Blue and GoldThe Chamblee High School

Volume 86, Issue 5

Chamblee High School3688 Chamblee-Dunwoody Rd. Chamblee, GA 30341(678) 676-6902Principal, Dr. Rochelle Lowery

on the InsIde:

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opInIon 7Features 10

February 2013

Barnes Honored With Teacher of the Yearby Liya Mammo

To students and teachers alike, Gail Barnes is regarded as one of the most involved and distinguished educators at Chamblee Charter High School.

In addition to teaching four sec-tions of Advanced Placement world history, Barnes is also the AP coor-dinator, the sponsor of the National Honor Society, and the social studies department chairwoman. For the first time in years, Barnes has also been teaching a general-level world his-tory class this year.

Currently in her 16th year of teaching, Barnes can now add being Chamblee’s 2012-2013 teacher of the year to her already impressive resume. She was selected by her peers late last month.

Barnes earned her bachelor’s degree in history at Emory Univer-sity and her master’s in Educational Policy and Administration at the Uni-versity of Georgia. At the start of her career, Barnes taught at Towers High School in Decatur. Aside from world history, she has also taught AP government, United States history, economics, and ninth grade civics/geography.

Consistently exemplary AP exam scores show that there is no denying the success of Barnes’ teaching methods. However, Barnes herself acknowledges that she does not know precisely what she does to help her students “get it.”

“I wish I could figure out what the magic pill is,” said Barnes. “I try to make it as simple as possible.”

Nevertheless, she does expect her students to come to class prepared with knowledge of content.

“I try to lead them [students] down the road of figuring out why stuff happens,” said Barnes.

For Barnes, the job of a teacher goes far beyond discuss-ing the previous night’s reading and preparing students for the AP exam in May. Her students recognize how one year of instruction with her improves their analytical thinking and writing skills, makes them work harder, and helps them manage their time better.

“She’s very strict but gets us on track,” said Advanced Placement world history student Varsha Chiruvella. “She’s probably one of the best teachers I’ve ever had.”

Being a wife and a mother of two are also top priorities for Barnes. Though it may not seem like it to her students, Barnes admits that becoming a mother undoubtedly made her softer – something that she did not anticipate.

She considers her five-year-old son Brendan and three-year-old daughter Abigail to be the “light of her life” and her everything. One can see this with the way she proudly

displays their artistic masterpieces and adorable faces around her class-room.

Barnes is also passionate about cooking and fitness. In recent years, she has helped her husband out with his barbeque business, and has even entered one of her desserts in a com-petition.

She played lacrosse while in high school and rowed in college, but run-ning is a current, though impractical, passion of hers.

“I love to run, but time wise that is not a reality in my life any longer,” said Barnes.

Over the years, Barnes has learned that much of what you do as a teacher goes further than the content taught during one school year. How one can impact a student’s life in preparation for his or her future is significant to her.

“When you can see the light go on and see that they [the students] put the connection together and “got it” themselves, that’s what I love,” said Barnes.

Barnes describes herself as “someone who is always out for self-improvement,” but in the eyes of students and her peers, she is about as good as it gets.

AP United States history and government teacher Stephen Rubino, who was CCHS’s 2009-2010 TOTY, has worked alongside Barnes since she first started at Chamblee over a decade ago. He noted that it is Barnes’ organization, dedication, and her “capacity to think about others” that sets her apart and makes her admirable.

“Teacher of the year is an honor that should be given to teachers that make a difference, and, in that respect, Mrs. Barnes makes a difference in peoples’ lives,” said Rubino.

In a not so distant land, controlled by an organization far, far away, leaders convene to make decisions impacting the lives of nearly 100,000 students.

But this is no fairytale.That land is DeKalb County School District’s Instruc-

tional Complex (a mere 13 miles from Chamblee High School), the leaders are the nine publicly elected members of the DeKalb County Board of Education, and over 1,000 of those students are the young men and women who walk the halls of Chamblee five days a week.

And as for those decisions, they are not looking good. On December 17, AdvancED, the parent company of

the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS-CASI), placed the DeKalb County School District on “Accredited Probation.”

The district is still currently accredited, but board mem-bers now have until December 31, 2013 to fix 11 “Required Actions” laid out by AdvancED or the school system will lose its accreditation.

“I don’t want to overstate it, but the consequences of this are extremely significant to DeKalb County and to our com-munities,” Georgia House of Representatives member Scott Holcomb of District 81 told the Blue and Gold. “I have, along with many, great concern about the DeKalb Board of Education, and I have significant doubts that those who have caused this problem have the capacity to fix it.”

Representatives from DeKalb’s board recognize such fears and are promising to fix the problems despite having had many previous chances to do so.

“I know it doesn’t look good. I know it looks a little clouded and obscured, but remember that we are accredited and our goal is to stay accredited,” said DCSD Board of Education chair Eugene Walker.

According to a Georgia state law passed in 2010 (O.C.G.A. § 20-2-73), “if a local school system or school is placed on the level of accreditation immediately preceding loss of accreditation,” then the State Board of Education must hold a hearing to decide whether or not to recommend that the governor remove the local board members. Such a meeting was conducted on January 17 for DeKalb.

At DeKalb’s “suspension hearing,” each DCSD board member was called forward as a “witness” to give a personal statement and then to answer the questions of the state level representatives.

“It is hard to say at this point in the process where they [the state board of education] are going,” said Georgia State Board of Education Liaison Justin Pauly to the Blue and Gold. “I do think they saw a lot of testimony out of every board member, but there is a lot of information still to consider.”

While each board member spoke at the hearing, not all agree with the constitutionality of such a proceeding, as board removal would put leaders in power who were not

directly elected by citizens.“I know it wasn’t positive [the suspension hearing],

because in my opinion we didn’t get a fair hearing,” said Walker, who hoped the state board would grant DeKalb a similar year-long timeline to what SACS provided.

Walker feels that the state should not have the ability to remove locally elected boards.

“A lot of us believe that the state board and the governor don’t have the constitutional authority to remove people from office that the citizens elect, especially if they have not broken a statute of law or violated the constitution,” said Walker. “A lot of us feel that the citizens are the ones who should decide who represents them, not some board appointed by the governor, nor the governor himself, and not some regulatory body like SACS.”

At the end of the state meeting, no recommendation was made to the governor, and a further hearing will be held on February 21.

“They [the state board] do not take that decision lightly as it can make a tremendous impact on the community,” said Pauly.

While it may be a hard decision, it is one the state board is willing to make. In March, 2012, they recommended the removal of the Miller County board to Governor Nathan Deal.

Continued on page 4

The Fight to Retain Accreditation Places District on Edgeby Mollie Simon

If you like the Onion, then you will love Chamblee version- the garlic…page 10

Some people like to wake up to a cup of coffee and some people like to wake up to a workout. Check out page 5 and learn how

Coach Mattair gets his day started.

news Volume 86, Issue 5page 2

Chamblee Students Experience History at Close Upby Kobi Warner

Every year, Chamblee students are given the chance to go to Washington D.C. and be a part of the Close Up program. This year, junior United States history teacher Brian Ely took 11 students on that trip. Seniors Conner Hart, Christa Kelly, Kailyn LaPorte, Kevin Reagan, William King, along with ju-niors John Bormolini, Laura Kathryn Smith, Graham Gordon, Alexi Bryson, Kunal Goel, and I got personal with American politics.

The Close Up program was founded in 1971 and since then has been giving youth a new perspective of what exactly politicians do on a daily basis. The Close Up mission statement is to inform, inspire, and empower young people to exercise the rights and accept the responsibilities of citizens in a democracy.

This year was an especially unique ex-perience for Close Up participants. Students from California, Oregon, Montana, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Texas, New York, and Georgia were able to witness the second official inauguration of President Barack Obama.

The program divided schools up among three hotels in which two students from one school shared a room with two students from another school. There were six workshop

groups that had 25 students per group, and students would travel with these groups throughout D.C. during most of the pro-gram. Two workshops groups also shared a charter bus that they used for transporta-tion to Washington D.C. from the Sheraton Hotel, the Marriot Hotel, or the Holiday Inn Hotel.

Even though the participants were away from school, they were given a hard and rigorous schedule to follow throughout the program’s duration. Every morning each room got a wake up phone call from the Close Up staff at 6:30 a.m., excluding the morning where the Chamblee students, along with Ely, woke up at 5:00 a.m. to eat a boxed breakfast and get ready to take the lo-cal public transportation to the inauguration. After getting ready, breakfast was served from 8:00 until it was time for everybody to head to their first attractions.

The attractions that were on the list to visit this year were different from past years, due to D.C. being prepared for the inaugu-ration. Students got to visit the presidential memorials of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Thomas Jefferson, and the most impressive by far, Abraham Lincoln. Along with the Martin Luther King Memorial, students also

had the chance to pay their respects at the Vietnam, Korean, World War II, and Iwo Jima war memorials.

On Inauguration Day, the Chamblee group got up early and bundled up for what was to be a cold and long day. Arriving at the National Mall lawn, which is the grass strip in the between all of the Smithsonian Museums and where attending Americans stood in below freezing temperatures to see President Obama get sworn in.

Attending the inauguration meant stand-ing for three hours with constant foot pain and cold winds. Even though the waiting was excruciatingly boring, the outcome was amazing. The crowds cheered for every Democrat and Obama supporter that was shown on the Jumbotron televisions. There was also a negative reaction when Repub-licans such as Speaker of the House John Boehner and Senator John McCain arrived. Overall, nothing compared to the crowd’s reaction when President Obama was finally sworn in for his second term.

“It was probably the single most awe inspiring moment of my life so far,” said Bryson. “Hundreds of thousands of people gathered in one place in the freezing cold to watch Barack Obama be inaugurated for

the second time, and I got to be a part of history.”

Throughout the week, all of the students from various states

became closer and hung out with other people besides those from their own school. Towards the end of the trip, the program hosted two dances. One dance, which was Close Up’s official Inaugural Ball, was held at a hotel where groups from all three hotels got to dance and mingle as a DJ played music in the background.

The second dance was the farewell dance where a single hotel hosted a fare-well party. Before the dance even began, the ballroom was full of Close Up faculty, teachers, and students.

Each workshop sent a representative or two to tell the room the type of experience they got to enjoy with their group. After the dinner, the dance floor was full of teenag-ers saying their last goodbyes and having a good time because in the morning, they knew that they might never see each other again. Phone numbers were exchanged and Facebook friend requests were sent right before the room was cleared and students went to bed for the last time.

On the morning of the departure from D.C., reality kicked in for King as he real-ized that he got more than he bargained for.

“I went into Close Up with zero interest in politics and came back with a better un-derstanding of the role I must fill in order for our country to move forward,” said King.

The recent shooting in the small city of Newtown, Conneticut has sparked a gun control and mass-shooting debate un-matched in United States history.

The small Sandy Hook elementary school being devastated by a 20-year-old shooter has dominated political discussion and taken center stage in the capital, as the top politicians and lobbyists try to figure out a way to prevent further mass shootings.

The tragedy has come to show that sometimes it takes a horrific event to bring about a change on a polarizing issue. How-ever, the Newtown shooting has hardly united anybody on the issue, and a consen-sus on the problem, let alone a solution, has yet to be found.

After the terrorist attacks of 9/11 in which thousands of Americans died after multiple plane hijacks, a conclusion was reached by both the most conservative and liberal of people: the terrorists had to be caught, and the United States had to use every means to do so. America united in an unprecedented way, and reacted to a prob-lem as one nation, working together for a common goal.

Twelve years later, twenty-seven in-nocent Americans have been killed, most of whom are children, but the gun issue remains as divisive as ever.

Pundits on both sides argue that gun control is not the first step in stopping mass shootings. Mostly conservative, pro-gun lobbyists argue that cracks in the mental health system, a wide exposure of young kids to violent video games, a media blowup of every shooting, and even a lack of guns are responsible for the recent increase in mass shootings.

As the mourning for those killed in New-town continues, President Obama vowed that something will change.

“We won’t be able to stop every violent act,” said Obama following the tragedy. “But if there is even one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events, we have a deep obligation, all of us, to try.”

So far, Obama and his Vice President Joe Biden, have proposed more gun regulations, including a ban on larger magazine clips, and removing loopholes in the background check.

Although the majority of people after Newtown agree this is a necessary change, tough lobbying from the National Rifle As-sociation, a which is strongly represented in the United State government, has prevented any immediate action, and a standstill on the issue has risen.

Recent proposals, such as Obama’s and others, that suggest having armed guards at

all public areas or arming teachers at every school for protections have not only been discussed in the government, but in schools and homes around the country.

“I believe we should make it illegal for civilians to own any military grade weapons other than hand guns, knives, and snipers,” said Chamblee High School senior Jamil Joyner. “We should eliminate the gun show loophole, and enforce and strengthen gun ownerships permit pre-requisites and regulations.”

Until the recent shootings in Colorado and Newtown occured, major politicians including the president were woefully silent on the issue of gun control, and finally a turning point has been cast, and the discus-sion has started.

Second amendment rights to bear arms must not be infringed upon, but citizens who may or may not have mental health problems must not have the ability to attain high-powered weapons with the intention of mindless murder.

Mental health institutions must work with a broader spectrum of people, and early signs of mental problems have to be detected and reported.

Background checks, professional train-ing requirements, and closed loopholes must be implemented to stop the flow of murder-

ers in the country.But this will have no effect until the

nature of crime and homicide in the country is not ended with forces such as education and work opportunity.

None of this will happen until gun en-thusiasts stop distracting the country with a dystopian view of America, where no one is armed, and the government has full control. Gun lobbyists and NRA officials must reach the realization that bad people may be responsible for deaths, but their tools are automatic weapons with enormous magazine clips designed for war. If they do not, then change will not come.

Newtown showed America that invest-ing in gun control and better mental institu-tions is not just an investment to prevent violence, but an investment to protect America’s future. Mass shootings have now become a different sight on news programs, another point of contention; however, the best way to end this media extravaganza is to end the violence instead of ignoring it, and to end the breed of fearful that use guns as their tools.

“I don’t see why anyone would need high powered weapons,” said teacher Jeremy Karrasik. “But I don’t see much government interference solving the prob-lem either.”

A Divided Nation Reacts to Shooting in Newtownby Kunal Goel

News Analysis

Volume 86, Issue 5page 3 news

Gun Control Claims Center Stage in Political Discourseby Kunal Goel

Sandy Hook Tragedy Ignites School Safety Debateby Maddy Wetterhall

December 14th started off as a normal day for the residents of Newtown, Connecticut. Parents gently woke their children, en-joyed a hearty breakfast together in preparation for the busy day ahead, and hugged and kissed good-bye as the youngsters scampered off to catch the bus to Sandy Hook Elementary School.

Little did they know, for 20 of those families, it would be the last time they would ever embrace their child.

News of the school shooting, in which the lives of 20 elementary school students and six teachers were lost, spread quickly through the hallways of Chamblee Char-ter High School as students and teachers relayed the information to others in horrified, shocked whispers.

“I was in fifth period when I found out about it from a friend,” said junior Christina Zeigler. “My first thought was, who would do something like that to innocent elementary school students? And immediately following that, I thought, who will be the next crazy person to do something similar?”

Zeigler has a 14-year-old sister who attends Lakeside High School and several younger cousins who live in Savannah, Georgia.

“Since my sister and cousins

aren’t with me at my school, they always cross my mind when I hear about a shooting,” said Zeigler. “I can’t help but think that it could have been them.”

Zeigler’s family owns nu-merous firearms, which are kept locked up in a secure location.

“When I was two, my grandfa-ther would put me in my car seat and I would watch him shoot,” said Zeigler. “Even if I don’t remember it, it’s been a part of me since I was a baby.”

Zeigler and her family, who enjoy visiting the gun range every few weeks, exemplify the com-mon view that many southerners share regarding weapons and gun control.

“The government thinks that they will have to take guns away, but really there are other problems going on that don’t have anything to do with guns,” said Zeigler. “They [the problems] actually deal with a person’s mental state.”

As is the case after any tragic shooting, the topic of gun control dominates the media and is a recur-ring topic in public addresses.

President Barack Obama re-cently proposed a series of gun control laws, including some deal-ing with a ban on military assault rifles, smaller capacity magazine clips, and in-depth background

checks. Although Zeigler considers

background checks to be neces-sary and smaller magazines to be reasonable, she believes people should have the right to purchase military assault rifles.

The Blue and Gold asked stu-dents whether or not they feel safe at CCHS, and most replied that they do. Many, however, think that the school could benefit from tighter security measures.

“It kind of worries me that we only have one [armed police offi-cer on campus],” said junior Sara Marwitz. “I know that more guns isn’t necessarily the answer, but in this case, with a school so big and spread out as ours is, it could be helpful.”

Other students suggested metal detectors and the installation of a system in which anyone entering or exiting the building must swipe an ID card.

There are lots of security mea-sures already in place at Chamblee: all doors except the main entrance are kept locked throughout the school day, hallways and exits are monitored with security cameras, and two campus supervisors, as well as one armed police officer, patrol the school grounds.

Lockdown procedures, which vary based on the severity of

the threat, are in place to protect students and faculty from unsafe environments.

If there is criminal activity near the school building, schools are placed in a Level 1 lockdown, which means all exterior doors, as well as the main entrance, are locked and movement in the halls and during class changes is closely monitored. In a Level 2 lockdown, where the threat is in-side the building (such as an angry parent or student), classroom doors are locked, and staff and students must remain in the classrooms. If a threatening person who could possibly be armed is at the school, the building is placed in a Level 3

lockdown—classroom doors are locked; lights are turned off; all persons move out of sight and must remain silent.

Copies of “Emergency Re-sponse Procedures and Protocols”, a booklet that explains in detail what to do in any emergency situ-ation, are distributed to all staff members.

Additionally, there is an emer-gency preparedness plan in place at all times.

There are lots of protocols in place in case of an emergency like what happened at Sandy Hook,” said Rick Blitz, Assistant Principal of Discipline.

In 1791, the founding fathers of the United States of America ratified a con-stitution that clearly stated in the second amendment that the right to bear arms shall not be infringed upon. The amendment was made with the intent to allow citizens to be armed for personal protection, or in case of invasion or political oppression.

Hundreds of years later, in the wake of multiple mass shootings such as those in Aurora and Newtown, President Barack Obama assigned Vice President Joe Biden the daunting task of finding a gun control solution acceptable to all.

Biden faces the most opposition from the National Rifle Association who see any government regulation as an infringement

on their rights. The NRA argues that high-tech assault weapons are used for hunting and military purposes, and suggest that more guns are the solution to stopping the violence so that violent criminals can be subdued before any damage is done.

The NRA also suggests that cracks in the mental health system, exposure to violent video games and movies, and a explosion of media coverage over every shooting are also major causes for the recent violence.

Recently, Biden and Obama have proposed a plan that aims to strengthen background checks by closing loopholes, ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazine clips, and provide broader access to mental health services.

A recent Washington Post/ABC News poll showed that the public viewed Obama’s plan favorably by a 53 to 41 percent margin. However, many criticize the plan especially for the assault weapon ban, and because of the representation in congress, are confident that it will not pass.

Statistics go both ways, and one heav-ily used statistic is the comparison between Great Britain and the United States. Britain does not allow its citizens to have guns, and have had only 35 gun-related deaths last year in comparison to 11,000 in the United States(CNN.com).

However, the NRA especially has showed how gun use has prevented much crime in local areas.

For example, in 1976, Georgia made it easier for its citizens to get guns, and the homicide rate subsequently dropped 21 percent(GunOwners.org).

Many citizens of Georgia, a majority pro gun state, are big on hunting and fish-ing and have posed much opposition to the president’s plan. However, like any other state, many opinions have changed in the wake of Newtown.

“In my opinion, gun control should be a balance of government regulation and trust in citizens,” said junior Graham Gordon. “Too much of either leads to the wrong direction.”

Despite the swaying of many opinions, the battle of statistics and rights wages on.

“We know what works and what doesn’t work,” NRA president David Keene told CNN Sunday. “And we are not willing to compromise on people’s rights when there is no evidence that doing so is going to ac-complish the purpose.”

Whether the founding fathers knew it would happen or not, the nation is as di-vided on the issue of gun control as it ever has been, and permanent gun laws that will bring about any change will take time and a lot of lobbying.

As the mourning from the Sandy Hook shooting continue, to leave a bitter taste in the mouth, many remain upset that the gun control debate has so overshadowed the tragedy and believe that gun control can wait.

“It’s utterly ridiculous to think that any of the proposed ‘common sense’ gun control measures [background checks, magazine size limit, or assault rifle weapon ban] would have prevented the Sandy Hook shooting, or any future crazed mass-murder,” said senior Daniel Hanfelt. “And I can’t help but view the proponents of such legislation as manipulative of our emotional reaction to such a horrible crisis.”

Volume 86 Issue 5page 4 news

In the case that the governor is left to ap-point a new board in DeKalb, legislators are ready to help identify candidates, according to Holcomb.

Individuals like Walker might be un-happy to have elected officials ousted, but some believe constituents would be getting what they deserve for not voting in elections that directly impact them.

According to DeKalb County’s website listing of election results, only 46,792 voters came out on July 31, 2012 to elect a board of education representative in super-district 8 (which covers nearly half of DeKalb). At the same time, 306,858 people came out in the entire county for the November presi-dential election.

In addition to being a problem of leader-ship though, the current situation may also be a result of delayed response time, as not everyone feels SACS acted quickly enough on known issues.

“The interesting thing is that there are some people who do not use AdvancED and down the road the state of Georgia may look at somebody else to accredit our schools,” said State Senator Fran Millar of District 40, who is on the Youth and Education Com-mittee. “I think there is a frustration level.

As one who has lived in DeKalb County, I could have written that [AdvancED] report three years ago. The information contained in that report didn’t happen overnight.”

Despite this, no matter who will rep-resent the stakeholders of DeKalb come December, the county must be prepared to face an AdvancED team no later than May 31, 2013.

“You can only have a dysfunctional government system for so long before it permeates the entire system,” said Annette Bohling, Chief Accreditation Officer for AdvancED.

While the class of 2013 will likely have turned the tassels on their graduation caps by the next AdvancED visit, it is the members of the class of 2014 who may need to pay the most attention to the accreditation issue.

Many colleges and universities have the stated requirement that applicants graduate from an accredited institution. In reality, ac-creditation loss is nowhere near an end-all in the admissions process, as students can ap-ply through the same means as peers coming from home-school settings—which do not wear a traditional stamp of accreditation.

Concerns about post-secondary schools are founded, but it is important to note that

the possibility of losing accreditation should not be juxtaposed with losing educational opportuni-ties.

“Students should not be too overly concerned,” said Millar. “The best thing they can do is just pursue their studies.”

In addition, colleges and universities in Geor-gia are aware of DeKalb’s situation and legislators

are likely to put contingency plans in place for graduates who might otherwise be im-pacted by AdvanED’s decision.

“Typically, UGA requires that a student be attending a regionally accredited school,” said Nancy McDuff, Associate Vice Presi-dent for Admissions and Enrollment Man-agement at the University of Georgia. “In the case of a Georgia school district losing accreditation, we will follow the directions of the Board of Regents. In the recent past, the System Office has instructed UGA to consider the applicant as if the district was still accredited.”

The “recent past” for Georgians, brings to mind Clayton County Public Schools’ 2008 loss of accreditation, which was re-stored in 2009. For students of this district who got caught graduating in the year with-out accreditation, a number of exceptions were made.

According to a 2008 measure signed by then governor Sunny Purdue, students who attended eligible high schools that lost accreditation within two years of be-ing accredited retained HOPE Scholarship eligibility. Unfortunately, this measure only extended through 2010.

A similar action could be expected from current legislators if DeKalb were to lose its stamp of accreditation though, according to Holcomb and Millar.

“If that would happen [accreditation loss] we will likely give students a get out of jail free card like we did for the kids of Clayton County,” said Millar.

The new law giving the governor the opportunity to remove board members may well halt the situation from ever reaching such a level, though many constituents are done with hearing empty promises.

“My message to the students is to rest assured that the board is committed to en-

suring that our accreditation stays in place,” said Walker.

Students are not alone in feeling con-cern over the DeKalb’s current dire straits. A loss of accreditation could take a hit on the county’s economy and property values, which are already suffering from the general economic downturn.

“I get phone calls from realtors on how this can impact property values,” said Dr. Melvin Johnson of District 6, who, along with board members Marshal Orson and Jim McMahan, only took office on January 7.

Parents have also tried to make their voices heard on the matter.

“We have a notebook full of all of the public comments ranging from petitions to just emails of people asking the state board to recommend or not recommend removal to the governor,” said Pauly. “We get com-ments on both sides.”

Right now though, the consensus is that enough contingency plans are in place be-tween the new Georgia law granting some State Board of Education oversight and the current compliance of the DeKalb board members to work with SACS, that most predict retention of accreditation.

“We [DCSD board members] are ac-cepting the responsibility for this, and that is why we are working so hard to do those required actions,” said Walker. “We believe that working on those 11 requirements will make DeKalb better, so that is what we are focusing on and that is why we are doing this.”

Please note that quotes from Bohling, Millar, Holcomb, Walker, Johnson , and McDuff were taken from interviews that the Blue & Gold conducted directly with these individuals.

Fight to Retain Accredotation continued

Volume 86 Issue 5page 5 sports

One of the biggest stories in sports last year occurred on March of 2012 when the public became aware of money being exchanged for causing pain to others in the form of “Bountygate.” Gregg Williams was seen as the mastermind behind these allegations, and soon the entire New Orleans Saints organization was being looked at under a microscope. If you listen to audio of Coach Williams, you will hear him say phrases like “respect comes from fear”, and emphasizing the mantra “kill the head, and the body will die.” In my opinion, these lines sound like something straight out of the Cobra Kai dojo in the 1984 movie “Karate Kid”, but Sensei Williams made it clear that fear did not exist in his locker room but in the heads of the opponents.

If you type in “Kurt Warner gets Laid Out” on YouTube you can see Kurt Warner get blasted in the second quarter of the divisional playoffs vs. New Orleans Saints in the 2009 season. Warner never sees it coming and ironically, the hit he takes is eerily similar to the one that Aaron Murray takes in the SEC Championship. The Saints bench becomes electric with everyone cheering while Warner’s body struggles to make sense of what just happened. Warner would later head into retirement that same season claiming that the hit that made him leave the game was legal and did not factor into his decision.

Another fan favorite called “Bounty

Bowls Greatest Hits” shows a Viking uni-formed Brett Favre get pummeled over and over again by the Saints while Elvis sings “Your Cheating Heart” in the background. Favre wobbles to his feet again and again only to be driven into the ground so many times that his body and forehead start to match the color of his purple uniform.

The 2009-2010 New Orleans Saints team will now live on in infamy after “Bountygate”, but the indelible image that most people will probably remember will be Drew Brees, holding up his son to the rain of confetti, while being presented with the Lombardi trophy and winning the Superbowl MVP. The Saints were one of the few teams that gave Brees a chance after a major shoulder injury. In return, he rewarded the city of New Orleans with their first Superbowl win and a huge boost to the economy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Hollywood couldn’t have written a better script in terms of a happy ending.

This past summer, Drew Brees made a controversial tweet in defense of his team stating, “If NFL fans were told there were weapons of mass destruction enough times, they’d believe it. But what happens when you don’t find any?” Brees later apologized for the tweet, but I believe that the meta-phoric weapons he was alluding to are more wide spread than you might think.

Former players interviewed by Peter King for Sports Illustrated after “Bounty-

gate” would only comment anony-mously saying that payments for good hits and sacks have always been part of the game. However, trying to threaten a person’s live-lihood was considered to be off limits. Somewhere along the way, the lines got blurred and the stakes got higher.

In Williams’ system, players could usually earn $1,000 for a cart-off and up to $1,500 for knockouts during the season. The players were

often cajoled into putting their winnings back into the jackpot which would often double or triple the profits come playoff time. After an investigation, it was later revealed that bounties were placed on Aaron Rogers and Cam Newton last season by the Saints.

Goodell had hoped to drop the hammer on the Saints to end the practice of bounties the same way he attacked Bill Belichick during the 2007 “Spygate” scandal for vid-eotaping signals and formations. In terms of revenue lost, Goodell issued the biggest fine ever imposed on a coach. In addition, he also took away a first round pick from the New England Patriots.

In both cases, many sports writers be-lieved that Goodell acted too quickly when enforcing both of these issues. Taking away a coach’s salary and a draft pick hurts, but Belichick was allowed to continue to coach the team. In my opinion, being suspended from coaching for a season was far more punitive.

During the “Bountygate” proceedings, Paul Tagliabue, former NFL commissioner, cited that Goodell used “selective enforce-ment and prosecution” when it came to singling out Saints players on the basis of being a team captain or coach instead of addressing the acts of the entire Saints defensive unit during the scandal. He ruled that Goodell had handed down punish-ments too harshly to select individuals and instead opted to fine those involved in lieu of suspensions.

The NFL would like you to believe that fining multimillionaires cash fines for dirty deeds will deter them in the future, but that has never stopped them before. Even college defensive players don’t get paid in cash ,but they also don’t get stickers of bones, toma-hawks, or stars on the backs of their helmets for keeping their uniforms clean. Big hits on a highlight reel can move you up several positions on a draft board or help the players gain favor with an organization.

What is even more disturbing is that in Tustin, California, Pop Warner coaches paid 10-11 year old children cash incentives of up to $50 dollars to intentially injure the op-posing team. The Tustin Cobras went 12-1 with an appearance in the Pop Warner Super Bowl. However, suspicions were aroused by parents of an opposing team when news surfaced that Cobra players were paid hand-somely for dealing out a concussion to a run-ning back during the Santa Margarita game on their way to the championship.

The Cobra kids would often refer to the cash as “prizes”, but in reality they were collecting money on a contract hit. When I played soccer during my adolescence, we got orange slices after a game and a pizza party at the end of the season. I would like to say I could not be bought, but it would be awful tempting for the adolescent version of me to take out someone’s legs instead of going for the ball at that price. Even if I got yellow carded, the amount of Legos I could buy with that cash would be worth it.

When Friedrich Nietzsche responded to the maxim “every man has his price” he said that it was not true, but for every man there exists bait which no man can resist swal-lowing. He believed that you need only give the bait the illusion of a love of humanity, nobility, gentleness, or self-sacrifice.

The Saints defense influenced the outcome of games, but none of those wins will be vacated or trophies returned. I find it hard to believe Sean Payton as the head coach was not more aware of this, but he is on his way to a new contract with his old team. Winning a Superbowl definitely won’t hurt his cause, I imagine, when it comes to negotiating a contract.

It is difficult to blame grown men play-ing a child’s game for being willing to do anything for a chance to be immortalized at the professional level. However, as adults, I hope we do not promote “a win at any cost mentality” for our children.

Every Man Has a Priceby Todd Spearman

After the last bell rings, students dis-perse, and extracurriculars take the spot-light. Various games, meets, and practices take place after school every day. Sports show a different side of the school and the people in it, particularly of the teachers that coach different teams.

Special Education teacher Curtis Mat-tair’s main passions include fitness and helping students. Although his career did not start in teaching, his introduction to fitness stemmed from football, like a few of the athletes he coaches on the football team.

“My brothers and I grew up watching our dad workout with weights at home,” said Mattair. “We were in sixth grade when we started playing football; and, once we started playing, we started lifting weights, wanting to be better football players.”

Eventually, the combination of sports and weight lifting became an enjoyable and deeply ingrained habit in Mattair’s everyday life.

“It [weight training] was required for football and track, in high school and col-lege, so it was something that I had to do,” said Mattair.

Training others never crossed his mind until college, while he was aiming for a Master’s Degree in social work.

“It was a freshman girls’ basketball team. One of them asked me about training her and some of the girls on the team,” said Mattair. “I just gave them what I was doing for myself.”

The training went well, and his inexperi-

ence was not an issue. “I noticed then, that I had a niche for it;

I just started with that incident and carried on from there,” said Mattair.

After graduating from Alabama A & M, he began a career in juvenile justice and worked in personal training on the side. Despite the decent chunk of income that came from working at local gyms, he craved a change.

“I thought I wanted to do it [personal training] full time, and I have to say, the money is excellent,” said Mattair.

“Once I got out of social services, there was a void. I was still attached to the kids. I wanted to figure out how I could merge the two together.”

Working in the public school system was the perfect way to fulfill both of these desires. After going back to school and get-ting his certification, he jumped right into his new job.

Mattair is currently the head coach of the boys track team and assists with coaching the football team here at Chamblee.

As is the case with many teachers that coach, the two roles that they take on are very separate. For Mattair, he simply considers himself more of a coach in both settings.

“I think that a coach’s job is to lead, motivate, and inspire, and I like to do that all the time, whether it be in the class room or whether it be on the track or football field,” said Mattair.

Coaching and teaching are not just

about winning or scoring particularly high on exams. Being a good role model and of-fering guidance to the students that need it can shape a person’s life more than a touch down.

For these reasons, Mattair makes the ef-fort to lead by example and talk to students about things beyond the class room.

“When I’m in the classroom, I’m con-stantly moving around, motivating the kids to try and do better,” said Mattair. “The same thing happens in athletics. When there’s any down time, we want to get a chance to

motivate and talk about what’s going on in their lives, what they can do to make situ-ations better.”

In order to have the energy and state of mind to do this, he still takes care of himself and tries to balance school, coaching, and free time.

“My goal is to be in the gym every morning by 5 to about 5:15,” said Mattair. “I believe that I have to get myself together before I can come in and give to others.”

Coach and Role Model in all Sensesby Allison Bennett

Sports Column

Volume 86, Issue 5page 6 edItorIals

The Blue and Gold accepts and encourages all signed letters

and other submissions but re-serves the right to edit such sub-

missions for size and content.

The Blue and Gold exists to serve the needs of the Chamblee High School student body and

therefore is a forum for free expression.

The opinions and views ex-pressed within the Blue and

Gold do not necessarily reflect the views of the faculty and

staff of Chamblee High School or DeKalb County. The views

expressed in all signed articles represent the views of the

author only. Likewise, all un-signed articles represent only

the views of the staff and edito-rial board of the Blue and Gold and in no way reflect upon the views, opinions, or beliefs of Chamblee High School, its faculty, staff, or students or

DeKalb County, or any agent or affiliation thereof.

Editors in ChiefMollie Simon

Suzanne Lechner

EditorsNews -Maddy WetterhallFeatures - Liya Mammo

Staff WritersAllison Bennett

Alex BraganKunal Goel

Sasha HoltonSolina Jean-LouisEmily Kandzierski

Sarah MageeDan Richardson

Kobi Warner

AdviserChristopher Smith

The Blue and Gold is a student publication of

Chamblee High School3688 Chamblee-Dunwoody

RoadChamblee, GA 30341

Staff

Blue and Gold New Ideas to Rejuvenate Lackluster School Spiritby Suzanne Lechner

User-Friendly Plasco Modernizes Chambleeby Suzanne Lechner

American Families Paying College Board for Their Children’s Futures

by Solina Jean-Louis

After the football season ends and students start looking towards summer and freedom, every school administration struggles to keep spirit and motivation high in the student body. Without spirit and support from the student body, teams tend to falter, teachers become grumpy, and students sit in class counting the seconds until summer vacation. School spirit creates exciting tension in the hallways as ev-eryone eagerly awaits the next big games.

It is understandable then, that the Chamblee administration would want to maintain a high level of spirit within the school throughout the year, instead of just during football season. To reach this goal, the administration recently implemented a new “spirit Friday” competi-tion between the grade levels, and so far the senior class has had an overwhelming number of participants--easily outnumbering the other grade levels.

Administrators have valiantly tried to encourage the spirit of competition in the underclassmen. Students, though, struggle to remember to do anything on a Friday morn-

ing as they scramble to finish any last-minute homework or projects.

An easier way to embrace school spirit would be to ask members of Chamblee’s band to record “Alma Mater”, our school song, and play the recording during the five minute time period between the 8:10 and tardy bells. This way, students would recognize the tune and be able to find out how long they have to get to class (since there are no clocks in the hallways anymore). The lyrics should also be included in the student handbook—otherwise, students only find out about them by playing in the marching band or daydreaming in the gym and seeing the large placard.

There is probably not anyone in the school who currently knows all the words to the song (though I would love to be proven wrong), and there is probably a large portion of the student body that does not even know we have a song. By playing the tune, we can showcase our tal-ented band, create a bond between grade levels at the school, and possibly get people singing along during football games and pep rallies.

Additionally, it would help the entire stu-dent body’s spirit improve if sports events and upcoming academic competitions (math tour-naments, quiz bowl, Science Olympiad, etc.) were mentioned over the morning announce-ments after the word of the day, when students are slightly more alert and not preparing to run out of the school. Almost every student is able to say when the next football game is, but for participants in lesser known activities, it can be rewarding just to hear their team being recognized.

Finally, even though the privilege was taken away three years ago after a student abused it, another method of increasing school spirit would be allowing grades to come together to decorate the grade-level hallways or modules during spirit week. It unites grades, forces students to work together to create a space that is “theirs”, and beautifies the inside of a run-down building.

To suggest more ideas to improve school spirit, please leave a comment at blueandgold-news.blogspot.com.

After learning during the senior class as-sembly that the new PlascoTrac system was fi-nally being implemented and hearing students’ outraged cries against it, I decided to test the system myself.

Yes, I was purposefully late to fourth period (which happens to be Journalism, so please do not try this without getting teacher permission in advance), and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found upon walking into the Attendance Office.

Surprisingly, there was no line; I just had to ask for a pass. Then, I was asked to present my student identification card, and it was scanned. I was then given a piece of paper with the date of my infraction, the consequence (a warning in this case), and a note mentioning what the next punishment level would be. All in all, it was a pretty painless process, though I was

only going through it for the first time and not worried about an after-school detention.

If a student does not have their ID card with them (though they are supposed to), they should not worry. The administrator in charge will ask for his or her student number, and the process continues as normal. Do not list the wrong student number, though, as anyone caught fal-sifying information will be written up.

While the “three tardies and you receive a referral” rule may seem harsh, it has been the rule since everyone started high school in August. In fact, it is written in the Student Code of Conduct and the Chamblee Handbook; the only thing that has changed now is that administrators have an efficient way to keep track of who has been late three times and deserves detention.

As The Blue and Gold discovered last year,

it is possible to walk from trailer 1F to the school building in about three and a half min-utes, so considering that, unless a teacher lets his or her students out late, the students really do not have an excuse to be tardy for class.

Though I do not know of anyone who has received “positive points” (kudos to anyone who can think of a better name), they sound like a smart way to encourage students to do the right thing, like have perfect attendance or participating in peer tutoring.

For the most part, PlascoTrac seems to be efficient and objective. It is a time saving device that could help to bring our school into the 21st century, so please do not be late to class, but do give Plasco a chance before you denounce it.

For more information about PlascoTrac please visit us at http://blueandgoldnews-news.blogspot.com/.

It is the beginning of second semester, and that means many Chamblee students, mostly juniors, are getting ready to take the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) that is offered three times this semester.

Many students have prepared by taking the SAT Prep course at school (taught by Marti Macon-Gee), or taking practice tests either online or that they have bought at book stores. Some even take expensive courses for months to prepare for the exam that they hope will get them into the school of their dreams.

“My parents spent about $1,000 dollars on SAT Prep for me this year,” said a Chamblee student, who wished to remain anonymous.

It is an open secret that American fami-lies with teenage students can go to extreme lengths to secure the best score possible for their student on the SAT. According to a 2010 article in the Huffington Post, the amount of money families spend on SAT preparation for their children in this country totals well above $350 million.

If one divides that by the 1.6 million stu-dents in the class of 2012 who took the SAT

in 2012, that totals an average of about $2,000 spent by each student’s family on preparation for the exam.

There are of course deviations from the average (that number excludes the students in other grades that took the test), but that is still a lot of money being shelled out of parents’ pock-ets to essentially buy their children’s futures.

There has been much controversy over whether socioeconomic background plays a role in SAT scores of high school students.

According to the New York Times, there is, in fact, a strong correlation; about two-thirds of test takers voluntarily report their family income when they take the SAT, and the Col-lege Board compiled this information, which the NY Times put into graphs. These graphs show an upward trend in the SAT scores as a family’s income increases.

“No matter what they say, there is always the socioeconomic barrier,” said junior Sounak Das. “The more money you have, the more you can spend to take the tests again and again.”

According to a 2009 CNN article, the Col-lege Board makes yearly revenue of about $600

million dollars.Since its beginnings in 1900, the College

Board has become a giant corporation, although it is technically supposed to be a nonprofit organization. The College Board has control over the SAT and Advanced Placement courses taken by many high schoolers including those here at Chamblee.

The question facing many Chamblee stu-dents and high school students all across the country is whether or not all of this is worth it. Is it worth it to spend so much money on preparing for a test that essentially just shows how good of a test taker one is?

In some ways, it is not worth it at all. Studies have shown that the SAT score rarely correlates with the grade point average of col-lege freshmen.

“To an extent, the SAT does show students’ commitment to get into college. It shows that, even if you are not a natural born test taker, you are willing to work for a higher score,” said Das. “What it does not show is your intelligence level or how well you’ll do in college.”

The Blue and Gold wants to hear from you! Do you have an article idea or an opinion about a recent Chamblee event?

If so, please stop by trailer T4A!

Volume 86, Issue 5edItorIalspage 7

Hard to be Selective without Enough Electivesby Sarah Magee

Wrong Time for New Electivesby Dan Richardson

In the course of the last few weeks following the terrible massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary, a very interesting question has arisen about what we should do about guns in America? A number of new gun laws have been suggested and a majority of people, perhaps out of fear, have elected to hop on the bandwagon without much thought.

One serious question facing proponents of gun control laws is do the laws really work? The simple answer is no, the Assault Weapons Ban of 1994 attempted to prohibit a number of “military style weapons” for 10 years. Five years later, one of the worst mass shootings in American history occurred at Columbine High School, and the shoot-ers were using some of the exact guns that were supposedly banned.

More over, any new gun laws will only be able to be enforced upon those who already follow the law, the same people who follow the existing gun regulation: responsible gun owners.

When a criminal breaks into a home he is already aware that he is breaking the law, if that’s the case ,then how would another law, this one banning a weapon, make any difference to him at all. On the other hand, if the owner of the home

was there at the time and had say their AR-15, he could have easily stopped the intruder and protected his home.

Now some argue that a situation like that would never happen and no one would ever need a firearm to protect themselves, I’d like to refer those people to a mother in Loganville, GA, not too far away, that just this month shot an intruder in her home to protect herself and her two young children.

Now this is not a frequent occurrence but neither is it an isolated incident. Imagine if the proposed law where every gun must be registered and put into a database that is then put online, similar to a sex offender list was to go into ef-fect. All a criminal would have to do now is go online and handpick which houses would be easiest to rob, the benefit to the law abiding citizen? None.

So what should we do? The shooters at Columbine, Au-rora, CO , and Sandy Hook all have one thing in common: a mental health issue. Mental health is the single greatest danger to our society. but instead of attempting to fix the broken system that keeps letting these people slip through the cracks the focus seems to be on banning high capacity clips and assault weapons.

Now I’m not calling for a wild west type America and do believe that stricter background checks and mental evalua-tions be done before letting a person buy a firearm and that those who have a mentally ill person in the home not be allowed to own certain types of firearms but all out restric-tions on a specific type of weapon or magazine is nothing short of infringement on the Second Amendment.

As hard as it is to swallow, the fact is criminals are going to have guns regardless of any legislation, with over 300 million firearms in the United States it’s a sad but true way of life. However, what we can do is make sure those with a mental illness do not have access to a firearm and get more people to become responsible gun owners. The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. The debate about what to do about guns will rage on seeing how controversial it is, and while I respect the opinions of my colleagues who believe new legislation is the key to curbing gun violence, I have to say, at the end of the day while you can hope that words written on paper and signed off on by an elected official will keep you safe, I will take comfort in knowing I can always protect myself with my .38, so as long as it doesn’t jam.

by Ebenezer Eyasu, Class of 2013

Letter to the Editors

Each spring, Chamblee students decide what classes they want to take the following school year. Aside from picking the necessary core classes of math, English, science, and social studies, students are faced with the limited task of choosing their electives.

Electives are generally seen by the student population as being more fun, sometimes less demanding, and a chance to broaden knowledge on topics other than the core subjects taught in school.

Chamblee offers four years of engineering electives and computer science electives, which are useful for people who find those topics interesting, but those subjects are not for everyone.

It is important for students to get a foundation of knowl-edge not simply based on core classes. Electives are a chance for students to get involved in something they may not usu-ally be interested in, but may end up enjoying it.

Teenagers have a wide variety of interests, hobbies, and desires for what they want to do when they grow up. With more electives offered that appeal to a wider group of students, high school can be the first step to deciding careers for the future.

There are a variety of electives that many students at Chamblee would find interesting, rewarding, and fun, but are not offered here currently.

At Marist School, students are offered a Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution class, Advanced Placement Art History class, a Holocaust class, a Shakespeare class, and a Philosophy and Psychology of Happiness class. Classes such as those would be very beneficial for Chamblee students, and the opportunity would provide them with a broader knowledge of the history of the world and how humans and society work.

Some important life skills, such as driving, life saving,

public speaking, debate, home economics, and culinary arts could be taught in elective courses as well and would be valuable skills to know.

Aside from the typical art class, courses that focus on pottery, ceramics, or stage design would also appeal to more specific artisans.

At Dunwoody High School, an interior design class is offered that attracts future home fashioners, and a team sports class, which focuses more on individual sports, is also an option.

Lastly, because Chamblee offers so many challenging and rigorous classes, most students would benefit from a study hall option. Between sports, after school activities, clubs, and the homework load of seven classes, study hall would give young scholars a chance to get homework done early or get ahead in their classes.

Students always whine about the elective selection here at Chamblee, often comparing it to other schools.

Chamblee does not have any fancy electives like film appreciation, art history, interior design, or home econom-ics. Although students would enjoy these classes and their special topics, Chamblee just cannot begin to offer them at this time.

It is true that other schools have a variety of options that Chamblee cannot match. The differences between Chamblee and these schools are apparent though. Chamblee cannot match the budget that private schools have available, and the public schools that have these special classes have had them in their budgets since their schools were founded. Chamblee opted to have more Advanced Placement classes instead of special electives.

These new classes would require teachers to educate and discipline students and in the past school year, Chamblee has had to release six faculty members. There is no room in the budget for new teachers, as determined by the DeKalb County Board of Education.

Having enough teachers is a problem only faced if we had the room for anymore classes, but with half of the school torn down, and the other half scheduled to be demolished

soon, now is not the time to think up new electives.Chamblee already has a sizable amount of quality elec-

tives, from an engineering program that fosters creative problem solving to the yearbook class that puts out an out-standing annual. These electives and those like them already benefit students more than any interior design class could.

Now granted,there are some electives here that students treat as free periods, but money and time should be spent on building these electives up and making them more interac-tive, not neglecting them and creating new ones.

If students dislike the electives that much, then they do not have to take them. Besides the mandatory electives, Physical Education and Health required freshman year, students can swap out electives for classes that interest them more.

School is a place where students are suppose to be edu-cated and encouraged to become productive members of society. The classes that are offered and should be offered at school should help students obtain that goal.

Engineering classes help students develop critical think-ing skills, writing classes help students become more fluent and capable writers ,computer classes help students become more equipped to handle basic softwares, and all of these

classes teach valuable skills while educating students about potential career fields.

Film appreciation classes and jewelry making classes cannot help students in the long run; instead, they just give them a class with less formal rules and easier As. These electives at other schools are not real classes. They are hobbies that have been given an hour during the school day. Some classes like home economics, do teach valuable skills but those should be skills parents teach their children, not another responsibility the school system must take up. Electives should be classes that offer more freedom and leniency but still help educate students.

Classes that could become electives should be open to suggestion, as long as there is support and something to be gained from the class, but now is not the time to be creating new classes. When DeKalb County has fixed its financial issues and Chamblee’s new school is finally finished, then students’ can start recommending electives. Until then, students will have to pick from the fine classes already available.

Point - Counter Point

There is one thing that all high school students have in common regardless of grade level or IQ: if a test does not count as a grade, they will not try their best on it.

Anyone who has been in the DeKalb County School District long enough knows about the infamous benchmark tests: tests that are administered before and after content has been taught. But a lot of students wonder what the real purpose, if any, is.

“I’m not a huge fan of benchmarks, mainly because they are just irrelevant as far as tests go,” said junior Sophie Steele, who has been in the DeKalb County School System since she was five. “But they are not usually too difficult, so it’s not a huge problem.”

Other students have a different take on it, and simply

“Christmas tree” the test by filling in random answers and often not even bothering to read the given question.

“If I know I’m not going to get graded on a multiple choice test, I’m just going to write out “YOLO” on the Scantron,” said sophomore Neil Young.

However, benchmark tests are helpful in showing stu-dent progress over the course of the school year. Since the test is taken before learning anything, students have to guess on every question, but at the end of the year when they take the same test they took months ago, it is evident that they now know what they are supposed to.

“I think benchmark tests are helpful, even though most people definitely do not share my opinion,” said junior D’Lawren Hicks. “It evaluates teachers as well, because

if a student gets a bad grade on the test the second time he or she takes it, it shows that the teacher didn’t teach what they were supposed to.”

Perhaps if there was a way to improve the benchmark test system, teachers and students alike would be more satisfied.

“I think students just don’t care for benchmarks because no teacher teaches exactly to the learning standards and exactly like the book,” said senior Nicholas Chen. “The best way to improve [the system of benchmark testing] would be to enter in grades for both the pre-test and the post test, then the subsequent grade will replace the previous one. That way students will try their best - especially on the post-test, to achieve a high grade for the grade book.”

Students Resent Time Wasted on Benchmarksby Sarah Magee

Features Volume 86, Issue 5page 8

Mentally Blockedby Maddy Wetterhall

Finally, the day has arrived. Over the course of the past

several weeks, you have dedicated yourself to hours of training in the blazing heat, freezing cold, and pouring rain, suffered perpetually sore muscles and countless ice baths, avoided your favorite fast food restaurant, and forfeited fun nights out with friends in order to get a few extra hours of sleep.

Innumerable sacrifices have been made in preparation for this very important occasion, and, finally, it has arrived: it is game day.

After you have eaten your spe-cial breakfast, put on your lucky underwear, and completed the rest of your superstitious rituals, you head to the stadium, nervous, excited, and ready to compete.

But as your time in the spot-light creeps closer and closer throughout the day, you begin to think about all the possible things that could go wrong. When it is time to perform, you have become a bundle of nerves and completely dread the competition.

When it is all said and done, you are utterly disappointed in how it all went. Whether your time was slow, you missed a goal, or your pass got intercepted, the “game day” you had spent hours upon hours training for was over and, yet again, you were let down.

Unfortunately, all athletes go through this stage—for some, it may be for just a few competitions, but for others, it may seem to drag on and on. I fit into the second category.

With my running, I have not felt completely satisfied about my performance for several seasons—yes, I have made it to the state championship in both cross coun-try and track, and yes, I placed

fairly well there, but compared to the times I ran while in seventh and eighth grade, I have not shown the type of progress my coaches and I had hoped for.

It is incredibly frustrating—my hard work seems to not pay off. My coaches repeatedly tell me that there is no question of whether I am physically stronger now than I was then, but when it comes to mental strength, I seem to be lacking.

We have all heard of the over-used cliché that 90 percent of an athlete’s performance is mental. The problem, however, is that 90 percent of coaches and athletes spend 100 percent of their time working on the physical aspects related to their sport, thus neglect-ing the area that truly separates the “will-bes” from the “wanna-bes”.

It is not simply the neck that joins the mind with the body—it is about looking at yourself in the mirror and saying repeatedly, “I am the best thing since sliced bread.” It is about confidence, trust, a willingness to endure pain, and pushing yourself harder and farther than you ever thought possible. It is about celebrating the wins, but more importantly, picking yourself up after the losses and getting right back out there to do it again—only better.

Just like you have to do drills to train your body, you need to do mental drills to prepare yourself for a competition. I have been try-ing different strategies, and I plan to continue to do so, until I find a formula that works. I aspire to be a “will-be”—I have settled for being a “wanna-be” for way too long.

[Note: Wetterhall has been the fastest female cross country runner for the past 3 years. Her best 5K time is 18:53.71.]

The boys swim team took the blue ribbon at the DeKalb County Swim and Dive Championship for the first time ever on Saturday, beating out arch rivals Lakeside and Dunwoody by a substantial margin.

“We destroyed,” said senior boys captain Alex Kemenov.

And destroy they did, complet-ing the meet with 263 points.

For the past nine years, the Lakeside Vikings had ended the season victorious. This time, however, the Bulldogs had other plans.

“It is the strongest team I’ve worked with,” said boys head coach Wesley Graham. “I’m ex-tremely proud of our swimmers. Many of them stepped up and swam in events that they really may not have liked, but it’s those little things that help secure the win.”

Kemenov won the 50 yard freestyle, and broke the school re-cord in the 100 yard breaststroke.

“I’ve been really sick the past week, so I was a bit worried,” said the captain. “But I couldn’t be hap-pier with my performance.”

Diver Caleb Wikle shattered not only the school, but the county diving record as well on the way to winning a gold medal in the boys 1-meter diving event.

“You know, it just feels fantas-tic to be able to say I contributed in

that way,” said Wikle. “I’m really humbled to have been part of this team.”

The girls also performed well, placing third out of 14.

Their biggest surprise of the meet came from a second place fin-ish in the 400 yard freestyle relay as the team was behind going into the last leg.

“We were kind of shocked,” said junior Sara Marwitz, who swam the third leg. “It was really Rachel Solomon [freshman] who caught us up. She put in an amaz-ing last leg.”

Here is a list of Bulldogs who recorded notable performances:

Mens 200 Yard Medley Relay (1st)-Jacob Jordan, Alex Kemenov, John Mitchell, Patrick Lindstrom

1:44.65Womens 200 Yard Medley Re-

lay (3rd)-Suzanne Lechner, Rachel Solomon, Sara Marwitz, Maddy Wetterhall

1:58.24Mens 200 Yard Freestyle (2nd)-

Matthew Williams1:53.63Mens 200 Yard Individual

Medley(1st) Nicholas Oh-2:02.41(3rd) Wesley Cheung-2:06.36Men’s 50 Yard Freestyle (1st)-

Alex Kemenov22.18Mens 1 meter Diving (1st)-

Caleb Wikle

394.80 pointsMen’s 100 Yard Butterfly(3rd) John Mitchell-56.63(4th) Alex Perry-57.27Mens 100 Yard Freestyle (1st)-

Nicholas Oh48.94Mens 500 Yard Freestyle (2nd)-

Matthew Williams5:06.66Mens 200 Yard Freestyle Relay

(1st)-Jacob Jordan, Wesley Cheung, Patrick Lindstrom, Nicholas Oh

1:32.78Mens 100 Yard Backstroke

(1st)-Jacob Jordan58.87Mens 100 Yard Breaststroke

(2nd)-Alex Kemenov1:01.9Womens 500 Yard Freestyle

Rachel Solomon finished in first place.

Mens 400 Yard Freestyle Re-lay (1st)-Nicholas Oh, Matthew Williams, Alex Kemenov, Wesley Cheung

3:25.45Womens 400 Yard Freestyle

Relay (2nd)-Suzanne Lechner, Rachel Solomon, Sara Marwitz, Maddy Wetterhall

4:05.23Check out the website [blue-

andgoldnews.blogspot.com for more details.

Boys Place First and Girls Finish Third in County Swim Meet

by Alex Bragan

Matthew Williams, Alex Perry, John Mitchell, Jacob Jordan, Patrick Lindstrom, Alex Krupp, Wesley Cheung, Nicholas Oh, Coach Wesley Graham, Alex Kemenov, Coach Rebekah Carrington, Rachel Solomon, Suzanne Lechner, Sara Marwitz, and Maddy Wetterhall

Going back to school after a long summer always brings about great change; with the chaos that construction causes, the shake up of classes, friends, and schedules is even more jarring.

The 2012-2013 school year began just as any other, except for a few very noticeable changes in Chamblee’s teaching faculty. While some teachers got moved to different trailers, others had to move to completely different schools, which not only impacted class sizes and schedules, but also had a huge effect on certain sports teams.

The swim team avoided many of these complications by retaining both of their coaches for the new year. The elimination of a morning practice was one minor change

in response to the different environment, but Chamblee’s team was still fairly well off, having easy access to one of only three school pools in the county.

One of the coaches, former Chamblee English teacher Rebekkah Carrington, experienced the challenges of time management after being transferred to Clarkston High School at the end of last year. Despite the move, she decided to continue coaching the girls swim team at Chamblee.

As a result, she has to carefully balance her workday to get everything done at Clarkston, so as to not be late for Chamblee swim practice or acquire a mountain of work at home. Challenges aside, she still manages to enjoy it.

“Coaching is just a fun outlet. It’s not an extra stress,” said Carrington. “It’s just managing what you have to do and what you want to do.”

Discovering her love for coaching and teaching, how-ever, did not come as simply as one would expect.

Although she knew that she wanted to involve writing in her career, she had trouble making her passion profitable. Going into the business world as a copyrighter seemed to be her next best option.

“I actually went to the University of Georgia for some-thing completely different than what I’m doing now. I gradu-ated with an advertising degree,” said Carrington.

She secured an internship at an advertising company after college. Earning only about 1,000 dollars a month, she searched for a job to supplement her meager income. Coaching her old swim team was a natural choice. Interest-ingly enough, this side job seems to have impacted her life and even rivals her degree.

“At the end of the day, it was probably the best thing I ever did because I just remember sitting in the office and feeling like I was searching for things to do, wishing

that I could make a difference,” said Carrington. “When I coached, I could pick out things that could make my swim-mers get better or push them or motivate them.”

Along with an additional income and a sense of satisfac-tion, coaching also brought about the realization that led to her teaching career. A young swimmer came to her in tears one day, struggling with language arts homework. She came to an interesting conclusion after patiently working through the problems with her.

“After that, it was so solidly clear to me that that was what I needed to do: coach and teach in some sort of way. I figured that if I could make that my whole career, I’d prob-ably have a pretty fun life,” said Carrington.

“I think I always considered teaching, but, my mom hated it, so I figured that I would hate it too,” said Car-rington. “It could not have been more opposite.”

Coaching and teaching, although very different in some ways, are closely connected for Carrington. Her coaching style is often reflected in her teaching; strategies that she applies to her swimmers can be applied to situations with her students.

Currently, she is training for a half marathon in March. Because she is an athlete more involved in individual sports, such as swimming and running, motivation is often centered on setting personal goals. Transferring this to coaching other people is slightly more complicated.

“For me, my job [as a coach] is not necessarily to give internal motivation because I think that just has to come on their own,” said Carrington. “My job as a coach is to give you a goal and say that this is what you can do and what I know you’re capable of.”

Teacher Balances Commuting, Grading, and Coachingby Allison Bennett

Volume 86, Issue 5page 9 Features

When one thinks of the Hollywood stereotype of a ballerina, senior Kylie Tan would not fit the description.

She is sweet, not prissy, she is kind, not scheming, and above all, she is extremely down to earth.

One would be surprised to find out that she has been dancing ballet almost her entire life.

Tan began in preschool, but only because she had to. She quit dancing after preschool because she did not enjoy it. It was only after her best friend started doing ballet during the second grade that she picked up dancing again. Her friend quit after a year, but Tan found that she liked it this time around, so she stayed.

Ballet is a demanding art. Tan has prac-tice Monday through Saturday for long hours at a time.

“The practices can range from two to four hours. I actually die every single day,” she joked. “But it’s worth it.”

Tan dances for the Atlanta Ballet, one of the most prestigious ballet companies in the South. Every year, the company puts on the famed ballet The Nutcracker. Tan has been dancing in The Nutcracker since she was eight years old, even though the minimum age is nine. She was so good that they let her dance in the show anyways.

“I’ve done it every single year. I’ve played almost all of the children roles, and this year I finally got to do two of the company roles,” said Tan. “It was amazing because the people that dance in the com-pany are professional dancers. [This year] I was a snowflake and a flower.”

For Tan, it was a nice balance of old and new, because she also played some roles she had done before.

“It was really nice to be able to do two new roles that I’d never performed before, but I also got to play a lamb, which is something I’ve been doing for a while,” said Tan.

Ballet has also proved reward-ing in other ways. Last summer, Tan spent five weeks in New York City, dancing as part of a summer intensive. She auditioned in January and got to spend her summer dancing in the Joffrey Ballet.

“It was cool to feel like I was liv-ing as a ballerina in New York,” said Tan. “I also did a summer intensive in Boston the year before.”

As for her future, Tan hopes she can continue to dance throughout college.

“If I go to college, which I am, I probably won’t be able to be a profes-sional ballerina,” said Tan. “I’d love to get into entertainment dancing, like music videos. I have a friend who does that, and she likes it a lot.”

Although saying goodbye to dancing in The Nutcracker was bittersweet, performing in the production every year for most of her

life has proved very rewarding to Tan. It has been something she has enjoyed greatly.

“When I’m performing, I get this feeling that I know that I’m really enjoying myself and it’s great,” said Tan.

Students, especially seniors, know that pranks are heav-ily discouraged at Chamblee.

At the senior class meeting, they were informed that any unlawful pranks would be punished to the highest extent that the law allows. This statement alone made some seniors forget about attempting to pull a prank at all to prevent themselves from jeopardizing the effort they have put into their education for almost four years.

There were, and still are, a few seniors who are hope-ful about a senior prank, although they are not sure what it will be.

“The prank will either be super lame, or we will get into a lot of trouble,” said senior Jenna Lee.

This is not horrible reasoning. A few weeks ago, the seniors pulled a small prank by placing their cell phones in their lockers and setting an alarm for a few minutes after ten. A few days later a lot of the teachers either mentioned the prank as ‘cute’ or did not say anything about it at all.

“In order for the prank to work, people have to care,” said Lee.

Recently, however, seniors on their way to graduating have caused students and staff to be more concerned about their general welfare.

“Students do not understand pranks. Pranks are sup-posed to be inconvenient but harmless, ” said special educa-tion teacher Jovan Jones.

Jones pointed out that recent senior pranks have crossed the line from being “inconvenient but harmless” into being

“criminal acts.” Last year a teacher injured himself because some members of the class of 2012 decided to slick down the stairwells with baby oil.

A few years before that, the seniors threw water balloons at the freshmen during an academic pep rally. It seemed harmless and clever, until it was discovered that some bal-loons contained bleach.

“These types of pranks are what cause the administrators to be so tough on the kids today,”said Jones. “When I was in school, students had a better sense of goodwill to not do careless and harmful pranks. That is not true today.”

Besides the theme of ill-will, the separation within each senior class is another predominant reason why tactful pranks are not usually pulled.

“There is a combination of strictness and division that prevent pranks from happening,” said Advanced Placement United States history teacher Stephen Rubino. “Pranks re-quire cooperation, and it requires students to be quiet; that does not happen frequently.”

Everyone is at least vaguely aware of the magnet-resident divide within the school, but there are also divi-sions between race, age, and even socio-economic status. Not only do these factors prevent ‘good’ pranks, but, they cause ‘bad’ pranks.

“There are groups of seniors coming up with pranks. Some are pretty funny, others I can tell will get people into a lot of trouble,” said one senior, who wished to remain anonymous.

Besides the fact that there is a lack of unity amongst senior classes, as they enter a new time, new laws have been put in place that must be followed.

“Laws have definitely changed, and students put them-selves in an awkward position when they perform a prank and are unaware of the consequences,” said Principal Dr. Rochelle Lowery.

In the past, Chamblee students have pulled off some noteworthy pranks. In 1997, the upperclassmen stuck sanitary napkins onto the back of underclassmen with the phrase ‘Class of ‘97’ written in red ink. Another group of ’97 students covered the halls with condiments but were severely punished.

A few years before that, students managed to take the principal’s furniture out of her office and place it on the front lawn unnoticed. These types of pranks, if pulled to-day, could possibly fall under the category of bullying or destruction of property.

“Students, who are of age, should be especially careful charges can go as high as a felony, and I will punish pranks accordingly,” warned Lowery.

Although everyone is awaiting the outcome of this year’s possible pranks, one can only hope that the trend of harmful and illegal pranks will be abandoned.

“The things Dr. Lowery said did not discourage me from doing a prank, I really just want to think of one that won’t get me into any trouble,” Lee said.

Prankster Spirit Discouraged in Seniors by Sasha Holton

Kylie Tan’s Ballet Future Stays On Pointeby Solina Jean-Louis

Dress Code Drama Strikes Againby Emily Kandzierski

Longstanding and new school dress code policies have a history of causing strife between students, teachers, and Chamblee’s administration.

Some rules for what is acceptable dress have been at the school for years: headgear cannot be worn unless for reli-gious reasons, pajamas are not allowed, and open toed shoes are expressly forbidden. As fashion fads evolve, however, new rules have been necessary. Ripped jeans and sagging pants have also been deemed inappropriate school attire.

The newest Chamblee rule is that skirts and shorts must be at least fingertip length, an adjustment from the prior requirement that they be no shorter than three to four inches above the knee.

According to Campus Advisor Theodore Carter, the number of dress code violations has decreased this school year. This is apparently largely because- as Carter said, “A lot of young men and women do not like sitting in In School Suspension (which is the current punishment if his or her attire cannot readily be fixed). The football team also had a good season and was very well disciplined; this set the tone for most of the school.”

While it is very possible that there has been a decline in students whose dress code violations are being addressed, some feel that this does not necessarily indicate that students are better at adhering to the rules.

“I believe the dress code is mostly disregarded in class-rooms,” said math teacher Jason Davenport.

In fact, several teachers admitted to not seeing dress code as a priority, and to paying little attention to it, unless the violations are blatant.

Even when infractions are pointed out, compliance with the rules is not guaranteed.

“A teacher said that I should not be wearing ripped jeans to school, and I just walked away,” said senior Israt Jahan.

Male teachers, in particular, are disinclined to address the inappropriate attire of female students.

“It’s a really touchy subject,” said coach Adam Winkler, “I generally ask another female teacher to take care of the issue.”

Carter has no such qualms with enforcing the dress code with either sex and said, “It all depends on the way you go about calling out the problem. Still, if teachers are uncomfortable, they can always call Counselor Jones or Ms. Walker and let them deal with it.”

That is not to say that all teachers are apathetic about the manner in which their students dress.

Many might not feel the need to call out every infraction, but “some are definitely watching,” said Assistant Principal of Attendance, Loukisha Walker, the administrator who generally deals with students who have been sent out for inappropriate attire.

There is, perhaps, a deeper issue when it comes to the struggle administrators face when trying to get teachers to be more weary of clothing.

“If the administration was more consistent with enforce-ment, teachers would be more willing to put themselves on the line,” said anonymous Teacher A.

As it is, many feel that the repercussions depend less on actual violations and more upon who the person is.

This perceived double standard does not stop at students; several female teachers have been admonished for report-edly unprofessional clothing.

American Literature teacher and softball coach, Adri-

enne Keathley, experienced this when she was asked to change her Chamblee softball sweat pants on Casual Friday. She wore them to show support for the team, but barely made it out of the parking lot before she was asked to go home and change her clothes.

“Apparently, I was too casual on Casual Friday, but it was an honest mistake,” said Keathley.

Anonymous Teacher B, however, did not feel her experi-ence with this issue was as fair or well handled.

“I had on an outfit that was very professional, in my opinion. Still, I was asked to find more appropriate attire, which seems ridiculous when you look at what other indi-viduals are wearing,” she said.

Teacher A agreed that teachers are often subjected to unfair scrutiny, and added, “The county as a whole panders to parents. If we were to do an all-out dress code assault, parents would complain. Teachers can be bullied with little to no repercussions.”

The administration does not deny that they hold the teachers to a higher standard of dress.

“Dr. Lowery simply does not tolerate the staff being unprofessional,” said Carter.

Whatever one’s views on dress code- whether you believe it hinders individualism and creativity, or that it encourages discipline and eliminates many unnecessary distractions- it cannot be denied that this is an issue most students will have to face long after high school. After all, most work environments would hardly allow their employ-ees to wear cut-offs and tank-tops.

Thus, regardless of where students stand, the lesson of being conscience of how one dresses is likely to benefit him or her in the future.

Volume 86, Issue 5page 10 back page

The Latest Installment of Six Interesting Bulldogsby Liya Mammo

What would you choose to be your last meal? Name a movie or song that best describes you. Say you were going to create a brand new nation. What

would it be like and what would it be called? If you could swap bodies with anybody, real or fictional, for

one day who would you choose and why?

Describe your perfect/ideal Valentine’s Day. What class, real or made-up, do you think you are capable

of teaching?

Questions:

Natalie Chu, Senior(“The Real-Life Katniss Everdeen”)I would pick carrot cake, pie, laksa

(spicy noodle soup), the tarik (hot milk tea beverage), and Japanese curry buns.

“Go Do” by Jónsi In my country there would be no money,

so you would trade and barter for things. It would be in the mountains with natural vegetation, and everybody would be happy. It wouldn’t have a name; it would just exist as its own kind of free space.

I would want to be Legolas from Lord of the Rings because I am kind of obsessed.

I would have no homework, and I would cook myself and my family dinner. I would also watch movies.

Probably archery because I do it in my backyard at home.

Danielle Bennett, Junior(“The Good Samaritan”)I would have my mom’s lasagna and

then nan’s rum cake with hot cream. BraveheartIt would be called “Forthepeople” and

would be a mixed marked economy with a low tolerance for greed and corruption. There would be food shelters and food

banks on the end of every corner instead of a McDonald’s and a new amendment for participating in a volunteer opportunity at least once a month. It would be as clean as Singapore!

I would choose Helena Bonham Carter because she gets to play and be anything she wants all the time and gets paid for it! She’s a shape shifter, plus she flies in Harry Potter and seems like a very charitable and humble person.

Something spontaneous and unortho-dox. I don’t want to be taken to a restaurant where 1,000 other people are going to be and be given roses and chocolates because you think that’s what you’re supposed to do. I think as long as I am with that special someone exploring the world together (as corny as that sounds), I’ll be pretty ok.

Current events 101: a class where we go over, discuss, and analyze things that are happening on a daily basis.

Chadwick Smith, Senior(“The Future President / Preacher”) I would have a Ghetto Burger from Ms.

Ann’s. “Background” by LecraeIt would be a costal country with

beaches. It would have old European ar-chitecture mixed with African influences. It would be named “Django.”

I’d like to be President Obama because he’s toned, and I want to experience what it is like to be president.

We would have dinner at Popeye’s, go to a movie, and go for a walk around Piedmont Park.

Preaching 101 because I think I’m a pretty good preacher, and I like it.

Anna Folger, Freshman(“The Optimist”)Raspberries, vanilla ice cream, kiwi

ice cream, and a Luna Bar. The Little MermaidIt would be called “The Land of Fancy

Pants” and would have a monarchy with a queen. It would be clean and enjoyable and have no pollution.

Kendall Jenner because she is gor-geous.

I’d like to be surprised. I would also maybe like to go to the movies and receive nice gestures.

Dance class because I have danced for multiple years.

Darcy Linde, Junior(“The Chess Champ”)When I was a kid my parents would

sometimes buy Dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets that could be easily heated in the oven. I would categorize my different di-nosaurs into herbivore and carnivore groups and pretend that the carnivores were eating the others, and I’d dunk them all in ketchup. If it’s going to be my last meal, I might as well have fun with it.

“Smooth Criminal” by Michael Jack-son

I would probably call it “The Republic of Elbonia” as a reference to one of my favorite comic strips, Dilbert. In the comic strip, Elbonia is an extremely poor country where nothing makes sense (such as the na-tional bird being the Frisbee) and the people do random, funny things all day.

It would be really awesome to swap with David Copperfield. He is a genius magician who became a professional by the age of 16. By being him for a day, I could find out all of the secrets to his tricks and become a professional magician myself!

The ideal Valentine’s Day is one that is spent with somebody else, so for me the day would start with me presenting a rose to somebody that I have crush on and then hearing them say, “I’d love to be your val-entine!” That in itself would make the day perfect for me.

I think it would be really cool to teach a class on how to trick people. When every-body showed up to the class, I would explain to them that they had fallen for the trick, and that I didn’t actually have anything to teach. Then we could all take a break for lunch and play games outside

Aurora Blumberg, Sophomore(“The Raging Liberal”) I would choose a bacon avocado cheese-

burger from Farmburger and sweet potato fries. I would also have Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and red velvet cake.

“Radioactive” by Imagine DragonsIt would be a super liberal and care free

environment. I would have laws that would provide necessities such as food and a place to live. My country would not allow the use of guns, would outlaw terrible music like One Direction, and would make the 1% pay higher taxes. I would probably call it Borealis.

I would have to say either Miley Cyrus because she is my not so secret girl crush or Morgan Freeman because then every time I would talk, it would be very soothing to the ears.

My ideal idea of Valentine’s Day is spending it with my wonderful cat, Valen-tine. I would also invite friends over, and we would just hang out. I find Valentine’s Day to be corny.

I would love to teach a history class or a “how to creep on teachers’ lives” class.

Where once a normal public high school stood, with normal rules, normal traditions, and normal leaders, a wild and uncontrol-lable new environment has emerged.

This new environment cannot be tamed by any administration or group that would attempt to humble it and bend it to their will. It is an unforgiving and cold land that can snuff out happiness as quick as it grants it. It tests its population with cruel weather patterns, unresponsive air conditioners, foul odors of mold, and worse. This region is called the “Instructional Village” to outsid-ers; but to the true inhabitants of this land, it is simply known as the Bush.

The Bush, like any region, comes with its own diverse culture, customs, heritage, and leaders. Its culture has been classified as “ratchet” by some, but the citizens of the Bush recognize the unique and wonderful aspects of this isolated region.

Nowhere else can people experience the freedoms that the Bush offers; the ability to see sunshine midday, to march in the great stampede of the fire drills, to experience aro-mas that classrooms of brick just cannot of-fer, or the great physical fitness that students engage in on their long treks to class.

Sadly, the countless freedoms that the Bush has granted its inhabitants are some-times abused. From the great department clans, wise chieftains have arisen to defend the Bush from those who threaten its grand way of life.

The arithmetic clan of the Bush has ap-

pointed Chieftain Engsberg of the Healthy Diet to help create order over the masses of students. It has been rumored that never an artificial flavor has ventured into his body and that he preforms P90X in every free period he has. The Bush has rewarded him with the ability to lift tin-can trailers high over his head.

The literature clan has given Chieftain Keathley of the Iron Fist and Chieftain Miller of the Spoken Word to aide the cause. Chieftain Keathley is known to straighten a student’s posture with just a glance, while Chieftain Miller is so articulate and eloquent that she has even forced English teacher Marti Macon-Gee to use a dictionary.

“I was just walking to class one day, and I just felt my spine straighten,” said a sophomore with great posture. “I still don’t

know what happened but at least my back doesn’t hurt.”

The social studies clan has pledged the most help, with the Chieftains Rubino, Ely, and Tinnell. Ely’s calm and relaxed attitude about everything is so overwhelming that his footsteps supposedly leave frost prints. Tinnell’s Thunder Racket has the ability to serve tennis balls at the speeds of Mach 5, which is known to inspire students to be on time to class. Perhaps the most feared of all, Chieftan Rubino’s stare has been known to make grown men cry and to make the weak minded turn to stone.

“When I was a freshman, I was trying to find my homeroom one morning and I accidentally walked in on Rubino talking to a parent,” said a narcoleptic senior . “The parent was just talking and then she looked

up to make eye contact. She was silent for a few seconds and then she just started cry-ing! Needless to say I ran away.”

The Bush science clan has offered Chieftain Porter-Davis to help keep the peace. She is known throughout the Bush, as the Steel Boots by her students. When the clicking of her boots rumbles through the trails of the Bush, students become quiet and more nervous until the only sound is the clicking made by boots walking past.

The final clan, the foreign languages clan, charged Chieftain Neuhaus with the responsibility to protect the Bush. Neu-haus’s ability to sing like a gleeful angel has earned him the nickname Sparkles by

the fellow Chieftains. Stories are told of how when Sparkles sings at the gathering of chieftains, when he wants to leave, within two minutes the entire assembly is asleep.

“I once was walking past Neuhaus’s trailer during one of his free periods,” said a saucy yet intimidating junior. “I thought I wandered into a dream. I just stood there for forty-five minutes listening, only to be pulled away by the mustached Coach Carter for skipping.”

All these impressive Chieftains, along with the Imperial Administration and Em-press Lowery, are allied to protect the Bush from those who would do it harm and see us living in a concrete prison.

Stay tuned for next months continuation of Secrets of the Bush!

Secrets of the Bush: The Leaders Who Keep the Peaceby Dan Richardson