March 28, 2014 Spring Edition Volume 4, Issue 5

The Paw PrintNews in Brief

Keegan Burton

The valedictorian and salutatorian of the 2014 graduating class has been an-nounced. Phillip Lunt is the valedictorian and Jenna VanWeelden is the salutato-rian. Both will be giving speeches at graduation this year, which will be held on May 26 at Tri-County Assembly. When asked how he got to the top, Phillip replied “Guts, glory and smart friends.” The valedictorian is the person with the highest grade average for the four years of high school and the salutatorian has the second highest average. This year there are 16 students that have a grade point average over 4.0. They are Phillip, Jenna, Tanner Begley, Amber Lintz, Emily Ploetz, Morgan Keiner, Rebecca Watson, Megan Boyle, Logan Hauer, Ben Gross, Katie Kulp, Lauren Cartwright, Taylor Byndon, Sam Adams, Abby Reiner, and Daniel Silvashy.

Top sixteen seniors for Class of 2014 announced

The valedictorian (Phillip Lunt) and salutatorian (Jenna VanWeelden) for the senior class of 2014. (photo by Keegan Burton)

Sarah Arnold

Prom is coming up soon and one of the most important things to do besides buying your dress is to get your dress approved. Prom dress approval will be the two weeks before spring break and the two weeks after and will be done by Frau Schroeder, Mrs. Porter, and possibly one other person. Approval will be held in Frau Shroeder’s room on Monday and Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. before spring break and from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. after. The goal is modesty so, ladies, the dress cannot be form-fitting, cannot exceed four inches above the knee, slits can not be above the knee, and the back of the dress can not come down two inches below the bra line in the back. No cleavage can be shown. The requirements for the gentle-men are that they must wear either a suit and tie or a tuxedo. Requirements for formal wear can also seen at the school’s website, www.cincinnatichris-tian.org. Once there, go to the parents’ tab and under that click junior/senior high campus re-sources. Scroll down and on the left side, in gray, it will say dress code for homecoming and prom. Guests who do not attend CCS must meet the same dress code. Make sure your date knows about these guidelines.

Prom dress approvals coming soon

The Paw PrintCincinnati Christian Schools

7474 Morris RoadFairfield, OH 45011Editorial Policy

The Paw Print is the student newspaper of Cincinnati Christian Schools. The Paw

Print is an open forum for student expression which accepts letters to the editor. Letters to the editor may be edited for length and can

be emailed to susan.zaffiro@cincinnatichris-tian.org. Staff

Editor in Chief - Jacob RoushNews Editor - Chloe CochranOpinions Editor - Keegan BurtonFeatures Editor - Carissa ZaffiroSpecial Features - Makenzie TheissEntertainment Editor - Lauren Cartwright and Brandon WelchSports Editor - Bre LyonReporters - Sarah Arnold, Keely Brown, Kirsten Cameron, Hope Lewis, and Joshua WhiteAdviser - Mrs. Susan Zaffiro

Opinion/Editorial Page 2

There’s a problem that every school shares. A problem that students seem to brush off and go about their days ignoring. This shared problem is cheating. As little of a deal as it seems to some, it can actually change your whole academic career. Between 75 and 98 percent of students surveyed around the coun-try have admitted to cheating in high school. That’s a wide range of stu-dents! We can stop the cheating by simply coming up with solutions to the excuses we use for cheating. One reason for cheating can be the pressure to get that good grade. Whether it’s pressure from your parents, teachers, or even peers, you can improve yourself from stress, not self-destruct. Cheating out of pressure not only leaves your grade dependent on someone else, but it puts even more stress on you. Try using this pressure to motivate yourself. Another reason for cheating is procrastination. Picture this. You have a small assignment due on a blue day. Oh, sure, you have two days to

do it, but in those two days you have bigger assignments to handle. The small assignment slips your mind and on the morning of that blue day you realize you forgot! So you make the decision to just ask your friend for his assignment so you can copy really fast before class. There are multiple solutions to this problem. Try doing your homework the day you get it assigned. This leaves room to do white day homework on white days and blue day homework on blue days. Also, use your study halls effectively. Instead of playing that game or surfing the web for nothing, do your work so you can save the fun stuff for home. Those who copy are not the only ones at fault in these situations. The students who allow the copying are just as guilty. You are allowing your hard work to just be copied to benefit someone else who did not put any time or effort into the assignment. If caught, you could get the same consequence as the cheater. Consequences are always a factor

in cheating. Depending on the assign-ment, you can get from a detention to suspension. Even if you do not get caught the consequences can be just as hurtful. You have not learned what you need to learn to move on. That next test you take is really going to put the stress on you. Even the small-est assignments can be the difference between failing and passing. Teachers are smart people. They have a degree in what they do. They can almost always tell when you are cheating. Although some may not call you out on it, they know. It not only ruins your grade, if you get caught, but it also changes the way teachers look at you. Maybe they won’t think you take their class seriously. Have integrity. Do the work yourself and be proud of what you did. “Any dummy can copy,” said Mrs. Porter who gives regular lectures on cheating to her classes. Cheating is more serious then you think. It’s not just hurting yourself but everyone who is involved. No assign-ment is impossible.

The Paw Print

Cheating: Who? When? Why?

(Results of an informal survey of CCS students grades 7-12)

Page 3 The Paw Print Opinion

We get out of school to get ready for it. We spend money on tuxes, dresses, hair, and tickets so that everything will be perfect. Yes, of course, we’re talking about prom. Hours are spent every year on prom night and, while it’s fun to go in groups of friends to homecoming, prom traditionally is the night to have a date. Let’s remember that asking someone to prom doesn’t automatically mean you’re getting married and need to start picking out baby names. It simply means that both of you are going to prom and might as well go together! However, CCS students have had a long history of being hesitant when it comes to going in couples to prom. “Fear of rejection is probably the number one factor,” shared Mr. Bolser, one of the junior class advisers. After in-terviewing 20 random junior and senior boys, we found that rejection or getting hurt was in fact the number one factor with the other exceptions being fear of ruining a friendship or their friends aren’t asking someone. “You might be afraid they say no and you’ll look stupid. It could hurt our egos,” commented Ethan Myers, junior. Fellow junior Junwoo Park added, “If I ask her and she

rejects me, I don’t want to be embarrassed.” But although it is traditionally the boy’s job to ask a girl to prom, they are not entirely at fault. As Patrick Dyer, senior, put it, “I’m assuming every girl wants a specific guy to ask her so me asking just anyone might ruin that.” However, let’s look at it from a girl’s point of view. Lauren Cartwright, also a senior, said, “If one of my friends asked me to prom I would say yes.” The reality is that most people who don’t have boy-friends/girlfriends or are “talking” to someone don’t really care who specifically asks them. It is hard to put your heart or pride on the line when you might get hurt but – as stated previously – going to prom with a friend doesn’t entail a serious relationship. CCS has to get out of this mindset of prom being most romantic night in the world. It is a fun school function where we all get to dress up, eat, have fun, and exchange corsages and boutonnieres. In the end it’s not about putting your heart on the line, but asking someone whose company you enjoy to go to prom with you.

How important is going to prom to you?

Ben Musson ~ Senior “It is important because it has to be important because I have a significant other.”

Bryce Edmonston ~ Senior “It’s not the most important thing to me, but it’s a once in a lifetime event.”

Kameron Antwine ~ Junior “It’s pretty important for seniors because it’s their last chance they have to get together.”

Logan Hauer ~ Senior “I feel like it’s overrated. It’s hyped too much and not that fun.”

Joey Carroll ~ Junior “Six or seven out of 10. It’s important to support it.”

Prom: It’s about having fun with your friends

Features Page 4 The Paw Print

Lauren Cartwright

It’s finally summer vacation! The plan for summer includes vacations, pool parties, hanging out with friends, and good ol’ relaxation. At least that was the plan until you realize you have no money and are forced to get a sum-mer job. Summer jobs don’t have to be uninteresting, boring, and a waste of your sum-mer. Students should find jobs based on their interests, skills, and future career plans. According to Forbes.com, one of the top jobs this sum-mer is a camp counselor. Imagine being paid to enjoy the great outdoors. Not only can you experience fun ad-ventures every day, you gain leadership and teamwork skills. For many teens staying in Cincin-nati, a job at their favorite amusement park, Kings Island, is right up their al-ley. They have a diverse range of jobs in all areas including food and bever-age, games, rides, lifeguard, entertain-ment, and admissions. Junior Keeley Brown, a snack shack worker at her local pool, said, “You can still hang out with your friends,

interact with new people, and you can still enjoy your summer.” If you’d rather be in an air-con-ditioned place and love interacting with people, a job in customer service might be a good fit. If fashion is your passion, try landing a job in retail. Junior Allie Higgins said, “If you want to work in retail, you have to

have patience with people’s stupid-ity.” You have to “be good at sounding sincere which comes in handy when [you’re] really frustrated.” A few posi-tive notes when it comes to working as a Target associate is that “they are flexible with your school schedule, you don’t start at minimum wage, and you don’t smell greasy.” Another opportunity working in-

doors and getting a discount on food is a job in food service. Food service is not just limited to fast food restau-rants, but also include high-end res-taurants such as Pappadeux and Jag’s Steak and Seafood. Positions available include waiter, host, busboy, cook, dishwasher, and delivery driver. If you love food, like a fast paced environ-

ment, and dislike boredom, food service might be ideal for you. Sophomore Alex Dunman, a ca-shier at McDonald’s, thinks his job is awesome because “It’s a good environment… you learn social skill” and adds “it’s a good starting job because it’s simplistic, but still demanding.” For those who want to get a head start on their career, a summer internship would be a great idea. Not only do you work on profes-sional skills, it also looks great on a résumé. Although most are unpaid at a

high school level, you gain real world experience and have priceless opportu-nities after the internship. If interested in a summer internship, you can talk to Mrs. Zeller, teachers, friends, and inquire with companies. Don’t waste your summer this year. Plan and apply early to get the perfect job. Build your resume and earn a little cash, all while having fun.

Spring Break Cancelled!Breaking News:

Bre Lyon

April Fools! Spring break is not cancelled. But watch your back everyone. April Fools Day is right around the corner! This is the perfect day for jokesters to create a devi-ous plan or for people to get back at someone for last year’s April Fools joke. Senior prankster Daniel Silvashy came up with some April Fools prank ideas. A classic one is to use a rubber band and put it around a kitchen sink sprayer handle, so that the next person that goes to turn the water on gets drenched in water.

The CCS trainer Elizabeth said that during her junior year in college, she and one of her roommates played an April Fools prank on their other roommates. They Saran-wrapped all of their roommates things so they couldn’t get out of their doors and all of their stuff was completely covered. She said, “We turned April Fools into a week long thing.” One night they also put sticky notes all over the entire room. Another prank idea is to put flour on a ceiling fan and when someone flips the switch, flour goes everywhere. Don’t let your April Fools pranks get out of hand though. Remember, you might have to pick up the messes.

Here are some busi-nesses that are hiring:

AmusementBeach WaterparkCincinnati ZooCoCo Keys Water ResortLocal golf coursesSkyZone

RetailBest BuyDSW American Eagle OutfittersT.J. MaxxBed Bath and Beyond

Party CityJourney’sJungle Jim’s

Food ServiceCracker Barrel Old CountryQdoba Mexican GrillLong John Silver’sJimmy John’sDomino’s pizzaBuffalo Wild Wings Grill & BarSteak and ShakePizza Hut Little Caesar’s

Getting a summer job that’s right for you

Bre Lyon

A unique and delicious dessert that I like to make is the strawberry pretzel salad. It is a tasty treat and a perfect mixture of sweet and salty. My aunt makes it for every Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it’s my favorite! It’s not that hard to do but you will need about 40 to 45 minutes to make this.

What you need: - 2 cups of crushed pretzels (sometimes I add more because I like the pretzel bottom) - ¾ cup of melted butter

- 3 Tablespoons of white sugar- 1 (8 ounce) package of cream cheese, softened- 1 cup of white sugar- 1 (8 ounce) thawed container of frozen whipped topping- 2 (3 ounce) packages of strawberry Jello- 2 cups of boiling water- 2 (10 ounce) packages of frozen strawber-ries

Directions:Preheat oven to 400°FStir together crushed pretzels, melted butter, and the 3 tablespoons of white sugar. Once you mix it well, press it into the bottom of a 9x13inch baking dish.Bake this for 8-10 minutes, then set it out to cool.Then in a bigger mixing bowl, stir together

cream cheese and 1 cup of white sugarFold in the frozen whipped toppingSpread this onto the cooled crust evenlyBoil the 2 cups of water and then dissolve the Jello packetsStir in the frozen strawberries and let it set quickly When the jello/strawberry mixture thickens, pour it over the cream cheese whipped topping layer and spread evenlyPut this in the refrigerator until set

Then ENJOY!

Cooking with Bre:

How to make the perfect spring treats

Seniors continue the spirit of SLEWChloe Cochran

Even four months after SLEW is over, the impact it had on students is still evident. Members of the senior class have continued to volunteer at Crawford Woods Elementary School in Hamil-ton. The class of 2014 visited the kids at Crawford during SLEW week and many have felt led to maintain the relationships with the students at the elementary school. Ten to 18 seniors visit Crawford

Woods during lunchtime and spend time with the kids. The seniors talk to the students and spend time de-veloping friendships with them. The Crawford kids have become like little siblings. “We’re spending time with them and learning about their lives so obviously we care a lot about them and person-ally I want them to feel like they can come to me with anything because I want the best for them,” Nicole Lewis said. The seniors say that the third and fourth graders love seeing the seniors

walk into the cafeteria and immedi-ately make them feel welcome. Nicole adds that if other students want to support Crawford Woods, the best way to help is to pray. Many of its students come from difficult back-grounds and broken homes. “Also I would say (to the) Juniors, be keeping the Crawford kids in mind because next year they’re gonna need love just as much as this year so see if eating lunch with them is something God wants you to do. They’re amazing kids and just need someone to be there for them!” Nicole said.

Page 5 The Paw Print Features

.

.

Page 7 Special Features The Paw Print

Makenzie TheissPaw Print Columnist

Following God’s calling sounds easy in theory, but then again… easier said than done. As much as we want to follow exactly what God has for us, when we are faced with making life-altering decisions or changes, we can’t make ourselves do it. However, there are some people within the walls of CCS doing ex-actly that. Students may have heard in chapel of junior Brooke Hill deciding to switch to Lakota East High School for her senior year. They may have also heard of senior Austin Stone continuing his faith in college and career. Or possibly, of senior Jenna VanWeelden writing a play and want-ing to perform it for oth-ers to see. Brooke was faced with God’s hand around three years ago when she was in middle school… she felt Lakota East on her heart. At that point in time, it was just a thought she could push away. However, God would not leave her spirit alone. In the middle of her junior year, God shook her up again, but this time she couldn’t deny God so easily. After battling in her heart for many months and praying and seeking God’s calling, she decided to leave the safety, the normalcy, and the at-mosphere of little Cincinnati Christian School and embark on the uncertainty of Lakota East. However, as admi-rable as that may be, she had to have some serious faith in God, assurance

in God, and love for God. I can hon-estly say, I don’t know if I could have the courage to do so. Brooke said, “If I can go into Lakota and touch one person’s life, I will know that it was all worth it. God has a great plan; we just have to step out in faith, and say, ‘I am willing to go.’” Are also we

willing to go? Austin Stone answers that question with a giant “Yes!” The decisions that follow after you graduate high school are overwhelming, especially when you have no idea. Austin, however, heard his plan from the playmaker Himself. Austin took it upon himself and his faith in God to dive into the Word and discover how and what he feels toward the Gospel. As he plunged deeper into the Word, he noticed how uncomfortable he was with the

Church, today. He read about “how Jesus told the gospel and how he wasn’t afraid to offend people with what he knew to be the truth, but he intertwined that purpose so beauti-fully with a very pure form of love.” Austin has decided to go to Moody Bible College in efforts to fulfill his

calling from God. He plans on majoring in Church Planting and he said, “I feel like this is the best possible way to follow God’s will.” So he is doing just that. Jenna VanWeelden’s story isn’t so much about finding out her calling, but acting on what she feels God has called her to do. Jenna is not only tal-ented on the stage, but is talented in the making of what goes on the stage! She said, “I know that God has called me, at least for the moment, to minister through the art of theatre.” Jenna recently created a play bringing biblical stories to life. She says the Word has a lot of power and she wants to present it in a creative

form in the way the Old Testament was initially presented – verbally. Mr. Baumann showed interest in her script and she hopes to have some of her ideas brought to life in the Arts Outreach Group next year. Living out exactly what God has for you is not impossible, but it isn’t easy. These three students are just a small fraction of the planning God has go-ing at this school. It’s now our job to do the same and open our hearts and our minds to whatever He has in store.

Following the calling...

Do you remember the theme of your senior prom?

Mrs. Totten – “Yes, it was ‘A Night to Remember.’” Mr. Henry – “I was never a senior.” Mrs. Schlake – “It was ‘Gone With the Wind.’” Mr. Johnson – “The girl I liked had a boyfriend so I stayed at home and worked out.”Mr. Ashford – “A Night to Remem-ber”

Mrs. Ashford – “I think it was moonlight something?” Mr. Holthus – “I think it was ‘A night at the movies.’” Mrs. Zaffiro – “The theme was Open Arms; I went with Kevin Highfield.” Mr. Dwyer – “I think it was French themed?” Mrs. McKain – “I wasn’t allowed to dance; I went to see my grandma

instead.”

Carissa Zaffiro

As prom draws near, we asked our beloved teachers to share their own prom sto-ries. See if you can guess the teacher in the picture! Answers are at the bottom of the page.

1. Mr. Ashford 2. Mrs. Ashford 3. Mrs. Wedaman 4. Mrs. Smith 5. Mrs. Totten (and Mr. Totten!) 6. Mrs. Zaffiro7. Frau Schroder

Wait, teachers were our age once?

1.

2.

3.

4.

5. 6.

7.

Features The Paw Print Page 6

Page 9 The Paw Print Sports

Advertise your business or ministry in The Paw Print

Ads start at $25 for a business card size to $150 for a full page in color.

Contact Susan Zaffiro, Paw Print adviser, at susan.zaffiro@cincinnatichristian.org

for more information

Joshua White Some of the top artists of 2013 include Lorde, One Di-rection, Eminem, Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus with her smash hit album Bangerz including songs like “We Can’t Stop” and the controversial “Wrecking Ball.” Lorde found herself ascending to fame with her break-out hit “Royals” that was number one on record charts for four weeks. One Direction recently released their new album titled Midnight Memories, which has soared to number five on iTunes in its first week. Eminem teamed up with Rihanna to make a seemingly universally popular song, “The Monster,” which has crept its way into many rotations. Justin Bieber has found suc-cess releasing a new song once every week on Monday establishing “Music Monday.” The most common slang words and phrases in the English language in 2013 are definitely interesting. These terms include “ratchet” which means disgusting, unattract-ive, and an altogether mess. If you refer to a person as a

“Ratchet” it means a diva who has reason to believe she is desirable. Unfortunately, she’s wrong. YOLO translates to You Only Live Once. “Basic” is an adjective used to describe any person, place, or activity involving obscenely obvious behavior, dress, action, and unsophisticated. “Selfie” is the only one on this list that squeezed its way into the Oxford Dictionary of the English Language and was officially named the “Word of the Year.” A “selfie” is a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website. This has been an amazing year for movies, especially for sequels as Iron Man 3 made over one billion dollars worldwide and the “hot” sequel to The Hunger Games, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire brought in $336 mil-lion so far. Other major releases this year included Man of Steel, Despicable Me 2, Frozen, Monsters University, and Grav-ity, which has been getting some decent Oscar buzz.

Hope Lewis

Waiting for your favorite movie to be brought into your home? Well, here are the dates for DVD releases in early 2014. One Direction: This is Us follows the band One Direc-tion in their crazy lives as young pop stars. Fans were lin-ing up for this movie earlier this week when it was released on December 17. Underdogs is a heart-warming film about a football team in Ohio that has not had a winning season in years. The team must stick together to come out with a win against their rivals under their new coach this season. Underdogs is set to release January 14. Based on a true story, The Butler is about an African

American man in the Civil Rights’ era that gets a job as a butler for the President. He must overcome many obstacles and racism from the KKK and like-minded groups of people. This movie hits stores January 14. The sequel to Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 is set to arrive Janu-ary 28. Grace Unplugged is a movie many Christians are an-ticipating. This film follows teenager Grace Trey who has amazing talents with music and doesn’t want to follow in her father’s footsteps her whole life. When she gets her big break her relationship with God is put to the test. Other huge blockbusters such as The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Thor: The Dark World are estimated to come out on dvd in March.

2013: The year of Lorde, Miley, and ‘selfies’

Catch the film you missed out on dvd

Entertainment The Paw Print Page 8

CCS scholastics winners

Keegan Burton

In 2014, no fewer than four Christian-themed movies will be coming out. Son of God was released on February 28. It is directed by Christopher Spencer and stars Diogo Morgado as Jesus, Amber Rose Revah as Mary Magdalene and Sebastian Knapp as John. Son of God is a retelling of the story of the Life of Christ. The movie is mostly compiled from the ten-hour Bible mini-series that was shown on the History channel last March although some scenes were added and some scenes deleted from the original mini-series. The film grossed $26.5 million the first weekend. Noah, a highly-fictionalized account of the Biblical story

of Noah that will be released on March 28, is directed by Darren Aronofsky. The movie will star Russell Crowe as Noah, Emma Watson as Ila, Logan Lerman as Ham, Jen-nifer Connelly as Naameh and Douglas Booth as Shem. On September 17, the popular Left Behind film series will be receiving a reboot. The new version will be directed by Vic Armstrong and stars Nicolas Cage as Rayford Steele, Chad Michael Murray as Buck Williams, and Nicky Whel-and as Hattie Durham. The Left Behind book series imag-ines what might happen at the Rapture and was written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry Jenkins. Exodus, which premiers on December 12, will be a retell-ing of the story of Moses. The movie is directed by Ridley Scott and stars Christian Bale as Moses. Aaron Paul will play Joshua and Sigourney Weaver is Tuya.

Christian-themed movies coming to theatre near you

Brandon Welch

This year Cincinnati Christian Schools submitted 71 pieces of stu-dents’ artwork to the Scholastic Art & Writing contest. Over 1,000 people submitted artwork to Scholastic and, out of those people, CCS had 21 stu-dents recognized. Four students received keys for their artwork. Senior Keegan Burton and junior Josh Diatte both received gold keys, while senior Hope Harlan and junior Sarah Bennett received silver keys. Keegan received gold key in the category of photography for his photo titled “Smoke” and Josh received a gold key in the design category for his “Zigzag table.” Both of these pieces of artwork were submitted to the Scholastic New York competion to vie for national recogni-tion. In the category of mixed media, senior Hope received a silver key for her designed titled “ Life Cycles of a Butterfly.” In the category of fashion design, Sarah received a silver key for her dress design titled “Tutti Fruitti.” Seventeen other students received honorable mention in many catego-ries ranging from drawing to fashion design to jewelry to painting.

Josh Diatte - gold key

Keegan Burton - gold key Hope Harlan - silver key

Sarah Bennett - silver key

Carissa Zaffiro

Sometimes you’re just sitting at home utterly and completely bored. You might think, hmmm maybe I should read a book! Wow! Crazy idea! But what book do you read!? The logical next step is to ask your friends what books they would recommend. Good thing I just did the work for you! From non-readers to reading fanatics here are some of the books that your peers are recommend-ing as one of the best books they’ve read in their high school careers: Jesse Keller: Howl’s Moving Castle by Dianne Wynne Jones“Howl’s Moving Castle is a very imaginative story that is incredibly immersive and an experience that is more than a story.

Shane McLaughlin: Lone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell “Everyone should read Lone Survi-vor because we need to be aware and thankful for the sacrifices our Armed Forces make for us every day.”

Emily Collier: The Fault In Our Stars by John Greene “It changed my life and made me think about everything differently. It also looks at sickness and cancer in a way that no other book really does.”

David Jefferies: Same Kind of Differ-ent As Me by Ron Hall “It teaches you that no matter where you come from we all have a story and can learn from each other.”

Hannah Fox: Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers “It’s a great inspirational book that any girl should read when waiting for the right guy.”

Carissa Zaffiro: The Book Thief by

Page 9 The Paw Print Entertainment

Book recomendations for both avid and non-readers

Page 11 Sports The Paw Print

Jacob Roush

A roller coaster winter sports season has finally come to a close. Here are some highlights of the year.

Boys Basketball It was a tough year this year, but the Cougars never let it get the better of them. They finished with an 11-12 overall record, going 4-9 in the conference. At different points in the season, Tanner Begley, Nathan Grammel, and Ter-rance Hubbard were nominated as MVC athletes of the week. It was a hard year, but the team looks to put this season behind them and is ready to improve next year.

Girls Basketball The girls’ team had a successful year, finishing 14-9 overall, and going 9-4 in the conference. Senior Abby Wolford stood out this year, passing the 1,000 points mile-stone for her career. Kirsten Cameron, also a senior, set the school rebound-ing record. During the season, Abby Wolford, Kirsten Cameron and Hannah Edwards were all nominated as MVC athletes of the week. Overall, it was strong season, one of which the Cougars hope to continue next season.

Boys Swimming/Diving Phillip Lunt was the lone male swimmer and diver this year, but that didn’t stop him from having a success-ful season. Phillip had a very good year as a diver, finishing 12th overall at state. He was nominated multiple times over the course of the season as athlete of the week.

Girls Swimming/Diving The girls’ team also enjoyed a suc-cessful season, having two swimmers go to the state meet. Morgan and Payton Keiner, senior and freshman, both went to state this year. Morgan placed 20th in the 50 free and 24th in the 100 fly. Payton placed 7th in the 100 back and 9th in the individual medley. They were both nominated as ath-letes of the week multiple times during the season. Peyton Whited, senior, and Abbie Anderson, sophomore, both dove this year. While neither one went to state, they both had good seasons and repre-sented CCS well.

Boys bowling This was the third season for boys bowling, and the second season for girls bowling. Both teams continued to grow as programs, and did well at the different matches they went to.

The boy’s team won three of their matches this year, which was an im-provement from last year.

Girls bowling The girls’ team had both new and returning bowlers, which helped them grow as a program this year. One of the standouts this year was Kayley Harris, who ironically bowled as a “boy” at the end of the season.

Winter 2013-14 sports wrap-up

Kirsten Cameron

Monday, March 10, was the track team’s first practice and most of the team was excited for it! Senior Brandon Welch is not only excited for the season, but is determined that the team will do amazing things this year. Brandon said, “I am really excited for this season be-cause this is my last season of track ever! I also believe that we will do well this year because there are a lot returning seniors and juniors that have gone to regionals before. We

also have a lot of good freshmen coming in as well.” Jacob Roush, another senior, also added, “I think the team will be the best it’s been in years.” He added, “ I’m confident in the people that have come out and said that they want to be a part of the trackteam. I know for a fact that this team won’t go down without a fight, I won’t let it happen.” Last year, the track team did exceptionally well and went to regionals with: Jacob Roush, Andy Spies, 4x4 relay: Al-lie Higgins, Lauren Cartwright, Rachel Doloresco, Taylor Spalding (qualified), and Laura Kindell.

‘Tis the season for the track team!

First Team:Terence Hubbard

Abby Wolford (Athlete of the year-Girls Basketball)

Kirsten CameronMorgan Keiner Payton Keiner Kaitlyn Butts

Carley PhillipsJosh Carney

Second Team:David Jeffries

Hannah EdwardsBre Lyon

Kayley Harris

Honorable Mentions: Tanner Begley

Nathan GrammelJulie SnyderAllie Statzer

MVC teams:

Jacob Roush

Cincinnati Christian Schools recently had the privilege to put on the musical First Impressions: A Pride and Preju-dice Musical. Behind every great play is a great composer. The cast and crew had the opportunity to meet one of the playwrites and learn about the process that went into it and all about the experience. (Another composer, Lindsay War-ren Baker, also attended, but was not interviewed for this article). Amanda Jacobs was the co-author and composer of the musical. Cincinnati Christian was given the rights to do the show on December 1, 2013. Mr. Beaver first asked about getting the rights to do the show in late 2011 to early 2012, but there was no progress. Mr. Beaver was persis-tent though, and eventually given the rights to produce the show. The musical was first done in 2004 by the Eastman School of Music. It has not been put on many times, but it has been very successful in its little time of being a musi-cal. It won seven total awards and five honorable mentions. Where did Mrs. Jacobs get her inspiration? She said, “I knew I needed my next project to be enjoyable. I wanted it to be something I loved. I knew that I liked the story (of Pride and Prejudice). It had wonderful messages and themes, so I knew that I could live with it for a long time.” When asked about her favorite aspect of writing the musi-cal, she said that she loved watching the play go up, and

seeing all the people involved in it. “It’s miraculous,” she said. She loves seeing the joy on the audience’s faces as the musical is happening. Giving joy to others is one of the main reasons that Mrs. Jacobs does playwriting. One of the main difficulties that she faced while writ-ing the play was “to create a story for Jane Austen.” Most people understand the idea behind Pride and Prejudice, but how many people are thinking about the author? That is exactly what Mrs. Jacobs addresses in First Impressions. She said that making all the stories parallel with each other and telling the story from Jane Austen’s perspective was very difficult. What was she feeling when she first saw the musical start? “My sensations were of absolute gratitude. When someone presents something that you have been working on for many years, it’s like seeing a friend you haven’t seen in a long time.” She also said that she loved the energy that was put into it; overall, she felt that it was a very good performance. One of the difficult things as an author is handing over your work to someone else. Since you aren’t there to explain what you meant when you wrote something, many things can be open to interpretation. That is exactly what happened in CCS’s production of First Impressions. Mrs. Jacobs said that it was a discovery process for her. Did we go too far off the deep end though? “I was pleased to see how you guys handled the script,” she said and was overall happy with our interpretation.

Meeting the composer: Amanda Jacobs‘First Impressions: A Pride and Prejudice Musical’

Feature Page 10 The Paw Print

Seniors Dakota Moon, Jackie Wyatt, and Jenna VanWeelden portray Mr. Darcy, Miss Bingley, and Elizabeth Bennett in the spring musical performed at the Aronoff Center earlier this month. (photo by Mrs. VanWeelden)

Sports Page 12

Keely Brown

As the spring sports season gears up, the baseball team is preparing for a strong season with lots of competi-tion. The team has goals that they are striving to reach. Senior Isaiah Haley said that two of the goals are to “win the conference and win over 20 games.” Every year, in every sport, CHCA is always CCS’s biggest rival. “Our toughest opponent will either be CHCA or Fairfield. This is the first

year we have played Fairfield and be-ing a division four school, it’s always a challenge to go up against a division one school. But I think that we can compete with every team we play this year,” said Matt Craig. Senior Dale Belzer also added, “As long as we can stay focused and come together as a team, we can beat any team we play.” Every team no matter what sports has its own strengths and weak-nesses. Matt and Dale agree that their strengths are coming together and

playing as a team. “It really helps when you’re counting on your team-mates in the middle of a game,” said Matt. With the good comes the bad. Isaiah and Dale also agree that their weaknesses this year is going to be the team’s pitching. In previous years, the baseball team has done a great job in tournaments. In 2012, the team made it to regionals, but had an unfortunate loss. The only other time that has hap-pened was in 2009. Last year, the team made it to districts.

Brandon Welch

The girl’s softball team is looking hopeful for another great season. With a lot of returning players from last year and in-coming players, the team is looking strong. Senior Claire McIntosh said, “The team should be great this year even with all the challenges we are facing.” One of the team’s challenges for this season is trying to replace team leaders Anna Wolford and Bekah Lotspeich from last year. Anna and Bekah were also the team’s top pitcher and catcher. With losing the leadership from these two girls, the team looks to the new seniors to step up.

As for the replacement of catcher and pitcher, senior Madeline Arn and sophomore Moriah Arn will be stepping up to fill those spots. Last year Madeline was the second-string pitcher after Anna. Last year, the team was conference champions in the Scarlet division. The team is coached by Stephanie Gross-mann and assisted by coach Allison Radomskin. Some goals for this season are to go further in tourna-ments. Last year the girls lost in the first round in the tour-nament. Claire said, “My goal for my last season of softball is to hit a homerun. It’s been on my bucket list since slow pitch and this will be my last chance to accomplish it!”

Softball team looks for senior leadership

Baseball team prepares for a great season

The Paw Print

Members of the softball team practice swinging the bat. Pictured from left, Emily Schmitt (hidden), Ashley Head, Makenna Diatte, and Allie Grooms. (photo by Carissa Zaffiro)