact opposite. Winter break is one of the most hectic breaks. Rushing through stores for the holidays, and staying up for the new year countdown are definitely ways to forget what you have learned the first semester of school.

“You end up forgetting what you’re supposed to know for the tests,” said sophomore Madi Delk.

According to other students, forgetting what is necessary to the exams are common. Senior Johnathon Mayes thinks that studying over break is something not everyone wants to do.

“Having finals after break, sucks. They expect me to study over break. It’s called ‘break’ for a reason,” said Mayes. Although students see the finals schedule as a bad idea, freshman Cynthia Hoang thinks otherwise.

“I’m happy it’s after break. We get a lot of time to study. Since it’s my first year taking finals, it’s a good thing that we’ll have plenty of time to study,” said Hoang.

So maybe having finals after break isn’t so bad. There will be plenty of time for studying and asking questions. Students can take advantage of the long break and week before finals to study like crazy.

“I think it’s great because it gives me times to procrastinate. I study last minute anyways,” said junior Sophie Backham.

Procrastination isn’t always the best way to go, but it’s probably what most students will be doing. Last minute studying is a common trait in teens. When last minute studying and finals clash, it pro-duces chaos.

Overall, having finals after win-ter break has its pros and cons. There are weeks with the option of studying and asking questions. It’ll be the smartest move to take advantage of it and ask questions.

Many teachers are willing to help students and review for the finals the week before they have to be taken. Failure shouldn’t be in the mind while taking these exams.

Kara VanDeoReporter

Pep E club is diligently planning the next all school dance. The ‘Black & White Affair’ themed event will

be held Feb. 11, 7:30-10:30. Save the date! Look for more information in a later issue.

Congratulations to the Debate team. At a recent tournament

in Okoboji, many of the Debate team members walked away with armfuls of awards.

To students who took the PSAT: your results are now available in the counseling

office, room 2033M.[ ]

once again, at number one for the best schools in the nation.

Lt. Governor Reynolds observed an ASL lab and powering reading classroom. She also was briefed on East’s reading assistance classes and the ‘Get Schooled’ attendance challenge.

“I appreciated East High giving me the op-portunity to visit and see how students, teachers,

and administrators are working together to raise achievement. Congratulations to East students for their success in the ‘Get Schooled’ atten-dance challenge,” said Lt. Governor Reynolds.

Branstad and Reynolds also hosted an edu-cational town hall meeting on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Central Campus. Reynolds also recently visited Hoyt Middle School.

Iowa’s Lt. Governor, Kim Reynolds and Iowa’s Special Assistant to Education, Linda Fandel visited East on Dec. 6. Reynolds and the East High administrators, led by student escorts, toured around the school and observed a few classrooms.

Iowa Governor, Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov-ernor Reynolds have a goal of putting Iowa,

Aaron HosmanNews Editor

fter seven weeks of teach-er nominations, celebrity wake up calls, franticly taking quizzes, and raising East’s daily attendance by

three percent, East tied with Aki Kurose Middle School of Seattle. Three percent is equivalent to 60 more students attending school every day.

The tie-breaker was given to Aki Kurose, leaving East as champions for the Central region. Both schools earned the highest number of points in the nation, topping out

at 90 points.Since Oct. 3, students have been

pushed to raise overall attendance. The administration implemented rewards for classrooms with perfect attendance, rewarded students for attending school all week, and cre-ated an environment that helped students realize the importance of going to school.

“I’m extremely proud of the staff and students for winning the Central Region of the Get Schooled Foundation’s Fall Attendance Chal-lenge. Participating in the challenge united the students and community around a common goal: get all students to school so they can

succeed and graduate. This shows Des Moines that East students are on the move,” said East High Principal Steve Johns, in the official press release.

As a result for winning first place in the central religion, the ‘Get Schooled Foundation’ provided East students with a Mission: Impos-sible red carpet themed event, giving students the opportunity to “strut their stuff ” across the red carpet.

From East, roughly 1,100 staff and students were chartered on over 35 busses to Johnston’s Wynnsong Theater for a prescreening of Mis-sion: Impossible Ghost Protocol. As a requirement by East High admin-

istrators, students must have had perfect attendance (no unexcused absences) from Monday, Dec. 5 to Friday, Dec. 16, the date of the celebration.

“It’s pretty incredible to win against all of the other schools and it’s a good prize too. The whole school gets a day off,” said sopho-more Nickie Nguyen.

This January, East will once again take part in a challenge sponsored by the ‘Get Schooled Foundation.’ This time the challenge will focus on enabling students for success in college. Photos of the event can be found on our webstite and our Facebook page.

Check out the East High Scroll Facebook page and tag yourself

in the ‘Get Schooled Red Carpet Affair’ photos!

The Briefs

a

December 19, 2011 / Page Editor : Katelyn Worple A&E2Grease puts on a great show to all audience membersKatelyn WorpleCo-Editor-in-Chief

Kerli’s making a come backBrianna BonerLiteracy Editor

Myer’s mixtape; a brilliant start to a promising career Courtney CustardOpinions Editor

ou get all excited for the “Grease” play that is put on by some of your East High friends. As you walk into the school, an usher is stand-

ing there directing you to the auditorium of East High S c h o o l . S tanding in line, wait what line? Af-ter you get your ticket, you walk into the audito-rium, full of peo-ple chattering about the play, directed by teacher Jamaal Allen. You find your spot and all of the sudden the lights go off and the show is starting.

“I’m in drama class and I’ve never been to a play before, but this play has so far met my expectations and it’s put together really good,” said junior Sydney Vestal.

The “Grease” play opened on Thu, Dec. 1, and was put on every night at 7p.m. through Sat, Dec. 3. Going to the play seemed to be on everyone’s to-do list. The cast took the play

seriously, and with the direction of Allen, the play blew the crowd away.

“The most important part was that the cast looked like they were having fun and

enjoying each other,” government teacher Paul Ruby said.

The cast included students from all grade levels. A crowd favorite was the character Betty Rizzo, played by Gil-lian Randall.

“I got all my energy from the crowd,” said Randall. “The crowd just hooped and hollered.”

The singers of the play, both male or female, sang like there was no tomorrow. They sang songs from the Grease mov-ie, such as: “Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee”, “Greased Lightning”, “You’re The One That I Want”, and “We Go Together.” Beyond the singers, there was a chorus that consisted of cheerleaders, jocks, nerds, cool cats, kittens, and oth-er students of Rydell High School.

“The best part was the actual dancing on stage

and connecting with the crowd,” said senior Yeltsin Rodriguez, who played Danny Zuko. “The worst part was learning it all

and putting in so much hard work in play practice.”

Besides all of the on-stage performers, there was a fantastic pit orchestra. The piano player was teacher Jennifer Luft, the drum-mer was junior Matt Lawler. The orchestra also included the bass, which was played by senior Anna Flickinger, and two saxophone players: sophomore Maddie Delk along with senior Sadie Woods.

To keep everything running as smooth as possible, there was also a running crew, light-ing crew, and a costume designer.

“I was asked by Scott Davis (band instruc-tor for EHS) to play the drums for the play “Grease”, it was really fun,” said junior Matt

Y

Lawler.One of the only flaws about the play was

the sound system. This isn’t really the per-former’s fault because East High doesn’t even have a sound system for the performing arts department. For the play, Hoyt Middle School donated their sound system so that “Grease” could at least be a little better.

“The sound system could have been better but, that doesn’t influence my view of the play as a whole,” said Ruby.

After the play was over, the crowd went home with happy faces and the urge to actu-ally watch the movie Grease, which premiered in 1978. As for the next play in the spring at East, the bar is set.

Cast members from the play Grease listen to Doody, played by junior Jake Biegger, sing the song “Those Magic Changes”. It was one of many songs that were performed in the play Grease.

24 year old singer Kerli Koiv sings for an audience. She sings pop and dance songs mostly, such as “Army of Love”. She is originally from Elva, Estonia.

erli Koiv is a young music artist who has not been given as much credit as she deserves. One day at a sleepover me and a friend stumbled onto Kerli

and soon after, Kerli became my music hero-ine. Ever since that moment I have not been able to stay away from her music. Kerli is twenty four and comes from Elva, Es-tonia. Elva is a place that many people have not heard about, but it is in Europe.

K e r l i m a y seem like old news but she’s coming back like whiplash. Kerli has had many let downs in her music career from losing contest to losing her signers. She has such a broad back-ground. When Koiv was four, the Soviet oc-cupation ended in her country. Her mother was a social worker and her father was a car mechanic. Her parents never got along and they split as soon as Koiv turned sixteen.

At the age of sixteen she made a big decision by dropping out of high school to pursue her career in music. In her song Super girl, Kerli expresses her feelings about her parents’ abusive relationship. For some-

one who has gone through a lot and has so much potential in the music industry, she does not get as much attention from the press as she should.

Many say she rips off of Lady Gaga’s look and rips off of Ke$ha’s music. Let’s face it, Kerli is herself, she came before Gaga and Ke$ha, and is nothing like either of those two. She doesn’t wear a bucket of glitter and

she doesn’t smoke weed when writ-ing her songs. If forced to choose a favorite of the music industry it would most defi-nitely be Kerli.

Kerli’s style of music is pop, elec-tro, dance, and alternative rock. Most people prefer to listen to her pop and electro music. When listening to her music, you can feel yourself drift away. Many find solace in her music

and escape through her words.Kerli’s first album was released in 2008

and is titled Love Is Dead. Kerli is signed to Island Def Jam Music Group. She is cur-rently working on her second album in which the album name has not been released, and the album was supposed to come out the fall of 2011. There has been no word on what is taking so long for the album to come out.

It has been said by Kerli that she is done recording. Hold onto your seats because the shows just getting started.

Koots: Something that is an origin or source, an underlying basis, the essential core.

November 28, a day that senior Cole Myers will never forget. The day The Roots dropped; his first mixtape ever. The Roots is composed of nine songs and one hilarious intro tune called “No Shave November.”

As a support-ing fan, I bought my very own copy of the mixtape. Expectations were low; but Myers was not deterred.

“I think it was re-ally good and if he sticks with it, he will go somewhere,” senior Rene Senecaut said about Myer’s mixtape.

Myers has a few of his songs on Sound-cloud.com, but the mixtape had many more surprises in store for me, including songs like “Summertime Girl,” which was produced entirely by Myers and his manager Skyler Prenosil, a senior at Lincoln.

“That song (Summertime Girl) was prob-ably my most favorite song to record because it was so upbeat and fun to rap,” said Myers.

The best songs are the last four songs of his mixtape most definitely. Tracks seven and eight were both heartfelt love tunes spawning from other hit love songs including “How

Do I Breathe,” (originally by Mario) and “Here Without You,” (originally by Three Doors Down.)

The song that came after were even more emotional, and inspirational. Track nine paid a tribute to his mother and the struggles she had while raising Myers and his siblings . Issues range from financial struggles to not having a father around. This was the best song on the mixtape and can easily be com-

pared to Drake’s, “Look What You’ve Done,” off of his new album Take Care.

“She’s literally the only person who has been there for me through

everything,” said Myers. “The song was easy to write; I just described what it was like growing

up in our home.”Of course the mixtape ended with the

track that matched the title of his mixtape: The Roots. Another good song with a solid beat, and good verses.

“The root of a tree is the beginning of life for that tree. The roots mixtape is the beginning of life for my music,” said Myers. “That’s how I named my mixtape.”

Keep a look out for Myer’s next mixtape which is scheduled to be out on New Years and will be free of charge.

“I just got a new microphone too, so I’m hoping this mixtape is going to be even bet-ter,” said Myers.

r

senior Cole Myers

The root of a tree is the beginning of life for that tree. The roots mixtape is the beginning of life for my music. That’s how I named my mixtape.

“

”

Issue 6 / Page Editor : Courtney Custard & Chris Johnsonopinions 3Co-Editors in Chief

Lindsey SmithKatelyn Worple

Courtney CustardOpinions Editor

Aaron HosmanNews Editor

Taylor BougherFeatures Editor

Stephenie GabrielCommunity Editor

Brianna BonerLiteracy Editor

Chris JohnsonReporter

Kara VanDeoReporter

Erika KommavongsaReporter

Hailey GallowayReporter

Jackie KhammaReporter

Karla HernandezReporter

Jazmine HeardReporter

STAFF

Staff Members

AdviserBen Graeber

PrincipalSteve Johns

LETTER POLICYThe Scroll welcomes letters but reserves the

right to edit for space as needed. Outside contributions are subject to the usual restrictions of libel and obscenity and must conform to general paper policy, which is available upon request. Signed commentaries represent personal opinions, not views of the staff. Also, your letter needs to include your full name and grade. Unsigned letters can not be printed. You can deliver your letter to Ben Graeber or Natalie Niemeyer in room 207W.

ADS POLICYAds are $4 per column inch and are available

by calling (515) 242-7729 on school days from 7-3 p.m. The Scroll reserves the right to reject ads deemed not in the best interest of East students. The paper is printed every 3 weeks by Wilcox Printing in Madrid, IA.

DISTRICT EDUCATIONALEQUITY STATEMENT

The Des Moines Publ ic Schools prohibits discrimination in educational and employment programs and activities based on age, race, creed, color, sex, marital status, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, or disability. In addition, the District prohibits acts of intolerance or harassment toward employees or students that are not related to the individual’s employment or education.

NOTE: All contents are the product of the EHS newspaper production staff. Occasional stories are contributed from the Journalism Intern program.

WE ARE MEMBERS OF THESE GROUPS:

The Scroll is a public forum for student expression.

Riley BaconCopy Editor

Throwing clichés out of the window

liché: an expression, idea, or ele-ment of an artistic work which has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or ef-

fect. People see the word and seem to avoid it as much as possible. Being cliché is bad. It means you’re generic, you’re plain, and you’re dull. When people avoid it, though, it has quite a different effect than you’d expect. Scenesters, preps, goths, hipsters, gang-sters, guidos, juggalos, and there’s so many more to choose from. People try to change how they look or act and many turn to groups like these, but are they really solving the problem? Worrying about being cliché

Chris JohnsonReporter

hy is it that every time there’s a substitute teacher, students feel the need to act out? There’s always that one boy

or girl in class looking for attention, think-ing the only way to get it is by mouthing off. What’s the point of that, to earn respect and admiration from a handful of peers that won’t even remember that incident by the end of the day, let alone remember your name? The only thing you accomplish from that is detention or ISS

and a teacher who won’t be able to stand you. These students not only ruin it for themselves, but for their classmates as well. I certainly dislike listening to some poseur bad ass bitch and moan about how the teacher or sub did something that they can’t live up to their oh-so-perfect standards. In one incident, a student was promptly escorted out of class after berating the substitute teacher, ridiculing her accent, and refusing to do anything. This all happened after the student was asked why they didn’t have a late pass. The students are not all to blame however; it’s some of the teachers as well. There are some teachers here, believe it or

Karla HernandezReporter

Substitute respect uncommon in school

and joining a group of “weird” people to make sure you’re not doesn’t make any sense. The entire issue of identity and being cliché revolves around that same definition. Has your style been overused? Do you have a meaning? Or are you just a stereotypical kid who nobody pays attention to? Worry-ing about things like this is pointless though, because there isn’t any certain way to make sure you’re ‘new and exciting!’ If you choose to straighten your hair, dye it black, and start listening to screamo, so what? Now you’re an emo, or a goth, or a scenester. Maybe you’ll go bleach blonde and shop at Aero-postalé or Hollister. It’s the same situation. No matter what you do or where you go, probability states that someone has already been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. So why bother wasting your time find-ing a “special” identity? None of the listed groups are any more original than the first person who did it, and they’re likely long dead. Dying your hair, changing where you shop, and revamping your taste in music, doesn’t change a thing about you. It’s just another coat of paint on top of what you

really are. “Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail,” was once said by Ralph Waldo Em-erson, a famous essayist, lecturer, and poet, who lead the transcendental movement in the mid-19th century. This movement fo-cused on individuality, nature, and becom-ing one with your inner self. Looking at this single quote shows that the question of the identity has always been around. This is everyone’s struggle and apparently nobody has found a solution. In my mind, the solution itself is to do just what Emerson was talking about. Take a look at yourself. Does everyone do what you do? Are you really doing what the “you” inside of you would do? If not, remove the layers of paint. The path could already have been traveled, but that doesn’t really matter. If you’re worried about being interesting and new, stop. It’s not about be-ing interesting or new, it’s about being YOU. So go back to the beginning of the trail. Pick a path that feels right to you, however worn it may be, and walk it with your head held high.

C

W

not, that run out of patience and snap on the students. One teacher went as far as to yell “You are not retarded! Sit down!” to a student who kept standing up. This caused uproar in the class and lead to even more arguing and yelling from the teacher and students. These days, students and teachers seem

to be disrespect-ing each other more and more. What once were friendly mentor/mentee

relationships, have now turned

into what seems like a game of “how can I royally piss the teacher off today” and “how can I punish these students to get them to behave”. It’s the teachers’ jobs to teach us things, but it’s our responsibility to want to learn them and all the disre-spect going around needs to stop. It’ll make everyone’s jobs a lot easier.

We, the Scroll staff, give a thumbs down to the weather. There are two main reasons why we are upset with the recent December weather. The first reason pertains to the seniors. Seniors do not have to make up snow days at the end of the year, with the exception of having over ten snow days. Then, seniors do have to make up every day over ten snow days. Who wouldn’t want a snow day that you don’t have to make up?!

The second reason is that we really want to have a white Christmas in Iowa. Who wants to look out the window Christmas morning while opening their presents and see dead grass? We want to make snow angels, build snowmen, and go sledding on our winter break! It just can’t be done with this current weather we’ve been having this year. The snow miser is seri-ously letting us down this year.

We, the Scroll staff, would like to give two giant thumbs up to Mr. Byam and Mr. Johns, along with the rest of our EHS administra-tors. Without their guid-ance and relentless effort,

‘Get Schooled’ would not have been possible. Their constant effort put into the challenge has really shown the student body how much they care about the future success of East High. We would also like to give a thumbs up to the “Red Carpet Affair” that we had last Friday. The assembly, the red carpet, and the movie were all extremely fun and an exciting prize for our school’s hard work. As a challenge to you, the Scroll staff urges you to thank our administrators and continue the increase in attendance.

‘Get Schooled’ success Winter weather meltdown

December 19, 2011 / Page Editor : Lindsey Smith Features4Cozy coffee shops for keeping warm this winter, studying

Caribou Coffee

ADDRESS: 1910 Cottage Grove, Des MoinesHOURS: Mon.-Thu. 6am-10pm; Fri. 6pm-11pm; Sat. 7am-11pm; Sun 7:30am-10pm

3220 Ingersoll Ave.

ADDRESS: 214 4th Street, DSM. HOURS: Mon.-Thu. 6:30am-11pm; Fri.-Sat. 6:30am- midnight; Sun. 6:30am-10pm

ADDRESS: 2318 University Avenue, Des MoinesHOURS: Mon.-Fri. 6:30am-10pm; Sat.-Sun. 7:30am-10pm

riving down MLK P k w y o n a d a r k Saturday night, it’s the

first thing you notice before reaching the busy street of Ingersoll. The illuminating retro light draws your eyes towards the windows of the coffee shop filled with young people studying, mingling, and playing games while sipping a coke out of the classic glass bottles or even better, warming up with a dolled up cup of coffee.

Smokey Row is a warm, cozy, corner shop filled with all sorts of goodies from sandwiches, cake, cappuccinos, frappuccinos, and hot chocolate to keep us all warm this winter season.

It’s a modern structure with a very vintage twist. The cold drinks are all in the classic bottles, old signs hang on the walls, and the chairs, stools, and tables have a ‘50s look to them. The brick structure, wood paneled floor, and basement ceiling look give it the feeling that anyone belongs here, no matter what you do, where you live, or who are – everyone can feel at home here.

Thought it is the chilly season, (although there’s no snow), my favorite things on

the menu is their ice cream options. With the warmth

of the building and the chill of the ice cream it all balances out. My absolute personal favorite is the Reese’s Sundae.

The menu includes a variety of food items including: all sorts of sandwiches from PB&J and BLT to smoked ham croissant and egg sandwiches and they all come with kettle chips.

A plus for students staying in Des Moines going to DMACC or Drake or students looking to go to Central College in Pella, there’s a Smokey Row in both places. It’s a small chain so they’re only in three different locations. The third is in Pleasantville, IA.

Mars Cafe

Java Joes: home to the oldest coffee roaster in Des Moines

Photo Credit: Lindsey SmithArticles by Lindsey Smith

edged into one of the many downtown

strips of business and restaurants near Court

Avenue is the old fashioned and vintage coffee shop – Java Joes.

Upon walking in, you’re immediately hit with the sent of coffee and the sight of a huge coffee roaster, old, vintage coffee pots and coffee related signs. There’s no java house that knows what they’re doing better than this place. And there’s not place like it since it’s locally owned and not part of a chain of shops.

While yes, it is a java house, that doesn’t mean it just has great coffee. It has a wide variety of drinks warm and cold and all sorts of food items from classic favorites like PB&J’s and grilled cheese sandwiches (which I recommend – they’re delicious!)

n i v e r s i t y Av e n u e stretches from Pleasant Hill to Windsor Heights,

b u t h e m o s t t r a ve l e d section of that road for us East High students is the stretch that goes through the eastside to Pleasant Hill. Let’s go the opposite direction for once this winter. Let’s go towards Drake University.

Laptops, headphones, and coffee cups are everywhere. Seating for yourself, you and a friend or a whole group to mingle or study. This coffee shop is nestled in the so called “Dog Town district” of Des Moines is Mars Cafe. Well traveled buy high school and college students and surrounded by one-of-a-kind shops, it’s a common place for live entertainment by local artists, food of all sorts, and the perfect studying place is Mars

Cafe. Booths, tables, and couches

allow you to study in the most comfortable way for you. Sure, you can study a home the same way, but hiss gets you out of the house, away from distractions like TV and video games, and you may encounter some other advantages.

Being so close to a university means tons of s tudents, which also means tutors to help students. From personal experience, there are tutors that have sessions at coffee shops. There are bulletin boards on the walls of Mars Cafe that may lead you to being able to contact a tutor.

This shop also has l ive entertainment from local artists so be sure to check them out on twitter at @marscafe or their website www.marscafe.net.

Newest coffee shop to come to des moines

to vegetarian specials and Indian dishes.

It’s a very quiet coffee shop. It never gets louder than a low rumble. The front is more for those people that just want to stop in, get a coffee, chat, and leave. It’s the back that’s cozier and dimmer that puts you in a comfortable yet focused mood to study. With a variety of seating and lighting, you’ll definitely find your spot that you’ll be coming back to every time to step through the doors.

A very good studying place indeed, this java house also has great live entertainment – and it’s usually free! They have anyone from local artist to major bands like Switchfoot perform. You can check their website www.javajoescoffeehouse.com/shop/ or follow them on twitter at @Javajoescoffee for finding out who is performing and when.

:More coffee shopsin Des Moines

Warm Menu Items:Drinks

Coffee to go (8-20oz.)...$1.20-2.00Espresso....................................$1.50Cappuccino...............................$2.50Cafe Latte.................................$2.50Cafe Mocha..............................$3.00(Others: hot tea, hot chocolate)

FoodGrilled Cheese.........................$6.75Quesadillas.................................$6.75Oatmeal.....................................$3.25Bagel..........................................$2.25Cookies......................................$1.50

A place for e v e r y o n E ; A l i e n s a n d Earthlings alike

:

Gong Fu Tea414 E. 6th St.

305 E. 5th St.Village Bean

2645 Beaver Ave.Grounds for Celebration

Zanzibar’s Coffee Adventure2723 Ingersoll

Smokey Row, Java Joes, and Mars Cafe are all Wifi Hotspots, so you can take a laptop and still have internet. It’s just another reason these places are great places to study.

D

U

W

Stephenie GabrielCommunity Editor

Issue 6 / Page Editor :Stephenie Gabriel/ Karla HernandezFeatures 5Celebrating the Holidays in different religions

Blankets for teens and giving back to the community

hough winter may bring people down, it does mean that the holi-days are coming around.

Everyone pretty much knows about Christmas, Santa Claus,

egg nog, presents, and all that good stuff. However what about the other holidays people celebrate?

Christmas is cel-ebrated for the com-memoration of the birth of Jesus Christ.

In Spain, Christmas starts on Dec. 25 to Jan. 6 and the people of Spain never eat Christmas dinner before midnight on Christmas Eve.

In Japan, Christmas is some-what like Valentine’s Day, if you’re not spending it with your family then you are spending it with your significant other. Kentucky Fried Chicken is popular to eat during Christ-mas in Japan.

Besides New Years, Christ-mas is the most celebrated holiday around the world. However Christmas being one of the most popular holidays doesn’t make it the only holiday celebrated during the winter season.

Hanukkah is a Jewish holiday in celebra-tion of re-dedication of the Temple in Je-rusalem after the victory of the Maccabean Revolt. During the Hanukkah celebration

families light one candle everyday for eight days and place them on the a menorah (a candle holder), representing the eight days the olive oil kept burning on the menorah lit by their Jewish ancestors during the Mac-cabean Revolt.

Fried foods are eaten during Hanuk-kah, an example being a deep fried potato pancake called levivot. During Hanukkah,

families pray, people play with a four-sided spinning top called a dreidel, and children receive eight days of presents.

Kwanzaa originating from the 1960s African-American

movement; it is a holiday for African-Americans celebrat-

ing their African heritage and culture. During Kwanzaa people light

one candle for seven days, each candle representing a different mean-

ing. Mediation and studying is part of the Kwanzaa celebration. They study Nguzu Saba which means “Seven principles of African Heritage” in an African language called Swahili.

The first candle lit is Umoja which means unity, the second candle

Kuchijagulia representing self determina-tion, Ujima is collective work and respon-sibility, Ujimma is family, Nia is purpose, Kummba is creativity, and the last candle to be lit is Imani meaning faith.

What all three holidays have in common is that they all hold significant meanings. Each holiday initially brings family and friends closer together to appreciate to what one has.

Jackie KhammaReporter

Get involved, give back!Giving back is something that should always be done.

There are many chances to give back throughout the year, but especially around the holidays. Take time out of your busy schedules to do a good thing for someone else.

1) Ronald McDonald HouseYou can collect pop tabs and donate them to Ronald

McDonald House, the pop tabs pay for families stay at the house while their sick children are in the hospital. Volunteering for many different things are also available.

2) The Pet Project MidwestThis organization works to make sure that pets are

in homes with people that love them, and take care of them. To help this charity you can give private donations or sponsors.

3) Meals from the Heartland People volunteer to package meals for delivery around

the world to places that have hunger as a risk factor. Millions of meals have been sent to countries such as Haiti, Jamaica, and Israel. You can help put these meals together to be sent to different countries.

4) Youth Emergency Services & ShelterA program that is a safe place for children to go there

and bring their families together. You can volunteer your time by spending time with the children.

T

iving back and doing th ings for others; it’s what has been

repeated to us ever since we were little, and what has been imprinted into our minds for years. Mrs. Hebert follows this guide-line every year by sewing things for children in need.

“I think it is very im-portant for students to help the community. The students feel like they are doing something very worthwhile and much needed,” said Mrs. Hebert.

Hebert allows students to be a part of the experience along with her. Anyone can take part in these “Saturday Sewing” get-togethers. Hebert gives extra credit for students who are in her class and come in and help sew. Students who need community service hours can use this as the perfect opportunity to serve the community. Also anyone is welcome who wants to come in and sew for the cause.

This year, senior, Joycelin Calderon

coordinated the project. Calderon will be receiving a $2,000 scholarship in honor of Katherine Helms, an East High graduate. Calderon chose to give the blankets to St. Joseph’s; this is the only family shelter in Des Moines.

Hebert and about 25 students got to-gether on November 19 from 9 a.m. – 12 a.m. and sewed fleece blankets for teen girls at St. Joseph’s. The blankets were two layers, and large enough to fit on a twin bed. The blankets were delivered to St. Joseph’s Shelter on December 12.

Senior Joycelin Calderon and junior Daisy Solorzano pose as they deliver the blankets to the St. Joseph Shelter on December 12.Photo by: Deann Hebert

G

Christmas-Most celebrated holiday around the world -Celebrated for commemoration of birth of Jesus Christ-In Spain Christmas starts on Dec. 26- Jan. 6-In Japan Kentucky Fried Chicken is popular to eat during

Christmas

Hanukkah -In celebration of the Temple in Jerusalem after the victory

of the Maccabean Revolt-Families light one candle everyday for eight days and place

on menorah- A dreidel is a four sided spinning top, played with during

Hanukkah-Fried foods are eaten during Hanukkah

Kwanzaa-Originated from the 1960s; African-American movement-Light one candle, each day for seven days, each representing

a different meaning-Celebrated the African heritage and culture-Meditation and studying is part of Kwanzaa

Karla HernandezReporter

F

December 19, 2011 / Page Editor : Jackie Khamma & Erika Kommavongsa Feature6

or most of us cur-rently living our teen years, remembering the decade we were

born in is somewhat difficult. We were either too young

or too naive to pay close attention to the revo-

lutionary wonders the 90s brought us. The start of that decade brought us newer technology,

newer forms of entertainment, fashion,

and most importantly: music.

In the year 1990, Motorola launched the first mobile phone us-ing digital technology. These new phones were small and easy to handle unlike in the previous decades when cell phones were expensive, clunky, and br ick s ized. Other “new” technology in-cluded Palm Pilots and digital cameras along. The 90s were an innovative age that many had previously seen as unimaginable. Medical science also

made great achievements. Scientists cloned the first mammal (a sheep named Dolly) and the Human Ge-nome Project was born.

As technology and science con-tinued to improve throughout the decade, so did music. Rappers like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, No-torious BIG and Puffy developed a new style of rap called “gangsta rap” rapping about violence, drug use and the police.

Another music style in produc-tion was Bubblegum Pop. It show-cased simple, infectious melodies and bouncy tunes. Artists like Britney Spears, Jessica Simpson, NSYNC, and 98 Degrees gained great fame through this style. How-ever, the biggest genre of the early 90s was definitely rock. In 1991, an alternative rock band from Seattle named Nirvana quickly changed how people saw rock music and thus a new genre was born: grunge. Grunge rock took the 90’s by storm and Nirvana’s front man Kurt Cobain was credited as the “Father of Alternative Rock”. Nirvana paved the way for other grunge rock bands to be recognized such as Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, and Stone Temple Pilots. As grunge overtook the music charts, it also took over the runways. Fashion designers began hiring skinnier models advertising plain

clothing and little to no makeup, giv-ing them a waif look. The “Heroin Chic” look, started by Kate Moss, accentuated the models’ gaunt fea-tures, messy hair and sweaty look.

Grunge continued to be popular until Kurt Cobain’s suicide in 1994. The grunge movement slowed... as did the style. Anna Wintour, the edi-tor and chief of Vogue, threatened fashion designers that if they kept designing unglamorous looks, they wouldn’t be photographed in the magazine at all. They all complied and grunge was then “killed”, butt the 90s were still viewed as the “anti-fashion” decade, rebelling against the expensive and flashy trends of the previous years.

Flashy fashion was instead re-placed with more casual and com-fortable clothes, or simply copied from a favorite musician or a favorite show. Fans of the show “Friends” copied “The Rachel” hair do from Jennifer Aniston’s character and Marilyn Manson fans copied the Goth look.

Whether it was fashion, music or technology, the decade of the 90s brought us many improvements. Without the inventions from back then, we wouldn’t be nearly as ad-vanced tech wise today, rock music wouldn’t be as awesome and fash-ion... well we could’ve done without the heroin look.

The Best of the 90s

TV ShowsTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Rocko’s Modern LifeDawson’s Creek

90210Full HouseAnimaniacs

Courage the Cowardly Dog

Beavis & Butthead

Bill Nye: The Science Guy

FriendsBoy Meets World

Saved By The BellMusic

Boys II MenNirvana

Backstreet BoysBritney Spears

Spice GirlsAerosmith

U2Will Smith

Aaliyah

Toys/GamesTamagotchi

Game Boy ColorFurby

Nintendo N64Power RangersPolly Pocket

Skip ItTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Beanie Babies

“I remember Nirvana.”-freshmen Lauren Cokayne

“I used to watch Rugrats.”-senior Sadie Woods

“I liked watching Digimon.”-junior True Wheeldon

Remembering the 90sWhat do you remember

most from when you were a kid in the 90s?

Erika KommavongsaReporter

Issue 6 / Page Editor : Riley BaconSports 7Scarlet

Sp tlight

MidAmerican Energy is allied with East in a business partnership. Once a month they proudly sponsor this recognition of EHS achievement.

BEHIND THE SCENES:

WINTER MANAGERS

Junior Jayde Murray - Wrestling Manager

Senior Tajia Taylor - Girls’ Basketball Manager

magine having to spend an extra two to three hours after school, picking up dirty tow-els, filling up water bottles,

and listening to coaches yell. Fun right? That is what sports managers have to go through every day for the duration of the season.

At every wrestling meet, senior Jessie Vance is there, ready to help. She is a manager for the varsity boys’ wrestling team; this is her second year as manager.

Vance was encourage by a friend her junior year to become manager. She loved the environment and has formed a bond with the wrestlers, so she decided to continue being manager this year. It also keeps her very busy during the winter season.

“We’re like a family; I mess with them (wrestlers), they mess with me,” said Vance.

Maintaining weight class is one of the main focuses during the wrestling season. You must be in a certain weight class in order to wrestle. Many of the wrestlers feel the pressure to watch their weight when meets and tournaments are coming up. Trying to keep weight isn’t an easy thing, because it comes

with a lot of stress. Another sports manager is junior

Eva Fabray; she is one of the manag-ers for the varsity girls’ basketball team. She has been a manager for a year. Fabray heard about the job from her senior Heather Fulford. Fabray couldn’t play volleyball be-cause of her wrist, so she decided to volunteer and become a manager.

As manager, Fabray cleans the locker rooms, fills water bottles, washes and hangs uniforms, and also travels to away games with all the equipment.

“We do everything behind the scenes, basically. It’s harder than people think,” said Fabray.

Fabray had the opportunity to travel with the girls’ basketball team on their road to a state champion-ship just a year ago. She enjoyed the bonding experience and all the support the community gave to the girls; she also liked seeing the girls win the title they deserved.

Being manager is a time con-suming job. When the team has meets/games that start first thing in the morning on the weekends, the managers are up first thing in the morning with them. Vance and Fabray are at every wrestling meet, tournament, practice and bus rides.

I

- “Some of the upside to being the manager is

getting into the games free, seeing what happens

behind the scenes, and seeing the girls grow and get

better.”

- “I used to play basketball and I couldn’t leave my

friends. I didn’t want to actually play, but I love the

atmosphere.”

- “Besides being a manager, I am involved in softball

and I’m going to play golf this year. I just love being

around team events.”

Yearbooks make a terrific

present this time of year!

1. Bring a check for $60 to the EHS bookkeeper

in the main office.2. Use a credit card to

buy one on-line from home!

www.YearbookOrderCenter.

comOnce at the website, put

in order #8093.Next, just click on “Buy a Yearbook”

Managers Vance, Fabray keep EHS athletics afloat

- “I like meeting the wrestlers and making new

friends.”

- “Going to all of the meets and tournaments keeps

you very busy throughout the winter, and I like that.”

- “The only thing that sucks is the smell, but you

get used to it.”

Things that managers do for the team

The players laundry, such as their uniforms and warm-up outfits.

**

Fill up water bottles for the player’s practices and on game days.

**

Get ice for the players if they get hurt.

**

Carry all of the equipment to away games and have everything ready for home games.

**

Run errands for the coaches.**

Look for the next issue of the Scroll, coming out on Jan. 27, 2012. See you

next year!

December 19, 2011 / Page Editor : Brianna Boner & Hailey Galloway Literacy8

Poem by: Katelyn Worple

Photo by: Jacob Anderson

Photo by: Baden Madearis

Artwork by: Brianna Boner

Photo by: Madi Delk

We want your submissions! Contact our Facebook page if you have poetry or art you would like to have published. You can also have a teacher contact the Journalism Department to send submissions electronically.

Photo by: Amber Fernandez