The Northmen’s LogFriday, December 10, 2010 Oak Park High School Issue 5, Volume 46

StuCo lock in,page 6

By: Lauren GraceLifestyles Editor

Walking through the blue doors, one would never guess they were in school. Instead of stu-dents hanging around in the morning, there were tables left to right with crafts from knitted hats to ceramic figures. One might think it just went around the courtyard, but it spread like the roots of

a tree throughout the hallways, in the gym and to the cafeteria.

Saturday, Nov. 20, Booster Club held its an-nual Craft Fair, a day when crafters with art up their sleeves came to sell their merchandise to the community. One example of the creativity shown in the fair was Lynda Dickey. She remakes baby dolls and makes them more realistic by adding details

as well as making the doll weigh what a real baby at that size would weigh.

“[I have] several things on the list and I go around and see what I like. I am torn between these [dolls]. This is my second year, a friend showed me here, they do a wonderful job,” said shopper Karen Mathes gazing at the dolls.

Dickey has been com-ing to OP’s Craft Fair for

four years. She only sells the dolls right now but she also does paintings of pets.

“I like the creativity, I can take the same doll, switch out the eyes and create a completely new doll,” Dickey said.

People from all over came to sell and buy and brought their fam-ily along with them. Ann Fisher from St. Joseph, brought her two young daughters to shop with as well as helping her mom, Becky Strafford sell football-designed bird houses. Fisher’s oldest daughter Dylan proudly showed off her new styl-ish hat that a lady hand-made with glitter and feathers.

“We wanted to buy girly stuff. Hair bands, fairy wings, for fun,” Dylan Fisher said.

Mother Dorothy Shryock and her daugh-ter Vicki Walters work together and design fash-ionable aprons combin-ing patterns and designs to create a one of a kind apron.

“It is an old fashioned style that has come back. It is satisfactory to hear people say it reminds them of their grandpar-ents,” Shryock said.

A grad student at

UMC Shayne Henderson sold hats that she knitted, and with the help from her grandfather they set up a family-oriented ta-ble. Henderson says it is a good practice for busi-ness management, which is what she is planning on majoring in at college.

“I have learned that I need a cashier; I can’t do change very well yet,” Henderson said.

The money the craft-ers spent reserving ta-bles goes to the Booster Club. This all started in 1992, when alumna Mi-chele Sanderson and her friend, a Northtowne alumna Ceressa Jackson thought of a way to help OP.

“Both of us liked to craft and we were in-volved with Booster Club to make money,” Jackson said. “We have ran [the fair] for 15 years, both of us each have four kids who graduated here and make sure it still runs.”

Jackson explains how the event first remained in the gym, but now runs through out the hallways. She says that on an aver-age there are 100 crafters.

“By the third year, it filled the hallways, and now there is a waiting list,” Jackson said. “I am quite proud and excited

it continues, best show so far. It started with the same people that keep coming.”

Other crafters made money for themselves, though for their own rea-sons. Hi “the Honey Guy” Gensler with his daugh-ter Gail, sold local honey and shared his knowledge of honeybees, from past experience of owning his own honey farm for 25 years before he had his heart attack.

He came that day to raise money for North Care Hospice; he wants to help build a garden in memory of wife Marirose, who passed away from Al-zheimer’s disease in 2008. They had been married for 66 years.

“She loved flowers. She was under care at Hospice; this is my way of keeping her memory alive. It is a completion to my wife,” Hi said.

One could meet peo-ple with interesting crafts and stories behind them, but the community came together to build OP and had fun not only mak-ing money, but spending money on things made from someone who put their heart into making it.

Annual craft fair shows variety

Junior Will Bolin sings with his guitar in front of the Oak Street bake sale table on Saturday, Nov. 20. “ I love everyone in Oak Street. They’re just a ball. “ Bolin said. Photo by: Kim Green, Photo Editor

Powderpuff dodgeball gives

By: James ColemanWriter

“No boring classes, no lectures from teach-ers, just hands on work with what I like to do” senior Richard Borsella said about the highly rec-ommended program Vo-cational technical educa-tion, Vo-Tech.

Vo-Tech supports two programs; the Career and Technical Education CTEC and also Northland Career Center NCC. Pro-grams accept students in good standing, meaning attendance and grades because you can’t be too behind and succeed in a two year half day pro-gram, three absences in a six-week grading period results in a “F” and nine absences in a semester re-sults in a “F” and dropped from the program which is only open to juniors and seniors.

According to coun-selor Kathleen Mahan it costs each program $4,000 a student who’s ac-cepted and you will earn your normal North Kan-sas City diploma; you can also still do College prep or Gold Medallion.

“That’s just us know-ing that these are great opportunities and if you’re accepted make sure you’re dedicated,” Mahan said.

CTEC offers five courses, and awards you with three practical art credits, and has bus trans-portation to and from CTEC, which is located on the Central Office Campus. With the econo-my being shot, it brought CTEC from having eight programs to now with only five losing Carpentry I, II and Housing and In-terior Design—advanced. CTEC has 30 students

from Oak Park this year.“It sucks losing those

courses, one time stu-dents in carpentry built a house from ground up with interior designing the inside,” Mahan said.

NCC offers 12 pro-grams awarding with dual credit which is a col-lege credit upon comple-tion of class. And articu-lated credit which is a college credit after the student completed 15 credit hours at Metropoli-tan Community College and has up to two years to benefit from the credit held in “escrow.”

CTECAutomotive Technol-

ogy I, II, & III: Students in this program are al-lowed to bring in their own cars to make repairs and adjustments. The work must be relevant to the current class material. For example, while study-ing the module on wheels and tires, the students would be allowed to bring their automobiles to the shop for alignment work, and also have the oppor-tunity to job shadow.

This course brings state of the art equip-ment providing students training in diagnosing and repairing automo-tive steering, suspension and brake systems with the tools professionals use. Included topics will cover hydraulics, gear-ing mechanisms, wheels and tires, two- and four-wheel alignment, disc and drum braking operations, anti-lock braking systems, and on-vehicle steering and suspension systems/components. There are two advanced courses if you’ve completed this one.

“Due to limited space available for this pro-

gram, you have to apply, meet the qualifications and write a personal let-ter,” Mahan said, ex-plaining there’s not many spots.

Information Tech Academy I, II—College: The other two courses CTEC offers requiring algebra and the courses may also be taken for college credit. Students should have interest in computer repair and net-working. This course tar-gets topologies, protocols, and other topics relevant to networking. There is a lot of knowledge gained after completing; and it prepares you for the CompTIA Network + Certification which is worldwide. This counts as a Gold Medallion course.

Borsella, who par-ticipates in this for his second year, says he ac-tually enjoys it, and just learning about real-world experiences preparing him for the future other than school. He says he’s not really sure what he wants to do after the pro-gram but that it definitely opened his eyes career wise.

“Quiet a bit of free-dom, it’s not easy I’m still in band and pre-calculus and couple more classes; it’s just hands on working and being able to fix bro-ken computers, and a lot of people have problems with computers, so know-ing how to fix them is a great skill to have,” Bor-sella said. “This is a grow-ing category in the career world and working on certifications looks great in the business world.”

NCCNorthland Career

Center students have the opportunity to develop technical, interpersonal,

academic and employabil-ity skills required for con-tinuing education and the work force. Even offering a program for students who have special needs.

Health sciences stu-dents have the opportu-nity to shadow various health careers and work in a long-term care facil-ity gaining experience in vital signs, activities of daily living, medical ter-minology and a lot more valuable and educational skills. You must have transportation to clinics which begin second se-mester of their first year.

Another course is heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrig-eration learning safety, servicing of components and diagnosing electrical and mechanical compo-nents. After completing you’ll be giving the EPA Refrigeration Recovery Certification Exam. This is required for employ-ment in this field.

In another program, industrial welding stu-dents learn shop safety, blueprint reading, weld-ing symbols and vari-ous welding processes. Students completing the course eligible to become AWS certified.

Then NCC has vo-cational preparation for special needed students only their sophomore year, helping to find what career best fits them.

NCC’s other pro-grams are marketing, practical nursing, build-ing trades, computer maintenance tech, crime scene investigation law enforcement, culinary arts, diesel tech and early childhood careers.

If interested visit your counselor. January is the beginning of enrolling process.

Start your career todayStudents prepare for future jobs

Members of the junior team ‘Kamikaze’ Kelcie Thomas, Lauren Elmore and Abbey Stockard wait for an oppor-tunity to make their move on their opposing team. Money and cans of food were used as admission to the game; they were later donated to Harvesters by StuCo. Photo by: Kim Green, Photo Editor

OMDB [oh my dodgeball] members prepare to charge the line at the Powderpuff dodgeball game on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Photo by: Kim Green, Photo Editor

Social studies teacher Matt Reynolds defends his team at the teachers’ dodge-ball game on Wednesday, Nov. 17. Reynolds said, “ I prepared for the game by watching ‘Dodgeball’ the movie.” Photo by: Kim Green, Photo Editor

sportspage2 Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

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By: James ColemanWriter

The girls swim team has gained a lot of con-fidence with their team practically doubling in size compared to last year. But without any seniors, fans will have to see how they dive their way into competition.

“I think we have a strong team with a lot of young talent,” varsity ju-nior Jackie Moore said.

There are eight fresh-man, making up approxi-mately 35 percent of the 22-person team.

Being a freshman and joining a sport can be dif-ficult because one is new and also nervous meet-ing the other players and wanting to show off your best skills. It’s completely different from little league to high school sports.

Freshman Derian Drowns says she feels

sort of distanced from the varsity swimmers for being a freshman and a lack of teamwork on the squad in helping instead of competing all the time with one another. Even though she thinks her girls are unbeatable be-cause there such huge competitors even during practice, which isn’t a bad thing, but leaves Drowns nervous for their first meet knowing how ath-letic some girls are com-pared to her.

“I’m nervous for my first meet seeing how good the girls are, and just not much confidence since this is my first year,” Drowns said. “But there’s no way I can see the girls lose. They’re so competi-tive, thank gosh I don’t have to swim against them.”

Freshman Jessica Comer is also nervous be-cause she knows a couple

swimmers are already better than her. She does have a lot of confidence though with her experi-ence and strong push offs from the wall with a strong lead. Even though she’s swam for eight years, high school swimming is very hard for her, believing practices are longer and tougher, and that there’s a lot more dedication on the team because none of the ladies rarely ever miss practice. Comer explains she hasn’t even missed

practice because with the way they train her she said she feels if she missed a practice she’d come back feeling like she’s never swam before. Comer has a lot of confidence in her team also saying she feels they’re undefeatable.

“No, I don’t have any doubts, we are so dedi-cated and other than a few injuries were strong,” Comer said “We have the skill, pride and attitude to beat anyone.”

Practices should be

a way to bring a team together, but with such a big team and having to share practice with Staley, Northtowne and Winnetonka. The team is ready to face these schools since they know a lot about them by practicing next to them. OP doesn’t practice together making the team even more dis-tant.

Varsity practices six days a week, off on Sun-days and with some early morning at 5:30–6:30 a.m. and everybody else practices 3:30-5:30 p.m. every day one week and then the next week they’ll practice from 5:30-8 p.m. switching with Tonka.

“Practices in morn-ings are tiring but worth it, preparing us the best they can, coaches are great,” Moore said.

Young team swims closer to competition

Sophomore Morgan Foxworthy practices on Tuesday, Nov. 31 for the first swim meet of the year. Photo By: James Coleman, writer

A month in sports

Boys BasketballTuesday, Dec. 14, 7 p.m.

vs StaleyTuesday, Dec. 21, 7 p.m.

vs Liberty NorthFriday, Jan, 7, 7 p.m. vs

Platte CountyTuesday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m.

vs St. Joe CentralFriday, Jan. 14, 7 p.m. vs

Grandview

Girls BasketballMonday, Dec. 13, 7 p.m.

vs GrandviewWednesday, Dec. 15, 7

p.m. vs St. Joe CentralMonday, Dec. 20, 7 p.m.

vs KearneyMonday, Jan. 10, 7 p.m.

vs StaleyThursday, Jan. 13 vs

William Chrisman

Girls Swim & DiveTuesday, Dec. 14, 4 p.m.

vs Park Hill SouthTuesday, Jan. 4, 4 p.m.

vs Park Hill/Ray Pec

WrestlingTuesday, Jan. 4, 5 p.m.

vs Rockhurst

Wrestlers begin battle for stateBy: Aggie Rieger

Editorial Editor

“Shake. Wrestle,” assistant coach Dustin Brewer hollered through-out the mezzanine. Slaps and slams echoed around the wrestling practice area as team members moved lightning fast and several tired faces shook and turned red, trying to push through the practice matches. Boys grabbed each other’s heads in ways that looked as though they could cause severe damage to the neck.

During the matches, one wrestler followed head coach Tim Rupp to receive care for his bleed-ing nose.

“Wrestling is harsh, it’s a violent sport just like football,” Rupp said.

However, wrestlers do not take the shots per-sonally.

“In here it’s like a bat-tle. You’re not trying to hurt them. Once we take our shoes off we’re all friends again,” said state title winning wrestler, se-nior and one of four team captains Cody Brewer.

Practices starting at 4 p.m. after school shows this, as did conditioning.

“My second year here was the first of six state championships in a row. In 2006 we broke the re-cord of most points scored by a team at state tourna-ment. In 2006 and 2007, we were ranked third in the nation,” Rupp said. “We haven’t finished low-er than second [at state] since I’ve been here.”

Rupp is currently

coaching his ninth year, and joining him are four assistant coaches.

“They have the best coaching style in the state, if not nation,” Cody Brewer said.

The coaches also make parents feel safe.

“They’re nice, they really teach kids where they can succeed in the sport,” said parent Keion Johnson.

“I think they are tough and they push you a lot but they really know what they’re doing. I’m really thankful to have them,” said sophomore Jaeger Low, who is wres-tling for the first time this year. “I just heard they were good so I thought I’d try it out.”

Many wrestlers on the team started when they were very young and plan on continuing through college.

“It pays for my educa-tion,” said Cody Brewer.

Wrestling also pro-vides OP titles and a team to be proud of.

“The main goal is to win a state title. That’s the main thing, but we want to wrestle through every match,” Dustin Brewer said, coaching for his fourth year, “If they wres-tle good then that’s a step in the right direction.”

“It’s early yet, but we wrestle pretty well,” he said.

At practice, the room is a buzz with talk about state. After several prac-tice matches, the team is called together to learn techniques and skills.

“Guys, it’s the little

things that win us state championships,” Rupp said, addressing the team at practice.

Practices last from an hour to an hour and a half.

“We came in, worked techniques and started fighting. That’s how a practice should be,” said senior, state title winner and team captain Gage Harrison.

“It’s tough, but it makes you better,” said senior and fellow team captain Brian Haynes, “We leave everything on the mat every time we go.”

Haynes, Harrison, Cody Brewer and junior Hashem Omari are this year’s team captains, and receive praise from their teammates.

“I like the team cap-tains; they do a really good job. They keep us in order and motivate us,” sophomore and second-year varsity wrestler Sam Seidel said.

Others agreed.“They’re helpful with

anything, any question you have. They really help you. They’re really good guys and help you a lot,” Low said.

Through the years and experience that made him team captain, Har-rison has seen the team change.

“Numbers have got-ten smaller, young kids come in tougher and we’re starting to fight more,” Harrison said.

The loss in numbers is substantial.

“We have a new high

school now,” Rupp said, “There’s just not as many people to pull from.”

Filling rosters has been a challenge.

“This year we didn’t fill a full JV team. We have about six or seven guys on JV. Anyone who can come out and stick with it the whole way through makes the team,” Dustin Brewer said. “We don’t have tryouts, we don’t have enough guys.”

But do not be fooled, wrestling is not a free for all.

“It’s a physically gru-eling sport that takes a toll physically and mentally,” Rupp said. “For some of us it’s always wrestling season, but organized conditioning started the first day of school. We run stadium stairs, lift weights and do all kinds of things

that are designed to make you cry.”

Wrestlers agreed.“Conditioning for

wrestling is harder than any sport in high school and that’s just condition-ing, not the season,” said Haynes, who is not wres-tling this year due to an injury.

“There’s always someone who has to sit out,” Rupp said.

At practice, two wres-tlers sat out due to skin conditions, yet another of wrestling’s dangers.

“It’s pretty common in wrestling,” Rupp said.

Coaches and wres-tlers take preventative measures to protect them from ring worm. Mats are mopped everyday and wrestlers are required to wear clean clothes and to take a shower after every

meal. Also, medication is available to clear up skin conditions quickly. These skin problems occur part-ly because people often walk across the mats in the mezzanine through-out the day.

At the end of prac-tice, the harsh tone and criticism used throughout practice is absent from the coaches. Instead, they praise wrestlers individu-ally before wrestlers and coaches end practice with everyone giving a hand-shake to everyone else.

“Remember last year when we went to the state tournament. We wrestled lights out. I’m starting to get that feeling now. To-day I started feeling that way,” Rupp said to the team, and the exhausted wrestlers were proud.

During practice on Thursday, Dec. 3, sophomore Cain Salas attempts to pin senior Cody Brewer. With a sufficient amount of practice, Salas promised to be a highly prospective competitor on the wrestling team. Photo By: Johnna Hensley, photographer

Words can hurt

opinionpage3Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

Oakie Opinions

What are you doing over winter break?

“The Northmen’s Log” is pub-lished 10 times during the school year. “The Log” is a student forum for ex-pression; it is produced by students for students.

“The Log” accepts letters to the editor in rooms E133 or E134 or cge-abhar@nkcsd.k12.mo.us. Letters can-not exceed a length of 350 words. We will not run letters that are libelous, obscene, or that may cause a verifiable disruption of the education process of

Oak Park. Letters must be signed.Advertisers may contact the busi-

ness manager at 413-5352, or 825 N.E. 79th Terrace, Kansas City, MO, 64118.

Opinions expressed in “The Log” do not reflect staff endorsements of that product or service.

“The Log” is a member of NSPA, MIPA and Quill and Scroll Inter-national Honorary Society for High School Journalists. “The Log” is affili-ated with JEA and JEMKC.

The Northmen’s Log Staff &PoliciesEditor-in-Chief Courtney Kelley

Photo EditorKim Green

Editorial EditorAggie Rieger

Entertainment EditorTatyana Pekarsky

Sports Editor& Feature Editor, Business ManagerJessica Nichols

Lifestyles EditorLauren Grace

CartoonistKaylan Ballard

WritersJames ColemanCaleb EisslerLilla Foldi

PhotographersKim GreenJohnna HensleyDylan Kinder

AdviserChristina Geabhart

From the newsroom: Snow days

By: Jessica NicholsSports Editor

Another Blue in Review announcement about grade level or ad-visory competitions, and once again, the freshman have reached the top. What’s happened to the upperclassmen?

Every year, the fresh-men win this competi-tion or that contest. The

freshmen have the high-est attendance percent-age. A freshmen advisory raised the most money for a certain fundraiser or brought in the highest number of cans during the food drive.

Not that there’s any-thing wrong with this. However, one may find it depressing that the soph-omore, junior and senior classes seem to fall behind

when it comes to help-ing out. They were once freshmen, so where has the motivation that drives each freshmen class for-ward disappeared to?

The upperclassmen seem to have lost their drive, but they’re sup-posed to provide role models for today’s fresh-men. They should set the standard, not slack off and stay out of the run-

ning. The homework load and activity level may be strenuous compared to that of freshman year, but that does not provide an excuse for students to lose their motivation. The newness of high school has long worn off. Most things are predictable.

Because of the lack of motivation, the com-petition that once existed between grade levels has

deteriorated. Participat-ing in a competition as an upperclassman seems pointless when very few students choose to get involved. One may think that their money could go to a better cause or that it is not worth it because their class will not win.

Is it not time that the upperclassmen were back on top again? The class competitions could be-

come competitions again. Even a small amount of participation from the sophomores, juniors, and seniors, would make the contests interesting again. Then the freshmen would really have something to work towards and maybe, their motivation will stay strong throughout all four years of high school instead of going down the drain the older they get.

By: Aggie RiegerEditorial Editor

“You go to Tonka? Oh, hope you don’t get pregnant,” I said to an old acquaintance as we laughed about our schools. But she did not laugh with me; instead she glared and snapped her fingers in a Z forma-tion, just like in the mov-ies.

“No, no that’s not true and I’m tired of hear-ing that [insert profanity here],” was her response as she tore down the hall-way away from me.

I watched her go call-ing out that I was just joking, but she just sa-shayed away. I knew her in middle school and she must have known that I was joking, or at least I as-sumed so.

“Man, she’s sensitive,” I thought. Then I thought some more. Maybe it was not her that was sensitive, but I that tried to make light of a situation that should not be joked about in her mindset.

Every day we say things that we assume will go over without a stitch. We do not always think about the seriousness of some subjects to others. When people react nega-tively to such jokes, it is not them that are being sensitive, but us that are unsympathetic and igno-rant.

Primal examples of this are racial jokes. Pro-moting such jokes by saying them oftentimes spreads injustice and prejudice, even if we do not mean them to be that

way. Yet, I hear them all the time, all around school and there are only so many times you can say “that’s not funny” before words fall to silent ears.

Words like those above, words like the ones that I said to the girl are hurtful. Just because you know you are joking does not mean that oth-ers know that you are, or have the same sense of humor. We are all differ-ent, and we should all be a little more sensitive to the thoughts of others.

“Say what you mean and mean what you say,” I guarantee you have seen a poster with those words printed on it. We need to think about these words, and about the words that come out of our mouths. You and me both.

Watch your mouth

Upperclassmen lack initiative

Rolling out of bed to the sound of a blaring alarm clock, slowly placing bare feet against the hardwood floor and glancing out the bedroom window. Snow. White covers the front yard and still falls from the overcast sky. Rushing to the TV and searching for a news re-port, school names scroll across. With very little patience, one waits to see NKCSD and then the words reach the box of school’s out for the day. It is a celebration.

As it is December, students begin to

wonder where the snow is and when it will reach Kansas City. After Thanksgiv-ing break and before winter break, one hopes for snow, even if it is only for one day.

Snow days bring a day of relaxation and fun to the stressful last few weeks of the semes-ter. Instead of being stuck in classes, learning something new that will show up on the final, students stay cuddled up in blankets, sleeping

in, and getting up late to explore the white world outside. Calling up friends, students meet in front yards and parks, bundled up in scarves and bulky winter

coats. Snow ball fights ensue, snowmen are built and footprints mush the snow.

Students return to school refreshed

and not quite ready to go back to a full day of learning. One dreams of being outside in what is left of the snow, but

concentrates on the work put in front of him or her.

The down fall of snow days: coming back to school in the summer. Seniors are lucky, not having to make up after graduation. But those underclassmen get stuck in the classrooms for a few extra days, cutting into their summer vacation and three months of freedom.

Enjoy those snow days. They’re few and far between, helping students get over the mid-year, end-of-semester slump.

Log’s View

By: Johnna Hensley Photographer The minute the tunes

of Christmas music spill out of the radio, is the minute I turn the station. If hating Christmas music makes me the “Scrooge” of OP, then so be it.

As a theatre student, strong cheesy lyrics and over-the-top musical num-bers would normally be my forte, but in this case, not at all. It seems as though every store, ranging from HyVee to Dillards blares the seasonal songs re-peatedly until you practi-cally know every lyric and

chord. Not only that, but I

also believe it is played way too early in the sea-son and should be limited to the week of the holiday itself. Either the songs are too upbeat and gawdy, or they’re slow enough to put you to sleep. However, there is one song that is guaranteed to lift anyone’s spirits, “Jingle Bell Rock,” and we’re just going to say that “Mean Girls” has nothing to do with it. So, overall, I will tolerate holi-day music, however I don’t want it shoved down our throats.

VS

By: Kim Green Photo Editor

The joy of the holiday season is always Christmas music for me. Every year I wait for Star 102 to start playing Christmas music right after Thanksgiving. The holiday season just would not be complete without “Santa Claus is Coming to Town.”

It is easy for all of us to start singing along to our favorite Christmas songs. There’s classical, rock, pop and country songs for the holiday season. There are even romantic holiday

songs like “All I want for Christmas is You.” And then of course for the kids, there are songs like “Frosty the Snowman” and “All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth.”

On Christmas morn-ing, I always listen to mu-sic as my family and I open presents and spend time with each other. As we laugh and open presents “Jingle Bells” or “Silent Night” is playing in the background. The holi-day season is not complete without “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” “Jin-gle Bell Rock,” or “Have

Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Christmas songs are all about the wonderful sea-son. And almost everyone can easily relate. It brings back memories of good times with your family, sitting on Santa’s lap and sledding down hills.

I like the upbeat holi-day music more over the soft and dainty ones. Songs with a good beat are always best. Songs like “Little Drummer Boy.” Or “Jin-gle Bell Rock,” which make you simply want to dance.

Holly jolly or a silent night for holiday music

“I’m going skiing in the Canadian Rockies with Big Foot.”

-freshman Brooke Rhoads

“Work, spend time with friends and family, prepare for next semes-ter.”

-senior Charles Lind-say

“Probably go to Tex-as to visit relatives and cat sit for a friend. And gain like 20 pounds.”

-junior Claire Carre-on

“I’m going to Florida to visit family.”

- sophomore Raul Reynaga

By: Kaylan BallardCartoonist

By: Lauren GraceLifestyles Editor

There comes a time when students know ex-actly what they want to be when they grow up and can no longer wait to graduate, and some choose to do so their junior year. Assistant principal Gary Miller helps students who want to graduate early and explained how anyone interested and deter-mined to work hard and be like Doogie Howser M.D. and move on to the next stage in their life.

Q: How can juniors graduate early?A: “Juniors first express interest. NKCSD

states that in order to graduate you have to com-plete four years, graduating early you don’t com-plete. Though these juniors are an exception, they have to work with a counselor and need a document for legit post plans saying they are ad-mitted into a college or military.”

Q: How do they fulfill all that they need to graduate?

A: “First they have to be within a number of credits by the end and reasonably will have a re-quest review. It’s unusual for juniors to graduate early, but approved juniors’ titles changes them to seniors.”

Q: Do these juniors have to take the ACT or SAT?

A: “Well, that is usually for seniors. Now if a junior wants to go to a university that re-quires them to, then they can. Most juniors, who graduate early apprentice for someone, go to a two-year college or the military. Going to Maple Woods, they take the Compass test. Four years is the SAT.”

lifestylespage4 Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

Juniors graduating early&

By: Aggie ReigerEditorial Editor

Frieda Kruger has wanted to come to school in America ever since she was young.

“I was on vacation and it was so cool that I wanted to come back and I wanted to have the high school experi-ence because it’s so cool, this American thing, you know,” she said.

Kruger, along with Laura Kuhnt and Lea Schmidt - all from Ger-many, came for first se-

mester so will be leaving soon.

“Next Monday, we have a last meeting and social event of the semes-ter and so they’re going to talk about their home and have cookies and des-sert,” said AFS sponsor Nicole King.

They’ll be missed.“I’ll miss them.

They’re so fun and funky and always wanting to do stuff. They’ve had a good, fun experience but I think they’re ready to go home,” said AFS member senior Schyler Tate.

The girls will miss America as well.

“I’m really sad be-cause of all the friends; and you get used to ev-erything,” Kruger said.

King agrees that for all of the girls adjusting to American culture has been difficult.

“It’s hard to get in a new situation and ad-just, but they’ve done a good job of it,” King said. “They’re definitely more comfortable with their language skills. [They are] picking up on slang and they’ve learned a lot

about American family life and school system.”

New families were forged.

“I’m going to miss my house family [the most],” said Kruger.

King says the girls have had a positive im-pact.

“They are very outgo-ing so they’ve raised a lot of awareness of the fact that we even have foreign exchange students. We’ve gotten a lot of coverage from the journalism de-partment, but even still some Oak Park students

are oblivious to the fact we even have them but with students as outgo-ing as that, it makes them aware of cultural differ-ences,” King said.

Kruger’s favorite part about her stay in America resulted from her out-go-ing personality.

“The musical because I’ve never done anything like it and it was so great,” Kruger said, “I’ve had no worst experience.”

While Kruger is sad to leave, she is eager to see her friends and fam-ily.

“I plan after my graduation in Germany to come back, like a trip to America to visit every-body,” she said.

All of the girls will be missed by AFS and more.

“They have a lot of energy for the differ-ent events and activities they’ve done so that will be missed. [They just have] a lot of positive en-ergy,” King said.

“Saying goodbye is going to be really hard,” Kruger said, a sad look on her face.

By: Lauren GraceLifestyles Editor

Students who were willing to put their grudge behind them and praise other schools’ mus-cials were once known as Cappies.

New theater teacher Jeff Baldwin decided the theatre department would not participate in an organization called Cappies, a group of stu-dents go to other school’s musicals and rate them and give their preference on how the actors did.

“I think Cappies was obviously a chance to see others’ productions,” said junior Johnna Hensley. “It was a chance to see what flaws other schools had, and learn from it for the sake of our future productions.”

Though, as much as a tool to the actors, it also had questionable aspects. Baldwin said there were several reasons, but his primary reason was he didn’t agree how it was organized and held high-er standards and did not want to subject his stu-dents to this.

Friday, Oct. 12, on the night of the second show, Cappies were in-formed that they were no longer taking part.

“I understood my decision I didn’t op-pose Cappies program, I would like them to change a few things these things need to be recon-structed,” Baldwin said.

Many OP theatre stu-dents have participated in the group before. They where planning on doing it this year.

“Cappies is a great outlet for teens to make friends from all over. I still have friends that I met from Cappies season 2009-2010 that I talk to,” junior Madeline Cherrito said. “Even if I am not as-signed to a show as a Cap-pie, if I have friends in it, I will try and make it.

Cherrito saw Excel-sior Spring’s and Park Hill’s performances.

“The shows I saw were awesome. But, of course, I will always have a bias toward ‘Hair-spray.’”

“Hairspray” turned out to be so popular; tick-ets were sold out almost every night. One evening Cappies from Excelsior High came and were not permitted to see the show because there were no more tickets.

“That was a really unfortunate night. I had friends from the Excelsi-or’s Cappies team coming

to see me, which made me so excited. They knew al-ready that they would not be attending the show as Cappies, which they were fine with. They were just coming to support us.” Cherrito said. “Later, I told Mr. Baldwin what had happened. He re-gretted not having tick-ets for them. He told me that if he had known they were going to come he would have saved tickets.”

Baldwin said he told schools he was not par-ticipating and that they if they wanted to come he will save seats.

“Thankfully, all of the Cappies who came had really good attitudes about it. Most of them came back the next night early enough to get tick-

ets,” Cherrito said.Students who were

interested talked to Bald-win and realized that it would not work for OP.

“I told students Cap-pies show students how to critique. At the end, when they show resumes, Blue Star looks better because professionals are award-ing us,” Baldwin said.

Cherrito did it last year, and was disappoint-ed to hear they were not participating.

“I agree with his decision to remove Oak Park from Cappies. He had appropriate reasons and causes. If change oc-curs by next year, I am sure Mr. Baldwin would be more than willing to place Oak Park back into Cappies,” said Cherrito.

Even though it was different for the students in the theatre department not to take part, it also gives them a chance to do more. Money not spent on Cappies can go to new theater equipment.

“No, I am new to it, what was shown [the] im-pression was not good. I got all the facts and made a list and I had a lot more dislikes and the list kept on growing. As an indi-vidual I choose not to do it,” Baldwin said.

Theatre no longer a part of Cappies

Foreign exchange students bid ‘auf wiedersehen’ to the students

“That was a really unfortunate night. I had friends from the Excelsior’s Cappies team coming to see me,” junior

Madeline Cherrito

“

”

entertainmentpage5Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

ConcertsSaturday, Dec. 11, Rick Springfield @ The Midland by

AMCWednesday, Dec. 29, Trans Siberian Orchestra @ Sprint

Center

Games12/12“Super Mario All-Stars” (Wii)

12/14“LittleBigPlanet: Sackboy’s Prehistoric Moves” (PS3)

12/30“Alive & Undead” (PS3)“Dream Chronicles” (PS3, DS, PC, Xbox360)“Final Fantasy XI: Heroes of Abyssea” (Xbox360, PC)“Final Fantasy XI: Scars of Abyssea” (Xbox360, PC)“Dead Space Ignition” (Xbox360, PS3)“Dead Rising 2: Case West” (Xbox360, PS3)“Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II - Endor” (PS3,

Xbox360)

Movies12/10“The Tourist”“The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn

Trader”“The Company Men”“The Fighter”

12/17“TRON: Legacy”“Yogi Bear”“How Do You Know”

12/24“Little Fockers”“True Gift”“Gulliver’s Travels”

Books12/13“The Gift (Witch and Wizard Series #2)” by James Patterson

12/14“Entice” by Carrie Jones

12/21“The Book of Spells (Private Series)” by Kate Brian“The Fourth Apprentice (Warriors: Omen of the Stars

Series #1)” by Erin Hunter

12/28“Secrets to the Grave” by Tami Hoag

1/04“Awakened (House of Night Series #8)” by P.C. Cast, Kris-

tin Cast

Entertainment event calenderBy: Tatyana PekarskyEntertainment Editor

Zombie movies are great fun. It’s just a shame that they end after an hour and a half or so. I always thought the idea of a zombie TV series was a good one, if it was done right. Direc-tor Frank Darabont had the same idea. Thanks to him and the comic book series, “The Walk-ing Dead,” I get a weekly dose of zombies.

“The Walking Dead” is the first zombie-themed TV series to hit America. The gore is about on the same level as any CSI show, while still capturing the grue-some action that most rated ‘R’ movies do.

The show starts with Rick Grimes, sheriff of a small town in Kentucky, ending up in the hospital during a gun fight. He awakes to find the town completely deserted, only the compa-ny of dead bodies welcoming Grimes back. He soon meets two survivors - a son and father – before mak-ing his way to the Atlanta, Ga., where it’s supposed to be safe. But Grimes finds the city is not at all safe and traps himself in an abandoned tank.

Grimes’ character doesn’t fully develop until he meets up with a larger group of survivors, in which one is beating another. He leaves the coke addict chained to a wall, showing off his leadership and ability to cope with difficult situations. Grimes is por-

trayed as a caring man who takes the role of leader when needed. He’ll help any survivor he meets, even if it means putting himself in danger.

While Grimes is certainly the ideal character, he merely plays the role of the true heroic leader. Like him, most characters fulfill a certain role, though they each have their own story and person-ality, making the characters seem realistic in the eyes of the audi-ence.

A disappointment of the show is the ongoing, pointless dialogue. Often, characters will talk for minutes straight, and while what they have to say is im-portant, there is also a lot of filler. The conversation could easily be condensed into half that time

with the same important parts explained.Also, the women of the show are portrayed weak

and inferior. While their characters are important and crucial to the plot, they have almost no strength or courage. They don’t fight back and will just stand in the background during the action. A bit disappoint-ing, if you ask me.

Overall, the show has great potential and grabs the audience in from the first episode. While it focuses on the characters more than the gore, the show defi-nitely fills me up with zombie goodness. Personally, I can’t wait for the next season, and anyone who hasn’t seen the first yet needs to watch it.

Zombies shamble onto cable

By: Jessica NicholsSports Editor

“Speak now or for-ever hold your peace.” A simple phrase heard at weddings. These words set off the cre-ative mind of Taylor Swift, inventing 14 new songs on her lat-est album, “Speak Now.”

With the same youthful voice, Swift’s lyrics reach out to her listeners. “Speak Now” focuses on the words left unsaid. Once again, she touches on subjects that sit close to the hearts of most young adults: life, love and innocence. The lyrics provide com-fort, letting listeners know they aren’t experiencing the events of life on their own.

The music resembles previous al-bums; with a strong guitar presence and repeating chords that follow the lyrics until a song’s end. “Speak Now” has a country pop feel, merging the two branches of music Swift has found her-self popular in.

Though Swift sticks to her style from her self-titled album and “Fear-less,” she breaks out of her comfort zone in the song “Haunted.” Hearing her

sing something differ-ent brings freshness to the album. The song fits her vocals and she adds the emotion to it that all of her songs possess.

Compared to past albums, “Speak Now” lacks the upbeat songs which can usually be found intermingled with the songs about lost love and inno-cence. Swift’s hits like

“Picture to Burn” normally breakup the songs that drag up old, melancholy memories. With the exception of a few happier tunes which can be found clos-er to the album’s start, all of the songs on “Speak Now” have lyrics which dwell on heartbreak and other low points in Swift’s life.

For Swift’s fans, “Speak Now” is an album to add to the collection. Swift stays true to her music and herself, which is part of what keeps her fans coming back for more.

For those who don’t like Swift or only like a few of her songs, it’s point-less to go out and buy the album. Swift still sounds the same and her songs still deal with the same subjects: growing up and heartbreak.

Swift tales of heartbreak and love

By: James ColemanWriter

American Music Awards, AMA’s, showed on Nov. 21 in Los Ange-les, Calif., in the Nokia Theatre, awarding the best and favorite artists and albums of 2010. All of the votes for each cate-gory were determined on the votes from the fans.

Best R&B soul al-bum went to Usher with his album Raymond v. Raymond.

Favorite break-through artist went to Justin Bieber, who also

performed “Pray” show-ing his skills in singing and the piano, which had the whole crowd clapping to his inspirational reli-gious song. Also this was his first Grammy and he became the youngest ever to receive one.

Favorite pop rock band went to Black Eyed Peas who also had a very creative performance out voting Lady Antebellum and TRAIN.

Best female country artist went to Taylor Swift which is the third time winning in this category and this being her sev-

enth Grammy. Best Latin artist went

to Shakira surprisingly beating Enrique Iglesias and Daddy Yankee.

Best R&B female art-ist went to Rihanna, who kicked off the AMA’s sing-ing and dancing great like always, she performed three of her hits “Love the way you lie” (chorus), “What’s my name” and “Only girl in the world”

Best country male singer went to Brad Pais-ley.

Favorite country band went to Lady Ante-bellum winning their first

Grammy; and also tied with Eminem in the most nominations of five.

Best alternative rock band went to Muse also walking away with their first Grammy.

Favorite adult con-temporary artist went to Michael Buble’ and Mer-cyMe winning most inspi-rational.

Best Soul & R&B male artist went to Usher beating Chris Brown and Trey Songz.

Favorite Country Al-bum went to Carrie Un-derwood with her album “Play On.”

American musicians awarded for talents

By: Caleb EisslerWriter

Criminal shows have

become a huge part of our lives with CSI (and it’s like eight different cities), Criminal Minds, NCIS, and so many more. These shows tend to be dark, gritty, violent and grim many times. But something about solv-ing the intense, complex mysteries intrigues us and keeps us watching.

Problem is, all of these shows have become more or less the same. Gritty, bloody and dark. This all changed when James Roday and Dule’ Hill said let there be light and so Psych was created.

Roday and Hill play Shawn Spencer and Gus

Guster, respectively, as two best buds working to-gether in a “psychic” de-tective agency. Psychic is in quotes because they’re not really psychic. Shawn is just really observant and has a photographic memory. He uses this skill to help solve cases with the Santa Barbara police.

Since Shawn and Gus work with the police, they have a few friends there that all bring plenty of laughs. One of these friends is Juliet, Shawn’s squeeze. Their interac-tions are sure to bring plenty of laughter.

In the midst of all the dark crime shows, “Psych” shines. There’s no other show like it on TV. No crime show can keep you as intrigued, make

you crack up, and leave you as happy as “Psych.” Between Shawn’s quick-witted humor and Gus’s nicknames and manner-isms you’ll be sure to end the episode smiling.

“Psych” isn’t a new show by any means. It’s been around for several seasons and is in the mid-dle of yet another hilari-ous and attention-grab-bing season.

This show’s got some-thing for everyone. Un-like many of the other crime shows, “Psych” is good for the whole family. From little kids to grand-parents, everyone will get a kick out of “Psych.”

“Psych” is one of the most enjoyable shows on television. In words of Gus, ”I hear that.”

“Psych” provides entertainment

photo essaypage6 Friday, Dec. 10, 2010

Student Council gathered on Friday Dec. 3. The students and stayed at the Gashland Presby-terian Church between 8 p.m.-6 a.m. The group planned for next semester’s events, played games and more. Photo By: Kim Green, Photo Editor

Senior Andrew O’Neil, junior Matt Schoenrode, sophomore Jen Stock, senior Haley Cope, and junior Katie Reschulte participate in the lock-in on Friday, Dec. 3. Photo By: Dylan Kinder, Photographer

Student Council president senior Haley Cope explains to the StuCo lock-in group their next activity. Photo By: Kim Green, Photo Editor

Seniors Ashley Peralta, Melissa Youngberg and Jessica Dorrel and junior Riley Buckler participate in another activity during the lock-in on Friday, Dec. 3. Photo By: Dylan Kinder, Photographer

Senior Savannah Peterson and junior Katie Reshulte play one-on-one basketball during the StuCo lock-in at Gashland Presbyterian Church. Photo By: Dylan Kinder, Photographer

Student Council advisor Brian Edinger tosses around a football before the lock-in. This is Edinger’s first year as StuCo advisor. Photo By: Kim Green, Photo Editor

StuCo locked in