PeregrineDynamic Addition

Color Guard joins band for field entertainment, competition

The band’s music blares, signaling Deveinia Jack-son, senior and captain, to start the routine. For

the first time in twelve years, Color Guard takes the field and captivates the audience with their mystery and expertise.

“The first game and our first per-formance is my favorite moment with the team so far, we bonded. I feel like sometimes we get into arguments but when it comes to protecting each other, we have each other’s backs no matter what, “Jackson said.

Jackson led all 25 members of the Color Guard through their first performance at the football game against Cinco-Ranch. Dancing with the band, the girls strived to make an unforgettable first impression on the student body.

“Our first performance was good, we went all together, but I feel like we can be stronger than that be-cause we want to show everyone what we’ve really got,” Jackson said.

Practicing three days a week, the team constantly improves their flag skills and dance routines. Color Guard bonds at practice with dress-

up days, games, and team meetings, organized by their four social offi-cers and captain. Diante Harris, se-nior, assists Jackson in the special committee by coordinating group activities and managing the team.

“To make Color Guard it was ba-sically dedication and believing in yourself. You have to know the ba-sics of the flag, how to twirl a flag and how to throw a flag,” Harris said.

Reviving the program after 12 years, the Color Guard had to start from scratch. The tryout criteria required the girls to learn a dance over the course of a week and per-form it in front of the instructor and three judges.

By Kelsey Hodges

(Con’t on pages 8, 9)

Ready To PeRfoRm Moving across the field, Ashley Gillam, freshman, grips her flag pole, preparing to swing it. Mesmerizing the crowd, the Color Guard member performs with the band, highlighting their “Rock, Paper, Scissors” theme. Listening for the music, Gillam concentrates on the routine that her team spent hours practicing.

Jersey Village High School 7600 Solomon Houston, Texas 77040 Volume 43, Issue 1 October 2014

Shining under the stadium lights, silver figures line the field, flags wave in the wind. Whispers of “who are they?” murmur through the crowd as everyone turns to watch the team assemble.

The

photo by Jacqueline Solano

RowdyRefsreturnPage 7

CrossCountryrolls onPage13

News2 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Very Proud PrinciPal“This recognition is a direct result of our faculty and staff providing high-quality instruction and meeting the individual needs of each student,” Ralph Funk, principal, said.

The Texas Education Agency (TEA) recognized Jer-sey Village High School as Jersey Village High School a federal Reward School, formerly Distinguished Schools under the Elementary and Secondary Educa-tion Act (ESEA).

The high school won the Reward School status in the high-performing category by being a Title I school with distinction designations in reading and math, met all federal system safeguard targets at 75 percent, and had a completion rate of 90 percent or higher. Only 37 Region IV campuses earned this recognition.

The high school also received the Reward School status in the high-progress area. This honor was

awarded to Title I campuses that earned the 25 percent student progress distinction designation and met all the federal system safe-guard targets of 75 percent in reading and math. Only 52 Region IV campuses earned this recognition.

TEA recognizes excellence with Reward School status

The Speech and Debate team brought the Individaul Sweep-stakes second place trophy from the Cy Lakes Tournament. Awards from the tournament included first in duo and fifth in duet for Hannah

Wisterman and Justin Meun; first in poetry and second in oratory for Hannah Wisterman; second in HI, third in prose, second in poetry, for Justin Meun; impromptu finalist, Sven Flores; fourth in NX, Jenny

Quinn; DX finalist, Demi Navarro; Congress finalist, Mustafa Al-Nomani.

Jenny Quiin and Pramika Up-neja also broke out to rounds in Novice P ublic Forum Debate.

After competing in the Medina Valley Cornfield Classic in Castro-ville, Texas the Air Force Junior ROTC Rocketry Team won first place in the Parachute Duration

event. There were five different events and and they well enough in the other four events that they won overall second place in the tournament. Team members in-

cluded team captain Salvador Que-zana, Ivan Viera Corral, Ferenando Miranda, Richardo Chino, Ldeticia Perex, and Kyle Martinez.

Orchestra members that are now a part of region orchestra in-clude Veronica Cespedes-Violin, Sharon Park-Violin, and Thomas Nguyen-cello.

Members of the 2013-14 Symphonic I Band were recently named as a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence / National Wind Band Honors Project. The Foundation For Music Education is dedi-cated to supporting and advancing music education.

Jairo Rico, junior, has earned a berth in the Super 32 Tourna-ment in Greensboro, North Carolina in November. Rico earned this spot after participating in the Regional Super 32 Qualifier at Clear Springs High School. He defeated two state qualifiers and won first place in the event.

The Advanced Audio / Visual program, JVTV, received a check for $5,000 from the the Harris County Public Health and Environmen-tal Services Department for their collaboration on 30 PSA’s for the County.

The students in the program created a series of public service announcement (PSA) videos for the environmental public health division between November 2013 and June 2014. The worked under the direction of Cindy Stoker, JVTV program coordinator.

Stoker said that the students enjoyed working with the health department.

“You could not have found a better organization to work with. Not only did they work really well with us and with the teenagers, they treated these students like professionals,” Stoker said.

Falcon Forensics continues to take awards in competitions

AFJROTC’s rocketry team win 2nd place in tournament

JVTV earns big money for PSA work

Wrestler heads to North Carolina Volleyball record (district to date)

Football scores (season to date) Band, orchestra take high honors vs Cinco Ranch 15 - 14 (w)

vs Cy-Springs 21 - 14 (w)vs Cy-Ridge 30 - 7 (w)vs Cy-Falls 38 - 7 (w)vs Cy-Ranch 16 - 28 (l)vs Cy-Creek 24 - 28 (l)vs Cy-Lakes 47 - 3 (w)vs Langham 23 - 35 (l)

The Athletic Train-ers will be taking do-nations from October 27 to October 31 to help paralyzed football players, through the organization Gridiron Heroes.

A former player for the high school Devon Hebert, injured in 2008, is part of their motivation to help the cause.

One hundred per-cent of the donations go to help the injured athletes.

Recently Gridiron Heroes provided an wheelchair-accessible van to fellow Gridiron Hero Hebert.

Posters GiVe infoThe flyer put up by the Athletic Trainers lets everyone know what their donations will do for injured athletes.

Trainers take donationsfor paralyzed athletes

FFA win leadership awardsAt the Leadership Development Event at Praire

View A&M University members of the FFA com-peted and won several awards.

Zach Pavelock won 3rd place overall in Green-hand FFA Creed. Tyranny Metcalfe won 2nd place overall in Senior FFA Creed.

UIL Academic teams recruitThe UIL Academic teams for the high school are

actively recruiting members for each of the compe-tition areas.

All the competition areas that would like inter-ested students to come ask questions are listed on a sign outside Web teacher Carol Pearsall’s room, 2043.

UIL Academic teams include accounting, calcu-lator applications, computer applications, computer science, current issues and events, literary criti-cism, mathematics, number sense, ready writing, science, spelling and vocabulary, editorial writing, feature writing, headline writing, news writing, social studies, informative speaking, persuasive speaking poetry and prose interpretation.

Advancing to state will qualify a competitor for various UIL college scholarships. After placing first, second or third a student advances to regional competion and if he places first, second or third, he advances to state competition.

photo by ChrisHodge

photo by ChristineLe

vs Falls (w)vs Fair (l)vs Woods (w)vs Ridge (w)vs Creek (w)vs Ranch (l)vs Lakes (w)vs Springs (w)

vs Langham (l)vs Falls (l)vs Fair (l)vs Woods (l)vs Ridge (w)vs Creek (w)vs Ranch (l)vs Lakes (w)

photos by ChristineLe

photo by Ashley Hoselton

News 3October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Vacancy and silence flood the school, and a single student remains after a meeting with a teacher, attempting to make the bus before its departure. The student can see the double doors on the other side though a group of intimidating students, occupying the hall itself. A group member notices the student, makes a comment to the rest of the group and a chorus of taunting laughter ensues, and the student retreats from the situation.

Although the school comes off as a friendly and “bully-free” zone, administrators want to take no chances as they pitch the Anti-Defamation League’s “No Place for Hate” campaign to Student Council members.

The national campaign, founded in 2001, directs its attention to eradicating not only bullying within schools, but all sources of bigotry, homophobia, racism, scapegoating, sexism, and all other general or specific forms of hate from one party to another.

“I think the campaign is just a way to continue awareness about situations that may occur like some name-calling, teasing, and things like that, that need to be curbed so that the kids don’t feel uncomfortable. I don’t think we have a bullying problem, kids pretty much get along,” Laura Underwood, J house assistant principal, said.

Underwood had started No Place for Hate at her previous schools, and once settled here, she set out to Principal Ralph Funk with full intentions of bringing the campaign into the school. After deliberations, the administrators decided it would mean more to everyone

if it were run by students this time around. Approved as a project for the year, Student Council took it upon themselves to bring No Place for Hate into the school.

“I thought that we needed to promote that this is an environment where everyone needs to feel safe to be here. We all need to love one another; and we can put the campaign to use and make sure everyone knows that,” Truc Lan Tran, Student Council, said.

Student Council plans to bring the campaign about with the ADL’s nation-wide pledge video.

The video encompasses groups of students saying pieces of the campaign pledge and promise in a cumulative collage, and once finished, the student council will present the final product to the faculty and students in their English classes, as well as more, undetermined events within the school.

Although the direction of the campaign was not brought about to deal specifically with a large bullying and teasing problem, the student council plans to keep it to good use throughout the school. The main idea of the campaign from this point maintains the factor of awareness.

“I think, initially, the purpose is just to make kids aware that, sometimes, this occurs, and to ask them for their help to alleviate the situation when they see it. Sometimes students simply ignore the situation, or walk away, and I want everyone to know that they are a vital part of making everyone feel comfortable on campus,” Underwood said.

By Julianna Perez

Raising AwarenessStuCo brings No Place for Hate to campus The Bully Issue

28% of kids ages 12-18 are bullied at school.

44% of kids who witness a bullying never say a thing.

24% of students who have witnessed an incident made

fun of the victim.

48% of kids 7th-12th grade have been secually harrassed.

71.3% of LGBT students have heard homophobic remarks

often at schools.

Feature4 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Piece of P.I.E.

Screams reverberate through the house “we have to move again?!!” She cries. Another home to leave, more packing, more fighting, and the hopes of having a stable life at home slip through her grasp. School, a refuge, and a friendship, there to help her through any of life’s rough patches, remains her only place of serenity.

The Partners in Education Mentor Program, otherwise known as PIE, help out at risk students through the adversities of high school. The program put in place for the benefit of students such as Suzanne Sonnier, who have issues in their home lives, and or have issues in school.

Students approached for the program have many reasons spanning from personal knowledge of the program supervisor, Lisa McNeil, to recommendation by a teacher.

Either way students given the opportunity to have a volunteer mentor come to the school specifically for them take many lessons from the mentorship. The students gain the ability to express themselves towards someone who generally not a part of the group of peers the student comes into contact with on a daily basis.

“The mentors in the PIE program are a very useful tool to be used to help students throughout their high school career and help the students achieve success in all avenues of life,” McNeil, program supervisor, said.

The entire program is made solely for the assistance of students at The high school who are at risk. The funding comes from the at-risk funds, allocated for student aid by the district.

“I liked the idea of having an adult who wasn’t in my family that I could talk to and not worry about them spreading it around to other people. It’s nice having someone that I can talk to once a week about everything that has happened and get an adults advice,” Suzanne Sonnier, senior, said.

Students like Sonnier have experienced life in another light, many of which her peers cannot relate to, having an outside mentor, an adult to bounce ideas off of and get support from.

Becoming a PIE mentor is a rather simple process, allowing volunteers with busy schedules put a mere two hours and 30 minutes into a training session. After they have successfully passed through their

training they are basically assigned a student and meet with their mentee once or twice a week.

“The mission of the PIE mentor program is to provide a trained adult to a CFISD school for the purpose of meeting one-on-one with an “at-promise” student. The mentor is asked to provide encouragement and positive guidance to promote social and emotional development of the students,” McNeil said.

Mentors involved in the PIE program take on the challenge of mentoring students for many reasons and come from many walks of life. The volunteers all enter the program for one thing, to help students who need a mentor in their lives.

Mentors have a strong dedication towards their students that they stay a part of these programs for years on end, giving time throughout their work lives.

“I want to be there for the students who are having trouble at home or schools. I just want to support them and make a difference in students’ lives and in the community,” Raira Reddin, Mentor in the PIE program, said.

Mentors come on their own time to assist the students with their day to day lives, not just with school. Many of the mentors have been with mentorship programs for substantial amounts of time, such as Reddin, who has been a part of the mentor programs at the high school for two and a half years, and plans on staying as long as programs exist.

“The largest challenge throughout my time as a mentor was gaining the students trust. I don’t want them to think I will leave them in the middle, I want them to believe will stay with them no matter what the circumstances, and that I’d be there for them,” Reddin said.

Sonnier enjoys her time with the mentors and has found it very easing having an outside volunteer to come into her life and assist her throughout the struggles of high school life.

The PIE mentorship program continues to grow as do other mentorship programs throughout the Cy-Fair system, and this shows Cy-Fairs continued devotion towards its students and its community.

By Will ScaleS

Program SuPerviSor at Work Devoting much of her time to the programs that assist high students with their high school lives Lisa McNeil, program supervisor, takes care of necessary paperwork.

Mentorship programs in CFISD

VIPS-Volunteers in Public schools, umbrella

program involving volunteers in all mentorship programs.

PIE-Partners in Education mentorship

program, under VIPS, has roughly five students being mentored by

volunteers.

Academic Mentors-Seniors go to Lisa McNeil’s office

during lunch and after school to assist underclassmen in their classes.

Student Teacher Mentorship-Students matched with teachers, over 100 students involved in the program

in 2013-2014 school year.

Mentor programsucceeds in helpingteens find direction

photo by William Scales

FEATURE 5October 2014

The sound techs rush around backstage, the musicians shuffle their feet, checking their volumes, eyeing the crowd before them. The first burst of overdriven guitar shakes the foundations of Fitzgerald’s, and a few whoops explode wildly from the crowd. The bassist hits a few deep notes, and the drummer plays an opening break. These young men—the members of Pale Crow—belong on stage, and have spent countless hours practicing for this.

Daniel Sobrevilla, senior, has played the drums for less than two years, but nevertheless has played 5 shows at venues throughout Houston. His musical journey began later than his fellow bandmates, most of whom have already graduated, but has picked up momentum.

Sobrevilla’s inspiration to play drums first came from the live music he has enjoyed since childhood. Events such as Warped Tour and a Linkin Park concert were some of his first introductions to rock drumming. Sobrevilla experimented with violin and guitar in the past, but watching a professional drummer blastbeat and solo his way through a song set Sobrevilla’s mind on the drums.

“I knew I wanted to play, but didn’t think I was good enough,” Sobrevilla said.

It was at church that Sobrevilla realized he had a natural talent for drumming. Two years ago Sobrevilla watched the Faith Assembly church band play at a service, and decided to stay and talk with them afterward. They offered to let him play their drum kit,

and Sobrevilla eagerly obliged.“When they asked me how long I’d

been playing I said, “This is actually like the second time”, after that they were like “you should get your own kit,”. That’s when I realized that I had a gift,” Sobrevilla said.

Sobrevilla received his drumkit on his 17th birthday, and immediately began to practice daily, hoping that he would soon meet a band in need of a drummer. After six months of practicing, he was introduced to Pale Crow, a grunge/post-punk band under frontman Simon Kender. When the members of Pale Crow jammed for the first time, they realized instantly that they were onto something. Sobrevilla admits that he did not have technique in the beginning, only rhythm and passion, but what they produced in the first few jams impressed them so much that they wanted to create more.

“We wrote a whole setlist in about a month. It felt like it was right. Making music wasn’t really a problem, we all had our own ideas,” Sobrevilla said.

Pale Crow performed their first show in March of 2014 at a local venue called Numbers. The event was a battle of the bands with several acts involved, and the members of Pale Crow faced stiff competition. Their post-punk sound was well received, however, and they soon advanced past the first round, their gritty guitar and aggressive percussion distinguishing them from the competition. Despite making it into the final round, they ultimately did not win the Battle of the Bands, but the event got the band’s name and image out, and has

since opened up countless opportunities to perform elsewhere. Sobrevilla saw it as a success.

“It made me feel like I belonged there. It feels like my dream is coming true with every step. If that wasn’t where I belong, then I don’t know where to go,” Sobrevilla said.

Pale Crow has gained considerable traction following their first show at Numbers. Their dream of playing frequent shows for enthusiastic audiences is becoming a reality, and this motivated Sobrevilla and the members of Pale Crow to expand their musical horizons even further, and spend more time recording and improving themselves. This is evident in their recent shows, which now feature more intricate layering of sounds with new guitar solos and rhythm patterns.

“The crowd really enjoys them. You’ll

see people nodding, enjoying the music and dancing a little. You can tell they put a lot of work into it, and it pays off. You can always tell its Daniel playing drums, because he does his own thing. I’m proud of how far he’s come,” said Bailee Steffy, junior, Sobrevilla’s girlfriend.

Now, with several shows coming up and more in the works, Sobrevilla and the other members of Pale Crow look toward a bright future. Although the band has not yet released an album, those who have heard them play live know that they are working toward producing an album. It is never easy for a local band to get a foot in the door of the music industry, especially for young musicians starting off with no connections or financial support, but Sobrevilla and the other members of Pale Crow believe they have what it takes.

By Joel Montfort

ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Rock drummer defines sound, aspires to go on tour with band

An IntImAte envIronmentSmaller venues have suited Pale Crow well so far, the intimacy helps the crowd get into the music. Of course the band plans to move up to bigger and better in the near future.

JAmmIng At FItzgerAld’sPale Crow has performed twice at Firzgerald’s (left), and they never fail to dominate the stage with their presence.

Pale Crow

gArAge BAnd Hours spent practicing rudiments and basic patterns with the other members of Pale Crow helped developed Sobrevilla’s explosive drumming style.

photo by Joel Montfort

photo by Joel Montfort photo by Joel Montfort

Advertising6 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

FEATURE 7October 2014

RRefs stay Cool The Rowdy Refs pretend to ‘sleep on Cy-Ridge’s students, teachers, and staff members while supporting the volleyball team. Members of the spirit group included Mason Mireles, Zack Garza, and Brandon Blake. “I’m going to miss being a Jersey Village Rowdy Ref,” Cole Frost, junior, said.

ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

A group of teenagers taunt and tease the oppos-ing volleyball team on the court. ‘’Jersey Village is going to win, just give up girls!’’

The opposing team starts to lose focus on the game and having a difficult time focusing on the game, a player easily smashes the ball over the net, winning for the school. The team yells in victory while the other opposing competitors groan in de-feat.

These rowdy teens, known as the Rowdy Refs, bring the spectators excitement and spirit for the volleyball teams. They began their support of the volleyball team because they loved the high school and wanted to be the most spirited high school in the Cy-Fair district, while others just want to sup-port their girlfriends who were on the volleyball team.

The group is comprised of Mason Mireles, Frank Sheehy, Diego Flores, Cole Frost, Jordan Williams and Zack Garza.

‘‘We are a supportive group of teens that have a lot of school spirit,’’ Diego Flores, junior, said.

Flores and his friends love the high school so much that they created the group. His friends, Mason Mireles and Frank Sheehy, juniors, made a joke about a group that could support volleyball team while embarrassing the opponents.

‘‘Mason and I just thought it was a random joke till the others took the joke seriously and wanted to make the Rowdy Refs,’’ Sheehy said.

After discussing the idea of creating the group

and recruiting the right people for the team, they went to their first volleyball game as the ‘’Rowdy Refs’’.

‘‘I was excited, my heart was beating fast. I just could not wait to see the other school faces,’’ Flores said.

The next day after the game, their friends started to notice them at the game. The group kept going to every volleyball game supporting the volleyball team while making the other team feel bad about themselves. After other high schools complained about the Rowdy Refs, the Cypress-Fairbanks district banned all the Rowdy Refs shirts, but the group did not lose their hope.

“I didn’t lose my hope in the Rowdy Refs, we kept going to every game supporting our team and making the other team embarrassed and annoyed at us.’’ Zack Garza, junior, said.

The group loved to embarrass and annoy the op-posing team and spectators.

‘‘I love how the crowd and team couldn’t stand us! I would laugh and ignore the people who told us to stop embarrassing them from the others,’’ Flores said.

The group did not stopped their passion for the school and never stopped going to the volleyball games. They kept supporting the team even with-out the shirts. They also tweeted on their twitter to wear black and white ref shirts to support the high school team and the Rowdy Refs. After all the games they attended, their bond grew stronger and

stronger. After a couple of weeks, the district unbanned

the Refs shirts. ‘‘After hearing about our shirts being unbanned,

I was pretty happy about,’’ Cole Frost, junior, said.They were ready to go to the next game wearing

their shirts and were excited to see faces when they saw their old shirts back.

They heroically walked into the court with the shirts, waving to the crowd.

‘‘I was pumped to support the team with our old shirts back,’’ Williams, senior said.

The group also decided to go to football games to support another team other than just going to volleyball games every Tuesday and Friday.

“We just wanted to support our boys and we all love football,’’ Sheehy said.

The first time the group went to the football game all the spectators were surprised to see the Rowdy Refs on the edge of the field cheering for the team and teasing the opponents.

‘‘It was kind of weird seeing confused faces than seeing happy cheering faces,’’ Flores said.

At a volleyball game one of the rowdy refs real-ized that he and others only had two years at the high school until they graduated and moved onto college.

‘‘I’m going to make every second count and will always remember the memories here,’’ Sheehy said.

By John le

owdyefs

Supportive group brings excitement to spectators, players

photo by Lesly DeLeon

photo by Lesly DeLeon photo by Lesly DeLeon

InDepth8 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1 InDepth 9October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

(Con’t from page 1)

“We started Color Guard to add a visual component to the marching band after a 10 plus year absence. For the last couple of years the Gold Dusters were the visual com-ponent to the show,” Brett Nelson, band director, said.

Previous to the creation of Color guard, the school re-mained one of the few schools in the district without one. After building a team, the Color Guard started organizing their plans for the rest of the year.

“Since we’re new, we plan on going to competition and UIL with band, and we’re learning military routines with rifles right now,” Jackson said.

With no previous experience, the team has to rely on their instructor, Seth McPhail. However, they endured the teachings of two different instructors before he took on the job.

“We found Mr. McPhail through a nationwide search. Mr. McPhail has an impressive performance resume in guard, dance, and his students have had a great amount of success. He is doing an incredible job with the guard students of Jersey Village,” Nelson said.

Nelson chose McPhail out of numerous qualified ap-plicants due to his extensive experience and credentials. The Color Guard benefits from their directors knowledge and connected with him through practice and games. The team plans on creating traditions for the years to come, like their unique pre-game bonding activities.

“One of our game day rituals is a thing called “the pulse”, its right over left, and all we do is squeeze the next person’s hand and it goes around the circle, and it shows everyone that we’re alert and ready to get on the field,” Jackson said.

Rituals like “the pulse” connect the team and prepare them for their routine. In addition, McPhail director intro-

duced another method to calm pre-performance jitters. Hired specifically for Color Guard, Mphail dedicates him-self to improving and building the teams skills.

“Our director gives us tic-tacs and says ‘suck now, not later”, so we eat a tic-tac while heading on the field. I feel like it actually calms my nerves,” Jackson said.

McPhail’s unusual tactic effectively relaxes the girls and helps them focus on working as a team to perform what they practiced. With a sisterly bond and Jackson’s leadership, the Color Guard endures their rigorous rou-tines for the satisfaction of showing off their talent during games at halftime.

“As captain, I help others and don’t boss everyone around, but I need to be stern and make sure I lead my team in the right way. That’s what I want to do with Color Guard because I think we can go far because we’re actually good,” Jackson said.

Striving to make a positive name for the team, Jackson leads the girls in and outside of practice to ensure their excel-lence. Every game, Color Guard arrives dressed in the same outfits and assume their spots in the stands with band to support the football team. Prior to half-time, the girls slip away to change into silver leotards.

“The first game was a special mo-ment, because we knew there would be people in the crowd judging us. It was the first time that Color Guard was back so it was basically seeing if we got what it takes,” Harris said.

Intending to impress the audience, the girls worked to-

gether to remember their choreography and make a state-ment about the return of Color Guard. Positive feedback ensued the team’s first performance and motivated them to continue working towards achieving their goals.

“A team means basically a family, a group of individu-als who stick together. It took a lot to get where we are now,” Harris said.

Practicing over the summer and team events created a sisterly bond between the members of Color Guard and adds to their performances. Sharing dedication and trust, the girls look out for each other in practice and life.

“My duties as a member of Color Guard is working with my team, making sure ev-eryone stays focused and just encouraging each other even through the bad times to just keep pushing through. Also to never give up on each other because we are a team,” Harris said.

The team faces problems and sticks together like a family through good and rough times. Focusing on the future of Color Guard drives the team to keep push-ing themselves to success.

In addition, the team has faced some controversy regarding the difference be-tween them and the Drill team. Despite some people believing that Color guard tries to act like Gold Dusters, the girls in-sist that they have different intentions.

“Gold Dusters are based on dance and we have to learn rifle, the flag, and we do have some dance but we’re all about flags,” Harris said.

This friendly competition fuels Color Guards desire to perform their best. Harris and Jackson make sure the

team focuses on flag skills rather than all dancing. The girls respect the Gold Dusters, but desire to create a name for themselves separate from the dance team.

“My expectations for the rest of the year are to show the school and the people who doubt us that we are a great Color Guard and that we can be similar to how Gold Dust-ers are, the highlight of ev-erything, and that we can be a great team with great danc-ers,” Harris said.

After twelve years, Color Guard made a remarkable come-back in a short time and has numerous goals that they intend to achieve. With the eyes of the school on them, the team strives to create a positive impres-sion that will encour-age more membership. Created to aid band visu-ally, band benefits from Color Guard’s success.

“The guard is doing fantastic. The amount of progress they have made since August is amazing!,” Nelson said.

By Kelsey Hodges

“Color Guard helps you to express

what words can’t. You’re not just spin-ning a flag on a field, you’re performing with your body and movements. The first time you ever catch a pop toss, you feel like you can accomplish anything,” Carly Mark, junior, said.

“The feeling of being a family

and how we bonded so quickly was on my mind. I felt like I really belonged there,” Ashley Gilliam, freshman, said.

After 12 years

They’reBACK

Color Guard returns to stadium adding visual, color component

A team means

basically a family,

a group of

individuals who

stick together.

Diante Harris,

senior

“

“

Shining under the stadium lights, silver figures line the field, flags wave the wind. Whispers of “who are they?” murmur through the crowd as everyone turns to watch the team assemble.

“I It was my first performance and

I was so nervous in the beginning and after the show. I was so proud that all my work paid off because it was the best performance I could ever give, “ Ash-ley Hoselton, junior, said.

PaPer, rock, SciSSorS Dancing in between band members, Hailey McBroom, junior, follows the routine created by the band and Color Guard. The theme of the performance centers around the game “Paper, Rock, Scissors”, and McBroom represents the paper. Dedicated to her team, she craftily sways her flags to the band’s ensemble of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody’. Color Guard serves as a visual aid for the band on the football field and at contest, therefore the girls adorn shimmery costumes that reflect the light and catch the audiences eye. The combination of Band and Color Guard create an unforgettable performance.

photo by Jacqueline Solano

photo by Christine Le

photo by Jacqueline Solano

photo by Christine Le

InDepth8 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1 InDepth 9October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

(Con’t from page 1)

“We started Color Guard to add a visual component to the marching band after a 10 plus year absence. For the last couple of years the Gold Dusters were the visual com-ponent to the show,” Brett Nelson, band director, said.

Previous to the creation of Color guard, the school re-mained one of the few schools in the district without one. After building a team, the Color Guard started organizing their plans for the rest of the year.

“Since we’re new, we plan on going to competition and UIL with band, and we’re learning military routines with rifles right now,” Jackson said.

With no previous experience, the team has to rely on their instructor, Seth McPhail. However, they endured the teachings of two different instructors before he took on the job.

“We found Mr. McPhail through a nationwide search. Mr. McPhail has an impressive performance resume in guard, dance, and his students have had a great amount of success. He is doing an incredible job with the guard students of Jersey Village,” Nelson said.

Nelson chose McPhail out of numerous qualified ap-plicants due to his extensive experience and credentials. The Color Guard benefits from their directors knowledge and connected with him through practice and games. The team plans on creating traditions for the years to come, like their unique pre-game bonding activities.

“One of our game day rituals is a thing called “the pulse”, its right over left, and all we do is squeeze the next person’s hand and it goes around the circle, and it shows everyone that we’re alert and ready to get on the field,” Jackson said.

Rituals like “the pulse” connect the team and prepare them for their routine. In addition, McPhail director intro-

duced another method to calm pre-performance jitters. Hired specifically for Color Guard, Mphail dedicates him-self to improving and building the teams skills.

“Our director gives us tic-tacs and says ‘suck now, not later”, so we eat a tic-tac while heading on the field. I feel like it actually calms my nerves,” Jackson said.

McPhail’s unusual tactic effectively relaxes the girls and helps them focus on working as a team to perform what they practiced. With a sisterly bond and Jackson’s leadership, the Color Guard endures their rigorous rou-tines for the satisfaction of showing off their talent during games at halftime.

“As captain, I help others and don’t boss everyone around, but I need to be stern and make sure I lead my team in the right way. That’s what I want to do with Color Guard because I think we can go far because we’re actually good,” Jackson said.

Striving to make a positive name for the team, Jackson leads the girls in and outside of practice to ensure their excel-lence. Every game, Color Guard arrives dressed in the same outfits and assume their spots in the stands with band to support the football team. Prior to half-time, the girls slip away to change into silver leotards.

“The first game was a special mo-ment, because we knew there would be people in the crowd judging us. It was the first time that Color Guard was back so it was basically seeing if we got what it takes,” Harris said.

Intending to impress the audience, the girls worked to-

gether to remember their choreography and make a state-ment about the return of Color Guard. Positive feedback ensued the team’s first performance and motivated them to continue working towards achieving their goals.

“A team means basically a family, a group of individu-als who stick together. It took a lot to get where we are now,” Harris said.

Practicing over the summer and team events created a sisterly bond between the members of Color Guard and adds to their performances. Sharing dedication and trust, the girls look out for each other in practice and life.

“My duties as a member of Color Guard is working with my team, making sure ev-eryone stays focused and just encouraging each other even through the bad times to just keep pushing through. Also to never give up on each other because we are a team,” Harris said.

The team faces problems and sticks together like a family through good and rough times. Focusing on the future of Color Guard drives the team to keep push-ing themselves to success.

In addition, the team has faced some controversy regarding the difference be-tween them and the Drill team. Despite some people believing that Color guard tries to act like Gold Dusters, the girls in-sist that they have different intentions.

“Gold Dusters are based on dance and we have to learn rifle, the flag, and we do have some dance but we’re all about flags,” Harris said.

This friendly competition fuels Color Guards desire to perform their best. Harris and Jackson make sure the

team focuses on flag skills rather than all dancing. The girls respect the Gold Dusters, but desire to create a name for themselves separate from the dance team.

“My expectations for the rest of the year are to show the school and the people who doubt us that we are a great Color Guard and that we can be similar to how Gold Dust-ers are, the highlight of ev-erything, and that we can be a great team with great danc-ers,” Harris said.

After twelve years, Color Guard made a remarkable come-back in a short time and has numerous goals that they intend to achieve. With the eyes of the school on them, the team strives to create a positive impres-sion that will encour-age more membership. Created to aid band visu-ally, band benefits from Color Guard’s success.

“The guard is doing fantastic. The amount of progress they have made since August is amazing!,” Nelson said.

By Kelsey Hodges

“Color Guard helps you to express

what words can’t. You’re not just spin-ning a flag on a field, you’re performing with your body and movements. The first time you ever catch a pop toss, you feel like you can accomplish anything,” Carly Mark, junior, said.

“The feeling of being a family

and how we bonded so quickly was on my mind. I felt like I really belonged there,” Ashley Gilliam, freshman, said.

After 12 years

They’reBACK

Color Guard returns to stadium adding visual, color component

A team means

basically a family,

a group of

individuals who

stick together.

Diante Harris,

senior

“

“

Shining under the stadium lights, silver figures line the field, flags wave the wind. Whispers of “who are they?” murmur through the crowd as everyone turns to watch the team assemble.

“I It was my first performance and

I was so nervous in the beginning and after the show. I was so proud that all my work paid off because it was the best performance I could ever give, “ Ash-ley Hoselton, junior, said.

PaPer, rock, SciSSorS Dancing in between band members, Hailey McBroom, junior, follows the routine created by the band and Color Guard. The theme of the performance centers around the game “Paper, Rock, Scissors”, and McBroom represents the paper. Dedicated to her team, she craftily sways her flags to the band’s ensemble of Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody’. Color Guard serves as a visual aid for the band on the football field and at contest, therefore the girls adorn shimmery costumes that reflect the light and catch the audiences eye. The combination of Band and Color Guard create an unforgettable performance.

photo by Jacqueline Solano

photo by Christine Le

photo by Jacqueline Solano

photo by Christine Le

Feature10 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

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The lights wait to blind him when he first steps out, and his hands shake tre-mendously from the pre performance jitters back stage. The audience restless-ly waits for their entertainment to make his way on to the stage. He contemplates stepping out and risking humiliation.

Isaac Hernandez, freshman, always had an interest in performing and acting but did not pursue it until 2 years ago. Hernandez officially began to pursue acting at the age of 12.

“If I could, I would probably start younger, start getting into plays more as a kid”, Hernandez said.

He recently signed on with Actors, Models, and Talents for Christ, a Chris-tian based agency. Hernandez did not know he got signed until after his audi-tion when he listened to a voice mail left by the agency.

“They’re supposed to call you back a day later and my mom ignored the call so we didn’t know,” Hernandez said.

Before Hernandez officially signed on with ATMC, he went through an audi-tion process. Hernandez decided to re-cite a monologue from Charlie Brown and performed his stand-up comedy routine. Although it might seem scary to most, Hernandez showed no trace of nervousness.

“I just wanted to go and get it over with and I didn’t have a thought of ‘I wasn’t going to make it’. It was a normal experience for me. It was the same emo-tional experience as someone going to the grocery store,” Hernandez said.

Although Hernandez’s audition did not phase him, his first time performing his stand-up comedy did. He performed this at the age of 12 before he auditioned for AMTC; performing his routine actu-ally made him want to audition.

“It was a cool experience; I’ve never really done anything like that. I didn’t actually think I was going to do too well, but once I got up on stage and started saying a few jokes and started getting people to laugh I thought maybe I should pursue this. That really opened up a new door for me,” Hernandez said.

Moviegoers and fans of the theater of-ten find themselves getting into the story and forming bonds with the characters. They see them as more than just actors performing, they watch the characters come to life. All thought of the actor be-hind the glamour, forgotten. The audi-ence begins to laugh and cry with as the story goes along. Hernandez loves to en-gage his audience more than anything.

“I honestly do like to entertain peo-ple; to make people mad at the character

I’m performing like, ‘Oh get him off the stage’ or ‘Get him off the screen”. I feel like if you’re a good actor you’ll tell by the audience. If people are heckling your character, they’re getting really into it,” Hernandez said.

Everyone learns a lesson from every experience they have. Hernandez will walk out of this adventure with much more knowledge and understanding than most people his age. Hernandez knows the importance of cherishing tal-ent because individual talents set people apart from each other.

“Not everyone can do it and this tal-ent I have, I should probably nurture it and that’s with anything. It’s taught me to pursue things. My uncle, he has a tal-ent for painting and he just did a portrait for Andre Johnson and presented it to him. So if you have a talent, go for it,” Hernandez said.

For Hernandez, acting gave him more than just stories to tell when he gets old and gray. Acting made him realize that personal happiness holds a very impor-tant role in life.

“Acting has taught me that there’s more to life than making people happy, it’s what makes you happy,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez does not stand alone in

the pool of talent at the high school. Morgan Stewart, sophomore, models for Page Parks Modeling Agency.

Stewart also began her modeling ca-reer at the age of 12. Out of all the shoots she has done, one sticks out in her mem-ory completely because of the enjoyment and publicity it gave her.

“Modeling for Vera Bradley in L.A. was… an incredible moment and de-lightful experience, just being able to fly somewhere to do that, it wasn’t stress-ful or anything. Plus it’s a known name brand, and the fact that I got to fly to Los Angeles for it was a great experience,” Stewart said.

For Stewart, modeling means more than just standing in front of a camera with a big smile. It has shown her to al-ways put her best foot forward, no mat-ter what.

“Poise, don’t let yourself look bad. Dress to impress anywhere you go be-cause you never know who you’ll run into,” Stewart said.

Stewart and Hernandez have gained maturity and vast knowledge of them-selves and the workings of the “real world” from their experiences as a mod-el and an actor, and both wish to contin-ue their careers throughout high school.

By EmmilynE Thomas

Runway CallsLights Shine

Peers reveal their skills in the visual arts, plan to take their career to new heights

photo by Emmilyne Thomasphoto by Emmilyne Thomas

Advertising 11October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

SeniorSTake your yearbook senior portrait at Prestige PortraitsHouston Studio18730 Tomball Parkway, Suite BHouston, TX 77070

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281-897-8300

Feature12 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Adrenaline pumping, sweat slowly dripping down his face, he anxiously waits for the overwhelming sound of

the gun to go off. The loud burst sets Phi Cao, senior, sprinting down the track in the blink of an eye. As he crosses the finish line, he triumphs in joy waiting for his other competitors to catch up.

From continually placing last to claiming the title as the “track star” at the high school, Phi Cao, senior, impresses the public with his amaz-ing progress. His love for track started in middle school, although he learned quickly he needed a lot of dedication to continue with the sport.

“I only made it to the final track meet in eighth grade because Coach Scott thought I was a hard worker,” Cao said.

During the eighth grade, he still continued to place last in almost every meet. However, Cao refused to let that hold him back from doing the sport he adored. Keeping his eyes on success, he en-rolled in SAC (strength and conditioning camp) the summer before high school.

“I worked hard every morning until my legs wanted to collapse. I wasn’t the fastest, but I fin-ished fourth to fifth instead of dead last every time.” Cao said.

His hard work starting to pay off, Cao’s speed increased exponentially his sophomore year and he surpassed his competitors quickly. Not wanting to lose his stamina, Cao practiced con-tinuously in the summer although it caused dif-ficulty.

“I had to whip myself back into shape in the summer. I was so out of shape, I would nearly pass out after each workout. Either that, or I just pushed myself too hard.” Cao said.

Cao’s prosperity exceeding, he received nu-merous amounts of gold and silver medals his junior year. In fact, he advanced to varsity track simultaneously, earning his lettermen along the way.

“I got moved up to varsity and earned my let-termen, which is pretty exciting for me. Earning your lettermen in track is so hard. You have to

make top six at a varsity meet, and varsity meets compose of two districts, twenty one schools to-tal, and three members maximum from each school.” Cao said.

Cao’s tremendous success earned him the leadership and most im-proved award from his coach, Corey Waller, at the sports banquet last year. As a team, they placed 3rd at district fi-nals and made it to area.

Despite Cao’s hard-ships at first, he inces-santly stayed motivated and worked only harder each time. He never let his continuous losses refrain him from pursuing his all-time goal.

“My competitive spirit was all I needed to stay motivated. I was tired of coming in last, I hated

losing in general. I challenged those a lot better than me, and to beat them was always my goal.” Cao said.

With all his strenuous work to get to the top, his supportive mentor kept him inspired throughout the onerous years. Cao shares his exceptional motivator who made a sturdy im-pression on him.

“I would say my middle school coach, Coach Scott. He gave me a chance even though I was one of the worst on the team. He made me see how much better everyone else was than me, made me want to work harder, and step up my game to beat them all.” Cao said.

Cao’s phenomenal journey has made an im-pact on not only him, but also on every young athlete struggling to excel. Cao learned to never give up despite any hardship he had, because hard work and dedication truly helped him to reach what he aspired to achieve.

“Track has taught me to always give every-thing your all. Maybe it won’t work out now, maybe not later, but eventually you will reach your goal. Perseverance and hard work will let you reach your dreams,” Cao said.

By AlAnnA Muliins

Maybe it won’t

work out now,

maybe not later,

but eventually you

will reach your

goal.

Phi Cao, senior

“

“

Beating the OddsTrackster moves beyond losses to become top competitor

Sprinting for SucceSSAs soon as the sound of the gun fires, Phi Cao, senior, sprints down the track racing towards the finish line. His competitve spirit kicking in, Cao surpasses his competitors and finishes in first place.

freShman memorieSPhi Cao. senior, takes a picture with his track team freshman year making unbreakable memories. Daryl Samuel, Arvanh Pchan, Alex Luong, Phi Cao, Chris Bui, Anthony Tran, and Josh Dean.

LifeLong friendSPhi Cao, senior, continues to be friends with his friends from freshman year, along with new friends his junior year. Front row - Alexander Meun and Phi Cao. Back row - Ryan Erwin, Ryan Louviere, Angel Solorzano, Chris Bui, Jerod Lopez, Toan Pham.

More than Track

homecoming candidate Walking with his mother, Phi Cao, senior, embraces the honor of being ranked in the final four for Homecoming king.

honorS courSe LoadWith AP, Dual Credit and K classes Phi Cao, senior, shows an attitude that also demands success of himself in the classroom.

sports 13October 2014ThePEREGRINE

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Light glistens off sweaty faces as a horde of people charge down a trail in a blur, their feet stomping the ground into dust. Charging at full speed for the last stretch, and passing the finish line, the cross country team stumbles around, panting and overheated, but all smiling and laughing. To the runners, it does not matter if they lose the race, as long as they pass the person in front.

The JV boys cross country team not only trains together, but are practically brothers. The bond the team shares re-mains unbreakable and immeasurable.

“We’ve been running together since seventh grade, about four years, but have known each other since elemen-tary,” Matthew Jiang, sophomore, said.

Unfortunately, training does not con-sist of all smiles and laughing, it has rough and rigorous practices and pushes even the most athletic to the test. It re-quires constant exercise and practice to keep up with the competition.

“Coach really pushes training, prac-tice every morning, be there by six, and we have to do weekly mileage, I had to do 45 miles in a week once,” Jiang said.

While practice remains intense, the team still enjoys a little competition be-tween each other for a bit of amusement. Although they are on the same team, they still want to beat each other in the long run.

“As we run, we try to run faster than the person next to us, or try to get a bet-ter time than everyone else,” Ryan Er-win, sophomore, said.

Although the competitions with each other help, the real challenge comes when they arrive at their next meet.

Moreover, against the 20 to 30 other teams, the JV boys’ team ranked first in their division.

“It felt good to know that all the hard work we’ve put in really does pay off and that is all the motivation we need to get better,” Gustavo Rangel, sophomore, said.

Despite some tough meets, the true test comes up at the District meet. All the teams gather for the last race of the season to see who will rise as the best of the best.

“Last year the boys were runner ups, but they’re pushing really hard for Dis-trict champs and so is the JV girls’ team who got first in their Invitational for the first time since I have worked here,” Crystal Day, track coach, said.

At the CFISD Invitational, the girls cross country team pulled a surpris-ing first place for the first time in seven years. It came as such an unexpected achievement that it even shocked the team.

“We were really surprised that we did that well. We didn’t really believe that out of all the other schools we were this good,” Caela Intertas, freshman, said

Out of the 134 other runners, fresh-men Olivia Gilmour (1st), Caela Inter-tas (7th), and Giselle Castrejon (8th) all placed within high ranked spots. How-ever, no matter what place, the girls only had one thought going through their heads: to beat the boys.

“It’s really cool how good the boys team is, I’d love to see the girls team as good as the boys one day. We all really want to catch and eventually get better than them,” Castrejon said.

Most legends have slow starts that they work up, but Gilmour not only proved that statement wrong, she ran all over it. Starting off in first, she kept charging down the track, never looking back and finished in the same place.

“I was really scared because I was run-ning and I could always hear the breath-ing of the girls behind me and that just made me go faster,” Gilmour said.

These running stars not only shine in cross country, but will join the track season as well. They will automatically enter into the 800 or 3200 meter run unless they join a different event.

“Both cross country and track are great. They do very well, enjoy it, and more importantly, they earn it,” Day said.

By Cade SChaudel

Cross CountryJunior varsity teams race towards record times

Junior Varsity MeMbers From left to right: Gustavo Rangel (10th), Ryan Erwin (6th), Shane Erwin (2nd), Matthew Jiang (11th), and Juilo Navarro (35th) all hang out after the team places first out of 10 others.

solo Varsity runner Coach Crystal Day talks with the only boys Varsity runner the high school at the meet, Angel Solorzano (41st) after the hard race against 77 other boys.

teaM spirit preVails From left to right: Giselle Castrejon (13th), Olivia Gilmour (4th), and Caela Intertas (12th) cool off after placing high in the ranks and leading their team to fourth out of six teams.

preparing for future Freshman runner Esteban Sanchez (48th) focuses as he runs to the finish line in his final stretch.

photo by Cade Schaudel

photo by Cade Schaudel

photo by Cade Schaudelphoto by Cade Schaudel

As the young, shy girl walks casually to her class, her eyes meet with the most endearing boy she’s ever seen. His warm, brown

eyes give her a sense of hope, as a smile spreads across his face. As they continue to walk closer to each other, the gazing looks in their eyes communicate that they are meant to be. Falling in love at first sight is portrayed as a myth, but to many people it

is absolutely real. The baffling question of whether one can can actually fall in love at first sight continues to remain unanswered.

According to some psychologists, love at first sight is merely our minds liking what we see and interpreting it as love right away. They believe that just by seeing someone cannot show you their true nature as a person.

I believe that it is possible to fall in love with someone at first sight, but under the right circumstances. It is so unpredictable and rare that when it does happen, the emotions en-gulfing the mind are extremely overwhelming.

Even science has proven that the brain releases chemicals that affect your intellectual and cognitive functions, that are produced when making eye contact with someone that one believes they love. Psychologists and scientists have solid studies and results that fall-ing in love at first sight is very possible, just uncommon. Researchers claim a connection between eye contact and love exists. They discovered that the eye patterns and direction of one’s gaze determine if they desire love or lust.

The existence of falling in love at first sight is still a mystery to this day. Science proves that it is possible, but there are many factors that contradict it. Now, the question of its existence remains unclear. However, maybe one will find out for themselves if this myste-rious romance phenomenon is, in fact, real.

Columns14 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

Terrorist ThreatISIS uses successful fear tactics

The Islamic extremists of the Middle East have resorted to terrorism for the past 20-

25 years. After declaring “jihad” (holy war) against the west, they proceeded to attempt to scare the western world, and have succeeded in doing so.

The United States people have given up many freedoms gifted to us by the Constitution in the hopes that giving these up would keep us safe.

These acts passed to “keep Americans safe” have been failures.IS (Islamic State) have successfully struck fear into our nation even

with acts in place meant to protect us. These obvious failures have brought into question whether we are just allowing terrorists to strike fear into our hearts instead of really being in danger.

Break it down; the United States of America currently has a rough population of 350 million citizens, 270 million total guns with 75 mil-lion gun owners. Even with an 80,000 man army, the supposed size of the Islamic state army, these Americans would thoroughly outnum-ber them roughly 938/1. It has to be taken into account not all gun owners would have the ability to outright fight off an invasion, but if even half of them did, it would be devastating to I.S.

Terrorist attacks tend to be relatively small compared to the US. A majority of Americans are completely unaffected by attacks of that nature. Yet time and time again Americans allow these novice jihad-ists strike fear into those who would otherwise be unaffected by the threats. For example if IS was able to cause a large amount of hysteria in the US off a mere online threat, that an attack would occur on 9/11: yet, not even a murmur from the group responsible for the threat. These instances are plentiful in number and laughable in nature.

Terrorism is a pitiful way to fight a war, and only allows those who are truly brave and will face the enemy to stand against these cowards who use civilian attacks to strike nations. The United States is not a country to be messed with, and the enemies of our state suffer the punishment for attacks upon the US.

It has been 13 years since a true terrorist attack against the US and in that time hundreds of threats against the US have been made, yet none have proven successful. The fear Americans feel from the threats put forth by terrorist groups around the world is in vein, an utter waste of energy, the terrorist groups are the ones who should be afraid, for they are cowards, and cowards do not succeed.

By Will ScaleS

By alanna MullinS

She wakes up tired from a long night of homework,

studying and practice. Once again she has missed her alarm, and now

she must get dressed and grab everything she needs for school. The last thing she need right now is a tardy.

If she finds herself lucky enough, she remembers to grab a granola bar as she rushes out her door to her car. She pulls on the first few clothes she can find: running shorts, sandals, and a baggy shirt. Then, to top of her wonderful morning, half way to school, she remembers that running shorts are banned. She breaks dress code by wearing running shorts, and if she walks into school wearing them, she will be sent home. A girl’s education is pushed aside because the so called provocative clothing disrupts the education and job of the males of the human species.

I understand that sometimes the running shorts do not meet the “mid-thigh” rule of dress code, but a lot of clothes that girls and boys wear to school do not meet dress code, either. Guys still wear those tank

tops and girls wear shirts with a keyhole back and neon bras. The oh-so-distracting male shoulders and the “unsightly” bras make their presence known.

If shoulders and bras can be visible, running shorts; shorts, that majority of the time do not reveal any-thing of importance, should not be banned. And let us remember Chubbie short. I feel like more guys are dis-tracted by other guys wearing Chubbies because they actively have to look away in fear of getting scarred for life. Chubbies are rather unsightly with the boys hairy and half tanned legs out for the world to “admire”. Chubbies are legal, in the dress code sense, and yet running shorts have been deemed illegal.

After the announcement about the running shorts ban was complete, my teacher responded to the nu-merous outcries that the administration probably had a reason, and that reason was more likely that the shorts cause a distraction to the male students and teachers. Girls should not be punished for the inap-propriate thoughts of the opposite gender. This idea that girls have to conform to meet certain standards

teaches us that we are inferior to guys. I believe that when this decision was made, they did

not consider the female athletes. A lot of female ath-letes are in sports that make the girls sweat. I doubt any one can honestly say that they have successfully put on skinny jeans, while drenched in sweat, in less than two minutes. Putting on jeans while hot and sweaty is the equivalent of putting on a wet swimsuit. In addition, a lot of the girls have to go to another class after their athletic period.

Some running shorts do not meet dress code and I agree that those specific shorts go against dress code. However, there are other running shorts that do. I believe that it would benefit the school if adminis-tration banned only the shorts that do not meet the dress code. It would not only allow the girls at school to dress in a comfortable manner, but also a respect-able and school appropriate one. If administration still feels uncomfortable with the idea of just running shorts, they can require that spandex must be worn under the shorts.

By eMMilyne ThoMaS

Love at first sight proves true

Morning Announcement Causes OutcryRunning shorts exit halls of high school with enforced dress code ban

illustration by Sandy Nguyen

Editorial 15October 2014

“I Pledge Allegiance” demands more conviction

Jersey Village High School Student Publications’Newspaper PolicyThe Peregrine is the official student publication of Jersey Village High School and is published by the Advanced Journalism

newspaper class at Jersey Village High School, 7600 Solomon, Houston, Texas 77040 (713-896-3400). It is distributed free to the student body. Subscriptions can be bought for $15, and copies of the paper will be mailed to your residence.

Unsigned editorials represent a majority agreement of the staff. The Peregrine is read in advance of publication by the JVHS administration.

Advertising is sold by the 1/16, 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, and full page. The staff has the right to reject, edit, or cancel any advertisement at any time. The advertising policy is stated on the advertising contract.

Advertising is not an endorsement from the staff, the adviser, the administration, or the Cypress Fairbanks Board of Trust-ees.

The Peregrine is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, Quill and Scroll, and the National Scholastic Press Association.

The Peregrine is printed by Mirror Publishers, Inc in Texas City, TX. The opinion of readers is held in high regard. Please send all feedback or questions to our address or room 1712. Letters to the editor need to be limited to 150 words. We reserve the right to edit for spelling and grammar. Letters must be signed.

A student sits in their second pe-riod class on a Monday morning like any other. Two minutes after the fi-nal bell sounds, the intercom buzzes and a voice calls for all students to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. The teacher and all of the students stand as instructed, but with no in-tention of reciting the Pledge. What-ever conversations that took place beforehand continue without hin-drance, the instructor continuing to answer questions and give instruc-tions, and suddenly, the Moment of Silence does not seem as silent as it should.

As more issues arise within the government, the Pledge of Allegiance becomes more like the mindless rep-etition of words we have been forced to say every day since kindergarten, rather than a moment to reflect on and appreciate all of the luxuries we have in this great nation.

Along with the students, some teachers have lost their spark and patriotism. Some teachers will half-heartedly move through the motions and quickly resume with their lesson plans without a second thought as to what the Pledge really stand for. The Pledge of Allegiance is literally as the name implies: pledging your allegiance and loyalty to the United States of America.

Although the lack of patriotism is apparent at the high school, students in Arvada, Colorado have put them-selves on the map for the recent most unpatriotic conduct.. Hundreds of students started to publicly protest the adding of American History and events to their textbooks, taking fa-vour of civil disorder and unrest rather than taking the information as it was originally supposed to be tak-en: knowledge as not to let the mis-

takes of the past repeat in the future.Fortunately, the district has disre-

garded the protests in favor of keep-ing the facts and little variations to the history textbooks, though, in the process, saying that it has nothing to do with patriotism, but believing materials should not encourage or condone civil disorder, social strife or disregard for the law, according to a report sent out by the Jefferson County District.

The problem here, though, lies not

within the student body’s views on the education and curriculum, but within the early morning routines.

The Pledge of Allegiance is to be respected, it allows us to reflect on our rich history and think back on all of the rich history and culture that we have.

Everyone has the right to say the pledge or refuse. The only difference between saying or refusing is that those who refuse should stand silent in respect of those who do.

2014 - 2015 Peregrine StaffEditor - Kelsey Hodges; Staff Writers - John Le, Joel Montfort, Alanna Mullins, Julianna Perez, Will Scales, Schaudel, Emmilyne Thomas. Contributing Photgraphers - Francisco Chapa, Isabel Cruz, Damaris DeLeon, Lesly DeLeon, Chris Hodge, Christine Le, Jacqueline Solano, Kayla Torres. Staff Adviser - Margie Comstock. JVHS Principal - Ralph Funk.

“The Pledge deserves our undivided attention. I am

tired of seeing people either talking or using their phone during the Pledge. Our country has so good to us. I don’t under-stand why so many find it hard to pay respect to the people who fight for our freedom,” Damaris DeLeon, sophomore, said.

What is your reaction to saying the Pledge each morning?

“Soldiers are fighting for our freedom, risking their lives

every day and the least students can do is show respect and honor by saying the Pedge of Allegiance and stay silent for the moment of silence. It is a simple task that people have seemed to discontinue for no apparent reason,”Angelique Sanchez, senior, said.

ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

illustration by Joel Montfort

Photo Feature16 October 2014ThePEREGRINE

Issue 1

photo by Cisco Chapa

Rally Moves to GyMFollowing the cancelled Homecoming Parade and outdoor Pep Rally the inside pep rally saw spirited students like Kathryn Gutierrez, senior. Fans scReaM loud Crowds of fans came out for the Homecoming game including Zach Garza, Diego Flores and Jacob Quintero, juniors.

Royals accept cRownsAt the game Joel Holmes and Clare Wineman, seniors, accept their King and Queen positions.

Qualls takes oFFTaking on the quarterback position for the second year Deshun Qualls, junior, has lead the team to a 4 - 3 record with two district games remaining.texas size MuMsBig mums filled the halls of the high school during Homecoming. With Texas sized mums. Ashley Strong and Ashlyn Syzdek, seniors, wore theirs on Homecoming Friday.

pals takes challenGeAll across the world people and groups accepted the ALS challenge including PALS. Members lined up for the icy water splash in the back parking lot. Being soaked by other PALS members Jailine Pacheco, junior, and Franciso Ontiveros, junior, helped the cause amid their screams.

aFJRotc cleans BeachAs part of the Air Force Junior ROTC David Nguyen, junior, helps with trash pick up at the Galveston beach clean up. shakespeaRe on staGeThe JV Players presented “Merry Wives of Winsor” as their first production with Taylor DuBose, and Mariah Goodie, seniors.

Jvtv Raises spiRitThe Advanced Audio Visual and Production program, JVTV, involved over 2000 students in its filiming of the lipdub, “Be True to Your School,” for a nationwide contest being conducted by Macy’s. In the performance gym, Shelby Ladewig, senior, participates in the last segment of the video.

photo by CiscoChapa

photo by Jacqueline Solano

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photo by Kayla Torres

photo by Damaris DeLeon photo by Isabel Cruz

photo by Lesly DeLeon

Celebrationit’s timeStart of year fills calendar with activities