What’s Inside:

Green HornThe Award-Winning Student Publication of Springfield High School and the Tech Center

January 20, 2009 Volume 30, Edition 4

NEASC Self-StudySpringfield High School Reaches the End

By Melissa Tarbell

Occasionally, students perceive their teachers to be distracted and overworked. Their weari-ness might just have a legitimate explanation:

another round of NEASC work is nearing its deadline. New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) is an organization that gives schools accreditation. For the students’ sake, it is important to get this accreditation. Springfield High School English

teacher Jen Dodge, who chairs the high school’s NEASC Steering Committee, said, “A lot of colleges do look to see if your school is NEASC accredited.” Attaining NEASC accreditation is a long and tedious process that a school is obliged to go through every 10 years. “I think it’s a really good thing,” said Dodge. “It makes the faculty stop and think about what we’re doing; what we could be doing.” Not only that, but

Dodge finds it neat to see “everybody coming together working on the same goal at the same time.” SHS math teacher and Assessment Commit-tee member Marlene Allen agrees. “It’s good in that it makes us reflect on what we’re doing and [whether we are] doing it well. If we didn’t do this we would go years without looking at it.” Allen believes these evaluations are beneficial because “some things get lost due to our change in administration so often.” For example, in the last five years, Spring-field High School has had seven different administra-tions in the principal and assistant principal positions and at least eight different guidance counselors. When new people come in who are unfamiliar with the school and the staff, the NEASC process of self-study is even more valuable. Seven committees exist for NEASC evalua-tion: Assessment, Mission & Expectations, Curriculum, Instruction, Leadership & Organization, Resources for Student Learning, and Community Resources. Each committee is responsible for gathering evidence and writing an 8-12 page report on their findings. Dodge, who also served as a member of the Curriculum Committee, said, “It is the world’s worst essay test and it takes three years to complete.”

See NEASC page 20

Dean Boosts VISTA

By Maria Stern

Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean spoke at SHS in late November to support the VISTA community project.

The Kevin Sheehan Auditorium was illuminated by flash photography as former Vermont Gover-nor Howard Dean shook hands with Springfield

dignitaries and faculty on Tuesday, November 30th, before speaking to the Springfield High School student body. The SHS student council invited Dean to the high school. Originally, they wanted him to come during Spirit Week, in October, to “get everyone pumped up.” He was unable to come on October 30th but volunteered to come November 30th. “We asked him if he’d speak a little bit about community so we could introduce Project

See Dean page 22

NEASC Steering Committee Chair

Jen Dodge has overseen the work

of teachers conducting a study of SHS.

Dodge said that NEASC is the

world's worst essay test and it takes three years to

complete.

Students perform drumming,p. 4

Boys work on defense,p.17

Ramones' Musical

Blizkrieg,p. 15

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Green Horn Interview

Erika Anderson, Ryan Brady, John Forbes, Sarah Gray, Sam Hensel-Hunter, Angelo Jardina, Maria Stern,

and Olivia Thayer

GREEN HORN STAFFCo-EditorCo-EditorCo-EditorLayout EditorLayout EditorPhotography EditorSports EditorTech News Editor

A shley Richardson.....................O livia Johnson........................... J enny Bradley.......................... S amuel L. Benton....................K elsey Christensen....................L aurel Porter.............................C ourtney Downing...................Melissa Tarbell............................

----------------REPORTERS---------------This 12-seat bus has been added to PVP. The new

bus will be used to transport students to community service, internships, and other activities.

By Ashley Richardson

Springfield High School's alternative program, Precision Valley Program (PVP) English teacher John Davis visited Colorado in November to

observe the Eagle Rock School in Estes Park, Colorado. While at Eagle Rock, an alternative school, Davis met with students, staff, and administration, with hopes of improving the Precision Valley Program. Eagle Rock School attracts hundreds of educators every year from around the country because it houses a Professional Development Center, and helps other alternative pro-grams build and improve their own schools. Green Horn Live recently interviewed Davis through e-mail about his trip and about the role PVP plays in the Springfield School District.

Green Horn: Who is in charge of PVP?John Davis: Administratively, Mr. [Robert, SHS Co-Principal] Thibault is in charge. But we see ourselves as a team. We make our decisions as a team. No one person’s opinion carries more weight than another’s.

GH: Where are you located?JD: Room B203 [at the high school] in what used to be one of the home ec [home economics] rooms.

GH: How many kids are in PVP? How long are they there for? Why are they in PVP in the first place?JD: There are 13 students at the moment, but it can change depending on a variety of factors. We see ourselves as being a long-term program, taking kids at whatever point they are at and helping them through to graduation. So it could be months or years. We’re not, though, necessarily trying to “transition” people back into the high school. Our students come to us for a wide variety of reasons, but primarily because they’re at

risk to drop out of school. They’re here because they’ve gone through a process of applying and being accepted to the pro-gram. They have to have the desire to continue with school in some form. We’re not a place for kids with behavioral problems – we just offer different ways of learning and more direct interaction with teachers for students who have had trouble with more traditionally structured classrooms.

GH: Explain your trip to Colorado.JD: I went for 2 reasons: to run the Denver marathon with my two sons (we did, and we finished together, which we all found to be an awesome experience) and to visit the Eagle Rock School in Estes Park, northwest of Denver. Eagle Rock is a pioneer in alternative educa-tion, and one of their primary purposes is to help other educators develop programs for at-risk high school stu-dents. So I spent several days going to classes, speaking with students, teachers, administrators, and other school staff about what they’re doing. They’re really good at what they do, and they’re enthusiastic and articulate, so the visit was extremely enjoyable and helpful. Not to mention that it’s located in one of the most beautiful parts of the country.

GH: Describe your teaching strategy.JD: Building relationships comes first. I think before we stand a chance of being successful here we’ve got to do that – we’ve got to create a community where there’s mutual respect, a feeling of being in this together, and See Davis page 23

John Davis Discusses

Alternative School

.

that we can be successful. For my own part, reading and writing play a huge role in what education is all about. I encourage students to do both extensively, and to choose their own materials. I’ve made it my business over the years to try to stay current with what’s really worth reading, especially for young adult and adolescent readers, and I try to steer students in directions that will entertain and enlighten them.

GH: How has PVP changed since last year?JD: We’re a much more cohesive and relaxed group than we were last year. Through no one’s fault, PVP sort of lost focus over the course of the last couple of years. Thankfully, we had the time and opportunity to re-group and come up with a new course of action.

GH: What did you observe when you went to the alternative school in Colorado?JD: I observed kids who had experienced serious problems of many kinds who were living and learning together in ways they had never dreamt possible, kids who never thought they’d graduate from high school who were academically successful and really excited about life. The campus itself is really remarkable, too – the setting, the buildings, equipment, all of it, is modern and beautiful. I also had the chance to meet a

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News

The Springfield High School science department welcomed back the forensics course to its cur-riculum for the 2009-2010 school year. This

course is open to students in grades 10-12 and is worth ½ a credit. Forensics is designed to teach students how to solve crimes using science. Forensics, incorporating biology, chemistry, and environmental science, allows students to participate in hands-on activities, such as analyzing mock crime scenes and finger-printing. “It’s not like regular science,” said sopho-more Lauren Fountain, a student in Belinda Hathorn’s forensic sciences course. The forensics course was suggested by science teacher Deb Jacobson in 1999. Jacobson has since left SHS, but Hathorn, who is also the science department team leader, enrolled in a course this past summer that enabled her to incorporate forensics into the science curriculum. “I get to do a lot of different things [with the course],” Hathorn said. “If I could have majored in forensics at college I would have. That would have been another career choice for me. The kids really enjoy the course.” There are 25 students in Hathorn’s 1st period forensics class and the students have a range of reasons for taking the course. “I was interested in learning about how to solve crimes and I thought it would be interesting to learn about those things,” said junior Matt Bowden. Bowden added the course concerns “learning about how to solve crimes, evaluating crime scenes, the do's and don’ts of crime scenes, and DNA processing.”

Crime Scenes, DNA TestingForensics is

BackBy Sarah Gray

See Forensics page 20

PVP Students Go

By Erika Anderson

Stephen King

In early December, six Springfield High School students re-

ceived the chance of a lifetime: to listen to Ste-phen King, the horror icon of this century, read from his latest novel and talk about his life as an artist. P r e c i s i o n Valley Program (PVP) students, chaperoned by math teacher Gigi Guy and English teacher John Davis, traveled to Manchester, Vermont, for the occasion. “Stephen King is very funny. It was awesome to meet him and was really fun,” said student Jana Rheaume. “We learned a lot about his life, which was interesting.” Stephen King has lived in the New England area most of his life, and has been a published author since the 1970s. SHS PVP teacher John Davis was impressed with King. “It’s really great that he chooses to do lectures," Davis said. "It shows how much of a nice, down-to-earth guy he is.” The students traveled to the Northshire Bookstore to hear Stephen King lecture about his new book, Under the Dome. The storyline of the book, which is set in Maine, resembles The Simpsons Movie: a mysterious dome is dropped over a small town result-ing in a story of adventure, force fields, and survival. Though the group did not hear much about Under the Dome, they were treated to King's remarks about his life.. “His life is very unusual,” said Rheaume. “He is the first really famous person I have met. I’ve seen all his movies and read most of his books so I was very excited about the opportunity to see him and hear

about him." Rheaume also enjoyed King's sense of irony and satire. Chelsea Rice and Alisyn Pinney also went to Manchester to listen to Stephen King. Both Pinney and Rice have read a lot of Stephen King’s books and they are planning to read Under the Dome. “He has a rock star quality," said Davis as he reflected on Stephen King. After hearing about King's appearance in Manchester from PVP teacher Rebecca Larkin, Davis organized the trip. “I’ve heard him speak before and know that he’s a character,” said Davis. “I hoped the kids would enjoy him speak, and I think they did.” Traveling in two cars, the group of students and teachers was caught in the exciting spirit of the night. Davis, in fact, is inspired by a sense of community in Vermont which allows such experiences to take place. "Encourage people to do that sort of thing," he concluded. "Vermont has a great opportunity to see some really amazing things, and I hope more people would take the chance.”

Matt Bowden took forensics to learn to evaluate crime scenes and solve crimes.

Jana Rheaume and John Davis heard Stephen King read Under the Dome.

with Stephen KingUnder the Dome

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News

On Tuesday, December 15th, Jeh Kulu, consisting of Ismael Ban-goura and Dembe Sene, visted

SHS to teach students African drum techniques. Jeh Kulu held workshops

throughout the day to instruct students on various percussion intruments, such as djembe drums. Students performed during 8th period to demonstrate skills

acquired during the workshops.

Many things have changed this school year at Springfield High School: schedules, school days, and co-principals are different from

last year. Students at SHS have been greatly affected by these changes. But many, if not all students at SHS, aren't even aware of the change that may affect them the most--the way in which teachers are taught and coached. Since 1999, SHS has been following the same teacher observation and evaluation policy. Teacher observation occurs when an administrator sits in on a teacher’s class to see how the teacher operates their classroom and teaches their students. However, recently, teacher observations have not been a regular occurrence at SHS. "Everyone agrees that they [teacher obser-vations] haven't been done in a long time," said SHS Co-Principal Robert Thibault. "We don't know what is going on in the classroom and the teachers can't get feedback." “We haven’t had as many [observations] recently,” said SHS social studies teacher Susan Fog. “It’s not that the administration is bad. It is just that we’ve had so many principals and vice-principals in the past years, it’s hard to be consistent.” Last year, a group of four teachers from SHS and four administrators from the school district met to resolve the policy on teacher observations. This past November, a new policy was decided upon and will take effect at the high school in January. Under this revised teacher observation policy, co-principals Larry Wight and Bob Thibault will meet with SHS teachers in the autumn to discuss the teacher’s plan for the year. Then, throughout the next three years, all teachers will be fully observed and evaluated. “The good thing about this plan is that it’s so simple,” said Fog. “The Gilckmen/McGreal model [the Gilckmen/McGreal model was created by the teacher observation team of four teachers and four administra-tors. It is based on the Gilckmen and McGreal systems but also has original ideas making it a unique model

Teacher ObservationsFollowing Protocol and Feedback Important

By Olivia Thayer

used at SHS] is the most collaborative and partnership based. No teacher would ever feel bad about using this model.” This year, the evaluation process will focus mainly on the newest teachers at SHS. They must be observed, according to contract, in their first two years of teaching at a new school. "I wasn't evaluated last year," said SHS sci-ence teacher Courtney Brooks. Brooks began teaching at SHS last year, so she must be evaluated this year to meet her contract. Brooks added, "This is the first school I've taught at in 19 years where I haven't been evaluated by a principal or administrator in my first year of teaching." Brooks said former SHS Assistant Principal Stephanie Brown sat in on one of her classes last year but it wasn't a formal evaluation or observation. No report was filed and no feedback was given. Brooks is not the only member of the Spring-field community to note the lack of teacher observations at SHS. Along with some teachers at SHS, the Positive Parents group raised concern about the issue and helped to encourage the creation of a new policy. At many of their meetings, the group voiced concerns that teachers were not being observed enough to meet standards and some teachers might be lacking in teaching skills. Posi-tive Parents is very pleased with the new observation policy, with its assurances of consistency. The evaluation process itself is actually a multi-step observation procedure. One of the co-prin-cipals, Larry Wight or Robert Thibault, will talk to the teacher scheduled for an observation ahead of time, sit in on the teacher’s class more than once, write a formal report and evaluation on that teacher, and then meet and discuss the outcome of the observation with the teacher. “In the past, we had more people doing the evaluations,” said Fog. “Now it’s provided by the administration.” Fog mentions that until 1990 the department heads performed many of the teacher evaluations. They were not done on a consistent basis. “Before 1990, your See Observations page 21

evaluation depended on who you were and what your supervisor thought of you,” said Fog. “If you were strongly liked or disliked you would be observed a lot and if not you were barely ever seen.”

Bob Thibault says that without administrators observing classroom

instruction, teachers can't get feedback on their performance.

Courtney Brooks has not worked in a school where she wasn't observed in

her first year.

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News

In early December, while many people were snug and cozy in their houses, enjoying the first snow of the year (which most felt was way too late) six

SHS musicians auditioned for the New England Music Festival (NEMFA). SHS junior Nicolas Chlebak was selected for the All-New England Music Festival. He was chosen for the tuba section of the band, though he will not be first chair. Chlebak prefers guitar, but feels he is more scholarly at the tuba. “I take a more musical approach to tuba,” said Chlebak. “I’m trying to get guitar up to that level.” “The tuba is not a very competitive instru-ment,” continued Chlebak. “However, the cutoff was raised 14 points from last year.” Chlebak performed three movements of the piece Effie Suite by Alec Wilder, a musical composition about an elephant that joins the circus. He felt that preparing for New England’s was different than preparing for Districts or All-State. “There are no scales and no sight reading in NEMFA. This means that you should pick a harder audition piece because they are harsher in judging the piece selected,” Chlebak said. “The judges take it into consideration differently.” Overall, Chlebak was excited about his im-pressive feat. He liked working with his accompanist, Martha Stretton, though he found it hard to find a time to perform with her. New England’s will take place in Burlington, Connecticut, in March. Chlebak also made the District Jazz band for guitar. Auditions for that group took place around the same time as NEMFA auditions. He was nervous about making Districts, because he knew his score before he knew his results and he wasn’t impressed with his scores. “I’m new to the jazz world and guitar, in particular, is competitive,” he said. “In the audition there were no scales but there was improvising, technique, and comp. chords.” Chlebak had wished he had prepared more, though his preparation paid off. Nick Chlebak is quickly becoming an ac-complished auditioner and composer. For this year’s All-State Music Festival, he hopes to make First Chair tuba in the concert band and make the orchestra and jazz band. Chlebak is also submitting a piece for the Scholarship Composition Program. The six Springfield Hgh School musicians chosen for New England's--Emily Mobus (voice), Brit-tany Adnams (voice), David Castrignano (violin) Erika Anderson (voice) Nicolas Chlebak (tuba) and Lindsay Turgeon (alto sax)--prepared and performed pieces in front of a judge for the NEMFA auditions. “Judges choose the best musicians in New England to participate,” said SHS senior Emily Mobus, who auditioned for the part of an alto. “It is held in

Blow That HornChlebak Takes NEMFA, District Jazz Seat

By Erika Anderson

See Districts page 23

Springfield High School musicians practice this winter in the high school band room. Junior Nick Chlebak was honored with inclusion in the tuba section of

the All-New England Music Festival. Chlebak also made District Jazz Band for guitar. Senior Emily Mobus was selected for District Choir.

Let the Music Ring ForthJanuary 23rd. Magrigal Singers will perform at the Knights of Columbus.

A portion of the performance fees will go to the singers.February 5th and 6th. District Music Festival at Windsor.

SHS musician Nick Chlebak's piece, "Consuming Bog," wil be performed by the Vermont Contemporary Music Ensemble.

March 11th. Winter band and choral concerts will take place at the Roots Arts Festival.

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EssayFrom Cuba with Love

Reflecting on Tourism, Poverty, and Pride

Going through customs in Cuba is a scary thing. When you get off the plane, you will be shepa-rded into the airport. The staff wear medical

masks and their expression is grim. You wait, clutching your passport in your hand, hoping that everything is in order. The customs in Cuba are set up in little rooms, where the officials wait and stare. In that moment they have the power, and they know it. Customs is an intimidating process. Luckily, the people in Cuba do not reflect the government. Cuba has been cut off from the United States since the early 1960s. The mention of Cuba in America can trigger some interesting remarks. Some examples: “Cuba? Good luck.”…”You’re not going to Cuba? Your mother would never let you.”… “Say hi to Castro for me.”… “Can you bring me back some cigars?” and my all-time favorite, “Can I have that shirt, since you’re not coming back.” Fear and misunderstanding exist when Americans think of Cuba. Cuba is a Communist country. During the Cold War, the U.S opposed any Communist nations, an opposition that put a strain on U.S and Cuba relations. After the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis in the early 60s, an embargo was used by the U.S. as a strategy to isolate Cuba. This embargo makes it difficult for citizens to visit between the U.S. or Cuba. Connecting to Cuba, tourism is an interest-ing concept. In one respect, it allows an opportunity for people to visit a foreign country and experience a different climate and some sun and shade. On the other hand, tourism can draw a shade around the real country

and distort perceptions. Luckily, over Thanksgiving break, I was able to experience both the good and bad about tourism. Cuba's main source of revenue is now tourism. For other countries, Cuba is the equivalent of the Bahamas. You can tell how much Cubans struggle to make an appearance. Some buildings, beautiful be-fore the Communist revolution in the late 50s, are still riddled with bullet holes. The toilets are horrible to see and smell, and things are falling down. Huge posters of propaganda bock the sky. My favorite part of Cuba, besides the Inter-national Chorus Festival of Santiago that the Feminine Tone--I am a member of this group--participated in, was the people. They are friendly and courageous. As soon as you meet them, you are enveloped in a loving culture. Although they live in poverty, struggling to own soap, pens, and other necessities, they are a strong people and possess the strength to turn their impoverished country into a great nation. Would Americans invite 40 women, the size of our Feminine Tone group, into their homes while they struggle to make ends meet? Cubans will open their hearts to everyone. Though the U.S. govern-ment has issues with the Cuban government, we can still learn from the Cuban people. Cuba and Santiago reflect pride. Despite everything, the people shine through, creating a light and a hope for the country. The people, intelligent and kind, are what will turn Cuba around. I hope that someday we will be able to come together again, Cuba and America, and bridge that 90-mile divide of the Atlantic Ocean.

By Erika Anderson

A street in Cuba suggests Cubans' modest lifestyle. Buildings date to the 1950s and are in disrepair. Sanitation is primitive. Despite this, Cubans are

strong and friendly.

1 + 1 = 2Mathletes Start Year Two

By Maria Stern

In late October, the Springfield High School Math Team competed in a Twin State Mathematics League competition at Kearsarge Regional High School in

New Hampshire. The competition was their first of four such meets scheduled for this season. The team is co-coached by SHS math teach-ers Barbara Estey and Marlene Allen. Allen coaches the Intermediate division, which is for grades nine and ten while Estey, coaches the senior division, which is for juniors and seniors. "This is our second year in the newest in-carnation [of the program]," said Estey. The team was not in existence for approximately twenty years until it was re-established last school year. “I’ve been a mathlete since the revival,” said SHS junior Laurel Porter, who competes in the Senior Division. Each division can take seven team members to a competition. Estey takes five or six. "We aim for

that," she said. "Then everyone gets a chance to partici-pate." In order to prepare for competition, Estey has her team practice problems that fall under the topics that will be covered. The topics are known in advance. For example, the topics covered in Kearsarge included Functions of Special Angles, Algebra II Word Problems, Probability, and the team topic was Graphing. Estey noted that lack of attention to details, such as labeling, hindered the team's final standing at Kearsarge. A competitor can sign up for three categories and participate in two. Each team puts three competitors in each category. The team problem is solved together by three students. "We weren't in danger," Estey said. "Our Senior team settled comfortably in a not-vying-for-top position."

See Mathletes page 23

Math teacher Barabara Estey trains students for Mathlete competitions.

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FeaturesHealth Risk Survey Shows More

Students Engaging in Risky BehaviorsBy Kelsey Christensen

Every other year since 1993, students throughout the United States complete the Health Risk Survey distributed by the U.S. Department of

Health to determine the amount of behavioral health risks among teens. This collection of multiple choice questions measures alcohol, marijuana and cigarette use, sexual activity, helmet safety, and suicide risk. The results from the 2009 survey were released this autumn. They suggest that less students perceive danger from smoking cigarettes and marijuana, and more students are smoking, drinking, and engaging in sexual activity. According to the survey, more students had used marijuana in Vermont in the last 30 days before the survey than in any other state in the nation. Students who perceive health risks from smoking cigarettes de-creased 5% from 2008, and students who see great risk of smoking marijuana decreased 9% from 2008. 36% of students reported drinking in the past 30 days. Some students at SHS find these facts un-settling and troubling. “Quite honestly, I did not know that Vermont is the highest marijuana used state in the nation,” said SHS freshman Julie Bombria, who seems to be speaking for many of her peers. SHS Student Assistance Program Director Danielle Dulaney, whose job involves working with students to decease drug addiction, is less surprised by the statistics about marijuana, because there is such a casual attitude in Vermont regarding marijuana. “It’s part of some family’s culture,” she said. However, SHS Junior Caleb Watkins is both-ered by these statistics. “These results show a gloomy future for Vermont,” he said. “The teen population of Vermont is slowly degrading and getting more stupid,

with more reckless teens every year.” S o m e s t u -dents at Springfield High School think these dan-gerous activities are the result of teen boredom. “There isn't much to do in Vermont, certainly for us youth,” said SHS ju-nior Forest Jade. “Social activities in our state are rather limited, especially in the winter, and I think many kids find it easy to keep themselves enter-tained by using drugs or having sex.” While bore-dom may be a contribut-ing factor in substance abuse, SHS sophomore Alec Benoit feels that students abuse substances because they’re illegal. “You can’t really do much

Health Risk Survey Changes from 2008:

-5% fewer students see smoking cigarettes as unhealthy.

- 9% fewer students view smoking marijuana as risky.

Health Risk Survey Facts:

-36% of students reported drinking in past 30 days.

-40% of students are sexually active.-9% of students have carried a

weapon to school.-9% of students have a suicide plan.

reduced if students understood the dangers of drinking and smoking. “If students are aware of the facts and outcomes of smoking and drinking they wouldn't be as likely to do such a harmful thing,” she said. Bombria feels that health class helps with preventing these be-haviors. Dulaney feels that earlier prevention programs could prevent the abuse. Despite teens ignorance about the risk of smoking, many SHS students see the dangers inherent in substance abuse. “I do think that it’s risky and stupid to smoke, drink, etc.,” said Watkins. “It hurts your health, impedes your thought process, and people die from them all the time.” Others, like Jade, feel that most things are acceptable in moderation, though Jade worries about addictions, inhalants, and prescription drugs in the community. Despite negative feelings toward substance abuse, SHS students perceive less danger from sexual activity. The survey shows 40% of students are sexually active, a 10% jump from 2001. “Sexual activity is okay in my book,” said Watkins, with the stipulation that protection should be used. “There's not much anyone can do about the fact that people are sexually active,” said Bombria. She feels that peoples’ minds about sex aren’t likely to change, though sex education has the potential to affect behavior. Bombria feels that education about sex must maintain a balance between being informative and not encouraging sexual activity. Dulaney feels that promis-cuity is normalized by the media. Some students are most bothered the sec-tion of the Health Risk Survey that deals with weapons in school. 9% of respondents said they had carried a weapon to school. “I don’t like weapons,” said Jade. “That’s a problem.” Bombria feels less safe in school because of these statistics. “It's quite a scary thing,” she said. “I would like to believe that I'm in a safe environment at school, and I don't know many people who would object to that. Everyone wants to be somewhere safe and com-fortable.” Dulaney feels that weapons in schools could be prevented by prohibiting backpacks and requiring uniforms. “Everything else [other than the weapons], I'm not surprised about,” said Jade. Benoit is not surprised by the results. “I was expecting something like this,” he said. Dulaney has other thoughts. “There needs to be a greater collaboration between social work and education fields,” said Dulaney. “And also between the schools and families. “ Many agree that individuals make better choices related to drugs, sex, and weapons by resisting peer pressure. “People just need to think before they act, consider all the options and not fall for social scene pressures,” concluded Jade.

to prevent it,” said Benoit. “You can say ‘Yeah, it’s il-legal, don’t do it,’ but then people just do it more.” Ac-cording to Benoit, the legality is further complicated by the fact that the behaviors can’t simply be legalized. Watkins agrees that preventing substance abuse is a futile goal. “I don’t really think there’s a cure for stupidity and ignorance,” said Watkins. Wat-kins avoids befriending users of substances, though he admits to knowing many who engage in drinking and smoking. Bombria feels that these behaviors would be

Student Assistance Program Director Danielle Dulaney

feels that great use of marijuana in

Vermont reflects the casual attitude taken by families toward this drug.

Ninth grader Julie Bombria

was surprised that Vermont led the

nation in the use of marijuana.

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Essays

I’d like to see a governor live off my income for a month and then give up their fancy cars and bo-nuses,” said Pam, a 55-year old Springfield native

who has struggled with leukemia and homelessness.

According to statewide statistics, 40,000 families in Vermont are low income. 83% of the parents holding these families together have less than a high school diploma. 45% have a part time job or no job at all. 52% are single parent households. This is what the Vermont economy has come to. Poverty is no longer something that just occurs in underdeveloped countries or a struggle one sees on the news. It’s in Vermont, it’s in Springfield, it surrounds American lives. Yet we’re scared to look it in the eyes. “People don’t want to deal with it," Pam said. "But we’re all created equal. If they don’t have to see it, they ignore it." Pam witnesses the struggles of families in poverty every day. She was homeless for four years. Four years of couch-surfing. Four years without a home. “The general cost of living has gone up," said Springfield High School nurse Christine Simmons. "The basic needs for a family depends on two incomes per household." But over half of the low-income fami-lies in Vermont are single parent families. One considers what these people have to eliminate each time they go to buy groceries. Most

Poverty in SpringfieldTown Needs a Wake-up Call

By Jenny Bradley & Olivia Johnson

people don't even think about the cost of milk. If it cost five dollars, would shoppers even blink an eye? Yet 40,000 families in Vermont have to turn down their kids' food requests each day. They have to survive on a half a tank of gas a week. These families can’t afford to wash their clothes every day. They may not be able to shower daily. Where are they going to shower if they don’t even have a home? This is Springfield, Vermont. If citizens can’t help the people each day struggling with this crisis of poverty, are we ever going to take action and change the world we live in? Another important fact when we consider poverty in Springfield: over a third of SHS students have free and reduced lunch. This doesn’t include the kids who are too ashamed to use the programs offered. “It’s a pride issue," Simmons said, when discussing why not all student take advantage of the free and reduced lunch offer. "There are families that feel too prideful. It’s nothing to be ashamed of. If you need help, you need help." “I’ve seen an increase in family stress [due to poverty] especially when it comes to the holidays,” said Simmons. Not all families can enjoy the holiday season. For some, it’s the worst time of the year. This is the time of year when some parents have to find other ways to make their children happy besides Gameboys and Ipods.

So, what are you doing after graduation?" Many juniors and seniors get bored answering that question repeatedly. Whether their plans include

college, heading straight for the workforce, or taking a year off, they’re not alone in this predicament. Some people know from an early age exactly what they want to be and how they plan to get there. Not everybody is so sure of their plans, though, and that's okay, too. Many people start off in a liberal arts program in college and then decide on a major after a year or two. (School counselors say that 75% of students change their majors after they enter college.) School is also not just about careers and getting a high-paying job after graduation. It's a place for learning about yourself and the world. Springfield High School guidance counselor Kelly Ryan says, “Anyone can go to college.” Ryan helps all high school students prepare for what they want to do after high school. He conducts interviews,

Drive, Desire, PatienceLife After High School

By Anna-Maria Armato

suggests jobs, and holds assemblies for each class to answer career questions. Choosing a major can be more daunting--and more important--than deciding which party to go to on Friday night. After all, once a person declares their major, the rest of their life may follow a pattern. What they study in college can may influence their future, so they must do themselves a favor and choose carefully. Senior Ed Kolbe at Bunn High School (in North Carolina) was not sure as a freshman what he wanted to do. “I was in my junior year,” he said. “I real-ized I wanted to be a teacher. I felt the best way I could help out humanity was by sharing the knowledge that I gained in my own experiences with the next genera-tion.” Elizabeth Carlowski, a graduate from Ohio State University, is currently a college counselor at a

See Patience page 20

See Poverty page 20

Student Council President Amanda Aberle thought that the recent food

drive was a success and helped to raise awareness of poverty in Springfield.

“Can you imagine the agony parents must feel to not be able to give their kids presents?” Simmons said.

Guidance Counselor Kelly Ryan helps students prepare for life after high

school. He believes anyone can go to college.

nroeG Hner pg �

Features

As the first semester closes at Springfield High School, next year is far from students’ minds. However, in just a few months students will

have to start thinking about what classes they will want to take in the autumn. Some students may not realize that the classes they choose can greatly affect their high school lives, as well as influence college options. Honors and advanced classes are becoming increasingly popular at SHS. More and more students are taking advantage of these accelerated courses to deepen their transcripts and increase their knowledge. In the 2009-2010 school year, 22 honors, AP, and advanced class were offered in the SHS Program of Studies. These accelerated classes are offered in English, math, science, French, German, Spanish, social studies, and the art and music departments. “The major difference [between honors and regular classes] is the depth we go into with the honors classes,” said SHS science teacher Belinda Hathorn. “The honors class has more work with less time to do it.” “On the honors class we go faster over more topics,” said SHS math teacher Marlene Allen. Allen teachers Advanced Algebra II and says that her students

not only are familiar with the content she is teaching but also took algebra in the past. When they don’t understand something, they will form study groups and figure it out on their own. However, some students this year are worried about the degree of difficulty in their honors classes. Sophomore Liza Fontaine, who took honors English as a freshman and is currently enrolled in honors English and honors biology as a sophomore, feels strongly about the lack of rigor in honors classes. “I don’t think honors classes are that different from regular classes,” said Fontaine. “For me, the only difference is that they’re weighted differently.” “I think there needs to be harder classes,” said sophomore Coral-Mae Lamontane. “Kids get into the honors classes that have potential but don’t apply themselves so they drag the other kids down.” Some teachers agree with the students on this issue. “There are some kids in the honors class that you have to adjust the class for,” said Hathorn. “So I don’t think we’re going at the pace we should be.” Hathorn feels that it is hard to challenge the students in her honors classes who want to be challenged because she has to slow down her instruction. Hathorn teaches honors, regular, and CATS biology classes, along with a forensics science class. She feels that while the honors classes are positive, there are problems with the current class selection system. Hathorn said that last year there was a regular, honors, and integrated biology class. This was a smoother setup and allowed students to be placed in a class appropriate to their skills and motivation. While Hathorn believes there should be a placement test for honor students, she feels such an exam shouldn’t be based entirely on the students’ level of knowledge. “I would like to see a placement test,” said Hathorn. “But it’s not just intelligence level. It’s [students] being able to listen to directions and have basic skills.” SHS English teacher Jennifer Dodge feels that while her sophomore honors English class is rigor-ous, it’s not where it should be in terms of difficulty. “The abilities are all spread out this year,” she said. Dodge feels there should be more guidelines on getting into honors classes instead of the self-selection that currently exists. Fontaine doesn’t totally agree on this issue. “I think, for the most part, the right people are in the classes,” she said. Fontaine says that while she is not being challenged in her honors classes, she will continue to take advanced classes during her final two years at SHS. “If I have the opportunity to have them on my transcripts ,I’ll take them,” she said. “Even though I’d like them to be more challenging, if they’re the same next year they’ll still help me getting into colleges.” “I think the honors classes are fine,” said junior Sam Benton, who took honors English last year. “But they’re mainly just a title.”

AP and Honors ClassesAre They All They Could Be?

By Sarah Gray & Olivia Thayer

SHS English teacher Susan Hunt feels that her freshman honors English class is challenging to her students. “The honors classes read more books than the regular classes,” she said. “The pace is quicker and the standard is higher for their writing.” Hunt feels that her honors English class chal-lenges the freshmen as much as they can handle their first year in high school. She also thinks that while there are some students in her honors classes who have been inappropriately scheduled into her advanced class, the opportunity to be in an honors class should be open to anyone. “I think it should be open to anyone who wants to take it,” said Hunt. “But if you don’t want to be there, you should be able to opt out.” Some honors class teachers and students have found that the size of the honors classes is increas-ing. “I think [the honors classes] are good, but we need more of them. They are too full,” said sophomore Emma Esty, who takes honors English, Biology, and Algebra II. This year, for example, there are two sopho-more honors English classes versus a single section last year. Two sophomore honors biology classes are found in the schedule compared to one last year. While these classes reflect teacher percep-tions, the problems in the classes don’t merely depend on solely on the instructor's effort and viewpoint. “There’s more that I want to do in the honors classes,” said Dodge. “But if you [students] want to find a challenge, there’s one there.” Dodge believes that if students aren’t happy with their class situation, they can do extra credit work or go above and beyond on the assignments. While there are many concerns the honors, AP, and advanced classes at SHS, a simple answer to all the problems may not be possible. Vermont law requires that school officials cannot keep any students from be-ing in a class that he or she wants to be in. Therefore, a placement test might not help in scheduling students in advanced classes. Yet, some observers feel that teachers shouldn’t slow their class pace to accommodate students who can’t keep up. These same critics believe that if the class is too challenging, students should be allowed to change classes. Yet others feel honors classes are challenging enough and if the class name and credit is on their transcript, that is enough. However, as honors classes develop, it will take Springfield High School officials some time to figure this system out. “It’d be nice to have some time provided to look at honors programs from other schools,” said Dodge. “This is a relatively new pro-gram and a journey, a fun journey, with an indefinite outcome.” The Positive Parents group, the influential parent-run committee that suggests ways to improve

See Honors page 23

Sophomore Liza Fontaine feels advanced classes could be more

rigorous. Freshman Honors English teacher Susan Hunt teaches her honors

classes at a faster pace with higher standards for top writing achievement.

pg nroeG Hner10See Website page 21

Project Feed the Thousands

Website Improved to Better Represent School

Features

Annual Food Drive Sparks Greater InterestBy Melissa Tarbell

During the week before the holiday break this December, the Springfield High School student council and SHS honor society conducted the

annual food drive for Project Feed the Thousands. This year, however, there was a change to the process: in order to gather more items, student council advisor Kevin Coen, who credits this idea to two of last year’s student council members John Kendall and Jordan Clapperton, suggested that each day of the food drive be organized around a theme and encouraged a competition to inspire greater participation. The idea seemed to pay off when, at the conclusion of the week, students and staff donated 1,360 food items in an effort to combat poverty in Springfield. Nobody seems to remember what last year’s total was, probably because it was such a small number. SHS Main Office Secretary Jean Stocker thinks that previous food drives were embarrassing and that the competition this year seemed to “spark an interest” in students. The student council and NHS members set a large goal for the week. But this year there was a separate goal to entice student involvement: a movie day on the Wednesday before the holiday break. The prizes were as follows: for anything less than 700 items, the prize was “a warm fuzzy feel-

ing one gets from helping others.” The prize for 700 items was free coffee and cookies on the Wednesday before break. At least 1000 items meant a school-wide movie day on Wednesday, and anything over 1000 items meant there would be free popcorn to go with the movie. This incen-tive seemed to motivate students to bring in items. “The people at the family center were astounded by what we brought in,” said Coen. “They hadn’t seen anything like that from SHS or any school in the area in a long time.” Monday’s do-nations were not extravagant despite the long-time rivalry between the Yankees and Red Sox, which was Monday’s theme. Most likely the small numbers were due simply to the Monday blues. But the Red Sox fans See Food Drive page 21

By Maria Stern

A topic of recent discussion between the Posi-tive Parents Group and the Springfield School Board involved the upkeep of the Springfield

High School Website. The Positive Parents Group, a group of concerned parents, teachers and community members, focused on the often-neglected site at a meet-ing in November. The Springfield High School website can be accessed by selecting the "Springfield High School" tab on the Springfield School District website at www.ssdvt.org. While some features of the SHS website are up-to-date, others are dramatically out-of-date. "They [the Positive Parents Group] have asked that the websites be updated," said Positive Par-

ents Group member and School Board member Jeanice Garfield. "They want to be able to access the information on PowerSchool and there's been a lot of trouble getting it to work." "The useability of the website is a concern," said SHS math teacher and Positive Parents Group member Sean Sullivan. "The website is not particularly user-friendly." However, he pointed out there are some good features to the site such as the calendar of events and individual teacher web pages. "It's really hard to know who is responsible for what," Garfield said. The Positive Parents Group does not want to point fingers, but instead provide constructive criticism. They believe that if SHS wants to be competitive the webpage must be updated. It was suggested that someone moving into Springfield would judge SHS, at least in part, by its website. In this respect, a poorly-maintained site is not a good representation of what SHS has to offer. “This is the first image and impression many have of our school. If items are not current and run-ning properly this reflects on all of us, school, parents,

students and community," said Positive Parents Group member Joan Hooke in an e-mail. "As for Power school, again lots of money [was] invested in a program that seldom works to its full potential for staff, students and parents. We have the technology and if you visit other area school websites they are markedly improved over our site.” "Each department is in charge of their own page," said Springfield School District Director of Information Technology Doug Holcomb. Likewise, teachers are in charge of their own link off the depart-ment page. When one selects an academic department, they are provided with the course offerings in the subject from the 2007-2008 school year or the 2008-2009 school year. The English Department is the only department to feature their offered Program of Studies for the 2009-2010 year. The complete Program of Studies book is available electronically. However, it is the 2007 edi-tion.

Non-perishable food items like pasta, soup, and crackers await delivery to the Springfield Family Center. A successful food drive took place in December.

made sure to bring in their items, and the final score, Red Sox, 59-Yankees, 19, was telling.

Director of Information Technology Doug Holcomb says each department

is in charge of its own web page.

nroeG Hner pg 11

Opinions

Students panting, accompanied by the bell, is a common sound associated with the beginning of class. The reason? The three minutes students

are allotted to travel from one class to another. This short time makes arriving to class energetic, prepared, or even on time, difficult, and almost impossible, to achieve. Though some may argue that an energetic student exists only in the minds of hopeful teachers, the three-minute passing time does nothing to help make this fantasy a reality. A student traveling from the basement to a third-floor classroom has no chance of arriving with any liveliness or desire to learn. A short rest is needed, yet not provided. In addition to the pressure of arriving on time, students are burdened with the heavy load of a backpack. While lockers are provided, students have no time to store materials and supplies since three minutes barely allows the time needed to reach class. This forces learners to transport the numerous, often heavy, required textbooks through an eight-period day. Therefore, add-ing weight to the already grueling passing. The three-minute passing time also prohibits the use of restrooms. An attempt to use the facilities within the three minutes will almost guarantee a tardy and many teachers discourage and sometimes refuse to

allow students to leave class in order to use the bath-rooms. Although Springfield High School is discuss-ing new schedules, which may allow longer passing time, the current eight-period day allows students more classes and, therefore, more work. This schedule is enough to tire students at the end of the day. Racing through the hallways in the hopes of beating the late bell does not help matters. In this process, who needs Physical Education? The journey from class to class is exercise all on its own.

3-Minute Passing Time

By Vicki Kopidakis

An Alternative to PE?

The day after Thanksgiving: turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes still being digested as eager consumers line up for the start of the holiday

shopping season. Retailers offer, and sometimes actually provide, huge savings for customers willing to get up early enough for under-stocked sale items on what has come to be known as Black Friday. My Black Friday started at 3:30 am with a sleepy walk into the cold air, into the cold car for a drive to the Keene, New Hampshire, Target with my mother, a black Friday enthusiast. When we arrived at the nearly-full parking lot, the line stretched past two neighboring storefronts and got even longer as the store neared its 5:00 am opening. Target employees handed out bags and maps of the store to customers in line as a woman tried to quiet her crying son who clearly didn't want to be in the cold. Just before the doors were opened, some people broke ranks and accumulated outside the front doors of the store. Several members of the original line yelled at them to get to the back of the line. The renegade group of shoppers returned shouts, but both sides subsided when it was determined that the front doors weren't going to be opened until the initial surge was in. When the doors opened and everybody poured in, I made my way to the electronics section. I hastily put three items in my cart. A TV hogged most of the space. With this merchandise, I made my way to the registers. The aisles were congested with TV-laden shopping carts and customers with bags full of games, movies, and GPSs. We made it out of the store, wheeled out to the car, and tried to shove everything in, buckling up again and making our way through the urban sprawl of Keene to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart has a poor reputation. This megastore is charged with discrimination, wiping out small businesses, and poorly-maintained security. Ane one could add to this list of crimes, fatal Black Friday stampedes. In 2008, a 34-year-old Wal-Mart employee was trampled to death as a mob of shoppers smashed through the front doors of a New York Wal-Mart. This year, however, Wal-Marts stayed open for the entire 24 hours after Thanksgiving in an effort to alleviate customer crowding. However, for me, two minutes inside of Wal-Mart was two minutes too many. The store was flooded with people, register lines spread throughout the aisles, and the noise levels were deafening. The crowd was surprising. Aside from a reasonably-priced $198 laptop, Wal-Mart’s discounts weren’t all that enticing. After Wal-Mart, I was dropped off at Game-Stop, while my mother made her way to Home Depot. GameStop’s small store space was full of people waiting in line to purchase games and game systems for their family members. GameStop’s sales weren’t particularly amazing, providing only a couple of doorbuster items,

Tales of Black Friday

By Sam Hensel-Hunter

See Friday page 22

Music in the ClassroomBe-Bopping and Testing

By Liza Fontaine

Distractions. Distractions. Distractions. The tap-ping of pencils. The person sitting next to you won’t stop coughing. And, hey, what is that

person doing out in the hall? How could you possibly be taking a test while all of these distractions going on?

Is there something that could help you focus? With this in mind, students at Springfield High School are always asking, “Can we listen to our iPods during the test?” Most teachers’ answers are flat out “No.” So, what’s the big deal? Teachers forbid listening to music during tests mainly because they believe students don’t have the ability to multitask. What teachers don’t understand is that students get frustrated with the environment around them and the music just zones it all out. Studies from a San Diego State University website www.edweb.sdsu.edu show that students have a “significant increase in OTP (on-task-performance)” when they listen to music rather than silence while taking a test. The University had 42 sessions with the students in this order: 15 sessions in silence, 15 with easy-listening background music, and 12 in silence. Scientists took observations every three minutes. Both females and males showed an increase of on-task-per-

See Music page 22

Jordan Derosier avoids distractions as music flows in his earphones.

pg nroeG Hner1�

ColumnsAccepting Ambiguity

By Jess Watkins

By Kelsey Christensen

Examining ExistenceNo Offense, but…

Hey do you like this shirt?”“No offense, but it makes you look kind of fat.”

Oh. Um, gee. None taken? We all know this feeling. You may be having a perfectly nice conversation, or think you have a perfect relationship with someone, and then they suddenly drop the bomb on you – “no offense.” People have a strange concept that prefacing insults with “no offense” compensates for the potential pain the insult will cause. When someone starts any-thing with “no offense,” you’re immediately aware that tragedy is about to strike. The best strategy is to stop listening at that moment. What if saying no offense, preceeding some-thing awful, actually consoled people? For example, what about: “No offense, but I’ve always hated you.” Wow. I would have been hurt, but you completely salvaged the situation by adding “no offense.” Thanks, pal, for that courtesy. Or, try, “No offense, but I killed your family.”

You’re lucky you said “no offense.” I can’t avenge my family’s murder now. Perhaps we think we’ll get away with cruelty by adding these two innocuous works. We believe that because we add this cliché consolation, no one will even notice that we have verbally slapped them. Maybe “no offense” would be less discon-certing and cruel if it were even half-genuine. I get the feeling that most of the bite of this phrase comes from its complete lack of sincerity. No one can truly be con-sidering one’s sensitivity while simultaneously insulting them. The tragic “no offense,” is also easily and commonly and easily supplemented with simply a “sor-ry,” i.e. “Sorry, but she’s been acting weird lately.” In this way, people hand out a lot of clues that they’re about to be really offensive. When you’re sitting in class and there’s a lot of tension between the teachers and students, and one of the students starts a sentence with “With all due respect,” you know tension is about to break out into a fiery battle between petulant teens and

irate teachers. I always shift a little in my seat when these words are uttered, and I never employ them, knowing there isn’t a pleasant way for them to be spoken. Who knows what may follow the treacherous “With all due respect?” Might it be a bold protest to a punishment? A bitter insult to the educator’s pedagogy? Either way, anything that follows “with all due respect,” is usually bad news, just like the lines following “no offense.” There should be a rule about these phrases. If you have you apologize for what you’re about to say before you say it, you probably shouldn’t say it at all.

Death. It's a subject we often ponder, a topic that frustrates us because we don't know any of the answers. Most of the time, people dread death

and avoid the subject, trying to pretend it doesn't exist. But why do we view death with trepidation, if mortality is a component of life? Death is written into the contract of life, an agreement that states: to live you must die. It's unavoidable. So why waste time dwelling on it? Well, because, we simply can't avoid it. It follows us everywhere. It is such an important facet of life, occur-ring unexpectedly, interrupting our daily routine, that

we are forced to face its gloomy presence. People die all the time. And when they die, they aren't here on earth with us anymore. People we love are victims of death's inevitable clutches, and this is precisely why death is such a dreaded and feared subject, because death steals away the people we care about. One day they're here, with the spark that makes them alive, and the next they are gone and everything that makes them who they are has vacated their body. The figure that once housed the person we love is now lifeless. How can a person we have known seemingly forever, be gone in a matter of seconds? And that's how long it takes. Just a few seconds. The way a person can die, that can take a lot longer than a few seconds, but the actual dying seems almost instantaneous. They're here, on earth, suffering, but still living, and then they're gone. They're not suffer-ing anymore. A peacefulness is left where an expression of anguish was before. So what is dying? Scientifically, dying is when a person's heart has stopped working, a flatline on a medical machine, that proclaims: "This person is dead." But is there more to death than a heart that has ceased to function, or a brain that no longer has activity? Is it when a person's soul leaves their body? And doesn't there have to be something similar to a soul

in a person? What else would make everyone so differ-ent? What else could be responsible for the plethora of personalities, value systems, ideas, and beliefs that are found in the world? What else would differentiate between a person simply being a working system of organs and cells, a creature whose sole purpose is to survive and reproduce, or a person having something within them that which makes them who they are? What makes us mourn a person's death, if they don't have a soul, something they had within them that no one else contained, that makes us miss them? When they leave earth, when they die, they are irreplaceable. We can replace a human with another human, a trade-off, a birth for a death, a life for a life. But we can never replace a person with another person, a soul for a soul. So if death occurs when a soul leaves a person's body, where does that soul go? And why do we dread it so much, if, whenever a person dies, they are left with a placid, peaceful expression where an-guish existed before? If we truly love a person, don't we want them to be in a better place, a place where pain doesn't exist? Does a place like this really exist? Is there a promised land, a heaven, a utopia, where all of our disembodied souls go? What about the evil souls

Death

See Ambiguity page 22

nroeG Hner pg 1�

Welcome To...By Melissa Tarbell

Column

...A Greener, Better World

People sometimes tell me that one person isn’t go-ing to make a difference. But we live in a world that was created by mankind’s accomplishments,

so I think otherwise. Former Vermont Governor Howard Dean said in his speech to Springfield High School in Novem-ber that things will only change if we make them change. He added that we might as well focus on changing things that everyone agrees on, things that can’t be denied. This is why I would like to share a short list of things that I like to do to promote a better natural environment. Not only am I helping make the world a better place, I feel better when I do my part, even when it is something as simple as these six steps: 1. Invest in a decent water bottle that you can reuse again and again instead of constantly buying bottled water. I used to buy bottled water every day at school. Before long I realized how much money I was wasting: $1.25 a day, 5 days a week. I was forking out $6.25 a week on top of the $2.25 it costs for lunch each day, and sometimes that extra 75 cents for a cookie. I went ahead and invested $25 for a good water bottle. Now, the money I would have spent on four weeks' worth of Dasani water has been put to good use

and I don’t have to worry about accidentally throwing away a plastic bottle. 2. If you really don’t want to buy a reusable water bottle —which doesn’t have to cost $25—be sure to recycle those expensive plastic bottles. Springfield High School has a recycling program which students should make use of. Also, for those of you who don’t mind a little extra effort, there is a great place you can send your #5 plastics that will put them to good use. I once saw this idea on an episode of Get Fresh With Sara Snow. The Preserve Gimme 5 program will recycle #5’s into shavers, toothbrushes, tableware, and kitchen products. Unfortunately, there are not any drop-off locations for this program nearby, so you will have to mail in your #5 plastics. But it is well worth the effort. If you are inter-ested in this program, go to www.preserveproducts.com. You can get information on recycling and also buy their recycled products, which leads me to my next tip. 3. Buy products made from recycled material and/or products that can be recycled. It is so easy these days to find recycled products. This school year I bought notebooks and folders at Wal-Mart from a company called Carolina Pad that are made from 80% recycled

material. If you are interested in these products, you can go to Carolinapad.com to find out more about the cause. Try not to buy products that are not recy-clable. Did you know that artificial Christmas trees cannot be recycled? Sure, they may last a long time, but when their time is up, they can only be put in a landfill.

See Welcome page 20

Health Care Falls Apart. Again.Opinion

No Reform Without Public OptionBy Sam Hensel-Hunter

Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and Harry Reid have let down the people who put them in of-fice. Even with the House of Representatives,

the U.S. Senate, and the presidency in the hands of the Democratic Party, health care reform has fallen apart. Again. Though Democrats managed to pass an ex-tremely stripped down bill on Christmas Eve, the lack of a public option in the health care reform bill has been used to appease various representatives whose votes were conditional. However, in the end, what we get isn’t reform, or a compromise, but merely a cave-in to the status quo which allows insurance executives to make a killing while customers suffer. In fact, in 2007 the CEOs of the top 7 for profit health care companies made an average $14.2 million. The Health Care industry also reveals its luxurious bank roll by spending over $396 million in its lobbying effort for 2009, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The Republican assault on Health Care reform included throwing around words like social-ism, Marxism, and death panels. Republicans also complained that the deployment of 30,000 troops to

Afghanistan suggested that Health Care reform would not be economically feasible. In the end, only one Republican voted for the health care bill in the house, and not a single Republican senator voted for this mea-sure. The health care bill was an effort to reform the health care in America, which is the only developed nation to not have a universal healthcare system avail-able to its citizens. Despite this embarrassing fact, many conservatives call the American current health care system, the “best in the world.” According to a study by the University of Maine based on statistics compiled by the World Health Organization, America has the most expensive health care system in the world with $4,178 spent per capita per year. Switzerland came in second with $2,794 spent per person per year and the U.K. spends only $1,461. Yet are Americans receiving superior health care with such high health care costs? Not according to the World Health Organization’s ranking of international health care systems. In their rankings, the U.S. places number 37, between Costa Rica at 36 and Slovenia at 38. France claimed the number 1 ranking followed by Italy.

These countries spend $2,077 and $1,783 respectively per year per person on health care. According to the Obama Administration-run www.healthreform.gov, “The President’s 2010 Budget lays the groundwork for reform of the American health care system, most notably by setting aside a deficit-neutral reserve fund of $635 billion over 10 years to help finance reform of our health care system to bring down costs, expand coverage, and improve quality.” Despite the public option being cut from this proposed legistlation, the current health care bill con-tains good measures. For example, insurance companies will be required to accept new applicants regardless of pre-existing conditions or raise rates on ill clients. It is estimated the bill would provide cover-age for 36 million people who are currently uninsured. However, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that 18 million people will still remain uninsured after the bill comes into effect. Another 29 million under-insured Americans will still be forced to pay for health care out of their own pockets. Such facts suggest that health care reform, once more, has fallen apart.

pg nroeG Hner1�

HumorSurviving Apocalyptia

ColumnFinding Serendipity

By Eliza Pennell

By John Forbes

Burn Zombie, Burn!

Teamwork has proven its usefulness in the Zom-bie Apocalypse. But what about fire? Fire, like teamwork, has helped in man’s advancement.

It’s helped us through wars. It’s kept us warm during frigid winters. But how does fire measure up against the living dead? Fire is an effective tool in modern warfare because it hurts and inspires fear. If someone is on fire they’re much more likely to concentrate on putting out the fire then attacking. But zombies don’t feel pain or fear. This drastically reduces the effectiveness of fire as a weapon in the Zombie Apocalypse. In addition, fire could become disastrous for all parties in conflict (the victims or the zombies) in a matter of moments. Let’s suppose you’re in a forested environ-ment. Fire would be a bad choice in this setting because it could quickly turn your forest hideaway into a burning

prison. After the fires die, you may be left with a field of charred stumps in place of leafy cover. Urban locale? Still a bad idea because a shuffling mass of flame is almost guaranteed to attract the attention of other flesh-hungry zombies. In addition, one’s senses may be assaulted by the combination of fire and zombies. Zombie flesh smells bad when it isn’t on fire. Imagine the smell of decayed burning zombies. What it really boils down to is this: fire can-not be used as a weapon against zombies. It remains a useful tool for the survival of mankind, but if a zombie is aflame it will not attempt to “stop, drop, and roll." In fact, a burning zombie is much more likely to shuffle towards you until the fire burns away its legs. Will the zombie reach you before this happens? Maybe. Is it worth taking the chance? No. Unlike the zombies, when you catch fire you will be paralyzed with fear, and a visage of flaming decayed flesh may be the last thing you see before you draw your final breath. It’s easy to find some examples that don’t

result in a blazing death. When there is some sort of inflammable border between you and the zombies, for instance, fire may be a good idea, because it will slowly incinerate the no-witted zombies and draw more zom-bies towards the flames. The zombies will be unable to find a way around or through the barrier, though given enough time they could break through your barrier. This pattern ends when the charred corpses or packed ashes are sufficiently high enough to make a hill that the zombies can climb. Another option is to use fire to gain a tacti-cal advantage. Zombies are attracted to movement, and fire is in constant motion. It would be easy to draw zombies away from your current location by lighting a fire elsewhere. A flaming zombie mass could be an advan-tage because it could draw the attention of any possible aerial rescue teams, and thereby increase your chances of rescue. Until that happens, though, the zombie inferno may let you take a break from the apocalypse and enjoy some roasted marshmallows.

Please Read Me

I'm taking a break from my typical column-writ-ing, if I have typical column-writing, to explain something to you.

I'll be explaining this something to you be-cause I'm so grateful it was explained to me and because I think it should be explained to all students who are planning on going to college. Questbridge is an organization that gives assistance to high-achieving low-income students. The Questbridge National College Match Program offers a full four-year scholarship to any one of Questbridge's twenty-seven schools - some of the best and most ex-pensive schools in the country. I received a letter from Questbridge last year explaining this and other scholarships they provide. I can't tell you how thankful I am that I opened this let-ter, which was just one envelope in a pile of pamphlets, letters, and viewbooks from colleges, summer camps and scholarship organizations. I opened it on a whim, I suppose, instead of throwing it away with most of the others, and I found out about Questbridge for the first time. Last spring, I applied for the Questbridge College Prep scholarship, which provides students with opportunities to attend academic summer camps and/or

college admissions conferences, to receive all-expenses-paid visits to distant schools, and to be tele-mentored by a Questbridge counselor or an Amherst College student. Essentially, I didn't receive any of the benefits of this scholarship. I was invited to a conference at Stanford, but additional fundraising was required to cover ex-penses. This fall I decided to apply for the National College Match Program. The application includes three essays, plenty of short-answer questions, two teacher recommendations, a secondary school report from a guidance counselor, official transcripts, test scores, and forms detailing your academic interests, work experience, financial situation, and household/family situation. Another part of the application process I should mention is the college ranking section. This section is due a couple weeks after your September 30 deadline. College rankings are exactly what they sound like: you look at the list of Questbridge partner schools, you think about which ones you'd like to attend, and you choose up to eight of your favorites. You rate these schools based on how much you'd like to go to each one. Your #1 rank is the school you'd most like to attend. Your #2 choice is the school you'd prefer over

#3 but don't like as much as #1 - and so on and so forth. If you are accepted to any of these schools through the College Match Program, you are expected to attend the school highest on your list that also accepted you. It's a binding agreement. For example, if #2 and #4 accepted you, you would be going to college at school #2. If only #5 accepted you, you'd go there. I only ranked five schools: my fifth and last

See Serendipity page 23

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ReviewsRamones

(Ramones; 1976)By Samuel L. Benton

Blitzkrieg: n. a swift, sudden military offensive, usually by combined air and mobile land forces.

The Ramones self-titled debut is just that: a swift attack. Every track, from the aptly-named “Blitz-krieg Bop” to “Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World” is a fast-paced bombardment of guitars and drums, with the longest song (“I Don’t Wanna Go Down to the Base-ment”) reaching barely over two and a half minutes. The Ramones (who are not true brothers) are often regarded as the first punk band. Other bands, like the New York Dolls, paved the way to punkdom. But it was the Ramones who exploded through the brush. After viewing one of their first concerts, Legs McNeil (who would later co-found Punk magazine) said, "They were all wearing these black leather jackets. And they counted off this song...and it was just this wall of noise.... They looked so striking. These guys were not hippies. This was something completely new." Perhaps not com-pletely new, since the Ramones were in the front line with the Sex Pistols and the Clash when punk exploded on to the mainstream music scene in the 1980s. If you love one track on Ramones, you’ll love them all. There is little variation between each song.

They are crafted around simple chord changes and a basic beat in the style of the music the band mates grew up listening to, such as the Beach Boys, the Beatles, and the Rolling Stones. Bassist Dee Dee Ramone’s signature “1-2-3-4” shout starts off many of the songs, followed immediately by Johnny Ramone’s guitar continuously playing the same chords and Tommy Ramone pounding the drums in a lightning fast berserk that pound through the songs. Joey Ramone’s voice is a blast. You can’t often tell what he is saying. Words blend together when he sings, but the way he sings it you know it’s good. The songs of Ramones vary from simple love songs, like “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend” (my personal fav) to more brutal tracks like the always-amusing “Beat on the Brat” (“Beat on the brat with a baseball bat”) and “Today Your Love, Tomorrow the World,” which flirts with Nazism. Each song's lyrics are simple and fun, a good example being ‘Judy’s a Punk,” where the first verse is repeated for the second, as stated in the line “second verse same as the first.” Things shake up for the third verse, featuring different lyrics and a bridge of “third verse different than the first.” Tracks like “Chain Saw” (about viewing Texas Chain Saw Massacre--that’s massacre with a

–kree) and “Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue” (out of boredom) are just a couple of the songs that make the album what it is: a day in the Bronx. The Ramones are essentially just a bunch of kids looking for a good time. From the sound of things, they’ve found it. Ramones is less than 30 minutes long (44 seconds less than a half hour), but every track is a bombardment of fast, hard, powerful fun. I love it. I love them. The Ramones will keep shooting out the heavy artillery for years. They don’t move far from their original sound, their second album, Leave Home, sounds no different from the first, but they make it work. Ramones is a required record for anyone from the casual kid in the Bronx looking for a good time to the most die-hard music fan in Vermont.

The RoadFather and Son on a

Highway to SalvationBy Sam Hensel Hunter

Cormac McCarthy came to greater notoriety outside of literary circles in 2007 when his novel No Country For Old Men was made into

a film Joel and Ethan Coen and received Oscars for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Adaptation as well as for other Academy nomina-tions. McCarthy’s 2006 novel The Road was recently released as a movie. The Road takes place in barren, post-apocalyptic America when most of life and the supplies necessary for survival have been destroyed.

In this world, the Man and the Boy push along their shopping cart of possessions through a hostile and dying environment. They are making their way south as winter approaches. The life of the Man and the Boy represent lives are on the edge of starvation and annihilation. Exhaustion and dehydration are ever-present. These conditions make the discovery of something as simple as fresh water a divine gift. The Road puts what we see as our day-to-day hardships in very clear contrast with the lives of the protagonists. The Road also dips into the inhuman events like cannibalism, though the horror doesn’t consume the book McCarthy's language has been praised as memorable and Biblical, and his diction is clearly a triumphant part of The Road: “It took two days to cross that ashen scabland. The road beyond fell away on every side. It's snowing, the boy said. He looked at the sky. A single gray flake sifting down. He caught it in his hand and watched it expire there like the last host of

christendom.” In passages like this, McCarthy’s words are used in a manner that conveys both the inherent evil in the world, but at the same time the hope that springs eter-nal from some of the last humanity left in the world. McCarthy creates a muted world that is lay-ered thick with dirt and grime. Everything that the Man and the Boy encounter in The Road is tainted with the dirt of the world and the inhuman nature of its inhabit-ants. The Boy’s innocence and the Man’s gruff realist view represent two beautifully-written characters with a relationship that, though harsh and short at times, is one necessary for survival and, in the end, based on seem-ingly-destroyed ideals of love, loyalty, and sacrifice. For example, the Man often has to stifle the cries of the Boy to maintain a hiding place, and has to instruct the Boy to be prepared use the gun if he is caught while the man is gone. The Man lives for the Boy, and

See Road page 21

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SportsMovers and Groovers

Hensel-Browning Reshapes Dance TeamBy Kelsey Christensen

Dance team has been a staple in the Springfield High School offerings for fall sports for the past few years. This year, SHS graduate and local

dance teacher Ashley Hensel-Browning is coaching

the team instead of former coach, Kyla Beardsley, who has her own dance studio and company in Newport, New Hampshire. “I knew Kyla well and was always super impressed by the team at the basketball game,” said Hensel-Browning. “So, when the opportunity came up to coach, I was interested.” Hensel-Browning says she was encouraged by parents and teachers to apply for the position of dance team coach. SHS gym teacher and football coach Mike Hatt was also very supportive as Hensel-Browning was applying. Dance Team members have welcomed this change. “I’m so glad that Ashley is coaching,” said SHS senior and dance team member Chelsea Wheeler. Wheeler feels that Hensel-Browning is fun to be around, and she encourages the team to work hard. “I’m excited to see how dance team will vary this year compared to my past years with Kyla as the coach,” added junior Alaina Page, another member of dance team. Dance team try-outs were held in late November, the week before the Thanksgiving break.

Though try-outs were successful, Hensel-Browning was sick when she worked with dancers in this first meeting of the squad. Try-outs went smoothly for the prospective dance team members. “It felt more like a practice,” said freshman dance team member Mariah Olmstead. Prospective dancers had to learn two dance routines of eight counts. One routine fell into the jazz genre and the other was in hip-hop. “The kids who showed up were enthusiastic and dove right in to working their bodies and learning new choreography,” said Hensel-Browning. Eight students tried out for dance team. “Teammates are sparse,” said Page. “Most people did Kyla's dance team, so there weren’t a lot of girls [trying out]. But there is enough for a team.” All of the students who tried out were selected to be members of the dance team. The dance team practices regularly, focusing on physical conditioning and choreography. The team will compete in Vermont dance competitions, including

See Dance page 22

Sports EditorialAn Unnamed Trophy and Unsung Hero

Each October, the Springfield Cosmos and the Bellows Falls Terriers football teams battle for a rival trophy that has been shared between the

two teams for years. On May 23, 2009, my father, Gary “Moe” Haskell, suffered a massive heart-attack and died while umpiring a little league baseball game in Walpole, New Hampshire. A few weeks after his passing, one of my mother’s friends suggested that we do something special in his honor. One of the things that came to mind was having the trophy between Bellows Falls and Spring-field, which was nameless, be named the “Moe Haskell Memorial Trophy.” Moe Haskell was a well-respected person in the Springfield and Bellows Falls communities and in athletics, especially involving the sport of football. He coached Pee-Wee Football in Bellows Falls from 1972 to 2007, which contributed to both Terriers and Cosmos athletics. Pee-Wee Football is a program that allows kids, usually from ages 9 to 15, to become bet-ter players and teammates in football. He also coached Springfield’s middle school football team for one year. He is perhaps best known for the 100s of games he refereed in both Springfield and Bellows Falls since the mid-70s. He lived in Bellows Falls until 2001 and played on the Terriers football team in high school. During his life, Haskell made many friends in the Springfield and Bellows Falls area.

Many people loved and cared for Moe and a petition to have the trophy named after Moe gathered over 800 signatures. This petition was presented at a Springfield School Board meeting on Monday, October 26, several days before the rival game, by the same friend, Nicole Kollman, who had made the original suggestion. The school board, however, would not make a decision about the trophy, despite the great number of people who signed the petition. They left it up to the athletic directors, football coaches, and citizens of each town to designate the trophy to honor my father. Since the trophy is currently unnamed, it seems strange that it would not be named after Moe Haskell automatically. About 1000 people came to his wake in Bellows Falls, most of whom attended from Bellows Falls. About 800 people from Springfield signed the petition. It’s hard to understand why a nameless trophy between the two communities that appreciated Moe Haskell and his helpful athletic talents so much, could not be named in his honor. The Moe Haskell Memorial Trophy has not been established. But the family, friends, and communi-ties of Bellows Falls and Springfield look forward to the day when Springfield and Bellows Falls football teams play each other in October for the honor of retaining a trophy named after Moe Haskell, my father and sup-porter of young athletes from both towns.

Moe Haskell, center, was a familiar sports figure to fans and players in

Springfield and Bellows Falls.

By Jessie Haskell

Freshman Mariah Olmstead thought that the November 18th dance team

try-outs felt more like practice.

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Sports

Girls BasketballUp-Tempo, More Running

By Ryan Brady

Last year the Cosmos girls basketball team won three games and lost in the first round of the playoffs. However, the girls returned four

starters from last year, losing only Breanna Gun to graduation. First-year coach Brodie Ladue introduced a new system of play this winter. Ladue was an assistant coach last year at Windsor. “It’s definitely different with Brodie,” said senior co-captain Kayla Perham. “Practices are different. We do more running rather than the set shooting we did last year. It’s because we are playing a more up-tempo game this year.” The girls have used a new motion offense along with a flex offense. The new offense keeps every- body moving. The key part of the offense is a UCLA cut down the middle of the floor. “Our motion is like our flex,” said senior Lindsay Bolduc “There’s a cut almost like a flex cut [a UCLA cut]. It’s just a little different because they’re coming from the top and cutting down the middle of the floor.” “The motion is like the flex,” said Perham. “But there’s a lot more options in it. If we run it the

whole way through, there are a lot of easy scoring op-portunities, and a lot of different looks from wherever the ball goes.” The defense has also changed. Last year the lady Cosmos favored a half-court defense and tried to shut down the passing lanes and forcing the other team to take contested shots or shots from long range. This year, however, the girls play a full-court defense. “Right now we’re trying to work up to the point where we can press all game,” said senior Lindsay Bolduc “It’s gets our offense going by giving us easy fastbreak points.” The defense the lady Cosmos will be using will be both full-court man and a three-quarter court zone. “The zone is a 1-2-2 three-quarter court press that forces the other team into the corners of the half court to force traps," said Senior Taylor Thomas. “It’s one of the defenses that Windsor has used.” A zone defense can create easy fast-break points and play to the team’s strength rather than to each individual's strengths. In the Windsor game on Monday, December 14th, the girls used their 1-2-2 defense effectively to change the tempo of the game in the second half and force some Windsor turnover’s that

Defense and TeamworkA Smaller Boys Team Makes Adjustments

By Ashley Richardson

Losing to the Woodstock Wasps by three points may not have been the best way to open their season, but the boys basketball team answered

that loss with a 40-point win over previously-ranked Division I Hartford, which now competes in Division II, on December 12th. “We were disappointed that we lost to Woodstock in our first game, but we came back and beat Hartford the next game,” said senior co-captain Ryan Brady. “We responded well in the wake of our loss.” The entire Cosmos line-up contributed in this 62-26 win over the Hurricanes. Seniors Brandon Boyle, Ryan Brady, and TJ Wallace, as well as juniors Ethan McAllister and Billy Wheeler make up the starting line-up for the Cosmos, who at the beginning of their winter season evened out their record at 2-2 with the victory over Hartford. “Last year we really relied on one person for our offense. But this year we’re definitely focusing on the whole team,” Brady said. “As the season goes on, we’ll all have off-games, and others will have to step up. Teamwork is very important.” Teamwork is definitely the focus for this year’s squad, as they work on both good team defense and good team offense. “As a team we’re really small this year,” senior co-captain Brandon Boyle added.

“Being small actually works to our advantage, however. We’re small and quick, and we get after the ball more. We really just have to work hard to shut the other teams down.” The Cosmos took their two early-season losses in stride. After each loss, the Cosmos bounced back with a win. The Cosmos defeated the Hartford Hurricanes and the Mill River Minutemen, 56-46, after losing to the Woodstock Wasps, 49-43, and Lyndon Vikings, 65-64, respectively. “We need more heart and energy this year to win the games,” Brady said. “The losses have made us better, and we work harder during practice to limit our mistakes on offense.” Although the Cosmos graduated three key starters and the three tallest players from the 2008-2009 squad, the boys are proud that they have outscored their opponents in the young season by a broad margin, 225-186. “We’re really hoping to return to Barre [site of the semi-finals and championship game for Division II]. Hopefully we win states again, but that’s probably a stretch,” concluded Brady. “Division II is wide open this year, however, and it could happen. We just need to be smarter than everyone else.”

TJ Wallace busts it down the court against Hartford on December 22nd. The Cosmos, utilizing strong defense,

beat the Hurricanes 48-35.

Kayla Perham drives to the basket against the Fair Haven Slaters on January 5th. Perham has been the

leading scorer for the girls this season.

allowed the Cosmos to get back into the game. Learning a new system, and suffering key injuries, the girls struggled early. They won only one game--against Woodstock--through early January.

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Sports

Dodgeball is usually a game played on a grade school playground or in a middle or high school gym class. However, the Springfield

High School Class of 2010 put a new spin on the game of dodgeball by turning a dodgeball tournament into a fundraiser for the senior class. The tournament took place on Saturday, December 19th, at noon in the Park Street School gymnasium. Admission to watch the tournament was $2.00. The 7-member West Kompton Justice League was victorious in Springfield High School’s first-ever dodgeball tournament. This team included senior John Esden, juniors Billy Wheeler, Ben Sidler, Ethan McAllister, Mike Pianka, and sophomores Aaron Wallace and Jake Patoine. Students and faculty at SHS were encouraged to make teams of 6 to 8 players and teams had to pay a total of $15.00 to enter the competition. The faculty at SHS formed a team entitled Corporal Punishment and Jen Dodge, SHS English teacher and Corporal Punishment’s fearless leader and coach, was ready to play. “I recall playing dodge ball as a kid and it was hours and hours of fun, and being able to turn it into a fundraiser where you can throw objects at students seems like a great idea,” Dodge said. The team members of Corporal Punishment included SHS English teacher Becky Skrypeck and her husband Barrett, SHS health/P.E. teacher Ruth Haskell, social studies teacher Angelo Jardina, and SHS math teachers Sean Sullivan, Cynthia Knight, Barbara Es-tey, and John Dean. The team also had four alternates who included co-principal Bob Thibault, SHS German and Russian teacher Yuiliya Ballou, science teacher Amanda Frank, and In-School Suspension teacher Jerry Gomez. Dodge had high hopes for the faculty team. She thought they could take home the gold. “With the last name Dodge, I think it’s my job to hold our team to a high standard and at least make it to the final match if not take the whole thing,” Dodge said before the tourna-ment. In the end, Corporal Punishment placed fourth out of six teams. Springfield High School senior Melissa Tarbell felt that this fundraiser was a great idea and organized a dodgeball team for the tournament called The Executioners. “We [the senior class] keep coming up with new and interesting ways to fundraise and I wanted to be a part of it,” Tarbell said. “It [the tournament] wasn’t the standard pizza and cookie dough fundraiser.” Her team included seniors Ethan Paton, Dil-lon Heidtmen, Ryan Fernett, Alexis Olmsted, Brittney Andrews, and Erika Andrusic. Before the tournament, Tarbell had confidence in her team and thought they would have a successful competition. “I think we will do pretty well,” Tarbell pre-

West Kompton Justice League Dodges

By Sarah Gray

See Dodgeball page 22

Ethan McAllister, Michael Pianka, Ben Sidler, Aaron Wallace, Billy Wheeler, Jake Patoine, and Jon Esden make up the West Kompton Justice League, the winning team in the first-ever dodgeball tournament. The tournament, which took place on December 19, was created as a fundraiser for the Class of 2010.

Off-Season SoccerTraining and Teamwork

By Liza Fontaine

Reaching that goal during the season. Getting in the best shape you’ve been in all season. Push-ups. Sit-ups. Sprints. And then, it’s over.

All of the hard work put into preseason and the regular season amounts to little if athletes don’t stay in shape in the off-season. The Springfield Soccer Club, however, gives Cosmos soccer players a chance to play through winter and into spring. Some players take the offer. Others play for different teams. Playing soccer is also offered in summer for summer soccer and, of course, in the fall during the regular season. Playing soccer year-round can give players a boost. However, as junior Chelsea Howland said, “It eats up my life.” Players must deal with jobs, other sports, homework, and a social life if they make the club commitment. “It’s worth it if you can make a time commitment,” Howland added,“because you don’t want to lose the talent and skills you gained in the previous season.” The girls team plays their indoor soccer

games at Grantham Indoor in Grantham, New Hamp-shire. The boys varsity team holds their games at Riley Rink in Manchester, Vermont, though soccer changes when teams go from grass to turf. The indoor games are played on turf with smaller goals. At Grantham Indoor, the games are played off the wall which means there are no out-of-bounds. The games at Grantham involve 7-person teams, a switch from the regular-season teams which involve 11-person teams.. Teams that play at Riley Rink go for goals using the out-of-bounds rule and play with 5-person squads. Some credit the recent boys soccer championship to their practice of playing year-round soccer. With such extensive training, the boys were in shape, knew the strengths and weaknesses of each other, and had the determination to win it all. “Playing in the in the winter keeps us in shape and on our toes,” concluded year-round player Tom Kendall. “And keeping touches on the ball year-round is really important.”

the Ball Better Than Everybody Else

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Sports OpinionSwimming

Adrenaline, Power, BubblesBy Olivia Thayer

Dictionary.com has six definitions for the word swim. The first definition of swim says: “to move in water by movements of the limbs, fins,

tail, etc.” I prefer the fifth definition on the list: “to be immersed or steeped in or overflowing or flooded with a liquid.” This definition fits my attitude toward swim-ming. The sport has immersed and flooded all aspects of my life, physically, emotionally, and mentally. In particular, when it comes to swimming, a certain team has flooded my world. When I moved to Springfield in 2000, I was six years old. That summer, my sister and I joined the Springfield Swim Team. It was one of the most terrify-ing and thrilling experiences of my life. I had no idea what the coaches were talking about. The older kids on the team were the most intimidating people I’d ever met. And I couldn’t swim more than twice across the pool without stopping. I was scared. I lasted on the summer swim team for about three years. At age nine, I was convinced to follow my sister and start swimming for the community team in Claremont, New Hampshire, the Claremont Tiger Sharks. This was when I started swimming not just in the summer, but year-round. My love for swimming began that summer. The other swimmers welcomed me into their family with open arms. I was friends with swimmers my age. The younger swimmers on the team were like my adorable younger siblings, while the older swimmers morphed into my protective older brothers and sisters. The people I have swam with over the years have become my best friends and resemble a second family. In addition to these great swimmers, I was taught, coached, and helped with love and respect. The

head coach, Patty Deschaine, has become like a second mother to myself and many of my fellow swimmers. She is an amazing coach, mentor, and person rolled into one. Utilizing a profound sense of kindness, this woman has pushed me to my physical and mental limits but always with a profound sense of kindness. Besides the social aspect of swimming that I love, the actual sport is one that I adore as well. In swimming, you have mere minutes to prove yourself. Every race is a flurry of adrenaline, power, and bubbles. Yet it is over before most people have even realize it has begun. Winners and losers are determined by mere hundredths of a second. Remember, if you will, Michael Phelps' win over Milord Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly by .01 seconds in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Phelps’ record-setting performance gives an example of another important aspect of swimming: precision. We train for hours, days, even weeks to isolate one small stroke and correct it. Miscount your backstroke strokes for your turn by even one stroke and glide for more than half a second? Sorry, that’s a DQ (disqualification.) Flip into your freestyle turn a half second too early and push off too far from the wall? That will probably cost you the race. Even if you have a legal stroke, if you were taught one point of it incor-rectly, it will take years to iron out that mistake. If you don’t have a coach that will take time and work with you to correct these mistakes in your strokes, then don’t expect to ever win a race, unless you have pure talent. There are many times I’ve heard the state-ment “swimming is not a sport.” I invite who believes that to join my team, or any other swim team, at practice

See Swimming page 21

Stingrays Swim Team

Seeks Balance

By Ryan Brady

In the spring of 2007, the Edgar May Health and Rec-reation Center, then the Southern Vermont Health and Recreation Center, welcomed the Connecticut

River Valley Stingrays Swim Team. Before the center opened, the Stingrays swam with the Vermont Swim Association (VSA) only during the summer. But with the opening of the Edgar May Center, the team began year-round swimming in the New Hampshire Swim Association (NHSA). The Stingrays are in their third year of competition for the NHSA. Last year, with about 35 swimmers, they placed 14th out of 23 teams. “We’re still growing in the number of swimmers we have," said Stingrays coach Pat Whalen “We have had increasing numbers each year and we’re hoping that in a couple years we’ll be in the range of about 65 kids.” The kids who swim for the Stingrays come from all over the lower Connecticut Valley, from Brattleboro, Chester, Saxton River, Charlestown, and Springfield. The word hasn’t got out about the team yet so the numbers are small, particularly for the high school age group. The Stingrays only have eight high schoolers, none of which are from Springfield High School. Without balanced numbers, competition is difficult for the Stingrays. “It’s tough to compete with some of the teams,” Whalen continued. “Teams, like Lebanon, have well over 100 swimmers and the winning team from last year’s state meet had 180 swimmers.” Despite their low numbers, the Stingrays have still had success. On November 22nd, the team won the Claremont meet. During the meets the team competes as a whole for under-12 boys and girls and 13-18 boys and girls. Unfortunately this is where the team has had some of their problems since the Stingrays are almost entirely composed of girls. “I don’t know what it is with boys in this area," said Whalen. “If we could bring just our girls with us we would do fantastic. We always do well for the girls, but we have almost no boys so we always get hammered by the other teams in the boys section.” The Stingrays, however, have been able to be successful even with their low numbers because of their intense training schedule. During a typical mid-week practice, the swimmers, ages 8 and up, will swim about 4000 yards, just over two miles. Swimmers will take the 4000 yards in small sections working on their turns and various strokes. This rigorous work-out style has brought individual success to the team, with one girl holding

See Stingrays page 21

At left, Olivia Thayer lowers herself into the starting position at GSSA (Granite State Swim Association) Summer State Swim meet in the summer of 2009, during a 200 freestyle relay. At right, she poses after the same meet with

medals from the past five years.

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For the first seven years or so of the ten-year process, teachers are giving and getting feedback on improvements for the school. The last three years the process becomes more involved. That is when the teachers and administrators work in their committees to gather evidence and write their reports. Each report has an Executive Summary which Allen calls the “Sparknotes version.” After each committee completes their report, all SHS faculty members read the Executive Summary, which sums up their report, and vote to accept or change the report. By November, five of the seven reports were completed. Springfield High School is in the final stages of this ten-year process. In March, a 15-member NEASC Visiting Committee will visit SHS for 3-1/2 days to evaluate the school. They will talk with staff and students, and observe how the buildings and grounds are kept. They will eventually write a report which will suggest accreditation, non-accreditation, or probation for Springfield High School. This visiting group is made up of teach-ers and administrators from other schools. It is on a volunteer basis that one becomes a part of this group. SHS math teacher Cynthia Knight, had been one such volunteer. Knight can’t evaluate SHS, but she does evaluate other schools in New England. When the school year ends, the ten-year proces wil end, and another round will begin. Every couple of years school officials will send a follow-up progress report to NEASC. And, inevitably, it will be the last three years of the NEASC self-study that will become intense and truly educational.

NEASC from page 1

Bowden’s favorite project so far in the forensics class involved analyzing, solving, and reporting on a mock crime scene. However, Bowden does not see forensics sciences as a career choice for himself. Unlike Bowden, Fountain sees forensics as a career choice. “I’m looking at forensics as a college choice and a career choice, so I wanted to see what it would really be like,” Fountain said. “The course is very hands-on.” Sophomore Marissa Keenan has wanted to see what forensics would be like since she was a little girl. “When I was younger, I wanted to be a CSI [Crime Scene Investigator]," Keenan said, "and I wanted to see what it [forensics] was like.” Multiple television shows based on crime

Forensics from page 3

These trees are not biodegradable which means they are just taking up useful landfill space. Do yourself a favor and buy from a local tree farmer. You are supporting the locals, and Christmas tree farms are great for the environment, absorbing harmful carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen. 4. Speaking of tree products, I know I’m not the only person who uses a lot of paper. Many teachers don’t double-side their handouts, which is a waste when students end up throwing it all away. The easiest way to fix this problem is to recycle paper when you’re done versus throwing it away. If you don’t recycle at home, recycle at school. SHS recycles paper as well as bottles. However, all of those one-sided handouts that teachers give us have a side that is still useful. I use this paper again. I just take all of the one-sided paper and cut it into quarters for scraps. There are little boxes all over my house with these small papers that my family uses to take phone messages or to write down quick notes. It is helpful and a great way to use paper fully before you eventually recycle. 5. This one is so simple it should just become a habit. It’s not necessarily a planet-saver, but it will definitely save your wallet. When you’re not going

Welcome from page 13

local high school in her hometown of Bellbrooke, Ohio. “I had difficulty picking out my major and decided that I was best fit for helping others decide for themselves what career path to take,” Carlowski said. She does not regret her decision to become a counselor although she does have other dreams. “Being able to help out these kids is the best payment I could ever receive,” she concluded. Some people have many different goals in life. Military service is no different. Danielle Harrington, originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan, is a woman who aspires for some-thing more. That something includes enlisted service. She, however, is joining the Marine Corps for different reasons. Her husband has already served the United States for four years, and Harrington wants to be able to relate to, and understand him, as much as possible. By

Patience from page 8

Senior president of SHS Student Council Amanda Aberle led the successful food drive in Decem-ber. “I’m really proud of us as a school," said Aberle. "There are people out there who need this more than anything. I think that we really raised awareness." “They don’t want to admit poverty is a problem," Pam said. "But come on. Look at it." Most agree that observing poverty is more powerful than reading about it. It’s time for people to take action. To stop saying they care and then doing nothing. The more people are aware of this situation the more chance that things are going to change. “This town needs to wake up," Pam con-cluded.

Poverty from page 8

scene investigations have become popular in the last decade. One major reason for the popularity of these TV shows was the 1995 Orenthal James (OJ) Simpson Case, which became legendary when a famous Ameri-can football star was charged with the murder of two people. DNA, blood evidence, and shoeprint evidence was analyzed countless times and other forensic sciences were incorporated in this trial. This O.J. Simpson trial caught the imagination of America and forensics has been a popular media topic ever since. However, one may wonder, how true are the television shows compared to the reality of forensic sciences? “One good thing is that it’s [the media involving forensics] opened peoples' eyes to forensic

sciences and science in everyday life," said Hathorn. "But it isn’t always realistic." Hathorn added that the TV shows speed up the process of analyzing evidence. In reality, crime investigation can take much longer. “The [SHS forensics] course coincides with the TV shows, but it’s more in-depth,” said Fountain. Keenan believes that TV shows, such as CSI, NCIS, or Bones, make forensics look much easier than it is. Although the TV shows might exaggerate the reality of forensic sciences, the SHS forensics course is still a great learning experience. “I’m just glad it [the forensics course] is back,” Hathorn said. “It was really popular in the past and I hope it continues to be popular and we can try new things.”

directly back into a room, turn off the lights. There’s no point running up your electric bill because the 2nd floor bedroom light was on when you were downstairs in the living room for an hour or so. 6. Last, but not least, every summer right before school starts most of us go shopping for new clothes, right? Sure, most of your clothing from last school year is still in fashion, but what happens to that sweater or those sweatpants that maybe don’t fit anymore, or you haven’t seen in six months? Instead of throwing away old clothing, donate or recycle it. There are plenty of people out there who need the clothing that you don’t want anymore. There are big yellow Planet Aid clothing drop-off bins in Springfield where you can donate your clothing to people in need. You could also bring unwanted clothing to local consignment shops. My family brings clothing to consignment shops in Chester or Rutland. You can even make a few bucks this way, if that’s important to you. There it is. Six ways I help make the world more green. I live by these rules and I hope that those of you reading this will try some of these tips. One person can make a difference. Take action. You will feel better about yourself by helping others and the planet.

doing this she has also found a way to pay for college and provide for her family while she is away. "I want to be able to achieve something that not many woman are willing to do, and that is be a female Marine," said Harrington. The Marine Corps has the fewest female personnel. While completing her initial training, Harrington wants to become an officer in the Corps, and continue her college afterwards to pursue another dream, majoring in law and criminal justice. Some people know from the beginning what they want out of life. Some need more time than others to decide about the future. Either way, decisions may arrive quickly or take some time through reflection. Editor's Note. The journalist of this feature attended school in North Carolina before coming to Springfield High School. She interviewed former classmates through e-mail.

Visit past editions of the Green Horn at shs.ssdvt.org.

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Road from page 15

Another component of the teacher evalua-tion process involves how the teachers themselves view this process. "If we don't handle the situation correctly, teachers can view this process as us picking out puni-tive issues. They could see it like a punishment," said Thibault. "But that's not the way to do it." However, Brooks is not a teacher that views being observed as a punishment. "I love being observed and evaluated," Brooks said. "I look at it as an opportu-nity for fresh eyes to give me suggestions and I welcome it anytime I can get them." Fog agrees with Brooks. “We [the teachers] have been sad because we don’t get visited and observed more often,” she said. Even though these observations are per-formed to evaluate the teacher, very rarely do serious consequences result from them. Thibault said that in the worst-case scenario, a teacher could be dismissed due to these evaluations, but it would be a long, thought-out process for dismissal. "In no case would a teacher be dismissed after the first observation," said Thibault. "If we thought there was a problem, we would make a plan with the teacher, then observe them again over the next few years. If there was no improvement, then we would remove the teacher." "It's [being observed] a little nerve-racking. You have to be extra prepared,” Brooks admitted. “You never know what will happen." Though it will take time, this new policy is a step in the right direction for SHS. "I'm looking forward to the new policy," said Brooks. Thibault is positive about the new policy as well. "My hope is to start a process where evaluating teacher will become a regular thing," said Thibault. "Hopefully it will make the teachers happier as well."

Observations from page 4and you will soon see the error of your ways. Swim-ming, like any other sport, involves hard work and dedication. In the hot, summer months we may practice in cold water, but believe me, we still sweat. We may not be running up and down a field countless times and get out of breath in that sense, but in swimming you’re encouraged not to breathe, so I’d say we get out of breath. And if you believe that just because our legs and arms don’t hit anything solid that we don’t use our muscles, you are seriously wrong. Unlike many other sports where rival sports teams rejoice in the other team’s failure, many competi-tive swimmers feel united with each other even though we are on different teams. After every race, it’s not uncommon to see competitors high-fiving or even hug-ging and congratulating the swimmers not ten seconds earlier they were giving their all to beat. This solidarity is reflected in the fact that there are various Facebook sites and magazines formed just for swimmers where

Swimming from page 19

three Vermont state records. Whalen doesn't give out the names because he emphasizes team effort rather than individual achievement. “I hate whenever some-one reports on the team and only wants to know about the one girl," said Whalen. “We really are a team and whenever one person gets more credit than the rest the players tend to get mad at me.” The team began another round of competi-tions in January when the Stingrays start their Champi-onship schedule. They will hope to qualify for the state meet and the New England meet. They hope to move up from last year's 14th spot and place in the top six.

Stingrays from page 19

Tuesday’s theme was boys versus girls. No need to say, the girls won by a long shot, 83 to 22. Wednesday was freshmen and sophomores pitted against juniors and seniors. The upperclassmen blew the underclassmen away 178 to 96. Thursday’s competition between faculty and students yielded almost a third of the week’s total with day's donations reaching 512 items. The students knew the faculty would give them a run for their money, which is why so many items came in that day. In the end, however, the students won by a close margin of 12 items. Although by Thursday the goal of 1000 items had not quite been reached, on Friday people were allowed to vote for their movie choice. The only way a person could vote, though, was to put a food item in the box of the movie of their choice. There were four

Food Drive from page 10

As some links are out-of-date, other links are maintained well. The Drama Page and the Student Council Page are two such pages. These pages feature photographs from events and information about the programs. The music department link is maintained with useful web addresses for students. The Athletics page is also kept up-to-date. By selecting it one can view a digitalsports.com page featuring SHS sports schedules and results. A feature called “Destiny” allows students to search the SHS Library catalogue for books. SHS science teacher Margaret Geyer ex-emplifies the proper use of the link. "I try to keep it up to date with the learning objectives," she said. "But I really use it for supplemental resources." Geyer updates her page weekly, although this is less frequent than last school year when she would update it daily. She has found less time to manage the page because of the new

Website from page 10

his dedication is unrivaled by anything, including his dead wife. The Man’s love is the force that keeps him going, through death, and starvation. The Road suggests a dark perspective on death and violence that is reflected in the fact that the gun they carry is as useful for suicide as it is for defense. The film The Road was originally set to come out November 2008. But it was pushed back to Octo-

eight-period schedule. However, "It [the website] is a priority," she said. As Science Team Leader last school year, Geyer collaborated with Holcomb to add the "Science Course Offerings" to the Science Department page since the task was beyond her technical ability. SHS Co-Principal Larry Wight agrees with Geyer that time is a factor that prevents the website from reaching its potential. “It’s very difficult to find a time [to up-date the website], even though it’s not rocket science to do,” he said. “It’s a good way to communicate.” The Positive Parents group agrees that the site is a good means of communication. “Many parents were receiving the daily announcements," said parent Belinda Thayer. "This was very helpfu, especially this year because many students aren't getting them first period." “We need a central calendar where one can go for all high-school activities,” said Positive Parent

Lisa Castrignano. Wight praised his staff members that do take the time to update their page. “Some of our staff do a really commendable job,” he said. “It is also frustrating when PowerSchool isn't being used to its fullest potential,” added Thayer. Co-principals Wight and Bob Thibault expect that teachers enter grades in their online grade book weekly so students and parents can access grades from PowerSchool. “One of the main reasons for going to Pow-erSchool is its accessibility,” Wight said. When a teacher fails to update the grades the helpfulness of the program declines. It is for this reason Thibault has been talking with SHS faculty about the update policy. A technical difficulty developed with the automatic e-mail updates sent to parents requesting to be notified of their child’s progress. The problem was solved with support from the software company.

you can blog about your experiences in this sport and send in pictures. This sense of unity is strong in our individual teams as well. The strength of the bonds between swim-mers is unbreakable. Early morning practices, three-day long meets, and two-hour long practices bring you closer to your teammates than you ever thought possible. We aren’t just a team. We’re a family. When one of us has a bad breakup we have full team-bashing sessions. If one of us is having a bad day, the whole team is affected. When one of us gets a best time or wins a race, we all celebrate. Even though the races are individual, swim-ming is a team sport. If I was Dictionary.com this is how I would define the word swim: a recreational activity and com-petitive sport that exceeds your previous expectations about mental and physical limits, teammates, and how close you can really become with individuals.

options to choose from: Elf, Home Alone One, The Grinch and Remember the Titans. The winners were Elf and Remember the Titans, which were both shown in different locations at the high school. Despite the inspiring new plan for themes for each day, many students were intent on participating without incentives. Junior Amanda Porter said, “I would have brought in food anyway.” On Tuesday she brought in a whole bag of food items., The same goes for senior Angelo Jardina. “I usually try to bring in a couple cans every day,” he said. “[The competition] didn’t really help me. I was going to bring in food anyway.” The good-natured, daily competition may not have sparked Jardina's interest, but Jardina thinks it did have an impact on others. “Faculty day, I think, inspired more kids to bring in stuff,” he concluded.

ber of 2009 and then to November 25th, the day after Thanksgiving. Its first weekend gross of a little over $1,500,000 was disappointing. The choice to release this depressing and bleak film during the holiday season seems to be another blunder in marketing. McCarthy's Pulitzer Prize-winning story of The Road deserved a better fate than this mis-managed and poorly-presented film version.

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a state-wide competition on February 13th. The dance team will dance during half time at some basketball games. The team’s dances will focus on the hip-hop and jazz genres. The girls are excited to include bond-ing activities in their year of dance. “We’re already talking about team dinners, team movie-nights, team sleepovers,” said senior Eliza Pennell. “Our team is like a big family rather than a team,” added Olmstead. Hensel-Browning agrees. “I knew I was go-ing to be blessed with a team that not only danced well but valued kindness and friendship,” she said. Dance team members seem to feel that dance team is a positive facet of the school. “It’s a chance for people who might not be able to afford dance to give them a good feel for dancing,” said Olmstead. Page agrees that the team opens doors for those who don't ordinarily dance. “I spend all my money on gymnastics,” said Page. “But I also love dance. So it is a way I can still dance but not go completely broke.” “I'm really happy to have a dance team here," Wheeler said, "because dancing is one of my passions and we didn't have a dance or cheerleading team at my old school.” Freshman member Codi Lynch agrees that dance makes school better. “I have always loved to dance,” she said. “You can express yourself freely in dance. To find people who have the same open minds and expression is special.”

Dance from page 16

VISTA,” said student council member and SHS junior Chelsea Howland. The student council spent the morning or-ganizing the stage for Dean’s speech. Student council members, class officers, the Springfield School Board, Senator Richard McCormack and Superintendent Frank Perotti sat on the stage during the speech. An American and Vermont flag, in addition to a Cosmos banner, made up the backdrop. Student Council Co-Advisor Kevin Coen introduced Governor Dean. He joked about the swine flu and about Dean’s intimidating presence. “This man, whatever his politics, he has tried to connect with people,” Coen concluded. Dean took the podium, welcomed by a round of applause. He began his remarks by congratulating the boys soccer team for their Division II state title and the football team for reaching the Division III championship game. He then moved swiftly on to talk about Barack Obama’s election last autumn. “The victory of Barack Obama was the big-gest deal since 1960, before you all were born,” he said. “Obama’s election represents a big change in American politics like Kennedy did for my generation.” This change occurred since more young people, under the age

of 35, voted in addition to more African Americans. As Chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005-2009, Dean was instrumental in helping Obama win the 2008 election. His first move as chairman was to remove the old Democratic National Committee and hire new, younger members with fresh ideas. Dean was responsible for the “50-State Strategy” which was instrumental in Obama’s victory. This strat-egy involved campaigning vigorously in all states, not just states that had been won by Democrats in previous elections. Obama especially tried to win over Evangeli-cal Christians. “You are incredibly socially accepting of all kinds of people,” Dean said to the Springfield High School students. He noted that even Vermont is multi-cultural. For Republicans Dean had specific advice. “Stop worrying about hate and anger and worry about money,” he said. To soften negative feeling toward Republicans, he said, “If I say anything mean about Republicans, I don’t mean Vermont Republicans.” He claimed that Vermont Republicans are a different breed, and Republicans helped him during his time as governor in Vermont. Dean compared democracy to an organism.

According to Dean, if one does not take care of it, it dies. “Democracies do elect bad leaders,” he said. He reminded the student body that the people of Germany elected Adolf Hitler. He concluded his speech by praising Spring-field High School for its uniqueness and the opportuni-ties offered at the aptly-named Howard Dean Technical Center. He encouraged the school community to participate in politics. “You have to give something to politics,” Dean said. Dean endorsed the VISTA Program, by say-ing: “If you don’t give back to your community you may not have a community to give back to.” “If you want to change something, go ahead and change it,” Dean said. “You have the power and I expect you to use it.” Project VISTA encourages youth to become involved in the Springfield community. Those participat-ing will devise a project that will improve the Springfield community. They will work with an adult advisor and community business owner to accomplish their goal. The winning group would be given $500 to make their project a reality. As a reward, the group will be given $300 to split among their group participants.

Dean from page 1

that inhabit earth? Do they go to heaven, or are they condemned to an afterlife of eternal burning in hell? These ideas of afterlife seem a bit ridiculous to me, but where do our souls go? Are they recycled, reincarnated? Or are our souls put to rest with our bodies? When our body dies, does our soul die too? I'd like to think there's something more

hopeful than that, but I'll never really know. No one will ever really know. The question of death always looms in the back of our minds. What is death? What does death entail? Where do we go when we die? Is death painful? Is death peaceful? Does death lead to something bet-ter? Is life on earth just the beginning, or is it the end? These are questions we will never know the answer to, until we die, and then what help is it to the people left on earth?

Humans cling to life, even though it can often be miserable. But life can also be beautiful. We find many beautiful things in a world filled with dark, negative things. But the beauty battles the darkness, and we are always left with hope. We cling to life because it's the only familiar thing, it's the only thing that we know, it's the only thing with any certainty, and we would rather deal with the darkness of the world, than face the darkness of death.

Ambiguity from page 12

dicted. “The boys seem really excited. I think they will rock the show.” Unfortunately, Tarbell’s team placed last in the competition but gave it their best effort. Another team that was out for the win from the beginning was the West Kompton Justice league. “We are going to own,” Patoine said. “It won’t even be fair. It will be like Usain Bolt [famous runner and gold medalist] facing a turtle with four bro-ken legs walking backwards.” As Patoine had predicted, the West Kompton Justice League came in 1st place in the competition, followed by the Wu-Tang Clan and the Average Trainers. Senior class officers Veronica Whittemore (president), Olivia Johnson (vice president), Ashley Richardson (Secretary), and Meredith Ward (treasurer), put the fundraiser together with help from their senior class advisor Gigi Guy, who is an SHS math teacher. “I think [the tournament is] a great, fun, and unique idea and I hope it’s a fundraiser that can continues for classes to come,” Guy said. The tournament included six dodgeball teams and was judged through the process of elimina-tion. The senior class officers arranged the starting brackets for the teams and supervised the event along with Guy. Prizes were awarded. After the tournament ended, a spaghetti dinner was served from 5:00-8:00 pm at the Elks Club across the street from Park Street School. Admission for the spaghetti dinner was $5.00. “Everybody should go, and watch, and eat spaghetti,” Whittemore advised before the night of dodging ball.

Dodgeball from page 18with the rest of their sales running for two more days.After we’d filled the car with purchases, mostly from Home Depot, it was time to head home, away from the sprawl and traffic of Keene, and back across the Con-necticut River. Black Friday had been a tiring, wallet-draining, and successful expedition to the frontlines of consumerism’s big day.

Friday from page 11

formance with music. The silence during a test is like sleeping in silence. Some can’t stand it and need a fan going while they sleep. When taking a test, the music can act as one's “fan” and block the silence since technology now allows users to employ headphones to block out all sound except the music going into one’s ears. But, if silence is the only way for some students to focus on a test, they can choose not to listen to music. It seems simple. One SHS teacher opposed to music during tests suggests to have the class listen to the sound of the ocean or even rainfall. But that’s not what students are interested in. They want to listen to music they enjoy, if they listen to anything. Some teachers who set this no-music rule, however, let students listen to music while doing class work. Therefore, it seems reasonable that the rule of no listening to music during tests should be changed to allow greater student achievement.

Music from page 11

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lot of Americorps volunteers who act as “fellows,” sort of student teachers who were there for a year. They were fantastic--full of interesting experiences and infectious energy.

GH: How did this change your perception about PVP at SHS?JD: It renewed my faith in what we’re trying to do here, as well as giving me some concrete ideas for the future of the program. Sometimes school, as we all know, is frustrating--seeing other people being successful can be rewarding and help us redirect our efforts.

GH: How do you team with other PVP teachers?JD: We work in real close proximity to each other. Our desks surround the room, so there’s that sort of intimacy, and it allows for constant communication. We talk to each other all day. Also, we build learning units together, incorporating all our subject areas into student projects. We try to meet at least once a week to discuss students--current and potential students, how

Davis from page 2

choice was Brown University. My fourth was Oberlin College; third, Wesleyan University; second, Amherst College; and first, Pomona College. Again, these rank-ings are due after your application, but I submitted mine early. In the middle of September. I sent them in early because I wanted to have my rankings set in stone before I could change my mind. I knew Pomona was precisely what I wanted in a school, I knew that getting the College Match scholarship was perhaps the only way I could attend a school so far away, and I didn't want to lose my nerve and make the safe decision to stay in New England. After I applied, I was convinced nothing would come of it; I told myself to keep looking at my options and to keep my hopes down. Then, on October 23, I found out I was a finalist. And all of a sudden, I had a billion other things to submit, none of which I'd started because how presumptuous would that be? No way would I even be a finalist. But I was. So far, none of my application materials had been sent to any of the schools I'd ranked. In other words, if you're not selected as a finalist, your College Match application never sees a college admissions office. But now, all the colleges I'd ranked would be introduced to me - my paper-self, anyway. They'd see the application I'd submitted to Questbridge, but they wanted to see other things, too. I had to send official test scores. Official transcripts. The CSS Profile. Financial documents, including tax returns and my parents' recent paystubs. Art supplements. Those things were all due November 2. It was a busy week and a half. And actually, I wouldn't have been able to get everything done without all the help I got. Then I just waited. I was trying not to get my hopes up. I knew I should start filling out the Common Application and preparing myself for another round of applications. I had to wait until December 1. That was the day Questbridge was going to e-mail me with this decision that would so greatly affect my future. I was agonizing over the waiting: I just wanted to know. Even if I hadn't been accepted anywhere, I just wanted to know. And I was almost hoping that if I hadn't been accepted at Pomona, I hadn't been accepted anywhere. By this point, I was so set on Pomona that a binding agreement anywhere else would have killed me.

Serendipity from page 14 I had no idea when the e-mail was going to come. I knew it wouldn't be too early, since Questbridge headquarters are in a different time zone. Nevertheless, I was checking my e-mail at least once every forty-five minutes beginning at 8:00 that morning - which is 5 AM on the west coast. I was being absolutely ridicu-lous. I checked my e-mail each time I got a chance at school; I've never had so much trouble concentrating on schoolwork in my life. Finally, after coming home from school and checking my e-mail approximately 6,823,923,982 times, and even looking up Questbridge chatrooms to keep track of who had received e-mails already (the Stanford matches, the Amherst matches....) I checked my e-mail one last time, thinking, "This is stupid. It's not in my inbox yet. I checked my e-mail two seconds ago." But two seconds is plenty of time for an e-mail to arrive, and in my inbox was an e-mail from Questbridge. Its subject line was: "Questbridge College Match Notification." I opened it fairly quickly - within seconds of seeing it, really - and I saw two words: "congratulations" and "Pomona." That's all I needed to see. After that, I almost don't remember what was happening or what I was doing. So. I'm going to Pomona College. I still can't believe it. I honestly forget sometimes and then get shocked and excited when I remember. I just can't believe I'm actually going to my first-choice school with a full scholarship. I can't adequately describe the relief, joy, excitement and hope that e-mail flung into my life. But I'm trying to anyway, with this column. I'm encouraging you to find out more about your options - involving Questbridge, or college in gen-eral, or simply your future. Applying for a program like the Questbridge National College Match is somewhat of a gamble because of its competitiveness and time consumption, but please don't let any fear of failure prohibit you from taking chances. I'm glad that I didn't give up on this opportunity. Safe options are appealing because, hey, they're safe. They're secure. They'll give you what you need. But I'm not convinced they'll always give you what you want. And do you ever want to be asking yourself, "What could have happened...?" I know I don't. I want to go to school in California.

best to deal with situations that come up, what trips to take, what’s working and what isn’t.

GH: What classes are taught at PVP? How long is devoted to each classroom?JD: We cover the core subjects, math, science, social studies and English, but we really don’t have periods or set time allotments for each class. We mix it up and try to work on what each student needs. Also, students have the opportunity to take electives in the high school and tech center classes.

GH: How do your other working experiences relate to what you are currently doing?JD: I’ve been a substance abuse counselor for about five years, and although I don’t have to do that here, I think that many high school students’ lives are touched by the wide-ranging effects of drugs and alcohol. So I think that helps me understand and deal with the social forces that are at work in the community and the school. Something else that helps is my interest in outdoor sports and activities. I really think it’s important

for kids to have exposure and access to hiking, biking, climbing, and other outdoor stuff. We’ve been able to do a limited amount of these things, and it’s been awe-some for everybody--fun and healthy and a learning experience.

GH: What is the purpose of PVP?JD: To help kids graduate who otherwise might not. To build healthy relationships with peers and adults and be a part of a community. To address learning concerns and goals in non-traditional ways. To provide opportunities that are outside the normal school experience.

GH: Based on your trip to Colorado, how do you want PVP at SHS to change?JD: I want it to grow and change in direct response to what kids need. I want us to remain energetic, cre-ative, and compassionate. I’d like to see us be a viable alternative education program that not only serves our community (which I think we already do) but as a model for other programs.

Burlington, Connecticut, and is open to anyone to audi-tion.” SHS senior Lindsay Turgeon auditioned for a spot in the alto sax section. She didn’t make it, but earned valuable auditioning skills that she will use for her col-lege auditions. “NEMFA is great for two reasons,” said Turgeon. “One, I used my NEMFA piece for my college auditions, and two, every audition is practice for the next and the more you do, the better you are.” Turgeon, however, is undeterred and will be auditioning for colleges and for All-State. Others also auditioned for the district jazz band and the district chorus. Emily Mobus, Brittany Adnams, Jenn Stein, Erika Anderson made the District choir.

Districts from page 5

SHS, is trying to cooperate with school administrators to address some of these issues. They’ve discussed the problems at their meetings and have invited Springfield School District administrators to attend their meetings and discuss options related to advanced classes. More students are taking their opinions about honors classes to the next level by talking to guidance counselors or staying after school to do more work. However, some students continue to wonder about the academic challenge of these courses. “Honors classes aren’t super hard, and they aren’t really that hard,” concluded sophomore Lauren Fish. “They’re just normal.”

Honors from page 9

The coach's role at a math competition is to proctor or grade the work. Estey was a grader last year, and is a proctor this year. When asked about the team winning awards, Estey responded: "Not yet. We think we might have [won] but the trophy person was sick or had a family emergency. We'll find out next time." Intermediate com-petitor and SHS ninth grader Tao Yang may have won the trophy in question for individual point scoring. Estey recognized that most of the members of the team are new. She hopes to gain some veterans from last year's team for the winter season. "I'd like to see us improve on last year," she said. "So far it's been remarkably similar."

Mathletes from page 6

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SHS Speaks Out

Bursting the Bubble

By Jenny Bradley and Olivia Johnson

Did you know holly berries were poisonous? Do you even know what holly berries are? They’re those little red berries with green leaves

that are on wreaths. Don’t eat them. This is the first fact that we discovered when we looked up fun Christmas facts. We decided we’d be nice this column, and pretend we’re somewhat happy with our lives at this moment. As we sit here eating snowflake Ritz we couldn’t help but talk about the holidays. So why not look up fun holiday facts? Those seem to go well with Ritz. We know you’re reading this post-holiday season, but we know you can picture us. Well, now that we’ve said nothing about holly berries, let’s move on. Jingle Bells was originally written for

Thanksgiving. What? No it wasn’t, you’re lying. Why would JINGLE BELLS be Thanksgiving-themed? Does that make any sense to anyone? “Dashing through the snow?” Do people normally dash through snow on Thanksgiving? No. We’re eating! America’s national pastime. Represent. “In a one-horse open sleigh, over the hills we go, laughing all the way, HA HA HA. Bells on bobtails (what are bobtails?) ring, making spirits bright, how fun it is to laugh and sing a sleighing song tonight!” Enough said. Those who kiss under the mistletoe have the promise of happiness and good luck in the New Year. I thought it meant that you’d fall in love with whoever you were kissing (Jenny). I personally just thought if you got stuck under mistletoe with someone you had to kiss them (Olivia). First of all, has anyone

reading this ever even kissed under mistletoe before? Because if you have and you’ve have good luck since, let us know. What do you think? It seems a little ridiculous doesn’t it? Who even came up with this? And why do we even know about it? Next. Wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve in Mexico is said to bring new love in the upcom-ing year. You know what? We might not live in Mexico but we’re still going to be wearing red underwear on New Year's Eve. Maybe you should do the same. How random is this fact? Again, who came up with this? How did they come up with this? Maybe we’ll just make up a random fact about New Year's Eve. We decided the new fact is: If you’re eating snowflake Ritz at exactly midnight on New Year's Eve, then the love of your life will come to you on March 13th at 2:00 am. on.

Bobtails

Math Teacher Barbara Esty“Clearly, the soccer championships, and most

importantly, the wonderful students in my classes.”

Substitute Teacher James Fog“The tug of war was the highlight of my year. Even though we didn’t win, it was a good showing for the

faculty team.”

Junior Lori Getty“Being in Mr. Paul’s class."

Junior Alanna Parker“I went and lived with my dad, and then I came back.

It was different, a change, but it was really fun.”

Josh Olmstead“So far I would say English class has been pretty

good. It’s been pretty easy.”

Senoir James Karkowski“The best things so far this year? Soccer season, the state championship, MVL champions, and the best

record at Springfield High School.”

2009 is over. 2010 has taken its place at the top of students' papers and teachers' chalk boards. In a desire to judge the passage of time, people could probably debate whether they made progress or went backwards in the year just completed. Considering the highs and lows of 2009, the Green Horn asked students and faculty: What were some of the most mermorable moments of 2009?

By Laurel Porter