17 01 12 Rampage

The Rampage 2270 Highway 133 Carbondale , CO 81623

January 2017

Volume 10 Issue 4

The Seal of Biliteracy:

What’s Inside

an opportunity for students everywhere

- Lily Peery In recent months, a group of Roaring Fork Schools language teachers and administrators have been coming together for meetings to learn more about the Seal of Biliteracy. The certificate is awarded to students that have demonstrated academic proficiency in English and at least one other language by the time they graduate from high school.

The Seal of Biliteracy is an award currently offered to students in three Colorado school districts: Denver Public, Adams County,

incentive to maintain their first language as they acquire academic proficiency in English, and encourages all students to pursue multilingualism.

Students that choose to pursue the seal will have to meet rigorous language requirements in both languages. Currently, in Eagle County, students must show proficiency on the state standardized English assessment called PARC, as well as proficiency in a comparable assessment in the non-English

Courtesy photos and Eagle County Schools. If approved, Roaring Fork Schools would be the fourth district in the state of Colorado to offer the Seal of Biliteracy.

The purpose of the Seal of Biliteracy is to acknowledge and certify students who have attained a high level of speaking, reading and writing skills in one or more languages in addition to English. The seal is attached to a student’s high school diploma, and is an acknowledgement that can benefit graduates in many ways. The seal has financial benefits as a way for potential employers to identify graduates with proficiency in two languages, and also for colleges to recognize and give credit to students who have attained advanced biliteracy skills. It also gives Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students in the English Language Development Program

language in which the students are literate.

The comparable assessment might include passing an AP-level language exam, or an International Baccalaureate exam. In addition, students must participate in a community service program that requires the use of both languages, and prepare a final presentation in both languages. Roaring Fork Schools will finalize its requirements to earn the Seal of Biliteracy once the program is approved by the Board of Education.

Vice Principal Kelsie Goodman of Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) is a very passionate advocator for the seal. “[Biliteracy is] something that I have worked really hard for in my life and I’m really proud of myself because every job that I’ve had is because I’m biliterate.” Ms. Goodman notes that as educators, “We push students to learn English as

soon as they arrive in school, often at the expense of their native language.” The Seal of Biliteracy is a way to validate the importance of maintaining a student’s native language.

“I think [the Seal of Biliteracy] gives power to native speakers of another language coming into our schools,” Goodman says. It also gives “honor and recognition” to students who are graduating biliterate, but who aren’t currently getting recognition for this work.

The Seal of Biliteracy is an opportunity that excites many RFHS students. Junior Advanced Placement (AP) Spanish student Camilo Guevara Stone feels that the Seal of Biliteracy will encourage students like him to develop biliteracy language skills. “Here [in the Valley] there are a lot of jobs that look for people that speak and read Spanish.

[The seal] shows that you learned another language and learned to speak it fluently,” Guevara Stone said. Guevara Stone also noted that the seal would help a student to be on more prominent on college applications. Much like Guevara Stone, fellow AP Spanish student and Junior Leslia Serrano believes that having the seal on a diploma is a way to prove proficiency for students who speak, read, and write at a high level in a second language. Serrano says that,“That [seal] that goes on the diploma shows, ‘Oh, yeah, they actually are biliterate! They’re proficient at this language. They can go use it later on.’”

The group of teachers and administrators advocating for the Seal of Biliteracy are scheduled to present the idea to the Board of Education on January 11th. Seniors Tavia Teitler and Lorenzo Andrade will attend the meeting in support of the seal.

So far, 24 states have already approved the Seal of Biliteracy, four are considering the possibility of bringing the seal into their state, six are still in the planning stages of it, and California is piloting the program.

If approved, the Seal of Biliteracy would be beneficial to all students in the district by providing incentive to continue learning a second language at a high level and rewarding that level of dedication with an award that opens many doors for students in the future.

PreCollegiate program page 2

New Year’s resolutions page 2

Racial segregation pages 5-6

Girl’s Lacrosse page 7

Contact us at rframpage@gmail.com

Feature

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Pre-Collegiate at Roaring Fork High School -Iliana Castillon

A group of ninth grade PCP members pose during their week stay at CMC. Photo by Alex Alvarado.

Roaring Fork Schools’ Pre-Collegiate Program (PCP) assists students whose parents did not attend college in applying for college and supports the students throughout their continued educational journey. PCP provides students who are in the 7th grade with mentors whose job it is to help students to develop college readiness throughout their middle and high school years. They often assist with ACT/ SAT preparation, college applications, and scholarships, amongst numerous other college-related tasks.

PCP is most known for its summer program, which sends eighth and ninth graders to Colorado Mountain College Spring Valley at Glenwood Springs for a week and allows the students to take practice college classes during their visit. The program also sends sophomores and juniors to Colorado University (CU) in Boulder for two weeks and allows them to live in the dorms to have the full college experience.

Craig Farnum, the college counselor at Colorado Mountain College in Carbondale and Pre-Collegiate mentor for Roaring Fork High School (RFHS), states that the reason he is a PCP mentor is because he “was a middle school and high school counselor in Reno/Lake Tahoe prior to becoming a college coun-

selor at Colorado Mountain College in Carbondale, [and] one of the most rewarding parts about being a school counselor, that I don’t get as much from being a college counselor, was being a part of a young student’s life over the course of several years.” Farnum states, “My pre-collegiate group is now in their junior year and we have been meeting regularly since they were in seventh grade. It is fun to watch, and be part of the process of kids becoming young adults. The academic, personal, and social growth that can take place is amazing.” The students that are a part of the program have a great appreciation for their mentors, as they remain connected for six years. “Being a pre-collegiate mentor is important to me since it’s one of the ways I give back to the community. Also, as a college counselor, it is important to keep a pulse of what’s happening in the local middle and high schools so I can better assess the changing needs of our incoming college students,” says Farnum.

Fabian Rico, who is now a senior as well as Head Boy at RFHS, has been a part of the PCP since seventh grade. Rico states how thankful he is for the experiences PCP has provided him. “[The counselors] have been super helpful, I wouldn’t have

Photo by Sonia Cortez

gotten to go to CU Boulder if it wasn’t because of the program and going to CU has allowed me to see what living on campus is really like, how stressful it can be, how fun it can be, and I got to meet a bunch of new people.” PCP helps students get the experiences they need before entering college in multiple ways. Farnum states “The PCP is beneficial, without question. Pre-collegiate students become equipped with the knowledge and tools to access college and be successful in higher education. Also, these students help their peers who may not be in a pre-collegiate group. It is beneficial for mentors because we get to build relationships with amazing students! In a world that does not always portray high school students in a positive light, pre-collegiate students help create a more positive image of high school youth.”

Leslie Emerson and David Smith are the current directors for the PCP and the positive role they have played in the lives of RFHS students is evident in students’ attitudes toward the program and its staff.

Jasmin Lopez, a senior and Head Girl at RFHS, states, “The program has helped me in so many ways, and Leslie and Dave are just amazing. They help so many students in the Valley not only succeed in high school, but also in college.” As a former PCP mentor who worked with a group of Glenwood High School students that graduated in 2014, Smith has firsthand experience of how beneficial the program can be to the individual students enrolled and to the staff. Smith states, “I know it’s going to sound kind of cheesy, but I chose to be director of the program when the opportunity presented itself because these kids changed my life. I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life and as a career. I want to make a difference in students’ lives just like they’ve made a difference in mine.”

The PCP has become an important part of student education in our valley and it will continue providing important opportunities for student in the years to come.

Senior Spotlight: Ailyn Arevalo -Frankie Harrington

Roaring Fork High School (RFHS) senior Ailyn Arevalo reflects on her high school experience and what her current plans for the future are. Arevalo will graduate from RFHS in May 2017.

When considering what she has learned throughout high school, Arevalo explains, “My high school experience has taught me that if you want to see change in yourself socially or academically, you have to do something about it.” To get more involved at the start of high school, Arevalo explored her options during freshman year. At the start of freshman year, Arevalo says, “I began to explore sports and clubs that have helped me who I am now as a senior.” As an involved high school student with the ambition to go to college, Arevalo has participated in the GayStraight Alliance (GSA) club and basketball since her freshman year. Like many other seniors, Arevalo will be able to use these experiences on her college applications to highlight her involvement throughout her high school career.

High school can be an overwhelming experience at times, but RFHS focuses students on persever-

ance, which is what Arevalo has demonstrated time and time again. Despite some difficult experiences throughout the years, Arevalo has managed to push through to find success. She is graduating with a solid GPA and believes her experiences at RFHS have helped to prepare her for the future. In order to make the best of one’s high school experience, Arevalo advises, “No matter the concept, accept change. Change will come through high school. Also, participate. The more I participated in school, the more I made of it.” To participate more, Arevalo recommends attending school events because “they’re a lot of fun.” By being involved and attending events, Arevalo enjoyed high school more.

As first semester of her senior year is quickly coming to an end, Arevalo has found herself engulfed in more than just school work. She has completed the college application process and will soon have to make a decision on what college to attend. Arevalo has received acceptance letters from three of the colleges to which she applied: Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, Metro State Univer-

Photo by Eryn Doherty

sity in Denver, and Colorado State University (CSU) Pueblo. She is still contemplating the focus of her studies and her decision will depend on which school she attends. As of now, Arevalo would like to work in Social Work or Human Services, more specifically with high risk youth.

Feature The Most Popular Memes of 2016 -Sandra Grijalva

Clench that Arthur fist, and get comfortable with your HaramBAE because 2016 was the year of the meme!

According to Buzzfeed.com the 12 most popular memes of 2016 by month have been, January: Bernie or Hillary posters with the supposed opinions of the two presidential candidates. The fake posters gained by their popularity on Tumblr before spreading all over Twitter.

March: Ted Cruz the Zodiac Killer. In March, the internet accused presidential candidate Ted Cruz of being the “zodiac killer”.

May: Dat Boi an animated frog riding a unicycle whose first debut was in april but became much more popular in May. July: Harambe, a gorilla from the Cincinnati Zoo who was put down after a child fell into his enclosure became a viral meme soon after his death. Merchandise was created and according to USA Today an estimated number of over 10,000 people voted for him in the national presidential election.

September: Name a more iconic duo, these memes are mocking a picture of the Kardashian/Jenner sisters Kendall and Kylie saying “name a more iconic duo” and challenge social media users to name a more iconic duo.

November: Biden and Obama/ Evil kermit, Numerous pictures of the President and VP have turned into memes, mostly relating to the new president elect Donald Trump and his vice president Mike Pence.

Evil Kermit memes feature Kermit the frog being influenced by his evil conscious. The picture came from a comedy film that features kermit the frog.

February: Damn Daniel videos of two high school kids admiring his friends shoes which subsequently got then on the Ellen Degeneres show and a year’s supply of Vans.

April: A screenshot of confused Mr.Krabs, the money hungry crab from “Spongebob”, with a blurred effect were used with memes of confusion.

June: Caveman Spongebob, yet another screenshot from the TV show “Spongebob”. In this meme the caveman spongebob is put in unfortunate or awkward situations that people on social media usually find themselves in.

August: Arthur’s clenched fist, yet another children’s show character turned into a meme, in this episode of Arthur he gets mad and punches his sister and this meme is a close up of his clenched up fist.

October: Bone app the teeth is a meme that gained popularity as the internet mocked all of the people that fail to spell bon appetit.

The meme started with someone sttempting to make cornbread and posting it on twitter, but they mispeled the popular phrase.

December: Me at the beginning of 2016 vs, me at the end, was naturally the most popular meme at the end of the year. This meme uses pictures of someone or something looking great in one and completely destroyed in the other as a representation of the not-so-great year 2016 has been.

3 3 Rampage January 2017

RF’s Exchange Student

-Mariana Cortes

Living 3,273 miles from home, Paula Paredes is an 18 year old exchange student at Roaring Fork High School. In August 2016, Paredes traveled from Quito, Ecuador to Carbondale, Colorado to take on new experiences. Although Paredes is not attending RFHS through an official exchange program, she is here in the Valley because of a family connection to RFHS English teacher Denise Wright.

Paredes’ brother Ricardo Paredes’ experiences here in the Valley two years ago inspired Paredes to come to Carbondale. Like her brother, Paredes is staying with RFHS English teacher Denise Wright.

While living with a teacher might seem difficult or undesirable to some students, Paredes says, “Ms. Wright is a good person, in fact it doesn’t feel like she’s a teacher at home. She also gives good advice.”

Paredes’ decision to come to Carbondale was an easy one as it was based on her brother’s rave reviews of his experiences hiking, climbing, and skiing with the Wright family.

Paredes is enjoying her experience at the high school despite the differences between RFHS and her high school in Ecuador. According to Paredes, in Quito, instead of students switching from class to class, they stay in the same classroom, and teachers move instead. In addition to the adaption to a new way of schooling, Paredes has also had to adapt to the two hour time difference between Colorado and Ecuador, which makes the school hours difficult for her at times. “In Ecuador we get out earlier, usually around 2 pm we are out,” states Paredes. Despite the challenges of a longer school day, Paredes feels great about her classes and hopes to keep her grades up.

In the four months she has been here, Paredes hasn’t been able to participate in sports due to a prior knee injury. Even though she isn’t able to do many activities, she participates in crossfit after school and is involved in the Outdoor Leadership program. She has decided to not join any clubs during school because of short time she now has in Carbondale.

Paredes’ favorite part of her experience in Colorado thus far has been the snow. “I was very excited to see the snow. In Ecuador there is winter, but not like here,” Paredes says. She is hoping to see more snow before she leaves back to Ecuador.

While Paredes is enjoying her time here yet, she misses home and most importantly the food. “A soup or any typical Ecuadorian dish would taste amazing right now,” she says. Paredes lives with her mom and brother in Quito, Ecuador and she will be returning home on January 14. “I miss home, but at the same time I don’t want to go back, I like it here,” she says. Paredes will be enjoying every moment of snow she has left and hopes to return to Colorado in the future.

Photo by Mariana Cortes

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FOC

Rampage | January 2017

The Roaring Fork Valley is home to a very di

people of all different ocupations, socio-economic

nicities. This kind of diversity is a huge asset to our commun

edge. However, racial divides in our community and in RFHS often keep u

cus explores the racial dynamics both within RFHS and the wider community through student

Of your closest friends, how many are of a different race than you?

Do you feel comfortable approaching or interacting with people from other races?

Do you think racial divisions exist at our school?

RFHS has a uniquely diverse student body with about half of the students being latino and about half of the conducted a survey asking 160 sudents about race relations at RFHS. The graphs above show the results o

For the most part, the races are pretty segregated.

I feel like this is because of background; a lot of the people that hang out with each other have hung out with each other since they were little because of family friends. A lot of parents who don’t speak spanish won’t hang out with parents who only speak spanish, and I think that this is the main cause of segregation at rf.

-Ruby Meade (RFHS Senior)

Our school has segregation, but we are also unified. When we come together as one, everyone gets together and there’s no segregation. But in friend groups, everyone is pretty segregated. I’m not sure what we can do about it though, you can’t really change the way people hang out with each other.

-Leslia Serano (RHS Junior)

I feel like the races at rf always find a way to mix.

They aren’t as segregated as they would be in bigger schools. For example, I have a lot of white friends. We usually mix up races.

-Enrique Gonzalez (RFHS Senior)

What do you think about Race Relations at RFHS?

I think that we’re segregated, but we aren’t opposed to the idea of other races and getting to know them. I think that we are just comfortable with hanging around with people that we know have the same background as us.

-Diana Rojas (RFHS Senior)

I think that (RF) is more unified than other schools across the country. We have a lot more mixing within ethnicities in our school versus an inner city school where the school is mostly one race to begin with. I feel that there is some segregation, but there is always some degree of segregation.

-Callum Jenkins (RFHS Sophomore)

I think that we do have racial segregation, but rarely is it intentional. There’s the whole idea of institutionalized racism where we push students either into or out of a common group, so we have to be aware of that. Scheduling is a lot of it, we have to focus on how we can keep certain populations more diverse when working with the schedules. The hard part is that our classes are levels based. When you go into any given class, it looks pretty segregated. I think that complacency also segregates us. I think that the natural friend group forces us into a racially segregated community. I don’t think that it’s meant to be hurtful in any way, but it still happens. I think that awareness is the biggest tool to help combat it. Allowing people to realize “Oh, we are segregated.”

-Hadley Hentschel (RFHS Science Teacher)

I think that our school is segregated by cliques, but not nesecarily by race. I think a=tat we all just have a group of friends that we like to hang out with all of the time, and I don’t think those cliques are determined by race, but they are determined by who we grew up with.

-Rohnan Holt (RFHS Junior)

CUS

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Rampage | January 2017

iverse community. Carbondale consits of

c levels, backgrounds, cultures, races and eth-

nity, enabling variety in thought, perspective and knowl-

us from realizing the full benefit and potential of our diversity. This fo-

t opinion and observations of events and phemomenon that occur in RFHS and Carbondale.

C a r b o n d a l e To w n C o u n c i l : Un d e r r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o f D i v e r s i t y

Do you feel that people actively make efforts to help unite the school?

e students being anglo. The Rampage of the survey.

The Town of Carbondale Poupulation

10% Non-Latino Poupulation

The Carbondale Town Council

10% Latino Poupulation

Implicit Racial Bias: What it is and how it affects us -Tavia Teitler

When the students of RFHS gather in their school auditeria for assemblies, a frightening phenomenon can be observed. The RFHS auditeria has two sides divided down the middle by an aisle. Unfortunately, this aisle does more than divide the chairs in the room. With very few exceptions, during assemblies the entire room is divided with all of the latino students on one side and all anglo students on the other.

In a lot of ways this doesn’t make sense. RFHS is a community that prides itself on its diversity and its students often go out of their way to cross racial and cultural barriers and include all types of people.

If we value diversity so much, then why do we still automatically divide ourselves?

In many situations in which racial divisions are observable, people are not consciously trying to divide themselves. For example, no one walks into the RFHS auditeria and thinks to themselves, “I’m white so I’m going to go sit with the white kids.”

Automatic division along racial lines is the result of implicit or unconscious bias.

The Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity defines implicit bias as, “the attitudes or stereotypes that affect our understanding, actions, and decisions in an unconscious manner”. Implicit biases are cultivated from the moment we are born

through our backgrounds, experiences, interactions, and lessons we learn or are taught. Implicit bias or unconscious bias is very different from intentional or explicit bias or racism. Implicit biases are not purposely or consciously created; much of the time people are completely unaware of the implicit biases that they posses. It is even possible for someone to possess an implicit bias that they disagree with.

Much of implicit racial bias stems from bias towards out groups. Out groups are groups that are different from yourself. As a general rule, people show preference towards members of their own race.

This bias is a natural instinct. In more primitive times, bias towards different groups was a life saving reaction. Being able to quickly differentiate between “your people” and other groups that might be dangerous was once important for survival. However, in our modern era, this instinct is less essential for survival and can instead be a hinderance by creating harmful implicit biases that are difficult to reverse.

Eliminating implicit racial biases is extremely important in order to expand social opportunities for all people, regardless of race. When snap judgements based on race create unjust feelings towards another person, friendship or even acquaintance with that person is much less likely. The chance to get to know

someone that could potentially be a great friend, an important business connection or anything else is eliminated when we allow our implicit biases to take over and tell us that people of different races are too different from us and that we couldn’t possibly have anything in common with them. This reduced chances to meet new people from different racial backgrounds eliminates diversity from a person’s social group and reduces opportunities for new acquaintances.

This automatic judgment as a result of implicit bias is also one of the main contributing factors to racial divisions at RFHS. A large majority of the time, RFHS students don’t intentionally separate themselves based one race. It is our natural instinct to assume that we have more in common with people that look like us and that often leads us to form friendships and choose to interact with people that come from our same cultural and racial backgrounds.

However, this is not always true.

An important step in dissolving racial lines at RFHS is providing students with opportunities both in and outside of the classroom to realize commonalities and form connections with people who come from different racial and ethnic backgrounds as themselves.

Opinion

6 Rampage January 2017

Student opinion: Should Reparations for Slavery be Paid by the United States?

-Solana Teitler

For over a century, the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was a prominent and horrible part of the world economy. It was abolished by North America in 1808. Today, some argue that the United States owes reparations, or a sum of money paid to make amends, to the descendants of those brought to the United States through the slave trade, in an attempt to resolve racial grudges. Matt Wells’ AP World History class researched and learned about reparations and the Slave Trade. Students were split into groups depending on their personal views regarding reparations. Each group collectively crafted an argument to defend their position in an persuasive paragraph; should reparations be paid to the descendants of those brought to the United States by means of the Trans-Continental Slave Trade?

Reparations should by paid to descendants of slaves

Reparations should not by paid to descendants of slaves

In light of America’s legacy of repression of African Americans, reparations Monetary reparations to African Americans, while ideal, are not practical or efmust be made toward the African-American communities in the United States. fective to make change for African-American communities in the United States.

Not only do the people of our nation have a financial obligation to do this, but The Transatlantic Slave Trade was one of the most atrocious acts committed by also we have an ethical obligation as well. The United States has made proghumankind in all its history. More than nine million African slaves were shipped ress in regards to racial equality, but the country is still in a situation where the

by Europeans from the coasts of Africa to the Americas. While it would be nice people must attempt to further to be able to make monetary establish equality by paying amends, it is not feasible and reparations to descendants of does not begin to repay the enslaved individuals. moral debt the American people When our nation was first owe to the African American founded, it was supposed to community. be founded on the ideals of Some may say that in the past life, liberty, and the pursuit of reparations have fixed the happiness, but instead it was problem, but they were also the founded on slavery, which vioroot of World War II. Reparalated all of the principles and tions are not the only effective ideals our country claims to way to decrease inequalities in encapsulate. The people of the economic situations of differUnited States owe an incredent races. Under the Reagan ible debt for our treatment of administration, the gap in the human beings, and because “Net Worth” of the average this is a part of our country’s African Americans and White history, everyone is affected Americans decreased drastiby this debt and needs to help cally. This proves that long term repay it. Paying reparations for solutions are possible, and by the cruelty, discrimination, and making economic changes, we injustices slaves experienced could improve the general ecowill eventually help decrease nomic standing of the African Photo courtesy of the Trans Atlantic Slave Trade Database the racial tension and will American community. By using improve our country’s race relations. While some may argue the impossibility of government funds to improve our economy rather than to pay out reparations, we these amends, even an attempted reparations will show an effort to make amends can create longer term solutions and reach truer equality. and work towards the improvement for our nation as a whole.

The amount our country would pay in reparations, which would only add to the Reparations have successfully been paid to minority groups in the past. For already crippling debt of our country, would be difficult to find and would only example, native Americans, the original denizens of this continent, have been make temporary amends. As a society, we can make amends by working to treat paid for the theft of their lands. In addition, Japanese Americans have been paid everyone equally under the law and by funding projects that help future African a modest reimbursement for their unlawful incarceration during World War II. American generations. Secondly, by paying a reparation, we contribute to the These endeavors toward justice have neither bankrupted the country nor have idea that we have done all we must to fix the high social tensions and inequalthey provoked serious conflict. A larger scale reparation, as would exist in the ity of our country. We have many issues we must resolve, and they cannot be reparations for slavery, would only lead to larger scale success. changed with money.

Vocational Courses at RFHS: A Help or a Hindrance?

-Liam Laird

Throughout their educational experience, students are taught skills and knowledge that will help them to succeed in their career choices later in life. At Roaring Fork High School (RFHS), most classes are centered on the sciences, math, language, and history, but two vocational courses are also offered allowing for students to have more variety in their education. Roaring Fork High School offers woodshop and agricultural biology, but vocational courses in other school districts also include classes about cosmetology, construction, and other industry careers.

Vocational courses can be especially useful in areas with high demands for construction such as the Roaring Fork Valley. Many companies look for trained workers to employ and with training throughout high school, students joining the workforce potentially have a leg up on the rest of the competition.

Roaring Fork High School principal Drew Adams

has campaigned for additional vocational courses to be added at the high school or to create a joint class between schools in the Roaring Fork Schools district, but unfortunately “there are not enough facilities to accommodate for these programs or enough student demand for them to take off,” says Adams. Roaring Fork High School students are able to work with local companies in order to learn more about an industry that interests them, but as of now that is the extent of vocational education that students are able to partake in. Hopefully as the region gains population and demand schools will be able to offer more courses, but until then vocational courses are an important, yet challenging subject of interest.

With the help of vocational courses, students may have an advantage entering the workforce, but I believe that Roaring Fork High School should not focus on adding more vocational courses as of now. Many

aspects of RFHS are wonderful, we have a strong community, many great teachers, and clubs and extracurriculars are plentiful, but there is still much to improved. It is better to have a moderate amount of classes that are as good as they can be, than to have several options for average classes. Adding more options for vocational classes right now might just spread our resources too thin and make it difficult to improve on are current classes, compared to the resources of large schools RFHS has a very limited amount so it is more difficult to start new classes and improve upon them.

RFHS has a wonderful atmosphere and many great classes, but the first focus of our school should be on making what classes we have already, as great as possible. Then, we can begin to diversify our course options by bringing more vocational course offerings to the students of RFHS.

Sports

7 Rampage January 2017

Entering the Second Season of RFHS Girls’ Lacrosse -Lucas Schramer

This winter embarks the beginning of the second year of girls’ lacrosse at Roaring Fork High School (RFHS). With the return of an almost full roster and new players, coaches Chelsea Robson and Sarah Klingelheber are excited for the upcoming season.

The team was started last year by RFHS students Iliana Castillon, Hannah Feder, Megan Rusby, Sarah Dipangrazio, Franchesca Williams, Chelsey Serrano, and Kajsa Sutro, who were all seeking a team at RFHS. “Last year we needed permission to start a team, so a group of girls that all really love lacrosse wrote a letter to the school board to request a team,” said junior and past player, Megan Rusby. The girls’ request was eventually accepted and last year, commencing a new era of girls lacrosse at RFHS. Carbondale has a large lacrosse club organization with numerous female members. “The team came from the desire of past lacrosse players carrying over from the club teams,” said Robson. The club team only goes up to age 14, meaning that as soon as the team members enter high school they can no longer participate. The girls took it upon themselves to integrate lacrosse into high school as well. “We wanted

Courtesy Photo

a team,” stated Rusby who has played lacrosse since 6th grade and comes from past generations of lacrosse players.

Coach Robson also comes from a background of playing lacrosse. She played in high school and College. Robson has coached for the Carbondale club teams, loves to play the game, and finds it a very fun and interesting. When asked why lacrosse was a

good addition to the school, Robson replied saying, “It gives girls another option of a spring sports opposed to soccer and track, and the girls love to play.”

The program is self funded and requires the girls to raise enough money to play. “[The] girls fundraise around $7000 a season [as a team] to get the season going,” stated Robson. Last year the girls generated most of their money through babysitting and selling small cinnamon rolls called butter braids. “The fundraising is one of the hardest parts of the season,” said Rusby, “we struggle to come up with enough ideas.”

Coach Robson’s hopes for the season are to raise enough money to have a team and that the girls commit to playing and improving their skills while enjoying the season. Meanwhile Rusby hopes to recruit more girls and to continue the journey to a varsity team, which requires two years of playing experience. Robson finished off by saying, “This is a great group of girls, and lacrosse is an awesome sport, and I can’t wait to return coaching these girls.” Robson and Rusby await new incoming players and encourage anyone to play.

Sports of 2016: Roaring Fork’s School Year In Review -Rampage Staff

The Rams football team started off in a rough patch, losing their first couple games, but came back strong winning their final games, which boosted them to a league title match.

The RFHS boys soccer team had an encouraging season this fall, finishing off the season with an exciting playoff game that left the players and coaches eager for the next season to begin.

The girls volleyball team made it to play-offs this year, and worked well as a team to overcome challenges. Much of the team is graduating, but, players are ready to step up in the year to come.

The Roaring Fork Cheer Team placed second in regionals this year, continuing on to a state meet in Denver. The team is looking forward to next season, and with only one graduating senior, are hoping to do even better.

The joint Roaring Fork and Basalt Cross Country team enjoyed a successful season this fall, nearly making it to State. Using the funds the team raised by organizing a race, they traveled to Phoenix, Arizona to run together.

The boys basketball team started off the season with a first place finish down at a Denver tournament. With much of the season ahead of them, the players are ready to attack their upcoming games with Ram pride.

Entertainment Gems of the Valley

2016, A Satirical Year in Review

-Trinity Potter

-Tyler Gruel

The short trail of American Lakes in Aspen, Colorado climbs steeply through aspen groves, forests and meadows to a high mountain lake just below the timberline, offering hikers a good workout and a great way to acclimate for some of the Aspen area’s more challenging trails.

2016 was one heck of a year! This past year included wild and bizarre news stories, many of them fake (including parts of this article), celebrities dying, and old movies and shows returning, as well as a presidential election for the ages. No matter where you stand, it’s clear that 2016 was an exhilarating, but exhausting, frustrating, and often disturbing time to be alive. So now for your entertainment (and for my journalism grade), we will be taking a look at 2016, a year in review.

To start off, politics made a huge change in 2016. American voters, too exhausted by the ridiculous politics to muster enthusiasm to vote for any of the presidential candidates, have elected Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister and political hottie.

Trudeau now leads the newly formed United States of AmeriCanada.

PSA, the new anthem of this nation is “O Star Spangled Banner”.

Facebook and other social media sites this past year have been flooded by many misleading false news stories that spread misinformation. One such news story that captured the people’s attention was that across the country, people had been dressing as disturbing clowns and, in some cases, chasing and killing people. Just kidding, that actually happened. But there were many issues with fake political news stories which often got confused with the often just as ridiculous real

Driving Directions from Aspen: Drive 0.5 miles west of Aspen on Highway 82 to the Roundabout. Go around the roundabout and turn right on Castle Creek Road. Drive 10 miles to the Elk Mountain Lodge and turn right into the American lake parking lot, located across from the lodge on the west side of the road.

Courtesy Photo

What to Do: Enjoy beautiful scenery and emerald color lakes.

Swimming is allowed to those brave enough to take a chilly swim. The hike give visitors scenic look outs and many places to stop and rest along the way and reminisce in the surrounding beauty.

Words of the Wise: Because the trail is 6.4 miles round-trip, the hiker should bring plenty of water, layers, and plenty of sunscreen for preparation. The hike should be tackled in late spring or early summer because it is 11,390 feet in elevation and it takes longer for the snow to melt. It should be started earlier in the morning because of the length and to avoid the blistering heat of the day as well.

Guess the RFHS Staff!

ones.

In Oregon, a group of fed up armed government agents who were tired of land disputes decided it was a great idea to occupy a barn on privately-owned ranch land. They stayed there for several weeks, punctuated only by strange care packages with explicit objects being sent to them. Perhaps even stranger than that, a video challenge went viral when one of the government workers challenged New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to a sumo wrestling fight. Unfortunately for us all Christie never responded. Eventually the government workers who were heavily armed and also illegally occupying land eventually were forced to leave when they ran out of slim jims, twinkies and bottled water. They might have lasted longer if they remembered Bear Grylls technique of drinking your own urine.

The world was shaken by the release of a new mobile game called, “we actually tried to get people to go outside and socialize while on their phones and somehow it worked.” Otherwise known as Pokemon Go. Unfortunately this game caused many issues in day to day life at the height of its popularity, such as blocking traffic, causing people to trespass and even had rumors of people being lured and kidnapped through the game.

Eventually like so many popular things in our society, this game was only a fad for a short time and

quickly faded from our phones and memories.

As if 2016 wasn’t weird enough, we had the Rio Olympics to look back on and either be proud as a country, or disappointed that the feats of the incredibly talented athletes were overshadowed by a fake robbery and a coverup. There was much to be confused about. First of all, what appeared as olympians being attacked by octopi turned out to be the ancient eastern technique of cupping. And then, there was Lochte Gate.

It’s hard to even sum up the mess that is Ryan Lochte’s fake robbery scandal other than it was disturbingly full of white privilege and a very poor misrepresentation of the United States. Lochte had claimed there was the robbery at gunpoint.

However like a man guilty of lying, before the truth had been revealed and the case solved, he left the country. Rio officials ordered him back for questioning and they learned he made the whole thing up to cover up being drunk, peeing on a business, and breaking a gas station door.

A disappointing end to an otherwise successful event.

This year had it’s ups and downs and people who left us during this year will be missed.

There was weird and there was exciting. As this year comes to a close, who knows what 2017 has in store, but we can only hope that there will be new memes and funny news stories, less death, and steps toward a more peaceful world.

2016 Whoopers 2016 Bloopers • • • Answer from December issue: Drew Adams

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Memes Leonardio Dicaprio finally won an Oscar Cheerleaders won 2nd place at regionals Soccer players made it to playoffs

• • • •

Racist, xenophobic, & misogynistic rhetoric in the media Mass shootings Celebrity deaths 2016 was the hottest year on record

8 Rampage January 2017

Rampage Staff Editors in Chief Elle Derby Tavia Teitler

Editorial Staff Feature Editor Eryn Doherty News Editor Kloe Lee Focus Editor Elle Derby Tavia Teitler Sports Editor Liam Laird Solana Teitler Entertainment Editor Iliana Castillon Trinity Potter Copy Editors Iliana Castillon Tyler Gruel Liam Laird Solana Teitler

Journalists Mariana Cortes Ruby Fuller Lizzeth Gallegos Sandra Grijalva Frankie Harrington Lily Peery Daniela Rivera Lucas Schramer 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.