2270 Highway 133
Carbondale , Co 81623
May, 2014
Volume 7 Issue 8
The Rampage
AP Art Finals
cluding Abriah Wofford, Izzi Mata, Mealani Gray, Riley Marshall and Sasha Williams. Sasha Williams has been taking art classes all four -James Long years, culminating in AP Art. “The class is very intense, and every piece needs to be really good, or else you need As the year is coming to a close, many art-loving to make an entire new one.” She thinks AP Art is harder seniors in the Advanced Placedment (AP) Art class are than other AP classes because of the amount of time it requires. taking advantage of one of Roaring Art show! Fork’s strongest programs. To earn Izzi Mata believes that AP Art is college credit, AP Art students must Opening night is May 20th much like Art 4, but students are not create 24 pieces that include several but the art show will also be assigned projects and have more varieties and forms of art. 12 pieces on display the 19th and the freedom to make artistic choices. need to be in one concentration, “You need to know your strengths 21st. meaning they are all related to one and what mediums you’re good theme; the other 12 need to demonwith.” This is what makes AP Art state breadth. All students must work with a variety different than normal art classes. Come see their work at of mediums. Several AP Art students are seniors, in- the Art Show on May 20.
Mealani Sasha
Abriah
Important Dates: Awards Night at 7:00pm Monday, May 19th Baccalaureate at 7:00pm Tuesday, May, 27th Graduation at 12:15pm Saturday, May 31st
Seniors 2014!
Most likely to... Cameron: Be a Frat Boy Turned Stay-at-Home Husband Brandon: Be a Billionaire (by stealing someone else’s patent) Tanner: Go Pro in At Least Three Sports Daniela: Be the Favorite High School Basketball Coach Stephanie: Be an MMA Fighter named “The Clipboard” Zach: Own a Comedy/Blues Club Sponsored by Dr. Pepper Chloe: Become a Famous Ferret Breeder Yari: Be the First Woman President Cindy: Own an Ostrich Farm Alexa: Be a Boss Without Being the Boss Elide: Be a U.N. Ambassador Kimberly: Become a School Bus Driver with a PhD Mitch: Be a Weatherman Diana: Star in a Shampoo Commercial Mariah: Move to a Warmer Climate Natalie: Be a Talk Show Host Oscar: Sing Corridos in a Band Brianda: Give Someone a Heart Attack Jacky: Own an Exclusive Ranch Alex Fisher: most likely to be a GQ model Charles: Be the Next (Longer-Living) Steve Jobs Rosa: Have Her Own Workout Channel Will: Marry at Twenty in a Science Lab Roman: Win Big on a Horse Race then have his day ruined by spilling his drink Kerwin: Commute to his Bodybuilding Competitions on a Moped Xochitl: Win the Nobel Peace Prize Ticah: Live in a Pimped Out Treehouse Erika: Be an Assassin Kevin: Be a Trumpet Mouthpiece-Specialist Cynthia: Win Hell’s Kitchen and talk back to Gordon Mario: Write a Dirty Joke Book Miriam: Own a Chain of Banks (and donate millions of profit to charity) Gracie: Design Her Own Clothing Line Wendy: Become a Slam Poet Walker: Be a Trophy Husband Dari: Found a Preschool Isabel: Be in a Cover Girl Commercial Alex Z: Be an Adult Mutant Ninja Turtle Jack: Be a Soccer Dad (complete with minivan) Sasha: Be a Russian Dictator Toni: Be a National Rodeo Queen Maddie: Be a Sportscaster for Women’s Sports Zuky: Be a Mobwife Eduardo: Be a Soccer Coach Mealani: Design Her Own Chopsticks Alyza: Work at the Capitol Edgar Vasquez: Start a New “Hipster” Trend Sebastian: Open Up a “Coffee” Shop Nate: Become a Librarian Izzy: Be the Director of a Musical Missionary Group Kiya: Become a Veterinarian Paul: Have a Hot (and Smart) Wife Kyle: Look Exactly the Same in 10 Years Abriah: Join the Peace Corps Taila: Become a Yoga Instructor/Barista Israel: Ban Bacon Adalberto: Move to Tibet and Take a Vow of Silence Riley: Be a Life Coach
Juniors The sibling game
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Party at Gatsby’s
-Kayla Derby
For some juniors, the phrase “RFHS is a family” means just a little bit more. Many of them have siblings that actually go to Roaring Fork. The majority of these student have just one sibling that attends school with them, but there are exceptions, like the three Palomera brothers and the Featherstones (Steele Featherstone will have younger brothers in every grade next year). We asked three juniors questions about their siblings and then asked their sibling to answer the same questions about themselves. Some of the answers matched up perfectly, while others were completely different. Here are some of the funniest responses we received. Maite and Karen Nieblas What is the thing you do that annoys Karen the most? M: When I yell at her and act like her mom. K: When she acts like she’s twenty years older than me. What would be the first thing Karen would do if she was elected president? M: Something to do with immigration. K: I would help every immigrant. What is Karen most scared of? M:I don’t know! Karen isn’t scared of much. I guess she’s a little afraid of spiders. K: Losing my mom or dad.
-Roy Benge April 19th was a dancing and bowling filled night for Roaring Fork High School students: prom. With a bumping DJ and a Great Gatsby theme, students got their boogie on. Hosted at the RVR barn, prom goers filed in from about 9-10 from the tra-
Klemmer makes herself at home -Jacky Jacquez
Ruby and Joey Lang What is the thing you do that annoys Joey the most? R: Constantly poke him. He gets so frustrated. J: Overreacts. If Joey had one wish, what would it be? R: To be able to do a new ski trick on the first try. J: To have a million wishes. What would be the first thing Joey would do if he was elected president? R: He would cancel school. J: Give everyone something so they all like me.
Emily and Beck Fisher If Beck had one wish, what would he wish for? E: To never have to work a day in his life. B: To have super smarts, be really smart. Would Beck go to space if he was given the opportunity? E: Probably not. B: Heck yeah. What would be the first thing Beck would do if he was elected president? E: He would probably cut down school hours. B: I would send a lot of negative emails to North Korea.
ditional pre-prom dinner and picture session. After midnight, students made their way over to El Jebowl to conclude the night with a few games of bowling. After bowling concluded around 2am, students parted their separate ways to go home. You can be sure the next day was slept away.
Anika Klemmer is a student participating in the Rotary Club exchange student program. This year she has come from Germany to experience her junior year at Roaring Fork. Klemmer explains that people here are really “friendly and all about sports and education.” Klemmer was struggling to make friends in the first few months, but now she has found many. Klemmer said she longs
for her horses and it is really hard to stay away from them. She would love to “live all over the world.” She wants to travel, to learn and to help others. After she graduates she wants to go to Africa and “help in small towns with education for kids”. “Colorado is so beautiful,” said Klemmer. Coming from a flat and cramped place to Colorado has been a real change. With five months remaining in her visit to America, Klemmer is making the
best of the time she has left. Teachers that know Klemmer recognize how she seeks out new adventures and embraces American high school. “There is so much space everywhere and so many options for sports” said Klemmer. Coming from another country, Klemmer has fit in well and has surrounded herself with many friends at RFHS. She is a good addition to the school and brings new ideas to the people she meets in Carbondale.
Sophomores Jobs add challenges for students
Laird wins $1,500 grant
-Fiona Laird It’s no secret that keeping up with classes and getting homework done in high school requires lots of time and energy. Finishing the endless to-do lists that many students have is difficult for anyone, but it’s even more difficult for people who have another commitment after they walk out the doors of school for the day: a job. Many students at Roaring Fork work full or part time jobs throughout the school year. According to a survey of Roaring Fork students of mixed grades and ages, 24% of students work year round - 58% of respondents work to get personal money (which may include helping to support their household, or getting personal spending money), and 41% work to pay for college. Work can pose some challenges for students, both academic and otherwise. Roaring Fork senior Izzi Mata explains that, “Academically, there will be nights that you’ll have a lot of homework or you need to stay after school to work on a project, and you can’t because you have to work.” Junior Edgar Vega continued that, “[the hardest part of working during
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-Grace Brown
Next year, RFHS students will have a beautiful courtyard where they can hang out and eat their lunch thanks to sophomore Fiona Laird. She applied to be a part of the Dream Project through the 5Points Film Festival and was one of five in the valley to win a $1,500 grant. “Like a lot of kids, I stay at school for lunch and it’s uncomfortable; it wouldn’t be an issue if there was a nice place to sit when it’s nice outside,” Laird said. With the grant money, she is going to build a small outside hangout area with nice tables to eat lunch or do homework. Students like Fiona, who are hard-working, selfless, and motivated, are the people that make RFHS beautiful inside and out.
Building a better community -Caitlin O’Gorman
the school year is] accomplishing homework.” Working after school not only affects students’ academic lives, but what they’re able to do outside of school. For some students, working while attending school is a reality that is difficult to balance. Junior Laura Needham stated, “It’s hard balancing sports and working...I definitely feel like most
of the time there’s just not enough hours in the day to finish everything I need to.” Survey results showed that half of the students that work year round work more than 20 hours a week. When one works 20 hours a week or more, it’s difficult to do much more than eat, sleep, go to school, and go to work.
Roaring Fork students head out to Africa -Lucy Stevens RFHS students Grace Brown, Max Slack, and Erin Doherty have been invited to the McBride Lewa Internship for two weeks taking place in Northeastern Kenya. This internship was founded by John and Laurie McBride in 2012, who, inspired by their children, claimed going to Africa was a life-changing event. The leaders of the group are Aaron and Molly Garland, who live for the outdoors. To give students a chance to experience Kenya, they will be traveling with
eight students from the Roaring Fork Valley to enjoy the flora and fauna there without any itinerary. The group will be camping on the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy with guards to ensure the safety of the students throughout their stay. They will also be traveling to a nearby school to speak with the children who have recently learned English. This opportunity would not be possible without donations from people like Sue AnschutzRodgers who help make it accessible for the students to pay only $2,000 for food, camping, and a plane ticket and a once-in-a-lifetime adventure.
Matt Miller, RFHS Design/Build teacher, encourages his students to impact their community by breaking out of the “norm” of woodshop class. This year’s Advanced Design/Build class has been focused on designing and constructing chicken coops, one of which will find a home in the RFHS garden, and two of which will be auctioned off to community members. At the beginning of the year, all of the students in the class made mini chicken coops out of cardboard. Each student’s design was different. They grouped the similar designs together, then chose the top three designs. The top three were selected for construction. The chicken coop designs of Joselinne Medrano and Terran Hurst-Farnham, both sophomores, were each selected. Joselinne Medrano is the only girl in the Design/Build class. According to Medrano, her favorite part is painting because “it is relaxing and fun.” “I like this class because of the creativity, because you can mess around with new ideas,” Hurst-Farnham explained. The other sophomores in the class in-
Photo by Lucy Stevens The Design/Build class has been working hard to finish the chicken coops before they are sold to the community. The class is focused on getting out of the “norm” of a woodshop class.
clude Robbie Thompson, Ricardo Huerta and Conrado Dolores, who are helping to finish their own coop designs. For the rest of the year, the class is focusing on finishing the coops and getting the coops ready to go out into the community. The chicken coops will be displayed on the street on First Friday in June. See costudio.org for more details.
Freshmen Pinela: All Dat! -Jake Rusby This year, RFHS freshman Aldo Pinela blew everybody’s minds when he played varsity for three sports. Pinela has earned a letter in football and basketball and is currently playing varsity baseball, making him busy all year long. Most students can barely stand to last through the pressure of one sport; to play three, one season after another, is truly an enduring feat. “I’ve been playing some of these sports for so long that I’ve just gotten used to it,” said Pinela. “I manage my time well and normally do my work when I can right after school.” Pinela said that ever since the sixth grade, he has been playing basketball and football. Although this year was the first year he has ever played baseball, he still caught on quickly and hopes to improve and have fun. Pinela’s favorite sport to watch and play is basketball, since he has been playing it the longest. It brings him “a lot of happiness.” To prepare himself for each sport, Pinela uses a distinct soundtrack to get him “pumped up.” Success comes to Pinela on and off the field. “Aldo is a very respectful ‘A’ student in class and knows how to focus,” states Pinela’s English teacher Morgan Williams. He explained that Pinela is a quiet, focused, and reserved student who does what needs to be done in the classroom environment and in his outside work. “He brings the focus,” said Williams, “and every once and a while, you can catch a smile on his face.”
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Rampage Staff Editor in Chief Rosa Maun
Cohort Conversation - Tavia Tietler Many freshmen at Roaring Fork High have been in classes together since they were five years old, and changes are being made to keep them together a little longer. In the past, students have been encouraged to take classes that are at their level, whether that means skipping a grade in math or taking a lower level of english. However, RFHS is now taking a different approach. Instead of moving each student individually, schedules have been changed to keep the Freshmen Class together and form what many refer to as the Freshmen Cohort. That means that this year all freshmen are taking English One, U.S. History and Biology, and next year changes will be made in math to ensure a large majority of ninth graders are taking all four of the same core classes. “We want all freshmen to have the same experience, whether it’s good or bad,” explained principal Drew Adams. This idea of a common experience is one of the main factors behind this change. Another hope is that these coordinated schedules
Letter to the Editor
Dear Editor, The Roaring Fork HS Boosters club would like to thank all the supporters for their generous donations which in turn benefitted the many clubs and opportunities offered at RFHS. As the school year winds down, the Roaring Fork Rams continue to challenge themselves in their spring sports, academic studies and artistic endeavors. The RFHS Ram Booster Club is a non-profit parent and community organization whose members volunteer their time for various fundraising activities to create additional funding sources for academic, artistic and athletic advancement at RFHS. Thanks to donor support from: Alpine Bank, Ace Hardware, Amore Realty, The Pour House, DHM Design, R&A Enterprises Inc., Ackerman Log & Timber, Bonfire Coffee, Crystal Valley Dental, Crystal Springs Builders, White House Pizza, CIS Carbondale Insurance Service, Inc., Red Rock Diner, Roaring Fork Cabinets, Cowen Center, Your Parts Haus dba Napa Auto Parts, Edward Jones, Excavation Services, Giannetti Ranch, The Sopris Sun, Holy Cross Energy, TJ Concrete, H-P Geotech, Village Smithy, Peppino’s Pizza, Andrew and Charlene Horn, MG Landscaping, Chris and Terry Chacos, Mountain Pest Control, Inc., M.R. Maintenance & Repair, McDonald’s, B&H General Contractors, Cici Kinney,
will allow teachers and students to engage in interdisciplinary learning opportunities that can only take place when all students share the same classes. In previous years, students advanced in language arts have been allowed to skip English One and take Sophomore English their ninth grade year. A couple of days before the beginning of the school year this rule was changed. While very frustrating for some students who had been preparing all summer to take English Two, the change seems to have had its benefits. Adam Carballeira, RFHS English One teacher believes that not grade advancing students has increased the quality of of his classes and improved conversation participation. Keeping ninth graders together gives advanced students a chance to take a leadership role among their peers. English One and U.S. History classes are also currently collaborating on a civil rights project, an effort that would have been difficult without all ninth graders in the same classes. These new changes and our school’s reaction to them are all part of a longstanding discussion on how to fix education and give students the most effective and meaningful experience possible.
Managing Editor William Masters Photographer Cameron Doherty
Editorial Staff Roy Benge Kristen Joiner Finn Featherstone Lesley Platero
Journalists Grace Brown Daisy Contreras Anakaren Hernandez Jacqueline Jacquez Jake Kelley James Long Caitlin O’Gorman Jake Rusby Lucy Stevens Tavia Teitler Jonny Aranda
Nieslanik Horses, Crystal Glass Studio, Roaring Forge, LLC, Frank Taverna Real Estate, Shelton Drilling Corp., Frosty, Carly and Shiloh Merriott, Sopris Furniture Repair, Grand Junction Pipe/Carbondale Branch, Sunburst Car Care, George and Jenny Tempest, Toni Cerise of Roaring Fork Realty and M3 Marketing, LLC. This school year the Boosters Club distributed close to $20,000 to various sports teams and non-sports extracurriculars such as the arts within Roaring Fork High School with funds distributed to a new silversmithing project and the choir for new robes. We have expanded the technological opportunities with a new Chromebooks lab and video cameras offered to students. We were able to offer three scholarships to graduating seniors in addition to supporting Project Graduation and the LINKS mentor program. We invite you to come to Roaring Fork High School and see how your donations have enriched the lives of our student body. Thank you generous sponsors, concession customers and parent volunteers for your support! Sincerely, Roaring Fork High School Booster Club Co-Presidents, Laura and Tim Nieslanik Vice-President, Fiona O’Donnell Pax Treasurer, Jane Gross Secretary, Cathy Derby Program Manager, Terri Ritchie