Granger high school

Tri-Color TimesAn open forum for student opinion and expression TRICOLORTIMES.COM DECEMBER 2011 LIV-3

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By Karen GarciaCHRISTMAS is right around the corner now. For some it means Christmas presents and getting things that they have been want-ing this year, but for others kids it’s more pressure since they have a job and feel like they have to buy their loved ones something. Some people wait until the last minute in the long lines to do all their shopping and get all stressed about it. Others like to be smart about their shopping and do their shopping early and on sale like on Black Friday. Javier Ayala (12) is one of those people that want to get it over with to not worry about it afterwards. He is planning to get Christmas presents to his imme-diate family and friends. On his Shopping list are his mom, dad, two brothers and some of his friends. He is really thinking about get-ting his mom something really nice and special because Christ-

mas really close to her birthday. “I don’t care how much I spend on my mom she definitely de-serves it and her birthday is near Christmas anyway,”Ayala said. Ayala woke up early on Black Friday and bought some jewelry on sale for his mom. Ayala is us-ing the money he saves to buy more presents for others and also says he is really enjoying shop-ping for others and not himself and it is making him feel good. Leticia Gutierrez (12) has a different case because she is a mom now and it’s going to be her baby boy’s first Christmas. Guti-errez doesn’t have a job but that’s not going to stop her from getting some presents. “I’m going to do some extra chores and babysit other kids to get some money because I want to give my baby something for his first Christmas,” Gutierrez said. She also went black Friday shop-ping and said that she got some really great deals. “My baby

is going to have a walker and a playpen for Christmas now,” Gutierrez said. “Christmas means showing someone you care and that’s what I’m doing. Although I don’t have a job, I am finding other ways to earn money, and I’m doing it for my baby because I love him” said Gutierrez. Gutierrez says there is no obsta-cle for her perfect Christmas with her son and boyfriend. “On past Christmases I would just tell my parents what I wanted but now I have someone to get something for and I love that, it’s going to be great with my son and boyfriend and now I understand when they say Christmas is about giving, not receiving,” Gutierrez said. Chacky Xayavong (12) isn’t too stressed about Christmas shopping. He says he doesn’t have money and that he is broke but he believes money comes and money goes, “So I’m just waiting for the money to come,”

Xayavong said. Xayavong‘s girlfriend was first on his shopping list. Although he said he had a little trouble on de-ciding what to get his girlfriend. “I wanted to get her some per-fume because it’s something easy to get for girls but then I ended up buying some shoes,”Xayavong said. Now Xayavong is waiting for the money to come for his parents and he believes it won’t be that hard to find something for them since the stores are having a lot of sales. He says that he is only going to hate waiting in the dreadfully long lines and overcrowded mall. Kapeka Gaui (12) isn’t stress-ing too much about Christmas presents. The only thing that worries her is that she has a big family which may make her bud-get really tight. She has a really big family and she is planning on getting every-one presents. “Even if it’s some-

thing small, I still want to give them something because I want to show that I care for them and that they mean a lot to me” Gaui said. She says that the price of the gift I get for them shouldn’t show them that’s how much they are worth to me, it just shows that they are important to me and I at least want to get something. “I think they should also ap-preciate home-made gift because it came from me not the mall or anywhere else “Gaui said. She says she wouldn’t mind receiv-ing a home-made gift and in fact she would really appreciate it be-cause it’s a little more special that someone took the time to make it especially for her. She says she does want to how-ever spend a little more on her closer family. Although she says she will have a tight budget and won’t be able to get very fancy things, “It’s just the thought that counts,” Gaui said.

Lancers get ready to shop and decorate and celebrate

By Cecilia Cardozo THE CHRISTMAS festivities are fast approaching and that’s clearly evident from the decora-tions that are beginning to appear. All around Granger the spirit of Christmas is quickly spreading. Christmas mode switches on as early as Thanksgiving takes its end, and sometimes even as soon as Halloween is over! Christmas decorating is a must once the first week of December starts rolling in. It is the time to take a trip to the storage room to and retrieve the long awaited dec-orations. The reindeers alongside the sleigh and Santa Claus, him-self, are only a few of the com-mon figures that are seen during the season. Students at Granger all hold their unique traditions and add their personal touch to the holi-day. Many of the students here at Granger will celebrate Christmas or another holiday around this time of year. Many would agree that Christmas is a time to be with loved ones and simply enjoy the company of one another. “Christ-mas gives us an excuse to cel-ebrate,” Anand Singh (12) said. Traditions for the holiday may include caroling, building gin-gerbread houses, and for others decorating their own house. Although for some putting up Christmas decorations is simply a task, for others it has become an anticipated family tradition. “It is a tradition that allows us to work together. It keeps us happy during the time instead of yelling at each other,” Carli Chase (12) said.

The glimpse of the twinkling lights coming from the neigh-bor’s houses is a hint that the long awaited holiday is just around the corner. Though houses with twin-kling lights catch a lot of attention, it appears that many more would enjoy decorating inside houses. “Putting up Christmas lights sim-ply adds on for a big electric bill, decorating the inside of the house gets people in the spirit of the sea-son just as well,” Cesar Olivera (12) said. “Snow is the main reason we don’t put up lights,” Singh said. “We simply decorate the inside of the house where we all have our small assignments.” Decorating houses has become a tradition among many. The event has become significant in all fam-ilies alike whether you celebrate the holiday or not. “There is no special meaning to decorating houses, it is just something we have always done,” Chase said. “We usually put up decorations for each season, we simply re-decorate for Christmas,” Olivera said. Christmas is the holiday dur-ing the year that is most antici-pated by people and clearly the one people take more time to get ready for. “It involves kids, and adding festive decorations makes the kids feel there is a holiday for them,” sad Chase. Granger students embrace the season with much anticipation. Decorating houses is no longer just a chore or waste of time; it has turned into valuable family bonding time.

Christmas decorations fill Lancer halls and homes

December 2011, page 2 VOL. LIV Issue 3

Ms. Havea, the college counselor presents a shy smile.

One step closer: important scholarship informationBy Maria ZunigaWHAT WILL you do after high school? Do you have plans? Do you want to go to college? Well if you do I’m pretty sure you know there’s a couple things you need

to do. There are the ACT, Schol-arships and FAFSA, and so many other things. If you are a senior and you have not taken the ACT make sure you sign up for one soon. Also, re-

search and make sure the colleges you are applying for accept ACT or SAT, just to make sure what you need to take. Be really aware of the requirements. Choosing the right college for you might be a little difficult. Try to find a school fits that you and do the all the research you can on it. If it is possible get tours, ex-plore and make sure it fits your convenience. If the school you want to go to is out of state and you have never visited the campus try to talk to somebody that has visited or bet-ter yet went to school there. If you do not know anybody who went or visited try to contact the school and get information. The information is mostly always free. Applying for the school might be complicated because most of the time applications are confus-ing, but don’t stress. Ms. Havea will be holding col-lege application workshops. If

you want more information about the workshops you can talk to her. “Taking your time and look-ing for scholarships is an invest-ment,” Ms. Havea said. You should take your time just so you can find good scholar-ships. When applying for schol-arships read requirements and BE AWARE OF DEADLINES!! Also make sure you apply all year long. You should apply to as many as you can. Just to remind you “You never ever have to pay for scholarships” Ms. Havea said. A good website to go to when ap-plying for scholarships isaccacscholarships.blogspot.com. Before you send your statement out you should review it as many times as you can. Talk to your English teachers about personal statements and es-says. FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) you can ap-ply for FAFSA from starting from

January all the way until the end of the school year. Basically what it is, is part free money and part loan. This re-quires getting your parents tax in-formation so just get your parents to file their taxes. Everyone should apply forFAFSA. Ms. Havea will also be holding FAFSA workshops to help you with everything. If you have any questions about FAFSA you should go talk to her. The most important thing is “Theirs always ways to pay for school, you just need to look for it” says Ms. Havea. There’s so many opportunities out their sad-ly a lot of people don’t take them, do not be one of those people, be someone, work hard, and get somewhere. At the end of the day you will be doing what you like to do the most. So if you want to go to college, talk to Ms. Havea as soon as pos-sible and be one step closer.

By Leslie Plascencia Here at Granger High School, students have the opportunity to teach children at the preschool. Not only do they teach but they also have the opportunity to take the children on field trips. The most recent one was to Wheeler Farm. The pre-schoolers and student- teachers explored the farm to-gether and they took pictures of the animals. The children were happy when they saw all the ani-mals. Some students fed the hors-es and everyone hopped on the

A day at the farmtractor for a photo. They even got to see the houses around the farm. Some students saw a rooster and even got chased by one. There was an outhouse many students went inside to see what it looked like. There was a corn maze for little kids. After explor-ing the farm they had the chance to play and eat a little snack at the park. The bus ride back to school was really fun everybody was singing and laughing. The student-teachers and children had a really great time at Wheeler Farm.

LATINOS IN ACTIONDecember 2011, page 3 VOL. LIV Issue 3

By Abigail CartmellTHE END has finally come! The last book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini was re-leased November 8, 2011 world-wide! For all the die-hard Eragon fans, this was the day they were waiting for! For those students who are not familiar with the story, start with Eragon (blue book) then move on to Eldest (red book), Brisingr (yellow book) and soon you’ll be reading Inheritance (green book)! In 2003, we first read Eragon and fell in love with the fabled land of Alagasia. In 2005, Eldest took us to even greater heights in our imagination. In 2008, Brisingr paved the magical road anew for answers and even more questions. Now, in 2011, Inheritance wraps up

those questions and fans will see what happens to Eragon and his beautiful and beloved mount, the dragon Saphira. For nine years, fans have been waiting for the fourth and final book to come out, wondering what will become of the charac-ters; who will marry who, who will die, what new wonders await and where are they going next? Now, at last, they have their an-swer. “I’m really excited!” Bryce Rowley (12) said. “It’s the final showdown! I’ve been waiting since Brisingr came out and I’m gonna read it in one go.” In 2006, Eragon was made into a movie by 20th Century Fox, starring Edward Speelers, Jeremy Irons, Robert Carlyle, Garrett Hedlund and John Malkovitch. It was met with various criti-cisms. However, most fans of the Inheritance Cycle agreed that the movie was too off the original book and are still demanding a re-make that would be closer to the original story, even though Chris-topher Paolini was happy with the outcome of the film. Soul singer Joss Stone made her movie debut as the beautiful war-rior maiden, Nasuada. The soundtrack was composed by Patrick Doyle with a song ti-tled ‘Keep Holding On’ by Avril Lavigne.

The Inheritance Cycle is also available on audiobook, read by Gerard Doyle, who gives an ex-cellent performance. Fans of the series also wrote and published an A-Z Almanac, called the Inheritance Cycle Al-manac, available wherever books are sold. A companion guide was also published. The author, Christopher Paolini, was in Salt Lake City to promote the book on December 1st at the King’s English at 7:00 p.m. and in Provo on December 2nd at the Provo City Library at 7:30. The King’s English is located on 1511 south 1500 east and the Provo Library is located on 550 North University Avenue. Come on, readers! Dragons, dwarves, elves, magic and the bond of brotherhood. Not to mention some incredibly mouthwatering characters for both girls and boys. What’s not to like? Keep reading, Lancers!

Book review: Inheritance by Christopher Paolini

By Cecilia Cardozo GABRIELA Cantu (11) is a new student here at Granger High School. She comes to us from Monterrey, Mexico as part of a foreign exchange student pro-gram. She has quickly adapted to the American life and has spent a great two months here in the state. Cantu got involved in the ex-change program through her mother’s connections with PAX. The program focuses on giving teenagers from all around the world the opportunity to experi-ence life here in the US. As part of the program she will remain a student here at Granger the rest of the school year. She re-sides with the Barnes Family and is very happy living with them. Part of the experience is be-ing away from her homeland and family for a total of ten months. Cantu admits that being away from her family is the hardest thing for her, but that it is an ex-perience she doesn’t regret. “I joined the program because I wanted to improve my English and because I wanted to demon-strate to myself that I could do without my friends and family,” Cantu said. She keeps in touch with her family through a weekly phone call. This is Gabriela’s first time here in Utah but second time in the United States. During the applica-tion process her preference was a colder climate, and from then on Utah became her destination. She

is especially excited for winter, as she has never seen snow before. “I’m very excited to experience it,” Cantu said. Gabriela is a very good student and very dedicated to her educa-tion. She explains that the mate-rial learned here is very easy to follow. One of the few difficul-ties she has is speaking the lan-guage. “It’s very frustrating to me not being able to communicate everything I wish to say,” Cantu said. Although her English is very good as it is. Her favorite part about school here in America is being able to meet so many new people. Back home she is around the same group of people because the teachers are the ones to make the rotations to the different classrooms. “Making friends is easy because you are actually around your classmates,” Cantu said. “The people here are nothing like we think back home,” Ga-briela said. “I came here thinking Americans were cold people, but they’re actually very friendly.” She enjoys learning about the culture most of all and getting to experience new customs. The students have made her feel very welcome here at Granger and have made her experience so far enjoyable. Gabriela hopes to enjoy her time here in the United States and at Granger to the full-est. And in the near future she hopes to return; next time with her fam-ily by her side.

Student of the month:Gabriela Cantu

Gabriela hopes to visit the United States again with her family.

By Shayla JohnsonARE YOU into writing poetry, and reading other people poetry? If so you’d enjoy Accolade, it’s a class where you get a topic and write a poem. It’s a fun class that will help you build up your writ-ing skills and help you with your punctua-tion. Sadie Shaw (12) said that Accolade is one of her favor-ite classes and it im-proved her writing skills when it came to fictional stories. “I recom-mend this class to anyone!” Shaw said. She also says that Ms. Green is the greatest teacher ever. Accolade has a website if you’re interested in reading some of the Accolade’s writing and to get a general idea what they do in there and what they write about at

accolade.weebly.com Megan Gabbard (11) says “Accolade is my favorite class hands down.” Megan wants to get some of her writing published. There are different opportuni-ties to get published throughout the year.

All she has to do is send in one of her poems and wait to see if it gets published. Ms. Green gives the

students the direction to go. From there then they can explore and come up with some amazing writ-ing. Megan loves to read and write and Accolade is her favorite class. Megan also says that everyone gets along with everyone, and it’s like one big family of writers.

By Judith RupayLATINOS in Action just started this year; Granger is the first in Granite District to have this class. It’s a class that prepares stu-dents for college, inspires bilin-gual students to help with their community, and uses LIA student language skills to help elemen-tary kids. Ms. Johns is the teacher for LIA, she wanted to get kids more in-volved. She still wants more sopho-mores, juniors and seniors to join the class. They have joined with AVID to be together. LIA was started by Jose En-riquez in 2001 at Timpview High School. “I like that we get to go on field-trips like the conference that hap-pens every year,” Nestor Rob-les (12) said. He got involved in LIA when he went to East High School. “I expect a lot from this class by helping me with scholarships and school work and stay on track with my grades,” Robles said. LIA students stay every Mon-day B-day classes in schools but other days they go to different el-ementary schools to teach. “It helps me with my grades,” Robles said. The teacher has LIA members checking their grades to make sure they don’t have be-low a 3.0 GPA or else they have consequences until they get their grades higher.

“We’re all leaders” Robles said. He likes the fact that everyone has their opinions and sayings when it comes to big projects and decision for the class. “My counselor told me about LIA,” Hyrum Avalos (12) said. Many students have joined the class, and they want more stu-dents to be in LIA too. “I think this class is good but I feel like there could be more im-provement,” Avalos said. Even thought it’s their first year starting this class, LIA made prog-ress getting students on track. “LIA helps me be more bilin-gual and everyday I learn more things from the elementary kids,” Avalos said. “Leadership gets me in touch with my culture,” Avalos said. They want to show their culture by not only dancing but by teach-ing others their roots. “I’ve gotten to be a better per-

son,” Avalos said. All the students like the fact that they’re helping each other and the community. “We get to be involved in our community and especially meet new people,” Carol Castaneda (12) said. LIA students do community ser-vices, the way they get their hours is teaching in the elementary kids but they also perform services outside of schools for other. “Kids who are sophomores, juniors, seniors if they are inter-ested with and extreme ambition and go beyond, you can join LIA. It will help you prepare for your future, help you be social, and get service hours,” Avalos said. Avalos is the publicist for LIA along with President Katherine Monges, Vice President Fer-nanda Murrieta, Secretary Carol Castaneda and the two historians Stephanie Sepulveda and Brenda.

Fernanda Murrieta (12) is posing with a great smile.

A change for the future

Fun writing with Accolade

Accolade poets have distinct personalities.

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Tri-Color Times Staff

Granger High 3690 South 3600 West West Valley, UT 84119 385 646-5320

The Tri-Color Times serves as a student forum for student opinion and student expression. The views expressed herein reflect neither the opin-ions of Adviser John Carlisle and Granger High School, nor those of Granite School District. The Tri-Color Times invites and publishes letters to its editorial board; all letters will be edited for taste, length and legality.

Journalists JournalistsFabiola Abarca

Viridiana AguileraCeleste AnguianoSalvador Armenta

Shanice BoydBernice Bracemontes

Matt BrownMaria CamarilloCecilia CardozoAbigail CartmellGloria CastanedaJessie CisnerosRosy DonosoZlatko DzanicKaren Garcia

Alejandro GarzaClarissa GodinezMaria Gonzales

Cindy GoveaKevin Guzman

Selina HaroCurtis HughesAdis Jasarevic

Shayla JohnsonAleecia MartinezMonica OrtegaTakia Owens

Leslie PlascenciaNancy Resendiz

Judith RupayYasmin Salgado

Rita SotoMercedey Thomas

Brenda ValdezErick VargasMaria Zuniga

Print EditorAida Uzierbegovic

Online EditorBrittany Edwards

Copy EditorAlejandro Garza

Photo EditorBrooke Rigby

Managing EditorTaylor BaileyLogo ArtistJose Olmedo

December 2011, page 4 VOL. LIV Issue 3

By Fabiola AbarcaIN A COUPLE of years, we’ll have a new high school to go to. There are many students who are excited to go to it, but some stu-dents couldn’t care less about the new school since they won’t be going to it. “When this school gets knocked down I’m just going to be like ‘whatever, who cares,” Denise Garcia (11) said. “I won’t be able to go to the new high school anyways since I’m going to graduate before it is done being built.” She is one of the many students who won’t be able to go to the new school because she is gradu-ating before it is done. “We’re badly in need of a new school. If there is an earthquake, this school would fall on us and we would all die.” said Garcia sarcastically. Garcia won’t be missing the building but she will miss all the good times and memories. There are many students, who disagree with Garcia about not being sad when the school gets knock down.

“I will definitely be sad; I had so many great experiences here with my friends and so many great memories.” Jasmine Andrade (11) said. “This school may not be the best looking school in Utah, but it is definitely the only school where we all join together as one,” An-drade said. “I will be graduating in the class of 2013, which is the final class to graduate from here and that really means a lot to me, as a student here at granger.” “I do imagine the new school to look amazing! Probably the biggest school in Utah,” Andrade said. Class of 2013 will indeed be the last graduating class of this school. “I think it is going to look big and nice,” Mayra Puerta (11) said. “I’m imagining it looking like one of those private schools that look all nice because the stu-dents’ parents pay to have their sons/daughters go there.” “We really need a new school!.Even though I won’t be able to enjoy it since I’ll be graduat-ing before it’s done being built,”

Puerta said. “The one we have is old and we have all the same old classes, maybe with the new ones we will get new classes along with the school. We also don’t have air conditioning and it gets SO hot during the summer!” Puerta said. Puerta didn’t know that the school board was thinking about adding freshman but when I told her about it, her response was: “WHAT?! Are they really? Well if they do decide to put freshman, then I say they should definitely NOT!” Puerta said that that will add more students and that’s not what we need. “I think 9th graders are still a little too small to be going to a big school, but then again it might be good so that they can get used to it.” Puerta said. “I am going to be sad when it gets knocked down because you know, it’s the school we are going to and all the memories we had with friends here are going to go away with it too,” Puerta said. No matter what people say about this school, Granger will be missed.

A new Granger High School

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LOCATIONS ALL ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT

By Brenda ValdezOUTSTANDING is the best word to describe the ‘Dance for Grace’ benefit concert. It was held on October 12, 2011. The concert was held for Grace Olson, who is the daughter of our very own Mr. Olson. She was born with Spina bifida which is when the spine is not fully closed together before birth. This causes walking to be difficult, and some-times painful. She has to go to a physical therapy 4 times a week. The surgeries and physical therapy treatments aren’t cheap, so Granger’s Dance Company wanted to help out the best way they could: dancing. As the audience gathered and took their seats waiting for the event to start, the performers were back stage getting ready and warming up. Before the curtains opened, Ms. Lago, Dance Company, and the Excaliburs all hugged in tightly, and said a prayer together. When the curtains opened, Granger’s Dance Company was in position for their performance of “All That Jazz.” Once the dance was over, there was a video for the ‘Now I Can

Foundation.’ Following the video was a performance by Hunter High’s Dance Company to ‘Get-Away.’ Following this was ‘Mira-cle Minute’ which is when people go up and down the aisle, and col-lect money from the audience. Afterwards there was another performance by Granger, ‘Close to Your Heart.’ Then Glee had their first performance on stage, singing ‘Keep Holding On’ by Avril Lavigne. Excaliburs had their performance, as well as Cy-prus High. The main dance that everyone was so excited for was ‘Dance for Grace’ Featuring Grace herself. This performance was beautiful, and touched everyone’s heart. Overall the whole event raised about $2000, including 300 dol-lars from the “Miracle Minute.” The whole idea started when Ms. Lago found out about Grace. “I thought to myself, we can raise money faster than a yard sale,” Mrs. Lago said. Granger High has been doing benefit concerts every year for the past five years. “I loved when they brought her on stage, it was really nice,” said Aspen-Jay Webb (12). The benefit was organized by

Ms. Lago with help from Ms. Turner, the advisor of LAT (Lanc-er Action Team) and Ms. Spjute, the advisor of Show Choir. Everyone loved working with Grace on and off stage. “It was a really neat experience, such a sweet girl!” Karey Watts (12) said. Grace felt the same way and said she felt like a princess, she loved dancing on stage with the Dance Company. She could not stop talking about her bike she received at the end of the concert. “This is the best day of my whole life!” said Grace. Mr. Olson was very impressed with the turn-out, and is very grateful to Ms. Lago. Everything went as planned and exceeded ev-eryone’s expectations. “For the most part everything went as planned, we had to make a couple of changes,” Lacey Turner (12) said. With the money made at the con-cert, it was a tremendous help for Grace’s physical therapy at Now I Can. She will continue get help with walking and reach her goal. Mr. Olson wants to thank Granger High for the support and everyone who made the night special.

Dance for GraceDance for Grace exceeds expectations

Grace Olson performing on stage with Granger’s Dance Company.

By Brenda ValdezTHERE are backpacks, shoes, shirts, pajamas, sweaters, even a customized airplane! The list goes on and on of how many Hel-lo Kitty items there are. Around every corner at the mall or school, Hello Kitty appears. Hello Kitty has always been popular with teenagers, but lately she has become an icon. The obsession is not so much with games, movies, or comics but it is based more around fash-ion and accessories. So many people wonder what is so great about her. “I like how she doesn’t have anything perverted, she’s cute,” Jessica Rivera (11) said. Hello Kitty is not a dirty icon, like the Playboy Bunny. She is more of a girly, innocent, icon which is why she attracts girls more. “She makes me feel like I am a little girl,” Rivera said. Pretty much anything that Hello Kitty can be put on, she is on. She is on all sorts of items like neck-laces, bracelets, earrings, blan-kets, undergarments, and even cars! “I love my Hello Kitty pil-low. She makes me think about childhood.” Silvia Ortiz (12) said. Like Rivera, Ortiz also reflects back on being a kid. It seems the whole Hello Kitty mania is about feeling like a child again. That is not always the entire reason. There are girls who wear and own Hello Kitty items because every-one is wearing it. Not many will admit it, though, they prefer say-ing they really like her. Boys have been seen in the hallways with Hello Kitty backpacks as well! The most common things that are seen are the bigger items. “I have Hello Kitty bed sheets, wall posters, and pillows,” Cianna Di-ana (11) said.

There was also a Hello Kitty show that ran in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Only a true Hello Kitty fan can say they watched that show. “I watched her show when I was younger and the frog one too,” Diana said. People don’t seem to mind about the whole obsession with Hello Kitty. They just wave it off and don’t care about it much. “Everyone has their own ob-sessions, even me,” Jullien Ri-

vas (10) said. Rivas doesn’t care about the whole obsession. The whole Hello Kitty mania doesn’t seem to bother guys or annoy them. It doesn’t seem that Hello Kitty will be forgotten anytime soon. “I don’t think I will ever stop liking her,” Rivera said. Some stores are even releas-ing Hello Kitty clothing lines. For example, Forever 21 recently re-leased a Hello Kitty collection.

Ely Mendoza (10) with her Hello Kitty bag

Sheila Phouthavong (11) shows off her Hello Kitty with pride

Hello Kitty for Prom Queen

Apologies decrease suspensions

By Yasmin SalgadoTHERE is a new rule here in Granger High School this year. The consequences have changed. One of the goals this year for ad-ministration is to not suspend stu-dents for misbehavior this year. Instead of students getting sus-pended for their bad behavior they are apologizing to their teachers. There is a new process they must follow. Students have to sign a contract that says they are going to behave themselves and if they break the contract, there will be further consequences. “When a student has bad be-havior in class it’s not always be-cause they’re trying to be cool by talking back to the teacher,” Yu-ritzi De Leon (10) said. “Maybe they were having a bad day or maybe they are having problems at home. The administrator they should sit with them and have a talk with the student and ask them what exactly it is that’s making them misbehave. If for some reason the student doesn’t want to tell the teacher or starts being rude about it then they should send them to the of-fice.” This new rule has decreased the number of suspensions this year. “If a student has behavior that distracts from education, go see administration,” Jerry D. Haslam said.

There is a process the admin-istration should follow after this has happened. Once the students are in the office an administrator asks him what caused this behav-ior. They try and see if maybe there is a cause to why they are acting that way. After that an administrator talks to students and gets student to take ownership. After all that is done the student signs a contract with the administrator. The con-tract says the student has to be-have for a week or two or as long as their contract states they need to behave. If the student doesn’t behave and gets in trouble again then there will be next level consequences. There is nowhere near the same amount of suspensions as there were last year. It seems like administration is reaching their goal of lowering the suspension rates. Now teach-ers don’t have to deal with bad behavior as often. Some students probably just misbehaved to get suspended but this year it doesn’t work like that. This year if students want to mis-behave then they should be ready to apologize for the way they are acting. Not suspending students for their bad behavior and having them apologize instead is a great idea.

By Celeste Anguiano FEAR is everywhere we go. It can be known as an instinct humans are born with, or have inherited. Students at Granger High School have their own phobias, either common, or rare. Phobias are fears that get out of control and can sometimes be treated with a number of different kinds of ac-tivities or medical assistance; other phobias are not yet possible to be treated. Yulenny Lorenzo (10) has both acrophobia and claustrophobia. She says that being claustropho-bic and acrophobic can be a little overwhelming. Claustrophobia is the fear of being in a small closed space, people with this phobia usually feel panicked, sweat, shake, and in some occasions, they can find it very difficult to breathe when found in an enclosed room. Eva Lopez (11) has cynopho-bia. This means she has a very strong fear over dogs. Lopez is not scared of all types of dogs; though in her case she has a big fear over the Pit-Bull breed. “Sometimes my friends call me names like, “scaredy cat”, it’s so annoying to hear them call me names, and just because I’m scared of little creatures with four legs,” Lopez said. Many students can be oblivi-

ous to their phobias without even knowing they have one. One of the most common phobias stu-dents may be oblivious to is So-cial Phobia. This phobia affects both females and males equally the same. Social phobia is the fear of being critic, or being judged on how people look, talk, or even the way they walk. Some symptoms for this phobia are blushing, trembling, sweat-ing, nausea, and a bit of difficulty on talking with other people. You may think that this phobia is just the symptom of a shy person, but it isn’t; shy people are able to overcome their fears, while social phobia victims cannot. If you think you may have a phobia you would like to discuss, you are always welcome to go talk to your counselor, or a fam-ily doctor to help you understand your fears and help treat them, even though some may take more time than others. “No one has ever really made fun of me, or anything like that, and I really don’t think my pho-bias affect me during school hours,” Lorenzo said. Whether your phobias affect you or not during high school years, they might be an obstacle to you, keeping you from accomplishing your life time goals. Information found onphobialist.com.

FEAR!Phobias plaguing Granger

students

By Berenice BracamontesBEST FRIENDS are all over Granger. They’re in the halls, in the lunchroom, in the classrooms, and even giggling in the school’s bathrooms. They shouldn’t exactly be called a ‘best friend’ though, if all they do is influ-ence you into doing some bad things. They could convince you to ditch school, making you arrive late to your classes, or going out during lunch to a park just to smoke. Sounds like quite the friend, doesn’t it? But there is a posi-tive to this negative. There are real friends that could benefit how you’re doing here at Granger. “I would pretty much go to all of the foot-ball games because of my friends,” Brooke Barney (11) said. “If I were like one of those ‘loners’, forget about it!” In fact, most football fans are only fans because they either know, or are friends with a football player. “Dude, friends help Granger by being a little more social, and

extroverted. Without them we would be losers,” Tariah Valen-zuela (10) said. It’s good enough that Granger isn’t a private school, and students are opinionated, and love to share their ideas with not only teachers

but with other students as well. Friends could also be the perfect study mates before a big test. “My best friend and I have English to-gether, so every night before this big test, either she or I would go to one of our houses, and we would find, make up, and try to

come up with these easy-to-do fun, crazy ways to remember our English words and their mean-ings,” Jeannette Mikkelsson (12) said, smiling at the thought. After school activities could be a nice way to spend some more

time with your buddies. It’s something you can share your interests, similarities, pretty much everything you have in common together. “There would be ab-solutely no way I would go to a Night Forum alone…No way!” Sa-mantha Mota (11) said. “Luckily, I have at least one friend who would love to accompany me anytime.” Setting future goals with each other would most likely help de-crease some “bad hab-its”. There could be

days when one of your friends wouldn’t want to go to class, therefore take you with you some-where out of school, maybe Fresh Market, and there could be days where it’s you who doesn’t feel like going to class and it could go back and forth. The right best friend can keep you on track.

Best friends help each other succeed

Jeanette Mikkelsson and Sadie Shaw

December 2011, page 5 VOL. LIV Issue 3

December 2011, page 6 VOL. LIV Issue 3

By Celeste Anguiano GRANGER is continuing to make big changes. Some of these changes are making students ner-vous. Other students believe that the new administration is doing a great job. The teachers believe that Grang-er is changing for better. “I think they have a lot of goals, which is very good. They also try to achieve all the goals they have for the year.” Ms. Johns said. “I think that the teachers are doing a great job. When I feel down, they pick me up,” Spencer Brown (10) said. Even students have their own views on the school’s improve-ment, and it’s all thanks to Prin-cipal Haslam. “Seriously, Haslam has done a great job with Granger. I remem-ber when I was a sophomore, when people would literally walk the halls with only their under-wear on; he improved the dress code by a lot,” Paola Mascorro (12) said. While Mascorro be-lieves that Haslam has done a great job, other students oppose, believing that Principal Haslam is much too strict. “I think all these new ideas that principal Haslam has, are a little too strict. Why do we have to car-ry a gigantic binder everywhere we go around the entire school, to all of our classes like if it’s really going to help?” Christian Mo-rales (11) said. Some students believe and admit that Granger’s Lancer Achieve-ment Binder is a smart and fantas-

tic weapon to get organized. “The binders are great,” Mascorro said. “I know many people that even admit the binders help them be better organized.” Other students think that the binder was a terrible idea. They don’t realize how it is benefiting the school. “The binders are not helping at all, students are still go-ing to be unorganized as always, just as before,” Brown.said. “The binders, themselves are great. I don’t really know if the binders are the reason for the improvement or not. I think it’s the expectations teachers have to-wards all the students using their binder every day and making them write in them,” Ms. Johns said. Granger All Achieve Program (GAAP) has helped many stu-dents get their grades up. GAAP is a program made for students’ success. This program was de-signed to help the students bump their grades up in Math and Eng-lish. If the student is failing the two subjects, they are required to go to the after school program. “I really like GAAP because it gives me something to do on Monday mornings, instead of just sitting at home, when I don’t have anything else to do except watch TV, which is pretty much sitting around and doing nothing all the time.” Morales said. The proof everyone has of Granger improv-ing is around the years, especially in the new after school clubs like Granger’s Biggest Loser and proj-ects like Pay It Forward.

Granger dramatically improves performance

Students issue tickets to staff and classmatesBy Adis JasarevicSTUDENTS taking Law En-forcement as a class this semester were asked by Officer Randall to go outside and hand out parking tickets to students and staff. “Everyone is required to have sticker, students and faculty.” Of-ficer Randall said. “Once a stick-er is purchased, I will rip up the ticket.” Purchasing the sticker costs only $10. Once the sticker is purchased the person who has received the ticket will not have to pay the fine. As where, the cost of paying off the ticket is $25. Students and faculty have two days to pay for a sticker before they are required to pay the entire cost of the ticket. “I like getting out of class for an entire period, but having to give out tickets to friends sucks,” Har-preet Bhopal (12) said. Upon receiving a ticket you would also get a yellow slip that reads, “If you would like to talk about this citation, please contact Det. Randall in the main office within 2 days of the date issued.” Not only did students receive parking tickets but the staff did too. “I laughed,” Mr. Haslam said. “Teachers should not be parking in student spaces just as students should not be parking in teacher spaces.” Due to the construction of Granger High School having the

remodeled school built right next to Granger, there has become a limited amount of parking. So even though stickers for faculty are free, they still have a specific parking number they are required to park on. Officer Randall assigns these numbers to the teachers and the administration. If someone were to park in teachers parking, Officer Randall would have to investigate. If the vehicle isn’t moved, it may have to be towed away. “This is stupid because I have a sticker,” Fabian Barranco (12) said. Fabian had already bought a sticker for his car and he still re-ceived a ticket. He just returned it to Officer

Randall and the ticket was ripped up. Some are not as lucky. Failing to pay your ticket is considered against the law because these tickets are registered through the state, not Granger High School. Next time you park at Granger High School, park there with a sticker. There is no valid source of knowing when the Law Enforce-ment class and Officer Randall will strike again. Receiving a ticket is a serious thing, why pay more for a ticket, when the sticker can be purchased before hand? A message to all Granger stu-dents and faculty: Purchase a sticker, and treat yourself, be-cause you just saved $15.

Officer Randall poses in his office with a book of tickets.

By Shanice BoydPICKUP-LINES are a popu-lar trend these days at Granger. It’s just a fun way to flirt, shake things up, or to mess around with people just to see what their re-actions would be. You wouldn’t know how many Lancers use this technique in the halls of Granger high, “I was blinded by your beauty. I’m going to need your name and number for insurance reasons,” Angel Camargo (12) said. He uses this to make people laugh. There are all sorts of pickup-lines. ‘Did it hurt, when you fell from heaven?,’ ‘Give me your number, I’ll keep it safe,’ ‘Are you a ticket, because you look pretty fine to me,’ ‘Do you have a phone, because somebody needs to call heaven they’re missing an angel,’ and even ‘I’d rearrange the alphabet put U and I together,’ These are just a few that Lancers have used. These are just a few of the corny pickup lines our Lancers use. Alfred Schuster (12) said he and his friends would say this to girls who pass by them: “Hey! There’s something on your butt.” The girl would respond with something along the lines of “what?” and they would say, “My eyes.”

“We would hangout by the drop-off when girls pass by,” Schuster said. Lucky them, you can also use this technique on, not just one, but many. The way pickup- lines all started was when in the medieval times the men would write letters or notes and give it to the girls on their door step, passing notes back in forth in a way of flirting with each other. Hearing this information seemed like a good way of telling people where pickup-lines came from. Most use pickup lines as a jok-ing around way of saying ‘I like you.’ In some cases it is more fun to say a pickup line to the person you like, because they make oth-ers giggle. Girls have fun with saying pick-up-lines. “Hey are you an athlete, you’ve been running through my mind,” Selena Nino (11) said. “I said it to my brother; he just laughed and said it was cheesy!” Or some can be more of an ‘I think you’re cute approach’. This one pick-up line was made up to go out to all the football players from an anonymous person; “Are you a football player? Because you’re touching down on my heart, passing over some love, and my defense is down!”

“I lost my phone number, can I have yours?”

Everyone loves cheesy pick up lines

By Adis JasarevicJUST LIKE any great teacher, Granger High School teachers love students who are willing to come to school and learn, but there is much more to Granger High School then just students sitting in class. “I like students who laugh at my jokes.” VanTassell said. Teachers enjoy when their stu-dents connect with them in some way, from laughing at their jokes to just having a positive attitude, teachers expect their students to do well in school, but not all stu-dents have the same attitude. “Students that don’t have re-spect for themselves don’t know how to respect others,” Van Tas-sell said. Some students show up to school because they are forced to be there. Sleeping in class day by day and not caring about their futures.

These students have no respect for their teachers. Most students don’t realize how hard it is to be a teacher. Teachers all over the world show up to work every day and are expected to teach. For the most part teachers love what they do, but when students begin to act up or not care about what the teacher is trying to teach them, then teachers begin to feel a bit different about their jobs. Not only are teachers here for a full day, their jobs don’t stop when students get out of school. They then have to correct every single assignment the students have done. Sometimes their work day won’t be finished until midnight or even later. Finally they have to get up extremely early the next morning and repeat the process all over again. “I like students from all differ-ent places,” Ms. Jameson said.

Jameson has been teaching at Granger High School for some time now and loves how diverse Granger is. Granger High School is one of the most diverse high schools in Utah. There are over 35 languag-es spoken here. “It adds richness to what we do,” Jameson said. Students, who have grown up here and go to Granger High School, not only learn to re-spect everyone for what they are but also begin to except them. For the most part students in Jameson’s class don’t act out much, but the beginning of the year is difficult, especially people new to the school. “Students get to know how weird I am,” Jameson said. Students seem to act out at the beginning of the year because they are not sure what they are expected to do, or where they are supposed to be. The first week of school is full of craziness, old friends who have not seen each other in a long time reconnect, and with all the class changes going on it is difficult for students not to act out. Once students get used to their teachers and figure out what is ex-pected of them the acting out usu-ally stops and the rest of the year goes smoothly. The teachers of Granger High School all love their jobs, but people don’t realize how difficult it is for them, so next time you see your favorite teacher tell them “thanks” for all the hard work they are putting in you and show them the respect they deserve.

It’s a Love, Hate SituationWhat Granger Teachers Love and Hate

Ms. Jameson smiling for the camera in her classroom.

December 2011, page 7 VOL. LIV Issue 3

Granger kids cross outside the linesBy Yasmin SalgadoJ-WALKING has become a big issue at Granger High School this year. A lot of students that have been crossing where there are no crossings allowed and they’ve been getting tickets for it. “I think it’s stupid, most people that cross don’t even get tickets only like two or three students get tickets out of a group of like ten people who J-walk,” Victor Mar-tinez (10) said. A lot of students aren’t very happy about getting tickets for J-walking because many students feel it is unfair that so many stu-dents do it but don’t get caught. “If they are going to be giving out tickets then they should be fair about it and give everyone one. Even the construction work-ers they J-walk all the time they should make it fair,” Martinez said. The administration thinks that J-walking should be stopped. Many students risk getting hurt when they J-walk they don’t re-

alize that maybe someone that’s driving may not stop for the stu-dents that are crossing. They don’t know if there is a crazy drunk driving at that time of the day. “I’d rather see a kid pay a ticket than seeing him at his funeral,” assistant principal David Gatti said. School officials don’t enforce the J-walking law with the con-struction workers because they are adults and the school isn’t in charge of them. On the other hand, the school is in charge of the students’ safety. Granger students don’t think about all those things before crossing they just think about how it’s easier to cross there. “I thought it would be more but I only have to pay sixty-five dol-lars and I have to go to the down-town court to pay for it,” Daniel Perez (10) said. “The cop that hands out the tick-ets is only wasting his time, just because we get tickets doesn’t mean we will stop the J-walking.

It’s stupid that we are getting tick-ets, when I told my mom about getting the ticket all she did was laugh,” said Perez. A better solution for the J-walk-ing would probably be to put a crossing place where everyone is crossing. Some students think it’s too far to go all the way to one of the lights to cross the street. “I think it’s stupid that we are getting J-walking tickets for crossing two lanes, most of the time that I’m J-walking I make sure that there’s no cars passing by,” Bernardo Hernandez (10) said. Last year we had the same issue at Granger High school and there was a time where there was an of-ficer giving out J-walking tickets and for a while students stopped J-walking but as soon as it wasn’t being enforced anymore, students did it again. That same pattern might happen again this year as soon as admin-istrators and police officers stop enforcing the J-walking law.

By Cecilia CardozoTO SOME the idea of a locker holds no special meaning, to oth-ers it’s their home away from home. We are first introduced to the idea of a locker in jr. high. Through the locker we are given our first taste of privacy. No mat-ter how insignificant the idea may seem, in that moment the lockers have become the perfect way to express one’s image. Across the United States the metal locker is causing a lot of controversy. There is a growing popular-ity with lock-ers and locker decora t ions . This new trend appears to be costin some, hundreds of dollars a year. Walking down the hall-ways of Grang-er one can see creativity be-ing showcased as well. “I get the urge to decorate because the lockers are boring by themselves and so I like to put things in it to make it per-sonal and interesting,” Fernanda Murrieta (12) said. The locker used to be decorated with pictures of friends or even a tiny mirror for in between class checkups. Suddenly they seem to have be-come a showcase of creativity. They are being decorated with mini furry carpets, motion-sensor-equipped lamps that glow when the door opens, $25 chandeliers, and much more. Many would not consider in-vesting that much money on lock-ers that aren’t even your own un-

necessary. “Spending that much money is outrageous, it’s just a locker,” Kim Tabligan (11) said. “I went to Home Depot, took a couple of paint samples shaped like leaves and put them together to resemble a flower. My locker looks way cute and it cost me zero dollars.” Decorating lockers appears to be an act served purposely for girls. Many of the lockers decorated here at Granger are in fact owned by girls. “It really is for girls be-cause it needs a lot of girly cre-ativity,” Angel Samaniego (12)

said. “Girls are more likely to decorate a locker because in my opin-ion most guys don’t really care for pretty lockers,” Mur-rieta said. Apart from having a place at school that is yours for the

year, the locker serve as some-

thing very useful. “I find it useful and accessible, I can drop off items from other classes so I carry less,” Tabligan said. Many simply think of lockers as a place to store their books in be-tween classes; they see no need in personalizing it. And others have no need for it at all. “I think it’s interesting, it re-ally shows how creative Granger kids can get,” Samaniego said. “I would do it but I don’t even use my locker.” Whatever the reasons are behind locker decorations, Granger has it all figured it out; with no need to exceed or go overboard.

Locker Decorations:How much is too much?

Kim Tabligan stands by her deco-rated locker.

Graduation preparation:By Shayla JohnsonHERE AT Granger High School some of the students have differ-ent opinions on how they want to graduate. Some students would like to get a diploma and not walk, while others want to walk, and do it all. To most seniors graduation is very important, and many can’t wait to graduate and be out of high school. Graduation might be stressful, because of citizenship make up, keeping your GPA up, and much more. Taylor Gardner (12) has been preparing since the ninth grade for graduation, she’s been go-ing to every class, getting good grades, and has been taking AP

classes. She’s also been staying on track, and is currently apply-ing for college. She’s enjoying her senior year a lot and enjoys high school in gen-eral. But at the same time, Gard-ner’s very excited to graduate. Dominique Arredondo (12) has already turned in his Jostens information, and after discussing with his dad about who’s paying what for graduation, they decided

his dad will pay half and Arredon-do will pay half. Arredondo explained that he’s been trying to wake up early, get to school, and go to every class. He has to make up some citizen-ship, and is going to start making it up before it is too late. “As much as I hate school, graduation is necessary,” Mi-chael Gearheart (12) said. He’s planning on doing some citizen-ship make up, and has been try-ing to go to school. Gearhaeart explained how he doesn’t want to walk at graduation unless a ton of his friends walk with him. Graduation is a huge milestone for anyone, and it is no easy feat. It takes time, and a lot of hard work, but it is totally worth it.

Seniors talk about their upcoming graduation plans

Dominique Arredondo

By Abigail CartmellCHRISTMAS is the most won-derful time of the year! It’s a time to spend with family and get presents. But some families don’t know what to do for fun. Mov-ies are no good, the gingerbread house has been done to death and presents only come once a year. Well, there are all sorts of rec-ipe ideas at allrecipies.com. They have Christmas ideas that the whole family will enjoy. Learn to make mouth watering fudge, chocolate truffles, snowmen on a stick and so much more! A very good recipe to try is Raspberry Truffles. You’ll need:• 1/2 cup of evaporated milk• 1/4 cup of sugar..• 1/4 cup of seedless raspberry preserves.• 1 (11.5 ounce) package of milk chocolate chips.• 1/2 teaspoon of instant coffee granules.• 3/4 of finely chopped toasted almonds (optional). Combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and bring it to a roll-ing boiling at medium heat; boil and stir for 3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate chips, preserves and coffee un-

til smooth. Chill for 1 hour. Roll into 1 inch balls and add almonds. Place on wax paper-lined baking sheets then cover and store in the refrigerator until they are firm. Another excellent Christmas treat is the classic Yule Log. For this, you’ll need:• 1/2 cup sifted cake flour.• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder.• 1 teaspoon baking powder.• 1/4 teaspoon salt.• 1/2 cup white sugar.• 3 eggs, separated.• 1/4 cup milk.• 1/8 cup confectioners’ sugar.• 1 1/2 cups whipped cream.• 2 cups heavy whipping cream.• 8 squares semisweet chocolate, melted.• 1/4 cup butter, softened. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 15x10-inch jelly roll pan lined with greased waxed paper. Sift together flour, cocoa, baking powder, and salt. Beat together sugar and egg yolks at high speed until light and fluffy. At low speed, alternately beat milk and flour mixture into egg mixture. Using clean beaters, beat egg whites at high speed un-til stiff, but not dry, peaks form.

Fold one third of beaten whites into batter. Fold in remaining whites. Spread batter in prepared pan; smooth top. Bake cake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Dust a clean cloth with confec-tioners’ sugar. Turn cake out onto prepared cloth. Remove waxed paper. Trim cake edges. Starting with a long side, roll up cake, jelly-roll style. Transfer, seam-side down, to a wire rack to cool for 30 min-utes. Unroll cake; remove cloth. Spread whipped cream over cake to within 1 inch of edges. Re-roll cake. Place, seam-side down, on serving plate. To prepare frosting, in a small saucepan, bring heavy cream, melted chocolate, and butter to a boil over medium heat, stirring vigorously until blended. Re-move from heat. Let stand until set. Spread frosting over top and sides of cake. And you now have two recipes to bake with your family.So what are you going to do? Go to allrecipies.com and find out for yourself all the delectable treats you can make with your family this season.

Fun holiday activitiesYummy fun for the whole family!

By Judith RupayENJOY the last year of high school basketball Class of 2012. Coach Cousins said his two most valuable players as well as hardest working players that have been on the team are Madison Pe-terson and Caroline Yorgason. Just like the two of them, many

of the players on the basketball team are amazing, too. They all started differently but came into one unity. “I played since 8th grade but I started when I was in 4th grade with my uncle and dad teaching me,” Madison Peterson (12) said. She also plays for three super leagues. Both will graduate in the same year but have different goals after high school. “I want to go to college and just join intermural teams then just do my generals,” Caroline Yorga-son (12) said. On the other hand Peterson wants to play in a division one team in Utah. “I want to either be a physical therapist or a firewomen,” said Madison Peterson and Yorgason started playing basketball growing up with their family teaching them. “My dad raised me playing bas-ketball but when I was in Jr. High I decided to join a team for the 1st time,” Yorgason said. Caroline Yorgason has been on the team for three years and Mad-ison Peterson started since she was a freshman. Many people have different per-spectives of the team and the way it has been developing next to the coaches always helping themgirls out. “We have a lot of potential, we can go far as long as we work to-gether and believe that we can do it,” Peterson said. All of the girls on the basket-ball team motivate each other to

keep going and bring the team up. They always want to have a posi-tive attitude no matter if they win or lose and this year there going strong. “Skills, talent, and potential,” said Yorgason. Many of the girls on the team are close friends and have been together on the team for such a long time that they’re like sisters. This year the basketball team to prepare they went to s summer camp. Because of their championship win, the coach has more expecta-tions than ever before. “The team is better and the coach knows what he’s doing,” Yorgason said. “In my freshman year we would take longer on the basics but now is much easier,” Peterson said. The new kids that join the team every year, have gotten used to the routine much faster than ever. With basketball and school to-gether it gets busy for the team, but all of them support each oth-er. During their games they try to work on their homework or when their in class they try to finish it. They know everything they do is all worth it. “I go to class, stay on task, and staying late is hard but I know is all worth in the end,” Yorgason said. “He’s very intelligent, gives confidence and he’s there when you need him,” Peterson said. The coach is a big impact be-cause when players have prob-lems they go to him and he under-stands them.

From start to finishTwo most valuable players

Madison Peterson (12)

Caroline Yorgason (12)

By Zlatko DzanicTHIS YEAR THE 2011 F.B.L.A leadership conference was held in Provo at the Marriott hotel. The leadership conference was an overnight event on October 25th and 26th. What is F.B.L.A you ask? F.B.L.A stands for, future business leaders of America. Each year they have these conferences. This year over 850 students attended, not to mention all of the speakers and advisors that were also there. A keynote speaker was Brad Wil-cox, a professor at BYU. The leadership conference wasn’t all just business. They had some fun involved in it as well. There was a dance held at the Marriott. For most of the students this was their favorite part of the over night stay. The dance started at 9p.m. and went until 11p.m. “My favorite part of the whole trip was the dance; I danced like crazy and had tons of fun. I will never forget it,” Justine Tabligan (12) said. During the presentation there was a big push to influence the

students and advisors to attend Utah business week on August 12th at Utah State University. According to unews.com, “Utah is the 6th best state to start a new business. Utah has the third fast-est growing firms in the United States. It also ranks third in “job churning.” He also mentioned how the technology we have today will seem archaic compared to the technology we will have in 10 years and how most of the “jobs of the future” haven’t even been invented yet. Ms. Drage was there with the students and she gave the stu-dents some great advice to be open to blogging websites. “Learning to use twitter and oth-er blog sites to talk about prod-ucts and resources can potentially be a great career choice if you are clear, concise, and polite,” Ms. Drage said. Grangers F.B.L.A club has grown a lot in the past year. “Our members went from 19 last year to over 31 members this year, and its still not to late to join!” Ms. Drage said.

Leadership Conferrence:Future business leaders of America or F.B.L.A.

December 2011, page 8 VOL. LIV Issue 3

Writers’ ClinicBy Taylor BaileyUniversity of Utah invites middle school and high school students from all over to be taught how to be better journalists/photogra-phers by professionals. The Tri-Color Times staff and Ms. Green’s creative writing class attended a field trip at the U of U for a writer’s conference. For those who have no idea what this is, you take a bus to the U of U. When you arrive you are hand-ed a schedule that lists the kinds of conferences and their times. There are three sessions, then lunch, then two more sessions. This field trip is an all-day experi-ence. Students are set loose about 10-15 minutes before the first ses-sion so they have time to explore the campus a little bit. Professional photographers/ journalists from newspapers such as City Weekly, and The Salt Lake Tribune lectured students on how to be better writers, interviewers, and photographers. In addition, professors from Utah, BYU, and USU also taught lectures. Zlatko Dzanic (12) didn’t think the field trip would be as interest-ing as it was. He thought everyone would gather in a big conference

room while a bunch of know-it-alls tried to lecture them about be-ing a better journalist and telling them things they already knew. Dzanic admitted it ended up being nothing like that, students switch from room to room listen-ing to different professionals talk about what they’ve learned, their experiences, and gave sugges-tions on how they thought writers could improve. “The talks got kind of boring occasionally, but having your friends with you made it so much more fun,” Dzanic said. He thought the campus was amazing. “I’d do it again in a heartbeat.” Abby Cartmel (12), on the other hand, found the field trip to be exactly what she expected. Cartmel had a good time and her favorite part was a photography lecture. The photographer was fast with his camera and captured every little detail. Some people just went for the pure experience period. Curtis Hughes (12) for example, ex-plored the campus most of the time. Hughes loves the U of U, and this field trip only made him love it more. “I’d definitely go back,” Hughes said.

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Zlatko Dzanic and Curtis Hughes explore the U of U bookstore.