Th e
Chronicle
Rider High School
4611 Cypress, Wichita Falls, Texas, 76310
Volume 49 Issue 4 www.theriderchronicle.com
Raiders take the Polar Plunge pg 7
Fenced in The fences were built to protect the students in case of an emergency. The school also has plans in case of emergency situations. Photo by Meghan Myracle
pg 15
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Behind bars
New security measures implemented for student safety, prevent possible crisis
pg 20
Did you know? Until 1996, the Rider Chronicle was called the Round Up.
by Kayla Holcomb Students don't always understand all the work that goes into ensuring their safety. People such as the police force and Vice Principals, who work behind the scenes, not only keep students out of trouble, but also strive to protect them so they can focus on learning. When new policies on security are put in place that interfere with the students' typical school day routine, they often complain, thinking of the inconvenience instead of their well-being. "With society the way it is, people realize security can be annoying and inconvenient, but with events in the past such as 9/11, it's a measure we need to go to," Vice Principal Rebecca Hitchcock said. "It's always better to be safe than to have to learn from mistakes." In fact, the schools constantly learn from accidents in the past and present by adjusting when tragedies like the Columbine shooting or 9/11 occur. "When a national event has repercussions for the schools, it causes me to beef up the police protection and even to add private security at night," Director of Security and Chief of Police Karen Olson said. Also, the schools have extensive emergency action plans that cover a wide-variety of possible situations from students rioting to a plane crashing into the school. "We are prepared for anything, no matter how minute a chance there is of it happening," Hitchcock said.
Despite all the work that goes into purchasing cameras or assigning police to roam the schools, both Hitchcock and Olson believe the most influential factor on student safety is the students themselves. "Common sense plays a huge role in the protection of the schools," Olson said. "Even students for the most part have good intuition. If your intuition tells you there's something wrong in a situation, you shouldn't put yourself in that uncomfortable position." Likewise, a problem can't be addressed if the overseers of the school aren't informed first and foremost since they can't be everywhere at once. "In the incidences of school attacks, we usually are notified before it happens, and a lot of attacks are stopped because someone found out about it and told the authorities," Olson said. "People have a lot of responsibility for their own security, and when their classmates are doing things, like building bombs in their basement, they should let someone know." All in all, the main concern of those in charge of security is to grant students knowledge without them feeling vulnerable to the world outside. "We're proud of Rider and want to keep it as secure as possible," Hitchcock said.
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Opinion Worse than driving drunk
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Texting while driving must come to an end
Cartoon by Erica Klenk
Th
e
Chronicle
A publication of Rider High School
The Chronicle is a student-run publication. The content and views are produced solely by the staff and do not represent Rider High School or the WFISD faculty or administration.
Co-Editors-in-Chief
Technology has taken over the United States, teenagers in particular, to the point that 60 percent of teenagers text while driving, a percentage that really should be nonexistent. When someone texts and drives simultaneously their brain activity is reduced 37 percent. They might as well be driving with their eyes closed. Driving is a serious endeavor and truly requires 100 percent of a person’s attention, not just 63 percent of it. When someone is texting while driving they are more often than not paying way more attention to their phone than the road. It is evident when driving how many people, teenagers in particular, are looking at their phones and not the road. Some are too distracted to realize their car is swerving into the next lane or onto the curb and next thing they know they’ve crashed. All for a text that could’ve waited. Studies have proven that texting while driving now kills more people a year than drunk driving. Studies reveal that a person who is texting while driving at the speed of 35 mph will cover 25 ft
Entertainment Editor Erica Klenk Feature Editor Kayla Holcomb Principal Judy McDonald Adviser Mary Beth Lee We serve as the voice of the student body and encourage letters to the editor. Deliver letters to room 243 or email to jordancampagna@theriderchronicle.com or daniadams@theriderchronicle.com
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before bringing the car to complete halt as compared to a distance of 4 ft which a drunk driver would cover at the same speed. It is appalling to think that something so easy to just silence and ignore is claiming more lives than those who drive drunk. Texting while driving has claimed over 16,000 lives in six years, if you do the math that’s roughly 2,667 lives a year. It should not be that hard to ignore a text for the short while someone is driving. People may claim that texting while driving is harmless, or easy, or really ‘no big deal.’ But if it’s claiming over 2,500 lives a year it needs to be put to a stop. The evidence really speaks for itself. Just put the phone in your purse, backpack, glove compartment, or just silence it while driving. If the notification isn’t heard then the urge to look at never arises. It shouldn’t be hard to ignore a text for just a short time while driving, it will save lives. Don’t become responsible for the death of a person all because technology has become too important.
Staff
Alex Adams Chandler Alejandro Emily Burlison Byron Dowling Cici Gossett Erin Harman Jon Lanford Meghan Myracle Kyler Norman Zane Pollock Heather Schweiss Emma White Alexander Yeu
Editorial Fighting the Monster
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Junior reflects on six month struggle battling eating disorder
by Erica Klenk Skinny, skinny, skinny. The words echo in my head. No one will like you unless you’re skinny, pretty girls don’t eat. The little monster called anorexia screamed those words to me every day for six months, every time I ate, every time I thought about eating, and anytime food crossed my mind. I felt trapped, but no matter how much I tried, I couldn’t get the monster out of my head. “Look at them watching you eat, they think you eat like a cow.” So I stopped eating. In reality, I was only eating an apple, but to me it was a calorie filled piece of food. It started as a innocent way of trying to lose weight, but when healthy food and exercise didn’t work, not eating and throwing up did. It became my ritual, my comfort, my security blanket, and my best friend. I was too afraid to let it go. I was so afraid of people not liking me, and of being rejected because of my weight, that I let it control every bit of my life. I lost track of who I really was. I couldn’t be happy. I was always worried, counting calories, dividing every serving size to a fourth of what I really needed, drinking so much water I didn’t eat a whole lot. I was miserable. I wasn’t me anymore, I was my eating disorder. I lost thirty pounds in a matter of two weeks. I started getting excited, Art by Erica Klenk though. I continued my rituals, losing weight at a fast rate. I started having problems from the lack of eating, and I became scared. My hair started falling out in large clumps, and all I wanted to do was sleep. My boyfriend had to spoon feed me, as I threw a fit saying that I wasn’t hungry and didn’t need to eat. I knew I needed help. “Mom, I have an eating disorder.” The words still give me the chills when I think about it. It was the hardest thing for me to do. My mother wouldn’t believe me, but I pointed out that I had gone from being 200 pounds to being 130 pounds in a matter of two months. She finally got me help, and I was monitored twenty-four seven by her. I can’t see my ribs anymore, and I can’t even think of purging anymore, but I still have a struggle with an eating disorder. I sometimes get afraid of eating, but when I do, I just try and laugh it off and not care. There are days where I burst into tears when I look in the mirror because I hate what I see. Sometimes I still wish I had the self control to not eat, but then I try and go back in time to how miserable I was, and how I don’t want to be that again.
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Signs and Symptoms of an eating disorder:
The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Signs and
Symptoms • Wearing big or baggy clothes or dressing in layers to hide body shape and/or weight loss. • Obsession with weight and complaining of weight problems (even if “average” weight or thin). • Obsession with calories and fat content of foods. • Frequent trips to the bathroom immediately following meals. • Visible food restriction and self-starvation. • Isolation. Fear of eating around and with others • Keeping a “food diary” or lists that consists of food and/or behaviors. • Mood swings. Depression. Fatigue.
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
CROSSFIRE
News
Is the security in high school too strict? Staffers Emma White and Danielle Adams debate by Emma White
Everyone needs a “Mr. Charles,” to take over personal security in their life. Everyone needs a personal bodyguard or guardian angel to look over them and make sure they are living safe and sound, away from any and all threats of the outside world. Everyone knows this is not realistic in the physical realm. There is such a thing as campus security though, which most people take for granted, not caring or realizing how useful and important it is. The school is locked at lunchtime. Why? There are highly concentrated areas of students in central school locations. Anybody wanting to harm students could do so with ease at student lunch times if the school were not locked up. The school is meant to be closed-campus. Why? School administrators don’t want students to be harmed. Several students risk their safety every day by leaving school to eat lunch someplace else. It would be best for these students to stay school for lunch. High school is only four years long, and students have the rest of their lives to eat lunch “someplace else.” Yet they continually dismiss security principles set by people wiser than them because they don’t realize that heads of security know what they are talking about and have reasons for what they do. When they get hungry, suddenly their opinion is the only one that matters.
Administration is right to be so strict about security matters. We as students can’t all be personally protected from danger, but in order for school to work for our safety, we all need to cooperate and follow the rules. Strictness is the administration’s approach to getting as close to that goal as possible. Campus security is in the best interest of the students. It is understandable why students would not care about the efforts of those establishing the security of our school. Maybe they don’t know how much effort it has taken to reach the amount of security currently present; they are just uninformed. Maybe they aren’t under the impression that rules apply to them; maybe they like being dangerous. Not paying attention to it is the same as not wanting to eat green vegetables. They are both seemingly bitter paths to benefit. It would be better for students to submit to the authority they are currently placed under. As previously stated, high school is only four years, which is not too long a time to be restricted in any manner. Students should pay more respect to the laws of security at school. The rules are not in place because adults hate teens and don’t want them to have any fun. They are in place because the heads of security know what’s best.
Does the administration’s tight security affect the way you behave?
by Danielle Adams
Though it may be true that everyone needs a guardian angel, by the time people hit high school they should be able to fend for themselves in most situations. The school has made security entirely too important when it really is unneeded for high school students. There are almost 1800 students currently enrolled, and with roughly 900 students in each lunch there just simply isn’t enough room. If every student stayed on campus like they were supposed to the school would quickly run out of food and seats. There isn’t a point in crowding students indoors trying to eat lunch while elbowing each other all over the place when students can easily go off campus for lunch. It would reduce stress on the administration and make lunch time easier if a rule that most people don’t follow wasn’t there. It’s absurd to say that high school students need the administration to hold their hand, keep them inside and ultimately out of harm’s way. High school students know better. They know they shouldn’t skip class or text or fight or leave campus. Students know the rules, but instead of giving students the opportunity to be responsible and follow the rules themselves, the administration has become over protective. It is true that students do need to be protected. And ultimately if something happens to a student during school hours the administration is held responsible, so there should be some kind of security in place. The administration needs to leave the responsibility of following the rules in the hands of the students instead of working so hard to be over protective. Without the chance to become responsible, students will remain irresponsible and the administration will have to work harder than needed to keep students safe and secure.
65% said yes
35% said no
*85 students were polled
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6 The A-Team
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Feature
Vice Principals find time to spend together despite busy school schedules by Jordan Campagna When you come to school in the morning, they’re there. When you eat lunch, they’re there. When you check out textbooks, they’re there. When you pass between classes, they’re there. Rider has three vice principals that each have their own share of responsibilities. “I make the master schedule,” vice principal Synthia Kirby said. “Which classes are taught at what time, how many sections of each class are taught, which teacher teaches what.” Kirby also leads site based meetings that develop campus action plans and is in charge of fish camp. She is also over student teachers and graduation. According to vice principal Rebecca Hitchcock, fellow vice principal Peter Braveboy is the resident “office translator” when parents that don’t speak English come in. “I do textbooks,” Braveboy said. “I order, distribute, and do inventory. I also do accident reports and federal surveys.” Hitchcock is in charge of freshmen orientation, security and safety, fire drills and Rider PRIDE, to name a few. “My unofficial job is decorating,” Hitchcock said. “I did Braveboy’s office and the downstairs lounge.” Hitchcock is also the school administrator for “Meet-in-the-Middle,” a part of the Special Olympics that is in charge of the “Erase the R word” campaign. They also share a number of responsibilities as well as helping each other with their own specific jobs. “We all attend parent meetings and do teaching evaluations,” Kirby said. “We try to do classroom visits, but we don’t do them as often as we’d like.” With so many responsibilities, the vice principals have help from teachers as well. “[Cleveland] Wallerich helps a lot with everything,” Kirby said. Each of the vice principals is in charge of their own specific subjects. Kirby is the “science and cheer liason,” Braveboy is in charge of English and foreign languages, Hitchcock is in charge of Social Studies and principal Judy McDonald has math. According to Hitchcock, most of her day is discipline. “Electronics are a big part as well,” Hitchcock said. “I hate taking [phones] up, I hate it!” Dress code is also a prominent part of the day for all of them. “I don’t know what we have to do to get through
the heads of people who wear their pants on the ground,” Braveboy said. Although they each have many responsibilities, they try to spend time together every day. “We try to have lunch together every day,” Braveboy said. The three vice principals are known around in the district as “The A-Team.” Hitchcock believes it’s “easy to be called ‘The A-Team’ when you work with such good people.” They also consider themselves to be family, and treat each other as such. “Two of the three [vice principals] are locas,” Braveboy said. “¡Dos locas en la oficina! There’s only one sane one.” According to Hitchcock, they all act like brothers and sisters. “We can’t go on a break or vacation without saying goodbye,” Hitchcock. “Sometimes, we try to dress alike as well. We’re no more than high school students.” Each vice principal carries around a walkie talkie in case they need to speak with each other during the day. “We have nicknames for each other on the walkie talkies,” Braveboy said. Braveboy is called “Jamaican dude,” even though he is from Grenada. Hitchcock is called “Red Hitch” and Kirby is called “Big Sis.” Hitchcock said she wants the kids to know her and the other vice principals are approachable. “We are disciplinarians, but if something is going on, we want them to come to us,” Hitchcock said. “Kirby and I were both counselors. Kirby said they would rather be “proactive, not reactive.” “We do expect the best of everyone,” Kirby said. Braveboy said he refuses to give up on anyone. “The hardest thing is getting them to stay for lunch,” Braveboy said. The vice principals aren’t able to make those decisions. “We’re bound by bugger rules than us,” Hitchcock said. “Just because we’re telling you to do something, doesn’t mean we agree, but we do what we’re told.” According to Braveboy, Hitchcock and Kirby “cry a lot when students are taken away for things they do wrong.” “When they hurt, we hurt,” Hitchcock said. “We do
what we have to do, it just makes me sad. We don’t want that.” Aside from the negatives, they still love each other, and their jobs. Each vice principal has one child. Braveboy has the only daughter. “I miss my child during the day,” Braveboy said. “Their two boys are fighting for my girl.” According to Kirby, they all take their children to after school games and events. Braveboy credits their happiness to Mrs. McDonald. “She is a 110% good principal,” Braveboy said. “That is why we’re so happy.”
One big family The three vice principals consider themselves to be family. They always spend a portion of their day together if they can help it. Pictured: Synthia Kirby, Peter Braveboy, Rebecca Hitchcock.
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Polar Plunge
Students, teachers leap into pool, raise $1004 by Dani Adams A number of people swarmed to Holiday Inn Express on Feb. 19 at 9:15 a.m. to watch nine Raiders take the Polar Plunge. The Polar Plunge, where students and teachers jumped into a freezing cold pool after collecting funds to see them jump, was a concept present by Mike Strickland to the Student Council. “People who jumped had to wear similar costumes, my group dressed like gangsters,” Student Council secretary Callie Cunningham said. “We had to pick a team song to be played while we walked out, then we were asked to recite the pledge and then we jumped into the pool.” The Polar Plunge fundraiser at Rider raised $1,004 for Special Olympics. “[It was] in conjunction with our Meet-Me-in-the-Middle program this year,” Student Council sponsor Sally Mroczkowski said. “[It was] aimed at creating interaction between students with intellectual disabilities and regularly developing students.”
1) Jump in 1) Eight of the nine jumpers are shown above, Coach Hill, Coach Garfield, Kristen Henry, Mrs. Hitchcock, Coach Bindel, Mary Wetherbee, Callie Cunningham and Aamna Zaidi. 2) Coaches Hill, Bindel and Garfield jump. Coach Bobbitt also did the Polar Plunge. 3) Vice Principal Rebecca Hitchcock won the “Best Costume contest and received a plunger. Rider Student Council also won a trophy to remain with them for a year. 4) The pool jumpers leapt into was 40º. After jumping, many sat in the hotel hot tub. Pictured are Kristen Henry, Mary Wetherbee and Callie Cunningham. All photos by Mary Beth Lee.
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8 Dangerous driving
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Students accept the serious dangers of texting and driving by Alexander Yeu In 2008, 21 percent of automobile accidents were due to texting while driving, meaning 515,000 people have been injured in a text while driving related accident and 16 percent of crashes in 2008 were fatal, killing 5,800 people. Texting and driving has become a great concern to parents, a concern everyone should acknowledge. “Texting and driving is really dangerous, but Safety first I always do it,” senior According to www.fcc.org, 16 percent, or 5,800, of fatal crashes were due to distracted Tuyetnhi Do said. “It’s a bad driving. Photo by Meghan Myracle. habit that should stop.” According to the American Auto Association, 50 percent of teens admit to driving while texting. “I’m usually on my phone while I’m driving but nothing has happened so far,” senior Marc Gardin said. There are no national laws about driving and texting but many states have implemented their own laws. California has implemented a law where it is illegal to use any mobile device while driving, only hands free device are permitted. Here in Texas, mobile devices cannot be used within a school zone with fines and felony charges for law breakers. “I didn’t know that there was a law for using a cellphone in a school zone,” senior Daniel Stuart said. “I broke the law a few times.” Texting while driving also reduces your brain activity while driving by 37 percent in which increases your risk for a major accident by four times. “When I text and drive, I usually concentrate on my phone more,” Stuart said. Not only is this affecting teens, it is also affecting adults. A recent survey showed that 20 percent of adult also partake in this dangerous habit. That means one out of every five adults texts while driving.
How bad is it? •61 percent of teens admit to risky driving habits. 46 percent of that 61 percent say that they text message while driving. (Source: AAA and Seventeen Magazine) •Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety) •Using a cell phone use while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (Source: University of Utah)
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Are you addicted?
Differing views on what qualifies technology addictions by Amelia Dever Ipod, Mp3, Iphone 3GS, Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, smart-phones, Nintendo Wii, etc. Inventors have made it possible for you to check your status, text, listen to music, or search the web, all on one device. Even though this is a decrease in technology devices, it’s an increase of technology use. These objects or websites are what seem to be ineffective harm. However, according to recent studies and research, technology has its downfalls. The Cranfield School of Management performed a new research over teenage technology addiction and disabled thinking. “Our research shows that technology obsession hinders spelling skills, implicitly encourages plagiarism because 60% of teenagers admitted to inserting information straight from the internet into schoolwork, without actually reading or changing it,” Professor Andrew Kakabadse said. Some think technology is becoming an addiction problem because of the extensive time some spent using it. “I think a reasonable time to use technology is an hour,” sophomore Jocelyn Ott said. “Most teens, youths, and adults abuse their time and may spend 5-6 hours on the computer or phone per day. Then it becomes an addiction.” However, some think there is not a reasonable time per day to spend using technology. “As long as your priorities are handled, then you can spend as much time as needed for
technology,” freshman DeMointe Wesley said. In harmony with this, librarian Sally Mrockawski says that ‘it depends on what you’re using the technology for.’ True, technology has many positive affects. For example, Facebook has made it easier for ones to find friends from the past or distant family members. You can easily find out news and weather reports by using cell phones. “Technology today helps us excel at school or work,” said Ott. Then there are the other negative effects of technology. “The negative things about technology is that when some people pay too much attention to it they have no time for the real world,” sophomore Erica Bourland said. “Parents that spend too much time on the computer pay less attention to their children.” Of course technology has helped people in many things. So, many do not see the negative effect it may have on them. “Technology use disables people’s ability to think for themselves,” senior Gabby Alvarez said. “I also think technology addiction is one of the reasons why teens are more shy, or not as outgoing.” So many opinions and views on technology comes down to a personal question. Am I addicted to technology? “For those addicted to technology, I wouldn’t say stop using it,” Wesley said. “Keep technology use moderate.”
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Do you find yourself getting info from the internet without actually reading it? If you do not read the info you get from a web site source, then this can be described as plagiarism, a negative effect of technology use. Try to always use your own words by word subtitution or sentence addition. Do you get info from books or do you constantly get it from the internet? If this sounds like you, then remember that not all facts or information from the internet is right because there are different views or opinions. Books are considered to be rated the highest on dependability scale. Is life without technology boring? Some may feel that without technology, they’d be lost. However, parents and grandparents were raised with a little amount of technology or none at all and they still enjoyed life. Try to experiment with short periods of accessability. Sources: www.webmd.com, www.helium.com and www.plagiarism.com
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Making A Change by Ashleigh Robinson She was a diabetic and her blood pressure was way too high. She knew she had to make a change for the better, or things might take a turn for the worse. Her way out? Getting her body healthier. Nurse Kristi Lane chose to change her life because she “adopted a baby, and my blood pressure was too high.” By eating healthier and exercising, she managed to rid of her diabetes and her blood pressure has gone down. To exercise, Lane didn’t hit the gym or go on a crazy diet. Instead she did a lot of walking around a lake in Iowa Park, chose healthier foods, and toned her portions down. “I have an eight month old, and there’s not that much time to eat, especially when she was first
born.” Lane said. When she first adopted her baby, Lane knew that she had to start living a healthier life. Now that she is living healthier, Lane says she “feels really good.” “I have to live long for my daughter.” Lane said. “I will be sixty-two when she graduates from high school.” For kids who want to start getting healthier, but don’t know how, Lane recommends that kids “Don’t stop eating, and don’t start with bad diets and pills.” She says kids should talk with a doctor or a physician, someone knowledgeable, and make a plan.
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Try This On For Size Healthy Mind, Healthy Body
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Kick it! Often students take athletic classes to help stay in shape. Sophomore Hayley Boydston plays for the Lady Raiders soccer team.
Getting in shape starts with the head
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by Ashleigh Robinson Getting healthy, what does it mean? Eating all salad diets? Going to the gym everyday? Sweating until all the bad calories consumed are long gone? All are common perceptions of what it takes to get healthy, but getting healthy is really having a healthy mind and body. It’s not about fitting into size three jeans or having the perfect model body. It’s about achieving a state of happiness and peace within mind and body. The two go hand in hand; when the mind is happy, the body will follow suit. Junior Jolea Johnson has decided to start leading a healthier lifestyle and thinks making choices like eating better and exercising more “help your body, so you can live longer.” Johnson isn’t eating all salad diets, either. She eats fruits, veggies, low fat, and fat free food items. That does include tasty yogurts, cheesy crackers, and delicious cookies, but no fast foods. “I stopped eating fast food and drinking soda,” Johnson said. “I get one cheat day every other week, which means I can have whatever I want that one day.” As far as exercise goes, she attends the YMCA regularly and goes for runs after school. “I do all my homework, then I run up and down my street until I go to work,” Johnson said. “After work, I run for about an hour.” Johnson said. She also watches and follows a lot of exercise instruction videos. When starting something out of the ordinary, it takes time to adapt to changes. It’s understandable that staying focused can be hard, but keeping a positive attitude definitely helps. Johnson gives three tips that can keep motivation in check. “Make a list of why you want to do this and read it every morning,” Johnson said. “Have your family help with motivation, or get them involved. Doing something like this could be hard. If you have someone do it with you, it would keep you focused and committed. Make a food plan; the what and what not to eat foods.” Girls Varsity soccer coach, Coach Cheryl Wuthrich, thinks being healthy is important. In order to keep her body healthy, she gets plenty of rest and exercise. “I play soccer and take long walks,” Wuthrich said.
Exercising doesn’t have to be hard core. Fun sports like soccer, basketball, and football can be viewed as exercise. Walking is also a good form of exercise. Wuthrich recommends that high school students learn to eat healthier. She encourages eating a lot of fruit, veggies, and lean meats. If fast food isn’t avoidable, she says to “substitute the apples at McDonalds for the french fries, and drink water instead of soft drinks.” She also thinks students should learn to become more active. “Too many kids stay indoors and watch too much TV or are on the computer too many hours.” Wuthrich said. “Young people are fine with just hanging out at the mall rather than spending their time exercising.” Wuthrich thinks taking advantage of the athletic programs here at Rider is a great idea. By doing so, students can get the advised time of physical activity that is recommended for a day. “Students have lots of opportunities to get exercise at Rider through athletics or simply in P.E. class.” Wuthrich said. But she also thinks students lack motivation to become healthier. “Perhaps if they really think about their future instead of always wanting ‘immediate gratification’, they may realize the choices they make today will affect their future.” Wuthrich said. When just starting out with getting healthy, Coach Wuthrich suggests starting “with small steps, and work towards a goal.” Starting off with big accomplishments that may not be achievable right away can cause discouragement. “If you can only walk a mile this week, but you are able to walk 2 miles next week, then be proud of your accomplishment.” Wuthrich said. “Remember getting into shape takes a while, but getting out of shape can happen quickly.”
*There is no current nutritional chart for the Rider cafeteria.
12 Fate of classes in students’ hands
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
CATE numbers in danger of shrinking by Kyler Norman
The loss of enrollment in the CATE (Career and Technology Education) could cause the district to consider getting rid of some classes if the numbers don’t go up. “If we don’t have students that request those (CATE) classes when we do our scheduling for next year then we will not be able to offer those specific electives and then we will have to determine what staffing we need based on those requests,” principal Judy McDonald said. The numbers problem started when TEA pulled the technology credit requirement for graduation. That coupled with the 4*4, which left fewer spaces open for elective credits, left fewer students adding tech classes to their schedules. “The minimum target for classes is 10 to 15 (per class),” Judy McDonald said. Loskot said that the technology skills students know are not the kind that will help them in the future. “The bottom line is high school students are savvy to technology,” Loskot said. “They know how to use their cell phones, iPads, iPods(etc), but that’s not the kind of technology we’re teaching. On the high school level we are teaching technology that will benefit the student when they go to college and then when the move beyond college to their careers. Technology
classes are no longer considered required, but you’re going to be left in the dust if you don’t have some of these technology classes under your belt when you leave this institution and go on to further education or move on to a career, and you won’t be as desirable by an employer if you don’t have these skills because there is not a job out there that doesn’t require technology skills.” Many new CATE classes are going to be offered next year (see sidebar) and MarvelLoskot says they are doing multiple things to bring attention to the classes. “This year to help us we’ve put together books to give to the counselors that will help the counselors to have a better understanding of the classes,” MarvelLoskot said. “We took over the display case in front of Mrs. Cantrell’s room and we put information for our different programs in it. We got T-shirts as a department, we’re handing out information, and we’re going to go around personally and visit with the advisory classes in the morning to let them know about the classes (we are offering).” In the end, Marvel-Loskot hopes students make the technology choice. “Don’t take a class because you think its easy,” she said. “Take a class that’s going to actually help you.”
New CATE Classes Marketing Sports and entertainment marketing Fashion Marketing Planning for solutions
Agriculture Science and Technology Small Animal Management Equine Science Advanced Animal Science
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Feature PRIDE system proves beneficial check us out at www.theriderchronicle.com
The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Tardies decrease after first semester of new policy
by Emma White The siren wailed. Students looked around at each other and thought, “Is this for real?” A school administrator opened the classroom door and the teacher and students could see the stirring bodies from the hallway. Mr. Braveboy, Mrs. Hitchcock and Mrs. Kirby came inside and started handing out bags of goldfish, cheering with shouts of “Rider Pride! No tardies! Woo!” It was Rider PRIDE. The system has simmered down since then, but administrators say it has served its purpose. Last year’s tardies were somewhere around 9000 each semester. “There was no system in place really to hold the students accountable for being late to class,” said Assistant Principal Rebecca Hitchcock. Because of this, the Rider PRIDE system was instigated to give students rewards for arriving in class on time and staying out of the hallways. “For those who like the rewards they’ll get to class on time and for those who don’t, we put into play that everyone gets a d-hall if they’re late,” said Hitchcock. Slowly but surely administrators realized handing out prizes every two weeks was not as realistic nor as time allowing as they had originally hoped. “We wanted to come around and give the rewards to the classes but there were so many classes that were getting them it was hard to get around to everything,” said Hitchcock. “And then we were interrupting learning time giving out prizes which was what we were trying avoid in the first place.”
The solution was in the “Pride Buck.” “We went to the Pride store using the Pride buck, “ Hitchcock said. “We could give the Pride bucks to the teachers, and they could hand them out.” Administrators got their time back with the Pride buck. However, the assistant principals understand that they are not the only people with time conflicts. “[Getting from class to class is] a hard thing to do,” Hitchcock said. “It’s only four minutes but it can be done.” Some students who know it can be done disagree with the system. “I don’t think people should be rewarded for things that they should be doing anyway,” junior Julie Nicholson said. “I write my homework assignments on the back of [the Pride bucks].” As well as the time issues, funding issues affect the system. “We’ve looked for donations and so far it’s gone pretty well,” Hitchcock said. “We’d love to be able to give everybody more. We’re doing the best we can with what we have.” Nevertheless, administrators are encouraged to continue improving the system. “I think its worked well so far, but I think if we had different things than just candy and Gardetto’s students might be more interested,” Hitchcock said. Despite barriers, Rider PRIDE has proven to be successful. “In the first semester there were 523 students with zero tardies,” Hitchcock said. “What we’re concerned with is if students are getting to class and learning. That’s what we’re here for. Our main goal is to have the best and brightest.”
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In The BegInnIng
The principals where very big on Rider PRIDE. They went into class rooms yelling with air horns at the ready. They passed out various goodies. D-Halls were given for tardies.
Then
Three weeks into Rider PRIDE it changed to Rider Bucks that where used in the raider store to buy candy and food items.
now
Though some teachers have abandoned the Rider PRIDE system, many still do. Raider Bucks are still passed out and D-Halls are still given for tardies. If you’re never tardy, your name goes into a big drawing at the end of every six weeks.
R I D E R P R I D E
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14 The Rider Chronicle. February 2011 Working hard for the money check us out at www.theriderchronicle.com
Rider student balances time-consuming job with school life
by Emily Burlison The scent of freshly baked pizza fills the air and somewhere unseen a birthday celebration is in full gear. Neon lights blink, video games ring and Dance Dance Revolution reminds customers of a time before Wii and Playstation and X-Box Kinect made Just Dance a norm. The economy might be struggling, but for those willing to look, teens say work is definitely available. Junior Savannah Brady works for the Plex, and she’s happy there. “[We get a] different age range and variety of people,” Brady said. “We get little kids that are like two all the way up to old couples that want to play some putt-putt.” The Plex is varied in jobs. From working with food to hosting parties, they have it all. “At the front you deal with concessions like food, all ranging from pizza to nachos and everything in between,” Brady said. “You have game maintenance like putting tickets into games and fixing the random things that happen to them. Then there’s redemption which is where people
give you tickets and you give them prizes in return. At the back it’s a bit different because you don’t have to do redemption and you don’t have to really deal with food. Mainly at the back your job is a party hostess. So when people schedule parties you’re the one who makes sure everything goes well for them. You do balloon animals and card tricks and little stuff like that.You set up parties; that kind of thing. And you’ll also sell go-carts and mini golf, but your main job back there is to be a party hostess.” Hosting parties can be a challenge though. “It can be really embarrassing when you’re first starting out,” Brady said. “You’re not really sure what you’re supposed to be doing and you can’t exactly remember the card trick or the exact turn of the balloon so it ends up looking really stupid and you just kind of laugh at yourself.” Working at a place with kids all around can come with responsibilities.” “You’ll climb inside of games and have to be responsible about the
way you tell them stuff,” Brady said. “You can’t flat out scream at them to get out.You have to go over there and help them down and be authoritative but not rude like ‘OK you can’t do that anymore. I’m serious this isn’t a joke.’ It’s a little like babysitting at times.” Having a job while still in school can be a bit of a balancing act for Savannah. “Time vanishes with my job,” Brady said. “It’s like I’m literally afraid that The Plex has captured my life outside of school and is holding it hostage. Even if you’re not on the schedule someone could get sick and you could get called in any moment.You feel one of those things when you’ve worked for four days straight, you finally get your day off and every time your phone rings you’re afraid you’re going to have to go into work.You want time with friends and family and things like that.” Despite all this, Savannah loves her job. “It’s the perfect fit for me.”
C D R HA
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Entertainment iPhone Vs. Droid
Best of smart phones in a head-to-head competition by Chandler Alejandro
David Espanozia went to Warped Tour with a group of friends. While they were all enjoying themselves, they had to come home some time. David had been the one driving, and to get back home, he had been using his dad’s directions he had printed off Mapquest. As they were driving back, they took a wrong turn because of what the directions had said and ended up in Lewisville. They then realized that the directions had not matched up. But thankfully for David he had had his trusty iPhone and got on a maps app, typed some information in, and they were on their way home...this time, the right way. “Dude, I have no idea what we were going to do if I wouldn’t have had my iPhone,” Espanozia said. “That thing just saved a lot of time.” Now, though, the iPhone has some competition. Droid. And their users continue the Mac Vs. the world debate. The phone comparisons are endless. The legendary iPhone is simpler to use, better quality screen, more apps than the Droid, and you can multi-task without closing more apps. The Droid has a lot more features, bigger screen than the iPhone, also has better camera than the iPhone. “The Droid is freakin’ awesome,” senior Ben Miller said. “It does everything and is way better than the iPhone. The camera’s better and the droid looks better than the iPhone.” People who own the Droid seem to enjoy it and don’t plan on ever using the iPhone. “The Droid is so much easier for everything in my opinion,” senior Dalton Parker said. “I don’t even have to plug my phone in the computer to get the music I want. I can just use the memory
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
card and get more music than the biggest I phone can hold.” But the battle continues. “I love my iPhone. I like it way better than the Droid,” sophomore Montana Mooney said. “I just think my phone is a hundred times easier to use. And my battery lasts a lot longer. My favorite thing about my phone is probably the diversity. You can do so much on the iPhone. It’s a phone but it’s also basically a little computer. It’s fun. The only bad side is the auto correct. I’ll be having a normal conversation with someone and end up typing a word that makes no sense, but honestly I think its hilarious.” The iPhone is making history with the use of the largest growing apps store on the market. Over 400,000 apps available for downloading and over 10 billion downloaded. The Droid has over 10,000 apps. “I love the Droid,” junior Josh Dalton said. “But the thing is, I can only run so many apps before it will freeze on me or it will just close another app. But my friend who has the iPhone can talk on the phone, listen to music, text, and get on Facebook all at the same time.” The iPhone varies in memory from 8G to 32G. The Droid comes with 8G memory, but can have up to 32G with a sans disk memory card, giving the Droid more ability to store important information and being able to transfer it easily. Both phones have shown how far technology has come. “ In the long run, you can’t really say much about either phone,” Junior Nick Utley said. “They are both amazing and can do so much. More than they thought we could do even 10 years ago.”
R O H O
iPhone Apps Through the Years Date
Available Apps
Downloads
July 11, 2008
500
0
June 8, 2009
50,000
1,000,000,000+
November 4,
100,000
2,000,000,000+
April 29, 2010
200,000+
4,500,000,000+
Jan 22, 2011
400,000+
4,500,000,000+
2009
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
The start of a journey
Television series begins its trek
by Emma White In the new ABC series“Off the Map,” three young doctors set off to South America in search of a fresh start. Upon arriving, they realize that practicing medicine on a tropical island where hand-dug latrines are common in urban areas is more of a challenge than they had originally predicted. They must keep their heads straight while working in extreme conditions and overcome emotional obstacles they have brought with them from home. The show is new, but certainly on the same map as medical shows like “Grey’s Anatomy” and ‘ER.” One thing that sets it apart from other medical shows is its location. The geography allows for afflictions and issues that a United States hospital would never have to deal with such as the tourist sight-seeing, rivers and their inhabitants, and native cultural beliefs. “Off the Map” shows promise. Sparks of romance, loads of danger, and touching moments will certainly pull in crowds of people. If the series does not become monotonous or cheesy, and if the actors and actresses continue to give their characters individual personalities, it could be a hit. But there are no promises in a show like this. The writers and performers, as well as the characters have a long road ahead of them.
Entertainment . goes to . .
OSCAR
And the Publication Staff’s Favorite Oscar Nominees Best Motion Picture TIE
TIE
A maze of thought
by Emma White The Maze Runner, written by James Dashner, is a suspenseful and intriguing science fiction about a psychological test given in a physically endangering manner. Four monstrous stone walls surround a place known as the Glade. On each of the wall’s four sides is an opening to a giant maze. Every month one boy is sent to the Glade, but when the deliveries mysteriously stop after two years, the self-sustaining community of teenagers who have come to inhabit the Glade know something is wrong. The mysterious nature of this book and its characters is compelling. While the storyline is fairly basic, the way it is organized into chapters is frustratingly brilliant. A reader can keep reading and reading without having realized how much they have actually read. One might feel as lost in the book as in a maze. The Maze Runner is a thrilling book that almost anyone would enjoy. Be sure to read its sequel, The Scorch Trials, as well!
Best Animated Feature Film
Best Costume Design
83rd Annual Academy Awards Nominees: Best Best Animated Best Best Feature Film Costume Design Visual Effects Motion Picture •127 Hours •How to Train Your Dragon •Alice in Wonderland •Alice in Wonderland •The Fighter •The Illusionist •I Am Love •Hereafter •Inception •Toy Story 3 •The King’s Speech •Inception •The Tempest •Iron Man 2 •The Kids Are All Right •True Grit •Harry Potter 7 •The King’s Speech •The Social Network •Toy Story 3 •Winter’s Bone Oscar Winners in Bold •Black Swan (The 83rd Academy Awards aired on February 27, 2011.) •True Grit
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This February a snow storm hit our city that was one of the biggest snow storms across the country. The WFISD shut down school for four days and everyone seemed stuck with a case of cabin fever. As if those snow days wern’t enough, students and staff would get another day off and a late arrival the following week. The snow storm was so large that many began to refer to it as the “Snowpocalypse.” Photos and design by Meghan Myracle
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
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Play time
Team Name Match-up Church league gains following Zane Pollock 1. Colonial 2. Faith by It's Monday night in Wichita Falls, and people are beginning to head to First Christian Church. 3. First Christian Once inside, everyone joins in a prayer while the 4. Grace 1 5. Grace 2 congregation settles down. There is a tense and quiet air in the room. Then, the whistle is blown. 6. First Baptist 1 At Rider, there are a couple of sports that the student body goes crazy about. Football is the center 7. Younglife 1 8. Younglife 2 of attention first semester, while baseball attracted 9. First Presbyterian a lot of attention with last year's great season, but in between many students play church league basketball. 10. Anchor Baptist The Church League consists of 12 teams from different churches who play a series of games on 11. First Baptist 2 Monday nights at First Christian Church, across 12. Liberty Baptist from MSU on Taft. The season is 13 weeks long, not including the playoffs. a. Alaskan Bullworms While it is just a church league, competition is b. Cotten Headed Ninny pretty tough. Senior Will Huddleston plays for the Grace Church Muggens Laser Tiger Cats. "We take it very seriously," Huddleston said. "No c. Jetsons soul stands a chance against the Laser Tiger Cats this d. Crusaders season." Like most athletics, practice is an important part of e. 96 Bulls the team. f. Laser Tigercatz "[We] practice every Wednesday to get ready for the next battle," senior Mitchell Johnson, who plays for g. Chick Magnets the First Christian Crusaders, said. h. Invasion Even though it is early in the season, talk about the playoffs has begun. i. Luda-Swish "There is no doubt in my mind we will win the finals j. Young Guns this year," Huddleston said while Johnson said, "Get for us in the playoffs." k. Fellowship of the Ring ready Huddleston and Johnson played each other in week l. No name three. After a hard fight and close game, the Crusaders
Taking to the skies Left: Gates Richardson dunks the ball.. Richardson scored 7 points in this game. Rider won 55-35 against against Lake Dallas. Below: Christien Sager readies for a free throw. He scored 12 points in the game against Lake Dallas. Photos by Meghan Myracle.
came out on top 42-36.
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The Rider Chronicle. February 2011
Lady Raiders victorious
Photo by Meghan Myracle
Rider wins over The Colony in triple overtime
by Jordan Campagna Popcorn popping, shoes squeaking, balls bouncing. Those were the sounds that filled the Rider High School gym for two hours. On January 7, 2011, the Lady Raiders varsity basketball team pulled in a narrow victory against The Colony Cougars after a triple overtime. The final score was 61-58. “We’ve never beaten them in our lives,” senior Sammy Hislop, who scored 12 points, said. This was the fifth time the Lady Raiders played The Colony, They’ve been in district for three years. After three overtimes, everyone gets anxious, including the players. “I was literally praying out loud,” Hislop said. According to junior Jennifer Sissel, who scored 11 points, the intensity was so high, she couldn’t even hear the crowd. Senior Ashley Zimpel, who scored 16 points before she fouled out at the end, said she was “praying for free throws” the whole time. The Lady Raider’s new head coach, Ramsey Ghazal says that wins don’t just show up. “A win like this started back in June when we’re lifting weights,” Ghazal said. Ghazal believes both teams played great. “It’s hard to find a loser in that kind of game,” Ghazal said. “When it gets to double and triple overtimes, it’s all heart.” When Ghazal came to Rider at the beginning of this year, he brought some new ideas along with him. “The seniors have been on the team for four years now, talent wasn’t an issue,” Ghazal said. “They needed to jell with each other, trust each other, know that their teammates have their backs.” The team’s first practice was a scavenger hunt, they were blindfolded and had to rely on their teammates to get them from the weight room to the gym. They also ride back from every game on the same bus. Hislop believes the bonding has really helped. “We really love each other,” Hislop said. “We have become really close.”
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Victory The Lady Raiders stand by with a tied score as Senior Sammy Hislop shoots a last second 3 pointer. The ball barely bounced out and sent The Lady Raiders on to win after a hard photo by Meghan Myracle earned triple overtime.
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