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issue 8 april 12, 2012
news
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newswire Dancers prepare for upcoming concert Members of all six dance classes will perform in the annual Spring Dance Concert, “Body Language,” from April 26 to 28. Performances will take place in the gym on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night at 7 p.m. and on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased from any dance member for $10. Each dance will center around a theme word, expressed through the dancers’ body language. The senior piece, for example, will center around the theme “Evolve.” Dance instructor JaLeen Murphy rotates the line-up of dances each night to keep the length of every performance under three hours. “They’re honing in on the skills that they’ve learned all year, and that’s magical,” dance coach JaLeen Murphy said. “That’s really a joy for me to watch.” —Kelly Wisneski
Drive raises funds for measles shots The annual Measles Drive took place from March 26–30. The American Red Cross Club hosts the annual drive to provide measles shots for kids in Africa. Each shot costs $1, so this year the club was able to provide 255 kids with a measles shot. The money was collected by passing around envelopes in 5th-period classes. “I really enjoy this fundraiser because it is directly going to help kids in Africa,” club president senior Sona Patel said. Unfortunately, a part of the drive’s funds are currently missing, but members of the club are working on recovering them. —Steven Golditch
Club fashion show to benefit charity A ticket to the Style Alliance Fashion Club’s third annual fashion show, “City Lights,” will buy students a night of music, fashion, food and art. The event takes place on Friday, April 20 in the school’s cafeteria. At the event, volunteer models will walk the runway to the tune of performances by seniors Josh Andersen, Megan Davis, Amy Dugan and possibly by alumnus Mitchell Royal. A live DJ will be in attendance at the event. “It is going to be a great night because it is pairing fashion with charity,” president senior Megan Davis said. Tickets to the event are $10. Guests can purchase discount tickets if they bring canned food items to donate to MANNA charity or donate old dance prom wear including dresses, shoes and suits. The night starts off with modeling of formal wear then a transition to more avant-garde clothing. Friar tuxes and Miss Congeniality donated the formal wear to be used in the second half of the show. The majority of the proceeds from the event are going to a charity for Muscular Dystrophy. —Steven Golditch
Spring Fling to be held in TOHS gym The lights will be off on Saturday night in the gym for the annual Spring Fling dance. The dance will take place this Saturday, April 14 from 8–11 p.m. In year’s past, students from the three district high schools participated in the dance, but only Westlake and Thousand Oaks are participating this year, as Newbury Park’s lack of funds prevent them from attending. “We have spent more on the dance this year, but it is still within our budget,” ASB president senior Kelly Madden said. Tickets are available at the door for $20. —Steven Golditch
jeff stolze » with permission
balancing act—Senior David Lagunas balances on a bench prop during dance team’s novelty piece last weekend during the USA Nationals competition. The dance, set to “Married Life” by Michael Giacchino and choreographed by Alexia Liavas, earned the team a fourth place in the first round.
Dance qualifies for Nationals joyce tan Copy Editor
Cheers and screams concentrated in one region of the performing arena as dancers took their starting positions at the season-culminating United Spirit Association (USA) Nationals. “We all walked off the stage feeling like we couldn’t have done any more, and at that point, that’s all that was in our hands,” dance team co-captain senior David Lagunas said. “The rest was up to the judges.” At Anaheim on March 29–31, the small hip-hop piece placed second in their division as a finalist in Championships. Their novelty, coed hip-hop, small lyrical and small dance entries made it to the first round but their score did not qualify them for finals. “The tough thing was knowing that we worked so much harder this year than last year, and not making it to the final stage was tough on the dancers,” dance team member sophomore Erin Callahan said. “Sometimes we forget that even getting to Nationals is an achievement and honor in itself, so just making it that far was a true blessing.”
Choreographed by Beau Fournier from Fanny Pak, Amelia Burkhardt and Alexia Liavas, the small hip-hop piece consisted of only 10 students who went through a selective set of hip-hop auditions. “Since we have seniors on the team and we realized that it’s one of their last times competing, we had to put ourselves out there and leave it all on the dance floor,” small hip-hop team member sophomore Erika Kodera said. “After we finished, we were all bawling. It was a good feeling, and I’m very passionate about that.” In the weekends prior to the competition, the team participated in local Regionals to qualify. “We worked for months and shed blood, sweat and tears trying to prepare to compete at a national level,” Callahan said. “It felt amazing to leave all of our hard work out on that floor.” As a soloist, Lagunas placed fifth as Super Dancer. “I was full of nerves but didn’t let them get to me,” Lagunas said. “I walked on the stage proud of my journey as a dance team member and walked off extremely content with that being the way I ended my competition season.”
dance awards Finals Championships* »Small Hip-hop 2nd place
First Round »Novelty 4th place »Coed Hip-hop 5th place A dance must score *within the top 25% of their category in First Round to advance to Finals Championships.
Latinos connect Choir travels to San Fran through dance Lancer choir program competes at annual music festival up north to showcase their singing talents
JESSICA ASHCRAFT Staff Writer
Within a matter of hours, the cafeteria transformed into a streamer-adorned dance floor. On Friday, March 30, from 7:30–11:00 p.m., Latino Connection hosted its annual dance in the gym. Tickets were $12 the first week of sales and then $15 the week of the dance. Proceeds from the night will go towards future events as well as a scholarship fund for graduating seniors. Students from Newbury Park and Westlake also joined in the festivities of the semi-formal dance. “I thought the dress code was perfect—not too fancy but not too dressed down either,” senior Daniela Castillo said. “I loved dressing up because I do not really get the chance to.” During the dance, the court was announced: three king and queens, and three prince and princesses. Each pair came from a different school. “I was not expecting it at all,” TOHS queen Castillo said. “I was nominated against my best friends so whoever won did not really matter.” The dance is also an opportunity to unite students from the district who share common interests. “This is the one time where all of our friends can get together and party,” senior Tiffany Barcena said. After math teacher and wrestling coach Manny Valdez retired, Spanish teachers Veronica Bass and Julio Gonzalez took over the club. “It’s been a lot of learning,” Bass said, “and a lot of hard work.”
Multiple injuries hurt cheer’s success
joyce tan
trip agenda Thursday, March 29 7 a.m. Leave for San Francisco 2 p.m. Winchester Mystery House 4 p.m. Check into hotel
Friday, March 30 10:30 a.m. Cable Car Museum 12 p.m. Chinatown lunch 3 p.m. Ghirardelli Square 6 p.m. Dinner at Pier 39 7:10 p.m. Jazz Choir performance
Saturday, March 31 10:30 a.m. Concert Choir performance 11:30 a.m. Show Choir performance
Sunday, March 32 12 p.m. Monterey Bay Aquarium 10 p.m. Arrive at TOHS parking lot
kelly wisneski News Editor
Though the reality didn’t live up to the rumors, several injuries inhibited the cheer team’s performances at the USA Nationals competition from March 30 to April 1. Cheer captain junior Katy Yeakey was among the injured, as she incured a concussion and subsequent anxiety attack in the warm-up room at competition. “I felt like I was being pulled into two spots,” cheer coach Kelly Mills said. “I didn’t want to walk away from her having the attack, but at the same time, [the
Copy Editor
The choir program brought their voices to the Bay Bridge in San Francisco for the annual Heritage Music Festival choir competition from March 29 to April 1. A day before its departure, the choir program hosted the traditional March Madness Concert on March 28, which focused on and highlighted the talents of each level of choir and featured their individual competition pieces. The show prepared them for what was to come in San Francisco. “March Madness allowed us to get a feel for what it’s going to be like performing those pieces in front of an audience, especially with the judges,” concert choir performer junior Elley Berg said. “It’s a good chance for us to work out any kinks right before we leave for competition.” Concert and jazz choir received bronze in their respective divisions and show choir placed with silver. “It’s an affordability thing if students can’t go,” Berg said. “Most people want to go because we work so hard in preparation.” This year, concert choir helped show choir’s pieces by performing smaller motions on the rises as backup in the background. Each division competed with a medley of three songs. “While singing, it’s important for us to all stay in unison,” show choir participant freshman Aydan Pena said. “We want to sound like one big voice.” team] had to warm up, and they needed guidance.” Yeakey returned to support her teammates two days later on Sunday, April 1, when they placed 7th in Crowdleading and received the Sportmanship award out of the over 100 teams at competition. Two other minor injuries also affected the team’s mentality during the event. “I was focused on trying to encourage everyone else to push through everything that was happening,” cheer member senior Justin Harbison said. “We needed to focus on what we needed to accomplish more than what was going on at that time.”