The Talon Volume 15 Issue 2 December 2016

Sandra Day O’Connor High School

25250 N. 35th Ave. Phoenix, AZ 85083

Volume 15. Issue 2. December 2016

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Stugo store comes to an end By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor

Column story

OC Fall Sports Standuts Page 19 Photo Courtesy of AZ Central

Once Upon a Mattress Review Page 15

Pages 10 - 11 Arizona votes to increase minimum wage Art by Kasey Cross

By ETHAN GILCHRIST

Managing Editor

Minimum wage jobs are common amongst upperclassmen across campus. The Arizona minimum wage will be increasing 50% to $12 by 2020. This significant change is guaranteed to affect the economy and many students and teachers have worries and hopes for it. On Nov. 8, 2016 Ariz. passed Proposition 206 with 418,694 more votes for yes. The proposition will increase minimum wage to $10 next year and then incrementally increase to $12 by 2020. It will also guarantee paid sick time to employees. “Overall I wish it didn’t pass because, yeah, I’m making money right now and even though I’m making more money everything else is going to cost more. It’s pointless,” said Israel Mock, junior and employee at Chick-Fil-A.

“By the time I get older, money’s going to be even less valuable than what it is [now].” Mock will see no effect on his job other than the wage increase and does not take sick days. Aileen Cortez, senior and shift leader at Papa Murphy’s, didn’t want Prop 206 to pass either but has different feelings on sick days. “I think paid sick time is great because you know things happen and it really affects you and your family when you have to miss days because you’re sick,” Cortez said. Not all students are keen on the negatives, and Isabella Wagner, junior and IHOP server, said the proposition “means a lot.” “I’m going to get paid more and it’s going to be a lot easier for me to pay for my own stuff like car insurance,” Wagner said. There is no guarantee as to what the effect on the economy will be, but Cor-

Photo by Travis Roberstson

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Aileen Cortez, senior and shift leader at Papa Murphy’s, gets ready to wrap a pizza and give the customer step by step directions on baking.

tez said small businesses may not be able to handle the new cost and has already seen the effect on her own wage. “I will be making more money, but I just got a raise recently. My boss will not be adding my raise onto my $10 an hour,” Cortez said. Government and Eco-

nomics teachers weigh in on Prop 206 Richard Weyker, Economic and Government teacher, provided his perspective on what this means for students. “It means that for some students they’ll receive higher wages for entry level jobs and for some Jump to Page 5

The Stugo store is one of OHS’s signature spots as it provides items that appeal to the students such as snacks and an array of school-spirited merchandise, but this year the store is being closed. The store had opened late, allowing students to come in starting at the beginning of November, only to be shut down just a little more than a month later. “We weren’t really sure if we were going to have it again because of problems like miscommunications with admin about stuff,” said Demi Hulsebus, sophomore Stugo member, “so we had to figure out what we could have in the store and what times we could have it open.” The Stugo store had also sold candies and many unhealthy snacks, which soon became popular among students but a problem with the administrators. “Last year, we were allowed to sell not school-approved items but this year we have to use all school-approved items,” said Baylor Gibbs, junior and Stugo treasurer, “They’re not exactly bad food but they’re basically the same stuff the cafeteria sells.” Aside from the issues with what was being sold, the times of when the store was going to open was a problem. “Last year we were open during [both] lunches which was very successful because everyone would come in and get food but they [admin] didn’t want us competing with the cafeteria so we were only allowed to open in the morning,” Gibbs said. As the store is not getting as much profit as it did last year, the descicion has come to a close and there will be no Stugo store for the 2016-2017 school year.

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Election sets path for Republican progress

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHIP SOMODEVILLA Donald Trump, Presidnet-elect of The Unites States of America speaks to his supporters in New York after Hillary Clinton concedes the race on Nov. 9, 2016. will go or be a shell of what By TRAVIS ROBERTSON didn't spend as much time Since Republicans have it was. I don't know if it's Copy Chief and Editorial Chief in those swing states think- the executive branch and going to be up to the states ing she had it in the bag, and Congress, it is likely Anfor bringing in the refugees, The 2016 presidential I think he was there all the tonin Scalia, deceased Suwith the majority in Conelection was held Nov. 8, and time;, he was on the ground preme Court Justice, will be gress, the Supreme Court, Donald Trump, Republican talking to voters," said Em- replaced with a Republican, and in the White House it's tipping the balance to them. nominee, was declared the ily Burns, senior. quite different than what a Uriah Cross, US histoCross said because of this, winner as well as Republigreat number of people like cans keeping their majority ry teacher, said Clinton did Bernie fans and the younger not have the same appeal as He’s just in the House and Senate. millennials really wanted." Trump won with a count Trump did. The Democrats now will somebody "The Democrats ran on of 306-232 electoral votes; not hold much power in the however, Hillary Clinton, the same thing they've alnew; he had three branches of governDemocratic nominee, won ways been doing with Hilment, so Cross said their lary Clinton who has been in the loudest the popular vote. best course of action would Pollsters such as politics for so long. I think be to look to the future. voice.” FiveThirtyEight and news people did want something "They're in a situation -Uriah Cross outlets such as NBC and fresh. It's obvious they did where they don't have power ABC projected Clinton want something fresh with right now and they should many of Obama's progressive would win the electoral col- Donald Trump. He's just probably reflect on why they lege; however, this wasn't the somebody new; he had the policies will be undone. don't have power and apply loudest voice. He was say"(They will undo) as case. that to the 2018 congressioing what the people wantmuch as they can," Cross said, "I think the Clinton camnal cycle and so on and so "The Affordable Care Act paign got a little cocky and ed," Cross said. forth," Cross said.

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As president, students say Trump will stand out from the past forty-four because of his lack of political experience. "He's outside of the typical norm; whereas, he's going to build a cabinet of people who are in the norm because he needs them He's just not the typical guy you'd see ascend to the presidency, especially in this day and age," said Chase Gordon, senior. Gordon also said Trump holds Liberal positions, particularly regarding trade deals and tariffs, that could potentially give him mixed relationships with both parties. Although Burns does not like Trump or his policies, she is going into his presidency with an open-mind. "Personally I'm not a huge fan of Trump, however come his inauguration I'm going to give him a clean slate, so I'm obviously not going to hope for him to do something bad, because I want him to succeed and I want our country to succeed," Burns said. Gordon urges both sides of the campus that no matter what happens in the next four years, to keep an open mind. "My only caution to the campus is, as a people, respect each other's decisions," Gordon said. "If you don't have an opinion or you're still trying to form an opinion, before you say that someone's wrong, spend some time researching what you truly believe, not what you hear before you discredit somebody.”

Athletics department adds historic display By ALEXA FUENMAYOR

Editor-in-Chief

Students who have been in the gym lobby in recent months have seen a new addition to OHS. Plaques of the first inductees of a new athletic hall of fame are being displayed. The decision to create the hall of fame came from seeing other programs building one. “There needed to be something that displayed our history,” said Chandler Evans, athletic director. A committee for the hall of fame was established including Evans, Jeff Baumgartner, health teacher and baseball coach, Melissa Hobson, softball coach, Mike Cornish, former OHS athletic director, Paula Cappelletti, badminton coach and Brian Beltramo, a member of the community. The committee then established requirements for a nomination. Individual nomination criteria includes

PHOTO BY ALEXA FUENMAYOR. The 2016 inductee plaques are hanging in the gymnasium lobby underneath the new hall of fame display next to the doors. being a state runner up or higher for two years, being in good standing with the school, attending OHS from at least their junior year on and being removed from their title for seven years. Team criteria includes being a state

championship team and being removed 10 years. After putting it out on the athletic department’s website, Facebook and Twitter, 10 nominations were obtained and the committee selected seven to be the first

induction class. The class of 2016 inductees included Mike Cornish, OHS athletic director from 2002-2013, Brian Dempsey, head girls’ cross country coach from 2002-2011, Ben Santerre, OHS sprinter from

2002-2005, Bryan McBride high jumper from 2006-2010, Lindsay Prescot, OHS cross country and track athlete from 2004-2008 and the 2006 girls’ cross country team and the 2007 girls’ country team. On Oct. 21, a small ceremonial dinner was held in the lobby honoring the first inductees. Moving forward, Evans would like the ceremony to outgrow its lobby venue and make it a more formal event where tickets can be sold. “We would like it to be as big as possible,” Evans said. Nominations for next year are already being asked for and the committee is planning on meeting in January to start planning. Evans hopes the display will inspire current athletes at OHS. “When people look at thier accomplishments, they’re going to really think ‘Man, is that something I would ever be able to do,’” Evans said.

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Putting a face to the name: ROTC

By SETH MOLLER

Video Producer

High school students search for meaning; they search for it in exclusive friend groups, clubs, or the promise of a brighter future. Students in ROTC would claim that they have found what many people search for, community. “I think that’s how it’s helped me,” said Alesha Hunsaker, senior, “being able to interact with people on a regular basis and not having to worry about them judging me.” It is vital for students to have this support and acceptance, especially as freshman enter into high school. Sean Piehel, sophomore, joined ROTC this fall semester, as his previous school would not enroll freshman to the class. “I would never give ROTC up. I just couldn’t,” Piehel said. Ideas like this permeate the mindset of ROTC students; the program proves to be an inclusive, supportive community for the students

who search for it. Friendships are strengthened, identities are uncovered, and character sharpened. “If you’re looking for our mission, we’re not a recruiter, we’re not recruiting anybody

Regardless of any kind of paradigm that ROTC may fit into, Hunsaker cannot deny the impact it has had on her life, as she speaks for many who have gone through the program before her, “It’s

doing a good job, and informing you if you’re doing bad. But not just if you’re doing bad, but what you can do better.” This may truly come as a surprise to any person who

PHOTO BY SETH MOLLER Third hour ROTC Bravo Flight class learns map orientation from Lieutenant Colonel Simmons. for the military,” Hunsaker made it a lot easier to develop perceives the uniform wearsaid, “It is to develop citizen- my self confidence, especial- ing students as future milship, awareness, and the abil- ly because the instructors are itary officers or something ity to work with others.” big on telling you if you’re alike. The class seems to

December 2016

be much closer to a science class than a military training course, as students learn about space, and orbits, and satellites as much as they learn about leadership. According to Lt. Col. Simmons, community service is one of the most important facets of the class, praising his cadets for the close attention to volunteer work, “Cadets are required to get a minimum of 10 hours per semester, but a lot of our cadets will get over 100 in a year, which is quite good.” Lt. Col. Simmons said of the beneficial qualities brought by volunteer work, “By doing things for others, it makes [the students] feel better about themselves, but they can also see how much it is appreciated.” ROTC at OHS, known as AZ20064, has been recognized by their headquarters the last two years for being in the top five percent of all ROTC programs in terms of volunteer hours. With thousands of programs worldwide, this is truly an accomplishment to be proud of.

Football coach leaves behind legacy

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON John Rodriguez coaches his players, including Eric Unverferth, senior, Dylan Lepick, junior, Sam Specht, junior, and Dominic Alvarado, sophomore during a timeout. ball scholarship, Rodriguez By ALEXA FUENMAYOR “I wanted to help kids cipal at Bradshaw Mountain, Editor-in-Chief attended Scottsdale Com- experience some of the great Dr. Anderson, became the munity College during his things about the game that principal at OHS and when After eight years with 41 freshman year of college. AfI got to experience,” Rodri- the head football coach job at wins, 43 losses and four play- ter transferring to Glendale guez said. OHS became available, Rooff berths, John Rodriguez, Community College, RodriAfter spending a year at driguez threw his name in the head football coach is step- guez blew out his knee. Paradise Valley, Rodriguez hat and got the job. ping down. “That kind of ended my coached at various schools inWithin the first two years Rodriguez started his playing days,” Rodriguez cluding St. Mary’s, Glendale of being here, Rodriguez football career as a multi- said. Community College, Brad- turned the losing program sport athlete at St. Mary’s Rodriguez began his shaw Mountain High School, around with back to back rehigh school. Besides playing coaching career after being Agua Fria High School, New gional titles and an undefeatquarterback and defensive given a job on varsity at ParMexico Highlands Univer- ed season in 2010. back in football, Rodriguez adise Valley High School afsity, Greenway High School Throughout his time also wrestled and played ter the head coach liked what and Tempe High School be- at OHS, Rodriguez has baseball. Rodriguez did with the quar- fore coming to OHS. preached to his athletes charAfter receiving a foot- terbacks at a camp. Rodriguez’ former prin- acter, making the goal to

shape football players into better men and eventually better husbands and fathers. “I think we’ve instilled in our players that no matter what happens, you never quit. You’re not always going to get what you want out of life and sometimes you just have to battle through those hard times and if you learn to fight through adversity, good things will happen to you,” Rodriguez said. Thankful Thursdays were incorporated into team meetings where players were encouraged to share someone or something they’re thankful for and before homecoming, Rodriguez gave lectures on being a good date and treating girls with respect. “Coach Rod knew how to use your special talents and push you to the best of your ability on the football field and in the classroom,” said Danny Jelow, junior and varsity football player. Leaving words of wisdom for whoever the new head coach will be, Rodriguez saidaid there’s a lot of other things head coaches do like paperwork but prioritizing is important. “Don’t let the frustrations of the job get the better of them and keep the focus on the kids,” Rodriguez said.

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Hockey shoots for recognition and support

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHASE STEELE All the members of the OHS hockey club pose together after their Labor Day tournament win at Scottsdale Ice Den. those being the Hockey Club. events on the announcements By EMILIE REID Though the club -or team, or around school. Arts and Entertainment Editor According to Chandler per say- has been highly sucAmongst the variety of cessful, not many people can Evans, athletic director, the clubs here on campus, there say that they have sat and club is funded by the players are some that go unnoticed watched one of their matches and is not affiliated with the by the student body, one of or heard about any of their school in the way that the

football or basketball teams are. This means that the school does not handle the players in terms of grades or discipline when it comes to their sport and no transportation is provided to matches or practices. The varsity team is composed of 20 players who practice once a week and have one or two games every weekend and each player is responsible for getting themselves to practices and games. Caleb Halt, senior, plays defense for the team and has been part of the last two state championships. “We’ve won state two years in a row, and there’s still people who don’t think we have a hockey team,” Halt said. The lack of recognition that the team experiences is mainly due to the fact that at all high schools across Arizona, it is considered a club and not an actual sport for the school. Due to the AIA’s decision to not approve hockey as a high school sport, the club’s

events are not allowed to be broadcasted by the school. The team is also not permitted to display their awards at the school. Paxton Parker, senior, has been part of the club throughout his high school career and is a center for the team. “It’s kind of sad to see because we do pretty well. It can be disheartening at times but honestly, it’s a lot of fun,” Parker said. Although the club has become used to their lack of recognition, they are constantly working to improve themselves and the team. Their ultimate goal is to make it to the state championship once again and earn another trophy to be proud of. “We play really well, we come together as team, and we just do the right things to win, so we will definitely make it to the state championship,” Parker said.

Winter Guard flags down new members a year to understand things before they get to the serious stuff.”

By LEXI GASS

Staff Writer

Many people know and love the OHS Marching Band. Their music is beautiful, and movement is spot on. Part of the elaborate choreography is the color guard. They dance along to the music, sometimes with flags or rifles. What some people might not know is that color guard continues on after the marching band season into what is called winter guard, where they do most of the same things but without the band. Color guard and winter guard both include dancing and flag or rifle spinning, but, unlike color guard, winter guard competes. For many years, winter guard has been a bit of a less recognized activity, not real-

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PHOTO BY LEXI GASS Hannah Monville and Benjamin Pitts, seniors, rehearse for the winter show. PHOTO BY LEXI GASS Hannah Monville and Benjamin Pitts, seniors, rehearse for their winter show. ly receiving much acknowl“I like the idea, because edgement or attention from it gives the people that are people, but this year, there just starting out a chance were lots of people who au- to get used to it before they ditioned. For the first time, move up to a higher level,” winter guard has decided said Hannah Kalas, sophoto split the team into two more on the varsity winter groups, varsity and JV. guard team, “It gives them

It gives people the chance to get used to [guard] before they move up....” -Hannah Kalas

There are going to be some changes to the form of the group, but for the most part, the members shouldn’t really notice a difference from this year to last. “It’s two different shows now, because of that, and it gives the instructor more work,” Kalas said. “But, it will probably be more like

the students taking care of themselves rather than the instructor because the instructor has to deal with other things.“ The teams practice once to twice a week for up to five hours in order to prepare for the competitions. They will work together to help them reach their goal. “I think it’s going to be basically the same, because everyone is going to be working the same amount, so it’s going to be the same work ethic,” Kalas said. This year should be different for the students involved in winter guard. This season should be lots of fun for the teams. “It’s really fun. You make a lot of friends, and everyone’s really nice, and you get to learn new stuff.”

Continued from page 1, Arizona votes to increase minimum wage students it means they’ll have a much harder time finding a job,” Weyker said. In his classes, Weyker has seen much more antagonism towards it amongst his students. However, he understands why their view wasn’t represented in it passing and sees what part of the country passed it. “Students don’t vote. Students are notoriously the worst voting demographic in the country, but the other reason is I think because people right now all over the country are very desperate,” Weyker said. He said this is the “wrong

solution,” but William Dugan, Government and U.S. History teacher, said this was a “fantastic” proposition. “A lot of people are motivated by money and if you’re going to raise someone’s salary I think they’re going to do a better job,” Dugan said. According to Dugan allowing the minimum wage to raise with the living cost would have been “too slow,” and he also said this provided a great teaching opportunity. “It’s not often we have something that directly affects the kids that they’re voting on,” Dugan said. Weyker also said it’s diffi-

cult to say whether the minimum wage increase will have a direct affect on other wages including teachers because said his opinion on this. “Well, I certainly would like a 50% increase in my wages. Some of the discussion has been and some of the fear is that, as a teacher if my wages don’t go up by 2020 minimum wages earners could be earning more than what I’m making. And you know I’ve got a degree and lots of years of experience and yeah that would be a little unsettling,” Baker said.

PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST Aileen Cortez, senior and shift leader at Papa Murphy’s, takes an order by phone.

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Finding hope for the homeless in Phoenix By SETH MOLLER

Video Producer

If you are like most students, growing up has meant having a roof over your head, being fed, and loved by family. It means reaping the rewards of chance, as some might say, the chance of being born in an affluent area, having access to food, and love from someone close to you. However, if you are like the almost 30,000 homeless children in Arizona (according to the Phoenix Rescue Mission), some, or most, of these benefits do not apply to you. Students automatically have a brighter future due to the area in which we live. Most seniors are now getting ready for college, envisioning professional careers thereafter. According to the National Center on Family Homelessness, 85 percent of homeless high school students perform below grade level in math and reading, that does not translate to graduation, so forget admission to a university. What is the purpose of

all of this? To make you feel guilty? The goal is not so although if it hasn’t, you might want to question your own empathetic nature. This is, however, to know that there is an issue at hand in our state, in our county, in our city. With that out of the way, a hint of encouragement may be called into attention. It would be deeply sorrowful to forget all of the good organizations that work to support the homeless. Many of them work in a way that makes it easier for the homeless to help themselves. To name a few, there is the Phoenix Rescue Mission, the Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, Central Arizona Shelter Services, and many more small and large. In OHS’s community, here in North Phoenix, there is a small group that works to do their part in providing aid. Austin Crosby is a community pastor at a local church, and each weekend, he organizes a team that drives buses to Sunnyslope, with the

PHOTO BY SETH MOLLER A homeless man stands at a bus stop near 7th Ave, waiting for his next opportunity to ask for any help he can get. intent of meeting homeless people. He says that his team offers prayer, and an opportunity to come back to a food pantry which is held after Sunday morning services. “Not too many people realize that they’re people too, they have stories,” Crosby

says of the homeless population, “If we took the time to go out and talk to them and figure out where they’re at, what they actually need, we can help them better.” “I just hear people’s stories, and let them talk, because a lot of times they just

don’t have anybody to talk to,” Crosby said. Crosby calls into attention the importance of a human connection. Something to keep in mind, as he believes social justice starts small, with one kind word, one show of caring.

Halftime heroes shine: spiritline and band Spiritline

By ETHAN GILCHRIST

Managing Editor

Due to struggling to get a new coaching staff, spiritline began their year round season a few months late. This put the team into a tight schedule, but despite their struggle they’re pulling through with a series of successful competitions. Experienced coaches Shelley Singer and Michelle Murphy took the reigns of spiritline this year. They joined into an established family which has only grown closer with them. The routine this season is shorter while requiring more effort pushing

the team ever harder. “This season has been really great. We have new coaches this year that have just taken us on and we did really well at our last competition. Both teams placed in the top five and now we’re going to state competition in January,” said Madison Lynch, captain of the pom team. Spiritline’s season takes them to many different performances in multiple sports and also competitions for spiritline itself. “We cheer on other sports; we’re expected to be at football games and basketball games, but that’s not our whole sport because we’re re-

ally on the team to go and compete, to dance, or to tumble [and] stunt [and] all of that,” Lynch said. The team is well known by students for their performances during football. This large crowd changes the dynamic of spiritline. “It’s very nerve-racking because you have so many eyes [on you] and you can’t really see the audience and personally I like to see where everyone PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST is in the stands, but it’s (Top row) Left to right Allie Harvey, sophomore, Bree Corral, sophomore, Taylor Cook, like so fun that one minute freshman, (bottom row) left to right Azia Deckwa, senior, Madison Jenkins, junior. we get to perform and it’s like captain and flyer. to the team and described I want to go back out there Ferguson also said this their theme for this year. and do it again right now,” has “been one of the best seaContinued on page 7 said Alyssa Ferguson, junior, sons” even with the changes

“Sing, Sing, Sing” and focused on the importance of displaying one’s voice. Bryson Bregant, junior, baritone section leader and soloist, said she was at first “wary” of the season, but definitely PHOTO BY ETHAN GILCHRIST found her view had changed Left to right Ari Corcetti, sophomore, Grace Haskins, junior, Hannah Kalas, sophomore, Morgan by the end of Gallagher, freshman , flute player play in the band halftime show at homecoming Sept. 23, 2016. the season. made their voice heard. By ETHAN GILCHRIST “It’s definitely been a Led by their established Managing Editor drastic change from the two Director Melanie Britton, this seasons that I’ve had before The latest season for year’s season ended on Nov. just because our staff has marching band pushed them 19, 2016. The band placed been growing to help us get to their limits, but as they 5th and 8th in the state in better with techniques, but left the field for the last time the two separate statewide also the fact that it was a lot this season covered in sweat, competitions for band. The harder of a show,” Bregant they knew they had truly theme for this season was

Marching band

said. “This year we had a lot more ground to cover.” The show “Sing, Sing, Sing” was comprised of four songs including “Sing Sing Sing” by Benny Goodman, “Singin’ in the Rain” written by Arthur Freed, Nacio Herb and performed by Jean Keller, “Sing” by My Chemical Romance and “Sing” by The Carpenters. Marching bands usually only do three songs for their shows. “It’s a lot of visuals and a lot of music and a lot of moving going on, that a lot of people were like ‘holy crap I’m really tired’ and people wouldn’t feel that last year. It was just a higher level of challenge and level of difficulty that made us better,” Bregant said. Band brought home the Arizona Central Sports Fan

Favorite award which awarded them $1000 and a trip to play at a red carpet event at Orpheum theater. For Jaed Austin, senior and guard soloist, it’s quite the experience whenever marching band gets awards. Contined on page 16 Check out story about students who performed in the Macy’s All American Marching Band

Opinions 4

By SHYANNE COOPER December 2016

thetalonohs.com

Staff Writer

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Editorial: 206 doesn’t signal economic doom Hard-working citizens that put in more than 40 hours a week are going to start having more stable income and lives; however, if one looked on Twitter they might think the sky was falling and the world coming to a cruel bitter end because 79 cent drinks are now going to cost more. Proposition 206 was voted for and passed on Nov. 8th, which proposed a raise in the minimum wage to ten dollars starting January of 2017, and will gradually raise to 12 dollars per hour by 2020. The law also provides paid sick time off for employees rather than keeping the decision for employers. While there are pros and cons to the law, it is certainly a step in the right direction for ending poverty and increasing the stability of families. The important part of this proposition comes in the 40 hours of earned paid sick time with with 1 hour earned for every 30 hours worked. This will provide that employees who are ill or have a sick child would not lose their jobs. In 2016, a person working full time at minimum wage in Arizona would make about $17,000. That is obviously impossible to live on, so for that reason this proposition was needed to help impoverished or economically unsta-

ble workers get back on track and have a stable life. No, this law is not a magic wand that will solve this issue, no it will not completely end poverty, and no it will not make every family in Arizona completely happy and stable.

misconception is that minimum wage jobs are easy and are not worthy of a living wage, which sounds like the point of view of somebody who has never received the full minimum wage experience.

says that higher wages largely reduce employee turnover which can reduce employment and training costs. The crux of the arguments from the opposing side is that a minimum wage raise is bad for the economy.

PHOTO COURTESY OF ERICA LANG Protesters gather outside of a Phoenix Mcdonald’s to protest the current minimum wage, saying it should be $15 an hour. However, the law is a step in the right direction for people that work more than forty hours a week being able to live with stability. Even if somebody may have a job that requires a minimal skill level that still doesn't mean that person deserves to have an unstable or impoverished life. A common

These jobs may not require a Bachelor's or Associate's Degree, but they do require perseverance, patience, and like any other job, time. The minimum wage aspect has met opposition due to the argument that it will hurt regular businesses which is simply not true. The US Department of Labor

Again, the Department of Justice disagrees being since 1938, the federal minimum wage has been increased 22 times. For more than 75 years, real GDP per capita has steadily increased, even when the minimum wage has been raised. The possible cons are all hypothetical, which are that

it could harm small businesses and favor the big businesses that would do just fine under this change. The Department of Labor says on a national level 3 out of 5 small business owners support a raise in the minimum wage; however, on a local level things are different. In a city like Flagstaff which is fueled by many small businesses there's no telling what could happen. They in fact passed Prop. 414 which raises it to 15 dollars per hour by 2021, which is even more drastic than the whole state. Yes, the cost of living is going to increase. Inflation isn't an objective flaw, however, as it all depends on who is asked. Some simply don't care about it, but some do, so it's not an objective flaw and argument against this law. Being backed by the Arizona Coalition to End Sexual and Domestic Violence, Proposition 206 may not be the final nail in the coffin to poverty, but it is simply another nail in a coffin that will need every carpenter in the world to contribute to. If anybody ever says the economy is going to be destroyed in January, just remember the minimum wage has been raised 22 times, and the sun still comes up, the world has not ended, and everything is ok.

Continued from page 6, Halftime heroes shine: spiritline “We wanted to make it like we’re soaring, like we’re coming off from the very bottom and going to the top, so our theme this year was flying as an eagle,” Ferguson said. While the current season for spiritline continues, the seniors on the team look

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toward the future with lofty goals. “I’ve always wanted O’Connor to be a community where it’s more connected and together. So my hope for the end of spiritline is one that has a good reputation at our school and not full of drama.” said Azia Deckwa,

senior, captain and backspot. Madison Lynch, with four years on the team, said she’s really “grateful” for giving spiritline a chance her freshman year and has hopes for the team’s future. “I hope that they continue to stay positive and I hope that they understand the

editor-in-chief:

Alexa Fuenmayor

The Talon is published as a forum for student opinion at Sandra Day O’Connor High managing editor: School: part of the Deer Val- Ethan Gilchrist ley Unified School District. Letters to the editor must design chief: be signed and dropped off Cassidy Moore* in Room 508, e-mailed to thetalonohs@gmail.com or copy chief and edimailed. Letters may be ed- torial chief: ited for content and/or space Travis Robertson* consideration. Obscene or libelous statements will not news editor: be printed. Opinions reLaci Holm flected here are of those of The Talon staff and do not business manager reflect the Deer Valley Uni- and webmaster: fied School District. Hayden Cunningham*

features editor:

Audrey Serrano sports editor:

Nikki Hazelett staff writers:

Lexi Gass* Katie Diab

arts and entertainment editor:

Emilie Reid photography editor:

Kasey Cross video producer:

Seth Moller* news columnist:

Samantha Ruoff* adviser:

Cindy Garraway

* denotes member of editorial board

importance of really being friends like maintaining the relationships and realizing that we represent the school at all times so we have to be professional,” Lynch said. Lynch will move on from spiritline this year and said that it has definitely been emotional, but she is confi-

dent it will carry on without her. “It’s sad because each time we do something I know it’s my last time, but it’s also really exciting because I know that the girls are going to take the team even further next year,” Lynch said.

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The Talon

December 2016

thetalonohs.com

OC sounds off: New Years’ resolutions

What are your thoughts on the tradition of New Years’ Resolutions? By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

By KASEY CROSS

Photography Editor

New Year, new me. For some reason, this has become a very popular saying at the very end or beginning of years. It’s a really bold statement, as if the beginning of a year can somehow change you to become a better person, or you’ll finally start going to the gym 40 hours a week. A lot of people think it’s pretty silly and I don’t disagree, but at the same time there’s nothing wrong with setting goals for yourself. If you need the push of the start of a new year to make a change in your life, be my guest. Who am

I to tell you how you plan the New Year? If you want to plan New Year’s resolutions go for it. The New Year can’t and won’t affect you unless you decide you want it to. Keeping your goals, however, can be pretty hard. But that is also just a part of life. Sometimes things just don’t or can’t work out. It’s meaningless to shame people for not being able to follow goals that are just for fun. So I say, don’t listen to anyone else, and go for it.

There is less than one week left in December and it will soon be 2017, the year everybody is looking forward to. The reason why everybody is looking forward to this year is because, being totally honest, all the other previous years’ were not that great. Somehow, we believe this year will be better. Mostly everybody is thinking of what they will change about themselves next year. My mom’s resolution is to do what she had set for herself four years ago. This is the problem with

a handful of people, they say phrases like, “new year, new me,” yet they never really change or do anything differently. The reason why is because we can’t change our qualities, it is just a trait we develop throughout our lives. I believe we shouldn’t even have resolutions; we should already know what to do and a lot of people don’t even follow it. We should just live life to the fullest because unlike a cat, we don’t get nine lives.

By LACI HOLM

News Editor

New Year’s resolutions, a way to motivate people to reach a goal when the new year starts. It is good for people to set goals and work to complete them but does the fact that the calendar changes to January really motivate people to finally complete these long term goals? Setting personal goals for yourself is important and it is something that you should do all year round. When New Year’s resolutions come to mind I think of someone saying they will start going to the gym

twice a week all year but then they give up within less than a month. Everyone says that won’t be me but according to statisticbrain.com in 2015 only 45% of Americans made reasonable resolutions and of that 45% only 8% were actually able to stick by their resolutions. If you want to change something in your life you should start taking action when you can, not when the New year starts.

People need to give Earth a fighting chance By SAMANTHA RUOFF

News Colummist

Everybody wants to see the world change, but nobody wants to put in a enough effort to see those changes happen. Earth is the one place we call our home, and this home needs a deep cleaning. Imagine someone coming into your house, picking up your trash can and pouring it in your bathtub and stuffing it into your fridge. On top of that they start burning trash and cigarettes in each of the rooms, not caring about your well being, your children’s well being, or any of your pets well being. This is what we do to earth. The only place that holds our food, water, and resources that we need to live, and we do nothing but take it all for granted. Every day for 365 days a year we do nothing but hurt our planet. The amount of pollution released into the air by burning fossil fuels is so revolting, that in 2015, Berkeley Earth released a paper on how breathing air in Beijing China is the equivalent to smoking 1.5 cigarettes for every hour you take in that air. While Phoenix is not Beijing, how long could this take to plague Arizona, or even

the rest of the globe? How long will it be before we realize our time on Earth has expired? No matter how many times this topic has been discussed, there has not been a good long-term solution to deal with this, and every year without a solution on how we can heal our planet, is another year that our planet dies. Every time we burn an excessive amount of fossil fuels, it does not only affect the air we breathe, but it also affects every other portion of nature as well. According to NASA’s website, nine out of the 10 warmest years that have been recorded have occurred after the year 2000. As a result of this global change, glaciers are melting at an alarming rate and the ocean waters are warming. Earlier in the year there was a popular article floating around social media, saying that the Great Barrier Reef had died. This was not true, of course, the reefs aren’t quite dead yet, but they are becoming stressed. The Reefs are becoming ‘stressed’ due to warm water change, which causes them to release algae. This algae is their food source and also how they get their color; which is why they appear bleached.

PHOTO COURTESY OF NILS ALLY Garbage and debris pollutes the water and harms the enviornment as it gathers off the coast of Guyana in South America. Despite the fact that this article was a fake, it caught everyone’s attention; and after everyone got done posting how sad they were on their social media, they went back to not caring. As humans we keep forgetting that we share this beautiful planet with so many other creatures. We crave power and success, but some of our achievements may bury us, because our planet cannot handle our rapid ‘advancements’. While most big businesses cannot come to an agreement on a long term plan,

remember, that just like a donation, every tiny contribution that we can make will be helpful. We need to start recycling. If we start implementing recycling into more neighborhoods, making recycling units more readily available to the public, they would be more willing to put cans into a bin when it’s in their backyard, versus traveling to the nearest recycling plant to do away with their waste. In order for us to live, we have to keep our planet alive too, so be kind to it.

Remember that we have the ability to run outside to catch glowing bugs in glass jars, then enjoy a glass of sweetly-sour lemonade, all while we are in the company of our friends and family. But what if Lightning bugs died out due to environmental changes? What if we lost citrus trees due to polluted soil? Every time we kill our planet, we are also killing more potential memories for the future generations to come.

The Talon

thetalonohs.com

December 2016

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How to cope with the results of the election

By HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM Business Manager and Webmaster

On Jan. 20, President-elect Donald J. Trump will be sworn into office and take the responsibilities as commander in chief. But before he has a chance to perform in this position, he will already have large criticism from the American people. Yes, Trump lost the popular vote. It’s perfectly reasonable to argue that he shouldn’t be President when not a majority of voters chose him. But here’s what is unreasonable: trying to change this rule after the election. It’s like a game, the rules were written and players competed. You wouldn’t change the rules after the game because had the rules been different, the players would have competed differently. From the beginning of this election,and all other elections, whoever won the most electoral votes won the presidency. If this was not the rule this year, Trump would have campaigned in big cities with more people. But he didn't. He won, following the rules given to him. And for whatever reason people choose to be upset after it’s all over rather than before. The irony and hypocrisy of today is that the supporters of Hillary Clinton fought for tolerance and stated that “Love Trumps Hate”. What’s ironic about this is post election, they have failed to be tol-

erant and loving of our President-elect. It’s shocking and so surprising that people only tolerate others who agree with their point of views. Oh wait, it’s not. Clinton lost, and now we have Trump. Now there’s a problem with the position of the president as a whole. Comedians and the media have made a mockery out of Trump. Joking about a presidential candidate is not wrong whatsoever, but unfortunately some comedians have closed the gap between playful and rude. Trump is a “joke” as people often say. This goes hand in hand with respect for authority. The country and the world

is not the same as it used to be. We have lost the value of appreciating our leaders. Our President should be respected and have the support of Americans no matter who you agreed with more during the election. President Obama had the same issue when he was first elected. But at this point in time, Americans can begin to be more skeptical when they look back at the eight years and judge if our president did a good job or not. When did younger people start to lose hope and optimism? The honest truth is no one knows what the next four years under President Trump are going to be like. What’s more

ironic about that is that the younger generation has never seen a Republican administration in the White House. They have only seen President Obama and even then they were young in the early years of his presidency. So why are they qualified to assume President-elect Trump will do horrible or fantastic? The older people who voted for Trump remember him from the 1980s as a successful businessman. Trump was a source of optimism; Trump was the American dream, a businessman who lived in New York and made something of himself. He took one million dollars and made a multi-billion dollar compa-

ny, something many have tried but few have been successful at. Being born at the turn of the century, millennials only see him as a reality star. This younger generation will see him as their President. The question to be asked because of this is: where is our country going? Trump could go in and do a fantastic job, making his name stand out in the history books. Or he can fail at ill attempts to “Make America Great Again”. No one really knows. You are not going to die because Trump is President. He is not going to hunt you down because you have opposing views. That is making yourself feel like a victim rather than try to cope with a result you did not like. And being offended does not give you permission to make decisions for everyone else. That’s not how the world works; not everything ends up the way you wnt. You have to give the President-elect some credit, though. He had to fight against his own party, the opposing party, and the media. That will truly be talked about for decades with everyone asking “How did he do it?” As Americans, we should be behind him supporting him every step of the way. Because if he fails, we fail. So shouldn’t we hope he succeeds? So for all people who label themselves as “Anti -Trump”: GRAPH COURTESY OF ALI ZIFAB either join the change or 2016 Election results by counties, Donald Trump winning the red counties and Hillary Clinton winning the blue counties.. move somewhere else.

The calendar’s nightmare before Christmas By LACI HOLM News Editor

Christmas, family, winter, disappointment. This year students get out of school for winter break on December 23, while last year students got out on December 18. The district should not be making students stay at school for that long during this time of year and take finals on the day before Christmas Eve. A lot of students

travel over the holidays and have family coming to visit. Having school so close to the holidays prevents opportunities for students to spend time with their families and to go out and enjoy the amazing weather. Thanksgiving break was also shortened this year. Last year students got Monday through Friday off, while this year students only had Wednesday through Friday

off. The district decided to make these changes because last year the schools did not meet the standards that the state set for the amount of time students are spending in school. This also led to the schedule change. With students getting out the day before Christmas Eve it is causing a lot of concerns with vacations, family coming to visit and having finals. My sister left for college

in August and is coming home for Christmas. I want to be able to spend time with her while she is here but I have school when she's coming and I have to spend my time after school studying for finals. Not only are students being affected but employees working for the DVUSD district are as well. A lot of them have families and many responsibilities to take care of over the holidays. Them

having to work so close to Christmas adds extra stress and pressure to the already fairly stressful time of year. Students should be getting out of school on Friday the 16th and have half days for finals that Thursday and Friday so students have that extra week to be with their families and travel. Me, along with many other students and even employees, are disappointed with the way the calendar turned out this year.

Check out Samantha Ruoff’s story about post-election protests at thetalonohs.com!

SCREENSHOT TAKEN FROM SDOHS.DVUSD.ORG ,

10 December 2016

thetalonohs.com

11

Up in smoke: Arizona divided over legalization of marijuana Arizona rejects Prop 205 By SAMANTHA RUOFF

News Colummist

Early November, the voters of Arizona voted against passing proposition 205. This bill would not only have made the recreational use of marijuana consumption legal for adults ages 21 years and up, but it also would allow people to grow up to six plants, and sell it with proper licensing. Even being in its defeated state, people are still raising questions about this burning subject. The vote for proposition 205 was split nearly 50/50 among Arizona voters, only losing by about two percent, which adds up to about 67,021 votes. However, many people were expecting this outcome. “I am not surprised at all. Everyone has a very strong opinion about it,” said Charisma Farrington, senior “It is very frowned upon with older generations.” Prop 205, if passed, would not have only legalized the consumption of marijuana for adults of ages 21 years and up, it would also be given a tax like alcohol or cigarettes have. The tax on marijuana would have been a 15 percent sales tax and was said that it was going to be used to help fund schools and other local governments. “It would’ve had a huge economic impact in this state,” said Richard Weyker, Government and Economics teacher. “You would have had multiple new businesses opening up that could sell marijuana to the people.” Though, this tax would not have an effect on prop 203 when marijuana was legalized for medicinal purposes in the state of Arizona. Forty percent of this

Should the use of marijuana be legalized? Yes! No!

income would have gone to making sure that schools are able to afford all-day kindergarten, another forty percent would have gone construction and teacher salaries. The final twenty percent of the taxation income would have gone to the education of harmful drugs. But when it comes to being taxed like cigarettes and alcohol, proposition 205 would have also implemented some limitations to make it a little bit more controlled for the public. Some of these laws included: no smoking on public property, being able to carry no more than an ounce, no being able to grow more than six plants in one household and no selling marijuana without a proper distribution license. “I don’t think that all public places should be restricted,” said senior, Coby Schiefelbein. “I feel like there could be limits, but I don’t think people would be bothered by marijuana any more than they are bothered by a cigarette.” Another law that was loosely mentioned was Driving Under the Influence. Many people had a problem with this because there is no possible way to measure how intoxicated somebody can be at that exact moment. While there is no way to measure how intoxicated somebody is, driving while impaired will always be illegal, and would most likely be fined differently depending on the severity of the situation. If anybody were to break these laws, there would be a maximum fine of $300 and they would also be sentenced community service hours. Even though this might seem like a lot to process, there would have been almost two years to hammer out any imperfections with this prop, because it would not have gone into effect until Sept. 1 2018.

By KASEY CROSS

Photography Editor

First of all, marijuana, if used over the age of 25 is safe. According to NBC News, in 2015, deaths caused by marijuana alone came to a whopping 0. Deaths caused by alcohol came to 88,000, and death by tobacco managed to get to 480,000 people. Yet those last two things have been legal for countless years? Why? Marijuana’s capability of killing brain cells very well could be an argument. If only that were true. Dr. Malik Burnett is a former surgeon and physician advocate. On the subject of this very well held myth, Dr. Burnett said, “In terms of marijuana and its effects on brain cells, or neurons, there is little evidence to suggest that any of the active ingredients in the marijuana plant administered at doses appropriate for human consumption have neurotoxic effects.” Once you reach the age of 25, which is (about the time your brain fully develops,) using marijuana in safe amounts really doesn’t do that much damage. But maybe marijuana is a gateway drug? It leads to harder more damaging substances? It’s *Responses are from seniors in a government or economics class

too bad this also isn’t true. U.S Attorney General Loretta Lynch said, “[I]ndividuals [start out] with a prescription drug problem, and then because they need more and more, they turn to heroin. It isn’t so much that marijuana is the step right before using prescription drugs or opioids — it is true that if you tend to experiment with a lot of things in life, you may be inclined to experiment with drugs, as well. But it’s not like we’re seeing that marijuana as a specific gateway.” That’s just the issue with prescription drugs as well. There are so many drugs that have the ability to be abused, but they’re in the market because of their ability to help people. Marijuana can help so many people just the same. Right now medical marijuana is not available for people with autism, depression or anxiety. These are arguably the people who might need it most. Different strains of marijuana can benefit patients in different ways, when you know exactly what you’re getting from a dispensary. When you buy on the street, it’s a shot in the dark what you’ll get, with chances of getting laced product or not the right strain to help you with your problem. Making marijuana legal makes it safe for those who want and need it. The taxation of the product as well

would have a drastic positive effect on the public school system. Money from taxes goes right into benefitting our schools. Medical officials have been saying that marijuana is completely safe for years, but Nixon, and the war on drugs criminalized the products to disrupt the communities of their political enemies. Former domestic policy chief John Ehrlichman told Harper’s writer, Dan Baum in April 2015, “You understand what I’m saying? We knew we couldn’t make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities,” Ehrlichman said. “We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did.” This old propaganda made it so your first time being caught with marijuana, you could be put away for 5-20 years. Nearly half of all drug arrests are people caught with marijuana. Medical officials and politicians know marijuana is safe. It’s just a matter of when voters decide to finally be away with outdated myths and fallacies.

By HAYDEN CUNNINGHAM Business Manager and Webmaster

Pro-Marijuana advocates say alcohol Is more dangerous, and more people die from it than marijuana. Therefore, marijuana should be legal because it is “safer” than alcohol. The problem with this is that alcohol is already implemented in our culture. It’s been part of most cultures for hundreds of years and this argument has already happened in the 1920s with prohibition. Marijuana is not yet a full part of our culture yet nor should we let it. Should marijuana become part of the American culture, the effects would be devastating. Everything seen now will be worse: kids will be using it, more people will have car crashes from driving intoxicated, and more. Plus the biggest disadvantage of all: it kills your brain cells and lowers IQ. Even using is once or twice a week causes brain abnormalities. Marijuana alone does not kill you, it’s what you are uncontrollably doing while you are

high that does. Some doctors say it doesn’t kill cells, but certain doctors will make any assumption trying to favor their personal opinion. Credited groups like Harvard and the U.S. National Library of Medicine have come to the same conclusion that it kills your brain cells and decreases memory efficiency. The Journal of Alzheimer’s Diseases released a study as well showing that the brains of marijuana users have the lowest blood flow to the Hippocampus,which is the brain’s memory and learning center. This suggests they have a higher vulnerability to Alzheimer’s and are less likely to have proficient memory. In Colorado where it was legalized, law enforcement’s focus on marijuana-related crimes has gone from 11% to about 65%. It was said that the tax on the product would go to schools. However, it really didn’t. The first 40 million dollars raised in excise taxes on marijuana were to go to school construction, and all money after that amount would go to public schools. But since it has been legalized, only 27 million dollars has been collected. Not only that, but some districts are saying they have yet to receive that construction money and are asking the state where the money is. The argument of legalizing marijuana is also whether or not we as a society will have moral values. Addiction comes from marijuana; people will lose their self control. The drug users pushing for legalization want it to have fun. Using the argument that it helps with depression is just hiding behind their only viable argument rather than using more conven-

tional methods. In the same way our government makes murder illegal, the federal government will keep marijuana illegal: to protect people. It’s similar to teens wanting to go against what their parents tell them; Americans want to go against what the government says for them to do. They want to be cool. Those people need to grow up and act like adults. Should it be legal, the government would need to spend money regulating it. How about the government not spend money on something for people’s pleasures and spend it on helping cure diseases and making better medicine? If we start to legalize things for the simple pleasure of a group of people, we become a country that slowly loses their laws. And when that happens, the country collapses. Harder drugs are argued to be legalized, drug dealers will have a place in society rather than being arrested where they belong, and it continues to encourage the ideology that you can do whatever you want with no consequences. So where do we draw the line?

PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIPEDIA

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December 2016

Dr. Miller principal The people and the beliefs and the values that resonate in these walls make the school special. I get a lot of people coming to me and I go to a lot of different schools and I hear and see a lot of different things. What makes O’Connor so unique is the O’Connor family of being together and helping one another out, students may not know that because you came here from a middle school and we don’t know what we don’t know. What I can tell you that I know from being out and seeing things and talking, is that O’Connor is that special unique place that kids can come and find their passion and where they want to go. If there’s someone in art or someone on a court or field, someone that’s just a studious kid and they’re going to MIT because they got a scholarship. We are big enough to be a large comprehensive high school, but we are small enough and work hard enough to still be that family of Eagles. I think that’s what seperates us from other schools because of the parades and assemblies and other things we have. There are those kinds of good things that prove the majority of our students and staff and community are good people.

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thetalonohs.com

Serenity Mitchel junior

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aptured By Cassidy Moore I think that no matter what anyone is going through it’s good to be nice. You never know, it could be something really serious. It’s always good to be nice and be positive to someone. I think everyone needs more kindness to be honest. We have encourage OC, that’s great, that’s such a good club, but, I think everyone just needs to be nicer to each other. Because high school is stressful, its really bad you know, we get up early, we’re tired, we’re having to work, but it’s always good to be nice. Be nice to people and people will be nice back.

@OC_CAPTURED

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@OC_CAPTURED

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I always think about the career path that I want just because I am so sure about it, even though I am pretty young. I mean considerably young, I am a senior. I’m 18. I don’t know at what point I thought about being a physicist, because I had always thought about in a way where you can do whatever you want and maybe it was something I was interested in. I’d always loved space but I never really put the two things together and sometime between the last three years I suddenly realized, “Oh you know I could talk about space for everyday for the rest of my life and people would pay me to do it.” Realizing that was pretty incredible and I think that’s kind of what set me on this weird path where I like physics. It is kind of magic to me that you can understand things that happened in your life and they just make sense. Instead of being like, “oh, light happens. Oh, planets happen,” like, “why do they happen?” I want to know. So that’s how that happened. And I think everyone knows that I want to go to Stanford University because I talk about it every single day of my life. And I think that everybody knows. I love San Francisco. I am going to live there and I am going to work at NASA Ames. I am probably jinxing myself by saying this, but I have my whole tenyear plan – go to Stanford, study physics, live in San Francisco, (hopefully, it’s really expensive), the greater San Francisco area, and then work for NASA Ames, discover nuclear fusion, be the resident scientist on a starship that is going all the way to the edge of the solar system. Basically, I want to be in Star Trek.

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Ashley Schroeder

senior

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December 2016

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Page 14

Dance brings Disney spirit to hearts of Eagles troduced new lighting technology to the dances. "We ended up usThe winter dance concert ing projections on the "OC Dance Does Disney" backdrops so we had took place Dec. 7th-9th in different backdrops the main auditorium at seven and pictures projected p.m. for each dance," Lucero This concert had a Disney said. theme featuring acts based With the concert, on Classic Disney such as dance also incorporat“Mulan” and “Beauty and ed more modern hip the Beast”, but also more hop pieces with the modern Disney films like Disney theme. "I loved the hip hop pieces that my hip hop choreographer put together because he's a DJ so he was able to incorporate the Disney theme and still make it exciting for the kids as well as using popular music," Lucero said. Mandy Moisoff, junior and Advanced Dance performer, said preparation for this concert began right at the start of the year. "We've been preparing for this concert since the bePHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON ginning of the year, we imAdvanced and Intermediate Dance perform to When You Wish Upon a Star. By TRAVIS ROBERTSON

Copy Chief and Editorial Chief

“The Jungle Book” (2016) and “Cars”. Kristen Lucero, dance instructor, said the theme was something that they've never done before. "It's just a theme we've never done, and other dance teachers in the district have done it and we were very successful with it. The great music was very influential," Lucero said. Lucero also says they in-

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Dance Fundamentals perform I Wanna Be Like You from The Jungle Book (2016). mediately started stretching, performed by Advanced and training, and getting back Intermediate Dance. This act into shape immediately when featured princesses such as we came out of summer Snow White and Cinderella and we immediately started in a dating show, fighting for learning new choreography the affection of One Griffin, for the dances," Moisoff said. junior. Moisoff says her standout Dance's next show is in performance was the Prin- May and is titled Forces of cess Mix which was choreo- Nature and has the theme of graphed by Tony Suski and elements of the earth.

Hamilton mixtape remixes American history By LEXI GASS

Staff Writer

Millions of people in this day and age now know an abnormal amount of information about one of the most controversial founding fathers, thanks to the latest broadway smash hit, “Hamilton.” The composer, author, and creator of “Hamilton” and composer for new Disney movie, “Moana”, Lin-Manuel Miranda has created “Hamilton Mixtape”, an album that features covers of original songs, songs based off of lines from the show, and even cut songs and demos that didn’t make it into the original show. Ranging from lighthearted, humorous songs to deep intellectual songs about the injustices in our world today, “Hamilton Mixtape” is an enjoyable experience throughout. This album is unique because of the varied artists involved. Every song on the album was made and sung by a different artist, each one putting their spin on the original songs from the broadway soundtrack. Artists such as Kelly Clarkson, Alicia Keys, Usher, Sia and John Legend make appearances throughout the album. The album begins with the song “No John Trumbull,” an obvious play on the phrase

‘no bull’ and a historical ref- ally incredibly moving, and “Cabinet Battle 3” and erence to the painter John “Hamilton Mixtape” did an “An Open Letter” are both Trumbull, who did many amazing job of bringing that cut songs from the show, portraits of the founding emotion forward. The song and fans of “Hamilton” will fathers. It introduces the al- also brilliantly incorporat- pick up on the similarities of bum, essentially saying that ed two lines from the show, form and the familiar writthe perfect, poised men you “Immigrants, we get the job ing style of Lin-Manuel Misee in the pictures are noth- done” and “Not yet” to echo randa. “You’ll Be Back” by ing like the actual men that the original soundtrack and Jimmy Fallon and the Roots founded our country. This tie the past and the present was a direct cover from the song, with it’s amusing play together. show, and the lyrics in itself on words, yet serious tone, Along with conveying were enough to make the ausets the mood for the rest of important social messages, dience laugh. The way they the album perfectly. “Hamilton Mixtape” does a used Fallon’s “unique” vocal The album contains songs great job of humoring their techniques (and the autotune that are about artists’ real life experiences with different heavy topics, such as racism, rough childhoods, and discrimination against immigrants in modern America. Songs such as “Rise Up Remix”, “Immigrants”, and “Wrote PHOTO COURTESY OF ATLANTIC RECORDS My Way Out” Album cover for Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton Mixtape, shadowing the original cover photo. convey serious messages through their music audience as well, especially that followed) just added to beautifully, telling their sto- the ones who have listened the humor of the song. ries in moving ways. to the original “Hamilton” “An Open Letter” by One of my favorite songs soundtrack, their main demo- Watsky, was a favorite of in the album is “Immi- graphic. “You’ll Be Back”, mine, because it calls out grants.” There are some poet- “An Open Letter”, and “Cab- 2nd US President, John Adic, perfect lines in there that inet Battle 3” are all songs ams, and the lyrics are sheer give off so much emotion and that have taken an amusing brilliance. This song was cut, feeling in just a few words. aspect from the show and but the final, and most memHearing people speak of the translated it into the mix- orable line, was kept in the injustices they face is usu- tape. show. As a fan of the original

album, this song was hilarious, and it also was a little bit insightful to how the final version of the Broadway soundtrack was formed. There were also the gorgeous covers done in the album, taking the original songs and making them into the artist’s’ own. “It’s Quiet Uptown”, “Satisfied”, and “Dear Theodosia” are all beautiful tributes to some fan favorite ballads from the broadway show. Each artist put their own spin on the song, making them all unique but also staying true to the song it was inspired by. Kelly Clarkson did a breathtaking rendition of “It’s Quiet Uptown.” The songs lyrics are deeply saddening with context, and listening to that song brought me to tears. Its techno spin on the mournful song somehow didn’t take away from the deep and beautiful meaning it brought to the story of “Hamilton.” The “Hamilton Mixtape” was a wonderful experience from start to finish, and while at first I had a hard time dealing with the differences from the original soundtrack, the album presents its songs with fresh meaning and more modern perspectives, making it different from the original but also keeping with its theme of justice and revolution.

The Talon

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December 2016

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Mattress musical produces quality humor

PHOTO BY TRAVIS ROBERTSON Queen, Agravain played by Mackenzie Fuggat, junior, speaks with Prince Dauntless, played by Jacob Schaffer, senior, about finding a new princess. By EMILIE REID Arts and Entertainment Editor

Although the theater department’s fall production only ran for three days and had four performances, their rendition of “Once Upon a Mattress” left a lasting impression on all those who saw it. Full of humor and colorful costumes and sets, the audience members were sure to leave with smiles on their faces and a new found

appreciation for high school theater. “Once Upon a Mattress” tells the story of Prince Dauntless, played by Jacob Schaffer, and his urgent need to find a bride that his mother approves of. When Princess Winnifred, portrayed by Lauren Coe, arrives from her swamp homeland, however, the queen devises a plan to make sure that she won’t succeed in marrying her son.

Winnifred is seemingly oblivious to her efforts though, and continues to be her comical and quirky self, giving the kingdom hope that she will be their new princess and finally pass the queen’s unfair tests. There was no doubt that every actor and actress performed exceedingly well and kept the audience interested in the show, but my favorite actress was the female lead, Lauren Coe, junior.

Coe was a perfect fit for the role of swamp princess Winnifred, with her loud and hilarious lines and captivating solos throughout the show. Her presence added an extra sense of excitement and energy to the stage, keeping the audience engaged and laughing. Jacob Schaffer, a senior and the male lead, also performed outstandingly in his role of Prince Dauntless. His shy and soft spoken persona, as well as his immediate infatuation with Princess Winnifred added to the humour and overall lightheartedness of the musical. Along with Jacob being a fantastic fit for his role, Hannah Schaffer, junior, and One Griffin, junior, were the perfect duo as their characters worked together to help out their friends and add more too the overall story. The Minstril, who was played by Hannah Schaffer, carried around a blue ukelele and sang and strummed her way into the audience’s hearts while Griffin, who played the quirky Jester, used his outgoing qualities and jokes to keep the audience laughing. Of course I can’t forget about the antagonists of the play, Queen Agravain, and her trusty wizard companion. Makenzie

Fuggat, junior, the Queen, and Riley Clark , junior, the Wizard, worked together to concoct a sleeping potion to make sure Princess Winnifred wouldn’t feel the pea that had been strategically placed under 20 mattresses. Although the Queen strongly disagreed with the marriage of Winnifred and Dauntless, in the end she lost her voice in the matter. After Dauntless finally put his foot down and stood up to his pushy and controlling mother, the curse that had kept his father, King Sextimus, from speaking was transferred to the Queen. King Sextimus, portrayed by Aeden Gillian, sophomore, used his newfound voice to finally allow Prince Dauntless to marry, and the kingdom felt a wave of relief and happiness as they finally were allowed to marry as well. Overall, the theater department’s first show of the year was a huge success and was sure to boost the mood of anyone who went to see it. With the auditions for their next show, “Picnic” having already taken place and their spring production of “Mr. Hobb’s Vacation” already planned, one can only expect another successful year from drama department.

Review: New Disney movie makes a splash By LEXI GASS

Staff Writer

On Nov. 23rd, Disney Animation Studios added another film to their line of celebrated princess movies, titled “Moana.” This project starred Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, and, a newcomer to the movie business, Auli’i Cravalho. With music written by Opetaia Foa’i, Mark Mancina, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, and directors Ron Clements, Don Hall, John Musker, and Chris Williams, “Moana” is considered by many to be another Disney Animation Studios triumph. Before the plot begins, the audience sees the tale of a demigod who stole the heart of the island goddess, and how it affected the islands and caused their world to begin rotting. The story was told by a grandmother to several young children, one of which is the main character, Moana. The story then begins to show that the fictional anecdote began to seem real, as the island of Motunui begins to rot. The story revolves around Moana and the demigod Maui as they adventure to restore the heart of the island goddess and save the world. The story of “Moana” is loosely based on stories from

Polynesian mythology. While the story itself is original, the conflict it surrounds is inspired by one of the many stories of the demigod Maui. The resounding theme of “Moana” is finding yourself so you can become the best version of you possible. Moana is a young woman who will someday be chief of her island and strays from the typical ‘princess’ definition that Disney has become so popular for. Moana goes on a thrilling journey of self-discovery. She is voiced by 16 year old Auli’i Cravalho, who was cast at the age of 14. Her partner throughout the movie is demigod Maui, played by Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. Though the story mostly revolves around Moana and Maui, other significant characters are Gramma Tala, voiced by Rachel House, Chief Tui, played by Temuera Morrison, and Tamatoa, played by Jemaine Clement. Unlike most other Disney films, there was a complete lack of a romantic interest for the leading lady, pushing the message of self discovery and deeming it most important to learn who you are. This message is a very positive and necessary one in a world where the need to be accepted by others can overshadow self

PHOTO COURTESY OF DISNEY Moana, title character, stands with Maui, voiced respectively by Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. love and importance. amongst movies like “Tan- story and quality-wise. This The colorful settings were gled”, the successful, but not movie, however, along with prominent throughout the revolutionary Disney princess the other most recent installfilm, and it largely helped the movie that came out in 2010. ments of the princess movies, rich culture it was inspired “Moana” is also being are triumphing with original by come to life. Even in more praised for its style of ani- storylines and unique, diverse intense parts of the film, the mation for the characters. characters that both break bright hues were very pres- So many people are used to the mold and represent many ent and helped move the film seeing stick thin, pasty white more people in both looks and along, creating a beautiful Disney princesses, but Moa- personality. and mysterious backdrop for na looking more like an av“Moana”, while maybe the story. erage person is a welcome not as popular as Frozen, is an Many people were await- change. The styling of the excellent movie with an exciting this movie with appre- characters stayed true to the ing plot, talented actors, and hension. After the smash setting and was most likely a winning score. It is not nechit of 2013, “Frozen”, how a princess where many little essarily too groundbreaking could Disney meet the high girls could say “look, that’s when it comes to its uniquestandards set by the record me!”For a while, Disney An- ness, but it surely deserves its breaking movie? After it’s re- imation Studios was harshly place within the classic Dislease, “Moana” is now ranked critiqued for going downhill, ney princess line.

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Boba: the drink that never stops giving By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

The rising popularity of the Urban Boba Tea House has taken the teen community by storm. Located in the shops at Norterra, Boba serves as a more refreshing option rather than getting a coffee at Starbucks or Dutch Bros. The tea house adds a twist to their fruity and sweet drinks. Upon request, drinks can be made with boba, along with flavored “popping pearls”. The boba is made of tapioca, which is a tasteless gummy substance. Tapioca is obtained from the starch found in cassava root, a vegetable from South America. The establishment has

a very welcoming vibe to it. When you walk in you are faced with a modern rustic theme. The white walls are lined with mason jars and large chalk boards with encouraging messages written on them. Everyone in the shop wore a big smile as they hung out with their friends. This made me want to smile and enjoy the happy vibes. There was a bar in front of the windows where many students sat on their computers doing homework while enjoying their drinks. Aside from the bar, people could sit at the few tables set up or the couches located in the back corner of the shop. The service was also very fast. There was no line when

I arrived and my drink was made in just a few minutes. The staff were very polite and looked happy to be there. The boba filled almost half of my cup which made it difficult to get any liquid out of the straw. Every sip contained an overwhelming amount of boba. This made me hesitant to continue to drinking for fear of choking on it. If you do not enjoy different textures in your drink, ordering boba in your tea may not be the way to go. I tried a chocolate blended milk tea with boba and the chocolate part was amazing. It tasted very similar to a milkshake, however the boba made it difficult to enjoy the chocolate deliciousness.

I also ordered the passion fruit tea. The first few sips were very bitter, but after drinking the tea for a while the flavor started to grow on me. While the drinks were definitely different from something I would normally buy, the tea house was very aesthetically pleasing and I would go again to try something else. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY NIKKI HAZELETT Boba is tapioca pearls and tea. It’s the staple of the teahouse.

Childish Gambino’s record awakens R&B By AUDREY SERRANO

Features Editor

The increasing popularity of techno R&B and rap music among the youth has influenced the ever-changing style of music that is being produced. Social media platforms such as Instagram and Twitter have encouraged the spread of these types of music, giving rise to influential rappers such as Childish Gambino. Childish Gambino’s third album “Awaken, My Love!” was released December 2, three years after his last album debuted. His first album, Camp, was consistent in its tone giving way to the sound his listeners would recognize as his music, followed two years later by Because the Internet. Gambino, otherwise known as Donald Glover, is praised for both his music and acting skills in the rap community, having released three albums and a numerous amount of extended plays and mixtapes in the last decade alongside his television appearances. The actor debuted as a musician in 2008 with his independent album Sick Boi

and proceeded to release independent extended plays and mixtapes but did not get proper recognition until Camp, his first album officially released with Glassnote Records. As Gambino is best known for his vulgar, bassheavy songs such as “Bon-

fire” and “Heartbeat”, “Awaken, My Love!” is unlike any of his previous records, which is both surprising and refreshing. Overall, the album has less of the intense sounds that his fans are familiar with. The first track, “Me and Your Mama” kicks off the al-

PHOTO COURTESY OF AWAKENMYLOVE.COM The album cover of Childish Gambino’s latest and third album “Awaken, My Love!”.

bum with soft instrumentals and not many lyrics which fans are used to. Spanning up to six minutes, the song climaxes with less techno and more guitar, producing a more classic rock sound than the usual R&B. As the songs progress, the sudden change in music style is noticeable as there is not as much explicit language or angsty tones Gambino’s previous releases had. In its place, soul and gospel-like background vocals and funklike notes cover the tracklist from start to finish and the lyrics are not as prominent as the artist’s prior tracks, as they are more softly annunciated. The sixth song, “Redbone” is one of the three explicit songs out of 11 and its soft tones and lightly spoken lyrics contrast with any of Gambino’s top hits. In comparison to one of his top hits, “3005”, “Redbone” is not as rap heavy. The second to last song on “Awaken, My Love!”, “The Night Me and Your Mama Met” is easily one of the softer songs on the album with the tracks guitar solo and soft humming at the

beginning and no lyrics. The track is purely instrumental and is more classic rock like. “Stand Tall” concludes the album with similar vibes as the previous tracks, but unlike most of the songs, is more lyrically concentrated. The track is a great choice for closing off the album with crescendos and maintaining the gospel-like background vocals that was introduced with “Me and Your Mama”, alongside lyrics such as “keep all your dreams, keep standing tall, if you are strong you cannot fall”. Gambino’s sudden change in key is definitely a way to keep up with the fastpaced, changing music-styles of musicians similar to him. Admittedly, the unexpected alteration in his music would take some getting used to as Camp and Because the Internet were uniform in their sound and lyrical flow. “Awaken, My Love!” is overall a beautiful, well thought-out album with aesthetically pleasing notes and soft lyrics and is bound to push the boundaries for upcoming RnB and rap releases, influencing a new wave of musical plot twists.

Continued from page 6, Halftime heroes shine: Band “You can feel, when they’re calling out the awards, the butterflies in your stomach and everyone’s holding hands and like squeezing hands,” Austin said, “When we get up to the higher rankings that’s a really awesome feeling.” Guard consists of using tools like the flag and weapon rather than instruments while dancing alongside the band. Austin is a part of guard which she said is the visual side of the band show, shares the greatest bond with.

“It’s really awesome like you can tell them anything that you need to tell them. They’re always there for you like literally everyone on the team is my sister and then Kris [Flannegan, junior and guard member] is my brother,” Austin said. Andrea Giacini, sophomore, drum major apprentice and alto saxophone soloist, said that a lot more goes into perfecting a band show than it may appear. “Band is something so much more than playing instruments and marching

on a field. It is that but it’s like taking everything you've gone through in life and your experiences and putting them aside for 15 minutes and getting to perform,” Giacini said. “That makes the most beautiful marching band shows.” Band is most able to demonstrate their hard work to the student body in the football halftime shows. “It feels really great, especially with our student section. I know other student sections may not be as supportive, but our student

section is crazy supportive. When they call the band out there, they’re screaming, and it feels so great walking out there,” Giacini said. Giacini will be leading the band as drum major next year alongside Madelynn Oleson, junior, flute section leader and drum major apprentice. Giacini has a successful vision for band’s future. “I just really want us to be able to show our audiences and our judges how hard we work because we've worked extremely hard. So as a drum major, it’s my goal to make

sure the world sees how hard our band works,” Giacini said. Looking back on their long season Bryson Bregant, three year band member, had this to say. “To me [band is] a constant promise of one thing after another something new that I can learn and something new that can change my life and carry me on,” Bregant said.

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Girls basketball slam dunks into new season er as a team and have a winning season,” said Bridgette Buttrum, senior. The team brought home a second win against Copper Canyon high school, with a score of 50-21 earlier in the season. The girls also won against rival Mountain Ridge 61-38. The Eagles next home game will be on Jan. 10, against Boulder Creek high school.

JV

PHOTO BY NIKKI HAZELETT Grace Lyons and Jilly Licurgo, juniors, work with each other and teammate Mickey Freeman, senior, to score a basket. playoffs and then hopefully comed three freshmen, who By NIKKI HAZELETT go to state, but that’s a long have added to the talent on Sports Editor ways away so we’ll see,” said the team. “It’s hard, but it’s fun. Varsity Caitlyn Bristow, junior. I have learned a lot from Girls basketball has fiThe Eagles got their first the older girls,” said Lauryn nally begun their season for win against Tolleson high Mciver, freshman. 2016-17. They have come school, scoring 49-35. Their The girls are working exhome with six hard fought hard work and pre-season tremely hard this season and wins and one loss so far and practice has led them to a reare learning from one anothare striving to make it to cord of 6-1. er. playoffs this year. This year the Eagles wel“We want to come togeth“Hopefully we make it to

The JV team has also joined their fellow varsity players in success, as they won their first game against Tolleson high school, scoring 57-15. After a four game losing streak, the Eagles came back strong to beat Mountain Ridge 48-24. The girls are determined and working harder than ever. “Our season has been great. Despite the couple of losses, we’re hustling and fighting hard,” said Kendra Gammage, sophomore. The team has been working on coming together as a

family and putting their all into each and every game. ` “Our goal is to always support one another and lift each other up, because we are a family and family sticks together,” Gammage said.

Freshmen

The Eagles are currently on a seven win winning streak and are striving to keep the streak alive. The girls have been working with and learning from both the JV and varsity team this season. “On away games we have to watch all three games. We learn a lot from varsity because we can see the moves they do,” said Brooke Schroeder, freshman. The girls are hoping to have a successful winning season together and grow stronger as a team. “I’m trying to be a good teammate and support my team and help them out winning games,” Schroeder said. *Due to the Talon going to the printer, scores for the Pinnacle games can be found on aia365.com.

Boys soccer pitches in teamwork for a win By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

Varsity

The Eagles are running across the field and back all practice, working on their kicks and moves to beat their opponents and make a goal for a way to win. Having one loss in the season after three games, the team had their first home game on Dec. 13 against Desert Vista winning by two points. This upcoming season, the Eagles main goal is to be winning more games than they had in the past and hopefully heading to playoffs. Working and playing hard on the field made them more aggressive than they all have been in their first year playing. “I am sure I can say we

would like to make a run for state this year, but the only way we can achieve that goal is with teamwork and consistency,” said Will Harris, junior.

JV

At their first home game, the boys tied 1-1 against Desert Vista bringing their current record to 0-3-1. “Not only do our teammates’ get along on and off the field, but also our coach. Even though he can be a bit intimidating at times, he gets us to where we need to be. Also, if we feel tired, he will push us to do our best and that is how we strengthen our weaknesses,” said Cameron Bynum, junior. The next home game will be Dec. 20 against Copper Canyon. *Due to the Talon going to the printer, scores for the La Joya Community games can be found on aia365.com.

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Will Harris, junior, passes ball to another teammate to make a score.

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB George Ekdahl, senior, kicks the soccer ball into the goal, putting their score up by two points against Desert Vista.

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB George Ekdahl, senior, scores on a breakaway. Trey Ratkovich, senior, helps his team take home a win.

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Boys basketball alley oops for the hoop the process of becoming better,” said Nathan Dunn, freshman. The team only has two seniors, one freshman, five sophomores and juniors, but they all still cooperate with each other on and off the court. As well as playing on the Give N’ Go team, which is a basketball club, over the summer and fall. “We have great leadership and communication skills with the team on each level on and off the court and it is more of a family than a team. We are all close and are working together all for the same goal of winning,” said Corbin Lewis, senior.

nesses for upcoming games. After working hard every school day, they are becoming stronger and more aggressive in their games since the beginning of the season. “On the court, I would describe myself as someone who cares a lot about showing heart to the game. My

teammates are like my brothers, as well as my coaches, they are some of the biggest influences of my life,” said Flynn Butler, freshman. *Due to the Talon going to the printer, scores for the Pinnacle games can be found on aia365.com.

JV

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Cody Donahue, sophomore, goes up for layup, scoring two points for the Eagles. By KATIE DIAB

Staff Writer

Running back and forth across the court in their jerseys, making layups, free throws and a few three-pointers, basketball is considered to be almost everything to these boys.

Varsity

Boys varsity currently has a record of 3-3. Their first game was against Tolleson and the Eagles won by 19 points. They had one invitational at Sunnyslope and won 3 of 4 matches against Bradshaw Mountain, Moon Valley and Cathedral Catholic high school.

“Some of the challenges we will have to face this season are sticking together as a team throughout difficult times and being able to handle adversity,” said Thomas Connaker, junior. With many people coming in to see the boys play, it really took an effect on how they play, they work and play harder to get that big win for most home and away games. “I started playing basketball because I wanted something new, I was tired of baseball because it was too slow, so I started watching basketball and I soon fell in love with the sport. Then I started falling in love with

The boys are currently undefeated with a record of 4-0, winning by more than eight points in each game, some even 20. All of their practices consist of suicides, running back and forth across the court, as well as scrimmages, playing a game either with the varsity and freshmen team, or other neighboring schools for practice. According to coach Carter, these practices show them how their team will play in actual games. If they do not do well in practices, they will do well in games. The players work well with each other not just on but also off the court, as well as with the coach.

Freshmen

With a record of 2-3, the boys are working hard on strengthening their weak-

PHOTO BY KATIE DIAB Nathan Dunn, freshman, pushes against Westwoods defense with four minutes left in the third quarter as he goes for a layup, leading OHS up with 48-39.

Girls soccer shoots for a striking season By NIKKI HAZELETT

Sports Editor

Varsity

The Eagles took home their first win against Mesa high school with a score of 8-0, to start off their season. “I think it was good for the team to get out together and have our first game together. Since we won it was

just a good time for all of us,” said Blaine Aberra, sophomore. Players are excited and are hopeful the team can make it far this year with the amount of hard work they have put in during practices. “This year we have had the most potential out of all the years that I have been

here, so I am hoping it all comes through and works out,” said Katie Dube, junior. The team experienced a shift in players this year, as they lost quite a few seniors last year who were replaced with an abundance of sophomores. “There are 10 sophomores on the team this year, whereas there were three last

PHOTO BY NIKKI HAZELETT Kylee Fifield, freshman, works hard to pass the ball and get it towards the goal so that her team can take home another win.

year. They are very young obviously, and they don’t have the experience that some of the seniors have, but they definitely have the talent level to help us to achieve great things,” Dube said. The Eagle’s second game ended with a loss of 1-2 against Corona Del Sol, but the girls are resilient and are determined to make this year one of their best. The team’s third game ended in a tie, both the Eagles and Tucson high school scoring 1-1. Their fourth game ended in a loss against Desert Vista 1-4. “Our goal for the season is to make playoffs and we are hoping we can work well together,” said Madison Soles, senior captain. The Mountain Ridge game will be away on Jan. 10 and the Eagles last home game will be on Jan. 12. “I want to leave a positive impact and lead as a good example for the lower classes so we can continue to grow as a program,” Soles said.

JV

The JV team has also found victory as they won their first game with a score of 12-0 against Mesa high school. Along with their second game, scoring 5-0. The team’s current record is 3-1 and the girls are looking forward to continuing to gain wins. “I think we have done really well and have connected in practice and are starting to connect better in games. I felt like we are doing a lot better,” said Breea Kindred, freshman. The girls are continuing to work hard for hopes of making varsity in the future and having a winning record this season. “I want to make sure we stay on top of it and be a good captain this year,” Kindred said. *Due to the Talon going to the printer, scores for the La Joya Community and Gilbert games can be found on aia365.com.

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Wrestling weighs in on path to greatness By KASEY CROSS

Photography Editor

Most sports are pretty difficult, but there aren’t many sports where your objective is to hurt or get hurt. The OHS wrestling team’s season has just started, and they’re planning on making the best one yet. The wrestling team practices every day after school and Saturday mornings. They have to eat healthy, lose weight and gain muscle as much as they can each day. Their schedule is packed with tournaments and invitationals, and so far, haven’t lost to anyone. Last year the state qualifiers were Cruz Crawford, senior, Joseph Cotton, senior, Aaron Mayer, junior, and Quade Merril, junior. Now however, that the players, and their skills are maturing, they have an even better shot at state. “It’s my last year. I feel like I’m more mentally pre-

pared for all my matches. I’m ready to do good as a team. I want to be remembered as one of the better captains and a state champ,” said Cruz Crawford, captain and state qualifier. Being that the program has matured so much since last year, not only are they not losing, they have a stronger team dynamic. “This year, we are made up with a lot more seniors and juniors, more upperclassmen. That’s kind of new, so we are a little older and experienced. That shows this year. We’ve ripped a lot of the teams apart,” said Quade Merrill, state qualifier. The team also placed 2nd out of 15th in the state in early December at Show Low tournament. Come support your wrestling team at their next home meet, on Jan. 11th. *Due to the Talon going to the printer, scores for the Moon Valley meets can be found on aia365.com.

PHOTO BY KASEY CROSS Rory Ortega, sophomore, brings down opponent from Sunnyslope High School while wrestling at a home match on Dec. 6

Amy Bockerstette, Junior Girls Golf, State Team Qualifier “Golfing has been fantastic for Amy. She’s able to play with the regular kids. She’s met a lot of girls who she’s become friends with. Golf has allowed her to play a sport with the other girls versus just being a manager or be a spectator, so golf is a sport that Amy’s been able to play.” -Joe Bockerstette, Amy’s dad “My favorite part is playing with the girls and riding the bus. I also like having breakfast with the girls and we all go to subway after.” - Amy

Fall Sports Standouts All photos and interviews by Cassidy Moore of OC Captured

Noah Robinson, Senior

Boys Golf, D1 State Champion “It’s the competitive drive that’s important. Your competitors drive you to become better, and my team supports me a lot. Coming down the stretch, I knew they were right there. With them there, it helped my confidence.”

Jesselyn Bries, Junior

Girls Cross Country, D1 State Champion “I started in seventh grade after I quit gymnastics and my mom was a runner so she persuaded me to join. The team aspect is my favorite part of the sport. You are counting on each other and you understand what everyone goes through, so you are not only running for yourself, but for your teammates. We are very close, we all want to do our best for our teammates.”

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