this issue

HiIRMS News P.1

HiRMS News P.2

Encore P.3

Athletics P.4

Opinion/ Club P.56

Reviews P.7

Hickory Ridge Middle Harrisburg, NC November 2013

HiRMS News Maver ick

1 HiRMS Events Maver ick T imes

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Student Artwork Showcase

What’s Going On?!?!?!?

Every Tuesday Morning: Quiz Bowl 8:00 to 8;45 Every Friday Morning: YCI 8:00-8:45 Every Tuesday & Thursday afternoon: Run Club 4:15-5:00 pm November 5th Election day (no school) November 7th 8th grade girls & boys basketball games (home) November 7th Wrestling match (away @ CC Griffin) November 11th Holiday (no school) November 12th 8th grade girls & boys basketball games (away @ CC Griffin) November 12th Wrestling Match (home) November 12th Maverick Meal night @ Highway 55 4-9pm November 14th 8th grade girls & boys basketball games (home) November 19th Maverick Meal Night @ Jersey Mike’s 4-9pm November 19th 8th grade girls & boys basketball games (home) November 21st Wrestling Match (home) November 25th 8th grade girls & boys basketball games (away @ NW Cabarrus) November 25th Wrestling Match (home) November 26th Wrestling Match (home) November 27th Staff Development (no school) November 28th & 29th Fall Break (no school)

I S S U E 0 1

1st Quarter V o l u m e 1

2013

Welcome to the first

Maverick Times

By Grace Prillaman

Welcome to the first edition of the

Maverick Times! Each month we will be releasing

a newsletter including Sports, Hickory Ridge

News, Encore, Clubs, and much more making

sure that you’re updated on all things current in

HiRMS! Mr. Miller (8th grade ELA teacher) runs

the Newspaper club along with selected students

from each grade. From Writers, Artists,

Photographers, Reviewers and Editors– we have

them all! See the newspaper online, or even buy

your own copy, all proceeds will go to the club so

we can keep the printed copies running. Thanks

again for supporting the Maverick Times! Visit our

Cabarrus County Schools Website for a link to the

online version of the newsletter! On behalf of the

Newsletter Club, thanks again! See Mr. Miller

with more questions.

_______________________________________

7th Grade Renaissance Trip

By Haritha Mohan

For more information about the 7th grade trip to the

Renaissance Festival, see page 2.

8th Grade Chorus Concert

By: Savannah Bradley On Monday, October 14th, the HiRMS

Choir performed at the Hickory Ridge Fall Concert. First, the combined 6th and 7th grade choirs performed “Come By Here” and “Rain Dance”; soon after the 8th grade choir performed 3 songs: “Dream A Dream”, a slow ballad, “Jazz Cantate”, a song in Latin, and “A Little Mozart”, a song set to one of Mozart’s works. The beginning high school choir performed 2 songs, “Hold On!”, and “Miserere Nobis”, and then soon after the advanced high school choir performed “The Word Was God” and “Riversong”. After a round of applause, the brand-new HRHS Chamber Choir (a group that uses voices instead of any instruments, and consists of 10-20 people alone) performed with only 15 girls in “Girl’s Garden”, “Set Me As A Seal” and “Weep No More”. It was an amazing night and a great turnout of friends and family to come see all the choirs perform. Mrs. Jadlocki directed all of the middle school groups while Ms. Hilton directed the beginning, advanced, and HRHS Chamber Choir. At the end, every group got together (over 200 kids) to perform a traditional African song called “Kaki Lambe”, with members of the choir playing the drums and other instruments. Everyone loved it and enjoyed it and the crowd went wild! It was definitely not to be missed. The concert lasted from 7:00-8:00 and was the very first concert of

the season.

Cheyenne Martinez—Parrot Katie Michalec—Junkyard

Football season wrap-up on page 4.

Thanksgiving

By Savannah Bradley

Hello Mavericks! Coming up soon is just one of the most important holidays of the year- Thanksgiving! During this time, we’re out of school the 27th, 28th, and 29th of November. Because Thanksgiving is right around the corner, here are some facts you may have never known about the holiday! Did you know that the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City began in the 1920’s? Also, Californians consume the largest amount of turkey in the US. Lastly, 280 million turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving in the US each year! Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving, Mavericks!

HiRMS News Maver ick T imes

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Entertainment Maver ick T imes

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Music Review By Savannah Bradley Save Rock and Roll by The

Fallout Boy

Earlier this year, Fall Out Boy

decided it was time to get back together. Some tracks, like the

catchy anthem “Alone Together” and the bass-heavy “Where

Did The Party Go” give FOB fans a hint of nostalgia to their

older songs- others, like their first single “My Songs Know

What You Did In The Dark” and “Miss Missing You” add a new,

pop-induced sound to the album. However, then we run into a

speed bump- there are a LOT of collaborations on the album-

some like “Rat A Tat” ft. Courtney Love (of all people!) and

“Save Rock And Roll” featuring… wait for it: Elton John. Last

time I checked, young teens these days might not even know

who Courtney Love or Elton John are anymore. Those teens

from 2010 have grown up, and now FOB are marketing to a

new generation of teenagers who might have never even

heard their music before Save Rock And Roll was put out. Are

the songs bad? No. Is anything very surprising? Not really. But

is the album good? Yes. I’d give it a 7.5/10. The songs are

upbeat and catchy. But the fact of the matter is, Fall Out Boy

keeps trying to get fans amped up about these “cutting-edge”

albums- and turns out, they’re not cutting-edge at all. It’s just

that Fall Out Boy keeps walking in the same direction every

time they do something new, but now it just feels like they’re

sleepwalking.

TV Review By Ellie Lowry

Glee

Fox’s hit TV

show Glee has just begun

their 5th season and is off

to an exciting start. The

show is based off of a

Glee club as the name

suggests, and is about all

the adventures the

students have in the choir

room. The show itself has

many characters that all

have joined the show choir at McKinley High School. The

characters all have different social statuses, backstories, and

secrets, As their time in the club progress, the characters

become more intriguing and always will leave the audience

hanging on the edge of their seat. Also woven into the plot is

absolutely phenomenal singing including everything from show

tunes, to rock and roll, and everything in between. The show has

a laugh-out-loud comedy that will leave you grinning the whole

time!

Book Review By Mandy Wallace

Coffeehouse Angel by Suzanne

Selfors

From the author of Saving

Juliet, comes a heartwarming

romantic comedy. The main

character ,Katrina owns a coffee

shop with her grandmother that

is close to going out of business.

When Katrina, spots a homeless

man outside her Grandmother’s

coffee shop, she gives him some

provisions to tide him over. But

her at of kindness, doesn't go

unnoticed. It turns out the homeless man was named Malcom

& was a guardian angel on a break between missions. This is

a cute and heartwarming story with some funny moments in

between that make it a great read.

Movie Review By Mandy Wallace

Grace Unplugged

Grace Unplugged is a

movie that has just recently

came out. It is about a girl

who has dreams of becoming

a big star. While following her

dreams she strays from her

Bible teachings. Her father is

a former rock star who has

found strength in the bible.

Will he let Grace follow her

dreams? Grace unplugged

was an okay movie that had

some slow moments.

Considering it is a Christian

movie which typically tend to

be smaller productions it was good. I also felt like

everything was predictable and there weren’t any

surprises or shockers. I would still suggest people to go

see it because it was interesting and it was a fun movie. I

think this is a movie for mostly girls. Not that boys can’t

go see it. I just think it was aimed more toward girls.

Overall I would give this movie a 3 out of 5. I hope you

will go see this movie!

On Wednesday, October 16 the 7th graders went to Huntersville for a field trip to the Renaissance Festival. They boarded the bus right after homeroom, arriving right before 11. Before starting to tour the fair, we were grouped with other students and a chaperone. The Fair was set up with many different shops, which presented the culture during the Renaissance period. We had an opportunity to watch the jousting event, “It was a bit corny, and you could tell it was fake. But it was still fun to experience what jousting was like in the Renaissance Era” said Kaley, who toured the renaissance fair also. It was a pretty good experience in my opinion, providing many sights to be seen. The fair was very big, so it kept everyone busy. The tourists could buy anything from candles to jewelry to turkey legs! There were few rides and you even had a chance to ride on a Camel. I even heard lots of the 7th graders were going to bring in their families and look at the fair together. This field trip was very interesting, and gave us, the 7th grade, a visual of the era.

7th Grade Renaissance Trip By Haritha Mohan

Inside 7th Grade

By: Mandy Wallace

We have had a great start to the year on the Visionary’s in 7th grade. We’ve had a lot of fun projects. We also had a lot of fun at the Renaissance festival. It was probably the most fun field trip I’ve been on yet. So overall it’s been a fantastic year so far. This is what Ms. Devine (science) said about the year so far. “ The students are doing very well and whenever you’re doing well in a subject you tend to like the class more. So I do think the majority of the kids are enjoying it. I’m definitely enjoying it as well. I love my job.” This is what Mrs. Yoder (social studies) said. “I think the students are enjoying it. I think……….you can never really be sure but I know I’m enjoying it.

New for Christmas By Kevin McLaughlin

The PS4 comes out on November 15th so put that on your Christmas list if you’re a gamer!! Whats new is its dynamic, has connected gaming, powerful graphics and speed. Also has intelligent personalization, deeply integrated social capabilities, and innovative second-screen features. Combining unparalleled content, immersive gaming experiences. The XBOX one comes out on November 22nd but it is VERY VERY expensive so you better persuade your parents to get it for you. Includes 8GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive gives you storage for your games, demos, movies, apps, music, and more. The XBOX 1 will still have Kinect!!!!

8th Grade Football By: Coach Hutchins “The 8th grade football team finished the season with an above .500 record of 4-3. The team faced its toughest challenges early on having to play Concord and then Kannapolis to start the season. The team rebounded by winning four straight over Harris Road, Mt. Pleasant, NW, and CCG. The offense was helped by a powerful line led by Owen Barber, Noah Whichel, and Dalton Haywood. The offense was also boosted by a powerful option attack led by Quinn White and leading rusher for the year Jeremiah Boyd, Codi Todaro, Jalen Brooks, and Michael Mutterer. Michael Mutterer also became the go to guy for sweeps and long pass plays. Also fueling a potent passing attack were QB’s Connor Helm, Eli Cupples and Michael Daniels . Defensively, the Mavs were led by lineman Andrew Jones and Noah Whichel and LB’s Owen Barber, Connor Helm, and Bennett Kirby, and good defensive back play from Dylan Ratliff, and Grant Lovelace. The defense came up huge in a hard fought, thrilling second half 34-30 victory vs. CCG. The team ended their 2 year career with a 10-5 record and the School’s first football championship. All the Coaches would like to extend congratulations to all team members for their hard work,

Athletics Maver ick T imes

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7th/8th Grade Softball By: Aubrie Brigman The Hickory Ridge Middle School girls softball team had a great season suffering only 2 losses. In the first round of the tournament, they suffered a tough loss against Northwest having 2 outs, bases loaded in the bottom of the 7th inning playing their hardest but sadly not coming home with a win. Main hitters on the team were Dakota Christie, Jenna Cirino, Ally Todaro, and Nicole Gaeta. The main pitchers were Hala Soliman, and Kelsey Guenot. The defensive leaders were Hala Soliman (catcher), Hailey Ensing And Paisley Fio-dorav. I asked a few of the softball players what they thought about the season and one of them said, “ I think we have a good group of ladies and that there was good commotion this year.” I also asked how well they worked together and she said, “ Yes, it was a good experience and I think we all had fun and the coaches were nice. I think we learned a lot from them.” Congratulations on your season! Great job ladies.

7th Grade Football By Mr. Miller

The 7th grade football team

ended the season with a two

game winning streak. After

dropping the first four games

against the top four teams in

the league, the 7th grade

Mavericks rebounded by

finishing the last three games

with a great 2-1 record. The

team lined up all year against

bigger opponents but always

stood their ground. Nolan

Devos led the Maverick

offense starting all 7 games for

the team at quarterback. Also

playing well offensively were:

Nick Campany, Garrett

Williams, Logan Cruce and

Grant Minor.

The 7th grade Maverick

defense held their final two

opponents to just 12 points

combined. The defense was

led by the D-line combination

of Taveon Douglas, Malachi

Simpson, Chris Halling, Paris

Terrell and CJ Dolce. Also

playing well for the defense

were Shane Victory, Zack

Cheek, Grant Minor, Jack

Mitchell and Bryson Taylor .

The team hopes use their last

two games as momentum for

next year.

Opinion Maver ick T imes

5

8th Grade Set To Go To DC

By Grace Prillaman

In April of 2014 the Hickory Ridge Middle School eighth graders are set to go to Washington DC. During this 3 day trip they will see sights such as the Holocaust Museum, The Washington Monument, World War II Monument , Vietnam Memorial and many more places! The cool thing about the trip is that we actually get to see what we are learning about in Social Studies class. To help fund this trip, we have multiple fundraisers throughout the year to help support the cost. We just finished our Butter Braid fundraiser and had a great success, thank you for all the people who sold. To all eighth graders, the next payment of $90 is due November 22nd to your homeroom teacher. Please have this payment on the due date.

Students on the Street By Layla Saliba and Grace Prillaman In this month’s newsletter, Grace and Layla went around to 3 random eighth grade students each and asked the question, “What is your favorite part of eighth grade so far?” The results are as followed. Jala Moore: “It gives you more challenges and I can meet new friends.” Nicole Gaeta: “Having more freedom.” Ashlee Owens: “Getting to sit with my friends at lunch and having more of my friends in my classes.” Taylor Shaw “The fact that it’s the last year of middle school” Kristen LaPiana “I like the freedom and how the expectations are higher” Marianna Araujo “ The food!”

Comic by Eshaan Patel

Clubs Maverick Times

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If you want to a fun way to stay in shape or get in shape (track tryouts anyone?), Run club is a great option. To give the inside information, I interviewed Mr. Tinnel (8th grade teacher) who is one of the Run club advisors along with Ms. Roberts (6th grade teacher) L– What is Run Club? T- Run Club is an after school group that focuses on making students better runners. The goal of Run Club is to get students to the point where they can run a 5k, which is a 3.1 mile race. All runners, whether you are beginner or expert, can benefit from the club. Ms. Roberts and I want to make better runners out of everyone that joins. When is the first meeting? November 7th after school and we will meet in the cafeteria.

Ask Madam

Maverick By Madam Maverick

My grades this quarter aren’t going very well and have been slipping from A’s & B’s to D’s & C’s. My parents are really made at me, because I focus on sports more then school and if I don’t stop, I’ll have to quit soccer & softball. Please help! - D+ Average Getting bad grades isn’t fun for anyone. Here’s how to get back on track. First of all, try to understand that your parents just want the best for you . They aren’t trying to hurt you or upset you, they just want you to do well. Next use every spare minute you have to study. Maybe on the way to practice, do some math problems or review your science notes. When you are in school, save talking to your friends for in-between classes & lunch. Good luck! My boyfriend has been blowing me off at the last minute & flirting with other girls. Whenever I try to talk to him about it, he get's angry & tells me to back off. What do I do? - Girlfriend in Trouble

Guys can be hard to deal with! You did the right thing, by trying to talk to him. But when he flirts with other girls shamelessly & gets mad at you, consider a breakup. He’s obviously can’t handle a girlfriend right now & want s to be a free man. Stand up for yourself & find a guy that’s loyal to you/. Wondering what to do? Have some questions that need to be answered? Madam Maverick is here to help ! Send all your questions with a secret name to maverick.advice@ gmail.com

Life Skills By Layla Saliba Ms.Stockmaster’s 8th grade classes did a Halloween bake off titled ’Cupcakes,

cookies , and cakes, oh my! Students used cake & cookie recipes along with a homemade

frosting recipe provided by Ms.Stockmaster to create a wide variety of baked goods

ranging from a double layer jack o lantern with cupcakes as the pumpkin’s stem to cookies

with designs like ghosts and goblins. Groups voted on designs and were then able to

either bring in their own cake mix or choose from a variety provided by Ms.Stockmaster.

Overall, everyone had a great time but students mentioned how this lab especially

decorating their cakes and cookies was more challenging versus last week’s homemade

pizza lab.

Catching Fire By Ellie Lowry Coming out soon is, the exciting sequel to Suzanne Collin’s, The Hunger Games, the second in the adventurous trilogy that follows the life of the story’s main character Katniss Everdeen. In post-apocalyptic North America there is a hunter named Katniss. She was chosen to be a part of her country’s competition known as the Hunger Games. This brutal event is a competition that 24 people enter, and only one person can win. The other 24 are killed off in almost any way possible from, mutant animals, the other tributes, and even poisonous berries. After Katniss’s name is called another tribute from her district is called, a boy named Peeta Mellark is called. A boy from her past that helped her when she needed it most. As a plan hatched by one of Katniss’s mentors, the pair would “fall in love” to keep them alive in The Games, for the sake of entertainment. However, is it possible that Katniss has developed feelings for Peeta that aren’t truly for the “showmance?” All this and more lie to be at least partially solved in the next movie of the Hunger Games.

6th Grade Band by Aniya Thomas

In sixth grade woodwinds we have Clarinets, Tenor Saxophones, Alto

Saxophones, Bass Clarinets, Flutes, and Percussion. We’ve been working

on Christmas music called Jingleosity, Sleigh Ride and other music we plan

to perform at the concert in December. We are having fun learning this

music and our instruments and are improving every time!

Encore Maverick Times

3

Do you want to show off your knowledge skills? If

so, join the Quizbowl! The Quizbowl meets on

Tuesdays from 8:00 to 8:45 A.M. 2 weeks ago, the

Quizbowl had their first competition of the year. We

were 2nd place in the competition out of 6 teams!

Currently the Quizbowl is practicing for future

competitions and hoping to improve their skills

hoping to get into Nationals. Quizbowl is run by Mrs.

Levin and Mrs. Stroup. The Quizbowl is working

very hard to achieve their goals.

By: Haritha Mohan

Quill Club

By Mrs. Rucker

How often do you we meet? Every Tuesday & Thursday What is a typical day at Run Club like? Run Club can depend on the day. We will have running form clinics, nutrition clinics, speed running days, distance running days and strength development. For beginner runners, we will use the Couch to 5k Program, which is a running program that helps get first time runners in shape to be able to run a 5k. For higher endurance runners, we will be doing distance work and strength development. It is an easy 45 minutes to work out, get in shape and run with your friends!

The Quill Club is a group of young aspiring students who ex-press their creative ideas through writing. If you would like to join, contact any Quill Club Member, Mrs. Rucker, or go to the Quill Club webpage located on the school website. If you would like to submit ANY piece of writing (short story, poem, song lyric) to be published in the school newspaper, please email your story to Mrs. Rucker and The Quill Club will make sure it gets published in the school news-paper and on The Quill Club web-site. Get in touch with the writer in you!

Run Club By Layla Saliba