smokesignaltheStaff ord High School www.staff ordsmokesignal.comIssue 12, March 23, 2011

1thesmokesignalNov. 2, 2011Volume 67. Issue 4

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Spirit Week change confuses some studentsBY NATALIE BOHMKE

Sta� WriterStudents showed

their school spirit last week during Spirit Week. Th ough tradition has usu-ally kept the themes simi-lar from year to year, the Student Council Asso-ciation came up with new ideas.

Costume Day was an addition along with Salad Dressing Day in which students will represent the salad dressing given to their class.

“When our SCA block was brain storming for ideas we knew we wanted alternatives for the classic, and old, Nerd Day and

Twin Day,” said Codie Hammond senior and cabinet member.   “We found the new ideas on-line and tweaked certain things but most impor-tantly they were totally diff erent than anything we had ever had before.”

Salad Dressing Day was a diff erent and un-usual theme, plus cos-tume day was diff erent from last year.

“I think the new ideas were good and out of the ordinary,” senior Aaron Mays said. “Even though there were new spirit days, I was excited to wear my 80’s clothes.”

Costume Day featured

many diff erent ideas. “I think with the new

themes people were more creative and had more fun trying to fi gure out what each costume was,” fresh-man Elise Andrews.

Seniors who wanted a toga day were able to wear their togas on Costume Day.

“I wanted Toga Day like other schools have, but Costume Day worked just as well for that,” Mays said.

Costume Day was originally “Feudalism Day,” but was changed due to potential confusion. With Feudalism Day, each grade level would have to

A motley group: (Left to right) Seniors Della Lucas, Chrissy Johnson and Chad McConkey talk with juniors Maddie Marhe-ine and Aidan Isaak-Harrington. Some students weren’t sure what to wear when feudalism so it was changed to costume day which was a huge hit. Photo by Emily Pearce

Nov. 8Election Day(no school)

Nov. 11 Veteran’s Day

(no school)Nov. 23-25

Thanksgiving Break

countdown

days until Election Day

days until Veteran’s Day

days until Fall Break

days until Winter Break

indexFeature....4-5, 12-13

News......................1-2

Opinion....................3

Sports....................6-7

Sports Feature ..8-9

Spotlight...............16

Student Life....10-11

what’s hotschool spirit

cheerleading

Homecoming

Halloween

pumpkin lattes

Twitter

football

new sport seasons

20

6

5

48

weatherNov. 2-5

High: 64 FLow: 39 F

Nov. 6-12

High: 63 FLow: 38 F

Nov. 13-19

High: 60 FLow: 36 F

Iannazzo, Rynders crowned king, queenI now dub

thee... Maya Wick,

daughter of math teacher

Valerie Wick crowns se-

nior Michael Rynders

homecoming king. Rynders

has been on court every year he has

been in high school. Se-

nior Morgan Iannazzo

was crowned queen. Photo

by Emily Pearce.

have worn costumes of a diff erent “level” of medi-eval royalty.

Between class colors,

decades, costume, salad dressing, and school spirit

See Spirit on page 2

Cheer keeps their four-year streak

4-peat! The varsity cheerleaders accomplished an a rare feat--a four time repeat of Commonwealth District Cheerleading Champs. The squad made up of fresh-man through seniors were able to beat North Staff ord for the championship for the fourth time in a row. Cheerleaders worked hard for their victory. Two seniors, Oliva Shaff er and Sammi Krejedovsky have been on the team each year that they won districts. Photo courtesy of Winterberry Portraits

BY LELAND BROOKSEditor

Competing against eight other teams, the Staff ord Cheer team was able to pull off a 4-peat, winning Commonwealth Districts for the fourth year in a row.

“To win Districts four years in a row felt unreal to me. Knowing that no one in our area has ever done that before, I feel so accomplished,” senior Ol-ivia Shaff er said. “I want

everyone to feel what I did that night because it was just so amazing.”

Going into the compe-tition, the girls were very nervous knowing that their new competition was Mountain View who also won all of their invi-tationals.

In order to make the girls more comfortable and give them inspiration, the girls found a quiet classroom to relax in and covered the white board

with inspirational words, writings, drawings, and also found a new quote that comes from Pslam 27:3, “My heart shall not fear, I will be confi dent.” To ensure their luck, Bar-ham put shamrocks in the girls shoes, put a sham-rock on their hips, as well as a tomahawk on their cheeks.

In order to pump them up and give them motiva-tion, coaches Janet Bar-ham and Kristi Proudfoot

surprised them with their fellow teammate, Marcus Brown who they were told could not make it to the competition.

“I was looking around to see the surprise, but I didn’t see anything. Th en Marcus came out of the crowd in the front row and started waving at us and I started crying because I was so happy to see one of my best friends,” senior Sammy Krejdovsky said. “ I never

thought it would be Mar-cus because I thought it was impossible for him to be there.”

Making it past the fi rst round by almost 20 points higher than the other teams, the girls placed a spot in region-als along with North Staf-ford, Mountain View and Colonial Forge.

In the fi nal round

By Taylor LiscoStaff Writer

See Homecoming page 2

SENIOR NIGHT

Fall sports honor their seniors

See pages 8-9

TREEHOUSE LOUNGE

Teenage club opens on Route 3

See page 11

See FOUR on page 2

Despite the cold and rainy weather the crowd was still there cheering on the 22 smiling faces of Homecoming Court. Freshman attendants were Deanna Geraghty and Austin Th ompson and Abby Sylvester and Kendrick Icenhour.

“I was pretty excited to be voted on to court,” Abby Sylvester said.

Sophomores were next to take to the wet fi elds

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 12, March 23, 2011

2 newssmokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 12, March 23, 2011

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The Red Cross col-lected blood from do-nors Friday, Oct. 14 in the gym lobby.

Many students went to the blood drive looking to take part in a cause they felt was worthy.

“I gave blood be-cause I know it helps people out,” senior Bri-anna Sayasithsena said. “I’ve given before, and it was a really good ex-perience, so I decided to give again.”

Teachers also par-ticipated in the blood drive as well.

“I always try to give whenever I can,” CGS math teacher Corey Rocchio said. “It’s a

good cause and I can help someone.”

The blood drive was set up by Key Club. Se-nior Amy Quantrille, Key Club president was in charge of the event this year.

The students and teachers who decided to donate were greeted by a very positive envi-ronment.

“It was nice to see that everyone was hap-py at the blood drive,” Sayasithsena said. “Ev-eryone was very ap-preciative of what you were doing.”

Each donor received drinks, snacks and a place to rest after they gave.

“Its always fun to get free water and some cookies,” Rocchio said.

The donors will also

receive further infor-mation in the mail from the Red Cross about their blood type and giving blood in general.

In order to give blood, everyone had to meet certain require-ments, such as weight, height, and iron blood ratio. Some students found that they were not able to give blood due to these things.

Senior Taron Smith was not allowed to donate because of his veins.

“I wasn’t allowed to give blood because my veins are too small,” Smith said. “The work-ers with the Red Cross said I could donate through my neck, but I would have to sign a waiver for that.”

However, Smith was still allowed to en-joy the snacks the Red Cross provided.

“I will try to give again some time

The amount of do-nors decreased from 75 people last year to 55 this year.

“The reason we had less donors was be-cause the blood drive conflicted with a lot of sports going on that day,” Quantrille said.

Coaches did not want their players do-nating blood then at-tempting to play a game.

“I would have do-nated, but since we had a game later that day, it would have been too risky,” senior football player Jacob Hoog-house said.

Blood drive successful, despite less publicity, donorsBY RUSS KAUS

Staff Writer

Renaissance Program:

Students who have signed up for the Renaissance Program: watch for your mem-bership cards after the end of first quarter. For those of you who don’t know what the Renaissance program is, it recognizes students who are making the grade, whether it’s all A’s or A/B or significant improvement throughout the year. The program offers bet-ter “deals” to the students with better grades. The Renaissance ID cards are awarded quarterly and provide discounts and premiums at various community businesses (res-taurants, salons, music, jewelry, videos, carwashes, car care, pools, class rings, & much, much more!). As your grades go up, so do the benefits!

Cards are awarded at four levels:

Platinum Card - 4.0 GPA Gold Card - 3.0 GPA Silver Card - 2.5 GPA Bronze Card - Perfect attendance each Quarter.

Questions? Send them to staffordptsa@yahoo.com

Reflections Program:Submissions are now being accepted for this year’s Reflections program sponsored

by the PTSA. Reflections recognizes excellence in literature, dance choreography, film production, musical composition, photography and visual arts. This year’s theme is “Diversity Means….” Information packets including rules and an entry form are in the office. Submission deadline is Tuesday, Nov. 29th.If you need additional informa-tion please contact our Reflections Coordinator, Judy Jobrack at jobrack@aol.com.year.

Raffle winners for those who have joined the PTSA.

Student/Parent Memberships: Katie Schneider - iPod TouchTeacher/Staff Memberships: Anna Ellis and Gail Burgess - $25 dinner gift cards

Courtesy of Mary Podlesny, PTSA Vice President

PTSA NEWS CORNERdays each student had a favorite.

“My favorite day was school spirit day because it was interesting to see how people incorporate our colors into something creative,” sophomore Mi-randa Shelton said. “The new days were the most creative ideas I have expe-rienced.”

This creativity showed in what students wore throughout the week.

“I loved the atmo-sphere of the school,” ju-nior Alex Kniffin said.

There was a different kind of atmosphere with-in each class. Seniors had their last opportunity to enjoy the excitement that comes along with spirit week.

“I went all out on class color day and spirit day mainly because be-ing a senior it is kind of our priority to out-do all the other classes,” senior Casey Burns said.

SPIRIT: Feudalism cut for costumes

Each person that did donate gave one pint of blood.

The donated blood

goes directly to the Red Cross, which processes it, then makes it readily available to hospitals.

the girls pulled through despite the set-back of Morgan Winkler severely spraining her arm.

“In the series of jumps and back handsprings, I hurt my elbow but it hap-pened so fast that I wasn’t sure what happened but knew I had to keep go-ing for my family,” junior Winkler said.

The team managed to come in first place, but the competition season does not stop there.

“For regionals, we are going hard again, keep-ing a straight head, and staying confident but not cocky,” Winkler said. “We

are getting ready to bring home a trophy and title at that, that has not been back to Stafford for ten years and it’s our year.”

To prepare for region-als, the girls are going to aim on correcting little mistakes as well as add to their previous routine. However, since regionals is at home, the girl’s feel that they have a major advantage over the other teams. For the team to win they need the support of their family, friends and fans.

“Our fans have such an impact on us because we go out there and all we see

is a huge blur of blue and gold,” Shaffer said. “They get us so pumped up and if there was a competition to see who has the best fans, we’d win, no doubt.”

Regionals will take place Saturday, Nov. 5 at noon at Stafford.

“Winning districts was such a thrill for the fourth time in a row. Our win really shows how hard we work and we have a really good chance of placing first at regionals,” junior Meredith Burcher said. “We are going to do even better this time: Stafford style.”

HOMECOMING: Court members smile through raindrops

FOUR: Cheer aiming high for next level of competition

All hail the king and queen: After being crowned, seniors Morgan Iannazzo and Michael Ryn-ders are driven around the track in a convertible Mustang, by Jessie Leigh Bolinsky, the owner of the car. Rynders held an umbrella to protect them from the rain. What could have been a dreary night turned into a fantastsy with the crowning fo the king and queen and the victori-ous Indians football team’s victory 26 - 6 over Brooke Point High School. Photo by Emily Pearce

Stafford Style: Varsity cheer coaches Janet Barham and Kristi Proudfoot, wearing matching outfits, walk down the hall at Brooke Point checking their phones, wait-ing to hear results from the cheer competition. The team had a great performance first round and in the second round sealed their first place win. Region-als will be held Saturday, Nov. 4 in the gym. Photo courtesy of Winter-berry Portraits.

with Amaiya Carey and Curran Smolinsky, and Nicole Sutherland and Chris Ashton.

“This is my first year running and I’m excited to be on court, but I’m probably more excited to be getting a free ticket,” said Chris Ashton.

The anticipation builds for the crowning of king and queen as the juniors carry their um-brellas across the track. Skyla Bailey was escorted by Christian Belman fol-lowed by Alex Kniffin escorting Megan Walton and Cody Harrell escort-ing Temple Hammen.

“I’m really ecstatic about being on court,” said Megan Walton, first year nominee. “There were so many great peo-ple running and I was

really happy about being elected.”

As the crowd waited with baited breath for the crowning, the se-niors took their place on the field. Candidates for queen were Morgan Ianazzo, Brooke Scruggs, Jazmyn Dove and Geor-gia Felopulos. The candi-dates for king were John Reed, Mikey Rynders, Ryan Leake, and Dan Jo-brack. As the rain came down harder, they were crowned. Morgan Ianazzo and Mikey Rynders took their place of honor in a chilly ride in a convertible around the track.

“I felt like a million bucks being voted on to homecoming court,” said Mikey Rynders, newly crowned king. “But win-ning king makes me feel like two million bucks.”

Class floats were an-other festivity of the night despite the weather. The senior float “It’s a Jungle Out There” took first place. The jungle themed float had leaves naming different colleges with se-niors Danny Strock and Greg Bohmke dressed in prehistoric faux animal fur.walking next to the float.

“Our float was defi-nitely the best,” queen candidate Brooke Scruggs said. “We worked hard and it showed the most spirit."

The final touch was winning the football game against Brooke Point 26 – 6. The power defense worked effective-ly against Brooke Point’s pass offense. Despite the rainy weather, the Indians were victorious.

Though the new spirit days brought excitement some people will miss the old traditions.

“I think Costume Day was a nice change from Twin Day, seeing crowns, superheroes, cartoon characters, and iconic celebrities around the school was nice,” junior Tony Kemp said. “On the other hand the Salad Dressing Day was a little confusing and I did miss Nerd Day.”  

Continued from page 2

DOMINO’SFEEDS THE SMOKE SIGNAL

STAFF AT LAYOUT

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

3 opinion

smoke signal staff2011-2012

Editor-in-ChiefElexxus Brown

Assistant Editor-in-ChiefEmily Griffin

Photography EditorShannon Cooke

Online Editors Editors Rebekah Kim, Leland Brooks Dani Raymond Molly Podlesny Toni Sorrentino

Design Editor Page Editors Bridget Phillips Katie Brandon

Megan Corsano Ana Nosal

Kirstin Whiteside

Copy Editors Business Managers Emily Byers Karri Chestnut Kathryn Lenox Georgia Felopulos

Ashleigh Powell

Staff WritersCody Beacorn, Natalie Bohmke, Luci Braun,

Moriah Briscoe, Megan Corsano, Erin Cunning-ham, Amber Donald, Bradley Elmore,Ryan Hazel-gren, Hannah Haugen, Megan Humphrey, Russ Kaus, India Kithcart, Taylor Lisco, Erin McGraw,

Chris McMillen, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Patrick Oli-ver, David Pearson, Abbie Pennington, Jack Ray-

mond, Hannah Rowlette, Tori Santiago-Troutman, Cara Skeer, Ryan Thompson, Kristina Varela

PhotographersKerstin Felton, Amber Griffith, Muhamad Khalid, Emily Pearce, Austing Pearson, Kaitlin Shacklette,

Eric Stapleton, Keana Young

VideographersAlisa Posey Jordan Reed Taylor Sutherland

Advisor Sue Gill, CJE

The Smoke Signal is an open forum for student expres-sion of the student body of Stafford High School. Unsigened editorials reflect the collective opinion of the Smoke Signal staff. Signed editorials represent the opinion of the auther and do not necessarily represent the opinons of Stafford HighSchool, its administration, or staff. Signed letters to the editor not exceeding 250 words may be submitted to room W206. Anonymous letters will not be printed. The Smoke Signal reserves the right to edit letters for grammar and content and to refuse advertisements.

PATRONSSuper Sponsor

Gyst & Mrs. Jeremiah M. Johnson

T. Mark Johnson, MDTracey ChestnutTeresa Sedlacek

Millie Stadelmyer

Gold PatronKatherine Drumm

Paula ChestnutMeg & Dave Bohmke

Shirley Louisor

Silver PatronMark & Tracey Woodyard

Jennette LockKimberly Vaughn

Mike & Kathy BakerThomas & Lisa SkeerCoker Orthodontics

Dana StonesiferCathy Pearce

Austin EnfingerLinda Hazelgren

Bronze PatronChuck Pedigo

Barbara LampertSheila Giscard

Blue PatronAmanda & Joseph Hugger

Bruce & Mary BrownAmy Clower

Paty & Jason StineNorris Dickard

Katy BakerLeah Blake

SHS PatronDenise Epperson

Making the Grade

A+

B-

F

A+ Beating Brooke

Cheer Districts

New spirit week days

Rain on Homecoming

weekend

Football fans rejoiced when the South Side Boys defeated the number two team in the district, Brooke Point. Viewers and players withstood rain and cold weather to watch the beloved team win the homecoming football game.

The SHS cheer team competed in the district competition to come out on top for the fourth year in a row. Also continuing tradition, North Stafford fell to South by placing second in the competition. Districts were held at BPHS.

The addition of Salad Dressing Day and Costume Day to the spirit week roster brought about mixed outcomes. While Salad Dressing Day seemed to go unnoticed, other than the western spirit of the senior class, Costume Day was one that both teachers and students participated in.

Rain during the Homecoming football game, all day Saturday, plus during the dance made it nearly impossible for the weekend to be enjoyable. Running through the rain in an attempt to minimize damage to hair/attire and taking pictures indoors are not ideal circumstances.

B+ Haunted Hike

The Fall Festival, sponsored by Link Crew, had it’s debut in the fall of 2011. With nearly every club and organization in the school participating by running a booth or helping with the haunted trail, the school was able to raise over $1,000 for the Susan G. Komen foundation.

South cages North, four consecutive years

Not your average programThe sounds of ex-

cited cheers reverberate throughout Princeton campus; everywhere kids exalt, “Best 10 days of my life!”

Princeton observ-ers watch curiously as the procession termed High School Diplomats walk jovially through-out the university walls. The group marches with laughter and anticipa-tion.

Why is such a pro-gram so unknown, but even more so inviting?

The AIU High School Diplomats is an excep-tional cultural exchange summer program unlike anything else out there.

Hosted at Princeton University every year, 40 high school Japanese stu-dents are invited to ex-plore America and some of its greatest attractions for two weeks, then meet up with 40 other Ameri-can sophomore and ju-nior high school students at Princeton University where they will be to-gether for 10 days.

At Princeton, the

Japanese and American students are placed into several roommate pairs in which roommates are selectively grouped based on the unique qualities the individuals share.

For 10 days the stu-dents engage in various theme day activities, where each day provides a new adventure. Some examples of activities in-clude Bunka-No-Hi Day, or Day of Culture, HSD Olympics, Rock/ Pop Star, and a Day of Service followed by a talent show.

“Everything is the best, but especially, the talent show was great. I saw everyone’s gift! Yabai!” Japanese student Matsushima Shin said.

However, HSD offers a lot more than fun activ-ities and an opportunity to learn more about the Japanese culture. HSD students from previous years have raved about their incredible personal growth as well.

“HSD allowed me to discover more of myself. It’s amazing how people from different walks-of-

life can connect so easily as if they’ve been friend forever,” American stu-dent Dezmond Jordan said.

In addition to im-mersing yourself in the Japanese culture, you also reflect on particular topics in discussion and reflection groups that bring both Japanese and American viewpoints to-gether.

With each passing day of the program, a new life-long bond is born, not only with your Japa-nese roommate, but also with the other 78 stu-dents at HSD, the staff di-rectors, and counselors.

At the end of the pro-gram, there is little dis-tinction between friends and family. It is truly a connection that is un-fathomable.

“When you’re on the outside looking in, you can’t understand it; when you’re on the inside look-ing out, you can’t explain it,” Counselor Director Ms. Shannon Marklin said.

The High School Dip-

lomats gives a full schol-arship towards its pro-gram for all its members. This year the program will be held from July 31 to August 11, 2012. Ap-plications are available at http://www.highschool-diplomats.com/ameri-ca.php, and should be mailed in no later than January 8, 2012 to HSD, P.O Box 97, Centreville, VA 20122.

To interested ap-plicants, “HSD is the chance of a lifetime and they should seize this op-portunity to learn, live, laugh, and love. It’s an incredible experience with incredible people that should not be passed up,” American student Nathaniel Smith said.

For more informa-tion to any questions, call American Director Kristen Parrott at 571-314-0473, or contact Lyndah Lovell for more details.

Article submitted by Lyndah Lovell

The sounds of scream-ing fans and the all-too familiar discerning looks of opponents filled the heart of Blackhawk ter-ritory as the 24 blue and gold covered girls ap-proached the center of the mats. Cheer districts.

The overwhelming sound of a new “I believe that we will win” chant and the sight of Stafford High School students holding up four fingers through the crowd filled the girls with excitement and onlookers with ques-tion. Would the SHS cheerleaders do it again? Could they possibly win the district competition for the fourth year in a row?

The question would soon be answered; with-out hesitation or error, the girls performed a stunning first routine and sent the Blue Wave into ecstasy when the an-nouncer mistakenly read the scores of the per-formances after the first round. The SHS cheer-leaders were leading by a substantial amount.

The mood in Brooke Point High School’s gym was not unnoticed. Stu-dents in the Blue Wave and their cheerleaders were called obnoxious, overly proud, and an-noying. But the envious

words from the fans and members of other teams wouldn’t bring down the spirit; rather it was the root of more screams and cheers.

In previous years, the rivalry between the two Stafford’s has always brought much anticipa-tion, but many went into the gym assuming the Mountain View would be the biggest competitor in 2011. They had won every invitational they attended just as SHS had. Seeing as how the two schools had not attended the same invitational, rumors of a prospective new rivalry forming spread through the crowds.

With the stress of the competition, the cheer-leaders were surprised and pleased by the unex-pected visit of a former teammate cheering them on from the front of the bleachers.

While the second round proved to be a dif-ficult one for the Indi-ans—suffering through a 20-point deduction—fans and cheerleaders re-joiced knowing that the girls had done it again.Tears and screams of ex-citement flowed through the girls in celebration as the crowd chanted: “4 peat, 4 peat, 4 peat…”

“I believe that we will win”: The cheerleaders of Stafford were triumphant for the fourth year in a row in the Commonwealth District Cheer Competition. The girls took first place on Oct. 26 at Brooke Point High School., Followed by North Stafford High School who once again, took second place in the competition. Cartoon by Toni Sorrentino

thesmokesignal smokesignalStafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Fredericksburg, VA 22405 www.staffordsmokesignal.com

the4 5

Spirit Week Swa g!

Class Color

Costume

Decades

Spirit

Giddy up for spirit week: Seniors Colin Duvall and Morgan Brooks enjoy lunch while dressed for Salad Dressing day. Seniors had Ranch Dressing and were supposed to dress in cowboy attire. By Emily Pearce

Italy splits: Juniors Melissa Babin, Deja Pressley, Emily Pearce, McKen-zie Bowler, and Cara Skeer dress like the cast of Jersey Shore. Students debated on whether or not this was truly Italian. By Austin Pearson

Sophomores sail away: Sophomores Megan Humphrey, Rebecca Sprow, Krystal Finch, MacKenzie Kairys, Elizabeth Wardlaw, and Danielle Ross deck out in island attire for Thousand Island dressing day. By Austin Pearson

Cold and Old: Sophomores Allie Siegal and Stephanie Quantrille show their spirit by dressing up for Costume day. Costume day was a new spirit day added to spirit week this year. By Emily Pearce

Pretty in pink: The senior class crowded together to get a snapshot of their Class Color day spirit. Seniors had pink, juniors wore green, sopho-mores dressed in red, and freshmen had to wear purple. By Amber Griffith

Going green: Dressed for Class Color day, juniors Ryan Jones, Dubby Bass, Lindsey Lysher, Taylor Sutherland, Sarah Northrup, and Derek Cunning-ham posed in their green attire. By Amber Griffith

Reppin’ the red: Sophomores enjoy their lunch while dressed in their red outfits for the spirit day. By Emily Pearce

Passionately purple: New to high school spirit week, freshmen partici-pate by wearing all purple. By Amber Griffith

The Bangles are back: Seniors Emily Rafferty, Brianna Sayasithsena, Mor-gan Iannazzo(Hawt), Leland Brooks(Cutie), Courtney Albrycht, and Sarah Shearer(Adorable) brought the 80’s back for Decades day. By Amber Griffith

Costume chemistry: Chemistrty students show their school spirit by dressing in a variety of costumes and adding their own twist to each one. By Emily Pearce

Reversed roles: Calculus teacher Clay Shesman dressed as Harry Potter while Curran Smolinksky dressed as Shesman. By Amber Griffith

Flirty fifties: Juniors Brad Jones and Jimmy Bowels dressed for the 50’s decade. By Emily Pearce

Stylin’ seventies: Sophomores dress up in tie-dye ensembles for the seventies decade. By Emily Pearce

Indians unite: Juniors Mia Romero and Mary Wellman pose in their indian outfits on sirit day. By Emily Pearce

Indians chow down: Seniors Connor Harmon and Rivesh Chalise dress out in blue and gold during lunch for spitit day. By Emily Pearce

Freshmen make friends: Senior Tatianna Tonnacliff and freshmen Maddi Mixon pose for the camera on daecades day. Photo by Amber Griffith

Cowboys and Italians: Senior Brenden Carr and Analisa Wall enjoy lunch together while dressed in ranch and italian outfits. By Kerstin Felton

Seniors 2012: The class officers decorated a senior sign and hung it up in the senior section of the cafeteria. By Emily Pearce

SHS has your back: Seniors show off this year’s senior shirts designed by Adriona Payne. By Emily Pearce

Issue 4, Nov. 2

sALAD dRESSING

smokesignaltheStaff ord High School www.staff ordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

6 sports Gallivan helps lead the team

BY ANA NOSALEditor

JV cheer places second at team’s first invitational

Gallivan gets serious: Gallivan leads team throughout the fi eld hockey season. By Amber Griffi th

On your mark! Greg Bohmke and Ian MacLeod broke two records within a week of each other. Courtesy of Milestat

BY AMBER DONALDStaff Writer

5, 6, 7,8: The JV cheerleaders placed second in their invita-tional. Credited to WInterberry

Athletic Honor Roll

“Whether it is practice or a game, Casey Schooler al-ways gives 100 per-cent” - Chad Lewis

“As a senior cap-tain, Erin Gallivan does a good job of fi r-ing up her teamates - Dani Woodie

“Katelyn Gudyka is one of our most experiences and dynamic players ” - Rich Maley

“Ian Macleod has shown a lot of hard work and is shown in his times this year” -Pete Augrum

“Olivia Shaff er is an outstanding lead-er on the team and posses dedication -Janet Barham

Bohmke, MacLeod break school recordsBY KATIE BRANDON

Section Editor

Th e fi eld hockey team has played strong this sea-son with a lot of players stepping up to lead. Aft er a season of hard fought games, the team is fo cus-ing on improving their game for playoff s.

Th e team lost four key players when they gradu-ated last year, but this year’s seniors have taken on roles to encourage and lead the team.

“On the fi eld we just talk and keep motivat-ing each other,” senior Erin Gallivan said. “We give each other tips and tell each other what we

should be doing to work together.”

Gallivan helped the team by covering junior Lindsey Lysher’s center midfi eld position when she was out with an inju-ry. Lysher had broken her fi nger when a ball hit it at the home game against Riverbend.

Th e two players con-tinue to switch back and forth from right forward to center midfi eld now that Lysher has recovered.

Aft er their fi rst loss to Mountain View, the team was able to recognize their mistakes in order to fi x them.

“Th e opportunities that are missed were

mainly in the circle when we were trying to score,” Gallivan said. “We have had trouble fi nishing but we do a great job getting the ball down the fi eld be-cause we scramble in the circle and don’t stay com-posed, therefore missing scoring opportunities.”

Th eir second loss was also to Mountain View during their last game of the regular season.

“It came as a bit of a surprise to us,” coach Danielle Woodie said. “But it was more of a wakeup call that we need to step up our game.”

Although the 4-1 loss shook the team’s morale, the team is committed

to make it to the dis-trict championship game again.

“I think we should if we play hard and stay strong with two more games,” Lysher said.

Th e coaches also echo the same confi dence in the team.

“We have a really good shot if we learn from our mistakes,” Woodie said.

No matter what the outcome of the season may be, the team remains close and unifi ed. Galli-van said, “Team, tradition and working hard togeth-er is what Staff ord fi eld hockey is all about. We don’t reply on individuals like other teams do.”

On Saturday Sept. 24, the JV cheer team placed second at their fi rst invi-tationaas a team JV has been for weeks and left all of their hard work on the mat.

Sophomore JV cheer-leader Shanice Golston said, “JV is working hard-er then before. We’re put-ting all of our sweat and tears into it,”

Golston continued to say, “At our invitational we all were nervous at one point of the day and also happy to perform what we had been work-ing on for days and weeks before we got on that mat.”

The JV cheerlead-ers kept a positive mind throughout the competi-tion and it help them get what they got.

They know now what to work on their next

competition.Sophomore JV cheer-

leader Nicole Suther-land said, “we competed against lower level var-sity teams in our divi-sion and we beat all of them and came in second place to Stonebridge’s JV team. “

Th e challenge for the team was adding new people to the stunts, sophomore JV cheer-leader said Allie Tanner,” We got 2nd place last

Senior Greg Bohmke and junior Ian MacLeod have been competing neck-in-neck recently during cross country meets to break, and cre-ate, new school records.

MacLeod fi rst broke the school cross country record Saturday, Oct. 1, at the Great American Cross Country Festival in Cary, NC. MacLeod ran the 5K race in a time of 15:50, beating his previous per-sonal record of 16:16. He later ran a 15:46 on Satur-day, Oct. 15, at the Miles-tat.com Invitational.

“I was surprised when Ian ran his 15:50,” coach

Pete Augrom said. “Not because I didn’t think he could run times like that, I was really just surprised that he did it so early. I was expecting him to break 16 [minutes], but to beat that by ten sec-onds was shocking. Aft er that race though, I wasn’t surprised to see how him and Greg worked togeth-er at Milestat to run their times.”

Bohmke currently holds the school record of 15:45. He ran this time also on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Milestat.com Invi-tational.

“Th e course is the fast-est one I’ve raced on, it’s all fl at and downhill,” Ma-cLeod said. “Without the

hills, there’s less resistance which makes for a faster time.”

MacLeod and Bohmke also attribute their times to intense practices and the determination of his fellow runners.

“I think what drives the boys at practice is the feeling of unfufi llment from last year and want-ing to prove the naysay-ers wrong,” Augrom. “We went into the state meet last year expecting to be on the podium as a top-three team and we ended up fourth.

Th is year we have some people within the state that until recently haven’t wanted to give us the respect that we feel we

weekend, cause a few of our stunts were dropped. But we had to put in new people at last minute.”

Although the team is young, they have a lot of great potential and drive to succeed in everything that they do.

Th e team is closer than in past years and it shows through the way they ex-ecute their routine.

Th e girls strive for nothing but the best.

have earned. So guys really want to

prove to everyone that last year wasn’t a fl uke and that they are one of the best teams in the state

and in the southeast Unit-ed States.”

Th e team is currently ranked third in the state and 7th in the southeast United States. Th e team’s

biggest goal this year is to beat out district oppo-nents Midlothian, Colo-nial Forge and Ablemarle for fi rst place at states.

XCOUNTRY: Chapin Baker (#1527) races the pack in a recent meet. The team moved on to dis-tricts this past week with hopes of going to states again this year. Photos by coach Pete Augrom

FIELD HOCKEY: Brooke Scruggs holds the line in fi eld hockey coming up with save after save and keeping the team in the running for Regionals next week. Photo by Amber Griffi th

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

7 sports

JV volleyball bonds as family strives to win

Football has chance in play-offsBY ANA NOSAL

Section Editor

The volleyball team has reached their half waypoint through the season with goals reached and some, which the team still hopes to achieve.

“We have defi-nitely improved as a team and as individuals but our record doesn’t show how much we have improved all together,” junior Dana Lee said.

They have won two games against Hylton and Brooke Point High School so far this season.

“We have won only two games so far but every other game we have played has always been really close and we keep up with the teams,” senior

Katelyn Gudyka said. “We are ready to come back and bring it the next time we play each team this second half of the season.”

Since Orange County High School has joined our district, the volleyball team has to work extra hard to com-pete with the new district team.

“When I found out that Orange County got added to our district I really didn’t mind until I found out how far away it was,” sophomore India Kithcart said. “At least it isn’t as far away as Riv-erbend High School is though.”

On September 27th, the varsity volleyball team traveled to Franklin County.

It took the team about

four hours to get there for a daylong and overnight volleyball tournament.

“We could’ve and should’ve won the tour-nament, but with the little mistakes that we made, we could only head back home and work on the mistakes during practice and get better from them,” Kithcart said.

They ended up win-ning one out of the three games they played but went home with a lot of skills to work and im-prove on for the games that count.

“We have taken our practices to the next level and we have real-ized that how we practice is how we end up playing in our next game,” senior Lindsay LaFratta said.

BY TAYLOR SUTHERLAND

Staff Writer

V Volleyball improves

BY REID MURPHYStaff Writer

These young athletes know what they want. It can be clearly seen in their eyes. They want nothing less than to win, and that attitude shows in the toughness with which they play.

The JV volleyball team has practiced hard to improve off of a one -win season. They have won two of their 14 games so far, with three games left that can help them propel even more under the lead-ership of first year coach Seth Bixler.

“We struggled at the beginning because so many players are brand new to the team,” Bix-ler said. “But we have definitely improved as we have gone along and as our players have learned more.”

Bixler is very proud of his team that original-ly consisted of 13 play-

ers, but is now down to 11 due to injuries. The team is a wide mixture of sophomores and fresh-men with many of the freshmen not having any previous experience in volleyball. “We didn’t have volleyball in middle school,” freshmen Olivia Jefferies said. “I just thought it was a cool sport and would be fun to try something new.”

Jefferies prepared hard and extensively to make the team including doing camps, clinics, and the team conditioning.

Sophomore players on the team have greatly helped mentor the fresh-men players, along with trying to improve upon themselves.

“I actually love the practices,” sophomore Heather Wilson said. “It really helps me work on my skills and get better.”

The practices started the second week of Au-

To say that the varsity football team has had a difficult season is a major understatement.

With the loss of a close friend and teammate, however, the team has pulled together to finish the season strong.

With a record of 4-5 in the district, the team has shown improvement from last season.

“Our seniors have done a great job this year with leading, making for an extremely tight team,” coach Chad Lewis said.

Although the team has fought hard all season, they cannot stop now and must continue to do so.

“Our biggest competi-tors, as of now, are every team we play from here on out,” senior Ryan Som-payrac said. “We have to play every game like it’s our last because it very well could be.”

A disappointing loss

to the team’s biggest rival, North Stafford.

The biggest difference team members have seen this year as opposed to last year is the sense of

community between the players. The players feel that this new feeling has contributed to their suc-cess this year.

“We, as a team, are

really close,” senior Bran-don Murphy said. “Every-one is friends with every-one.

We pick each other up and push each other to

gust with many players having to learn the sport completely.

“At the beginning, girls literally had to be taught the basics of hav-ing to play this game,” Bixler said. “But all the one-on-one teaching has really helped the team in the long run.”

Since those first prac-tices, the team has been able to focus more on

team-oriented drills and scrimmages, which have been helping the team turn progress into wins.

“We have definitely improved over the past few weeks,” Jefferies said.

While the team has strived to improve upon themselves, they have had their share of chal-lenging battles.

“There have been some really challeng-ing games,” Wilson said. “But I don’t think they were so tough that we couldn’t pull off a win.”

That is one of the few things that Bixler plans to have the team improve upon for next year.

“We can definitely pull off wins,” Bixler said. “Now that we have the harder earned skills

and toughness, we have the ability to be more suc-cessful.

And while these chal-lenging games have helped the team learn their mistakes and improve upon them, they have also brought the girls closer together especially their first win against Brooke Point where after falling behind on their lead, ral-lied together to take the win. “The Brooke Point game was very tough,” Bixler said. “But I was so proud and impressed by how the girls came to-gether and put true focus into winning.” All of the players have come together as more of a family, and even help their own confidence. “I’ve made so many friends through this team,” Wilson said. “Plus it has helped me open up more since I used to be really quiet.

make the team better. We do a lot of stuff outside of school; either just hang-ing out or going out to get something to eat with the guys.”

With the big home-coming game against Brooke Point on Oct. 28, the team is hoping to se-cure another win.

“We are preparing as we normally do for every game,” Lewis said. “We’re all really excited. It’s our tenth game, it’s home-coming, and it’s Senior Night.”

Players said that this homecoming game, how-ever, will be unlike previ-ous years as the team will play for a different moti-vation.

“Ali’s passing has giv-en us something to play for,” Sompayrac said. “I’m not saying that winning games hasn’t always been our objective, because it has been, but now when we win we don’t just win for our fans, the school, and we win for Ali.”

Friday, Oct. 29 the boys pulled a win against Brooke Point 26-6 and still have a chance to go into the playoffs.

Look out below!: The varsity volleyball team keeps their head up during their tough season. India Johnson gets ready to return the ball during the regular season. Photo by Shannon Cooke

JV/ freshman football teams fight difficult seasonsBY CHRIS MCMILLEN

Section Editor

Both the freshmen and JV football teams have worked hard this season.

Although there were some disappointing loss-es, the team came togeth-er to play as a solid team and always put their best

foot forward.This year freshmen

football team went 2-3-2. “We are playing well

even though we’re not winning,” freshmen Colt Steigerwald said. “But not as well as I think we should be playing.”

The team lost their last game to Brooke Point in a hard fought game.

Junior varsity has gone 3-5 so far this season. The team’s season is also al-most over.

“I think our season has been somewhat success-ful,” Ethan Hughart said. “I think we lost focus in some games, but if we had that focus we could eas-ily only have one or two losses.”

JV’s next game is on Monday against Colonial Forge. They hope to win that game to finish the season close to a .500 re-cord.

The team united this year and played with all of the strength they had. With the varsity football team during farely well this season, they knew

they had to step up their game as well.

The team was able to work as a team rather than just individuals like most of their opponents despite the freshman get-ting used to playing at a high school level.

They hope to take away hardwork and dedi-cated players guarantee a

winning season.The players hope to

follow in the footsteps of the seniors to make it on the varsity team next year.

Even through, the var-ious struggles all the foot-ball teams went through, it’s apparent that students and faculity still support and take pride in the teams.

Blackhawk down!: The varsity football team won the Homecoming game against Brooke Point by a great margin, 26-6. The rain helped the Indians as only six passes were thrown. A ground game with good defense had the Indians out in front for the last game of the regular season. The team still has hopes of being in the playoffs starting next week. Photo by Emily Pearce.

smokesignaltheSta� ord High School www.sta� ordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

8 spotlightSports Celebrate

BY AUSTIN ENFINGERSta� Writer

As the season comes to an end, the seniors of Sta� ord’s football team recall the time they’ve spent with the team.

“Beating Forge,” was the answer seniors Ricky Martin, Quinton Fogle, and Adam Pruitt gave as their favorite memory. Others, like se-nior Justin Crabbe, said that they enjoyed being at practice with their team and family. At the beginning of the year,

the seniors set goals that they hoped for the team to accom-plish throughout the season. Among those goals was getting revenge on Forge, which they achieved in week � ve with a victory of 24-14.

Other goals they wished to achieve this year were to work as a family and for everyone to have good sportsmanship.

“� e seniors had to be lead-ers and help the underclass-man,” Martin said. Working hard at practice helps make the rest of team better and the se-niors had rivalries to see who was the better player.

“I always enjoy facing Rob-ert Beckwith,” said Fogle.

� e two would face o� each day at practice, and by compet-

ing they each helped to make the other a better player.

Before the homecoming game the seniors celebrated senior night. � e tradition was to walk down with their parents to get ready for the last home game.

Joey Sorrentino, a senior who was injured in the game against North Sta� ord, went

to the game with his family to celebrate senior night.

� e team faced Brooke Point last Friday night for the homecoming game. Brooke Point was the last of the three teams that Sta� ord students referred to as ‘murderers row’, the other two being Mountain View and North Sta� ord.

Sta� ord lost to Mt. View and North Sta� ord but beat Brooke Point 26 – 6 at the Homecom-ing game giving them a shot at the playo� s depending on the other teams win/loss record.

BY SHANNON COOKE

Photo Editor� e students and

teachers who walk the halls of Sta� ord cannot help but notice the re-markable level of spirit and pride shown by the cheerleaders. � e tra-ditions that have been made and kept through-out the years make the senior cheerleaders clos-er than ever.

At the Homecoming

game, the seniors on the cheer team will be hon-ored and celebrated for their years of participa-tion. Seniors Olivia Shaf-fer, Madison Ritchey, Sammy Krejdovsky, Mi-randa Pepe, and Taylor Campbell will close their � nal season full of great memories.

“My favorite memory of cheer is winning dis-tricts the past few years,” said Ritchey, “It’s de� -nitely the greatest feeling

in the world.”� ere’s no denying the

accomplishments of the cheer team. When they achieved their fourth consecutive district title this year, the team called their win a “four-peat.”

� e win at the district competition is the best way to end the already successful few years these girls have had with the team.

Sha� er and Krej-dovsky have been a part

of varsity cheer since their freshman year.

“Sammy and I have grown together and I can’t believe we’re � nally seniors,” Sha� er said.

� e girls have se-nior sleepovers in which they make gi� s and plan events for the entire team.

“Being leaders togeth-er has really brought us closer,” said Krejdovsky.

All of the seniors hope to participate in com-

petitive cheer in college. Ritchey was recently ac-cepted to University of Louisville and hopes to cheer there.

“� ey have a really great cheerleading pro-gram,” Ritchey said, “I really hope I make it.”

Whether or not they compete competitively in college, the motiva-tion and leadership skills gained from being a part of Sta� ord Cheer will stay with them.

FOOTBALL

CheerSammy

KrejdovskyTaylor

CampbellMiranda

PepeOlivia

ShafferMadison Ritchey

Proud of their boys: � e seniors of the varsity foot-ball game line up along the track at the Homecoming game with their parents. � e athletes were each given a single yellow rose to give to one of their escorts. Se-nior night is a memorable night for both the senior athletes and their parents. Photo by Emily Pearce

Pumping up the crowd: Senior Miranda Pepe leads the varsity cheer team in inspir-ing the crowd during the Homecoming game. Despite the cold and rainy weather, the cheer-leaders remained upli� ing and positive. Photo by Emily Pearce

Photo by Winterberry PortraitPhoto by Winterberry PortraitPhoto by Emily Pearc ePhoto by Emily Pearc e Photo by Emily Pearc e

smokesignaltheSta� ord High School www.sta� ordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

9 feature

BY EMILY BYERSCopy Editor

While most of the students in school are enjoying their long sum-

mer days, the S t a f -ford � eld hockey team is up early Aug. 1, ready for conditioning. � eir old teammates have gone o� to college and the new seniors have to step up.

Sarah French, Sam Hef-lin, Erin Gallivan, Emily Ra� erty, Ella Colebaugh and Brooke Scruggs have remained dedicated to the team especially as they enter their senior year.

“Seniors are expect-ed to lead the team,” He-� in said.

� e seniors are held to an even higher stan-dard. As the leaders of the team, they become the example that is set for the rest of the team.

� e girls re� ected on their years on the team.

“Going to states last year is de� nitely one of my favorite memories,” captain French said.

“Summer conditioning and those runs on the end line will always be something I remember.”

French has been on the varsity team since freshman year. She plans to play club � eld hockey at whatever school she attends.

“I’ll miss the bonds the most,” captain Hef-lin said. “I knew that if I had a bad day, my hock-ey sisters would always be there to help pick me back up.”

He� in has played varsity all four years. In college, she plans to try out for a club team.

“Believe it or not, It will be hard waking up

August 1 and not being on the end line [with] all my girls on either side of me,” captain Gallivan said.

Gallivan has been on varsity for all four years. She will be attending JMU on a � eld hockey scholarship.

“I will miss my team-mates the most,” Ra� erty said.

Ra� erty has been on the team all four years. Her plans to play a� er high school are still up in the air.

“[Senior night was] retrospective and remi-niscent,” Gallivan said. “You think about all the years of SHS hockey and

realize it’s ending soon. It’s sad, but you feel so appreciated.”

� e underclassmen honored their seniors during their last regular season game. � ey put a lot of work into mak-ing senior night special. � ey gave each one of them Build-A-Bears, � owers and presents. � ey also decorated the � eld.

Although the seniors do not want to leave their � eld hockey sisters, they will carry the memories and skills on with them to bigger and better things.

BY KATHRYN LENOXCopy Editor

Although the end of the school year is far from over, the reality of leaving high school behind is al-ready setting in for some seniors as the fall sports season ends and seniors play with there team-mates for the last time in their high school career. � is reality set in for vol-leyball seniors Julie Al-lard, Lindsay LaFratta and Katelyn Gudyka on Oct. 25 when they were honored by teammates at their last home game for senior night.

“I love senior night,” Allard said. “It’s a lot of fun, but a little sad know-ing it’s our last game. I cried during it”

For senior night, the team followed the tradi-tion of making banners while the seniors went out to eat. When the se-niors returned they re-

ceived � owers, balloons and a blanket from their coaches. � eir parents walked them out onto the court and their team-mates read something they wrote about them.

“Jordan Rosenthal talked about how much she’s going to miss me and how much I’ve helped her,” Allard said. “We all went to Chick-Fil-A and Lindsay gave us a collage of pictures of us playing, Katelyn gave us pillowpets and I gave them a volleyball that I had the whole team sign.”

As the seniors leave, they pass on advice to their underclassmen teammates.

“� e things I’ve learned while playing volleyball that my team-mates can learn from are to always come to practice with a posi-tive attitude,” LaFratta said. “Also, come ready to work hard and give it your all and never give

up.”� ey also take with

them many memories from their years of play-ing on the team.

“� ere are lots of memories,” Gudyka said. “� e thing I’m always go-ing to remember is my last game because I knew I was playing my hard-est.”

Although the seniors will no longer be playing volleyball in high school, they plan on continuing the sport in college, some at the club level and some just for fun.

“I don’t know exactly what level I’m going to play at, but I’m de� nitely going to play, hopefully at UVA,” Gudyka said.

Senior night was bit-tersweet for the seniors, but they still wish the best for their teammates.

Allard said, “I felt spe-cial and it is sad leaving the team, but I wish ev-eryone the best of luck for next year.”

BY REBEKAH KIMOnline Editor

For the four seniors on the varsity dance team, the Homecom-ing game will be a sub-stantial event, because they will be able to walk across the football � eld, symbolizing an end to their last high school sports year.

“I am going to walk with my family, and try to have as much fun as possible,” senior Jasma

Oglesby said. “I will miss it as soon as I graduate high school.”

� e senior dancers all admit that they will miss the dance team a� er the season is over. It will be a big adjustment a� er all the years of practicing with the team for games and competitions.

“I will miss being on the team with all of my dance girls,” senior Day-ton Smith said. “I will just miss dancing, period.”

� e dance team, like

many other Sta� ord sports teams, is a fam-ily, not just a team. � e seniors look back at their dancing memories with fondness.

“From late night prac-tices and Saturday prac-tices to competitions, we

have just bonded like a big family,” senior Renee Orange said. “And I’m going to spend time with the rest of the girls while I can.”

Varsity dance coach Sue Abel shared in the teams love and passion

for dance.“� e seniors have

been there for the un-derclassman girls to vent and ask questions,” Abel said.

� ere have been sev-eral times when senior dancers from Sta� ord have gone on to partici-pate in college.

“Stephanie Jennings, Class of 2005, and Ra-chel Foglesong, Class of 2007, both became suc-cessful college dancers,” Abel said. “Carrie Abel,

Class of 2003 and my daughter, went to college for dance and came back to teach as a junior var-sity coach.”

� e underclassman also must adjust to the sudden change.

“I will miss dancing with them the most be-cause we’re so close and just like sisters to each other,” junior Brittany Saleh said. “It’s just go-ing to be so much di� er-ent and di¡ cult without them.”

Lindsay LaFratta Katelyn Gudyka Julie Allard

Proud seniors: Before their close match against Massaponnax, Katelyn Gudyka, Julie Allard, and Lindsay Lafratta received balloons and � owers from the rest of the team. Photos by Taylor Sutherland

Erin Gallivan Sarah French Sam Hefl in

Brooke Scruggs Emily Rafferty Ella Colebaugh

smokesignaltheStaff ord High School www.staff ordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

10 student life

BY MORIAH BRISCOEStaff Writer

Junior Skyla Jean Bailey has been doing pageants

for about a year now. Th e TLC show can cast a

bad image upon ‘pag-eant girls’ as spoiled and bratty, but Bailey is not.

“I’m proud to be a pageant girl, I think it means a good thing and

also a bad thing because some people can see you as an ambitious girl but also as a girl who thinks highly of herself,” said Bailey, who believes that girls that compete in pageants don’t need thousand dollar dress-es, or have to be rich to compete in pageants.

Bailey has just be-gun doing pageants, but

people would not believe that if they knew the amount of titles that she has won. Winning six titles in a pageant can be a positive ego and confi -dence booster.

“I’ve come pretty far because I came in as a girl who was really shy about being in front of a big group of people, to this social butterfl y who can tell you every little rule in the world of pag-eantry,” said Bailey.  

Ultimately, pageantry can work wonders on someone’s personality as Bailey explained. Some incentives are getting to wear beautiful gowns, makeup and feeling beautiful.

“I love being able to show off my true per-sonality on stage to ev-eryone who is willing to watch. I want to show off my gown, face, and body and be an entertainer,” said Bailey.

At the end of it all, winning a pageant is what it all boils down to. Bailey describes the feeling of winning as a big accomplishment that someone else sees how hard you have worked.

“Seeing your inner and outer beauty,” said Bailey. “I feel most hap-py because I feel like I am making my family proud of me. As soon as they place the crown on my head I instantly get a glowing aff ect and smile from ear to ear, even cry a little.”

Pageantry can open a lot of opportunities, ones that Bailey enjoys, like meeting new pag-eant girls from all over Virginia and the United States. 

Bailey wins contests

Staff ord High Beauty:Junior Skyla Baily poses after winning one of her many contests Bailey was crowned Miss Fredericksburg Teen USA. Bailey enjoys participating in contests and loves the idea of winning.

Ryan Th ompsonStaff Writer

The Stafford high school Model UN club will begin preparing for their upcoming conference starting Nov. 7. The purpose of the club is to show students how the real United Nations func-tions. Some of the activities include de-bates, simulated ses-sions, and, trips to con-ferences to meet other model UN groups.

“Like a mock con-gress, we simulate United Nations com-mittee and general assembly meetings,”

sponsor Mr. Harding said.

One of the other sponsors Mrs. Purnell has previously been to several confer-ences throughout her time with the model UN, including a trip to Boston and even to the real UN in New York.

“Our goal is to go to a regional model UN at UNC Chapel Hill,” Purnell said.

The model UN meets about once a month and will be meeting more fre-quently as their com-petitions draw nearer. In the meetings stu-dents practice debates

and learn how the competitions will be conducted.

“We prepare the future leaders of our global community to create constructive solutions to world problems through di-plomacy, peace, and humanitarian mis-sions,” Harding said.

The club meets about once a month and is open to all who are interested in poli-tics, world affairs and debate.

“I would like for many young people to come and participate in debates,” Purnell said.

Model UN prepares for year, strives for regional model UN

KRISTINA VARELAStaff Writer

Singing her way to the big stage, junior, Temple Hammen won fi rst place in Icon 11, recently by sing-ing a jazzy version of the classic “Somewhere over the Rainbow.”

Temple won a $1,000 scholar-ship that she will be putting to-ward college and an invitation to the Women’s Leadership Gala din-ner and Red Carpet Event.

“I got picked up by a limo and driven around the whole day. Th ey paid for everything, even my dress!” Hammen said. “Th ey called it ‘Star Treatment’”.

Th e competition is similar to American Idol and America’s Got Talent in the sense that it has all types of talents and multiple stages contestants have to go through to get to the fi nal. Nine other fi nalists competed at the Kennedy Center with Temple.

“It was amazing,” said Temple’s father, Bill Hammen. “I knew she’d win because she is an excellent singer and no one could compete with her. I’m happy and excited for her.”

Having never entered a com-petition of this caliber, Hammen’s experience in Chamber Singers, drama, Jazz Band and working at

Riverside Dinner Th eater for two years helped her prepare.

“I absolutely love performing. I try every chance I get,” Hammen said.

Aft er winning the competition the top fi ve performers were given the chance to attend the Women’s Leadership Gala dinner and per-form.

Temple got several off ers and opportunities at the Gala to per-form at some other parties and

events. “I get paid for doing shows, but

I would do it for free!” she said.On the stage at the Gala Temple

was the most recent but certainly not last performance.

“I am defi nitely doing this af-ter high school, it’s no question” Hammen said. “It’s absolutely my life and it will be my career. I think God has so much more in store for me and I can’t wait to see what is up ahead.”

Star smiles! After her performance, junior Temple Hammen stops to take a photo with Forrest Parker, Boys & Girls club regional director. Hammen went on to win the competition earning $1000 and invitations to several events. By Hammens

Over the rainbow: the audience looks on as junior Temple Hammen performs a jazzy rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow.” Hammen was one of 9 contes-tants to perform at the Kennedy Center for the competition. Photo submitted by the Hammen family

Hammen sings at Kennedy Center

Off road terrain sport-ing has come into its own at Staff ord. Many students par-ticipate in the extreme sport, from their backyards to ma-jor tournaments.

  A collective group of students have taken joy to the sport, but a few have put more into it than others.

  “I like the adrenaline rush,” sophomore Brian Stroschine said.

  Most students like dirt biking because they feel amazing when they do it

  “I like the adrenaline rush,” Stroschine said. Stros-chine owns a 1994 CR125 and likes to ride in his back-yard trail and has been doing so for two years.

Sophomore Brandon Hulsey on the other hand, has been doing it for fi ve years and rides a 2002 CR80.

Others get into dirt biking for more than what they see on TV.

“I think it was everybody around me, and I had a fast one,” senior Michael Bowling said. Bowling rides a TRX-400EX.

Bowling races at VXCS, and the turn out of every event is positive.

“VXCS is usually about 100 people every event,” Bowling said

Although dirt biking is fun, there are associated dangers. Th ey scale from mi-nor wounds like bruises or scratches, up to full on acci-dents.

“I got a hole in my knee from the peg of the bike,” Strochine said.

“I almost died jumping over a hill into a lake,” Bowl-ing said.

Even competitors with fi ve years plus have had ma-jor injuries.

“I had a concussion and a broken wrist,” junior Dalton Bayse said.

Off road sporting is col-lectively a costly habit. Th e bikes range from $1,250, to upwards of $8,000!

“It’s an extremely expen-sive habit,” Hulsey said.

Off road sporting can be done year round, depending on the weather. For the most part, people like to either ride on the weekends or whenev-er they have free time.

Dirtbiking costs time, money but fun

Wheelin’: While on the course, senior Michael Bowling does a jum on his dirt bike. The sport has the participant drive special vehicles that are equipped for off road terrain, and pits the participant against other competitor to see who comes out on top in various events. Dirtbiking has gained popularity among male stu-dents over the years. Photo by Brad Elmore

BY BRAD ELMOREStaff Writer

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

11 student life

The Tree House Lounge is a new, safe place for teenagers to re-lax and have a good time. Teens complain how there is nothing to do in Fredericksburg, and that is why general manager Ryan Bullock opened the lounge.

“I wanted to open a place where kids can come and hang out and parents feel comfort-able about it at the same time,” Bullock said.

TreeHouse Lounge located on Plank Road

before Central Park had its grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2011. Around 75+ people at-tended the event, but it wasn’t as many as Bull-ock was expecting.

“The place actually seemed pretty cool and had a good atmosphere, but there was nobody there,” junior RC Ste-phens said. “If there would have been more people I think I would have had a better time.”

The theme resembles a tropical rainforest with jungle like sound effects, low lying fog, and accent lighting.

“The atmosphere is really awesome and it’s baffling to see not as many kids coming as we had expected,” employee Drew Shrope said. “Be-cause we are giving kids what they asked for, I don’t understand why they aren’t coming in. Maybe it’s a lack of ad-vertisement that we need to work on.”

TreeHouse Lounge is exclusively underage only on Fridays and Sat-urdays to 16 through 20 year olds.

“The owner and his father are very close within our family and we

were able to see his prog-ress made over the sum-mer

months,” senior Le-land Brooks said.

“I think it’ll be a great hit because it is the only ‘teen club’ in this area that offers dancing, wire-less connection, and just a spot to chill. I think that his dedication and hard work will pay off.”

Many are familiar with Aunt Sara’s, which was the restaurant that previously owned the building before running out of business.

“We went on Saturday night and it seemed like RC enjoyed his time in-side the lounge,” junior Billy Howell said. “I did find it difficult to find though, we ended up get-ting lost on 95.”

Every night of the week there is a different theme. Monday is school organization night, Tues-day is Glee night which begins at 7:30 p.m.; seats

are on a first come first serve basis.

We d n e s d a y is Karaoke

night that starts at

7 p.m. with a

$ 5

cover charge, Thursday is college night where

students can read, surf

the web, and enjoy food and entertainment.

Then Friday and Sat-urday is dance night with a $10 cover charge and an age restriction after 8 p.m. that includes 16 to 20 years of age. The dress code is ‘dress to impress’, which is typical club-like attire.

“I enjoy working here,” said Strope. “It’s really neat having music and TV playing and not too much to do, it’s the ideal job.”

Not only is the Tree-House Lounge a club on the weekends, it is also a restaurant. They sell food such as cheese fries, corndogs, pizza, macaro-ni & cheese, milkshakes and a special brownie ex-plosion.

“I feel as though there has been a bit of confu-sion,” said Bullock. “The TreeHouse Lounge is well known for being a ‘club’; however this is a common misconception because it is only a dance night on Fridays and Sat-urdays after eight. Dur-ing the week anyone and everyone can come in and enjoy everything we have to offer.”

There are high hopes for The TreeHouse Lounge that word will spread and have a bet-ter outcome, making the Treehouse lounge a greater success than it al-ready is.

Treehouse lets teens relax safely

Treehouse Lounge: The official logo of the new hot spot in town inspired by a jungle theme.

Lay back at the Lounge: Teens come to the Treehouse Lounge in seach of fun and relaxation. The club hosts theme nights, the most popular being ‘dance night’ on Friday and Saturday nights. Many teens attended the grand opening on Sept. 24., although the turn out was less than general manager Ryan Bullock hoped for that night. Photo by Sarah Shearer

BY MOLLY PODLE-SNY

Editor

The British came.Friday, October 21,

teacher Kristen Brady’s second block AP U.S. History class held a de-bate about colonial inde-pendence.

Students dressed up as colonists and Par-liament members and discussed the cause of freedom.

Brady was King George III, the debate moderator. She wore a purple robe, complete with a wig, gold chain and bowl of grapes.

The students sat on opposite sides of the room, under the titles “Friends of King George III,” and “Delinquents of Treason.”

The students were required to write a re-sume for the person they played, in addition to having note cards pre-pared with quotations by their person.

Brady hoped the de-bate would help her stu-

dents learn information in a more hands-on way.

“It’s a good way for them to learn to analyze primary sources, and to be able to use them in context,” she said.

Included his-torical characters were George Grenville, Pat-rick Henry, Lord Dart-mouth, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Samuel Ad-ams, Lord North, Charles Townshend, Thomas Jef-ferson, Joseph Galloway, Stephen Hopkins and Thomas Hutchinson.

“The only character I really wish we could have had was George Wash-ington,” Brady said.

A podium was used for the role of the first president instead.

Junior Morgan Winkler’s character was Patrick Henry.

“I ended up stay-ing up until 4 a.m. the night before doing re-search, but it was worth it,” Winkler said. “I felt comfortable enough with my character that I was able to improvise a lot off of what other people had

said.”Other students pre-

pared differently. Junior Matt Coyne owns a video series on his character, John Adams, and was able to watch that.

“I chose John Adams not just because we had recently done a presidential profile on him, or because I had the series but because he was known as a man of integ-rity and I really want to become like that,” Coyne said.

The outcome of the debate was not offi-cially decided, however, most students concurred that the “Delinquents of Treason” won.

“The colonists definitely won,” junior Harper Lovegrove said. “George Grenville was the only Brit that said a n y t h i n g … . M o r g a n Winkler made some good points for the colo-nists, along with George Washington.”

The next topic the class will debate on will most likely be slav-ery.

History students step into colonial leader shoes

2011-2012 FEA OFFICERS

From left to right: Dylan Porter, president; Shane Van Hoy, vice president; Camille Reid, secretary;Taylor Campbell, treasurer; Shone DiPaula, reporter; Mikey Rynders, historian; Alexis Cosner, parliamentarian

BY SARAH SHEARERStaff Writer

Bloomsburg book drive

In order to give back to the community, Key Club held a book drive that was open to every-one, in order to help the flood victims in Blooms-burg, PA this October.

“My daughter was volunteering in the el-ementary school library and overheard a boy speaking about how he lost all of his childhood books in the flood,” sponser Margaret Bridg-es said. “Because of this, my daughter decided to have a book drive for all

the affected children. She contacted me, as well as a couple professors at VCU, about participating in a book drive.”

Bloomsburg was re-cently flooded due to tropical storm Lee, which hit the town in early Sep-tember, and the residents lost most of their posses-sions.

Supervisor Margaret Bridges’ daughter, Jenni-fer, lives in Bloomsburg. She noticed the local el-ementary students were distraught over the disas-ter, and her own seventh grade daughter, Rose, de-cided to do a book drive to replace the books that were lost.

Along with Bridges’ granddaughter, many other middle school chil-dren would check out books and clean them up if it was necessary.

“My daughter posted on Facebook after the drive was finished saying how excited she was that so many people were in-volved,” Bridges said.

Over two-thirds of the books came from Stafford students and staff. This was the first and only time Key Club will do the book drive, although it did turn out to be a great success after more than 1,000 books were collected.

BY LELAND BROOKS AND MEGAN HUMPHREY

Editor and Staff Writer

Bloomsburg Book Galore:Sponser Mar-garet Bridges’ granddaughter, Rose, poses with just some of the 1,000+ books that were collected from students and staff. The drive was held for two weeks earlier this school year, giving students an opportunity to donate. Photo submitted by Mar-garet Bridges.

From left to right: Nicholas Starosta, Vice Pres. (Drafting); Christian Wiskur, Treasurer (Draft-ing); Dana Henderson, President (Drafitng); Walter Pfau, Secretary (Masonry) and John Brascher, Reporter (Drafitng).

2011-2012 SKILLS USA OFFICERS

2011-2012 FBLA OFFICERS

Back row: Shannon Cooke, historian; Julie Allard, treasurer; Kathryn Lenox, secretary Front row: Toni Sorrentino, vice president; Emily Griffin, president

Hammen sings at Kennedy Center

thesmokesignal smokesignalSta� ord High School 33 Sta� ord Indian Lane, Fredericksburg, VA 22405 www.sta� ordsmokesignal.com

the12 13

Stafford CelebratesHomecoming

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genda dolut omnimo magni dolumque pelit rem fuga. Cae vent excestis auditibus quibus, culloremped magni rempore es poriat lation net pra

dolupturio quibeatqui comnimet ut explias ni doluptatis volent pratusam hiliqui alibusdae num iumquis aperepedis elenimporrum re, sam

Morgan Iannazzo, escorted

by Ryan Leake. Photo by Em-

ily Pearce

Georgia Felopulos, escorted by Michael Rynders. Photo by Emily Pearce

Jazmyn Dove, escorted by

Daniel Jobrack. Photo by

Emily Pearce

Brooke Scruggs, escorted by John Reed. Photo by Emily Pearce

Sophomore Safari: � e sophomore’s � oat was piled high with decorations, catching the audience’s attention. Photo by Emily Pearce

Junior class oat: � e juniors make their way down the track

at hal� ime with their class � oat. � e jungle theme made for a

colorful array of � oats. Photo by Emily Pearce

� e King and Queen: Seniors Morgan Iannazzo and Michael Rynders are announced as the 2012 Homecoming King and Queen. Photo by Emily Pearce

Seniors rule the track: � e senior class shows their school spirit with their

impressive � oat. Photo by Emily Pearce

Crowning the Queen: Michael Rynders helps Maya Wick, daughter of

Sta� ord techer, Valarie Wick, place the crown on Iannazzo’s head. Photo

by Emily Pearce

50 years of Sta� ord: � e Class of 1961 walked across the track at the start of

hal� ime. Photo by Emily Pearce

Hyping up the crowd: � e cheerleaders keep the audience on

their feet, despite the rain and cold weather. Photo by Emily Pearce

Issue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

smokesignaltheSta� ord High School www.sta� ordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

14 student life

Senior Kyle Clyde and Sophomore Kenna Dick-ard are turning their ex-periences with bullying into something positive to help others.

“I � nd bullying to be absolutely heart break-ing,” Clyde said.   “I used to be bullied a lot in middle school by my own ‘friends’. I just don’t want any other kid to have to go through being bullied and harassed.”

Over the summer, the two decided to stand up to bullying by com-ing up with Project ACB (Anti Cyber Bullying) and creating their own website, invisibleimpact.com, which displays well-researched truths about bullying.

“I want to reverse the mindset of bully-ing,” Dickard said. “Some people think it’s funny and joke about bullying without realizing or car-ing that they are hurting people.   It’s important to get information out and to connect to people.”

Dickard was invited to attend � e National Con-ference for Safe and Drug Free Schools and the Na-tional Bullying Summit where she was able to gain more knowledge.

“It was a great oppor-tunity to meet people who cared about the cause,” Dickard said.  “I was able

to meet actors and ac-tresses from Switched at Birth was able to learn things that can help the website.”

To start up Project ACB, Dickard and Clyde received help from their community. Riverside Counseling Center do-nated $100 to produce

business cards, sample t-shirts, and to maintain of the website.

� ey also received help from Rachel Sherman, Learn and Serve teacher.

“I was really impressed by the enthusiasm Kyle and Kenna had for the ideas as well as the prepa-ration they had already

put into the project,” Sher-man said. “� ey came to me with knowledge of bullying and its impact, ideas for how they could help students with stop-ping bullying, and even a t-shirt and business card.  I feel honored to be able to help Project ACB be successful.”

It wasn’t long before

Project ACB formed into something bigger than a website. Project ACB is also being turned into a club for students to share their support and stories.

“We think no kid should ever have to go through this,” Clyde said. “So, we came up with this club to get the word out and talk to preteens, kids, and teens about how ter-rible bullying and cyber bullying really is.”

Support for Anti-Bullying projects spread from the student body to teachers. Dickard and Clyde gave a presentation to principal Joe Lewis that they also want to present to younger kids.

“I think any e� ort to stop and prevent bul-lying from taking place has to come from stu-dents, much more so than adults,” said Lewis.  “I ap-plaud their initiative and I will support them in whatever way I can.”

Clyde and Dickard are using their resources and website and are aiming for positive results.

“It’s more than a club,” Dickard said. “We’re changing lives.”

Students use past expieriences with bullying to help others

Invisible Impact: Clyde and Dickard created Project ACB after their own expieriences with bullying. Their goal is to help pre-vent and deal with bullying. Their website o� ers tips and facts to handle bullying. Photo by Sue Gill

By Dani Raymond Page Editor

Rise Against, a punk rock band formed in 1999, is aiding in the � ght to prevent bullying. Tim Mcllrath, lead vocalist, and activist visited his old high school to shoot the video “Make it Stop (Sep-tembers Children).”

� e music video shows three outcast teen-agers pushed towards sui-cide. “It Gets Better,” is a program made for young people who are feeling tormented, or bullied. � e video was made for this program.

Mcllrath himself was bullied due to a health condition called Hetero-chromia Iridium, causing his eyes to be two di� er-ent colors. � e bullying became so extreme that Mcllrath considered the option of suicide.

Along with other stars, and hundreds of everyday people around the world, Mcllarth submitted vid-eos about how things can and will get better.

tle against bullying, Rise Against hopes to make a di� erence by helping teenagers realizing that suicide is not the answer.

BY NICK HUDSONSta� Writer

Rise Against songs have been known for touching on various top-ics. Songs such as “Make it Stop” and “Hero of War” spread the message

of world peace and stop-ping the war. � e song “Help is on the Way” was released a� er Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

By joining in the bat-

GROUP SUPPORTS ANTI-BULLYING Did you know?(Taken from invisibleimpact.com)

• Other recent bullying statistics reveal that 54 percent of students reported that witnessing physical abuse at home can lead to violence in school.

• Among students of all ages, homicide per-petrators were found to be twice as likely as homicide victims to have been bullied previ-ously by their peers.

• � ere are about 282,000 students that are re-portedly attacked in high schools throughout the nation each month.

• One out of every 10 students drops out or changes schools because of repeated bully-ing.

• One out of every 20 students has seen a stu-dent with a gun at school.

• Some of the top years for bullying include 4th through 8th graders in which 90 percent were reported as victims of some kind of bul-lying.

• � ere are about 160,000 children that miss school every day out of fear of being bullied.

• Teen suicide has raised 50% in the last 30 years

• 1/2 teen and child suicides are result of bully related depression, that’s 2,200 bully related deaths every year.

Elizabeth M Attreed, DDS, PC2832 Je� erson Davis Highway

Sta� ord, VA 22554(540)-659-5161

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 12, March 23, 2011

15 spotlightA FableThe Stafford Players

Present:

Joining together at center stage: The cast unites in the middle of the stage during the one act play to perform a song together. The costumes worn were designed to resemble the Old English period. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

Belt it out: Senior Ragon Dickard takes the stage. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

All against one: During the play, the cast was twisting and contorting their bodies to be dynamic props, and to add to the dramatic and theatrical play. The set and costumes for the one act play, A Fable, added to the authenticity and drama of the performance. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

Sing it loud: Senior Chrissy Johnson performs. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

Staying in character: The actors im-pressed and entertained the audience. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

Caught up in the act: The cast surrounded the characters covered in netting. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

A brighter outlook: The cast sings along in the back-ground to support the leads. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

A large cast: The actors took advantage of their numbers by sometimes acting like props. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

Help to fade the pain: The characters solemnly sit at center stage, consoling eachother. Photo courtesy of Laura Swites

THE MYSTERY OF EDWIN DROODThe Solve-It-Yourself Musical Murder Mystery Thursday, Friday & Saturday, December 8, 9 & 10 at 7pm $7 Students $10 Adults

COMING SOON

smokesignaltheStafford High School www.staffordsmokesignal.comIssue 4, Nov. 2, 2011

16 spotlight

Haunted HikeBY ASHLEIGH POWELL

Business Manager

Link Crew held their first annual Fall Festival last Saturday, Oct. 22. With the help from other clubs, they were able to incorporate a variety of booths and activities as well as a haunted trail.

Mr. Middleton, one of the Link Crew advisors, sent out e-mails to other clubs asking them to par-take in their fall event.

“Mrs. Martin and I were bouncers,” said GAP Coordinator, Virtu-al VA Mentor Helga Pur-nel. “We were to make sure no one entered without a stamp. Every generation I asked, from toddler to adults, said they enjoyed it.”

Link Crew, Inter-act Club, Learn and Serve, Journalism, Key Club, Japa-nese Club, Art

Club, NHS members, and JROTC all helped bring the festival togeth-er. Each was responsible for their own booth or activity.

The event was held

from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.,

costing $7 for adults, $5 for students, and $3 for kids.

“The booths and ac-tivities were set up out-

side the cafeteria,” said Link Crew commission-er, senior Morgan Ian-nazzo. “We had karaoke, face painting, cupcake decorating, chalk art for little kids, and conces-sions.”

The clubs also helped put together a haunted trail. The trail started with the trunk-or-treat-ing, provided by Journal-ism students. Five stu-dents from Journalism decorated the trunks of their cars with miscella-neous items such as spi-der webs and lights.

The students also dressed up to accompany their trunks in differ-ent Halloween costumes like zombies, prisoners,

and witches. The par-ticipants walked from

car to car to receive candy, toys, and other treats.

The trail start-ed at the baseball

field, went through the cross country track, and ended at the football practice field. Members from different clubs dressed up in costumes and wore makeup resem-bling masks. They hid throughout the trail and jumped out and scared people walking by.

“I was there for NHS as a part of the scaring team,” senior Paige Bugg said. “I would pick out groups of girls and try to scare them. It was pretty fun.”

The event was similar to the popular Hallow-een Haunt held yearly at King’s Dominion. How-ever, the Haunted Hike is an inexpensive and convenient alternative. It also supported a great cause.

The festival gave money to the Susan G. Komen foundation for breast cancer. This foun-

dation is dedicated to education and research about causes, treatments and the search for a cure. It is the most widely known, largest and best-funded breast cancer or-ganization in the U.S.

“I really like that it gave money to an impor-tant organization,” Pur-nel said. “It was a great community outreach and I am glad that I was a part of it.”

The Fall Festival united some of Stafford’s biggest clubs and raised money for a great cause. All clubs that partici-pated saw the event as a success and hope to par-ticipate in a similar event next year. This Link Crew event has the potential to become a yearly Stafford tradition.

Also contributing to this story are Russ Kaus, Karri Chestnut, and Shannon Cooke

The Day of the Dead: Rather than jumping out and scaring the peope who walked by, many students “played dead.” Photo by Eric Stapleton

Creepy crawler: The Aimee Trail was decorated with spiders and other Halloween decorations for the event. Photo by Eric Stapleton

Pumpkin face: Participants were free to be creative and wild with their costumes and masks. Photo by Eric Stapleton

Lurking from the woods: Many scarers were covered in face blood and elaborate makeup. Photo by Eric Stapleton

The walking dead: Volunteering for NHS, junior Cori Hailey wore scary makeup and dress, frightening all who passed by her. Photo by Eric Stapleton

Light up the night: Senior Dylan Morton illuminated the night sky with a red lightsabre. Morton was dressed as a character from the movie “Star Wars.” Photo by Eric Stapleton

Indians take over the forest: Dressed in Indian dresses, Juniors Caitlyn Larrabee and Mia Romero run throughout the trail. Many different costumes were worn in the event. Photo by Eric Stapleton

Playing Dead: While the participants walk the Aimee Trail, senior Danny Strock silently waits to jump out and scare all who pass him. Students from different school organizations helped with the Haunted Hike, making it a great success. Photo by Eric Stapleton