The Knight Life

Anthony Tran Awarded

Teacher of the Year

pg. 6

Meet theEmeraldsOfficers

pg. 11

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1FALL 2015 EDITION

You Know About It Because We Write About It

BY KAY BENZEvery high school, and even most middle

schools, have honor societies. A lot of schools have very few of them to choose from, but Clear Falls High School, has so many more than just the well known National Honor Society.

With everything ranging from American Sign Language Honor Society, to English Honor So-ciety and even Math or Science Honor Societies, Clear Falls has a huge variety of different ways students can succeed. These societies are meant for students that have a huge amount of love towards a certain subject or want to be strongly involved within their communities. While every society has the same basic underlying goal, to teach job-like skills and provide students with opportunities to help their community, each one is slightly different.

American Sign Language Honor Society (ASLHS), is meant to help American Sign Language (ASL) students become more involved within the Deaf community. It is meant to help the students gain more experience with commu-nicating in sign language and to expose students to the Deaf world and the community more. Other honor societies that Clear Falls offers are Mu Alpha Theta, run by Kristin Rieves, Spanish NHS run by Cornelio Medellin, English NHS run by Shona Neigut, and Science NHS, run by Andrea Escobedo.

The Honor Societies of Clear Falls

BY VIVIAN QUINTEROClear Falls Student Council went

to this year’s first district meeting at Hightower High School on Tuesday Sep. 29. They represented the Clear Falls Knights in front of almost 500 other Texas student council groups. They danced, cheered, and most importantly shared their ideas on ways of creating a better and more comfortable school atmosphere.

They also discussed about what they are doing at Clear Falls in order to develop a better school for

the students. Groups like the Spirit Committee and Teacher-Appre-ciation decorate our school halls, classrooms, and teacher’s doors in order for there to be more school spirit and appreciate the teacher’s hard work in this school.

Other groups like DASH and Environmental Awareness help spread awareness about the con-sequences of drugs and aware the student body about it, while Envi-ronmental Help attributes to make a better environment in and outside

of school.Alysson Duvio, a senior at Clear

Falls went on the trip and stated “I had a lot of fun! It was great to see other schools and listen to their ideas as well. It’s a great opportunity for people in student council and hope to go again.”

It is indeed a great opportunity for those who want to help the stu-dent body to learn and share their ideas that could potentially help and benefit those around them.

Clear Falls Student Council Goes to District Meeting

ASL Honor Society at Homecoming Parade 2015. Photo by Kay Benz

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Oct. 1, 2015 was open-ing night for “Our Town”

by Thorton Wilder. The Clear Falls theatre department has been working on “Our Town” for months, actor and technician alike. “Our Town” is not a set-driven show, but rather a sound and light driven show. Dianna Moore, head of theatre, and Kurt Oian, head of technical theatre, were proud to present “Our Town”. Moore wanted something much more challenging for the technicians and the actors. There were no props and very mini-mal set, so the actors had to mime out what they were doing, The Webb and Gibbs mothers had to sit on a bench and string beans, something that had

to look realistic. The set was made up of tfew platforms, benches, staircases and two trellises on either side of the show representing the doors to both houses.

The actors did an amazing job at miming and really getting into character. Miming three nights in a row after months of rehearsal can get tiring and boring, but it didn’t show in these actors. There were three characters in the audience that once audience members came in they had to stay in character. I had the pleasure of talking to Guinevere Turner played by Karli Hubbert, junior, before the show started. She did a wonderful job of staying in character and it was honestly very impressive.

Foley was the biggest part of the show. Foley is a series of sound effects made on queue. As someone sets a glass down, the technicians must set a glass down closer to a microphone so the audience can hear it. It makes the show come alive. Rachel Neff, sophomore, Coby Robinson, junior, and much more technicians did such a great job hitting the queues and the sounds perfectly. I was in class with them when they were rehearsing and it really was amazing what they could do with some scraps of wood, rain boots, glasses and sunflower seeds.

Congratulations Clear Falls theatre department, actors, technicians, Oian and Moore, you all blew away every-one again with your amazing talents.

BY BECCA CRUM

Mr. Webb, played by Dalton Anderson, tries to help Emily and George, played by Ellie Bacon and David Young, whose pre-wed-ding jitters have them both very nervous. Photo by Becca Crum

Top: Our singing graveyard ends the show with a final bow. The dead in black from left to right Jon Chenvert, Matthew Kulas, Reed Adams, Julia Ford, David Wheelis, Karli Hubbert and Tristan Bresnahan. Choir in color from left to right Sophia Web-ster, Zolia Pineda, Byron Smith, Faith Ceteno, Emily Sampson, Kendra Fort and Cassidy Bailey.Bottom: Mourning his late wife Emily Gibbs, played by Ellie Bacon, George Gibbs, played by David Young, remembers his beautiful wife whom he has been in love with since their high school years. Photos by Becca Crum

Welcome to “Our Town”

3

The Clear Falls Orchestra program is in full swing with the Region competition and the fall concert

titled, “A Little Knight Music” under their belt. This 2015-2016 school year, the program received something new - Lisa Batson, who comes from Space Center Inter-mediate, stepped into the role as director of the orchestra and is excited to be a part of the Clear Falls family. President of the orchestra, senior Kimberly Salazar had this to say about Batson. “I think that she’s awesome and she brings in new techniques and ideas. She is wonderfully energetic and eager to be a part of the Clear Falls family.” As a recent addition to Clear Falls, Batson was welcomed with open arms and was impressed with the friendly and committed nature the Clear Falls community displayed. “There is not a doubt in my mind that I made the

ORCHESTRAright decision to come

here,” Batson said. Batson adopted the position

fully aware of how new Clear Falls is, but she was pleasantly surprised to find the

amount of talent that already filled the orchestra room.

“I have not been disappointed in the level of ex-citement for the program that these students have.” She said With Batson leading the way, there are already big plans for the orchestra in the works, from assigning juniors and seniors to sophomores and freshmen as buddies, to a Houston Symphony night and All State auditions. Their calendar is full of new and exciting activities never before held by the orchestra, a refreshing change that Salazar believed will make the year more memorable. “I want to start traditions that will last as long as the school, like welcoming incoming freshmen. I re-ally want to establish camaraderie and create long lasting memories.” Salazar said. Most importantly, Batson stressed her plans on gaining her student’s trust and ultimately enhancing the foundations that the musicians already have established. Although the orchestra program is young, the numbers from UIL Concerts and competitions students are producing have already surpassed more established schools. Under new direction the Clear Falls Orchestra will receive a satisfying reinvigoration of new and fresh ideas; however the music still remains the priority. “As all of our orchestra students know, every day is a special day in our class because we do what we love,” Batson said.

BY SAMANTHA SALAZAR

Photos by Samantha Salazar

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ORCHESTRA BY HOLLI WEST

The Clear Falls Knights band is under the

direction of Russell Zavalla. Band starts practicing in early August and continues until the marching season is over, in-cluding competitions. This year the band is performing a show called “Ascend” about butter-flies. Color Guard is also per-forming with swing flags which are two flags you hold in each of your hands. They also have wings they use to run around the field to add more effects. Marching band as a whole is a family, from the bass sea-son to the drum line, and the drum majors to the directors. Band doesn’t just go to games and competitions, but they help out the theatre department as well by having some of their musicians play in shows such as Cinderella, Once Upon a Mattress, Footloose and other

musical productions. The band has been improv-

ing the past few years with mu-sic and percussion. The Color guard has been improving as well with new tosses and tricks to do with the flags and rifles. Christian Morehouse, a senior last year, is the other color guard coach helping Sarah Cole, the head instructor.

Zavalla has also added ef-fects to the show this year, the show is 5 movements. The band has the whole show memorized and know their set, which is where they march. March-ing band is a very complex community. We can see the Knights band is going to go very far with the show this year. Band also has a new percus-sion instructor this year named Aundray Edwards, who is look-ing forward to helping Zavalla make the Knights band stron-ger and better.

Band’s New Director

5Photos by the Clear Falls Post staff.

BY SAMANTHA SALZAR

Clear Falls Calculus and College Prep teacher, Anthony Tran, was

recently awarded Teacher of the Year for Region 4. The award comes with great honor, and in Tran’s eyes it’s the highest privilege a teacher can ask for. He also explained that the award wasn’t achieved alone. “Although it was given to me, I strongly believed that it took the whole Clear Falls team to make that happen.” After deciding to teach about faith to adults and children in 2002 at The Vietnamese Martyr Catholic Church in Austin, Texas, Tran fell in love with teaching and he considers it to be what he was meant to do.“I think teaching is my true calling, and I’m passionate about it more and more each day.” Tran understands there are several different ways to engage students, and that every teacher has their own techniques. However, in any approach Tran puts the student at the center and holds them to be the most im-portant factor for learning and teach-ing effectively.“My students always lead the discus-sions; they are required to prepare the lessons to teach their peers,” He explained how his teaching method

differs from others. As opposed to the norm, Tran be-lieves the greatest accomplishment a student can achieve is the ability to believe in themselves and have con-fidence. He also emphasizes the fact that as long as a student tries their best, there is no goal that is unachiev-able.“Indeed, SUCCESS comes before WORK only in the dictionary,” He explained.

Students are dynamic, and a large part of what makes Tran an excep-tional teacher is his belief that it is the responsibility of the teacher to deter-mine the best way to learn for each individual student. In his eyes, each

student is gifted and each is deserving of a quality and equal education. Many students and staff mem-bers are proud of such a tremendous achievement made by one of Clear Falls own. Principal, Paul House, had

this to say.“Mr. Tran is an outstanding educa-tor. He values the student first over all else and works hard to establish trust with his students. He allows his students to own their learning. I can-not imagine a more deserving teacher than Mr. Tran.”There are many reasons why Tran was awarded such a prestigious award, including why he gets up everyday to come to school and teach his students. “My motivation for teaching is when I witness my students are success-ful. There is no award big enough to compare such a feeling. Someone said, ‘Teachers live forever in the hearts they touch.’ However, I believe that students are the ones that live forever in their teacher’s heart when they try their very best to succeed.”

“Success comes before work only in the dictionary...”

Teacher’s Huge Accomplishment

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Tran believes in techniques that center around the student. Photo by Samantha Salazar

Photo by Samantha Salazar

So far, they have played Atas-cocita, Kempner, Katy Seven

Lakes and Friendswood, Fall’s homecoming game. The Varsity football team’s scores from least recent to most recent are Atascocita 79-0, Kempner 34-31, Seven Lakes 41-14 and Friend-swood, 39-7. The boys are working hard each and everyday at prac-tice and are being pushed by coaches and other team-mates.

Not only did the some of the student body state their opinions on the Varsity Football Team, Varsity foot-ball player Cody Hochstetler, a se-nior, has said some things from his perspective. A lot of people have said that our program isn’t one of the top football teams, and agrees. “The foot-ball program isn’t as good as it could be, but it’s enough for the players to understand the importance of the game.”

Hochstetler plays a safety and outside linebacker. Practices seem fast and intense, and Hochstetler agrees.

“Being on Varsity in any sport can cause anxiety at some point.” “Practices are fast with hard hitting. There’s never a slow moment on the field. I’m always nervous before a big Friday night game. It’s an amaz-

ing experience though,”Hochstetler has lots of favorites,

but his most favorite thing about football is tackling people because it helps to get rid of anger and stress with anything, including homework. Hochstetler’s least favorite thing about football is being sat down on

the bench. He is enjoy-ing his first year being on Varsity. He loves football as it is, and loves being the leader and setting an example for Var-sity football players in the future. “Being on Varsity is nice. Every-one looks up to you and you’re basically a role model.”

Every team has something they can improve on. Hochstetler believes that his team can do better play call-

ing and that he can improve by practicing hard, not taking anything for granted and

BY OLIVIA RICHARD

Here we have the Clear Falls 2015 football team on Sept. 26 2015 against the Friendswood Mutangs. This was the Knights sixth game into the season. Photo by Samantha Salazar

Knights Football 2015

8

being the best he can possibly be. Hochstetler’s teammate, Sam Draper has the same idea on improving. “Our football program has room to improve.” Draper also says that they could work better as a team by playing for each other and the team should practice more on executing plays. “One of the toughest things about playing football is look-ing at the crowd when we lose a game.”

Sam Draper, outside line-backer, says that practices back then weren’t as laidback as they are now and that there is some good competition. “Practices used to be a drag but now everybody is having fun and competition is great.” Draper feels that the coaches think that the team could be a lot better than what they are and that they have the potential. “I feel like the coaches think we could do better on the field and in practices.” Like Hochstetler said, Draper agrees that one of the hardest things about football is los-ing. One major thing that doesn’t benefit the team is all of the inju-

ries. “Someone hurt their shoul-der, someone hurt their hand, and another person got stitches on their cheek and eyebrow.

Just about every athlete has one

important role model that helps motivate them to do their sport. “ My biggest role model is Earl Thomas The Third because my uncle coached him when he played high

school football, and he helps out with kids in need of school sup-plies,” Varsity player Hochstetler states. Hochstetler and his team are pretty close, “ I’m close to a lot of

football players and it’s nice to play as one big family.” Draper adds on to that by saying “The best part about football is being apart of one big family.”

Hochstetler has played other sports in the past, “I ran track but after Coach Steve Evans passed away, I was really upset and I couldn’t run anymore because it just wasn’t the same without him.” Track has also helped him get better for foot-ball purposes.

Lastly, Hoch-stetler wants to go to any college willing to accept him for his athletic performance, “I plan to or get a scholarship to the colleges that are looking at me right now.”Win or lose, the

student body and faculty still support and love our Knights. The team hopes to get bet-ter and stronger and to improve for next year’s season.

In both photos in the middle, we have play number 1 throwing the ball to one of the other teammates while in the other photo we have the Friendswood Mustangs starting with the ball. Photos by Samantha Salazar

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BY KELSEY SARABOK

Some say cheerleading isn’t a sport, but a cheerleader here

at Clear Falls High School has something else to say about it. Jes-sica Avery, a Junior at Clear Falls, says, “From the outside, it may not seem a sport, but you have to com-pete in it to realize how challenging it can be.” Cheerleading has been around a long time; Cheerleaders here carry on the legacy of cheer-leaders spreading school pride. They bring their A-game to the fields and the courts. When it comes to putting some pep in the step of the fans, in the stands and they know what to do.

Being a cheerleader is not all fun and games though as Brinkley Welty, another a junior here at Clear Falls, said, “I have torn all ligaments from tumbling, and I have also had two concussions from getting landed on and kicked in the head,” when being asked about ever being injured on the team. Considering the amount of injuries cheerlead-ers receive while doing what they do best, it’s also safe to assume that

it’s a physically active and a high stamina sport. When it comes to late night practices, the traveling for away games that you only get home from around midnight and the homework that piles up at the end of the day, you can only imagine what the cheerleader’s schedules look like, Welty also said “Cheer is very time consuming, especially when you do outside cheer. It is dif-ficult to manage everything.”

Despite the struggles and work it takes to make the team the best

it can be, the cheerleaders love what they do. They really show it,

especially at pep rallies with their amazing routines. Although the cheerleaders are the representatives of the team, students can’t forget to give a little credit to the coach, Jenna Crosson, who makes the dream work, while they push the cheerleaders to be the best that they can be, mentioned by Avery when she says, “I love our coaches, we have a lot of fun but when its time to be serious, they are strict which helps us become better after each practice.”

Not only do the cheerleaders represent Clear Falls High School on the field and courts, but they also represent the school at competi-tions. They bring home the trophies with awards such as first place for champion chant.

Overall, you can say the cheer-leaders are quite the hardworking group among the students here at Clear Falls. Last but not least when Avery was asked what her favor-ite thing about being on the cheer team was, she responded with, “My favorite thing about our cheer team is how we are all really close and like a family.”

Cheerleading

Brinkley Welty, cheerleader, performs at Pep Rally on Sept. 22. Photo by Kay Benz

On pictures left and top right, cheerlead-ers use teamwork in order to perform for the Homecoming Pep Rally on Sept. 22. On bottom right, cheerleaders excite the crowd to beat Clear Creek’s football game.

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BY AMBER FELICIANO

The Emeralds, established in April 2010, is the Clear Falls

High School’s very own dance team. They’re dedicated to improving technique, excelling academically, performing amazing dances and be-ing positive role models to the stu-dent body. The directors are Chelsea Dowden and Emma Schaaf.

They participate in school activi-ties, community service projects, the football banquet, holiday parties and the end of the year banquet. The drill team also performs at football games, basketball games, pep ral-lies, competitions, trips and the annual Emerald Spring Show. As well as participation in school and community events, they collaborate with other schools dance teams in performances and also get to know members from other drill teams.

As the Emeralds have encoun-tered their sixth year, they’ve also gained a large variety of members as well as officers.

This year, the Emeralds have four senior officers: Jesse Hoff, Erica Huebner, Janie Stewart and Kyra Timmons Timmons and Hoff have been officers for two years while the

rest have their first experience this year. All of them have been dancing for a large portion of their lives.

As officers, they’re responsible for the whole team, setting examples and help guide the team in the right direction. They execute director’s orders, clean up choreography, teach dances and choreograph their own dances. It definitely requires a group effort and collaboration for the whole team.

“The main benefit of being an officer is the experience because it teaches you a lot,” Timmons explains. Timmons explains the complexity of reliance, “While it feels good to be relied on, it can sometimes be a good or bad thing. It depends on the situation.” Along with learning responsibility, leader-ship and gaining a new experience, being an Emeralds officer has many other perks.

“It’s definitely a confident boost because you have to get out of your comfort zone.” Huebner states. As a

consequence of gaining personal re-lationships with team members, the officers feel like they’re more intact and aware of other activities, groups and classrooms.

While being leaders for the team, there are downsides, as with any position. Dealing with drama itself is complicated, but the officers must also resolve it.

“It’s really hard to say no to your peers,” Huebner sadly explains, “Having to personally confront people and resolve the problem properly is hard.”

Officers are the highest position a dance member may be, however the directors always have the final say.

“If the team doesn’t agree with the decision, it isn’t our fault,” Stew-art defends, “We don’t make these decisions, we just have to enforce them.”

“I feel like this will be our stron-gest year,” Hoff exclaims. “We have a lot of good individual dancers that dance well together,” Stewart compliments the team, “We’re a lot closer this year, and we’re like a huge happy family!”

“The main benefit of being an officer is the experience.” - Kyra Timmons, Officer

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MEET THE EMERALDS OFFICERSFrom left, Erica Huebner, Janie Stewart, Jesse Hoff and Kyra Timmons perform a calypso at the Clear Falls pep rally for the home-coming game against Clear Creek. Photo by Amber Feliciano

On Thursday, Oct. 14, the Clear Falls Varsity Swim and Dive team traveled to compete at a tri-swim meet. The Memorial tri-meet was well worth the long drive out there, and Clear Falls Swim Team won the meet by a landslide. Many swimmers swam best times. Like Jessica Hembree, a senior, swam a 24 second 50 freestyle.

Lucas Schultz, a junior, represented Clear Falls at the Memorial tri-meet diving. Shultzs did some amazing dives and ended up plac-ing fourth overall at the competition. Catherine Washler, a freshman, swam a best time in her 100 yard breaststroke at the swim meet. Heather Graham, a sophomore, gave us her thoughts on the meet.

Swim meets are always very fun. “I love being around my friends, and it’s a great positive environment to be in. That just fuels you to race even harder once you hit the water,”

Heather Rhodes, a sophomore, described swimming relays as, “A good way to show your team spirit, and show unity as a team vs swimming an individual race.”

Clear Falls Swims And Wins

Above: Sophomore Lauren Jerinagan takes a breather during her practice. Photo by Tara Avery-Baker

Impressing his coach, Kenneth Clingon, Garret Few dives in with each time, improving. Photo by Tara Avery-Baker

Riley Smalligan races his team mate, Christian Ar-thur beating him just by a few meters. Photo by Tara Avery-Baker

Christian Arthur ignores his fellow teammate next time as he focuses on getting his best time while swimming back to the wall. Photo by Tara Avery-Baker

BY ELLA PARR

12

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BY IRELAND COCHRAN

Here at Clear Falls, students are given the opportunity to start their own clubs, an

experience students should gladly take advantage of. Especially if parents want students to participate in extra-curricular activities. For some students the issue isn’t getting involved, it’s finding the right club for stu-dents. Starting a club not only gets students involved, but it also provides a club worth getting involved in.

The process of starting a club is simple. The stu-dent gets a packet from online, fill it out and turn it in to Mrs. Blacksmith by the date given. However, that is only the first step. Resident student Kaitlyn Moe, sophomore and founder of Foodie Club, explains ex-actly what it takes to start a club, “Putting a club to-gether at first seems like a daunting task. However, once students get their friends interested in it, they talk to their friends about it. Then students have a great group of people that are interested and want the club to suc-ceed.” Although it may involve rolling up their sleeves and putting in some work, Moe believes it is definitely worth it in the long run, and it is definitely an experi-ence she would recommend to other students.

To start a club, students must first have something that they are really passionate about and are willing to share with other people. For example, Foodie Club.

When asked, Moe where she got the idea for Foodie Club and she said, “I went to Greece and Italy with Todd Parsons last year and one night he asked Alicia, Taylor and I what students thought of the trip so far and I responded ‘I’m having the best time of my life, but I wish for more authentic Greek food’ Alicia and Taylor agreed and from then on students referred to themselves as ‘foodies.’ ”

You may be asking, “What are the benefits?” When it comes time for college applications, students are go-ing to need something under their belt that differenti-ates them from others. Somethingthat will appeal to college admissions offices. Starting a club shows col-leges that you take an interest in the community around you, and that you truly care about school. Not only that, but you also have the opportunity to meet new people that share your passion for something.

Starting a club is a task that requires an exces-sive amount of dedication and determination, but it is something that is highly enctheiraged and will most definitely pay off in the end. If someone has a great idea for a club, don’t let it fade away, instead make some-thing out of it. The student body is extremely diverse, and there are bound to be students who will share similar interests.

How-To Guide: Starting a Club

Above, Samantha Salazar and Amber Feliciano holding up the Newspa-per Club banner for float. Photo by Kay Benz

On right, member of the girls soccer team holding a sign at the home-coming parade. Photo by Kay Benz

14

At a certain age, high school students begin think-ing about working. Getting and keeping a job

in high school is hard for the fact, they’re still in high school. These students have to balance schoolwork and work still while getting enough sleep, because without sleep they won’t have time for either of those things.

Living in a growing city means many jobs are available. Around Clear Falls, the League City area and Seabrook, there are plenty of restaurants and stores to apply to: Chick-Fil-La, Tookies, Whataburger, Wendy’s, McDondalds, Sonic, Kemah, Target, Kroger, HEB, Walgreens, Iguanas Ranas, Taco Bell, KFC and many more.

The problem is, a lot of places of employment won’t hire students because they know many students can’t handle a job and school. Some places of employment do believe students can handle it. I was lucky enough to get hired at my job, at Iguanas Ranas, a Mexican restaurant, during the end of my sophomore year. Since they hired me during the end of the school year, they have seen how I’ve progressed

as a worker and how well I can handle work and school since I’ve been working there for the past four months.

The Kemah Boardwalk will gladly hire nearly any-one to work at their wonderful amusement park we all know and love. There is no alcohol, except in some of the

restaurants, so employers do not have to worry about age, although they do expect the minimum age is 15.

Whataburger is another popular place to get hired at as well. Whether it’s the one in Seabrook or in League City, they are both always hiring. I know lots of students that currently work or have worked at either Whataburger, and they all said they love it and that it’s a really wonderful place to work. Whataburger knows students have lives outside of

work, and they’re really understanding of homework and studying. A lot of their staff is students.

It’s not impossible to find a job during students high school years, they just really have to look. Soon they’ll be working and bringing home their paychecks, and be pretty happy they looked hard enough for a job.

High School Students For HireBY BECCA CRUM

Senior, Alyssa Reyes, employee at the combonation KFC/Taco Bell is always smiling when taking the orders of customers. Photo by Becca Crum

Junior Morgan Hotz, hostess at Iguanas Ranas, checks the dry erase board making sure all servers have an even amount of tables. Photo by Becca Crum 15

BY AMBER FELICIANO

After years of advocacy and fighting for same-sex mar-

riage, on June 26, 2015, the Su-preme Court guaranteed the right for same-sex marriages to be valid in the eyes of the law. This law being passed is a large milestone in the eyes of the (Lesbian, bisexual, gay, transgender, queer, intersex, asexual, etc.) LGBTQIA+ community.

The root of the spike for the advocacy of gay marriage is not only for love and equality, but also for emergency situations. In cases where someone is in a situation where their significant other is in the hospital emergency room or a

funeral home, they may not be al-lowed to see them without a valid marriage license.

Although many people in the LGBTQIA+ community celebrated this moment, many realized that there was still more work to be done.

Cornelio Medellín, a well-known teacher at Clear Falls who is of the LGBTQIA+ community, under-stands that there will always be dis-crimination against any community, but believes the nation is moving in the right direction with respect to the LGBTQIA+ community. “If everyone comes together, we can become empowered to move for-ward,” Medellín expressed hopefully,

“Same-sex relationships as a topic is highly involved with the media and more people are starting to take notice.

“It’s a great stride in the right direction, although we have much more that needs to be done. The fact that there are so many allies who accept and recognize same-sex marriage shows that love will always conquer hate.”

Despite the fact that people will always disagree with anything no matter what, the future looks bright and promising for the LGBTQIA+ community. They will continue business as usual and advocate for the equal rights for people in the community.

Same-Sex Marriage

16

BY SAMANTHA SALAZAR

The halls of Clear Falls are littered with different and unique individuals, including ones that always seem

to fascinate the masses, twins. From identical to fraternal, twins’ definitely have a different experience in high school and as a fraternal twin, I can confirm that. There are ad-vantages, disadvantages, and unique experiences that come out of being a twin, but in the end it’s all worth it. Allyson and Sarah Godfrey, seniors, are identical twins and look overwhelmingly similar. Being a twin to them is complicated, it’s both an, “awesome,” and, “frustrating,” experience. The frustration twins experience differ from those who don’t have twins because part of being a twin means, for the most part, spending day in and day out with the same person. Additionally, a common frustration for the Godfrey twins is instances when people identify the separate indi-viduals as if they are one and assume that the sisters have one personality. One of the perks of being of twin is the ability to trick people and as soccer players the Godfrey twins use their similarities to confuse the other team and convince players that one person is actually playing two positions. The advantages of being a twin are abounding

because twins have a constant companions and are gifted with a relationship much more meaningful than normal siblings. At the end of the day, Allyson and Sarah are, “best friends” and ultimately share a unique and special bond with one another. “We both know that we have each others’ backs no matter what.” Allyson said. Lauren and Gabe Vande Hei, seniors, are fraternal twins, they aren’t easily spotted as identical twins, but twins nonetheless. Lauren feels that having a twin is simi-lar to having a normal sibling, but with some differences. “You see them all over the place and have some friends in common,” Lauren said.Some advantages they feel that come with having a twin consists of homework help and always having a person to talk to. On the other hand, having a twin also entails hav-ing to share a car and people staring to see how similar the two look. As a twin, life in high school can be complicated, it can be frustrating, and it can be hard, but for the most part it’s awesome. Being a twin is a unique experience that can’t be matched and ultimately we didn’t choose the twin life, the twin life chose us.

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Twins of Clear Falls

From identical to frateral, the twins of Clear Falls share a bond that can’t be matched. Photo by Samantha Salazar

Homecoming 2015: Knights Sights

Homecoming 2015: Knights Sights Photos by the Clear Falls Post Staff

We, the co-editors-in-chief, Samantha Salazar (senior) and Amber Feli-

ciano (junior), are proud to present CCISD’s very first news magazine. Our staff has taken large amount of effort, leadership and crafts-manship in order to produce the very first edition of The Knight Life for you. We’re very grateful for our readers, and we’re especially pleased that you’ve picked it up and made the time in your day to read it.

Editors’ Letter

From left, Vivian Quintero (Academic Editor), Kay Benz(Photo Editor), Ashleigh Pennington, Ella Parr(Co-Social Media Editor), Tara Baker, Ire-land Cochrand(Co-Social Media Editor), Amber Feliciano(Co Chief-In-Editor and Copy Editor), Becca Crum (Opinion and Reviews Editor), Kelsey Sarabok, Olivia Richard, Gaby Casas(Co-Photo Editor), Holli West(Sports Editor) and Samantha Salazar(Co Chief-In-Editor)