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By SAM LOPEZASST. BUSINESS MNGR

.“SKY” partnership to take actionSchool within school program may help with ulti-mate educational benefit

pring Branch, Kipp, and Yes Prep: all these things make up what is now called “SKY”. These three have begun work together in the hopes of taking away the idea of there being “less fortu-nate” students. It's purpose is “…to bridge educational op-portunities for children in Houston, Texas,” SKY website said. The i d e a s u r -faced in J a n u -ary of l a s t y e a r and if t h e r e could be an agreement by March, then some-time in March it can start. “The Gates Foundation has interest and so has Dell,” superintendent Dr. Duncan Klussmann said. “Gates granted us $100,000 to study the program. They heard about the program we were doing and they liked it.” Yes Prep and Kipp alike were put together for the purpose of helping with college prep for public school students. Add-ing their partnership with Spring Branch makes college prep much easi-er for students to access. “YES Prep Public Schools exists to in-crease the number of low-income Houstonians who graduate from a four-year college pre-pared to compete in the global marketplace and committed to improving disadvantaged commu-nities,” Yesprep.org said. The idea of the SKY partnership is to create a school within a school to

increase the benefits of students learning. Unlike any other pub-lic school, Kipp and Yes Prep's ideal focus is to guide students to their lives after high school by preparing them while in high school. “Kipp is a national net-work of enrollment, col-lege preparatory public schools dedicated to pre-paring students in under-served communities for success at college and

in life,” Kipp.org said. The SKY partnership is to begin with fifth grade students and will move up each year. “We're in the stage of trying to formulate what this could be like, noth-ing has been finalized,” Klussmann said. Landrum and North-brook Middle Schools are targeted locations. The SKY partnership will be beneficial for all students in SBISD, but “...especially those who may not be currently per-forming to their potential, to eliminate dropouts, and to shift the SBISD culture to success for all,” SKY web said. This gives all students equal educational rights even though they may attend separate schools. “We have provided a school within a school program, so SBISD stu-dents would be support-ed by KIPP or Yes prep,” Klussmann said. “The students in that program would have complete ac-cess to our technology

for extra- curricular ac-tivites, our electives, but at the same time, their class would be taught by KIPP or Yes prep teach-ers.” Having a school within a school, such as North-brook Middle within Cor-nerstone or Westches-ter, further opens up the opportunity for college prep. Cornerstone alone has 200 to 300 some stu-dents on their waiting

list for the 2012- 2013 school year, so having SKY working with them could definitely be bene-ficial for those that want to attend. “By leveraging the in-structional technology, and extra-curricular and co-curricular tools of SBISD, with the college preparatory program, and leadership and teacher development tools of KIPP and YES Prep, this new program-ming provides access for 10% of SBISD stu-dents to access high- quality, college-prepara-tory charter options as part of the SBISD port-folio,” SKY web said. Why just accept what one school can offer when so many other schools may offer more? “The union of these high performing organi-zations fundamentally changes how secondary education is delivered in SBISD and gives fami-lies increased access to school choice,” SKY web said.

likely candidate for the Republican party as the days go on. Romney has won the New Hampshire primary and has been consistently ranked as first or second choice among voters. Compare that to Rick Santorum, winner of the Iowa caucus, but currently last place in terms of delegates and support. Switching wings, the Democratic party does not need to hold

caucuses or primaries, or even select a new nominee; they already have one. Last year, Barack Obama officially announced that he would be running for re-election as President in November of 2012. Both he, and Joe Biden, will be on the Presidential/Vice-Presidential for the Democratic party. However, when the people of a state vote in the primaries, they are not necessarily voting for the candidate of their choice. In fact, they are voting for a state delegate to the national party convention. The more delegates elected for a nominee, the more likely the nominee is to be chosen as the Republican candidate for President. With the way the race is

currently going, a strong leader can be seen in Mitt Romney, currently with 32 delegates. His strongest contender would be Newt Gingrich who, with 28 delegates, has been quite blunt in the debates, where Romney has been much less direct and responsive. Ron Paul, with 10 delegates backing, is a strong debater, but has no support from the media, which could be the cause of his

weak support from the people. Rick S a n t o r u m ’s r e c e n t decrease in p o p u l a r i t y has caused him to be the weakest link, with only eight backers. However, the only nominee without a full state backing is Ron Paul, making him a c o n s e c u t i v e

second place candidate. However, with many people growing tired of the current two-party political system, one company has started an online voting revolution that could change the way American’s elect their President. AmericansElect.org is a website that allows any person living in the United States to answer questions and state their opinions directly towards Presidential Candidates. This website’s motto being “American’s Elect lets you choose a leader that puts country before party.” Read on further to Page 2 for a full list of current Presidential nominees, both Democratic and Republic, and an extensive list of their views and plans.

rom television set to radio broadcast, the 2012 Republican party debates have been sweeping across the nation. Soon, the nominees for Republican Party Primary will be down to the final two and the Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates will be chosen. However, this process is more c o m p l e x than some may realize. To e f fec t i ve l y decide on a Republican P a r t y N o m i n e e , each state holds a primary or a caucus from January 3rd until June 26th. At each g a t h e r i n g , t h e r e m a i n i n g Republican candidates debate the pressing topics that will be addressed during their presidency and persuade the American people to their point of view. The difference between a primary and a caucus is that a primary has private ballots and a caucus has public ballots. A caucus is a much more communal and local setting that is similar to a discussion where they openly decide on the candidates. The most pivotal caucus, the Iowa caucus, is the first caucus of the year. The winner of the Iowa caucus, in recent history, has also been the winner of the Republican nominee ticket for President. Runner up for the Iowa caucus, Mitt Romney, seems to be a more

F

By CADE BUNDRICKCO-EDITOR IN CHIEF

THE FOUR HORSEMEN: The final four Republi-can nominees applaud their success in the Iowa caucus.

Presidential party persuasion pays offLearn how this country plans to choose its next big leader

.

Introducing the new District 22-4A: Marshall, Wil-lowridge, Northbrook, Spring Woods, Stratford,

Tomball, Tomball Memorial, and Ridge Point After being grouped together with Brenham, Waller, Magnolia, Magnolia West, and Montgomery for the past two years, Spring Woods has been set up in the brand new District 22-4A. The normal faces, Northbrook and Stratford, are present, but an alto-gether different set of foes has been presented for the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons. The good news is, Spring Woods students will not have to travel nearly as far now to reach away games, the average travel time cut down to 25 minutes as opposed to the previous 43 minutes, meaning Tigers won’t be arriving home near midnight any more after a long game. More good news for the Spring Woods football team: Ridge Point will be having their first Varsity football season next year. With this new district, things are looking up for the Tigers as we all move forward into the new year.

In 2006 it was deter-mined that the technol-ogy being used in SBISD was outdated and over-used. With this in mind, the district came to the conclusion that technol-ogy needed to be updat-ed and refreshed in the 2007 Bond Project. “Spring Branch has al-ways been committed to providing the highest quality education to stu-dents,” educational tech-nology facilitator Karen Justl said. It was agreed upon that technology would be the way to provide this to students. To do this technology was to be integrated into the learn-ing environment to help reach educational goals. “We began the Test De-ployment Phase to 11 campuses in the summer of 2010. Afterward, we reviewed and refined our process. Deployment continued in summer of 2011 to another 11 cam-puses and will continue with the final deployment during summer 2012,” Justl said. By the start of the 2012-2013 school year, every campus in the district will

have received their initial technology devices. Current technology in-cludes everything from iMacs to Netbooks to AC-TIVboards. All of these promote students' learn-ing abilities, providing new and creative ways to teach and to learn. In an AC-T I V c l a s s -room each student has a handheld r e s p o n s e device that helps the teacher, dur-ing the les-son, know immediately if they need to continue or reteach part of the lesson. This is only one of the many ways that the recent tech-nology can help in the learning envi-ronment. “As of now, there is no room to expand things such as ACTIVboards outside of core classes,” superintendent Duncan Klussman said. Other technology, such as iPads and iTouches,

allow students to go and learn independently, pro-moting digital citizenship yet again, which is also the norm of behavior with regard to technol-ogy use. Technology presents many new opportunities and demonstrates what

a technologi-cally dependent district we are now. “Things that we used to do by hand, where you go out and actively search, now it's become easier to use the internet on those items” li-brary assistant Ellen Albano said. “Now that they're wireless, you don't have to sit at a desk and do it. You're able to move around more

freely.” Once again, promote-ing digital citizenship, and allowing students to go and do independent research. As for future plans to expand technologically, they are still being de-cided upon.

By ALISAN O’QUINNSTAFF WRITER

Out with the old, in with the newHigh tech classrooms promote new learning styles.

-Pro-life and against Em-bryonic stem cell research “I am pro-life. I believe that abortion is the wrong choice except in cases of incest, rape, and to save the life of the mother.” - Romney on why he vetoed the contracep-tion bill in 2005.

Rick Santorum

Ron Paul

Newt Gingrich

Mitt Romney

Barack Obama

-Pro-life and supports Embryonic stem cell re-search”I believe beyond a doubt that a fetus is a human life deserving of legal protec-tion, and that the right to life is the foundation of any moral society.” - Paul in 2005

-Pro-life and against Em-bryonic stem cell research“I would advocate that any doctor that performs an abortion should be crimi-nally charged for doing so. I don’t--I’ve never sup-ported criminalization of abortion for mothers, but I do for people who perform them.” - Santorum in 2011

-Pro-life and against Em-bryonic stem cell research“I think that abortion should not be legal, and I think that how you would implement that I’m not sure.” - Newt Gingrich in The American View, 2005

-Supports both Roe v. Wade and abortion“I am committed to poli-cies, initiatives, and pro-grams that helps prevent unintended pregnancies, support pregnantwomen and mothers, encourage healthy relationships, and promote adoption” President Obama, 23 January 2011”

-Current President of the United States-Democratic primary

-Second Place in Iowa Caucus-Winner of New Hamp-shire primary

-Third in Iowa Caucus-Second in New Hamp-shire primary

Winner of Iowa Caucus-Fifth in New Hampshire primary

-Fourth in Iowa Caucus-Fourth in New Hampshire primary

STUDY TIME: Stu-dents use the iPads to study during after school tutorials.

-Believes in tax cuts for people earning under $200,000 a year. He also presented a $233 billion stimulus package to sup-port long term business expansion, cut taxes, and increase government ex-penditure.

-Believes in cutting spend-ing first before healthcare should be taken into con-sideration.-Does not believe in bene-fits for unions, but supports their formation.

-Plans to cut spending, but in depth economic plans have yet to be fully an-nounced.-Against unions for federal workers.

-Promises a plan to balance the country’s budget within 5 years of being elected. Plans to create jobs and re-duce unemployment to 5%.-Feels that unions cause the cost of production in the U.S. to be far too high.

-Obama’s budget plans to raise the tax rate for the upperclass and cut taxes for middle and lower class. He also plans to fo-cus money on energy con-servation and limiting car-bon emissions.

-Believes government is too heavily involved in health-care, supports a reform of the current way healthcare is operated.-Supports trade with China but not the idea of building nuclear plants in their coun-try.

-Romney supports a Uni-versal Health Care but not one that would cause the government to raise taxes.-Feels China to be a larger economic rival to the U.S. than most people realize.

-Santorum wishes to repeal ObamaCare and enable country-wide use of medi-cal plans, allowing people to use healthcare plans from other states for better options and a wider choice of appropriate plans.-Feels it is America’s duty to battle China’s brand of ‘Godless socialism.’

-Believes health care should cross state lines to increase competition and lower prices.-Wants to pull out of China and bring production to the U.S. by creating factories in the south.

-Obama will promote easy and affordable health care and mandate that all chil-dren be provided with health care.-Obama hopes to reassure US relations with China, believing that the success of China will ensure the growth of a community of nations.

-Obama supports the de-criminalization of Marijua-na, but not legalization.-Feels the gay community deserves equal rights, but marriage abilities should be decided by states.-Supports immigration and is working on a meth-od of immigration/depor-tation reform.

-Was a strong advocate le-galization of Marijuana, pri-marily medical Marijuana, but has since turned in op-position of legalization.-Believes in limited rights for the LGBT community.-Wants to find a middle ground deportation and amnesty for illegal immi-grants.

-Against legalization of Marijuana.-Against same sex marriag-es and feels the motives of the Gay and Lesbian com-munity are questionable.-Feels that immigration is damaging to the nation and should be stopped.-Opposes immigration re-form.

-Believes that states should control the legalization of Marijuana, and that it is a decision that lies with the people.-Believes Federal govern-ment should stay out of af-fairs with the LGBT com-munity.-Against deportation.

-Opposes all legalization of Marijuana.-Opposes same sex mar-riages, as well as equal rights for the Gay and Les-bian community.-Supports immigration but is opposed to amnes-ty. Wants to put a serious stop to illegal immigra-tion.

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:Jack William Rodgers

CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:Cade Bundrick

BUSINESS MANAGER:Jessica Jones

ASST. BUSINESS MNGR:Sam Lopez

STAFF WRITERS:Carly Batterson, Lilya Gehman, Brittany Moore, Alisan O’Quinn, Haley Schild, Odalis Garcia, Scott Moore, Alberta Rollins, Lorelei Shannon, Stephanie Var-gas

ADVISOR: Pam Karter

The Regit is published every six weeks by the newspaper staff as a public forum for the student community. The staff reserves the right to choose the content of the stories. Final decisions involv-ing all written and pic-torial content shall be made by the staff and advisor. The Regit will strive to present news in a fair, impartial, accu-rate, and truthful way. Editorials represent only the staff writer’s view. Letters to the editor are welcomed from any Regit reader.

Letters will be checked for grammar, accuracy, and punctuation. To join the Regit staff, contact one of the grade level counselors. ADVERTISING: The Regit retains the right to reject advertisement not in the best interest of its audience. Advertising space may be purchased by calling the journalism depart-ment at (713) 251-3239.Advertisement may be faxed to the Regit at (713) 365-4474.

2012 REGIT STAFF

On January 27, 2009 Joey Erskine decided to go to Sonic. Little did he know, it was a night that would change his life for-ever. On that tragic night, Erskine was shot in the head in a drive-by shoot-ing just before 8 pm. “It was early, still day-light outside, and it just all happened so quick, and I woke up later and I couldn't really remember anything,” Erskine said. “It was terrible.” The day after the shooting, Erskine's fifth grade teacher, Shawn E d w a r d s , heard about the incident and felt that she should go see him. “When I learned it was Joey I became very con-cerned. Mrs. McClendon, Joey's math teacher, and I immediate-ly left school and went to the hospital,” E d w a r d s said. “It was very scary and we didn't know what the outcome was going to be at that time.” At times the recovery process seemed long and endless, with Ers-kine relearning simple tasks such as walking and talking. “The recovery has been great! I think I'm better than what I was before. I've become smarter and more independent,” Ers-kine said. Joey was always known for his sense of humor and kind heart. “I kept telling him that I was going to paint his

toenails red unless he got out of the bed to get away from me,” Edwards said.” He would wiggle his toes and tell me,'You better not!'” During the early stages of recovery, he stayed positive with the help of family and friends who continued to encourage him. “I really enjoyed vis-iting him in the hospital, because each time I saw him, he had improved and I just knew he was going to make it!” Ed-wards said. One of the main dif-ferences he's noticed in himself is physically. “I can't do things like I

used to, like ride a bike. I'm working at that in ther-apy. That's one of my goals. I'm also gonna play sports. I've been pract icing with my left hand,” Ers-kine said. Seeing the differ-ence in Joey, phys-ically and m e n t a l l y,

from beginning to end has been amazing for all involved. “To see him in a hospi-tal bed and hear the doc-tors really unsure about his recovery was heart-breaking. The heartbreak turned to immense pride as I saw Joey and his family work to take his life back,” Edwards said. “He was determined to reclaim his future and become the person that he is now. He has been through more than most of us will ever have to go through, but it has made him a stronger person.”

Sonic shooting scareBattle to reclaim future after horriffic night.

By ALISAN O’QUINNSTAFF WRITER

hearts of the students, and they were so pas-sionate about the cause that they emptied their pockets to help the 27 million people still en-

slaved to-day. After that day, no one could fath-om what the stu-dents would give to help bring a stop to slavery. In the four day long conference held to bring t o g e t h e r C h r i s t i a n college stu-dents from around the globe, the s t u d e n t s

alone raised $2,566,670. With a generous dona-tion of $500,000 from an anonymous couple at the conference, the

If you’re low on cash, there's plenty of good things you can buy and do to make your Valen- tine's day spe-cial. Making a nice cute card can tell a per- son a lot and how much you mean to them. By writ- ing something thoughtful, it can show how much you ap- preciate them. Also if you have a few dol-lars, stores like Walmart, Kroger, and Dollar General have nice cute gifts like little boxes of chocolate or small stuffed animals. You can find small items un-der $5 that will make your Valentines feel special.

Just in time for Valentine'sGreat ideas for that special day.

By STEPHANIE VARGASSTAFF WRITER

Little Cash, no problem

Making sweets will make any day nicer so make some simple cookies or brown- ies that your Valentines will enjoy. Now guys if you want to make her feel special, get her a doz- en red roses at stores like Kroger and Wa l m a r t . Red roses can cost between $20 and $30 dollars.Girls buying a card or some chocolates will make him feel happy as well.

Sweet Treats

Now if you’re really into making it wonderful you can take your Valentines to a nice restaurant like Olive Garden, Car- rabba's Ital-ian Grill, The Cheesecake F a c t o r y . These are just some, of the restau-rants that will make Val-entine's day nice if you add some roses and chocolate it’s a plus. Girls if you’re the one planning the Valen- tine's date, you could make a nice dinner and dessert that could be eaten in a park like Memorial Park or Dis-covery Green. This will surely satisfy his hunger and sweet tooth and not to mention you will make him feel appreciated.

Go out with a Bang!

Brownie: 1/2 oz. package brownie mix1/2 C. water1/2 C. oil1 egg

Glaze:4 oz. chocolate chips2 t. oil4 oz. white chocolate chips (or vanilla chips)2 t. oilLine a 13 x 9 inch pan with foil; grease bottom. Bake the brownies according to the box or recipe instruc-tions. DO NOT OVER-BAKE. Cool completely. Freeze brownies 1/2 hour.

Remove brownies from the pan; place on cutting board. Using a 2 1/2-inch heart-shaped cookie cutter, cut out 8 - 10 brownie hearts. In a small saucepan, melt the chocolate chips and 2 teaspoons oil over low heat, stirring occasionally until smooth; keep warm. Quickly dip sides of 4 or 5 brownies into chocolate; al-low excess to drip off.

Place brownies on waxed paper. Spoon melted choc-olate over tops of brownies; smooth out with knife. Re-peat with white chocolate, 2 teaspoons oil, and remain-ing brownies. (Brownies may need to be dipped and frosted twice to completely cover.)

Drizzle small amounts of contrasting chocolate ran-domly over each brownie.

Glazed Brownie Recipe

Women have come far since the days of the early twentieth century. They’ve gotten the right to vote, the right to stand on a jury, and now wom-en are now in a male run area; business. Nowadays, many wom-en are in business. Se-nior Kara Ottesen’s fam-ily owns a promotional products company called Network Interstate. What they do is they pro-mote larger companies such as BP and Shell. Her mother started it in 1993.” Ottesen said, “ It has been referred as one of the fastest growing women owned business in Houston.” Ottesen and her family have been passing the business down through the women in her family for decades. It’s not un-til recently that women have broken into the field of business. It was male run and that’s how things were. “There’s been compe-tition with other compa-nies, but our customers are very loyal. It’s not re-ally been an issue,” Otte-sen said. Traditionally, women’s jobs were house work. They cooked, cleaned, and their husbands went to work. At the start of WWI, when all of the men left for war, women had to get jobs outside of the home, to support their families. They worked in factories and took over a previously male line of work. When all of the men came back, women returned to their jobs in the home. But it was different for them. They had gotten a taste of what it was like to work, and since then they have slowly integrated into the work field. Prejudice was a con-stant foe in the quest for equality. Many times, women were treated more as fragile china.Now, women, for the most part, are held up to the same standard as men. “I’ve worked in many businesses and through-out them all, the differ-ences male and female owned have never been significant enough to come to my attention. I think that’s a good thing,” CATE teacher Estie Cueller said. Male run companies compared to female run companies is still quite different, but things are changing. The number of women businesses has been on a trek upwards, even migrating into male run fields such as oil and gas. “Gender doesn’t matter,” Cueller said, “If you have the right education and experience, it doesn’t matter whether you’re a man or a woman.”

By HALEY SCHILDSTAFF WRITER

Women make way into male arena.SWH mom runs

family business

By ALISAN O’QUINNSTAFF WRITER

Over 40,000 high school seniors and college stu-dents came from all 50 states and 30 different countries and gathered at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Every January the Passion Conference is held and every year they join to fight for a dif-ferent cause. This year, the attend-ees raised money to fight against human traffick-ing, with an organization called Freedom, with a goal to raise $1,000,000. “When I first heard about the cause we would be supporting, I was thrilled that my generation would stand for freedom. That we, poor college stu-dents who pay 17 cents for Ramen would raise an enormous amount of money in the pure and just name of Christ,” conference attendee and former Spring Woods

student Lydia O'Quinn said. They were all asked to bring what they could, because every penny re-ally did count. On the first night of the con-ference, it was “the day we've been dream-ing of all year. Stunning look-ing around the Dome tonight. A sea of hope. Future's bright,” head confer-ence coordina-tor Louie Giglio said. Little did he know, the stu-dents would far exceed his expectations of $1,000,000 to-ward Freedom. Day one of the confer-ence led students to give “over one million dollars to end modern day slav-ery! Together we are a

force for good!” O'Quinn said. Christine Cainer, a pastor from the Hillsong Church in Australia, spoke about modern day

slavery and even shared stories of people who had escaped. The dev-astating stories seemed to strike a cord in the

Students gather to fight for causePassion 2012 opens eyes to the realities of modern day slavery.

MIDNIGHT GATHERING: The first viewing of the symbol of freedom which shone bright above At-lanta is a reminder of the 27 million still in slavery and the money raised to help bring them out.

final total was brought to $3,066,670. And to think, the majority of this came from students who are most known for looking for loose change under couch cushions.All to help bring a stop to human trafficking around the world. Another organization working against mod-ern day slavery is Loose Change to Loosen Chains. This is a student led campaign to com-bat modern day slavery while learning about the reality of injustices today. In America alone, there is approximately $10.5 billion in loose change just lying around. This campaign is being led here at Spring Woods and if we all donate that change lying in the park-ing lot or at the bottom of your backpack, there is potential to make a dif-ference with the money raised.

SMILING FOR PICTURE DAY: After a long road to recovery, Erskine is back to his grinning self.

Diane Duong is a straight A, 11th grade student that is in nothing but AP and Pre- AP classes other than her electives of course. She is involved in HOSA, Orchestra, Student Council, and the Humanitarian Society. Even though she has a busy schedule each week, she manages to make time for her dream, being a doctor. Duong might have a very long time to go until she is Dr.Duong, but she is starting the job early. The HOSA class goes to the hospital a few times a week and she really likes it. She likes it so much that she volunteers at the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center in the junior volunteer service every saturday. “I like working in the hospital. Meeting new people is really fun,” Duong said. The way that Duong is preparing for the future has not only gotten her recognition with her HOSA teacher, Judith Holtan, but with the hospital as well. “The Health Professionals are impressed with Diane,” Holtan said. “She is a fantastic volunteer at the hospital and a super HOSA intern.” There is so much for Duong to learn but in the mean time, she is doing the best she can to live her dream. “ I am very proud of Diane. I know she will be an exceptional asset to the medical world!” Holtan said.

By ODALIS GARCIA

Each year as people welcome a new year, they make New Year's resolutions. The number one resolution is getting healthy. By the time it is February, most resolu-tions are broken. One of the most impor-tant ways to maintain a healthy lifestyle is by keeping active. Try to dedicate at least 30-45 minutes a day for some type of aerobic activity (walking, running, biking, swimming, etc.) Lifting weights is also a good way to build muscle to compliment your cardio workout. If you limit your T.V. and computer time, you can replace it with some type of fun exer-cise. It is also good to have a friend to work out with, that can also help encouragement and mo-tivation. “People are living lon-ger so you need to stay as healthy as you can while you're young,” soc-cer coach Maggie Fuchs said. Good nutrition is just as important for staying healthy. It's good to start your day with a healthy breakfast because it will give you the energy to concentrate and focus during school. Try to stay away from sugar options like doughnuts and pop-tarts. Choose cereal, fruit, or smoothies as an alternative. If you aren't hungry in the morning, or don't have time, bring a healthy snack with you to eat on the way to school. Water is also very im-portant. Make sure to drink at least 8-10 glass-es of water per day. You should drink more if you are in sports or during the summer time. Make good food se-

lections as often as you can. If you eat nutritious foods, you will stay full longer. Swap out sugary and salty snacks for h e a l t h i e r options like fruit and l o w - f a t snacks. Some say it is better to eat small-er meals throughout the day than three larger meals. Be sure you don't skip meals and let your-self get re-ally hungry. That can lead to overeating and grabbing the closest and worst snack you can get your hands on. “Students should be more aware of what they are eating,” Coach Fuchs said. Making small changes can make big differ-ences in your health this year! Read labels and see what is actually in the food you are eating. Look at the calories per serving as well as the sodium and fat content. You could be shocked by what you read and it might be just what you need to go for an alter-nate snack. Getting a good night sleep is also a big part of being healthy. Not everyone requires eight hours of sleep per night but most people need at least seven hours. It's good to get into a sleep habit by going to bed at the same time each night. Try not to eat or drink anything with caf-feine before climbing into bed it may be hard

to get to sleep. If you're not sure how much sleep you need, try not setting your alarm clock over

the week-end and see what time you n a t u r a l l y wake up. Rest is as impor tant as diet and e x e r c i s e for keeping your ener-gy level up and helps you stay fo-cused. If you work hard, losing weight will be easier than you expected. S e n i o r

Hannah Speck lost 70 pounds in one year. Kids aren't eating the right kinds of food and they aren't exercising. “Stay outside and limit your T.V. time,” Speck

said. “Do cardio for at least 30 minutes, three times a week.” Recent studies show, more than one third of children in the U.S. are overweight or obese. Kids who are overweight now will likely end up being overweight when they are adults which means they are at more risk of having more health problems. Obesity is associated with health problems like high blood pressure, diabetes, joint problems, sleep apnea, heart disease, stroke, and several types of cancer. Overweight chil-dren often have low self-esteem, which makes it worse when they are unable to participate in normal activities such as sports. It's never too late to start making healthy changes. If you set small goals, they will be easier to accomplish. Be sure to track your progress on a daily bases.

By CARLY BATTERSONSTAFF WRITER

DIANE DUONG

Straight A’s

11th Grade

AP & Pre-AP Student

When seniors come to school, the word that they hear most from teachers is, “college.” Not all of the seniors are

ready to go to college. Some want to take a break and do something else. Volunteering is a great way to help teens who don’t know what to do after high school. Service Adventure is a volunteer program for teens who are out fresh out of high school. It is part of the Mennonite Mission Network and is sponsored by different churches throughout the country from Anchor-age, Alaska, to Philipi, West Virginia. There are different unit houses that each have two unit lead-ers who act like parents to the young adults. In Service Adventure, they are assigned a job, such as helping in a nurs-ing home, or school. Every day the young adults have to go to their job, earn money, come home, and cook supper. By doing so, they will be able to get an experi-ence of what it’s like in the real world. “By the end of the ten months you will be thinking about college. It’s just something that

comes up naturally,” Spring Woods graduate of ‘10 Nick Gehman said. There are other pro-grams such as: http://greatcollegead-vice.com: Great College Advice is a program that

helps teenagers that are coming out of high school to chose what they want to study in college and what college whould be best for them. http://planetgapyear.com/: planetgapyear.com is the first interac-tive online web site to help teens who are com-ing out of high school find something produc-tive to do before they go to college. http://interimpro-grams.com/: Interim Programs, helps teenag-ers find out what to do in college by helping them figure out what their in-terest is. Walking Tree Travel is another program that young adults can join af-ter high school. You can travel to different parts of the world from Costa Rica, to Guatemala, and earn up to 80 ser-vice hours while you are there. Scholarships are available as well. Walk-ing Tree Travel’s mission is to pursuade people to take an active interest in the world.

Healthy lifestyle leads to longevity.Teens suffer from child obesity due to lack of nutrition

By LILYA GEHMANSTAFF WRITER

GIVING BACK BEFORE GOING AWAY: Grad-uates go to Brazil with Walking Tree Travel.

Adventure programs offer meaning-ful opportunities to graduates.Seniors find alternatives to college

RUN TO THE FINISH LINE: SWHS runners burn calories.

March 11,2011 was the day that would change Ja-pan. On that day, Japan was hit by a 9.0 earthquake that cre- ated a tsu-nami that did much m o r e d a m a g e than the t s u n a m i that hit In- donesia in previous years. This e a r t h - q u a k e and tsu- nami have c r e a t e d chaos for the coun- try. Not only were p e o p l e hurt and d y i n g from the d a m a g e of the t s u n a m i

and earthquake,but it damaged the nuclear reactor which leaked radiation into the country country kill-ing over 600 people. Families have been torn apart and many people where injured and killed due to the massive amounts of debris and massive waves from the ocean. In need of help, the county has asked for donations from many other countries including the United States. Months later, Japan is still struggling to rebuild its country and its people.

On January 8, 2011 Congress woman Gabrielle Gif-fords whats holding a political meeting in Tucson, Ari-z o n a . Jared Lee Lough- ner pulled out a pistol and s h o t e i g h t e e n people i n c l u d i n g Repre- sen ta t i ve G i f - fords. Gif-f o r d s was taken to the University M e d i - cal Center in criti- cal condi-ton. As for Lough-n e r police said t h e r e was no motive behind his actions.This created an outrage in many Americans in which on January 12, President Brack Obama held a televised memorial service for representative Gif-fords explaing that Giffords had opened her eyes for the first time since the attack. She is now in rehabila-tion where she is gaining back her speech and motor skills. There was talk about her returning to congress but for now she had decided to resign and continue recovering from the injuries.

This began on Tuesday,January 25, 2011 and is still continuing today. The uprising was a campaign of non- v i o l e n t p ro tes t , w h i c h featured a series of marches and acts of civil disobedi-e n c e . The In-t e r n e t i g n i t e d mi l l i ons of young p e o p l e in Egypt sites like Facebook w h i c h p o s t e d i d e a s a b o u t how their Govern -m e n t had failed them. Millions of protesters, from a variety of ethnic and religious backgrounds, demanded the overthrow of the regime of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. Despite being peaceful in nature, the revolution was not without violent clashes between security forces and protesters, with at least 846 people killed and 6,000 injured. The uprising took place in Cairo, Al-exandria In following weeks of determined protest, Mubarak resigned from office.

Most important events of 2011Japanese Earthquake

and Tsunami Tucson, Arizona

shooting Egyptian Revolution

By STEPHANIE VARGASSTAFF WRITER A series of trials that changed peoples lives drastically.

The Bully’s ChoiceBy Lorelei Shannon

Coldplay: Monday, June 25th/26th, 2012 7:00 pm at Toyota Center

Disney’s The Lion King: Tuesday July 10th, 2012 7:30 pm at Hobby Center for the Perform-ing arts

World’s Championship Bar-B-Que Contest: Feb 23rd through 25th at Reliant Park

Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: Feb 28th through March 18th at Reliant Park

Bayou City Art Festi-val: March 23rd through 25th at Memorial Park

Dropkick Murphys: Feb 28th, 7:00 pm– at House of Blues

Radiohead concert: March 3rd, 3:30am or 7:00 pm at Toyota Center

Romeo Santos: March 15th, 7:00 pm at Toyota Center

Band Concerto Finals & Jazz Concert: Feb-

ruary 17th, 7:00 pm at Main auditorium

Camo pep rally: Febru-ary 24th– all day during school

Practice STARR/Re-lease TAKS: February 28th through March 1st

TAKS ELA: March 7th

SAT Test: March 10th

Debate-NFL Congress: March 10th

Spring Break: March 12th-16th

Report Card Pick Up: March 21st, 5:00-7:00 pm

STARR Writing: March 26th

STAAR Reading: March 27th

Good Friday: April 6th

ACT Testing: April 6th

TAKS Testing: April 24-

27th

AP Testing (Chem, Env Sci, Psychology): May 7th

AP Testing (Sp. Lang,Art Hist): May 8th

AP Test (Calculus): May 9th

AP Test (Eng Lit): May 10th

AP Test (US History): May 11th

AP Test (Bio & Phys-ics): May 14th

AP Test (Govt): May 15th

AP Test (Eng Lang& Stat): May 16th

AP Test (Eco & W.Hist): May 17th

AP Test (Human Geo & Span Lit.) : May 18th

Graduation: May 26th 1pm

Finals : May 25,29,30,31

For many of you, as the new year has started, new goals have been set and put into play. Per-haps it's to lose 20 pounds or get straight A's, but whatever it is here are some en-couraging words to get you through the next year and fulfill your resolutions.

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” -Japanese Prov-erb“The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.” -Ivy Baker Priest

“It is not the moun-tain we conquer,

but ourselves.” -Ed-mund Hillary

“We acquire the strength we have overcome.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

“It is foolish to tear one' hair in grief, as though sorrow would be made less by bald-ness.” -Cicero

2012 Upcoming eventsInspirational thoughtsFor times of trouble and temptation

By ALISAN O’QUINNSTAFF WRITER

.

For some, the new year means a new look. For the most part, fashion is determined by teens in school in particular because school is where they want to show off their styles. Both guys and girls want to look good and it’s becoming harder to tell who dresses “best”. Here are some tips on how to achieve the looks that are currently most popular.

Nike shorts 1900’s shoes/ Oxfords

Bright colors have come back. Look for vibrant pinks, greens, blues, yellows, and even it out with some neutrals.

“I don’t really have a certain look. I’m actu-ally inspired by the early 1900’s look, and I mix it in with today’s looks,” junior Eva Zapata said.

Converse

For Girls:

For Guys:

“Everyone has their preferred style, the style doesn’t make you. You make the style,” fresh-man Juan Soto said.

Spring into new fashion

Best colors are light green, red, and blue. Remember: less black, more white

Button ups

Oscars surprise many2012 nominations seem to be ignoring certain movie titles.By CADE BUNDRICKCO-EDITOR IN CHIEF

The academy has recently released the nominees for the 2012 Oscars, but what does the list really mean? Other than Hugo getting the most nominations, the 2012 Oscars were a disappointment to many. For example, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2 received nominations for Make Up and Visual Effects. It seems that after completing an entire series of films, they should get at least a pat on the back for something, but unfortunately no acting credits went to the main cast, or supporting cast even, although well deserved. The critically acclaimed movie Drive received one nomination, despite popular support, for Sound Editing, which is not a huge accomplishment for a film that has earned consistent, high ratings from sources such as IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, and the LA Times. But with Drive being such a unique film for 2012, could the Academy be playing it safe? As it turns out, yes, it is. The Academy has chosen primarily movies that would not be considered “risky,” such as Harry Potter, or Drive. Several British films that have won many awards since their release have

not been included on the list due to their far more adult themes. With that said, I believe that some movies could have been taken off

the list, such as Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, which is far from his best work. He has gone without an Oscar in the past and could probably

do so once more. The only other movie I would complain about not being included is The Muppets. This movie put such a positive and

modern spin on an all time classic that it deserves far more than just a nomination for best o r i g i n a l song. Other than the exclusion of certain films, the Oscar nominations seem more or less

accurate. However, when the previews roll for How to Train Your Dragon 2, they will include “Oscar Nominee Jonah Hill.”

MAKING HISTORY: Martin Scorsesse’s new-est film Hugo hits big.

BEST PICTURE:The ArtistThe DescendantsExtremely Loud and Incredibly CloseHugoMidnight in ParisThe HelpMoney BallWar HorseThe Tree of Life

BEST ACTOR:Demian Bichir, “A Better Life”George Clooney, “The Descendants”Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”Gary Oldman, “Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy”Brad Pitt, “Money Ball”

BEST ACTRESS: Glenn Close, “Albert Nobs”Viola Davis, “The Help”Rooney Mara, “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo”Meryl Streep, “The Iron Lady”Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn”

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” -Theodore Roosevelt

“Live without pretending,

Love without depend-ing, Listen without defending,Speak with-out offendng.”- Aubrey Drake Graham

“Dream and give yourself permission to envision a You that you choose to be.”- Joy Page

Good luck on your jour-ney toward sucess, may-be I’ll see you at the end of the road.

By LILYA GEHMANSTAFF WRITER

When choir director Katy Cuddihee came in to be the replacement director last year, choir students w e r e ready for change and that is exact-ly what they got. This y e a r , like last, changes continue to be made. Choir “ p o p ” s h o w s h a v e typically b e e n k n o w n to be the final g o o d bye or the closing of the choir year, but this year, Cuddihee has changed this tradition. The choir's Pop Show was held on February 13th with a Broadway theme, which is much different from the typical pop shows held in May.

Now, taking the place of where the pop show would have been will be a formal concert on May 15th. This leaves choir stu-dents with less time to work on their pop show

music. “It’s more of a challenge because of less time to practice, but that shows people how to take ini-tiative and work harder,” freshman Blas Duran said. The reasoning for such an early pop show con-

cert is for the purpose of sound quality. The sing-ers will get their energet-ic concert out of the way and from there go into the music that is really important: UIL music. “After UIL is when the

choirs sound their best,” Cuddihee said. So why not have a con-cert after the sound has reached its best? Cud-dihee wants people to hear how far the choirs have come rather than having them perform “ra-dio- style” music.

By SAM LOPEZASST. BUSINESS MNGR

The pop concert is meant to be fun and show the students talents as well, though. It gave students the chance to sing with their significant other, their best friend(s), and even their siblings. Since t h e singers got their f i r s t concert of the y e a r o v e r with so e a r l y on, that g i v e s s t u -d e n t s m o r e time to prepare for the o t h e r t h i n g s that are to come this se-mester. “I like how the pop concert is earlier because that gives me more time to study for finals,” junior Elleana Smith said. But this concert is not the only thing these stu-dents have to “study” for this semester. Cuddihee

.“Pop” into new datesConcerts swap order to showcase choir’s strengths

The Bully’s Choice By Lorelei Shannon

has plans for her stu-dents up until May with the formal concert being last on the list. “It’s so much better that we now have a formal concert at the end of the year,” freshman Kerry

Mendez said. “That al-lows people to see what we really are: we are more formal.” For this concert, each of the five choirs will be able to pick one song from the whole year that they like the most.

“What is very sad is that once the choirs fin-ish their songs after a concert, they put the music away and never get to see it again. This way, they get to sing their song of choice once

more,” Cuddi-hee said. The choir students ben-efit immense-ly from all that is to happen this semester. With juggling all the events, settling down and singing the songs they enjoy and sounding their best will end their year on a good note. “I’ve always been frustrat-ed with the fact that after UIL, we’re at our best and then we go

straight into pop music. This way, we really get to show case everything we’ve accomplished throughout the year,” Cuddihee said.

DANCE IT OUT: Varsity choir practices dance moves for the Pop show during class.

MONKEY SEE, MONKEY DO: Junior Elleana Smith and seniors Elizabeth Gomez and Stephanie Martinez do as their choreographer teaches them.

The Ultimate Guide to the RodeoThe must-dos and must-sees at Houston’s big event.

By JESSICA JONESBUSINESS MANAGER

1. BB’s Cajun Cafe: Everyone usually wants to eat BBQ at the rodeo, but take a break from the norm! This New Orleans style cafe offers many tasty, unique snacks including blooming onions (Best with honey mustard!) and alligator on a stick.2. Big Bubba’s Bad BBQ: Find this booth in the carnival midway and try the pork spare ribs! They were given the Gold Buckle Foodie award for BBQ at Rodeo 2011.3. Sweet Cheeks: The best booth for all things fried! Look for classic favorites like fried Oreos and snickers or go for something a little crazier like fried tiramisu or oatmeal cream pies. Ask for extra powder sugar and grab lots of napkins!4. Dozens Cupcakery: Ever seen a cupcake that is twice as big as normal? Talk about delicious! Find this booth inside Reliant Center and enjoy the large pile of icing that comes on top of these colossal treats!5. La Grande Wheel: Make sure you ride the largest portable ferris wheel in the western hemisphere! The lines are always long, but when you can see as far as the ship channel at the very top, it’s all worth it.

6. Starship 2000: Always an awesome ride, especially when you go on it with some one who hasn’t experience it before. To not spoil the surprise, you’ll think you’re just going to spin around, but gravity will prove you wrong!7. Moscow Circus: The best fun house at the carnival midway, although this could be argued. It’s coolness factor comes from the star tunnel. The pathway through the tunnel stays still while the tunnel itself spins, creating an awesome illusion that will make you hold up the line because you want to stay in it for more than a few seconds!8. The Bubble House: Everyone loves bubbles, right?! Have a fun time throwing bubbles at your friends or make yourself a santa beard. Beware, the floors are very slippery!9. Pig Races: The pigs at the Houston Rodeo are rather competitive! These cute little porkers compete multiple times throughout the day, but it’s best to go to the earliest race because the stands fill up quicker later in the day.10. Cavender’s: Your favorite country western store is always selling rodeo gear inside Reliant Center! They even do personalizations! If you don’t have boots the first time you go (Because

everyone knows you have to go to the Rodeo more than once every season!), pick some up for next time!11. Calf Scramble: Local high school FFA students attempt to rope and drag calves into the center of Reliant Stadium as the crowd watches in amusement. 28 kids run after 14 calves in this hilarious competition. Look out for sophomore Mark Schoenemann who will be participating in the scramble!12. FFA Showcase: FFA students try their hardest to win best in show and gain one of the many scholarships offered. Seniors Brianna Duvall and Cody Moreno will be showing their heifers so make sure you go see the animals they have raised throughout this year.

Must-seeperformers at Rodeo

20121. Luke Bryan

2. Lady Antebellum

3. Miranda Lambert

4. Train

5. Brad Paisley

It’s all in the game of lifeTeens learn responsibity, critical thinking skills in summer program

. It is a known fact that preparing for college is both stressful and rel-evant. Luckily there are various programs and activities that students can participate in to help prepare them for real life. The Game of Real Life is a program in which high school stu-dents engage in real life situations during the summer that will teach them lessons on how to deal with financial matters in a 16-hour interactive course. In addition, the activities will help students improve criti-cal thinking skills and increase their level of responsibility. The Game of Real Life also helps stu-dents gain experience on planning for col-lege, a career, finan-cial responsibilities, and life. “I learned a lot of valu-able lessons from par-ticipating in the game,” senior Francisco Gutier-rez said. “I learned how to do taxes and I learned about college.” For the past two years students were placed

into teams where they learned about interview-ing for jobs, elevator pitches and how to write a compelling resume to get into college or land a choice internship, while dealing with real life ob-

stacles. “The job interviews were really cool. They had real companies, real professional interviews, we were dressed up pro-fessionally, and actually went through an inter-view process. It's pretty

intense,” Coach Wadey Yaya said. The experience of the game has proved to be effective in teaching life lessons for the students who have participated in the program.

“It's a real fun experi-ence,” sophomore Char-lie Cruz said. “You're going to class everyday in the morning, just like school, but you're actu-ally learning something that will help you in life. I find this program more

useful for life.” This college-style course allows you time to think about your future, discover new careers, meet with professionals, create a plan for college, and have fun buying cars

and insurance, renting dorms, and even paying in-come taxes. “The way the game works is you play for hours and every hour you age a year in life,” Coach Yaya said. “So you start off at age 19. You could be a college stu-dent, or you could be dealt a hand to where you can't afford to go to col-lege. You can only go to work.” Coach Yaya, the campus coordina-tor for the program, is currently in the

process of recruiting freshmen and sopho-mores for this course. This year, the program will be held at Spring Woods. In order to par-ticipate in this program, contact Coach Yaya in room 209.

WINNING, DUH: Participants in The Game of Real Life pose for a picture after succesfully completing the program.

D e -c e m -b e r 2 2 n d , 2 0 1 1 will be a “date w h i c h will live in infa-my”, to

quote President Franklin D. Roosevelt. It will be a day that will be remem-bered as the day our generation rose to a new level of ridiculousness. The concept of fash-ion as a danger in our society, would appear to be overly exaggerated and a bit non-sensical to our generation’s ev-eryday fashion trendset-ters. Some would ask how can a pair of $100 jeans lead to violence or an $80 floral t-shirt start a riot. It’s sad to say that the hottest fashion gear can lead to an outbreak of violence which erupt-ed over a pair of $180 limited edition Air Jor-dan’s, or best referred to as Concords shoes. It really is a sad day in America, and for our generation, when people, young people, have to die over a pair of Jordan’s that they will eventually lose interest in, give or take a month or two. Malls all over Houston, Memorial City, Willowbrook, Deerbrook,

and Sharpstown, were bombarded with people seeking and willing to do just about anything to get their materialistic hands on these shoes. Policemen were forced to step in where chaos transpired. One student, Jacob Garcia, actually paid al-most double the original price, $350, just to have the shoes a whole week early. The idea of hun-dreds of people stand-ing outside in the rain and the cold, only for the chance to pos-sibly get these Concords, is absolutely out-rageous. It’s not even the wait and amount of time wasted standing in line that baffles me, but the fact that fights were started. People were injured and even killed over shoes. That's the real kicker here. It’s unfortunate that our society is so obsessed with what the latest and hottest fashion is, that a display of savagery is what has become of us. It was reported that peo-ple were actually pulling out knives, robbing one another, and maliciously attacking one another for these shoes, shoes that were debuted by Michael Jordan back in May of 1995. Now that these Air Jordan's have resurfaced, so has the concern and dispute of

our generation's morals and priorities. The situa-tion was so severe that policemen had to smash the windows of a car to rescue two toddlers af-ter their young mother abandoned them to wait for hours for the Con-cords. It's very unfortu-nate really. The reason for wanting these shoes could be the fact that they were first worn by Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest basketball player of all

time. “I believe that the lengths taken to get these shoes is a total waste of time,” senior Marissa Breuss said. “If they are not personally signed by Michael Jor-dan himself, then they aren’t anything special.” Breuss poses a great question. Why are these shoes so special? What separates them from the shoes that Nike pro-duces just about every month? “They're awesome shoes for an awesome man,” senior Jordan Tovar said. But, let’s be honest: The people who purchased these Concords are only going to wear them once a month. To wear them

every day or every week, like you would a pair of sandals or Sperry’s, would result in the loss of interest and a down-grade of your “swag” status. In all honesty, the shoes sort of resemble a space shoe meant to be worn in space or some-thing, and the price and time wasted on these shoes just seems out of this world! The practical-ity, or reasons, for pur-chasing a pair of $180 shoes, which will only be

worn once a month for one year honestly does not seem like such a bril-liant idea. At the same time, I say, if you have money to blow on shoes, then by all means go for it! Who am I to rain on your pa-rade, right? One student who was “fortunate” enough to get these shoes explains the extreme conditions in which he had to endure.“ I had to wait for two days in the cold and rain, and I had to sleep outside in a chair,” senior Ocie Gar-ret said. “It was a really long line and I was like number 89 in line.” Just imagine spend-ing two days, before Christmas, with a bunch of strangers seeking to obtain the same item as

you. Doesn't sound like much of a great Christ-mas now does it? Just imagine how chaotic it must have been. Imag-ine being pushed and shoved out of the way as the animalistic tenden-cies of our generation ran rapid all around you. Now imagine someone dying, or people getting arrested for defying or-ders from the police. Not such a pretty sight, but unfortunately this sort of savage like behavior is

what our gen-eration has s u c c u m b e d to. People may only view this problem

as just being about pur-chasing or waiting for a pair of basketball shoes, but it's much bigger than just that. With all seriousness, let's take a moment to pray for the family of the 18 year old, Tyreek Amir Jacobs, who was brutally stabbed to death over these shoes, or the peo-ple robbed and attacked with pepper spray by of-ficers trying to maintain order. Let's all take, at least, a minute out of our “busy” schedules to, first off, remember or imagine the scene of all of the vi-olence and disorder dis-persed all around Hous-ton on that cold day, and now we try to bring back some sense of order, class, morals, and priori-ties to our generation.

Concords cause chaosBy BRITTANY MOORESTAFF WRITER

.

Dis-e m -barking the car a n d w a l k -i n g onto an in t imi -da t ing

college campus is one of the horrors of moving from high school to col-lege life. Most students choose a school based on their reputation, or football team. But, many students have decided to go to a specific college without even setting foot on them once. I believe It should be required to visit a campus to get a true understanding of what it has to offer. “Visiting colleges is sep-arated into three major sections,” college coun-selor LaWanda Jenkins said. High school seniors typically visit once either during the fall semester, the spring semester, or the summer break. But I feel it is good to visit the college you are thinking of at least two of these three times. This gives

an all around experience that is required in choos-ing a college. College life is split into these three categories, and not lov-ing two of them will lead to a bad college experi-ence. “Visiting a college cam-pus during the fall gives a sense of the school spirit,” Jenkins said. This is because fall is the time of football and new faces all filled with school spirit for their teams. Visiting during this semester is in ses-sion gives a sense of all of the students of the school, and what the general feel of the school spirit is. Someone can love the campus, but they might dislike every-thing about the spiritless students, or students with too much spirit. “Visiting dur-ing the spring can give you a sense of the academic life on cam-pus,” Jenkins said. Spring can give an in depth idea about aca-demic lifestyle. You can

visit classrooms and see how the classes really go. Classes may have 30 students and a teacher, or an auditorium with 300 stu-dents and a teacher. The difference be-tween 30 and 300 students is a drastic change that catches lots of students off guard that didn’t visit. “The last time to visit is during the summer while the campus is empty,” Jenkins said. The summer is one last

chance to meet with the staff members around campus. But, it is also a

great time to explore the layout of the campus.

If someone does not like the look of a cam-pus, there is no reason to spend four or more years there. Take this

time to meet with a counselor and plan out the next four years, because things are not done for you in college. “I wasn’t really sure what col-lege I wanted to go to,” senior Crystal Escobar said. “But once I visited UTSA, I decided that was where I be-

longed. I just loved ev-erything about the cam-pus and the classes.”

By SCOTT MOORE STAFF WRITER

.Visiting campuses important for studentsCollege is calling to you

In 2011, a disease o v e r -took the teenag-ers and h i p -s t e r s of the

nation. The disease's name: dubstep. Now, I'm sure there are those that disagree with me, and I accept that. I'm sure that dubstep DID exist in some form prior to 2011. However, finding that out would require additional research into a topic that I already care nothing about. Now, before you get your headphones in a twist and start insisting that dubstep is an actual art form, let me remind you of a few things. First off, this is what it sounds like: WUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUBWUB. Very soothing, definitely what I want to listen to all of the time. Second, anyone can make a dubstep song. When the music is com-puter generated, every person out there who can use a computer can theoretically create their own work of "art". As we've discovered with the Internet, when people get to create their own version of the same thing, we end up with a lot of bad repeats of the original content one person had the idea to make. Third, and this is the most annoying part (in my oh so humble opin-ion), the people who lis-ten to dubstep and are really into it can't seem to stop wanting to con-vince me that their mu-sic is awesome. Every time I criticize dubstep, I have Mr. Musical Ge-nius shoving an earpiece at me giving me the full run down of why dubstep is apparently amazing. This is what my typical conversation sounds like with one of these people: "Here listen to this, it's really good." "No." "Dude, it's awesome, have you ever heard this song before?" "No, I haven't, but I don't need to hear it, ev-ery song sounds exactly the same." "No way, man-" at which point they launch into a tirade of their favor-ite dubstep "bands" and why their choice of mu-sic is the greatest thing since Tim Tebow. So, in order to solve this dilemma before it gets out of hand, I propose this as my solution: shut your mouths and listen to actual music. Honestly, any path would be better than the current track we are on right now.

By JACK RODGERSEDITOR IN CHIEF

WUBstep must be stoppedViolence ensues over expensive shoes

Visiting colleges is an important part in deciding

if you want to attend there or not. Be sure to put thought into your deci-sion, and go over every-thing before you decide on a college. Do not just pick based on a school’s reputa t ion , or how cool their football

team is. “I have always wanted to go to UT because I love the Longhorns,” se-nior Ilyssa De Los San-tos said. “But once I vis-ited the campus, I knew it was not right for me.” If you plan on going to college, visiting is a ne-cessity. No one can tell if a college is good just based on how well their football team does, or if it is the number one party school in America. So contact your coun-selors and arrange for college visits or you may be stuck in a school you hate.

GIG ‘EM AGGIES: An overhead view of the Texas A&M campus.

HOOK ‘EM HORNS: An overhead view of Univer-sity of Texas at Austin.

“It really is a sad day in America, and for our generation, when people, young people, have to die over a pair of

Jordan’s.”

When the NBA was locked out and the chances of a 2011-12 season were slim at best, it seemed like everyone in the sporting world was mourning the loss of an American pasttime. But guess what? Who has two thumbs and didn't care? THIS GUY. In all honesty, and I know I'm going to get flak for this, I really don't care all that much about professional basketball. I find no entertainment in watching selfish, over-paid athletes compete against each other for 48 minutes. When I watch professional basketball, all I see are 5 individuals playing for themselves and trying their best to be the one in the lime-light. Men like LeBron are the only picture that is presented to the Amer-ican public as a whole for us to find our examples in: big mouth, selfish, un-grateful players who play the solely to make them-selves look good, not the team. That being said, how-ever, I do love watching basketball. The ques-tion then presents itself: why wasn't I sad that the NBA season was gone? The answer: the NCAA. I don't know why, but in general, I find college sports more entertain-ing and more compel-ling than anything the professional world could possibly present me. Every game is intriguing in its own unique way, and huge upsets could happen at any point. All games are exciting, rival-ries are alive and well, and the kids are playing for a reason far greater than money. And here is where I think the biggest difference comes into play: motiva-tion. What motivates the NBA star? Money, fame, shoes. Great stuff, I'll ad-mit that. But those guys already have all of that stuff. Sure, it's fantastic to get paid millions of dol-lars, but at some point, the money isn't enough to keep NBA players go-ing as hard as they can. Now, what motivates the NCAA player? The hope for those material things. The dream that they might one day be the next Michael Jordan or Kobe Bryant. The de-sire and drive to push it 100% every single game because even one screw up could mean they never get their chance to prove themselves in the big league. So, come March, I will not be watching the lat-est installment of the Lakers-Celtics. I will be watching March Mad-ness, and I will be loving every second of it.

Recently on December 9th, 2011, senior Sydney Coffey sealed her fate when she signed with Concordia University, af-ter already committing to the university on October 31st. “I signed with Concordia be-cause I really like the school and I love the coach there,” Coffey said. Coffey has been a mem-ber of the var-sity softball team since her freshman year. “Sydney has c o n t r i b u t e d to our soft-ball program by boosting us offensively with her excel-lent pitching skills,” Coach Hayworth said. Her fastest pitch is 62mph. “She has lead us to two district champi-onships and good press coverage in the Houston area.” Coffey has been a key member of the softball

team with her ability to be versatile and a leader at the same time. “Her leadership with teammates has been a huge plus,” Coach Hay-worth said. “She has also been a huge help offen-sively as always being

one of our top hitters.” Prior to playing softball in high school, Coffey start-ed playing at the young age of five. “Well I started playing softball because my old-er sister was playing and so I just got into it,” Cof-

fey said. “I first realized I loved playing when I was eight and first started pitching.” According to the Na-tional Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Concordia is a designat-ed division three school

m e a n i n g they do not award/of -fer athletic s c h o l a r -ships and have at least five men’s and five wom-en’s sports, with soft-ball being an obvi-ous choice a m o n g s t t h o s e s p o r t s . C o f f e y signed with C o n c o r -dia on an academic

scholarship, but was re-cruited for softball. Concordia is a private, Lutheran, undergradu-ate, coeducational, Lib-eral Arts University locat-ed in Austin, Texas. Aside from being a dedicated athlete, Cof-

fey has also proven to be no slouch when it comes to academics. She will graduate with a 3.95 GPA as n u m b e r 3 in the s e n i o r c l a s s . Through-out her f o u r y e a r s in high s c h o o l , C o f f e y has suc-cessfully j u g g l e d b o t h s c h o o l and soft-ball. Al-t h o u g h her fa-v o r i t e subject is science, C o f f e y has prov-en to excel in all other subjects. “Sydney is very intelli-gent,” AP English teach-er Matthew Davidson said. “Her writing is often insightful and she’s very conscientious. She defi-nitely puts in more effort than expected.” It definitely takes a lot of

patience, courage, and time to juggle school and sports.“I don’t mind playing

softball a n d s tudy -ing for my AP c l a s s -e s , ” Coffey said. “I a c t u -ally like having p r e s -s u r e put on me.” With gradu-a t i o n fast ap-proach-ing and college r i g h t around the cor-

ner, Coffey is ready to take the next step. “I’m super excited about college and nervous at the same time,” Coffey said. “As long as I am playing softball, then there’s really nothing to worry about.”

Senior seals fate.Coffey signs with Concordia University for academic scholarship

By BRITTANY MOORESTAFF WRITER

By JACK RODGERSEDITOR IN CHIEF

THE SIGNING PROCESS: Coach Allisan Hayworth, Principal Lance Stallworth, Coach Brian Keefe, and Coffey’s parents gather around to witness Coffey’s signing to Concordia.

FIRE AWAY: Sydney gets ready to release her pitch.

The team runs out onto the court. The players take their position. But, there are no seniors on the tiger’s court. There is an all junior starting var-sity team for basketball this year. “This is the first time since 2001 that the start-er team has been all ju-niors,” Varsity Coach Joe Gibson said. This all junior team does not have senior players to lead them to victory. They are all less expe-rienced that the teams they are p l a y i n g against. The team inc ludes “German M o n t e s , D e r r y Budford, J o s h u a Jimenez, N a t e Bingham, and An-t h o n y Wiggins,” G i b s o n said. All of these players work as a team in everything they do, but they do not have the required experience

that only seniors can bring to the team. “The team is working very hard to play their best each game,” Gibson said. “But, they just don’t have enough experi-ence to follow through in the second half of the game.” Junior tigers are starting off strongly every game, but lack the experience to carry onward. This is because there are no seniors to lead the gameplay

“We are strong in our teamwork, and the first half of our game,” team member Joshua Jimenez

said. “But, we fall off in our second half.”

Though the tigers are not winning all of their games, they are giving it their all.

They practice every morn-ing before school, and after school every day. “We practice every morn-ing,” team m e m b e r Adam Mach-ado said. “And every afternoon at 4” All of this hard work shows in

every play that is made in the game. “All of the hard work we put in

By SCOTT MOORESTAFF WRITER

Tiger basketball stands strongshows every game we play” Gibson said.

But, the real place the prac-tice is shining through is the teamwork be-tween the play-ers. “The team is working hard, and playing to-gether as a team every game,” JV coach Jack Krol said. The juniors are trying their best

to lead the tigers to vic-tory, so come out and

support them. They have a greater chance of win-ning if their friends are in the stands backing them up.

Juniors take “the charge” to lead the team this year.

HANGTIME: Joshua Jimenez makes the jump for a shot.

FREETHROW: Tigers prepare to take a freethrow shot.

TIP-OFF: Tigers start the game with the tip off.

College sports beat pro ball any day

2011-2012 Roster

Germain Montes

Adam Machado

Francisco Lopez

Anthony Wiggins

Derry Bedford

Nate Bingham

Josh Jimenez

Vicente Gutierrez

Maurice Narcisse

Reggie Heckard

Christian Alatorre

Jerry Zarate

Anthony Wheat

Regional Swim Meet held on February 10th:BoysIvan Curtovic 11Jose Garcia 11Sergio Guzman 11Josh Jennings 10Lorenzo Pirritano 11Pedro Presas 10 Avery Reinhart 10Roy Wheeler 10

GirlsCarly Batterson 9Marissa Clark 10Candace Edgley 11Kayla Loebel 9Emily Mitchell 9Lillian Monterio 9Cruz Ramirez 10Brittany Trevino 11Rachel Wheat 11

New player adds to team’s reputationFreshman Luis Sanchez starts the season strong.

Even before the regular season began, the Tiger soccer team was on their A game. Winning their first two scrimmages gave the team a boost of confidence that pushed them into the regular season. The success of the team in the pre-season can largely be credited to freshman Luis Sanchez who scored two goals in the scrimmage against Memorial on January 3rd. “Luis is an excellent defensive forward, playing both physically and technically, with passion and intensity,” said soccer coach Wadey Yaya. “To top it all off, he is modest about his talent.” Sanchez is very passionate about soccer, playing for both the school and a club team. Despite being a freshman, he is already getting time on the field with the varsity team. In the team’s last scrimmage of the pre-season, Sanchez scored another goal, bringing the team to a 3-0 victory over Clear Falls. “All of the team shows hard work because we really care about

By JESSICA JONESBUSINESS MANAGER winning,” said Sanchez.

“After coming so close last year, we don’t want that to h a p p e n again so we are prepar ing to beat Northbrook at district.” The varsity p l a y e r s s u p p o r t S a n c h e z as he begins his career with the soccer t e a m , g u i d i n g him to success for the years to come after they graduate. S e n i o r J i m m y S a l g a d o sees a lot of potential in his teammate and feels he is important to the team’s success. “Luis has the confidence to score some goals and get us the wins we need,” Salgado said. “In the next three years, he will lead the team to many victories.” After last years playoff

run, the team finishing the 2011 season with five wins in a row, they

are ready for more. On the first day of school, coach Yaya laid down the law, stating that his goals for the team were to advance from district and go deep in the playoffs. With a strong starting team of eleven, Yaya feels positive about the games that still lie ahead. “I see the hunger in my players, but they know that winning is not the only i m p o r t a n t thing. The

companionship that comes with being a part of the team is what is truly rewarding,” Yaya said. The team has a great group of leaders, but the players all give credit to their coach. Yaya tells his players that education

comes first and cares a lot about what the future holds for them. “He inspires us to work hard everyday and wants us to do good because after high school, he cares about where we end up,” Sanchez said. Both Sanchez and Yaya agree that the team is like a family, showing that the coach and players are on the same page as the season gets underway. The team forges ahead with a confidence that shows on the field. “With the team we have, there is no doubt of all the great things we will accomplish this season,” Salgado said. As their success continues, the team becomes closer and closer, securing their bond and guaranteeing that the season will be one to remember. The soccer players plan to stick together as they accumulate wins and celebrate what being a part of a team truly means. “I’m having a great experience in soccer because we all have each other’s backs,” said Sanchez. “I love being a part of this team!”

DEUCE: Sanchez holds up a peace sign to rep-resent the two goals he scored in the scrimmage against Memorial.

SCOREBOARDVarsity Soccer

Pre-season1/3: Memorial 3-0 (Win)1/6: Baytown Lee 2-1 (Win)1/10: Clear Falls 3-0 (Win)Regular season1/13: Foster 1-0 (Win)1/17: Waller 0-2 (Loss)1/20: Cinco Ranch 4-1 (Win)1/24: Cy Lakes (Rained out)1/27: George Ranch 9-0 (Win)1/31: Morton Ranch 0-1 (Loss)2/3: Montgomery (Rained out)2/7: Willis 1-3 (Loss)Upcoming games2/10 Northbrook (Home)2/14: Summer Creek (Home)2/17: Kingwood Park (Away)2/21: Humble (Home)

Diver enters water without big splashFreshman Lilli Monterio makes up a team on her own while coaches sing praises and await district competition

. Being the only diver on the team, isn't always a breath of fresh air. Yeah, it can have some advan-tages like having one-on-one with your coach and taking up all of the picture spaces. But it can also have the disadvan-tage of heavy pressure when it comes to building up enough character and strength to carry such a huge title on your own--like District Champion for example. Although she is alone in what should be an entire team, freshman Lilli Monterio makes it her priority to keep her school’s name up in good recognition. Since divers are 90% likely to be more dry than swimmers, they aren’t taken as seriously. They do exactly what you think: compete by their ability and skill of diving from the diving board. What seems to be missed is that every style of diving they do has an exhausting amount of ef-fort put into practice. “I get annoyed when people say diving isn’t as hard as swimming, because divers actu-

MAKING A SPLASH: Monteiro practices be-fore the district meet.

ally have to work on their gymnastics and balanc-ing way more accurately than swimmers,” Monte-rio said. She practices with oth-er schools like Memorial and Stratford. Since she has to share her time

with diving Coach Ed Hooker, being around other divers from differ-ent schools motivates her to work harder in her training. “I get really intimidated seeing other divers from other schools. They

make me want to prac-tice harder because this is a really competitive sport,” Monterio said. Aside from being a varsity diver, Monterio is

also involved in theater and Tigerettes. With that you can automatically make an assumption of how busy her schedule may be. So far she’s been in every theater production. Loving both diving and theater equal-ly, she makes time for each of them by coming to school everyday from 7 am until 6:30 pm. Although she and her

coach wish there were more people on the div-ing team, Hooker still has a great amount of faith in his diver. “The only reason I can

think of kids not want-ing to dive on a team is because most of them would rather [dive] dur-ing the summertime, which they find better,” Hooker said. In the competitive sport of diving, it’s important to watch your technique when entering the water. Since you really don’t have team, you rely heavily on your coach.

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: Monterio takes her exercise routine as important as her performance.

Hooker is very sup-portive of Monterio, He makes sure that every step she takes is directly on point. “I think Lilli has a tre-mendous ability to dive. If I can rate her out of all of my kids, I think she’d be on my top 5. She’s a really nice person, very coachable and I can’t wait to see where she goes in life,” Hooker said.

By ALBERTA ROLLINSSTAFF WRITER

Dearest C h e l -sea, I love you to pieces. I'm always here for you.

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Valentine’s Day Sentiments