Septemberissue2

rimson Crier C

The

Sparkman High School | 2616 Jeff Road | Harvest, Ala. 35749 | Phone: (256)837-0331 | Fax: (256)837-7673 | www.crimsoncriernews.com|

Thursday, Sept. 21 2017, Issue 1

behind the Identity theft can be real threat for teens

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Kaylyn Jones Editor

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dentity theft is one of those things that people continuously warn others about, yet goes ignored because the thought of it happening to them is merely impossible.

Senior Ania Stover went months without noticing that an outside source compromised her debit card, using it to purchase online orders and a network subscription. Stover learned about these strange transactions from her bank account through automatic updates that alert when money withdrawn from the account.

“I went to the gas station and when I was given my update, the account balance looked off. When I went home, I checked online and there was a purchase from Amazon for $106 and then another for $40,” Stover said.

A little confused, Stover immediately began pondering her online shopping practices and whether or not her card was compromised by someone she knew.

“I wanted to hurry up and shut my account down before they took anything else. They had a subscription to STARZ that I’d confused with my own before realizing I had canceled it two months prior to finding out my

Identity theft

continued on pg. 2 Are you actively doing anything to protect your identity?

Do you ever feel you could be a victim of identity theft?

Yes 33%

card was compromised. The subscription was traced back to seven months ago,” Stover said.

Rushing to her bank, Stover withdrew as much money as she would need for the next week to avoid giving them another possibility of stealing more.

“I ended up calling the bank to inform them on what had been happening with my account. They tracked the transactions, and canceled my card.

They’re working on sending me a new one and getting me my money back,” Stover said.

Local financial institutions work in numerous ways to help protect and prevent identity theft. Of course, nothing will ever be foolproof so recovery assistance is provided as well. From seminars to literature, financial institutions do anything and everything they can to provide educational service on identity theft to their members.

“Our first big method in prevention of identity theft is education. Of course where most financial institutions kick in is on the flip side of things, not necessarily cleaning up the mess, but helping members recover after it happened,” financial institute employee Tim Quaife said. “We file disputes, we work with law enforcement, we just in general try to make sure the members of a bank can put their lives back together afterwards. Education on the forefront and disaster recovery on the flip side are our big roles there.”

There are two levels of identity theft: the credit or debit card compromises and the complete stealing of someone’s identity. The majority of the time, a filing of a police report is required when an identity becomes stolen, but credit or debit card compromises are slightly easier to handle. A few weeks at most passes by for recovery of compromises, but complete stealing can take up to years.

“I’ve dealt with several victims of identity theft.

On average, we see identity theft a few times a week.

It depends on what’s going on in the world. Every now and then, a major company will have a compromise of their data systems that retain the numbers and that in turn affects everyone who shopped there. When those sort of things happen, we see five

Yes 34%

No 67%

No 66%

School applies for National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence Andrew Atchley Editor

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he school has been selected to go through the process to become a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence. We will start the process in October of the 2017-18 school year.

Being named a National Blue Ribbon School of Excellence is considered to be the highest honor that can be bestowed upon an American school. The National Blue Ribbon Schools program was created in 1982 to fight mediocrity in schools by rewarding excellence. This award is given to recognize schools that excel in academic performance or that have made significant inroads at aiding people from disadvantaged backgrounds. “[What the Blue Ribbon Schools program looks for] is a combination of academic achievement based on AP scores, the number of college-bound students, quality of extracurricular programs, fine arts, bands, sports, etc. It’s a culmination of everything you find in a very well-rounded high school,” Principal Chris Shaw said. “You take those three areas: extracurriculars and fine arts, academics and athletics. We do very well in everything.”

Committee members from the Blue Ribbon School program visited the school last year to scout out the qualities of our school. When the committee members visit again in October, they will be here to analyze what the school is doing well and what it needs to improve on. They will conduct surveys,

needs assessments, and watch how teachers perform in a class-setting. After that, they will give us a list of what we need to do next to become a Blue Ribbon School.

“You’ll notice the committee, they’ll do walkthroughs and school tours, observing best practices and watching our teachers do what they do best,” Shaw said. “They’ll take that info and give us a list of the next steps we would need to do to become a Blue Ribbon School.”

Shaw feels that the school, in recent years, has been an excellent school. However, he feels that fact has only been publicized recently. Whether it be within the state of Alabama, or in national news outlets, the school has recently received recognition for its positive attributes in academics, sports and clubs. For instance, the school has been in the top 20 schools in the US News & World Report for the last two years, the only county school in the list.

The school’s students also have good outlooks for college, with the school being listed in the top 20 schools for college and career readiness and consistently performing well in AP exams.

“A lot of the things we’re doing very well are becoming more publicized through local media and mainstream media,” Shaw said. “The perception [of Sparkman High School] is really positive and that is attributed to the Sparkman community.”

Teacher Renee Quaife is thrilled to see the school being selected to go through the process to become a

Brewer takes on head baseball coach position From assisant coach to head coach great things are to come Read more on

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Blue Ribbon School. She feels that the hard work of students and the guidance of passionate teachers in the school’s many nationally-recognized programs, such as the Band, Engineering and Journalism programs, contribute to making the school such a good school.

“There are teachers that come early, teachers that stay late and teachers that sponsor clubs,” Quaife said. “They give up time, energy and resources.

Their love and their passion for this school, their students and their students’ academic future is hands down what makes Sparkman such a great school.”

While we are not a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence yet, the fact that we have been selected in itself is something to be proud of. The hard work of students and staff in striving for excellence every day is what made becoming a Blue Ribbon School possible.

We have made excellence a tradition, and that has paid off for our school’s reputation.

“I think this is something to be proud of as we go through the process,” Shaw said. “It’s something that you can stick your chest out about. Because we’re here on a day-to-day basis, we lose sight of just how good our school really is,” Shaw said.

“There may be higher expectations for our school if we become a Blue Ribbon School of Excellence, but I have no doubt that our students and staff will have no problem rising to meet those expectations.”

News 2-3 A Opinion 4-5 Look Lifestyles 6-7 Inside

A&E 12 Sports 8-9 In-depth 10-11

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Sept. 21, 2017

NEWS

Hispanic heritage month develops connection Claudia Martinez Reporter

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Can’t stop the beat. While performing, band members present a new musical piece at the game. The band introduced a different type of show this season to get the crowd more involved. Photo by Emerald Everhart

Band discusses new shows, dedicating their time to perfecting what they know best Jordan Waldrop Reporter

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he 2017 marching and competition bands are looking forward to their new shows for this season. The shows are set to be action-packed, yet with a dark side.

Head band director David Raney says the goal is to make the show interesting for audiences and complex enough to win their competitions. The theme for this competition band is “Demon Barber,” based on the movie and Broadway play of the same name. The plot of the play follows the life of a London barber who, after returning home from Australia for a crime he did not commit, becomes a madman who applies his razor to unlucky customers.

“The songs come out of the movie which gives us a dark feel to the show,” Raney said.

Senior Rebecca Brown says that band members did not listen to the music before the show, but they have accomplished more up to this point than in previous years.

“We’ve never had this much done in August, so we should get higher scores at competition,” Brown said. “The theme is going to be driven home with our new uniforms which are a dark red like blood.”

The directors decided to make the show theme “Mars Mashup” for the marching band performance.

Raney says that since the band has played at least

one Bruno Mars’ song, he thought an entire show on Bruno Mars would be an excellent fit for the band.

“The show is fun and energetic. We are going to learn some dance moves because everyone liked us dancing last year,” Brown said. “It’s more modern music and is good for the audience.”

The marching band consists of 264 members which directors say helps with the projection of sound. The shows may be shorter than shows in the past, but they still require hours of work. The members push themselves daily to perfect the show.

Both shows take a lot of endurance to complete. The band here is definitely up to the task.

“Raney pushes us to our limits daily,” junior Josiah Mcbee said. “We always want to make him proud and notice our hard work. That is my drive to be in this program.”

When a band attends a competition, they are judged on marching, playing ability and how good their show is. The band will participate in three competitions this year: the Contest of Champions at Jacksonville State, the Contest of Champions at Middle Tennessee State University and the Northeast Alabama Marching Invitational at Albertville High School. The first competition is Oct. 14.

“Our work ethic and determination makes us a great band,” Mcbee said.

ince 1968, the United States has observed Hispanic heritage in September It is a time where the young ones hear the stories of the battles that once took place in history. Though there are countless tragedies in Hispanic history such as when the Spanish conquered the Aztecs through disease and bloody warfare. The los ninos héroes story stands out the most.

“It was battle that is told to young kids to teach them the bravery that kids their age had. And bravery we could have. It started in Chapultepec when the General Bravo, decided to retreat. But six cadets decided that they would climb to the to the top of castle and fight. Juan Escutia, one the six cadets wrapped himself in Mexico’s flag and jumped off the castle before the enemies could ever get it.” Roberto Perez said.

From Sept. 15 to Oct. 15, Hispanics celebrate their independence.

Senior Ricardo Rodriguez—who moved to Alabama in the ninth grade— remembers celebrating independence on Sept.

15 in his home country of Mexico.

“I would go downtown to see the fireworks. It's like a

big party. We go to the puestos de elotes eat tacos and Mariachi bands play and the governor would be there,” Rodriguez said.

Each state in Mexico has its own values and customs. Junior Roberto Perez’s experiences of celebrating Mexico's independence are different from Rodriguez’s celebration.

It is a time where the natives can feel like they are their own people and that they fought for the right for independence.

“Every household is different. We all come from the same place but each state is different.

Different dialects, food and customs. But we all take honor from where we come,” Perez said.

Without major celebrations in the Huntsville area, most Hispanic families celebrate by gathering with family, making traditional dishes and watching the parades live on television. The Hispanic television networks broadcast the parades from all parts of Mexico.

“We'll always there for each other no matter what. It's like an unspoken rule between all of us. When the whole world is against us we got each other because we come from the same background and same stories.” Perez said.

Students, faculty call for more efficient communication Alle Roper Reporter

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ith a student body of over 1,800, it can often be a chore for counselors and administration to communicate important information to students.

Currently, most announcements are made through morning announcements, the school website, school televisions and the PTO’s Facebook page.

Announcements are updated daily, and the Facebook page includes information on fundraisers, wins and other congratulatory material.

Although the knowledge is out there, students are still missing much-needed information.

“I hear the announcements in the morning but other than

Identity Theft

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and that in turn affects everyone who shopped there. When those sort of things happen, we see five or six different people walking in with compromises,” Quaife said. “More thorough ones where they have your social and have applied for loans, or even cases of stealing a driver license and altering it, those can take years to recover.

Your credit is ruined then.”

Any action that can be taken to prevent personal information

that I was not aware of the other ways to get announcements,” senior Emma Kirkland said.

“You usually have to get information through word of mouth.

I know that’s how I found out about senior portrait appointments.”

As a senior, Kirkland feels that communication could be improved, especially for senior deadlines and scholarship opportunities. She feels that some students are falling through the cracks because they do not hear that they need to check a list or something similar. “ I think they should compile a list of everything we need to get done as a seniors, including things for scholarships and not just graduation items,”

Kirkland said. “It’s okay to put this on the website, but it needs to be clearly known that we need to go there.”

Principal Chris Shaw purchased televisions for the purpose of communication last year and more students are beginning to notice the announcements posted on them.

Kirkland likes the idea of the televisions but thinks they could be more flashy so students would notice them.

“They are large enough,” Kirkland said.

“The announcements are usually in black and white and those colors are everywhere.”

After being hired in late July, counselor Timothy Van Dorn experienced the turmoil of having to communicate schedule

changes to students. He is currently developing a strategy to get to know each student more.

“I would like to improve my friendships with students instead of getting right down to business,” Van Dorn said. “I would like to get to know the students more deeply in communication.”

Student Government President Grant Whitt deals with Shaw and other administrators often in his role as student government president. For him, faceto-face communication works better and he encourages more students to do so.

“Talking to the staff is great,” Whitt said. “I feel good about talking to them and creating friendly relationships.”

from being accessed by untrusted sources should be pursued. It is almost like a person leaving their front door open.

“Anything you can do to slow someone down can work in your favor. Always keep a password so it’s easier to prosecute someone for identity theft. Not having firewalls on your computer, giving your number out to untrusted sources is not good,” Quaife said.

“One of the major things we tell our members is to not give their information to anyone they don’t know.”

With the progress

and success of furthering technology developments, even more dangerous outlets for identity theft have been unintentionally created. Being a double edged sword, social media and the internet has made teenagers a target because there is a line of sharing too much information that is ignored. The internet is an easy door for thieves.

“Privacy settings, those can get hacked and anything could be shared. Unfortunately, you do have to give personal information up because that’s what they require to open the account. Putting the barest minimum of

what they need into the account is probably the safest way to protect yourself,” Quaife said.

“The only other way to protect yourself, in social media means, is to disconnect and there are people out there who do participate in that.

It’s not right or wrong, it’s their choice to ‘live off the grid’ like that to protect information. In the financial world, we see people just using cash because they don’t want their debit card compromised and there’s a risk of that every time you use it.,” Quaife said.

Along with adolescents being a susceptible group, the elderly may

NEWS

The Crimson Crier

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Drama adds shows to annual performance schedule Melanie Wilkins Reporter

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his year, the theatre program will perform five shows. In the past the theatre department performed one large musical in the spring and an occasional Christmas play but this year they are doing more performances.

The students will present five shows.

Theatre teacher Terry Harbison feels the students have so much talent to offer that it cannot all be showcased through just one or two shows. They will be performing a zombie double feature which will consist of two short 30 minute plays, “It’s a Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play,” “The Addams Family Musical” and

“Sympathy Jones: The New Secret Agent Musical.”

“I have students that are great actors that can’t necessarily sing or dance, so I wanted to do some [non-musical] plays,” Harbison said.

Although there are more opportunities to highlight talent this year, that does not mean the pressure is off.

Harbinson is looking for the best of the best and not just talent wise.

“The thing I look for more than anything is attitude, beyond that I want folks with a great work ethic. The third thing I look for is talent,” Harbinson said. “If you have a great attitude and a great work ethic, we can develop the talent.”

There might even be a little bit of double

casting this year. For students, that is another chance to parade their talent. For Harbison, it could be a struggle.

“While double casting is my goal, the students have to be talented enough to do it because we have to put on a great show,” Harbison said. “I do not want to put on a subpar show, and I don’t want folks to come and say ‘oh this is the other cast.’”

There are a plethora of newcomers to the theatre program this year which means an even higher level of competition will be displayed throughout the auditioning processes of all the shows.

“My biggest pressure this year is definitely is to get a lead

in the spring musical, “The Addams Family.”

Also, to do well at Trumbauer this year,” senior Liam Nelson said. “If you do well at Trumbauer, that sets the stage for everything else throughout the year.”

It is early in the year, but students already feel the family dynamic of the theatre program.

The students feel that when they work together and help each other out it creates a better atmosphere for getting where they need to be.

“We all come together as one. We all are going for the same things, so juniors and seniors try to help us because they were all in our spot before,” sophomore Ryan Jacobs said.

Lights, Camera, Action. Theatre students practice the skill of improvisation. Theatre has scheduled a wide variety of shows to perform this year. Photo by Emerald Everhart

Seniors should use fall semester for completing college applications Brianna Stewart Reporter

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t u d e n t s g o throughthe endeavor of putting togethercollege applications annually.

Whether it is done at the last minute, or it has been planned from the beginning of high school, it can be difficult trying to plan everything out for your future.

Colleges tend to look at student’s test scores, as well as their GPAs from ninth grade to about halfway through twelfth grade. Extracurricular programs are also considered. It is critical that documentation is shown as proof of being active in a certain

activity. AP classes tend to be more challenging than college course classes, they are used to challenge as well as make sure a person is prepared for the classes that lie ahead of them.

“Take AP classes, make sure you have a high GPA and make sure your extracurriculars correspond with what it is that you choose to major in. All of these things will help with getting everything filled out on time,” senior Kaityln Gilliam said.

Depending on what college someone wants to attend, different things are needed. In other words, an Ivy league school needs high grades, impressive scores on the ACT and

SAT and a long list of extracurriculars.

Whereas for a college like the University of North Alabama, a foreign language and a computer science class are required. Most colleges look for an original essay, they may ask questions like “How will you be beneficial to this college?” when things like this are asked, it is best to be completely honest. The more original a piece is, the greater chance there is of getting accepted.

“Ivy leagues want to see something different, colleges are looking for that certain someone that can bring something specific to the school,” counselor Timothy Van Dorn

said.

Regardless of what college you want to apply to, one thing is always required—the transcript. Standardized test scores, grades, GPA and behavior are listed on transcripts.

These can easily be sent through a website called myschoolfees. org. When taking the SAT you are able to send your scores into the colleges of your choice, but if you choose that way it normally costs about $12. There are a few things that can help with the payment of tuition, as well as shelter for the year. One thing is that based on your family's income, you can apply for the Free Application for

Student Financial Aid, or FAFSA, which will open October 1, it has no general closing date.

It is best to apply for FAFSA early, because funds for certain grants can run out.

“Transcripts are important, if your grades don’t make your parents happy then colleges currently won’t accept you,” Van Dorn said.

It is normally best if someone starts looking at colleges early. Taking tours of campuses as well as starting to fill out applications during your junior year is advised. It is of utmost importance that everything is started early, if it is put off to the last moment it

can be very stressful as well as difficult to get everything done on time. If there is ever a time when it is absolutely necessary, the counselors are almost always available to help with the struggles.

“Something that is very helpful as well as important are your counselors,” junior Chantal Duran said.

“They are your go to people that can help you find your strengths, and help you find a suitable collage that will meet your preference.

As well as, help you develop your skills and interests for your future career.”

Students practice First Amendment guarantees to petition for open lunch period Sharra Wilbanks Reporter

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wo juniors are currently circulating a petition to the student body regarding having an open campus for lunch.

Junior David Brown believes allowing students to leave campus during their lunch period to get lunch at local restaurants like McDonald’s or Jack’s can help with making

the campus more student-friendly.

“When I go to lunch, I’m like the last in line and I do not have much time to eat,” Brown said. “Allowing students to leave lunch would help with this problem.”

The school does not allow students to leave campus once first period begins until the last bell rings. Currently the

only school in the area that has anything similar to an open lunch period is Madison City’s James They allow onehour of free time for their students to grab lunch in the school’s cafeteria, attend club meetings or participate in enrichment activities.

They call it Refuel Hour.

Currently the juniors have 250 signatures on the petition. They plan

to present it to Principal Chris Shaw in the near future.

“We will add discipline to it. If someone doesn’t return to campus after lunch, they can give a tardy or absence,” Brown said.

Junior Thomas Brewer feels that students are mature enough to handle leaving campus for lunch or at least having an open lunch period at

the school.

“We constantly hear high schoolers being called ‘young adults’ so if we are given that label we should have a chance to show that we can leave and be responsible to return to campus,” Brewer said.

Although Brewer and Brown are planning to present their petition to the administration, principal Chris Shaw

has concerns with the liability of allowing students to leave campus.

Shaw stresses that the issue of leaving campus is not a principal policy, but a Madison County Board of Education policy. “‘We’re responsible for all students when they are dropped off at campus to make sure they’re safe,” Shaw said.

SENATOR SNIPPETS be targeted more.

“Unfortunately, my personal experience has been the senior citizens are the number one targeted group because technology for them is a little more outside their wheelhouse. I think teenagers are a little better equipped to be able to better protect themselves as where senior citizens didn’t grow up with technology, they adopted it later in life,” Quaife said.

The most efficient step in preventing identity theft is to be educated and keep up to date with what is going on around the world.

Phone IRS scams,

social media account hacks, compromises and just about anything else that can be stolen, can be avoided if proper knowledge is learned. Nothing will ever be foolproof, but preventions can be taken.

“Bad guys will always find a way to hack it or foil it, but it’s another barrier.

Its another method to slow them down and sometimes that’s what it’s about,” Quaife said. “If someone is determined, they’re probably going to eventually get it. It’s just one barrier at a time, and as the bad guys learn, so do you.”

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Opinion

Sept. 21, 2017

Opinion 5

The Crimson Crier

Communication should improve to keep students, staff informed Camille’s Corner

The Crimson Crier

Now for announcements!

Student learns from Free Spirit program

Volume 1 Issue # 2616 Jeff Road Harvest, AL 35749 256-837-0331

Camille Herren Editor

www.crimsoncriernews.com thecrimsoncrier@gmail.com

D

uring the summer, I experienced one of the greatest opportunities I have ever been given.

It was something that I will never forget.

In February, my journalism teacher, Erin Coggins, told me about a scholarship that offered $1,000 and a free trip to Washington D.C. I would be able to meet successful journalists and a group of people from around the United States. So I applied.

The program is called the “Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference.”

One student from every state was selected to be a part of the experience. Once, I was accepted, I began preparing for my trip.

After arriving at Washington D.C., I was dazzled by the Capitol through the plane’s window and entering the hotel, I met other students and the program’s coordinators.

Thus began the conference.

I realized at this conference that although this country may be divided, we are not as different as we may believe.

Alabamians are not alien to New Yorkers.

Americans are closer than we realize and what we believe about regional differences may be prejudice. We listen to the same music, shop at the same stores and see the same events occurring within our society every day.

I also learned about dealing with the “fake news” rhetoric we confront everyday. The journalists who came to speak to us were asked at least once about the idea of “fake news” being thrown at them.

The sense that I received from their responses was that journalists just have to keep moving forward and continue to do their job; holding the government responsible and remaining transparent. This can be applied to any aspect of life. People may pull us down but we have to keep going. Criticism has always been there, but it can be beneficial and it does not have to hinder our abilities.

Most importantly, I learned from Al Neuharth, founder of USA Today. He is the reason the conference exists. It is incredible to me that his family members continue his legacy as well as other journalists.

Although he passed on before I came to the conference, I learned so much from him. The most important was about how vital the First Amendment is. If we continue to stand up for it, we can ensure our access to information and free expression.

Enrollment: 1854 Faculty: 105 Mission Statement The Crimson Crier will report objectively on issues directly and indirectly affecting the student body and the school community.

As student journalists, we understand our role in a global society to abide by the ethics of professional journalism in order to ensure a more informed student body.

Policy

Illustrated by Storm Jessett

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here are a plethora of methods that our adThere are solutions to this issue. Most imporministration uses to disperse important intantly, students should listen to the announcements formation to the student body. However, time and and utilize the alternative forms of communication offered to them. But sometimes, remembering the time again we see that information falls through the cracks and students miss out on opporinformation can be difficult with all tunities. Students as well as administhe other responsibilities students tration and faculty members contribute have, so the administration should to the issue. take extra steps to release updates.

7-0 in favor If students are not proactively lisUnfortunately, intercom announcetening to announcements, there is ments are made during the busiest time nothing the administration can do of the morning and when most stufor them. But for those willing to dents are still trying to wake up. School cooperate, repeating announcements would help social media is also obsolete and unused because ensure understanding. A school-wide Remind 101 students have moved on to different platforms such would also be beneficial to all because it is a simple as Snapchat and Instagram. Sometimes, students and efficient program. Then, students and teachare left out of the loop entirely because their classes ers could receive information easily without overare at the Ninth Grade Academy or their teachers— whelming their phones. scrambling to make time—fail to give out the inforWe understand that keeping over 1,000 students mation. Despite the school system spending a large informed can be a daunting task but effective comamount of time, effort and resources to try to solve munication can be achieved only through effort on the miscommunication problem, there has been no both sides. Students and administration should take tangible effect. For instance, the new TVs— intendmore consideration to uphold their end of the stick ed to be effective in spreading school news and fuand then we can all be on the same page. ture events—go unnoticed by the student body.

Our View

The Crimson Crier is an open forum for free expression by the Sparkman High School Community. The Crimson Crier is a student-run publication produced in the state of Alabama. All final design, reporting and content decisions are the responsibility of the student journalists of Sparkman High School under the guidance of their adviser. The views articulated in The Crimson Crier do not necessarily represent the views of the entire staff, Sparkman High School or the Madison County school district.

Copies are distributed to the faculty, staff and student body free of charge. The Madison County Record prints 2,000 copies, eight times yearly.

Letters to the Editor The Crimson Crier will print all letters to the editor as long as space will allow, and may edit letters for grammatical mistakes.

All letters to the editor must be signed and include contact information of the writer.

Letters can be dropped off at the Sparkman High School newsroom (127) one week after publication.

Opinion Editor Camille Herren

Rules for freshman make little sense

In-Depth Editor Griffin Gonterman News Editor Ania Stover

Kaylyn Jones Editor

Lifestyles Editor Shelby Lopez

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Sports Editor Jacob Whitlock

Jacob Whitlock Editor

“

Mr. President, do you want the support of these white nationalist groups who say they support you?”

“Have you denounced them strongly enough?”

“A car plowing into people, would you call that terrorism, sir?”

These were the questions that were directed at President Donald Trump following him signing a bill into law. Visibly annoyed, his response was to shake his head and walk away.

The violence this nation saw on the weekend of August 12 in Charlottesville, Virginia was a horrific display of extremism and bigotry.

It was there that a torchwielding group called Unite the Right came to protest the removal of a Confederate statue.

It was there that they were joined by armed militiamen, neo-nazis with swastika flags

and alt-right internet personalities who drowned the chatter of anti-fascists with chants of “White Lives Matter” and “Sieg Heil.” It was there that two police officers monitoring the scene died after their helicopter crashed. It was there that a man drove his muscle car into a crowd of counterprotesters, killing a woman and injuring 19 others.

In such a tragic set of circumstances, you would expect a president to condemn those responsible for the attack and act in a way that would unite the country. He instead chose to “condemn this egregious act of hatred and bigotry, on many sides.” With that statement, Trump not only avoided placing blame on the extremists, but implied that the counter-protesters shared equal fault for the events that occurred. While there certainly was senseless

violence from the socalled “Anti-Facists”, Trump still seemed to enable a dangerous bloc of his supporters that the vast majority of our divided country agrees is deserving of condemnation. Trump emboldened not only the fascists, but he also unintentional emboldened the violent Anti-Facists, so clashes like Charlottesville will inevitably happen once again. In a second, more prepared address the next day, he did explicitly call out the hate groups involved.

However, a few days later during an unscripted presser, he doubled down on his original comments by claiming the “alt-left” was the provocateur, refusing to call the vehicle attack an “act of terrorism” and calling out the media for falsely portraying the protest.

These comments almost exactly mirrored the alt-right’s defensive talking points. Then

Copy Editor Andrew Atchley Managing Editor Sidney Al’dijaili Business Editor Saylor Cuzzort Photo Editor Cady Harbin Web Editors Dylan Brotherton Kaylyn Jones Christian White

Photo by Cady Harbin

Why? The crosswalk is open to freshman once the bell rings, causing siblings to wait in car line.

time and money for a walking pass to only be used once a day when the school day is over.

Although the rule does not seem to make much sense to the older student body, perhaps the rule is set for the freshman’s safety as they are crossing over with upperclassmen, but that is also contradictory.

How would it be “more safe” for these students to cross over only in the

afternoon? Maybe it decongests the student traffic flow while trying to transition into their first block classes.

Regardless, it seems a little dramatic to make a big deal for a green slip that is not even checked as the freshman students cross the street to ride home with an upperclassman.

Every day before crossing the street from the freshman building to the high school

building, the freshman students are reminded to have their green slips ready to be checked before crossing over but no action to actually go through with checking them is pursued. The upperclassmen at the high school are not required to have a walking pass while commuting to and from the two buildings. Rules are set for reasons, even if those reasons are not always clear.

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Poll/Inforgrahic Editors Alaura Gordon Jessica Turnage Social Media Editor Jacob Whitlock Reporters Danni Jo Grider Storm Jessett Claudia Martinez Megan McGraw Malik Nerelus Kennan Potts Ally Roper Brianna Stewart Jordan Waldrop Matthew Walker Sharra Wilbanks Melanie Wilkins Bradley Wright Adviser Erin Coggins, MJE

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@TheCrimsonCrier Credentials

“I think the communication is good, but if we changed anything I would change the way teachers and students communicate with each other.”

--sophomore Darius Roston

“[We should] get a little more detail. Announce [in] more time prior to what is happening.”

--senior D.J. Adams

“Have different topics on the announcements, maybe a different voice [and] some puns on the announcements.”

--junior Evie Dickerson

again, it may be hard for the White House to avoid sounding sympathetic to white nationalists because of those who work closely with the president.

Some of Trump’s closest aides such as Stephen Miller and the now-resigned Sebastian Gorka have strong ties to the alt-right movement.

Trump’s former chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was removed in the wake of Charlottesville, even bragged about transforming the website Breitbart into a platform for the altright.

During this process, Trump alienated almost everyone except his closest allies, catering to the small number of conservatives that represent the alt-right.

A large number of prominent conservatives like Orrin Hatch, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio gave swift statements condemning the actions in the

Alabama Senate Special Election

strongest of terms.

It is becoming apparent that Trump has grown tired of answering for the actions of extremists, so why does he continue to skirt around the issue?

The answer is simple.

He was unable to unequivocally condemn an act of domestic terrorism for fear of losing the support of those who perpetrated it. The man who accused his own intelligence agencies of nazism cannot definitively call out actual nazis who have killed U.S. citizens.

This activity is not new, either. On the campaign trail, he infamously pretended to not know who David Duke was in order to avoid having to denounce his endorsement.

In the wake of all that has happened, there is one glaring issue in the way Trump has handled right-wing extremist incidents like the one at Charlottesville: refusing to take a side. By

appearing neutral in his positions, he believes it will absolve himself of blame and cater to his supporters, when in fact it does neither.

Trump needs to realize there is no moral equivalence between manifestations for and against white supremacy. One group advocates for the ethnic cleansing of America, while the other group does not. If you pretend they are the same, you are an enabler. If Trump wants history to remember him favorably, he needs to immediately disavow any affiliation to white nationalists, including removing the remaining White House staffers who sympathize with them. Holocaust survivor and author Elie Wiesel said it best: “We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim.

Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

Candidate Credentials

Primary Numbers

Roy Moore

Former chief justice for Alabama’s Supreme Court.

Endorsed by more than 50 pastors

Dates: Runoff Election - Sept. 26 Strange vs. Moore

General Election - Dec. 12

Republican candidate vs. Doug Jones

The Crimson Crier is a member of Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, Alabama Scholastic Press Association and Southeastern Interscholastic Press Association and Quill and Scroll. The Crimson Crier is a two-time CSPA Silver Crown winner, a consistent CSPA Gold medalist, NSPA First Class medalist and ASPA AllAlabama rating.

Percentages

Votes

38.9%

164,524

32.8%

138,971

66.1%

109,105

Luther Strange

Luther Strange Republican

Roy Moore Republican

Doug Jones Democrat

Illustrated by Storm Jessett

A&E Editor Sydney Goggans

Facebook

What do you think of communication in the school and how can we improve it?

Trump should withdraw ties from white supremacists

Staff Editor-in-Chief Natalie Craney

n the annual Senator’s Day, about a week before the new school year begins, students flood the buildings to receive schedules, parking passes, bus information and walking passes for freshman students who have older siblings at the high school building. These passes permit those freshman students access to walk across the street in the afternoon—only the afternoon.

The students at the freshman building are not allowed to use these passes in the morning.

The older sibling or friend instead has to sit in a line of traffic anywhere from 10 to 15 minutes just to drop said student off. This has caused many objections and complaints to arise from the student body as it not only backs up morning traffic even more, but it is also deemed as a waste of

Photo by Anthony Crider https://www.flickr.com/photos/acrider/35780276094/in/photolist-

Attorney General under Gov. Bentley Appointed to the vacant Senate seat left

by Jeff Sessions.

Endorsed by President Donald Trump

Doug Jones

Attorney Endorsed by former Vice President Joe Biden, Rep. John Lewis and Rep. Terri Sewell

America should remain tough on North Korea in face of potential war Griffin Gonterman Editor

A

s military t e n s i o n continues to build up on and around the Korean Peninsula, the United States warned the North Korean government of repercussions if they were to strike Guam or any American ally in the region. If Kim Jong-un wanted to be a little bold, the rising sun would emerge with a demolished Korean countryside and an eventual united Republic of Korea.

Ever since the Korean War Armistice

was signed in 1953, the North Koreans have threatened to attack the South Koreans. In 1974 and 1978, underground tunnels about seven feet wide were dug for a secret invasion by the North into the South, but were eventually discovered after a tip by a northern defector.

Being only 35 miles in American units away from the Demilitarized zone, a missile strike on the South’s capital Seoul would likely be fatal to a majority of its inhabitants leading to an almost immediate surge of Northern

troops over the DMZ. Recent threats surfacing of a planned attack on Guam, a U.S. territory, from the North Korean government has put them in a tight corner with even China refusing to support the once communist ally if they were to attack first.

So at this point unless North Korea is attacked first, they have little to no chance of winning a war against the United States, South Korea, Japan or other Pacific region allies.

It almost feels as if a war involving North Korea is inevitable at this point, whether it be with America, South Korea or a civil war fueled by aspirations of overthrowing the regime led by Kim Jong-un. Due to most of the nation being too afraid to commit to an uprising—or even stand up for what they believe in—this scenario is very unlikely. It would be in America’s best interest to support a rebellion, although it would be

almost impossible to start one.

The U.S. should continue fortifying any weak areas that North Korea could eventually strike.

This means we must continue to test anti-missile defense systems and continue to conduct dual military training operations with other nations susceptible to an attack. President Trump should continue his critical judgement and condemnations

of the North Korean government every time they issue a threat. So far, Trump has been tough on the North Korean regime and it would be in our best interest for him to continue to be tough on them, despite heavy criticism from other politicians and analysts claiming he will start World War three.

Source

www.globalfirepower.com

6

Sept. 21, 2017

Lifestyles

Climbing their way to the top Raiders train for physically-demanding

A different path

Megan McGraw Reporter Illustration by Storm Jessett

T

wanting to go into the military. The team is meant to mot i vate individuals to develop leadership s k i l l s and become better citizens. Like any other team, Raiders accept any individual that is willing to work and meet all of the requirements.

“Nothing in JROTC is designed to send you into the military. It just sets you up for a more successful life. We’ve had people go into all services, but then again we’ve had tons of people go civilian,” senior Andy Thompson said.

On Sep. 23, the Raider team will compete in a two day competition in Tennessee where they will test their ability to work as an efficient team under pressure. If the entire team is not focused and motivated, they will not meet their full potential.

“As a whole team you have to be better than the other schools, plus we are one of the only schools in Alabama that goes to competition that’s out of state,” Hinojsa said.

Though becoming physically fit and staying active is a main benefit to joining the team, there is

Face-to-face. The JROTC Raider team poses after placing in the Hendersonville, Tennessee competition. The team trudged through mud moments before the picture was taken. Photo Courtesy of Sam Stiles.

more to be gained. Cadets get the unique opportunity to use the discipline and traits that they learn about in class. They also get to make lifelong connections with people that become like family during their training.

“There’s not so much of sitting in a class being told about leadership and camaraderie, you’re actually applying it and you can visibly see its effects,” Thompson said. “I have friends on there who I’m probably going to stay in touch with for years to come.”

Teacher adopts newborn from Missouri,completes family Alaura Gordon Reporter

B

undles of joy can come in various ways. For coach Adam Entrekin and his wife Jessica, that joy came from a small town called Sikeston, Missouri.

Miller Mac, the newest edition to their family, was born on June 28 weighing nine pounds, 14 ounces.

“He was a very big boy,” Adam said. “He is already 12 pounds and only seven weeks old. We were matched with his mom through an agency back in February so we have been in contact with her since.”

Adoption is something that families choose to do for various reasons. Around 135 thousand children are adopted in the United States each year.

One common reason that families adopt children is due to not being able to have a child of their own biologically.

“I have had some complications with attempting pregnancy previously, I had some health problems with trying to have kids”, Jessica said. “We just decided that the risk was probably not worth it, so we decided that we would pursue adoption.”

The adoption process is a long, tough system.

There are two stages in the adoption process, pre-placement and post-placement. It is complicated and requires a lot of patience, taking anywhere from one year to seven years.

“It is interesting to say the least. The agencies themselves probably aren't always in it for the best of reasons,” Adam said. “You create a profile and pictures and a birth parent or multiple choose you.

“You have a lot of ups and downs and you worry

about that being a potential issue even all the way through, because even after the child is born they can change their mind and decided to keep them.”

Throughout the birth mother's pregnancy, the Entrekins kept up with her and how their soon-tobe son was doing. They got to adopt Miller because the birth mom and her partner were not ready for a family, and they wanted what was best for him.

“Our son's birth mom picked us to have her son.

We were in contact with her until the time of birth at the end of June. We kind of helped her with support,” Jessica said. “She did it because she did not want to do any kind of pregnancy termination like abortion. My husband and I were super grateful that she chose us. We still keep in touch with her because we have an open adoption. She kept us posted, so when she went to the doctor she would send us ultrasound pictures.”

Even though Jessica and Robin are not his biological parents they will still forever be his parents that love and care for him. Just as any other parent would grab their child and hold them immediately after birth, Jessica was able to experience that same comfort.

“It was an indescribable experience. Her mom brought him out of the operating room and handed him to me to take to the nursery and give a bath,” Jessica said. “They put me in the hospital gown so that I could go in there with him and Adam was at the window. We stayed at the hospital in a room with him.”

After they came home with Miller, their new journey of parenthood began. Through the rough times and doubt during the process, he was worth it in the end.

Together at last. Teacher, Adam Entrekin and wife, Jessica, meet their new son, Miller Mac, at the hospital. The new parents were finally able to embrace their son after months of anticipation. Photo Courtesy of Entrekin family.

“I am sleep deprived, but being a new mom is a lot of fun. Adoption is a rough process because a lot of them get disrupted and fail.” Jessica said. “It is never guaranteed until it is all the way through the courts. We would love to adopt again. It is a long process and it is also very expensive so it is going to depend where we are.”

Student attends cyber camp, comes back with valuable information to share Storm Jessett Reporter

S

enior Abi Kunkle was the only Sparkman student to attend the United States Cyber Camp this summer. Little did she know, she would return with a future career path and some valuable information.

The camp, sponsored by the Space and Rocket Center, was the first cyber camp offered in the area.

Kunkle’s English teacher, Renee Quaife, recommended her for the opportunity. She was informed of her acceptance two weeks prior to the start of the camp.

“It was really awesome. We got lots of opportunities to learn about things that had never even crossed my mind before; revolving around space, around camp [and] around cybersecurity.” Kunkle said.

When she heard of the camp, Quaife knew that Kunkle would be a good fit.

“Not only does she have a passion for computers and improving herself and expanding her knowledge base, it also had the added benefit of giving her the opportunity to attend Space Camp. My hope was that Abi would take this knowledge and continue to propel herself towards whatever successful future is in store for her.” Quaife said.

In the camp, Kunkle worked alongside other students from different schools. They attended lectures and spent time on computers.

“We spent a lot of time on our computers learning how to defend computers against cyberattacks, setting demos of cyber attackers as well, our [camp

trainers] would hack computers in front of us, and that was really cool. We got to work on these little computers that were about the size of a credit card, called ‘raspberry pis.’ We got to code and program on them,” Kunkle said.

The raspberry pi runs on Linux, which is an operating system similar to Windows. Parts of Linux are designed specifically for different things. Camp attendees learned specifically how to defend this program from malware attacks.

“Certain parts of Linux are made specifically for hospitals, or made for game development, or media development or journalism. Your phones; android phones run on Linux. IOS is a form of Linux as well but we don’t call it Linux because it’s [on] iPhones, but Android phones run on Linux, all hospital interphases run on Linux; smart TVs, smart refrigerators, smart everything basically runs on Linux, and so we got to work with that,” Kunkle said.

The camp went from Sunday to Friday. Attendees spent the entire week mostly learning about different cyberattacks.

“We learned about [what] the different types of cyberattacks are, such as denial of service—when someone basically makes it so that you can't access the internet or anything—which would really be terrible if they’re doing that on your phone and you need to call 911 or something, they could deny you that,” Kunkle said. “Man-in-the-middle attacks, where people can get your information that should’ve been encrypted. We got to learn about encryption, which is like putting a lock on your stuff or more like lacking a word and completely scram-

bling it; making it so no one could understand what the word is except for you.”

A big reason for the existence of this camp is because in the future, a significantly larger cybersecurity workforce will be needed.

“Our nation has been vulnerable to multiple cyberattacks. Everyday, there’s hundreds of them trying to get into our government, trying to get into our files. Just your personal computer; you’ve probably been vulnerable to multiple cyberattacks.” Kunkle said. “Our nation is basically in a crisis when it comes to cybersecurity. You hear stuff on the news about Russia getting into our election, things like that are detrimental. Not only the facts, like who won the election and what happened; things like this to also the safety of their people.”

Nowadays, everything runs on computers and it can sometimes be hard to understand just how vulnerable our information is.

“Identity theft is definitely a thing that happens.

People will hold your information for ransom, so it’s really important that we had this camp to generate this interest in cybersecurity because it’s so needed.”

Kunkle said.

Everything that Kunkle has learned in the U.S. Cyber Camp has relations to the everyday lives of not only herself, but to everyone else as well.

“Everything runs on the internet, everything is connected to the internet, everything is vulnerable because of this,” Kunkle said. “So what I learned at Cyber Camp is one hundred percent applicable to my everyday life, and the everyday life of others.”

U

pon hearing the word ‘sports’, the average American’s mind wanders to activities such as football, baseball and soccer.

For some though, such as English teacher Beth Danner, the idea of athletics stems beyond a playing field.

Throughout the past 13 years, Danner has actively participated in foxhunting—a sport in which a person or a group of people track and chase foxes on horseback in time periods known as flights.

Since her mother’s friend introduced her to it, Danner has found a passion and love for every aspect of foxhunting.

“Miss Cat invited me to go with her to Green Creek Hounds as her guest, and I was just hooked from day one,” Danner said.

To be able to hunt successfully, Danner and her crew require a team much larger than one may think. Members of the hunting team fill positions such as the huntsman, hill toppers, whip-ins and car followers that each have an important job that they must complete to help the hunt go as well as possible. Lead by the huntsman, who uses his voice to direct the group’s hound dogs on horseback. Each member has a different job and attempts to do it to their to best ability.

“You have mounted members of the hunt called ‘whipper-ins’ that assist the huntsman in hunting the hounds also. These staff members help keep the hounds safe from poten-

tial dangers like busy roads, property we do not have access to hunt, and dangerous pieces of land like swamps or bogs,” Danner said.

“The ‘Hill toppers’ are a great group for horses and riders new to foxhunting, junior riders who are still learning the skill of riding or someone who wants to enjoy the hunt without the speed of the other flights. There is also another group called the ‘car followers’ which is made up of people who are not on horseback but are instead in vehicles. These people follow the hunt along available roads or through the property if the landowner allows it.”

Though it sounds contradictory to the name, these groups hunt a wide range of animals that expands past just foxes. From coyotes to raccoons and armadillos, Danner’s crews enjoy the tracking and pursuit of many different types of animals while on their hunts. Though some animals, like deer, are considered ‘off-limits,’ the foxhunters love the fun behind learning to track whatever they are able to.

“The hounds track and pursue animals like foxes, coyotes, bobcats, and wild pig, as well as smaller game like raccoons, opossum, and armadillo,” Danner said.

“American foxhunting is different from English or Irish foxhunting in that it is more about the

7

The Foxy Facts The foxhunting season traditionally runs from 1 November to March.

Teacher shares unique love for foxhunting

Sidney Al-Dijaili Editor

h e Raiders team is a highly competitive, physically rigorous and character building extracurricular activity open to all JROTC cadets. These motivated cadets set themselves apart from other specialty JROTC teams by pushing their endurance as a group to the limit, in order to compete on a national scale.

To become a Raider, cadets must pass a physical fitness test which consists of sit-ups, push-ups and a two-mile run. Once that is passed, training consists of running with and without weighted rucksacks, improving on timed obstacle courses and crawling across a 90 foot rope bridge horizontally with a 50 pound rucksack— a heavy duty military backpack. “[In the three mile] obstacle course, you go over walls, monkey bars [and] go through mud, doing everything with a rucksack on,” senior Carlos Hinojsa said.

These exhausting training exercises make up the majority of the competitive events at a raider competition. However, one of the most tiring events is the cross country rescue race. That event requires cadets to run two miles on varying terrain with a wooden board and weights. This is meant to simulate having to carry an injured person on a stretcher.

“The hardest part would be running a 5k with weight and boots uphill,” Hinojsa said.“You have to be physically fit and have a mentality that you want to win.”

Like JROTC, Raiders is not exclusive to those

Lifestyles

The Crimson Crier

The use of scenthounds to track prey dates back 2000-3000BC and originated in Assyria and ancient Egypt.

Traditionally, you could identify members of a hunting party by the number of buttons on their coat – 5 buttons for a huntsman, 4 buttons for a master and 3 buttons for a hunt member. countryfile.com

pursuit of the prey rather than the killing of the quarry, [the animal you are hunting].”

Because she has been hunting for a number of Riding the road of difference. While riding her horse in the middle of a hunt, Beth Danner years, Danner has had looks for foxes to herd. Danner became an avid foxhunter 13 years ago before she started her teaching career. Photo Courtesy of Beth Danner the opportunity to hunt with three different enough to listen to my the people and the anDanner not only main crews. Throughcues and commands, imals that are in her hopes to continue doing out her time with these which they won’t alcrews. it herself but also to pass crews, Danner has made ways do if they don’t “The reason I enjoy her love of foxhunting many memories that know you well.

I had foxhunting more than around.

By introducing she holds very dear to worked hard all sumany other sport is that others to foxhunting, her heart, one of which mer to learn all of the every day out hunting Danner hopes to show sticks out in particular. hounds’ names and is different.

Foxes are as many people as she During one hunt, Danmake connections with incredibly intelligent can why she feels foxner and her huntsmen them in the kennels animals, and I have hunting is so amazing split up—she followed and this showed that seen more than one inand unique. one pack of hounds and my time and effort paid stance of foxes manip“I love to share my her huntsmen followed off,” Danner said. ulating their trail to try passion for foxhunting another.

Danner’s It is because of expeand trick or play with with others.

My mother group of hounds was riences such as this that the hounds,” Danner has been a ‘hunt mom’ able to chase their quarDanner has a strong said.

“All the while, I since I began hunting ry into their burrows passion for foxhuntget to spend some time 13 years ago, my boyin the ground and then ing.

She also has such with my horses and friend wants to improve return to the huntsman a love for it due to the good people who enjoy his riding so that he can safely afterwards. To fact it is much different the sport as much as I start going out with me her, this was an amazthan most conventional do.

Also foxhounds are on a horse rather than ing experience because sports.

It is a sport that some of the sweetest, ‘riding a truck,’” Danit showed Danner that is always changing, and goofiest dogs you’ll ever ner said. “ I would one her work attempting to every experience is unmeet.

They love their day love to take my bond with the hounds like the last.

Danner’s job and love to please.

I future children out on had proved successful. love also stems from the like the breed so much their own ponies to en“This is so important fact that she has made that I actually have a joy the hounds, horses, because it showed that many connections on retired foxhound living and hunting.” the hounds trusted me her hunts—with both with me right now.”

Service dog accompanies diabetic student throughout school day Kennan Potts Reporter

L

assie, Benji, Jack.

The first two are TV heroes, saving their owners from falling in wells or venturing into a snake pit. Jack may not save freshman Dylan Lancaster from television peril, but he sniffs out his day to day threats.

Lancaster was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes while in elementary school. He received his best friend Christmas of 2012 when he was entering the last semester of his fifth grade year. Four years later, Jack is still attending school with Lancaster but now in the high school setting.

“It’s interesting. It goes from people seeing the dog and saying ‘Oh that's such a cute dog, can I pet it?’ To people seeing him and immedi-

ately screaming,” Lancaster said.

Jack, the 5-year-old chocolate lab, is trained to sense Lancaster’s blood sugar levels and warn him if they are too high or too low. Jack will notify either Lancaster or the teacher by pawing at them when Lancaster's sugar levels are off.

“Sometimes, we’d have to get up in the middle of tests because of what he does, which is a good thing,” Lancaster said. “It means he’s doing his job right.”

Jack fits in at school just like any other student does. Lancaster’s algebra teacher Kelly Deiss reassures that Jack is well-behaved, and the other students do not mind him being around them.

“I wouldn’t even know that Jack was

there. He just lays there and he’s quiet, he doesn’t do anything to disrupt the class,” Deiss said. “All the students behave. I (have) even watched them in the hallways because it gets really crowded and no one even bumps into him.”

However, as sweet as Jack may be, some students still have negative reactions towards the working dog. Though these bad incidents are few and far between, they still are not easy to handle.

“There are some people that are scared of Jack and I think the biggest issue we’ve had was when someone saw the dog and they screamed really loud,” Lancaster said. “Someone has even seen me and Jack and then shoved me.”

Face-to-face. Studying his person, Jack monitors freshman Dylan Lancaster’s blood sugar. Jack has had this daily task since 2012. Photo by Saylor Cuzzort

Despite the limitations one would think the duo would have, Lancaster is able to participate in school activities. As a front-line percussionist in the school band, Lancaster prac-

tices and performs with Jack by his side.

“Jack will lay down under the xylophone which makes it so much easier to play,” Lancaster said. “One time he

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walked around behind me and got in between my legs while I was trying to play and started rolling around in the grass. Jack definitely makes life fun.”

Spend your summer doing something fun?

Go to a concert?

The yearbook staff needs your photos.

Email them to: ecoggins@mcssk12.org Deadline: Sept. 30.

8

Sept. 21, 2017

Sports

The Crimson Crier

Sports

Diamond

The Running Walker Talented, experienced senior class shows promise for football season

Dynasty

Brand new challenge. Leading his team during practice, new coach Tim Van Dorn completes the all men volleyball coaching staff. Van Dorn took on the team with experience coaching boys in Illinois. Photo by Shelby Lopez

New volleyball coach looks to navigate, mentor girls team for the first time in career Danni Jo Grider Reporter

N

Beginning a new era. New baseball coach Jason Brewer practices with the team to help improve their different skills. He was promoted to head coach in August. Photo by Natalie Craney

Brewer looks to continue winning tradition on diamond Shelby Lopez

Editor

D

uring the summer, former head baseball coach Kellen Greer resigned, leaving the coaching position for a team of area-champions up for grabs. Former assistant coach Jason Brewer applied for the position along with other experienced applicants and was promoted to head coach in August.

“I was absolutely caught off guard by the head coaching position.

Sparkman has had a strong reputation over the last 10 years in baseball, so of course when the position opened up you knew that there were going to be several highly qualified coaches that would apply,” Brewer said. “I am just thankful that Mr. Shaw and Mr. Watts chose me to lead this great program into the future. Its definitely an honor.”

Fortunately, Brewer has developed a relationship with the players over the last three years, which helped lead to a smooth transition from assistant

to the head coach position. Contrary to popular belief, senior players are excited for the change and trust Brewer as their new coach and mentor for their upcoming season.

“I don’t think it is difficult at all to have a new coach,” senior Joe Weis said. “Brewer knows what he is doing and I trust he will make us the best he can.”

Weis met Brewer a few years ago and has played for him in the past. Based off the experience Weis has had with Brewer, Weis believes Brewer’s mentality and encouragement set him apart from coaches that have worked with the team in the past.

“Every coach has their different ways of running things,’ Weis said. “Brewer has focused more on arm care and the mental aspect. He told us on the first day that we can be as athletic as it gets, but if we don’t ‘have it between the ears’ we won’t have anything.”

Brewer played catcher at CentralFlorence High School

and then again later at the collegiate level for Calhoun Community College. Having played baseball, Brewer knows how important the trust and bond between a team actually is.

“We have some ideas through the fall to get these guys together outside of school. These guys already do a great job of picking each other up and helping each other, but we want to see every senior group that comes through to take ownership of the team and be a vital role in its success,” Brewer said. “As we we have discussed with them already, every class is responsible for the class’s success below them. We are a family and want to grow.”

Since Brewer has already coached a majority of these players in the past, he has developed his own bond with all of them.

Brewer knows that the relationship already established will not only lead to a greater outcome, but also lead to a fun-filled season.

“I’m super excited for this season. Not just

about the opportunity to be a head coach, but to be able to continue to work with these young men that I have watched grow the last 3 years as an assistant coach,” Brewer said. “When I came to Sparkman 3 years ago, something felt special about this place, it felt like home.

That to me, is even more exciting about the work and time we are going to put in.”

Before coaching here, Brewer coached at Sheffield High School, Bob Jones High School and Grissom High School. Since this season will be his 12th year coaching, Brewer has developed his own routine and unique offseason program in order to be successful during the season.

“We have started our offseason program and the guys are taking advantage of the opportunity to get better everyday,” Brewer said. “The work we put in this fall and winter is what will help us when we start in January. The team knows the expectation and tradition of the

Sparkman baseball program and want to be a huge part of its continued success.”

Assistant coach Ben Stevenson has focused on making the team as strong as possible. In order to do this, he’s established a mentality within his players to ‘put work in’ as often as possible.

“They have put in some work in the summer and already this fall to prepare for the season in the Spring,” Stevenson said. “They have done a good job of paying attention to the details of our weight room and arm-care programs to maximize every day.”

With a new promotion always comes new responsibility. Brewer believes that one of the biggest differences between head coach and assistant coach is having the opportunity to not only impact the players here, but the players at the middle school as well.

“For me, it would be some of the administrative duties I now have. I have been

extremely fortunate to be a part of several great staffs and know head coaches that have helped prepare me,” Brewer said.

“The biggest difference so far is being visible in the community. I hope to build a strong relationship with our feeder schools and community to help the program grow stronger.”

Brewer believes that one of the concepts that separates the team from others is tradition.

The tradition of hard work and winning has inspired the team to persevere through any obstacles that may stand in their way.

“There is no secret to the success our program has had, especially the last 4-5 years,” Brewer said. “We have great young men that want to get better every day in and day out, and that’s a testament to what has been built here at school and in the community. No matter what happens on the field, we are going to give ourselves the best chance to win.”

Scream team hopes to ignite school pride at athletic events throughout year Christian White

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Editor

s a new year of sports approaches, a reinvigorated sense of school spirit has swept through the student body. At the head of this is the scream team, a student run pep and spirit organization trusted with getting students involved in sporting events.

Senior Connor Grochowski has committed himself as scream team president to getting the organization to lead school spirit at sports events, pep rallies and in everyday activities.

“We are gonna try and get it to where a majority of students are supporting at all events, not just football and basketball games,”

Grochowski said. “We are going to have fun themes for every home game to get people involved along with giving additional incentives to students.”

Scream team plans to hold a fundraiser to admit the team to sporting events for free. Grochowski has aspired to sell at least 100 T-shirts, making seven dollars profit off

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of each one with a goal of getting members into events for free.

“We are trying to get as many kids into the games for free as we can,” Grochowski said. “If we can reach our goal we can get the scream team into most football and basketball games for free.”

Along with actual sporting events, Grochowski hopes to

bring the scream team benefits like leaving class early to participate in pep rallies to entice students into joining.

“I think this year it will have a big impact on school spirit and get the students to have an active interest in being involved in school activities,” senior Matt McGuigan said.

Many students feel that previous years have

been lacking in school spirit at events and the scream team hopes to change that from here on out.

“We are trying to make scream team really appealing. We want people to see our shirts and be like ‘Woah what is that? Who are they?’”

Grochowski said. “We want students to want to be a part of it and to love their school.”

ew junior varsity volleyball coach Tim Van Dorn is looking to challenge the saying “men are from Mars and women are from Venus” as he navigates coaching girls volleyball for the first time.

Van Dorn has experience coaching boys volleyball. The style of playing between boys and girls requires different approaches to coaching it.

Though the coaching style must change, the goal remains the same: teach the athletes to play as a team and improve their skills.

“The main difference between girls and boys seems to be that the girls encourage their teammates more than the boys do,” Van Dorn said. “The boys do their own thing and are more competitive with each other, the girls are competitive but they are also really supportive of each other.”

Van Dorn is from outside Chicago, where boys volleyball teams are common. He played volleyball in high school and coached for more than five years, so he has ample experience with the game.

“I’ve coached boys for the past to years in Chicago and I volunteered in a position two years prior and coached freshman before that, so it was natural to want to coach but this will be my first time coaching girls,” Van Dorn said.

Upcoming Games:

Since he has been here for less than a month, he has not had the chance to see much of the competition play, so it is difficult for him to say how well the season is going to go. However, the team is improving their skills and working hard to build on to the foundation they have already developed.

“We plan to work on a lot of passing, that’s the key,” Van Dorn said. “Where I’m from people say girls are better at passing than boys, but there seems there is some laziness in the way we pass so that’s what we’re gonna focus on. I’ve been observing and learning how Coach Brooks does things and incorporating my own ideas.”

Sometimes being a male coach in a female sport has its own set of challenges. In a male sport, like football, coaches are able go into the locker room and give speeches to hype up their players, but for female sports it is different. It would not necessarily be appropriate to treat a girls sport the same way.

“The sport is the same but boys and girls are different,” Van Dorn said. “With girls maybe dealing with the relationships on the team a bit more while boys tend to be less focused. I have never been one of those coaches who is aggressive with my players, I just don’t have that mentality so I don’t think it will be hard for me to transition from boys to girls.”

Sept. 22

@ James Clemens

Sept. 26

County Tournament

Cheerleaders share how high school program prepares them for the college sidelines Saylor Cuzzort Editor

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rom cheering on Friday nights in the Senator Stadium to leading SEC football teams on the field, alumni cheerleaders have moved all over the Southeast to take the Sparkman cheer legacy to the next level.

The varsity cheerleading program has reached the pinnacle of High School cheerleading with 26 state and 13 national championship titles. Championship after championship, the tradition extends farther than placing a trophy on a shelf.

“Last year I had six of ten seniors move to the next level, the year before that two of four and two years ago three of four made college cheer team’s,” head coach Lisa Aderholt said. “I push the team in practice throughout everything they do, so when they want to cheer in college, they will have the confidence, showmanship, stunting and tumbling abilities that catch college coaches eyes.”

Each cheerleader begins to build a portfolio for themselves with each championship under their belt. In the cheerleading world, when someone says they cheered at Sparkman, others know they came from a team of hard work and victory.

“I was very blessed to win three regional championships, three state competition and one national championship,” Mississippi State cheerleader Kennedy Waite said. “I am very glad I can from such a prestigious program blessed me with these opportunities.”

With the end goal in mind, these athletes push themselves to the limit in hopes of receiving a white jacket and the first place title. Within every practice each cheerleader develops new skills improving the team and ultimately themselves.

“Although I probably started cheering from the time I could talk, with both my mom and grandmother being cheer coaches, this program prepared me unlike anything else,” University of Alabama cheerleader Chelsea Aderholt said.

“We would practice everyday, sometimes twice, constantly gaining new tumbling and stunting skills.”

In the efforts of keeping the winning tradition

Matthew Walker Reporter

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all—a season dominated, especially here in the South, by the continuous buzz of football.

The Friday night lights create an unmistakable aura that draws fans in from near and far, and for one night a week people set their personal differences aside and come together as a community to root on their beloved football program.

Although this community has not had much to brag about in the past, a talented, exciting senior class and a new coach at the helm could help turn the tide.

Senior quarterback Devin Kimbrough leads the offense. He shared time behind center his sophomore year before taking over as the full time starter in his junior year. Kimbrough is now a seasoned high school veteran, and is poised for a solid senior year.

He is a bit undersized for a quarterback, and because of this he draws inspiration from Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson - who according to scouts was too small to be an NFL quarterback.

Kimbrough has used this slight as motivation to become one of the best dual threat quarterbacks in the area after a season where he rushed for over 1000 yards and passed for over 2000 yards, leading the team in both categories. Kimbrough explained to me that since this is his last year, he really wants to do everything he can to prepare himself and his team. He hops to work harder than ever and lead his team to a great season.

Heading an impressive linebacker core, senior Lee Bowden is ready for a great season. Bowden is taking on double duty this year as he is playing on both sides of the ball. He will play center on offense and outside linebacker on defense. He will also have a huge impact on special teams. He is the long snapper on both the punting unit and the field goal unit, and he is on the field during kick and punt returns as well. Bowden will have a chance to leave his mark on each game to say the least.

His goal this year is to be all over the field on defense and lead the team in tackles. According to Bowden, he is playing for more than himself this year. His grandmother is now blind, and he sees her fight through this disability, and carry on with her normal day in spite of this. Seeing his grandmother fight has inspired him to put in the extra effort, and be the best person that he can be.

“We must keep the offense moving down the field and get stops on defense. We need to limit our turnovers and fix our special teams. We have a lot of work to do to reach our goals, but there is no reason we can’t put in the work necessary.” senior Lee Bowden Photo by Lisa Aderholt

Just a few in a long list Britany Cancel - Wallace State Ja’Sean Nance - Mississippi State Kennedy Waite - Mississippi State Jordan Rice - Mississippi State Aubrey Dogan-Parker - South Alabama Whitney Converse - Ole Miss Chelsea Aderholt- University of Alabama alive, each team practices countless hours preparing for each competition. Whether it be doing numerous standing tucks or the same stunt sequence ten times, these athletes are pushed to their limits in hopes of bringing home another championship title.

“Now that I look back, even the things I didn’t look forward to in practice prepared me for where I am today,” Waite said. “If we hadn’t done all those standing tucks at every practice, I do not know where I would be today.”

Nothing comes without purpose within the legacy behind 13 national championships.

Throughout every mile ran, tuck thrown or pyramid rehearsed the small steps lead to the biggest results.

“Every year had to work to build this legacy and hard work never killed any of them,” Aderholt said. “It just made them tougher individuals.”

Senior Parker Swords will be a key cog in this year’s offensive machine since last year’s starting receivers Chase Clinard and Chase Parker graduated. The 6 foot, 5 inch wide receiver and tight end is a matchup nightmare. His play is patterned after New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski. He will be a weapon for Kimbrough and a headache for opposing defenses. Swords, best known for his one-handed over his head grab that landed him on Sportscenter’s “Neighborhood Top 10 Plays,” will look to add to his already impressive highlight reel this season. Swords told me that he is taking everything more serious this year, so look for him to have a breakout season.

According to Swords it is important to make sure that the younger guys get enough quality reps during practice so that the team will have enough depth to win games late in the season. Senior leadership can be the x-factor on any team, and this team has a lot of seniors willing to step up and do what is necessary to lead both vocally and by example. Kimbrough wants to lead vocally this year and light a fire under the guys. His leadership skills will make a big difference on this team.

The season is ramping up with two rivalry games coming up against James Clemens on Sept. 22 and Hazel Green on Sept. 27. The team hopes to make it to the playoffs for the first time in years this year.

The playoffs consist of eight teams, two from each of the four regions. In order to reach this hallowed ground the Senators need to finish first or second in their eight team region.

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Sept. 21, 2017

InDepth

Teacher shares meaning of patriotism, Uncle Sam in present day America T

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he older America grows the more divided its people seem to become, but even with the great division patriotism still holds its sway within the American people.

AP Government and Politics teacher Benjamin Stevenson can be looked upon as one of those patriotic American citizens. He shows his patriotism both through his clothing and within his teaching.

“I feel very strongly about patriotism and I think, as a history teacher, it is important for me to express that to my students. When citizens have patriotism I feel that they will be more inclined to learn about our nation’s history,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson fell in love with government as soon as he started teaching it. He studied the formation of our nation in depth and found it impressive how we have survived as a nation for hundreds of years. On Fridays he even plays the song “Proud To Be An American.”

“The Founders did something that was completely unprecedented in the history of the world and it has lasted. Many students don’t care about

government because they don’t understand it. I started teaching government because I feel that it is important for students to have a better understanding at how their government works. It allows them to be an educated voice in the conversation,” Stevenson said. “With the polarization of American politics it is important that students be informed. Few things are more detrimental to a democracy than a poorly informed electorate. There are two things that people don’t read enough: the Bible and the Constitution.”

Senior Camryn

with all seniors so I just got to meet them,” Shields said. “I also learned a basis or at least a terminology at least how government works. I went to girls state this summer and they would talk about the “party web” and I knew what they were talking about. If I didn’t have his class then I wouldn’t know what that was.”

Uncle Sam has been a patriotic symbol for America since the year of 1812. Stevenson says that Uncle Sam is the symbol of American government and as a government teacher, he ultimately teaches

“Uncle Sam is a symbol of exercising your right to vote.”

-teacher Ben Stevenson Shields had the unique experience of having Stevenson as a junior instead of as a senior.

She was put into a class filled with only seniors.

It was something different but she adapted to it.

“It was defined full a challenge but it was really neat. Stevenson was a good teacher and explained a lot of stuff and we did a bunch of different activities. We did debates and polls.

It was hands on stuff.

Personally I learned how to work with other people. That was different because I haven’t had a class

the ins and outs of what Uncle Sam represents.

Shields believes that Uncle Sam is a representation of our Democracy and getting out to vote. She thinks that he should encourage people to exercise their rights and freedoms.

“Uncle Sam is a symbol of exercising your right to vote the importance of him and what he stands for as kind of gone down so I think even a message that was so long ago he is trying to unify us,” Shields said.

America can be seen as divided, Stevenson finds that this problem would be solved if people did not believe everything they hear, and instead researched issues individually.

There are also times in which America came together during times of tragedy. Stevenson says that one of those

InDepth

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Does Uncle Sam still fit?

After all this time...

Jessica Turnage Editor

The Crimson Crier

instances where America came together as country was when 9/11 happened.

“The tragedy that first comes to mind in my lifetime is 9/11.

During this time period people came together as citizens of this country like never before.

That is probably the least polarized I have ever seen our country politically. I don’t think that “Uncle Sam,” i.e: the government, had anything to do with this coming together.

That being said, the people of the U.S. seemed to be united behind government.”

Stevenson said.

Stevenson mentions that the hardest part about teaching government is the same as the hardest thing about teaching history. He says it is trying to get students to understand things in the context of the time period.

Sometimes people look at the government in a negative way. Others have a one-sided view of government. Stevenson wants his students to have an open mind, in an already divided America.

“Of course, you could view only the bad side of government or even only one side of the political spectrum. That is what the majority of people do which is why people are so divided in government. People will have differing opinions. That is a good thing,” Stevenson said.

“To understand the opinions of others even when you disagree with them is the problem that most people face.

America is great in a number of different ways. The things that this country has been able to accomplish in its short history is unprecedented around the world.”

Infograph by Griffin Gonterman

America needs patriotism to unite Sydney Goggans Editor

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merica—the land of the free and the home of the brave. America—where achieving the American dream is nearly possible. America—a unified country that exhibits strength in tolerance and diversity.

Or are we?

Over the past few decades, America has wept. Evidence of our tears are shown within our torn, stricken American flags, within wars between races and loss of patriotic spirits in regions around the country. Our nation is not immune to conflicts but in this day and age, something seems more toxic. America is dividing more deeply than ever. Red America vs. Blue America. White America vs.

Black America. Poor America vs. Rich America. The recent 2016 election has been a greater addition to this split and more collapses have happened since

then. The riots led by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia disgustingly shows the American divide that has turned into a war cry of hate.

The American society is fragmenting into shards of glass and one of our most prized American value, patriotism, is slowly shattering away.

Many more Americans are starting to develop resentment for their country, and their American pride is dying within our gradually splitting nation. Uncle Sam, a patriotic symbol, was used during World War II for war recruitment.

This classic American icon shaped an era of pride throughout the whole country and we thank this symbol for its deeply-rooted history.

However, does this old white man represent modern America today?

Uncle Sam’s “I Want You” poster was made for the USA’s involvement in

wartimes and not for the trials and tribulations we will face on our own land. America is in need of pride and strife due to horrific stress in government and social tensions.

Many see Uncle Sam as an “ancient” symbol especially since America has changed over the years. With such a diverse America, an old white man is not a representation of us demographically.

In fact, his patriotism is an oxymoron to our America today.

So much strife happens on American soil, and we are disrupted by the events in our news that continuously rips our country apart. Uncle Sam does not represent modern America at all, but Uncle Sam is our reminder. He reminds us that our America was once prideful and was full of patriotic spirit.

This old man serves a purpose in America today.

Our country’s past

is not perfect. At all. We were never perfect.

However, our unity as a diverse group of individuals makes us great. Our eagerness to change as a society, especially in this generation makes us great. Uncle Sam exhibits unity and patriotism, and with a falling America, we need these morals more than ever. America can survive and we will survive. It is up to us as American citizens to pay attention and analyze our country’s past mistakes, be tolerant of differing political stand points and come together as a country to do what is right for us.

Our country’s symbols are our symbols for a reason, and it is up to us to pay attention to their underlying themes.

Uncle Sam does not represent a modern America at all, but that old man is definitely a symbol of what we desperately need today in our country: hope, trust, and unity.

How we should patch up the divide I think that we should be more respectful of each other and respect our boundaries and respect differences. We should love each other, you don’t have to love them just like them.

-junior Emily Morgan I feel like we can bring America back together by improving our government. Finding advocates that don’t judge and appreciate equality.

-sophomore Kamryn Cosby

I think we should stop overreacting and just live and do what we need to live and be happy in our country, and just chill.

-senior Maggie Lau

Illustrated by Storm Jessett

Catastrophes in America’s past have strengthened our communities Griffin Gonterman Editor

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any events in our nation’s past has led us, the people, to put aside our differences time and time again to unite under old Uncle Sam. Whether it was Pearl Harbor, 9/11, the Boston Marathon Bombing, the Oklahoma City bombing or most recently Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, we all banded together as a community in support of our nation.

On the morning of Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes ambushed American ships at the Pearl Harbor naval base.

Before Japan had attacked, and dragged America into the second world war, the American public was split on whether or not joining the war would be in the United States’ best interest. On Dec. 8 more Americans enlisted in the military than just about any other day in our

nation’s history and at the time, ever. Although the U.S. suffered heavy fatalities around 400,000 , the united public was determined to get revenge on the Axis powers.

The American Spirit would not be halted. From young men raiding Omaha Beach in France, to soldiers fighting through jungles of Okinawa in the Pacific, to the women working back home in airplane factories such as Corpus Christi, individuals were willing to give everything they had, even their life, for their country. It was where they were from and what they loved. They all wanted revenge against the tyrannical powers of the world.

On April 15, 2013, two explosions ripped through downtown Boston as the worldfamous Boston Marathon was nearing an end. Two homemade pressure cooker bombs were detonated near

the finish line of the race killing three and injuring over a hundred others. People around the country donated to the victims and other groups including some who organized fundraising runs showing the dedication and resilience of the American spirit. For days millions of Americans’ eyes were glued to their televisions awaiting the eventual capture of the Tsarnaev brothers. The younger brother Dzhokhar was found in a Boston resident’s boat parked in the drive way. As Dzhokhar was detained and transported to a local hospital to treat critical wounds, crowds of Bostonians gathered around the police transport chanting “USA” for a long while knowing they would be able to go to sleep

peacefully that night as the threat had been eliminated.

It has been a little over 16 years since the Sept. 11 attacks on the

citizens begging to do anything they could to help there was no doubt this moment united the American people and boosted national

Nobody was a Republican, Democrat, liberal or conservative.

We were all just one thing--Americans.

World Trade Center and the Pentagon. As some memories have faded, this attack will always be known as a day in which all of America came together and said that we would rebuild and come back even stronger. From the raising of our great flag at ground zero, to firefighters rushing up to New York City to help with the destruction to regular

patriotism. Even the night of the attacks, Congress members from both parties who were natural enemies put their differences to bed and sang “God Bless America” on the Capitol steps. Our nation rallied behind a common foe and would not be satisfied until almost a full decade later when Osama Bin Laden was killed.

All these events

have one thing in common.

Nobody was a Republican or Democrat; Liberal or Conservative, we were all just one thing.

Americans. It is a sad reality that it takes horrendous acts for people to be patriotic.

After a while memories fade and common logic of hard times are forgotten and we go straight back to non bi-partisan actions being taken. America is a diverse place and every person will not be satisfied, but situations have gotten so bad that the country is split completely.

What we need going forward in our nation is not another disaster to bring us together but leaders who will care for every single citizen, and inspire to support the Stars and Stripes, not force us to bring back patriotism by committing more violence and atrocities of our own.

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Sept. 21, 2017

A&E

Guide to Arts Festival Ania Stover and Natalie Craney Editors

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he Silhouette is hosting its third annual arts festival. The festival will be hosted by the staff and sponsor Renee Quaife. This is done every year in hopes of helping to fund the literary magazine while also bringing the community together.

Sept. 23 11 a.m.

The festival is free of charge but the Silhouette asks for donations.

Entertainment

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he theatre department will also be performing at the festival. Because of the decision to perform more shows this year, there will be an opportunity to perform several pieces no one has seen before. Some students will be performing their selections from Trumbauer; singing, dancing and acting. Theatre teacher Terry Harbison sees this as a chance for the community to get an early look at the kind of talent the theatre department has this year.

“I hope the students learn to perform better and become more comfortable on stage,” Harbison said. “I hope that the people watching want to see more of what Sparkman theatre is all about.”

Family Fun

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his year at the festival there will be plenty of things to do such as a huge checkerboard, face painting and a bouncy house.

The checkerboard will be big enough to fit 200 regular size checkerboards inside of it. Each winning team will get crowns. The face paint will be put on by the robotics team and they will be painting whatever you request within reason.

The face paintings will be all donation based. The bouncy house will be open to everyone with a youthful spirit. This is a great way for parents to catch a few minutes to themselves.

Student Vendors

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few students will be vendors this year, including senior Danielle Steely. This will be Steely’s second year being a vendor at the arts festival. She sells handcrafted jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets, earrings and rings. Steely also creates her own magnets and even tutus.

“It’s nice to see everybody around and to introduce everyone to my business,” Steely said.

Another student vendor making an appearance at the arts festival will be senior Deidre Darby.

Darby specializes in her own contrasting style drawings. Since starting art when she was little, Darby is ready to showcase her work to the arts festival for the second time in a row. She sees it as an opportunity for progress, to get her name out to the world.

“It is a way to get your name out there and when you finally sharpen your skills you can move outside of art festivals to galleries,” Darby said.

Highlights

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hild author, Aleesa St. Julian is a 7-yearold who will be presenting at the festival.

St. Julian published her first book when she was five. It was about a lesson that she had learned from her parents. She is now in the process of writing her second book to further her career as an author. Another highlight that will be at the festival is a performance from the step team.

They will present their practiced routine to family, friends and the rest of the festival goers. These highlights will contribute to a more diverse and artsy feel to the arts festival.

Featured Food Trucks

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east Mode is a local food truck that flavor is French based. Their menu ranges from veggie burgers to what they call the 'bucket list burger'. Their best sellers are the Cochon de Lait, chicken caprese and Cuban burger.

Betty Jo's Gourmet Slaw is one of the local food trucks that will be coming to the arts festival. They specialize in hot dogs and hamburgers. In addition to their meals, you can add their signature hot and mild slaw.

Check out the Sparkman Arts Festival Facebook page for more info on vendors.