A publication of Douglas Southhall FreemanHigh School, Henrico, Virginia 23229Vol 57, No.3 December 2010

Commentatorthe

Only 1 person out of every 1,000 people in the United States has sickle cell anemia. Freshman Nile Price is part of that 0.1 per-cent. After going through a series of chemo treatments, followed by a bone marrow transplant, Nile is free of sickle cell anemia and is hoping to visit his donor. After submitting Nile’s bone marrow to the National Bone Marrow Registry, it was matched with that of Laura Klubert’s, a 43 year old Caucasian woman from Texas. It has been about four months since Nile’s treatment, and Nile has not met the woman who saved his life. “We haven’t had the opportuni-ty to meet her face to face yet but we chat as though we’ve been the best of friends forever,” said Deborah Price, Nile’s mother. Nile hopes to be able to visit Laura in late November or early December, but the costs of the medical treatments and medi-cines make the cross-country flight very difficult. “…Sickle Cell disease…has not allowed us to get away like other families because it requires lots of coordinating just for a week-end getaway. Sometimes we have made plans in advance only to have them cancelled at the last minute because Nile went into a crisis,” said Mrs. Price. A fund has been set up by the local television broadcasting company, NBC 12, to help raise money for Nile’s trip. Also, the Freeman staff has raised $322 to assist Nile in his hope of meeting Laura. The fund is set up through Wachovia. To donate money to help Nile’s cause, ask one of the Wachovia tellers for more infor-mation. How is the Freeman family helping Nile? This fall Nile was in the hos-pital for about two weeks, and many of his teachers visited him. Although the Freeman fam-ily has been understanding and helpful to Nile’s medical issues, some of his previous teachers haven’t been. “In elementary and middle school we gave booklets about sickle cell anemia to the teachers and they just put it in their desks and didn’t look at it. One teacher wouldn’t let me leave 5 minutes early so I could walk to my class-es more easily. Kids were im-mature and I got pushed into a locker. The commotion made me go into crisis,” said Nile. The gym teachers also made Nile run in the cold and hot, even though he is not supposed to be outside when it is below 40 or above 90 degrees or doing any form of exercise which led to an-other hospital visit. Another side effect from the

treatments is “chemo brain.” This chemo brain causes Nile to have short term memory loss. “Sometimes it is hard for me to pay attention. Not all the time but sometimes. I’ll study a lot and then take the test and look at the paper and don’t remember any of it,” said Nile. To keep up with school he sometimes is started on home-bound and a teacher will come to his house to help him. Ms. Edwards, guidance counselor at Freeman, arranged for a NHS student to tutor Nile. “I email him all the notes and the students email all the notes they took in class...we are try-ing to be supportive in every way possible. I let him make things up and redo things because of missing class,” said Lara Curry, history teacher at Freeman. “All of the teachers have been more than understanding and accommodating. I should say, everyone at Freeman has gone above and beyond for Nile. This is the first time we have ever got-ten such a response from school,’ said Mrs. Price. Some of his class mates sent him cards and other things to en-tertain him, such as a sketchpad and a mix cd. “He hates to miss school and was so worried about falling be-hind but when he saw during this last hospital admission that ev-eryone here is going to do what they can help, he was floored. We were both super surprised,” said Mrs. Price. What is Sickle Cell Anemia? Sickle cell anemia is a life threatening hereditary disease. Most people who inherit the dis-ease only live to their 40’s. The sickle cell disease is a type of anemia which means the blood has a lower than average number of red blood cells. The job of red blood cells in the body is to trans-port oxygen and remove carbon dioxide. In this disorder, the body sometimes creates “sickle shaped” red blood cells. These sickle cells only live around 10 to 20 days. This is a lot shorter than the average red blood cell life of 120 days. This disparity in life span causes the low number of red blood cells in the body. Sickle cell patients learn of their disease around time of birth. Once being diagnosed with sick-le cell anemia, the patient’s life is completely changed. “Nile was two weeks old when I got a telephone call from the Maryland state health depart-ment…I cried deeply because I knew what this disease would mean for his life,” said Deborah Price. Because sickle cell anemia is a hereditary disease, usually more than one person in a family has the disease. However, some fam-ily members will only have the sickle cell trait, which means they have the sickle cell gene but not the disease. All men on Nile’s dad’s side of the family have the sickle cell

trait including his dad. Nile is a triplet but his two brothers only have the sickle cell trait. How-ever his younger sister has the disease. Sickle cell patients experience a crisis. Nile had his first “crisis” at 12 months old. A sickle cell crisis is when sick-le cells block small blood vessels that carry blood to your bones. A crisis typically results in a trip to the hospital. Red blood cells are created in the bone marrow. One pos-sible cure for sickle cell anemia is a bone marrow transplant but it only works for a small number people. Nile is one of those lucky people.Nile’s Treatment Nile’s mom began looking for treatment for his sickle cell dis-ease when he was younger but the doctors told her that it wasn’t severe enough yet. As Nile aged, he began experi-encing more frequent and severe crises and became a “frequent flyer” at the hospital. He also experienced acute chest which is when the lungs fill with water and causes extreme pain in the chest. Doctors decided he was ready for the treatment. Nile and his parents began looking for a do-nor and entered him into the National Bone Marrow Registry. He found his donor, Laura Klu-bert, through the registry. For a donor to be able to donate bone marrow, the doner must have a perfect 8 out of 8 match which is determined through a mouth swab.

Nile’s donor, Laura Klubert, lives in Texas. She has two sons; one is deaf and blind and the other is a marine pilot. Klubert is white and therefore only had a 5% chance of having a perfect match with Price who is black. Last summer, his sickle cell dis-ease worsened. He went to che-motherapy for a week and then after a week of rest, went back in for another round of chemo. The purpose of the chemo was to kill the bad cells to wipe out the immune system so he could receive the transplant. Going into the treatment, Nile experienced multiple nightmares. He was afraid of losing a kidney or other important organs. The treatment went perfectly and Nile was cured of the sickle cell disease. After the disease, he had to stay at home for a couple of months to regain his strength. “I was basically a noodle,” said Nile.Nile Now and his Future Nile is completely cured from sickle cell anemia but he now is battling the graph versus host disease.

The goal is to have all the do-nor bone marrow cells take over his “host” cells. While this pro-cess takes place, the body reacts strangely. To fight this disease, Nile is undergoing a treatment called photophoresis twice a week. He is put in a room and has ultravio-lent light shining on him. Nile describes this treatment as “a sun tan for his white blood cells”. He takes 17 pills a day for the treatment and other conditions

caused by it. Some of the pills make his skin extra sensitive to light for the treatment. When he comes out of the photophoresis treatment, he has to wear special sunglasses to guard his eyes from light. Throughout all the treatments, Nile has not changed his outlook on life. “It has not changed my out-look on life. But there are cer-tain things that you have to do to keep out of the hospital but you still got to enjoy life,” said Nile. One of Nile’s biggest supports throughout the treatment was his mom. She has great confidence in his future. “I always tell my children to shoot for the moon and if they happen to miss, at least they will be amongst the stars…He is the happiest child I know and he has big dreams and embraces every day with great expectations,” said Deborah Price. One of Nile’s dreams is to setup a foundation to expand the Nel-son clinic and 7th floor at MCV where he was during his stay in the hospital. Nile expressed con-cern that there was not enough space in the clinic for the patients or for the parents who sleep over-night there. Nile is appreciative of the help MCV has given his family. Dur-ing some of his hospital stays, MCV gave his parents free food coupons and waived the parking fees. Nile’s future is bright now that he is free of his sickle cell disease burden.

Caroline Lewis &Scott Nystrom Staff Writers

Freshman overcomes sickle cell anemia

Junior Spencer Hargett was crossing East Ridge Road when a car turning left out of the Krog-er parking lot struck him Nov. 9 around 4 p.m. NBC 12 news incorrectly re-ported that he was riding a bike. “He was walking. I do not know where they got the bike from,” said Officer Campbell Hundley. Henrico County Officer Ra-

Car collision reveals dangers of jay-walking chel Heinig who is investigating the accident said that the news report had multiple errors be-sides the bicycle, but she could not release further information because the investigation is pri-vate. “I ended up fracturing my pel-vis right side. I had scrapes, and bruises, and two lacerations that required four stitches total,” said Spencer describing his injuries. Spencer stayed in the hospital for about 24 hours. And as a result of his injuries, he missed eight full days of school but his teachers were “helpful with mak-ing up the work.” “Pretty much for the most part I did not feel a lot of it, but I was

sore,” said Spencer. Officer Hundley con-firmed ru-mors that the driver who hit Spencer was a teenager, but due to the student’s juvenile sta-tus he could not release the name. Although, Spencer said he was hit by a 19-year-old girl, who is not a student at Freeman. Regardless of his injuries, Of-ficer Hundley said the driver is legally not responsible.

“The r o a d w a y is con-trolled by stoplights and cross-walks. Any other time, a person is taking a risk when crossing.”“It was not

like I was the only one crossing there,” said Spencer. Spencer said that at the time of the accident he was talking on his cell phone. “I was talking to my mom, and I was getting ready to hang up,”

Nicole Coble & Katherine Krudys

Staff Writers

“The roadway is controlled by stoplights and crosswalks. Any other time, a person is taking a risk when crossing” said Officer Hundley

he said. Spencer was crossing the street because his car was parked in the Kroger parking lot. “For the most part this would not have happened if parking passes were not expensive or if the church was still free,” he said Spencer recommends that other pedestrians “be more attentive,” and he said he will use cross-walks in the future. “By the time you get to 15,16,17 years of age you know that walk-ing in front of a moving vehicle is not going to be a good outcome,” said Officer Hundley.

Nile Price works on his leadship homework in study hall.

PHOTO: J. CROWDER

2 The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010 News

Henrico County Public Schools, with its partner the Community Training and Tech-nical Assistance Center, received $16,447,775 in a Teacher Incen-tive Fund grant from the federal government. The program was implemented at the beginning of the 2010-11 school year, and it will continue throughout the next five years. The grant was given to HCPS to attempt to lower the number of effective teachers and princi-pals leaving the county’s highest-need schools. All teachers who instruct stu-dents in a subject with an end-of-course SOL Assessment are al-lowed to participate in the grant. All principals who supervise these teachers are also eligible to participate. Eligible teachers may earn up to an $8,000 salary supplement based on how engaging their classrooms are according to county standards, and also based on how well their students do on the SOL assessments. Eligible principals and assis-tant principals may earn up to a

$10,000 salary supplement based on how well the learning envi-ronment they have created re-tains teachers. Their additional pay is also based on how well the school as a whole performs on state and local assessments of knowledge. Selected schools include High-land Springs Elementary School, Fair Oaks Elementary School, Laburnum Elementary School, Glen Lea Elementary School, Adams Elementary School, Fairfield Middle School, Wilder Middle School, and Highland Springs High School. According to Mr. Mark Fa-glioni, a Freeman social studies teacher who previously worked at Highland Springs for one year, the effectiveness of the grant in retaining teachers for these schools “all depends on the indi-vidual teacher, and whether the compensation justifies the learn-ing environment.” Teachers at these schools “are faced with children who are dealing with more challenges outside the classroom,” said Mr. Faglioni. According to Ms. Julia Rose, assistant principal who previ-ously worked at both Highland Springs High School and Hen-rico High School, reasons these

schools are hard to staff “include everything from student disci-pline, to the number of hours of ‘non-contractual time’ that teachers work, to lack of com-munity/parental support for the children’s education.” “Teachers and principals at the selected schools should be compensated more than teachers at Freeman because they have a tougher job. At Freeman, we don’t have as many fights or dis-plays of aggression. If you are a teacher at one of the selected schools, you may be expected to get in the middle of a fight and break it up,” said Mr. Faglioni. “I think that teachers who meet all of the requirements for the in-centive program will have done a tremendous amount of work, and that there should be recogni-tion for this progress. The extra money is not automatic,” said Ms. Rose. Mr. Warren Ahrens, assistant principal who previously worked as assistant principal at High-land Springs High School for six years, also believes the Teacher Incentive Fund grant is fair. “The students over there are harder to motivate to learn. Stu-dents at Freeman seem to be more motivated and more seri-ous about their learning,” said

Mr. Ahrens. When asked the question of whether or not they would con-sider returning to work at High-land Springs in order to be eligi-ble to participate in the grant and receive the extra compensation, Ms. Rose, Mr. Faglioni, and Mr. Ahrens all answered differently. “I would return to HSHS or Henrico High regardless of the incentive. Don’t get me wrong, I love Freeman and I love being here, but I also really enjoyed the different challenges at HSHS. If there was extra money, I would like it, but I would give 100 per-cent to my job regardless,” said Ms. Rose. “I am in the twilight of my career. When I worked there [Highland Springs], I was much younger so I had much more en-ergy to meet the demands that such schools impose,” said Mr. Ahrens. “I don’t think the money could entice me back because I’m happy with the students at Free-man,” said Mr. Faglioni. “I feel very fortunate and proud to serve the student body and staff at Freeman,” agreed Mr. Ahrens.

You may not know what the terms ‘timber hitch’ or ‘butter-fly tie’ mean, but after a day in “Survival Week” with the boys of the PE classes, you would. During the last week of Octo-ber, while the girls were learn-ing self-defense moves with Chop-Chop Bob, the boys were learning skills to use in emer-gency situations. Throughout the week, Doug Clements, PE teacher, taught the boys everything from knot tying to first aid. “We have seven priorities: PMA, which means positive mental attitude, wilderness first aid, shelter craft, fire craft, signaling, water, and food” said Coach Clements. “We’ve learned how to tie knots, how to make fires, how to make tents, and what to do in case of an injury” said soph-omore Ivor Otieno. On the third day of “Survival Week,” the boys learned how to make a shelter. They were split into groups of four and were given rope and a piece of tarp. Each group tied the rope to two volleyball net poles. They put the tarp over the rope and then taped and tied a plastic golf ball, or ‘button,’ on the top and bottom ends of the tarp, making a triangle. Each tent fit four to five peo-

ple. Out of the all the skills the boys had learned so far, soph-omore Aaron Young thought “making tents would be the most useful.” After the boys made the shelters, Coach Clements talk-ed to them about how to make a lean-to shelter. Coach Clements has been hiking for 20 years. “I found a survival school in Roanoke that I’m now a part of, and I’m trying to pass along the things I’ve learned” he said. “One time while I was hiking, it was snowing and I couldn’t see the trail. I didn’t know how to use a compass, which I wish I had” said Clements. Coach Clements reminded the boys that they need to prac-tice the skills they’ve learned, especially knot-tying. “I don’t think they’ll remem-ber everything they’ve learned here, but I think they’ll have a general idea of what to do” said Clements. Coach Clements also told the boys that they can use the skills in other situations, like with their cars. The PE department hopes to include the girls in “Survival Week” next year. The boys learned many life-long skills in “Survival Week.” Clements reminded them that “You never know when you’ll need any of this out in the woods.”

On Oct. 8, senior Erin Moore was driving to school at 7:55 a.m. to early to study for her physics test when she was pulled over by a police officer in a silver Dodge Charger. “I got slapped with a $375 tick-et and I had to take the SATs the next day,” said Erin. Erin was going 16mph over in a strictly 25 mph school zone road. She does not know what the specific consequence will be yet but she does know she has to go to court on Dec. 2 and pay her $375 fine. “Since it’s a first offense it will probably be dropped but if not I might have to do driving school, which is stupid because I’m a good driver,” said Erin. “When the lights are flashing it’s a school zone. Usually its about 20 minutes before the first bell and 20 minutes after the bell rings,” said Officer Campbell Hundley, Henrico police officer. Each school has a school zone, an area covering the roads sur-rounding a school, where driving laws are more strictly enforced and punishments are greater. Santa Anna is a road in the Freeman school zone that con-nects Patterson Avenue to the Freeman parking lot. Because of this road’s location, many of drivers on the road are students. “If I had to give you an average I’d probably say drivers go about 28-30mph on Santa Anna,” said Officer Sidelitz, Henrico Traffic Safety officer. “The penalty is usually en-hanced which will mean a strict-er fine” said Officer Hundley. In attempt to reduce the amount of speeders on Santa Anna, speed humps were put in the road by Henrico County. “It was done this year. Most likely it was the people living on that road who have complained about the high volume of the cars and the speed of the cars,” said Officer Hundley. Henrico County put in speed bumps usually because of a high number of complaints about speeding on a certain road, yet the county cannot go and put speed bumps in based solely off of complaints. “My knowledge of the speed bumps is the county has to come and do a speed survey on how many cars come through and what percent of them are speed-

ing,” said Officer Sidelitz. The county of Henrico patrols Santa Anna randomly in attempt to catch speeders and reduce the amount of speeding cars. “A lot of times if residents complain, they will try to get out there to monitor,” said Officer Hundley. Speeding tickets have already been given out this year; along with speeding are other viola-tions. Seat belt violations and too many people in the car are the most common charges once a person is pulled for speeding. One Freeman student who re-ceived a speeding ticket this year said the officer who pulled her over was undercover. In fact the officer who pulled her over was not undercover, but was actually a traffic safety police. “Unmarked car usually means they are in the traffic safety unit,” said officer Hundley. The difference between officers with unmarked cars and marked cars is unmarked car’s sole re-sponsibility is to write tickets whereas the police in marked cars radar when they are waiting for further instructions or radio instructions. “We have the same power” said Officer Hundley. “Speeding’s speeding no matter where you are,” said Coach Troy Davidson, a Drivers Ed teacher. Students may claim they do not know about school zones, but in fact they do learn about speed-ing. The only difference between speeding in a school zone and a non-school zone is the penalty. “To get their license they have to pass behind the wheel and during those three days we go through school zones to see if students understand and if they don’t, they don’t pass,” said Coach Davidson. Police are stricter about speed-ing in a school zone is because there are greater risks. “A lot of people don’t under-stand the severity of school zones and speeding. There are a lot more pedestrians, a lot more traffic. The slower the speed of cars, the easier it is to judge gaps, which means less collisions” said Coach Davidson. “The penalty is usually en-hanced which will mean a stricter fine. Five miles over on Patterson is not as big of a deal as going five over in a school zone. Plus they have the flashing light. You need to pay attention to your speed,” said Officer Hundley.

More complaints, more speed bumps

Students learn survival skills in P.E.

Incentive grant benefits teachersNews In Brief:

Christmas Mother Canned Drive

The SCA sponsored canned food drive ended Dec.1. This year the drive was conducted through fourth period classes. Winners were:Mr. Peck’s class with 971 lbs, Dr. Bonday deLeon’s class with 648 lbs, and Mrs. Day’s class with 374 lbs.

Gay Straight Alli-ance Club

The club received the opportunity to go on the White House’s Annual Open Holi-day Tour after hours on Dec. 18, along with other GSA clubs around the area. They were recommended to the White House by GLSN.

Winners of the PTA National Re-flections Program:

1st place:Literature- Yamin AlamPhotography- Kayla AdamsVisual Arts- Christina Maina

2nd and 3rd places:Photography- Kayla AdamsVisual Arts- Brittany Snyder-Victoria Kiomall

Library News

Graduating students: for a $25 contribution, a book will be pur-chased for the Library including a name plate with your name and year of gradua-tiondonations received (deadline April 1)

Chorus Honors

Senior Ian Scott repre-sented Freeman at the Honors Choir for the state of Virginia on November 18-20

Miscellaneous News

Additional copies of the student directory are available in the of-fice for $2.

Students demonstrate how to pitch a tent during survival week.

Irene PeppiattStaff Writer

Catherine Ashman Staff Writer

Libby Winchell Staff Writer

PHOTO: JACK CROWDER

3The CommentatorVol. 57., No. 3 December 2010Opinions

If you’re a teenager who is frus-trated by your lack of say in what goes on in the world around you, then I have just the thing for you. It’s called voting. Basically, you use some news source (paper, internet, TV) and spend some time researching what candi-dates and issues are being dis-cussed when the next election

Voting gives teens a voice

Nathan Thomson Opinion Editor

Cartoon Central

Another senior is swallowed up by the monster of senioritis

Dear senior teachers, It has been established by many of the senior class students that balancing homework and fill-ing out college applications has become just too much. College apps are an essential task and an unalterable part of our senior duties. The only problem is: they take hours. On behalf of the rest of the senior class, it would be greatly appreciated if the excess homework assignments could be kept to a minimum. It should not be mistaken that we are slackers and senioritis is at its prime (give it a few more months, and then you can make these assump-

tions,) but we are merely trying to have enough time to effective-ly apply to colleges. Even though November deadlines are in the past, there are still the January, February and March deadlines that are creeping up. Senior year grades are still very important, especially when colleges request to see them, therefore we are simply asking to make it pos-sible to complete our homework AND college applications in a timely manner. What would you rather have: assignments that are incomplete (or not completed at all) or assignments completed with full effort? All we are asking is that you keep in mind all of the time and energy college ap-plications take, and how stress-

ful the process really is. It is not just typing in your personal in-formation and extracurricular activities, but the essays take patience and precision. Don’t be fooled that applications are any easier now that they are online. If you think about it, giving less work means fewer papers you have to grade, which makes our lives easier as well as yours. Do not underestimate us, teach-ers, we are looking out for you too. You will have much happi-er students if you just take all of this into consideration, trust us.

The Commentator Staff

Editors-In-Chief:Caroline Heese and Dixon Wallace

Copy Editor:Kimberly Easterling

News Editor:Amanda Orchowsky and Samantha Shaffer

Opinions Editors:Isaac Buckley, Silas Frantz, Nathan Thomson

Sports Editors:Michael Nicholson, Stephen Proffit, and Ka-

trina Spinner-WilsonSpecial Features Editors:

Katie Corey and Martha WeisigerArts and Entertainment Editors:

Christabelle D’Silva and Taylor SmithFeatures Editors:

Mary Cate Horan and Robbie KeefePhoto Editors:

Jack Crowder and Sean Ridge

Staff Writers:Catherine Ashman, Garland Barksdale, Sarah

Bellet, Carleigh Branch, Dominic Capocelli, Ti-fare Choi, Nicole Coble, Gates Deppner, Abigail Dixon, Delaney Firer, Katherine Krudys, Anne Aurelia Lewis, Caroline Lewis, Emily Meyer,

Scott Nystrom, Astacia Pegram, Irene Peppiatt, Jill Reisinger, Emma Richardson, Lindsay Sni-dow, Charlie Stephens, Olivia Stevenson, Lind-say Tilley, Matt Tyson, Peyton Williams, Libby

Winchell

Hot or NotIsaac Buckley takes the temperature of Free-man’s current trends

110° Really really bad dubstep: Sub-standard Music + Big Speakers = Win.

90° Unofficial-Spunk Days: After all those years of complaining about lackluster school spirit, the spunk is back. Way to up the ante, senior class

50° Black Ops I’m sure it’s an awe-some game, but do you really have to go into hibernation for a month and have conversations consisting of noth-ing but the words “K-D ratio” and “try-hard”?

30° Fro-Yo Fri-days: Oh, girls trying to be boys. When will it end? They’re already try-ing to muscle in on No-Shave Novem-ber

-10° School Cen-sorship: You should see our first drafts.

approaches. Based on your own personal feelings and the time you’ve spent educating yourself, you go out to the polls and make an informed decision. It is com-pletely free and only requires that your register ahead of time. I am aware that we just recently had an election, but there are al-ways more, and if you want to en-act change, this is the most effec-tive way to do it. For those who say that 1 vote doesn’t matter, Remember, the 2000 presidential election came down to a few hun-dred votes. You forfeit your right to speak out against your govern-ment if you do nothing to try and make your change a reality. Some of our country’s most im-portant issues (abortion, the war on terror, and taxes) all directly impact teenagers. Teenagers are the ones fighting and dying for our country and the ones who will be paying for the debt that we have racked up over this last decade. To protect yourself in the future, it is necessary to take a part in the government now. It is important especially for young people to do research in-

dependently, so that their deci-sion truly is theirs. Many people, will vote in a similar manner to their parents. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, voting this way doesn’t create any more informed citizens, and thus peo-ple are making decision based on where and who they were born too, completely random events that we have no control over. What we do have control over is our mind and our hearts, and we are afforded the privilege in this country to put people into power that agree with our own social and economic values. Being a teenager can be frus-trating, but when you are given the opportunity to make some-thing in your world better, it seems laughable that you would give up that chance. Voting is not difficult, and it is the best way to fulfill your civic duty to our nation. We recently celebrated those who fight for and defend our freedom, but if you are not voting and then complaining about what is going on, you are desecrating their sacrifice.

Seniors overwhelmed with college application process

Sincerely,

The 2010-2011 Commentator Staff

by Silas Frantz

04 The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010 Features

Freshmen excels in Irish dancingJill Reisinger

Staff Writer

Tight arms and rapid leg move-ments, embroidered costumes and spotlights have consumed fresh-man Erin Murphy’s days since she dedicated her life to Irish dance at age five. A nationally ranked Irish dancer, her inspiration includes a long history of family members who have pursued the art, such as her father and aunts. Two of Erin’s aunts danced and competed when they were young and Erin has chosen to carry on the family tradition. “Erin’s great grandparents were born in Ireland so there was always an interest in all things Irish,” said Erin’s aunt, Trish Murphy. Her grandfather played Irish music on the accordion at family gatherings, which provided inspiration for singing and dancing. Erin’s schedule includes long hours of rehearsal in dance schools located all across the East coast. Every Monday after school she has a practice in Maryland and most Saturdays her mom drives her to New Jersey as well. “It is crazy, but I have it down to a science now and it somehow works,” said Erin’s mom Kim Murphy. She packs up the car with all of the necessities, such as food, drinks, dance supplies, pillows, and homework materials. She leaves Erin’s dad, who stays home to avoid dealing with hair, make up, and costumes, to take care of their 10 year old son Collin. “I’ve gotten used to sleeping in the car, so if I have homework, I’ll do homework. But I usually just listen to my iPod and sleep for five hours,” said Erin. The car rides are only half of the

trouble. Though the dance classes themselves are relatively cheap, travel expenses are high for out-of-state and international competi-tions. Also, the dresses Erin wears are extremely expensive because they are custom made to fit Erin, both her personality and her size. They are embroidered and made in Ire-land. When in New Jersey, Erin’s prac-tices usually last anywhere from five to seven hours, as there is no ending time. However, her Mon-day practices are limited to three hours because her teacher must catch a train back to New Jersey afterward. Erin’s current dance teacher Kevin Broesler is known to be one of the best Irish dance teachers in the United States. “I can only go to practice two days a week since it’s so far away so I have a practice base at my house so I can practice all the time when I’m not doing homework,” said Erin. As a student in the Leadership Center, Erin has a heavy work-load. However, she manages her time so that she finishes all of the homework due Tuesday over the weekend, yet she admits that it is difficult to plan ahead. Although dance practices and homework fill Erin’s schedule, she has also found time to partici-pate in the Freeman cross country team. “My coach lets me miss Mon-day practices so I can go to dance. I asked him at the beginning of the season if I could do both because dance would be my priority and he has been really understand-ing,” said Erin. She now misses Wednesday practices as well be-cause regionals are coming up in December. On Wednesdays, Erin practices at home or sometimes goes to a studio to practice with people who

live in close proximity to her. She also used to have a dance teacher in Williamsburg, so she occasion-ally practices alone in her previous teacher’s studio. With track practice each weekday and dance being her primary activ-ity in her spare time, Erin’s only time to socialize is Friday night. She goes to New Jersey on Sat-urday morning, where she spends the afternoon with her extended family until her five o’clock dance practice starts. “I usually get home at like 2 a.m. Then we see my family for a little while on Sunday. Then we drive home. Whenever I do that I basi-cally don’t get to see my friends at all. I usually get to go to football games on Friday nights, that’s my only free night,” said Erin. Each month Erin tries to do one

regular competition and then she has majors, which include region-als, nationals, and worlds. Last year Erin placed in the top ten at regionals and 30th at nation-als. She also qualified for worlds but was unable to go because she sprained her ankle the week before she would have left for Scotland. Spraining her ankle is not an uncommon injury for Erin, as she has injured it in multiple instances. She sprained it at regionals, then playing with her brother, and again doing gymnastics. Though prone to injuries, and busy balancing inconvenient loca-tions with her high school sched-ule, Erin is a determined Irish dancer and looks past these minor setbacks. “But I’ve never broken any-thing!” Erin said, exhibiting her

optimism. She plans to continue dance through high school and will consider a career in dance when it is time for college. Erin’s parents plan to support her dancing career as long as they are physically, emotionally, and finan-cially able to. They are more than willing to let her seize any oppor-tunities that may potentially be of-fered, even if it means putting off college for a year or two. Erin’s success is largely due to her strong sense of commitment and desire to do well at everything she does. Her mom claims that these are her two best qualities, along with her smile. “When she dances people notice her smile and tell her they can see how much she really loves it,” said Mrs. Murphy.

Erin showing off her dance moves on Freeman’s front lawn.

A day in the life of...

Freshman Franklin

7:27-Throws off Snuggie to start the morning and does a little two step to the shower. Swag is on.7:32- On his third round of conditioning. Fresh-ens his froshness with Old Spice Swagger Body Wash.7:51- Shaves heavy beard. 8:30- Shamelessly dropped off by mom in the swaggin’ wagon. 8:44- Does the “Nerd with a Giant Backpack” run to catch leadership door before it closes. Unfortunately lowering swag.9:46- Throw a couple seniors in the trashcan. Swag status is raised.10:01- Gettin’ his Romeo on with the honies- it’s Shakespeare time with the one and only L.J. Dean.11:23- Crawls through Mr. Foltz’s legs to avoid tardy. Stylin’ like Larry King with science lab eyewear.12:00- Searched low and high for a homecom-ing date in the cafeteria. Now setting his sights on a few more lucky ladies for prom2:01- Finally leaves the odd smell of the annex.2:06- Time for Given’s new family photos from the wax museum.3:45- Goes home to watch Dr. Phil prescribe “tough love.”4:00- Time to hit the gym. Triceps like these don’t come easy, ladies.5:00- Gym, laundry, tan. Decides swag status is completely irrelevant as he puts on his Snuggie and falls asleep.

Vamos a bailar: Let’s dance!

Tifare Choi Staff Writer

It is 4th period and Orlando San-chez is teaching Spanish. He turns on a Spanish song and the students move to the beat. He then picks a student and shows everyone how to do a Spanish dance. Once the demonstration is finished, he then shows everyone else how to do it. Mr. Sanchez teaches Spanish I and III. He is from the South American country of Columbia, the same city of Bogotá as Andres Cifuentes, another Freeman Span-ish teacher. Mr. Sanchez has lived in the United States for about 2 years. He taught English and Spanish litera-ture in Columbia for 10 years and when he came here to the states, he taught Spanish for two years. Mr. Sanchez’s dancing comes from his belief that in learning a language, grammar is not the only component. Language constitutes all aspects of a culture. “Language without culture is

nothing because each word in a language has a background and there has to be a culture to show this background,” Mr. Cifuentes said. Mr. Sanchez said that “mu-sic, dance, food, and grammar” all have a part in a language. His dancing lessons are over, but he is now going into the food portion of the curriculum. Besides teaching, Mr. Sanchez has been to many places in the world. He has traveled to Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Spain, Italy, and France over the last two spring breaks. He does not plan to travel out of the country this spring break be-cause he is saving money to return to Columbia next year. When Mr. Sanchez goes back to Columbia, he plans to teach Eng-lish, Spanish, or both. When Mr. Sanchez came here to America, he was surprised by how organized the traffic was here. In Columbia, the traffic was, in his words, “chaos.” Also, Mr. Sanchez likes the sea-sons here in America.

“In Columbia,” Mr. Sanchez said, “there are only two seasons. Both seasons are really hot, around the 90’s. The only difference is that it rains more in the winter.” Mr. Sanchez started his danc-ing classes after the 2nd week of school. He taught the merengue, salsa, flamingo, and tango to the students. “Dancing is a small part of cul-ture, but it helps with understand-ing how the language flows and know Spanish traditions,” Mr. Cifuentes said. Mr. Sanchez said that “90-95%” of his classes were participating by the end of the unit. Julia Tyson, a freshman, said that “dancing was really fun and it got everyone up. We spent one class period for each dance.” Katie Johnson, a sophomore, said that she “liked the merengue” best. “Mr. Sanchez is a good teacher and this is a fun class,” Julia and Katie said.

Mr. Sanchez’s Spanish students enjoying a newly learned dance in his 7th period class.

PHOTO: JACK CROWDER

PHOTO: SEAN RIDGE

5The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010Features

Earning 21 badges, receiving the leadership award, and stating ambitions of life are all require-ments for becoming an Eagle Scout or earning a Gold Award, respectively. These awards are the highest possible awards given to Boy and Girl Scouts. For a Boy Scout to be-come an Eagle Scout, he must have met six requirements. These requirements include serving the troop for six months after becoming a Life Scout, demonstrating a life lived by the principles of the Scout Oath, earning 21 merit badges, serving for 6 months in a po-sition of responsibility, plan-ning, developing, and giving leadership for a service project, and stating ambitions of life. Not only does a Boy Scout have be a Cub Scout long enough to become a Life Scout, but he will also serve his troop for at least a year, and finally create a proj-ect that takes months of work. A Boy Scout spends the year serving his troop do-ing multiple activities. “We camp outdoors, hike, and meet interesting people,” said junior Marc Reiner, who is a member of Troop 799. Marc, who has been in the Boy Scouts of America pro-gram for ten years, is currently working on building a 50 foot at Pocahontas State Park for his Eagle Scout project, which is taking about three months. Sophomore Ryan Densley has al-ready achieved Eagle Scout status. “I built and maintained a cart for bone marrow trans-plants at Massey Cancer Cen-ter,” said Ryan, who is also a member of Troop 799.

After becoming an Eagle Scout, a Boy Scout can still in-teract with his troop, and Ryan is doing just that. He holds the position of Senior Patrol Leader. “I’m kind of like the dad of the troop,” he said. The process for a Girl Scout to receive a Gold Award is simi-lar to that of a Boy Scout at-tempting to achieve Eagle Scout. The Girl Scout Gold Award is the highest award that a Girl Scout age 14 to 18 may earn. The leadership skills, organi-zational skills, and sense of community and commitment that come from “going for the Gold” set the foundation for a lifetime of active citizenship. In order for a Girl Scout to re-ceive the Gold Award, she must build a framework for a project, earn the Leadership Award, Gold Award, Challenge Award, Silver Award, and Bronze Award, plan a project, act on that project, and, finally, reflect upon her journey through Girl Scouts. “The project does take a lot of time; normally earning your gold award can take six or more months just planning,” said junior Thea Stoller, who is working on getting a proj-

ect organized and approved for her Gold Award. Thea is work-ing on planning a project that would give patients at the Chil-dren’s Hospital a social outlet during their time in the hospital. Another Girl Scout not afraid of the challenge is ju-nior Lia Gayle, currently in her 10th year as a girl scout. For Lia’s community service project she has decided that she wants to create an adop-tion clinic for sheltered animals. “I picked this because I love animals and so many of them don’t have good homes. If there were more opportunities for peo-ple to adopt, then maybe good homes could be found for these sheltered animals.” said Lia The focus on a project that serves the community is a com-mon purpose with both Boy and Girl Scouts. Sophomore Megan Bagli, for example, is helping with the Sitter Bar-foot Veterans’ Care Center, in the Alzheimer’s Department. “Helping the community is one of the main parts of being a Girl Scout,” said Megan. In fact, Girl Scouts need at least 65 hours of community service in order to obtain the Gold Award.

Lindsay Snidow & Charlie Stephens

Staff Writer

When Girl Scouts are not volunteering, they are attend-ing meetings, camping, and selling their famous cookies. Megan recommends that all girls join Girl Scouts in or-der to “meet new people, try new things, and help others.” Thea agrees with Megan in that all girls should try Girl Scouts. “It is a ton of work, but it’s worth it,” said Thea. Lia has some tips for all who want to try for The Gold Award. “It’s a lot of hard work, but it’s totally worth it. It makes you feel so good that you are helping so many other people. So start think-ing about things that interest you and learn more about your com-munity to see what needs to be done. It is so rewarding when you see how much you have helped your community,” she said. Whether it’s achieving Eagle Scout Status or earning a Golf Award, rising to the top of the Scouting world is a great accom-plishment for all who make it.

Less than .5% of all Scouts become Eagle Scout!

What do Gold and Eagle have in common?

Delaney FirerStaff Writer

Blasting ‘Party in the U.S.A.’ and Justin Beiber hits while dancing around the Fox Hall clubhouse, the teens enjoy party-ing and fellowshipping with one another monthly at Young Life. Senior Becca Hyman is chang-ing the lives of disabled teens around Richmond through the ministry of Young Life for those who do not normally get the chance to enjoy the weekly events it entails. Last March, Becca felt inspired to start a Young Life for the mentally and physically disabled teens that attend high schools around Richmond after hearing a youth leader Paul Mill-er speak.

There were already many Young Life groups in many of the high schools in Henrico County, but Becca wanted to create a group that was “geared toward a differ-ent audience.” The name of the new Young Life is Capernaum, which was the name of a fishing village that was located along the Sea of Galilee: a place mentioned with-in the Bible that they read every meeting. At first Becca was unsure how to start a Young Life, being such a large feat, and she didn’t think that she had the power. But cur-rently, she is a student leader for Capernaum, and helps perform skits and music for the attend-ees. Capernaum is often “more fun” than the Young Life the rest of the student body attends, said

Nicole CobleStaff Writer

Becca. Every meeting begins with eat-ing pizza at Fox Hall and a dance party for everyone. Then, the group sings songs, led by Becca and others, followed by a skit performed by the student lead-ers, which are usually very goofy and make everyone laugh. The students then all are en-couraged to play a game, which helps them become more com-fortable with other people and get to know one another better. One leader of the group then reads a verse of scripture for the group to think about, and then the “open mic” begins. Becca remembers a countless number of funny and inspiring memories she has made while being a part of Capernaum dur-ing the monthly meetings. “These kids are really great

kids, and I have even witnessed miracles happening,” said Bec-ca. This branch off of Younglife has brought groups of youth who do not normally meet together and helps to create a solid founda-tion of friendships. Capernaum draws from many high schools within Henrico, including Free-man, Godwin, and Deep Run, and it even has students come from Powhatan High School. “The teens that attend Caper-naum are just like you and me,” Becca said, and they would love to have more students come en-joy the time of fellowship and getting to know one another. The group normally meets the third Tuesday of every month, and to find out how to become involved with Capernaum con-tact Becca Hyman.

Abbie DixonStaff Writer

Student scores 1600 on SAT

Breakdance club, ‘We can teach you how to Dougie’

Young Life reaching a new audience

After Homecoming, you may have realized that your dance skills aren’t exactly what you promised your date. But no wor-ries, you can stop your search here. Freeman’s Breakdance Team can “teach you how to Dougie.” This is the Breakdance Team’s fourth year of existence and the crew is as close as ever. “The team is a very familial group of kids, but they are very accepting to new members. Some of the teammates were more timid in class, but in breakdanc-ing they are the most outgoing, they just needed an outlet. There is a spot for everyone there” said Mr. Townsend, co-sponsor of the Breakdance Team. “Dancing in public is a really big confidence booster for me” says Co-Captain of the Break-dance Team, Junior Johnny Bui.

“The club has some outside experience come in to help with choreography and teaching the moves but they get most of their ideas from YouTube. They watch other teams and people perform ,and when they see a move they like they keep watching it over and over until they can do it, then they’ll teach. It’s very much a share culture through You-Tube. Mr. Foltz and I aren’t out on the floor doing the worm and poppin’ and lockin’” said Mr. Townsend. Some members of the team even take breakdancing outside of school. For example, Johnny has another more serious break-dance team outside of school that he performs with as well as the school team. “We do shows for my church and also I go to local breakdance jams and those are big inspira-tions. Seeing people in their twenties doing really amazing moves is a huge inspiration for me to get better. Also when I see younger kids who are a lot better than me it really makes me want

Thomas Crenshaw and his friends helping to rebuild the playground at Northstar Academy

to improve” said Johnny. The Breakdance Team focuses on meeting new friends, build-ing confidence and expressing yourself. Members encourage students to join the crew on Wednesdays, after school in the annex. First timers and Break-dance protégés are all welcome. The group is one of the most di-

verse clubs on campus, and there is a spot for anybody there.“It’s not just about doing moves, but more about expressing your-self through the dance. There are other dances that spend years and years to perfect but with breakdancing you can just create it your own and make it apart of you,” said Johnny.

Thinking about taking your SAT’s can really make your heart beat a little bit faster. The score is an important factor on your college ac-ceptance and your upcom-ing future. Senior Daniel Rosenfeld received a 1600 by combin-ing his best two scores from the March and June tests. And by all practical purpos-es, that is a perfect score. “Daniel always works hard to make sure that he understands complex ideas and problems and I think his SAT scores reflect that hard work,” said senior Jus-tin DeShazor. After taking the test the first time in March, he was disappointed with receiving a score of 1490. Daniel felt that he could do much bet-ter if he could just solemnly focus on the math section. “I missed five stupid easy questions, so I just zoned in and focused solely on math,” said Daniel. He set out to do just that and got the results he was looking for by going up 220 points. “His persistence pays off and Daniel always seems to ask the right questions to understand the material bet-ter” said Mr. Zanetti Daniel did not prepare for the test. Getting eight hours of sleep and eating his nor-mal breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes and orange juice was all the preparation Daniel needed. He didn’t let distractions dissuade him from meeting his goals. “There is not time to get off track! You have to use each second effectively.” said Daniel Now that the SATs are behind him, Daniel can fo-cus on applying to the col-leges and universities that he would like to attend. With a GPA of 4.5 and a class ranking of 35 there are many opportunities and options for Daniel. On his short list are Brandeis, Co-lumbia, Harvard, James Madison, Johns Hopkins, University of Virginia, Wil-liams, and William and Mary. Daniel advises students who have yet to take the test. “Don’t stress about the test. It’s not hard, just tricky. If you don’t understand a concept, go to your math or English teacher for help. However, most of the time, you know the answer it’s just how the question is worded. When you take the test, don’t panic, you have plenty of time. Most of the mis-takes you are going to make are just stupid, time-related errors that you would never make if you had more time. Calm, down, and don’t wor-ry about the time factor,” said Daniel.

PHOTO:S. RIDGE

OHOTO: T. CRENSHAW

6-7The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010Special Features

Bored of reading books teach-ers assign you? How about reading a book that a Free-man teacher has written rather than assigned? Earth science teacher, Mr. Kenneth Barnes has recently written and pub-lished a book about his mis-sionary work throughout the years called, A Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places. “The theme is service,” said Mr. Barnes who has completed missionary work with young adults through cross-cultural missionary trips to Hawaii, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Spain, and the Ukraine. Chuckling to himself, Mr. Barnes adds that he “spent a lot of time in the Red Light Dis-trict as a church group” during his times out of the country. The book encourages and explains to readers the impor-tance of service throughout the world and community. Not only does it show Mr. Barnes’ community service hours but also shows his devotion to pro-viding aid to those in need of assistance. The book is a col-lection of Mr. Barnes’ service trips through a time period of 17 years. Each story is signifi-cant in its own way and pro-vides the reader an insight on different cultures through the world. “Working on a chicken farm is not very spectacular to people but sometimes it is to God,” said Mr. Barnes who be-gan writing the book six years ago during his summers off from teaching students. The first three years were used for writing the novel and the other three were publishing years. “It was a long continuous pro-cess of putting it [book] before people and waiting” said Mr. Barnes.

“I didn’t really want to write a book, but people at my church kept telling me I needed to put in print the sto-ries I told about my services,” said Mr. Barnes describing his influences to write the book. He did “not write an outline as a reference, but just basi-cally started writing stories one after the other,” he said. “Once I got it out there, people were very supportive,” said Mr. Barnes who thanks all the people “who have been very encouraging” to him. “I appreciate how encourag-ing the faculty has been to-wards this project,” said Mr. Barnes. “I would like to thank my wife, Sharon, who became a book widow for more than a year to facilitate its writing,” said Mr. Barnes in the first pages of his book. He also acknowledges Freeman’s al-ternative learning center in-

structor, Carlon Robinson who encouraged him throughout the six years on the acknowl-edgement page. When he sent out his manuscript, the church congregation, family, and friends stood next to Mr. Barnes through the publica-tion. “Ordinary tasks are not ordi-nary to God,” said Mr. Barnes and he describes this as the morals he wants to give the reader. His motives for writing the book were to inform indi-viduals about the importance of service. Mr. Barnes book, A Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places, will be on the Wwampublish-ing website and came out dur-ing the first week of November 2010. “I’m just a teacher who wrote a book” and “this is the begin-ning and the end of my writing career,” said Mr. Barnes.

When shopping at Forest Hill Farmers Market, make sure to stop by and listen to earth sci-ence teacher Patrick Foltz play in his bluegrass band Rattle-snake Creek. Usually Rattle-snake Creek is most likely to be found “jamming” at churches, farmers markets, coffee hous-es, barn parties and “old folk’s homes.” Mr. Foltz plays the upright bass. Rattlesnake Creek is a tradi-tional bluegrass band that oc-casionally plays Grateful Dead and Beatles covers. The Beatles covers are the songs that their fans enjoy the most.

“I’ve heard Rattlesnake play about three times at Forest Hill Farmers Market. It’s a fusion of old traditional bluegrass music with short term memory loss and humming to the rest of songs,” said Spanish teacher Mr. Sam Peterson. “It is wholesome,” said Mr. Peterson. He enjoys seeing Mr. Foltz show his talent since he rarely gets to exhibit it at school. Rattlesnake Creek rehearsals are held at the Foltz residence where the band plays their older songs, works on their techniques, and works on new songs. Most of their rehearsals revolve around planning for their summer playing season. Now that their summer con-certs are over, they are concen-trating on the next step to their

musical careers. “We are currently recording for a new CD so there are not any scheduled live events in the near future,” Mr. Foltz said. Mr. Foltz said Rattlesnake Creek formed through Craig-slist, initially starting with a weekly jam then turning into a band once everyone started to get to know each other. The band members enjoy perform-ing the most out of anything they do together. “It’s like teaching, but you don’t have to teach anything or give anyone tests,” said Mr. Foltz. “Everyone is there to have a good time and you are helping them have a good time by sharing the music with them” Mr. Foltz said. Mr. Foltz has had plenty of exciting, “wild” experiences

from playing in his band. He encourages others to find their passion and follow their dreams. “Chase your dreams hard enough and you’ll eventually catch them,” said Mr. Foltz. To get more information on Rat-tlesnake Creek, look them up on their Fa-cebook page.

Dancing to oldies music on top of a platform at the swim-ming pool, English teacher Ms. Christina Koschak spent her summer instructing lipstick-wearing elderly women in wa-ter aerobics. Water aerobics is one of the many exercise classes Ms. Koschak teaches at the Country Club of Virginia (CCV).“Since I’ve been teaching here [Freeman], I have taught about four classes a week. During the summer, I was teaching about six to seven days a week.” “I teach during the week at 5:30 or 5:45,” said Ms. Ko-schak. Her classes include boot camps, spin classes, weight lift-ing, and step classes. John Gayle, father of junior Lia Gayle is one of Ms. Ko-schak’s spin class participants. Mr. Gayle has been taking spin for a number of years, and he defines spin as riding a station-ary bike to music. Mr. Gayle describes music as an integral part of the class. “There are some instructors that people don’t go to because they don’t like the music,” said Mr. Gayle, but “everyone likes the music that she [Ms. Koschak] picks.” However, he says most of the participants are twenty years older than her and are sometimes unfamiliar with her music choices. Mr. Gayle believes Ms. Ko-schak’s workouts are one of the most demanding. “When, I come to class and I see her I know I am going to sweat, and she is one of the toughest instructors and one of the best,” said Mr. Gayle. “She is always making us crank the resistance, and she likes to make us sprint all out, which kills all the old people,” he said. On a scale of one to ten he rated her class as an eight to nine in terms of difficulty while he ranked other instruc-tors a five or six. “When it’s over,” said Mr. Gayle when deciding his fa-vorite part of Ms. Koschak’s class.

Ms. Koschak thinks her classes are tough workouts. “I am probably, no definitely, the youngest instructor so my classes are more strenuous,” she said. Mr. Gayle said Ms. Koschak has high expectations. “I say push a lot. I say get out of your comfort zone. They probably hate me think-ing about that,” she said. Ms. Koschak grew up work-ing out and loving exercise classes because she enjoyed the drive that the group atmo-sphere created. Then while at JMU, Ms. Koschak started teaching ex-ercise classes. “There was a bad instruc-tor at JMU, and I thought if she can do it, I can do it,” she said. “I really like helping people get the best workout and get what they came for whether that is for fun, to get in shape, to relieve stress,” said Ms. Ko-schak. Teaching exercise classes in college helped prepare Ms. Koschak for teaching Eng-lish. “I think the fact that I was standing in front of a mirror and sweating made me more comfortable teaching stu-dents.” Ms. Koschak has a com-mitment to fitness and she encourages that commitment for others. “I am training for the half marathon. I run about twenty miles a week. I am at Gold’s

Gym a lot. I exercise six days a week either running, teaching, or on my own.” Ms. Koschak thinks her stu-dents need more exercise. “They are lazy. Put them in front of a computer and they are out,” she said. She recommended exercise classes as a great way to work-out. “Exercise classes offer a group atmosphere that pushes you harder than you would push yourself. Also you are working with a trainer who knows form and how to moni-tor heart rate for an effective and efficient workout.” Mr. Gayle encouraged spin classes for students and fellow parents. “It is great way to exercise. Sometimes exercising in a gym is boring, but the thing that is great about spinning is it really makes the classes go faster and it is much more pleasant than grinding out to a machine by yourself.” “At JMU I taught boxing. I think teenagers would have a lot of fun boxing,” said Ms. Koschak. Ms. Koschak has never had any Freeman students in her classes, and she warns any stu-dents who might consider tak-ing one of her classes, “you can take it but be ready to cry.”

You would think that Mr. Jeffrey Meador would be tired of teenagers after teaching AP Environmental Science and Biology all day, but obviously he isn’t. A year and a half ago Mr. Meador volunteered to be a foster parent to a 17 year old boy. Mr. Meador, an environ-mentally savvy man who loves traveling and spending time in the outdoors thought he had something to offer to a kid who needed a home. Although Mr. Meador’s foster son is pretty much the complete opposite of himself, Mr. Meador finds other things to teach him. “A great deal of my guidance focuses on life skills,” said Mr. Meador, “Getting him ready to assume responsibility is a huge part of the focus.” Foster kids generally become more independent at an earlier age than other kids. Moving from home to home and being

away from family can cause lots of stress and uneasiness in anyone’s life. Jack*, his fos-ter child, can relate to that. “Foster care has been a dif-ficult experience, but I have learned from it and grown,” said Jack. As in most teenager-parent relationships, hanging out together is a “low priority.” Just like in any other ordi-nary family, they usually have meals together, but afterwards and on most weekends, Jack is with his friends. The two live and get along well together despite their extreme differences because they are both rather low key. In many ways they function as a normal family and in some ways maybe even better. “We work hard to communi-cate and be respectful of one another,” said Mr. Meador.

When Mr. Meador decided that he wanted to help people in ways that might impact them for the rest of their life, he chose to go through the training program for fos-

The secret lives of Freeman teachersNew English teacher is fit to teach!

Science teacher publishes book

Olivia Stevenson Staff Writer

Katherine Krudys Staff Writer

Anne Aurelia Lewis Staff Writer

Kimberly EasterlingCopy Editor

ter parents through Henrico County. “Over 2 years ago I went through a 2 month certifica-tion class. I am also required to maintain certification points,” said Mr. Meador. “The dynamics of foster families are affected by the relationships and experiences the child had before they ever came in care. It is impossible to fully understand how these experiences have impacted the foster child,” said Mr. Meador. Once again, just as with any ordinary mother or father, be-ing a parent has changed Mr. Meador’s life. “I focus more on the big pic-ture rather than the details. I am more flexible about things, I listen more and assume less, and most importantly my faith has grown stronger,” said Mr. Meador.

* Name has been changed due to privacy issues.

Teacher fosters more than just science

Koschak teaches a yoga class one sunny morning.

Mr. Barnes holds up his book to show to all!

Foltz singing in his Rattlesnake Creek band

Foltz in Folk Band

So you think you know your teachers?Catch a glimpse of the secret lives of your Freeman teachers

English teacher Mr. Steve Payne is an ordained minister!

Math teacher Mrs. Sanders was a member of the Uni-versity of South Carolina’s Women’s D1 Softball team!Latin teacher Ms. Carter

Smiley was a UVA cheerlead-er! (She once led a cheer that greeted Justin Timberlake at a English teacher Mrs. Boyles

is a certified scuba diver!

English teacher Ms. Megan Corker has a sound system installed in the back of her car so she can listen to rap music to the fullest quality!

Psychology teacher Mr. Mark Faglioni was a gymnast during his high school years.

PHOTO: CROWDER

PHOTO: KOSCHAK

PHOTO: RIDGE

Mr. Meador teaching his AP Environmental class.

PHOTOs: FOLTZ

8 The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010 Sports

Although Preston Ailor is usu-ally teaching physics or coach-ing football, he is now taking up a new challenge: coaching the wrestling team. Ailor was the as-sistant coach last year, but will be the head coach this winter. When Coach Ailor went to Freeman he was a member of the wrestling team, which at the time won districts almost every year. “I had a great experience with the coaches we had. I loved wrestling and I want to get back into that,” said Coach Ailor. “Coach Ailor is very intense during practice and he makes sure we are working hard. He leads the team by example and he will often wrestle with us in practice to help us improve,” said Senior Parker Steenburgh, who has been on the wrestling team for four years. Although Parker describes

Ailor as intense, Ailor admits he is “going to try to bring up the intensity this year.” “He likes to have fun, but he knows when it is time to be serious,” Parker said. “Coach Ailor plans to get our team to districts this year by working on the three s’s: skill, stamina, and strength,” said Sophomore Andrew Donchez. According to Coach Ailor, the team has “worked hard and put in a lot of time during the off season, which should pay off.” Although the season does not start until November 15th, many wrestlers attended camps and work out daily. “Our biggest competition this year will most likely be Hermit-age because they have many young wrestlers who start var-sity,” said Andrew. Parker is very excited about Ailor being the new coach. “I have wrestled with Coach Ailor since I was a freshman, and I don't think there is a better man for the job. He is young for a head coach, but he definitely knows what he is doing and he

Breaking his arm but never his spirit or determination, Junior Joey Zielinski has been commit-ted to ice hockey for 7 years. Before he was born, his parents had season passes to ice hockey games in Washington, D.C.; af-ter he and his brother were born, they brought them along as well. Joey and his brother met up with people and learned how to skate. At 9 years old, he actually start-ed playing ice hockey with his brother though he was influenced by his father, Mr. Joseph Zielin-ski. Ice hockey interested him because it’s a “fun, fast-paced, physical sport”; he doesn’t know if he will ever go pro though. Joey plays for the Richmond Royals. His team practices at the Richmond Ice Zone. There, he meets up with his team every Tuesday and Thursday for an hour, occasionally 2 hours on Thursdays. His team does power skating, or suicides, and passing and shooting drills. According to his mom, Mrs. Martha Zielinski, ice hockey is a huge time commitment, so he plans accordingly to make sure he manages getting his work done along with playing and practicing. “I have to do my AP notes at the last minute because ice hock-ey takes up about 3 hours”, said Joey. Joey plays left wing, a for-ward offensive player on the left side. He’s also on “power play”, which means whenever the team needs to score, the coach puts

him in the game. He said that his coach, Coach Gruhl, is a re-ally good coach and is “strict but fun.” To get ready for a game, Joey goes to the rink an hour before to run and stretch. A game has 3 periods of 15 minutes. He said his goal in every game is to win. “He’s a leader. He helps to initiate the plays. He helps to keep the team on track,” said his

mom. His style on the ice is “aggres-sive” and “hard-hitting” accord-

ing to his mom. Even though he has broken his arm and has had a minor con-cussion, she doesn’t wor-ry about the dangers of

the sport because they have a lot of safety gear. Joey’s team competes through-out North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia. The Richmond

As basketball season is ap-proaching, Freeman students are awaiting to the see the Mann power on the court. Justin and Jasmin Mann both have a strong basketball back-ground. Justin has been playing since he was four and Jasmine since she was about eight years old. Justin and Jasmin can both be found playing basketball at the YMCA in the off season. “I’m a better all-around point guard than Justin, but he is better at dribbling,” admits Jasmin. Justin on the other hand said, “I’m a better player”. This competitiveness encourag-es improvement for both Jasmine and Justin. “I motivate Jasmin to get her where she is now because she has always seen me play, and she says she is better than me which motivates me,” said Justin.

is just what F r e e m a n w r e s t l i n g n e e d s , ” Parker said. “I am hop-ing to build a founda-tion for a p r o g r a m that will win constantly. I am trying to get us back to what we used to be, and I’m lucky enough the guy that built that team is still here (Coach B r i g h t ) , ” said Coach Ailor.

“Jasmin is a fierce competitor and likes to win,” said Coach McGilvary, the girls’ varsity bas-ketball coach. “I would describe Jasmin as hardworking and highly moti-vated,” said Coach Mac. Jasmin and Justin both have

Fall Sports in Brief

FootballHighlight: The Rebels made a late comeback against Patrick Henry to win on a last second touchdown. Record: 3-7Most Valuable Offensive player : Mac Hudgins Most Valuable Defensive player: Kevin Moore

GolfHighlight- Finished the season 9-5Most Valuable : Connor HillMost Improved: Chris Knaysi

Boys Cross CountryHighlight: Team made it to state tournament.Most Valuable : Silas Frantz Coach’s Award: David Coffey Most Improved: Ronnie Calkins

GirlsCross Country Highllight: Placed sixth in regional tournamentMost Valuable: Catherine BCoach’s Award: Samantha Shaffer MosImproved: Rachel Smith

Boys Volleyball Highlight: Made it to the first round of the Re-gional tournament where they suffered a tough loss to Matoaca.Senior Leadership Award: Evan SmithSpecialist of the Year: Clark ThornhillRebel Award: Dylan Hicks

Girls Volleyball Highlight: Improving from the 2009 season and finishing with a 12-10 recordMost Valuable Player: Megan Payne Coaches award: Maggie Nave

Field Hockey Highlight: Finishe the season with only three lossesMost Valuable: Mattie Newman

Competition CheeringSenior Leadership Award:Catherine McCormickAnne McGrawCarson Strange

Lindsay Tilley Staff Writer

Astacia Pegram Staff Writer

Emily Meyer Staff Writer

Familiar face serves as new wrestling coach

The family rivalry lives on

Junior skates his way to success

PHOTO: SEAN RIDGE

PHOTO: JOEY ZIELINSKI

Joey in action on the local rink.

positive outlooks for the upcom-ing season. “I think we’re going to have an okay season, hopefully people will be taking it seriously,” said Jasmin. “I’m excited for the season be-cause we should go undefeated

this year and be district champi-ons and it’s also exciting because it’s my senior year,” said Justin. This sibling rivalry motivates improvement that will show on the court for both Justin and Jas-min Mann.

“He’s a leader. He helps to initiate the plays. He helps to keep the team on track,” said his mom.

Royals have played the Nova Ice Dogs, the Metro Maple Leaves and Hampton Roads. He said that his biggest achieve-ment was when his team won the Silver Six Tournament two years ago. The winners of the Silver Six Tournament won a trip to Ontario, Canada. Joey said that the trip to Canada is the most memorable moment he has had playing ice hockey. According to his mother, ice hockey has helped Joey grow as a person; he has made new friends and learned to work with others. He has learned that “hard work pays off ”.

PHOTO: SEAN RIDGE

Coach Ailor at practice

The family rivalry spills onto the Freeman court.

Although Ailor said he has “doubts about being the new guy,” with his effort and determi-nation the wrestlers should have

a great season with his leader-ship.

09The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010Sports

cussions. “A lot of concussions happen during special teams because kids are running very fast and every-one is getting hit,” said Coach Davidson. Concussions can happen to any player though. “I have had line-man get it. I have had wide re-ceivers get them too,” said Coach Davidson. If a player gets a concussion dur-ing a game, the team doctor has to determine whether the player can continue playing. According to webmd.com, some signs of a concussion include: vomiting, headaches, memory loss, and blurred vision. If the player does have a concussion, the doctor will also have to make an evaluation on how long a player must miss practice. Freshmen Cotter Leonard was involved in helmet to helmet contact earlier this season that sidelined him for the rest of the season. “I don’t remember what hap-pened,” said Cotter. The play left him in the hospital for a full day and “I lost memory for that entire day,” said Cotter. Like Cotter Leonard, sopho-

Within the last few months, helmet to helmet contact has caused many high profile inju-ries. Eric LeGrand, a Rutgers University football player, was recently paralyzed from the neck down due to a tackle he made against United States Military Academy. LeGrand and the U.S.M.A. player collided heads causing LeGrand to become paralyzed. According to brainline.org, a concussion is a blow or jolt to the head that can change the way your brain normally works. Lately in the National Football League, there has been a big dis-cussion on the topic helmet to helmet contact. Helmet to hel-met plays not only happen in the N.F.L. These types of plays also happen on the college and high school level. Freeman football players can also experience many head inju-ries while playing. These injuries can happen in any play during a game, but there is one type of play that is more prone to con-

more Jeff Bai-ley cannot re-member what happened when he sustained his concussion. But he does remem-ber what the hit felt like. “After got hit, I felt a sharp pain in my eyes and on the side of the head,” said Jeff. Junior Drake Price has also received a con-cussion this sea-son. His con-cussion might have been a re-sult of his play style. “I stay low. Get lower than the man in front of me,” said Drake. Football helmet companies are taking steps to improve helmet technology to help minimize damage on the player’s head. New helmets are designed with more padding inside the helmet. This padding is designed to dis-perse the shock from a hit and

also to be a more protective layer between the wearer’s head and the outside of the helmet. Concussions can lead to health problems later on in life. Once a person receives a concussion, it will be easier in the future to get another concussion. According to webmd.com, multiple concus-

Gates Deppner Staff Writer

sions over time can lead to long term memory loss and behavior disorders. “The risk of early-onset Al-zheimer’s disease increases five-fold for someone with at least three concussions,” said Mike Andrews, a former Assistant Sports Information Director at Hampden-Sydney University.

When senior Elizabeth Cook goes to school, she goes through her day as any other student. She goes to class and does her home-work, but after school is when Elizabeth’s day really begins. After school, about 2-3 days a week, for 2-3 hours at a time, Elizabeth rides horses. She has been riding since she was 7. Her grandfather “was big into hors-es,” she said. Her grandfather was her big-gest influence as he encouraged her from the beginning to get into riding. When she was 3, he grandfather told her. “I’m gonna buy you a pony.” “It was our thing,” she said. “It was how are you, and how’s your horse?” She competes as a “hunter,”

which she compares to “figure skating in how everything is pretty.” There is even a history behind hunters as the competition is based on fox hunters of old Eng-land and how they used to ride their horses. “The history behind it is really cool,” she said Her love of horses has been a ten year long affair. Her first horse’s name was Daniel and she still rides him from time to time now, even though she practices with other horses as well. “It’s the only sport where the equipment has a mind of its own,” she said. Even though she can’t control the horse all the time, she loves them. One of the most exciting parts of riding for her is “what is my horse going to look at?” and “giving the horse confidence” in competition. Elizabeth’s biggest accomplish-ment was a competition three years ago.

“Freshman year I won the sportsmanship award. That was

a really big honor for me mostly because my dad was deployed. I have two younger sisters and my mom had to stay home with them. It made me feel really

good, I got the biggest honor that I could have possibly gotten for

what I was doing.” Elizabeth balances school and riding. “She turns her work in on time,” said classmate, friend and fellow senior Pooja Shah.

Perhaps this results from her parents’ support. “My parents have always pushed that school comes first.” For prioritizing her school work: she claims junior year helped, “that’s when I got re-ally good at doing homework in school.” Her plans for riding include ap-plying to colleges that have rid-ing programs or colleges that are close to riding ranges. Overall, her plans for riding see no end in sight. There seems to be no stopping her and her pas-sion for horses. And for Eliza-beth her drive and compassion for riding are limitless. “The beauty and joy of riding is that you can do it for the rest of your life.”

Sarah Bellet Staff Writer

Senior horseback rider trots to the top

Concussions: Football’s biggest rival

When the days start to get shorter and you can feel the nip in the air you know it’s time to throw on the ski rack, dust off your board and start praying for some big storms to hit. Snowboarders, a staple of American subculture for many years now, have become so main-stream that Shawn White is a well-known celebrity. What started with the inven-tion of a children’s toy called the snurfer (snow surfer) in 1965 later evolved into much more. Starting in the garages of Vermont native Jake Burton Carpenter and Lake Tahoe local Tom Sims, the two

pioneers accredited with popu-larizing snowboarding, Jake on the East Coast and Tom on the West, have forever changed the history of snow sports. Snowboarding has been one of my favorite activities for years now, and I strongly recommend that if you have the slightest urge to try it, go up to Wintergreen or Snowshoe or anywhere and just spend a day or weekend trying it out. It isn’t the easiest sport to pick up, just remember it requires practice and patience. Some tips I recommend for any beginner is to grab some water-proof ski pants a jacket and re-member dress in layers. Go take a day trip; Wintergreen and Snowshoe offers a “guaran-teed learn to ride” program. At Wintergreen a full day lift ticket is $69 and it’s a close enough drive to make it a day trip. Win-tergreen also offers the option if you book a weekend package

you get $25 off lessons. If you don’t want to rent a cheap resort snowboard, Peter Glenn, the local snow pro shop rents good products for a fair price. The guys in there are very good at what they do, and they are fun to talk to since they have lots of experience and lots of good stories. Then some helpful hints for when you hit the slopes: make sure all your equipment fits. Start on the greens, they are the easiest. Then once you are on your snowboard balance is key. Remember half the fun is falling down, if you fall continuously do not be discouraged its all part of the learning process. Get out to the slopes and have a fun. In the words of Warren Miller, “if you don’t do it this year, you’ll be one year older when you do.”

Senior gives snowboarding tips to beginners

Michael Nicholson Sports Editor

Senior Mac Hudgins signed with Notre Dame University to play baseball. Mac chose Notre Dame for its prestigious academics and athletics programs. His older brother Will, a Freeman graduate, is a pitcher on Notre Dame’s baseball team. Mac accredits his success to hard work and great coaching along the way from his coaches: Ken Moore, Ray Moore, Mak, Kevin Steele, Jim Roney, and Dan Geary. He also at-tributed his parents for his accomplishments.“My parents were a very good influence on me. They really did a lot for me,” he said.

Snowboarding tips:

Make sure all your equiptment fitsDo not attempt to ride slopes beyond your abilityAlways wear a helmet

PHOTO: J. CROWDER

PHOTO: L. DEAN

PHOTO: L. DEAN

PHOTO: FACEBOOK.COM

Á hard hit can send a player into a concussion

Senior signs with Notre Dame

11The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010A & E

Romantic dates for winter break

Photo : S Ridge

Peyton Williams Staff Writer

Throughout the school year, many Freeman couples are faced with the ongoing question of “What should we do this week-end?” and often times, they find themselves at a dead end, decid-ing to simply sit at home and order yet another chick-flick On Demand. So, as the holiday season ap-proaches, switch things up a bit and jump into the hustle and bustle of Richmond’s countless festivities. If you want to get a taste of Richmond’s theatrical produc-tions, Richmond Shakespeare is performing A Christmas Carol for Two Actors at the Carpenter Center from December 20 – 22. This unique performance has been offered for the past 12 years and is a memorable experience that will leave you reminded of the true spirit of the season, and good news for the guys – tickets are only $18. For just a couple bucks more, you can also head down to the Carpenter Center for Richmond Ballet’s The Nutcracker, an an-nual production that will take you back to your childhood and be sure to put you in the holiday spirit.

The show opens on December 10 and is followed by 11 other performances lasting through the 23. However, if you’re not willing to throw down those few extra dollars, you can put in your fa-vorite holiday CD and drive out to Lewis Ginter Botanical Gar-dens for their annual Dominion Gardenfest of Lights. After dark, from November 29 – January 10, you will find the garden lit up with over half a million lights, offering a roman-tic evening under the stars for only $10 a person. If you’re not up for the drive, you can also find an eccentric display of lights right here in Richmond on the annual Tacky Light Tour. Starting at the be-ginning of December and last-ing through the New Year, this unique tour will be sure to leave your eyes sparkling and lift your holiday spirit. Since renting a limo can get pretty pricey, you can find maps of the tour online and experience the adventure of being your own tour guide, which is not only cheaper but also provides a more personal experience. If winter break is only halfway over and you’re still at a loss of what to do, other fun activities include ice skating at Skate Na-tion or taking a stroll around Stony Point Fashion Park after

grabbing a peppermint mocha from Starbucks. Also, if you find that you simply need to escape the overwhelming excitement of the holiday sea-son, grab some candy canes, pop some popcorn and cuddle up in

front of a classic holiday movie such as “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “White Christmas” or “A Mira-cle on 34th Street.” Whatever it is you choose to do, be sure to take advantage of Richmond’s festivities and enjoy

some of the city’s holiday favor-ites. As junior Brittany Snyder said, “The holidays are the perfect time to go out on the town and experience Richmond with that special someone.”

harry Potter film to please wizard fansCaroline heese

Editor-in-Chief

Dressing up as a dementor or Professor Trelawney may seem odd to you, but for Harry Potter fans this is as normal as brush-ing your teeth. On Thurs. Nov. 18 the halls at Freeman were filled with stu-dents who were anticipating the premiere of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part one.”

While some students were first in line for the midnight premiere, others waited until later in the weekend to see it. Although the Harry Potter books are among some of my favorites, the movies never cease to amaze me. Despite the fact that the movies usually leave out details from the books, I still get excited when a new one comes out. In “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part one,” the characters never go to Hogwarts, instead they choose to search for Horcruxes. What exactly is a Horcrux? Well, without giving away too much it is basically an object with a part of the soul of “he who shall not be named.” They are mainly used to attain immorality, which can only be done when you kill someone. So basically they are a form of dark magic. Most of the movie is spent capturing where they go, who they meet and how they will de-stroy a Horcrux. We finally get to see Godric’s Hollow, which is the birth place of Harry Pot-ter, and we meet beloved Luna Lovegood’s father. Even though I liked being able to match an image with a character or place, I was not very pleased that the

movie had more scenes focus-ing on where the characters were and who they met. I was expecting a faster paced movie with more mo-ments that would have you on the edge of your seat. Although I enjoyed watching the interac-tions between Ron, Hermione and Harry, I was hoping for more plot development. The creators of the film left out many vital details from the book that would have someone who had not read the books a little confused. I will admit that it would not have been hard to follow the movie if you had not read it but you would not have been able to pick up on the im-portance of some events. In the end I enjoyed see-ing some of my favorite people return to the screen. Despite the fact that there were a few parts left out, like the rest of the letter in Sirius’ room, and that some sections of the book were not portrayed correctly in the movie, the movie makers still did more right than they did wrong. By the end of the two hours and twenty seven minutes I was still as excit-ed about the movie as I had been at the beginning, and would not have traded my time spent with Harry Potter and a few friends for anything else.

http://tinyurl.com/39gsbma

google tV Revolutionizes television experienceMatt tyson

Staff Writer

In our high-tech world of iPads, apps, and 3D television, most people probably wonder how these people come up with these amazing gadgets. Others wonder how they can possibly think of anything that can top their previous creations. Here we can give a sneak peak at what will probably become the next big craze, the innovative and re-markably unique Google TV.

Google TV is a new feature to your television that combines your TV, DVR recordings, and the entire internet all on one screen. Some of the newer TVs on the market have Google TV pre-installed. If not, you can easily buy a separate Google TV box to hook up to your television set. It is easy to set up and works seamlessly with your existing TV and internet. While it may be difficult to understand how Google TV works, it is actually quite simple. First, start with your television. Now add the capability to search

for and tune in to channels and individual shows. You can find and record your favorite shows, and easily access any programs that you had previously recorded or saved. Google TV also has a built-in web browser, so you can record, search for and save episodes of your favorite shows on the in-ternet. You can also watch vid-eos and clips on YouTube and other video sites. The combination of the web and television means you now have the ability to do things you could never do before. You can

check your fantasy teams stats on the same screen as the game. You can see what people are saying about breaking news on blogs or Twitter while you watch it. You can access your photos, music, and your favorite games like Farmville or Tetris. You can also download most of the more than 50,000 apps at-tainable on the android market. You can even personalize your viewing experience with the custom home screen, where you can edit and access your favor-ite channels, show your favorite channels, shows, and websites.

If you’re wondering how you can get your hands on this product, you’re in luck. Google TV made its debut in the U.S. market on October 17 in various stores including Best Buy. Price ranges for separate Google TV boxes range from $300 to $400 dollars. Price rang-es for televisions with Google TV preinstalled range from $600 to $1,400 dollars. If you want to learn more information on Google TV, visit their website at google.com/TV, or go to YouTube and search for the Google TV informational video.

“I thought it was good, but you would have to read the book to understand what was going on, because there were just certain things that they didn’t explain fully, but I’m glad they split it up,” said senior Katie Jimison.

“‘Twas my favorite Harry Potter movie of them all; filled to the brim with action and suspense, I was sitting on the edge of my seat the entire time,” saids junior Ty-ler Krejci.

“It can’t be compared to any other Harry Potter,” said sophomore Thomas Rowe.

“Very thrilling and there were some edge-of-my-seat moments,” said freshman Mavra Masood

“It was the best, but it did a terrific job setting us up for the best one coming summer 2011,” said Andrea Baker, Art teacher.

Harry Potter fans respond to “The Deathly Hallows”

12 The CommentatorVol 57, No.3 December 2010 The Back Page

Freeman theatre takes crowds into the dream

Ready for a remix on the holi-day season? So why watch a bor-ing, cheesy, movie like “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” when you could watch a classic, holiday movie. Take our advice and watch these classic holiday movies with a whole new spin. “A Charlie Brown Christmas” is based off of the comic strip Peanuts, by Charles M. Schulz. The movie has aired every holi-day season on ABC since 2001. From the music to the teacher’s horn-like voice, Charles Schultz has created a holiday classic of lovable misfits. Charlie Brown’s humility is something we can re-late to at Christmas. It is one of the best holiday movies because it brings families together year after year. Everyone now loves a bare, skimpy Christmas tree thanks to Charlie Brown. “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” is a classic holiday movie. Everyone loves to watch Rudolph transform into the hero who saves Christmas. We feel that he is the underdog at the beginning, but become so proud when he uses his bright nose to lead Santa’s sleigh. Then, all the other reindeer finally accepted him. It shows how it’s okay to be different and characterizes the importance of diversity. “This Christmas” is a great holiday movie because it is a modern take on the ideals of the traditional holiday movies. This

movie stars cuties, Chris Brown and Columbus Short. It is excit-ing to watch all the family mem-bers’ secrets come to the light through hilarious arguing, which at times turns physical. Chris Brown’s voice is amazing and should not be missed this Christ-mas. The singing, interracial relationships and family feuding that put a wedge between fam-ily members ultimately bring the family together and teach them the importance of family. “A Christmas Story” is a wonderful holiday movie. It is extremely funny and show the struggles of one little boy, Ral-phie, who only wants one thing for Christmas—BB gun. His mother is extremely scared for her son to have a play gun be-cause she thinks the “He’ll poke his eye out.” We often hear this memorable phrase when little boys wish for fake weapons for Christmas. The struggles of Ral-phie to get along with his friends and to hide his injury from his mother makes families laugh ev-ery holiday season. At the end of the movie, Ralphie realizes that maybe his mother was right and decides that his best gift was the Zeppelin toy he got instead the moral of the movie is to be care-ful what you wish for. “Elf ” is a 2003 comedy film starring Will Ferrell, James Caan, and Zooey Deschanel. These funny guys show the adventures of a man who thinks he is an elf. Many remember this holiday comedy because of comedian Will Ferrel. He portrays the life of an adult-sized elf through his adventures to find his real par-ents. Not only was this movie a big success in the theatres, being nominated for nine awards and winning two, but it is also widely recognized as a popular modern Christmas movie because of the comedy of how messed up and

disorganized Christmas can be for an elf on a mission. It`s a Wonderful Life is a drama film, made in 1946, based on a short story called, “The Greatest Gift.” This movie is about a man named George Bailey, whose at-tempted suicide calls his guard-ian angel, Clarence Odbody, to rescue him. Clarence shows George all of the good things he has done for his community, all of the people`s lives that he touched, and the consequences of him committing suicide. It`s a Wonderful Life had five Os-car nominations along with an award from the Golden Globes. Despite its apparent box office failure, this film is regarded as one of the most classic and one of the best “feel good” Christ-mas movies of all time. In the 1957 story, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, the Grinch, a cave dwelling, cold hearted creature is bent on de-stroying Christmas and all of its festivities. We love watching how evil the Grinch is and how the spirit of Christmas warms his heart. It’s reassuring to know that even mean people like the Grinch can have a change of heart and become nice, gener-ous individuals. This story has maintained its reputation as a Dr. Seuss classic throughout the years and is a highly memorable holiday story and movie. “A Christmas Carol” is a novel written by Charles Dickens in 1843. This story tells of a lonely, stingy, and greedy Mr. Scrooge who undergoes a complete trans-formation after the visitation of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, and the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and yet to come. Nowadays, we enjoy this classic movie in many plays put on at Christmas time. We enjoy seeing Scrooge`s persona change from a man of no holiday

Getting your wisdom teeth out is a writ of passage. Un-fortunately, the tooth fairy does not come and put money under your pillow. You go into an of-fice, a needle is stuck into your arm, and next thing you know you wake up and feel like you are drooling. Wisdom Teeth sur-gery is no day in the park. Your face swells up, your mouth hurts, you can’t eat many types of food, and again, your mouth will real-ly hurt. I had my wisdom teeth out in August and I want to pro-vide you guys with some advice about making your recovery go as smoothly as possible. 1: ICE: Ice 20 minutes on one side and 20 minutes on the other. This will really reduce swelling and make recovery time faster. So in other words, there should never be a minute where you aren’t icing one side of your face. 2: DRINK LOTS OF MILSHAKES. They taste deli-cious and help numb the pain. My personal favorite is chocolate chip ice cream, vanilla ice cream, banana, and lots of milk. It is delicious and semi-nutritious. (Slurpee’s also taste extremely good and do a very good job of numbing the pain). 3: RINSE WITH SALTWATER: After the first 24 hours, rinse 4 times a day every day with warm water and a pinch of salt. This helps heal but also helps remove food that will get stuck behind the swelling once you start eating the solid food. 4: DRINK LOTS OF FLUIDS: It will reduce swelling and help keep you hydrated so you can heal faster. 5: SLEEP: Sleep a lot, because you can. 6: MEDICINE: This helps stop the pain and makes it easier to eat and sleep. When taking the pills, drink lots and lots of fluids to help them go down because they are very big pills. The pills will make you feel very drowsy and loopy and make you wonder if this is real life, but just remem-ber that yes, this is real life. 7: MOVIES: You will be stuck on a couch on your bed for at least 3 days. So rent as many movies as you could.8: MILK IT FOR ALL ITS WORTH: By the time you get your wisdom teeth you are really too old to be babied, so this is the last hurrah. Enjoy!

The Douglas Freeman Play-ers performed Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” on Nov. 18-120, and while the ac-tors spoke the language as if it was second nature, it took a lot of memorizing and practicing to truly understand it. “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is the second play free-man has recited by Shakespeare. For the actors it was a difficult and daunting task to learn an im-mense amount of lines especially in a language that is not com-monly spoken among people. Senior Becca Hyman learned her lines in two weeks, but it took “three weeks to be comfortable without a script on stage”. Since it was sophomore Sarah Mur-

phy’s first play it took her about one month to learn all her lines. Mary Spears is the head of the theatre department at Freeman and has had a lot of experience directing and performing play. “Mrs. Spears is amazing and helped me and the rest of the cast tremendously, as she does with every other production. Without her the plays would be just like every other high school show, but she is such a profes-sional and actually cares about the way a show looks and each actor’s individual progression, which is why Freeman shows are so above-par” said Becca. Shakespeare can be difficult to learn and understand at first, but by studying the language it becomes much easier to under-stand so it was easier for senior Sam Post to learn his lines. “I was very familiar with the language so it was not too diffi-

cult to understand” said Sam. Mrs. Spears had the actors dis-sect every line in order to make sure they understood the play and she also made them look up Shakespearean words they did not know using a lexicon. A lexi-con is a reference book that lists word and their meanings and contains ancient language. “Sometimes I even had to use Mrs. Spears’ Shakespeare lexi-con to look up some meanings of words because he often made up words too if he couldn’t find one he liked” said Sam. As well as having the actors dis-sect each line, Mrs. Spears also showed “them a video from the Royal Shakespeare Company talking about how to speak the language and how to deal with the verse” said Becca. In order to learn the lines play, Mrs. Spears had the actors read through the play to make sure

Garland Barksdale Staff Writer

everyone understood the basic idea of the story. “It helped a great deal in remembering the lines once I understood what was going on in certain scene” said Sarah. The actors of “A Midsum-

mer Night’s Dream” were able to learn a language that is not common among people today, but with hard work and lots of time they were able to speak the language that seems foreign to many.

The Key to Wisdom

interest and no care for others, to realizing the true meaning of the holiday season and what impact he can have on the community and his employees. This novel has been made into many plays and movies over the past century and a half. Despite the age of this novel, it has stayed relevant and popular and is still a highly recognized holiday story. “The Frosty the Snow-man” movie is a classic 1950 song which was changed into a movie in 1969. We enjoy the songs and the dancing in this cartoon. It shows how imagi-nation and the faith of children can create anything. Many love this movie when it is snowing because it is something they re-member when they were chil-dren. Frosty, is a “happy, jolly soul” and many love watching this classic and how he makes the children happy and completes their idea of a perfect Christ-mas. Not only is Frosty a classic Christmas movie, but it is loved and remembered by all ages and generations since it came out, so say, “happy birthday,” to Frosty on his sixtieth birthday and pick him up for old times` sake! Being home alone when you`re a kid probably doesn’t sound like the greatest idea in the world. But when it comes to Kevin Mc-Callister he has it all under con-trol I`m sure the name of the movie I`m am talking about just popped up in your head. Indeed “Home Alone” is a memorable holiday comedy for all ages. Kevin`s adventures and triumphs over Harry and Marv have made this movie into a holiday classic for all generation. So unless you think you`re above a good old PG holiday movie, I highly rec-ommend Home Alone.

PHOTO: EMILY MEYER & GARLAND BARKSDALE

Dominic Capocelli Staff Writers

Carleigh Branch &

What to watch when we welcome Winter

Hayden RobertsGuest Writer