The chat newspaper october 2014 year 15 issue #3

In the Bond

Spirit Week in review: Page 4

Homecoming in review: Page 12

Jake Dreilinger Editor-in-Chief Maria Bozo - Layout/Content Kyle Moss-Solomon - Video Managing Editors Chatter Daily News Taylor Horan Web Managing Editor Emily Deese Business Manager Mr. J. Harris - Layout Mr. F. Fagen - Content Mr. J. Harris - Video Advisers

Mr. P. Bayer Principal

Looghermine Claude News Editor Melissa Pierce Student Life Editor David Cha-Kim Technology Editor

Contents

The C.H.C. Staff

Shakayla Lee Entertainment Editor Brett Alayon Sports Editor Aalyiah Pasols Features Editor Nicholas Rivera Lifestyle Editor Tyra Green Clubs Editor

Rebecca Gonzales - The CHAT Peter Dourvetakis - Web Photo Editors Matthew Perez Graphics Editor Carmen Pettersen Cartoonist

Student Life: Charter Spirit Week: Charter Students show their school spirit Pep Rally cancelled: Save the Pep for another day

CONTENT STAFF: Josiah Celestine, Lauren Cookley, Matthew Deno, Sofia Gangotena, Camilo Grijalva, Hayley Hartwell, Hanan Hessin, LJ Lemmers, Autumn Pough, Lauren Ramirez LAYOUT STAFF: Emily Deese, Tomas Eiletz, Esteban Gangotena, Jacob Morgenstern, Fernando Plata

Lifestyle:

PHOTOGRAPHY STAFF: Ryan Corona, Jonathan Harris, Alexis MongeRodriguez, Aalyiah Pasols, Sydney Silverberg GRAPHIC STAFF: Katie Perez CHAT VIDEO NEWS STAFF: Samuel Eliacin, Matthew Fernandez, Genesis Vesco The C.H.A.T. is an official publication of the Pembroke Pines Charter High School (PPCHS). The content of our newspaper is not necessarily the opinions of our advisers and administration.

The C.H.A.T. staff welcomes any comments to the editors and/or staff.

The C.H.A.T is a publication of C.H.C (Charter High Communications) sponsored by the Communications & Technology Department of PPCHS. Pembroke Pines Charter High School 17189 Sheridan Street Pembroke Pines, FL 33331 Phone: 954-538-3700 Email: chc.ppchs@gmail.com Twitter: @_theCHATter Instagram: @thechatnews The CHAT welcomes letters to the editor. Letters must be signed. The staff reserves the right to edit letters for poor taste, libel, and space.

Drop off letters in room C113 or send an email to chc.ppchs@gmail.com

Breast Cancer walk: Jaguars leave their paw-prints Voo Doo BBQ and Grill: Taste the magic

Pg

Featu

12

Twin day of Spirit Week: Pg 4

ures

Sports: Homecoming Game: Timberwolves run attack too much for Jags

Feature on Golf Team: Pg 20

Features: Homecoming 2014: James Bond makes his PPCHS Debut

Best of the best: Boys and Girls Swimming Profiles

News:

Entertainment:

The race for governer: The views of Rick Scott and Charlie Crist

Significant Celebrities: Charter’s favorite people

The Inspirational: Charter educateson the Nobel Prize

Frozen Sued: Appeal, no deal, don’t let her sue

Technology: The paperless classroom: iPads for every student What the Hack?: Celebrity phones get hacked

Spirit Week Day 1 Maria Bozo

F

Managing Editor - Layout & Content

or the second consecutive year, senior RJ Reyes dressed as his aunt, Ms. Scocco, one of the security guards here at PPCHS. From head to toe, Reyes and Ms. Scocco looked nearly identical. Reyes, equipped with a wig, the PPCHS security uniform, and Ms. Scocco’s iconic piercings and tattoos, definitely made students do a double take as they passed students in the hallways.

Double Trouble is the day where students dress in identical costumes with a partner or a group of their best friends. The hallways flooded with twins, triples, and quadruplets alike.

From M&M’s to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy, the Jaguars definitely went all out for Twin Day. Traditionally, the upper classes put their own twist to Monday’s theme.

The senior class came together with their teachers forming the dynamic duo of Cops and Convicts, with the faculty.

The junior class all dressed up as Cowboys and Indians. “I like the idea of having the entire junior class dress with their own theme. It brings the class together, instead of just dressing similarly with your friends. I dressed as a Cowgirl and my friend Sylvia dressed as an Indian to form the pair that the junior class was supposed to be,” said junior Veronica Gayoso.

New this year, Student Government Association (SGA) set up different events for each day of Spirit Week. Monday’s event was a game of Head’s Up!, a board game where a player holds up a card with an animal, person, food or object printed on it to his or her head. The team member must act out what is on the card and the player with the card on his or her head has to guess the word. Students formed a group of two, which went head to head against another group of two. The team that correctly guessed the most cards won a Fast Pass for lunch.

“I like that we incorporated events into Spirit Week. Heads Up! was definitely a lot of fun and I hope we continue the events during the week for years to come,” said junior and SGA member Saman Govaria.

The first day of Spirit Week was definitely a success. Students enjoyed being twins with their friends, graduating classes, and teachers, along with participating in a game of Heads Up! during their lunch period. See you next year, Twin Day!

4

Juniors Sabrina d Govaria, Genesis Ves Guralnick dressed as

Sophomores Celia Gomez and Aubrianna Ajmo dressed as Twin 1 & Twin 2. Photo donated by: Celia Gomez

Senior Andrea Melendez, junior Zane Filardi, senior Clarisa Melendez, and junior Weiland Filardi dressed copy and paste. Photo donated by: Weiland Filardi

Juniors Lindsey Fischbach and Ariana Noda dressed as Cowboys and Indians. Photo by: Johnathan Harris

Seniors Jiillian Marrero, Juanita Garzon, Erika Gonzalez, V

1: Double Trouble

del Lupo, Looghermine Claude, Alisa Huang, Saman sco, Monica Rodriguez, Yasmeen Metellus, and Marisa s the Seven Dwarfs. Photo by: Jonathan Harris

Seniors Christina Yeh, Paula Vilafane, Michelle Alongi, and Mollie Bayer dressed as blind mice. Photo donated by: Mollie Bayer

Viviana Calero, and Ashley Christantiello dressed as convicts. Photo donated by: Erika Gonzalez

Juniors Alyssa Rodriguez and Alejandra Garcia dressed as Cowboys and Indians. Photo by: Johnathan Harris

Senior Tanner Redding dressed as a convict. Photo by: Johnathan Harris

Junior Arielle Cuevas dressed as a Audrey Hepburn. Photo by: Sydeny Silverberg

Sophomore Demi Iglesias and junior Kali Hazera dressed as twins.

Photo donated by: Kali Hazera

Seniors Kyle Laremore, Joey McCulley and Noah Hernandez dressed as Convicts. Photo by: Sydeny Silverberg

5

Student Life

Spirit Week Day 2:

Seniors Tishma Fahie, Nkiruka Chukwuelue, Briana Cousins, and Raven Veitch dressed as schoolgirls. Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

Freshman Ahmad Hamid dressed as a goth child. Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

Juniors Lauren Cookley, Madison Duke, and Gabriella Cerrato dressed as nerds. Photo by: Alex Monge

Seniors Alec Galindo, Lorenzo Denson, and Nayib Linares dressed as a G.I. Joes. Photo by: Jonathan Harris

6

Juniors Austin Vasallo, Ryan Corona, Daniel Rivero, and Noah Rodriguez, dressed as characters from The Neighbors. Photo by: Peter Dourvetakis

Seniors Cathy Wentzel dressed as a Nole and Sophia Devesa Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Seniors Craig Epps and Nick Beradino dressed as Greasers. Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Senior Hayley O’Brien dressed schoolgirl. Photo by: Aaliyah Pas

Emilio Falcon dressed as a d

: Don’t be so cliché

d as a

asols

doctor. Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Student Life Lauren Cookley

D

Senior Lisa Marie Vasquez dressed as a UM fan, Cathy Wentzel dressed a Nole, Ms. Portalatin dressed as a Charter nerd, senior Anesia Gordon dressed as a nole and senior Nicole mallat dressed as a UF fan. Photo donated by: Cathy Wentzel

Seniors Jaymie Constantino, Ashley Christiantiello, and Julie Ascunce dressed as baseball players. Photo donated by: Julie Ascunce

Senior Lauren Modestil dressed as a thug. Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Senior Nick Berardino dressed as a Greaser. Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Senior Kyle Laremore and and his friend dressed as hippies. Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Seniors Jordan Corona and Anthony Gomez dressed as frat boys. Photo by: Alex Monge

Staff Writer

on’t be so cliché is the day where all students can dress up as their favorite high school cliché, from mathletes all the way to athletes. The hallways were filled with students wearing sports teams’ outfits from the Miami Dolphins, the Miami Heat, and the Marlins all the way to the nerdy and school girl outfits.

Junior Colin Webb was dressed up as a classic nerd. “I love dressing up and being able to express myself through the costume I am wearing,” said Webb.

A costume that really caught students’ eyes would have to be junior Juan Tellez’s typical teenage girl outfit. His outfit included a one direction shirt, a cardigan, a flowered crown, and hippie glasses. Tellez says, “I wanted to catch people’s attention and really have an awesome outfit that people would remember and recognize.”

Freshman Gabriel Moljo said, “I like to be involved in all the days of spirit week, but cliché day has to be my favorite out of all the themes for each day.

I like seeing all the different costumes and how each student looks.”

Another group that was very popular would have to be the girls “prep” club.

Juniors Pricilla Cabus, Sylvia Lilliquist, Veronica Gayoso, and Kirsten Feeney wore school girl outfits with plaid skirts and white button ups along with ties. They got inspiration from the popular show Gossip Girl. Feeney said, “I felt like while I was wearing this outfit I was actually in the show and acting like Blair Waldorf, the main character from Gossip Girl. I loved dressing up with all my friends.”

During A and B lunch students participated in a rap battle hosted by SGA. The event had four hosts including sophomore CJ Cruz, senior Nicholas Berardino, senior Courtney Zaher, and junior Lauren Ramirez. Students who wanted to participate took the stage and began the battle. Sophomore Edward Brown took the stage first and began the official Rap Battle.

Brown says, “I love the feeling of being able to go up in front of many people and do what I love to do.” The whole lunch room was filled with excitement and all students were able to enjoy this event.

All in all, Sprit Day 2: Don’t be so cliché, was a success. All students were able to express themselves and interact through all their outfits of their favorite cliché. Students also enjoyed the lunch activity and were able to have an amazing day filled with fun.

7

Spirit Week Day

Student Life Lauren Ramirez Staff Writer

Teenagers roamed the halls of

PPCHS on Wednesday, October 23rd while dressed as everything from Captain America and Batman to characters from The Hunger Games. Despite its appearance, it wasn’t a movie convention; it was the Jags’ Cinema theme of PPCHS spirit week. There was no doubt that students were excited to participate.

Their elaborate and creative costumes astounded the masses.

One of the most interesting pairings was that of juniors Carlos Aviles and Christian Moffet. Aviles dressed as Captain America- complete with a cape and superhero mask. Moffet dressed up alongside him as Falcon, the supporting character in the Captain America comic book series; quite impressively, he made his costume himself including intricate red wings made of felt.

“I was glad to be able to express my creativity by making a costume myself”, said Moffet. “It was also really cool to have matching costumes with my friend Carlos.”

A memorable group costume was the group of four girls dressed as characters from Divergent. Juniors Kaela Wyche, Kailee Needham, Saman Govaria, and Julianna Acevedo all dressed as members of the faction Dauntless- a group of people from the movie Divergent.

“Divergent has been my favorite movie since it came out, so it was a no brainer to invite my friends to dress like characters in the movie for movie day,” said Wyche.

During lunch, many students got involved in the PPCHS annual spirit week fashion show. Those students who wanted to show off their costumes signed up to walk the runway. The show was hosted by sophomore CJ Cruz, who dressed up as his favorite Star Wars character. “Everyone in the fashion show was great! It was so cool to see students have the opportunity to showcase the costumes they clearly put so much work into. It was a lot of fun hosting it and seeing the crowd get pumped up about all the different outfits. I also loved seeing the excited looks on students faces when they saw the positive reactions to their costumes”, said Cruz. The winners for best costume were: senior Ethan Coe as the character Chip Skylark from the show Fairly Odd Parents, and three students who painted their faces blue and dressed up as the Gross sisters from the television show The Proud Family.

Overall, day three of spirit week was a success. Movie day was a popular theme among PPCHS students; they enjoyed dressing up with their friends and loved taking part in such a fun high school tradition.

8

Sophomore Andrea Roman and Junior Matthew Matson dressed as Popeye and OliveWazowski. Photo by: Ryan Corona

Juior Colin Webb dressed as the Riddler. Photo by: Ryan Corona

Freshman Dominic Carissimi dressed as Marylin Monroe. Photo by: Ryan Corona

Seniors Tishma Fahie, Nkiruka Chukw and Raven Veitch dressed as french maid

Seniors Michelle Alongi, Mollie Bayer, and Paula Vilafane dressed as Mean Girls. Photo donated by: Mollie Bayer

Seniors Kayla Clements and Sofia Lalinde dressed as Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy. Photo donated by: Sofia Lalinde

Seniors Kevi Marissa Peters Photo donated b

y 3: Jag Cinema

Student Life

Sophomore Logan Beattie dressed as Godzilla. Photo by: Ryan Corona

Junior Brandon English dressed as Mike Wazowski. Photo by: Alex Monge

Seniors Andrea Aguledo and Kaitlyn Tenn dressed as Lilo and Stitch. Photo donated by: Andrea Aguledo

Senior Sabrina Causing dressed as Aang. Photo by: Ryan Corona

Sophomore Johanna Moise dressed as Miranda Sings. Photo by: Alex Monge

Seniors Annette Rotunno and Melissa Rondon dressed as Meredirth Grey and Christina Yang from Grey’s Anatomny. Photo donated by: Annette Rotunno

wuelue, Briana Cousins, ds. Photo by: Alex Monge

in Borbolla and sophomore dressed as Danny and Sandy.

by: Andrea Aguledo

Seniors Jaymie Constantino, Julie Ascunce, and Amanda Duran dressed as Monsters Inc. Photo donated by: Julie Ascunce

Junior Noah Rodriguez dressed as Superman. Photo by: Alex Monge

9

Student Life

Save the ‘Pep’ for another day Hayley Hartwell & Brett Alayon Staff Writer & Sports Editor

Not many students check their email first thing every morning, almost none as a matter of fact. However,

those who did check their email on the morning of October 23rd were completely bummed. Not because their teacher decided to hand out a pop quiz or assign a project, but because the PPCHS 2014-2015 fall pep rally was cancelled. With a week full of insane costumes and miraculous school spirit, PPCHS was in full throttle heading into the final day of spirit week. For seniors and students involved in SGA, it was certainly a letdown due to the unfortunate inclement weather. As PPCHS always does, they persevere, and the front office and SGA were able to arrange a make-up date on the first Thursday of November, where a high school study day will be taking place.

“We had put weeks and weeks of preparation to ensure the entire school was impressed. At first it definitely was a disappointment, but now we just have to hope the weather holds up on November 6th,” said senior SGA member Courtney Zaher.

The SGA advisor, Mr. Curry, has certainly dealt with a lot over the course of the past two weeks, but his leadership and calm manner has allowed SGA members to remain calm and prepare for the rescheduled pep rally. The vibrant atmosphere of homecoming won’t be as lively in early November; however, with much school spirit, students are confident it will be a great fall pep rally. For seniors, just a little less than three quarters remain as they are excited and anxious to attend their final fall pep rally ever. There are high expectations for this pep rally as old traditions and new events will appear once things get going inside the Jags football stadium.

In a more positive light the weather that ruined the pep rally allows the many clubs and teams to practice and prepare something even better for all of their fellow Jags to witness. The boys chorus which was going to preform Chris Armstrong and Brandon Lawerence’s original song “Money Ting” and “Find your love” by Drake, will now have more time to practice their vocals. The Student Government’s pep rally committee is also breathing easier since they have longer to prepare for the new date.

“All the work regarding the pep rally is pretty much done, so that eliminates a little bit of the stress we had on the original pep rally day. The only thing that is different this time around would be that pep rally falls on a high school study day instead of an early release day,” said Junior SGA member Noah Rodriguez.

Many other teams such as the cheerleading team, dance team, and step team have spent a lot of time perfecting and preparing a routine that would bring their classmates to their feet. Although these groups couldn’t showcase their new routines for the 2014-2015 year, this two-week break will hopefully allow the routines to attain their full potential. The band and drum line were also scheduled to perform on pep rally day, they would be playing songs they have already practiced the whole year but it was still a disappointment to them.

“I was disappointed, arriving to school only to find out the pep rally was postponed because I was really looking forward to playing in front of everyone. The band is playing some of my favorite songs that we perform, so I guess you’ll see the final product on November 6, 2014,” said junior member of the PPCHS band Veronica Gayoso.

Having pep rally cancelled after a spirit-filled week throughout the PPCHS halls was disappointing, but now us Jags can continue the spirit all the way till November 6, 2014 and have an even better pep rally!

Graphic by: Matthew Perez

Amaze Me: a middle school mentorship program Sofia Gangotena Staff Writer

The yearbook and newspaper students at PPCHS have taken it upon themselves to mentor the middle school

10

yearbook class. It should come to no surprise that sophomore Alexa Kaufman, a member of the Amaze Me mentoring program, helped to come up with the idea. “Mr. Fagen and I came up with the idea, because he said that the middle school yearbook class needed help. I thought it would be a good idea to bring a mentoring program to school, so we decided to do this.”

Jillian Tapper, the creator of the Amaze Me program and Kaufman’s mentor, helped inspire the idea of the middle school mentoring program. “Before the meeting, I always text her my plans for the day and she gives me advice on how to be a better mentor and a better leader,” said Kaufman.

The teacher of the middle school newspaper class, Ms. Allen, is also the teacher of Game Design here in the high school. She said, “Mr. Fagen approached me with the idea and I thought it was a great idea. Being a new teacher, it was almost a weight off my shoulders.”

A few volunteers from the yearbook staff and newspaper staff here at Charter will go to the middle school on campus three times a quarter and mentor the students on all things yearbook. Students from newspaper include juniors Lauren Cookley and Lauren Ramirez, who are the mentors for the writing section.

Junior Kaela Wyche, one of the two mentors of the photography section, said, “I really liked the first meeting. It was great teaching the kids how to take pictures and edit them.”

The high school students are assigned a section in the middle school yearbook class and spend the year mentoring and teaching the students. The first day, October 16th, was spent getting to know the students and beginning to develop relationships with the students. Kaufman, the mentor of the layout section, as well as the other high school students, had the opportunity to sit down and talk with middle school students and get to know them.

Junior Logan McKinney is the other mentor of the photography section. McKinney said, “I wanted to do this for a couple reasons. It teaches the kids what it’s like to be a part of a yearbook staff in high school and I really like helping out kids.”

The goals of Amaze Me is to mentor kids and teach them to be the best version of themselves.

The goals of the middle school program is to prepare them to become a member of the middle school yearbook staff. And Wyche is one of many looking forward to it. “I’m really excited to see how the middle school uses what we will teach them throughout the year.”

Amaze Me: Students of PPCHS can be seen wearing these bracelets indicating that they have promised to be a good mentor to a younger child.

Photo by: Alex Monge

Student Life

Ending bullying one city at a time Taylor Horan

I

Managing Editor - Web

f we all worked together, and let our voices be heard, do you believe that bullying could end? This was the final question asked to a panel of administrators at the Mayor’s Campaign to End Bullying Film Screening of ‘Bully.’ This question was asked by a middle school student who is a member of the Anti-Bullying Club (ABC) at Pembroke Pines Charter Central Middle School. The answer came from the principal of the Pembroke Pines Charter High School, Mr. Bayer; his answer was an optimistic yes.

On the night of October 10th, the City of Pembroke Pines and Mayor Frank Ortis hosted the Mayor’s Campaign to End Bullying Film Screening of ‘Bully.’ Parents and students from all elementary, middle, and high schools in Pembroke Pines were invited to attend the free event. Tickets were ordered online and delivered to the child’s school or picked up at the Will Call box. The event began at 7:00pm, while the film began at 7:15 pm.

The night began with hors d'oeuvres on the steps of the U building, sponsored by Chartwell Food Services. Guests could eat beef empanadas, meatballs in tomato or mushroom sauce, assorted cheeses, crackers, and cookies. Bright Star Credit Union, the other corporate sponsor of the event, ran a booth outside, offering informational pamphlets and star-shaped stress balls.

After light refreshments, guests entered the River of Grass auditorium and found their seats. Mayor Ortis welcomed guests with a brief introduction.

It was now time for the main event- the screening of the award-winning film ‘Bully.’ The less intense version of the film, running 47 minutes, was shown as students from elementary school were invited to attend. This version of the film focused on two students that were victims of bullying- Alex and Kelby. Alex is bullied because she has Asperger’s Syndrome, while Kelby is bullied after she announces she is homosexual.

This event was run by Dr. Lisa Libidinsky, principal of the FSU Elementary campus. Libidinsky said, “It’s been a pleasure to get everyone together to participate in the event. I feel [the event] went very well. It brought out a lot of awareness. I think the activities and information from the event did an excellent job on informing the audience of what happens in the schools.”

Following the film, a panel discussion occurred. Mayor Ortis moderated the panel that included Academic Village Principal Peter Bayer, Central Campus Principal Kenneth Bass, Central Campus Middle Principal Dr. Kimberley Pizzo, Walter C. Young Middle Principal Chip Osbourne, and Pembroke Pines Director of School Resource Officers (SROs) Al Xiques. The Mayor asked three questions to the panel, followed by allowing the audience to ask questions to the panel. City Commissioners Carl Shechter and Iris Siple both asked questions to the panel. Several parents and students asked thought provoking questions as well.

Members of Book Society, Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA), and Student Government Association (SGA) volunteered at the event, assisting with collecting tickets and greeting guests.

One of those student volunteers was freshman Jessica Gonzales, a member of the school’s GSA. “I know [bullying] is a very big deal in schools around the country. Even though I am just one person, I know I can make a difference,” said Gonzales.

The mayor concluded the event by thanking everyone for attending. As the River of Glass Auditorium cleared out, attendees left feeling inspired. The film showed that if one person, whether it had been a student or teacher, stood up for the bullied, things could change. The film served as a great call to action to end bullying, while the panel gave administrative point of views on bullying in the school setting. This is only the first of many initiatives by the City of Pembroke Pines to end bullying.

Bully Screening: Mayor Frank Ortis was one of the most important and influential atendees of the evening. Photo by: Peter Dourvetakis

Bullying: Bullying is a major problem in schools all around the world that needs to be addressed. Photo by: Peter Dourvetakis

Kindness spinning through Charter LJ Lemmers Staff Writer

Walking up to the table in front of the cafeteria, Abigael Constant gives $1 to the person behind the table.

Wheel of Kindness: Make sure to spin the Wheel of Kindness during your lunch period for a chance to win a free yearbook! Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Wheel of Kindness: From holding the door for someone, to saying thanks to a teacher, The Wheel of Kindness will imporive PPCHS’ atmosphere.

Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

After giving the money, she spins the wheel. As the spinner spins rapidly, she studies it closely anxiously waiting to see what the spinner has in store for her. It’s starting to slow down, her heart is pumping, one second passes and then another, it stops, the spinner lands on holding the door for someone. Now, Abigael has to perform that act of kindness to a random person. The Charter student has just spun the Wheel of Kindness.

“I got to hold the door for someone when I spun the wheel. It was really exciting waiting to see what I was going to get. My blood was pumping and I was hoping it didn’t land on buying someone a cookie, but I remembered it was for a good cause. I’m going to spin it again, so I hope I get something different,” said junior Abigail Constant.

Mr. Fagen introduced the idea to The CHAT Newspaper and The Prowler yearbook about the Wheel of Kindness. The wheel is divided into 16 sections with a random act of kindness on each one. The wheel consists of acts such as holding the door for a stranger, talking to someone you don’t know, and buying someone a cookie.

“The Wheel of Kindness sounds like a great idea. I’m excited to see how students will react to it and if it will affect students’ behavior at lunch. I hope it’s an activity that can be kept for the future years of Charter,” said assistant principal Mrs. Battle.

All of the money donated to the wheel will be sent to a different charity each month. In October, the money will be given to Breast Cancer Awareness.

“The wheel serves two purposes, to support Yearbook, but most importantly to spread kindness and positive feelings around the school. We have two charity purposes going on. The first is to donate a dollar to charity and the wheel is the same thing, donate a dollar to charity. We have 3 charities already signed up. Relay for Life is for October, SOS is November, and Autism is for December,” said senior Alejandro Adarve.

Every day during A and B lunches, students from the CHAT Newspaper and Prowler Yearbook will be at the front of the cafeteria waiting for students to spin the wheel. It costs $1 to spin the wheel and participants have the chance to win a free yearbook. Whatever the spinner lands on, the student must do that act. It is an activity that will be entertaining for both the person doing the act and the person receiving the act. The Wheel of Kindness has the potential to be one of the best ways for students to give back during the holidays. Once one person spins the wheel, more students will want to spin it and the Wheel of Kindness will do its job of spreading kindness throughout Charter.

11

Bond makes his debut

Taylor

O

Managing E

n the night of October 24th, charter students of all grades gathered together to celebrate one of the most anticipated events of the year: Homecoming. This year’s Homecoming, which was at the Grand Ballroom of Bonaventure Resort & Spa in Weston, was not one to disappoint. The theme, ‘Bond. Jags Bond,’ created a luxurious and sophisticated ballroom for those in attendance to enjoy. The boys were suited up in Bond-like tuxes and suits, and girls played with the cute and at times, quirky dress designs. It was a memorable night for all those who attended.

The evening began at 7:00pm as students began to slowly trickle in, with many students arriving close to 7:30pm. Many students took advantage of the first hour to take photos.

Popular locations for photos was in front of the blue, black, and silver balloons and in front of large dice that surrounded the main entrance of the Grand Ballroom. Students also were able to take in all of the decorations to connect Homecoming to James Bond.

This year's centerpiece was elaborate – an oversized martini glass, filled with clear water orbs, blue LED lights, and three oversized playing cards. Surrounding the martini glass were silver beaded necklaces and smaller playing cards. Many used the small playing cards as seat holders and the beads to wear around their necks. At around 7:40pm, the buffet opened up for service. Food that was available included caesar salad, two variants of pasta with creamy alfredo sauce or tomato sauce, crunchy chicken tenders, and warm breadsticks. The dessert bar included cookies, brownies, fresh fruit, and cupcakes with school-colored frosting. The music was lowered so attendees could talk as they eat their scrumptious dinner. “The food was my favorite part. The chicken tenders were so good,” shared senior Emily Rangel.

Once students had finished eating, it was time for the dancing. While many students chose to shuffle their feet and move to the beat, others chose to go all out in regards to dance moves. By 8:30pm, the dance floor was packed with dancers. A conga line erupted during the second hour of Homecoming with the conga line circling around those in the middle. Junior Lucas Hernandez climbed up on another student’s shoulders and began high-fiving those on the dance floor. That fun was short lived as, for safety reasons, all feet had to touch the ground. Juniors Angelo Paparazzi and Addam Hall took to the dance floor with their athletic moves. The two began to do pushups and sit-ups at the back corner of the dance floor. When they got off the floor, those around cheered for them. “My dancing pretty much consisted of moving every part of my body with the music as well as trying to get others to dance. I twisted my hips, jerked my arms, and motivated others to dance more. I was just full of so much energy,” said Hall in regards to his eclectic dancing.

The third hour of Homecoming was filled with the most dancing. One of the most pop-

12

P hotos

by :

J on

r

at Homecoming 2014 Horan

Editor - Web

ular songs played was ‘Wobble’ by VIC. Everyone spaced out on the dance floor and began to wobble. The dance floor was so full during this song that students were next to the dance floor to be a part of the dance. Other popular songs played were sung by Marc Anthony, Pitbull, Sean Paul, and Kid Ink. Nothing but smiles were seen on the faces in the Grand Ballroom. Junior Sasha Manning spent the majority of her evening on the dance floor. “I liked this year’s Homecoming a lot. My favorite part was going on the dance floor,” said Manning.

At 10:05pm, the music went down in volume and the dancing began to slow down. While this was not the end of Homecoming, it was a break for the announcement of who the Homecoming King and Queen would be. It was announced for the Homecoming court to take the stage. Many attendees took this opportunity to drink a cup of water or sit and rest their feet for the final hour of dancing. The three female and three male nominees took the stage, filled with anticipation. Senior Sofia Lalinde, SGA President, announced the winners to a quiet room. “The 2014-2015 Homecoming King and Queen are Courtney Zaher and Damien Charles!” exclaimed Lalinde. The crowd cheered as SGA members crowned the King and Queen. It was then time for the only slow song of the night- ‘Halo’

by Beyonce. Couples and friends alike took to the dance floor to sway around and twirl.

The slow dance soon concluded and the dance music began roaring out of the speakers once more. The DJ announced it was the final call for the photo booth. Many trickled out of the ballroom into the lobby to get in line for the photo booth. A tradition born at last year's Homecoming, the photo booth allows students to photograph cherished memories through a way other than a smartphone. The photo booth was such a smash hit that some students waited over a half hour to crowd into the small booth and take photos with props such as oversized sunglasses, mustaches and velvet hats. All who were able to take photos in the photo booth had a great time doing so, but the wait was a tad long.

At 10:59pm, the DJ announced that it was time for the final song of the evening. Groans were heard on the dance floor as homecoming was coming to an end. The final song of the night was The Wanted’s ‘Glad You Came.’ Students danced away to lyrics that perfectly summed up Homecoming 2014: “The sun goes down. The stars come out. And all that counts is here and now.” Students jumped to the lyrics while singing along. It was a wonderful closure to an incredible night. At 11:04pm, the lights came on in the Grand Ballroom and the DJ wished everyone a good night. Homecoming 2014 was officially over. Walking towards cars, students felt exhausted but pleased. The evening was one that will definitely stand out in every student’s collection of high school memories.

nathan

H arris

13

Swimmings Noah Hernandez

Niko Ujueta

n the sport’s world at PPCHS, winning isn’t everything, it’s the only thing. Senior Noah Hernandez of the PPCHS boys swimming team knows everything he needs to win, and then some. As a member of the team since the start of freshman year, Hernandez has looked back on his high school year (which still has some ways to go) with pride.

Hernandez competes in the 50 meter and 100 meter fly along with the 200 meter relay. However he doesn’t just compete, he triumphs in these races as the senior captain has been placing in the top three in each and every one of his races so far this season.

As a captain, Hernandez truly takes his job seriously in being a leader and motivator. “I think about how I was an underclassman and I try to help the current underclassmen through practice and the competitions because it’s not easy to get up and race next to athletes that have been doing this for several more years,” he stated.

The bond these Jaguars have is absolutely unbreakable. Hernandez and the rest of the team expects to compete in regionals and have several individuals qualify for states. Hernandez mentioned he wants to go out with a bang and if he stays true to himself and his teammates, winning will be on its way, once again.

s Senior Nikolas Ujueta heads into his fourth and final year of competing for the PPCHS Boys Swimming Team, he’ll be hoping to make his exit from Charter athletics a grand one. As Ujueta has been swimming competitively for more than five years, he has grown much as a swimmer, both physically and mentally, and with years of hard work he has risen up to a level of extremely remarkable skill.

“Practicing technique is the most important part of training,” said Ujueta. “Without a good technique and form, you’ll never get the results you want.”

Ujueta’s best career swim times are the 100 meter butterfly stroke in 57 seconds, 100 meter freestyle in 53 seconds, 50 meter freestyle in 24 seconds, and 200 meter freestyle in 117 seconds. On October 18th’s BCAA (Broward County Athletic Association) Swimming Championship at Plantation Aquatic Complex, Ujueta came eighth in the entire county individually and PPCHS as a whole came fourth in Broward for boys. Ujueta’s biggest goal this season is to make it to the state competition for the 200 meter relay.

“I really hope that the guys team can win districts and make it to states this year because we’ve never been able to do anything like it before,” said Ujueta. “I’m confident that we’re capable of it this year though.”

I

14

A

Juan-Lucas

H

e dives into the water, strok kicking his feet, trying to beat the he finally gets to the other end of steps out of the pool. He looks cheering. The score shows that h podium, he receives his gold med For sophomore Juan Lucas com a dream true. Last year, he was a proved that he was one of the top he is back to bring the team farth break records and lead the swim t For six years, since he was in 4th He was inspired after his friend k and ever since that day, Lucas was of school, he is currently joined South Florida Atlantic Club.

“I’m glad I saw my friend swimm come a better person and I hope t with swimming. Maybe compete Lucas.

Hernandez’s main events are the titions. At the BCAA meet, Lucas a record of 1:49 and in the 100-ya know where he will pursue his ath some colleges in mind.

s top 5 boys

s Hernandez

king his hand backs for every rep, e other swimmers next to him, and f the pool. He takes one hand and around the crowd and sees them he came first. As he walks up the dal. Then he wakes up. mpeting in the Olympics would be a freshman on the swim team and p swimmers for our school. Now her than before. Now he is back to team to States. grade, Lucas has been swimming. kept bothering him to try the sport s a natural born swimmer. Outside with the travel club, SOFLO, or

ming that day. It has made me beto make something out of my life e in the Olympics someday,” said

e backstroke and freestyle compes in the freestyle 200-yard race got ard backstroke, 55:91. He doesn’t hletic career yet, but certainly has

Ryan Capote

Stephen Duhaney

t Pines Charter, students tend to welcome in new students with open arms and lend a helping hand. For junior swimmer Ryan Capote, this certainly rings true as most students don’t even realize that he is new after only two months of being in school. He has already become involved in many school activities, but to him, none are more impactful than joining Charter’s swim team. Due to his family influences and his desire to maintain his health, Capote decided to take up swimming after many unsuccessful attempts of finding the right sport for him.

“I’ve tried football, baseball, soccer, and karate, but none of them felt right for me. The moment I got in the water something clicked, and when I came out I felt like I had actually worked for something,” said Capote.

Already a seasoned swimmer from his time at Miami Lakes Educational Center, Capote is making his name known around the school with every stroke he makes in the water. At the BCAA meet a few weeks ago, Capote turned heads as he placed third in the 100m freestyle and second in the 200m freestyle. His personal best in the 100m is 48.5 seconds, but Capote knows that if he practices holding his breath longer, he can definitely top that mark. In the coming weeks, Capote is looking to make it past Regionals and hopefully swim at States. That can undoubtedly happen, and if it does, PPCHS would sure be glad that he joined our family.

s soon as he visualizes the finish line, nothing else except crossing that line first means anything to senior swimmer Stephen Duhaney. Duhaney, who originally comes from Jamaica, started swimming when he was about three years old because his parents nudged him into the sport, and he acquired a love for it immediately. Before Duhaney came to America, he has gone to the CISC (Caribbean Island Swimming Championships) with a club in Jamaica, and hopes to carry with that success here at PPCHS. “My best type of race to swim in are sprints, which I have been doing for a while. I think that I’m doing pretty well, but there is still a lot of room for improvement,” said Duhaney.

Duhaney said, “Hopefully I can swim for college. The college I would like to swim for is USC (University of South California).”

Duhaney is helping the swim team as much as he can, and his help is bringing in wins for the PPCHS swim team. Even as a senior, Duhaney is improving as though he is a young student learning the sport, when in reality he is almost done with his high school career.

Since he is almost done with school, he is giving every race he competes in his all, and bringing glory to PPCHS.

A

A

15

Sports

Swimmings

Leysha Caraballo

Victoria Hill

lthough Leysha Caraballo finds herself running the extra mile when it comes to her dedication to track and field, she also prominently expresses that she is a swimmer at heart. She has been swimming laps around her competitors for eight years, and as a senior the sport she finds comfort in has become “more intense and fun at the same time”.

It is no secret that conditioning for sports can at times be brutal, but Caraballo embraced the challenge and used its demanding elements to her benefit. Her dedication to improving her times showcases her determination to continue to progress as an athlete and push herself to new heights. She swims five days a week in order to reach her goals of reducing her times, helping her team go to States for the 200 free relay.

Although Caraballo feels that diving into cold and competitive waters is her home away from home, she has decided against continuing her craft in college. As the days of senior year dwindle down, the reality of the end of her swimming career hits home. The nostalgia of pushing past the cold waters at regionals swimming the 100 fly, cutting her time to an amazing 1:08, and stepping out of the water after enduring an arduous work out are sensational times that she “will miss”.

t the age of 10, senior Victoria Hill stepped up to the edge of the pool simply to get active. Seven years later and her intended hobby has become a competitive passion that dominates her life.

For two hours on Monday through Saturday, Hill splashes into the water and trains to become the best.

More than just a hobby, swimming has not only helped her become active but has taught her dedication. “Swimming with other people who have the same dedication and passion as you is a good feeling,” said Hill. “It’s taught me how to be a leader, how to reach goals and how to motivate myself.” High-school Olympiad, Missy Franklin is a role model in the eyes of Hill, “she was an Olympian as a high-school senior and it made me realize how it isn’t completely impossible to accomplish my goals.”

Getting into the water is the best of both words for Hill. She admires the challenges that comes along with the sport but also enjoys the stress-free mindset it gives her. She swims the 50 free, 100 free, 200-medley relays and the 400 relays. “The 400 free relay because each person swims a100 and I love being a part of a relay since everyone is so excited and supported of each other,” said Hill.

Hill doesn’t want to give up her passion for swimming any time soon; she plans to swim for the University of Florida or the University of North Florida in her years to come.

A

16

A

Kelley

I

t’s not easy to wake up at after school for 2 hours or even for freshman swimmer Kelley He blue pool. Heron’s life revolves a first jumped into the pool at age fo swim. She began swimming com missing a single year.

Before arriving on the high sc swimming helped shape how wel swam at the Grand Prix in Orland alongside some of the best swimm Heron had her start on the high sc summer. She practiced with the throughout the summer to prepare “Coach Rose is my most influen ago because she was also a coach was 9 to 12, she coached me and n again. This year I hope to make th Heron has begun her quest to m along the way making friends wit a close relationship with her coac own integrity, Heron hopes to m years in high school some of the b

Sports

s top 5 girls Heron

4:30 three times a week or stay eat healthy, but it is all worth it eron after she jumps into the deep around swimming. The freshman our, when she first learned how to petitively right from the start, not

hool team, Heron’s competitive ll of a swimmer she is today. She do, which is a yearly competition, mers in the state. chool team at the beginning of the high school coach, Coach Rose e for the season. tial coach. I met her a few years h for the city’s team. From when I now I’m really grateful to have her e junior national cut,” said Heron. ake the junior national cut while h her teammates and maintaining ch. With help from them and her ake this year and the rest of her best of her swimming career.

Liliana Calero

Andrea Melendez

hooting off the starting block and racing through the lanes against her competitors, junior Liliana Calero is a force to be reckoned with. Starting at the age of ten Calero was competing and learning the techniques of competitive swimming with SOFLO: South Florida Aquatic club. Swimming is the sport the caught Calero’s attention right from the first practice. She had tried other sports, including soccer and cheerleading, but Calero knew swimming is where she fit in most.

Liliana, or Lilli, has been competing with the PPCHS Jags swimming team for 3 years now in the midst of her junior year season.

The season so far has been going especially well for Calero individually and for the team as a whole. At the BCAA tournament, Calero placed third overall in the 500 freestyle and second place with her 400 freestyle relay team.

“Some of my expectations are to come first at both districts and regionals hopefully to make it to states not only in my individual event, the 500 freestyle, but also in my 400 freestyle relay team. We did really well at the BCAA tournament, so I expect us to continue to improve and continue on,” said junior Liliana Calero.

Other events that Calero competes in are the 200 medley relay and the 200 freestyle. Calero hopes to improve on her 500 freestyle time and her 400 freestyle relay time through the course of this year and her senior year.

s she plunges into her lane, she is instantly engulfed by the cool water of the pool. There are swimmers to her left and right, but all that matters is the space in front of her. Both of her arms swing simultaneously as her legs make one huge dolphin kick in a clean, smooth rhythm. She goes across the pool, and back twice to complete her 100 meter butterfly race.

For senior Andrea Melendez, swimming is in her blood. Since the age of three, she has been spending her time in a pool. Melendez was seven years old when she began to swim competitively for SOFLO, the South Florida Aquatic Club. Her preferred strokes are freestyle and butterfly with her best times of 26 seconds for the 50 meter freestyle and 1 minute and 4 seconds for the 100 meter butterfly.

“I have practically been swimming my entire life,” said Melendez.

“It’s my passion to swim and I can’t see myself doing anything else.”

The 2014-15 school year is Melendez’s first year as a Jag swimmer.

Her last few years of high school swimming were spent in Somerset Academy, where she and her sister were co-captains of the team for freshman, sophomore, and junior year. In fact, when the Melendez sisters entered high school, Somerset did not even have a swim team. The duo of twin swimmers created the swim team and were immediately crowned team captains.

S

A

17

Sports

Thunderwolves’ run attack to

Matthe

O

Staff W

n October 23rd, the highly anticipated Homecoming night, the Pines Charter fan base held its first ever blackout in preparation of the football team’s game against Oxbridge Academy. It was a night filled with excitement and activities, including the homecoming court being recognized during halftime. However, the fun didn’t translate onto the football field as the Jags were overmatched by Oxbridge, losing by a score of 46-0. Coming into the contest, the team new that this would be a tough task as Oxbridge had an impressive 6-1 record. Still, the Jags couldn’t get it done and dropped their record to 2-6 for the season. Despite the loss, this didn’t stop the fans from having a blast at the game.

“Even though the team had a bad performance, I still enjoyed the festivities and atmosphere. The blackout was a really cool idea that we should definitely do for more games to come,” said junior Allen Altenor.

As for the game, the Jags were not able to stop Oxbridge’s ground game as they gained 326 rushing yards. The Thunderwolves scored early and often, building a 33-0 lead at halftime. At the break, the Jags were determined to mount a comeback and at least put up a fight. The defense came out of the gates much improved by holding the Oxbridge

18

Photos by: A

oo much for blacked-out Jags

ew

Sports

Deno

Writer

offense to only 13 points in the second half. Junior Nico Cerulia led the defense with 13 total tackles, seven solo and six assisted. On the other side, the Jags’ offense was able to rush for 173 yards on 47 carries for an average of 3.7 yards per carry, but they were very predictable by not attempting a pass all game. This caused many drives to be stalled and allowed the Oxbridge defense to commit all of its defenders to stopping the run.

Mustering only eight first downs, the Jags offense was not able to control the time of possession by only having the ball for 15 minutes compared to Oxbridge having it for 33 minutes. In terms of turnovers and penalties, the Jags were even with the Thunderwolves by each team not having a turnover and committing 5 penalties. Hopefully, the Jags will use this game as motivation for the rest of the season and finish off the year strong. In order for the team to improve though, they will need to work on a few key areas of their game plan. Just a couple games remain, but the football team is determined to go out with a bang.

“We need to use this game as a way to learn and fix our mistakes. If we want to win, we can’t play like we did this game. Every aspect of our team needs to be improved,” said senior defensive end David Stewart.

Alex Monge

19

Sports

Golf team sinks a sp

Matthe

Staff W

H

ere at PPCHS, many students are well aware of and root for the usual football, basketball, and soccer teams. However, there is one team that has achieved Charter history this year. That team is the Pines Charter golf team, composed of five easy going, yet talented student athletes. Captain Nicholas Sacramento, along with fellow juniors Anthony Moses, Logan McKinney, and Matthew Deno, and 8th grader from our Academic Village Middle School, Justin Lily, make up the team. At the beginning of this year, things were looking bright for the group, as they just missed qualifying for Regionals last year as a team by coming in a close fourth at Districts. This motivated them even more to come back better than ever the next year.

“Coming so close to making it past Districts last year really stung, but I knew that if any group of guys could come back stronger, it would be us. Although I made it individually, it didn’t feel the same without my teammates being there,” said Sacramento.

Before the Jags got a shot at redemption, they would have seven regular season games to get into their best form. Improving on a mediocre 2-4 record last year, the Jags showed their improvement by going 6-1. They defeated Cooper City and Pompano Beach twice, and took down South Plantation and Northeastern once. This gave the Jags all of the momentum that they needed heading into Districts. The Jags were going to try to block out the pressure as they knew that there was a great chance that they would become the first Charter golf team ever to qualify for Regionals as a team. In the early hours of October 14th, the Jags went into the District tournament at Grand Palms Country Club with only one goal on their minds: to qualify for Regionals. If the team wanted to accomplish this, they would have had to place in the top three teams among the seven participating. With every member playing near their best, the Jags did just that by coming in third place and advancing on to Regionals. Finally, Charter history had been

Photo by: Alex Monge

20

Photo by: Rebecca Gonzalez

Photo by: Rebecca Gonzalez

pot in Charter history

ew

Sports

Deno

Writer

have happened to a better group of teammates. Finishing in first place was Archbishop McCarthy and Gulliver finished right behind them in second.

“I’m so proud of my team for the way they performed on that day. We came out with one goal on our minds and we stopped at nothing to accomplish it,” said McKinney.

Junior captain Nicholas Sacramento shot the best round of the team with a score of 77 as the others were right behind him. Every player’s effort was needed as Doral Academy was a close fourth. Next up for the Jags was uncharted territory: the Regional tournament on October 20th. At the beautiful Lago Mar Country Club in Plantation, the Jags came in on the 20th with wide eyes, as they were soaking everything in from this new experience. However, the Jags weren’t just satisfied with making it here, they wanted to continue this run. Faced with the tough task of competing against South Florida’s finest golf prodigies, the team didn’t back down and gave it their all. In the end, it wasn’t made, and it couldn’t

Photo by: Peter Dourvetakis

Photo by: Peter Dourvetakis

enough as the Jags placed seventh out of ten teams. First place went to American Heritage, and second to Pinecrest, as only the top two teams advanced to States.

“I am so grateful to have the opportunity to coach these special guys. They’ve worked so hard for this and it’s great to see it finally pay off as they have made it this far.

Hopefully, we can repeat this feat next year and maybe make some more history,” said Coach Lavoro.

The Jags still walked away with their heads held high as they gave it their best shot and were able to hang around with South Florida’s premier teams. Also, the future is looking bright for the team due to every player returning for next year’s season. Who knows?

Another offseason of improvement and we could be looking at the team making it even farther than Regionals. With the work that this team puts in, anything can happen, just like it did this year.

Photo by: Alex Monge

Photo by: Alex Monge

21

Significant celebrities: C

Looghermine Claude News Editor

Recently, TIME Magazine put out their

list of the Most Influential Teens of 2014.

The list covered kids from 13 to 19 and included those with accomplishments ranging from innovation in the sciences to trailblazing in fashion and modeling. With a list that includes Sasha and Malia Obama, Nash Grier, Malala Yousafzai, Kendall and Kylie Jenner, and Lorde, the list is nothing short of being diverse--in both culture, influence, and accomplishments. In order to see what Charter students thought, we went out to try and find who PPCHS's Most Influential Celebrities, no matter the age, race, political scene, or accomplishments.

Sofia Alfonzo

Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

“My most influential celebrity is Selena Gomez because even though people say that she does bad things she really doesn’t. She’s not one of those stars who makes a bad impression on teens—like Miley Cyrus. She’s stayed true to herself and pure.”

Ahram Johnson

Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

“My most influential celebrity is Lebron James because he makes impossible things look possible. I’m a basketball player so he’s my inspiration when I get on the court. With all that he’s accomplished I look up to what he does.”

Alex Schoen

Ke

Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

“My most influential celebrity is Lyndon Donovan because he’s played soccer from a young age to now where he’s 32 and he’s retiring. He’s been to many world cups, he’s won young player of the year, and he’s the leading goal scorer of all time for the U.S. MLS. He’s played well throughout all his career and he’s someone I look up to.”

“Emma W she is an in. She’s inism an And eve to colleg way.”

Halloween Horror Nights Steals the Screams Aaliyah Pasols

Goosebumps form, voices tremble, legs shake, and eyes widen as the front gates to Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights open. Various people from the Purge gather around the

Staff Writer

visitors to crouch down in fear and others to get up and bolt. The they do in the movie, thank designers. front gate holding up knives, guns, and spears, scoping out their first few A second category that HH victims. Couples and best friends alike clamp on to each other’s hands ror can raise a few hairs, bu and then run wildly past the front gates, only to be followed by a maniac blood curdle. In this year’s holding a chainsaw. And this is only the beginning: they haven’t even follows visitors throughou made it to the first House yet. at different intervals. In tw To a first-timer at Halloween Horror Nights, one might wonder why can be seen slashing a wom these haunted houses are so much more popular than others. But by the a man in another room. W time they exit the gates at 2 A.M, no more doubts about it will cloud Nights, visitors definitely f their mind. Halloween Horror Nights is truly a one of a kind experience life situations. that no other park or event can challenge. House of Horror in Miami “I would go to House of H International Mall attempts to do so, but ultimately, who are they to try scary. And the design was to outsell Universal? of the Damned] that had blo “Halloween Horror Nights is a way more fun experience than House of you! They looked so real,” Horror. House of Horror is a carnival with one haunted house. There’s no And the final category t scare zones. The haunted house is pretty cool, but other than that there’s attractions they include. In not too much to see,” senior Elizabeth Leal said. lose their goose bumps, th Universal Pictures is responsible for some of the greatest classics to zones in certain areas in U ever be made such as Jaws, the Mummy, and E.T. And the rides for these This year, the scare zone th movies at Universal don’t disappoint either. House of Horror, while enwith different weapons we tertaining and satisfying on a boring Saturday night, is not even close to Halloween Horror Nights: Juniors Stephanie Castilscare zone. Another nice a HHN standards in terms of design. In this year’s Walking Dead house, lo, Melissa Gonzalez, Samantha Wong, Priscilla Cabus, Manasicha Wongpaiboon on a planned trip to go to of their rides running all n every detail was set perfectly into place. To fans of the popular series, the Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. P hoto for the visitors that just ne house was a chance to go through what Rick and the rest of the gang have

by R ebecca G onsalez Rocky Horror Picture Sho to go through as they fight off zombies. There were messages between Adventure. the main characters of the show written on blood on the wall, and rooms With all of these element where multiple zombies would run towards visitors at the same time. versal’s HHN is the place to be when adrenaline and a fun experie “The Walking Dead house was really scary because there were strobe lights that would blink and you couldn’t adventurers arrive home safely, they will still be watching their ba see anything! I was so scared I just ran through the whole house,” said senior Ashley Cristantiello. aliens waiting to make their final move.

And in the Aliens vs. Predators house, the aliens that jumped out from holes in the wall caused most of the

22

Charter’s favorite people

elcey Hernandez

Robert Garde

Photo by: Rebecca Gonsalez

Watson is my role model because n advocate for what she believes s an outspoken supporter of femnd I love her #HeforShe program. en though she didn’t need to go ge to support herself she did any-

Julie Ascunce

Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

Photo by: Aaliyah Pasols

“Stanley Kubric is my most influential celebrity because he directed the greatest movies ever, including my two favorite films. He did Clockwork Orange, The Shining, and 2001: A Space Odyssey.

He’s not as famous as others but I really like his work.”

e aliens looked just as terrifying and slimy as ks to Universal’s expert costume and setting

HN aces is Scare Factor. Sure, House of Horut HHN makes visitor’s hearts drop and their s house Halloween, a masked Michael Myers ut the house, jumping out with a huge knife wo other rooms, the masked Michael Myers man’s face with his knife, and then stabbing When visiting the houses at Halloween Horror feel like they are facing these monsters in real

Horror just to see how it is, but HHN is pretty crazy. There was this one house [Dollhouse oody and fat dolls everywhere popping out at ” said senior Emily Rangel. that earns HHN the trophy is the additional n between the houses, just so visitors don’t here’s scare zones. Scare zones are specified Universal that have monsters roaming around. heme was the Purge, so people wearing masks ere lurking behind the street corners in every addition are the rides. Universal keeps most night during HHN until the park closes. And eed a breather, shows are available such as ow and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween

ts combined where can one go wrong? Unience are much needed. And even when HHN ack; to make sure there aren’t any zombies or

“The tennis player Maria Sharapova has to be my most influential celebrity because she got a shoulder injury and everyone said she would never make it back, but she did. She got surgery and she worked hard and got back to number one.”

Juan Tellez

Photo by: Sydney Silverberg

“My role model would have to be Lana del Rey because she struggled a lot before gaining stardom. She managed to become an idol to America an essentially the world through her portrayal of misery, her successes despite her losses, and her bittersweet habits throughout. She takes Americana and brands us with its thematic freedom. Lana is my love and my guiding hand.”

Appeal, no deal, don’t let her sue Nicholas Rivera

I

Staff Writer

claims were similar to her book. With that said, however, t’s been almost a year since we’ve helped build our magical Tanikumi’s book does not feature some important elesnowman, Olaf, and saved Arendelle, but it seems as if Isabella ments that make up Frozen such as, but not limited to, a Tanikumi is having a tough time letting it go. The Peruvian autalking snowman and an ice queen. thor made claims last month that the cre“I find it funny that there are so ators of Frozen stole ideas from her memmany similarities between the auoirs, Living My Truth and Yearnings of the thor’s story and Frozen, but I think Heart. Based on these claims, Tanikumi is it’s just a coincidence. I don’t think suing Disney for 250 million dollars.

Disney would need to steal someone The release of Frozen, based loosely off else’s ideas because they are probaof the 1844 Hans Cristian Anderson novbly full of really creative ideas anyel The Snow Queen, blew away audiencway,” says junior Brandon English. es. The movie itself was so beloved that The Disney Company is not fazed it became the highest grossing animated by any of Tanikumi’s allegations. As film of all time, making over 1.2 billion a response to the lawsuit, a Disney dollars. This upset Isabella Tanikumi, who representative said: “This is beyond believed that the film was not based on The ridiculous, she needs to let it go.”

Snow Queen, but rather based on her own Their view is shared by much of the life. world, with many people leaving “In her situation I wouldn’t try to sue a comments all over the web, includmulti-million dollar company, but if I did I Frozen Sued?!: Frozen being compared to characters in meming on the review section of Tanikuwould do my research and I would look for oirs. Graphic by:: Katie Perez mi’s book on Amazon, ridiculing her a reasonable number to sue for. Not 250 for her accusations. million dollars. She probably just wants Despite all of the hostility towards her, Tanikumi is still the money and doesn’t care if they ‘stole’ her ideas,” says junior demanding a trial by jury. Even with this, the lawsuit will Camila Vasquez. not affect Disney’s plans to expand Frozen with plans Tanikumi’s autobiography came out in 2010, 3 years before the for an upcoming Broadway musical and a ride at Disney release of Frozen, and it does have a few significant similarities.

World. In time, maybe Tanikumi will forget about the For example, the life story of Tanikumi features two sisters, both lawsuit and realize that the past is in the past. owning horses, two suitors, named Hans and Cristoff, a snowy setting in the mountains, and a list of 15 other items that she

23

The Paperless Classroom Government pushes for iPad in each student’s hands Amanda Peralta Staff Writer

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the city of Los Angeles has started a $50 million plan to equip 30,000 students with iPads and paperless classrooms that may just be the new trend. As the use of tablets and laptops in school increase in popularity and the classic paper-and-writing classroom begins to grow out of style, schools might just be transitioning completely to technological devices. If a student walked into his classroom and saw an iPad that was just for his use, things would be changed forever.

As using electronics in school provides the educational environment with many modernized and contemporary ways of learning, most schools are beginning to lean towards this change. Although many schools have already slowly started transitioning from paper to electronics, the revolution is not planned to stop there; President Obama is pushing to have this transition happen in all schools across America.

As talks of a transition to a paperless classrooms arise, students, teachers and parents are excited yet somewhat concerned. Aside from saving paper and the long-term advantages that would greatly benefit the environment, there are many unanswered questions. Would the transition from paper to technology be too expensive? Would it do more harm than good? How exactly would it benefit students’ education? There are so many different questions related to the upcoming transition and many of them address major issues.

The transition to using computers and tablets could possibly help students who have difficulty keeping up in the classroom and slow down the rigorous material to a pace that helps them understand it better. Having an iPad, other tablets, or laptops in the classroom can captivate the attention of a student who struggles focusing with books. These contemporary advances in technology can also provide a more interesting way to learn, with interactive websites and programs that can help educate students on a wide range of levels and subjects.

The integration of electronic devices in school would allow teachers to grade or review their students’ assignments right away and help give them immediate feedback so they have better understanding of the things they are struggling with more quickly.

Having these devices accessible to students at all moments could help them explore new ways of learning. For example, some students who are primarily visual or auditory learners work and learn better while having a visual or auditory representation or model of what they are learning; electronic devices could easily provide students with these and

other new forms of learning environments.

However, even with all of the positives and pros, there are many cons to be overcome.

Having a tablet or laptop in the classroom can be a distraction to students and could give students more opportunities to cheat on assignments.

Integration of these devices could negatively alter the dated way of learning material in books. Containing so much technology in schools can also cause students to have more withdrawn personalities and not develop social skills very important to the real world.

They would not be playing on the playground during recess or having playdates, they would be playing games on their electronics. As kids grow up so close to their electronic devices they are giving up opportunities to make friends and make themselves sociable. Social media would become much more influential for teenagers being that they would have access to their accounts at all moments of the day, even the ones that they should be using for studying. Teenagers being on social media all day could cause their grades to drop and their chances of getting into college slim.

Many students think this change would be great and progressive towards the future. Junior Julie Acevedo uses an iPad to help her learn in school. “I use one in my AP Language class and I wish I had one in every class.”

Not only do students find that adding technology to classrooms will be a good improvement, but many faculty feel the same way. “I think it [the change from paper to technology] could be great, I’m definitely working towards that. Maybe someday we could make it happen, but there are many kinks that are needed to be work on so it is effective and not a distraction,” said Principal Peter Bayer.

Mr. Bayer is not the only one who thinks this; Advanced Placement Spanish teacher Leydis Mancini said “Yes, I think this would be a good idea because it could give more opportunities to the students to practice their Spanish. It would also give me the opportunity as a teacher to grade them in class.”

G raphic

by :

C armen P etterson

Mojang creeps its way into Microsoft Josiah Celestine Staff Writer

T he loading screen of your favorite computer game opens and you expect the

usual greeting of the game’s developer on your screen, however; what you see is the Microsoft logo. As of September 15, 2014, the popular game developer Mojang has agreed to become one with Microsoft.

Microsoft will take control of the popular game Minecraft, the third best-selling game of all time, according to blogthinkbig.com. The Mojang team, on the other hand, will get their hands on other huge franchises such as Halo, Forza, Fable, and more. Under the written agreement, Microsoft will acquire Mojang for an estimated $2.5 billion. Even though the two companies have become one, Microsoft G raphic by : M atthew P erez will not influence Mojang in many ways, even though they would like to add more features to the Xbox edition of Minecraft, Mojang’s most popular creation that is well-known around the world by all. Microsoft is trying to stay relevant in the current world, and they believe Mojang will keep them this way. They don’t want to make many changes to Mojang’s recipe for success, though.

Mojang’s greatest accomplishment is no doubt creating the open world game Minecraft, which is one of the most popular video games in history with more than 54 million downloads by players since its launch in 2009. Minecraft is the most successful PC game of all time, the most popular online game on Xbox, and the

24

top paid app for iOS and Android in the United States (maximumpc.com). The Minecraft community is among the most active and passionate in the industry, with more than 2 billion hours played on Xbox 360 alone in the past two years. Minecraft fans are also loyal, with nearly 90 percent of paid customers on the PC having signed in within the past 12 months, according to Microsoft.com.

Freshman Bergan Oudshoorn said, “I don’t think that Microsoft buying Mojang is such a good idea because Microsoft is already big enough, and Mojang doesn’t need any help in what they do.”

On the other hand, sophomore Bradley Villard said, “I think that the merging of these two companies will be amazing because they can only benefit each other, and I have personally been playing Minecraft for years, and I love the game. I am very excited for these two companies coming together.”

In the statement, Microsoft says it will in fact pay $2.5 billion for Stockholm-based Mojang and the studio’s Minecraft franchise. Microsoft says it expects the purchase to “break-even” in the company’s 2015 fiscal year, and that the purchase should be completed by the close of the 2014 term. Curiously, recently-crowned Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella — presumed early on to be mulling an Xbox division selloff — is front and center in Microsoft’s press statement, calling gaming “a top activity spanning devices, from PCs and consoles to tablets and mobile, with billions of hours spent each year,” said time.com.

Even though Microsoft has bought Minecraft, Mojang still has a large influence over the game, and they will do their best to keep the game the same way and not stray away from the successful formula that has made Minecraft the third best-selling game of all time. The two huge companies are looking forward and hoping to add to the success that they both have, and will keep on coming up with new ideas to keep gamers interested in their products. There can be only a positive outcome when two gaming giants come together, which is exactly what everyone is expecting.

What the hack?

Dare you to get an iPad Air

Sofia Gangotena

Hayley Hartwell

Staff Writer

Staff Writer

T echnology has always been viewed as valuable to our lives. Thanks to technology, we have cell phones, computers, and other gadgets inspired by movies of old, and overall so

many things that have progressively made lives more convenient over time. But has it always served us well? As technology improves, hackers have more resources to do the deed. As many financial accounts are now connected to online technology, hackers have never had an easier target. Hackers have many techniques, such as phishing (when hackers scam or trick consumers into giving passwords and other security information), to receive security information from consumers (www.combofix.com).

“Hackers come up with new ways to hack people, so as technology improves, hackers will continue to try to hack others,” said senior Emily Castellano From celebrities to your average everyday people, the range of hacking victims have absolutely no boundaries.

The most popular case of hacking incidents has been the release of celebrity nude photos posted to 4chan, which started in late August and has continued on from then.

Some celebrities took action and threatened to sue Google for $100 million. Hollywood attorney Marty Singer wrote a letter to Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin stating, “Because the victims are celebrities with valuable publicity rights you do nothing - nothing but collect millions of dollars in advertising revenue - as you seek to capitalize on this scandal rather than quash it” (Daily Mail).

Hackers bypassed Apple’s iCloud security and gained access to the photo libraries of several celebrities, which included photos of sexually explicit content.

Among the victims were actress Jennifer Lawrence, model Kate Upton, and most recently, the first male celebrity victim, former pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan.

In her interview for Vanity Fair, Lawrence commented on the hacking for the first time G raphic by : M atthew P erez since the event occurred.

She called the hacking a “sex crime and sexual violation.” Lawrence also said, “Anybody who looked at those pictures, you’re perpetuating a sexual offense. You should cower with shame.” After the interview was released, Apple took action and tightened their security. They changed their requirements and integrated the need for separate passwords for certain kinds of accounts that are accessed through iCloud (www.dailybeast.com).

Senior Sabrina Causing said, “People can do what they want, but I don’t think it’s right that someone went into a celebrity’s personal account and released something that wasn’t their choice to release.”

Hacking can happen to anyone. However, most students aren’t too worried. Senior Briana Cousins said, “I think that hacking is horrible, but I don’t think it will happen to me right now.” Unfortunately, that’s not always the case. By random, any customer or user of even the largest companies, websites, applications or software can have their accounts/ data hacked into.

For example, JPMorgan Chase, the largest bank in the nation, was hacked into in October. 76 million accounts and seven million small businesses were compromised (New York Times). Other victimized companies include Target and Home Depot. In 2013, when Target was hacked, 40 million customers were robbed of their credit and debit card information. Target said that to better the situation, they would provide customers with a free credit monitoring service and a telephone hotline (CNN). JPMorgan released a statement saying that they would limit the amount customers could withdraw from ATMs and send in stores. They also plan to spend $250 million on digital security annually (CNN).

As technology continues advances, hacking has massive capability to increase. Technology has come a long way since the bulky cell phones and typewriter, and it will continue.

Therefore, it’s important to remember to keep security information safe.

“I think security will eventually improve,” said junior Anthony Pacini. For now, we just have to be careful and adapt to the changing times.

A

s Apple products continue to get thinner and thinner, laser-slicing a pencil to a 6.1 mm thickness is how you could compare the size of the new iPad Air 2 to real world terms.

On October 16, 2014 Apple released its newest generation of products including the iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 (Apple.com). Junior Dylan Carter said, “I am really impressed with all the improvements made to the iPad Air 2, I hope I can get one in the upcoming months.”

The iPad Air 2 is powered by a different, faster processor similar to the iPhone 6’s processor along with a 2.5 times faster graphics performance and M8 coprocessor that allows the device to decipher between walking, running, cycling and measure elevation, distance and weather while using specific Applications such as iOS 8’s newly integrated ‘Health’ app. However, despite all of these improvements, the battery life remains the similar at a span of 10 hours for both devices.

The iPad Air 2 also features the ‘TouchID’ system that was first introduced to iOS with the release of the iPhone 5s. This feature allows users to grant access to secure apps, make purchases from the iTunes store, direct purchases in apps with Apple Pay, and of course unlock your device by placing your finger on the home button.

If consumers hesitated to purchase an iPad before because of the significantly lower camera quality in comparison to the iPhone, that is no longer an issue with the new iPad Air 2. According to valuewalk.com, the new Air has the same 8-megapixel camera that the iPhone 6 has and both the iPad Air and Mini can film in slow motion, shoot selfies in burst mode, and take panoramic photos.

“I just got the new iPhone 6 and I love it. I previously had the iPhone 4, so this a huge improvement and difference for me. My mom does plan on Next Generation iPads: The brand getting the iPad Air 2 because she new iPads from Apple are sure to impress likes to use it for work and now that it with their new features that separate them has a faster processor and is more like from previous devices. P hoto by : S ydney S ilverberg an iPhone rather than the previous iPads, it seems like an even better idea,” said senior Jeannie Hurtado.

Apple.com reported, both iPad Airs’ are very similar and only differ in minute qualities but the new iPad Air 2 is $100 more expensive than the first iPad Air due to its very recent release. If you are more into the photography side to the iPad and tend to run more demanding applications, then getting the newer iPad Air would be the smarter choice. Apple has out done itself with the new addition to the iPad family, accomplishing a thinness, speed, and crystal clear photo quality that they’ve never been able to reach before.

25

Taste the magic at Voo Doo BBQ and Grill Melissa Pierce

Student Life Editor

A

mysterious aroma floats into one’s nose; it’s pleasant and almost familiar. One more deep breathe in and then comes the realization—you feel like you’re on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. You snap back into reality for split second, just in time to take the menu from the waitress and delve into the numerous combinations of Louisiana style food.

In my case, I brought a tough crowd of six people to put the New Orleans cuisine to the test. Upon pulling into the parking lot, finding a spot took quite some time. However, since Voo Doo BBQ and Grill is located in Pembroke Commons (along Pines Boulevard and Hiatus Road), I know that parking is sparse as it is.

The menu was quite impressive, trying to include as many Louisiana dishes as possible— Po-boy sandwiches, Bur-Gahs, Jumbo Shrimp, BBQ Jambalaya, Ribs, Gumbo.

The festive, Mardi Gras style of the restaurant was eminent down to the font on the menu. Considering that we were making a take-out order, I decided to take a look at the Voo Doo BBQ and Grill website (www.voodoobbqandgrill.com). I was pleasantly surprised to see that their website was true to the Mardi Gras theme; the information was correct on every page and their online menu matched that of the restaurant menu.

The service was worth commending as well. We were greeted upon entering the establishment and readily served once we decided what we wanted to order. Now, down to the nitty gritty details of what we ordered. Our dinner on the night of Saturday, October 18th consisted of corn pudding, sweet potato soufflé, smoked chicken breast, and a rack and a half of ribs. The corn pudding was heavenly. Imagine the best cornbread you have

ever tasted, now take that, crumble it up and mash it together. Everyone in the group thoroughly enjoyed the corn pudding. I thought something couldn’t taste better than the pudding, but the sweet potato soufflé put it to shame. The steamy potatoes were the perfect consistency and were seasoned to the T. I could pick out certain delectable flavors as I chowed down: brown sugar, cinnamon, and other spices. The smoked chicken breast was perfectly seasoned with an appropriate amount of salt and black pepper.

It was cut into even, sizeable slices that were soft and a good kind of chewy. Last but certainly not least are the ribs. The meat of the ribs just seemed to effortlessly pull off the bone, and the BBQ sauce that covered the ribs must have really been a product of Voo Doo; it was just that magical.

The best part of our experience at Voo Doo BBQ and Grill came in the form of a surprise towards the end of our order. The manager at the Pembroke Commons location, Edward, informed us that he kindly included six beignets with our order for free. The beignets are new to Voo Doo BBQ and Grill’s menu, so the manager gave them to us so that we could try them out. The fact that he didn’t even know us and he randomly gave us dessert is amazing and magnanimous in itself. The beignets were scrumptious; the dessert was a fried pastry covered with powdered sugar. It captured the festiveness of New Orleans and the Mardi Gras theme.

The Louisiana style restaurant Voo Doo BBQ and Grill never failed to impress me.

From the kind and attentive service to the truly magical food, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back. This place gets my personal stamp of approval and a five-star rating.

VooDoo BBQ & Grill: The well-decorated VooDoo BBQ and Grill offers a variety of famous Louisiana style dishes. Photo By: Peter Dourvetakis

Jaguars leave their paw-prints on the Breast Cancer walk David Cha-Kim Technology Editor

M

aking Strides Against Breast Cancer (MSABC) is the largest organization of breast cancer events in the country and unites millions of survivors, supporters, and volunteers from over 300 communities in the US to all fight for the same incredible cause. Each walk/ other event is held to honor those who have previously battled breast cancer, raise awareness about breast cancer as a whole, and inform those who don’t know of what we can do to reduce the risk of breast cancer. Money raised from the events to the American Cancer Society to help them fight the disease with further research, medical services, and giving women who can’t afford access to treatment/mammograms they deserve.

Over 30 of PPCHS’s students volunteered at the MSABC walk at Huizenga park in Fort Lauderdale on October 11th, helping survivors and other participants by cheering them on as they walked, providing them with help/information, assisting them at food/water stations, and helping the organization set up before the walk and clean up afterwards.

“It was so rewarding to see all of the students work for such a good cause,” said Ms. Santiago, who has been organizing the student volunteers at the MSABC walk for the past five years. “My mother was a patient of breast cancer and the walk always inspires me each year.”

26

Photo By: Peter Dourvetakis

Guilty Pleasure: Junk Food Autumn Pough Staff Writer

M

onsters roam the streets at night, looking for the next house to approach. Bag in one hand, and the other one knocking on the door, the monsters await for what lies behind it. As the door slowly opens, the monsters yell “Trick or Treat!” This is Halloween - a time when children dress up under sheets with cut out holes pretending to be ghosts or little monsters timidly knock on your door. This spooky holiday is approaching which means junk food intake is skyrocketing. Snickers, Hershey Chocolate, and Paydays are just a few types of candy that have a long list of unhealthy elements.

Everyone has a treat or snack that is undeniable, but do they know what they are eating, health wise? Many candies and sweets have indirect consequences and there are many dangers to them.

Oh Henry!, Skittles, 3 Musketeers, Baby Ruth, and Smarties are this Halloween’s top five worst candy, health wise (livestrong.com). Nestles’ Smarties coming in at number five, has 37 grams of sugar which is not good for your teeth and Baby Ruth at 4th consists of 270 calories, 27 grams of sugar, and 13 grams of fat. 3 Musketeers is the third worst candy. It has approximately 40 grams of sugar and is equivalent to four Krispy Kreme Donuts. Coming in at 2, Skittles contains 43 grams of sugar, which is almost as much as an entire cup of Ben and Jerry’s Chocolate Chip Dough ice cream. First on the list, Oh Henry!, has more calories than a Chargrilled Chicken Sandwich. This treat is 320 calories and it is loaded with 29 grams of sugar and 17 grams of fat.

“I enjoy skittles and I eat them all the time, but I do realize that they are bad for me.

I think if you spread out your junk intake, then you won’t have long term side effects from it,” said Sophomore Kaylee Arrojo.

Candy can be dangerous to a person’s health if not moderated. According to EHow, the number one culprit of negative effects caused by candy and sweets is sugar. Sugar affects your body on many levels. An increase of blood sugar causes the production of adrenaline which can lead to hyperactivity, anxiety, and a loss of concentration. Sugar increases cholesterol and may decrease good cholesterol levels. This can lead to a risk of a heart attack or heart disease. Remaining in a person’s mouth after the candy has already made it to their stomach is one of the many downfalls of sugar. When mixed with Saliva, sugar becomes acidic and can coat the enamel of your teeth. This can result in tooth decay or gum disease.

There is a huge misconception about candy causing obesity. Candy itself will not cause

obesity, but excessively consuming candy can lead to uncontrollable weight gain. Fatty foods can contribute more to obesity than sugar foods because fatty foods have twice as many calories of sugary foods per given amount. Placement of foods in prominent locations increases the rate at which they’re purchased, purchase leads to consumption, and consumption of foods high in sugar, fat, and salt increases the risks of chronic diseases (www.nejm.org). According to Medline Plus, Children see up to 10,000 food commercials every year. Most of these are for candy, fast food, soft drinks, and sugared cereals. More foods today are processed and high in fat and contain too much sugar.

Vending machines and convenience stores make it easy to get a quick snack, but they rarely sell healthy foods. Overeating is a habit that is reinforced by restaurants that advertise high-calorie foods and large portion sizes.

“I don’t think people consider what they are eating until after they have consumed it or sometimes not at all. Some of these treats are delicious, but it’s not worth the risk of all the affects,” said Junior Amanda Arechavaleta.

There are ways to make healthy candy or refrain from tons of sugar this Halloween.

According to Reader’s Digest, seven healthy candies to eat this Halloween includes: 3 Musketeers Minis, York Peppermint Patties, Peeps, Tootsie Rolls, Peanut M&M’s, Jolly Ranchers, and Charms Blow pops. For example, one fun size bar contains 63 calories, 2 grams of fat, and 11 grams sugar instead of chocolate bars filled with caramel or peanuts.

According to the children health network, there are many myths about sugar. Candy does not cause cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. It might indirectly lead up to possible effects or may contribute to certain elements, but it does not directly cause them. The term junk food has led to confusion in our country. Some people consider any kind of sweet of desert to be junk food. People claim that these foods lack nutritional value.

Eating sweets in moderation is not harmful.

People do not need to avoid all unhealthy junk food to stay healthy. The best way to maintain nutritional wellness is to eat nutritious foods, but allow some wiggle room to have a snack here or there. Changing portion sizes, ingredients, and eating habits, can change a junk food diet into a healthy one; so this Halloween try to think about what you are consuming because not all snacks are “something good to eat.”

Junk Food: This Halloween, students should watch out for candy that is full of sugar and fats. Photo By: Ryan Corona

Photo By: Ryan Corona

27

Charlie Crist and Rick Scott’s views Aaliyah pasols & Looghermine Claude

This year’s political race for Florida governor is looking like a pretty close call. Former governor (2007-2011) Charlie Crist and present governor (2011-present) Rick Scott are going head to head to come out on top as Florida’s overseer. The debates have had some pretty hot moments so far, including a dispute over a fan onstage. Rick Scott refused to particFeatures Editor & News Editor

ipate in one debate after noticing that Crist had an electronic fan onstage because he saw it as a “violation of the debate’s rules” (CNN). Despite this weird #fangate by Rick Scott, the race goes on. But who are these two candidates? And why are they neck to neck in this debate?

EDUCATION

Charlie Crist

Charlie Crist’s plan for education in Florida is to better the teachers in the districts. He believes that teachers need better materials in order to influence students better. He plans to raise teacher salary, and to have computer programming/coding considered a foreign language credit. In addition to this, he will help to reassure corporations that they will receive the same tax incentives for investing in public schools as they do for private schools.

WOMEN’S RIGHTS Crist is a strong supporter of women’s rights. While governor back in 2007, he vetoed 1.5 million from the state’s budget for rape prevention crisis. He also supports equal pay in the workplace, and is a proud supporter of the Violence Against Women Act.

EQUALITY Crist has said that he will fight for LGBT marriage equality in Florida. He used to be against gay marriage but changed his views in May 2013 (HuffingtonPost). He also looks to pass employment non-discrimination laws so that everyone has equal opportunity in the workplace.

ECONOMY Crist will focus on helping Florida students’ futures. He plans to make college more affordable. He also hopes to reverse Rick Scott’s cuts to the Bright Futures Scholarship Program to give students a chance to receive more money and aid for college. Concerning another economy issues, he hopes to build more roads, bridges and tri-rails to unclog roads and make Florida transportation more accessible.

“I don’t particularly 100% agree with Scott or Crist, but I support Charlie Crist’s plans for the economy, and for education. His plan to make college more affordable and increase the money given in the Bright Futures scholarship are good ways to look out for students and that’s something that currently needs to be done,” said senior R.J. Reyes.

ENVIRONMENT Crist wants to emphasize the safety of the Everglades as governor. He plans to stop Governor Scott’s plan to “continue to allow polluted runoff from Lake Okeechobee into the rivers on the east and west coasts of Florida.”

He is also strongly against off-shore/near-shore drilling off the coasts of Florida and says he will “never allow it.” *All information from Charlie Crist’s campaign website: http://www.charliecrist.com/ policy *

28

EDUCATION

Rick Scott

In the past, Rick Scott has opposed any tuition increases and signed a budget that raised the requirements for Bright Futures scholarships for 26,000 students. He also cut $300 million from the higher education budget his second year (miamiherald.com). Now Scott wants to make Florida #1 in multiple categories including student performance and graduation rates. He also plans on proposing a plan to increase school safety by $10 million and creating a Math Counts Initiative for another $10 million to help students struggling in math (rickscottforflorida.com).

WOMEN’S RIGHTS Rick Scott opposes federal abortion funding (ontheissues.org). On the subject of contraceptives, Scott doesn’t agree or disagree with providing contraceptives, but Scott doesn’t believe in forcing companies to provide birth control to their employers, (politifact.com).

“I am opposed to Rick Scott’s view on contraceptives because I believe that businesses should be responsible in providing contraceptives to their female employees because it allows for a comprehensive health care plan that lets women to choose if they want to have children or not and still stay in the workplace,” says junior Nicole Fairfoot.

EQUALITY In August 2010, Rick Scott “support[ed] amendment to prevent same sex marriage,” that was part of the Christian Coalition survey question on banning same-sex marriage (ontheissues.org). Now, Scott says he will go along with whatever the court decided on gay marriage (tampabay.com)

ECONOMY Back in November 2010, Rick Scott created the 777 economic plan to use a 7-step plan to create 700,000 jobs in 7 years. The plan was to cut “government spending, eliminate state regulation, reduce property taxes for homeowners and phase out the state’s business income tax,” (politifact.com). Now Scott wants to continue to support STEM initiatives and facilities at higher education institutions as well as permanently eliminate the manufacturing sales tax (rickscottforflorida.com).

ENVIRONMENT Scott believes that “a stable regulatory environment is key…a free market should drive the diversification on [Florida’s] energy portfolio…and that environmental policy should be based and driven by sound science, not politics,” (ontheissues.org).

G raphic

by :

M atthew P erez

Charter Educates on the Nobel Prize

Weekend Reviews

Managing Editor - Web

Staff Writer

Taylor Horan

P

atrick Modiano, Jean Tirole, Shuji Nakamura, and Malala Yousafzai: four individuals that changed the world and four of the recipients for Nobel Prizes for the year of 2014. This year, there were a total of 12 winners in six categories (nobelprize.org). The ceremonies that will recognize the winners will occur December 10th, 2014, and every Nobel Prize, with the exception of the Nobel Peace Prize, will be presented in Stockholm, Sweden (nobelprize.org). The Nobel Peace Prize will be presented in Oslo, Norway. While PPCHS will not be present at the Nobel Prize ceremonies, the Nobel Prize has seamlessly made its way into the curriculum through several courses.

Mr. Perdomo, Physics I and Physics I Honors teacher, included the history of the Nobel Prize and information on the winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics in his curriculum. He showed a video to all his classes that explained the history of the Nobel Prize and who Alfred Nobel was. After showing that video, he showed a video that demonstrated what the three recipients of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, discovered in order to win the prize. They received the prize “for the invention of efficient blue light-emitting diodes which has enabled bright and energy-saving white light sources,” (nobel-

prize.org).

Junior Jana Ambre said, “When Mr. Perdomo taught about the Nobel Prize, I felt

G raphic

by :

Matthew P erez

that it was interesting. He contrasted different points and how he interpreted the Nobel Prize. He talked about the bias of the prize, but also, what was positive of having the Nobel Prize.”

When AICE General Paper AS summer work was assigned, I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban had only been available for a couple of months. Still, the book was one of several biographies students had the choice of reading and completing as summer work. Now, Malala Yousafzai,

the author, is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize at the age of 17 (nobelprize.org). She won this year’s Nobel Peace Prize along with Kailash Satyarthi (nobleprize.org).

Sophomore Shreeya Singh chose to read I am Malala and complete one of her summer reading assignment on the Nobel Peace Prize winner. She is really pleased with her choice to read this book as she felt it was “nothing like what I expected from a school reading list.” “I definitely believe she deserves it,” said Singh. “I mean she’s done so much not only for Pakistan but, women and their education on a global scale. There were many other deserving nominees but I think her young age and perseverance was really the most astounding.”

The Nobel Prize awards within the categories of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, peace, and economic sciences (nobelprize.org). The Nobel Prizes continues to inspire students in these subject matters. Perhaps, a PPCHS student may win a Nobel Prize one day and be inspiring another student one day. For now, students are able to learn more about the Nobel Prizes and create new real-world connections through several subjects, such as Physics and English.

Are we still #BringingBackOurGirls?

Shakayla Lee

F

Clubs and Electives Editor

or those who have forgotten, on April 15 in Northern Nigeria, 223 girls were abducted by an extremist Muslim group called Boko Haram. With a name that translates to “Western education is a sin”, the group rushed into a girl’s boarding school, set the school on fire, and “herded several hundred terrified girls into the vehicles—and drove off and vanished” (nytimes.com). Once upon a time, Twitter was flooded with the concerned tweets from millions of people worldwide expressing their hope for the return of the missing girls by displaying the ever-popular viral hashtag: “#BringOurGirlsBack”. Even Hollywood’s most influential stars took to social media, from philanthropist Angelina Jolie, education activist Malala Yousafzai, and even First Lady, Michelle Obama.

Naturally, the abduction sparked several demonstrations across Nigeria and trickled all over the world, in hopes of stopping Boko Haram; its leader Abubakar Shekau; and his plan to “sell the girls off as bush wives” (www.telegraph.co.uk). However, six months later it seems as though coverage of the still missing girls have come to a slow halt and the world has moved on.

Yet, the question remains: ‘Are we still bringing back our girls?’

According to cnn.com, the groups ideals opposes the education of women due to their belief of “Sharia Law” that states: “women should be at home raising children and looking after their husbands, not at school learning to read and write” “Even though I didn’t forget about the incident, just because it’s not constantly on my mind, I do feel that updates on the story have died down. I wish more people still cared because it’s a story that should definitely be more prevalent in the news mainly because we’re not really sure of what is happening to these girls,” said

senior Alyssa Rogers.

Beginning in May of 2013 the leader, Abubakar Shekau, announced in a video his new mission to eradicate the idea of education among women in Nigeria. His actions he stated “were retaliation for Nigerian security forces nabbing the wives and children of group members” and those kidnapped “would begin a new life as a servant” (cnn.com). The horrors that the girls must endure include replacing the “role of wives” from those left behind are forced to “perform chores and sexual services”.

“I feel that there’s not enough being done to find these girls.

Whether it be action from our government or another country, or Nigeria itself I think there needs to be another step taken to save these girls,” said senior Bryant Hall.

Although the social media’s coverage of the kidnapping has died down, protesting still G raphic by : K atie P erez reigns prominent in Nigeria and even in other parts of the world.

The Nigerian government and international donors “are starting an initiative to protect students from future militant attacks” (huffingtonpost.com), and in order to finally put an end to the actions of Boko Haram, U.S. and British hostage negotiators and special intelligence teams have reached out to help their “Nigerian counterparts”. The U.S. has also issued drones to fly over Northern Nigeria and scan the vast land for the possible hideout of the extremist group.

Although there are those skeptical of the possibility of the return of the kidnapped Nigerian Girls, millions worldwide are holding on to hope. Helpless to the information given by the media and actions taken by government authority, the public’s answer to “What happens next?” is simple- the waiting game.

Autumn Pough

Washington School Shooting O n Friday, October 24, 2014 a teenage gunman opened fire at students in a high school cafeteria in Washington State.

Jaylen Fryberg, who witnesses said shot students at Marysville-Pilchuck High School, is the cousin of two of the wounded and best friends of the others. Two students are dead and four are injured. The gunman might have had more victims if Megan Silberberger, a teacher at the high school, hadn’t secured the shooter. Andrew Fryberg, 15, is in critical condition, and Nate Hatch, 14, is in serious condition at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Both Nate and Andrew were cousins of Fryberg. Two other victims, Zoe Galasso and Gia Soriano, were pronounced dead.

After the shooting, the gunman turned the gun on himself. (cnn.com).

Canadian shooting: What we know A day after a gunman killed an army reservist in Ottawa Canada, many ques-

tions still haven’t been answered. The attack took place on Wednesday, October 22nd. The shooter was born as Michael Joseph Hall in Canada in 1982. Authorities said he changed his name to Michael Zehaf-Bibeau. Authorities don’t know whether the shooter was connected to any terrorist groups such as ISIS, but they do know that the gunman acted alone. Officers do not know why the gunman targeted Nanthan Cirillo. Kevin Vickers, sergeantat-arms of Canada’s House of Commons, is credited with bringing down the gunman.

Serial Killer Suspect T he man suspected of murdering seven women in Indiana said that his crime spree

took place two decades ago. Darren Deon Vann, age 43, helped authorities locate seven bodies after he was arrested for murdering 19-year old Afrikka Hardy. Hardy’s body was found at a Motel 6 in Hammond (abcnews.go.com).

Same Sex weddings A city threatened to arrest ministers who refused to perform same sex weddings in

a Coeur d’Alene, Idaho chapel. Two ministers were told that they either had to perform same-sex weddings or face up to a 1,000 dollar fine and a lawsuit (fox.news).

E xplosion kills 5 people near bus station in Nigeria A n explosion at a bus stop in northern Nigeria left five people dead and 12 others

injured. The blast occurred in Azare town in Bauchi state on Wednesday night. A man left a bag filled with explosives outside a bus station in the town. Authorities are still investigating the matter (cnn.com).

29