S.H. Rider High School 4611 Cypress Ave Wichita Falls, Texas 76310 • Volume 54 Issue 7 • Friday, April 22, 2016
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Chronicle The Rider
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Chasing the Waves
der High School 4611 Cypress Ave Wichita Falls, Texas 76310 Volume 54 Issue 1 Friday July 9, 2010
By Myla Johnston Sophomore Trinity Kronlein sat in her room, writing in a notebook full of poems. Her phone went off, Kronlein looked over and when she saw a message from freshman Aiden Potter, she played the recording. As she began to listen to the guitar solo, She looked back at her notebook. This was the beginning of a song. “I’ve been singing forever,” Kronlein said. “It just sort of happened.” Kronlein is the lead singer for the band Pastel Waves. “My mom used to listen to a lot of old rock, and after a while I decided I wanted to play guitar,” she said. “After that I got into violin classes and that’s how I learned to read music.” While Kronlein had guitar and violin lessons to help hone her skills, she had no vocal training. Kronlein says her biggest inspiration to sing comes from the band Imagine Dragons. Potter, the main guitarist for Pastel Waves, has been playing guitar since the second grade. “I had already been playing piano and I always wanted to play guitar,” Potter said. “I still play piano now.” Potter sometimes uses the piano to help write some of the band’s songs. Potter, however, said his biggest inspiration is the Beatles and his father.
Story on Page 8.
Inside The Issue
National Hispanic Scholars Named
Hannah Klingler, 11
Skyler Dotson, 11
Zarai Sanchez, 11
Pastel Wave members, Collin Hardison, Dalton Clemens, Aiden Potter and Trinity Kronlein stand after their new single was released. “When I hear it, or see it, I just think of my three best friends that I play with,” Hardison said. “I’m having fun doing what I’m doing, and that’s all that matters to me.” Photo contributed by Pastel Waves.
National Hispanic scholar students scored in the top 2.5% on the PSAT among all other Hispanics and Latinos in the region.
“Being Afraid is the Wrong Answer”
Raider of The Month
Story on page 11.
Story on Page 12.
The Rider Chronicle
Cortney Wood Co-Editor-In-Chief Shannon Pyle Co-Editor-In-Chief Miranda Darné Managing Editor Kobie Lunsford Copy Editor Anaya Williams Reporter Juan Casas Reporter Chris Greenwood Reporter Sierra Hodges Reporter Jared Bruner Reporter Myla Johnston Reporter Lydia Angel Reporter Sara Barrera Reporter Victoria Hitchcock Reporter Jaidyn Lehman Reporter Lilia Ruiz Reporter Caden Veitenheimer Reporter R’yn Miller Artist Amy Nguyen Photographer Dalton Roberts Photographer
April: Waiting Time
Trends The LAST Six Weeks Severe Weather SUMMER Donald Trump
Art by R’yn Miller.
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The Staff Editorial
STAAR Restricts Students’ Learning College demands facts and information and not the confusing packet that results in a non-crediting score, the STAAR. Many of the lesson plans in place in core classes have been shortened to accommodate for the tests sponsored by the state. The teachers tell us what ‘might’ be on the tests, and often it turns out they’ve been misinformed. This results in consumed time that could have been used to teach us what we need to know for the future. U.S. History, in particular, has been scraped of useful information in favor of the ‘might’ agenda. The STAAR doesn’t count toward higher education, it instead results in a list of forgotten information. The information taught to prepare for the STAAR is usually the only thing the students learn because the teachers are restricted by the tests that the state emphasizes on.
The TEA claims the tests help students prepare for college and careers. However, the way the curriculum is strucured, students are only prepared for the tests. The testing companies claim the tests to be educational, but they want you to think how the makers think and they reject your logic that might lead to a similarly right answer. The tests hurt our free thinking and restrict the curriculum. We take the ‘educational’ tests, despite the fact they haven’t improved our education. In fact, the average reading SAT score has dropped since 1986, when standardized testing first began. The test should be revised to fit into the educational system and allow teachers freedom in how and what they want to teach. It shouldn’t be a waste of irreplaceable time and resources.
From You
“It teaches us to take a test instead of teaching us lessons that will last in life. In other countries, like Canada, they learn how to use their knowledge instead if just keeoing the knowledge until the test and then forgeting it.”
Seth Makibbin, 11
“Students prepare all year round, but what they learn shouldn’t be measured only on the test.”
A.D. Bigot, 11
“The problem with test based curriculum is you have to skim over everything instead of going in-depth .”
Matthew Tegtmeyer, 10
Editorial 2
theriderchronicle.com
April 22, 2016
Eyes On The Road
What is
Photo by Cortney Wood.
By Cortney Wood Despite the facts that one in five crashes in Texas each year involve distracted driving and eight people die a day in the United States because of distracted driving, people continue to drive two ton machines with their eyes glued to their phone to pick the next song they will jam to in the car. Everyone already knows the risks that come along with distracted driving and yet everyone acts like it’s no big deal. People need to spend the extra five minutes it would take to prep themselves before they get in the car to cut down not only on the unnecessary deaths and injuries, but also to set a new standard for each other when they get behind the wheel. Anything that takes your focus away from getting from point A to B is basically distracted driving. If it takes your eyes off the road and isn’t necessary, don’t do it while the car is moving. Simple as that. Putting on a little mascara on your way to school takes your eyes off the road and hands off the wheel, but how many times going down SW Parkway do we see that going on? It’s ridiculous. It feels ridiculous to write, it sounds ridiculous to say, and it’s obviously ridiculous to do. It’s not hard to decide if putting on that little bit of makeup that didn’t get done in the rush of the morning is worth crashing into the Honda Elantra carrying a mom and her five year old son on their way to elementary school. It’s not worth it. In fact, it’s infuriating.
The goofy ads that are shown on TV make serious issues like this a laughing matter, but there isn’t anything funny about getting a call in fourth period to go to the hospital because a family member was sandwiched by an 18-wheeler in an accident that would have been 100 percent avoidable if someone had not been reaching for their Dr Pepper bottle that rolled into the passenger seat floor board. Funny how no one is laughing when it happens to them or their family. Distracted driving is more than just sending a quick OMW! or turning the radio up. It’s deciding that as a driver, you are putting yourself and everyone around you at risk with every decision you make and it’s your responsibility to realize the legitimate dangers that come along with getting to drive. By engaging in distracted driving and saying “well, it’s okay because I’m really good at it,” what you are really saying is that you just haven’t killed anyone...yet. No one is good at driving while distracted because that’s not how driving was designed to be done. People have to expect more out of each other as drivers on the road. It shouldn’t be a constant that the driver in the next lane over has ear buds that cause him to miss the blaring horn of the ambulance coming behind him. This isn’t a dramatic conclusion to an unsolved mystery. This has been a thing for a while. But it’s not rocket science. Pay attention to the road or get out of the car.
Love?
By Kobie Lunsford I felt as though my heart were beating out of my chest, digging through the flesh so that it could leave my body and see the girl in front of me for itself, the girl who was causing me, someone who has always thought that others saw him as apathetic or uncaring, to go insane with emotion, beautiful, overwhelming, positive emotion. I was so overpowered that I could hardly believe I was standing, let alone walking with some semblance of balance. I looked into myself for a word to define what I was feeling, any word at all, no matter how simplistic, and quickly found one. Love. What I was feeling was love. And I couldn’t tell her because I was afraid I was wrong, or that I might drive her away. So I did something silly. I practically gave up who I was just to focus on her. I stopped being me, and stopped thinking about what I used to, the things I wanted to. Everything became about her, she was all I could think about. Was that really love? Over the course of Christmas Break, I drove myself insane because I did nothing but think about her. I wanted to date her, or to court her, whichever she preferred, but I wanted it right then. So, at the end of Christmas Break, when school had started again, my friends had noticed that I was...well...not me. They told me that I looked sad. They told me that I was being rude. They told me that I wasn’t me. And I hated it. But I realized what I was doing, that I was being overly obsessive. Surely she wouldn’t want that, I thought. So I tried to push her from my thoughts. But I knew that I couldn’t totally stop. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop thinking about her completely. Eventually, I just started to suppress those thoughts. It worked, though. I was me, again. And I had realized something. What I had been feeling wasn’t love, I don’t know what it was. This was love. Love was being able to engage in normal conversation with her without freaking out. Love was being able to think about what I wanted to, and to finally dream again. Love was being able to be her friend, and be content. So that’s what I’m doing, I’m just her friend. I’m fine with that, as long as I’m not being that horrible unknown thing that I was before. Is this really love? I’d like to think so.
Editorial April 22, 2016
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Does Create Stars? Tests measure student accountability By Lydia Angel STAAR season has kicked off and students have questioned why the tests exist. ”What happened was, the businesses in Texas went to the legislatures and said they needed students coming out of school that are better prepared,” Principal Dee Palmore said.“Technology started to come in and everybody wanted to increase what is going on in our school so they started testing kids to go on to graduation. We want to keep up with education, so teachers keep kids accountable by these tests.” Students have been questioning the purpose of a five hour test. “The goal was to make students more prepared,” Palmore said. “They think testing is the way to manage what goes on in our schools.” However, Palmore understands the students’ questions. “I think we need to be held accountable, but I’m not so sure we’re doing it the correct way,” Palmore said. “For example,the English test is five hours long. Doctors and Lawyers don’t take tests that are five hours long. They may take a two hour test, take a break, then take a different two hour test.” Math teacher Cara Farnsworth prepares students who will be taking the test. “I think standardized testing can be good to a point,” Farmsworth said. “I think right now we’re in a swing where it’s adding a lot of unnecessary stress to the kids.” Freshman Rene Lerma hopes the test will change in the future. “I don’t like it, it’s too long,” Lerma said. “It makes it harder to think because of the length. It adds stress to school because it is a big test and if you fail you have to retake it. They should cut down the hours of the test.”
Math teacher Cara Farnsworth says once STAAR is over, she has the opportunity to introduce new things that weren’t on the STAAR test to her students to prepare them for next year. Photo illustration by Shannon Pyle.
May Movie Madness
STAAR test determines curriculum timeline By Lydia Angel One of the after effects of curriculum built around a test is that there is time left in the school year after the test is over. “In Math, once the testing is over, that is your opportunity to cover the things that you weren’t able to go over before the test and to prepare the students for whatever course comes next in the sequence,” Farnsworth said. For freshman and sophomore English classes, there are two months left after the test. “From testing until the end of school, there is a gap,” Palmore said. “English takes so long to grade. That’s why there is such a big gap between taking the test and getting the results.” Students jokingly call that time after the
News 4
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test “May Movie Madness.” “May Movie Madness is good because the tests are so stressful, we need a break,” Lerma said. Palmore agrees that a break isn’t a bad thing. “It’s because everybody is exhausted, everybody has been working hard to get to this,” Palmore said. Palmore said teachers and students have been working hard on the curriculum and after the test is time for a more relaxed atmosphere. “We need to have a little fun in school,” Palmore said. “School needs to be about a growth experience even after the test, but it can be a fun growth experience.”
April 22, 2016
No Rest Even After STAAR
Life After
Teachers debunk the movie myth By Jaidyn Lehman In Joshua Nielsen’s pre-AP Biology class, the STAAR test does not mean it’s the end of the school year. “They’ll take the Biology STAAR, but that’s like the first week in May, so I still have three weeks afterwards that I’m still having them do work,” Nielsen said. “I try to find fun things to do, that way it’s not all boring.” The fun things they do count as a grades and will help them prepare for chemistry or some other class later on Nielsen said. “We’ll do our dissections at the end of the year after the test,” Nielsen said. “It’s not actually in our curriculum, but it’s biology based.” Things outside of the curriculum continues to point towards what the students do learn within the curriculum Nielsen said. “All my teaching for the test is already done,” Nielsen said. “These are just extra things to make sure that it’s fun.” Although some students said they watch movies in their classes after STAAR, not all are educational where as Nielsen’s movie touches on the topics he taught. “The movie is supposed to go back and review everything we’ve done throughout the whole year so they can still get prepared for the end of the semester test,” he said. English teacher Heather Preston also has her classes doing work.
“When it comes down to it, the STAAR test isn’t the end goal in my classroom,” Preston said. “It’s just one of the steps we have to complete, but we have other goals as well.” Preston has a busy and packed schedule for both of her classes she said. “With my freshman, we just started Jane Eyre,” Preston said. “We continue working on our close reading skills that are helpful towards next year when they take the sophomore pre-AP class.” As for her other class, they’re busy preparing for the AP test which is on May 4th. “The AP test is different than STAAR,” Preston said. “They have the test and then afterwards we have our term theme paper and that pretty much takes us to the end of the semester.” Preston isn’t the only teacher that has her students working till the end of the year. Spanish teacher Marina King has her students working up until the last week of school. “We’re actually still learning because there’s so much that they have to know before they get to Spanish 2,” King said. “During that last week we start reviewing for the finals since we don’t have a STAAR test.” While most students seem to think that after the STAAR all they do is watch movies, these teachers made it clear that they still do work. “Well since we just took the English STAAR that’s two months of them watching movies, I think they still need to do work,” Nielsen said.
Juniors and Sophomore in Coach Owens AP U.S. History continue to study for the US History STAAR test on May 3, 4 and 5. Photo by Cortney Wood. Sophomore Jada Vinson works with her teacher on a classroom assignment. Photo by Amy Nguyen.
We work after STAAR. We don’t watch movies. That’s false.
Brennon Little, 10
After STAAR we pretty much just prepare for next year. It’s more laid back and we go slower and it’s not as rushed.
Maggie Green, 9
I don’t think we just watch movies. I think we still actually do stuff.
Casie Curry, 10
Feature April 22, 2016
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Sex Let’s Talk About
By Victoria Hitchcock When the state of Texas cut the health requirement for high school students, they also took away any form of sex education at Rider, except for the few who choose to take health as an elective. At Rider, that’s 30 students a semester. Before the cut, students learned about Hot Topics, the abstinence based sex ed curriculum similar to what is taught in elementary and junior high. While sex ed is no longer part of the regular high school curriculum for most students, STD rates are soaring. In 2009 the health class requirement for high school students was revoked, but until about three years ago WFISD kept the requirement. Melissa Dockins, an RN at Wilson’s Family Planning Center, said that Wichita Falls’ STD rates are “skyrocketing.” “Five years ago I can say that we didn’t have the numbers that we have now as far as the positives and the lack of education,” Dockins said. “I’ve never seen it like it is today.” The United States has the highest STD and birth rate of any nation in the industrialized world. Texas itself is ranked 10th in the nation in chlamydial infections and 12th in gonorrheal infections. In 2014, Wichita County had 602 cases of chlamydia. Dockins believes that the lack of sex education has a hand in these numbers because she said younger people are “just not educated.” Before the health requirement was cut,
About 3 years ago WFISD dropped the health class requirement. Meanwhile, STD rates have been on the rise in Wichita County. Is there a connection?
health teacher Phyllis Pappas had over 100 students a semester in her health class. She said that students are missing out on important information because Hot Topics goes so much more in depth in high school. Sophomore Joshua De Hoyos feels that, “there are serious consequences that happen from not knowing this information on how to keep yourself safe, like from having kids and getting STDs.” According to Dockins, children as young as 11 years old are facing these consequences and coming into the clinic with STDs. Not only that, but high school is when students are most likely to have an STD if they are sexually active. According to a 2012 study done by the CDC, it is estimated that young people aged 15-19 years acquire half of all new STDs and that 1 in 4 sexually active adolescent females in America have an STD, such as chlamydia or human papillomavirus (HPV). HPV is also the number one cause of cervical cancer in women. Dockins said that if students choose to have sex there are ways to protect themselves as long as they learn the facts. “If you’re going to have sex, wrap it up,” Dockins said. “Do not have sex with that person until both of you go together and get tested. Do not have sex with that person until both of you get your results back and you swap. Then you know that person is clean.”
State of Texas Ages 15-19, 2014 Gonorrhea 5,069 cases
Gonorrhea 2,783 cases
Chlamydia 28,817 cases
Chlamydia 6,277 cases
Syphilis 202 cases
Syphilis 242 cases
Texas vs the United Kingdom
State of Texas All Ages 2014
Gonorrhea - 51,992 cases Chlamydia - 127,854 cases Syphilis - 13, 115 cases
UK All Ages 2014
Gonorrhea - 34, 958 cases Chlamydia - 206, 774 cases Syphilis - 4,317 cases
News 6
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April 22, 2016
Overcoming Procrastination
Just Do It... Later
Commit To Assignments • List tasks that you’re confident you’ll complete • Make a point of crossing each task off Why It Helps
• Rebuilds Faith in your own abilities • Commits to making good on promises
According to Psychology Today, in 2009 the average college student spent 3 hours a day checking social media and only 2 hours a day studying. The GPA of college students who use social media regularly everyday is a full point lower than their peers who don’t. One out of ten workers spend more time on the internet than working and that cost the American economy 650 billion dollars a year. Photo illustration by Taylor Wilson.
Be Realistic • Set reasonable targets to measure achievement • Be patient, change won’t come overnight
Students and teachers talk about effects of procrastination By Anaya Williams She stays up all night to do a project that’s due the next day. She spends about three and a half hours on homework each night, and sophomore Amber Villalobos rushes to get her work done so she doesn’t fail. Villalobos said time management isn’t her strong suit, and because she procrastinates, she works extra hard to pass her classes. English teacher Kristy Chamberlain is an expert at doing things in a timely manner and she’s always been that way. “I’ve never been a procrastinator,” she said. “As soon as I get a project to do, I like to get it done and I prioritize and plan out.” Chamberlain said she tries to share her good habits with other people so they can benefit as well. “When you get an assignment and it’s not due the next day, but you know when it’s due, you plan out when you should have one part done and when you should have the next part done,” Chamberlain said. “I use it with my own kids, and I try to use it with my students.” Time management is a big part in getting work done in a timely manner, Chamberlain said. She said she pictures her day to figure out what and when everything needs to be done. “As students, it’s kind of hard to picture all of that at one time, but I’m really big on making lists and writing things down so that you know what you need to accomplish on a daily basis,” she said. “Procrastinating students’ grades are obviously lower than
those who don’t procrastinate. They get points taken off when they don’t do the work and not turning the work in on time causes grades to suffer just in and of itself.” Even though students know this, Chamberlain said it doesn’t keep them from falling prey to procrastination. “I play video games, read and play on my phone,” sophomore Maricella Escalante said. “When I actually do my homework, I’ll get a bad grade on it, so I just don’t try. At the end of a grading period, I just try my hardest to get above a C.” Sophomore Alexys Jones’ work ethic differs from class to class. She said she doesn’t dedicate all of her time at home to homework. “It depends on which class it is and which one I enjoy more,” Jones said. “When I get home, I just want to chill and I put off my homework and forget about it. Then I remember it last minute and it’s either too late or I rush.” Netflix is a big distraction and takes up an abundance of her time, Jones said. Instead of getting her homework done, she said she spends her time binge watching shows. Alongside bad grades, Jones said extra-curricular activities suffer if a student’s grades fall too low. Chamberlain said it’s possible to overcome procrastination and develop good work ethic if students put their minds to it. “If you prioritize, plan ahead and have short-term goals along the way and not try to do it all at one time, you can get over your procrastination,” she said.
Why It Helps
• Avoids self-sabotage from unrealistic expectations
Positive Self-Talk • Notice how you talk to yourself when procrastinating • Replace negative talk with positive Why It Helps
• Stops negative thinking before it starts • Encourages you towards achieving goals Source: Entrepreneur.com
Note From The Editors We planned this for the January/February issue... but here it is in April!
Feature April 22, 2016
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Chasing the
WAVES How 4 friends became successful with their shared love for music. This is the story of Pastel Waves. by Myla Johnston
Sophomore Trinity Kronlein sat in her room, writing in a notebook full of poems. Her phone went off, Kronlein looked over and when she saw a message from freshman Aiden Potter, she played the recording. As she began to listen to the guitar solo, She looked back at her notebook. This was the beginning of a song. “I’ve been singing forever,” Kronlein said. “It just sort of happened.” Kronlein is the lead singer for the band Pastel Waves. “My mom used to listen to a lot of old rock, and after a while I decided I wanted to play guitar,” she said. “After that I got into violin classes and that's how I learned to read music.” While Kronlein had guitar and violin lessons to help hone her skills, she had no vocal training. Kronlein says her biggest inspiration to sing comes from the band Imagine Dragons. Potter, the main guitarist for Pastel Waves, has been playing guitar since the second grade. “I had already been playing piano and I always wanted to play guitar,” Potter said. “I still play piano now.” Potter sometimes uses the piano to help write some of the band’s songs. Potter, however, said his biggest inspiration is the Beatles and his father. “My dad played guitar and a bunch of other instruments,” Potter said. “I kinda wanna be just like him.” Junior Collin Hardison, who plays drums for Pastel Waves, is also heavily inspired by his father. “A long time ago my dad introduced me into drumming, it was around when I was four years old, and I just continued from there,” Hardison said. “My dad is also in a band called Radio Republic. I kinda just follow in his footsteps.” Hardison always wanted to be in a band, so when he heard one of Pastel Waves’ songs, he jumped at the
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chance to be in the band. He was even more ecstatic when he was let in. “I was ready to work,” Hardison said. “As soon as I got in the band we recorded a song maybe two or three days later.” Freshman Dalton Clemens, the bassist for Pastel Waves, was also ecstatic to be in the band. “Aiden and Trinity were both really good friends of mine, and they needed a bass player. I couldn’t play bass,” Clemens said. “But they asked me and I was like ‘sure, why not’ I couldn’t pass that up.” With that, Clemens began to learn how to play bass. Pastel Waves has just released the song ‘Condensation’ on iTunes, Spotify, SoundCloud and Google Play. “We got the song done sometime in January,” Kronlein said. “It didn’t come out on iTunes until February.” Kronlein said that the band was hanging out at Clemens’ house talking about how cool it was to have a song on iTunes, when they first saw it hit the app. “I looked it up and was like ‘guys shut up for a second, this is important’,” Kronlein said. “Then I told them and we kinda just partied for a bit. There was a lot of yelling.” Once the song was released people began to notice the members of Pastel Waves. “There was this one kid in my 5th period like ‘hey I bought your song recently’,” Hardison said.
Feature April 22, 2016
"It's like a dream come true. I always wanted to be in a band. It's like a crazy Disney movie."
Trinity Kronlein, 10
Pastel Waves has preformed 4 times at public locations and plans to release an EP within the next year. Photo Contributed by: Pastel Waves
Hardison was shocked he couldn’t stop thinking, “We released it three days ago.” Kronlein has also been noticed for her part in the band. “Somebody was sitting next to me in choir and she just looks at me and goes ‘oh by the way I like your song on SoundCloud’,” Kronlein said. “I was like, ‘cool thanks’.” Pastel Waves not only has fans at Rider, but in places outside of Texas. “The other day there were some girls that followed us on twitter,” Potter said. “They said they really liked the band.” Hardison then direct messaged them to thank them for supporting Pastel Waves. “I said ‘hey, thanks for following us’,” Hardison said. “And she said ‘yeah, everyone down in North Carolina likes you’. I was like, North Carolina, that’s not here.” Potter has also found out that the band has fans in California.
On open mic nights, Pastel Waves plays at the 8th Street Coffee House. Photo Contributed by: Pastel Waves Photos Illustrations by: Myla Johnston
Along with being in a band, there is bound to be musical differences. Kronlein said that handling conflicts within the band is never hard to do. “We had a conflict the other day,” Kronlein said. “We just say ‘guys, we’re in a band’ and that normally fixes it.” Pastel Waves plans to release an EP before the summer and release an album before the end of summer to the end of the year. Pastel Waves also plays at the 8th Street Coffee House for open mic night on Fridays. “When I hear it, or see it, I just think of my three best friends that I play with,” Hardison said. “I’m having fun doing what I’m doing, and that’s all that matters to me.”
Feature 9
An Ad‘Vance’d Individual
JROTC brigade commander strives to unify the program By Kobie Lunsford Drill meets, color guards, officer meetings, and, to top it all off, meetings with the other battalions. Brigade commander Jake Vance has to set up these events and command his JROTC battalions at them. But he enjoys it; he likes being able to influence the JROTC program, which he has poured so much of his time and effort into. He laughed to himself when he thought of his reasoning for originally joining the program. “I liked the uniforms and what all my friends said about the program,” Vance said. “My first year, I took every rank test I was allowed to and was always the first to rank up.” Vance dedicated himself to the JROTC program. He attended as many of the activities as he could and helped out the other cadets. “I would go to all the color guards and all the drill meets and after I took the rank tests, I would help the others with it,” Vance said. “I think they [LTC Kuhl and SFC Miller] saw what I had done.” Vance’s commitment to the program had not gone unnoticed by his instructors. When his senior year came around, he was made the WFISD brigade commander. “They thought I could handle it and that I could lead the new cadets,” Vance said. “The younger cadets look to officers for guidance. We take the Officer’s Oath: You will set the example at all times and you will live up to the seven army values.” (See side bar.) As brigade commander, Vance said he has more responsibility and influence in the JROTC program. “When the high schools get together, I command them,” Vance said. “I’ve planned meetings with the other battalions and I go to the other schools.” Vance also leads all the JROTC’s big events, such as Veterans Day at Memorial Stadium. “On Veterans Day, all three high schools went to memorial stadium to present the memorial,” Vance said. “We’re celebrating 100 years of JROTC in April and we are going to
have a huge get-together.” Vance is investigating the different JROTC practices in the schools and is trying to combine or change them to be more similar and develop a greater sense of unity amongst the JROTC groups. “I want all three schools to be as close and intertwined as possible,” Vance said. “I want us to be one brigade rather than three battalions.” The last brigade commander from Rider was Kyle Reece. Reece was one of the people who inspired Vance and helped him along his journey towards brigade commander. “When I first joined JROTC, I was with Kyle,” Vance said. “I noticed his rank, he told me that he did a lot of work to get there. I told him the reason I joined JROTC was to be where he was someday. Here I am.” Memories of Reece influenced Vance to exceed in his position, and use it as well as he can. “I’m trying to make the position more meaningful,” Vance said. “I want to bring more responsibility to the position.” Now, Vance has begun his attempts to unify the three JROTCs, implementing more meetings and generally trying to bring the schools and their practices together. “Old High and Hirschi are different from Rider,” Vance said. “I’d like us all to be the same to some degree but variety is good. All three of the schools must have the bond that I’m trying to create.” Unfortunately, Vance is running out of time. He has acknowledged that he will not be able to accomplish his goal during the remainder of this year. As such is the case, hopes to impact future brigade commanders into following in his footsteps. “It’s my goal to set a precedent that will influence future brigade commanders to continue the close relationship of all three schools,” Vance said. “If I’ve done my job effectively, then I know that they will continue what I’ve done.”
Senior brigade commander Jake Vance commands the Color Guard at the first pep rally of the year. Photo by Regan Bennett.
The 7 Army Values Loyal Loyalty - To bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution...your peers. Duty - To fulfill your obligations. Respect - To treat people as they should be treated. Selfless Service - To put the welfare of the nation...before your own. Honor - To live up to all values. Integrity - To do what is right, legally and morally. Personal Courage - To face fear, danger, or adversity.
Feature 10
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April 22, 2016
‘Afraid is the Wrong Answer’ Classes continue to travel despite danger all around
The Tower Bridge, Eiffel Tower, and Louvre Pyramid monuments in Europe. Photos by Maria Cruz.
By Chris Greenwood School trips may be exciting, but the dangers add up after travelers leave the airport. World events can add to how stressful a trip may be. “I have to go through another door in the airport and have a cross put on my passport,” Spanish teacher Maria Cruz said. “The cross on my passport means that I have to be searched because there is someone out there that is wanted that has the same exact name as me.” Cruz continues to take students around the world despite the addition of the cross. “I’m planning two trips in 2017 to Europe and Costa Rica,” Cruz said. “I’ve been all over Europe as well as Mexico with students. Increased airport security has been a hassle for me and my students.” Cruz said that the cross is only one of the causes for setbacks during the trips. “We’ve had heavy pickpocketing in France,” Cruz said. “They stole three girls’ purses, passports and money from another school’s group so the girls had to go to the U.S. embassy and get temporary passports.” The country’s general population is one of the key factors in trip safety. “There was this big sports event when we were in Paris that happened and there was this huge
celebration, so I’m guessing they won because just about everyone started going wild,” Rider graduate Bailey Gutierrez said. “People were on their motorcycles and sitting in their cars just honking their horns everywhere.” This sporting event was the Six Nations Rugby Championship. “There were people screaming and running into the subway holding flags, everyone was celebrating except us because we didn’t know what was going on,” Gutierrez said. “I was almost run over by a guy that was speeding, I’m guessing that he was drunk. I don’t think they have a lot of traffic laws. Crossing the street was one of the most dangerous things I’ve done because I’m not very careful.” Journalism teacher Mary Beth Lee said it’s “not unusual to feel tension in big, metropolitan cities.” “I took two of my former editors with me to Europe with some other adults. Last year we went to Paris, Switzerland and Germany,” Lee said. “Paris was really different, I’ve been there before two other times. This time there was this different feeling in the air.” The school’s tour company, EF tours, tries to keep students out of dangerous areas. “EF tours said that we weren’t going to the Eiffel Tower,” Lee said. “We were going to watch it light up,
" Crossing the street was one of the most dangerous things I’ve done."
Bailey Gutierrez, Graduate
but they didn’t want us to go to the actual tower and walk around there.” EF tours kept students away from the Eiffel tower because of two local terrorist attacks. “My group was a small group, so we would leave the tour guide and do our own things in Paris,” Lee said. “A couple of times, when we were out there, there were police, and we constantly heard sirens,” Lee said. “We saw a bunch of police cars in rows. There were big police vans and heavily armed police officers. We didn’t know what was going on, but we definitely knew something had happened.” After arriving back in the United States, Lee heard “people talking about staying away from Europe.” “If you have always wanted to travel around and see the world and you don’t go because you’re afraid, you’re letting the terrorists win,” Lee said. “Letting the terrorists run us by making us afraid is the wrong answer.”
News April 22, 2016
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11
Raider of the Month
Senior’s hard work pays off with trip to State Powerlifting By Sierra Hodges aking a deep breath, he concentrates on his next lift. He steps on the platform, where he knows he belongs. A day without lifting is a day without living to him. He can’t imagine life without it. When Collin Partridge was only 8 years old, he became focused on his body and how to make it better. His grandma believed in him from day one, even getting him a personal trainer and paying for it. She wanted him to learn how to lift correctly. From the time he picked up the first weight, he fell in love with the sport. Spending up to five hours a day lifting. “I’ve been lifting weights for as long as I can remember,” he said. “I’ve had a personal trainer teaching me how to properly lift since I was 8. It’s always been something I enjoy, and it has definitely taken off with the help of coach Davidson.” In the end his hard work paid off. Senior year he finally qualified for state, broke all four of the school records. His record setting bench press is 440 lbs. His squat, 725 lbs. His deadlift, 515 lbs. He doesn’t have a “real” reason of why he lifts or why he likes it. He just does it. Like he always has. “I mean it’s always been part of my day,” he said. “It seems odd if its not part of it. “It’s very therapeutic and it just helps me take all the frustration of the day out on the weights and it helps me get a good night’s rest.” He doesn’t lift for attention, though. He said he lifts to make himself stronger and more comfortable in his own skin. He does it for fun and for many, many people. “I was raised to always be a hard worker and to never give anything I try half effort,” he said. “There’s just countless people who really keep me going and keep me motivated.” He said he wouldn’t give powerlifting up for anything, though. It’s what keeps him going every day. It’s been his life forever and he wants to continue that. “It means a lot getting to see your results pay off,” he said. “Like training for a month-long session and then you can sit down and actually see what increased by this much and what didn’t increase. It’s just something I’m proud of and can always be able to cherish.”
Collin Partridge paces himself as he begins his squat. “Lifting is way of life for me. Now all my hard work is paying off and it’s redeeming,” he said. Pacing himself, senior Collin Partridge starts his deadlift. “I’ve been lifting since I was 8 and I can thank my grandma for encouraging me.” At a meet out of town, Collin begins his squat. “It’s always been part of my day,” he said. “I don’t know what to do if I don’t lift daily.” Photos contributed by Collin Partridge.
T
Setting the Bar He’s in the SHW (super heavy weight 275+) so he doesn’t have to worry about his weight when he weighs in.
What Collin does to get ready and focus during/before every meet
He eats as many carbs and calories as he can the night before the meet.
He has to have his 5-hour ENERGY before every meet and drink 4 of them throughout it.
His good luck charm is a hat that says weightlifter and he has his girlfriend’s initials on the inside of it.
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April 22, 2016
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13
Day of
Destruction When Mr. Tempelmeyer left his house that evening, he had no idea he would cross paths with the biggest tornado in Wichita Falls history.
Testing coordinator Patrick Tempelmeyer survived the biggest tornado in Wichita Falls history on April 10, 1979 despite being outside when it hit. The picture above is what was left of his house after the tornado had struck. Photo contributed by Patrick Tempelmeyer.
By Caden Veitenheimer “I laid there and the tornado beat me half to death with every single piece of Faith Baptist Church that it could come up with,” Testing Coordinator Patrick Tempelmeyer said. “I got hit with cinder blocks, boards, chunks of metal, you name it.” On April 10, 1979, Tempelmeyer was in the middle of the biggest tornadoes to ever hit Wichita Falls. When the tornado struck, Tempelmeyer was at the corner of Cunningham and Rhea road. He reported to see the clouds “acting weird.” “They were moving real fast in both directions- all kinds of strange stuff,” he said. “My house was on top of the hill, so the way it was built I could pull my truck up and climb up on my truck to get on the roof of the house. I got up on the roof of the house trying to see what was going on because it was looking weird over there and I’ll be honest, it looked like it was just heavy rain, it did not look like a tornado.” As he stood on the roof, his neighbor told him that it looked like the storm was coming toward them. “I don’t like the looks of that,” Tempelmeyer said. And with that, the neighbor got in his car and took off. As Tempelmeyer tried to call family members to tell them to stay put, he said the lines were down, so no matter how many times he called and called, he couldn’t get through to anyone.
“I went down to make a call to tell some people to stay in and that we are gonna get a bad rain, and it couldn’t get through, so I had to go up to the mall at the time to tell people to stay put, family members, and well the phones just weren’t working so I went and got in my truck to drive up to the mall and I was driving up McNiel and the whole sky was just black off to the west and I was thinking ‘man that is gonna be some heavy rain’ and about that time I saw a roof go past, probably 100 feet up it was kind of hard to tell how high it was but the roof went past and I thought ‘there is a tornado in that cloud.’” He hadn’t figured out that the entire cloud was the tornado. “I had decided I was headed into the path of the thing, so I decided to cut back, you know SOP would be going due south but McNiel back in those days dead ended at Southwest Parkway, so I had cut back on maybe Stern or one of those, and picked up on Cunningham and took Cunningham around and I was gonna go south and east try and get away from the thing and as soon as I made that turn, I had stuff coming at me, I had stuff going past me, because tornadoes pull stuff in and it throws stuff out, and as I was approaching Rhea Road my truck started to feel floaty, you know, like a boat type of thing. At that time Tempelmeyer said he knew he had to get out of his truck because the tornado wasn’t
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traveling north-east like they usually do, it was headed almost due east. He got out of his truck and went to go get in those drainage ditches there by Rhea Road and Southwest Parkway, but he didn’t make it. “It was like running in high speed molasses or something,” he said. “I made it to the corner there, flopped down and held on to the stop sign. I am laying there and I am getting hit in the head a lot so I am thinking ‘this isn’t too good’ and something hit me really hard, and I almost blacked out so I decided I needed to face the other direction so stuff would quit hitting me in the head. I started to scoot around. I didn’t want to get up because I knew that wouldn’t have been a good idea, so I had started to slither around the pole to where I was facing away, but now I had stuff hitting me in the back of the head, I thought ‘that’s not too good,’ so I put my butt up in the air a little bit to protect the back of my head and then just rode out the rest of the tornado. “It seemed like hours but I feel sure it was only a matter of probably less than a minute to be honest. It was a little over a mile wide and it was traveling at about 35 to 40 miles per hour, so you can guess how long it took to travel a mile. That’s about how long I was right square in the center of the stupid thing so you can figure that was how long it was over me.” His ordeal wasn’t over.
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April 22, 2016
The Field Is Where They Stand Season ends with regional finals, but memories will live on
By Lilia Ruiz Nerves filled each girl to their brim, but more than that, the excitement in the air filled the stadium. The band was sounding, fans were cheering, and the Lady Raiders Soccer team proved their strength on the field at the April 9 playoff game verses Grapevine. Despite the disheartening 1-0 loss against Grapevine, captain Kayleigh Gunkel said the entire team “stayed motivated” through everything. “Go all out and go hard or go home,” Gunkel said. “During the game I keep pushing myself, we were all pushing ourselves definitely to the limit. It was our last game so we were like ‘this is it’. The seniors keep me motivated through the game, I just wanted them to have the best season they could.” Gunkel said the coaches taught the girls how to stay strong while they felt pressure in situations both on and off the field and with that, the girls powered through each game. “We were all so tired, most of us didn’t get breaks and so we had to stay mentally tough because you just have to go you can’t give up,” Gunkel said. “Our bond as a team is really strong we really came together.” Although the coaches’ speeches played a key role for the players, senior Alycia Shifflett said a letter she wrote to herself back in fourth grade urged her onward. “We wrote letters to our future selves and it was about where you wanted to be in high school,” Shifflet said. “My dream was to be the starting varsity keeper at Rider and it had finally happened.” Shifflett was so excited and ready for the game, fifth round of the regional final they were so ready and determined to win. Even though the girls only lost by 1-0 it was still emotional for them. “You know that this could be your last game. I’m not playing in college so I was well aware this could be the last time I was ever going to play, so I just had to not take it for granted and just enjoy every moment of it even as nerve racking as it was,” Shifflett said. The girls said they understood what they were facing against the reign champs of Grapevine. Coach Wiersma told the team that Grapevine was
April 22, 2016
the team to beat, he knew they could make it there and that Grapevine was their real challenge to make it to State. “First half they came out really strong, our center back defender got pulled out within the first three minutes and that was kind of nerve racking,” Shifflett said. “Coach put in a sophomore who had never really had time on the field, but for her to be our defender, she really stepped up.” Sophomore Sarah Maclagan was the center back defender who stepped up in the first half of the playoffs. She had been on the girls junior varsity soccer team all year, but never really got time on the field. She was mainly was practicing, but when coach put her in as the center back defender during playoffs she really stepped up and proved she belonged on the field. Even though Maclagan didn’t get much time on the field, she stepped up when her coach needed her to, Shifflett said. Both girls said they feel most at home “with the soccer girls, on the field.” “I mean it’s the only place that your mind is completely off of everything in your life,” Shifflet said. “You’re with your best friends and your family and they all have your back and that’s home for me.”
Most
Memorable
Moment "After the playoff games, it was great to celebrate and run onto the feild thinking ‘we did it.’"
Carly Kowalick, 10
"My favorite part was scoring in overtime. We were down a goal and we needed to score or we would have gone in to penalty kicks, which are a lot more stressful."
Oby Okeke, 12
"I loved how supportive the girls were becuase I’d just come back from injury and broke my collarbone on the first game I came back."
Miranda Davis, 11
Before the fourth round of playoffs began, sophmore Keeley Ayala, freshman Kaylee Proffitt and junior Kayleigh Gunkel huddle with the rest of the LRS to prepare for the game. Senior Madi Davis dribbles the ball down the field during playoffs. “My favorite moment was after we beat Joshua, the team we lost to last year,” Davis said. “It was crazy knowing that we overcame something together.” Photos by Amy Nguyen.
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15
Playoff Power: Boys, Girls Soccer Earn Spots in Regional Finals
Girls Varsity celebrates after winning against El Paso 2-1 on April 8 to advance to the semifinals of Regionals. “We were a really good team and we stuck together,” senior Oby Okeke said. “That’s how we were able to make it as far as we did.” Photo by Amy Nguyen. In the second overtime in the game, junior Grayson Ellett stole the ball right from underneath the opposing team. “We accomplished a lot as a team,” Ellett said. “We united together and did what no one thought we could do.” Photos by Shleby Davis.
After attending a soccer academy in Dallas for the majority of the season, senior Josh Peloquin returned to Rider soccer and led varsity into overtime during the Eastlake game. “To make it that far and prove everyone wrong was spectacular,” Peloquin said. “We were the underdogs the whole time and to make it that far was crazy.” Senior Oby Okeke had several assists during the El Paso game. “I was really focused becuase the games can get really intesnse,” Okeke said. “I love being on a team and working together towards a goal and being able to accomplish that.” Photos by Amy Nguyen. “It’s amazing to see what you can accomplish as a team,” junior Aaron Lange said. The playoff game was one of the first Lange had participated in after spending much of the season out due to an injury. “When we went into playoffs our team spirit was 100 percent,” Lange said. Photos by Shelby Davis.
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April 22, 2016