Eagan IndependentVolume 6, Issue 3 Eagan High School | 4185 Braddock Trail | Eagan, MN 55123 DECEMBER 14, 2010

Freshmen Retreat aims for respect, awareness

Hairspray dances its way onto EHS stage

By Laurel ScottNews Writer

One may have noticed the absence of most of the freshman class walking the halls of Eagan High School today. Many of them are attending the annual ninth grade Respect Retreat, a pro-gram sponsored by nonprofit organization Youth Frontiers. The goal of this annual fresh-man retreat is to help ninth graders gain more respect for themselves and others, and to change the way they treat each other at school.

The school counselors initially brought the Respect Retreat to Eagan, which is managed by counselor Ms. Coates and social studies teacher Mr. Becker. According to Mr. Becker, Eagan began participating in the retreat be-cause “[the] guidance depart-ment, along with the teachers, believes that nothing contrib-utes more to the success of kids than a respectful learning environment. When kids feel safe, and they feel comfort-able, and they feel respected and valued, it’s much easier to learn.”

This year’s participating freshmen are looking forward to the Respect Retreat. “It sounds like a lot of fun, and something I would really enjoy,” said freshman Dan Thomas-Commins.

At the Respect Retreat,

By Ellie MehrNews Writer

The Tony-award winning Broadway musical sensation Hairspray recently hit the stage as Eagan High School’s featured win-ter musical. It’s been quite an experience for the cast of 70, including ev-erything from the countless rehearsals to the use of 54 wigs - yes 54! With two performances already under their belt, the cast has worked hard to make it a memorable show.

Hairspray offers a playful satire and a glimpse into the fads and social issues of the turbulent 1960s. Set in 1962 Baltimore, the musical tells the story of outgoing, big-hearted teenager Tracy Turn-

blad (played by senior Bailey Richardson) and her ambition to become a star on the local dance variety program The Corny Collins Show. When auditions are held for an open spot on the show, Tracy

follows her dream and tries out along with hesitant friend Penny Pingleton, portrayed by Alissa Anker, junior. Much to the dismay of the show’s bigoted producer Velma von Tussle (played by senior Kel-ley Lokensgard), Tracy makes it on the show and becomes an instant celebrity. With the

help of many characters in an ensemble cast including the show’s teen heartthrob Link Larkin (junior David Newhall), her mom and dad (senior Lisa Christianson and sophomore Evan Es-slinger, respectively), and fellow cast member Seaweed (senior Robert Knapp), Tracy speaks out against unfair race relations amid the turbulent setting of the early ‘60s – all in tune to a catchy 1960s dance-style rhythm.

It’s been an exciting journey for the cast, crew and staff of Hairspray, who haven’t had a dull moment since the beginning. It all started when Eagan High School obtained the script for Hairspray, which, according to Music Theater International in New York City, is the first high school in Minnesota to perform the musical.

While the prospect of being the first to bring Hairspray to Minnesota high schools is exciting, the

Eagan Theater Department’s main goal is simply stated: to perform an amazing produc-tion. And it’s not a task they take lightly. Rehearsals have been going on for nine weeks, with a rigor-ous schedule that included school days and six Sat-urdays. “By trying out and making the play I’ve met so many people that I might not have ever talked to or even come across in my high school experi-ence,” expressed cast member Emerald Egwim.

“A live stage perfor-mance is very exciting,” said Swanson.

A lot also goes on behind the scenes, “My favorite

Jazz Bands gear for annual holiday concert

By Alanna ThelenNews Writer

All that jazz, including a few holiday tunes, will be performed by the Eagan High School Jazz Bands at the annual North Pyramid Jazz Concert on December 21 at 7:00 pm. This year they will be performing swing, ballads, Latin American, and contem-porary jazz, as well as the holiday music the concert is known for.

Just as important as the performance, however, is the tireless preparation the students put into the music before it hits the stage. The bands have been rehearsing since the first of November and have rehearsals twice a week. The members not only play music at these rehearsals, but also listen to music. “We listen to music to get the feel and learn the style of the piece. If you don’t listen, you have nothing to simulate,” explained Jazz 1 member Britta Johnson.

Mr. Miska, director of the jazz bands said, “Because improvised jazz solos re-quires individual study and preparation, the director posts

rhythm section mp3 files on our web page so that students have a way to practice their solos at home.”

In past years, there have been three jazz bands, but due to budget cuts, only two bands remain for this year. A new year also brings a wave of new members. The jazz bands are made up of ninth

through twelfth graders who were selected through an audition process at the begin-ning of the school year. Near-ly all of the student musicians are also enrolled in one of the concert bands at EHS.

“A majority of Jazz 1 is new people,” continued Johnson. “There were a lot of seniors that graduated last year so there is a lot of new talent.”

Continued on page 3

the freshmen are bussed to three different locations. Every site has a director and a professional musician who both performs and helps lead the show. “The purpose of the first half hour of the retreat is just to get them laughing,” says Mr. Becker, “to get them having fun. And pretty soon you see everyone just letting go.” A large part of the retreat is involved in small-group interaction. The freshmen are divided into small groups with an upperclassmen attending to help mediate

discussions.However, the details of

what actually happens at the retreat are “kind of a secret,” according to Mr. Becker – and indeed, very few freshmen know what exactly they will be doing. “I expect we will play games and just get seri-ous about respect,” said fresh-man Habon Ali, “But I have

no clue, really.”However, the freshmen

have already heard a few things from the upperclass-men who have experienced it. Sophomore Katie Stock, who attended the retreat her fresh-man year, said her favorite part was “when everyone sat in a circle and… could go up in the middle and talk about themselves.” This part of the retreat has made its way to the ears of some freshmen as well. “I heard… [That] some-times it becomes a huge emo-tional thing where everyone is crying,” added Ali.

Freshmen will also be participating in competitions among other activities. Senior Ryan Pham recounted from his freshman experience, “My favorite thing was the dancing. And I actually got to know a lot of my friends [at the retreat]. A lot of my friends that I made there are still my friends now.”

Most importantly, the day will culminate in a powerful message from the retreat di-rectors about the importance of respect. “If you would have told me ten years ago that one day could make the differ-ence in the culture of a school, I would have said no way,” says Mr. Becker. “It’s that powerful a day.”

Photo by Devyn Kiszewski

“When kids feel safe, and they feel comfort-able, and they feel respected and valued, it’s much easier to learn.”

Photo by Michelle Metcalfe

part of the musical is getting to work with several other directors to put the show

together. I have a great deal of help and the other directors working on the show are wonderfully talented and work extreme-ly hard,” said Denny Swan-son.

As the re-hearsals comes to a close, the cast’s journey is far from over. Tickets went on sale

on Wednesday, December 1, and the cast has already settled into their performance run after the December 10 debut and another show on December 11. Upcoming performances are December 16, 17 and 18 at 7:30 pm and December 12 at 2:00 pm.

Photo by Michelle MetcalfeThe Hairspray cast holds a stage rehearsal be-fore their frst performance on Dec. 1st Bailey Richardson recites her

lines as Tracy Turnblad

EDIToRIalEagan Independent | Tuesday, DECEMBER 14, 2010

The Staff

Editor in Chief Joe Stelman

NewsMayzong Lee - EditorMarisa AnayaAnnika GrasslLaura HarfordEllie MehrLaurel ScottAlanna Thelen

FeaturesCameron VanDyke - EditorGrace AblanAbby JohnsonSeth LynchMatt NovitzkiPearce OlsonShelley SibleyTwie Souvannavong

SportsMolly Martinez - EditorBailey HennenKenzie MarklandTaylor McKenzieMatt Tran

Photography Michelle Metcalfe - EditorHaley DavisDevyn KiszewskiRachel LarsonErica MelroeGenevieve Stivers-Biscuso

AdviserSara Stensaas

The Eagan Independent is a monthly publication produced by Eagan High School students from all grade levels in a cocurricular setting.

We are committed to provid-ing a limited open forum within the community of Eagan High School - one in which opinions, discussion and input are always wel-comed and encouraged.

Comments, questions, thoughts and ideas may be addressed to:

Eagan Independent4185 Braddock TrailEagan, MN 55123

or e-mailed to:eaganindependent@gmail.com

Letters to the editor must be signed by the author and be 500 words or less. Letters to the editor submitted that are more than 500 words may be edited by the staff. Letters may also require editing if they contain false or libelous statements.

Editorial policies and content decisions are made by the editorial board. The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the writer and/or the Eagan In-dependent staff and are not necesssarily the opinons of the adviser, administration, students, faculty or Indepen-dent School District 196.

Editorial PolicyNew Year, Same Goals:The problem of sustaining New Year’s resolutions

By Mayzong LeeNews Editor

As the New Year draws closer we are faced with the same question every year, “what have we accomplished with the last 365 days?” It’s around this time of year that many of us, if not all, real-ize that we’ve had goals we promised ourselves to ac-complish during the course of the year. Yet the prospect of setting goals for the entire upcoming year seems daunt-ing to most of us, and many of our sought-after goals seem to go down the drain every year. Because not everything we plan always goes accord-ingly, or because we lack the

motivation to carry it out, things get pushed aside for other events that may be more important. Many of us begin our goals with a lot of motiva-tion but lose our steam after we realize how much further we still have to go. Every year the question arises, and we are almost always ashamed to admit that they went down the drain within the first few weeks. So maybe it’s time to rethink our goal-setting strat-egy. Here are a few simple tips to keep your resolutions throughout the year: Make sure they’re realis-tic- when you set your goals make sure that they’re achiev-able within a given time frame. Even if they seem to be small, completing one goal

will give you more motivation to complete another one or even start a new one. Don’t set too many goals- setting too many goals will only discourage you from achieving even one goal. If you do complete the list of goals, start some more! Reward yourself- giving yourself a simple pat on the back once in a while for even just sticking to the goal(s) will further help you to achieve them. Track the progress- track-ing the progress will help you see how much further you have to go or how much you’ve already accomplished so that you don’t lose your motivation to keep on going. Plan goals before the new year- early planning never hurt anyone so, even though it may be weird to plan your goals ahead of time, do it. By doing so you en-sure that your goals are well thought out and not last min-ute designed. Poor planning only makes it harder to attain a goal. Don’t set too high of standards- aiming high is always a good thing but when they’re too high it’ll only dis-courage you from achieving anything. Make sure that your standards of achievement link

up properly with your goal(s). Tell other people your goals- telling your friends and families about your goals maybe a bit embarrassing but they are always your best support system. And if it makes it easier, ask some of them to join you in reach-ing your goal; because more than likely you’ll have some of the same goals that they do already too. Some of the most com-mon New Years resolutions for Americans include weight loss and/or getting into shape. For other Americans it’s about learning how to stop and smell the flowers, by relaxing a bit more. Another common goal is becoming more organized or learning better time management. The key to making New Years resolutions is to moti-vate us to do well in life, or to improve ourselves. At times it may seem helpless or even pointless to make resolu-tions without any intention of keeping them. Nonetheless its still the thought that counts. So hopefully, with these simple and quick guidelines, achieving your goal(s) for this year or any other time of the year should be a little less dif-ficult and more obtainable.

Budget call to action, challenge to allBy Joe StelmanEditor in Chief

The impact of a shrinking education budget on the na-tional and state levels is being felt across District 196, which faces an even more dismal round of cuts for the 2011-12 school year. On Election Day, registered voters in the district defeated a proposed levy referendum that would have provided an additional $15 million of district fund-ing each year for the next 10 years, according to a District 196 news release. The cuts come after another proposed $12 million in cuts for this school year and a gloomy forecast for the state budget deficit. Needless to say, dis-trict projections are looking grim. According to the same November 2 news release, budget adjustments may include cuts to over 200 dis-trict jobs, reduced and elimi-nated school programs and a reduction in transportation services. The effects will no doubt hit home here at EHS, where we’re likely to see the dismissal of more staff, cuts to extracurricular programs and more crowded classrooms

Image courtesy of mirror.co.uk

within the next year.Now is not the time to

simply state that we can’t af-ford more cuts to education. There’s not much we can do to alleviate the hard truth: that, with a grim state budget forecast, cuts will be made, and that they will – in certain cases – negatively affect stu-dents’ educational experience and opportunities. However, the full brunt of the cut fund-ing will be affected directly by how we deal with it. Now, more than ever, individuals at all levels of the district – from the highest-level employees to the students – must work together to make the best of budget-slashing repercus-sions. More than the abil-ity of a monetary budget to impact our education is the ability of ourselves to make the best of the situation, to find innovative ways to do more with education in a tighter pool of resources. That quality of alleviating budget tensions through successful, original solutions will, above all, determine the success or failure of our district’s quality of education in the formidable years ahead.

Schools across the nation must operate within newly

limited means and find new ways of handling the often cumbersome task of educat-ing thousands of pupils. Crit-ics from across the country point out that cuts to their own state’s education bud-get will seriously harm the quality of education students receive, as well as undo years of marked progress. While District 196 is in the same boat as many school systems across the country, there’s no reason why our nationally-ranked district can’t be a leader in finding solutions to the problem, without undoing a whole bunch of progress as others claim will happen.

Just two weeks ago, our district announced a reduc-tion in the periods of the day of the six district middle schools, from eight periods to six. While the move aims to save nearly $2 million in spending each year, district officials also hope that longer periods and more time in core requirement classes like Eng-lish and math will strengthen performance in these areas. This is the kind of move that school officials must make successful in order to uphold the standards of education for which our district is known.

While certain electives will inevitably be limited or cut for certain grade levels, educators must have a clear incentive of getting other, more valuable information in less frequent, more lengthy structured settings. That in itself can produce something positive from the otherwise bleak fiscal situation in which we currently find ourselves. Other opportunities for our schools to explore are en-ergy and consumption-saving measures by recycling more, among other things. There’s a range of op-tions for our schools to save money, and while some of them may require the reduc-tion of certain programs, they don’t always have to end with a painful slash to a program that could other-wise benefit students. Some of them might require some creative maneuvering, and they certainly won’t fill the gap in a lack of educational funding. But they’re neces-sary given our current fiscal climate, and when done with the right planning, can keep the success of our educational system from falling behind. It’s a call to action for all of us.

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, DECEMBER 14, 2010 3Mock Trial team begins competi-

tion, replicates court caseBy Laura HarfordNews Writer

Mock Trial is a club activity at EHS where partici-pants can learn about various aspects of a real trial. Eagan’s Mock Trial team is coached by social studies teacher Ms. Hanson. Mock Trial is “like a case on T.V. You have to role play. You have to be prepared for both sides of the case, the prosecution and the defense,” commented Hanson.

Diana Mueller a junior mock trial member, described it as, “going against another team in front of a judge.”

Mock Trial also has pro-fessional lawyer coaches who come in and help the team with practices. In Mock Trial one has the opportunity to participate either as a lawyer, a witness, a plaintiff or a time-keeper in the trial.

Mock trial participants follow the framework of an established court case during competition. This year, the case chosen for Mock Trial is a real case called the Congdon Murder Trial, a high profile murder case that occurred at the Glensheen Mansion in Duluth, Minnesota in 1977. Participants will work through the details and stipu-lations of this perplexing case for the whole season.

According to Ms. Han-son, the best way to prepare for Mock Trial is to simply “read a lot.” The participants have a lot of material to go over and it requires consider-able reading; the rules alone are approximately 50 pages long.

Attributes of someone who is good at Mock Trial include being well-spoken, able to think on their feet, and a willingness to go for the kill. Team members were selected after try-outs and represent all grade levels.

Mock Trial captain Trevor Gersch says his favorite part of Mock Trial is “working through the whole case and showing your argument and all of the effort you put forth and then winning.” Gersch participated in Ms. Hanson’s mini Mock Trial in law class and said it was really fun. Mueller loves Mock Trial be-cause of the people, and says the team is really close.

Mock Trial usually practices three days a week on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. Upcoming events in December include a scrim-mage at Lakeville South on December 10, a South Subur-ban Conference Tourney at Lakeville North on December 17, and a South Suburban Conference matchup at the Dakota County Courthouse in Hastings on December 18. In January the team has a competition at the Univer-sity of Minnesota campus on January 8, the start of regions on January 20, and the second round of regions on the 27th. Then, on the 3rd of February the team has the third round of Regions. After the third round of Regions, the team must win in order to make it on to the fourth and fifth rounds in February. All Re-gion competitions are held at the Ramsey Co. Courthouse.

Study, socializing at Cocoa & CramBy Laurel ScottNews Writer

On Monday, November 29, the traditional Cocoa and Cram study session was held in the Student Commons, pre-ceding the first trimester’s set of final exams. Running from 5:30 until 8:00 that evening, Cocoa and Cram provided an opportunity for students to study with friends and enlist the help of teachers in prepa-ration for this year’s first round of finals.

Cocoa and Cram was ini-tiated four years ago by Link Crew coordinators Mr. Zak, Mr. Snobeck, Ms. Catchpool, Ms. Haus, and Mr. Becker, who are responsible for buy-ing the cocoa, advertising the study-cram session and recruiting the help of parent volunteers. Judging from the high attendance of students during this trimester’s session, these teachers’ hard work paid off.

Mr. Becker said, “Judging by the amount of cocoa we go through, we have probably 600 to 800 kids in and out of there all night.” Addi-tionally, 60-80 teachers from all subject areas attended Cocoa and Cram at some point during the

night “for the sole purpose of helping kids.”

Many students who attended Cocoa and Cram found it helpful in their studies. “I enjoyed it,” says freshman Alivia Fairchild. “It was a lot of fun.”

Despite its popularity, Co-coa and Cram is notorious for being more of a massive social gathering than a serious study session. Sophomore Nickie Fowler noted that, even with the presence of teach-ers, “overall it just felt like a

bunch of kids talking with their friends.”

So what could make Cocoa and Cram better? One sug-gestion from a student was to have it occur on mul-tiple days.

This would potentially mean a smaller number of stu-dents attending each session,

making it quicker and easier to gain access to teachers without having to wait in a long line. Additionally, said Fowler, “If they had it one day [of the] week, and then again the next week, kids [who can’t make it on one day] can still come.”

Another popular idea was to expand Cocoa and Cram to include other types of study-fueling brain food in addition to cocoa. Pizza was one suggestion, as were ice cream, hot dogs, and Double-Stuff Oreos. “I think they should offer humongous buckets of marshmallows,” says Fairchild. “And Cool-Whip!”

Students can look for-ward to the next session of Cocoa and Cram at the end of this trimester in March.

Photo by Michelle Metcalfe

PAWS Pizza: Teacher’s homeroom incentive turned school tradition

By Marisa AnayaNews Writer

Most students eagerly anticipate the two days of the year when the take-out franchise Domino’s puts on a spread of hundreds of pizzas for the students and faculty of Eagan High School to consume. But many of those students would be surprised to learn the origin of a tradi-tion chiefly unique to our school.

The PAWS pizza day started in 2007, a special Winter Blast week in Feb-ruary that, like any other school spirit week, included a variety of competitions between PAWS classes. Math teacher Mr. Tschetter had promised his PAWS class pizza for finishing in the top fifteen classes for that com-petition. Tschetter, however, figured that he might as well ask other classrooms if they wanted pizzas as well, as a

result there was a grand order of 130 pizzas. The simple incentive turned into one of our school’s most memorable – and logistically time-con-suming – PAWS traditions.

Currently, Mr. Tschet-ter is in charge of the pizza day, along with Mr. Loeffler, Mr.Dirksen, and Mrs.Blundell who have also helped col-lect money in the past years. Upon being asked why the pizza day has become such a tradition, Mr. Tschetter explained, “I just think it is a fun thing to do both for the individual PAWS classes and for Eagan High School.”

“It makes for a pretty hectic week with getting the orders in, collecting money, etcetera, and I am glad when it is over. However, I think the students enjoy it and that is why I keep doing it,” continued Tschetter. Upon be-ing asked how many calories were consumed as a result of the PAWS pizza, Tschetter

simply stated, “Too many.” According to Domino’s,

a large regular cheese-only pizza is about 2,320 calories while a large pepperoni is about 2,400 calories. This year, the school had about 1,500 students order pizzas, with each student paying about 8 dollars. That amounts to a grand total of about 12,000 dollars for the pizzas alone.

Though students jumped at the chance to order their pizzas, more than a few were quick to point out some of the not-so-desirable side effects.

Said student Ciara Smith, “The next day I feel sick because I’m not used to eating really greasy foods.”

Despite the cost and the calories, most students seem hooked on the pizza, if not, of all things, just for the chance to eat it as an established school tradition.

Jazz band from page 1

Mr. Miska said, “Each year the jazz bands ‘start over’, just a like an athletic team at the start of their prac-tice season. Graduation and incom-ing freshmen impact the talent pool, but the success and growth of the jazz bands are af-fected as much by personalities as they are by talent. Both jazz bands are showing really positive signs of work ethic and are exceeding my expectations of growth for this early in the school year.”

Both jazz bands perform regularly throughout the year. The bands have two formal concerts per year, including the one on December 21. Ad-ditional performances for Jazz 1 include the Encore! produc-tion and the South Suburban Conference Jazz Festival. Also, the jazz band will be performing at the Commons on Marice and the senior living homes later in Decem-

ber. “We also go on a trip each year,” explained Jenna Peterson, a member of Jazz 1. Last year we went to North Dakota. We’re going to Eau Claire this year, so hopefully

it will be fun.”

Mr. Miska empha-sizes the impor-tance of having a well-es-tablished

jazz program like the one at Eagan. “Jazz band offers our students an opportunity to perform music of a differ-ent genre than our curricu-lar bands perform. It offers students an opportunity to explore improvisation,” said Miska.

“Our concerts are well attended by families of the performers. If EHS students knew how fun these concerts are, they’d be more likely to attend.”

Photo by Devyn Kiszewski

Aliya Zndonov

Photo by Michelle MetcalfeMarta Peterson

FEaTuRESEagan Independent | Tuesday December 14, 2010

By Twie SouvannavongFeatures Writer Each day in high school, students are faced with many challenges. Among them include homework, classes, and extra-curricular activi-ties. All will play a pivotal factor to admissions officials when students apply to college. They are ultimately the people who will have to inspect every aspect of one’s academic success, and they are the people who will make that final decision that could set the course for one’s future. But perhaps one of the most important factors steering admissions officials toward potential students is not just academic performance or extracurricular involvement. It is a student’s commitment to volunteer service that col-leges everywhere look upon proudly. It is the actions they have taken to benefit an as-pect of the community around them. Volunteering brings many advantages. It shows how strong of a character a student has and can teach teens more about the world around them. For example, helping out at a homeless shelter or an aid facility can reveal the impor-tant problems that society has. Students who volunteer also develop a natural sense of re-sponsibility. Volunteers know that they are not obligated to carry out a duty, but they are committed because they know it helps others. Perhaps most importantly for some, students who volunteer have an extra topic to talk about

College admissions look for committment in volunteering

By Twie SouvannavongFeatures Writer

Graphic by Grace AblanFeatures Writer

VOLUNTEERIn the holiday season, good will is all around, leading people to volunteer their time and talents. Some clubs require volunteer hours. Some colleges require it. Some churches require it. How-ever, volunteering benefits both the charity and the volunteer.

during college interviews. This is where students will be able to define themselves in the eyes of a college admis-sions officer, and put their foot in the door to a successful future. There are a number of ways one can obtain volun-teer hours, whether for an organization like the National Honor Society or, ultimately, the college resume. There are select colleges that require some volunteer hours; the rest aids officials with their deci-sion-making. More volunteer hours make resumes stand out. And there is no scarcity of organizations where you can donate your time, espe-cially during this time of the year. Two charities that are popular in December are The Salvation Army and Feed My Starving Children. These two groups are always looking for people to help out dur-ing Christmas time, with the objective to feed families and help families in need celebrate the holiday season. Helping these groups shows leader-ship skills, which colleges look for. Overall, the options are unlimited when it comes to volunteering opportunities, and once many students start, it’s far from being seen as an additional chore. Junior Allyssa Axelrod, an NHS member, said, “Volun-teering is fun. I spend over 20 hours in the summer, now I have to spend 12 more for NHS. It gives me an excuse for volunteering.” Colleges also love when high school students engage in volunteering because it allows teens to discover their interests. Once an interest in a certain field is established, students will be more prone to pursue it. Mr. David Fritze, Eagan High School counselor since 1990, mentioned, “Col-leges are more concerned with grade point [averages] and test scores. Volunteer hours will help.”

By Shelley SibleyFeatures Writer It seems that people of our society do not always real-ize how fortunate they really are until they learn about the destitute conditions of others around the world. In our world of unexpected natural disasters, poverty, and famine, countless people are always in need of aid. Luckily, our community offers many opportunities for volunteers like students to go on mission trips. Whether it’s within the borders of the United States or in a different country, mis-sion trips can be extremely rewarding. Missionaries can help improve the lives of others while improving their own lives as well. EHS junior Teghan Mc-Carthy has experienced for herself the life-changing effects of a mission trip. She

recently traveled 1,919 miles to the country of Belize for her church’s mission trip. “We didn’t do any charity work like building houses. We mostly went around to other churches and helped the ministry,” McCarthy recalls. “The churches there are very different than our churches. They are usually in some-one’s backyard, and [we sat] in plastic chairs on the lawn while bats were flying around us.” Although McCarthy’s church did not do much charity work, there are many different types of mission trips that do different projects. Some groups build churches and houses, spend time with orphans, help in sectors pro-viding health and dental care, run a Vacation Bible School, and more. The main value that Mc-Carthy said she gained was an internal reward, and she feels as though she took more

out of it than the people that she helped. McCarthy also be-lieves she still has much more giving she would like to do, and the mission trip to Belize was the start of that process. For any other students feeling a calling to go on a mission trip to another coun-try, Teghan advises to respect other customs and cultures. Some things may seem very strange and different, but that country’s residents probably feel the same way about the customs and cultures of their visitors. When asked to summarize her mission trip to Belize, Teghan McCarthy simply stated, “It [was] indescrib-able.” Hopefully, the same kind of reaction resonates among other prospective missionary students looking to make a difference not only outside their doorstep, but through-out the world.

Change in location, change in mindJunior Teghan McCarthy traveled to Belize for mission trip

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, DECEMBER 14, 2010 5

By Pearce Olson Features Writer

One of the best ways to relax and get into the holiday spirit during winter break is to watch a holiday-related movie. The black and white classics provide a long extended film where an occasional nap is almost expected, while some newer films provide laughs, and sometimes even tears. Here are a few of my holiday movie suggestions.

1. It’s a Wonderful Life (1946): This classic movie is the perfect example of what holiday movies should be about. The magic of this movie is told from the story of George Bailey, a somewhat depressed man that wants to leave his small hometown. But, he can’t seem to get away because he is ultimately forced to save the town from an evil business tycoon. Throughout the film Bailey becomes more and more depressed, and even considers suicide, when he is saved by an angel and is granted a wish. This allows him to see a world in which he never existed. This chilling realization opens Bailey’s heart as he discovers the joys of life. The film highlights the real meaning of the holidays, which is spending time and enjoying good cheer with friends and family.

2. National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989): What’s better than Christmas with the Griswold’s? The classic Christmas installment of the popular Vacation films deals with the Griswold family hosting the holidays at their house. With the ridicu-lous light display that the main character, Clark, puts up around his house, his hilarious sled ride from hell, and the squirrel incident, this movie is one of the funniest films I have ever seen. I love this film so much that I watch it year round regardless of the season. This film is one of the best laughs you will ever have watching a holiday movie.

3. The Polar Express (2004): I’m a sucker for animated films, mostly because they are so much fun and very creative. The Polar Express is no exception. With Tom Hanks playing nearly every role, the movie delivers expert voice-overs and makes the animated characters feel almost human. The music is also completely stunning and is one of the best film scores I have ever heard. The message is great and the story is heartwarming. You will not be disappointed if you choose this film as one of your holiday movies.

4. Home Alone (1990): Home Alone is the story of when Kevin McCallister (played by Macaulay Culkin) is accidentally left behind by his family during the holiday rush and must fend for himself over the holidays. The magic happens when two bum-bling thieves attempt to rob the McCallister home, which leaves Kevin alone to defend himself and his home with ingenious traps and hilarious tactics. This movie provides so many big laughs that I usually start crying because I’m laughing so hard. I love this movie and highly suggest it for a snowed in after-noon over holiday break.

5. Elf (2003): The plot is charming but forgettable, the writing is decent, and the cinematography is nothing special, but Will Ferrell as a 6 foot 3 inch elf, complete with a green suit and yel-low tights, never gets old. Frankly any other actor would have caused this film to be mediocre at the least, but Ferrell with his corny jokes and near perfect delivery makes this movie shine. A love of Ferrell is required to enjoy this film, but the jokes are so funny and so ridiculous that I think it’s difficult not to like this movie.

Holiday movies

By Seth LynchFeatures Writer

Sambol Restaurant1260 Town Center Drive651-688-8686

Sambol offers a wide arrange of Indian and Sri-Lankan cuisine. Sambol claims to have the best Indian food in the Twin Cities, and I have to agree with them on this one. I highly recommend ordering some Nan to begin the meal, which is a traditional bread that comes with sweet and spicy sauces. Next, the customer gets to pick from a large menu of In-dian dishes, sorted by their ingre-dients and the area of India most recognized for the particular dish. Under each dish is a short description, which is very helpful for those not familiar with Indian food. Another helpful service they offer is asking customers how spicy they want their meal. I had the Mango lamb which was served on a bed of rice. It was outstanding. I also tried the Alu Gobi (cauliflower and potatoes on rice) which was nothing short of fantastic. On Tuesdays and Fridays Sambol offers a lunch buffet from 11:00-2:30 and Saturday and Sunday from 11:30-3:00. The buffet normal consists of several vegetarian dishes, a soup and a choice selection of meat dishes as well. Overall, Sambol is an out-standing Indian restaurant that is worth both the time and money.

Sambol

Donate food: People often forget that many people in the US go hungry. However a US study shows that 14.6% of Americans (49 million people) were food insecure during 2008. Being food insecure is when a family has a limited amount or not enough food to feed their family. Another study showed that 49% of Americans require food aid by the time they are turn 20. The winter months hit families even harder in the northern states, due to the need for heat, so food shelves around Eagan need help now as much as ever.

Donate shoes: Wayne Elsey estimates that there are 1.5 billion pairs of unused shoes in America’s closets. His job is to get them from those closets onto the feet of adults and children of impover-ished nations. Soles4souls is the name of the organization and donating new/slightly used shoes is their Modus Operandi. Some people cringe at the thought of wearing used shoes, however shoes are one of the easiest ways to prevent simple infections (i.e. cutting your foot) and extending the life expectancy of children in nations with poor health care and/or high AIDS risk. For those who would like to donate old shoes, locations around Eagan can be found at soles4souls.com. Cash donations are accepted as well. One dollar equals one pair of shoes.

Wash up: We all remember the terrible tragedy of Katrina five years ago, however many of those in New Orleans are still living in poverty, or still homeless. This is because those who lost their homes lost everything, including most chances of employment. They got stuck in a self-feeding cycle of poverty. Today organizations are still helping, and one of the larger ones is Tide. Tide has been marketing their “loads of good” campaign where they send down portable laundry mats down to offer free services. For every bottle with the special “loads of good” bottle cap on, they donate one dollar to the Tide Charity. However they are selling these bottles for three dollars more than the normal bottle. All because they can. People are more likely to buy a product that supports a cause even though most of the time they could be doing more good by buying the cheaper product and donating the money saved straight to the charity of their choice.

Compiled by Seth Lynch from Slate.com

Image courtesies clockwise from above: allmoviephoto.com, geardiary.com, christmas365.info, dreamagic.com, zoomdoggle.com.

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&MovieDinner

By Matt NovitzkiFeatures Writer

We are constantly told how important it is to lend a helping hand to others, seeing it is impor-tant to think of others before ourselves sometimes. But besides helping others, volunteering really does a play a big part in helping ourselves. Some may believe that volunteering is just something to add to resumes and college applications, but volunteering actually has health benefits as well. As many upperclassmen know from experi-ence, applying to colleges is definitely an impor-tant thing to get prepared for. Colleges do not only look at grades and test scores when taking a student into consideration. They strongly value activities, volunteering included. By simply getting involved in a group or project that focuses on help-ing others, not only do other people benefit from it, but the volunteer can benefit by adding volunteer-ing to the list on their college applications. Volunteering can also positively impact our health. When people who volunteer say volunteer-ing makes them feel good, they aren’t kidding. Regular volunteers are often known to have a de-creased risk for depression and an increased sense of accomplishment. Additionally, volunteers tend to have less instances of heart disease in their lives. Overall, considering the benefits for the com-munity, the extra push towards the college of one’s dreams, and improving one’s mental and physical health, there really isn’t a reason not to volunteer. All the rewards of volunteering almost make pick-ing up trash off the highway sound good!

What you can do to lend a hand Benefits of helping

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, December 14 20106TWENTY QUESTIONS:

FEATURING GEORGIE KRALL

By Abby JohnsonFeatures Writer1. Favoite musician(s) and why?- Lady Gaga because she’s unique, and doesn’t care what people say about her. Beyonce because she’s fierce; and Taylor Swift because she writes really relatable songs.

2. What’s the most embarrassing nickname you’ve been called? - Georgina

3. If you were a shoe, what type would you be? - A Manolo Blahnik, like from Sex and the City.

4. If you were trapped in the Mall of America overnight, what would you do? - I would go to all of my favorite stores and steal all of the clothes!

5. What’s your screensaver? - Rihanna.

6. What TV show(s) best relate to your life? - Gossip Girl and Sex and the City

7. If you were a superhero: what would you name and superpower be? - I would be Ferosha Coutura, and I would spray hairspray in people’s eyes.

8. Favorite concert and why? - Lady Gaga—it was just amazing!

9. If you were on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, who would you phone? - Aly Gates.

10. Fondest childhood memory? - Fifth grade was a lot of fun, because I just remember get-ting into trouble a lot.

11. If you won an Academy Award, what would your accep-tance speech include? - I would probably say ‘Oh My God’ and ‘like’ like a million times. And then I would thank everyone that worked for me.

12. Favorite Disney movie? - The Little Mermaid

13. Craziest Halloween costume? - I don’t really remember his name, but that guy from Poca-hontas.

14. If you were to rob a store, but not get into trouble for it, what store would that be? - Urban Outfitters.

15. Favorite catchphrase?- “I’m a free b***** baby!”

16. If you were to get a tattoo, what would it be? - A peace sign. 17. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you be and why? - New York City, because it’s the fashion capital of the world and it just has everything.

18. Favorite part of the Holidays? - There’s that magical, OMG, feeling that’s super fun. And everyone is just really happy and excited.

19. If there was a day dedicated to you, what would the world do to celebrate? - Everyone would wear super hot clothes and just be really fierce. WHOO! It’d be a party!

20. If you could bring back a trend, what would it be? - I really like the clothes from the ‘60’s; and they’re kind of coming back in style this year so I really like that.

Poetry Club One of the newest student organizations at Ea-gan High School is the Poetry Club. The Poetry Club was founded this year by seniors Arnesh Roy and Peter Duni-fon. Roy and Dunifon had been hoping to start a poetry club for a number of years, so at the end of last school year, they asked Mr. Mass to sign-on as supervisor with plans to launch the club in the fall. The club aims to provide a place where students with a mutual appreciation for poetry can meet to share their own poetry, read other poets, and maybe even find ideas and inspiration for their writ-ing. “Poetry is one of the most personal things that exists,” Roy says. “We want this club to be an open and embracing environment for anyone who has any interest in reading, writing, or learn-ing about poetry to come and

A couple of weeks ago I was rummaging through my room, in search of one of my infamous head-bands. As I had only worn it once before, I had forgot-ten how small it was. On this particular day I noticed something on the headband I hadn’t seen before. Right beneath the silk flowers laid a tag that read ‘Crew Cuts.’ Unsure of the meaning behind this title, I looked the headband up online. Alas! My headband was shown in the children’s section for J.Crew! This seemed utterly prepos-terous at the time; I knew for a fact that I did not see this headband in the children’s section when I purchased it. Had I honestly been walking around wearing children’s accessories?! I couldn’t help but wonder if all of my accessories were ten years my junior. Suddenly my tulle dress started to resemble my third grade tutu, and my sparkly gold oxfords were starting to look like my Doro-thy shoes circa- Halloween 1999. Out of disbelief I exam-ined the rest of my wardrobe, half-expecting to find sweat-ers with teddy bears on them. Instead, all that I saw was the usual clothes I had been wearing. It wasn’t until later that I realized that perhaps my fashion inspiration came from something greater than couture labels…my child-hood. Was I still the six year old wearing barrettes from ear to ear, sporting neon green rain boots and a purple tutu? Hopefully not, but that’s not to say that I’m ashamed of inspiration.

Fashion for the Young at HeartFashion Column by Abby JohnsonFeatures Writer

Fashion

Passion for

Image courtesy of minihipster.com

Image courtesy of blog.timesunion.com

Image courtesy of soulofa-nangel.com

I concluded that there’s a lot we can learn from kids’ fash-ion. When we were younger it taught us to be unique and fearlessly wear whatever we want. Honestly, there isn’t any harm in thinking about fashion from a child’s per-spective. For me, this perspec-tive allows me to wear what I want and not care what other people think. From this day forward I declare that sparkly shoes, tutus, and headbands are perfectly acceptable for those of us that are young at heart. Happy Birthday to Me; I am officially 16 going on 6.

share.” During meetings, students are invited to participate through reading their own poems, performing a poem that they found particularly amusing or mov-ing, and suggesting videos of poets who have performances of their works online. Students also practice writing, using different styles and language than they usually do through writing exercises. “The best thing about this club is that it is such a friendly atmosphere for creativity,” junior Kelsey Peterson says. “Everyone is so encouraging of each other’s writing.” Students interested in joining are welcome to attend Poetry Club meetings

on Wednesdays at 2:30 in Mr. Mass’ room (108). Anyone with further questions should contact Peter Dunifon or Arnesh Roy.

SpoRTSEagan Independent | Tuesday, october 12, 2010

Wrestling team adjust to new changes

By Kenzie Markland Sports Writer

With a new coaching staff and two new captains, the wrestling team is ap-proaching a great season. The new head coach, Tony Stensland, has been the long time assistant coach. This is the third head coach in the past three years. With a new season brings new team goals. According to Mitch Johnson, junior captain, the team goals are “finishing well and going to state again”. Colin Sulli-van, a junior, “hopes that the team can defeat the rivaling high schools in our district”. Mitch believes that the team can reach their goals by “keeping a positive and solid mindset”. The wrestling team participates in tournaments in various cities. The high-light from Mitch Johnson’s season last year was Rumble

on the Red, which is a tourna-ment in North Dakota. He claims, “The tournament is a great bonding experience for the team”. On the other hand Colin Sullivan believes that, “State in general is a great tournament but every tournament is good”. Every Saturday the wrestling team has a tournament. Eagan fans are encouraged to come out and watch the wild cats take on the rival high schools as they try to complete the team goals.

By Molly MartinezSports Writer

‘’It’s often difficult to articu-late one reason why change is needed”- Zygi Wilf

In the Vikings game against the Green-bay Packers, the crowed booed for-mer Vikings head coach Brad Chil-dress. “Fire Childress” resonated through the Metrodome as the 31-3 score that favored the Packers at the end of the game. After this dis-

appointing loss to our greatest rivals, Green bay. Head coach Brad Childress was fired from his position and defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier was reinstated as the temporary head coach. Childress first put his job at stake when he released Randy Moss from the team

without consulting owner Zygi Wilf. He may have made things worse when visible tension grew between him and Quarterback Brett Favre. Frazier was quick to confirm that Brett Favre would remain the starting quarter back but in a game against the Buffalo Bills, Farve was injured on a

play early in the game and did not return to the field. Travaris Jack-son completed 187 passing yards and led the Vikings to a 38-14 win for Minnesota. After the win against the Buffalo Bills, the Vikings have a 5-7 record.

Vikings desperate for change

Brad Childress at a press conference. Photo by ffog.net.

Sophomore Josh Downey eyes up his teammate in practice. Photo by Biscuso.

Girls Basketball starts strongBy Michelle MetcalfePhotographer

Girls’ basketball is liv-ing up to their motto ‘Whatever it takes’ at the start of the season with a 2-3 record. Although they started the season off with a tough loss against Owatonna losing 30-46, this did not stop them from coming back and win-ning their second game against Roosevelt 70-60, but losing to Shakopee 60-40. The girls played in the Stillwater tournament during the 12/4 weekend. They won their first game against Irondale in a great game ending with a score of 65-41. They then went on to play the currently undefeated Edina, ranked 7th in state. They faced another tough loss with a score of 40-57, but still manage

to place 2nd place. Captains Jessica Hart and Sage Peterson lead the team this year. Two of the teams’ out-standing players are Jessica Hart and Sammie Delzotto. They were both chosen for Pioneer Press’ athlete of the month. Hart, as a junior, leads the team with an average of 21.3 points while Del-zotto, a sophomore, has an aver-age or 14.5 points. “The best part of playing basketball this year would have to be playing with all my friends, and the hardest part is just improving my game everyday,” explains Samantha. There are many up and coming players that will hope-fully lead the team to victory this year including sophomore Bryn Parsons and Taylor Dusek that are getting some varsity floor time. “When I first got into

the game I was so nervous,” Bryn states, “I forgot what to do, but now it’s exciting!” They truly are determined to do ‘whatever it takes’ to have a successful season.

Girls Hockey melts the ice By Molly MartinezSports editor

The girls Hockey team has faced some difficult teams early on in the season. With tough losses to Shako-pee (4-5), Park of Cottage Grove (0-3), Eastview (1-3), and most recently Burnsville (5-6).”Burnsville is always a fun team to play,” Sophomore Shelby Williams explains, “They always push us and its always a challenging game.” Junior captain Megan Ju-riko tied the score 5-5 with 2 minutes left in the game but Burnsville battled back and scored, Finalizing Eagan’s 3-4 record. Eagan went on to beat Sibley (3-4), Bloomington Kennedy, and Bloomington

Jefferson. Senior team manager Emily Hancock believes the team can go far. “They’re off to a great start. They definite-ly have the potential to get to and win state.” The girls had

a game against Prior Lake High school on the 9th, and another game tonight against Lakeville South at 7:15 at the Eagan Ice arena.

By Taylor McKenzieSports writer

The Dance team is starting off its whirl-wind sea-son. With four com-petitions already behind them, they are looking strong for the rest of the season. This year, the team has all new coaches, Head Varsity Coach Nicole Lonetree Brovold, As-sistant Varsity Head Coaches Peyton Wight and Nick Her-mann, JV Head Coach Brit-tany Weinberg and Assistant JV Head Coach Chris Wold. Freshman dancer, Karissa Kaemingk states, “the team has really benefitted from the new coaches striving for success”.

The team has seven more competitions from now until Sophomore Maddie Burn agrees with Karissa: “I like [the coaches] so much, they are really nice and disci-plined. They have more faith in us and we get more done at practice, and our dances are fun!” The new coaching staff seems to be working, Eagan placed 4th out of 9 teams at the Bloomington Kennedy dance competition on Decem-ber 6th.

By Molly Martinez Sports Editor

Sections were way back in November, but the Eagan girls swim team deserves some recognition for their stellar performance. Claire Gutknecht finish 11th at sections and Rachel Gagne placed 10th overall. Kenzie Heller, Sonja Hedblom, Er-icka Bucki, Sondra Tanji, and Nicole Stevens all advanced to state. Kenzie, Sonja, Sondra and Nicole were a relay team

that placed 12 over all in state. Nicole also swam the 100-meter breast and the 200-meter individual medley. “[State] was a lot of fun,” Ni-cole explains. She placed 10th in the 100-meter and 18ths in the medley. Ericka swam the 200-meter fly and placed 20th and came in 15th in the 500 meter free, and Kenzie finished15th in he 100-meter fly. Kenzie, Sonja, Sondra and Nicole were a relay team that placed 12 over all in state. A great way to finish the season.

Swimming sections and state recap

Junior Jessica Hart pulls up short for the jump shot. Photo by Michelle Metcalfe.

Dance kicks away the competition

Dance team loosens up during practice. Photo by Melmore

Girls varsity warms up the ice before they face off against Photo by Genevieve Stivers-Biscuso

Eagan Independent | Tuesday, DECEMBER 14, 20108Athlete of the Month

By Bailey Hennen Sports writer

Samantha Delzotto has been playing varsity basketball since her fresh-man year. Along with playing varsity basketball she also runs track in the spring. Samantha has earned her way onto the team, she has great ball handling, awesome shoot-ing range, is never afraid to drive into the lane, with her solid court vision she is always able to look for the open pass and see where the players are on the court. She displayed her talent at the Stillwater tournament. She averages 14.5 points a game. During a game against Irondale she scored her all time high 24 points for her team, helping them to secure the victory 65-41. Not only has Sa-mantha made the Eagan Independents athlete of the month, she was also fea-tured in the St. Paul Pio-neer Press as one of their Athletes of the week. Sammie is a great role model on the court as well as off and more impor-tantly balances basketball with time with her friends. “I remember one time last summer Sammie put a huge pot on her head and did an Irish jig.” Sammie’s long time friend Madeline Banz recalls. Justine Lange praises her friend, “She has always worked hard in everything she does, her athleticism and scholastic achievements will take her far.”

Ping pong paddles through practice

By Bailey HennenSports writer

When asked about how the Ping pong team looks this year coach Nichols

said that they are basically starting all over as they have only three returning veterans: Sophomore Drew Nichols, Danny Alvares, and Alex Pat-node. I asked coach Nichols

has done so well because the tournament is geared around the teams working together instead of having just one or two really good players that you depend on to get you the win. The Eagan Ping pong team has got teamwork down to a science. They work as a whole to accomplish their goals.

about his hopes for this year’s team. “ I hope that we win state again.” In 2009 the Ping pong team lost the champion-ship match to the Wayzata warriors, the final score was a nail biting 8-7. Mr. Nichols recalled last year when the team played in the finals against Wayzata with a final score of 4-5. Wayzata came out on top in that match against the Wildcats, the defending champions. Eagan has won the tournament three out of the five years that it has ex-isted, coming in second place the other two years. Eagan

Boys Basketball started the season with a winBy Matt TranSports writer

Senior Jameson Par-sons is one of eight returning starters on the team. Last yearthey had a record of 16-11 and they look to improve on it. Their first home gamewas Tuesday, Dec.7 against Minneapolis South. Parsons says, “I’m looking forward to playing with all the guys again. We have a lot of experience. We have a bunch of players that played on Var-sity during their sophomore year”. This year the schedule doesn’t look as intimidating as it really is, the teams they will face had a combined 282 wins-315 losses last year. One of the Wildcat’s challenges will be the Apple Valley Eagles. TheEagles are led by a young, but talented freshman Tyus Jones. Jones is consideredMinnesota’s top player in the Class of 2014 and one of the best in the state. Inan interview with Gopher-hole.com Jones said he is, “getting letters from NorthCarolina, Notre Dame, Uni-versity of South Carolina, Wisconsin, Washington State,

Arizona, Drake, Dayton, and

of course Minnesota.” He av-eraged 16.5 points per game and led the Metro area in as-sists. ESPN compares Jones to Jason Kidd. But all the hype surrounding Jones did not

better than Jones],but he’s really quick and probably a better ball han-dler.” Parsons averaged 21.2points per game last year and according to ESPN’s Player Evaluation, “Parsons isan excellent outside shooter with NBA shooting range. He has the ability to gethis shot off in traffic.” Jones could not be reached for a response. The Wildcats and Eagles will face off in Apple Valley, on January 18and at Eagan on February 18.Parsons certainly thinks the Wildcats can beat theEagles saying, “Oh, yeah. We have a good team this year.”

prevent Parsons, after being

asked if he could beat Jones in a one on one game, from ex-plaining why he would win. “Probably just because I’mbigger and stronger, and he’s really young…my shooting [is

Ben Sicoli shows his outside range during a scrimmage in practice. Photo by Haley Davis

The Icettes have high hopes this yearBy Kenzie MarklandSports writer

The district 196 Ice skating team is picking up the speed as their season starts. The skate team competes in differ-ent competitions against other teams in the state. The team is broken down into four different teams, a J.V. and Varsity indi-vidual team and J.V. and Varsity synchronized teams. The season is broken down into two parts. The first part has the emphasis of competing and the second part has the emphasis on the Ice show that is held annually at the Apple Valley Civic Arena. Sophomore Carli Bruckmuller

told me, “the team’s goal this year is go to St. Louis.” Last year the Skate team went to California, and according to sopho-more Nicole Stevens, “we got fifth last year, and we didn’t have as many people as the other teams did. [Practice] start pretty chill then around the ice show and before out team trip it gets

the show, then seeing how nice it all comes together in the end.” Not only does the Skate team compete but they also have shows that they work for towards dur-ing the season such as the Ice show held in March to show off everyone’s hard work.

Make sure you don’t miss it.

Skaters from Districts 196 from the Icettes, who gather here to practicePhoto by Rachel Larson

crazy putting all our programs together But the best part about the ice show at the end of the year is how crazy it gets before

Use caution when crossing the through the east entrance while Ping Pong team practices.

Photo by Devyn Kiszewski

Photo by Michelle Metcalfe