The Talon Volume 16 Issue 2 December 2017

Sandra Day O’Connor High School

25250 N. 35th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85083

Visit the award-winning website @ thetalonohs.com

Volume 16. Issue 2. December 2017

PHOTO ART BY ETHAN GILCHRIST

Page 13- Dance Recital PHOTO BY SADRAC RAINEY

What’s

Inside

News: Page 2

Opinions: Page 5 Features: Page 6

Page 17- Soccer

PHOTO BY SADRAC RAINEY

Page 6 Student forms non-profit

OC Captured: Pages 8 & 9 Student Corner: Page 12 A & E: Page 13 Sports: Page 17 ART BY MIA HERNANDEZ

News

4Page 2

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

A final goodbye to the old iPad minis (2012)

By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

As of last year, the iPad Airs (also known as iPad 5th Generation, 2017) have made an appearance on campus, putting an end to the use of the iPad minis (2012).

This current school year, upperclassmen were assigned the iPad four (2012) at orientation, while the underclassmen were the recipients of the iPad Air’s.

This piece of information seemed to be unsettling for some upperclassmen, who argued that they had waited two years to have a smaller iPad and thought then at least they deserved a newer iPad. “I feel like they are (iPad four) are much faster, but they are heavier and take up more room,” said Tommy Burke, senior.

The iPads minis would no longer update to the latest iOS, making it difficult for students to use newer iPad features and have access

to updated apps. The iPad fours still work perfectly fine, however, they will not update past iOS 11.

Next school year, there will be new updated iPads, including the Airs. After this school year, the old iPad fours will most likely be given to elementary schools for them to begin practicing on.

There was no specific reasoning behind which grade levels would receive the newest iPads for the school year. Students are provided with an iPad for the

sheer purpose of enhancing their learning experience and preparing them for the future.

“Think about how savvy you guys are going to be when

you go to college, you will know how to use a computer, Microsoft products, and you are going to know how to use all the Apple products,” Salameh said.

“

The bells and whistles aren’t as important as the basics that all iPads have.”

-Gail Salameh

“One of the things that I tell students is that they have to remember that this is a tool they’re using to learn.

The bells and whistles aren’t as important as the basics that all iPads have,” said Gail Salameh, school librarian.

PHOTO BY EMILIE REID A student using the iPad Air (5th Generation, 2017) using the split screen abilities that the iPad Fours (2012) do not have.

Freshmen Mentors: as helpful as they seem

By EMILIE REID Arts and Entertainment Editor

Transitioning to high school can be a hard and stressful experience, especially when upperclassmen are sometimes seen as intimidating.

However, this problem is conveniently tackled here on campus, by a group known as Freshman Mentors.

The small army of upperclassmen and underclassmen meet with freshmen during Eagle Hour and play games or have discussions on different

topics to try and ease any anxiety freshman may have about their classes or overall experience.

Many of the mentors are very passionate and involved in the group, making sure to buy prizes, candy, or various types of foods to make their freshmen feel more comfortable or excited about meetings. But are these tactics working?

Alex Webb, freshman, has a neutral opinion on the meetings and his mentors.

“They’re fun when we actually do activities besides

the name game and play Kahoot. My mentors are very polite, but sometimes it can get awkward when some kids don’t participate,” Webb said.

The mentors do make sure to let their groups know that they understand how they are feeling, as well as pass along advice and knowledge seeing as many of the mentors are seniors.

“My mentors taught me the school chant and they tell us to make sure that we make the most of our high school experience, even though it

can be hard sometimes,” Webb said.

Along with activities inside the classroom, Freshman Mentors also organize events throughout the school year and can be found around campus on Future Freshmen Nights.

Just recently, the mentors hosted a Freshmen Movie Night, and earlier in the year

“

They tell us to make sure that we make the most of our high school experience.”

-Alex Webb

PHOTO BY CASSIDY MOORE Mentors Hanna Flores, junior, and Isabella Shawe, junior, talk to the other freshmen mentors about how to help freshmen.

they put on a tailgate before the first freshman football game of the season, as well as a freshman dance.

Julia Yocom, freshman, attended the recent movie night which featured “Elf ”, and complimentary hot chocolate.

“I like my mentors, they all seem really nice. When we split into groups and we were talking they said if we see them around school to say ‘hi’ or if we see them at lunch

and we need someone to sit by we can sit with them,” Yocom said.

However, no group or organization is perfect. There are always aspects to change and improve upon, which may be something that the mentors may focus more on in years to come.

“Maybe they could switch up the groups so that we could meet other students that are also freshman this year,” Yocom said.

Webb had a bit more to suggest for the mentors to possibly change in upcoming years.

“I would change how they act, and have them try to be more energetic and act like they do around their friends when they’re around us. I would also have them treat us more like adults, and not kids,” Webb said.

The mentors seem to be a growing group every year.

More students are jumping to be a part of the club as it looks good on college résumés and provides them with an opportunity to help out the underclassmen.

There is no doubt that the club has improved freshman outlooks on their future years to come. With the constant flow of new members every year, the group will continue to guide and mentor freshman classes for many years to come.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

3

OHS receives recognition for being tech savvy and less of an exception.

Every single student attending OHS has had an iPad issued to them by the school for educational purposes, making OHS a tech savvy school.

Recently, OHS has

an Apple distinguished school,” said Brad Brazell, assistant principal. “What Technology constantly they say is that Apple surrounds people Distinguished schools are everywhere in pretty much centers of leadership and every situation possible. educational excellence and School is becoming less schools that demonstrate Apple’s vision for learning with technology.”

Part of this distinction comes from OHS working with people from Apple to learn how to better apply the technology in the school. Apple has been working hard with the staff to help make better use of the amazing technology provided for the students.

“Apple is a big innovator in the world of computers and technology, and in the last three years, they’ve spent a lot of time working with schools,” Brazell said.

“They have these cool devices and try to help PHOTO COURTESY OF DEER VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT teachers create fun and Some of the staff of OHS and the district office strike a pose as they show off their newly-won Apple tech award. engaging lessons while kids

By LEXI GASS

News Editor

been recognized by the major tech company Apple for their advances in technology integrated with the curriculum, the first public school in the state to do so.

“It’s officially called

are learning.”

The main goal of this tech program is to create the best learning environment for the students as possible.

“We just want to make sure we’re setting the students up for success the best we can,” Brazell said. “Apple is a part of that because they see a way to get these teachers, students, administrators, to do what they can with these.”

The teachers have worked very hard for the past few years to integrate this new technology into their programs, and the Apple distinction has validated the hard work they have put into making OHS a technology rich school.

“It’s just nice to be recognized for our hard work,” Brazell said. “It’s more of just that teachers have put a lot of hours into this.”

Norterra Nutrition seeks to satisfy students’ health

By CASSIDY MOORE

design chief

Posters hang around campus advertising Norterra Nutrition, a drink stand set up for students to purchase and enjoy every Tuesday and Thursday during eagle hour.

Norterra Nutrition offers a variety of protein shakes, bars, and other beverages that students flock to every week.

The original Norterra Nutrition store is located on 11th avenue and Pinnacle Peak. Jodi Barnem works at the stand set up for students to enjoy during Eagle Hour.

“There’s a student who works at our club and we got connected with [admin] and they came and saw what we did at the nutrition club and thought it would be a good healthier option for students at lunch,” Barnem said.

Administration has been trying to push healthy options that students can take advantage of during Eagle hour including the Norterra Nutrition stand as well as many different

wellness activities.

“We thought it would be a good fit for what eagle hour is trying to do here,” Barnem said.

Jennifer Dearborn, junior, got an iced raspberry tea the first day Norterra Nutrition came to campus.

The Talon is published as a forum for student opinion at Sandra Day O’Connor High School, part of the Deer Valley Unified School District.

The Talon is an award winning publication with dozens of awards for its staff members as well as ranked the

“

It’s definitely very successful having the stand here.”

-Jodi Barnem

She along with many other students and teachers did not enjoy their purchased drink.

“It was grainy, bitter and left a bad taste in my mouth,” Dearborn said.

The tea was $2 and has major competition with the plenty of other quality beverages available from the newer vending machines as well as the different drinks purchased by students in the cafeteria.

PHOTO BY CASSIDY MOORE The Norterra Nutrition stand displays different types of smoothies and other menu items during Eagle Hour.

top online publication and one of the top print publications in the state. Letters to the editor must be signed and dropped off in Room 508, e-mailed to thetalonohs@gmail. com or mailed. Letters may be edited for content and/or space

“Based on how much volume we do normally at the club in a day compared to what we can do here in an hour, it’s definitely very successful having the stand here,” Barnem said.

The smoothies, what

consideration. Obscene or libelous statements will not be printed.

Opinions reflected here are of those of The Talon staff and do not reflect the Deer Valley Unified School District.

Visit The Talon online at thetalonohs.com to see stories weekly.

the stand is most popular for, come in a multitude of savory flavors including cookie dough, pumpkin pie,strawberry cheesecake and orange creamsicle.

The stand, however, has gained popularity the more

they come back to campus and serve students during the extended lunch time.

“We were only here once a week last month and this month we are going to be here twice a week,” Barnem said.

Editor-in-Chief:

Sports Editor:

Ethan Gilchrist

Nikki Hazelett

Design Chief:

Editorial Chief:

Cassidy Moore

Hayden Cunningham*

Copy Chief:

Travis Robertson* Adviser:

Cindy Garraway

News Editor:

Lexi Gass Features Editor:

Audrey Serrano* Arts and Entertainment Editor:

Staff Writers:

Katie Diab Katie Caccavale Kasey Cross* Chris Bonifaz Logan Frandsen* Sadrac Rainey* Kendall Deal

Emilie Reid

*Denotes member of editorial board.

4

The Talon

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Arizona keeps the heat going into winter

By KASEY CROSS

Staff Writer

For the past few years, it seems as if the winters are slowly becoming shorter. And in a never-ending summer city like Phoenix, it’s a big issue. One that must be talked about with a great deal of caution.

According to NASA and the Goddard Institute of Space Studies (GISS), the world is getting warmer one degree

per year. Whether the cause is a flux in natural climate, or the result of human activity, it is becoming a major problem in a dry heat state such as Arizona. AZCentral reported 130 people died of heat related causes in 2016, in Maricopa County alone.

Mackenzie Moore, junior, has found concerns beyond our backyard, as to what effect this seemingly small raise in temperature is doing to

PHOTO COURTESY OF VIDEO BLOCKS USER CLIPPN A screencap from the timelapse of an Arizona sunset taken above a highway.

other residents of the planet. “[There isn’t a benefit of rising temperatures] that I can see. There are a bunch of posts going around twitter of polar bears and they do not look good... I don’t see how the rising temperature can be helping anyone much,” Moore said.

AZ central’s Brandon Loomis reports that due to the overall shift in the earth’s temperature, Phoenix soon could be sweltering even longer than these past years.

Climate researchers such as Daniel Swain, climate scientist, of the University of California, offer the data to this research.

“Phoenix’s all-time high of 122° will look more like the typical yearly high later this century, and they say the city could see a new record over 130° to rival Death Valley’s world mark,” Loomis said.

Phoenix will continue get-

ting hotter, according to Loomis. However, even small things can be done to lessen the effects of this climate change. A small act becomes many that may soften the blow of the heat on the people of Phoenix.

Lauren Kisicki, junior, considers that we have done the damage to cause the changes, therefore we are responsible in trying to delay such damage.

“The earth has never been through what we’re putting it through with new technology. All the stuff we’re putting into the atmosphere and into the oceans. It’s never been through this before, so obviously if it’s making a really big changes, it’s because we’re making a really big changes. We all need to hold ourselves personally responsible, and take some initiative as individuals, in order to help the planet,” Kisicki said.

Sara Eick, biology teacher, believes that the damage is done, and we need to take it seriously.

“Science doesn’t care what you believe in. It is what it is. This is happening. We’re not trying to be touchy-feely kumbaya. It’s happening, things are changing, and [what we’re doing] isn’t helping.” Eick said.

Melissa Mara, AP Environmental teacher, weighs in on one of the best things we can do, both for ourselves and for the environment.

“Discourse is good. Talk about it. Don’t shout about it. Don’t close your mind to it. Don’t think I’m right you’re wrong. Listen to both sides. Most people can meet in the middle and say ‘Okay.

What’s best for me, what’s best for my family. And if you can do that, then you can meet in the middle and make a compromise” Mara said.

Clubs volunteer during the holiday season

By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

There are many clubs on campus that donate to many different charities to give back to the community.

With Student Government, they do use some of their funds to go to Make a Wish kid or St. Mary’s. StuGo donates to Make a Wish Kid, as well as helping out at St. Mary’s Food Bank in Central Phoenix. Breanna Isbell, senior, is in charge of Mr. OC this year which will be on February 6.

“When boys sign up for Mr. OC, they have to pay a fee to sign up, and then an admissions fee of five dollars to view Mr. OC. All the proceeds will go to Make a Wish

kid. Make a Wish kid comes out every year and tells their story, and they will be the judges of the panel, who will judge the contestants of Mr. OC,” Isbell said.

This year, they are doing a family christmas, which is giving what the kids in group homes want for Christmas.

Each kid in StuGo has already donated 20 dollars for the family Christmas.

For each kid in the group home, they have already collected 60 to 75 dollars. They also go around small businesses, ask family and friends, to donate.

The Interact club also does a lot of volunteering and donating to different types of charities.

“Due to the hurricanes earlier this year, people were more focused on donating to them, so we didn’t get much during that time for the food bank than we did last year, raising around 4,500 dollars,” said Melissa Mara, advisor of the Interact club.

Since the start of this school year, the Interact club has helped out at the Tranquility Trail Animal Sanctuary, Andre House Dinner Service, St. Vincent de Paul’s Heart and Hands Kids Days, as well as donating to St. Mary’s food bank and Feed My Starving Children.

Even if you may not be rich, it is always helpful to volunteer and donate. According to Mara, while some

PHOTO COURTESY OF MELISSA MARA Melissa Mara takes Interact out to St. Mary’s Food Bank to help out with families. people are complaining about not having the latest Apple product, there are people who don’t have shoes, or food.

“My parents weren’t rich, but they weren’t poor either.

They always taught me that you should always help oth-

er people who are struggling.

The way I view the world ever since I started volunteering and donating, hasn’t really changed a whole lot because I always had that same viewpoint ever since I was growing up,” Mara said.

Opinions 4December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Editorial: 2017 filled with sexual harassment scandals

After many sexual harassment victims have came out to the public sharing their stories, Time Magazine has named their 2017 Person of the Year The Silence Breakers, “The Voices that launched the movement.”

Sexual harassment has been a issue brought into the light recently, exposing the secret dark side of Hollywood and media people only vaguely knew of. Recent allegations against the powerful media influencers such as Harvey Weinstein, Matt Lauer, Melanie Martinez, Kevin Spacey and many many more have shaken the world and exposed the truths of some.

The fact that sexual harassment and assault have been going on for a long time yet somehow it has just begun to be acted upon this year is unacceptable. However,

PHOTO COURTESY OF LORIE SHAULL Senator Al Franken (D) Of Minessota who has recently resigned from office since these recent Hollywood to take them seriously scandals have begun the to prevent other people conversation, hopefully it will from being harassed. Big become a speedier process to figures in Hollywood and dramatically decrease these especially in politics who are rates throughout the country. accused and found guilty of Sexual accusations harassment should be dealt shouldn’t be taken lightly or and punished, like per se lose joked about and especially their jobs, because especially in hollywood, it’s important in a workplace, sexual

harassment should NOT be tolerated Now if only our elected officials could be held to the same standard as people who act, tell jokes, and create fictional stories. Al Franken just resigned from the senate for accusations of him groping and assaulting women, so why can’t Roy Moore pull out of the Senate race for accusations of him assaulting three women, one of which was 14? Our very own Representative Trent Franks resigned from his position in the House, so obviously progress is being made with purging disgusting behavior from Congress Sexual assault is not only in media and politics. Sexual assault is everywhere in everyday lives. It isn’t just the people in power that do these terrible things, it’s anyone

Page 5

that feels entitled to pleasure from someone else. Every whistle, every catcall, every grab, every drugged drink, every bit of unwanted sexual attention is strengthening and normalizing this degrading form of assault and making it more likely to keep happening.

Hopefully, the more that victims speak, the more people realize the wrongdoings of those who feel they can do waht they want, and that it doesn’t normalize it in a way. There should never be a point where there are so many accusations people ignore the next allegation and just say “oh that’s Hollywood.” Every accused man or woman, after being proven to have committed the act accused of, should be punished for their intolerable behavior.

The facts and fiction of the climate change debate

By HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM

Editorial Chief

Let’s not make this about emotion. Yes the idea that ignoring the topic would result in the end of the world is scary, but that’s what the elite want you to think.

Apocalypse sells. And when that happens, you act.

The topic is important because it’s a scare tactic.

A group of politicians, the media, and environmentalists are trying to sell the doomsday idea that if the country doesn’t act now, then the world will be past a point of no return. So here are the facts, not the feelings; the following are some of the common misconceptions of the climate change debate, followed by the truth.

There is not enough scientific proof that global warming exists at a catastrophic level. Let’s start with the consensus. “97% of scientists believe that global warming is real.” This is commonly mentioned and originates from a survey in 2008 by graduate student Maggie Kendall Zimmerman from the University of Illinois in Chicago First of all, consensus doesn’t mean anything. There used to be a consensus that the sun orbited the Earth, or that the Earth was flat. Science is determined by truth and not a consensus.

When viewing the original study, which is made up of many scientific reports written on climate change, The 97% only came from 79 people asked two questions: if they believe that climate has increased since the 1800s and if humans are a factor.

That is an extremely small sample. 3,146 scientists were eventually interviewed.

But only about 5% of the scientists interviewed were actual climate scientists.

Yes, many scientists believe the Global temperature average has increased by an estimated 1 degree celsius since the 1800s, and humans are a factor. But there are so many factors that it cannot be determined why; natural changes in ocean levels, orbital patterns, the sun and the clouds, all these play a factor.

Sea levels are rising, but the rise is not accelerating, and antarctic sea ice showed a “new record maximum” in 2014, says NASA. Not to mention the fact that we are unaware of the average Earth temperature before the 1800s, and therefore unaware of long term trends. And many scientists don’t believe the 1 degree rise is a bad thing.

Next there is the belief that the ice sheets are melting away. NASA study says that “an increase in Antarctic snow accumulation that began 10,000 years ago is currently adding enough ice to the continent to outweigh the increased losses from its thinning glaciers.”

The Antarctic ice sheet showed a “net gain of 112 billion tons of ice a year from 1992 to 2001.” The net gain slowed to “82 billion tons of ice per year between 2003 and 2008.” This is where the myth that the ice is melting.

It’s not decreasing, the net gain is just decreasing. And currently, it’s increasing regardless of the recent

decline.

Not all climate change sources are reliable. NOAA, the company that monitors global temperature patterns, was accused of skewing data.

In fact, over 300 scientists are calling on lawmakers to investigate NOAA. While most people think CO2 pollution comes from humans, it may actually comes from natural resources. Think about the North American continent, and all the CO2 from natural wildfires due to lightning long before the invention of the steam railroad. And back then, the fires just burned out and weren’t fought like they are today. The Earth is doing that naturally all on its own.

The Paris Climate Accord, the President Trump recently pulled us out of, was a terrible thing for our country. MIT predicts that the Accord will be “estimated to be likely to reduce global temperature rise by less than 0.2 degrees Celsius in 2100.” That’s inconsequential. Think about those trillions of dollars that could go somewhere more useful. The U.N. states that we can give sanitation, clean drinking water, and basic healthcare to every person on Earth for about 75 billion dollars. Clearly, there’s better things to do with that money.

Al Gore, former V.P. of the United States, feels the need to act as a leader to the climate change movement.

But this is the guy that claimed that by 2014, that ice in Antarctica would be completely gone. Wrong. He predicted by 2016, the Earth would reach a point of no return unless we took drastic

PHOTO COURTESY OF NASA Photograph of the Earth from NASA’S Apollo 17 named The Blue Marble measures. Wrong… again. stop trying to scare people for For some reason, people like power, then this will be much Gore think if you tell a lie easier. They are the ones truly enough times, people will hurting the conversation. think it is true.

Everyone should have a For Politicians like Gore, rational conversation about this is not about helping the this without being quick to Earth; this is about money. label or condemn the other After scaring people into side, whether that be students believing the world is ending, on campus or politicians in they demand an increase of government. spending for them and their Students who are about to environmentalists. While the enter the world need to be world fears, they gain money understanding and critical and power. of what is told to them, But let’s say all this is and as soon as there is total wrong. Let’s say that there is proof that global warming is 100% proof that the Earth is a serious problem, everyone heating up. What next? What should work together and is the solution? Politicians find a solution. But right spend so much time saying it now, speaking out labels is a serious problem but they you a “climate skeptic” or don’t give an answer. a “denier,” immediately We can have a serious putting a label on you to try talk about climate change, to silence you when in reality as soon as one side of the you’re just a critical thinker argument stops lying. If they who doesn’t like it when people try to manipulate you.

Features 4Page 6

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

Student hits home with nonprofit organization

By ETHAN GILCHRIST

Editor-in-Chief

Service clubs on campus are constantly pushing their students to come up with ways to help the community by doing the heavy lifting kind of tasks.

Mia Hernandez, freshman, is finding a new way to help and that’s through the power of art.

Hernandez is beginning a program to raise money for Guatemalan orphans on her website thecartwheeler. com. She is doing this to give back to home after she was adopted from Guatemala.

Money is raised through the sale of Hernandez’s art.

“I do digital art. That’s what I started out doing because when I was younger I was really into art and so my parents approached me with

the idea of starting a nonprofit organization where I sell my art and then I use the money and donate it to an orphanage in Guatemala,” Hernandez said.

Casa Guatemala is the organization the cARTwheeler is donating to.

Hernandez focuses her art pieces on portraits of people.

“I was 11 months old when I was adopted and at the time my parents lived in Indiana.

So they would send me stuff from where they lived and I thought that was really cool,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez wants to send back to Guatemala like her parents sent help to her. The cARTwheeler currently is fundraising money only, but is going to become a nonprofit.

The website features an about page, contact page

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Mia Hernandez shows off her drawing of an instagram photographer’s photo.

and instagram link. More importantly it offers three art options: custom, digital and canvas.

“Digital is stuff that’s [already] done like drawings and paintings of people that are famous so anyone can have those, but then custom I have it set up so someone can put their name and what they want,” Hernandez said.

Canvas art is similar to digital in content, but is done with paint. She wants the cARTwheeler to be a long term project.

“I really want it to be something I can do a lot because it’s something I really like doing. I love drawing, but the fact that I’m able to give back to something that is really personal that I care about is really cool to me,” Hernandez said.

The artist also said she would love to connect it to campus possibly with the art class.

Hernandez’s art style focuses on the people.

However, she has experimented before with landscapes.

“I guess realistic. Like I try to make it very accurate to the person. There are times where I’ve messed around with different colors and stuff,” Hernandez said.

When it comes to drawing her work is based on her life.

“Most the time it’s stuff like

ART BY MIA HERNANDEZ Mia drew Connor Franta, YouTube influencer and vlogger, for June’s pride month. my friends telling me ‘hey can period of time. you do a drawing of me’ and “For digital drawing it’ll I’ll do that or I recently did a probably take me like 3-6 bunch of sketches of people hours. It takes quite a bit of from “Stranger Things” time, but paintings and stuff because that’s something that can take up to a day,” I’m really into. I know I’m Hernandez said. doing another one right now The process is multilayered of Pennywise because that for the creation of art on the was “IT” and that was a big cARTwheeler. deal,” Hernandez said.

“Usually it starts out with Finishing a piece takes a sketch and then I always dedication. Luckily she is if I’m drawing a picture of able to space out the digital someone start out with their drawings, but canvas work skin tone and then I add on has to be all done at that to the highlight of their face time. This adds on to the and the contour of it. Well, need for a photo because it it’s kind of interesting. would be difficult to have Jump to Page 7 someone sit for such a long

Unknown classes hides students’ potential

By CHRIS BONIFAZ

Staff Writer

Have you ever wondered about the classes nobody takes? The classes that not many people know about?

There are a select few of classes that not many people know about or have even heard of. Chandler Evans, CTE Director, said that stage production is a class that he thinks a lot of people would like and wishes more would sign up.

“Overall not many of our classes are doing bad, almost all of our classes are doing well,” Evans said.

CTE had been fully accepted into our school and is getting all the attention they could have asked for except for a few exceptions.

“In stage production, we have two classes and would like to have three classes,” Evans said.

Stage production is not the only class that Evans would like to see the student counts rise in.

“I would say that our accounting and marketing are very limited classes,” Evans said.

There are not just normal classes that have a lack of students. There are also dual enrollment classes that not many people take.

For example, classes like COM 100, a dual enrollment one semester class that teaches students about the facets of communication such as self-awareness, nonverbal communication, verbal communication, listening and responding, and presentational speaking is a class not many students are aware they can take, as well as Creative Writing, which typically pairs with another one semester course, Creative Writing.

Another class with the same teacher is Introduction to Digital Communication or more known as Journalism.

Journalism is an elective that people have to take in order to get into the school newspaper, The Talon.

“We don’t have any classes specifically that are low, but we do have classes that lose and gain interest all the time,” said Brad Brazell, Administrator.

Brazell said there has never been a single class to be so devastated that they couldn’t exist, but interest in classes does fluctuate a lot every year.

“One that comes to mind is dual classes like Psychology and Sociology that have very noticeable dips in students, but they always seem to come back up,” Brazell said.

Dual enrollment classes have been always thought of when talking about classes that have low enrollment counts. It’s always going to be electives that students have the power to choose what goes on and what doesn’t.

“Main classes like English and Math never have dips because they are mandatory and you can’t not take something that is mandatory to graduate,” Brazell said.

Overall the only classes

PHOTO BY CHRIS BONIFAZ Students Addison Bowman (junior) and Peyton Thompson (freshman) practice interviewing each other. that are going up and down are the classes that get lost in the sea of options and the only reason some of these classes have students is because those students get placed there due to the lack in spots for the class they originally chose.

For example, sign language

is a class a lot of people are interested in, but Brazell said that they haven’t found someone to teach it yet.

In the end, it is almost impossible for a class to not have enough students, but the amount of the students, classes, and choices will be very different every year.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

7

Arizona attractions to bring out your holiday cheer

By LOGAN FRANDSEN

Staff Writer

As the holiday season progresses, everybody who wants to celebrate has a multitude of options to choose from, ranging from locations right by OHS to across Arizona. These are some different celebrations that students and families can choose to go to and partake in during the month of December and early January.

An event that has been popular for many years, and still remains a top destination in 2017, is the Zoolights celebration at the Phoenix Zoo. Running from now until January 14th, there are multiple attractions for visitors to see.

These range from exhibits about dinosaurs and stingrays, to camel rides, to

carousel rides, to the famous multicolored lights that cover a huge portion of the zoo.

Younger kids can even get photos with Santa Claus if they wish.

Some of these activities do require an extra charge, but it should well be worth the price for anyone who loves both animals and the holidays. The Zoolights exhibit is open from 5:30 to 10:30 PM nightly.

Another popular place for people to go to is Glendale Glitters, which runs until January 6th.

Although the extravagant holiday weekends have passed, observers can still walk around the center of Glendale and see over 1.6 million lights spread throughout 16 blocks.

In fact, Glendale Glitters is host to the biggest free light display in Arizona! The lights are on from 6-10 PM nightly.

A new attraction that

is the closest proximity to OHS is called Illumination: Symphony of Light, a drivein light show just minutes away. Going all the way through January, this light show features high-energy music synced to millions of lights adorned upon Christmas displays.

Other attractions can also be found outside of your car, with food and pictures with Santa featured as well. On Sunday through Thursday, the light show is open from 5:30-10:30 PM, while Friday and Saturday are open an hour longer.

Lastly, although farther away, a Christmas-time classic for many is the Polar Express train ride in Williams, close to Flagstaff. While on the locomotive passengers will be treated with hot chocolate, a cheery atmosphere, and a visit to the “North Pole, a light show that marks the

arrival of Santa on the train.

Go on Christmas Eve and you will even receive a special item. Stretching to January 6th, there is plenty of time to go take a ride. Trains depart at 5:30 and 7:30 PM, and to find specific days of operation, go to their website at www.thetrain.com/specialevents/the-polar-express/.

There is plenty to do with friends and family during the holidays, so if needed, reference one of these places to have a cheerful time and get yourself even more into the holiday spirit.

PHOTO COURTESY OF illuminationaz.com

Media production captures a bright future

By LEXI GASS

News Editor

Electives on campus can offer many fun experiences for a student to enjoy doing while learning, like language, art, theater, choir, and even movie making. An entire class, called Media Productions, is dedicated to the workings of media and gets students involved in many different kinds of productions.

Student Connor Watson, senior, is a part of the advanced Media Productions class. He has been part of the program since his freshman year.

“What the advance class is expected to do is create short films,” Watson said.

“We write the scripts, do the whole production schedule,

and basically film, edit, and create our own ideas.”

In this class, students are encouraged to be the most creative they can be and create projects that they enjoy.

“I love it because I love making films,” Watson said.

“It’s what I plan to do in the future, and the teacher is really nice and it’s just great.”

The class is a chance to experience creating some form of media you wouldn’t get to otherwise, like making films, broadcasting announcements, and learning how to create media.

“We’ve done one project this year which was an independent project where we had to create a whole short

film ourselves,” Watson said.

“I feel like if you like film or making movies it’s a fun class because it’s what you do.”

The beginning media class also works with making short films and movies.

“In the class we learn a lot about editing and we film things and put them together and have fun,” said Lauren

PHOTO BY LEXI GASS Media Productions films the daily announcements Laudick, freshman and apart storyboard where we combine of the beginning media class. a bunch of backgrounds and The class does projects characters and make a story to help them learn how to out of that.” create media while having fun Laudick also enjoys the expressing their ideas. class because it’s a chance for “We’ve done two projects her to be creative. where we made storyboards “It’s a fun way to express and just filmed it,” said yourself so that you can do Laudick. “For our final right whatever you want,” said now, we’re doing an online Laudick.

Continued from page 6, Student hits home with nonprofit program

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Mia Hernandez draws a character from Riverdale

it’s like doing someone’s makeup,” Hernandez said.

Hernandez says that one part in particular of the art is her favorite and the most important.

“Their eyes. I like focusing on people’s eyes making them look realistic because I always do those last. Eyes and lips are always last because I like to focus on the rest of the face because the eyes are usually what stand out,” Hernandez said.

Surprisingly, the art that is the basis of the cARTwheeler only began this year.

“I liked to draw a lot as a kid, but I started doing digital art only back in February. But I feel like it’s changed a lot since then,” Hernandez said.

She is honing her skills everyday by drawing and she

only needs a few tools to get her work done.

“I have a green pen that I think I got at like TJMAXX at one point or something but that’s usually what I use or I use my fingers. Mostly I just draw on my iPad.” She does all of her work with a mere $5 dollar app.

The non-profit is called the cARTwheeler because she said it contains the word art and “it’s kind of a joke.”

Mia Hernandez and her non-profit organization are elevating the campus to give back to others and Hernandez wants students to realize they can too.

“I think other students should do stuff for it. It’s something that I feel like is kind of simple in a way. So if they can help out then they should,” Hernandez said.

December 2017

aptured

Mr. Cross Mrs. Aiden Lindenmeir Bretoi u.s. history

world history teacher teacher

Interviews and photography by Cassidy Moore and Kasey Cross

“

@OC_CAPTURED

Insert quote here.

“

History is a book or like watching a movie. It really is. It’s the history of us. I find it the most interesting; I don’t think I could teach anything else. I think it fits my personality and what I like. I get to tell a lot of stories and get to tie them back to objectives. Kids typically remember anything I tell a story of. I got lost teaching victorysix forhours; me wasthat last was inAIraq for about year in AP World; I was so surprised. terrifying.

I cuta my brothers finger Mrs Ellis had professional offdevelopment accidentally.

All ofduring thesethat I tiefull session back to history objectives.

Eric day students have off in February and it was on learning stations.

Denney, snowball fight, the Boston She showed to take Massacre.

Allusofhow these I tiedata backonto writing and I made separate stations American History.

“

for what my students needed to work on in their writing. It was the best lessons I’ve ever had because I could sit down and call them over to talk to you. I could see the lightbulbs flicking on and that for me was probably my biggest teaching victory of all time and I will definitely use more of it.

@OC_CAPTURED

“

“ Dolores

lunch woman

I have a Christmas tree. It started about five years ago, one person made me something out of tin foil. Then the rest of the kids started to make me tin foil ornaments. I love that.

“

8

thetalonohs.com

9

Ethan Scheider junior

“ “

Don’t think you’re too cool for anything. Don’t think you’re too cool to go to events. Don’t think you’re too cool to be involved in clubs, have fun. Don’t think you’re too cool for anything because then you just look like a loser. You should think well of yourself, but don’t think you’re too cool to do certain things.

“

I’m in theatre 1-2. I teched for Wedding Singer and was the fly master, I was the only one on flies and it was a total of about 43 hours of work but it was fun. For Wedding Singer, after the bucket drops, we have maybe a ten minute intermission. And we had no mop and three gallons of water on the floor. So Hazel White and I, we grab a vacuum and rolls of paper towels and we are vigorously scrubbing as everyone else is changing into their costumes. The two of us were on our hands and knees madly scrubbing the floor, and we have to move the props all in the minutes. It was funny just the two of us trying to clean it all up.

“

“

Ava Moran freshman

10 December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Ohs Health and Wellness

S.W.A.T. ushers in new activities for students

By TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Copy Chief

With finals, standardized tests, college applications, and homework, stress runs rampant across any school community, which can lead to both obesity and depression.

A new face on campus hopes to ensure students are physically active, healthy and mindful so that high school is an experience for them to remember without these demons weighing them down.

S.W.A.T (Student Wellness Advocacy Team) is a new club which promotes physical, nutritional and mental wellness across campus and the community. Eagle Hour is the groundwork for the program’s activities, which occur during either the first or second half.

Shane Hesse, health teacher, Melissa Portela and Jennifer Guerrette, sports medicine teachers, are the facilitators of S.W.A.T and founded it based off the fear of illness striking young people.

“The statistics show that your age group is going to have a 5-10 year shorter lifespan than the adults of today and that’s based on nutrition, physical activity, and stress management,” Hesse said. “Statistics also state that one in three children born after the year 2000 will have type two diabetes by the time they’re

18, those two things really hit home with me personally since I have kids.”

Due to these alarming facts, Hesse has strove to embed wellness as a culture of its own, which he says will increase happiness and productivity at school.

“I think we can create a culture on campus through health and wellness that will reach our teachers and students to become more engaged in the classroom,” Hesse said. “If our students are more healthy and active and our staff is more healthy and active, then that leads to better productivity, less stress and less chronic disease.”

Long term health for students is also a goal for Phaelen Bride, freshman and president of S.W.A.T. “It’s important because it will make the students more active and healthy so they don’t have more health problems later on,” Bride said.

The three aspects of wellness S.W.A.T strives to teach students are Physical, Mental and Nutritional. Physical wellness is seen in Eagle Hour activities such as basketball, tug-of-war, dodgeball and more.

Mental wellness and mindfulness is a lesser-known aspect of wellness that Hesse wants to teach to the community and develop even more further down the road.

“They say you should have 60 minutes of physical activity every day, that’s the 2008 physical activity guidelines that were produced, but they also say you should have 60 minutes of mindfulness each day and that’s really just being present with yourself and that could be many different modalities

but for some people that’s their escape, they meditate, they don’t really have outside pressures,” Hesse said.

One form of mindfulness is art therapy, which is a form of therapy that uses artistic creative processes to improve mental wellness.

S.W.A.T plans to work with Dena Davis, art teacher, to implement art therapy to boost students’ mindfulness.

Veronica Elton, swim coach, is planning on doing a monthly nutrition course for the nutritional aspect of wellness, and Melanie Britton, band instructor, is planning a monthly hearing

wellness course. Phaelen Bride, freshman and S.W.A.T president, also wants to implement more healthy food onto campus next semester, such as Cafe Zupa’s, for the nutritional aspect.

With the variety of mindful and physical activities on campus, Hesse says this provides students a window into their college lives and an overall boost of happiness and

confidence.

“I think (students) are going to gain a sense of college, you’re bringing intramurals and activities throughout the day and (if) you walk on ASU that’s what you see,” Hesse said. “They’re going to gain a better physical and mental state personally, and then professionally it will translate to their academics. If you could come to campus and be excited everyday, whether you’re a teacher or a student, that’s what we’re here for.”

S.W.A.T just recently won the gold award for the Healthy Arizona Worksight Program, and scored $1,000 from a local outing of Shark Tank from pitching the idea of a meditation room in the library, filled with yoga mats and TVs for students and staff to relax in.

S.W.A.T hopes to simply expand on the awards they’ve already received even more.

“Next semester our HAWP team is going to try and go for Platinum,” Bride said.

Hoping to make a change and promote wellness across the community, S.W.A.T is a new face on campus who has a long road ahead of them, but a culture of wellness and academic progress can be created if students and staff put in the same time and effort.

“Wellness is sustainable on campus and in our community,” Hesse said.

“If we could have students who feel the same way in our community then it really translates into the classroom of just a better all-around environment, better academics and better happiness with students and staff who want to be here.”

Campus approves of Eagle Hour activities

By ETHAN GILCHRIST

Editor-in-Chief

wellness calendar 1. Open "Google Calendar" on your DVUSD account 2. Select "add my coworkers calendar" 3. Type in Shane.hesse@ dvusd.org and click the OC Wellness Calendar 4. Access the calendar anywhere and see details

11

S.W.A.T plans all their activities and works tirelessly to ensure that students can maintain their wellness, but what it truly comes down to is how campus jives with the experiences provided.

Led by Shane Hesse, the S.W.A.T team is providing the following December wellness activities: Art Therapy, Nutrition, Teamwork Tuesday, Hikes/Walks, Kickball, Mental Health, Yoga and Foam Rolling. These occur in Eagle Hour across campus.

Art Therapy’s first meeting was Dec. 5 in room 410 during eagle hour first half and was led by Dena Davis, art teacher, and Danell Stephenson, english teacher.

“For the first day, I thought it went really well. I didn’t think we were going to have that many kids so it was a huge turnout like 25 students and I thought it was really successful,” Davis said.

In the future, she hopes to reach more, but says there isn’t “a lot of room” to grow.

The goal of Art Therapy is to teach students stress management strategies.

“I thought since that’s what I do [and] it helps me with stress and relaxation that it would be a good opportunity for kids,” Davis said. “I see it in my classes with students that they’re having a bad day, they can just zone out and paint and work on art.”

In general, Davis says she gets more time to prepare for class with eagle hour. She also says it offers lots to students besides make-up time.

“It’s offered a lot of opportunities for kids to be active which I think is huge.

I mean I hear a lot of kids complain about and I’m like what’s to complain about you get extra lunch time. It’s like you get an adult recess,” Davis said.

Davis overall had “very positive” feelings on eagle

hour, but said it should’ve eased into the week starting on one day and expanding to two.

“I mean I think they’re going in the right direction.

I think the SWAT team should work on broadening the opportunities for kids that might not want to do something athletic,” Davis said.

She added therapy couldn’t exist without eagle hour.

“No we probably wouldn’t have had the success we did on day one if it was offered as a club after school. I feel like half those kids if not more would have not come,” Davis said.

Joey McDowell, junior, attended art therapy after helping Davis set it up.

“It’s really fun I like it a lot and it gives me a chance to hang out with my friends and my teachers,” McDowell said.

McDowell even helped come up with the name. She also said its offering “a stress reliever and a fun time.”

Tyler Evangelista, junior, also attended with McDowell.

“It’s super good for the students because they are so worked up and caught up in everything that’s going on right now. I think it’s good to do what they like and see what they like,” Evangelista said.

Jacob Brandt, junior, said art therapy is a way for him to connect to campus after football ended for him. He also enjoyed the art skills.

“I thought it was a really cool idea especially because there’s a lot of kids who you know like to do art but never really have a way to do it,” Brandt said.

Intramural Kickball also began on the same Tuesday as Art Therapy ran by Hesse personally. Aidan Sullivan, freshman, played an intense game of kickball that day.

“Overall I’m having a great time and getting excited for Tuesdays and Thursdays like ‘yes today’s Tuesday’ or ‘yay today’s eagle hour’,” Sullivan

said.

Levi Meyer, sophomore, was also in kickball and played on a team with baseball friends.

“It was awesome. I love what the school is doing right now with the intramurals and eagle hour. It’s making eagle hour pretty fun and I want to personally thank Coach Hesse,” Meyer said.

Intramural sports typically are not competitive. Meyer said this is the best part of the intramural kickball and basketball he has played in.

“Even if you’ve never played basketball or kickball it’s still a fun environment to just go mess around and even if you lose you don’t really care,” Meyer said.

Elle walker, freshman, who has played cornhole, jenga, volleyball and basketball, said that before eagle hour the routine was different.

“Once you’re done eating lunch you’ve got to go straight to class and it’s not possible to just hang out and talk,” Walker said.

Maurice Archbold, junior, was cheered on by a crowd as he won in a basketball challenge during eagle hour on Dec. 7. This challenge between Archbold and another student came after a basketball tournament.

“We were playing in a tournament during eagle hour set up by my systematics coach, me and my brother. We set it up and had everybody come out there. So we made a team of friends,” Archbold said.

When it comes down to it, students and teachers alike are finding something new in eagle hour, whether it’s time to relax or a chance to take a love of sports from the teams to any student regardless of experience.

“As compared to last year, if I’m being honest, it made me enjoy school a little bit more.

It gives you something to look forward to. Actually kind of a motivation for grades,” Archbold said.

S.W.A.T.

Snap Shots

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Alexandrea Cotitta, senior, participates in Art Therapy.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Tyler Evangelista, junior, listens to Art Therapy teacher.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Levi Meyer, sophomore, taunts opponents in kickball.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Maurice Archbold, junior, dunks a basket in basketball.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Elle walker, freshman, throws a beanbag in cornhole.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST

Devyn Laborin, Isaiah Williams and Hailey Igna play jenga.

2017 12 Page December 12

Winter Wonders

PHOTO BY CASSIDY MOORE

Across - The most stessful thing during the winter season - A noise that keys and carolers share - A red deer that is somewhat famous - You share it with milk - Decorations ornate it but some people might over do it - Cats will have one around thier neck - ‘Deck the halls with _____ ‘ - Each one is unique and special - They are hung over the fireplace - A jolly lump of a man Down - The fastest reindeer - You light them for a pleasent smell - A mode of transportation for the land and air - Wears a tophat and has coal aplenty - Black Friday is often used to purchase these - “___ ____, New Me” - Often used to describe Santa - Red and white candy - Choir visited classes doing this during the Holiday season

Photos Courtesy of Lindsey Kuoppla (Above and Below)

4

Arts & Entertainment

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Page 13

Dance expresses their desire for adventure

By SADRAC RAINEY

Staff Writer

Dance can be expressed in many forms and styles, contemporary and classical alike, both have their place.

While it isn’t the most discussed event on campus, it has the potential to be. It is because of the wide diversity that comes with dance that it is seen as off-putting to some, while in actuality it offers a more inclusive, real experience that gives different things to different people.

The three-day long dance concert is under the most contrived of circumstances, and it is the most controversial undiscussed event on campus. People only look at it at surface-level, they don’t take the time to actually analyze the movement performed; it’s a fine art, almost everything is intentional and had clear purpose put in it by the creator.

The quality is very good, considering that half of the show was choreographed by the students themselves. But the tone shifted too much in between each and every song.

Going from slow-melodic-introspective to fast-paced-upbeat got very tiring after the first act, even if every standalone piece was worth watching.

The best pieces stand-out by being the most memora-

ble of the show in its entirety.

The first act, while having a very flashy and interesting theme, a road trip across the United States, ultimately was the weaker of the two halves.

The choice of song only fit the theme, and by doing so it restricted the emotional potential that the dancing itself could of had.

passed, the 1950s. The crack and pop from warm sounding vinyl, the casual wearing of suit and tie, this song takes place in another time and every other variable capitalizes off of it.

Viva Las Vegas was the other song in the first half being the most memorable, and in many respects its similar to

distinctive aesthetic. It also adds to this formula by making the dancing itself reminiscent of Las Vegas.

The second half is much more complicated. Each and every song is independent from one another, and don’t have a central theme to conform to. This means they have, as a whole, more

be very drastic at times leading to a sense of dissonance for the entire act.

In spite of this many more songs stuck out, Run, Run Rudolph fit the timing of the season perfectly, and being close to the beginning, didn’t clash with any of the other pieces. Stupid and Move Together fall into their own category, and they tell a story in a real and authentic way. By using the song to its fullest potential they can each capture the essence of their respective themes.

Alongside those stated previous, Running Away tells a very vivid story, but shows it as well, and it’s that key element of performing what the music says, in a unique interpretation that many other songs just didn’t really achieve. While not being necessary it adds a great deal of weight to the emotion impact.

The dance concert did strain and wane at times.

But even through facing technical issues, the overall quality was equal in PHOTO BY SADRAC RAINEY calibre to other fine art performances; while ofAbby Fineberg, sophomore, performs a dramatic contemporary piece at the travel-themed 2017 winter dance concert. fering a unique sense of If there had to be any ex- Chicago. It has a restricting artistic creativity. But there art that no one really seems ception to the case it would theme, but the dancers know are caveats to this system as to be discussing on campus. have to be Chicago as a whole. how to make the most from well, because there isn’t one It seems to be the only fine The song and aesthetic was it, and it offers a unique per- central theme the tonal shift art on campus left out of the reminiscent of an era long spective coupled with a clear from one song to the next can public eye.

Heads roll as band takes second in state

By KATIE CACCAVALE

Staff Writer

This entire season, the marching band has shown their true colors and made it one to remember. After taking third at their state competition, they went on to championships to compete against seven other marching bands.

The marching band has grown into a family over the years. This makes the losses and the wins even more important and impactful.

“We had an amazing show that kept the crowd interested and an amazing band director who brought us all the way to second place,” said Emma Pratt, sophomore.

As the marching band kept winning and winning, they were granted the opportunity to go to super state.The marching band has gone to super state every year since 2011 and won in 2014.

“It’s truly an experience playing in-front of a crowd

so huge,” said Aiden Bretoi, sophomore.

As many marching bands came to perform at super state, the band was faced with tough obstacles, but they overcame them and put their all into their performance.

“It was crazy wild to say the least, such an eye opening thing seeing how many people truly enjoy marching band,” Bretoi said.

The season was carried out on a very high note as the band took second place at superstate with their “Alice in Wonderland” themed show. The marching band deserved this season more than they know.

Bretoi was very proud when looking back on how much the band grew and improved this season.

As the marching band ends, keep an eye out for winter guard as their season comes into play.

PHOTO COURTESY OF SCOTT BENJAMIN

A birds-eye view of the Eagle Pride Marching Band performing their show “We’re All Mad Here” at Superstate.

14

The Talon

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Winter guard prepares for exciting season

By LOGAN FRANDSEN

Staff Writer

As marching band season comes to a close, band and color guard members are beginning to prepare for the winter guard season. A winterguard show is a production thats created purely from elements relating to colorguard.

An exciting part of the winterguard season is the fact that the performance aspect is still retained, but there are also differences compared to the regular marching band season.

“Guard is what you see when we do our marching band shows; it’s the flags, it’s the rifles, it’s the sabres, it’s

the dancing, winterguard is just all that and it’s also all indoors,” said Sean McCormick, sophomore.

Band members, regular guard members, and students outside of marching band all try out for the two winter guard teams. Aiden Bretoi, sophomore, is a member of the low woodwinds section in marching band, but also participates in winterguard during the winter and spring.

“Winterguard is different in the sense of where marching band is very stiff and has very rigid motions, where in winterguard you have to be very fluid with your body and in your work,” Bretoi said.

There are also new opportunities becoming available

PHOTO COURTESY OF KELSEY MITCHELL

Winterguard students practice a toss as they begin to prepare for the upcoming season.

to winterguard this season.

“We are doing a new thing where we’re allowing 8th

“

Winterguard is different in the sense of where marching band is very stiff and very rigid motions.”

-Aiden Bretoi

graders within our school district to try out and I think that’s gonna be really cool,” said Kris Flanagan, senior.

People come to winterguard from many different

backgrounds, which shows that as long as you are interested, winterguard should be something you consider trying out for.

“I’ve had a background in gymnastics and stuff so it’s always been something I’ve done, and it gives you a new perspective,”McCormick said.

Winterguard is a vehicle that helps students finds their passion and channel it through performance. As this is Flanagan’s last season, he said he is excited and sad at the same time.

“When I perform I’m able to give all of myself that I can’t usually do in school or at home… I use all of my emotion and I put it into my performance,” Flanagan said.

PHOTO COURTESY OF KELSEY MITCHELL

As the sun sets, winter guard keeps on practicing for their new show, “You are never alone.”

Theater dives into their senior showcase “We ultimately chose this play, not just because our group is musically talented, but because we know we can put our full potential into it,” Bargen said.

This showcase will be good for the kids, because it is Disney, but the theatre department expects to see students as well. In the past, their audience have been mainly adults, but with “The Wedding Singer”, they had a lot of students in the audience.

“I expect to see a lot of kids since it is a disney play.

We will be having a meet and greet with this showcase, so they will be able to talk to the main cast members or anybody else,” said Mandy Moisoff.

Since most of the senior class has been together since freshman year, they have already created that bond that PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB

Moises Ramos sings “Under the Sea’”as Sebastian, as he dances next to Olivia Hsu, portraying Ariel.

By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

Rehearsing every day in class since the “Wedding Singer” musical, has really made an impact on how this year’s senior showcase will go.

The senior class theatre is performing ”The Little Mermaid” musical from Jan. 31 to Feb. 3. They started re-

hearsing for it in November, and held auditions.

“I think it will be really cool and one of the best shows we will have performed,” said Daniel Bargen, playing the role of Prince Eric.

With “The Wedding Singer”, since it wasn’t your ordinary broadway show, it attracted a lot of people, including students, and it made them realize what the theatre department is all about.

they need to perform plays and musicals together. They all know a lot about each other, and who would be perfect to play which part.

“I think this showcase will be fun, colorful and magical, especially since it is The Little Mermaid,” Moisoff said.

Olivia Hsu, will be casting the role of Ariel, given her musically talented ambitions, as well as every other cast member, including Moises Ramos, as Sebastian, Nick Leech, as King Triton and Lauren Coe as Ursula.

“

I think this showcase will be fun, colorful, and magical, especially since it is The Little Mermaid.”

-Mandy Moisoff

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB

Maddie Worley, Hailee Mills and Bryce Craig dances to ‘Under the Sea’.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

15

What a Movie Mark: The Disaster Artist is a triumph

By TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Copy Chief

DISCLAIMER: Disaster Artist is rated R. You must be 17 years or older, or accompanied by a guardian in order to view it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to see this movie illegally or without a guardian.

It’s been 14 years since the epic tragedy of Johnny, Lisa and Mark hit theaters in the form of “The Room”, and now audiences finally get to see how this monumental piece of film was put together. With “The Disaster Artist”, everyone may finally learn the origins of the legendary quotes “Hi doggy”, “Oh hai Mark” and “You’re tearing me apart, Lisa!”

“The Disaster Artist” is directed by James Franco who also stars as Tommy Wiseau, director and star of “The Room”, a film notorious for how terrible it is. The movie portrays the true story of how this awful film got made at the hand of Wiseau and his friend, Greg Sestero, played

by Dave Franco. The film goes in depth on Wiseau’s mysterious and eccentric personality which ultimately leads to the failure of the movie as a whole.

These traits and the quality of “The Room” have made Wiseau iconic on the internet, so the movie could’ve taken the obvious route of just making a silly comedy that continues jokes about him, however it takes a much

smarter, more mature approach. The movie instead finds a perfect balance of humanizing Wiseau while also simply having fun with his strange personality.

Because of this smart approach, “The Disaster Artist” is one of the year’s best films.

The movie most definitely is hilarious with its portrayal of Wiseau and the real antics he caused during the making of “The Room”, and explanations to iconic moments such as “Oh hai Mark”, and Lisa’s mother’s breast cancer are all there. However, despite not knowing his age, nationality, or where he got all his money, the movie portrays Wiseau as a human.

Wiseau is eccentric, ignorant and a little arrogant, but at his heart, he is a dreamer.

Wiseau is not afraid to reach for the stars, and he has no fear in doing so, even if it means doing things that aren’t deemed logical or sane by society. Wiseau puts himself and his dream of being an actor out there for everyone to see.

This allows him to bond with the more sensible Greg Sestero at the beginning, as he is a more constrained person who opens up with his acting abilities after seeing how much Wiseau puts into his acting. The two have a poignant friendship, and despite severe ups and downs they have, they both want each other to succeed and make it big.

Seeing the movie being

made and explanations for certain awful scenes was magical, and will please any member of the cult following “The Room” has garnered, however you don’t have to know everything about the original movie to enjoy these scenes. Franco and the writers do a great job of including people who don’t know much about “The Room” in on the jokes as well, by properly developing Wiseau throughout the movie and building up every iconic line to be just as funny to newcomers.

Franco gives his all to portray Wiseau and captures every mannerism and action of his perfectly. Franco isn’t just doing a funny impression of Wiseau, he actually clearly knew the person he was portraying and encapsulated every emotion a man like this

POSTER COURTESY OF A24 would experience.

The rest of the cast is likable and funny enough, but Franco’s performance is clearly the one the film rests on to stay standing. The movie, while being hilarious, has plenty to say about people who dream big in Hollywood or life in general. Society as a whole made fun of Wiseau for dreaming too big and being too eccentric and ambitious, however the film doesn’t portray those as negative traits.

Everybody has a dream in their life, and Wiseau happens to be the most relentless in achieving that dream, and Franco as both an actor and director focused on this aspect of his character to make this a very real and relatable story, as crazy of a story it is.

“The Room” was unde-

niably a disaster from the result of a man who simply reached too far, however by the end of the story did everyone involved with it really turn out all that bad?

This is a key question by the end of the movie, where it doesn’t take a sad approach of Wiseau being humiliated for his horrible movie, but instead takes a more optimistic route of: Maybe he did make it somewhere after all. Even if he didn’t hit the stars he was reaching for, he still might have touched the sky, which is a touching sentiment to dreaming big that will hit home for anybody in his position.

“The Disaster Artist” is a hilarious and touching love letter to people with dreams, and shows the silver linings that exist for the dreamers who maybe don’t have everything work out for them 100% how they envisioned.

Anybody who wants to make it big in Hollywood, or anybody who simply has big dreams in life in general can laugh and be inspired by the struggles that emerged while making “The Room”.

If you are someone who wants to laugh while also take new inspiration on how to dream while still staying true to yourself, then you should book a ticket for “The Disaster Artist” right now, because this is a film that you’ll remember long after seeing it. And when you do, be sure to stay after the credits.

Lady Bird flies far above high expectations

By KASEY CROSS

Staff Writer

DISCLAIMER: Lady Bird is rated R. You must be 17 years or older, or accompanied by a guardian in order to view it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to see this movie illegally or without a guardian.

When movies come out over the course of a year, it’s obvious after a while what

the storytellers of Hollywood wanted to do. To get a laugh, to make a beautiful looking film, to excite you, to scare you, or maybe just to make money. “Lady Bird” is the first movie in a long time that has stuck with audiences everywhere. It breaks your heart, makes you think, and will make you text your mother to tell her how much you love her, minutes after getting out of the theater.

POSTER COURTESY OF A24

“Lady Bird” is a drama-comedy about high school senior, Catherine “Lady Bird” McPherson, played

by Saoirse Ronan, and the events that take place in one of the most emotional years of a teenager’s life. It’s one the most highly-rated films on acclaimed movie review site, Rotten Tomatoes. It remained at a score of 100%, the highest score on the site yet, for a month, before only recently being knocked down to 99%.

Over the course of the story, Lady Bird is subject to the turmoil of trying to find herself and where others fit in her life. She wants more.

When others don’t believe much of her, she challenges it. But along the way she damages her relationships with others, and loses parts of herself she thinks she can never get back.

Lady Bird has a turbulent relationship with her mother Marion McPherson, played

by Laurie Metcalf. Their relationship is the main focus of the story, and the main reason Lady Bird is so determined to prove herself. Marion and Lady Bird are so similar, that it is a constant butting of heads between them. They

are both extremely loving and emotional characters, but they both fail to see the damage they are doing to one another with their fighting words.

This movie would not have been the same if not for these two beautifully well-developed characters, or the actresses portraying them.

Ronan and Metcalf have such energy that transformed a coming of age story of a modern teenage girl into one of the most heart wrenching and relatable movies in the genre. It’s difficult to put a finger on the pure love and frustration that comes out of a relationship of a parent and a child, and these two women nailed it perfectly.

One of the most unsuspecting and heart wrenching performances, was that of Lucas Hedges, portraying Danny O’Neill, a traditional Irish-Catholic teenage boy, Lady Bird’s first love interest.

O’Neill is kind and naive, and he and Lady Bird share a short and sweet relationship, leading to her spending Thanksgiving with his family. Their relationship ends abruptly, however, after Lady Bird finds O’Neill kissing an unnamed male character in

the bathroom of a diner.

O’Neill later confronts Lady Bird to apologize and express his grief about having to come out to his family and keeping it a secret for the time being. He falls apart and sobs while Lady Bird has trouble keeping him up.

The worst part of this scene is that it wouldn’t be far off from reality. This story takes place in 2002, the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy was in place, as well as this still being a time when gay marriage was illegal. Children are still shut out from their families for coming out as LGBT+.

For many people, this scene could be reality, and it was reality for a long time.

The story of this film, is normal. Everyone watching can relate to something.

There are no fighting monsters or overcoming large obstacles. It barely has a happy ending. That’s the most important part of this movie. It’s completely usual and painful but will touch you and make you cry your eyes out. Lady Bird is a extremely well made testament to how beautifully ugly growing up is, and I recommend it to anyone.

16

The Talon

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

“Assassin’s Creed: Origins” opens new windows for virtual adventure

By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor

DISCLAIMER: Assassin’s Creed: Origins is rated M for Mature. You must be 17 years or older, or have the permission of a guardian to play it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to obtain the game without permission.

Secret societies, mystical ancient artifacts, and exploring unknown landswhat more could you want in a video game? Luckily, the new “Assassin’s Creed” has all of that.

The latest installment of the “Assassin’s Creed” video game franchise, “Assassin’s Creed: Origins” was released Oct 27, two years after its predecessor.

“Assassin’s Creed” has been an ongoing video game series since their debut in 2007 with a video game with the same namesake. Since then, the franchise has released 15 games in total, but only nine of them follow the main storyline while the others are additional side stories.

The whole series primarily follows the rivalry between two ancient secret societies, the Assassins and the Knights Templar, and their quests to attain certain ancient artifacts that hold unknown amounts of power.

Rather than being entirely submerged into the time period from which the games are mostly set in, the games add a twist in that the ancient settings and environments the player is venturing around are actually more so memories of the protagonist’s ancestors that are achieved through a virtual simulation.

The real-world setting of the plot is actually in present-day and revolves around Abstergo Industries, the modern-day adaptation of the Knights Templar, and their secret device that allows its user to experience the memories of their ancestors.

With this device, named the “Animus”, Abstergo basically kidnap people who are suspected descendants of those who have come across or even interacted with the relics they are searching for.

“Origins” serves as the series’ prequel and analyzes a bit more deeply the origins, hence the game’s title, of the centuries-long conflict between the Assassins and the Templar Order, though the antagonist order in this game specifically is the precursor of the Templar Order.

Since the franchise spans a decade, comparing “Origins” to its forerunners show major improvements.

Compared to the first game the franchise has ever

released, the graphics for “Origins” are definitely more detailed and provide a more clear, focused landscape for which the game is set in. The animation for the scenery is also more open and less suffocating, compared to the more urban settings the previous games leaned towards.

With the more open space “Origins” is set in, it feels more loose and seems more appropriate for the assassin-protagonist concept, considering an assassin’s need for subtlety and low number of witnesses to the crime.

Of course at the time of its debut, the graphics for “Assassin’s Creed” were advanced and the concept of the plot that the franchise revolves around, mainly the stealth adventure prospect of it, was fairly new to audiences.

Gameplay has also improved immensely from previous games, mostly on combat. Combat in “Origins” is more of a free-for-all, with whatever weapon the player is holding hitting anything in its range allowing for more variations in combat outcomes, which is a step up from the predetermined animations and calculated combat movements the other games provided.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ASSASSIN’S CREED Assassin’s Creed: Origins official cover for the video game released in 2017 In addition to the combat the same as it was for the improvements, arena past eight games, the switch fights separate from the to a more open, both spacenarrative of the storyline wise and culture wise, was a were introduced and the refreshing idea in itself. opportunity for the player This recent installment of to simply explore the world the “Assassin’s Creed” games of the game without the kept many of the same need to check off objectives aspects that popularized or engage in combat has “Assassin’s Creed”, down to been announced for a future the smallest technological update for the game itself. bugs, and then built on those “Origins” has, so far, foundations and upped their been received as one of the graphics and interactivity. It best games in the franchise was a great addition to the, and the game itself proved seemingly, still ongoing series to be worthy of those and is definitely a beautiful reactions. Though most of mystic adventure game to the gameplay is undoubtedly immerse yourself into.

The Evolution of Games: How updates make games

By CHRIS BONIFAZ

Staff Writer

DISCLAIMER: Rainbow Six Siege is rated M for Mature. You must be 17 years or older, or have the permission of a guardian to play it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to obtain the game without permission.

Have you ever played a game and thought, how could this get any better? Have you ever thought a game was lacking and needed more?

Over the years games have had the base content that you play originally, and then later on in its life it gets more content or an update.

Updates for every game

are different based on either how popular or old the game is or how much effort the developers are willing to give the game.

Developers specifically are very big components of games and can trump any other factors of a game if they are passionate enough about it.

For example, Rainbow Six Siege is a game that will be three years old in 2018 and it still has regular updates that bring a lot to the gaming experience overall.

The last update of year 2 on Dec. 5, White Noise, was the latest update for the game bringing three new characters to the game, fixes for glitches, and a function to report someone for bad

behavior.

This is a huge thing to happen for a game that is almost three years old. Games usually only last a year before interest is either completely lost or the developers don’t release any more for the game.

While two out of the three characters have been received well the sore thumb was Vigil who is known as the least useful character they have released so far.

While the updates are not perfect it is still amazing that they put in the time to create new content for the loyal fans who love the game.

While triple A games like RS6 have big teams that can work on huge updates,

smaller early access games like Fortnite and Battlegrounds have smaller teams that put out as much content as they can manage.

Fortnite, specifically battle royale, has been releasing tiny chunks of content every week. Recently on Dec. 7th a whole new game mode was released and more content is still getting released every week since then.

While fully fleshed out updates are nice sometimes a simple holiday update is a nice change in aesthetic for the game itself.

Call of Duty: World War 2 had a Winter update, Dec. 8, to celebrate the holidays that come with the winter season. They added some

new weapons and changed the headquarters to a kind of Christmas theme and added a snow globe that you could toss around.

Overwatch will also be coming out with a winter wonderland update on Dec.12. They had done the same thing last year around this time of year.

Overall video games have a varying amount of dedication and following that judge what the future of the game will be. From the blood, sweat, and tears the developers put into the game they love and the followers who are anticipating their favorite games next big move, updates will break or make the game's future.

Rolling in with the new Call of Duty: World War II

By KATIE CACCAVALE

Staff Writer

DISCLAIMER: Call of Duty: World War II is rated M for Mature. You must be 17 years or older, or have the permission of a guardian to play it. The Talon does NOT encourage underage students to obtain the game without permission.

Since October 29, 2003, many gamers have been in love with the series Call of Duty games, and now they have brought a new addition,

Call of Duty: World War II. This game can be played on either a Playstation 4, Xbox One, or computer.

Call of Duty has been getting better with the content, visuals, topics, situations, and graphics, looking even more real.

SledgeHammer Games and Activision have come a long way from their old video games to their new ones.

When you first start downloading the game, for me on my Xbox one, it took a very long time to download.

When I saw I was able to start playing, I then had to wait even longer for the content to download for each category.

To me the downloading process was very long, but worth it when I was able to play. The game and people looked real, to an extent.

There are some major differences compared to the recent Call of Duty games single player.

In World War 2 you are given first aid kits which you can hold four of, but in the past games you just get your

health back automatically.

The weapons are a lot different as they are based off the ones used in the war. However, you are given soldiers around you that you can command who carry ammo, grenades, and first aid kits to provide assistance.

Also, WWII has a new nazi zombies game mode.

It starts off like any other zombie game from Call of Duty, there are waves. And everytime you kill a zombie, you gain jolts or points that you can buy or unlock things

with.

I have always loved the Call of Duty series, especially the new campaign plots and new maps for the multiplayer/ single player games. In the beginning the wait to play made me slightly mad and impatient, but once I saw the intro to the campaign I knew that it was worth the wait.

All the ads and trailers had it right, it is a great game. This will definitely be the game that I will be playing over and over again until the next Call of Duty comes out.

Sports 4

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Page 17

Girls basketball bounces towards victory

By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor

Varsity

Winter sports have shown to be fruitful so far this season and girls basketball has proved themselves to have a winning streak thus far. With all teams combined to have 16 wins and only five losses, they are striving to make the best out of this season.

“We’re hoping to have just a really strong season beating most of our region teams so that we can hopefully get in one of the top 10 spots for state,” said Grace Lyons, senior.

The girls came out on top of their first game against Tolleson high school with a 55-34 win and have been on a winning streak ever since.

“We have beaten every team so far by at least 15 [points] so it’s a really strong

start for us,” Lyons said.

After each game, the girls continue to work hard and as a team to achieve their goals.

“We’re getting better working with each other and just at everyone working together more and more each game,” said Mary Groff, junior.

The Eagles currently stand at a record of 6-1, just proving how much work they have put in pre-season and during.

Their next home game is against Pinnacle, on Jan. 12.

JV JV also started their season off strong with a win against Tolleson 44-21.

They then proceeded to win their next game against Copper Canyon high school 49-18, then lost their third game to Desert Vista 33-37, but have since won their last two games against Westwood

PHOTO BY CHRIS BONIFAZ Girls basketball wins against Mountain Ridge, scoring 66-60.

PHOTO BY CHRIS BONIFAZ During their game against Mountain Ridge on Dec. 12, the girls huddled together to discuss their game plan with their coach. and Desert Ridge 45-25 and 50-27 respectively.

“I just want this season to be more fun than anything because it’s really tiring being on both [varsity and JV],” Groff said.

Hopes are high for this season and the team continues to uphold those hopes by improving as a team and a family.

“My goal is to just become a better player and teammate overall, and not just on the court but also off the court,” said Mary Groff, junior.

The teams current record is 5-2.

Freshmen The Eagles, with only one loss so far under their belt, continue to strive for more wins than losses this season under the mentorships of their fellow upperclassmen teammates.

“A few of us on the freshman team have all kind of bonded with some of the older girls pretty fast and we play very well together,” said Reca Sanchez, freshman.

The girls are working hard

to maintain their winning streak and grow as a team to achieve their goal of making it to playoffs.

“I want to be able to win all of our games, and we’ve only lost once, so I’m hoping to keep it that way,” Sanchez said.

Along with JV, the freshmen teams record is 5-2. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, scores for the Dobson and Boulder Creek games can be found on aia365.com

Speed and agility training helps OHS athletes

By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL JOHN WOODS, SENIOR, PRACTICES JUMPING DURING PRACTICE ON DEC. 13.

Every sport requires dedication and hard work, talented athletes are not born overnight. Just like everything in life, hard work and practice is what’s needed to excel in a sport.

In early November, performance training began to help improve athlete’s’ speed and agility for their desired sport.

Ran by Grant Parham, he is determined to help student athletes and anyone in general who may want to work on their cardio.

“There are running mechanics to getting quicker and faster and that’s what I teach. There is multiple mechanics to be successful as an athlete,” Parham said.

Parham has experience training professional athletes and does everything he can to help his students achieve their goals.

Students can look forward to advancing their footwork, cutting down their running times and spending time in the weight room.

“From when I first started freshmen year, I used to run with my legs behind me. Af-

ter doing sprints and working harder, my times have dropped. I don’t run with my legs behind me anymore and my asthma has gotten a lot better,” said Brianna Clark, junior.

The purpose of this training is not only to improve speed and agility, but to bring the skills learned and apply them to their sports team.

“There’s more kids here that have a ton of talent, that people don’t know about,” Parham said.

For Track specifically, these athletes begin training for their events as the season

closes in.

“We start working on our events and focusing on our individual events. We aren’t focusing so much on conditioning. We work on fast sprints, long distance, and longer sprints depending on what you do,” Clark said.

If any student is looking to improve their running, then participating in this conditioning is highly recommended.

“Whatever sport you do, it will benefit you,” Parham said.

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL MEGAN BROCK, JUNIOR, SPENDS THE AFTERNOON TRAINING WITH HER TEAMMATES

18

The Talon

December 2017

thetalonohs.com

Girls soccer soars into a brand new season

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL Girls soccer practices after school to prepare for their future games.

Prior to their first game

By EMILIE REID and practices, the team took Arts and Entertainment Editor some time to bond and get to know each other in order to Varsity The Varsity Lady Eagles be more gelled during games.

Breea Kindred, sophomore, have had four games so far plays center midfield and has in the season, with two wins attended the team bonding and two losses. trip to Flagstaff and can Seeing as the season has see where the team needs to just began, the team of 22 improve. girls is still adjusting to each “I think we need to improve other and learning how to on working as a team more. work together on the field.

We are starting to connect better with each other, but there is still room for improvement,” Kindred said.

A large part of connecting on the field is not only getting to know your teammates, but how they play the game.

Kindred understands this and is working towards getting to know each of the girls playing styles in order to further improve herself and the team.

An overall goal of the team this season is to win 8 games and beat Ridge, but a goal of Kindred’s is a bit more personal.

“This season I would definitely like to letter.

Getting my letterman’s jacket

has been a big goal of mine.

I would also like to start as many games as possible and contribute a lot to my team. I want to make a difference on the field,” Kindred said.

JV Right out of the gate, the JV team has been successful and taken the field with vengeance.

Winning their first game 13-0 and their second 4-1, as well as their third 1-0, they seem to have a successful season ahead of them.

However, the team still needs to improve upon certain aspects that will further their success as the games come and go.

Kodi Vandyke, freshman, is

new to the team this year and plays outside forward.

“We need to improve on our communication. More team bonding so we grow closer would help us play closer on the field,” Vandyke said.

Of course, personal goals are key in team sports, and are important just like the goals teams set for their overall season.

“I want to be more confident with shooting the ball and taking one on ones.

If I can I would like to get my letterman jacket,” Vandyke said. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, scores for the Copper Canyon games can be found on aia365.com

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL JV and varsity soccer practice together and improve their skills, such as goalkeeping and scoring.

Wrestling pins down opponents for the win

By KENDALL DEAL

Staff Writer

Wrestling has high hopes for the 2017-18 season, having already won their first few matches, breaking their 14-17 place streak of the past few years.

The dedication of the team can be seen in their countless hours of practice and commitment to the sport.

Whether joining because of family legacy or to help with other sports, each member is as devoted as the next.

“You have to push yourself, it’s not an easy sport. It’s one of the hardest there is and you can’t go in thinking you’re going to give fifty percent. You have to go in and give one hundred percent every day,” said Clarence Hamilton IV, junior.

Wrestling is a sport of

mental agility and endurance.

Believing is half the battle.

“I just need to get it into my head that I already did all the work, I’ve been wrestling for so many years and nobody’s put in as much work as I have,” said Jacob Correa, junior.

Though diet is not regulated by the coaches, often times before meets competitors have to cut weight. Starting a few days prior players begin to slow their food and water intake.

“I know that a lot of the other wrestlers have strict diets, to keep weight, they also cut back before meets, some guys don’t eat the day of to make weight,” said Alexander Niederhaus, junior. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, results from the Moon Valley Invitational can be found on aia365.com

PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL PHOTO BY KENDALL DEAL Coaches cheer on their students as they exceed during their meet on Nov. 29.

Shaikim Medlin, junior, works on taking down his opponent from Valley Vista on Nov. 29, as he is cheered on by others.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

December 2017

19

Boys soccer kick off the season surpassing all

By SADRAC RAINEY

Staff Writer

Varsity

To have hope is nothing special. Any group, team, or even person can have it; it is too common of a resource for anyone to care. Yet it suddenly becomes everything when the team has real discernible talent, when they possess real abilities in their passion.

The OHS Eagles are in a good place when it comes to soccer; with a single win with Mesa, and an impressive tie with Corona, it shows our ability as a school to foster such teamwork to overcome the adversity of such adept teams.

“We are exactly where we want to be, Corona and Mesa are really good teams. And we got four points off in the first week. We’re doing great we still have ten games, we out started right now we just have to finish strong,” Said Rahul Javangula, senior.

Going to state and winning is not something many claim to be certain so early on in the season,but with dedication to smaller goals in mind, the idea becomes easier to manage. RJ explains the

many variables that go into the hard work that is varsity soccer “Going to the gym, because I haven’t played in a year and a half, and making sure I’m in shape. Eating right, cutting down on coffee, sleeping right, and doing well in school as that reflects on the field as well, just taking care of all the little things,” Javangula said But that doesn’t mean that people don’t want to improve their chance at success, as peak condition is one of the most important things to an athlete.

Nick Dusza, senior, is one such student who tries to be better at the sport and apply the same learning and discipline to daily life; he has a familial bond with his team to make his corrections successful. Dusza implies that it isn’t always easy, but it is always rewarding.

“Working hard everyday, doing what coach says. It’s like a brotherhood we all trust each other we’re all good friends,” Dusza said.

Like others on his team, Dusza tries his hardest on the field to be the best he can be off the field as well.

“I’d like to step up and be

a leader this year, I’m going to try and go for captain, our team goal is to make it to state,” Dusza said.

This coincides with the team’s efforts as a whole to be inclusive of people within their influence, to make everyone feel welcome, including the freshman that wound up on varsity.

“We bring him in, there’s no rule with freshman playing. We’re all friends, we try to be leaders but he’s definitely equal to us, he’s getting playing time,” Will Harris said.

And even though the Eagles have an impressive lead, 2-01, in many aspects of their team, it is still anyone’s real guess as who will be going to state.

JV

JV has met a similar reception as of late. Their record matches very close to that of varsity 1-2-0, meaning both teams are outperforming almost any and everyone’s expectations.

Including the other teams.

“Everyone on the team gets along really well, we’ve one one game and tied another,

we can work on some different things but we’re good enough to have a winning season,” Said Chase Toncheff, junior.

While JV hasn’t done its best it and Varsity have went the extra mile for the beginning of the season.

While every other team assumes this is a marathon the Eagles say its a sprint, and they’re putting their all in it. *Due to The Talon going to the printer, scores for the Copper Canyon games can be found on aia365.com

PHOTOT BY SADRAC RAINEY Boys soccer fights for the win against Tucson badgers on Dec. 8.

Boys basketball dribbles toward a win

By KENDALL DEAL

Staff Writer

Varsity

Boys Basketball is a staple winter sport at OHS, with three teams; freshman, JV, and Varsity.

Though the season began similarly to last year’s season, the team is hopeful in making it to the playoffs this year. The team’s record is currently 4:1.

“Our goals this season are to play all year, and make it

into like deep into the season and deep into the playoffs were trying to do something big this year,” said Chase Morley, junior.

They have been practicing and training for the season for weeks, bringing the team closer together. The team’s chemistry has allowed for better plays.

“We play really well together, and I feel like we all have fun,” said Justin Bailey, junior.

The boys are supportive

teammates towards each other, creating a sense of family.

“Last game we played TJ hit a game winner; we won by two because of it,” Morley said.

Some players started their final high school season, which gives them a chance to reminisce on the memories created playing basketball.

“Definitely the road trips we’ve had, driving to california, and just being with my teammates,” said TJ

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB TJ Connaker shoots a basket during the game against Pinnacle on Dec. 14 Connaker, senior.

The next game will be December 20 against Copper Canyon.

JV

PHOTO BY ALEC CHONG Varisty boys basketball stratigizes for the win against Desert Ridge on Friday Dec. 8

The JV team has been working harder than ever, on and off the court to play well this year. The team began the season with a win against Tolleson Union, scoring 6450. The team’s record is currently 4:2.

“One of our goals originally was to go undefeated, but we lost, so now just having a better record then we did last year as a freshman team,” said Jacob Koski, sophomore.

The team has been putting in the extra hours to make that goal a reality, their next game is December 20, against Copper Canyon.

Freshmen

The freshmen team are starting their first high school

basketball season well, with a record of 4:2. Their first win against Tolleson Union, with a score of 75-47. Followed by two more wins against Westwood and Dobson.

The team has been more dedicated than before, trying to set a good record and to play with the team’s strengths.

“We’ve been good at moving the ball a lot, and taking and making wide open shots,” said Ashton Debry, freshmen.

Ashton Derby also adding, “ Don’t give up, when you go to practice don’t think it all just for fun, because practice does make you better.”

The next game is on Dec. 20, against Copper Canyon.

*Due to The Talon going to the printer, scores for the Copper Canyon games can be found on

aia365.com