MANE STREET

Clear Springs High School Volume 9 Issue 4 February 2016

INSIDE

MANE STREETS T A N D A R DNews

Learn about Imagination Texas.

Photo from Smore.com

Features

Photo by Vilma Vaha-Antila

Discover Shawn Dalton’s journey to the Culinary Institute of America.

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Voice of the Charger Nation since 2007

Freezin’ for a Reason, Taking the PlungeBy Anna LassmannEditor-in-Chief

Debate Heads to StateBy Emily AlbrittonStaff Reporter

Student United Way, National Honor Society and PALs par-ticipated in the 5th Annual Polar Plunge on Jan. 16, benefitting the Special Olympics of Texas. In order to participate in the plunge, those under eighteen had to raise $30 and adults had to raise $60.

At the event, held at Stewart Beach in Galveston, hundreds of polar plungers united rais-ing over $45,000. SUW raised approximately $700. NHS and PALs raised a combined to-tal of approximately $1,500.

“As a club, it was our third year plunging,” SUW club sponsor Ms. Cotton said. “My favorite part of the plunge is the antici-pation and nervousness of the students and then their feeling of accomplishment afterwards: you conquered a fear for a good cause.”

The SUW participants were freshman Lauren Kraftcheck; sophomores Blake Cellum and Arin Neslon; juniors Tony Brooks, Lily Cao, Jordan Colletti, Logan Kuecker, Ruth Lass and Cory Oviatt; senior Zachary Schneider and club spon-

sors Ms. Cotton and Ms. Peach.“I think that we had a great turn-out,” Brooks said. “It says a lot about our members that they paid money to wake up early on a Sat-urday and stand out in the cold so that they could jump into the Gulf of Mexico. The best part of the plunge was standing on the

windy beach, shivering, looking out at the buoy in the grey water; by the time I got out of the water, it didn’t feel so cold anymore.”

The NHS and PAL students that participated were juniors Juliana Bozeman, Jenna Gardner, Mi-chaela Grayson, Isabel Marti-nez, Addison Swofford and Ben Tures; seniors Victoria Aldridge, Celine Asirwatham, Emily Campbell, Afton Gillard, Andrea Hern, Allison Hurt, Madison Ir-ving, Tori Isom, Nicoli Klages,

Madison Lane, Aaron Lass-mann, Anna Lassmann, Andrew Mohammed, Nick Pomes, Gabi Roderman, Nikolas Serghiou, Sonia Shah, Austin Uhl, McK-enna Zinke and NHS sponsor Ms. Johnson.

“This was our third year to par-

ticipate in Polar Plunge, and not only did we have our largest team ever, but the majority of our participants swam all the way out to the buoy,” Johnson said. “Between NHS and SUW, we had over 30 student participants in Polar Plunge this year. Every year, I am amazed by their com-passion and enthusiasm. It’s why I became a sponsor in the first place and it’s why I hope we will continue to participate in Polar Plunge for many years to come.”As a part of Polar Plunge,

teams were encouraged to dress in a theme. The SUW team chose to dress in “Sa-fari” attire, donning safari hats and shirts while the National Honor Society team dressed in a “Summer” theme adorning themselves in hula skirts, leis, Hawaiian shirts and sunglasses.

“The summer theme was a good break from our usual nerd attire at the plunge, but next year I hope the new of-ficers choose to have NHS be shark themed,” Isom said.

The National Honor Society was the twenty-first team to take the plunge in waters which hovered around fifty degrees and were accompanied by a windy over-cast. Following NHS, Student United Way took the plunge as the twenty-third team.

“My favorite part about the plunge is either right after you get out of the water and you aren’t cold anymore since you sort of go numb or seeing all the different costumes,” Isom said.

Following the plunge, partici-pants dried off and searched for warmth and were served a warm meal of hot dogs, frito pie and hot chocolate.

Debators prepare for the state tournament

More than thirty SUW and NHS students participate in Polar Plunge

Op/Ed

8Read about the projected Top 10 movies of 2016.

Public Domain ImageThe Debate Team competed for state qualification at Clear Brook High School on Dec. 11-12 and students placed in both Student Congress and Novice Public Forum.

In Student Congress, junior Nathan Garcia received first place, securing his second state qualification. Senior Jacob Gonzales won second place in

Student Congress and sophomore Maria Aykara earned fourth. Students in Original Oratory also placed with Gonzalez earn-ing second place overall and se-nior Jessica Gold came in fifth.

“Preparation is often underes-timated, but always displayed by success,” debate coach Ms. McGill said. “My debat-ers work diligently for weeks writing cases, analyzing evi-

dence, and practicing delivery.”Students also earned plac-es in Novice Public Forum. Sophomores Ariana Ramos and Lauren Gray earned a second place and the team of junior Tony Hinojosa and freshman Chris-topher Wilson won third place.

“I’m always proud, it’s what keeps me there,” Ms. McGill said. “I am proud when a student like Nathan Garcia, a junior, earns his second state qualifica-tion. But I am equally proud when

senior or Jacob Gonzalez shows genuine enthusiasm that he qual-ified, too. I’m very proud when my Novice Team earns a second place overall after not placing at all at the first tournament, but I am also equally proud when a Novice competes for their first time, loses, but keeps trying.”

The rigorous schedule for debat-ers requires patience and dili-gence. Students compete almost every weekend, and for this, their success came as a huge achievement.

“The schedule is a lot of hur-ry-up-and-wait,” Ms. McGill said. “We compete from 3:00 to 10:00 p.m. on Fridays and then 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays. Some kids debated 3-4 hours straight. They are true mental and physical athletes.”

The team’s next competition will be held at Seven Lakes High School on Feb. 12-13.

Upcoming Events

March 11: End of 3rd 9-Weeks

March 14-18: Spring Break

March 28-30: State Testing

April 6: Late Arrival

April 16: Prom

April 22:Senior Panoramic

May 11: Late Arrival

May 30: Memorial Day

June 2: Graduation

SUW and NHS Polar Plungers pose for a picture. Photo by Theresa Cotton

Nathan Garcia displays his trophy at the Katy Tournament. Photo by Ms. McGill

NEWS

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Masters at WorkCCISD choirs gather to sing Mass in G

By Meghan McKeeNews Editor

The top high school choirs gath-ered on Jan. 16 in CCISD’s first Choral Masterworks Concert. Taking place at The University Baptist Church in Clear Lake, all five choirs accompanied by the Clear Lake orchestra collectively sang a twenty-five minute ma-jor work, Schubert’s Mass in G.

The Clear Springs’ Varsity Mixed Choir worked on Schubert’s piece, along with a few other shorter works, for over a month prior to the concert and left school on Fri-day, Jan. 15 for a district-wide re-hearsal led by all of the district’s choir directors and guest conduc-tor for the concert, Milton Pullen.

“The Masterworks Concert was a three-year process of planning and collaboration,” assistant cho-ral director Ms. Reeves said. “I could only imagine what it would have been like for me to have something like the concert at y’all’s age. It’s pretty priceless.”

Ms. Reeves performed as the so-prano solo in the final two move-ments of the Mass and helped in teaching Schubert’s masterpiece to the Charger Chorale along-side choir director Mr. Phillips. CCISD choir directors performed all the solos in the Mass, and Mr. Phillips performed a solo as well near the beginning of the piece.

“I was definitely nervous,” Reeves said. “As a soprano, you really have to take care of your health so that you can hit and hold all of the notes. However, I think I was more excited to sing with a two hundred fifty plus member choir and an orchestra behind me.”

The concert consisted of two parts with a fifteen-minute inter-mission in between. During the first half of the concert, each of the choirs performed their own song. Clear Springs performed Beautiful Day by the band U2.

As the choirs were shifting on and off stage between perfor-

mances, the audience was invited to join in singing famous clas-sical rounds and songs, such as We Shall Overcome and Lift Ev-ery Voice and Sing. The pieces were dedicated to and in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King,, Jr.

The second half of the concert united all the choirs in singing Schubert’s Mass in G and a closure spiritual, The Welcoming Table. Both pieces were performed un-der former CCISD choir director, Pullen, who also happened to be Mr. Phillips’ high school director.

“I thought the experience was a lot of fun,” senior Emily Camp-bell said. “I learned a lot of new things from Mr. Pullen. It was really cool seeing all the differ-ent choirs perform altogether and I thought it was really awesome. I think my favorite part was the ending song, The Welcoming Table. The feeling when sing-ing it is really hard to put into words, but it was really moving.”

Campbell is a second sopra-no in the Varsity Mixed Choir and performed in the concert.

Freshman Noah Carlin performed as a tenor.

“The Masterworks Concert was a great opportunity and achieve-ment for all the choirs in CCISD,” Carlin said. “Hearing all the choirs together was one of the most beau-tiful sounds I have ever heard.”

Through several hours of rehears-al, the district managed to pull off its first big choir collaboration, which gave most students the opportunity to perform their first major choral work. Ms. Reeves confirmed that CCISD is looking towards doing another Master-works Concert next year and will try to advertise the concert more.

“I’m hoping they do the Mas-terworks Concert next year,” Carlin said. “I think that uniting us together like that was a great way to become a better singer and it was fun. So yeah, I’m defi-nitely hoping they do it again.”

CCISD choirs perform with the Clear Lake Orchestra. CCISD district photo

Community Shares Career InfoSpecial event helps to provide insight on future occupationsBy Emily AlbrittonStaff Reporter

The College and Career Center will host a Career Day on April 8 from 7:30-11:00 a.m. and volun-teers from the workforce have been invited to share personal insights about their particular careers.

Career Day requires im-mense preparation and adult speakers are needed in order to make the event a success.

“We are still in the planning stages; however, all of the six-teen major career clusters will be represented,” career specialist Ms. Gandin said. “We are try-ing to find enough speakers so that there is one per classroom.”

In order to learn more about ca-reers and to find additional speak-ers for the even, Ms. Gandin sug-

gests that students talk to adults in the community. She believes that many adults and relatives are more than willing to advise and may even consider participat-ing in Career Day as a speaker.

“Chat with any adult that will give you a moment of their day and ask them three questions,” Ms. Gandin said. “Do you love your job? What do you know now about careers that you wish you would have known when you were in high school? Will you come speak to students at my high school on Career Day?”

During the morning of the event, students will interact with three different speak-ers in thirty minutes sessions. Ms. Gandin is encouraging stu-dents to educate themselves in their particular fields of interest in order to make the best decision

for choosing sessions to attend.She hopes that students will take educate themselves on the wide variety of options.

“We all have a perception about ‘the career’ that we have always wanted,” Ms. Gandin said. “It is not possible to really understand the ins and outs of a career based on media and hearsay. The more research we do, the better in-formed we are when making such an important decision in our lives.”

Career Day is seen as an im-portant, maybe even deciding factor, in the path teenagers decide to take in their futures.

“We all want to make informed decisions so that we feel some confidence in our choices,” Ms. Gandin said. “Now exer-cise your freedom of choice and make an informed decision.”

By Emily AlbrittonStaff Reporter

Imagination Texas is a weekend-long event in Fort Worth that pro-vides students with opportunities to meet and bond with deaf and hard of hearing stu-dents from all over the state; to partici-pate in workshops; and to engage in the arts with na-tionally recognized deaf performers.

For 25 years more than five mil-lion students have participated in Imagination Texas programs to en-hance learning through activities that combine arts and education. The diverse popu-lation that at-tends allows for more networking among learners.

Students in the GBCHI (Galveston/ Brazoria CoOp for the Hearing Impaired) will have the opportunity to at-tend the event and held a recent fundraiser to help pay their way.

“This is my senior year, so it is my last chance to go to,”

senior Kiara Fraught said.“I am so excited.”

In hopes of attending Imagination Texas, GBCHI students sold raf-fle tickets for three spirit baskets and all proceeds will go toward

Tickets for the raffle were two dollars each or three for five dol-lars. Winners were announced on Monday, Jan 19.

The first basket raffled was a “Clear Springs High School

Spirit Basket” that included a CSHS hoodie, polo, T-shirt, door hanger and lanyard.

The other baskets were “Date Night/Family Movie Packs” that in-cluded two $25.00 movie theater gift cards, a vari-ous assortment of candy, and a box of popcorn.

Spanish teacher Ms. Moss won Movie Basket #1, Miguel Lopez won Movie Basket #2, and English teach-er Ms. Keating-Thomas won the

Spirit Basket.

“We raised about $500.00, which was way more than we expected, Ms. Smith said. “We came very close to our goal and we are selling popcorn through the end of Febru-ary to hopefully exceed that goal.”

Imagination Texas Celebrates the Arts with a Special Group of StudentsDeaf Ed students raise money for Fort Worth field trip

Poster and logo for the Imagination Texas event. Photo by smore.com

offsetting the cost of the event.

“The students are beyond ex-cited to go to and I really am too,” GBCHI teacher Ms. Smith said. “We have has such a great response from the faculty and staff with our fundraiser and we could not be more appreciative.”

NEWS

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By Meghan McKeeNews Editor

Fifteen Students Ready to RespondStudents receive intense training and gain CERT certification

Sfter undergoing a two-week long training process, fifteen Clear Springs students received Community Emergency Re-sponse Team (CERT) certifi-cation on Saturday, Dec. 12.

The recently certified students include: senior Bianca Boothby, junior Taylor Boutte, sophomore Kaylen Brandon, sophomore Bri-anna Burton, sophomore Brandon Claunch, sophomore Caitlin Coo-per, sophomore Sahar Elchehabi, senior Caylin Gibson, sophomore Remington Gray, sophomore Carly Hans, sophomore Kristen Head, junior Ruth Lass, junior Eduardo Leon, senior Marc Ro-ettger and sophomore Insha Rahi-mair Vakallay.

The CERT team is a group of volunteers in place to help during disasters, such as the Sept. 11 ter-rorist attacks or Hurricane Ike and acts as an emergency response team to aid in search and rescue operations or provide any sort of relief needed during a catastrophe.

CERT is nationally organized through states and counties; the certification that the students re-

ceived is for the Galveston Coun-ty team.

Provided in partnership with the Galveston County Office of Emergency Management in Dick-inson, the training sessions lasted from Nov. 20 through Dec. 12, and occurred primarily on Mon-day and Wednesday evenings.

The camp briefed the students over what to do in several dif-ferent types of emergency situ-ations. They learned skills such as the Heimlich maneu-ver and how to put out fires.

“I really enjoyed putting out fires and stuff,” Gibson said. “That was really cool. I didn’t think that we were going to have hands-on experience with it.”

Along with Gibson, Roettger qualified to complete in the CERT section in the upcoming annual HOSA area/regional competi-tion. Gibson commented that she was looking forward to compet-ing and representing her school.

On the final day of the camp, the students participated in a mock emergency scenario. At the sce-nario’s completion, the train-ees were awarded with a CERT

certificate and a state badge for completing the training program.

Health Science instructor and HOSA adviser Ms. Click was present for three days of the camp and witnessed her stu-dents receive their awards.

“I was very excited,” Ms. Click said. “Most of the health science curriculum definitely supports the CERT program, so the students already had a lot of background that provided them with the abil-ity to be successful in this pro-gram. I hope that the couple of students that are going to com-pete in the HOSA regional com-petition will do well since they have had this specific training.”

Ms. Click had never been in the CERT program or re-ceived certification herself.

A majority of the students that had been recognized for their achieve-ments are now registered with the Galveston County CERT team.

“I enjoyed learning all the different techniques from the camp and the people that I did it with,” Gibson said. “I want to go into the medical field and being certified and part of a CERT team just looks good.”

The History of Valentine’s DayThe holiday that became commercialized in the 1700s

By Victoria VickersAssistant Editor-in-Chief

tions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death. Other legends say that Val-entine may have been killed for attempting to help Chris-

tians escape Roman prisons.

According to one story, an im-prisoned Valentine was the first to send a “valentine” greet-ing himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement.

Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an ex-pression that is still in use today.

In addition to the United States, Valen-tine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France and Australia.

In Great Britain, Valen-tine’s Day celebrations began around the 17th century and Americans probably began exchang-ing hand-made valen-tines in the early 1700s.

By the middle of the 18th century, it was common for all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or hand-written notes with their

friends and lovers, and by 1900 printed cards began to replace written letters due to improve-ments in printing technology.

Today, around one billion Valen-tine’s Day cards are exchanged each year with women purchasing about 85 percent off all Valentines.

Across the world, Valentine’s Day is celebrated between loved ones through the exchange of gifts, flow-ers and candy, but the history behind the day is a mystery to many.

According to His-tory.com, The Catho-lic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.

One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served dur-ing the third century in Rome. When Em-peror Claudius II de-cided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he out-lawed marriage for young men.

Valentine, realizing the injus-tice of the decree, defied Clau-dius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s ac-

Old fashioned Valentine’s Day card. Photo by Flickr.com

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FEATURES

Shawn DaltonTaking on the Culinary InstituteBy Victoria VickersAssistant Editor-in-Chief

Dalton seeks inspiration from American celebrity chef, Emeril Lagasse. Lagasse is a restaura-teur, television personality and cookbook author focusing on Cajun, Portuguese, Creole and French cuisine.

“I loved his show and it really made me want to cook,” Dalton said.

One day, Dalton hopes to be-come an executive chef in a well-known restaurant and eventually would like to open his own eatery in Houston.

“I think about restaurant con-cepts all the time and I have so many ideas,” Dalton said. “I would love to have a modern French fine dining place or a more casual American Bistro.”

Dalton’s favorite foods to cook are the basics.

“Something like a simple pasta,” Dalton said. “Putting a new spin on classic dishes is my favorite.”

With a worldwide network of 48,000 alumni, the CIA includes leaders in every area of foodser-vice and hospitality, which should certainly be welcoming to Dalton.

“I think I know a lot about food and hospitality now,” Dalton said. “I am really ex-cited to see how much more I can learn. Going to the CIA is just the start and I can’t wait to see where it takes me.”

Senior Shawn Dalton has been ac-cepted into The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) in Hyde Park, New York for the fall of 2016.

“Admissions was just like any other school,” Dalton said. “I submitted an application, three essays and there was also a review board and inter-view that I had to go through.”

Founded in 1946, the CIA is one of the world’s premiere culinary colleges. Campus locations in-clude California, Texas, New York and Singapore where the school offers associate degrees in culinary arts, baking and pastry arts as well as bachelor’s degree majors in management, culinary science and applied food science.

Dalton has been interested in cu-linary since he was a child and today he is a member of the culi-nary program with Chef Roussel.

“I got started in culinary when I was young,” Dalton said. “I would bake breads with my grandma and when I was a little older my grandma and I would cook entire cook books together, a different recipe every time I would go over. Chef Roussel has been a huge inspiration as well and really helped me with the decision to pursue this career.”

In addition to Chef Roussel,

Junior Robert White receives help from Shawn Dalton. Photo by Vilma Vaha-Antila

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What did you do over the winter break?“I visited my family out of town over the break.”

How do you plan to achieve your academic goals for the spring semester?

“I plan to stay organized.”

Ashley AllenSenior“

What did you do over the win-ter break?

“I watched all eight Harry Potter movies.”


“I will try to get enough sleep so I can be more awake in class.”

Senior “

FEATURES

“ “Brady JohnstonSenior

SPOTLIGHTS

What did you do over the winter break?

“I watched Netflix and ate pizza.”


“I plan to complete my home-work and stop procrastinating.”

“ “What did you do over the winter break?

“I mainly stayed at home and hung out with my friends.”


“I plan to stay positive and motivated by keeping my main goal in mind.”

Sarah RolenSenior “ “

What did you do over the winter break?

“I hung out with family and trained for pole vaulting.”


“I will not get lazy and will study hard.”

Alex TyraJunior

Taking a closer look at studentsof Clear Springs.

Victoria Aldridge “ “

Scholarship SearchFinding ways to pay for college

By Anna LassmannEditor-in-ChiefFor many seniors, the spring se-mester is full of excitement as they start getting accepted to their future colleges and begin the countdown to their high school graduation.

However, with college comes a huge financial burden for both students and parents. Not only do students have to pay for tuition, there are many other additional expenses that come along with college such as housing, meal plans and textbooks. Adding all of these expenses up is what leads many students to graduate college with a substantial amount of debt.

College is supposed to be one of the most exciting times in a young person’s life and dealing with the financial means to pay for college can put a burden on the college experience, which is why many organizations and companies offer scholarships to help alleviate this financial bur-den from the parents and students.

Scholarship eligibility ranges from financial/need based to merit based; some are local, state-wide or national scholarships. Some upcoming need based

scholarships are: The Adam Lee Memorial Scholarship which awards up to $4,000; The Clear Lake Panhellenic Association Crawford Zbanek Scholarship which awards up to $8,000; The George and Mary Josephine Hamman Foundation Scholar-ship which awards up to $18,000. The Gulf Coast Educator’s Feder-al Credit Union Scholarship which awards up to $4,000 and The Texas Student Housing Scholar-ship which awards up to $10,000.

Upcoming merit based scholar-ships are: The AXA Achievement Community Scholarship which awards up to $2,500; The Houston Golf Association Scholarship Pro-gram which awards up to $20,000; The Lunar Rendezvous Festival Scholarship which awards up to $4,000; The Mary Cecile Cham-bers Scholarship which awards up to $4,000; The W. Price Jr. Me-morial Scholarship which awards up to $2,000 and The Buick Achievers Scholarship Program which awards up to $100,000.

Along with these scholarships, there are many more that can be found online at: fastweb.com;naviance.com;scholarships.com and weirdscholarships.net

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Wanted: The Perfect Couple?

Can you Guess?Chargers overwhelmingly vote for the “perfect couple” characteristics.

GirlsHair: BrownEyes: BlueLips: MediumTeeth: StraightNose: MediumEyebrows: GroomedMake-up: Some but natural

GuysHair: BrownEyes: BlueLips: MediumTeeth: StraightNose: MediumEyebrows: Natural

(231 Students were surveyed at Random)

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YoungloveIn high school, people begin falling in love for the first time. It is a time of growth and a time of learning. Of-ten, people see high school relationships as pointless because the likelihood of the them lasting into college and beyond is low. However, there are some relation-ships that seem as if they are meant to be and become the “high school sweethearts” that everyone admires.

There are some interesting statistics to note about high school sweethearts. According to Brandon Gaille sta-tistics, only 2 percent of people actually end up mar-rying their high school sweethearts. Of that 2 percent, those who get married as teenagers only have a 54 per-cent chance of staying together as a couple more than 10 years. The high school sweethearts who wait until they are older than 25 to get married have a 78 percent chance of staying together more than 10 years.

Recent studies of young relationships include statistics about the use and impact of social media. According the the Pew Research Center, 59 percent of teens in a relationship said that social media makes them feel more connected to their significant other’s life; 47 per-cent said social media offers a place for them to show how much they care for their significant other; 44 per-cent said that social media helps them feel emotionally closer to their significant other and 27 percent said that social media makes them feel jealous or unsure of their relationship.

What do you think abouthigh school couples?

“Being in a relationship is great because you get to make memories with someone that you care about and in a long term relationship you get to learn so much about your partner’s life and experiences and everyday you find out something new about them and there is nothing like it.” - Liam ApplingTh

e C

omm

itted

The Single

“Being single has its perks; like having money for yourself or friends and not having to worry about what is happening with the other person. But it does come with some down sides like not having a date for dances or Valentine’s Day or anyone to hang out with when your friends are busy. I love being single because I love myself enough to not need a partner to show me that.” - Faith Spencer

Freshman couple:Christian Bandy

andHannah Crawford

8 Months

Sophomore couple:Hannah Floyd and

Dylan Bird2 Years

Sophomore couple:Blake Schultz and

Maddie Fisher4 Years

Junior couple:Niki Rapacki and

Luigi Rivera3 Years

Junior couple:Mason Williams and

Amy Hoover1 Year, 4 Months

Senior couple:Madison Irving and

Nicholas Pomes8 Months

Senior couple:Graham Harris and

Madeline Rosa1 Year, 1 Month

Culture

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Anna’s Actualitiesyoung people and happy marriage.

Turning from the traditional Val-entine’s celebrations, accord-ing to the National Retail Fed-eration, 54% of Americans will celebrate Valentine’s Day with their loved ones and will spend an average of $134 on candy, cards, dinner and other gifts.

On this day, pressure is placed mainly on the male counterpart of relationships to surprise his significant other and exceed her expectations. But why? Why should someone have to spend so much money to please some-one on one day out of the year?

Valentine’s Day has become ex-cessive due to the pressures that society places on the day and ex-pectations on what should be giv-en and done on Valentine’s Day.

The amount of money that is spent on Valentine’s Day is a huge rea-son that Valentine’s Day is what it is. Retailers advertise and over ad-vertise their Valentine’s Day gifts, products and services so that peo-ple will spend a huge amount of money for their special someone.

The prices of red stemmed roses sky rockets due to the increased demand, allowing retailers to swim in the amount of money they make on products sold for this day.

Valentine’s Day has become a waste of money and an unnec-essary day. A day that could be celebrated year round by people showing their love and car-ing for each other on a daily basis instead of on one speci-fied day a year where people spend an outrageous amount of money on stereotypical items..

Once a feast day to recognize St. Valentine, has turned into an excessive day to buy unneces-sary items and force people to profess their love to someone when they could just do that on any other random day of the year.

The roots of Valentine’s Day begin with the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on Feb. 15. In 496 AD, Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day, declaring Feb-ruary 14 to be St. Valentine’s Day.

St. Valentine is officially known as Saint Valentine of Rome and is typically associated with courtly love as he is the patron saint of love,

Valentine’s Day is ExcessiveThe changes and lofty expectations of the day

Almost one billion cards are exchanged on Valentine’s Day.

Along with the United States, Valentine’s Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Denmark, Australia, Italy and Japan.

More than 36 million boxes of chocolate are sold for Valentine’s Day each year.

In the United States, nearly 189 million stems of roses are sold.

The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare’s lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine’s Day.

Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine’s Day candy box in the late 1800s.

Valentine’s Day is a $14.7 billion industry.

In 2010 on Valentine’s Day, 39,897 people in Mexico City broke the record for the world’s largest group kiss.

Pope Gelasius I of Rome declared Saint Valentine’s burial day as the Valentine’s Day in 496 AD.

A kiss on Valentine’s Day is considered to bring good luck all year.

The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife.

Cupid was associated with Valentine’s Day because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards and gift tokens holding a bow and arrows as he is believed to use magical arrows to arouse feelings of love.

No record exists of romantic celebrations on Valentine’s Day prior to a poem Chaucer wrote around 1375. In his work “Parliament of Foules,” he links a tradition of courtly love with the celebration of St. Valentine’s feast day.

By Anna LassmannEditor-in-Chief

Movies to Watch in 2016The top ten upcoming movies of the year

Record breaking blockbusters such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Jurassic World came out in 2015, but 2016 prom-ises to bring even more highly an-ticipated movies to the big screen.

“I can’t wait to see all the new movies 2016 has in store,” sophomore Jacque Vasquez said.

Here’s a look at 10 new movies that will be coming out in 2016:

Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of JusticeRelease Date: March 25

The beginning of the modern Justice League storyline star-ring Henry Cavill as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman.

Captain America: Civil WarRelease Date: May 6

The sequel to Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War puts nearly a dozen Avengers fighting against one another, headed by Captain America and Iron Man. This installment also introduces characters such as the Black Panther and Spider Man into the Avengers storyline.

X-men: ApocalypseRelease Date: May 27

This installment features the vil-lain Apocalypse, who has awak-ened after thousands of years and is disappointed with the world he finds. The X-men must stop Apoc-

Suicide SquadRelease Date: August 5

A unique take on the typical su-perhero movie, Suicide Squad, featuring Jared Leto as the Jok-er, gives a different meaning as to what it means to be a villain and what it means to be a hero.

Doctor StrangeRelease Date: November 4

In Marvel’s newest origin sto-ry, Stephen Strange, played by Benedict Cumberbatch, is an ego-tistical and disliked neurosurgeon. A serious car crash limits the use of his hands, which sends him on an ultimate quest for a miracle cure.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find ThemRelease Date: November 18

The Harry Potter prequel written by J.K. Rowling herself follows “Magizoologist” Newt Scaman-der, played by Eddie Redmayne. The film is set to be a huge success as Harry Potter fans will finally get a glimpse of what the Ameri-can wizarding world was like in the 1920’s. This movie is sure to excite the Harry Potter lovers.

Star Wars: Rogue OneRelease Date: December 16

Set between the prequel and the main movies, Rogue One will be the first spinoff following the release of The Force Awakens, the fastest film ever to reach one billion dollars at the box office. Rogue One follows a group of rebels as they set out to steal the plans for the original Death Star.

By Stella WoodStaff Reporter

alypse and his team of mutants as they attempt to rid the Earth of humankind and create new order.

Alice through the Looking GlassRelease Date: May 27

The sequel to Alice in Wonder-land, where Alice returns to Won-derland after years of following in her father’s footsteps. She comes across familiar creatures such as the White Rabbit and the Cheshire Cat as she attempts to rescue the Mad Hatter before time runs out.

Finding DoryRelease Date: June 17

Ellen DeGeneres returns to voice the friendly but forgetful fish Dory in this Finding Nemo sequel. This film takes place one year after the events of Finding Nemo and will certainly achieve the success of its predecessor when it hits theaters.

Star Trek: BeyondRelease Date: July 22

This new addition to the Star Trek franchise features a new cast including Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto and Zoe Saldana. Director Justin Lin picks up where J.J. Abrams left off with the crew in deep space fighting in and out of the ship.

Movie poster. Public Domain Photo

Op/Ed

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Local Restaurants Provide New Dining OptionsMr. Sombrero, Yard House and NOKturne are critiquedBy Maddie ByrneStaff Reporter

The Houston area has some of the best food in the nation. A fifteen minute drive from League City can take you thousands of places.

For the longest time, you would have to drive miles just to get to a good Mexican restaurant. Fi-nally, Mr. Sombrero has made a new location much closer to us in League City. The classic Kemah eatery has always been known for its tasteful and au-thentic Mexican cuisine. The

second Mr. Sombrero is easily accessible in the strip mall right outside of Westover Park on 518. The meal starts off with some delicious chips and salsa. For just a little extra money, enjoy chips with some creamy queso. Anybody can find a meal they like since Mr. Sombrero has such a wide variety of foods to choose from including healthy options, like tacos wrapped in lettuce instead of a tortilla.

Baybrook Mall has opened many new restaurants with its renova-tions. Among these, Yard House

stands out. Nestled on the side of Dave & Busters, Yard House is not big and flashy, but the food is delicious. They have all styles of food, from home cooked clas-sics to pizza to authentic street tacos. Their food is different and bold. They have everything from spinach mashed potatoes to pizza with Chinese toppings. Yard House is new and exciting. It is definitely a place to try while enjoying the new mall addition.

A little further away is NOKturne near Clear Lake. NOKturne spe-cializes in vegetarian and vegan

options. It is a one-of-a-kind restaurant off of Bay Area Blvd. Even the appetizer is unique; contrary to the usual chips or bread, servers bring out pop-corn, a healthy alternative to the typical carb-filled starter. Most people enjoy a freshly brewed juice with their salad, pasta, veg-gie roll or even pizza. With its inexpensive prices and wide va-riety, NOKturne is a healthy al-ternative to the typical restaurant.

With a little exploring, there is always a new and delicious restaurant to try around here.

Cadet CornerJROTC continues the HOOAHBy Christian ThibodeauxContributing ReporterHOOAH rang throughout the gym as the 2016 CSHS Charger Battalion announced its new Ca-det Commander for the second semester, Cadet LTC Tristan Irvin. Cadet Irvin officially re-placed fellow senior Maria Calvo at the Charger Battalion Change of Command and promo-tion Ceremony in the large gym on Jan. 15.The ceremony marked the first major event of the sec-ond semester for the Battalion. It served as a celebration for cadet achievements in the first semes-

ter including new promotions, awards, decorations, cadet of the semester and leader of the semes-ter, which were won by Cadets Gabriel Gonzales and Paul Rho-

des, respectively, for their out-standing leadership capabilities.

The next major event on the horizon is the 48th An-

nual CCISD Military Ball.

The Military Ball is being hosted at the Moody Gardens Conven-tion Center and serves as an op-portunity to provide cadets with a formal environment to build their etiquette skills and ac-commodating entertainment at the dance portion of the event.

With the new commander, and seasoned leadership, the Char-ger Battalion looks to com-pound on the successes it has already achieved and con-tinue to build a lasting legacy.

JROTC cadets line up for inspection. Photo by Jasmine Lugo

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