issue 7, dec. 7, 2011 the smoke signal
DESCRIPTION
Stafford High School's student newspaperTRANSCRIPT
smokesignaltheStaff ord High School www.staff ordsmokesignal.comIssue 12, March 23, 2011
1the
Edwin Drood
Play begins Dec. 7
See page 10
smokesignalDec. 7, 2011Volume 67. Issue 7
Staff ord High School 33 Staff ord Indian Lane, Fredericksburg, VA 22405 www.staff ordsmokesignal.com
Classroom trailers working out well
Trailers located outside the gym area are easy to access except during rainy days which means running to dodge rain drops or using an um-brella. Photo by Moriah Briscoe
Calendar Dec. 21-Jan. 3 Winter Break
Dec. 8, 9, 10Mystery of
Edwin Drood
Dec. 22-3 Jan.Winter break
countdown
days until GRADUATION
days until
days until 2012
days until Christmas
indexFeature..................4-5
News......................1-2
Opinion....................3
Sports.....................6-7
Spotlight...............8-9
Student Life..........10
what’s hotWinter Holiday
Cold weather
Basketball
Edwin Drood
Christmas shopping
Christmas lights
Times Square on New Year’s Eve
25
7
192
18
weather
Dec 7 - 14
High: 57 FLow: 29F
Dec. 15-22
High: 48 FLow: 27F
aff ected my learning much,” sophomore Tamasha Hammond said. “Th e diff erent environment was easy to adjust to.”
It is roomy enough for 30 kids according to Janet Barham, PE department chair, and she liked that she could look out the two windows and have a nice breeze come in by opening the doors.
“Th e downfall is rain,” Barham said. “When the kids come
BY MORIAH BRISCOEPage Editor
BY TORI SANTIAGO-TROUTMAN
Staff Writer
See PLAY on page 12
Earlier this year, in order to ac-commodate the needs of the sur-plus number of students, the trail-ers on the side of the school were built to house the Driver’s Ed and Health classes. Th e trailers came with the speculation that they may not accommodate all the students who are taking health or driver’s ed, but assistant principal Harry Johnston thinks otherwise.
“Students are getting in and out with no problem, and they have had good behavior so far,” Johnston said.
Th ere are pros and cons of teaching in the trailers versus teaching in a regular classroom. Having the students successfully learn in modular buildings, which are slightly smaller than the aver-age classroom, would require the cooperation of the students.
“Learning in the trailers hasn’t
out, I have to open and close the door for them which lets rain in.”
Th e travel to and from the trailers can be a hassle in rainy or snowy weather during these winter months. Sometimes, overcoats and umbrellas are necessary for the trip.
“As for the teachers, they seem to all be adjusting well and there are no major problems,” Johnson said.
Classrooms with windows are a nice change in comtrast to the win-dowless main building.
“I like having windows because it’s refreshing to look outside,” sophomore Madie Osleger said. “I especially can’t wait for it to snow. It’s going to be so pretty and peace-ful looking.”
Th e trailers do not hinder the image of the school or students. Th e school can continue to meet the needs of both the students and teachers.
Johnston can safely say that there are no problems and the trail-ers have been a big success.
Seniors Chrissy Johnson, Kendall Khan, junior Th eron Duitsman and sophomore Lindsay Earnhardt practice in a full dress rehearsal for their performance on Dec. 8-10 of Th e Mystery of Edwin Drood, the unfi nished Charles Dickens story that the audience decides.
Th e drama depart-ment has worked long in hard in preparation for the premiere of their win-ter musical, “Th e Mystery of Edwin Drood” on Dec. 8. Th e pressure has been
high, but the cast and crew are excited overall.
“It has been so much fun,” junior Hannah Olt-man. “Th e play is really exciting to do because of the format that it’s in and I really like the songs that are in it.”
Th e solve-it-yourself
murder-mystery brings in the audience as the detec-tives, with characters of the ensemble interacting with the audience mem-bers as they place them-selves in seventeenth cen-tury London.
“At the beginning of the show, I interact with
the audience members,” junior Eric Rhodes said. “By the end of the play, they get to pick the end-ing themselves.”
Th e play is based off of Charles Dickens’ last un-fi nished novel, leaving the ending up to interpreta-tion. Th e musical, written
by Rupert Holmes, fi rst premiered in August 1985 at the New York Shake-speare Festival.
“It’s an unique experi-ence,” junior Patrick Sieg-mund said. “I think the
Dicken’s play offered
PTSA serves teachers dinner on conference night
Th e Parent Teacher Student Association or-ganized a dinner in the conference room for the teachers who stayed for the parent-teacher con-ferences on Tuesday, Nov. 29. Open to all teach-ers, the dinner brought the faculty together for a chance to relax and so-cialize before their up-coming meetings.
“Part of what we try to do is show appreciation for the teachers, especially on days like today, when they get here at 7 in the morning and don’t leave until 7 at night, so it’s a good day for us to bring in food so they don’t have to leave and come back,” PTSA president Jenni-fer Bowles said. “And it brings the teachers to-gether for an opportunity to have fun and talk about something other than
work and teaching.” Th e PTSA organized
the event by email, deter-mining who would bring the dishes and who would help set up the dinner. Th ey ended up with over 20 dishes and desserts.
“Th e chili is great,” English teacher Seth Bix-ler said. “Mr. Middleton is a big fan.”
Th e PTSA will hold another lunch for the sec-ond conference this year.
BY MUHAMAD KHALID
Page Editor
See DINNER page 2Teacher, secretaries and paraprofessionals all enjoyed chilli and dessert courtesy of the PTSA brfore Parent Conference Night.Photo by Muhamad Khalid
Basketball Basketball starts
with wins
See page 8-9
smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
news
The departments are usually separated, so it’s nice to set with people from other departments that we don’t see very of-ten,” Bixler said. “It’s nice to just relax, especially on a long day like this.”
The dinner also pro-vided an opportunity for new teachers to learn from other teachers be-fore their first appoint-ments.
“The lunch was defi-nitely a morale booster,” history teacher Ryan Mid-dleton said. “And through our discussions, we get some insight on how to handle certain situations.”
Over the next week, the PTSA will continue their massage sign-up for teachers.
“During the school day, they can sign up to
get a chair massage dur-ing their planning pe-riod,” Bowles said. “And we’ll provide some cook-ies, cider, and hot choco-late.”
A big obstacle for the PTSA is funding. “A ma-jority of our money comes from those that join and pay for membership,” Bowles said. “We don’t do many fundraisers because not many high-schoolers would take home a cata-log. We also raise money through the talent show, and maybe this year, a ‘Battle of the Bands.’”
As a first year presi-dent, Bowles is happy with the lunch’s turnout.
“I’m thrilled. I think our parents really stepped up,” Bowles said. “We got a great selection of soups and chili.”
DINNER: Teachers enjoyed food, conversation before conferences
Mark Brunson, Heather Carafiol, Mike rosenbaum, Maddy Booth enoy conversation at one end of the table as Seth Bixler, Sue Gill, Ryan Middleton and Sean Baker talk at the other end. The ladies from the PTSA brought in 14 different kinds of chilli and soup for the teachers before the conferences. Photo by Muhamad Khalid.
Super SponsorGyst & Mrs. Jer-
emiah M. JohnsonT. Mark Johnson,
MDTracey ChestnutTeresa Sedlacek
Millie StadelmyerBetty & Rusty
DoddTheresa Puckerin
Ann HollandKellie EbelingMark McGraw
Gold PatronKatherine Drumm
Paula ChestnutMeg & Dave Bohmke
Shirley LouisorTony G. OwensFelton FamilyLori Yelverton
Shila PatelMr. & Mrs. Dwight
RobersonJoseph &Chifang
Pelham
Silver PatronMark & Tracey WoodyardJennette Lock
Kimberly VaughnMike & Kathy
BakerThomas & Lisa
SkeerCoker Orthodon-
ticsDana Stonesifer
Cathy PearceAustin EnfingerLinda HazelgrenMarie Cunning-
hamHeidi Kamei
Ashleigh PowellDoreen Brindise
Nancy SorrentinoThe UPS Store
Mariah EricksonStephen Lisco
Steven MitchellCindy KnutsonAngela Donald
Soon KimEllie Pare
Nick Hudson
Kirstin WhitesideScott Larson
Dr. Gregory Kauff-man
Beverly ByramBarbara Lampert
Don & Linda ThomasAlyssa SimsAdam & Jeri Brown
Morgan SilverElisabeta FerrukuJillian WeisbeckPatty Fenwick
Shannon CocheBarbara Humphrey
Todd NosalJohn RomarelloNancy & Skip
BrandonNancy Hames
Kay BraunTyler West
Margo & Scott Jones
Melanie Suther-land
Dan & Judy DuganMadi TeasterNicole Reeves
Civil Air PatrolMichael & Kelly
WalkerMoriah Briscoe
Mike WestBrittni WrightRobert MooreLinda MixonEmily Griffin
Carl BakerKaylene AhlmDebbie Cooke
Mildred ReevesKristina VarelaJessica TurnerRachel PerrineSue ShermanRyan SmithJason Stine
Annette SealSonja & Blair Scott
Jim GreenDerek HayesJudy Mears
Maura & Sean McGraw
Bruce PhillipsJosephine Billing-
slea
Emily ByersAustin Pearson
Karen LenoxJackson Carmi-
chaelEarl’s True Value
Hardware, Inc.Greta Sweatman
Cheryl PottsRebekah Kim
Louisa AmenitsonMonica Santiago
Bronze PatronChuck PedigoSheila GiscardJeff McClure
Blue PatronAmanda & Joseph
HuggerBruce & Mary
BrownAmy Clower
Paty & Jason StineNorris Dickard
Katy BakerLeah Blake
Serena Portillo
SHS PatronDenise Epperson
Dick & Diane Wil-liams
Paula McClureBrian WiggintonBryan MatthewsSusan Wachter
Brennan Everett
Smoke Signal Patrons 2011-2012
Students collected change in first block to help the Thurman Brisben Center with gifts for all. Over $ 100 was collected.
SCA collects coins to benefit Thruman Brisbane CenterBY DANI RAYMOND
Page Editor
The SCA collected spare change this past on Nov. 30 to go towards the Thurman Brisben Center. The TBC helps homeless and potentially homeless people who live in the area.
“I like the idea,” said senior B.H. Kim, SCA president. “It helps set up programs and gives an in-centive to those in need to get their lives back on track.
Teachers were each given an envelope and asked their first block classes for donations.
Even the teachers helped raise money, participating in a faculty-wide “Casual for a Cause” day. Teach-ers paid $5 and wore jeans instead of their usual at-tire.
“I appreciated the fac-ulty support,” Ms. Bridg-es, SCA advisor said. “I wish more students had participated.”
An estimation of a few hundred dollars was raised for the TBC.
“If each student do-nated a quarter, we would have raised at least $500,” Bridges said. “I appreci-ate those who came out to help.”
smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
opinion
Most people look for-ward to the holiday sea-son for many reasons. It’s a time where families come together and cel-ebrate their religion. It’s a time for presents to be opened and good food to be cooked. Many don’t realize though, that there is a crowd of people who can’t create their own hol-iday joy.
Over the years many
more families have been depending on food banks or homeless shelters to help them with an enjoy-able holiday. This is where volunteers can make a dif-ference in people’s lives.
Stafford’s Key Club held a food drive last month, supplying two families in North Staf-ford with a Thanksgiving dinner. There has been a box in the library since
the beginning of the year letting students donate materials such as food or toys for a local animal shelter. The Interact Club collected food. The SCA held a change drive for the homeless shelter. The American Legion and HOSA are collecting non-perishable foods.
Some students choose to volunteer for numer-ous reasons. Many colleg-
es want to see volunteer hours on an application, so some students feel obliged to volunteer in hopes of bettering their chances of admission. Others volunteer for their churches or youth groups, and some even volunteer just because they like it. It doesn’t matter what the reason is, there is always a one to volunteer.
There are many other
ways to volunteer outside of school, from retire-ment homes and home-less shelters to food banks and Goodwill centers to clothing collections to toys. Sometimes even a card or time spent talking to someone makes a dif-ference.
Spending time helping others makes a bigger dif-ference than many would think. Families rely on the
help of others to support them through the holiday season.
Though many students have limited hours in the day to volunteer their time to anything other than school work and sports, nothing can com-pare to the feeling of put-ting a smile on a stranger’s face.
EDITORIAL: VOLUNTEERING GOOD FOR SPIRIT
smoke signal staff2011-2012
Editors-in-ChiefElexxus Brown
Emily Griffin
Photography EditorAssistant Editor-in-Chief
Shannon Cooke
Online Editors Editors Rebekah Kim Leland Brooks Dani Raymond Molly Podlesny Toni Sorrentino Page Editors Bridget Phillips Katie Brandon Megan Corsano Ana Nosal Kirstin Whiteside
Copy Editors Business Managers Emily Byers Karri Chestnut Kathryn Lenox Ashleigh Powell
Staff WritersCatherine Alfaro, Skyla Bailey, Cody Beacorn, Natalie
Bohmke, Luci Braun, Doreen Brindise, Moriah Briscoe, Travis Byram, Megan Corsano, Erin Cunningham, Amber Donald, Megan Ebeling, Bradley Elmore, Austin Enfinger, Shannon Fenwick, Ryan Hazelgren, Hannah Haugen, Billy
Howell, Maggie Howell, Megan Humphrey, Russ Kaus, B.H. Kim, India Kithcart, Taylor Lisco, Courtney Mears, Erin
McGraw, Chris McMillen, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Kirsten Mitchell, Patrick Oliver, Ellie Pare, David Pearson, Abbie
Pennington, Marta Perrine, Elizabeth Puckerin, Anthony Romanello, Hannah Rowlette, Tori Santiago-Troutman,
Brendan Sherman, Cara Skeer, Morgan Silver, Justin Thomas, Ryan Thompson, Jillian Weisbeck, Matt Yelverton,
PhotographersKerstin Felton, Amber Griffith, Muhamad Khalid, Emily
Pearce, Austing Pearson, Kaitlin Shacklette, Eric Stapleton, Keana Young
VideographersAlisa Posey Jordan Reed Taylor Sutherland
Reporters
Claire Adams, Allie Ahlm, Emily Billingslea, Shannon Co-cho, Ridge Dodd, Elizabeth Drash, Ergys Ferruku, Tamara George, Tyler Haley, Alexandria Hinkle, Patrick Holland, Bonnie Kamei, Eric Kauffman, Jessica Larson, Theresa
Rigby, Isabella Rivas, Julianne Rogers, Alyssa Sims, Bridget Stadelmyer, Blayne Stine, Marissa Stone, Madison Teaster, Jessica Turner, Chris Vaughn, Taylor White, Brittni Wright, Dillon Baden, Jacob Barber, Kiana Burgos, Jackson Carmi-chael, Katherine Drumm, Michael Gordon, Caitlin Green, Taylor Jones, Valerie Lampert, Kirsten Mitchell, Charlotte Potts, Sydney Scott, Louisa Amenitsch, Shawnail Caven-der, Mariah Erickson, Jessica Justice, Kyle Mcguire, Madi-son Mixon, Chadni Patel, Kelly Pedigo, Palmers Oelham, Taia Polluck, Rachel Rolando, Sheldon Sheinall, Austin
Thompson, Chiann Todd, Tyler West, Kirsten Burton, Staria Foosness, Kimberley Hall, Katelynn Halstead, Melissa Mer-cer, Brittany Nealy, Audrey Perrine, Brynne Reeves, Kayla
Seal, Tyler Sullivan, Elizabeth Walker, Taro White
Advisor Sue Gill, CJE
The Smoke Signal is an open forum for student expres-sion of the student body of Stafford High School. Unsigened editorials reflect the collective opinion of the Smoke Signal staff. Signed editorials represent the opinion of the auther and do not necessarily represent the opinons of Stafford HighSchool, its administration, or staff. Signed letters to the editor not exceeding 250 words may be submitted to room W206. Anonymous letters will not be printed. The Smoke Signal reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and content and to refuse advertisements.
Making the Grade
A+
A-
DA+ Christmas
Parade
Snow!
Christmascookies
Money or lack of it
The Indianettes danced. theJNROTC and the Tribe of Pride marched in Santa’s arrival to Fredericksburg.
Cold weather gers a D but it has to happen for snow! Bri ng on the cold days and add that snow!
Doesn’t matter what k ind they are, everyone loves COOKIES! Get out our mixer and let fly. Everyone loves cookies at Christmas time.
With the need to buy all those presents for your loved ones, money becomes important. Wait, it was always important but now you just don’t have enough of it for what you want or need.
C Turkey & Stuffing
Leftovers? You still have turkey left? And dressing and cranberry sauce? Eat it up!
A+
A-
DA+ Volunteering
2 Weeks Left
Busy, busy, busy
Cold Weather
The feeling of helping other people is a warm glow in your heart and soul. Everyone needs a helping hand every now and then. Thanks for all you do.
Winter Break is just around the corner. Many people have travel plans for the holiday but some of us will just sleep it away.
Concerts! Plays! Parades! Santa Visits! Shopping! Parties! New Year’s Eve! Christmas Eve! Hanukah! Decorating! Baking! Busy, busy, busy!
Brrrrrr! It’s cold outside! Time to sit by the fire making popcorn and listening to holiday music instead of getting up at the crack of dawn for school.
C ProjectsEvery teacher seems to think projects are fun! They are NOT. They take time and energy which may of us don’t have.
A+ Sports SuccessThe girls swim team won their first meet. The boys varsity basketball won their first game. The varsity girls basketball team won their first game. Is this a pattern?
4 5
Sal-v a t i o n
ArmyWith the
start of the holiday sea-
son, the familiar sights and sounds
are beginning to reappear around
Sta� ord. Crowded malls, holiday music and lots of lights are all staples of holiday decoration.
Another thing most people are fa-miliar with is the sound of ringing bells and the big red kettle outside
of most stores and supermarkets.
� e Salva-tion Army
c o l l e c t s money in
t h e i r signa-
t u r e red kettle to
provide less for-tunate families with Christmas dinners, toys and clothing. � ese supplies are also donated to se-niors, the homeless and family of prison-ers.
� e food and sup-plies that are bought with donations are de-livered by volunteers to hospitals, nursing homes and shelters.
“I think its great that the donations are given to a wide vari-ety of charities.” Ju-nior Mckenzie Bowler said.
Students who want to get involved in hol-iday giving and char-ity can drop change in the kettles outside of stores.
“� e red kettle and the bell ringing out-side are things I’ve al-ways associated with Christmas,” junior Sa-mantha Ibinson said. “It’s the season of giv-ing, and they help a
lot of people.”T h e
k e t -tles are only out during the holiday season, and are put away a few weeks a� er Christ-mas. � ough they are put away a� er the holiday season, their donations a� ect the people receiving them for many months.
� ere is also the option to donate on-line, from a credit card. � is is called their “virtual kettle,” in which people can create their own red kettle online to do-nate to.
“I think it’s really cool how people can donate online now,” sophomore Katie Walz said. “Since it’s a lot easier, I think more people would donate.”
� e red kettles are sta� ed by mainly volunteers. Many of them have been helped or seen the af-fects donations have on needy families.
“You can tell that the people who ring the
bells m u s t be dedi-cated,: ju-nior Sarah Olsen said. “To stand out here in the cold and ask for dona-tions takes dedica-tion.”
Airline miles and car donations are also accepted, and many of them are tax deductible.
� e message of the Salvation Army, and their goal, is to spread the gospel and to meet human needs without dis-crimination. � ey strive to aid all kinds of people and families.
Giv-ing back
may seem daunting be-
cause there are so many di� er-
ent options and charities to donate
to. But Internation-al Club has gotten
involved with a char-itable organization, called Operation Christmas Child, that ships presents to children all around the world.
“We are put-ting together shoe boxes and � ll-
ing them up for children
all over the w o r l d
w h e r e this is
the
o n l y C h r i s t m a s
present they get,” senior Laura Chil-ton said. “Also, at Conway, we plan to help children shop for their parents for Christmas while par-ents are served hot cocoa and snacks.”
� is project ben-e� ts everyone in-volved, from the families, children and also the members as senior Michelle Amezquita explains.
“I think this event will help the kids by letting them know that presents don’t need to be extrava-gant,” Amezquita said. “� at it’s the thought that truly matters in the end. Families will hope-fully be very appre-ciative of the children thinking about them and thinking about what to get them for
the holidays.”D u r i n g
t h e event, the members will have shops located in dif-ferent classrooms and the snacks will be lo-cated in the cafeteria.
“It took a lot of planning, but in the end, knowing how happy those kids will be made it all worth it,” junior Mia Rome-ro said.
Helping the un-fortunate and giving back during the holi-days can make people feel that someone is looking out for them. Like senior Temple Hammen who thinks that having people that care is bless-ing and a wonderful thing to have.
“I really hope to help the children and be someone that they can look up to and have them really ap-preciate us coming,” Hammen said. “See-ing the kids smiling faces and to
know that we t o u c h e d at least one child’s heart makes it all worthwhile to me and the spirit of giving is really what Christmas is about.”
Romero feels that not only does this project raise money for Conway, but giv-ing their time and presents to children is a great way to make a di� erence for families one present at a time.
The Freder-
i c k s b u r g Social Ser-
vices Depart-ment is asking
for donations of money, gi� cards,
and other gi� s for teens living in fos-ter homes, group homes and inde-pendent homes.
“It would be cool for teens to sponsor a teen for the holidays,”
said assistant director Beth
Girone.M a n y
of the t e e n s
d o
n o t have fami-
lies to spend the holidays with and lack the feeling of holiday joy.
“It helps the teens to have pres-ents at Christmas, but it doesn’t take away the feeling of being separated from their fami-lies,” said family resource coordi-nator Michelle Mathews.
Donations are accepted until the middle of Decem-ber right before Christmas.
“We current-ly have 14 teens in foster care,” Mathews said.
� is event is a way that spreads the holiday cheer around Freder-
icksburg and helps the
teens.“ T h e r e
is an organiza-tion that is looing for help for their teens, Chaplin Group Home,” Mathews said.
� e Chaplin Group home is in need of presents from the commu-nity to distribute among the chil-dren for Christ-mas.
“I am sure the director and teens would appreciate the help,” Mathews said.
� e gi� s are given to the so-cial workers of the teens to create an-onymity.
“Other agencies have teens in the same situation so its kind of a region wide thing,” Gi ron e
said.The
teens are very ap-p r e c i a t i v e of the gi� s and will have a chance at having a Merry Christ-mas.
“It would be great if students could help do-nate,” Girone said.
Items can be donated to the Fredericksburg area Social Ser-vices Depart-ment.
The hol iday
season is a p p r o a c h -
ing fast. Learn and Serve is well
aware of that. � is year, learn
and serve is do-ing what they can to help people feel thought of and hap-py over the holidays by sending welcome cards to a nursing home during Christ-mas time.
Rachel Sher-man’s 4Y class
is hosting this event. Sherman
has a lot of faith in her
students f o r
t h i s project.
“My kids are awesome,” Sherman said. “I know my class can do some-thing when they set their minds to it.”
Learn and Serve’s 4Y class is also ex-cited about partici-pating in this event. Some of the students are into the event for the fun of it.
“I am excited to do this project because I like old people and I like helping them,” sophomore Zachary Staples said.
Other students are more into the project for the work experi-ence and the feeling of doing something good for another.
“I plan on getting the work experience with the elderly and that diversity of life that they have com-
pared to mine,” j u n i o r
A l e x Carnes said.
Sherman’s class is well aware of the reason for the proj-ect it’s self, but Sher-man also wants to get that positive message around the school as well.
“It’s easy to get so caught up by your family’s needs during the holidays, howev-er it’s good to care for other who don’t have as much as we do during the holidays,” Sherman said.
Students in the 4Y class have been pre-paring for the event by spending classes in the library research-ing for it. � ere they have been assigned to look up nursing homes, and positive and negative things it can do to a family and the patient itself.
“People in nurs-ing homes really have it
hard, e s -p e c i a l l y with the payments and the feeling of being le� behind by their families,” sophomore Katie Waltz said. “I think it’s really important that we send these cards to make sure that they are thought of and cared for.”
O� cial planning on the project itself and which nursing home the class will be going to starts next week.
BY MORIAHBRISCOE Page Editor
Staf-f o r d
clubs are teaming up
with the � ur-man Brisben
Center for this holiday season.
� e Interact Club is going to the cen-ter to make ginger-bread houses with the children and the SCA is doing a coin collection to bene� t the center.
Over the years, the � urman Brisben Center
has transformed into a commu-
nity center to help the
less fortu-nate of
Bragg Hill, rather
than just an emer-gency and cold weather homeless shelter. Since 2000, they have support-ed and given aid to over 15,000 indi-viduals.
“Volunteering at the � urman Bris-ben Center helps give the people there the opportuni-ties to enjoy things we usually take for granted,” Interact Club sponsor Ryan Middleton said.
It is di� cult to � nd ways for high school-aged stu-dents to volunteer at the center, without � lling out lengthy applications and meeting speci� c criteria. However, there are several ways for students to get involved in the center through
clubs. “We go
t o the cen-ter and make the houses with the little kids,” president Kristina Varela said. “� ey have a lot of fun. Everyone par-ticipates and even the older kids at the center get involved.”
On Dec. 18, In-teract Club mem-bers will be bringing gingerbread house kits to make the fes-tive treats with chil-dren active in the center activities.
“It really brings everyone together and I’m happy we’re getting to do it again this year because the kids really en-joyed it last year and it really fun,” Varela said.
Large orange folders are being passed around in � rst block classes to collect change in support of the cen-ter. � is is be-i n g
spon-s o r e d by SCA.
“We are c o l l e c t i n g change to sup-port the center and bene� t the homeless and less fortunate,” SCA president BH Kim said. “I think we’re going to be able to raise a lot.”
Helping the less fortunate is reward-ing for both the helper and those who receive the help and both the Interact club and SCA plan to help the center more in the fu-ture
BY DEREKHAYES
Sta� Writer
BY BRIDGET PHILLIPS
Design Editor
BY SKYLABAILEY
Page Editor
BY CARA SKEERSta� Writer
J. C .
P e n n y and � e
S a l v a t i o n Army are
joining forces for the third
year in a row to bring joy this Christmas to an-gels across the country. � is year, J. C. Penny has added op-tion to adopt angels online, and for groups to adopt mul-
tiple angels at once.
� e Angel
G i v -ing Tree is
a way for peo-ple to adopt a child, teen, or senior and pro-vide them with a gi� this Christ-mas. Without the help of � e Angel Tree, many of these Angels would not be re-ceiving a Christ-mas gi� due to � -nancial hardship.
� is year, indi-vidual or groups can adopt an angel by going online to http://angel.jcpenney.com/angeltree/ and select angels by age, area, or gender.
Once the cri-teria for an angel has been chosen, the group leader
or individ-
u a l can go through a pro-vided list of an-gels. Each angel comes with a list of things they need or want this holiday season.
In order to make sure that all the presents will be delivered in time for Christ-mas, all support-ers must have ad-opted their angels and made their purchases by the ninth of Decem-ber, or purchased the gi� cards by Dec. 13.
“My fam-ily does the Angel Tree every year,” Page Conley said. “It feels re-ally good to help out kids in need.”
SHS s t u -d e n t s can get i n v o l v e d in the Angel Tree by go-ing online and adopting an angel with their families or by getting together with a group of friends, church group, club, or any other group and adopt an-gels this holi-day season.
BY HANNAHHAUGENSta� Writer
Give the Gift of VolunteeringOperation Christmas Child
Angel Tree
Clubs Volunteering
Welcome Cards
Social Services
Salvation Army
smokesignaltheSta� ord High School www.sta� ordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
sports
Sta� ord’s swim team recently held tryouts. Un-like last year, coach Ber-nadette Pellichero did not have to make any cuts and everyone that tried out made the team.
Up to 60 swimmers can make the team. Of those 60, half of them are boys and the other half are girls.
Fi� een girls and boys make varsity.
Varsity swimmer Ra-chel Showers recently moved here from New Jersey. Her two best strokes are freestyle and butter� y.
“Everyone at Sta� ord is very welcoming and re-ally nice,” Showers said.
Another freshman on the team is Karah Size-more.
“I’m looking forward to swimming for Staf-ford,” Sizemore said. “I think it will be really cool swimming on a high school team.”
� e team has been practicing for the up-coming meets. Practice has gone smoothly, and
swimmers have shown their dedication by show-ing up to the practices.
“All the hard work you put in to practice al-ways pays o� in the end,” sophomore Haylie Har-bin said.
Before meets, some swimmers have special routines to get themselves prepared. Some people eat certain things, or stretch the night before.
“Every night before a swim meet I eat steak,” Sizemore said. “It has a lot of protein in it that gets my body ready to swim the next day.”
Other swimmers do di� erent things.
“I listen to music a lot so that I don’t get nervous and over think my races,” sophomore Julianne Rog-ers said.
Besides the nerves, swimmers overall have a good time at swim meets. While swimming, swim-mers also get to hang out with friends.
“� e best part of swim meets is being able to talk to my friends,” freshman Ryan Ulrich said. “It takes away some of the stress from the meet.”
BY MAGGIE HOWELLSta� Writer
Swimmers bring heat to winter season
Sta� ord High’s swim team has two returning swimmers who promise to provide a lot of swim-ming excitement this year. Coming into the season, sophomores Billy Howell and Spencer Payne are two of the fastest swim-mers on the team.
Both boys started out swimming on local
Rappahannock Swim League summer league
teams and progressed to year round swim-ming.
Howell is on the YMCA Sting-rays and made it to the YMCA National Meet at Georgia Tech in Atlanta last sum-
mer. � e meet drew swimmers from YMCA
teams around the coun-try. It’s the farthest he’s ever traveled for a swim meet.
“Traveling to di� erent places for swimming is a great experience,” Howell said. “I like visiting new places and meeting new people.”
He has been swim-ming for 10 years.
“� e � rst team I was on was Gra� on summer league swim team,” How-ell said.
He still swims for a di� erent summer league team, the YMCA Massad Marlins.
“My best stroke is probably backstroke, and my worst stroke is de� -nitely breaststroke,” How-ell said.
Payne has been swim-ming for eight years.
“I grew up on the Ferry Farm swim team, and I still swim for them,”
Payne said.He also swims for Tsu-
nami, a year-round team in Fredericksburg.
“My best stroke is butter� y, and my worst stroke is also breast-stroke,” Payne said.
Howell swims on a year-round team as well, for the YMCA Stingrays. He practices in the same pool for high school as he does Stingrays.
Last season both boys swam for the Sta� ord team and went to region-als.
“I’m aiming to go to sectionals on my year round team,” Howell said.
Swimmers have to get a certain time before they are able to attend the meet.
“My goal is to go to states this season for Staf-ford,” Payne said.
Payne and Howell went to regionals last year for the Sta� ord swim team. � is is another meet where swimmers have to swim fast enough to go to.
Some swimmers have favorite snacks to eat dur-ing meets, or songs they like to listen to, to get them ready for their races.
“My favorite thing to eat at swim meets would have to be hot fudge sun-dae pop tarts,” Howell said.
Howell’s favorite song is “No Church in the Wild” by Jay-Z and Kanye West.
“My favorite snack are mu� ns, and my favorite song is probably “Like a G” by Kid Ink,” Payne said.
“I’m excited for the new swim season this year,” Payne said. “Our team continues to prac-tice hard every day.”
BY MAGGIE HOWELLSta� Writer
Photo by Emily Pearce
Swim coaches Glenn Stordeur and Bernadette Pellichero observe swimmers during practice. They had their rst meet on Nov. 29. The girls team enjoyed a victory while the boys had a close loss of ve points. The team is still working to compensate for the loss of last year’s graduates.
Howell, Payne have great expectations
Sophomores Billy Howell and Spencer Payne pose in their Speedos. The two are the among the fastest swimmers on the team. They have great expectations going into the new season.
Photo by Emily Pearce
smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
sports
As winter rolls around, many sports will see their end, but some students see the snow as an opportu-nity to build new skills. Many travel to areas near the Blue Ridge Mountains to snowboard.
For some students like senior D.J. Wonsey, snow-boarding is more than just a sport, its a passion.
The winter activity can range from simple objec-tives like just riding down the mountain to the base, to Olympic sporting competitions to compete for the gold.
“I love going down a mountain fast, and I love the snow,” sophomore, Kristen Weapon said.
Students have also started participating in the sport at young ages.
Wonsey started snowboarding at the age of seven.But most students have started more recently, as of
the past few years.It is not always easy to make it out to the slopes. It
takes about two hours to get to most resorts.Most students can’t snowboard throughout the
year locally so many are forced to travel, uaually to nearby lodges at the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Most students stay there for a week at a time. The price of lodging can range from $1500 to $2000.
“Getting all the right equipment can also be really expensive,” junior Dalton Bayse said.
The boards end up costing upwards to 300$, and the clothing ranges from $80 to $200. Travel expenses can easily top $1500.
Although most students pay for expenses them-selves, some look to sponsors.
Wonsey has a sponsorship at Salomon Snow-boards, a nationally recognized company
Wonsey travels all the way to California to snow-board, but also travels to other countries around the world.
He travels all the way to countries along the Andes Mountains in South America. He is able to do so, be-cause Salomon snowboarding sponsors him.
Although the adrenaline rush is fun, there are as-sociated dangers. Sophomore Kristen Weadon and her brother had both have sprained ankles while snowboarding.
“Newcomers might be afraid to start snowboard-ing, but there’s nothing to fear here. The communities around the area are never too harsh,” Weadon said. “But never get in the way of people going down the mountain, sometimes they’ll just run you over.”
BY BRADLEY ELMOREStaff Writer
Snowboarders hit slopes
The girls varsity team won their first game against Massaponax on Nov. 28.
Try-outs were recently held for the girl’s basketball team. During try-outs, the girls were asked to perform a series of skills including ball handling drills, shoot-ing drills, defensive drills, and competitive one-on-one games.
Coach Carl Harris prepared his team during the off season by holding conditioning every day after school where they worked out and ran on the track.
Captains this year are seniors Merritt Hempe and Taysia Gray.
“My expectations for this season are to play as hard as we can every game and to make it to region-als,” Gray said.
Harris is also holding a tighter rope this year. “I think that coach will be stricter in practice and
make us more focused,” Gray said.Sophomore Kendall Parker would like to see Staf-
ford make a name for them selves outside of the dis-trict.
Parker would also like to make first team all district and get colleges looking at her.
“What I’m looking forward to most though is just playing with my teammates and competing with other schools,” Parker said.
Over Thanksgiving break the team practiced ev-eryday except Thanksgiving to prepare for the up and coming season. During practices the team works on basic fundamentals, offense, defense, and adding all of that together to make a solid overall team.
Senior Brooke Scruggs is excited for the upcoming season.
“I love the intensity and exhilaration you get dur-ing a game,” Scruggs said. “Our goals for this season are to just do better than last year and improve as a team.”
Harris also would like to see an improvement. “We’re going to be good this season,” Harris said.
“We just have to work hard and keep focused so that we can do better than last season.”
BY TAYLOR WESTStaff Writer
Girls hit courts running
Seniors Logan Jackson and Matt Tolley are two of the best wrestlers on the team this year according wrestlers Palmers Pelham and Austin Thompson.
Jackson started wres-tling in fifth grade because his brother needed a part-ner to practice with. This year is his eighth year that he has been training and practicing year round.
“Conditioning is a lot better this year,” said Jackson, weight class 182 pounds. Jackson practices wrestling for two to three hours everyday.
All of that practice pays off. Jackson ranked third in the state last year, a huge accomplishment.
Being a wrestler also comes with sacrifice.
“I have to give up junk food,” Jackson said. He admits that it is worth it. A wrestler must watch what they eat to perform at their best.
Tolley is the second star wrestler of the team. He started wrestling in seventh grade for mostly the same reason as Jack-son- to assist another wrestler his age.
“The coaches have changed the way I ap-proach and look at match-es,” said Tolley, weight class 160 pounds.
It’s obvious that coach-es have really affected the team and helped wrestlers improve individually.
“I’ve perfected my moves and I’ve gotten
stronger,” Tolley said. He ranked as sixth in the state last year as well.
Tolley practices for three to four hours every-day, sometimes two prac-tice sessions a day.
“Wrestling is my life,” said Tolley. “I weigh my-self every morning, I think about it all day, and I watch what I eat all the time.” Tolley is one of many dedicated wrestlers on the Stafford wrestling team.
Along with limiting what you eat, wrestling must be a priority in your life.
“You can’t really have a social life when you are a serious wrestler,” Tolley said. It is very time con-suming and takes a lot of commitment.
BY MARTA PERRINEStaff Writer
Jackson, Tolley excel on the mattPhoto by Toni Sorrentino
Junior Jacob Bearon holds down Anthony Williams at practice. The wrestling season started on Nov. 7. The Gilberts are prepar-ing for their first tournament on Dec. 2 with technique and drill sessions.
Varsity welcomesnew coach
Photos by Muhamad Khalid
Top: Varsity basketball coach Danny Tryon goes over a drill with the team at practice. As a first year coach at Stafford, many of the players are still adjusting to his quick-paced strategy.
Coaches Brandon and Daniel Gilbert has hope-ful but realistic expecta-tions.
“This year we will probably be second to Colonial Forge,” said Daniel Gilbert. Colonial Forge has eight seniors this year, and they are top five in the region and top 15 in the state.
Stafford’s wrestling team has been improving for years, thanks to these two wrestling stars. The team expects to win and be successful and that can be done through strong practices and a lot of rep-etitions.
Come and check out the first meet of the sea-son this Friday and Sat-urday at the Forest Park Opening Day Duals.
come a head basketball coach,” Tryon said. “I know how strong Staf-ford’s basketball program is and what a great school it is so when the opportu-nity came to be a part of it I had no hesitation to pursue it.”
Aside from coaching at Brooke Point, Tryon was also a student there who played on the team under the guidance of Coach Kania at Brooke Point and Coach Lear at North Stafford. He also became familiar with Coach Spicer at this time.
“I have known Coach Spicer since I was in high school,” Tryon said. “I have also gotten to know him very well over the past seven years since I have been coaching in Stafford County.”
With the sudden tran-sition of coaches, the abil-ity of quickly adjusting to new circumstances is one the players have mastered.
“As coaches we some-times take on a role as a father figure or mentor for our players,” Tryon said. “Coach Spicer was definitely that way for his players and they cared about him very much. It is always difficult when someone that has been there for you so much is no longer there in a sense with basketball. I just try to show them every day that I care about their best interests.”
Although the coaches remain in contact, the conversations are very rarely about basketball and their methods of
coaching remain very ob-viously differentiating.
“[Coach Spicer] has shared many stories with me about the beginning of his coaching career and some of the challenges he faced during those times,” Tryon said. “I think Coach Spicer and I both expect a level of com-mitment from our play-ers that is necessary to be successful. I like to play a fast-paced game and I feel like you have to replicate that in practice to prepare the team for the games. I just like to keep things moving quickly in prac-tice so that their minds never get a chance to relax or lose focus.”
Adjusting to new cir-cumstances was not nec-essarily a difficult one for Tryon, but he is trying to instill in players the im-portance of tradition and identity.
“For the most part bas-ketball players are similar wherever you go they just want to be coached,”
Tryon said. “The big thing that we have talked about so far is they have to ‘Own Their Legacy’. Every team has its own identity no matter how much success or lack of success a pro-gram has.”
Tryon keeps moti-vating the team to push harder, while noticing their strengths and using them to full capacity.
“The players are play-ing very hard and are buying into what we are doing which is very im-portant,” Tryon said. “Our strength is that we have nine seniors. Our players are experienced and ma-ture which is a great com-bination to have on a high school basketball team.”
With the majority of the season ahead, success is very much the ending that Tryon foresees with the team.
Tryon said, “The most important goals are the ones that we have right now for this team in this season.”
Tradition is something that the Boys’ Varsity bas-ketball team can pride themselves on. Having won the District title the past four years, working with the same coach for decades, and nine out of the twelve players return-ing to Varsity from previ-ous seasons, change is not something that frequents this team. With a new coach, new starters, and new players, the team has quickly adjusted to differ-ent conditions and is on the track to their fifth Dis-trict championship title.
The team welcomed Coach Daniel Tryon in October after long-time coach, Steven Spicer, an-nounced his retirement.
“I saw an article in the newspaper that said Coach Spicer was retiring so I called Mr. Bergazzi and told him I was inter-ested in applying,” Tryon said.
Tryon, who began coaching at L.C. Byrd High School when he was a student at VCU, also coached varsity basket-ball at Brooke Point for the past six years.
“It was difficult to leave the coaches that I was working with prior to coming to Stafford be-cause we had great coach-ing staffs and we were together for a long time,” Tryon said. “I was fortu-nate to be able to coach with two people that I played for in high school.”
As a student in high school, Tryon knew that he wanted to eventu-ally become a basketball coach.
“I had a goal to be-
smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
Gamers celebrate release of Modern Warfare 3
Gamers waited in line at midnight on Nov. 8 to buy Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, the latest game in the Call of Duty series. The game is avail-able for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii. So many people showed up at GameStop that the waiting line stretched out of the store.
“When my shift end-ed, me and a lot of my friends waited until midnight for the game to be released,” said Se-nior Shane Haley, who works at Best Buy.
The main reason that people buy the game is for the online multiplayer, where gamers can fight with or against their friends.
Modern Warfare 3 features new game modes that weren’t on the previous games, such as Kill Confirmed and Team De-
Dana Henderson leads in SkillsUSA, Drafting Not only has senior Dana
Henderson excelled in her drafting classes since freshmen year, but now she is also Presi-dent of SkillsUSA.
According to their official website, SkillsUSA is an or-ganization that works with teachers, high school and college students and to help members preparing for careers in the trades, to excel in their field.
Henderson has been a member of the club since her freshman year and was elected president in September.
“I love my role as presi-dent,” Henderson said. “I lead meetings and I also help with the different fundraisers we do and help promote and tell people what SkillsUSA is.”
Fundraisers that Hender-son will help head up as presi-dent are a car show at North
BY AUSTIN ENFINGERStaff Writer
fender.In Kill Confirmed, not only
must the player kill the enemy but they also must pick up the dog tag that the enemy drops. However, allies of the fallen player can also pick up the dog tag, preventing the other team from scoring.
In Team Defender, the two teams fight over possession of a flag. The team scores points by killing enemies, but the team with possession of the flag gets double the points for each kill.
The old multiplayer game modes have also returned.
“My favorite game mode is Search and Destroy,” senior Collin Borkowski said.
In Search and Destroy, one team tries to plant a bomb while the other team tries to prevent them from doing so. Each player only has one life, so this game mode is more re-
alistic than most.“The best game is Head-
quarters,” sophomore Matt Sompayrac said.
In Headquarters, the teams compete to capture a base and defend it from the enemy. Once a base is captured, the capturing team must defend the base as long as they can un-til they are defeated. When the enemy team kills someone on the capturing team, they can-not join the fight again until the base is destroyed.
Other favorite game modes include Team Death-match, Demolition, and Dom-ination.
Online perks have re-turned allowing players to have an edge on their opponents. These perks include Extreme Conditioning, which allows the soldier to sprint much lon-ger, Quickdraw, which allows the soldier to aim down the
sight of their weapon faster, and Dead Silence, which pre-vents the soldier from making noise that the enemy could hear.
The old killstreak system has been expanded to include two new strike packages; the Support and Specialist pack-ages.
The Support package is new to the game, where play-ers unlock rewards that help their team instead of them-selves. Rewards in this package include remote sentry guns, UAV, and stealth bombers.
The Specialist package is also new, and it allows play-ers to unlock extra perks every two kills. This package resets upon death, like the Assault package. As a bonus, once a player reaches eight kills they unlock every perk, regardless of the perks they have chosen.
The Assault package is the
same as the old game modes, where players unlock rewards by killing multiple enemies without dying. Rewards in this package include sentry guns, attack helicopters, and airstrikes.
Modern Warfare 3 fea-tures a single player campaign mode, like the other games. It involves multiple characters and missions which follow the Modern Warfare games from the past. In the missions, the player must fight past enemies to reach an objective with a few allied soldiers. The mis-sions vary from fighting in the streets of New York to evading the militia in the jungles of Af-rica.
The Call of Duty franshise is one of the most successful in the country, and video game fanatics will always eagerly await the realease of its next game.
KATHRYN LENOXCopy Editor
Stafford High School and a fruit sale in December.
Every year since she joined the club, Henderson has com-peted in SkillsUSA drafting competitions.
“I like competing in the competitions.” Henderson said. “Freshman year I placed first and sophomore year I placed third. I plan on com-peting this year as well.”
Henderson is also success-ful in her drafting classes, re-ceiving drafting student of the year award her freshmen, sophomore and junior years.
“For the engineering side of drafting I enjoy taking things apart and figuring out how they work and why,” Hender-son said. “For the architecture side of drafting I like designing and putting things in a house where I want to. I guess I like just being able to be creative.”
Henderson is also a mem-ber of the National Honor So-ciety and holds two jobs. She
works at The Children’s Place and as a secretary at a pediatri-cian’s office.
Even after her high school career ends, Henderson plans to continue with the engineer-ing side of drafting.
“After high school I plan on being a mechanical or com-puter science engineer,” Hen-derson said. “I would like to go to Virginia Wesleyan or Old Dominion University for their computer science pro-gram and hope to get in at Dahlgren.”
Although Henderson will take with her the skills she has learned in drafting and in SkillsUSA as she continues to study engineering, she will miss being a part of SkillsUSA.
Henderson said, “I’m go-ing to miss the club and being president, but I’m especially going to miss the car show fundraiser because I like get-ting to see all of the antique cars.”
Senior Briana Cornett is a star student according to art teacher Mr. Nick Candela. She has been drawing for years and she loves it.
“She is phenomenal, she al-ways has strong concepts and ideas,” said Candela. “She has grown as an artist throughout high school and she is willing to explore, which is a huge part.”
Cornett is very involved in her art; she has been drawing since she was five. Her favorite part of being in art class is be-
ing able to draw.“I have always found art in-
teresting, and I took art to learn how to draw better,” Cornett said.
Cornett uses art as a way to express herself in ways that words cannot.
“My favorite part of art is being able to express myself and my thoughts through an image,” Cornett said.
Cornett’s favorite artist is Georgia O’Keeffe, and she has always found drawing as a hob-by. One of Cornett’s favorite things to draw is a cartoon.
CAELYNN MILLER-KEYESStaff Writer
“My uncles inspire me,” Cornett said. “They’re tattoo artists so they draw a lot and make cool designs.”
Cornett agrees that she has gotten better and grown stron-ger as an artist throughout high school.
“I will probably continue art in college but it will be as a side, it won’t be my major,” Cornett said.
After Cornett began draw-ing she decided to to take art class in school because it was an option for her. Cornett pre-fers drawing to painting, but loves all types of art.
Brianna Cornett expresses herself through art
student life
smokesignaltheSta� ord High School www.sta� ordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
Jason Martinez, Brian Acord, Zeb Graves, Dalton Shelton, Morgan Arrington, Ta’Rance Arrington, Brian Phillips, Freddie Glaum, Brent Lawson, Joey Buige, Allison Otto, Sarah Rearick, Samuel Shelton, Brianna Tyrrell, and Michael Walters(Cadets who aren’t in the photo) Dylan Good, Ashley Longwell, Carolyn Gale, Zack Schaefer, and Edward Crockett
NJROTC Bring Back TrophySta ord Senior High
School’s NJROTC Unit sent forth a platoon of 20 cadets on Nov. 5. � ese dedicated cadets were lead by CMDSCPO Brian Acord and Ens. Zeb Graves to their � rst Drill Meet. � ey stayed a� er school for three weeks, practicing and rehears-ing until they had it down pat. � ey were � nally ready to com-pete against other schools.
� e NJROTC Drill Meet was divided into three main events. � ese included unit inspection, color guard, and basic drills both armed and unarmed.
� e cadets brought back the third place trophy for Unit Per-sonnel Inspection. Not only did they place in this event
NJROTC captures third but also earned fourth place in Color Guard and uno� cially second in Unarmed Basic Drill (because they were not counted as a full platoon.)
While some were surprise or shocked and others were � lled cheer and joy, all of them shared a common feeling …..Pride. Pride in those 20 cadets who came to all the practices, put in a lot of e ort and sacri� ced the opportunity to “vegg out” to show others what they can achieve.
It was a fun and exciting experience for these cadets to put forth all the hard work they did. Also it give the platoon an understanding of what they can improve on for their next time competing.
“We took 20 cadets and they really did step it up,” said Lt. Cmdr. Martinez. “� ere was a lot of special bonding between those chosen NS1s, NS2s, and
NS3s while they worked as a team to obtain their goals. � ey went up to the unit per-sonnel inspection and when they announce Sta ord for third place, I was more static than surprised. � e fact that these cadets were able to outdo so many in the inspection was mind blowing.”-
It would also help them de-velop great leadership skills for the next line of cadets that would join the program.
“I had a pretty good time meeting with the other units in the area,” Ens. Zeb Graves said. “� ere is always room for improvement, however we did pretty well being our � rst ap-pearance at a Drill Meet.”
As the NJROTC program grows, many of the cadets will be able to show what it takes to be a leader and will work hard for the unit’s upcoming Christ-mas Parade.
STORY PROVIDED BY
NJROTC
Elizabeth M Attreed, DDS, PC2832 Je erson Davis Highway
Sta ord, VA 22554(540)-659-5161
student life
Liz Willard dances with heartthe Nutcracker.” Willard said.
To help balance school and ballet Willard must have all her homework � nished be-fore practice. � is may end up being six to ten hours a day, everyday of the week except Tuesdays.
‘’I normally try to get all my homework completed be-fore practice so when I am � n-ished I can just come home eat dinner and go to bed.” Willard said.
Sophomore Carmen Shel-ton has been dancing with Willard for seven years. Shel-ton performs the “Nutcracker” and a spring show with Wil-lard every year.
“I think Liz is a really good dancer because she practices a lot.” Shelton said.
� e Nutcracker is one of the most popular ballet shows that Willard participates in, and she is ready to take on the challenge.
For senior Elizabeth Wil-lard, ballet is second nature. Willard has been doing ballet since the age of three when her mother signed her up for dance lessons. � ough she was signed up for many classes, Willard chose ballet over them all.
‘’I just like the feeling and technique of it. When I start practice that’s all I focus on.” Willard said.
Willard performs at the Sta ord Ballet Academy and does at least two shows a year: � e “Nutcracker” in the winter and a di erent spring one year-ly. Willard gets support from her mother, and her friends and family come out and sup-port too. Even thought Willard has performed the Nutcracker many times, she still tends to get nervous.
“It’s mostly on knew spring shows, but I still do get nervous
BY SHANNON COOKEPhotography Editor
Liz Willard practices at the bar. She has been dancing for seven years and has had numerous parts in ballets over those years. She also enjoys other sstyles of dance. Photo submitted by Liz Willard.
smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 7, Dec. 7, 2011
The Mystery of Edwin Drood
some finding a sense of connection with them.“I love my role,” Oltman said. “She resembles me
because of the attachment I have to my family and how protective I am of them.”
For other cast members, their roles in the musical are different than ones they had played previously.
“Every character I’ve played before have been weak and vulnerable,” Johnson said. “This time I’m super girly and a lot stronger.”
“I’ve never played a priest so that’s cool,” senior Steven West said. “Deep down he’s a really human person, but he has a mask over that.”
Despite the pressure, the cast remains hopeful for opening night this week.
“You just get your adrenaline pumping,” senior Kendall Khan said. “The audience is finally there in front of you, listening and watching you. Overall, it’s excitement.”
Everyone in the production has put much com-mitment to the first curtain call of the school year.
“I think opening night is the most enjoyable to do overall,” Siegmund said. “It’s a high point for the cast and we’re putting it all of out work to use and we get to make the audience smile.”
Through the hardships, the cast and crew find themselves united as a family more than ever.
“We’re a family,” Johnson said. “We have had so much fun backstage and learning about our charac-ters.”
The cast members have made relationships with eachother, easing the anxiousness and nervousness.
“The cast is wonderful,” West said. “They are the best people I’ve ever worked with, and I wouldn’t want to work with anyone else.”
Who is Edwin Drood’s killer? Be there to solve it yourself this Thursday at 7.
audience will enjoy it very much.”There has been a major time pressure for this win-
ter’s musical, unlike last year’s “Seussical.”“It’s been a little stressful, because we usually have a
lot more time to prepare,” Rhodes said. “We had over two months last year, and only five weeks this year.”
Due to the time constraints, the rehearsals were concentrated and condensed from a two-month peri-od, and some members were impacted by the intense rehearsals.
“We’ve been working every Saturday, we’ve had ten hour days, and we had to come in and work over Thanksgiving break,” senior Chrissy Johnson said. “There’s a lot of pressure, but it’s worth being on stage and performing for an audience.”
The cast members enjoy playing their characters,
Edwin Drood entertains
Seniors Ragon Dickard, Kendall Khan and Steven West and Junior Theron Duitsman join together to perfom a group number. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Sophomore Lindsay Earndhart and Senior JC Baron make a toast during a group scene. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Junior Theron Duitsman and Senior Chrissy Johnson get close during an eventful music number. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Seniors Ragon Dickard and JC Baron perform a dark scene together. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Senior Chrissy Johnson leans on fellow castmember, junior Theron Duitsman. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Seniors Chrissy Johnson and JC Baron have several songs in which they perform together. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Seniors Steven West and Kendall Khan, and juniors Hannah Oltman and Theron Duitsman work together to perform a large group song. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Senior Chrissy Johnson and sophomore Lindsay Earndhart sing an emotional duet. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Juniors Hannah Oltman and Theron Duitsman take center stage to per-form a duet together. The two actors were portraying a couple from Asia, and they both have elaborate and sophistcated costumes throughout the play. Photo by Shannon Cooke
Junior Hannah Oltman stays in character, even when the spotlight isn’t on her. Oltman is one of the main cast members, and plays an important role in the performance. Photo by Shannon Cooke
spotlight
Continued from page 1