The Echo (Issue 1, 2017-2018)

The Echo

2017-18

Issue 1

THE ECHO The BGA Theatre Department Presents‌ Web of Murder The Theatre Department has been working tirelessly since the first week of school on the fall play, Web of Murder. The performance starts TONIGHT at 7 pm and Saturday at 7 pm and Sunday at 2 pm in the Harlin Student Center. As you can probably guess, Web of Murder is a murder mystery, entailing many plot twists and captivating scenes that will have you on tenterhooks.

Minerva Osterman, played by Christina Conrady, is an ailing, irritable old woman confined to her wheelchair, who spends her time ordering around her daughter, Stephanie, played by Reed Locke, her housekeeper, Nora, played by Skyler Fox, and her personal doctor, Dr. Adler, played by Ray Goodson. Minerva predicts her death

may occur in the near future and wishes to read her will herself to her family. Minerva summons her two nieces, Mary Hamilton, played by Maddy Ambrose, and Belle Hamilton, played by Madison Knight, to her mansion who bring along their husbands, Keith Latimer, played by Henry Dambach, and Pete Martinelli, played by Bennett Kesler. Trapped by Minerva in the household, fear rises among them, more and more bodies turn up, and the audience learns secrets of Minerva’s past from a suspicious man played by Liam Jenkins.

The cast and crew would love all of your support after their many days of hard work on this production.

Admission is free for faculty (plus one) and students.

Page 1: Web of Murder Page 2: Homecoming Week Page 3: Hurricane Response Page 4: New Teacher Interview with Coach Martin Page 5: Scary Movie Poll Results Page 6: International Student Interviews

Article by Skyler Fox

The Echo Staff Editors-In-Chief: Skyler Fox and Emma Wylie Staff Members: Bailey Anderson, Alex Pareigis, Sarah May, Shea Kelly, Kevin Dennis, Allyson Newkirk

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The Echo

2017-18

Issue 1

Homecoming Week Homecoming Pride

By Kevin Dennis

The Homecoming football game is one of the many events at Battle Ground Academy that truly show the spirit of community at BGA. While at the homecoming game, I had the privilege to sit and cheer my fellow classmates to victory. After the first penalty on Battle Ground, which just so happened to have been a possible touchdown, we could feel the energy of the team, the game. Interestingly, the BGA fans were all supporting their teams in different ways. From the homecoming queens coming to accept the honor gifted by the school, to the some boys being aggressively aware of every single stat, to underclassmen joining in on chants; they all cared enough to support their team. This dedication finally paid off when only 10:30 minutes from the end of the first quarter, Matthew Ligon scored BGA’s first touchdown. Soon after, another touchdown from Ollie Reese. It seemed like it was a barrage of touchdowns: one after another, while the stands were full of cheering students and alumni. My ears were tattooed that night with the sound of miniature explosions on the side of the field and the phrases “giddy up, giddy up, giddy up” and “I believe that we will win.”

Soon after the awe inducing halftime that included the presentation of the Alma Mater sung by the choirs across our campuses, our team put in some younger players to test out their composure on the larger stage.

Even though the touchdowns slowed down in the second half, the Wildcats still cheered. I personally heard students praise the band that came to support Whites Creek, but in the end, it was the raw power of the wildcat’s breath that outroared the brassy-spirit of Whites Creek.

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The Echo

2017-18

Issue 1

Homecoming HomecomingWeek Week

by Bailey Anderson

Last week, we celebrated Homecoming through various festivities. Every day was a different themed day, so the students got to wear different fun costumes each day. Monday was America Monday, Tuesday was Tacky Tourist Tuesday, Wednesday was Neon Day, Thursday was Jersey Day, and Friday was Blue and Gold Day. Also, we had a competition called “The Clash of Classes” in which each grade competed for more points throughout the week, and whichever grade ended up having the most points by Friday afternoon was the winner of the competition. Each grade could get more points by posting on Twitter photos of their costumes for each spirit day and by winning the various games that were held throughout the week. There was a volleyball match on Monday, a sumo-wresting match on Wednesday, a basketball game on Thursday, and a relay racer during the pep rally on Friday. The champions of the Clash of Classes were, of course, the seniors.

On Thursday night, a bonfire was held up by the A&W to honor all of the senior fall athletes.

It was so much fun to watch all of the senior fall athletes carry torches and throw them into the huge bonfire.

A pep-rally was held on Friday afternoon in order to get all of the students excited for the game that night. The pep-rally was so much fun; the cheerleaders did a wonderful job at hyping up the crowd, and the games were so exciting for all of the grades to participate in and to watch. The game that night was a huge success for the football team; we crushed Whites Creek.

To wrap up the activities of homecoming week, the dance was held on Saturday night, and the band was absolutely great. All of the students had a really great time dancing to their favorite 80’s songs. Overall, homecoming week was an all-out success, with so many exciting festivities that really showed the BGA community.

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The Echo

2017-18

Issue 1

Hurricane Response by Bailey Anderson With the end of summer, hurricanes surged through the Atlantic, causing economic and environmental destruction. Three consecutive hurricanes, Harvey, Irma, and Maria, pelted Latin America, the Caribbean, and southern states in the United States, like Louisiana, Texas, and Florida. The first of these hurricanes was Hurricane Harvey, which mainly affected Texas and Louisiana in the Gulf of Mexico. Flooding caused by up to 51 inches of rain in certain areas, intense storm surges, and forceful winds up to 130 mph brought by Harvey, left a trail of despair. Homes, businesses, and schools were demolished, at least 39 individuals died, and thousands were displaced. Billions of dollars of damage left people with an uncertain future, trying to piece back together their communities and lives.

The next hurricane hit the Caribbean and Florida.

Irma, one of the most powerful hurricanes recorded in the Atlantic, caused around 112 deaths in its path.

The most damage to the United States was in the Florida Keys. The Keys, closed to the public, was shut down. No power, little water, no medical services, no cell service. The hurricane hit the Keys dead on, the eye of the storm passing directly overhead. The tourist attraction is now closed to the outside world, letting the residence and homeowners have time to put their lives back together. Thousands of residents are homeless and worried about what comes next. The financial stress of rebuilding a life in the pricey Keys is leaving people wondering what will happen next. Continental Florida, while receiving strong winds, did not get hit with the full force, for the wind speed was less than 70 mph and gusts less than 90 mph when the hurricane made landfall. Flooding is more of a problem, with storm surges as the biggest threat. Millions were without power for multiple days. For the most part, Florida was lucky, or at least as lucky as they could have been. Minimal wind damage leaves people thinking that it could have been a lot worse.

The Caribbean took on the strength of the Category 5 hurricane. Barbuda, St. Barthélemy, St. Martin, Anguilla, the Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico received a direct hit. The hurricane’s winds were about 185 mph consistently at its strongest points, followed by some gusts up to 215 mph. One of the most affected areas was Barbuda, with reports of 90-95% of buildings destroyed. These islands were given no way to communicate with the outside world, leaving them with dwindling supplies to help make it during and after the hurricane. With no way to the outside world, these islands were left exposed, waiting, wondering to see if Hurricane José was coming. Then came Hurricane Maria.

Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were devastated by Maria. The one-two punch of these disasters has left 3.5 million people without electricity. The wind gusts were so strong that the wind gauges throughout the island broke. Puerto Rico is left alone. Very little press coverage, communication, and crumbling infrastructure leaves Puerto Rico in ruins. Hospitals are running out of resources to help those in need, people are running out of safe water. This U.S. territory is demolished, defenseless, and alone.

In response to these tragedies, BGA tried to help these devastated areas through a fundraiser. We used our three home games against Evangelical Christian School to help raise money and awareness. A group of juniors also made jambalaya to help raise money. They set up a stand by the entrance of the football stadium, giving out free jambalaya and collected donations. The school also made it easy to donate. All together, BGA raised over $3,000 to give to the American Red Cross.

There is a lot going on in our own country and lots to be fixed, but it is important to remember that we are not the only ones. It is never too late to donate to the American Red Cross to help those in need of assistance, to help those who need a little bit of security, to help 4 those in need of a little bit of hope. We are the lucky ones.

The Echo

2016-17

Issue 1

Scary Movie Poll Results With Halloween approaching, The Echo editors asked the BGA community to choose its favorite scary movie. Over 150 students, faculty, and staff responded to the poll. A new classic, IT, won out as the favorite contemporary scary movie with 43% of the votes, while The Shining was the most popular selection for classic scary movies with 39%. Nearly 5% of respondents said some version of “I hate scary movies,” and the most popular “write-in” vote was for Alien. The only movie series to show up on both lists was Sharknado, with Sharknado 5 written-in as a favorite contemporary scary movie, and the original Sharknado as a favorite classic.

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The Echo

2017-18

New Teacher Interview with Coach Martin

by Alex Pareigis

Q: What do you teach at BGA? A: I teach US Girls Wellness and Varsity Softball Q: What did you do before BGA? A: I lived and worked in Atlanta coaching soccer, cross country, golf, and basketball.

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Q: What inspired you to pursue teaching as a career?

A: After I graduated college everything I was involved in dealt with the youth and either teaching or coaching. I decided on high school level because it's a unique time for the kids what they all are going through as they prepare for college.

Q: What is your favorite book?

A: Into the Wild

Q: What is your favorite thing about BGA? A: I love the atmosphere and the community.

Q: What are you most excited about this year?

A: The softball season!

Q: What do you like to do outside of school?

A: Anything outdoors.

Q: Do you like to travel? If so, where?

A: Missoula Montana or anywhere Northwest.

Q: What was your high school experience like?

A: I went to a small private school in Atlanta very similar to BGA, but a little bigger. So pretty similar experience just bigger classes.

Q: What was your college experience like?

A: I went to college in the North Georgia mountains. I really enjoyed it, but I was very focused on softball so that was my whole social aspect of college.

Q: What do you binge watch on Netflix?

A: I don’t really watch TV that much, but I did enjoy The Blacklist.

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The Echo

2017-18

Issue 1

International Student Interviews

by Paige Shea

For this article of The Echo, we decided to interview our new international students to let the BGA community get to know them. It was a pleasure to get in contact with all of these students and ask them a few questions. The image to the right is a map of where everyone’s hometowns are.

All of these students have made quite a journey to arrive to our school. This year Battle Ground Academy has welcomed five new international students, four freshmen, Bill Qiu, Jimmy Shi, Jerry Song, and Lambert Li, and one sophomore, Leon Rüter. The sixth pin point on the map is where we have all come together: Battle Ground Academy.

Q: From where did you come to BGA? A: I am from Germany. My home is 30 minutes away from Cologne if that is giving you an idea.

My village is called Würselen.

Q: What's the biggest difference between BGA and your previous school?

A: The biggest difference in school is the schedule. Back at Germany I have 3 days until 1:15 and 2 days until 3:50. Our classes are just the subject. For example, math. That means, we don't separate into different classes. For lunch we go out in the city and eat in restaurants or at home.

We get less homework. In my free time I like to do track and field. Wherever I want to go I ride my bike, because I am not allowed to drive a car until I am 18.

Q: In what activity at BGA (or in TN) are you interested in getting involved with?

A: I was interested in football, and it was fun to play, but it just took too much time to be on the practice field every day. I am really interested to see a lot of different things during my stay in the US. I love to see new things. I am ready to see everything and take part in a lot of different things and meet a lot of new people.

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The Echo Jerry Song Q: From where did you come to BGA? I have been living in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province since I was born. The name of my middle school in China is called The Middle School Affiliated To Shaanxi Normal. It is a school with an excellent academic atmosphere.

Q: What's the biggest difference between BGA and your previous school?

Based on my opinion, the main differences between there and BGA is that the life in BGA is more relaxing and active. People here put a lot of attention on the diverse activities. And the school gains more focus on the comprehensive abilities of the students.

Q: In what activity at BGA (or in TN) are you interested in getting involved with?

I want to join the school soccer team the most.

Besides that, I am now doing the fundraising to the poor children in Asia with our Asian community. I am willing to be volunteering in these kind of projects to help other people living better.

Lambert Li Q: From where did you come to BGA? I came to BGA from Shenzhen (a city adjacent to Hongkong), China.

Q: What's the biggest difference between BGA and your previous school?

I would say the greatest difference is that the connections among people on campus and the society we formed. I love BGA and this community. I literally cannot ask for better environment or team honor better than BGA. Q: In what activity at BGA (or in TN) are you interested in getting involved with?

2017-18

Issue 1

I am full-heartedly getting involved in international club besides all the wonderful courses and caring teachers. And I still keep my great interest on writing or literature.

Jimmy Shi Q: From where did you come to BGA? Ningbo, Zhejiang Q: What's the biggest difference between BGA and your previous school?

Language! (English) & FOOD! (I love BGA cafeteria so much.)

Q: In what activity at BGA (or in TN) are you interested in getting involved with?

Golf & Speech and debate & WATCHING football games. (only watching) Bill Qiu Q: From where did you come to BGA? I am from Beijing,China.(Beijing is the capital of China, in the north China) Q: What's the biggest difference between BGA and your previous school?

The biggest difference is the different communication. I do not mean the language. I can see the students and teachers here are more enthusiastic. Chinese students are more incoming.

Q: In what activity at BGA (or in TN) are you interested in getting involved with?

About activities, I like the two clubs that I take.

Math and chess. It is interesting, I see students are really happy to play chess there and their smiles are sincere. We do some interesting math problem in the math club. It is different to class.

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