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Physics teacher Rene Norton walks into a room and closes the door behind her. She stands in front of a camera and takes her “mugshot.” Then she proceeds to place each finger on a digital scanner so her fingerprints will forever be on record. No, Mrs. Norton hasn’t just committed a crime. She’s simply undergoing mandatory fingerprinting and background checks.
Thanks to a new law passed in 2007 by Texas legislature, all school district employees must submit to a fingerprinting session and criminal history background check. This law is a step towards a stricter enforcement of background checks of all employees who work in close contact with children.
All teachers, administrators, aides, and even substitute teachers are required to submit their prints for a background check. Rather than the traditional “ink and roll” fingerprints, the tests are run by a fingerprinting system called L1 Identity Solutions who takes a digital scan of the each individual finger. The prints are then not only sent to the state but to the FBI to be kept on record.
Fingerprint testing has been mandatory for all
new teachers since 2003, but teachers who were hired before then had not been tested. State officials hope that by testing all school employees, they can reduce the amount of sexual misconduct between teachers and students.
“With all of the pedophiles out there, I think this a good thing for the state to do,” Mrs. Norton said. “That way they can make sure no one falls through the cracks.”
The law was put into effect in January of 2008. The testing has just now reached Pleasant Grove, as the testing has been conducted district by district. Teachers at the high school were fingerprinted on Nov. 9. All schools are required to have been tested by September 2011.
The state has set aside $10 million to fingerprint what is expected to be about a million school employees by 2011. Governor Rick Perry requested when the law was passed in 2007 that the TEA (Texas Education Agency) cover the costs out of its own budget.
“It’s important to protect our young people from the evil predators that are teachers,” government teacher Tony Kirk said. “I also recommend the use of air bags in class.”
Facebook is taking over...
Just ask us
What’s edgy now
If you haven’t heard by now, Facebook has executed yet another plot to become the sole source of all our social networking needs. Get ready to see less Yahoo! and Gmail
e-mail accounts because Zuckerberg is trying to dominate the field.
Though it was just announced, Facebook’s new hub for all texts, tweets, chats, and e-mails, is the hot topic online. Countless surveys all show the same results. It’s almost a perfect split between complete adoration of the idea and total rejection. The question remains, will Facebook succeed in becoming our source for all things social or fail like others that have tried before?
Third six weeks--seven weeks long, supposed to be six, but last time it was only five. Exams and Thanksgiving break. So much to do, so little time. Or do we really have more time? We know it’s confusing, but don’t worry, we’re just as confused as you. Is this “not-so-six” weeks tripping you up?
1. Yearbooks Yearbooks have been on sale for a
while now, and if you don’t have one you’re missing out.
But if you really want to get a year-book, don’t worry, it’s not too late. Drop by room 603 with your money in hand ($42) and you can order your very own yearbook. And really, why wouldn’t you want one?
2. Thanksgiving Let’s be honest—yes, Thanksgiv-
ing is a great time to reflect on what everyone’s thankful for, but we’re all more excited about the break. Tur-key, relaxation, and second grad-ers in pilgrim costumes, what more could you ask for?
3. Popcorn So maybe it’s not one of the hugely
missed DECA cookies, but it’s close enough. Some people have said it’s not worth it, but the insane crowds speak otherwise.
4. Christmas DecorBrace yourself, because theatre
teacher Debbie Sutton is in Chris-mas Diva mode. When we come back from Thanksgiving break, the halls will be adorned in black and gold . . . Here comes Santa.
It doesn’t seem fair, but still, school is just school.”- savannahtyree, 9
- naomigorse, 11
I’m happy I have more time to get everything done. I have more ‘me’ time.”
““
38% of students said no
62% of students said yes
edgepleasant grove high school5406 mcknight road | texarkana, tx | 75503vol. 26 #3 | november 20, 2010
www.pgedgeonline.comcheck us out online>>
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Terrorism expert speaks at PG
Putting a thumb down
CNN analyst,
best-selling author Peter
Bergen spoke at
Texas-A&M Texarkana freshman
convocation held in the
PAC
New state law requires all school employees to undergo mandatory fingerprinting, background checks
CNN correspondent Peter Bergen flips through the last few pages of “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini as the plane begins its descent into Texarkana. While he didn’t get the assignment from English teacher Sharon Womack like her senior AP students did this summer, Bergen read the novel before holding a press conference for the local media and speaking at Texas A&M University-Texarkana’s first freshman convocation on Nov. 4.
“Both the movie and the book are fictional, so they’re amping up something that exists,” Bergen said. “But I think it’s very accurate and very well done.”
When Womack found out that Bergen would speak at the Pleasant Grove PAC, she offered her students bonus points to attend his speech.
“It was a huge coincidence that I assigned the novel and then Peter Bergen happened to speak here,” Womack said. “I thought he was very fair and balanced and did his job as a journalist.”
After Bergen’s speech, he
signed books in the cafeteria and was interviewed by seniors Abigail Cruz and Kaitlin Schmidt and sophomore Naveed Haque.
“I see my students interviewing their peers and teachers every day,” journalism adviser Charla Harris said. “But I feel like the level of preparation that went into interviewing him, the thought and analysis they had to do before interviewing him, put them on a different level.”
Bergen is the only western journalist to interview America’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden. And he’s also written two best-selling novels on bin Laden and the Middle East, with another set to be released early next year.
“[The war on terrorism] is an interesting subject and unfortunately, a story that I was interested in intersected with the events of Sept. 11,” Bergen said. “Now it’s not only an interesting story, but it’s an
important one.”Though the story of the Middle East
and the war on terrorism is important, it won’t be hitting home for Texarkana anytime soon.
“These groups, they want to attack New York, Washington, LA and commercial aviation. They don’t want to attack small-town America,” Bergen said. “These people don’t know what Texarkana is. You’re more likely to be killed on any given day by a snake or lightning than you are to be killed by a terrorist.”
kaitlinschmidt >> editor in chief
sarahsmith >> managing editor
- craytorphoto
cale
ndar
nov/decthebottom | line19
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20
events, activities, and news briefly
compiled by Kaitlin Schmidt, Noah Hutchinson, Joel Webb and Hayley Allen
Mistletoe FairWatch the drill team perform and buy Christmas gifts. Open Nov. 19-21.
Downtown Christmas Parade Showstoppers in Santa hats. Band members draped in Christmas lights. What could be better?
Canned Food DriveSTUCO will assist local Boy Scout troops with their annual food drive. Members will help with sorting food and then serve hot dogs to workers. From 10-3, BSA offices.
4
24
Art Club Children’s WorkshopJust for elementary kids and Art Club members. If you want your own art, make it at home.
Thanksgiving break beginsFinally--no school. Catch up on your sleep for a few days. And eat some turkey, of course.
10% off deep pore cleansing facial
pagetwo
1Yearbook picture retakesClosed your eyes the first time? This is your chance for redemption. Bring either your proof or cash for your order.
HOBY ambassador chosenSophomore Claire Rikel was chosen as HOBY Ambassador. Nick Cockerell and Lauren Hall were selected as alternates.
HOSA breaks recordStudents and faculty donated 62 units of blood in HOSA’s fall blood drive, surpassing the school record. They will hold another blood drive in the spring.
November student of the month:freshman Jorge Rodriguez
Newspaper wins Gold CirclesThe ‘Edge’ staff won first place in news page design, second in overall design and honorable mention photo layout from Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
gimmefive
Early Friday morning, junior Colm Donohoe unfurls a flag and plants it in the earth. One after an-other, the flags billow gallantly in the wind in front of the school--graphic statements of school spirit and pride that wave until that evening when the fans go home and the Hawkeye flags go back into storage.
But the Hawkeye won’t be on those flags, or anything else, for much longer.
After using the Hawkeye as the school’s symbol on athletics gear, car decals, T-shirts, and practically everything else for many years, Uni-versity of Iowa officials informed district administrators that they would no longer be able to use it as
the school’s logo. The hunt began immediately to find a new symbol to represent PG spirit.
“We’ve notified Iowa that we’re in the process of phasing out the Hawkeye from all of our equip-ment,” athletic director Kevin Davis said. “The Hawkeye will be painted over on all the buildings and struc-tures within the year, and it’ll be phased out of all middle school equipment in the next three years.”
The administration began the process of phasing out the hawk head in 2007 when the new athletic facility construction began, eventu-ally replacing the Hawkeye with the slanted PG which adorns the field and football helmets, along with
window decals and anything else that would’ve formerly sported the Hawkeye.
Now after the two year process of phasing out the Iowa Hawkeye, Davis and other coaches noticed a logo used by other high school teams, something more flashy than the PG. However, it too is similar to a college logo, that of the Univer-sity of Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.
“I wasn’t aware of this at the time,” Davis said “But I’m not wor-ried about it. There are a few other schools that are using it as well. The PG is our main identification, and we still have our original flying hawk.”
Peel it off
Dancers get ready for annual ballet
Logo still undergoing changes after Hawkeye removed
As a seven-year-old girl, senior Catherine Thomas stared at the ballerinas dancing in “The Nutcracker,” and she knew what she wanted.
It was the tutu. The pink one. The pink, puffy one that the Sugar Plum Fairy wore.
“I’ve wanted to be the Sugar Plum Fairy ever since I was seven, so I was really proud when I finally got it,” Catherine said. “That dancer gets the pretty pink tutu and is the main event in [Act II] ‘The Land of Sweets.’”
Catherine has been dancing in the annual Texarkana Community Ballet’s performance of the Christmas clas-sic since she was eight, previously dancing the parts of
an angel, a mouse, a soldier, Snow, dew-drop soloist and a reed flute.
“I’ve always like the reed flute music and I got to have a
little flute, so it was a lot of fun,” she said. While most of the other dancers go to their studios to
practice only once or twice a week for the December per-formance, Catherine practices every day at her studio.
“I have been practicing everyday since the third day of October,” she said. “I go to the studio every other day on college release and also after drill team.”
Other Pleasant Grove dancers who are involved are sophomore Katy Beth Irwin as a Dew Drop Fairy, senior Haleigh Kate Wright and freshman Kristen Crawford as Snowflakes, and Hayley Allen as the Snow Queen.
Like Catherine, Haleigh loves the dance, but she al-ways loves the tutu.
“I was Clara two years ago. It was a dream come true because I’d always wanted to be Clara, and I still have lit-tle girls who call me Clara and point at me and whisper, ‘There’s one of the big girls’ when I walk by,” Haleigh Kate said. “And this year has been fun, too. Plus I have a really cool icy blue tutu.”
Having tutu much fun
Dec. 3-5 at the Perot Theater. Performances 7 p.m each evening, 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets $12. Available
through the Perot Box Office { {
The basics: over, under, tie.Senior Chint Murdock got the lesson last year
when he wrapped gifts at the mall with Student Council.
“It was pretty easy,” he said. “The main thing they tell you is not to mess up anyone’s gift.”
The Student Council and Science Club will be wrapping gifts again next month for Domestic Vio-
lence Prevention. Science Club wraps Dec. 12 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. in the mall close to JC Penney’s. STUCO wraps
Dec. 13 from 6-10 p.m. For every hour that a student volunteers, the DVP progam re-
ceives money from the state.“I thought it was pretty cool to know that every hour you work
money is donated to them,” Science Club sponsor Monica Smith said.
That’s a wrap
{ {old logo
possible logo
compiled by Nathan Jones, Jor-dan Pickett, Kenzie Floyd.
Speaker deals with drinking and
driving accident by telling
students about her journey
Cafeteria staff struggles to meet guidelines, satisfy student tastes
Playing your
cards right
Rolls, fruit and milk
Just ask us
A deer in theheadlights
Texting and driving is dangerous—the con-sequences have been well documented when teens have been too busy trying to “lol.”
But another dan-ger awaits, texting and
walking. You know you’ve done it, usually suffering no more that a bump on the head, broken fin-gernail, or bruised pride, but the results can be deadly. Studies suggest that texting requires so much brain power that texters can’t see one in five potential hazards as they walk down the sidewalk.
So we asked you, how often do you run into things or people while you’re texting?
44% All the time32% Every so often14% Not all that much10% Never have-50 students surveyed
edge
onth
eHow dangerous is driving and dodging deer in Texarkana?
www.twincitytitle.com
I live off Shillling and I see deer everyday, not just at dusk or at night. I see them on the way home from school and I’m always having to stop short to avoid hitting them.
- saraledesma, 10
- rachelbreitfeller, 12
Sarah Panzau made her way through the au-dience in a tank top and athletic shorts, proudly displaying her scars and her amputated arm. With a gripping video presentation as her entrance, Panzau immediately took the audience’s attention with her emotional and relevant story in a speech to grades 10-12 on Friday, Nov. 5.
Sponsored by local Anheuser-Busch wholesal-ers, Panzau travels and speaks to high school stu-dents around the country.
“I know a lot of kids out there can relate to me,” Panzau said. “But look at where it led me. I know it’s out there. I did it. I just try to show [students] what could happen if they take one step further.”
In 2003, Panzau left the bar where she worked with a .31 blood alcohol level, almost four times the legal limit.
On her way home, Panzau flipped her car on the interstate four times. Because she wasn’t wear-ing her seat belt, she was ejected from the vehicle and dragged between her car and the guardrail. Before she landed, Panzau’s left arm was ripped
from her body as was her lower jaw. When the paramedics reached her she was declared clinical-ly dead with a zero percent chance of surviving.
“Physically, I have never recovered,” Panzau said in an interview following the assembly. “I have chronic pain, but I don’t talk about that in my presentation because I don’t want people to feel sorry for me and I don’t want to come off like I’m complaining. But I don’t take pain pills because I’m lucky that I can feel any pain at all.”
Before her wreck, Panzau was a two-time ju-nior college volleyball All-American. She had ev-erything going for her until she dropped out of college and started working at a bar.
“I was your athlete, I was your popular girl, the girl bad things could never happened to,” Panzau said. “But it did. From one poor choice.”
Speaking out about her journey has helped Panzau deal with the aftermath of her accident.
“I will never be that healthy athlete that I was before my wreck. I’m still trying to recover from that, breaking away from the athletic, built, beau-tiful person that I was and accepting who am I today,” Panzau said. “I think every presentation
that I do makes me realize just how beautiful I re-ally am, despite all of my scars and my one arm.”
It was only one year and three months after her accident when Panzau started speaking to the public about her journey.
“I remember looking in the mirror and being horrified at what was staring back at me,” Pan-zau said. “I decided I wanted to speak because I wanted to give back to my community. I didn’t intend to be a national motivational speaker. I just want students to understand that they’re not going to get anything out of life if they just quit. Every-one’s dealt a hand of cards and I just try to tell them that they have to find a way to cope and play their cards right.”
Though Panzau tears up during her speeches, she doesn’t see it as reliving the worst mistake of her life over and over.
“I know that every day I look in the mirror, I’m going to be reminded of what I chose to do,” Pan-zau said. “I just thank God I didn’t take anybody else down with me. I basically know that I’m going to be reliving this and I want to put all of those emotions and feelings into something positive.”
kaitlinschmidt >> editor in chief
Following the assembly, sophomore Keyli Davidson poses with speaker Sarah Panzau after her speech in the Performing Arts Center. - schmidtphoto
It’s dark. The headlights are the only thing distinguishing the road from the darkness that surrounds the vehicle. The driver maneuvers the car around the twists and turns of a road, and it’s not until contact is almost made that the driver drops an foot to the brakes to avoid the deer.
The road is actually a street, and it’s in the middle of Pleas-ant Grove.
The number of collisions between motor vehicles and animals is estimated by State Farm Insurance to be as high as two million a year, which is up to 21 percent compared with five years ago.
pagethree
Sophomore Kennedy Dowd rushed to the cafeteria from her fifth period class, determined to get a good spot in line. As she waited in line, potato bits, LTP cups, the suspiciously named “Hawk Filet Sandwich,” fruit and milk sat in shiny, metal bins behind the glass cover. While meals such as this one have been approved as sufficient lunches for high school students, many students doubt that this approval is enough.
In fact, a survey of 50 students showed that a majority believe the cafeteria food needs reform. The survey also concluded that only one in three of the students bought lunches, and not all of them bought lunches regularly. And according to publicschoolreview.com, 24% of stu-dents at Pleasant Grove are getting some type of dis-count on their lunches. This indicates that perhaps only 10% of students buy school lunches at full price.
“They should probably change it to things more peo-ple would enjoy,” freshman Alisa Robinson said. “Then they would make more money because more people would eat it.”
Making more money while making the students hap-pier sounds great, but there are reasons why this plan has not already been put into action. Barbara Womack, head of the food department staff, must deal with com-plaints such as this one every day.
“We do the best we can, I know everybody com-plains,” Womack said. “You’re going to leave here ready to go to college and that is a much higher priority to the
school district than the food we serve, so of course they can’t pay as much attention to our department.”
The school cafeteria must also meet a variety of strict regulations and it’s not always easy to make everybody happy. These regulations must be met, even down to the very last pickle.
“The state started to talk about cutting the pickles out of the sandwich meals because of the high sodium con-tent,” Womack said, “but luckily, we don’t have to do that just yet.”
With all of these regulations, it is likely to be assumed that the meals are fairly healthy. However, the health content of chicken nuggets with honey mustard is ques-tionable. “I think that most of the food they give us is just starch, it’s not healthy,” sophomore Kirsten O’Neal said. “The vegetables, they could make them taste better. They have a lot of packaged food; if they made more of their food fresh, it would be much better for us, both for our bodies and our tastebuds.”
France, particularly its capital, Paris, is famous for its array of gourmet food. In a Time magazine article, the mother of a child going to a public school in Paris de-scribed the food offered at her son’s school, one meal consisted of “turkey, ratatouille, and a raspberry-filled crepe.” That, of course, does not include the hors d’oeuvre, salad, and cheese plate that comes with every lunch.
“That is part of their culture,” Womack said about the issue, “whereas in our culture it would be more fit-ting to spend money on sports.” “
“
I had recently got my permit and was driving my grandmother’s van to Ash-down. The deer randomly ran out in front of me and bounced back and broke the passenger window and the rear window. It’s head went into the pas-senger window. It stum-bled around and someone else hit it and died.”
marissastrebeck >> reporter
by the numbers
• $1.55 breakfast• $1.75 adult breakfast• $2.95 student lunch• $3.70 adult lunch
on the menu
Average # of times chicken served each month: 5
Favorite menu items: Smiley Fries, Grilled cheese sandwiches
It wouldn’t bother me. I’d just go through security like I normally would.- hunterking, 11
Kaitlin SchmidtEditor-in-chief
Sarah SmithSarah Wilson
Editors
Avery BorrellCollin Craytor
David Bird Julie Young
Natalie ThigpenPhotographers
Austin ReynoldsCurtis ZachryHayley AllenJoel Webb
Jordan PickettJosh Whitt
Kenzie FloydMarissa Strebeck
Mark NorthamMichaela JamesNathan JonesNaveed Haque
Noah HutchinsonTaylor Trippe Reporters
Charla HarrisAdviser
William HarpPrincipal
Editorial policyEdge is produced by the newspaper students in the publications department of Pleasant Grove High School and are responsible for its production and content. The newspaper serves as an open forum for student expression and the discussion of issues of concern to students.Unsigned editorials represent the opinions of the student staffers and do not necessarily reflect those of the administration. Signed columns and reviews reflect the opinion of the author only.Edge encourages and accepts letters to the editor. Letters must be signed and will be edited to eliminate obscenity and inappropriate content. Letters may be submitted to the editor in room 603.Edge is a member of the Interscholastic League Press Conference, National Scholastic Press Association and Columbia Scholastic Press Association.
edgepleasant grove high school5406 mcknight road | texarkana, tx | 75503phone: (903) 832-8005 | fax: (903) 832-5381
staff editorial
Trying to light the wayInching her way down
McKnight, senior Allison Morriss heads home after musical practice. With her brights on despite a trickling of oncoming traffic, Morriss has to slowly approach the turn onto Arista in case she misses it. Arista is not hidden off McKnight. It’s not a random dirt road out in the middle of nowhere. In fact, it’s a road that runs parallel to the busiest street in the city. But traveling on McKnight is almost impossible due to a serious lack of lighting.
McKnight is home to numerous businesses, neighborhoods, a church and two schools. And the city has yet to set up the proper street lights.
After the PG vs. LE game at Hawk Stadium, an LE parent was killed and his daughter injured while walking across McKnight. Though the cause of the accident is still under investigation, the fact
is they were crossing the street in the dark.
Yes, football season is over and it will be months before the school holds an event quite as large as the PG vs. LE game, but that doesn’t matter. Students and adults alike use McKnight on a daily basis and sometimes those travels don’t fit into the usual business hours.
Especially with daylight-saving time, people are driving in the dark—literally.
Pleasant Grove alone hosts events that bring hundreds of people from the district and the community. These events aren’t scheduled during daylight, meaning all these people will be driving in the dark.
With the construction of the new university and the growth of Texarkana, there’s no reason for this problem not to be fixed immediately. Without trying to be too dramatic, lives depend on it. - pickettillustration
Even though it’d be awkward, I wouldn’t mind being scanned. I can see why it bothers others, though.- kennedydowd,10
face to face
How do you feel about the new full body scanners?
The safety of hundreds is more important than their privacy issues. The chance of cancer is what makes me uneasy.-adamnortham, 9
In airports across the country, new full body scanners are being installed. It sees through clothes and shows an outline of the body. There is a one in 30 million chance of getting cancer from the radiation in the machines.
pagefour
The next James Bond
Read all about it online at >> pgedgeonline.com
Sometimes you’ve got to pull some slick moves to get into the most recent movie
naveedhaque,online editor
As I walked into Cinemark to see Due Date with my brother last Saturday I expected a night without trouble Lit-tle did I know, my ninja-like abilities were about to be tested.
Once we got our tickets from the automatic ticket dis-penser, we went to the usher to turn in our tickets. Once we got up there, the usher asked my brother for his I.D., which was odd, since my brother had a large beard and he could easily be passed for a 30 year-old man. That’s when I started to get nervous. My brother passed the I.D. test since he was 23. How was I going to pass?
As I moved up to the usher to hand him my ticket with sweaty hands, he asks for my I.D. I handed it to him and he takes his time calculating 2010-1994. When he tells me that I can’t go, I argued with him for a minute that I should be able to go since I’m watching it with my brother who is above 18. But sadly my brother didn’t count as a legal or parental guardian.
As our night became slightly ruined, we decide to bypass our problem. So I went to exchange my ticket for a rated G movie, Megamind, while my brother kept his ticket for Due Date. We get back to the usher and I hand him my ticket confidently. He directed me to left, and my brother to the right. Here we encountered another problem. Luckily the
bathrooms were to the right of the hallway. The same way my brother was going.
I decided to go to the bathroom and, from there, pos-sibly sneak into the same theatre room with my brother. As I started to go towards the right, a police officer stopped me. It was Saturday night and the place was packed with people so the cops usually patrol in or around the theatre. The offi-cer told me to go where I was directed to by the usher. I told the cop (without a shaky voice, surprisingly) that I had to use the bathroom and I couldn’t go down to the left end of the hallway because I had a bladder infection.
Oddly enough, the cop believed my lie and let me con-tinue to the bathroom. I ran into the bathroom, hoping to show the rush I was in. After a few minutes, I crept out of the door, hoping that my brother’s body was blocking the cop’s view of me. I slowly got in front of my brother and started to power walk to the theater room. Fortunately, it was adjacent to the restrooms.
Since the theater was already packed, it took us a while to find two seats together. As we sat down, I realized that what my brother and I had just done was probably the most James Bond like thing I have ever done. Without being fol-lowed by attractive females of course.
Itching to read more insightful opinions from ‘Edge’ staffers?
Walking to his biology class last spring, sophomore Josh Bre-itfeller sniffed. He sniffed again. Got the same disgusting result. He continued to walk, but the smell only got worse. When he turned the corner, the source of the smell became apparent.
Naked fetal pigs lay on cold metal trays all around the room. He wasn’t having a nightmare—he had just walked into class
on dissection day. “As soon as I walked through the doorway the smell just hit
me,” Breitfeller said. “The dead pigs laying all around the room reminded me of a book that my class was reading called ‘The Jungle.’”
Students in anatomy and biology literally get a hands on experience as they dig around in dead cats and fetal pigs. It’s a class requirement, but one that not everyone relishes. Using pigs and cats allows them to touch, feel and observe animal organs. Pigs and cats highly resemble the insides of the human body, so it is beneficial for the students.
“I learned a lot from it,” senior CheyAnne McGuire said. “But it was kind of gross and if I was given the choice I wouldn’t
do it again.”At the same time, it can be a real hassle to have 150 students
dissecting animals in a closed classroom. First, you have to get all of the animals to dissect, making sure there are enough of them for every student to participate. Then, you have to make sure all of the correct tools are at each lab station and those as well as the lab station are cleaned at the end of each class period. Also, all of the dissected pigs have to be put into the trash, so the trash has to be taken out at the end of almost every class period.
“And then there’s always those few students who like to act up in class,” biology teacher Katie Whitecotton said. “Making the class just that much more frantic.”
And while some teachers look at catalogs from department stores, Whitecotton and anatomy teacher Shali Martindale flip through catalogs of dead animals fit for dissection in their anatomy and biology classes. The animals that they get aren’t just scraped up off the side of Interstate 30. The cats are eu-thanized shelter cats and dissection is the fate of strays when they’ve been put to sleep.
As for the pigs, supposedly they come from tubercular pigs
and wouldn’t be fit to eat.Because the cost of the animals is so high—a good cat can
cost up to $60—Martindale and Whitecotton get together and figure out what to buy each semester.
“We figure up how many pigs we will need based on how many students we have in each class,” Whitecotton said. “We try to base it on groups of four because the science fund is lim-ited, and the price of a good pig is around $20.”
Finally, the smell. The smell isn’t particularly the pigs. The smell comes from
the preservatives that the pigs saturate in for months before and after purchase. When the teacher opens the bucket, a blast of stench rushes over the room. So dissection day really does stink.
“The smell seeps into your clothes, and you smell like form-aldehyde the rest of the day,” senior Geoffrey O’Neal said. “Therefore you can’t eat your lunch without smelling it and seeing it again.”
When dissection day is over, all of the extras go back into storage until next year.
“Extras go into a bucket,” Whitecotten said. “The preserva-tives make sure they don’t stink while they’re in storage.”
joelwebb >> reporter
Cutting up in class
The animal bucks, slinging its passenger forward. Momentum takes control, and se-nior Hayden Frank's gut meets solid muscle.
Quit was nowhere in the midst of the are-na, Hayden was not giving up.
"You just have to ride through the pain," Hayden said. "Your adrenaline kicks in, and you just got to ride through it."
Hayden has never denied the rush of the ride. As a bull rider on the high school circuit, he has gotten hurt or fatigued many times, but he always pushes through.
"That is what defines bull riding for me, the perseverance you must take hold of to grip on all that power," Hayden said.
It takes most of the muscles in the human body to ride a professionally qualified bull, which weighs up to 1800 pounds.
"Like football or any other sport, it takes to-tal dedication," Hayden said. "And even more to become professional."
Hayden first started riding bulls his junior year.
"Out at a cowboy church is where I was first exposed to the idea of bull riding," he said. "I wanted to bull ride most of my life, I just never knew how to get started."
A friend introduced Hayden to his first bull."First time I rode, I fell off hard," he said.
"But I loved every second of it."He was instantly attached.Hayden's friend laughed at his willingness
to get back on."You’re addicted now, ain't ya'," asked his
friend.Hayden plans on taking his bull riding ca-
reer to the professional level."The best way to go professional is to just
get your name out there," he said. "Right now I ride in the Southwest Arkansas High School Rodeo Association, but I’m on the right track."
Hayden travels miles from home to com-pete in different competitions and spread his name.
“Before a competition I wake up early, get my clothes ready—clean them up so they are presentable—and start getting in the zone," Hayden said.
The competition is what Hayden practices hard for, along with the few seconds of glory.
"The ride alone isn't what a competition is all about," Hayden said. "It is the community and the preparation. The people in this sport sacrifice their lives for it."
Hayden tests his endurance on the bull against his competitors. The competitor that last the longest throughout the competition wins.
"There is usually around 14 or so bull rid-ers at a rodeo,” Hayden said. “The amount of fans depends on where the competition is."
Riding bulls is a big part of Hayden's life now and he is taking a risk every time he swings his leg around the enormous animal.
"It is dangerous, but it is what I love," he said.
Hayden catches his breath, straightening his body as the bull plants its forelegs.
He closes his eyes and synchronizes his movement with the thrusting body beneath him. Long seconds move by, and Hayden hits the dirt.
He smiles."Of all the times I have gotten on a bull and
been put face to the ground," said Hayden. "I know this is what I live for, and I do not regret any of it, at all."
jordanpickett >> reporter Along for the rideSenior dreams of becoming professional bull rider
Holding on tightly to the reigns, senior Hayden Frank balances on the bull as it tries to buck him off at a high school rodeo event in Foreman, Arkansas. - submittedphoto
Catch some z’sEdge reports on sleeping in class. Read more online at >> pgedgeonline.com
Animal dissections ordeal for students,
teachers
Laura felt her eyes grow heavy, her head tilted down, and the sound of the teacher’s voice grew softer and softer. Soon she was fast asleep at her desk, dreaming of anything but the Algebra II lesson being taught by Mrs. Sylvia Holland.
“I sleep at least a few minutes in every class. I can basically fall asleep any day at any time,” sophomore Laura Cochran said. “I don’t really like to fall asleep in Algebra II that much because I normally wake up to Mrs. Holland practically laying on top of me, breathing down my neck and yelling that it’s time to wake up.”
curtiszachry >> reporter
pagefive
The choices:Glee on channel 33. One Tree Hill on the CW. Breaking news on CNN. At any given time during the day, some channel on TV airs important infor-
mation about topics that affect students in their everyday lives. Ask most students, however--they can’t remember the last time they watched at least five minutes of national news. Or read the paper.
But does it matter?Not according to government teacher Tony Kirk.“I don’t worry that much about students at this age not knowing the news,”
Kirk said. “There’s obviously more available information than we’ve ever had. If you look back a hundred years ago, there was no access to news. Like when
there was the shooting at UT, students’ Facebooks popped up and they found out before it hit the news services. In some respects you get information quicker, you’re just getting it from unfiltered sources.”
A survey of students showed that a majority couldn’t identify Sarah Palin with the Tea Party, and only six percent knew the name of the new Speaker of the House. However, few adults could probably answer the last question.
No one expects today’s youth to be able to openly debate every topic in the daily headlines, but having the ability to recognize the topic would be more reas-suring than blank stares. But there are reasons for the lack of awareness.
“Look at the amount of choices they have. When given a choice, they’ll take the path of least resistance,” history teacher John Miller said. “But they need some downtime. Their lives are pretty full. They need some time when they aren’t taking in new information.”
And it’s not that students are completely apathetic. Discussions about current events in history and government classes can be spirited.
“It’s always relevant to what’s going on now,” senior Rachel Breitfeller. “Mr. Kirk puts it in terms that students can understand. I don’t necessarily always know what’s going on in the world as far as politics go, but it gets brought up in his class in a way that causes students to interact and understand.”
Often the only time teenagers care about an issue is when it finally affects them—a parent loses a job due to the recession or someone close is shipped to Afghanistan.
“More young people watch Colbert or John Stewart and even Daniel Tosh and when they don’t get a joke I think they then get curious enough to think, ‘Well, what was that about?’” Kirk said. “Some people are never going to want to know. They’re going to want their own little world around them.”
As soon as the news comes on, it seems it’s only a few mo-ments before images and facts of over-seas are thrown in your face.
Death tolls flash across the screen. Another terrorist has set off a car bomb killing innocent people. It seems as though the terror will never end.
However, it could be worse. The families of those serving in the military find it even more difficult to turn on the TV and hear the facts.
According to current.com. 4,370 US Soldiers have been killed, and 31,582 have been seriously wounded. The num-bers are continuously on the rise with family of military people constantly biting their nails and praying the next call or knock at the door won’t be “the one” to deliver the worst news pos-sible.
It started off as nothing. He just wanted to try it. One breath. That wasn’t even the technical term for it was it? No, it was a drag? Yes that was it. He just wanted a drag.
But before he knew it a drag became a whole cigarette. Then he was bumming off his 18 year old friends to buy him a new pack every two or three days.
“I was only 17 when I started smoking,” George* (name changed) said. “I was never really interested in smoking. I didn’t think it was gross or anything, I just didn’t really care.”
That all changed earlier this year. One night out of curiosity George decided to try it out.
“I figured it wasn’t the worst thing I could do,” George said. “At least I wasn’t drinking or doing drugs. And really, as cliche’ as it sounds, it made me feel like I fit in better with my group of friends. They aren’t la-beled ‘the bad kids’ or anything but a few of them smoke and I felt like when they saw me smoking it showed I wasn’t so up tight and I could be a little rebellious.”
After an experiment turned into a bad habit, George still didn’t see it as a problem. Then he had to take extra precautions. He started paying nearly $15 a week on pack of cigarettes and cologne didn’t always cover
the scent of smoke on his clothes.“I started doing a lot of my own laundry
so my parents couldn’t smell the smoke on my clothes,” George said. “And after a while my dad started asking where all my money was going each week.”
This still wasn’t enough to stop George. He still didn’t see it as a problem.
“One morning I woke up and felt like my throat was full of ashes,” George said. “That was the first thing that caught my attention. Then my cravings started get-ting crazy. I would be with my parents or at church or at dinner with my grandpar-ents and have the biggest urge to smoke and there was nothing I could do about it and it drove me crazy. It was one of the worst feel-ings in the world.”
Since school has started, George has been able to kick the habit and hasn’t smoked in quite a few months. With his 18th birthday coming up, however, some of his friends have teased him it won’t be long until his habit is back.
“Now that I’ve stopped smoking and look back on how it affected me, I’m not proud of the person I was and I don’t want to go back to the way things were,” George said. “Unlike many people with the bad habit, I’m not dying to smoke. Literally.”
Headlines across the nation are splashed with unsettling news. Teen smoking is on the rise. With most tobacco ads targeting teens and young adults, it’s no wonder smoking has become such an issue.
Everyone knows smoking is bad. Parents advise against it, television warns of the dangers, and the surgeon general’s message is printed on every cigarette package. However, in this situation, the scary facts are the ones that will scare the smoke right out of you.
Quick, count to 8. By the time you’re done, one person will have died due to tobacco use (www.quitsmoking.about.com).One in 10 adults globally are killed by smoking related-diseases. If this trend continues, smoking will kill one in six people by 2030.
News to me
In the headlines: Blowing smokeStudent fights to stop cigarette addiction despite peer pressure
sarahwilson >> feature editor
And it’s not that students are completely apathetic. Discussions about current events in history and government classes can be spirited.
“It’s always relevant to what’s going on now,” senior Rachel Breitfeller. “Mr. Kirk puts it in terms that students can understand. I don’t necessarily always know what’s going on in the world as far as politics go, but it gets brought up in his class in a way that causes students to interact and understand.”
Often the only time teenagers care about an issue is when it finally affects them—a parent loses a job due to the recession or someone close is shipped to Afghanistan.
“More young people watch Colbert or John Stewart and even Daniel Tosh and when they don’t get a joke I think they then get curious enough to think, ‘Well, what was that about?’” Kirk said. “Some people are never going to want to know. They’re going to want their own little world around them.”
With so many things going on in students’ lives these days, Kirk believes stu-dents have enough to worry about without knowing current events.
“It’s scary enough that they have to worry about TAKS and ACT,” Kirk said. “You don’t need to know the sky is falling..”
While most people’s interest in worldly news will come with age, there will always be those who never develop the need to know.
“In some ways I think people want that little small island of disinformation of not knowing what’s going on,” Kirk said. “News can be frightening and so I think sometimes young people have enough things to be worried about. It comes with age. In some ways you guys are a little soft because we’ve built this little cocoon around you. You can always harden up if need be. Why force it before you have to. Life can be hard and you guys will be fine. You’ll learn to live with whatever comes along.”
Junior Naomi Gorse thought it was just a normal day.
She would go home, talk to her fami-ly about her day, do homework, eat din-ner and go to bed. It was just supposed to be any other day. However, that nor-mal day four years ago had a twist no one saw coming.
“I came home and my sister started showing me this box full of paperwork,” Gorse said. “She was so excited and rambling on about all the requirements she had to meet and all the possibilities she had in front of her.”
Naomi’s older sister Claudia had just decided to join the military after talking with a recruiter who came to visit the school.
“It was really a shock to all of us. Claudia was never someone you could expect to see going into the military,” Gorse said. “She was always the funny one who was always going. She was never serious like you would expect of someone going into the military would be.”
After some hesitation, Claudia’s fam-ily stood behind her with her decision.
“My mother was of course imme-
diately worried,” Gorse said. “She couldn’t stand the thought of her baby going away and never coming back but my dad really helped a lot with convinc-ing her. He was in the Air Force so he sees it as a right of passage in a sort of way.”
Claudia chose a job to keep her out of the line of fire. She just began a three year term in South Korea as a Human Resource officer for the military.
“We’re thankful she isn’t in a place that she is in direct danger,” Gorse said. “However, if she chooses to continue af-ter this term, she could be transferred to somewhere dangerous which is always something we worry about.”
With the news constantly flashing new images from the wars, it’s expected that it effects military families in differ-ent ways.
“Since Claudia isn’t somewhere that the war is going on, it’s not as worrying to see the images in on the news,” Gorse said. “However, it’s much more real to us now that we know how it feels to have a member over sees. We feel for them more than we would’ve before Claudia’s decision.”
As soon as the news comes on, it seems it’s only a few mo-ments before images and facts of over-seas are thrown in your face.
Death tolls flash across the screen. Another terrorist has set off a car bomb killing innocent people. It seems as though the terror will never end.
However, it could be worse. The families of those serving in the military find it even more difficult to turn on the TV and hear the facts.
According to current.com. 4,370 US Soldiers have been killed, and 31,582 have been seriously wounded. The num-bers are continuously on the rise with family of military people constantly biting their nails and praying the next call or knock at the door won’t be “the one” to deliver the worst news pos-sible.
1. Who is the heir to the British throne?
2. The visibility of former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has been boosted by what political movement?
3. An earmark is . . .a. a legislative provision that directs ap-proved funds to be spent on specific projects.b. a legislative provision scheduled for committee hearings.c. piercing in the ear.
4. An outbreak of __________ is contribut-ing to the misery in Haiti after the devastat-ing earthquake there last spring.
5. What is the official name of the oil com-pany responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf last spring?
6. What former public figure’s memoir came out this month?
7. In the book, he defends the use of what controversial interrogation method?
8. Name one of the two countries President Obama visited in early November.
9. After the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives this month, who will be the new Speaker of the House?
10. Who was the Speaker of the House before the election?
11. What website released nearly 400,000 secret U.S. documents last month about military situations in Iraq and Iran?
12. Apple recently reached an agree with what music group to offer their music on iTunes?
‘Edge’ surveyed 70 students to see how much of the news is getting out to our generation.
How do you match up?
answers: 1. Prince Charles 2. Tea Party 3. A 4. Cholera 5. British Petroleum 6. George W. Bush 7. Waterboard-
ing 8. India and Indonesia 9. John Boehner 10. Nancy
Pelosi 11. Wikipedia 12. Beatles
•73% of students don’t know who the heir to the British throne is.
•80% of students don’t know what is contributing to the misery in Haiti after the devastating earthquake last spring.
•49% of students don’t know the official name of the oil company responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf last spring.
•94% of students don’t know who will be the new Speaker of the House and 54% of students don’t know who was the Speaker of the House before.
A little knowledge goes a long way
Junior admires older sister’stough decision to join military
In the headlines: The good fight
After years of anticipation, the first of the final two Harry Potter movies finally arrived. Pleasant Grove students showed up (some in festive costumes) at the midnight premier of the new Harry Potter movie on Thursday, Nov. 18 even though it was a school night. However, going to a midnight premier isn’t simply a matter of showing up at midnight to see a mov-ie. It isn’t just about being a rebel and staying out late on a school night. Plenty of preparation is involved before the line starts forming at the theater.
The Hunt: Find a movie to show people how big of a fan you truly are and how far superior you are compared to their fan-ego.
The Blueprints: Be sure the premier fits your schedule. If it’s during the weekdays and you can’t go because you
“have” to be fully rested to acquire knowledge, guess you’re not a true fan then. Come to think of it, you don’t even de-serve to go.
The Key: If everything went happy go lucky charms up to this step: it’s time. Buy your tickets as early as possible. You want to get the 12:01 showing because you don’t want to be the loser who gets stuck with next showing. You must prove to everyone how big of a fan you are.
The Gear: You’re set. You have everything. You have the world in your hands. Well probably not. But you have the tickets, and you’re ready to go to the premier. But, how can we be an overachiever? If you’ve gotten this far why not smoke everyone who’s going to be in the theater with you? Although advised to do this step, it’s not necessary. Be cre-ative. This is crucial; it might not be Halloween season but Google whatever costume you’re trying to create because
there will definitely be a guide on how to do it.The Attack: The day is finally here. After all that plan-
ning and crafting, your moment of glory is in front of you. Once you step into that theatre room everyone will look at you and respond with “Man, that guy/girl is a true fan.” And that’ll make it all worth it, because we depend on other people’s approval. Make sure to get to the theater ahead of time. You want good seats and you want to make sure every-one knows that they may try to be you, but they aren't.
Moral of the story when attempting to go to a midnight premier?
Be prepared, be costumed, be first.
Amy Kirk could picture it perfectly. The cheery yellow walls of the room she and her husband had made into a nurs-ery to welcome a baby. Even through her tear filled eyes, she could see it. And she wished she’d just left the walls gray.
“It was a long drive back to Dallas and I know that I was a mess,” Mrs. Kirk said. “Tony [Kirk, government teacher] did his best to stay strong and keep me together.”
For the Kirks, the journey to adopting a baby was long and full of slamming doors. They filtered through companies who cost tens of thousands of dollars and companies who were sketchy.
“Adoption is supply and demand just like anything else. There are more people in America who want to adopt a newborn child than there are newborns to adopt,” Kirk said. “The key to mak-ing adoption is if society will let go of the stigma they put on birth mothers because they really are heroic in being willing to recognize the fact that they aren’t pre-pared and ready to raise a child.”
Finally, Hope’s Promise in Castle Rock, Colorado offered them a company and social workers they could trust. But when they finally saw a light at the end of the long tunnel to a baby, another door closed.
“I had made a scrapbook of our lives and mailed it to Castle Rock and a few weeks later Hope’s Promise called with a prospective mother,” Mrs. Kirk said. “We’d been picked out of a lineup of scrapbooks from other families and a 17 year old from Pueblo [Colorado] wanted us to have her baby.”
After coming home from vacation, Kirk checked the messages to find that
their prospective mother had gone into labor early. Without time to unpack from their vacation, the Kirks headed to Pueblo.
“When we reached town we called the social worker to get directions to the hospital and she told us to sit tight because the mother wasn’t feeling up to company,” Mrs. Kirk said. “Two hours later she called back and told us the mother had changed her mind. I kept thinking I should’ve left the [nursery] room gray. Everything looked gray anyway.”
It was a few weeks later when Hope’s Promise called them about another prowspective mother.
“Our response was guarded,” Mrs. Kirk said. “We were the walking wound-ed and didn’t want to buy into another dead end.”
But in July 1997, the Kirks traveled to Colorado anyway. There, they met Amanda.
“I don’t remember much about that meeting except that we fell in love with Amanda,” Mrs. Kirk said. “She was beautiful and kind. We wanted her baby, but we wanted her to be happy and to have a great life.”
Amanda and the Kirks kept in contact for the rest of the summer and on Au-gust 14, the Kirks got the call they’d been
waiting for.“If you want a baby boy, you better get
to Colorado!” Amanda’s mother said.The Kirks were in the hospital five
hours later and the next day, Amanda gave them her baby.
“We go into this family room outside of the nursery and Amanda, as brave as
I’ve ever seen any human be-ing do anything, hands us the child,” Kirk said. “And I’ll be honest, I teared up a little bit to see a 17 year old have that kind of courage. It was pretty amazing.”
To this day the Kirks and Amanda go back and forth traveling to see each other.
“Amanda first came to visit us for The Boy’s first birth-day. And she happened to be there the day he took his first steps,” Kirk said. “So the
birth mom and [his adoptive parents] got to see him take his first steps together.”
Kirk says that Grayson and his mom have a unique relationship.
“She was adopted, too,” Kirk said. “So she understands what it’s like and she’s helping him through that.”
Five years later, the Kirks adopted an-other baby. A girl. This time, however, they were with the mother every step of the way.
“We were lucky enough to get to go to doctor’s appointments with [the mom],” Mrs. Kirk said. “And we watched the baby grow.”
After a very hard labor, the Kirks of-ficially adopted Olivia.
“[The mother] was very positive and brave. She trusted us enough to know that Olivia belonged to us forever,” Mrs. Kirk said. “No more closing doors.”
Top: Grayson and Olivia Kirk Middle: Grayson Kirk and his birth mom, Amanda Bottom: Olivia Kirk and her birth mom, LaSella - submittedphotos
Anatomy of a midnight premier
No more closing doors
Battling long lines and a packed theater, students did more than just show up to the first part of the final Harry Potter installment
Kirks share long journey of process to adopt newborns domestically
See more online >> pgedgeonline.com
kaitlinschmidt >> editor in chief
naveedhaque >> online editor
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“ ”Adoption is a supply and demand like anything else. There are more people in America who want to adopt a new born child than there are newborns to adopt.
- tonykirk, government teacher
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Speaking as the narrator, Kelly performs in “4 a.m.” along with his Advanced Theater class.- birdphoto
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1What word best describes Kory Kelly?Eternal. I am here but I’m nowhere, I’m nothing but I’m everything. I am Kory Kelly.
Who has been your biggest inspiration? My father. Everything he does, in the past and right now, sets an excellent example for me. Everything I am, I owe to him.
Superhero or supervillain? I see myself as an Ange-lina Jolie-esque character. I do bad things but I always have good intentions.
What is your favorite type of weather?I actually have two favorites. I like cloudy with rain or a clear sky with a cool breeze.
What is one thing that you can’t go a day with-out? Definitely Diet Coke. It’s my daily dose of satisfaction.
7 If you could build a castle anywhere, where would it be?Probably in an exotic rainforest where vegetation grows wildly. The castle would have the standard moat, your everyday dragon, and a wild lion I found.
What do you plan to do after high school?I plan to attend UCA in Conway, graduating with a major in Biochemistry. Shortly after, I will ap-ply for medical school. I have always wanted to have a job that deals with chemistry. Ever since I can remember, my grandma has been giving me little science things that sparked my passion for chemistry and the world of science in general.
8 What song would you have the title changed to “Kory Kelly’s life?”I Just Can’t Wait to be King from The Lion King. It describes me because it shows that I want to be able to get out on my own and be the person I am when doing the things that I want to do.
9 If you could bring a mythical creature to life, which one would you choose?Dragon. They’re just dominant and would help me intimidate people.
10 If you could create an element, what would it be?Denisium. It would be the smallest element on the periodic table. It’s commonly found in cookies.
What fictional character do you want to be?The Phantom of the Opera. He combined such a genius plan using his intellect and cunning and ties it all into the arts.
13What advice do you have for people who are just starting high school?Always use your character. As cliched as it sounds, however much work you put into something, like theater, art, chemistry, that’s how much you will get out of it.
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Do you plan to con-tinue acting after school?Negative. For me it has always been a hobby more than a passion.
What has been your best year of high school?So far my senior year has been the best. Once you hit your senior year, dra-ma seems like it doesn’t matter anymore. All the seniors know who they are so we all get along like friends.
Who taught you the most you know?Through my dad’s example I found the tools I needed to shape who I was. Mrs. Sutton then taught me how to use those tools and slowly I was able to figure out who I really am.
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What are you looking forward to at the end of the semes-ter?World of War-craft is coming out with Cataclysm Dec. 7.
20Who would be your partner in the Zombie Apocalypse?Angelina Jolie. Seeing her in all of her movies, it is obvious that she would know exactly what to do in that situation. She would probably take the lead and protect me.If you could continue
any movie series which one would you choose?Ace Ventura. The setting would be Russia during the 1940s— the good years. He would save a woman’s Russian bear from the Russian mafia.
Define sedepidient.Of or pertaining to minerals found in asphalt or the second layer of the Earth’s crust.
The Renaissance Man
Senior Kory Kelly has been attending Pleasant Grove for 13 years, gaining more and more of himself along the way. Kory has been invovled with several electives throughout high school
and has learned a lot from all of them. Kory now is known as an actor, friend and leader.
Kory plans to end his se-nior year as painless as possible and of course with a big state ring and a “Best Actor” medal around his neck.
questionsfor21Kory Kelly
pagenine
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As band traveled down the long road to competition, Kory tried to pass the time by listening to music with his friend Veronica [Lyons, alumni]. Little did he know, it was this little pastime event that would change his life for-ever.
Kory had happened to come across LoveGame by Lady Gaga and couldn’t get the tune out of his head. Several days later, he started hearing her voice all over the radio, TV and heard about her from several of his friends. Now he plans to attend her concert next year.
“I’m looking forward to her concert, mostly because she always gives really uplifting speeches,” Kory said. “They inspire me to be myself and remind me I that I have a place in the world.”
Kory plans to attend her concert in Dallas on March 14, 2011, with full intentions to meet her.
“I know exactly what I will do when we meet,” Kory said. “First, I will give her a hug. After that I will tell her how important her songs are to me and how much she has inspired me.”
Get ready Gaga, here comes Kory.
Verified Little Mons†er
- submittedphoto
What famous artist have you always wanted to meet?Always and for-ever Lady Gaga. I’ve wanted to meet Lady Gaga since my freshman year. I’m going to her concert in Dallas soon, so my dream might come true.
Country or city?It’s too hard to decide. I would have my house in the city and than have an amaz-ing get-a-away in the middle of the country.
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austinreynolds >> reporter
Beef Brisket * ChickenTexas Style Burnt Ends
Pork * Sausage * Hot-Links
2504 Richmond Rd.Texarkana, TX 903-832-3036
Carry Out * Dine In * Drive Thru * On-Site Catering
408 N. McCoy * Hwy. 8New Boston, TX903-628-9546
If you can’t stand the heat
Face time
Lady Hawks receive All-District honors
On the court againAfter LeBron James
and Chris Bosh made the jump to the Miami Heat to join Dwyane Wade, controversy followed. Some fans rejoiced. Some cheered when the Heat lost several games in a row.
Auburn because they have a better quarter-back than Oregon.”
- timbaldwin, history teacher“
edge
onth
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Who do you think will play in the BCS championship game?
TCU because [former student] Antonio Graves went there, of course.”“- curtlangford, acct. teacher
What are your expectations for soccer season?
“We went to the playoffs last year for the second time, so definitely we want to return. Four teams in our district get to go playoffs so we have a good chance.”Why did you decide to play soccer?
“I played for the first time my freshman year so I could stay in shape for football, but then I began to really like it. My friends all play, and the tournaments are fun.”The team has a new coach this year after playing under interim coach Curt Langford last spring. How will that be different?
“Last year we struggled with coach [Whitney] Keeling leaving halfway through the season. It will be nice to have a permanent coach. Coach [Mark] Wright was a student coach in college.”
Claire Rikel, Sarah Montgomery, Jessica Ross
JV Girls’ Basketball
Head coach: Jenny Coon 2010 record: 9-4Team to beat: Liberty-Eylau. “L-E’s varsity girls are returning state cham-pions so they should obviously have a good JV team,” Coon said.The leaders: The uppperclassmen, Claire Rikel. Sarah Montgomery, Jessica Ross, are really maturing and turning out to be great team leaders,” Coon said.
Varsity Boys’ BasketballHead coach: Clay Busby2010 record: 19-19Standout: sophomore Alex Alsup who scored 21 against Waskom in the opening game.Standout: sophomore Alex Alsup who scored 21 against Waskom in the opening game. Returning: Reggie Myrks and LaDarium Reid.What it will take to win: “Good conditioning, playing four quarters, and shooting well,” Alsup said.
Sophomore LaDarius Reid
Upcoming games:Boys’ Varsity Basketball11/19- DeKalb11/22- @ Hooks11/23- Queen CityGirls’ Varsity Basketball11/19- Dekalb11/22- @ Magnolia11/23- DaingerfieldBoy’s Varsity Soccer1/4- @ Marshall1/11- Alumni Game1/14- LibertyEylauGirls’s Varsity Soccer1/5- North Lamar1/7-9- @ Mt. Pleasant1/12 @ Hallsville
Ontheradar
pageten
50 students surveyed
Only two days after volleyball season ended, senior Caitlyn Pynes hit the court again but this time for something a little different: basket-ball.
Despite the late start, Pynes helped to lead the Lady Hawks to a victory, scoring 11 of the Lady Hawks’ points over the Pittsburgh Lady Pirates.
“I only had one day before I start-ed practicing with the basketball team before I played. I didn’t really have time to get my shot back and I was really out of shape,” Pynes said. “but I was still able to have a good first game.”
All of the Lady Hawk teams had a good first game against the Lady Pi-rates, as they swept the powerhouse freshman, JV and varsity teams from Pittsburgh. It was the first time to sweep Pittsburgh in two years.
“We have a good team this year even though we don’t have a great number of experienced players,” head coach Mark Coon said. “We started the season 2-0 and wanted
to keep our winning streak going as long as we can.”
The Lady Hawks followed their big win over Pittsburg with a vic-tory over Pine Tree before dropping a one-point game Tuesday night to TK Gorman in Tyler.
As the varsity team looks to im-prove from an 18-11 season last year, they have been working very hard and are looking to make the playoffs.
“It is going to be very hard for us to make the playoffs because of the fact that our district is so strong this season. We have the state reigning state champions, Liberty-Eylau, in our district,” Coon said.
Coon also said that Paris—who went three rounds deep in the play-offs—is joining the district this sea-son.
With Paris joining District 15-3A, four of the current teams advanced to the playoffs last year.
The Lady Hawks face Dainger-field at home on Nov. 23 and then get a couple of days off for Thanks-giving before returning to action against Hughes Springs Nov. 30, also at home.
The varsity volleyball team had hoped to go at least one game farther in the playoffs, but their season ended short against Emory Rains in the second round.
“We lost a lot of important players last year, so we had to have younger people step up,” senior Anna Ward said. “We did well, because we’re in a really tough district.”
The Lady Hawks finished second behind district champ Paris. District coaches rewarded their outstand-ing season with individual awards to team members. Se-nior Tiffany Hunnicutt was named MVP Blocker and
sophomore Katie Brolo was named Newcomer of the Year. First team All-District players were Abby Pickett and Anna Ward.
Second team honors went to Callie Harris and Caitlyn Pynes. Taylor Trippe was named Honorable Mention.
Ten Lady Hawks were named to the Academic All-district team: Tiffany Hunnicutt, Taylor Trippe, Anna Ward, Caitlyn Pynes, Abby Pickett, Samantha Huang, Katie Brolo, Kayla Kempson, Bailey Booker and Carly Court.
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Q&A with
Jason Dayvarsity soccer
Varsity basketball begins with a bang, looks to revamped district
curtiszachry >> reporter
On the run, sophomore Kathryn Griffin takes the ball up the court against a Liberty-Eylau player. Griffin got moved up from JV last season to play on the varsity team. This fall she comes off the bench for the varsity Lady Hawks. “I like playing basketball because I can be physical and aggressive and dominate the other team,” she said. - birdphoto
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12 weeks in, junior Kevin Luthringer is undefeated. It’s something he had in common with the New York Giants, and it’s something he’s proud of, considering he’s the only one in his league with a perfect record.
“I love it every time I win,” Kevin said. “When I do, I know I am the best of the best.”
Although Kevin can’t hear the screaming fans or see the blinding lights in the massive stadiums, he can still win. Fantasy football isn’t all about sitting in front of the computer. It helps a lot to know about the NFL. Studying the players and teams before the season starts and watching the games every Monday night might seem tedious, but that’s what it takes to win.
“Even though I can’t be at the actual games, it’s cra-zy watching all my players on my team every Monday night,” Kevin said.
Every year before the actual football season, it’s time for the draft. In the mock NFL draft, every person chooses 15 players to be on their team. Out of those 15 men, nine are chosen as starters.
From there on, it’s game time. Every Sunday, two teams are matched up together like a real football game. But, there is absolutely no control over the play-ers. How well Kevin’s team does depends on how well his players do in real life. If Kevin’s running back is not doing well in the game, that can cost him a few points in the fantasy game.
“Most of the guys I have playing have been doing great this season,” Kevin said. “If they aren’t, I just bench them.”
On weekdays in between games, Kevin still has the option of making a few tweaks to his team. If he feels some guys are slowing him down, Kevin can either bench or trade some of his players.
When it all comes down to it, the goal is to make it to the playoffs. Just like in the NFL, after the regular season ends, the top teams go to tournament. Once a week each team plays against each other, vying for the elusive Superbowl win.
“We each put in money at the beginning of the sea-son,” Kevin said. “Besides bragging rights, that’s why I want to win.”
joshwhitt >> sports editor
Living the fantasy off the fieldFantasy teams, bets bring all new meaning to watching Monday night football games
Volleyball season may have ended for senior Tiffany Hunnicutt, but her volleyball career isn’t quite over. Golf season hasn’t started yet for se-nior Sean Romero, but he’s looking forward to golf beyond next spring.
Wednesday morning, Romero
signed to play golf at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Hunnicutt signed to play volleyball at Lamar Univer-sity in Beaumont, Texas.
“It’s pretty overwhelming,” Rome-ro said. “I committed last March. I really liked the place, and it’s where I felt at home.”
Athletes sign letters to play college sports
Making big strides
Read more online at >> pgedgeonline.com
Cross country teams advance to regionals, plan for future
michaelajames >> reporter
For the first time since 2004, both the boys’ and girls’ cross country teams advanced to regionals after grabbing third in district.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams finished either first or second in all of their meets before the district meet. Last year only one boy, former student London Moore, advanced to regionals. With six girls and nine boys qualifying for regionals, they
expected nothing less than success this year.
The middle school boys team is nothing to be looked over either. Winning district last year, they have been talking it up about their talent.
Coach Kendrick Smith has big hopes for the upcoming years. With plenty of underclassmen and middle school boys running, Smith expects something big will happen soon.
“We are two years away from be-ing the state finalists.” Smith said.
grantharrison >> reporter
- schmidtphoto
- thigpenphoto
Where do you hunt?My deer lease in Cass County.What do you prefer to hunt?Deer or ducks.What’s your “trophy” kill?A 10 point white tail buck.How long have you hunted?I’ve been hunting by myself since I was 12... so about 35 years.What’s your best hunting story?Taking my daughter out hunting for the first time. She was between 8 and 10 years old. We saw ducks, deer, pigs, beavers and skunks.
Where do you hunt?New Boston or Dekalb.What do you prefer to hunt?A white tailed deer with a bow.What’s your “trophy” kill?An 8 point buck.How long have you hunted?I’ve hunted since I was in fifth grade.What’s your best hunting story?I was getting out of the stand and an 8 point buck ran out in front of me, so I took a 40 yard shot and killed it.
Where do you hunt?All over Arkansas.What do you prefer to hunt?Deer with a 12 point cross bow or ducks with a12 gauge.What’s your “trophy” kill?My first bow kill—a buck.How long have you hunted?I’ve hunted deer and ducks my whole life, but I finally got serious about it two or three years ago. I started going out on my own.What’s your best hunting story?Last January, [senior] Tanner Miles and I went to Fulton and there was like four inches of ice. We had ice dripping from our noses and the jacket I was wearing was frozen soild.
Principal Bill Harp
Senior Will Russell
Freshman Curtis Jones
Junior Roman Brown
Senior Anthony Arnold
The Walden Project
Where do you hunt?Floyd Ranch in Douglasville, Texas.What do you prefer to hunt?Deer with a 300 Win Mag.What’s your “trophy” kill?A 10 point deer with a 19 inch spread.How long have you hunted?Since I was nine years old.What’s your best hunting story?The first time I ever went hunting, I sat in the stand for more than two hours and fi-nally killed my first deer. It was a 7 point.
Where do you hunt?Prescott, Arkansas.What do you prefer to hunt?White tail deer.What’s your “trophy” kill?An 11 point.How long have you hunted?I’ve been hunting since I was eight years old.What’s your best hunting story?When I was 10, I got my first deer and I didn’t know what to do with it because I was just too excited.
It’s early as the alarm buzzes through the camper. Everyone slowly rolls out of bed, complaining about the cold and the sleep they’re missing. Soon the grum-bling ends as everyone drives out to their deers stands to be ready when the sun rises.
After hours of silence and waiting, it’s time to make their way back to deer
camp with their recently killed deer or their stories of how they saw a buck, but it got away just in time.
Deer hunting, squirrel hunting, duck hunting.
It’s a Southern pastime. Almost every boy (and a few girls)
have experienced the feeling of being in the woods by themselves completely occupied by nothing but nature and a gun.
sarahwilson >> feature editor
[+ guns]
Students, faculty start off deer season with a bang
