Granger High School
Tri-Color Times an open forum for student opinion and expression
AW-YEAH GET SOME GHS! medina Bajric
photo by: samantha harris
April is my favorite month of the year. I don’t know about you but I’m sick of the cold weather. Our spring break was practically winter break. But on April 11th I went on a hike up butterfeild Canyon and I took some fun spring photos, Enjoy. Happy spring everyone!
THE school year’s coming to end and with it comes saying goodbye to the seniors. For two teams here at Granger, graduation will bring many tears and farewells. For both the Granger Excaliburs and Cheerleaders, the ending of this year means the loss of many talented athletes and a new beginning for both the teams and girls. Seven girls from cheer will be graduating and six from drill. This farewell will be extremely difficult for all of Granger considering the many accomplishments both teams have made in the past three years. In winter of 2007 the cheerleaders took first in the U.S.A region competition and in 2008, went on to nationals, for the first time in many years. In 2009 the Granger cheerleaders made the school proud by taking first place at nationals in Las Vegas, Nevada. The seniors’ cheer careers ended with a bang in Buena Park, California this year where the girls placed fourth in a division of eight schools at UCA’s national competition in April. For captains Felicia Barney (12) and Destiny Deyoung (12), this was much more than just a job well done. Both girls have been on the team all three years and will truly miss Granger and cheer. “My experiences as a cheerleader here at Granger will stay with
me forever,” said Barney. “I will always remember the laughs and the tears that came with hard work and practice,”said Deyoung. The Drill team seniors will also be missed in the halls of GHS. The past three years have been years of growth and improvement for the entire team. The Excaliburs compete many times throughout the year. No one will forget the pride that every student at Granger felt when after placing second in region last year, the girls went on to take first and second in events at nationals. This year was extra special for the seniors because they placed first in kick and novelty and third in military. Drill president, Janessa Dapp (12), and first vice, Cassie Bowles (12), have mixed emotions about moving on from the team. “I am going to have a hard time letting go of this team, we’ve had some rough times but we always pushed ourselves and ended on a higher level,“ said Dapp. “I am sad to be leaving but a break will be nice, I’ll definitely miss the girls the most,” said Bowles. These seniors will be greatly missed, but they will never be forgotten. We look forward to getting to know the new teams for next year. Good luck to those leaving and to all whose journeys have just begun here at Granger.
school of rock is coming town whitney hards
GRANGER HIGH Rock School began the year of 2007-2008, and has been an outlet for creative and talented rockstar hopefuls ever since. The need for such a unique class derives from Granger’s unorthodox instrumentalists. “Granger’s music program filled up with more guitars than any other instrument, so we started a comprehensive guitar program consisting of Guitar 1-4, Guitarkestra, and Rock School. The purpose of Rock School was so the students could play contemporary music.” said Mr. Moore, Granger’s music teacher and all-around rock and roll enthusiast. Each year, Rock School puts on various concerts in addition to one big themed show. The first year, the show was the music of KISS, one of the most wellknown and influential rock bands of all-time. Every student got to wear the band’s emblematic face paint and party on the stage. “Who wouldn’t want to dress up in tights and makeup?” said Mr. Moore. KISS’D was a blast for
April 2010
everyone involved. The second year, the show was the music of The Who’s album Tommy, which was a somewhat theatrical production. The album is a story of a young boy who is struck blind, deaf, and dumb after being the sole witness of a traumatic event in his early childhood. “I chose Tommy for two main reasons. One; Tommy has a cohesive story. Even if the audience is unfamiliar with the music, they can still have interest in the storyline. Two; It worked really well with the students I had in the class.” Roles were assigned to the students, and some acting was incorporated into the performance. It was a singular, outstanding rock concert. As for what devoted Rock School groupies can expect to be wowed by this year, Moore has come up with a sweet treat. On May 6, 2010, Rock School will be performing Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon. “In deciding themes, I chose Dark Side because it is a landmark album. Dark Side
of the Moon is one of the bestselling albums of all-time, and it was on the charts for thirty years. For the students’ benefit, the album is musically rich and has a lot of vocal opportunity,” explained Mr. Moore. Everyone participating in the production is excited, and putting in a lot of practice time. For some students, learning the album has been a breeze. These cases are usually students who are already ‘Pink Floyd-savvy.’ Other students are encountering some challenges. Austin Treadway (10), a talented drummer, said the most prominent challenge for him when learning the music is that it is, “Definitely slower than I’m used to playing.” Rebekah Fuller (11), one of the vocalists, defined the challenge of her learning experience as, “Adapting my voice to sing this style of music.” This concert offers these young musicians a chance to grow. One artist in particular has put a tremendous amount of thought and work into this production.
Willie Clark (12) is devoting a large portion of his time to plan, figure, and improve the show, helping with aspects such as: Artistic decisions, sounds used, sounds cut, ideas that will work for the students, and figuring out all of the keyboard music. Clark is notorious for his talent with the guitar, but he is also capable of playing many other instruments, such as the keyboard, drums, and bass guitar. Clark is substantially
knowledgeable when it comes to Floyd, so his musical interpretations of the work should be phenomenal. With Mr. Moore’s rock ‘n’ roll expertise, the hard work put in by the students, and the amount of talent present in GHS Rock School, Dark Side is a show you do not want to miss. Come support your Lancer musicians, and we’ll “see you on the dark side of the moon!”
JESSICA TOMLIN, rock school member photo by: ASHLEY CHAMBERS
Volume LI, Issue 10