Jan 30, 2015

TSTRATFORD HE

RACLE O

Friday, January 30, 2015

Volume 42, Issue 6

No More Coloring in the Classroom pg. 4 Bye-Bye Birdie Sneak Peek pgs. 8-9 What to Look Forward to in 2015 pg. 11

shsoracle.com

Class of 2015 Sets the Bar High pg. 14

@stratfordoracle

@spartanoracle

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Detention: Just a Mandatory Study Hall Is detention even a punishment anymore?

STRATFORD ORACLE STAFF 2014-15 Editors-in-Chief Justin Todes Scott Kennedy

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AN OPINION OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD GRAPHIC BY ERICA JEON

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Associate Editor Ashley Karolys

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Opinions Editors Emily Fishman David Humphrey

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News Editors Cameron Henkel Maxine Tran Culture Editors Ashleigh Garrett Olivia Siciliano Sports Editors Jacqui Comparin Reporters Taylor Morris Tina Kang Noelle Flores Caroline Harger There once was a time when the word “detention” struck fear in the hearts of students. No working on homework, no reading, no sleeping, no doing anything—except for staring at a wall, detention was a nightmare for the typical student.

Today, detention is practically the complete opposite. Students are required to work on homework assignments, unless they want to be sent home without credit. So really, detention is just a mandatory study hall.

Administration may think otherwise, but a study hall is not punishment. If anything, it is a quiet place to get assignments done, which can be very beneficial.

Detention should serve one purpose: to create an undesirable environment that detains rule-breaking students for their misbehavior. Nothing more, nothing less. No working, no sleeping, just sitting on uncomfortable cafeteria benches and staring at a wall.

Detention is a consequence. Study hall is a class period. There should be a big distinction between the two—both in purpose and in environment.

The fact that students get sent home for not working on an assignment during detention is absurd.

Let’s say a student gets their phone taken up by a teacher. The school’s response is something along the lines of, “Hey, you shouldn’t have been using your phone in class. Go do your homework and you’ll get it back.”

Instead of teaching the student a lesson, all the “detention” really does is give them a distractionfree (and phone-free) zone to get their work done.

Having phone addicts stare at a wall for an hour or two, without anything to do, certainly would convey a stronger message. And it would waste their time, which is what detention is supposed to do.

Wasting students’ time is what administrators should be going for when detentions are assigned.

If detention is boring, students will dislike it, feel like their time has been wasted, and will follow the rules to avoid future detentions. A study hall, however, will do nothing to change a student’s behavior.

One could argue that students are busy and that detention is unproductive when they aren’t allowed to work, but that is the way detention should be.

While staring at a wall, students can reflect on

their misbehavior and evaluate how they can prevent future rule infractions. For repeat offenders, perhaps there should be a reflection packet for students to complete, but that is the only “work” that should be allowed.

Detention is avoidable by following the rules, which should give school administration little reason to be sympathetic with rule-breaking students.

Detention should be an inconvenience to rulebreakers, but giving these students a quiet place to do their homework does very little—if anything at all—to inconvenience them.

Even Saturday detentions aren’t much of an inconvenience. Sure, it requires that a student wake up early, and be at school by 8 a.m., but then the study hall environment resumes for either two or four hours, and the rest of the day is freed up.

If anything, Saturday detention is doing students a favor by forcing them to get their bodies out of bed early to get their homework done. Rather than wasting students’ time, Saturday detention actually ends up allowing students to enjoy their weekend by helping them get their homework done well before the last minute. Students should not be the ones benefiting from detentions.

Perhaps on certain Saturdays, students serving detention could be given scrapers to remove years of old gum from the concrete, given garden gloves to pull weeds, or given trash bags to clean up the campus. Having students complete jobs that improve the school would be a great use of detention, especially since many of these jobs are not done as frequently as they should be.

In any case, detention should be made a more meaningful consequence. Through the removal of study hall privileges, the addition of reflection packets and school beautification, and an overall emphasis on detention as a consequence, student misbehavior would decrease dramatically.

The current state of detention clearly is not working. Without any meaning to the consequence, students will only continue to break the rules. Administration needs to step up their game and improve the effectiveness of rule enforcement.

Otherwise, maybe we should put an end to detention altogether.

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Photo Editors Maggie Vickers Rebecca Williamson

Taylor Brittain Photographers Arturo Benitez Abigail Boessling Riley Timmreck Devin Mitchell Christi Gregory Suzy Frazelle Gabby Broussard Hannah Davis Tea Sharp Kailie Henckel Ads Editors Abbey Duke Emily Copeland Sarah Sturgis Ads Staff Rebecca Tarver Kendall Marbach Phoebe Lamay Harper Jones

The Oracle newspaper is the official, school-sponsored student media of Stratford High School, 14555 Fern, Houston, Texas 77079, 713-251-3454.

The Oracle is published monthly by the Journalism Department, and is also available online at shsoracle.com.

The newspaper is a member of Columbia Scholastic Press Association, National Scholastic Press Association, and Interscholastic League Press Conference.

The Oracle serves as a public forum of student expression, and is open to contributions submitted by the readers. Readers may submit material via e-mail to info@shsoracle.com.

All letters to the editor must be typed and contain the author’s full

Lindsey Jenkins Natalie Raley Grace Heckmann Emily Brown Lauren Carr Kara Ferguson Matthew Chavira Design Editor Victoria Shin Staff Artists Erica Jeon Molly Richter Rachel Torres Allison Rice Claire Pena Interim Building Principal Danny Gex Advisor Janice Cummons

*Editorial Board Members

name, grade and signature. Submitted material is subject to editing based on space and/or content. The opinions expressed are those of the individual authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editors, the staff, the administration or the school district.

The staff is responsible for the content of the publication, and strives maintain professional standards of accuracy, objectivity and fairness. The editors reserve the right to determine whether submissions will be published.

The Oracle staff strives to produce a newspaper that covers the entire Stratford community, and welcomes freelance submissions.

“Celebrating State.” Background photo taken by Robin Graves.

Graphic by Rebecca Williamson.

Cover Photo/Graphic:

Words of wisdom from your favorite Opinions Editors SAGE ADVICE FROM DAVID HUMPHREY AND EMILY FISHMAN

Sometimes in life, especially in the winter months like January or February, you may experience a strange feeling. The hairs on your arms stick up and you wish that you could be wearing more clothes. The thermometer in your car reads a number that doesn’t start with a nine. To people who live outside of the state of Texas, this phenomenon is known as feeling cold. It may be a very strange concept for those of us who live in the South, but don’t panic. There are some easy ways to combat this problem. First, be sure to freak out and not come to school whenever the temperature drops into the upper 30s. There are also these long strips of fabric known as scarves that you can wear around your neck to keep you warm. Other items that help fight the cold are these things called jackets with long sleeves and bulky insides that can help to keep the cold air out. It is also advisable to keep warm by drinking hot beverages such as coffee, hot chocolate, and tea. Yes, tea. We know it seems extremely un-American to be drinking that foul British beverage but desperate times call for desperate measures. Your American-ity will not be sacrificed. Don’t worry, March will return soon, with its balmy weather and blue-ish skies promising that a comfortable heat-wrought summer is on its way. Stay warm, Stratford America.

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Battle of the Pizzas

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Anti-Valentine

Who will reign supreme when pies collide?

AN OPINION OF DAVID HUMPHREY AND EMILY FISHMAN GRAPHIC BY ERICA JEON That’s right. Your favorite opinionated food-eaters are back to dish it out in one of the longest held food rivalries: Pizza Hut vs. Domino’s. Opinions Staffers ordered one large hand-tossed cheese pizza from each pizza restaurant to eat during their lunch period, and scored each on a ten-point scale in the categories of cheese quality, crust quality, sauce quality, and overall taste. Here (dramatic pause) are their stories.

Domino’s

an opinion of

Pizza Hut

Cheese: 6

The staffers agreed that this pizza’s cheese was high quality, or at least as high quality as was to be expected.

Domino’s did not disappoint in this category.

Crust: 6.75

Emily felt the crust was chock full of garlic flavor. David enjoyed the flavor, but the texture of the “underbelly” or bottom of the pizza slice bothered him.

Ashley Karolys

Cheese: 6

The staffers came to the general conclusion that cheese is cheese. Pizza Hut neither surprises nor disappoints with their tasty cheese.

Crust: 7

The stiff and crispy quality of the crust, along with Pizza Hut’s variety of crust flavors, made for an enjoyable taste experience.

Sauce: 6.5

Sauce: 5.5

Domino’s sauce had a much sweeter flavor, which felt a bit out of place in the pizza’s overall flavor, but was still complimentary to the taste experience.

David enjoyed the tanginess of Pizza Hut’s Premium Crushed Tomato Sauce while Emily thought the sauce was too thick for a cohesive pizza flavor.

Taste: 8

Taste: 6.5

In general, the staffers found this pizza to be mostly absent of grease and had an enjoyable, lean-tasting flavor.

The staffers agreed that the pizza was very greasy, but still tasted better than a typical fast food pizza.

Other Menu Items:

Other Menu Items:

In addition to pizza, Domino’s boasts a variety of foods, Pizza Hut is very proud of their new menu with larger including Chicken, Pasta, and their Garlic Cheesy Bread variety of options for pizza ordering, such as new that the Staffers sampled and highly recommend. Four specialty pizza recipes, four different sauces, and thumbs up. complimentary crust flavors and sauce drizzles.

The Results The true crowd-pleaser

As you can see, Domino’s scored higher in most categories, making it the winner of this pizza debate.

Domino’s is ideal for large group events to serve many people enjoyably.

A tasty second place

Although Pizza Hut missed the mark in many of our ratings, it is still a viable pizza to order. Take advantage of their wide variety of custom pizza options in a small group setting or for family dinner.

What do you think?

Voice your opinion by voting on our poll at shsoracle.com!

Love is already in the air as stores are taking down the Christmas decorations and stringing up the paper hearts with cheesy sayings. But if you’re like me, you’re not gonna want anything to do with Valentine’s Day this year.

Whether you’ve been single for a while, just went through a break up, or just aren’t feelin’ the love, you want absolutely nothing to do with a day filled with couples displaying way too much PDA. Luckily for me, I will be performing two shows of “The Addams Family: the Musical” that day, but I know not everyone has things to keep them easily distracted.

With that in mind, here are a some options to avoid the teddy bears that squeak “I love you” every time you touch their belly.

1. Come see “The Addams Family: the Musical” performed by City Lights Theatre! What better way to get away from Valentine’s Day than going back to Halloween? For tickets visit www.cltheatre.com.

2. Watch movies that have absolutely nothing to do with love. Action movies are probably best, and stay away from everything Nicholas Sparks-book inspired. (But even he is getting divorced) 3. Avoid all social media that day because most likely all you will see are pictures captioned with something along the lines of “I love you so much babe #valentines #love” 4. Hang out with friends who also want nothing to do with Valentine’s Day. Nothing is better than having friends around to make you laugh and forget that it’s even Valentine’s Day. 5. Go out to dinner to places where couples are not going to be found.

Any fast food restaurant around would be a good getaway.

6. If you go to Walgreens, CVS, or any other pharmacy, make sure to steer clear of the huge Valentine’s Day themed isle running all the way through the middle of the store.

If you go through with any of these suggestions to avoid the chocolate hearts or singing stuffed animals, you are sure to have a successful Anti-Valentine’s Day.

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MINI - EDITORIALS

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Staffers voice their thoughts - Submit your opinions to opinions@shsoracle.com or to Room 120

Exemptions: attendance over intelligence? Cons of “finstas” t t

AN OPINION OF REBECCA WILLIAMSON Spring final exemptions are a privilege students receive when attending Stratford, however, keeping these exemptions can be quite challenging.

Everyone knows the drill. No more than two absences in the class you wish to exempt, no more than five absences in any class, and an average of 80 or higher.

For many students, keeping up a B-average is not the challenging part. What causes most students to lose their exemptions is absences.

As a senior, exemptions are incredibly important to me. I don’t w a n t to stay at school a week longer than any of my peers. I want to finish my year without taking a grueling series of tests. Even as an underclassman, I enjoyed being able to exempt.

Even if it was only one exam, I could still manage to keep my geometry average at a 90 and not risk my grade dropping to a B by bombing the final.

With only two allowed absences per class, four in total (two per “A” day and two per “B” day), many of us find it incredibly difficult to miss so few days.

GRAPHIC BY ABBY BOESSLING Whether these absences are due to illness, traveling, work, or just a muchneeded day off to rest, keeping your absences to a minimum is a challenge that many students, seniors in particular, must face.

Students come to school when they are sick, or miss important family events such as weddings, just to avoid losing their exemptions.

Ha v i n g more allowed absences or not counting days missed due to illness, would allow for a more relaxed school year. The stress of having to get off a plane at 3 a.m. and go to school that day (which I have unfortunately had to do), and the risk of infecting other students by coming to school sick would be gone. Students shouldn’t have to come to class with fevers or a terrible stomach ache, yet they do to keep their exemptions.

If students are responsible enough to keep up their grades, they should be allowed to have a little more time off of school without losing exemptions.

Mornings with benefits: more late starts AN OPINION OF NOELLE FLORES One of the best feelings a student has is realizing that the next school day is a late start day. It means a better morning by waking up after sunrise, having time to complete homework that wasn’t finished the night before, meeting friends for breakfast, and best of all, it means MORE SLEEP. We love late start for all these reasons, and while this day brings relief and relaxation for students and teachers, it unfortunately occurs only once every six weeks. Why limit this precious time of rejuvenation to a rare event? If everyone benefits from it, shouldn’t we have it more often?

Teachers are given more time to grade papers, create tests and quizzes, print out the class work for the day, etc.

Faculty members can meet up for coffee before the day of teaching begins, or they could do what many students love to do on late start mornings: sleep in.

The National Sleep Foundation says that the amount of sleep needed for a teen to function best during the day is eight and a half hours, and it’s

been reported that 85% of high school students get far less sleep than necessary on school nights. The intense lack of sleep that students experience on a nightly basis often reduces our abilities to concentrate, learn, and listen.

The result of more sleep on a late start day is a student coming into class wide-awake and ready to learn as opposed to regular school mornings, when the only difference between the sleepy kids in the halls and the walkers (zombies) on AMC’s The Walking Dead is the diet.

We all cherish late start, student and teacher alike. It’s the best part of the six weeks by far. Everybody benefits from the extra time given before the school day begins, and it really puts a smile on a Spartan’s face. Why should we only enjoy it once every six weeks? I believe that if we had late start days more often during the school year, students would succeed more in their academic studies, and teachers would have more attentive brains to teach. It’s the definition of a win-win.

AN OPINION OF SARAH STURGIS

A phenomenon on Instagram has emerged. The idea of making a “finsta”, or fake Instagram, is very popular now, specifically in our area. The process of creating another account other than your personal Instagram has become very common.

This trend is seemingly harmless, but it’s unnecessary to make another account. If there are things you would not post on your regular Instagram where you have established a presence,

GRAPHIC BY MOLLY RICHTER then you should rethink about the real reason for posting that picture.

Many people with finstas have their alter ego account post pictures that are inappropriate or embarrassing, even when the picture is of themselves. It is almost as if their evil twin has made an Instagram about the rebellious things they have done.

Finstas can also be exclusive.

Those who don’t know about finstas or aren’t allowed to follow an account can be hurt by it. The outsider feeling of not knowing what is being posted on someone’s finsta can hurt feelings.

Posting pictures to a finsta that you wouldn’t post on your personal Instagram account can be a red flag that you shouldn’t post it at all. If you have to create a fake account to post things you don’t want people to see, then you shouldn’t post it on social media at all.

People always say what you post on social media is never deleted or erased. Thinking before you post a picture or text message conversation on Instagram is very important. You may think it is a good idea now but if you think at all that it could come back to haunt you then you should not post it anywhere, regular Instagram or finsta.

Protecting yourself from a bad situation in the future is important, especially with finstas.

Whatever you post cannot be erased, and people can screenshot it and save it. There is no getting it back after you post. The same is true for the account as well.

Overall, having a fake Instagram account is not a good idea.

You can hurt people, even unintentionally, the often inappropriate posts can come back to haunt you, and feelings can be hurt by exclusivity.

Color me unimpressed

AN OPINION OF SCOTT KENNEDY We are not in kindergarten.

We do not walk in lines. We do not go to recess.

We do not practice using scissors. And I certainly hope that we all have our rights and lefts pretty much down by this point.

We are in high school. And no teacher in their right mind would force 14-18 year old students to revisit these childish practices. We have simply outgrown them.

And yet we still hold on to one staple from the days of juice boxes and nap time: coloring.

Now, before I get into any of this, I need to clarify something: I’m not talking about art. Art is a great thing for students who have an interest in it and want to grow their skill.

What I’m talking about is the coloring assignments we receive in classes like English, history, science, and well, pretty much every class but math.

It’s ridiculous how many projects I’ve been assigned that focus on coloring. Adding a splash of color can make an assignment look better, but every year teachers assign projects that don’t just include coloring, but that are dominated by it.

Coloring maps makes sense. But what about drawing and coloring a symbolism island? Or tracing and colorfully decorating a gingerbreadshaped protagonist just to reflect on their inward personality? Or color-coding time lines ad nauseam instead of simply studying the dates?

These assignments are unreasonable and impractical. The majority of students have very limited artistic ability, and haven’t taken an art class since elementary school or sixth grade, and yet teachers not only require drawing and coloring, but they grade the quality of those skills as well.

Those few students with a lot of artistic ability likely already have an outlet for their creativity, and those that aren’t artistic are at a huge disadvantage on any art-centric assignments. Yes, the change from rote memorization and monotonous repetition may be welcome at first, but artistic projects inevitably take longer than any other type of project for those that aren’t natural artists, and students just don’t have enough time.

Where drawing, coloring, and sketching are involved, a whole new level of precision is required, and precision takes time. Instead of using the time to practice understanding important concepts in the class, we are stuck painstakingly directing every touch of our well-worn colored pencils and stressing over every stroke.

Not only does the sheer amount of time these assignments eat up make them impractical, but they are impractical simply in their nature, as well.

Art is extremely important to society, but the “art” projects we are assigned by teachers develop skills of very little practical importance to the average student in the future.

Unless you are an art major, you probably won’t have to take much art in college, and even what you take will probably be liberal arts that don’t involve actually putting pen to a page and coloring, drawing, or sketching. And after college, these skills become even less applicable.

Coloring assignments are a waste of time in high school. They are impractical and unfair for the vast majority of students. In a time where time is so valuable and so rare, we need to focus on actually learning concepts, not on drawing them.

We’ve grown up. Now let’s put the colored pencils back where they belongs— in the trash.

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news in brief

Cane’s Fundraiser

shave rule, and their annual tradition of bleaching their hair.

As tradition dictates, the boys’ swim team is encouraged, not required, to participate in bleaching all of their hair, while girls are invited to bleach a strip.

Gone are the days of school fundraising bake sales and car washes. On Wednesday, Jan. 7 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., Cane’s hosted the girls’ basketball team.

With every purchase, when the fundraiser is mentioned, 15% of the profit is allocated towards the girls’ basketball team. There was a large turnout, and the restaurant was packed. The team was able to raise the considerable amount that will all go towards their team expenses. This is an weekly event.

All-State Choir Competition

American Scholastic Press Once again, the SHS yearbook has been an award-winning publication. Last year’s yearbook was taken into consideration for the American Scholastic Press, which evaluates high school publications.

In competition with countless other yearbooks and being evaluated on everything from style to content, our yearbook was able to come out on top, being named the First Place Division Winner.

8th Grade Visit With graduation fast approaching, it is

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8th Grade Visit. Spring Forest Middle School students get into the Spartan spirit by singing the traditional alma mater to close out their introductory assembly. the time of year that we begin to look to the incoming freshman.

8th graders from Memorial and Spring Forest were given the opportunity to come visit the campus and tour to see all of the opportunities awaiting them in high school.

They were welcomed in the gym with a mimic pep rally, speech, and question and answer section. Following the assembly,

they were able to tour the school and see the band hall, gyms, and the cafeteria.

The students were essentially given a tour of what a day in the life of a high school student is like.

Swim Team Dyes Hair As the state swim competition approaches, the team begins preparations: increased endurance conditioning, a no-

Choir students were recently invited to participate in the Texas All-State Choir competition. With a process that begins with over 60,000 students from all regions of Texas, this competition is easily one of the most prestigious honors a Texas music student can receive.

After an exhaustive interview process, junior Eliza Masewicz and freshman Amy Deaton qualified for the All-State Choir and will be given the opportunity to perform at an extraordinary event that attracts thousands of attendees annually.

Cheer Competition Next month, both cheer squads will travel to NRG Stadium to compete in a local cheerleading competition. They will each be performing a routine that they have perfected after hours of learning and rigorous practices.

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Joining the Squad Future cheerleaders are getting fired up for cheer tryouts WRITTEN BY ELLIE HERRMANN AND HALEY GRACE FRANCIS PHOTOS BY MAGGIE VICKERS AND TAYLOR BRITTAIN

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Important dates: Feb. 11: Mandatory Meeting t March 9-12: Tryouts

Q&A with Cheer Captain Lexi Villareal

Q: What are some skills you might need for tryouts?

A: Have some tumbling skills and know how to do a

jump. It’s not so skill-based. If you’re working on something, that’s perfectly fine. =

Q: What was it like when you tried out?

A: I was really scared, but each tryout has gotten so much easier. The most As cheer tryouts quickly approach (March 9-12), more and more people are questioning whether or not they would like to even try and make the team. The mandatory meeting for hopeful future cheerleaders and their parents is on Feb. 11, just a few days away.

The Oracle took to the halls to find out how freshmen were feeling about trying out and asked several girls if they were even considering it. Most said they would like to, but they didn’t have any experience.

“It might be fun, but I’ve never cheered before and I don’t think I would make it,” freshman Samantha Weed said. Others have more experience but still fear the same thing.

There are an estimated eight freshmen trying out, all with different reasons for doing so.

“I feel like it would be a good way for me to spread school spirit,” freshman Grace Cocheu said. Others mentioned that their personality would be a good fit for

the peppy spirit associated with cheerleading.

One thing in common with everyone interviewed was a fear of not making the team.

“I’m scared I’m not going to make it,” freshman Bella Hutchins said.

Many girls are worried they don’t have enough skill or experience. However, after reading Team Captain Lexi Villareal’s interview to the right, this fear might be lessened for a few.

Have a passion for writing, taking pictures, or the journalism field?

Join Journalism I, Newspaper, Yearbook, or Photojournalism for next year!

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intimidating part was mock tryouts where you had to tryout in front of Varsity.

Q: What advice would you give to those trying out?

A: Confidence. It’s not all about experience. You can tell the difference between a girl who comes in and is peppy and happy and one who’s just tumbling. Tryout week is really stressful, but if you just take it one step at a time, and focus on each part, you’ll have a lot of fun.

Q: Did you have any experience prior to trying out?

A: I ha a lot of experience. I’ve been cheering since I was five, so it’s like second nature to me. Actually, I wasn’t even thinking about trying out. School cheer is nothing like I thought it’d be. It’s so much more than people make it out to be.

Q: Why should students try out for cheer?

A: It sounds cheesy, but it really is just a way to get involved and meet a great group of people. This year especially the people on Varsity and JV have been really close.

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Legislature Convenes for First Session

From Mr. J to Mr. Gex

WRITTEN BY JUSTIN TODES PHOTO BY KAILIE HENCKEL While Danny Gex graduated from Stratford in 1985, he hasn’t been able to keep his distance from his alma mater.

From teaching and coaching in the 1990s to serving as a grade level principal to taking on the role of associate principal, Gex has remained connected to the Spartans.

“I think that SHS is the place for me,” Gex said. “[Stratford] really is my home. I went here as a student, Working on a better Stratford.

Gex works through the pile and now my children are going to school of paperwork. here.”

When former building principal Christopher Juntti took on a district-level role as Executive Director of Operations, Gex stepped in as the interim building principal. Since last August, Gex had been shadowing Juntti to become familiar with the new role and the responsibilities associated with it.

“I’m having to learn the financial aspect of school business, so that part is new,” Gex said. “I’m also tweeting, so hopefully that will be a resource for our students and community.”

Along with Gex’s transition to interim building principal comes Margaret Norton. Norton is a for-

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WRITTEN AND PHOTO BY CAMERON HENKEL mer Stratford counselor, assistant principal, and associate principal, who has come out of retirement to serve as interim associate principal during the transition. Norton will manage the school’s master schedule and will coordinate AP exams, which Gex has done in years past.

“Ms. Norton’s input is extremely valuable and will help things continue to run smoothly during the spring semester,” Gex said.

After the transition period is over, Gex plans to stick around, and maybe even move up once more in the leadership hierarchy.

“I would like to stay here until all my children graduate,” Gex said. “My youngest is a fourth-grader, so that leaves several years ahead. Hopefully my next progression will be building principal, without the ‘interim’ title preceding it.”

As far as the upcoming semester goes, nothing too drastic is anticipated. The search for a permanent building principal has begun, but despite the fact that campus leadership is in the process of changing, Stratford America will remain very alive.

“I’m excited about building on the great foundation Mr. Juntti established and continuing to make SHS one of the best high schools, not only in Texas, but the U.S.,” Gex said.

The semester ahead is expected to run smoothly, and Gex looks forward to the months ahead. And regardless of who becomes the next building principal—whether it be Gex, or someone else—Gex won’t be leaving his alma mater any time soon.

Liberty flies high during inauguration.

Greg Abbott, the new state Governor, was sworn into office on Tuesday, Jan. 20 outside the Texas Capitol Building in Austin.

This January, politicians from all over the state poured into Austin to begin the 84th Texas Legislature. Convened biannually, the legislature is tasked with drafting and approving new state bills and budgets. At noon on Tuesday, January 13, the 140 daylong session began with a vote on a new house speaker. Joe Straus won his fourth term as speaker in a 127-19 vote.

The legislature will be covering issues that range from immigration to education, but the congressmen come prepared. New bills were submitted as far back as November, right after the elections. In fact, the first day saw almost 350 bills filed. Although many were simply fulfilling campaign promises, some tackled major problems head on. The following are examples of some of the bills on discussion.

House Bill 41: Raise Minimum Wage Rep. Martinez Fischer, a democrat serving his eight term, submitted this bill to enable a constitutional amendment that would increase minimum wage to $10.10. Students entering the work force for the first time would benefit from increased income, but it may force employers to cut jobs or hours.

House Bill 106: Open Carry This bill would give a person the right to openly carry a handgun, if they hold a license to carry one in the first place. Seven-term Republican Rep. Dan Flynn proposed this bill back in November after being re-elected.

House Bill 80: Texting & Driving Ban Hold the phone, or actually don’t since it may soon be illegal, in cars at least. Rep. Charlie Geren filed a bill that, if passed, would make it an offense to use a phone including texting

while driving a car. Studies have proven that texting and driving puts drivers at risk.

House Bill 130: Authorize Same-Sex Marriage This bill proposes to allow for the marriage of two people of the same sex, and repeal a prohibition on recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses. This bill was filed by Rep. Rafael Anchia, Democrat. Dependent on the Fifth Circuit Court’s ruling on a pending case, same-sex marriage may become legal in Texas, without the need for this bill.

House Bill 623: Same Sex Marriage Ban Following the proposal of HB 130, Rep. Cecil Bell, Republican, proposed HB 623. Under the proposed bill, state employees would be banned from issuing, acknowledging, or renewing certain marriage licenses, with the possibility of their salary being withheld if they do. 36 states currently allow for same sex marriage, but Texas currently does not.

House Concurrent Resolution 35: Cowboy Hat is Official Hat Rep. Marsha Farney, has pushed for the adoption of the cowboy hat as the official State Hat of Texas. Filed at the beginning of the year, this bill has faced criticism for being outlandish and unnecessary, but nonetheless will be voted on by the new legislature.

House Bill 150: Abolish Daylight Savings Time Republican Dan Flynn filed this bill to abolish the practice of daylight savings time in the state. If passed, Texas would become the third state to abolish it, as Hawaii and Arizona do not currently observe daylight savings time.

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PLAYHOUSE Â SAYS Â HELLO Â TO Â BYE Â BYE Â BIRDIE PHOTOS BY KEELEY FLYNN AND LISA RUSH GRAPHICS BY VICTORIA SHIN

When ‘breaking a leg’ gets serious WRITTEN BY DAVID HUMPHREY

Pants on the ground. Junior Phillip Bevers’ tearaway pants fell down in rehearsal, revealing another pair of gold pants underneath.

As in life, some of the funniest things in theatre were never meant to happen at all. Though it may seem like a Playhouse production runs off seamlessly without a hitch, anyone who has ever been backstage during a show can tell you it’s quite the opposite. For every miraculous costume, set, or light change, there are hundreds of times the magic does not work.

Sometimes mistakes are hard to notice. A light burns out, a set piece comes on crooked, a prop doesn’t work. These crew mishaps occur more often than one would think, but it is arguably much more memorable when an actor messes up.

Recently, pants have been a major problem for cast members of Bye Bye Birdie. The cast was running a costume rehearsal of Act One, which ends with the number “One Last Kiss,� and involves numerous on-stage costume changes. Junior Phillip Bevers’ character Conrad Birdie grooves around the stage in the number, and at one particular point he twitched his hips a bit too much, causing his specially-made tearaway pants to fall down. Luckily, he was wearing two pairs of pants at the time, but that didn’t make the mishap any less hilarious as he attempted to finish the rest of the scene with his pants around his ankles.

Cast members Matt Hopper and Cameron Saims experienced similar pants-related difficulties when they both tore their pants during a rehearsal of the Shriner Ballet. The actors had to push through and finish the dance number while holding the seams of their pants, and were later chewed out by the costume crew.

There are often blunders where actors do not realize that their microphones are on and can be heard by the audience. On one occasion during a

show of Almost, Maine, actress and recent alumna Leah Hunt, walked off stage and immediately announced in a loud, clear voice: “Thank you, Colton Slaughter for stage-kissing me!�

Many of the problems that occur in the Playhouse find their root in the somewhat lacking quality of the performance space. Our school’s theater was built as more of a lecture hall, which is perfectly fine, but does not translate well for some of our high-level shows. For instance, last year’s production of Legally Blonde featured 47 set pieces, ranging from the size of a desk to the size of a large van. Add 30 actors all quick-changing into backstage at the same time as these colossal set pieces are moving on, and you’ve got yourself a bit of a complicated situation.

With all of these complex shifts and movements backstage, it goes without saying that people have been hit by set pieces. In fact, it would probably be difficult to find an actor who hasn’t been in the way of a set piece at some point during rehearsal. Feet have been run over, bodies have been slammed, and faces have been smacked. Theatre is truly a contact sport.

Yet with all of these challenges that the technical side of theatre brings, it is remarkable that these mistakes happen as infrequently as they do.

Safety is always the first priority backstage, and even when mistakes do happen, the integrity and quality of the show can be seen in how the actors and crew improvise to make do with what happens to them.

As Stratford’s choreographer Paula Sloan says, “It is not what happens to you, but how you deal with what happens to you that makes you a better person.�

Getting in the groove of the 50s WRITTEN BY EMILY FISHMAN

The rock’n’roll craze has reached its peak. Television is black and white, the civil rights act has just passed, and poodle skirts and skinny ties are all the rage. The year is 1958, and the Playhouse has spent the past nine months getting immersed in the spirit of this great decade.

From the very beginning of the rehearsal process, the cast did ample research on the fifties era in order to make their performances as authentic as possible. They wrote biographies for the characters they portray in the show, making sure to put them in their proper historical context.

The cast was also tasked with providing a “fun fifties fact� at every rehearsal, making sure that everyone was able to put themselves in the minds of their characters.

The students took even more measures to ensure they got into character. “We divided them into ‘families’ as well so they could experience what it was like to be a parent or a kid in the fifties,� assistant director senior Keeley Flynn said. “They went on family-bonding trips to earn points in order to make the relationships on stage more realistic.�

This is the second year in a row that the Playhouse has done a show set in the 1950s, as “West Side Story� takes place in 1957, just one year before the events of “Bye Bye Birdie.�

However, this is not the rough and sharp world of New York City, this is Sweet Apple, Ohio, and the research that went into creating the bright, happy world of Conrad Birdie was extensive.

Juniors Nicole Gervasio and Rachel Warwick, the props heads, were tasked with the difficult job of getting authentic 1950s objects for the production. Items such as a pea shooter and luggage, usually simple Internet purchases, required hours of research and searching

Before

and

Fine and Upstanding. Senior Katie Moore with juniors Collins

Rush and Phillip Bevers pose at the end of the number “A Normal, Healthy, American Boy,� a song about Conrad Birdie and his “patriotic� ways.

eBay to make sure that they were as true to the time period as possible. “We really enjoyed looking back into what they had back then,� Gervasio said.

Despite the difficulties, she and Warwick managed to get authentic phones, kitchen items, newspapers, and even gardening materials.

From a personal standpoint, as costume head, many hours were spent researching the fashion of the 1950s.

With over 500 costume pieces, it was difficult to find the unique fifties look that would make or break the show.

The costume moms and the students in charge worked with many seamstresses to bring the colorful world of Sweet Apple to life.

With around 50 cast members, each with as many as 20 costume pieces, the challenge was finding the sheer quantity of costumes without sacrificing any of the quality.

Both on stage and offstage, everyone involved in the production recognized the need for authenticity in order to create a good show.

In particular, one of the leads of the production, senior Katie Moore, threw herself into the culture of the 1950s in order to get a sense of how her character, secretary Rose Alvarez, would behave. “Life for women was very different back then than life for women is now,� Moore said. “I had to research and kind of dispel any of my mannerisms and come up with what I thought Rosie would do.�

All in all, the dedication of the members of the Playhouse to accurately portray the 1950s, from the directors to the cast to the orchestra to the crew, is what makes the theatre department so remarkable, and the authenticity was evident in last night’s opening.

By the numbers:  Getting  the  show  on  ‘track’

After

Just Let it Out. The ‘Sad Girls’ cry about Conrad Birdie being drafted

into the army. The ‘Sad Girls’ are juniors Marlina Brown, Maddie Dyer, Noelle Flores, Isobel Makin, and seniors Erin Higgins, Caitlin Ehlinger, and Ashley Karolys.

One Last Punch. Senior Griffin Rathgeb and junior Colton

Slaughter, along with the rest of the teen boys ensemble, help Conrad (junior Phillip Bevers) up after a surprise ending to his song “One Last Kiss�.

Living Just for You. Juniors Eliza Masewicz and Scott Thomas sit

together in the small town of Sweet Apple, Ohio while Eliza (Kim Macafee) performs the ballad “One Boy�, explainging how he can be the only boy for her.

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Top Movies of 2014

The Best of the Best Are Reviewed WRITTEN BY ASHLEIGH GARRETT

t GRAPHIC BY RACHEL TORRES

Mockingjay: Part I

Into the Woods

Unbroken

Some would dare to say the movie is better than the book. In the book, the plot dragged on and on about Katniss and her feelings towards her losing Peeta, but in the movie, it did enough to get the point across and moved effectively on to the next event.

Also, in the book, Katniss was stuck in District 13 the whole time, whereas in the movie, it showed the audience the rebellions in the different districts, the bombing of her home, (District 12), interviews with President Snow, and the rescue of Peeta.

Furthermore, the soundtrack was excellent. It is comprised of artists that are 20 years or younger, such as Lorde, which makes sense since that age group was the target audience.

The music choice also fit the diascopic mood of the series and combined very different artists such as Hip-Hop Pusha T and Indies Bat for Lashes. It also helped the movie stand out from all the rest.

The film did lack action, but there was not much action in the book, either.

For all those musical fanatics out there, this movie is fantastic, but for hard core fairy tale lovers, not so much.

Musical people will enjoy this film because of its amazing soundtrack and actors/ actresses, such as Meryl Streep. However, others, like Johnny Depp, were not at their peak. Overall, the costume design was excellent.

For fairy tale fans, this movie is a twist to the plot in the most beloved fairy tales such as “Cinderella”, “Rapunzel”, “Red Riding Hood”, and “Jack and the Bean Stalk”. Details like Cinderella having a golden slipper instead of glass, and Flynn Rider originally being a thug, not a prince, were what irritated some people.

This movie was not meant to be a spin off of the classic fairy tales, it was meant to combine the different fairy tales into one. In doing so, you do have to change some aspects of the classical “Once Upon A Time” fairy tales.

This inspirational movie is based on a true story of a soldier named Louis Zamperini, who was an Olympic Gold medalist and later became a prisoner of war, but never gave up.

The very humble Zamperini died in July of last year at the age of 97. The movie came out on Dec. 25, and was dedicated to him. Angelina Jolie, the director of the film, was crushed, and said,“It is a loss impossible to describe. We are all so grateful for how enriched our lives are for having known him. We will miss him terribly.”

Though this movie was very inspirational and had a lot of action, it had little dialogue. In effect, we didn’t get to know some of the key characters, such as the parents and comrades, as well as we could have.

Some, especially book lovers, would say that Angelina Jolie’s direction was good, but not great. An example being that she missed the vital emotional connections between characters.

Jack O’Connell, the actor that plays Louis Zamperini, did a fabulous job of portraying the pain and suffering of the experience and the endurance to pull through the event even when all seemed lost.

Honorable Mentions 1. The Hobbit: Battle of Five Armies 2. Interstellar 3. The Maze Runner 4. The Imitation Game 5. Big Hero Six 6. Guardians of the Galaxy 7. LEGO Movie 8. Blended 9. Divergent 10. The Interview

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8What Things to Look Forward to in 2015 we’re excited about this year and why you should be excited, too WRITTEN BY OLIVIA SICILIANO

t GRAPHICS BY VICTORIA SHIN

New Movies Galore From action movies like Avengers: Age of Ultron, to sci-fis like Insurgent, Jurassic World, Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, and other movies like Mockingjay Part 2, Cinderella, Pan, Pitch Perfect 2, Tomorrowland, and Mordecai, this year is sure filled with exciting new releases.

Concerts in HTX, Coachella, and ACL Taylor Swift, Maroon 5, Steve Aoki, Hozier, Nickelback, and Chris Tomlin have concert dates planned in Houston this year. Music festivals like Coachella, and the ACL Music Festival will all be well anticipated, with tickets selling out in the first five minutes.

Medical Innovations

Astronomical Events

Via the Cleveland Clinic, certain medical innovations have a good chance of being made available to the public in 2015. videoconferencing has been added to many ambulances, acting like mobile stroke units for doctors and EMTs to converse and treat stroke victims on-the-go. The Dengue fever vaccine is also expected to be available in 2015; this disease one of the leading causes of death or illness for children in some countries. Painless blood testing is also expected to be introduced, a great benefit for those who hate big needles.

This year, we prepare to peer further into space than we ever have before. Astronaut Scott Kelley will begin his mission to spend an entire year on the International Space Station, and in March, NASA’s Dawn spacecraft is expected to arrive at the mysterious dwarf planet Ceres.

The only total solar eclipse of 2015 is set for March 20th, crossing the high Arctic. Lunar ellipses will appear on April 4th and September 28th.

Last but not least, the Perseid meteor shower will dance across the sky on August 13th.

Terrific Technology From Starbucks preparing to roll out its new Duracell Powermat mobile-charging pads in stores nationwide, to cars that drive themselves, this year should introduce exciting new technology. Also, the iPhone 7 is expected to be released in September, and Windows 10 will be released by Microsoft late this year.

Houston Rodeo Artists like Miranda Lambert, Hunter Hayes, Eric Church, Fall Out Boy, Zac Brown Band, Ariana Grande, and more will be performing at the Houston Rodeo this year.

Sporting Events Who doesn’t get excited about the Superbowl? Also, this summer, the Women’s World Cup will be held in Canada, and the Special Olympics World Summer Games will be held in Los Angeles.

Netflix News Netflix added some new TV shows and movies for their viewers this year. Friends: Complete Series (1994-2004) is sure to be popular along with movies like 101 Dalmatians (1996), and The War of the Worlds (1953).

Top Tweets of January Tucker May @tuckermaymay eat, sleep, watch friends, repeat 11:11 AM - 18 Jan 2015

Katie Moore @katherineann25 Senioritis to the max rn cause its 11 and I have no motivation to even start my homework 11:08 PM - 7 Jan 2015

Kylen Chen-Troester @nihaokylen S/o to the guy running with his dog who sped up to try to impress the girl ahead of him and then tripped over the dog #youtried 3:44 PM - 17 Jan 2015

Kirby Morris @kirbymorris222 JHU[ ZSLLW ¸0 N\LZZ 0»SS Q\Z[ ^H[JO ZVTL 5L[ÅP_ [V THRL TL tired” 11:19 PM - 13 Jan 2015

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Shattered New Year’s Resolutions Reasons why you can’t keep your resolution WRITTEN BY TINA KANG

A new year. 365 days. A fresh start. Looking back at last year has led many to set resolutions for this year.

According to the Statistic Brain, the percentage of Americans who usually make New Year’s resolutions is 45-percent.

The percentage of people who are actually successful in achieving their resolutions is a mere eight-percent.

Why it is so hard to keep resolutions throughout the year?

The Oracle explores.

1. Simple forgetfulness.

It is 2015, but nothing has changed. Same day, same work, same people. You might still find yourself writing 2014 as the date.

A resolution is an independent goal that you promise to try to achieve. There is no one to remind you about your goal. It is you who needs to pin it on the wall, set it as phone wallpaper, or in some way constantly remind yourself about the resolution. It is a goal that you have to plan, execute, and adjust. And only you can truly hold yourself accountable.

Now that the winter break is over, you have mountains of work piling up on your desk. You start to get stressed out from noisy alarms, heavy backpacks, and strict rules that tell you what to do and what not to do. You have so many deadlines and pieces of academic information to remember.

The minute you habitually grab greasy fries, pull out five sheets of paper towels, or even spend $1,000 on Amazon, you realize that you forgot about your resolution, and kick it out of your brain with one simple word, “whatever.”

2. Your resolution is unpractical and vague.

Yes, a resolution should be something you want to achieve, but becoming a millionaire or inventing a homework robot doesn’t work. How are you going to become a millionaire when you are not educated enough to get a job?

How are you going to invent a homework robot when you don’t even know how to spell engineering? These silly resolutions sound like you just want a miracle to happen. But it won’t if you are just curled up in your bed, going through Facebook news feed.

The purpose of making resolutions is to do something new and different throughout the year. Resolutions should be something new. The most common resolutions are studying hard, being nice to friends, saving money, and eating healthy. These are what you need to watch out for. Doesn’t it hurt your ears to hear the same resolutions over and over?

These vague resolutions don’t tell you anything to do.

They require no actions, so they just sit there somewhere in your mind. You can’t even tell that your resolution is working because you don’t know how hard you have studied and how many calories you have eaten today.

3. Your motivation dies out and procrastination takes over.

At the beginning, your resolution is everything. You do what you have planned, you fight off the temptation, and your passion burns like fire. Your attempts to throw off to other habits are successful. You are so eager to make the resolution come true that no temptations are able to get in your

way at all.

But, it doesn’t last long. It is just one day, one week, or one month, and you give in to the temptation to rest for a while. So you lie down for a while, saying that you will skip the exercise or whatever else you resolve to do for today. You mumble that you will start tomorrow, and when tomorrow comes, you mumble to yourself again, that you will start the next day. As time goes by, slacking off becomes your routine. Now that the procrastination is occurring, your year is no different from the last one and the resolution has faded away.

4. You have no plan.

It takes progress to achieve something. Progress matters as much as result does. You know what your goal is, and it is reasonable and realistic, but you don’t know what to do with it. You don’t know what small steps you need to take first in order to start. You have no resources to plan out what you can do for your resolution.

Your goal is established firmly in your mind, however, you have no idea how you will get to it. You don’t know what you have to do different or change in your dull routine to be able to make this year better.

What happens when you just stick your goal to your head?

There is no room in your schedule, so you give up. There is no incentive or reward to keep you going, so you quit. There is no deadline, so you postpone it.

Top 4 Most Popular Instagram Accounts GRAPHICS BY VICTORIA SHIN

Finsta or Foe?

The secret accounts that can do serious damage

WRITTEN BY TAYLOR MORRIS t GRAPHIC BY ALLISON RICE Everyone knows of the popular social media app Instagram, but it’s not all selfies and throw-back Thursdays. Do you really know what goes on behind the scenes? The rise of fake Instagrams or ‘finstas’ has spread through out our school and the Instagram community. A ‘finsta’ is a second Instagram account to post funny or embarrassing photos or videos that you wouldn’t want your regular followers to see. These ‘fake Instagrams’ aren’t as harmless as they seem. Some use the privacy of a fake Instagram to post obscene material of themselves or friends.

Although a lot of teens’ finstas have content that parents would be appalled with, some are simply accounts for teens to post embarrassing, funny photos about everyday life. It can be a way for teens to complain and vent about homework, parents, and teachers with out the hassle of everyone’s opinion.

Where do you draw the line between a funny account, and a way for kids to show off drinking and partying?

The primary reason for teens to party is to fit in or try and be cool. Social media gives kids instant access to share their nights out with all of their followers. Private Instagrams ensure that parents won’t gain access to their pictures. What people who have finstas don’t take into account is that even though it’s private, there are multiple ways to track down an account and view it. For example, every Instagram is linked to an e-mail address. If someone’s parents discover a finsta, they will find many other accounts, since finstas only follow other finstas. If someone’s account were to be found, the punishment would be serious and damaging to trust and reputation. It jeopardizes your future of getting into a good college, and now that job applications involve online background checks, professional work places will also be able to see records of illegal online activity.

Instagram can be fun, and is a great way to keep up with your friends, but like all social media, it’s double sided. Partaking in illegal activity is not a wise choice in the first place, but to post it on social media is immature and self-destructive.

@instagram

49,860,350 followers 251 (following)

@kimkardashian

25,127,762 followers 108 (following)

@beyonce

25,127,762 followers 0 (following)

@arianagrande

24,050,588 followers 720(following)

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Back-to-Back-to-Back-to-Back Champs The Class of 2015 takes part in a state championship for the fourth consecutive year WRITTEN BY SCOTT KENNEDY

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t PHOTOS BY TAYLOR BRITTAIN AND REBECCA WILLIAMSON

Year 1: 5.2% chance.

Year 2: 0.27% chance.

Year 3: 0.014% chance.

Year 4: 0.00073% chance. * * * It’s safe to say that winning a state championship is no small feat. With around 250 teams in contention, there is about a five percent chance every year that one of Stratford’s 13 teams will take home the title.

But to win a state championship for four consecutive years— that’s a feat that truly goes against all odds.

And yet State Championship Celebrations over at Don Coleman have become an annual affair in recent years.

This year’s seniors, the Class of 2015, is the first class in Stratford (and SBISD) history to win a State Championship in a sport all four years.

Swimming to State

VSRUWV

The dynasty of state titles began in 2012, with swimming’s first championship win.

Many current seniors were on the team that won in 2012, and seniors Jack Brasher and Tommy

Rohleder acted as alternates for the older swimmers that brought home the title.

“It meant the world to me to win State,” Brasher said. “I had been dreaming of it ever since I was young.”

Head Swimming Coach Michael Hoskovec described the first championship as “a challenging, exciting, and fulfilling” experience.

After winning the first year, the pressure was on, but Brasher says it didn’t really affect the team.

“We knew we were going to win all year long,” he said. And win they did.

Swimming brought home their second consecutive State Championship the following year, in 2013.

“It was a huge accomplishment to win for the second year in a row,” Hoskovec said. “And there was just a touch of relief.”

Running into First Place

After swimming’s consecutive State Championships, it was time for another sport to make it into the spotlight: Cross Country.

Odds are, you’ve probably seen them practicing before, since they run almost every single day and

Celebrating Success. The 2014 Varsity Boys Cross Country team celebrates

their second consecutive State Championship. (from left to right: Sam Evetts, Devin Fahey, Jake Roberts, Douglas Baker, Paul Brastrom, Hayden Richards, Austin Richards)

have only a few weeks of break every year. This kind of consistency has been key to the team’s wins at state in 2013 and 2014.

“Every year we train to compete in the State Championship,” Head Cross Country Coach Tony Brillon said. “Our goal was to stay consistent in training and to keep our minds focused on our goal.”

The most recent season took an unexpected and potentially devastating turn at the Regional Meet, when College Station came from behind to pass Stratford at the finish.

“After they got second in Regionals, a lot of people were writing us off,” Brillon said. “But our guys regrouped, got together, and said, ‘We put too much time and effort in to this for it to slip through our fingers.’”

“I think the second place finish at Regionals was actually what we needed to win state,” senior Austin Richards, said. “It was a wake up call and showed us that the State Championship wasn’t going to just be handed over to us.”

After Regionals, the team did rebound, and finished in first place overall at State.

“What I saw at the State Meet was the beauty of what teamwork is all about,” Executive Director of Athletics for Spring Branch ISD Paige Hershey said.

Hershey was in attendance at the Regional Meet, and was amazed at the way the team came back from the loss.

“It was incredible to witness all the team did throughout that gruelling race,” she said. “They believed, they did their part, they gutted it out, and brought home another state crown.”

The Stratford Dynasty

dangers of complacency in their celebration speeches.

“With all that Stratford has won, it’s easy to think that this is just a standard occasion,” Hershey said.

“And while it’s become a standard of excellence for this high school, it’s anything but standard.”

Allen agreed, but admitted that he sees great potential for the future, as well, citing the fact that all sports have qualified for playoffs in the past two years as evidence.

Interim Building Principal Danny Gex is equally hopeful for the future.

“I think it is only a sign of greater things to come,” Gex said. “Our seniors have set the standard for excellence, and I believe that our school is in great shape for the future.”

Winning a single State Championship is cause enough for celebration, but the Class of 2015 has gone far beyond even that.

Their success in swimming and cross country over the past four years has made them the most successful class in district history in terms of State Championships for athletics.

“In my 28 year career in public education, I don’t know of any other high school that’s had the accomplishments that Stratford has had over the last four years,” Superintendent Dr. Duncan Klussmann said at the celebration.

“Winning a state championship ever year has allowed me to take a lot of pride in our school, our students, and our coaches,” said senior Douglas Baker, who was a member on both state championship cross Opening country teams.

Remarks.

The achievements of the past Dr. Duncan four years have made an impact on Klussmann, the entire school, as well.

“A successful athletic program SBISD has a positive effect on the school,” SuperintenAthletic Director Eliot Allen said. “It dent, conhelps create a sense of pride in our gratulates school.” the cross Varsity basketball player Erin country Hanshaw agrees. team.

“It makes me so proud to be a part of an athletic program that is so dedicated and hard working,” Hanshaw said.

Varsity Cheer Captain Cameron Barnett has seen her own perspective change, as well.

“The success of our athletic program has shown me how hard our athletes work, and how well they represent Stratford,” Barnett said.

With the monumental success Another State Win. The Student Counover the past four years, Hershey cil Executive Board presents the and Allen both acknowledged the cross-country team with a “2014” to

post on the side of the school.

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ONE ON ONE WITH...

Coach Wallace

We Are the Champions

PHOTOS BY TAYLOR BRITTAIN, SAMANTHA WEED, GIL SANCHEZ

GRAPHICS BY SCOTT KENNEDY CONTENT BY PERRY SHEPARD

In 2013 the varsity swim team swam to the top winning the state championship.

Q: What brought you to Stratford to coach soccer?

A: I have been an assistant coach for the last 5 years and I wanted to be a head coach. I was very selective about where I wanted to go and when the job opened up here I went for it.

Q: What is your background in soccer?

A: I have been playing since I was 5. I started playing club soccer at 10, this brought me to Carrollton where I went to state in soccer my senior year.

I played Division I soccer at Bradley University, while I also coached a club team.

Q: Who do you think is the biggest rival this season?

A: Spring Woods. They have a tradition of winning soccer games and their coach is really going to get them ready to play.

Q:What are your goals for the team this year?

A: The biggest goal for the entire program is to get everyone to buy into what we are doing and to build on the success that Stratford has done in the past.

Q: How do you get your players ready for the season?

A: We do a lot of basics in our practices. This is the foundation for the game so we really try to focus on the simple things. And fitness.

Q: What players do you expect to be crucial this season?

A: Every player is going to be critical to the team. You may not see everyone on the field but their role is to push our starting 11.

Q: What has your experience been at Stratford so far?

A: I love it here. Everyone has been so welcoming. The kids are great and the atmosphere is awesome.

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State trophies won by the boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; crosscountry team

The boys varsity crosscountry team ran to their first state title in 2014.

3 This year the varsity crosscountry team took home their second state champinship, making it a back-to-back win.

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Sophomores on the boysâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; varsity crosscountry team

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Returning boys on the varsity crosscountry team

6STRATFORD HIGH SCHOOL

Average number of pairs of running shoes each runner goes through every 6 months

THE

SCHEDULE Girls Basketball:

1/30 SHS vs. SWHS @DCC 2/3 SHS vs. Tomball Memorial @ Tomball Memorial

Boys Basketball: 1/30 SHS vs. SWHS @DCC 2\3 SHS vs. Tomball Memorial @SHS

Boys Soccer:

1/30 SHS vs. Tomball @ Tomball 2/3 SHS vs. Brenham @ Brenham

Girls Soccer: 1/30 SHS vs. Tomball @SHS 2/3 SHS vs. Brenham @ Brenham

Jacob Bradshaw Position: Power forward Favorite food: Grilled chicken Favorite superhero: Cat Woman

Position: Forward Favorite food: Fruit Hero: Mia Hamm Favorite Quote: Luke 6:27-28 Best Game: The one where Juntti let all the school come and watch us.

Courtney Stark

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Backstage on the Backpage

“I had planned to audition for Legally Set crew members build and Props crew members are in Blonde, but I fell and paint all of the major set pieces charge of finding, collecting, and broke my foot, so I joined for the show. They are also the making hundreds of props that crew instead, and I ended ones who roll them out onto are relevant to the time period. up loving it.” Rachel Warwick, stage in between scenes.

11th, Co-Props Head t “My experience on set crew was great. Although things can sometimes get rough, we always get through it. The hardest part is to safely move Lighting crew members arthe set pieces while doing it swiftly and quietly.” range and focus all of the overNicole Gervasio, 11th, former set crew member, curhead lights and program them rent Co-Props Head t “I didn’t make Chicago, and I joined to fit the actions of the show. crew and ended up really liking it. We’re like family and we can They also manually control the joke around with each other. The best part is getting to know people spotlights, including over 200 who have different talents and meeting new friends.” Jessica Cluff, 11th, light queues. sound crew member t “Lights crew is really fun, I’ve made a ton of new friends. Learning all the technical stuff and going up in the lift is super fun, too.”

Averie Allwein, 10th, former lights crew member t “I joined costumes because costumes have always been one of my favorite things about theatre shows. Costumes crew has taught me time management and how to be calm in stressful situations, and I’ve gotten to bond with the crew and the cast.” Lauren Menard, 9th, costumes crew member

Props

Set

Sound Sound crew members prepare all of the mics before rehearsals and shows, and fix sounds problems backstage during shows.

Lighting

1047 l a u d i Indiv e m u t cos s e c e i p

76 crew out b a members

250 props

>7KH 2UDFOH@

Costume Costume crew members are in charge of dressing the actors before the performance and for the extremely fast changes that happen backstage and on stage.

The fastest change in the show is under 10 seconds.

Hair and Makeup Hair and makeup crew members are responsible for making the hair styles fit into the context of the time period and are responsible for all cast members’ makeup.

3 months of rehearsal s

Mor e tha n 200 L ight Queu s es