by Cody FosterReporter

If the newest construction plans set forth by principal Ms. Barbara Brouwer on Dec. 5 in a faculty meeting are approved, Southport will soon become the first high school in the state to offer an early-college simulation program for all juniors and seniors by the 2014-2015 school year.

In an effort to match tech-nological advances and help students better prepare for college, classes will be offered traditionally or “blended” through an interactive learning system. These classes will be taught by a Southport teacher via online tests, videos and other multi-media operations such as Skype, but could also entail meeting in a classroom at the teacher’s discretion.

“Education can’t look the same as it did 50 years ago, because you guys are chang-ing, and how you learn is changing,” Brouwer said. “If we keep trying to force you to learn the way my generation learned, schools will be out of business.”

With the new “blended learning” as an op-tion, students will have a choice to stick with the traditional schooling system, or to cus-tomize their schedule. This will allow them to be a part of the early-college type program. Similar to college, all upperclassmen will be able to pick their classes, what time they take them and by which method.

Construction is tentatively set to begin in the summer of 2013, so it is expected that the freshman class will be the only students currently at Southport to experience the change. Heading the switch will be Brouwer and the new “Futures Committee,” created solely for the cause of developing the ideas for this new school. They have proposed a

construction plan which involves a building addition and renovations to Southport.

“I think it’s going to be good for students to have control, and to take control of their learning,” Futures Committee member and social studies teacher Mr. Dan Jones said. “Our administration has done an excellent job of adapting to the future, presenting students with more options, and committing to the strengths of the traditional model.”

Brouwer intends for the new building addition to be one dedicated to these new classes on the days that they do meet, as well as a place to relax, eat and socialize. The plan is to have the building stay open until late at night. She has even ventured to suggest put-ting a Starbucks in the new school to make it appeal as a “hang-out” spot for both teachers and students.

The major challenge of this idea, according

to Brouwer, is the technology. For this plan to work effi-ciently, a substantial change to Southport’s technology needs to be made. To test this, social studies teacher Mr. Gene Lezon will be piloting a “blended” Economics class next semester. He is currently working with the techs at PTEC on getting everything prepared to pilot this class.

“The biggest fear is, can we get what our school technolo-gy is to work? Because there’s always a cost,” Lezon said.

The student reaction has been mixed. It seems that ev-eryone is excited about a new building addition and reno-vations, but many students worry about extra curricular activities, as well as classes that will have to be offered traditionally, such as band.

“I will probably choose to go to school traditionally, be-cause I’m in band and I plan to be when I’m a senior, so if I’m already going to be here every day, I might as well be here for however long,” fresh-

man Lydia Upton said. Another thing that also raises some

concerns is the effectiveness of these online classes. Some teachers believe this will just make it easier for students to slack off, and it will be harder for them to focus on their learning. But, according to Brouwer, teachers will have the option to pull a student out of an online class and place them back in the classroom if they are not performing up to standard.

Although most students and parents of students attending Southport right now won’t be affected by this change, Brouwer says that all feedback is important. She intends to in-form the student body as well as members of the Perry Township community of the switch when construction plans are more concrete.

JOURNAL December 21, 2011 Issue 7, Volume XC Southport High School 971 East Banta Road Indianapolis, IN 46227

{newsBRIEFS}Local: Murders draw much attention

In Cumberland on Monday Dec. 12, 21 year old Jeremy Crane and his seven year old niece Kyleigh were both killed. Experts from the Marion County Coroner’s Office say that shots to the head caused the deaths of both victims.

Crane had been babysitting Kyleigh because she was ill and could not attend school. Later that afternoon, Crane’s mother discovered the bodies in their home.

Police discovered that items of value such as game consoles and cellphones were missing, suggesting that the killers may have stolen them after the murders oc-curred.

Now popular gun salesman Don Davis is offering a $10,000 reward to anyone who provides information.

Information from cnn.com

The American drone, the Sentinel, which crashed into Iran last week, has been confirmed to be a drone plane searching for nuclear missile sites within the country. U.S. military personal verified the claim after they previ-ously stated that the drone had simply crashed after it had veered off course.

The officials say that the Afghan government had not been informed of the drones use, and that they had in fact not been as well informed because the drone was part of a CIA mission. The U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta refused to comment directly on the drone but didn’t deny the drone spying. Panetta simply stated that the drone had “carried out important intelligence operations which we will continue to pursue.”

Information from indystar.com

After 8 years, the Iraq War officially ended on Thurs-day, Dec. 15 with a closing ceremony in Baghdad. After $800 billion spent and about 4,500 lives lost, the war concluded in a final march home. With America no longer at war with Iraq, it opens a new chapter for the country.

Although the war has officially ended, America still has two military bases in Iraq and about 4,000 troops. The two bases will be closed by Dec. 31 and troops will be sent home except for a few hundred military person-nel who will stay to help train Iraqis.

Iraq still has critical weak spots in their military and America hopes to further help them in order to help Iraq defend itself.

Southport’s bullying hotline: (317) 789-4880

News Briefs by Casey Smith, Katie Hinh and Rachael Samm

Global: Iraq War ended ThursdayNational: American drone crashes

Read more about the Journal’s English Learner Project. Pages 5

Senior Kristen Carter donates blood during the blood drive on Monday, Dec. 5. Photo by Kaitlin Fallowfield.

the Get some ideas for what to do over winter break. Page 8

Giving blood is the first

step tosaving lives

Information from cnn.com

by Marie PrevostReporter

For some, it results in light-headedness and black spots appearing in their vision. Others faint or vomit at the site of it. Even yet, others get so worked up that their pulse rate is so high, the process can’t even happen.

According to the Red Cross, about 9.5 million Americans donate blood every year, and from that 9.5 million only a small amount of those people actually know the full process their donated blood goes through before it reaches its final destina-tion: the patient.

On Dec. 5, Southport hosted a blood drive of its own. Southport students man-aged to contribute 71 pints from the 135 students that originally signed up. 35 students weren’t able to donate blood. Surprisingly 40% of yearly donations come from high school blood drives. In fact, according to Bill Fullerton the customer service manager of the laboratory section at the main branch, they tend to hit short-ages of blood when school isn’t in session.

“The normal shortage times are during the summer, when school isn’t in session, and around holidays” Fullerton said.

Before the donated blood even leaves the donor’s body, all the bags, vial and donor coding needed for the entire process are ready to go. After placing a needle in the vein, four tubes of blood are taken then the full pint of blood is drawn. After this process, the blood, all the necessary bags needed for the later processes and the four vials are packaged into coolers with ice packs and sent to the main branch down-town.

(To continue see Blood Drive on page 2)

Will future upperclassmen

from the classroom?

DISAPPEAR

{modelSCHEDULE}

Traditional

---

---

in class

---

in class

in class

Blended

online

online

---

online

---

---

Class

English 12

Government

Pre-Calc

Physics

Orchestra

3-D Art

Below is a hypothetical schedule of a typical senior with the blended learning option. The change is not expected to occur until the 2014-2015 school year.

Photo illustration by Brittany Hemphill and Corey Mills.

December 21, 20112 News

Students converse with girls in Dubai

When the blood gets to the lab, the four vials are sent to one area and, ac-cording to phlebotomist Trevor Giddings, tested for every major STD along with blood type.

“Testing for blood type is checked ev-ery time to make sure there weren’t any mix ups, and for those rare cases where a person’s blood type actually changes.” Giddings said.

While the four vials are being tested, the pint of blood that is matched up with those vials is off in another part of the main branch going through a process of its own. Because each donation bag has a code that matches up with the four vials, these processes are able to go on at the same time because if a quarantine of a blood bag is needed, the scientist simply has to call down to a different department, read off the number and the process is stopped.

After the blood is brought in and

sorted, according to Giddings, scientists seperate each component of the blood. The scientist working with the blood hangs the bag upside down, so it can filter through a devise attached to the bag and then into the primary bag. The process takes out the white blood cells, which is called luka-reduction. Giddings assures that by doing this, the blood is actually more helpful to the patient receiving it.

“They (doctors) find that people who receive luka-reduced blood (without white blood cells) leave the hospital 24 hours earlier,” Giddings said.

After this, the luka-reduced blood is put into a centrifuge along with other blood bags, and spun to separate the blood.

“They put the primary bag into the centrifuge to spin it down so that all the red cells pack to the bottom of the bag. In the middle there will be a thin layer

of platelets, and on top there is plasma,” Liz Pilis, lead blood collection trainer at the main branch, said. “After it’s gone through the centrifuge they put them in theses racks and they squeeze the bag, and when they do that they can pull off the plasma from the top. We get a unit of plasma that goes to someone who needs it.”

Also, part of the plasma, rich with the thin layer of platelets, is used to make something called cryoprecipitate for concentrated clotting. This part of the blood usually goes to patients who are bleeding a lot during surgery, or to hemophiliacs who don’t have the ability to clot off their blood. Finally, the red blood cells are separated from every-thing else. Red blood cells are mainly used for such things as transfusions for anemic patients and for patients going through chemotherapy. Because blood is broken down into different components,

according the American Red Cross, when a person donates one unit of whole blood they could potentially save three lives.

After everything is filtered and sepa-rated, blood can be put into the main cooler, but most of it is shipped straight to the hospital. Pilis says not a lot of blood stays sitting on the shelves. If needed, red blood cells can last up to 42 days in the cooler and can last up to 10 years when frozen. While red blood cells aren’t frozen much in the states, the mili-tary is known to freeze all types of blood components to help supplies last longer overseas.

Once the blood has been “okayed” by both the scientists that test the vials and that actually separates the blood, the shipping and labeling department sends the blood to the hospitals to fulfill the contracts the blood center has with them so the new batch of blood can go on to save the lives of Indiana citizens.

by Austin AndryReporter

People are out doing good for their com-munity around the year-end holidays. South-port staff and students are busy helping fami-lies in the community, but some have shown exemplary spirit.

A small congregation of teachers met Tuesday, Dec. 13 for a wrapping party. In-stead of wrapping new iPods or comput-ers, entire outfits and winter clothing were packaged together for families in need. Math teacher Mrs. Catherine Cullison worked with biology teacher Mrs. Amanda Schnepp and special education teacher Mrs. Barbara Huo-tari to organize the event. The three acted as a sub-committee of the teacher board.

“We try to get everything. A pair of shoes, a pair of pants, a sweatshirt or two, some of the necessities they might not otherwise get,” Cullison said.

The donated clothing was expected to benefit multiple families with a total of 36 people. Amongst clothing and shoes were various pieces of winter apparel including gloves, scarves and hats.

Special education teacher Mrs. Jennifer Karushis worked with members of Best Bud-dies to have a toy drive for Damar Services, Inc. Best Buddies is an organization with the mission to create one-on-one friendships, in-tegrated employment and leadership devel-opment for persons with developmental dis-orders. Damar is an organization that assists over 800 handicapped adults and children.

“Damar is residential placement for stu-dents with more extreme disabilities,” said Karushis. “They have school and job training and a place to live.”

Posters, flyers and announcements were made to inform students of the toy drive. The results were much higher than expected, which marked a successful toy drive. Over eighty gifts were donated as well as $40 in donations.

“We had about 80 or more gifts. We turned in 70 to start with, and more came in later, so we had to do another round,” Karushis said.

Blood drive (from page 1)

by Noelle StraubBusiness Manager

Across the world and over 7,000 miles away, there is a secondary all-girls school by the name of Maria al-Qibtiyya. The school is located in Dubai, and with the power of modern technology, Southport students, teachers and administrators are able to communicate with the students.

Assistant principal Mrs. Lizz Walters and her mother Dr. Elaine Jarchow became a part of a program called the Zayed Pilot Program. Jarchow works at Zayed Universi-ty in Dubai, and with the help of the school, Southport was able to be partnered with Maria al-Qibityya to communicate and teach English to the students.

“When you talk about how to build a K-12 and plus higher education system, a lot goes into that,” Walters said. “Everybody is just trying to figure out how to do it best, and the reason why Zayed wants to partner with the people in the United States is be-cause they want to take what we’re doing well, and want to make their education sys-tem better.”

One of the eight seniors to talk to the Dubai girls is senior Florence Salamone. When the Zayed Pilot program began, Wal-ters only asked Mr. Sam Hanley’s English 12 AP classes and Ms. Julie Breeden’s Honors class es for participants because she knew that these students would able to efficiently teach and help the Dubai girls with English.

According to Salamone, when the pro-gram was introduced to her English class, she wanted to become a part of it so she could use it to her advantage for a study abroad opportunity in college, and for trav-eling in the future.

“It sounded like something interesting that I would want to do,” Salamone said. “So

this sounded fun because I really like learn-ing about other people’s culture.”

Like students, English teachers were asked to become a part of the Zayed Pilot Program as well. This way, English teachers at Southport can communicate with other teachers at Maria al-Qibityya on how to teach their own students English. Walters says that English teachers and students alike are supposed to teach three topics of English, which consist of conversation, writ-ten narrative and written persuasive. Princi-pal Ms. Barbara Brouwer and Assistant Mrs. Amy Boone also talk to Maria al-Qibityya administrators as well.

On Thursday Dec. 15, Southport and Ma-ria al Qibityya students had a Skype session during first period. The session was based on conversational English. According to the Maria al Qibityya student Emanix Al, Dubai and the United States are fairly similar.

“We’re all on the same planet,”Al said. “It’s not that different. It’s just the culture is a little bit different, the way we do things.”

Another student, Razan Tirawi, says that her religion was the major difference among the two countries. Tirawi asked Southport students what they knew about Dubai, and if they had a negative understanding of Mus-lims.

“Most people think that Muslims are terrorists,” said Tirawi. “We don’t come to school with guns or carrying bombs in our jackets. We don’t kill people. There’s a nega-tive image that most of the people think about us (Muslims), but we are kind.”

Aside from the distance, nine hour time difference and religions, Southport and Ma-ria al Qibityya students alike were able to gain more awareness of each other’s cul-tures and lifestyle, all while teaching and learning English through Zayed’s Pilot Pro-gram.

Students, teachers work to give back to community

(Top) Senior Florence Salamone communicates on Skype with a student from Dubai. Salamone is on of the eight SHS girls that get to be a part of the Zayed Pilot Program. (Bottom left) Senior Rachel Vidito communicates via Skype on an iPad in principal Barbara Brouwer’s office. (Bottom right) Seniors Robyn Garmon and Danielle Brassell talk with the girls in Dubai. Photo by Ab-bey Springer. For more Dubai photos visit shsnewsbureau.com

{dayinDUBAI}

Assistant principal, Mr. Gary Mahoney packed Thanksgiving dinners for South-port families on Tuesday, Nov. 22. This is another way staff at SHS gave back to the community. Photo from SHSNewsBureau.

Dubai

United Arab Emirates

{whereintheworldidisDUBAI?}Dubai is a country located in the United Arab Emirates.

The following are examples of an everyday life of a girl in Dubai.

According to Emanix Al, Maria al-Quibityya and Southport are similar,

however, there are differences in cultures and activities.

- Go to school everyday- After school, go shopping at the

mall, or go to the “cinema”- Walk and use public transportation,

can’t drive until 18- Not allowed to travel far from home

- Some wear the traditional Arabic attire, such as a black cloak that covers the body called an abaya

December 21, 2011 3Foreign Language

The following stories are in Spanish and Chin. For the English translations of the stories, visit www.shsnewsbureau.com.

by Paola PadillaReportera

Clemencia Tello será una de los estudi-antes Latino que caminarán en la graduación este año de la secundaria de Southport.

Tello nació en Puebla México, y vino a los estados unidos cuando tenía cuatro años. Ella se graduará de Southport con un di-ploma de honores académico y un promedia de 4.0 también.

Una de las metas principales de Tello en la vida es tener una vida mejor que sus padres cuando eran jóvenes y también una educación mejor. Ahora que ella está alcanzando sus metas, ella quisiera ir a la universidad y para ser intérprete.

“Ser un intérprete es una de las mejores maneras para ayudar a la comunidad” dijo Tello.

Ella también dijo que ella regresara de

nuevo a México, pero no más para visitar porque no está acostumbrada a la vida de México. Ella ha estado en los estados unidos tanto tiempo que ahora ella lo considera como su hogar.

“He vivido la mayor parte de mi vida aquí” dijo Tello.

Su familia ha sido una gran parte de su vida, no sólo por ser su familia pero también porque siempre la ha apoyado con todas sus decisiones. Tello dijo que es la uncía manera en que sus padres la pueden ayudar. Tello espera asistir a una universidad que no sea tan cara para expender su concien-cia. Hasta ahora, ella fue aceptada un IUPUI pero todavía sigue solicitando admisiones en otras universidades para encontrar la mejor universidad para ella.

Hay unas cosas que a Tello le hubiera gustado cambiar sobre la escuela. Piensa en las cosas que hubiera podido cambiar pero está contenta con los logros de su ida.

Clemencia Tello trabaja en el cuarto de Mat-lock el jueves is de deiciembre. Foto por Becca Tapp. La Estudiante

Aman: Kum 3 in kum 17 kar cu $4.Kum 18 in a cung lai cu $5.

Perry park nih skate cit nak hmun ngan pi an ngei. Perry park cu Stop 11 lam cung ah a um mi a si. Skate i cit hi American mi pawl caah cun khuasik thla i indoor (innchung) nuamh nak a hman cem mi pakhat a si. Hngakchia kum hnih in a tang lei cu a man lo (free ) a si. Mah te in skate put khawh a si. Na ngeih lo cun, hlan khawh a si i hlan man ah $3 a si.

Aman: Free a si.Christmas caan lio ah hin downtown

ah kal na huam maw? Na huam ah cun, downtown circle ah Chrismas thinking a ngan pi a um. A zoh duh mi poah zoh khawh asi. Kum chiar te Indianapolis i an tuah peng mi a si. Cu lawng cu si lo in mah monument circle vial te kha an tamh dih i mi lung a hlua ter ngai. Zan ah hawile he a si lo le innchungkhar he Christmas caan i kal ah a nuam nak hmun a si.

Aman: Free a si.Hawhra lak i tawlh (Sledding) a duh

mi poah Southeastway park ah tawlh khawh a si. Southeastway park cu Mari-on county chung i a um mi park ngan pi pakhat a si. Mipi caah ser mi park a si. Mah park chung ah hin tawlh nak hmun a tha tak mi tlang a um. A si nain tawlh-nak (sled) I cawk a hau. Wal-Mart a si lo le Target ah tawlh nak a dawh mi tam pi an zuar.

Aman: Upa $9.50, Ngakchia $7.50Christmas thla a si bantuk in zoo zong

ah Christmas an tuah ve. Chun hnu in zoo cu an awn. Nuamh nak a phun phun cu zan lei na zi 5:00pm in 10:00pm kar cu an tuah zan chiar te. Zoo chung vial te Christmas tamh nak in an tam dih. Cu lawng cu si lo in saram cheu khat zong zoh khawh an si, a biana bia ah vuam ti ban tuk. December ni 24 le 25 tu khi an kar lai. November 25 in an thawk cang i December ni 30 tiang an awn lai.

Southeastway park i tawlh nak

Downtown circle i Christ-mas thingkung

Perry Park ah ice skate chit khawh asi

Saram zuat nak (zoo) ah Christmas

by Biak Chin Par

Khuasik caan i nuamhnak

Mexicana ejemplar

One ACTSStudent-Directed

1-12-2012

7:00 p.m. $5

Thurs., December 27th-12 p.m.-5 p.m. go to winter dr�mline-7 p.m. go out to eat with the family

Thurs., December 27th

-10 a.m. go shopping

with mom

-12 p.m.-6 p.m. work the

double shift

by Allison GaffneyReporter

With winter break just a few class peri-ods away, students are already envisioning a relaxing, school-free two weeks. No more tests, homework and classes, just two weeks of time to spend with family and friends.

However, due to multiple sports and win-ter drumline practices over winter break and jobs making students work, winter break is not really a “break” for some.

Freshman Anthony Bueckers is going to attend regular swim team practices over the winter break. It is his first year swimming for Southport, and he plans on attending every practice over the break.

Bueckers said that winter practices are not going to interfere with him being able to see his family over the two weeks. Since he went to Minnesota over Thanksgiving break to see his family, they are not going out of town over winter break. Also, since most of the practices are going to be in the morning, Bueckers will still be able to hang out with his friends for the rest of the day.

Bueckers said that he is not really sure about what the practices will entail, but he said that he hopes the practices over break will help to cut two to three seconds off of his times in his events. He also said that he enjoys the support that his teammates give him.

“It’s my first year and I expect to do better than what I’m doing now,” Bueckers said. “They just keep me going.”

While Bueckers will be practicing his freestyle, junior Kristen Clardy will be practicing her winter drumline routine over break.

Clardy, who plays the tenor, said that she will have to practice around two to three times over the break with the winter drumline.

“Since it’s just drumline, we’re trying to improve, so the music is harder for us ‘cause we’re the only one’s working on it,” Clardy said.

She explained that she usually enjoys com-

ing to practice because she likes the people on the drumline, and she likes improving her skills when playing the music.

Even though Clardy has played drums since fifth grade and been in the marching

band for three years, this is her first year playing in the winter drumline.

“It’s something really new, so I look forward to it,” she said.

Senior Emma Hughes will be spending her winter break working while Bueckers and Clardy spend their time prac-ticing at Southport.

Hughes has been work-ing at the clothing store, Hollister, since late August of this year.

She said that she plans on working four to five hours every day or every other day over break. Hughes does not work on the registers at the store. Her main job is to put the security sensors on the clothes.

Even though Hughes is taking some days off to visit her family up in Michigan, she

said that working will interfere with visiting other family members who are going to be in town for the holidays. Also, she said that she will not be able to visit her friend in Bloom-ington during the break because of work.

Hughes said that even though she is not looking forward to getting up early to go to work, she is happy that she’s getting a lot of hours working, which means that she will be making a lot of money. She also enjoys the people that she works with at Hollister.

“I love my managers and my co-workers. They’re all really cool,” Hughes said. “The managers are funny. We just have a good time when I’m there.”

Because Hughes worked during Black Friday this year, she said that she has an idea about how customers are going to act as the holidays quickly approach.

“I’m working the days up until Christmas and people are just going to be frantic trying to get things,” Hughes said.

As students prepare to rush out the school doors and head home to start their winter breaks, students like Buckers, Hughes and Clardy get ready to spend their breaks practicing or making money.

December 21, 20114 Student Life

Holiday fun for all ages around Indianapolis

During Christmas time, the Indianapo-lis Repertory Theater (IRT) plays Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” The timeless Christmas classic is about a bitter man named Scrooge, who is visited by four ghosts includ-ing his friend Marley. Three of the ghosts take him through what has happened or will happen in Christmas past, present and future in hopes that seeing what they show him will change his bitter heart.

The play opened on Nov. 25 and will have several performances until Dec. 24. Show times are all in the afternoon or evening depending on the day. The performance lasts 90 minutes and does not have an intermis-sion. They do allow food and drinks in the theater.

Tickets cost $55 each, but discounts are available. Tickets for “A Christmas Carol” can be bought online or at IRT ahead of time. With a student I.D., one can get a discounted student ticket into the show. The IRT is located at 140 W. Washington St. downtown.

Ryan Artzberger stars as Scrooge and is accompanied by 10 other adult actors in the play. Not only does “A Christmas Carol” have adult actors, but there are 10 young actors as well who are under the age of 18.

Every year, the Indianapolis Zoo has “Christmas at the Zoo” in which the zoo staff decorates the whole zoo with Christ-mas lights. “Christmas at the Zoo” began on Nov. 25 this year and will go until Dec. 30. The zoo is open Wednesday through Sunday at 12:00 p.m. and the holiday activities take place between 5:00 and 9:00 p.m.

Not all of the outdoor animals on exhibit will be out. Only the animals that are able to endure the cold weather will be out. There’s also a special Holiday Dolphin Show in the Dolphin Dome.

Zoo admission tickets are $9.50 for adults and $7.50 for children and senior citizens. Visitors can get $1.00 off with each donation of new hats, scarves and gloves for St. Mary’s Children Center which helps young children. Donatos is even offering a special deal for 20 percent off zoo admission tickets when one orders a pizza from any Donatos in the India-napolis area. There are also some extra holiday festivities. One can decorate cook-ies with Mrs. Claus or even sit on Santa’s lap. There will be animated light shows and many photo opportunities in the lit up Indianapolis Zoo.

{uglySWEATERS}1st Place Runner up The Entire Crew

Shorts by Rachael Samm

2.

A free attraction in downtown Indianap-olis during the winter time is the Christmas decorations on buildings. While driving downtown, one can see different decorated buildings, including the Soldiers and Sailors Monument.

Annually since 1962, Hoosiers have gathered to see the Soldiers and Sail-ors Monument light up with Christmas lights. Although they have already put the lights on at the lighting ceremony in November, one can still go downtown to admire the lights and the surrounding decorations.

The Monument has 26 life-size toy soldiers sitting around the entire circle and there’s even a mailbox for letters to Santa. There are also giant peppermint sticks that stand 10 feet tall surrounding the circle and sailors that stand 12 feet tall. The 52 garland strands and 4,784 colored lights are strung from the top of the monument to the base, making it into the shape of a Christmas tree.

Visitors can go inside the monument and go up the stairs to the observation deck. The deck provides a free view of the downtown decorations.

The Journal hosted its own ugly sweater contest with the first prize winner getting a Starbucks gift card. Here is the Journal’s decision on 1st place. To see all of the sweaters in color, check them out at shsnewsbureau.com.

‘A Christmas Carol’ Christmas at the Zoo Monument Circle

The marquee of the Indiana Repertory Theatre is lit up at night. Photo by Jackie Smith.

Christmas at the Zoo is a popular family attrac-tion of festive lights. Photo by Jackie Smith.

Since skating on a frozen lake with friends could be dangerous, one could simply go to an ice skating rink in the area. Perry Park is an indoor rink that is open seasonally and is located at 451 East Stop 11 Rd.

Public skating sessions are one of Perry Park’s main attractions. Public skating hours vary depending on the day. The hours can be found online.

Public Skate admission for youth ages two and under is free. Admission for youth (3-17) is $4.00. Admission for adults 18 and older is $5.00. Skate rentals are an extra $3.00.

Indiana/World Skating Academy, also known as Pan Am, is another skating rink that offers public skating. It’s located in downtown Indianapolis. Directions and hours are located on their website. Admission fee for toddlers (4 and under) is $3.00, children (5 - 11) is $4.00, adults (12 - 54) is $5.00 and seniors (55 and over) is $4.00. Only those who are skating have to pay the admission fee.

Late Skate is from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 a.m. Late Skate is only available on Friday and Saturday nights in December and January.

Perry Park Ice Skating

Open skate at Perry Park ice rink on Dec. 14, is utilized by the public. Photo by Jackie Smith.

The circle of lights downtown around Monu-ment Circle. Photo by Jackie Smith.

{workingKIDS}

Information from bls.gov.

-In 2011, there were ap-proximately 17 million 16-19 year olds working in America.-The actual percentage of teens working has gone down to a historic low of 31.3 percent.

The Journal judges thoroughly en-joyed not only his festive sweater but his enthusiastic presentation as well.

Senior Ethan Hawes

Junior Sam Ridgley

The Journal judges liked the large goose and ribbons that were great accents to the sweater.

Thurs., December 23rd

8 a.m. - 12 p.m. swim practice4 p.m. - 7 p.m. family Christmas party

From left, Sophomore Mikyla Dillon, freshman Lydia Upton, junior Sam Ridgley, sophomore Donny Spoor, senior Ethan Hawes and freshman Winona Cleary.Photos by Cara Hinh.

Are school breaks really breaks?Senior Emma Hughes Freshman Anthony Bueckers Junior Kristen Clardy

Friday:

party

Tues.:

Tues.:

December 21, 2011 5Photos

6. Junior Brandi Williams dances at the pep rally. Some Explicity members have played basketball for SHS. Photo by Jesse Roller. 7. Sophomore Kelsey Murphy dances with sophomore Candis Ne-blett at the pep rally. Neblett is also part of winter guard. Photo by Becca Tapp. 8. Sophomore Aireya Taylor dances at the pep rally. Taylor creates her own beats in her spare time. Photo by Jesse Roll-er. 9. Junior Jasmine Chandler dances with junior Chris McDonald at the pep rally. McDonald says he uses dance as a motivator and stress reliever for academics and life. Photo by Kaitlin Fallowfield.

1. 2. 3.

by Kaitlin FallowfieldPhotographer

All of Southport gathered in the stands on Friday, Nov. 29 for the school’s annual winter pep rally. However, there was a new ap-pearance on the court that was not the same old song and dance. As Explicity Dance stomped and cheered on the floor, there was an uproar of school spirit for the new group.

“They are an upbeat hip-hop and contemporary dance team promoting school spirit,” said Ms. Jessi Haddix, the coach of Explic-ity Dance.

Haddix had a dance background in high school and college. She explained that when she came to Southport she noticed there was not a dance team for students who were not on the cheerleading team.

Their goal “is to keep the hype going” during intermission and half time, Haddix explained.

Since then, the dance group has performed during half time at two basketball games, showing off their complex dance routines. Some dances have been created and rehearsed for as little as three days before performance time.

Practice typically occurs twice a week after school until 5:00. “We have stayed until 6:00 sometimes to perfect a routine be-

fore we perform,” said junior Champaigne Ford, the captain of the dance team.

There are a total of 17 members. Ford volunteered to be captain and Haddix watched closely before finally accepting her leader-ship.

In January, the team is scheduled to perform at an IUPUI bas-ketball game. According to Haddix, there is much more to come from Explicity Dance.

Students hope to see more elaborate dance routines from Ex-plicity dance as they continue to bring fans to their feet as well.

7.

6. 8.

5.

9.

4.Explicity

1. Sophomore Bailey Kemp and junior Kiana Mathews dance at the girls’ basketball game on Friday, Dec. 9. Kemp is also part of the pep band. “She shows great commitment to both,” head coach Ms. Jessi Haddix said. 2. Junior Champaigne Ford dances with the team at the game on Friday, Dec. 9. Ford is the captain of the dance team. 3. Senior Rhian-non Whiteis poses during the dance at the game on Friday, Dec. 9. Whiteis has the most dance experience of the entire team. Photos by Jackie. Smith. 4. Explicity practices before the pep rally on Friday, Dec. 2. According to Haddix, a majority of the dance team have little to no choreography/dance team experience. 5. The team meets with their coach before the winter pep rally on Friday, Dec. 2. Out of the 17 team members, there is only one freshman and one senior. Photos by Becca Tapp.

breaks away

by Rachel PattersonReporter

Due to the fighting in Burma, the citizens of the two Burmese states, Karen and Chin, have fled to Thailand for their safety. Many of these refugees then went on to live in refugee camps until they found safety in any other place that would take them. Some of these refugees fled to America and, although two separate groups, now live intermixed with Americans. Both Chin and Karen students can be found at South-port.

Even though the Chin and Karen people are in the same country, they live in two differ-ent states. They are situated on opposite sides of Burma. Both groups share differences be-tween them. These include not only the language differences between the two places and the cultural differences, but the people have physical differences in their appearance also.

Freshman So Ray, an EL Karen, explains about Burma and Karen’s conflict.

“The Karen doesn’t really like Burma,” Ray said.If there is a person from Chin, Burma and a person

from Karen, Burma standing side-by-side, there would be obvious differences in their physical appearance. For ex-ample, a person from Chin, Burma tends to have a darker complexion while a person from Karen, Burma tends to have a paler complexion.

Chin, Burma and Karen, Burma also have different lan-guages. There are 18 states in Burma with languages that vary from state to state. Some of them have small differ-ences, and others have greater, more obvious differences when it comes to language. Sometimes languages are just the slang version of other Burmese languages. Karen people commonly know and use three different languages which are Falam, Hakha and Thantlong.

Mr. Kevin Sitzman, one of Southport’s EL teachers,

has a deeper insight on how well the Chin students learn English.

“The Chin students know the writing system (English al-phabet), so it makes it easier (for them to learn),” Sitzman said.

Culturally, both places celebrate certain holidays. Some of these holidays are different from both the U.S. and one

another. For instance, in Chin, Burma the people celebrate Chin National Holiday, but they also celebrate Christ-mas and New Year’s. In Karen, Burma they celebrate Hero Day and Karen New Year’s, which is on Jan. 5. Fresh-man Eh Hsu, an EL Chin student, says in Chin they celebrate New Year’s the same way as the U.S. does.

“We celebrate New Year’s with mu-sic and dancing,” Hsu said.

While there are differences between Chin, Burma and Karen, Burma there are also some similarities. Some of these similarities are seen throughout the daily routines of their lives.

In Chin, Burma a youth’s daily rou-tine can be expected to begin by wak-ing up in the morning to go and play or have some free time before school. Schools in Chin generally start at 9 a.m. Students go home to eat lunch in the afternoon and then return back to school after they are done eating. The

students are released from their school at 3 p.m. Some go home, while the ones that need extra academic help go to the teacher’s house for tutoring.

A youth’s daily routine in Karen, Burma typically would begin by waking up to do household work before school starts. The students go to school and return back home in the afternoon. Most of the families, like the ones in the refugee camps, are poor and have little to no money. Therefore, even the children usually have jobs and work for money to help support their family.

Even with the differences and similarities between Chin people and Karen people, they both share a common goal. There is an estimate of 240 Chin students and nine Karen students that attend Southport. Both Chin and Karen stu-dents agree that their goal is to receive an education and to do well in life.

Keimah ka min cu Gracy Bawi

Cin Tial, Burmeses (Chin) mi ka si. Malaysia in Indianapolis, United State ah Dec. 6, 2010 ah kan fam-ily he kan rak phan i South Port High School ah January thla in nine grade, second semester in kai ka rak i thawk.

Sianginn ka kai kaa ah cun holh zong ka rak thei thlu lo, a thiam zong ka rak thiam lo caah class chungah kaa harh ngai te. Kan ram sianginn kan rak kai ning he aa dang tuk. Caa a kan chimh ning zong aa dang ngai, a kan chimh mi zong

holh kan theih lo caah kan lung a piang kho lo. Bianaa ah History le Geography te hna kan cawn tik ah mah tein caa i rel le answer i tuah ding caan ah, holh thiam mi(hi kaa ram mi) cu an nih voikhat an rel ah an i fiang. Kei cu voihnih le voithum rel, dicsonary (English to Chin) zoh pah lengmang buin kan phit i, mah hmanh ah kan saya/mah te nih na tial mi a tawi deuh nak in tial than uh an ka ti tawn, a chel caan ah cun ka lung zong mit dih.Ka thiam lo ruang ah caa tuah hna ka zuam tawn lo, ka lungdongh caan tam pi tawn.

Holh thiam lo kan nih caah cun sianginn kai hi a har nak tam pi kan tong tawn ko. Ka caah hin biggest challenge ah ka ruah mi cu sian-ginn tha te kai i kaa tinh mi(degree pakhatkhat) phak khawh hi a si ko. Khawi kaa ram kan um hmanh ah tinh mi phak khawh hi kan caah biggest challenge cio an si ko. Hi kaa ram ah hin cun mirang holh cu kan

thiam hrimhrim a hau, mirang holh thiam hi kan caah cun a bia pi lawng si loin a herh in kan herh hrimhrim tiah ka ruah. Kan sianginn kai nak ca lawng si loin kan miphun le kan ram thancho nak, kan nu le kan pa a u pa cang mi (miring holh thiam kho ti lo mi) zulkhalh nak ca ding tiangin kan thiam a hau hrimhrim ti’n ka ruah. Biggest challenge kan ngeih mi zong hi mirang holh kan thiam lawnglawng ah kan tuah khawh lai. Cu caah cun har nak kan tawn mi, biggest challenge le mirang holh hna zong hi Pathian sin zong ah bawmh-nak kan hal a hau.

Zeipoh hi i thawk kaa ah cun i harh dih an si ko. Mi zaapi nih an chim lengmang American cu caan tha hmuhnak hmun tiin chim cio a si, nain kan mah pumpak hrim in zuamnak lungput kan ngeih lo ah cun teinak ti mi kan hmu kho lai lo. Caan tha kan hmuh mi poh hi man ngei tein hman kan i zuam ding an si.

6 7December 21, 2011

by Donna KnightReporter

Students in theater teacher Ms. Barbara Whitlock’s fourth period class invite EL students into the classroom. With “Just Dance” and karaoke waiting on the side, the EL students receive tutoring in math, science and English.

With all of the information coming out about the Journal’s English Learner Proj-ect, one can only wonder what’s actually being done? EL students are being tutored to hopefully improve their understanding of subjects. Other means of help, such as donation drives, are also being provided.

“So far all we’ve done is tutor in various academic subjects such as biology, algebra I and some English courses and speech,” Whitlock said.

As of right now Whitlock’s class will work with EL students once a week, but she is willing to work with these students more often than that. The attendance to her class started with only two students and has grown to eight. Whitlock believes even more will show up once they learn what her class is doing.

“I think they were initially unclear of what was happening. I’m not sure they were prepared or they understand,” Whit-lock said.

They focus on helping them with aca-demics, such as homework and reviewing material. They also have games they can play. They always have a Wii in the class-room where they can play “Just Dance.” They also have karaoke and can play theater improvisation games.

“We want them to feel comfortable but right now I think they are still very shy. Yeah, they’re shy. They’re wonderful students, they are,” Whitlock said.

As more students started to come Whit-lock could see that they were becoming more comfortable. She was even able to get “Just Dance” out where they all played, and everyone in the class who didn’t have a remote acted as background dancers.

“They laughed and had fun and was goofy,” Whitlock said.

Whitlock is very excited to work with

her class to help EL students with school and to prepare for exams and tests. She wants them to be able to experience her room and her students. The EL students really appreciate and enjoy coming to her class because Whitlock’s class is willing to work and they know that.

Although that whole class is partici-pating in the project, one can also join individually. Everyone who signs up individually is paired up with one or two EL students who also signed up because they want help. They are to meet during their study hall. Everyone is encouraged to go at least once a week to help their EL students.

Sophomore Cherry Paw has been receiving help from junior Jake Johnston, a reporter for the Journal. She has been getting help in biology especially. She believes that the tutoring is really helping her, and she knows that she needs it.

“I want to be a biologist, so I need help,” Paw said.

Paw thinks the project is a great idea, but she doesn’t know whether or not her friends would benefit from it. In general, she thinks the project is good.

Freshman Amos Thang has also been receiving tutoring through the project from sophomore Katie Hinh, an editor for the Journal. He needs help mainly in math. He said he has seen improvement with his

quizzes and homework. He is also unsure whether or not his friends would benefit from the project.

Sophomore Johnny Maung is not a participant in the EL project, but he really believes it will help the EL students. He has seen the EL project in action during his study hall and he has been helping those who are participating in the proj-ect. He helps translate and review their homework.

“It helps them get their work done and to understand more. You can explain, and you have time to help them,” Maung said.

Both Paw and Thang were unsure whether their friends would benefit from the project. Maung commented on their statements by saying a lot of them are extremely shy.

“They don’t like people knowing they still need help. Probably they are kind of shy about it,” Maung said.

The Journal also had a donation drive to collect coats, shoes, other supplies and money for the EL students in need. The donations were collected in everyone’s 8th period class on Friday.

The Journal’s English Learner Project is devoted to helping these EL students who may be too shy to even admit that they need help to prepare for their tests and really understand the subjects that they are taking.

THE Journal’sEnglish Learner

Project

EL project underway, students already seeing improvements

Karen, Chin students share routines, possesscultural differences in many aspects {signuptoVOLUNTEER}

The Journal’s English Learner Project will not be able to succeed without help from volunteers. If you would like to volunteer during the second semester, please fill out this form and turn it in to room 400, Ali DeHart or Brittany Hemphill as soon as possible.

Features

{holidaydonationDRIVE}

Chin sianginn hngakchia cu American cawmnnak kong an chim

I am Gracy Bawi Cin Tial, and I’m from Burma (Chin). I arrived in United States from Malaysia on Dec. 6, 2010 with my family. I started to attend ninth grade at SHS in January.

I had a hard time because I couldn’t speak English very well and couldn’t understand that much. The way they teach and students learn are totally different compared to my country. It was especially more difficult for me because my English was not good enough to understand. For example, history and geography are under-standable for people who already

speak English. They understand what the answer is by reading once or twice. For me, I read once and didn’t understand. I read twice I still couldn’t get the answer. So I started to take out my dictionary (English to Chin) and tried to answer the questions as much as I could but my teacher asked me to write more than what I wrote. Sometimes, I got dizzy because of the language and understanding it was so difficult. A lot of time, I gave up of doing homework and I didn’t feel like trying anymore.

As an English learner, I faced many

challenges attending school. I really don’t have a very big dream for my life. I’d be very pleased to have some degree and have a nice job. But, in or-der to reach out my goal, I have to be fluent in English and that will take a long time. But hopefully, I’ll get there pretty soon.

Everything was hard when we started. As everyone said, America is a place where there are good opportuni-ties. However, without trying our-selves, there is no success. We should wisely use the preicous time we have.

Translated by Van Dawt Zi.

Journal staffer Jake Johnston helps sophomore Cherry Paw with biology home-work on Dec. 15. Johnston meets with Paw at least once a week. Photo by Becca Tapp.

{taketheQUIZ}English Learner students sometimes have a hard time in classes because it is not their native language. They must do assignments in a language that they have only spoken for a limited amount of time. In order to better understand the problems of the language barrier, the Journal has created a test in three different languages. The tests are in English, Spanish and Chin. English speaker senior Becky Camp took all three tests. Camp tried her best on the quizzes even though she didn’t understand the language. Her answers and scores are on the bottom of each quiz. Take the quizzes for yourself. The correct answers are on the bottom right of the page.

{periodONE}

{periodTWO}

{periodTHREE}

{periodFOUR}

{periodFIVE}

{periodSIX} {periodSEVEN}

{periodEIGHT}

The Journal collected donations from families and staff members last week for the EL Project Holiday Donation Drive. The donations were collected from 8th period classes. Before winter break begins, the do-nations will be distributed to families of EL students that are in need of them.

Chin works alone on a portrait of a woman. She draws in silence, occasion-ally speaking to other students in her language. She works the entire period, and the American kids don’t notice her.

In Health class, she is working on a project about diseases. Her project is about Influen-za. She pauses often to reread what she has written. When the alert to save her project pops up, she doesn’t understand what it’s asking and hits each button until she finds the right one. Chin said that health class is the most difficult course in her schedule.

Mr. Robert Hoffman-Longtin teaches the students new words and the con-cept of skimming a reading passage. Chin and the other students learn words such as “kindergarten” and “weird.” Chin has trouble pronouncing the word “weird,” just as the other kids do. They read a short story about the Cherokee language. Chin is more at ease in this class than her other classes.

Chin works on a packet of worksheets. Chin and her friends, who speak the same language, work together to understand the material. The other classmates don’t pay much attention to her.

Chin receives an over-perfect score on her math test. Math is an easy subject for her, and she does well in the class. Chin learns about graphing inequali-ties, and she does not talk to any of the other kids throughout the period.

Whereas most kids are talking or do-ing other things to pass the time, Chin works on home-work with other kids who speak her same language. She works the en-tire period and doesn’t have many conversations.

Chin is around other kids who speak the same language. She is more com-fortable in this class, but she does not let up from her work. She is reading a book with the class, and she focus-es intently upon what she is doing.

Name: ______________________________________________

Connection to Southport (student, teacher, parent): __________________________________________________

Gracy Bawi Cin TialStudent

“Everything is so bright!”

Chin student reflects on American education

{inherownWORDS}EL students face numerous struggles while attending school in America. The language barrier plays a role in many of these issues that they face every day both in and out of school. Many of these students do not understand the assignments and tests that they are given in class. The Journal asked student Gracy Bawi Cin Tial to write an ac-count of the problems that she faces in daily life. Below is the original version in Chin and the translated version in English. Introduction written by Andie Reinhart.

Cell phone number: _____________________

Students: Students will be able to tutor during their study halls. They will be paired up with one or two EL students, whom they will be expected to meet with at least once a week. They can help the EL students with homework, studying and cultural experiences. Parents: Parents may donate at any time. The Journal is accepting donations of money and gently used items. Parents may also help organize study sessions and cultural experience trips for the EL students.

Teachers: Teachers can help by nominating an entire class period to tutor a group of EL students, or they may help on their own. Teachers can set up study sessions and help the students with school work.

Students, answer the following:Study hall period _______Grade: ________

Sophomore Sung Chin reads a book in Mr. Mike Klopfenstein’s English 10 class on Dec. 7 Photo by Jesse Roller.

EL students attend school and classes just like any other student, but they have an added bur-den in attempting to understand the language and comprehend what is being taught. In order to better understand these day-to-day struggles that an EL student must face at school, a Journal staffer shadowed sophomore Sung Chin during the school day of Dec. 7. Chin’s schedule and observations from the staffer are shown below.

Shorts by Andie Reinhart.

Chin eats her lunch in near silence. The cafeteria is full of people laughing and talking, but Chin doesn’t partake in this. She talks rarely and eats her food. She may occasionally stop to look up at her friends while they are talking to her.

Art

Health

ENL English 1

Biology

Algebra 1

Lunch Study Hall

English 10 EL

{adayintheLIFE}

Correct answers for the quizzes: English Version: c,b,b,a,cSpanish Version: a,a,c,b,c Chin Version: c,c,a,a,c

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, over 200 Southport stu-dents, most of them being English Learn-ers, traveled to Lucas Oil Stadium to help with Kids Against Hunger. This is a program dedicated to helping kids around the world have access to healthy meals. The students measured and bagged the ingredients. After one shift, over 100,000 bags were prepared by the more than 600 students in attendance. Photo by Becca Tapp.

{kidsagainstHUNGER}

Photo by Becca Tapp.

{statesofBURMA}

senior Becky Camp

I went to the store with my friends. We got a lot of clothes. I bought a shirt and a pair of pants. My friends told me that the shirt looked good on me, but they told me that the pants didn’t fit very well. The pants were brown with a black number four on the side. I really liked them, but my friends didn’t. They were comfortable. I plan on wearing them on the weekends. I will be going back to the store next week.

1. What color were the pants?a. purpleb. yellowc. brown

2. What number was on the pants?a. oneb. fourc. seven

3. When do I plan on wearing the pants?a. Mondayb. weekendsc. Wednesday

4. When will I be going back to the store?a. next weekb. todayc. never

5. What did the friends think about the pants?a. They didn’t careb. They liked themc. They didn’t fit well

Becky answered: c, b, b, a, c

100%

Fui a la tienda con mis amigos. Agaramos mucha ropa. Compré una camisa y un par de pantalones. Mis amigos me dijeron que se me veía bien la camisa pero, dijeron que los pantalones no me quedaban bien. Los pantalones erán café con el número cuatro en el lado. A mi me gustaron, pero a mis amigos no. Erán comodos. Pienso usárlos los fines de semana. Regresaré a la tienda la próxima semana.

1. ¿Qué color erán los pantalones? a. Café b. Amarilloc. Morado

2. ¿Qué número llevaban los pantalones?a. Cuatrob. Unoc. Siete

3. ¿Cuando pienso llevar los pantalones?a. El lunesb. El miércolesc. Los fines de semana

4. ¿Cuando regresaré a la tienda?a. Hoyb. La próxima semanac. Nunca

5. ¿Qué pensaron los amigos de los panta-lones?a. No les importób. Les gustaronc.No quedaron bien

Becky answered: a, a, a, b, b60%

Dor ah ka hawi le hna he kan rak kal. Thil tampi kan I cawk. Bongbi tuah khat le angki zunkhat kaa cawk. Angki cu ka hawi le nih naa tlak tuk an ka ti, asi nain bongbi tu cu na tlak theng lo an ka ti. Bongbi cu coffee yawng asi I, a kam lei te ah number pali aa tial. Ka uar ngei te, asi nain ka hawi le nih cun an uar lem lo. Hruk nuam ngei an si. Zerhte, zerhpi ah hruk ding in ka tim. Hmai zerh ah, cu dor ah cun kal than ding in kaa tim.

1. Bongbi cu zei yawng dah asi?a. Ai hreb. Purplec. Coffee

2. Number zei zat dah bongbi cung ah aa tial?a. Pakhatb. Pa sarihc. Pali

3. Zeitik ah dah mah bongbi hi hruk ka tim?a. Zerhte le zerhpib. Ni khatnic. Ni thumni

4. Zeitik ah dah dor ah ka kal than te lai?a. Hmai zerhb. Zei tik hmanh ahc. Tu ni

5. A hawi le nih bongbi cu zei tin dah an ruah?a. An zei hmah a poi lob. An uar ngei vec. An uar lem lo

Becky answered: c, c, a, a, b80%

“I don’t think it would be fair to have my grade in a class to be based on something I don’t under-stand.”

Chin State

Karen State(Kayin)

Burmese students at Southport are from two states, Chin and Karen.

At any time during the second semsester, the Jour-nal will accept donations of gently used clothes or money for EL students.

Ah, James Patterson. Here we are again. Why again? The reason is that within the last 2 years, Patterson

has released over sixteen books in various series. The message that this sends to me is that the man is either always ready with a creative spark, or he is some kind of writing machine.

Regardless, he has written numerous New York Times Bestsellers and has a creative spark that has captured the minds of young teens with series that seem to make everyone, despite previous experience enjoy reading.

Despite his methods, I can’t speak of anything but admiration for the man who has in the past managed to steal hours of my time as I read his most popular book series, “Maximum Ride.” That being said I went into his newest book unbiased as I could be.

“The Fire,” is the third book in a series called “Witch and Wizard.” As someone who had only read the first book in the series, I did not have a hard time catching up on what was going on. One thing Patterson truly excels at is giving small and efficient backgrounds on all of his characters at the beginning of the novel or whenever a new character is introduced. For those not familiar with series, have no fear. Patterson deftly fills you in on

characters’ pasts. For those who have read the previous books in the series, it is refreshing to hear the histories of known characters again.

However, before you pick up this book you want to

know the main premise of the story. It begins with average twins with not-so-average names, Whitford and Wisteria Allgood. The two lead unassuming lives of teens just wanting to get through high school when drastic changes take place within their world.

Suddenly, Whit and Wisty are thrown into a world of magic, that begins with their school teachers revealing themselves as witches and wizards to themselves learning that they are in fact gifted with magic as well.

The twin’s parents are held captive as the twins begin to discover their magic, or as Patterson refers to it, M. All the while the world as they know it is being taken over by a magical dictator known as “The One.”

When they realize “The One” is the man responsible for their parents capture, the two join a group of children and teens turned rebel against the society that mimics the brainwashing presented in George Orwell’s novel, “1984.” Many elements of the book mirror the classic novel only with the added factor of magic and the possibility to travel to other worldly

realms. In fact the novel even features a police force known as the “New Order” that acts incredibly similar to the “Thought Police” in “1984.”

As the series progresses, Whit and Wisty find ways to harness their magical ability, escape the thought police and even fall into teenaged love.

And all that happens in the first two books in the series.

The third, however, does not lack any of the gusto contained within its predecessors. Whit and Wisteria are again battling the “The One” for their freedom. Patterson entertains the mind with great and vivid imagery that is not polite on the stomach.

His writing is strong, yet rushed with an urgency that doesn’t allow you to put the book down. In fact, I finished the book in one sitting and in a few measly hours. All this says though is that the author knows how to entertain and that he can do it within the context of time that suits every type of reader.

Overall, I would recommend this book for anyone who wants a quick fun

read, is a fan of Patterson or has a thing for wizarding worlds. Though not challenging, the novel is worth the short time you will spend enjoying it.

Prior to reviewing this album, I had never listened to The Black Keys. I had only heard the name a few times, and I was completely unsure what to expect. Based on the cover, which offered a picture of a rundown station wagon, I was expecting something completely out of the ordinary. I ended up being completely right, and lucky for me, I like things that are out of the ordinary.

The entire album is a conglomeration of upbeat and catchy songs. Usually, when listening to a new album, I try to catch the lyrics more than the beat. But with this album I found myself doing the opposite. The vocals provided a great compliment to the beat of the song, and I noticed them meshing into each other effortlessly. So much so that I enjoyed the whole experience, rather than just one aspect.

I loved all of the songs on the album. I did not find one song that I would have rather just skipped over, but I did find myself being partial to certain songs more than oth-ers. My two favorite songs on the album were “Little Black Submarines” and “Run Right Back.”

“Little Black Submarines” is one of the only songs on the album that is fairly slow. It starts slow and somewhat sad, but halfway through speeds up, and the listener forgets about the sadness. Throughout the song, one hears the lyrics, “but everybody knows that a broken heart is blind.” This song probably made the most impact upon me.

“Run Right Back,” is about a woman who is the “worst thing he’s been addicted to,” but he will always “run right back to her.” It’s a song that fades out quickly, leaving the listener wanting to know more about this woman.

Overall, this was a great album. I now find myself hum-ming the melodies when sitting in class. Its catchiness has taken over my mind, and I can now honestly say that I love The Black Keys. I am a fan of unique music, and one thing is for sure. The Black Keys are definitely unique.

December 21, 20118 Reviews

by Cara HinhEntertainment Editor

This year is the 25th anniversary of the Legend of Zelda series. With this anniversary comes the release of the new-est Legend of Zelda game, “Skyward Sword.” This game was promoted before its release as being the ultimate Zelda game and Zelda fans all over the world eagerly awaited its arrival. I waited impatiently for months for it to come out because I had been led to believe that I would be amazed by it. I most definitely wasn’t. It is an utter disappointment.

“Skyward Sword” feels like the awkward younger sibling of other Zelda games. The other games left big steps to follow in, and “Skyward Sword” tries to be just as good and get mommy and daddy’s (the gamers’) appreciation. It fails at this. The plot is pretty much a bad mash-up of previous games, with few unique facets. Taking the worst parts of all the previous games can’t be made up for by adding a neat trick with the Wii Remote. While playing, I was not thinking, “Wow! The sword on screen moves with my controller! I’ll ignore every other thing about the game in favor of these new controls!” Yeah, they’re not that good.

The few traits that “Skyward Sword” can claim completely as its own are ones that it shouldn’t want to. Graphics seem to have gotten worse since the other games. The graphics are worse than, those of “Ocarina of Time” in 1998. On top of this, “Skyward Sword” has the most boring beginning of any Zelda game I’ve played. There are cutscenes - film clips - every few minutes, and no amount button smashing will allow you to skip them. I was expecting a video game, not a movie.

So far I’ve played three hours of “Skyward Sword.” I’ll acknowledge that the game might improve later. I’ll also say “kudos” to anybody who plays long enough to see if this is true. Risking the wrath of Zelda fanatics for the sake of honesty, this isn’t a good game, no matter how much I want it to be.

by Casey Smith Reporter

by Andie Reinhart Features Editor

by Stefanie Meier Reporter

‘El Camino’ The Black Keys’

‘New Year’s Eve’ Gary Marshall’s Nintendo’s

“New Year’s Eve” is a fantastic holiday comedy full of great laughs and occasional tears. If you’ve ever seen the movie “Valentine’s Day,” you’ll be familiar with the movie’s design.

The story line is interesting because, well, it’s not just one story line. From Zac Efron to Robert De Niro to Sarah Jessica Parker (just to name a few,) there’s a unique situa-tion that they’re all going through on New Year’s Eve. Some of the story lines are sad and tear jerking while others are just ridiculously funny.

As 2012 approaches, Seth Myers and Jessica Biel are expecting their first baby, Abigail Breslin finds young love, Jon Bon Jovi and Katherine Heigl try to determine their fu-tures together, Ashton Kutcher and Lea Michele get strand-ed in an awkward situation together, Josh Duhamel and Sarah Jessica Parker meet again after an entire year, Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer go on an adventure, Halle Berry and Robert De Niro spend a heartwarming day together and Hillary Swank tries to guarantee the New York City ball drop for the entire city.

I won’t give too much away, but the story line between Zac Efron and Michelle Pfeiffer was probably one of my favorites. Efron and Pfeiffer form an unexpected friendship on New Year’s Eve while trying to complete a series of New Year’s resolutions from years past. It was definitely fun to watch and was something I was excited for during the movie.

Overall, I was impressed with how well the movie flowed with so much going on. It was really easy to follow along and there were a lot of good laughs to go along with it. I would definitely suggest seeing “New Year’s Eve” for any-one and everyone. It’s not a sappy chick flick for the girls or a crazy action movie for the guys. It’s just a great movie with humor and fun that all will enjoy.

{comingSOON}23

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

{volumeVII}

Starring: Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara

‘Skyward Sword’

by Clara Leslie

{nowPLAYING}James Patterson’s newest installment in series sets readers’ minds on fire

3BLOODROSE: A NIGHTSHADE NOVEL By Andrea Cremer

27BATTLE OF THE SEXES

For WiiOUT OF FREQUENCY

31The Asteroids Galaxy Tour

Dec. Dec. Dec.Jan.

December 21, 2011 9Entertainment

by Casey Smith Reporter

In the movie “School of Rock,” actor and comedian Jack Black poses as a substitute teacher who has recently been kicked out of his band. He has no teaching abilities whatso-ever. Eventually, he turns his class into what could be called a “rock band,” where he and his students spend the majority of their day playing rock music.

Southport teacher and alum Brent Bockelman is a musician and member of a band. He is a guitarist and backup vocalist. However, unlike Jack Black, he manages to successfully balance his teaching duties and his band commitments.

Bockelman began learning to play music during his high school years at Southport. His first instrument was the piano but, he now plays rhythm guitar and sings backup vocals. He first started learning how to play piano from orchestra teacher Miss Elizabeth Levin’s introductory keyboarding class.

During high school, he was a member of

a few bands, although nothing really came of them. When Bockelman went into college at Indiana University, he noticed how many other students had guitars, so he decided to learn to play himself.

It wasn’t until after college when Bockel-man got together in an organized band. He kept in contact with some friends from high school, and a year and a half ago, Southport Alumn Mr. Kit Clouser made the effort to put

the band together and get it moving.

“About a year and a half ago, Kit said we should start the band up,” Bockel-man said. “I agreed with

him, and he was just like ‘good because I have show for us next month’.”

His band, The Knollwood Boys, has now been formally playing together for the past year and a half. Along with Bockelman, and Clouser, the other members include bassist and vocalist Southport Alum Steve Webb and percussionist Center Grove Alum Nate Aydelotte.

The Knollwood Boys have a unique genre style that’s hard for them to pinpoint.

“We get called whisper rock a lot, or jam band I guess,” Bockelman said.

At first, the band would play mainly a variety of cover songs. As time progressed however, they began writing their own music.

“At the beginning I had songs written and we just played my songs,” Clouser said. “It’s become more of a group process now.”

According to Clouser, writing music with the other members helps add things they wouldn’t have thought of before and also helps them sound a lot better. Writing their own music also allows the band to play less cover songs.

“We started only playing cover songs,” said Bockelman. “Now we’re about the op-posite, were about 90 percent original and 10 percent cover.”

The band has a decent fan base and has also has a good reputation for their live per-formances. This past spring, The Knollwood Boys got a chance to compete in the Acoustic Live Challenge and got great results. Accord-ing to Bockelman, the band was thrilled, hav-ing had to be invited to play in the contest. The Acoustic Live Challenge consisted of dif-ferent smaller challenges that would eventu-ally lead up to one final night.

“The final night we went up against seven other bands and we were able to win by one point,” Bockelman said.

After the extremely close victory, The

Knollwood Boys had some new opportunities open up. They are now currently recording for iTunes and already have their first demo CD out. Although it’s not been easy to profit much from iTunes, the members can agree that profiting isn’t their main goal.

“We definitely don’t expect to be famous from this or anything,” Bockelman said. “It’s really just for fun.”

Although Bockelman and Webb are both teachers with busy school schedules, they still find time to all come together and practice.

“It’s pretty rough,” Clouser said. “With two guys as teachers, Monday through Friday is spoken for, for them.”

However the band still finds manages to find time to practice. According to Bockel-man, they try to all get together and practice once a week. As for live shows, The Knoll-wood Boys try to keep things spread out.

“We try to just do one or two a month now,” Bockelman said. “It keeps it more like a hobby.”

But, no matter the time restraints that the Knollwood Boys and Bockleman will face, they will continue their love and creation of music even if it means staying in suburbia so he can do the other thing he loves, teaching.

by Stefanie MeierReporter

Walking into senior Eric Marlow’s base-ment could be a different experience on different days. When he isn’t working as an amateur recording engineer it looks like any other basement, with a pool table and couch-es. However, when the need arises, it can be transformed into a recording studio complete with microphone, guitars and soundboard. There are sometimes even blankets hanging from the ceiling to keep out extra noise.

Marlow has had an amateur recording studio in his basement studio for about two years now. There, he records fellow students singing and rapping. So far this school year he has already begun working with two new singers, senior Devin Leslie and junior Sydney Barger.

Marlow is currently working with Leslie to put together an album. He and Leslie decided at the beginning of the school year to do an album together and have been working on it since. There was a point where the two were working on the album for three hours at a time, four days a week. Now, the album is nearing completion.

“We’re probably going to release the album together and see where it goes,” Marlow said.

Marlow has worked with fellow students to record both original songs and covers. He isn’t involved in the creative process, in most

cases. Usually, he records the music and gives them the recordings. It is up to the artists to distribute their music.

“Most of it is their creation, and I just work as solely the recording engineer,” Marlow said.

Junior Sydney Barger is the other stu-dent whom Marlow has begun recording this school year. They have been friends for about a year, but only began doing recording sessions after Marlow heard her singing at musical auditions and asked her if she’d be interested in recording. Barger did not pass up the opportunity to get quality recordings of her singing.

“It’s my dream job to become a singer,” Barger said.

Since being asked to record, Barger has helped harmonize with Leslie and has had three recording sessions singing covers of songs by artists like Adele and Eliza Doolittle.

“It almost seems real...It’s like recording in a studio,” Barger said.

However, having the equipment to make recording in his basement similar to recording in a professional studio is not cheap. Marlow says that the basic pieces are easily found together, so he just had to gather to money to buy them. It took him about two months to save enough money for the most neces-sary equipment, such as a microphone and headphones.

Due to budget limitations that have kept Marlow from purchasing all available equip-

ment, he is currently focusing on recording acoustic music.

“I don’t have the biggest setup here, so as far as a band thing goes, I don’t know if I could do it,” Marlow said.

Marlow is open to working with new peo-ple interested in recording acoustic music. He says that he is willing to work with students as long as they are serious about singing

and recording.Recording music is something that Marlow

enjoys doing. He says that he loves learning more about how his equipment works, and that he does so by spending more time work-ing with it.

“A lot of time goes into doing it right, but it’s all time well spent,” Marlow wrote in a text to the Journal.

Student has at-home recording studio as hobby

{ourownSTARS}

MEMBERS: Seniors Skyler Brantley, Brandon Lobb and Ryan Raftery.

Rocking the

Criticize

INFO: “We’ve been friends for a long time. This band is mainly just for fun.”

All Pictures were taken on Friday, Dec. 9th at a show at Rachel’s Cafe in Bloomington. Photos by Cara Hinh. Lead Singer and Guitarist Mr. Kit Clouser.

Rhythm guitarist, vocalist and English teacher Mr. Brent Bockleman.

Senior Eric Marlow adjusts junior Sydney Barger’s microphone during a ses-sion in his recording studio. Photo by Cara Hinh.

MEMBERS: Seniors Paul Summers and Ronnie Jones

INFO: The duo will be releasing an al-bum together next semester. Sum-mers has realeased a solo album as well.

Cuarenta n’ Ron C

MEMBERS: Juniors Kyle Armbruster & Bryan Campbell

Bassist and vocalist Mr. Steve Webb.

Teacher Mr. Brent Bockelman may seem like every other teacher, but in his free time, Bockelman is part of a band made up of southsiders and Southport alumni.

“Their songs were full of stories about love, their music was smooth and

mysterious ... the curious mix of covert emotion and sensitive songwriting was

well recieved by all.”- IndyMojo.com

Virtues

INFO: They are a positive hardcore band who wants to help people through their music .

For a video of The Knollwood Boys performance, visit

shsnewsbureau.com

For video and recordings from these Southport students, visit shsnewsbureau.com

Joesph Kony is the target. Kony is the leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), which is the army that is putting millions of people in the middle of the civil war in Uganda. Kony adopted his supposed cousin’s rebel group that was going to try to overthrow the Ugandan government. Kony is the man who abducted kids and handed them machine guns to fight his war. Joseph Kony is the wanted. In 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Lord’s Resistance

Army Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act which is trying to stop Kony and the LRA.

Invisible Children is an organization that helps the African countries that are involved in the war in Uganda. It helps exactly what it sounds like, the children.

The organization started in 2003 when three young filmmakers traveled overseas to Africa and found a much bigger story than they expected. They returned with an incredible story and the organization took off from there. The original film that the three created has now been viewed by millions of people around the world. It started with three American men but now 95 percent of the organization is made up of Ugandans.

“We are story tellers,” reads the Invisible Children website (www.invisiblechildren.com). “We make documentaries about war-affected children in east Africa and tour them around the world.”

The group may be overseas doing

projects, but the organization is not able to proceed with its multiple projects that are taking place in Uganda if they have no support back here in the United States and around the world.

I recently was involved with Perry Meridian’s Invisible Children organization. The student body really came together to give money to the overall organization. Perry Meridian put on a video game tournament to raise some money. The idea of the video game tournament brought in every aspect of the student body.

Perry Meridian has a club that puts on events and holds days to raise money for Invisible Children that goes straight to the organization. I would like to bring the club here because it really would bring people together, students, teachers, parents, administrators. Everyone. The process is easy and the fundraising is very enjoyable.

That is when I realized that we can bring this to Southport and possibly combine with Perry Meridian to hold big

nights of fundraising that can help causes bigger than ourselves.

The fact is, Southport should have a club. It is a great opportunity to not only raise money for a good cause that helps organizations bigger than ourselves, but it brings kids together that normally wouldn’t ‘click’ with one another.

The money that people donate goes straight to one of the five projects that go along with the Invisible Children Organization. Protections of communities, encouraging LRA defection, providing rehabilitation and family reunification, post- conflict recovery and promoting the arrest of Kony and other high LRA officials.

To donate, you can go to the Invisible Children website and either give money or buy one of the items from the website.

“We are storytellers. We are visionaries, humanitarians, artists, and entrepreneurs,” reads the website. “We are individuals part of a generation eager for change and willing to pursue it.”

It never ceases to amaze me when I am asked how many moms I have. My reply each time is, “One. How many do you have?” The questioner goes on to say, “One of course, but really, how many do you have?” Somehow the questioner found out I am Mormon and therefore believes I have multiple moms. For the record, I have one mom.

With my experiences I would say that ignorance is definitely not bliss. Ignorance is the root of discrimination. If people educated themselves on topics they debate or question before they took action, stupid and unknowing statements and questions could be avoided.

My knowledge of ignorance being the first step in discrimination is based on my religion. My eyes were opened to the uneducated world when I was asked if Mormons were allowed to wear pants or whether we were the religion that could only wear skirts. I was wearing a pair of pants at the time. To further my understanding of the world’s misunderstanding I researched the internet but did not find the answers I was looking

for. I found websites devoted to giving information about my church but every piece of information was incorrect. This really upset me at first. Now I’ve come to realize this, it’s hilarious. These people believe this information they are posting on the Internet to be true, but they never took the time to actually figure out whether or not it is. I laugh now when I read something about my religion that has no truth in it. I laugh at the ignorance of people.

On the Saskatchewan Libraries website there is an article titled “Discrimination is Ignorance.” It says, “Where does discrimination come from? It comes from ignorance and fear. It is fueled by ‘the unknown’ which quickly gets transformed by anxiety or fear. None of us like being in the dark and not knowing something.”

I am a firm believer that the best sources are the people themselves in which others are curious. In that case, a person should go without any preconceived notions of that people, group, religion or whatever they are curious in and have the true intent of wanting to broaden their knowledge. Sometimes however, it is impossible to talk to the person firsthand. If so, then find a website where people can read firsthand what they are curious about by real people involved. Don’t trust what other sources have never experienced.

Nothing irks me more than people thinking they know what they are talking about without ever experiencing it for themselves. That is the true definition of ignorance, people who believe one thing but have no idea that the truth is still out there somewhere.

The cure to ignorance is knowledge. Think through in your mind why you feel or think a certain way. Research and see whether your thoughts were correct. You must be open-minded though, for it takes a lot to admit your notions were wrong. Knowledge outweighs ignorance in every situation.

“There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance,” Socrates said.

I know I have much more information to obtain before I could ever question a religion, ethnicity, race or group. That is the first step. If one can realize that they are ignorant and know nothing on the subject, then they are already ahead of the several people who believe they know everything but in fact know nothing.

Research necessary before taking action

December 21, 201110 Opinion

by Donna KnightReporter

“My name is Donna Knight, and I am a Mormon.”

As a kid, everyone plays sports at one time or another. In the beginning, it’s all just fun and games. No one keeps track of score, there is no time limit and kids play until they’re tired. As a child’s skill develops, this care free way of playing is lost and replaced with a stressful pressure for success.

Every parent wants the best for their child and will do anything to make sure they have the best shot at their dreams. Parents think they are correct when they feel that forcing their child to play as much as possible is a good thing, a growing experience of sorts. What they lack to understand is what their child actually wants. Playing lots of games will create good fundamentals, but forcing them to play is wrong. It defies the morale of sports. Forcing a child to play revokes them of their passion and changes fun-filled competition into a hassling job.

According to livestrong.com, parents are usually the worst judge of their child’s ability. They need to understand that their kid may just not be good at basketball or baseball, and that pushing them to compete is directly tied to anxiety stress and depression.

As if that wasn’t enough, parents continue to degrade their children with their negative remarks and attitudes. Every degrading error a player makes is backed with a “What are you doing son?!”

When hearing “you suck” over and over again from the person you look up to the most, kids shut down. Their previous passion now only brings fear, the fear of not being good enough. Failure is a part of life and shouldn’t be taken as a dark and vile deed. It is a learning experience. Every time you fail, you become stronger. It is important to set this foundation early in a child’s life. If a kid falls off their bike brush them off and put them back on. They shouldn’t be afraid of failure.

According to education.com, the Albert Lea Area schools in South Carolina have been running into a variety of issues at their school hosted sporting events. Parents from the teams have been heard heckling opposing teams and some have called into school coaches complaining about playing time of less athletic players, play calls by coaches and playing time of their own child. No good ever comes from pointless and constant complaining.

Some players are lucky and gifted with a drive strong enough to block out all the negativity and keep a firm grasp on the sport they love, but that isn’t always enough. To try and further their child’s success, parents will become a board member or a coach, planning to squeeze their kids onto all-star teams. That’s not what it’s about. A player has worked his tail off to get that position and sometimes it’s just given away to the coach’s kid. That makes no sense whatsoever. A coach’s job is to pick the best players, and if his son isn’t one of the best, so be it.

All sports need to be taken back to their roots. Not all tournaments can be void of coaches, umpires and referees, but there needs to be tournaments excluding them. It is a series of games meant to rekindle a player’s love for their sport. Parents drop off their kids and a select few adults organize the games. Teams play all day because they want to not because they have to. No outside interference, a true sandlot experience.

by Derrick GrayReporter

“I’m Ron Burgandy?”

by Taylor DeHartReporter

“Tebowmania”

Invisible Children organization continues to expand

{theHEADSCRATCHER}

“DSLR camera. ”-Freshman Hannah Baily

”Coffin case for my bass.”-Sophomore Elijah Carmer

“I don’t celebrate Christmas, but I still get money.”-Junior Harshil Patel

“I want a pony, but if I can’t get that then a new phone would be good.”-Senior Kate Carlson

Parental pressuredemoralizes sports

What do you want for Christmas?

{moreMORMON}Here are some reliable sources for more information on Mormonism. www.mormon.org www.lds.org

Groups on Facebook:The Awesome Mormon’s Secret Society of AwesomenessLatter-day Link: The Mormon ChainMormon Tabernacle ChoirLDS Members from Around the World by Saborn Va

by Stefanie Maier

Christmas morning, someone opens up a gift you bought them and their face lights up. That alone is enough to make your day, but then you get to receive gifts too. The material part of the holiday season is awe-some but the part that cannot be matched is the time with family, No matter your religion, family is important and should be the highlight of the entire season. I feel bad for anyone who says the holidays are “overrated” because they obviously have not had good ones. I hope those individu-als have a much better holiday season this year and learn to enjoy this time of year.

The fryer is hot Monday, Tuesday and Thursday during the week in the cafeteria at Southport. However, in an effort to offer a healthier meal to students, Wednesdays and Fridays the fryer is turned off. By having healthier school lunches, it can also increase the chance of being a healthier school with healthier habits.

Living a healthy life has an extreme amount of benefits to it. Benefits include living longer, reduced health care cost, reduced illness and injuries and even reduced doctor visits. We as a school, city and state need to take a harder look at our health and realize how much the causes can affect us.

Students that eat school lunch tend to worry about lunch workers not washing their hands or handling the food wrong. But our school makes sure that every hand

that touches every speck of food is clean.Even if students don’t like the food

in the cafeteria, there are still a variety healthy choices. The Deli line is a perfect example of healthy choices. It consists of salads, soups, peanut butter and jelly and sub sandwiches each day.

Having healthier cafeteria lunches not just here, but at other schools can also lead to having a healthier city and state. According to the Indy Star, Indianapolis is the forty-fifth unhealthiest major city out of fifty in America. Indiana is the fifteenth most obese state in America with 29% of adults being obese. Not only is Indiana unhealthy, but a lot of the population of America is as well. Studies show that 1 in every 4 Americans eat fast food every single day of the year. Fast food can raise someone’s blood pressure, increase the

level of bad cholesterol, weaken the immune system and destabilize blood sugar levels.

What exactly makes up a healthy meal? Research shows that the healthiest foods to eat are vegetables and fruits. A healthy meal can consist of a meat and cheese sandwich, yogurt, any fruit or vegetable and a bottle of water. The school is going to add more of these foods in order to increase the healthiness.

A healthier school lunch sounds like a great idea that can’t harm the student body, but can make us here at Southport much healthier.

“

“

{theJOURNAL}CONTACT INFORMATION

The Southport High School Journal971 East Banta Road

Indianapolis, IN 46227shsjournal@class.perryschools.org

317.789.4827

MISSION STATEMENTThe mission of the Southport High

School Journal is to inform the student body of timely events and issues that affect their lives while being a voice for the faculty, staff and community.

Journal staff members will observe the same legal responsibilities as those imposed on all news media, thus will refrain from production of material that:

1. Is obscene, according to community standards;

2. Is libelous, according to the legal definition;

3. Creates a clear and present danger or an immediate material and substantial physical disruption of the school.

The Editor-in-Chief is solely responsible for all content.

Views found in the Journal do not necessarily reflect the opinions the Journal staff as a whole, or of the staff or administration of Southport High School or the Metropolitan District of Perry Township.

STAFF LISTEditor-in-Chief

BRITTANY HEMPHILL ‘12

Managing Editor-of-ContentALI DEHART ‘12

News EditorJESSICA DE LA CRUZ ‘13

Student Life EditorKATIE HINH ‘14

Entertainment EditorCARA HINH ‘12

Features EditorANDIE REINHART ‘13

Opinion EditorCECILIA SALAS ‘12

Sports EditorMATT LYTLE ‘12

Photo EditorBECCA TAPP ‘13

Staff ArtistCLARA LESLIE ‘13

Business ManagerNOELLE STRAUB ‘12

Graphics EditorCOREY MILLS‘12

StaffASHLYN BRIDGEWATER ‘12

AUSTIN ANDRY ‘12CODY FOSTER ‘12JACKIE SMITH ‘12

ALLISON GAFFNEY ‘12MARIE PREVOST ‘12BIAK CHIN PAR ‘12

RACHEL PATTERSON ‘13TAYLOR DEHART ‘13

KAITLIN FALLOWFIELD ‘13PAOLA PADILLA ‘13JAKE JOHNSTON ‘13DONNA KNIGHT ‘14

JESSE ROLLER ‘14DERRICK GRAY ‘14CASEY SMITH ‘14

STEFANIE MAIER ‘14RACHAEL SAMM ‘14

AdviserMR. MIKE KLOPFENSTEIN

PrincipalMS. BARBARA BROUWER

ARE YOU OPINIONATED?Students, staff and community

members are welcome to write a letter-to-the-editor that will be published in The Journal when space is available. Letters-to-the-editor must be received five days prior to publication date. Submissions should be short and concise, not exceeding 300 words. They are subject to editing for content, grammar and length. All letters must be signed. Personal or unfair attacks of businesses or individuals will not be published. Bring all submissions to room 400 or address an envelope to Mr. Mike Klopfenstein and take it to the Main Office. Submissions also may be e-mailed to shsjournal@class.perryschools.org.

The Journal reserves the right to reject any advertisement or Letter-to-the-Editor. Anonymous letters will not be published.

Water Under the BridgeDecember 21, 201111Opinion

School makes decision to go to healthier lunches

NOTJ

UST^

Selfless lifestyle serves as exampleby Ashlyn Bridgewater

Reporter

Johnathan DeVoss can often be found carrying his 19-year-old brother up the stairs of their home.

For the past ten years Johnathan has been carrying the weight of Leon. This weight though, he does not see as a burden. While a lot of teenagers may think hanging out with friends is the most important thing, for Johnathan, Leon is the “most important (purpose) and will probably always be the most important one.”

Leon was born with spastic-quadriplegic cerebral palsy which forces him to be wheelchair-bound. Spastic-quadriplegia is the most severe form of cerebral palsy. People with this disease are left without the capability to talk, walk or perform any other basic motor skills.

“Leon has the mentality of a young child and is without the ability to talk, fortunately he understands basic sign language such as eat and drink,” Johnathan wrote in an email to the Journal.

Because Leon cannot fend for himself, Johnathan will typically help feed him and change his

diapers. Other than that, Johnathan and his parents spend their free time playing with Leon. Living selflessly out of love for his brother, the only time Johnathan spends focused on himself is when he decides to read a new book.

“It’s not so much a responsibility rather than what I love doing. But it takes a lot of patience, and I mean a lot,” Johnathan wrote. “He doesn’t understand all the things we do or say so we have to take our time when

helping him or playing with him.”His desire to be so hands-on

with Leon was instilled in him at a young age. Watching his parents care for Leon and play with him caused him to reach out and ask

if he could also help.It is apparent that Leon

has been the main force when it comes to the type of person Johnathan is. Not only is there Leon, but Johnathan

also has three younger brothers. Unfortunately in

2001, Johnathan’s family had to endure the hardship of his mother

having a stillborn baby.“Unlike most people, I matured

at a young age and realized what was important and what wasn’t. I have also learned that things we are able to do or things we can do

are taken for granted,” Johnathan wrote. “This experience with my

brother has changed me for the better and I thank God for this opportunity. In all

honesty, if I had the powers to make Leon better or different I wouldn’t do it, simply because I love him the way he is. I thank him for who I am today.”

Regardless of feeling that he has grown up quickly, Johnathan looks back at his childhood with his brothers and feels that he had a wonderful experience.

From sitting and listening to their mother sing to watching Notre Dame games with their father, the brothers have always had an admirably close relationship. The entire family has pulled together since day one and Johnathan will continue showing an uncommon strength.

“Johnathan is such a loving and caring young man. If it wasn’t for his help, I do not know what I would do. ... His patience, love and devotion to his family is immeasurable,” Johnathan’s mother Mrs. Tammy DeVoss wrote. “He doesn’t help with his brother because he has to, it’s just his nature. ... He never complains about it, and at the same time he is teaching his other brothers on how they can help with Leon. ... Johnathan is proof that one person can make a difference.”

Because Johnathan is realistic about Leon’s condition, he knows that there are times when nothing can be done to help his brother. Johnathan has a vivid memory of helplessly watching his parents try to help Leon as he had a grand mal seizure – a type of seizure that causes the body to have violent spasms.

Johnathan will carry Leon throughout his life because of no other factor other than love. Teenagers are self-centered? Not Johnathan.

“Without Leon,” he said, “I have no idea where I would be or who I would be.”

{southportADDRESS}

Let it all Out: The Journal picked two students at random to voice conflicting sides on a specific topic.

This issue, seniors Shelby Adams and Matt Miller tell whether or not they believe the holidays are overrated.

“

“vs.

editors agree with this editorial

11/11

letter to the editor

Our reason for writing this not is a simple picture, a so written “comic” with the heading Easy Measures can be taken to solve immigration issues.

I comprehend and acknowledge the story of this subject in the newspaper. However, our problem is this comic by this Jake Lauster. This comic has come to insult us and many of my race. We ask that you make sure you know what is and what is not insulting before posting. Just because you think it fits the story, don’t just post it. In our opinion, this picture has nothing to fit in the story with. So again, review your postings not only by your knowledge and opinion but by others as well.

Senior Armando Estrada

Immigration comic found

to beinsulting Junior

Jesus Garcia

{thumbsUP}

*These are opinions of the Journal staff

‘Anchorman’Never gets old.

Skipping finalsNot just one, but two.

Candy canesCan’t have the holidays with-

out them.

Winter BreakThank God.

FinalsSo stressful. Sad life.

No snowCold weather without snow

is lame.

CoalI wasn’t that bad, Santa.

Fruit cakeWhat’s the point?

{thumbsDOWN}

-Senior Matt Miller

It seems that each year the holidays get more and more overrated. If anything, they are becoming more Hallmark. People are forgetting the true meaning of the important holidays. Don’t get me wrong, I love the holidays, but for more than just the fact that I receive gifts and special cards. Too many people get caught up in the idea of going out and showering others with gifts that they forget why they’re getting to-gether in the first place. Holidays are about being with family and enjoying your time with one another, not about who receives the best gifts.

-Senior Shelby Adams

December 21, 2011 Sports12

Through the eyes of a multi-millionaire athlete

by Derrick GrayReporter

After a year away from basketball, junior David Boyer has returned to the Cardinals lineup in hopes of a productive and winning season.

As of last year, Boyer felt that basketball was irrelevant to the goals that he wanted to achieve. His focus had shifted from basket-ball over to football. He took an entire year away from basketball to hit the weight room and further develop his football skills.

Last summer, Boyer began to crave the sport he so recently left behind. In prepa-ration for the upcoming school basketball season, Boyer began to jam pack his sched-ule with practices. He started waking up earlier in the mornings for basketball, and going to football practice immediately after. Even with football interfering, Boyer found a way to participate with the team in a sum-mer ISSA (Indy Southside Sports Academy) tournament.

Even after putting in a good deal of time

over the offseason, Boyer was still unsure of whether or not he wanted to play. Head varsity coach Mr. Wes Peek confronted Boyer and asked him to play for the team this year.

Confrontation from the team’s head coach was still not enough to sway Boyer into mak-ing his final decision. To get further advice on what to do, Boyer turned to the football coaches. Coach Mark Stephens encouraged Boyer to play, saying it would increase his quickness and explosiveness, two things that Boyer struggles with at football.

“I talked to coach Peebles and coach Dug-ger, however coach Lezon sealed the deal for me,” Boyer said. “He reminded me that basketball would be my last opportunity to play ball with my senior teammates.”

After weighing all of his options, Boyer finally decided to participate in the 2011-2012 season. As of Dec. 15, Boyer has contributed to both team wins, defeating both Decatur Central and Greenfield Central. Although Boyer isn’t an all-star point guard, he makes up for his offense with his height,

aggression and defensive skill. Boyer shined this year during the Greenfield Central game, racking up a total of five rebounds (4 of-fensive and 1 defensive), five steals and three blocks.

“He’s (Boyer) easy to coach,” Peek said. “He plays tough and brings needed energy to the team.”

According to Boyer, he is looking for-ward to knowing that he has supported the team by playing the hardest he can. Boyer also says the team strives to win one game at a time and then see where it takes them, hoping that on “pay day” they will receive a conference, sectional or even a state title.

As of last Friday Dec. 9, the varsity boys’ basketball team is at a record of 2-3. With winter break looming the cardinals are set to face Bowman Academy at the IPSAC Mid-way Showcase. This will be the team’s first time competing in this event. They will then follow up with a game on Jan. 6, against conference rival Franklin Central who they defeated last year in the second round of the Sectional.

Junior returns to basketball after year off

1st and 10 with Taylor DeHart

by Jake JohnstonReporter

With junior Grace Clark at 5’9” starting at the center position, the Lady Cards are always going to be undersized when it comes to height. However, the coaches say the Lady Cards have the upper hand on most teams when it comes to speed and talent.

“I start a very athletic line up, a very quick line up in my opinion,” said head girls basket-ball coach Ms. Leah Enterline. “We don’t even really care much about size.”

With its best start since the 2000-01 season, the girls basketball team has won five of seven games as of Friday, Dec. 16. Play-ing in what Enterline describes as one of the toughest conferences and sectionals in the state, she thinks her team can match up with any team they play against. She says that young players in the program are stepping up immensely and playing very well together this year.

“Practices are intense, and that’s all the time. They are expected to go hard,” Enterline said. “If they don’t go hard, there is a con-sequence. If they are late, there is a conse-quence, and they know that.”

There is not a superstar on this team, this team doesn’t have individuals. In fact, Enterline says that many girls on the team have stepped up in different ways to fill their roles.

This past summer, starting guard fresh-man Shayla Wright began learning the routine as she attended all the summer workouts. Enterline says Shayla Wright is a tremendous athlete, a great player and has a really good shot.

Shayla Wright has been playing basketball with her older sister, junior Bria Wright, since they were little, which allows them to under-stand the game.

“Playing with Shayla is a lot of fun during school ball,” Bria Wright said. “I am not only with my sister, but I’m with all my friends and

we are all together.”According to Enterline, Bria Wright is a

huge leader on the team who will get her team organized and is not afraid to tell them where to go and how to get there. Bria Wright says she really started taking pride in her leadership this season after returning from her ACL tear last year. She mentioned that she really wanted a successful year and saw a lot of potential to be good as a team.

Enterline says Bria Wright takes the ball to the basket strongly and does a lot of rebound-ing for the Cards. On Tuesday, Nov. 22, she had a double-double against Northwest with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

The other three starters are juniors Clark, Ja’Breena Gardner and senior Zoey Freese. According to Enterline, Freese is a really hard-nosed returning varsity player who is a tough defender. Enterline also says that Clark and Gardner have stepped up for the team this year.

Coming off the bench is sophomore Madi-

son Kendall, who has scored double digits in three different games this year. Enterline says Kendall is a kid who hates to lose more than anybody on the team. She mentions that Ken-dall is willing to sacrifice and give everything she has to get the win.

“She is a kid who brings it every day and she doesn’t let mistakes bring her down,” Enterline said. “She doesn’t care if she gets blocked three times, she is going to shoot it the fourth time.”

According to Enterline, the team is playing really well together and going hard. There are expectations that they go hard all the time. She mentions that if they do perform poorly, they are going to pay for it the next day at practice.

“There is always going to be somebody who comes out on top,” Enterline said. “We expect them to learn this not only for bas-ketball but for life, because that’s what life is about. Having that discipline and being successful.”

*Read this in a Dominican accent please.

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, I will have made $4.03.

And by the time you finish this one, 6 more bucks. To be exact, I make $6.44 every eight seconds. That is a $2,899.54 an hour. That is nearly $70-thou-sand of hard cash in one day. That is

$25.4 million a year. And that is a grand total of $254 million dol-

lars over the next ten years.The average family of two parents makes

a combined $67,348 in a year. I make more than that in one day. I make more in one year than 12 typical college graduates will make combined in their lifetimes.

I am the newly-signed first basemen of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. I am Albert Pujols.

I have been working toward a contract like this for my whole career and life. I finally got it. But now I am worried.

Think about it: A-Rod. He signed a contract in 2007 that will total $275 million dollars until 2017. That’s a bigger contract than I got, and his production has dropped since he signed that huge contract. In his last four seasons he has hit a total of 97 homers. That is the lowest four-year total of his career. He is 36. He just can’t hit like he used to. In his last four seasons he also hasn’t played close to a full season due to injuries. I don’t want to be like that.

I want to succeed. But everyone knows that I will be 42 by the time my contract is up. In the 2011 MLB season, there were only three players who were 42 and older (Tim Wakefield- 44, Omar Vizquel-43, Matt Stairs-43). And how many people could

tell you the impact they had on their teams throughout the season? Not many. It’s just rare.

Also, people have been criticizing me saying that I am money hungry, but in all reality, who wouldn’t go where they could make $254 million instead of $220

million? It just makes sense. For someone to say that they would not go where they would be making $34 million dollars more is crazy. I would be stupid not to take the money.

The money is in no way just going to go straight into my savings account anyway. First off, I have four kids and

a wife. That requires a strong bank ac-count. Second, I am involved in an active cause with Down syndrome because one of my daughters, Isabella was born with the cureless disease. My restaurant also is not going to provide for itself. “Pujols 5” in Maryland Heights, MO opened in 2006 after I remodeled it. I also am an avid Christian. The Pujols Family Foundation requires a lot of money to keep the organi-zation going. And that isn’t about me. It is all about helping other people.

But the people of St. Louis don’t recog-nize that this isn’t just about me “hating” them. I spent nine all-star seasons there,

three NL MVP seasons in St. Louis and most importantly I brought two World Series Championships to the city. I single-handedly brought up ticket sales due to the fact that I hit at least 32 homers each of the 11 years that I played in Busch Sta-dium.

But who is to say that I am the villain in this situation? It didn’t have to end like this. I could still be in St. Louis today and be very happy as a Cardinal if...

What if they would just have offered me a contract two or three years ago? I was hitting homers left and right back then, too. Why not sign me to a big contract before I had the chance to get away? If they wanted me so badly, why did they wait until I was a free agent to try to compete to sign me. It makes no sense. They pushed me to leave.

Possibly if they would have thought I was worth a little more, I would have stayed. If they thought I was a vital part of the organization, they would have found the money to offer me. But they didn’t.

So for the next 10 years, I will be hitting homers and playing first base at Angel Stadium of Anaheim.

And by the time it took you to finish this 740-word column, I have made $149.81.

by Taylor DeHartReporter

Junior David Boyer shoots a free throw in the Bloomington South game on Friday, Dec. 9. Photo by Paul Summers.

The Lady Cards 2011-2012 varsity team. From the top left: junior Madison Kendall, junior Ja’Breena Gard-ner, sophomore Molly Bridges, junior Grace Clark, freshman Shayla Wright. From Bottom left: senior Sarah Owens, senior Katie Patterson, senior Zoey Freese and senior Juanesha Byrd. Not pictured: junior Bria Wright and sophomore Bailey Brothers. Photo by Becca Tapp.

Bustin’ out with success

Many contributers lead team to hot start

Head coach Ms. Leah Enterline reacts to a play during a game in the 2010-2011 season. Photo contributed from Ms. Leah Enterline.