Special Issue CENTREVILLE HIGH SCHOOL
SENTINEL
february 2012, volume 21, issue 6
The Decision: Ekanem Chooses Virginia Tech by phil christophe After months of waiting, and weeks of nail biting, the Centreville community finally heard where senior Ken Ekanem would be going for his college career in football. On February 1, “National Signing Day,” Ekanem sat in the auditorium looking out at his peers as everyone sat in silence. Moments later, he stood behind the podium and announced that he would be taking his talents to Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. “When it came down to it, Virginia Tech showed me a lot of love,” said Ekanem (12). Coach Foster always stayed in contact with me and Coach Wiles called me at least twice a week to keep in touch,” .
In regards to his knee injury, “I thought it was only a meniscus tear at first,” said Ekanem, “but it ended up being my ACL. Virginia Tech told me the day after the state championship that even if it were an ACL tear, they would still hold the scholarship. Notre Dame said if the surgery didn’t go as well as planned that they wouldn’t honor the commitment,” In Ken’s sophomore year he met his new head coach, Chris Haddock, and they had an instant connection. “He is by far the most sought after player I have ever coached,” said Haddock. “Ken’s humility and levelheadedness made him very attractive. He is not an academic risk and has strong family values. I don’t know what other recruits are like around the area, but in my mind, you won’t find a Ken Ekanem holds up a Virginia Tech jersey after announcing his decision to attend the school next year. (Photo Credit/Celeste Linthicum kid with better character than Ken. It will make him successful in whatever he pursues in the future,” Haddock later commented. Ekanem won an All-Met award for a second year and was put onto the All-State awards list too. He was also given the prestigious award of, “Defensive Player of the Year.” Throughout his final high school season, Ekanem had 18 sacks as well as 72 total tackles.“Ekanem is the highest caliber prospect at Centreville High school for the past
10 years,” said Haddock. When he was a freshman he got his intensity and heart from a senior at the time named Luke Bowanko. “I looked up to Luke when I was a freshmen and he was a senior. I wanted to be just like him and play with the same level of intensity he played with.” Later in Ekanem’s career he was nicknamed “Ken Kong” and had a section at the football stadium just for him.
Mac Cassells also contributed to this report.
Kevin Lachance, Lexi Murdock. Zack Sikora, Connor Coward, Ken Ekanem, and Robert San Martin sign their national letters of intent to play sports in college. (Photo Credit/Mac Cassells)
Students Fight Cancer with PJ Day
by ryan henson
On Friday, February 3rd, students at Centreville High, Liberty Middle, and Centreville Elementary wore their pajamas to school to honor Andrew McCaffrey. Andrew is a 7th grader at Liberty who has two siblings at Centreville, Michael (12) and Sara (11). Michael participates in cross country and track while Sara manages the cross country team. He is fighting a rare bone cancer which affects children. Students were also asked to bring in $1 to donate to the American Childhood Cancer Organization. The event was organized by a classmate of Andrew’s, Shannon Lyons. She asked the principals of the three schools who agreed it would be a great idea.
Devin Kelly, Carly Sane, Abby Miller, Kylie Cuomo, and Michael Bollman sport their pajamas for Pajama day on February 3. (Photo Credit/Soo Lim)
They decided to hold the event on World Cancer Day. And on February 3rd, a large amount of students showed their spirt and compassion for Andrew as they arrived to school in all different types of pajamas. Students dropped off their donations during CATS and lunch. In that short amount of time, almost $1,500 was raised. This was not the first time students showed their support for Andrew and his battle with cancer. During the fall, the cross country team wore yellow ribbons and went by the name “Andrew.” In addition, the indoor track team sold shirts and donated part of the proceeds to charity. Something as simple as wearing pajamas and donating a small amount of money raised plenty of awareness throughout the area to benefit the cure for cancer.
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feb. 17, 2012
Teacher Spotlight:
Radun Shares Family Background
by erika hubbard For many native Northern Virginians, sandy beaches and crystal clear oceans are a rare sight. For government teacher Joseph Radun, this picturesque paradise is a reality for at least one whole month every year. He doesn’t visit the Outer Banks, either, but rather an island off the coast of Croatia—a luxury most people can only dream about. Although born in the United States, Radun’s entire family is from a city called Split in southern Croatia. Students in World History & Geography know that Split is the same location where Roman emperor Diocletian built his palace. It is currently the “best tourist attraction and has the best historical remains,” according to Radun. Unbeknownst to many, Radun
lived in Yugoslavia for almost five years while he was a teenager. In the 1960’s, his parents fled Yugoslavia to escape communism. “My father was very antiMr. Radun helps Nahom Endrias with a problem. communist (Photo Credit/Erika Huband he and bassy and applied for a visa. That’s my mother wanted to leave,” said when my parents came to the Radun. “He made it to France, United States and had me.” worked there for three years, and Radun’s parents got settled in the then went to the American EmNorthern Virginia area through
a church in Arlington that sponsored them. Later, Radun and his family went back to what was then Yugoslavia, but moved back to the United States just before Radun started high school. “My father wanted to leave before civil war broke out,” said Radun. “There was in fact a war in Croatia from 1991 to 1995.” Radun and his wife Roberta built their own house off the first island of Split and currently spend one month in the summer there. “We love to visit Croatia,” said Radun. “There’s a much slower pace of life, and everything does not revolve around work like in the United States. There’s a greater emphasis on family; hanging out with family and dinnertime is a big deal. Plus, there are nice beaches and crystal blue water—doesn’t get much better than that!” This year is Radun’s eighth year at CVHS. In addition to govern-
Campbell Retiring From Centreville, Headed to Alabama By Mac Cassells
Centreville Principal Mike Campbell announced that he will be retiring from Fairfax County Public Schools and Centreville to pursue a position in the Huntsville, Alabama school district. Campbell has spent 31 years in public education in Virginia with 29 of them being in Fairfax County. Campbell was first hired to be the principal at Centreville in 2006, when then Principal Peter Noonan took a job at the administrative level of FCPS. This was also the time when Campbell’s sons, Chris and Hunter, were entering Centreville as students. In an e-mail to community members and students, Campbell added that “there is no better place to raise a family then in the Centreville community”. Campbell had always wanted to work at Centreville and when the position opened up, he jumped on it. When Campbell was the athletic director at Marshall High School, he would drive by the construction site that would become Centreville High School, hoping that someday he could work at this new and upcoming school. In 1996, his wish came true when he was hired as a sub-school assistant
principal at Centreville. When Westfield was being built, Campbell was hired as an assistant principal there to help open up the new school. Then in 2004, the principal position at Westfield opened up and Campbell was named principal. In Campbell’s tenure at Centreville there have been many new additions and changes. The introduction of the CATS program at Centreville has been a great addition to improve student’s grades during a remediation time. Others include a freshmen academy to mentor new students. Also, newly installed TV’s in the cafeteria as well as two new turf fields to be installed next year. Campbell has certainly left his mark on the school. Centreville students and parents can expect to hear from assistant superintendent Linda Burke in the coming weeks regarding the time and date of a community meeting. At this meeting a human resources representative will explain the selection process for the new principal at Centreville.
Sepulveda and Chenevey Successful at States
Wrestlers Ryan Sepulveda and David Chenevey placed fifth and sixth respectively at States. Photo Credit/David Chenevey Photo Captions for Gumbo photos on pages 2 and 3
ACT 1 1. Mr. Burke opens the show with “You Are My Country” 2. Nathaniel Clem (12) and Jordan Frate (12) perform “Swing Life Away” by Rise Against 3. Anthony Truong and Laura Eom perform “Wonderwall” by Oasis 4. Emily Sanchez (9) and Olivia Ernest (9) perform “Remembering Sunday” by All Time Low 5. Sarah Nawab (11) performs “Funeral” by Bandits & Beggars 6. Sanya Manoj, Maria Yoo, and Niki Cervantes perform “Just a Kiss” by Lady Antebellum 7. Mary Lee performs “Confession” by Im Jae bum in Korean 8. Tim Calara (12) and Austin Luper (12) perform “Better Together” by Jack Johnson 9. Hoo In Won performs “November” by Misaaki Kishibe 10. A.J. Bakhtari performs “The Elder Scrolls Medley” by Jeremy Soule 11. Robyn Lewis performs “Something About You” which she composed herself.
ACT 2 12. Juliana Dyck, Nick Gaffney, Jonathan Diaz, Hoo In Won perform “Badfish” by Sublime 13. Bree Verrill performs “In the Mourning” by Paramore 14. Young Shin Jin performs “Desperado” by The Eagles 15. Sebastian Echeverri performs “One Step at a Time” by Four Year Strong 16. Olivia Ernest and Collin Henson “My Hero” by Foo Fighters 17. Nathaniel Clem, Austin Luper, Tim Calara, and Hoo In Won perform “Rediscover You” by Starfield 18. Alex Coleman and Niki Cervantes perform “Mercy Me” by The Alkaline Trio 19. Alex Shin and Brandon Austin perform “Creep” by Radiohead 20. Ridi Ilunga, Jonathan Diaz, Nick Gaffney, Lucy Figueiredo, Sanya Manoj, and Sam Zehr perform “Ne Leches Pas” which was composed by Ridi Ilunga in French 21. Austin Luper, Joey Wrench, and Sam Maney perform “Good Riddance” by Green Day