Fall 2014 Eagle Eye

The Eagle Eye Volume 23•Issue 1• December 2014

Hope Haven

New home for area kids

I N T E R Check out A the videos C and T online I content V inside.

E

Spotlight

Leading the way in band and theater

Flipping

for the win

Student excels in competitive cheer

Copy Editor

Photo Editor

Managing Editor

2014-2015

Eagle Eye

Emma Johnsen

Drew Austin

Lily Hering

STAFF

The Eagle Eye is INTERACTIVE! Magazine has links to video content

Aubreigh Varias

Lucas Bonds

Kamryn Stacks

Emily Fry

The newest issue of the Eagle Eye now has online, easily accessible content.

All you need is a PHONE or TABLET and a QR APP (like QRreader or QRafter).

Open the app, then POINT your device at any of our QR codes throughout the magazine to see a video or webpage. It’s EASY!

Kate Adams

Whitney Bacon

LHSEagle-eye.com

Kelsey Crews We have partnered with the A/V class to bring you news broadcasts.

Check out the first episode produced by Mr. Harden’s class.

Online--http://issuu.com/lhseagle-eye/docs Website-- http://LHSEagle-Eye.com Facebook--/LHSEagleEyeNews

Interested in UIL? Check out this video to find out more!

Adviser: Neda Morrow morrownl@lisdeagles.net

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the position or policies of LISD.

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Performance shines like a diamond Teacher receives prestigious award

D

by: Emily Fry

Layout designed by Emily Fry

actually came through.

All of my former students contributed to my ebate coach Rory Mckenzie recently diamond.” earned his first Diamond Award from the National Mckenzie has been in debate since high school Forensics League. He received and came back to Lindale, his this honor for having over 1,500 alma mater, to teach and coach NFL points from competing in the LHS debate team. and teaching debate.

“He was one of my students in “It’s a really big honor and I’m high school and he earned some really excited to have gotten it,” of those points as a student,” Mckenzie said. “It’s my five year speech and debate teacher mark and it’s a great way to mark Janice Caldwell said. “He was an my time as a debate coach.” outstanding debate student and The National Forensic League as a debate coach he is doing is an honor society founded very well.” to encourage and motivate The diamond award is the high school students across highest honor a coach can the nation to participate in Rory Mckenzie receive in the NFL and represents public speaking. Members earn the mission of the NFL to points for speaking and debate, “encourage speech and debate coaches get one-tenth of the activities as a means to develop points earned by their students. a student’s essential life skills and After five years and at least 1500 points, a debate values.” coach in the NFL is eligible for a diamond award.

“All of the best debate coaches in the world, in

“It’s not a surprise,” Mckenzie said. “Once you meet the criteria you earn the award. I was the state, in the country have one,” Mckenzie said.

“To earn my first one is kind of a validation for me waiting for it, but I was really excited when it 2 that let’s me know I’m on the right path.”

All of my former students contributed to my diamond.”

Left: The “Dry” team (from left to right)-- Alec Ramsey, Cody Gustafson and Colton Parker. Right: The “Wet” team (from left to right)--Sarah Havens, Emma Johnsen and Griffon James.

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A great debate

Students debate the wet/dry issue

er palms sweaty and knees weak, she stands and walks to the podium. She has waited for this moment since she found out she would be participating. What will the community members think about students discussing such a hot-button issue? After taking a deep breath, Sarah Havens begins to speak.

The debate team hosted an on-stage debate November 3 in the Performing Arts Center regarding the current wet/dry alcohol sales issue. The debate was held to educate community members and to raise money for the debate team.

“From our perspective, this is a really big issue in the community and it seems to have created a lot of division,” debate coach Rory Mckenzie said. “We did this as a way to provide information and unite the community again.”

by: Emily Fry

Sarah Havens, Emma Johnsen and Griffon James spoke for the wet side, while Colton Parker, Cody Gustafson, and Alec Ramsey spoke for the dry side.

The ballot items included one which would allow for the sale of beer and wine for offpremise consumption in grocery stores and gas stations. The second proposition related to the sale of mixed beverages for businesses with a permit.

“We are doing this the day before the election,” said Mckenzie. “It gives us a great opportunity to educate the community and show the community that even though some of our students aren’t able to vote, they still have good thoughts.”

The booster club and parents of debate members organized and helped with the event.

“With the wet/dry issue coming up,” said Mckenzie. “It seemed like a really great opportunity to show off what our debate team does.”

UPDATE: Both alcohol sales propositions passed with 58 percent of voters for the sale of beer and wine, and 65.6 percent of voters for the mixed beverages proposition.

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Volleyball team continues to win

Layout by Lily Hering

by Lily Hering, Managing Editor

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She watches from the sidelines, calling out tips in order to help her team out. She thinks back to the beginning of the season and realizes that, while the team is still improving, they’ve already come so far.

“So far this season,

I think we’ve come together and were looking better each time we step on the court,” head volleyball coach Meghan Renicker said. “In practice and in games they’ve put their heart on the line to go out there and win.”

This year, they volleyball team has 11 players. There is one freshman, three sophomores, four juniors and three seniors.

“I think the biggest struggle this year is that we are so young and we have all different ages,” Renicker said.

“We’re putting all those girls together out on the court to play as a team and I think we’re just now getting better as a

team. Just them getting to know their teammates has been a struggle this year.”

The team’s overall record this year is 17 wins and 10 losses.

Renicker says the team continues improving each time they play.

“We beat Corsicana and we played really well as a team,” junior Rhyan Rand said. “We had a lot of energy and just all played our hardest. Every point we played hard and worked to play harder and beat them.”

There are three seniors on the team this year, Travicia Acy, Kinsey Arnold and Liz McLaughlin. McLaughlin believes that Acy has been the MVP of this season so far.

“I think Travicia has really stepped up this year,” McLaughlin said.

“Last year she was on varsity, but this year she is a huge factor in this team. We would not be the same without her.”

Friday night lights

Eagles beat Chapel Hill

K. Crews

K. Crews

K. Crews

by Kelsey Crews

The varsity football team played their second game of the season September 5 against the Carthage bulldogs, at Carthage. In their first game, the Eagles scored the winning touchdown against Chapel Hill in the last quarter of the game, resulting in a final score of 21-17.

“Chapel Hill was a great win for our confidence,” head football coach Mike Meador said. “We will build on that and continue to improve.”

Carthage won the D1 3A state championship last year, and their

lean on each other when it gets tough.”

Even though Lindale is said to be the underdog in the district, the boys are using that as motivation to do well this year.

“I feel great about this season, especially after Friday night’s win,” sophomore Matt Coley said. “We have a lot of determination to win this year.”

The support from the students, including the band, drill team, cheerleaders, twirlers and student section remains an important part of what happens on Friday nights.

“I don’t think the cheerleaders and the band kids get enough credit for how much they do and help us in the games,” junior Kam Neely said. “It seems that no matter the score of the game, they are always having a positive attitude, yelling and having a good time.”

team has not lost a home game since September 2012. Despite this, the boys are keeping a positive attitude.

“I just think we need to work hard and execute what we know in this next game,” senior Aaron Jackson said. “We’re out to shock some people this season.”

Friday night’s game was the first game of what will be a tough season for the boys. Lindale is in a new district this year that includes Jacksonville, The football Whitehouse, Lufkin, Corsicana, Nacogdoches, John Tyler and team won Ennis. against “We all know it’s going to be Whitehouse in a hard district,” senior Justin their last game Willis said. “We hear people of the season talking about how we’re going to get destroyed, but we don’t November 7 during overtime! listen to them because we’re Video courtesy of Casey Neal. a team and we can always 5

Senior Lily Hering interviews senior Liz McLaughlin on the sideline during the game.

Lindale High School Eagle Eye. KMOO usually Heart racing, she stands in the large tunnel, has a reporter present at football games that they shifting back and forth on her feet in the darkness. spotlight every week, and chose to have a LHS Mic in hand, she braces herself for the rush of journalism student as their representative. footballers and stands stiff as they come charging “It was pretty scary when I got there,” Hering through the entrance, shouting chants while said. “I didn’t originally know that rushing toward the open field.

I would be going on air. It was a Senior Lily Hering was very fun experience though, but chosen to go out in the field I am not sure I would as a reporter choose this as a career.”

September 12 KMOO selected at the Lindale Lindale based on their homecoming great journalism program.

Eagle Eye editor game. Local radio station, 99.9 KMOO, invited Lily experiences broadcast journalism Hering reported live on air the status of the game and to represent them on the by: Drew Austin, Photo Editor the spirit of the crowd. She sidelines. interviewed coaches and “I actually stood inside the tunnel as they were members of the public. running through, and I was scared that I was “I was very excited to get the call from the going to get trampled,” Hering said. “After they KMOO station about having a student reporter ran through I had to follow them out and mic the on the sidelines at games,” newspaper advisor coin toss. It was sort of embarrassing being in the Neda Morrow said. “This was a middle of the field, chasing the referee around.” perfect opportunity for a Lindale Hering is a UIL state champion in journalism, student to get some real-world and is a third year staff member for the experience in the broadcast journalism field.”

STUDENT

Layout Designed by Drew Austin

on the Sidelines

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Layout by Lily Hering

She walks out onto the stage, the lights shining in her face.

Except this is no normal stage and no normal performance.

Her adrenaline is rushing as she gets ready to do what she does best–lead the Pride of Lindale.

Head drum major Katie Phinny is one of four drum majors for the LHS band who help lead the band during marching drills and performances.

“Whenever I got the position, I was obviously excited,” Phinny said. “But, I knew that I had really big shoes to fill.”

Head drum major is the highest studentfilled position in the LHS band program.

This is Phinny’s second year as a drum major.

“It wasn’t necessarily about picking Katie – she earned the spot,” band director Steven Moore said. “She has served a year as a drum

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major already, so she already had experience. With her personality, her leadership skills – she earned the position.”

In addition to being the head drum major, Phinny is also a squad leader for the clarinet section. It is their job to teach their squads fundamentals of marching and listen to members play off music.

“Katie is fantastic – she has established herself as the leader and is very positive,” Moore said. “She is the leader that you know she’s in charge, and you listen to her. She doesn’t have to be forceful to get anything done.”

The band practices every morning from 7:50 to 8:45, Monday evenings from

On a Spotligh h ig t on he ad drum h not e major K atie

by Lily H

ering, M

6:30 to 8:30, and Wednesday afternoons from 3:30 to 5:00.

“The drum majors just try to lead the band in the right direction,” Phinny said. “This year we have a bigger band than any other year, and we’re finally learning how to move this big group in an organized way.”

Band

anagin

g Edito

r

Phinny

members stay after school every Friday to get ready to perform at football games.

Members must return their uniforms and help put back instruments before being allowed to leave at about 11:30.

“Whenever we are warming up at games, I give myself a little pep talk and

pump myself up to get focused and in my zone,” Phinny said. “It’s exciting for me and it gets my adrenaline rushing. I like performing in big crowds, so it’s become second nature to me.”

y a w e h James t n o f f i r G g n i Ward, d y e l h a s A Leight on play leads Spotl

by

Lily He

He stands under the spotlights, listening to the silence that follows his final line. He waits for the lights to fade and the curtains to

Heaven”. The back-toback performances were held October 23 and 25 starting at 6:00 and October 26 at 2:00 in the Performing

slide

Arts Center.

“When I’m performing I feel kind of nervous, and sometimes

it shows, but usually not,” James said.

“There are all these people watching you and there is a lot of pressure. But, when you’re performing and get a standing ovation and people are clapping and cheering for you, it just feels really great.”

James and Ward are both returning theatre members.

James has been in theatre for three years, and Ward has

Layout by Lily Hering

closed.

As the stage melts into shadows, he hears the first clap, fol-lowed by a second, then thundering applause.

He grins widely, enjoying the feeling of being on stage.

Junior Griffon James played the lead role of Ralph in the all-male play “Lord Of The Flies” and senior Ashley Ward played the lead role of Fanny in the allfemale play “As It Is In

r

g Edito

nagin ring, Ma

been in theatre for four years. “Because I’ve been in theatre for the past few years, I’ve been able to build up experience, ability and maturity to play a lead role.” James said.

“I was pretty happy, but I wasn’t really surprised because the director was hinting at it the entire time.

I was ready to take on the responsibility of having a lead role.

The girls’ play was directed by theatre teacher Amanda Murray and EJ Moss teacher Taylor Jarman directed the boys’ play. Both directors were solely responsible for casting and directing the plays.

“I think Mrs. Murray picked me because she saw that I could pull of the role and play the character to its full potential,” Ward said. “It’s fun being a senior and being a lead, but theatre has always been fun.”

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Making a difference Hope Haven builds home for girls in foster care

by Emma Johnsen, Copy Editor

Layout designed by Emma Johnsen

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he hope of a fresh start was fnally beginning to show itself to her. Fear, abuse and confusion could now be left behind, making way for joy, peace and a new home. Happiness would finally become hers after all.

Hope Haven is a faith-based organization dedicated to providing a safe environment for girls who have come from abusive and unhealthy backgrounds.

Their mission is to help these girls overcome their past and give them the opportunity to build a better future for themselves.

Lindale CNA teacher Emily Weesner is on the board of directors.

“80 percent of girls in the foster care system get shipped out of this area and are moved away from family, friends and teachers who love them,” Weesner said.

“We decided we had to do something, so we decided to build a home for them.”

The home will be built in New Harmony, and the Lindale School Board has allowed the girls

to attend Lindale schools. 16 girls, ages 13 to 17, will be able to live there.

“The reason we chose 16 girls is because we wanted to start small,” Weesner said. “The numbers are huge, so we will always be full.”

The house is being built on a 1.1 million dollar budget, and it will take about a year to build. Hope Haven has about half of that money already committed, but multiple fundraisers will be going on to help secure the other half. For instance, one is the “Showcase of the Stars” on Oct. 11 at the Liberty Hall in Tyler.

“Local artists will get Photo courtesy of E. Weesner to perform, and they’ll get their name out there,” Weesner said. “We’ll help each other out, and that’s what we do in this ministry.”

Mrs. Weesner’s own class is also putting on a 5k that will be held in March.

“The idea was all theirs,” Weesner said.

“They love the concept of Hope Haven, and they decided to do this to help raise awareness.”

To learn more about Hope Haven, visit their website at http://hhofet.org/

Sand winches

Students use carpentry skills outside the classroom

by Lucas Bonds The tires sink below the surface of the sand pit as hitting the gas only shoots up the wet earth and lands the truck deeper in the trench.

“Looks like this is going to take a while,” the boys think.

Layne Singleton and Mo Milam used their carpentry skills to construct a shelter for journalism teacher Neda Morrow’s two newly purchased donkeys. It was quite an experience, complete with lessons that extend far beyond the classroom.

“The boys are extremely talented,” Morrow said. “They had the equipment, knew what to do, calculated how to put the building up, and they just got to work.”

Singleton and Milam learned the skills required from their fathers and in Coach Phillips construction technologies class.

“My goal for my students is to give them skills to be able to use tools so that one day when they are on their own they may not have to hire out some of the jobs they have to do around their future homes,” Phillips said.

The project, however, was not without its problems. Despite being warned about the instability of the sand near the project site, Singleton and Milam got each of their trucks and a flatbed trailer stranded up to the axles in the sand. The students were forced to call Singleton’s father to winch them out of the sticky situation.

“Mrs. Morrow told us not to got down there, but we had to try it at least once,” Milam said.

“We were able to get our trucks out, but we had to hand push the

trailer out.”

In the end, the shed was completed, and the donkeys had a new home. Singleton and Milam were able to put what they had learned into practice, and Morrow was pleased with the result.

“Building it was alright,” Singleton said. “We hit a couple rough spots but it turned out real nice.

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Welcome to Happyville

New Family and Consumer Sciences teacher comes to LHS

By Kamryn Stacks

New year, new school, new teacher. With an open mind and a smile on her face, new teacher Dalinda Cassell knows that today will be great now that she’s a part of the LHS family.

Cassell teaches Child Development and Skills for Personal and Family Living. She has been a part of the Lindale High School staff for only a few weeks and has found it easy to adjust.

“I feel very welcomed,” Cassell said. “I don’t feel like I am a new teacher. Some places that I’ve been to, it’s like nobody wants to speak to you.

Here it’s been very friendly and open. It’s very nice; it makes coming to work easy.”

Cassell has taught at many schools including Fairfield, Eustace, Ferris, and Caddo Mills. Lindale has made the best impression on her.

“The school was very nice, well taken care of, so that was impressive to me,” Cassell said.

Layout designed by Kamryn Stacks

“Everyone here just seems so happy. It’s like Happyville.”

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Cassell has coached track, cross country and volleyball. She now coaches basketball and softball. Like many teachers, Cassell had motivation to become a teacher and coach from her own schooling.

“I had some very good teachers in high school, and I had some not-so-good teachers growing up,” Cassell said. “I feel like that you help shape children at this age, and even younger, and you can either help them in a positive or negative way. I’ve wanted to help people reach things that they wanted to reach or goals that they wanted to do as an adult.”

Cassell’s frst few weeks of classes has her hopeful for a great school year.

“I feel like they’re very attentive in class,” Cassell said. “With the things that I teach, I feel like once they learn, open up, and talk more it’s going to be a fun environment for them.

Cassell’s classes are designed to be a comfortable place that makes it easy for students to open up for discussions.

“Mrs. Cassell really makes learning about child development fun,” student Allison Simmons said. “We don’t do a lot of book work and we learn a lot about the other students in the class.

It’s a very nice environment to start my day off in.”

Purls of Wisdom Daughter replaces mother as teacher at LHS

by Lucas Bonds

Her shoes click on the floor of the freshly waxed hallway. It’s a new year, a fresh start. This is the first day of the rest of her life, for she is following in the footsteps of the one she loves.

Beth Purl came to LHS to take her mother’s place as a teacher in the math department. This year marks a quarter of a century of the Purl family teaching at Lindale High School. Now it is Beth Purl who has become the resident “Purl” on campus following her mother’s 24 year legacy of teaching at Lindale.

“So far the comparisons have been good, which is a huge compliment in my opinion,” Beth Purl said. “It’s been a special thing for both of us to get to share.”

Patricia Purl’s legacy lives on not only through her daughter, but through her fellow teachers and the students she influenced.

“Mrs. Purl taught my children, and I always felt that she was infinitely patient and dedicated to her students and to their success,” Spanish teacher Nancy Bernard said. “The new Ms. Purl is the next generation who is totally committed to Lindale and to her students.”

Even after only one week of teaching at Lindale, the “new” Ms. Purl has already started to take after her mother by making connections with her students and trying to leave lasting impressions.

“Ms. Purl seems very eager to teach, she’s always upbeat and seems ready to take after her mom,” junior Aubreigh Varias said. “I’m really excited to see what she does with the class.”

Beth Purl strives to go the extra mile to make sure that every student gets a quality education, and she’s proud of the impact her mother had in her life and the life of the many students she taught.

“I started teaching because I loved my classes when I was in school, and I have two wonderful teacher parents,” Ms. Purl said. “My mom has been one of the biggest influences in my life.”

“It’s been a special thing for both of us to get to share” Pearl photo courtesy of http://paulinemoss.deviantart.com/

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Digital Media and Animation Club

New tech club comes to Lindale by Kamryn Stacks The walls are lined with computers as students turn their ideas into art. They hope to impress their sponsors and ambassadors with their skills and original masterpieces that have been put together over many hours. This could be a life changing opportunity.

“The Digital Media and Animation Club allows students who like to participate or enjoy things like photoshop, video editing or computer programming to compete,” DMAC

co-sponsor Amanda English said. “They will have mentors come in and help them with their projects so that they can improve their skills.”

DMAC was created for students who wish to understand and appreciate any and all forms of digital art. The topics of discussion include art forms such as digital media, animation, video, and programming.

“It’s good for the kids because it is all technologybased skills which - in our current society - are at a premium,” DMAC co-sponsor Neda Morrow said.

“This allows them the opportunity to push their skills past the regular high school level, and give them the opportunity they need to build those skills for jobs, careers in college, etc.”

This also helps the kids see the application of the skills they are learning and how they

TE C HN OL OG Y

Crack! the thin wood snaps under the immense pressure.

The young men grin ear to ear as they watch their weeks of hard work and study demolished at the front of the classroom.

Brent Berryman’s engineering design and architecture design classes built balsa wood towers to test the students’ skills in designing and civil engineering. “[The students] get to understand what is going 8

on as far as structure strength and design,” Berryman said.

“They then actually build the tower and test it to find which one’s the best.”

The towers were ranked by the percentage of weight the tower held divided by the weight of the tower, also known as efficiency.The towers held from 92 lbs to 468 lbs, and had efficiency of anywhere from 1,000 to 8,000 percent.

“I think my tower did pretty good, considering it got first place,” Angel Perez said. “I

SKILLS

learned that just because your tower doesn’t look the most intricate, it doesn’t mean it won’t perform really well.”

Berryman’s classes assist students in evolving their design skills and learning what engineers and architects do in the work environment.

“I’ve been able to build and learn what an engineer does on a daily basis,” engineering design student Ryan Spellman said. “I would really like to do this for a living.”

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of high school.

“My favorite part of DMAC is that the kids get to work on projects that they enjoy. ” Morrow said. “Sometimes, you can only skim the surface of a topic in class, but this allows students who want to go further the time and tools to do so.”

DMAC presents opportunities for their members to compete using the abilities and skills that are learned from class and within the club. It is a requirement of the club for students to work towards a goal using technology.

“One of the main things is that we want them to do a competition,” English said. “For example, there’s a competition called ‘Doodle for Google,’ and it’s a graphic design competition where they actually could design the Google logo that comes up when you go to Google.com. There is also an animation competition, film competition and different graphic design competitions.”

DMAC will generate student opportunities to express and create their own art. It also promotes opportunities for students to demonstrate and

F OR T H E

U

With great FU T towers RE come great responsibility

Engineering students test their building and design skills

by Lucas Bonds

showcase this art, including participation in group projects, media contests, video productions and other artistic venues that generate school and community involvement.

“The best parts of DMAC, to me, are that you can have help on your projects, use the labs and express yourself,” sophomore Bryce Ransone said.

“Also, the fact that we can have professional help while still in high school is really exciting.”

Shooting four the top

Students perform in Act IV

by Lucas Bonds

Solo acts included Priscilla Sosa, Maiyah Sims, The fourth annual showcase of student talent, Whitney Bacon, Macy Dot Neal, Katie Moore, Bailey Act IV, was held November 15 in the Performing Enloe, Rebecca Richardson and Jamie Stephens.

Arts Center. Sponsored this year by RealEdge “We had a lot of different acts Realty, students of various ages with some extraordinary kids,” Act IV performed for the community.

“The idea behind director Neda Morrow said. “From the “The idea behind Act IV is to give a showcase of all the entertainers to the crew who worked Act IV is to give a behind the scenes, the amount wonderful talents our students showcase of all the of talent of LISD students was have,” Superintendent Stan Surratt said. “It’s just another way wonderful talents our impressive. I am so proud of how hard everyone worked to make this our students get to show off students have.” event a success.” their wonderful talents.”

Macy Dot Neal’s performance of Over 20 students auditioned to show off their abilities. The “One Day at A Time” was dedicated to firefighter Joe Yeakley and the community that LHS band, Starsteppers, LHS and LJH theatre programs, Keri’s Dance Factory’s “Party Dancers”, came together to support him during his recovery.

In a surprise appearance, Joe and Denise Yeakley cloggers Emilee and Bailee DeWolfe, and musical came on stage to greet the crowd as masters of group of Carter Colvin, Mason Hilton and Brady Smith performed as group acts. KDF’s elite cloggers ceremonies Emma Johnsen and Griffon James rounded out the evening with a rousing clog routine. read a note of thanks to the community.

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“When he came out it was really surprising,” junior Kaitlyn Wallace said. It had an emotional impact on the audience. Everyone immediately rose to their feet and you could tell that the whole atmosphere was that of joy at seeing Mr. Yeakley doing so well in his recovery. It brought tears to my eyes.”

The student showcase is put on by the LISD Education Foundation each year and raised $14,164 for classroom projects and educational tools. It is also an opportunity for the many talents of LISD students to be shared.

“I am so proud and thankful of the hard work from our LISD students, staff and faculty members who spent countless hours rehearsing for this night,” Communications Director Lauren Loyless said. “I know that without the dedication and support from our Lindale community, sponsors and the Lindale ISD Education Foundation board members, this night would not have been possible.”

Photos courtesy of Larry Wilson

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Not just an ordinary teacher Staffer reflects on mom’s big win

by Kelsey Crews

D

18

ing. Ding. Ding. The last bell of the

day rings, and the students race out of school eager to get home after a long day. As the minutes tick by, more and more students have been picked up by parents in cars or people on buses, and finally by 3:45 all the students are gone. The day of work is over for everyone, well, everyone except the teacher.

This is a lifestyle I know very well, not because I am a teacher, but because my mother is one. In fact, she is one of the best teachers in the state. My mother, Whitney Crews, is the 2015 Texas Elementary Teacher of the Year.

Whitney Crews grew up in the small town of Eastland, Texas and graduated as valedictorian of her class and went on to graduate from Baylor. After a string of fortunate events and connections to various people, she ended up teaching English at Van High School for one year and then moved to Lindale to teach sixth grade science and social studies, which is where she has been for the past 17 years.

Formerly, she had just been known as

“Mrs. Crews, the sixth grade teacher,” but now she is a celebrity. People all over the state and even the country now know her name and what she does. It’s strange for me to think about that, because she’s still the same person. She hasn’t always been a celebrity, but she has always been a superhero to me.

Usually when people think of a “teacher,” they think of a person who comes to work from 8-3 during the week with summers off. However, this is far from the truth. A normal school day for her would include waking up early enough to hustle us off to school on time, then almost ending long after the students have gone for the day. See, once my mother (like most teachers) makes sure the family has dinner and that we have gotten our homework done, she is finally being able to start on her own “homework.” Stacks of papers and projects up to her knees remain on the floor of her room as she sits there for hours grading papers. Finally at 11 or 12 she’ll give up, even though the stacks are only half finished, and she’ll go

to bed just to wake up in a few hours and do it all over again.

Teaching isn’t just a job for her, it’s her life.

Consequently, it has become my life too. I have grown up in the school, spending days of my weekends or summers there, helping grade papers, create presentations, and set up for events, getting to school unreasonably early and staying way past time to leave, and of course having no choice but to behave in school since my mother knows so many of the teachers.

“Anytime someone works outside the house there are sacrifices that have to be made,” my dad Jeff Crews said. “But when one is in education it is more than a job, it’s a calling.

Those are more passionate and dedicated to their profession, so there are more sacrifices, along with the extra help needed to decorate their rooms and with their mid-week functions.”

Although some parts of this lifestyle haven’t been my favorite, there are a lot of benefits to this way of life. I get to see my mother as not only a teacher and a leader at school but in all other areas of her life. I get to be with her when we are at the grocery store and a student will run up to her and give her a hug and talk to her for a good 15 minutes, and then see a student from years past working at the checkout who will tell her, “I know I used to be a troublemaker in your class Mrs. Crews, but I graduated and got a scholarship and I cleaned up my life thanks to you.” I get to be there with her at the doctor’s office when I’m sick, and the second the doctor leaves the room she’ll say, “that person was in my class a really long time ago.”

I get to see her legacy carry on through every student who passes through her classroom.

I even get to see things she doesn’t, like how everyone I meet now was in her class at some point or another and they always have funny stories to tell about her. I get to see her come home from the store during the summer with some new clothes or shoes because one of her summer school students doesn’t have what they need. I get to listen to her stories about how she’s had a

breakthrough with a particularly tough student and see how excited she gets about every step in the right direction. I get to see all the fruit of her labor and still get to have her come home and start her second job as my mom.

And now, she’s finally been recognized for the years and years of hard work. Of course, all I can think is that it’s about time for her to get the praise she deserves. I mean, yeah she hasn’t always made it to all my volleyball games or track meets because of her job, and yeah, there are some times when I feel like she lives at the school and we do too, but I can see it in the way her eyes light up when she starts talking about her kids. I can see how much she loves what she does and that it’s more than just a job for her; it’s a passion. Now that other people have recognized her many years of labor, my eyes can’t help but twinkle a little when people in passing say how awesome it is for Lindale to have a Texas Teacher of the Year. So I respond, “I know, Mrs. Crews is my mom.”

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Flippin for the win Student competes in competive cheer

By Kelsey Crews

Layout by Kelsey Crews

B

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lindingly bright lights shine from all directions, and tons of parents and other family members sit in the stands applauding their favorite teams.

The athletes stand in their starting positions, with their game faces on, patiently awaiting for their time to start. After what seems like forever, the music starts and the crowd goes wild.

Junior Taylor Farnham is in training for his competitive cheer team’s

upcoming competition season this November.

“I like doing what I do,” Farnham said.

“Little kids look up to me, and I hope to go somewhere with it eventually.”

Farnham has been one of the few high school students participating in a competitive cheer program for over two years now and is currently cheering for East Texas Twisters. He does not cheer for the school at this time but may in the future.

“He loves tumbling and cheering more than anything else,” Faith Fitch, Quitman student and

close friend of Farnham said. “Every time we are together he’s constantly tumbling and trying to help me out on mine.”

Although he hasn’t been cheering and tumbling for very long,

he has mastered many skills, including being involved in many things at once.

Farnham also participates in track and competes in pole vault and has competed in other sports in the past including football.

“Taylor is the kind of person who will be

Kent Harris Alan Roberts Mike Craig

very successful because he takes care of his business,” engineering teacher Brent Berryman said. “He is always helping others and of course he is not scared to take on new challenges.”

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Flying High at Sky Ranch

Student Council goes to Sky Ranch for team building

Layout by Aubreigh Varias

by Aubreigh Varias

She holds tightly onto the ropes of the obstacle course, dangling high up in the air. She’s usually very brave, but when she feels like she’s about to fall she begins to doubt herself. Then she hears her teammates giving her words of encouragement from the ground. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.

The Lindale High School Student Council, made up of 50 students, went to Sky Ranch September 15 for bonding and leadership exercises.

“Student Council’s goal is to help the students and make school more fun, that way it’s not just all about learning,” StuCo President Hannah Hamilton said. “We do nothing but try to better the school.”

Student Council went to Sky Ranch to also come up with a game plan about what they are going to do this year and to improve their leadership skills.

“Sky Ranch is a beautiful place where you learn to motivate the people around you,” vice president Brittany Brown said. “You learn how to be a part of a team and how to encourage and inspire everyone.”

Sandy Meyers, who went on the trip with the group, believes Sky Ranch was a success. The kids learned that with motivation from teammates you can dig deep within yourself and find the strength to do things you didn’t think you could do.

“My favorite activity we did while we were at Sky Ranch was the canoes,” Hamilton said. “It was an activity where you weren’t on your own. It really required teamwork and working together which is the reason we went there in the first place.”

Stu Co Hosts Blood Drive

by Emily Fry

Lindale hosted the first Carter BloodCare blood drive of the year October 9. Student Council scheduled and assisted with the blood drive, which lasted from second to seventh period.

“Carter BloodCare has been to Lindale before,” Student Council sponsor Pamela Beck said. “They love coming here to Lindale to help benefit East Texas.”

Every time a student donates blood, it saves three lives. Carter Bloodcare comes three times a year to Lindale to collect blood from anyone who is willing to donate.

“So many people are willing to donate from Lindale,” Student Council member Hailey Walker said. “That’s why they love coming here.”

Lindale High School is the third leading high school that donates blood. During the drive, StuCo members helped by assisting the students who were waiting and called students from class to come for their scheduled time.

“We would hand pick them out of class so there would be less skipping,” Student Council Vice President Brittany Brown said. “It was just more structured that way.”

StuCo hopes to be able to host more than three drives a year. They believe it’s every bit worth the time that the drive takes up.

“There’s not much you can do at age 17,” Brown said. “But, knowing you saved three lives makes you feel better because you did something to help people.”

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T H E N

One family, forever united

A 40-year tradition of division one ratings

by Whitney Bacon

A band of 75 members, one drum major and eight majorettes waited anxiously for the results. After several nerve-wracking moments, the announcer said the words that would be heard thirtynine more times in years to come: “Lindale High School, Division I.” What that group of students from 1975 didn’t know was that they would not only be the start to a longstanding tradition of band excellence, but their small size would continue to grow. At more than 255 members, The Pride of Lindale is marching their largest band in history this year and preparing for another successful year.

“We’re going to put more kids on the field than we’ve ever had in a contest block,” head band director Steven Moore said.

Through the growth of the band, the tradition has connected alumni to current members, including some families. Junior high English

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Video content courtesy of the Audio/Visual Class.

and drama teacher Molly Bacon was a four-year member of the band and enjoys being part of the tradition.

“What makes it even better for me is because I was a part of the first, second and third firstdivision rated LHS bands, and my son and daughter are part of that tradition with me,” Bacon said. “That makes it very special.”

The band has already put in hours of rehearsal time, and according to Moore, it is “one of the most positive groups.”

“The band has a great attitude, and the students are working hard,” Moore said. “If things keep on going, it could be one of our best years.”

Kyung Hee Kim, professor of education at the College of William and Mary, conducted an experiment that analyzed creativity in children. The children were told to do something creative with several stimuli in order to see how well the children included originality, meaningfulness and humor. According to Kim’s research, the biggest decline recently is in the ability to assess a particular idea and expand on it in an interesting and novel way.

Creativity has declined drastically in the past three decades due to society’s reliance on instant information.

Today’s generation relies heavily on immediate and direct answers to their problems, leaving them at a loss in the working world which might require them to problem solve. Even outside of school, children prefer to spend their time watching television, playing video games, or texting friends, which leaves little room to make mistakes on their own.

In the real world few questions have one right answer, few problems have one right solution – that’s why creativity is crucial to success in the real world.

But more and more the state is subjecting children to an educational system that assumes one right answer to every question and one correct solution to every problem, a system that punishes children (and their teachers, too) for daring to try different routes, such as the standardized use of the State of Texas Assessment of Academic Readiness (STAAR).

Society should begin emphasizing tools such as guided play and creative curriculums in schools, thus encouraging stuThe dents to think for themselves by allowing more Creativity Crisis time to think on their own.

by Kate Adams

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Proudly Supporting the Students of LISD

Mississippi Native Inspires Students Motivational Speaker Shares His Story

by Aubreigh Varias

Layout by Drew Austin

He watches the students of all grades file in

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Batiste is an ex-gang member, but he says Porter changed his life. Through her guidance and take their seats. He looks at each individual and his desire to change, he was able to rise person and wonders how many of them he will up and overcome many obstacles. get through to. He listens to the principal as he “We try to inspire kids to be the best they can introduces them. He takes a deep breath, looks be,” Porter said. “We also try to inspire teachers out into the crowd and begins doing what he to reach out of their box and find the gifts of all does best. their students. We have to be the change we Dewayne Batiste and his former teacher, Donna want to see in the world.”

Porter, came to visit and share Porter made it her job to quickly their story with the students “Being able to talk to discover Batiste’s gift, which at Lindale High School on she believes is as a leader and October 8. They travel to students across the speaker. She then put Batiste different schools to inspire country feels natural to in charge of greeting people at students and prove that kids me.

I want to continue the door when they entered her can change for the better. classroom. Batiste realized that he “I feel like I went through on this journey to could use his leadership skills for what I went through to be able impact students.” a much greater cause than what to come back and do this,” he was.

Batiste said. “Being able to talk “People always ask me if I ever to students across the country feels natural to get nervous talking in front of high schoolers,” me. I want to continue on this journey to impact Batiste said. “But I never do. This is my natural students.” habitat. The love that I receive from students is Batiste and Porter travel to different schools to what keeps me going. I know this is what I was talk to students about Batiste’s life as a student meant to do.” and Porter’s impact on his life.

Caissons go rolling along

Traveling Army Truck stops at Lindale High School

by Aubreigh Varias

The United States Army brought their PR truck to LHS on October 21. They were here to inform students about the Army and had hands on activities that showed students what being in the army is like.

“It’s good to bring in outside speakers,” counselor David Ramsey said. “It is good for our students to hear from clubs and organizations outside of our school district.

Overall, I believe it was really successful.”

Along with all the different activities, there were also three army recruiters on the bus to guide students and give them tours. While giving the tour they demonstrated how all the tools worked and answered students’ questions about the army.

“I really enjoyed the video game that let us shoot at targets,” junior Caitlyn Rudd said. “The uniforms that they had were also really interesting. I never knew how heavy they were until they let us try them on.”

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Toss to the top Twirlers advance to state

by Whitney Bacon

The Lindale High School Majorettes competed at the UIL Twirling Solo and Ensemble contest October 22, earning both medals and feedback.

“The contest as a whole is not just a performance but it is also a judging event,” majorette sponsor Jessica Glasscock said. “The judges give the girls feedback that they can take home and learn how to improve their twirling abilities through it.”

The girls earned sixteen medals, the most brought home from twirling contest in Lindale history. According to band director Steven Moore, the line has been

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working hard all year.

“They have a great attitude and a great teacher,” Moore said. “This is the biggest line we’ve had, and it’s one of the hardest working ones, so I’m really proud.”

State qualifiers include Erin Tomlinson, Whitney Bacon, Brooklyn Lede, Kaley Perez, Haleigh Hopper, Grace Reynolds, Hannah Sanders, Cameron Wildt, Penelope Straus and Ashlie Thompson. Several of the twirlers are ready for the challenge.

“I’m not sure how I’m going to do at state, but I’m going to work my hardest to do the best I can,” sophomore Cameron Wildt said.

The state contest will be May 29-30 in Austin. Head Majorette

Erin Tomlinson is excited for the contest.

“I’m excited about myself, but I’m more excited about everyone getting to go,” Tomlinson said. “This is the first time everyone advanced, so it’s really cool.”

Video courtesy of the Audio/Visual Class