151112 rampage

The Rampage 2270 Highway 133 Carbondale , CO 81623

Whatʼs Inside

November 2015

Dancing with the Deputies Clockwise from top left, Jasmin Lopez and Matthew Wampler cozy in for a picture while waiting in line to be breathalyzed and get into the dance Saturday night.

Estrella Hernandez, Kassidy Page, and Melissa Villalobos show their masks and high spirit, as they attended Homecoming 2015, which was accompanied with more enforcement than usual.

Roaring Fork Alumni pg. 4

Where Weʼre Photo

by Sue Rollyson From pg. 5

Volume 9 Issue 2

District wide-decision of breathalyzers at school events sparks dicussion

-Kloe Lee

Basketball Breakdown: Coach Williams pg. 7

Solar Panels pg. 6

On September 25th, as students arrived at the homecoming dance, they were confronted with a long line snaking out the doors of the high school. This was because just inside the doors each student was being breathalyzed before being permitted to enter the dance. This event was evidence of a new school policy that is being implemented this year.

Over the summer, administrators, school principals, vice principals, and school board members came together and chose to enforce sobriety testing at school events.

The purpose of this policy, above all else, is to keep students safe.

“We want to have sober

dances and sober school events, and we’re going to make sure that they happen. It was not a big deal for us to do, and if we can save a life, if we can save people from making really poor decisions, it’s worth it. It’s a really small price to pay for keeping everyone safe,” Vice Principal Kelsie Goodman said in support of the policy.

The type of sobriety tester the administration and police department have chosen to use at school events is an aerial breathalyzer. The person being tested breathes and/or talks into the device, and the portable breath tester then gives either a positive or negative result of sobriety.

Officer Michael Zimmerman of the Carbondale Police Department administered the breathalyzer tests to students at the homecoming dance and ensured the students were not entering the building under the influence of any alcohol or drugs.

“The school environment is not the place for this. We want you to come here, we want you to learn, we want you to have fun, we don’t want you to do things like that. If you’re going to make those choices in life, make them other places because this is not the place for it,” Zimmerman said.

Among the students interviewed, none of them had a problem with the breathalyzer, and they all believed that it was and will continue to be effec-

tive. However, students have some suggestions: “If I could change it, I think the school should have started the dance an hour before because I was standing outside for...forty-five minutes waiting to get in,” said Chelsey Serrano, a sophomore at Roaring Fork High School who attended the school’s dance.

“I think that there should have been at least four lines,” freshman Layne Dawson Applegate suggested to make the entry for students quicker.

Even though students were generally okay with the breathalyzer, some counterpoints were brought up. For example, Iliana Castillon, a sophomore at RFHS, said, “I think the school should have more faith in its students.”

Another student, Emily Henley, voiced her opinion, “I think it’s effective, but I don’t think it should have to be necessary. I think the fact that we took it to the point that we had a breathalyzer kind of proved the point of ‘Hey, don’t come under the influence,’ you know? It seems unnecessary to me, but I think it has good intentions.”

Regardless, it doesn’t appear that this policy is going to be changing anytime soon and students should expect to see breathalyzers at future school events.

Contact us at rframpage@gmail.com

Feature

2 Rampage November 2015

Argentina to America: An exchange student’s experience -Jensen Platero

The Rampage sat down with Manuel Cortina on a Friday afternoon, and he explained what it’s like to be an exchange student. Cortina is originally from Argentina and is a little over halfway through his year-long exchange here in Carbondale. “It’s awesome,” he happily states.

Before coming to the town of Carbondale, Cortina lived with both his parents, his grandmother, and one of his older brothers in Olavarria, Argentina. Plain and mountainless, Olavarria is about the size of Grand Junction (if not smaller).

Reminiscing about his life in Argentina, Cortina recalled playing soccer, longboarding, swimming and going to community barbeques. “From 11am to midnight it was a common to be in touch with everybody,” Cortina said. He also mentioned that the barbecues were held every Sunday, the day of week where all families come together.

Cortina has already had lots of experience living in different parts of the world. Before coming to Carbondale, Cortina had lived in Argentina, Bolivia and Mexico. Cortina’s dad is an engineer for a natural gas company from Spain, which caused his family to move around a lot. Moving was not hard when he was little but become more difficult as he got older. “I didn’t have the sense of friends and all the moments we were together,” he

remarked, raising his eyebrows.

He has found that being an exchange student is a complex situation but a great opportunity for new experiences. “A good thing is all the places I [got to know] this year and all the people I met from here,” Cortina informed with a smile.

Despite the positive parts, being an exchange students can be difficult at times. “A bad thing is... trouble with the language,” Cortina explained.

Cortina initially planned to go to France, however his travel plans accidentally got swapped with a friend who intended to come to Carbondale, so he ended up here instead. “I don’t regret it; I love being here,” Cortina said.

According to Cortina, RFHS is quite different from his school in Olivarria. Cortina mentioned that schools in Argentina don’t give students the opportunity to do many “hands on” activities.

Schools in Argentina are more inclined to have students learn off of readings or out of textbooks instead of making or doing activities. Everything is “simply different,” Cortina says.

Upcoming Events

• Basketball season starts Nov. 9 • Thanksgiving Feast at RFHS: Nov. 20 • Thanksgiving Break: Nov. 2327 • Winter Break: Dec. 21- Jan. 4

Exchange student Manuel Cortina poses for a picture.

Teacher spotlight: Carmen McCracken -Fernando Hernandez Carmen McCracken, new Roaring Fork High School English teacher, is in search of a challenge. She recently moved to Carbondale after living and teaching in New Castle for several years and has high hopes for her first year at RFHS. McCracken explains that she likes the small environment of Carbondale. She made the move to the valley after hearing some great things about the Roaring Fork High School community. She says her daughter, Helina, loves Carbondale and is enjoying her kindergarten year at Crystal River Elementary. Her first month at Roar-

ing Fork, “was both good and challenging,” she states. “I’m used to already having an established reputation, but I moved because I wanted a change,” she responded with a smile of certainty.

McCracken took the position of teaching English III students after Krystal Wu left the valley. McCracken says she loves to teach English Literature to her students. “I love hearing what all my students have to say after analyzing [a] book in class,” she says.

McCracken received a Bachelor’s Degree at James Madison University in Virginia and earned a master’s degree at St. John’s

College in New Mexico.

McCracken eventually decided that teaching was her passion and got her teaching certification and Master’s Degree at the University of Montana. “I like school!” McCracken exclaimed happily. “I would go to school and then travel and go back to school,” she says.

For her first year teaching at Roaring Fork, McCracken hopes for her students to gain knowledge and understanding in her class, “I hope that they learn that they can have a voice in their lives and in their world and how it is that they can make it a powerful voice.”

Feature Feature

3 Rampage Ram November Nove 2015

Roaring Roaring Fork Fork Alumni Alumni taketake on the on the world world -Katie Weimer -Katie Weimer

The Roaring The Fork Roaring High School Fork High graduating School graduating to give a shout to give out atoshout the Roaring out to the Fork Roaring Science Fork Science sition to be sition more to mature be more because mature there because are more there are class of 2015 class mayofno 2015 longer maybe nocontributing longer be contributing to to Department Department for preparing forher preparing for college her and for college responsibilities and responsibilities that come along that come with living along on with livin the hustle and the bustle hustle in and the bustle halls in during the halls passing during passing encouragingencouraging her to striveher forto the strive best.for the best. your own. There’s your own. no one There’s to really no one telltoyou really what tell you periods, butperiods, they arebut continuing they are continuing to learn outside to learn outside Roy Benge, Roy a freshman Benge, aatfreshman the University at the of University ofshould you you and should shouldn’t andbe shouldn’t doing orbe someone doing or tosom of these walls, of these building walls, onbuilding the memories on theand memories and Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia, is Virginia, currentlyis currently tell you to do tellyour you homework,” to do your homework,” explained Castillo. explained C experiencesexperiences they gainedthey at RFHS. gained at RFHS. undecided on undecided his major. on Outside his major. of high Outside school of high school The newestThe Roaring newest Fork Roaring High School Fork High Alumni School Many graduates Manyhave graduates gone on have to further gone ontheir to further Benge their feelsBenge that hefeels is, “exposed that he is, to“exposed a lot of new to a lot ofare newout in the areworld out infacing the world new facing challenges new and challenges educations,educations, attending different attending colleges different andcolleges uni- and uni- and people people ideas.” When and ideas.” askedWhen if he feels askedthat if he feels gaining that newgaining knowledge new knowledge and experiences. and experiences.

WherW versities across versities the country. across the country. high schoolhigh prepared schoolhim prepared enoughhim for enough college for college ever and however ever and they however are now they continuing are now continuing their Emily Fuller, Emily a member Fuller,of a member the class of of the 2015, class ofBenge 2015, stated, Benge “ Yes,stated, to an “extent.

Yes, toHigh an extent. schoolHigh is school is these studies, studies, students these allstudents have oneall thing haveinone thing i is majoring is inmajoring kinesiology in kinesiology and plans toand minor plans into minor whatin you make whatofyou it, but make it is ofait,different but it is atmoa different atmocommon: on common: May 30, 2015 on May they 30,all 2015 walked theydown all walked social sciences social and sciences nutrition and atnutrition ChapmanatUniverChapman sphere Univer-here.sphere Everyone here.isEveryone dedicatedisand dedicated extremely and extremely the same aisle, the sat same together aisle, sat in together the samein gym, the same and gym sity in Orange, sity California. in Orange, For California.

Fuller, the For most Fuller, sizthe most siz- and intelligent intelligent sometimes and it sometimes can be hard it can to keep be hard to keep theirmoved moved tasselstheir on their tassels caps onattheir the same caps at the sam able difference ablebetween difference high between schoolhigh and school collegeand college up.” up.” time. Their time. time at Their RFHS time can at now RFHS serve canas now their serve as is the structure is theofstructure classes. “The of classes. classes“The are taught classes are taught Yazmin Castillo Yazmin currently Castilloattends currently University attends University foundation foundation as they continue as they their continue lives and their golives on and differently and differently the students and the learn students differently. learn It’s differently. a of Colorado It’s a ofDenver Colorado andDenver is majoring and is inmajoring pre-med-in pre-medto do great to things. do great Watch things. out world, Watchhere out world, come here whole new whole setting.new I think setting. college I think is more college about is moreicine. about Through icine. the Through transition thefrom transition high school from high school the Rams! the Rams! the individual. the You individual. can cater Youthe can classes, cater the teachers, classes, teachers, to college, Castillo to college, feels Castillo she has feels become she has much become much and schedules andtoschedules what youtoneed whatand youwhat needworks and whatmore worksmature more thanmature she was than a year sheago. was“College a year ago. in “College in far left Below, to right: RFHS Alumni Emily Fuller,Emily Below, far left to right: RFHS Alumni best for you,” best explained for you,”Fuller. explained Fuller Fuller. would Fuller like would like andgeneral general living by and myself livinghas by put myself me has intoput a pome into a poRoy Benge and Castillo.

RoyYazmin Benge and Yazmin Castillo.

Seniors Seniors Speak Speak OutOut at Roaring at Roaring ForkFork High High School School -Zoe Hanlon-Zoe Hanlon

Roaring Fork Roaring High School Fork High (RFHS) School has(RFHS) many hasfor many success,for ” Contreras success, ”said Contreras in her speech. said in her She speech. She unique andunique fun traditions, and funbut traditions, one of them but one in of them shared in her story shared ofher howstory she of was how ableshe to was pushable to push through obstacles theshe obstacles was faced shewith was in faced highwith in high particular has particular started has off strong startedthis off school strong this year.school year. thethrough school, including school,the including loss of athe cousin loss of that a cousin she wasthat she was CommunityCommunity meetings, which meetings, have which been taking have been taking place for a couple place for of ayears couple at RFHS, of yearsare at now RFHS, are now very close to. very Contreras close to. spoke Contreras aboutspoke how she about how she down. she moved When to sheCarbondale, moved to Carbondale, RFHS R kicked off by kicked a Senior off by Speech. a Senior Senior Speech.

Speeches Senior Speeches hoped that hoped her successes that herwould successes makewould her cousin make herdown. cousinWhen became herbecame team and herhelped team and her helped get to where her get she to wh proud and encouraged proud and encouraged other students other to students work to work are given byare a senior given by who a senior has overcome who hasmajor overcome major hard, push through hard, push hardships, through and hardships, achieveand their achieveis their today. Brown is today. emphasized Brown emphasized the importance the importanc and obstacles throughout obstacles throughout their high school their high career. school career. goals. goals. the value ofthe thevalue RFHS of community the RFHS community and encour-and en Each speech Each has speech a themehas that a theme corresponds that corresponds to one to one aged the school aged to thecontinue school to tocontinue support each to support eac of the Five Habits of the Five of a Habits Scholarof(executive a Scholarskills, (executive skills, Brown, whose Brown, speech whose focused speech on focused the theme on the theme other a family. and be Freshman a family. Gisely Freshman Torres Gisely To ofteamteamwork, of shared teamwork, howshared she came howtoshe livecame in to liveother in and be perseverance, perseverance, enthusiasm,enthusiasm, compassioncompassion and team- and CarbondaleCarbondale and discovered and just discovered how important just how important reflected onrefl Brown’s ected on speech Brown’s saying, speech “Shesaying, talked“She t work). The seniors work). The giveseniors the student give the body student their body their about something about we something could allwe relate could to all as relate well, to as w best advice best and share advicetheir and share personal their high personal schoolhigh having school a team having can be. a team Growing can be. upGrowing in California up in California teamwork, and teamwork, that your andfamily that your is a team family too, is asoteam t journey. Twojourney. seniorsTwo haveseniors spokenhave so far spoken this year: so far this with year: her mother, with her Brown mother, missed Brown out missed on a lotout of on a lot of appreciate while youithave while it.”you have it.” support,the protection, support, protection, and sense ofand security sense that of security that itappreciate Daisy Contreras Daisyand Contreras Grace Brown. and Grace Each Brown. of these Each the of these usually comes usually fromcomes one’s family. from one’s Brown family. eventuBrown eventuSenior Speeches Seniorare Speeches becoming areabecoming tradition at a tradit students have students faced and haveovercome faced andmany overcome obstacles many obstacles ally moved to allyCarbondale moved to Carbondale to live with to her live grandwith her Roaring grand- Fork Roaring High School Fork High andSchool inspireand younger inspire you to get to where to get they to where are now, they and are both now, appreciand both apprecistudents do their best to doastheir wellbest as give as well the seas give th ated the chance ated the to tell chance their to story. tell their story. mother. In her mother. speech, In her Brown speech, said,Brown “We are said, always “We are always to students niors toashare chance what to share they have whatlearned. they have lea that ‘family told that is #1’, ‘family ‘they is always #1’, ‘they comealways first’, come ‘I finiors rst’, ‘Ia chance Contreras, who Contreras, has struggled who haswith struggled her classes, with her told classes, die for would my family.’ die for This my family.’ is the mindset This is the that mindset This that tradition This will tradition continue will through continue thisthrough year and this y grades, andgrades, stayingand on track staying in on school trackgave in school a gavewould a in the yearsin tothe come, years hopefully to come,inspiring hopefullymany inspiring m speech about speech the importance about the importance of perseverance. of perseverance.

“I builds “I loyalty, builds trust, loyalty, and a trust, strongand team.” a strong Brown team.” Brown felt that in afelt lotthat of ways in a her lot of “team” ways had her “team” let her had letmore her students. more students. had lost faith had inlost myself faithand in myself I had lost andmy I had hunger lost my hunger

4

Rampage | November 2015

By the Numbers Percent of surveyed students at RFHS born in the United States:

81%

FOC

Where Are

We surveyed 247 RFHS students about where they are from and

Percent of surveyed students at RFHS born in Colorado:

57%

Percent of surveyed students at RFHS born in the Roaring Fork Valley:

53%

Countries around the world our families come from:

40

States in Mexico our families are from:

19

States in the U.S. our families are from:

35

Erick Mendez

Junior Erick Mendez was born in San Salvador, El Salvador and came to Carbondale when he was nine. El Salvador and Carbondale are different in that they have different cultures and different foods, he says. He missed the rivers and beaches of his hometown, but he says he moved to Carbondale, “for a better future.”

Cristian Alvarado

Maria Paula Gue

Cristian Alvarado was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras and moved to the U.S. when he was 7 years old to join family that was already here. According to Alvarado, a large difference between Tegucigalpa and Carbondale, is that there is much less crime here in Carbondale. Alvarado says that he misses his family in Honduras, especially his grandparents who he hasn’t been able to see for a long time.

Maria Paula nació en Cali, Colombia y movió aquí en Septiembre. Ella movió aquí para estar con su mamá quien vivía aquí.

Ella dice que Colorado es más ordenado que Colombia y que la gente aquí es muy amable. Ella extraña su familia en Colombia y también las varias frutas ricas que ella comía allî.

Rampage | November 2015

CUS

e We From?

My Family is From...

Kimberly Guzman

“...Mexico, and originally from Italy.”

nd where their families come from. Here’s what we discovered.

uevara-Ortiz

5

Liam Laird “...Scotland, England, Ireland, Sweden, and Denmark.”

Suleima Ledezma “...Mexico and Saudi Arabia.”

Felina Cruz “My family is Native American.

Lisa Kelley “...Italy and Greece.”

Grace Farris “My family is from France.”

Left: Each red pin on the map represents where RFHS students were born.

Joseph Flores

Joseph Flores, a senior, was born in Manta, Ecuador and came to Carbondale last year when he was 16 years old. The weather is the biggest difference between here and Ecuador, he says - in his hometown, they don’t have as clear seasons. He misses being able to go surfing five minutes away from where he lived, and moved to Carbondale to get ready for college in the United States and improve his English.

Jasmin Contreras Jasmin Contreras, a Junior at RFHS, was born in Guatemala and moved here when she was 8 years old. Contreras moved here to join her dad and get a better education. The biggest difference between Guatemala and Carbondale, according to her, is the people and the way they interact with each other. “People are much closer here,” she said. Contreras misses her friends and remembers the day she left in perfect clarity.

6 Rampage November 2015

News

Solar panels add new energy to RFHS -Eryn Doherty As seasons change, Roaring Fork students watch as their new solar panels are being installed in the yard outside. The solar panels have been under construction for the last couple of months and will soon be completed, providing 100% of the school’s electricity.

The power purchase agreement (the funding mechanism being used to finance the panels) took longer than expected to negotiate, so the panels are still under construction, but the hope is to have the system installed and completed by December. The process of installing solar panels starts with creating the framework or “backbone” of the panels. This is a very time consuming step that includes inserting several posts into the rocky ground, which can be a very challenging task.

Next, the panels are attached to the framework and properly positioned to receive the most sunlight possible. The panels will then be connected to the school’s electrical system and be ready for their final inspection. According to Energy Club sponsor Wendy Boland, “The cost of energy will initially stay the same as paying for fossil fuel based electricity, but over time RFHS will save money.”

The purpose of installing the panels is to become an energy efficient building and to reduce the school’s environmental footprint. The panels rely on solar energy which is, arguably, the cleanest form of energy known yet. The panels are placed in a position where the sunlight will hit them directly, allowing the panels to convert the sunrays into electricity. Emily Mata, a member of the RFHS

Energy Club, says, “Not only are we making our school more sustainable by installing the solar panels, but we are also setting an example for Carbondale.”

Mata adds that 100% of the school’s electricity will be solar powered.

The only thing running off natural gas will be the heating ventilating and air conditioning (HVAC) system.

The RFHS Energy Club, who played a large role in getting the solar panels for RFHS, isn’t going to stop there. Their next step is to figure out how the entire school could run off renewable energy.

Mata says, “We’re showing that RFHS supports and wants to contribute to the community’s efforts towards being environmentally friendly.” The Energy Club thinks it would be excellent if all schools could strive to be as energy efficient as possible.

Principle Drew Adams adds that it is important for schools and businesses to respect the environment in any way they can. “This is a great example of how we can offset 100 percent of our electricity use for

Brenda Patch Tournament

Chompy’s

The Brenda Patch tournament is an annual basketball tournament at RFHS, that runs from December 3rd to December 5th. The tournament began as a memorial for a former RFHS basketball player who died in a car crash in 1968.

“Since then, we have always had the tournament to raise money for scholarships that go to both girl and boy basketball players,” said basketball coach Larry Williams. Four varsity teams come to play: Aspen, Eagle Valley, Rifle and Steamboat. Make sure to come cheer on the Rams in December!

News Bites Thanksgiving Feast

The annual RFHS Thanksgiving Feast is November 20th at RFHS. Everyone is looking forward to the feast because it is a time where the whole school gets to sit down and eat a meal together.

The Student Council is in charge of putting this event on for the school, but each class in charge of bringing a food item: the Seniors are bringing desserts and the Juniors, Sophomores, and Freshmen are in charge of bringing side dishes. The teachers cook the main attraction: the turkeys.

RFHS without having a significant impact on our campus,” Adams said. Solar energy is one way of reducing our environmental impact, but these solar panels shouldn’t be the end. Hopefully RFHS students, staff, and community members throughout the valley will continue to make efforts towards becoming more environmentally sustainable and reducing their environmental impact.

Volleyball Districts

The Lady Rams spent Halloween weekend in Grand Junction, competing with 8 other teams in their league. The Rams woke up on Saturday ready to play, knocking out the Moffat Bulldogs and the Gunnison Cowboys back to back. These wins did not change their ranking in the league, but the team reached many other goals “We finally beat Gunnison!” head coach Jennifer Dority said through tears as the girls circled up on the floor for a last victory cheer. It was an emotional weekend for all, as some seniors said goodbye to the game they played for four years. The Lady Rams left their mark for the 2015 season, with nothing to look forward to but improvement for next year.

Parking lot - high crime, low tolerance

Like most student parking lots, the RFHS student lot has a collection of speed racers, bumping bass enthuiasts, and ignorant parking jobs. Recently, students have been getting creative, - to say the least - taking matters into their own hands to solve conflicts. With names remaining anonymous, a situation occurred when an aggravated individual pranked another by tampering with their fuses, making their car unable to start, in hopes that this would reduce the over-the-line parking. In return, the victim drew their paintball gun, decorating the parking lot with small orange splats. The situation has since been resolved, though there are still complaints of hurried park jobs.

Sports

Soccer

Sports Recap

- Elyssa Derby

Now that the soccer season is over, the soccer team reflects on their time spent playing together.

Varsity player, Axel Palomera, says, “The chemistry was very different from last year; the team didn’t click as well as it has in the past.”

The Roaring Fork Boy’s soccer team narrowly missed securing a spot at state playoffs, finishing off their season fifth in the league. Colin O’Gorman, who has been Varsity goalie for the past two years was disappointed in how the team placed. “We haven’t been winning as many games as we are capable of winning. We control the ball for the majority of the time, we just struggle to put the ball in the back of the net.” Although many of the players on the team have played for multiple seasons together, the league record for the team was 4-4, a result that wasn’t as good as they had hoped.

The team loves Nick Forbes, who has been Varsity Head Coach for the past 3 years. O’Gorman says, “Nick knew what he was talking about. We would have been an amazing team if we did everything that he told us to do.” Palomera had similar remarks, “Nick was an outstanding coach, he really understood how to connect with us. He was really patient even though we didn’t play our best a lot of the time.”

Although the season didn’t turn out the way they wanted, the soccer players are confident in the potential of the team next year.

Basketball Breakdown with Coach Williams

Volleyball

- Lyndsay Hansen

7 Rampage November 2015

Football

- Hayden Bernot

The RFHS Girls Volleyball Team experienced a season full of tears, laughter and new friendships. This year, the team brought in a coach that changed the atmosphere and pushed the girls to meet their potential. The team was able to develop a strong bond on the court. Although there were few wins this year, the team still managed to grow together and have a positive season.

Junior setter Jasmin Lopez, could not agree more with how the season went. Lopez stated, “I didn’t have much to overcome personally, but with our roller coaster season, our team has overcome the obstacles thrown at us. It was a really different feeling for me this year, making it one of the best seasons yet.”

Freshman setter Lisa Kelley was asked what helped make her first high school volleyball season memorable. She answered, “All the upperclassmen were really supportive of us. They all shared the positive energy with us and pushed us to win more games. Our coaches were also very positive, and pushed us to do our best.”

Ending with a 5-13 record, the girls of the 2015 volleyball season are looking forward to the upcoming 2016 season. The team will lose five seniors: Grace Brown, Dani Minor, Madilyn Kuhl, Caitlin O’Gorman and Valerie Loertscher. The loss of five strong players means that next year’s Varsity team will have to work hard to bring back the upbeat mojo they had this year.

As the Roaring Fork Rams exit week eight with an even record, they are proud to say that they have had one of the best records in the last three years. With the new coaching staff, people were excited to see what the Rams could pull off this year. The team was equipped with 13 seniors and 15 juniors, and were optimistic about winning league.

“I thought we were going to win more games and have a record around 6-3, but overall I thought we had a good season, considering we had a lot of injuries,” senior lineman Cesar Bencomo said. The rams ended week seven missing two key players:Tyler Spence and Jake Kelley, lost to local rivals.

“The injuries killed the end of our season and our most important league games,” starting running back Tyler Spence added. The Rams had a big turning point and a learning curve when they realized what kind of team they could be, after beating Meeker.

“This season, everyone on the team bonded closer than years past, so when the season went up and down we were able to pick each other up,” starting left guard Conrado Dolores mentioned.

Although the Rams record does not show what kind of heart and passion this team has, they are looking forward to next season and hope to do even better, with 15 returning juniors and a strong school to support them at every turn.

Senior Send-Off: above, senior football players at their last game; right, senior soccer players

Photos courtesy Sue Rollyson Persiko, Sopris Sun

- Steele Featherstone

Another basketball season at Roaring Fork is about to begin, bringing with it lots of excitement and several unknowns. This year RFHS will be seeing a whole new team due to the large number of senior players last year. This kind of change can always present some challenges, but with Larry Williams as their head coach they are sure to have a amazing season. Williams has coached several championship teams over the years and is excited and hopeful about the upcoming season.

Rampage (R): “How do you feel about the upcoming season, especially with all the new players who will have to step up and start Varsity?”

Coach Williams (CW): “ Well, every season is different and that is why I get so excited for a new season because I get to work with new players and find out what their strengths and weakness are, plus making everybody come together and work as a team.”

R: “ What challenges will you have to face this season?”

CW: “A challenge we face this season will be height. We don't have many tall players but as we

proved last year we can work around this difficulty.”

R: “Who will be a tough competitor this season?”

CW:“Everybody is tough in this league. Some of the harder games will be against Moffat County, Grand Valley and Coal Ridge.”

R: “What do you do to get the players ready for the season?”

CW: “Well, as always, we make sure the junior varsity are incorporating a lot of what is going on at the varsity level so that they are ready for next season. Also, during the summer there is a camp which also gives me an idea of how everybody plays and works together.”

R: “What are some of the positives to this season?”

CW: “ From what I saw at camp this summer the team enjoys playing defense which is always an indication of good work ethic, and ever since I started coaching I can't stress enough how important it is to enjoy defense and to be good at it.”

R: “How far do you think we will make it this year?”

CW: “The goal is always to make it to state. The secondary goal would be to win playoffs and then move onto the final eight.”

We cannot wait for this season of basketball to start and see how well the Roaring Fork Rams Basketball Team does. The first game is scheduled for December 4.

Entertainment Editorial

Rampage Staff

Parking lot Parents: Never ending Issue

Editors in Chief

By: Jake Rusby

Every year the students of Roaring Fork High School faces the same dilemma: parents dropping their kids off in the student parking lot.

Every year there are countless announcements stating that parents really should stop doing this, but as you can probably assume, they are uninformed or their kids are too lazy to actually inform them.

Reason numero uno as to why this is irritating is that it makes the parking lot sketchier than it already is. With parents taking up more than half the road in their family-sized SUV’s, combined with learning drivers and upperclassmen who are rushing to class, the parking lot can be very dangerous to drivers and pedestrians alike. The parents’ slower driving can be very hazardous to students that are tight on time, who are then held up by someone’s mom in a mini-van parked deadcenter in the road watching to make sure their child makes it inside. It’s as if they believe their son or daughter will be mugged or kidnapped in that thirty yards to the front door.

Secondly, they are actually wasting their time and don’t even realize it. It takes much longer to stop at the firehouse light and wait to turn left, then down and up into the crowded student parking lot. Instead it is much faster to just roll on through the light and take a quick left into the visitor parking lot. The key word there is visitor, meaning that the lot is made specifically for them.

See, the thing about this lot, is that not only is it a shorter drive to get to, but it also has an actual drop of zone.

In conclusion, while we realize that there needs to be more information about appropriate drop off protocol, this remains to be a highly controverial and dangerous issue that needs immediate attention.

Gems of the Valley By: Kristin Page Dinkle Lake is a peaceful area to escape to when you are looking for an adventure or just a little bit of quiet in the mountains. This is a day use area where many people go to have picnics or fish.

How to get there: Drive on Highway 133 past the high school and take a left turn onto Prince Creek Road.

Continue up that road for six miles at which point the road turns into a dirt road. Drive

until you get to a fork in the road and take the right fork following the sign for Dinkle Lake. Follow that road for about two miles all the way to Dinkle Lake.

What to do: Take in the view, breathe in the fresh mountain air, and snap a few pictures! If you brought your fishing pole along try to catch a couple fish and enjoy the peace and quiet. If you’re brave enough, jump in and take a

Photo by Lily Nichols

swim, but watch out it’s super cold! Feel free to lay out your blanket and bring out the basket for a picnic.

Word to the wise: Swim at your own risk! Look out for people fishing so you are not the fish they accidentally catch! Make sure not to step on any old fishing hooks, glass, or sharp objects, or wear water shoes. Please pick up your trash so that we can keep this beautiful place clean.

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Grace Brown Fiona Laird Managing Editor Finn Featherstone Editorial Staff Elyssa Derby Eryn Doherty James Long Carley Moravek Maeve O’Donnell Pax Caitlin O’Gorman Kristin Page Edgar Reyna Zavala Jake Rusby Beymar Silva Tavia Teitler Katherine Weimer Journalists

Whoopers and Bloopers By: Carly Moravek

Whoopers • Thanksgiving is only 14 days away.

• El Nino is expected to bring great snow this winter.

• The Haunted House was a success.

• Senior Nights brought a close the the fall sports.

• The Cross Country team made it to state.

• Basketball season is about to start.

• CU STARS (Science, Technology, and Astronomy Recruits) came to RFHS and shared some great information.

Bloopers Award of Excellence!

8 Rampage November 2015

• The cattle drive went through town, leaving poop and chaos everywhere.

• Disrespect to cars in the student parking lot is growing.

• College application season is upon us.

• The school is ALWAYS cold.

• You have to start scraping your windshields.

Hayden Bernot Steele Featherstone Zoe Hanlon Lyndsay Hansen Kloe Lee Fernando Martinez Jensen Platero Policy Statement: Published 8 times a year, the student newspaper of Roaring Fork High School is a public forum, with its students editorial board making all decisions concerning its content. Unsigned editorials express the views of the majority of the editorial board.