8/3/2019 Volume 41 Number 4

1/3

NORSEMANVolume 41, Number 4 November 2011

T r a v i s B. B r y a n H i g h S c h o o l

IN-BRIEF www.BryanHighNoresman.com

ONLINE

SEE MORE

Textin while drivin c m i n r ises w reness

E cient s luti ns f und t ret in st ff members

Students C nnect withW shi t n, Medi

BREakINg NEWS

FEaTURES

SpoRTS

The News category of The Norseman is the best way to

stay up-to-date with the news& information at Bryan High.

Its not everyday that studentsget the opportunity to get aninside at the professional sideof politics and journalism, butsocial studies classes got to do

just that when the C-SPAN net- works bus rolled into campuson October 25th.

To stay up-to-date withthe latest sports scores forBryan High School athlet-ic programs, be sure to visit

bryanhighnorseman.com/sports.

Emily Nash Assistant editor

Crash! Shattered windows, a mangledcar, blood splattered everywhere, peoplecrowd around the accident, and soon hearsirens from a distance.

Was that text message really worth yourlife or the life of others?

Everywhere you go you can nd someonetexting on a cell phone, whether theyre ateenager or an adult. Although cell phonescan be useful, they can also be the cause of severe injuries and even fatalities if theyreused at an inappropriate time.

Last year, student council began theNo Texting While Driving Campaign tospread awareness about distracted driv-ing, particularly in a community with a busy highway, a large university and many high schools.

Many might not realize how serious andrisky it is to drive while distracted, andstudent council sponsor Cyndi Owens ishoping the campaign will make peoplethink twice before texting while driving.

Were trying to get people to pledge to

not text and drive and get them to stopand think before they text if this conversa-tion is really possibly worth your life or thelife of someone that youre driving with orsomeone thats on the road, Owens said.We really hope to eventually go commu-nity-wide with this, go to A&M and Blinnand talk to students there too.

The No Texting While DrivingCampaign began this week, and junior Hailey Smith says studentcouncil will be doing a numberof things to advertise the cam-paign.

Well be doing pledges, whichsays that you wont wont do dis-tracted driving and to spread the wordabout it, were putting shirts for sale,showing videos, handing out iers andputting things in the parking lot just to re-

mind people [about the campaign] Smithsaid.Next semester, student council will be

displaying different things related to tex-ting and driving to grab everyones atten-tion.

Second semester were bringing asmashed up car to show that this is whatcould happen if you text while driving,

junior Tabitha Hernandez said. We alsoput up a sign DTAD which stands forDont Text And Drive so we put cups inthe fence and theyre green so they draw

your attention.Sophomore Caitlin ODell

says student council hosts thecampaign particularly beforeholidays because thats whenstudents tend to do more driv-ing.

During holidays studentsare driving to different places

and we just want to bring awareness thatif you text while driving then its unsafe so

were just trying to emphasize it before alot of travelling happens, ODell said.

Overall, the main goal is to keep every-one safe.Its really not safe, Owens said. Its

in everyones interest and we want to en-courage others not to do it, especially whentheyre in the car with someone else.

John Fuller Editor

Because one of the highest expensesfor a school district is staf ng, an areathat schools and districts cut down on isin personnel. Although staff layoffs have

been avoided, fewer personnel are on Bry-an ISD payrolls this year.

One manner by which layoffs are be-ing avoided, while still cutting down thenumber of staff, is through not rehiringteachers who left the district last year orretired.

Weve done a really good job of pair-ing down the staff over the last four to ve

years. If wed lose three people, wed only hire two, English Department Chair Lisa

Prejean said. We made sure we didnt

hire anybody extra. I dont think we wereas hurt by the cuts because there was

preparation. Administrators have also looked else- where for funding to rehire teachers and

ll new positions.We lost three teachers last year and

I didnt get to hire any new ones, MathDepartment Chair Jill Morris said. But, I

just hired two new ones through a grant.TAP, Teacher Advancement Program,

and TTIPS, Texas Title I Priority School,are two grants that began this year andhave provided much of the funds to hire

new teachers and specialists.The TAP grant is 750,000 over the next

ve years. Its allowed us to hire teachers, but its also allowed us to give teachersincentive pay for high achievement andhard work, Principal Diana Werner said.With TTIPS, weve been funded for two

years at 1.8 million at each year. With 1.8million dollars, Ive been able to hire an-other counselor. Ive hired three teachers,a project director, a secretary and a data-entry person and weve been able to buy

new technology for the students.Although many efforts are made to hire

new teachers and specialists, not all posi-tions can be re lled, which often leads tolarger class sizes, Morris said.

Were all teaching bigger classes, Mor-ris said. My geometry class has 34 kidsin it, my Pre-Cal class has 33 now, but itstarted out with 36.In addition to teaching personnel, many changes were made to auxiliary staf ng,including a reorganization of custodial workers and librarians.

This year, there are three library assis-

tants and Bryan High shares a certi edlibrarian with Rudder. In addition, thereare new procedures in place for custodi-ans to maximize the time they spend oncampus.

As the school continues to work towardreducing the budget further, Werner saidthat the impact felt by students has beenminimized from many of the new reorga-nizations and grants that the school has been able to implement.

MoRE

opINIoN

Assistant Editor Emily Nash re- views teen romance novels withher column, Reading Betweenthe Lines.

Staff writerMarisa Linde-man reviewsnew music inher column,DJ Diversity

8/3/2019 Volume 41 Number 4

2/3

Coaching experience caters to classroom chemistry Davis Downey Staff writer

Former coach Eric Eike has been bringing sports into the classroom for25 years, teaching with the same phi-losophy he applied on the eld.

His method of teaching re ects thestyle of a former coach, with the samelessons he learned being utilized in theclassroom.

In whatever you are involved in, youget out of it exactly what you put i nto it,Eike said. In other words, the harder

you work the better athlete and student you will become.

Eikes sons and daughter also partici-pated in many different sports duringtheir high school career, which actedas one of the main factors in ending hiscoaching career.

I stopped coaching when my ownkids were old enough to start competingin sports, Eike said. I wanted to havethe opportunity to be involved as a fanand a coach.

After coaching his children through-out their childhood, Eike now has theopportunity to put on the hat of a fan,

as his sons play football for Texas A&MUniversity.

Being a fan and a parent is tough be-cause you want them to do well, Eikesaid, but at the same time you worry about them getting injured. They likedoing it though so I support them in ev-ery way I can.

Teaching is Eikes focus, using the pa-tience and knowledge of how to coachto be a better teacher.

He allows us to work in groups which helps us learn better through col-laboration, student StevenMoehring said.

From dealing with thequick-paced thinking that

being a basketball coachrequires, students say thatEike is good at handlingquestions and explainingChemistry topics.

He explains everythingreally well, Moehring said,when you ask him questions hell actu-ally answer them, and be nice about it.

Eike sees the classroom as a place forstudent to collaborate, much like on the

court.Theres a whole lot to be said about

team work, everybody can bring some-

thing to a group, Eike said.As far as basketball goes, if you cant score you can stillplay defense, [and in the class-

room], if youre not good artistically youmay be a good writer.

Students arent the only ones notic-ing Eikes teaching being affected by

his prior coaching experience. His co- workers have seen it too.

He lays out the material in such a way that bringsabout under-standing of dif -cult content, andshows the partsand how it makesup the whole.Science Depart-ment Head Col-leen Holmes said.Along with thathe creates lessonsthat builds uponeach skill to bet-ter help studentsapply to other ar-eas.

Coach Eike sees the importance of ca-tering to individual students strengthsin the classroom just like coaches do

with athletes.Everybody has different talents, ev-

eryone has something to offer, Eikesaid.

Fun pastime turns competitive for nationally-ranked swimmer

Adviser Rebecca Dominy

Editor John Fuller

Managing Editor Stephani Whisenant

Assistant EditorsEmily Nash

Emma Raleigh

The opinions expressed are those of the writers and are not re ective of theadministrators, faculty or staff of Bryan Independent School District.

Submissions to the editor are welcomed, but must be signed and should not exceed300 words. The editor reserves the right to edit submissions in the interest of clarity and length or to not print a letter at all. Letters containing obscene or

libelous material will not be considered.

Bryan Independent School District does not discriminate on the basis of race, reli-gion, color, national origin, sex or handicap in providing education services.

NORSEMANhttp://www.

bryanhighnorseman.com

http://www.twitter.com/ bhsnorseman

http://www.facebook.com/BryanISDBryanHigh-

Norseman

Staff writersEva Araujo

Davis DowneyRegina FloresAbel Lara

Marisa LindemanMonserrat Madrazo

Savannah MatosAndrea Mendes

Maurissa RamirezJustin SandersYvette Ybarra

Highlight editions are published in print on the last Friday each month

Obesity. Its an epidemic, weve been told,and the facts are there to back it up. Since1980, the percentage of adolescents who a reobese has almost tripled, according to theCDC.

Government agencies and medical re-searchers can tell us that we need to lead

better, healthier lifestyles and impose rulesthat enforce such assessments, but theserules are futile if we dont actually make thedecisions for ourselves.

As students, we see the unhealthy habitsthat our peers, and ourselves, take on andmake a daily routine. School regulationshave attempted to force students to eathealthy at school, by suggesting that sodamachines cant be on campus or studentscant share food.

Yet, these regulations do little but isolateand damage students further, as they learnto simply hide their bad eating habits andresent healthy eating. In the real world, sodamachines are on every corner, and fast foodrestaurants promote cheap soda sales.

This isolationist perspective of hidingstudents from the reality of unhealthy anddamaging food doesnt prepare them for life

after graduation.

We do not learn how to make the decisionto not have that soda.

We do not learn how to pick the healthy food for ourselves instead of the extra-largefries.

Instead of making pointless regulations,schools should teach students about thedangers of unhealthy foods and more impor-tantly, show them how to make the decisionfor themselves. Students should be taughtthe advantages of eating healthy foods anddisadvantages of doing otherwise.

Schools should demonstrate not only the value of eating healthy, but the value thatcomes from deciding to live a healthy life-style.

Exercise. Eating. Its all a decision that onemust make every day.

This isnt just a matter of getting into thescienti c anatomy of what exercise is, butshowing students how their own lives can beimpacted and improved through adopting ahealthier lifestyle.

Its ultimately the individuals decision topick what they eat. Just remember, its not amatter of choosing a meal, but choosing anoutcome for your life.

- The Norseman Staff

You are what you eat, its not a myth Marisa Lindeman Staff writer Most people who nd themselves

splashing in the water do it to pass thetime in the hot Texas summer, but sometake this pastime to a competitive level.Senior Haley Clark is an example of this.Not only is she a competitive swimmeron campus, but she is also ranked as oneof the top ve swimmers in the state andone of the top one hundred swimmers inthe nation.

As with every high achievement, thereis a great journey to get there, and start-ing to swim at an early age is just the be-ginning of that journey for Clark.

I actually wasnt supposed to swim because my parents were swimmers allthe way through college, and they want-ed me to try something else, Clark said.But by the time I was six, I was unableto stay away from the pool and was al-ready learning how to swim, and by thetime I was ten I started swimming com-petitively.

Since those early swimming years,Clark has shown improvement to ensureshe made her way to the top of the charts

in the state. Swimming coach Gina Ro -

driguez has seen Clarks improvementthroughout the course of her high schoolcareer through the different aspects of swimming.

Throughout high school, she has con-tinued to improve her stroke and hasdropped her times in her butter y and

backstroke, Rodriguez said.Beyond the improvement Clarks

coach has witnessed lies a lot of practiceand determination that Clark strives topursue. Leading up to her swim meets,Clark spends a lot of time to make sureshe performs at her full potential.

It de nitely took a lot of improvementand con dence in my swimming beforethe hard work set in, Clark said. I hadto perfect my strokes and technique in

order for their to be an increase in hard

work.Other than Clarks swimming ability,

she also contributes to the team with herpersonality and her capability to makesure everyone around her smiles.

She helps us see the bright side of ev-ery race, even when we dont do well she

cheers us up and tells us were going todo better next time, swim team member Alex Manzano said.

Clark also brings her talent into theclassroom. Even though maintaininggood grades and holding a spot as astate-ranked swimmer may seem like anunmanageable task, Clark proves other- wise.

Sometimes school can be a little over- bearing, but I am really good at getting

my studying done before and after prac-

tice, Clark said. You just have to learnhow to make a schedule that works for

you; that way you dont get behind in your academics or swimming.

With the combination of Clarks swim-ming and her grades, Clark has receivedoffers from various universities.

Right now, its in the running between A&M, Ohio University, and Indiana, andI am hoping to have my decision made

nal in a couple of days, but most im -portantly when I was looking at schools I

was looking for a team that was a family and had a great coaching staff and excel-lent academics, Clark said.

Although Clark plans to pursue herswimming in college, she plans to con-tinue swimming in other avenues as

well.Not only is her goal to compete in the

collegiate level for a Division 1 school, but she has hopes to compete in theOlympic trials, Rodriguez said.

Even though Clark has already comeso far in her swimming career, she stillhas a long journey ahead of her.

It feels awesome to be swimming nextto a state ranked swimmer, Manzano

said.

Senior Haley Clark propels herself through the water with the butter ystroke as she heads toward the wall.

For years now, it seems that the entire world has proclaimed online classes to bethe savior of public education. The futureis coming! weve been told. Well, if this is

what the future entails, I couldnt be hap-pier that I am graduating this year.

Because of scheduling con icts, Ive tak -en a few of my classes online this year sothat I could meet all of the graduation re-quirements. The experience has been lessthan impressive.

The classes are self-paced and consist of several units and video lessons with online

worksheets that follow each lesson. At theonset, this doesnt seem like a problem.In fact, it sounds wonderful. I can take

whichever classes I want at whatever timeis most convenient and do everything inthe manner that is most ef cient for me.

Think again.The video lessons for the online courses

are beyond cheesy and not even remotely helpful for understanding the content.Lessons are led by corny cartoon charac -ters and Dora the Explorer does a better

job of making topics understandable than

these babbling heads. Following the oddand corny storylines, the video lessons failto make the content understandable. They belabor the point by providing in-depthexplanations of simple concepts and blaz-ing right over the more complex topics.

Whats worse is that with this limitedunderstanding, I have no way to ask ateacher for help. These cartoon charac -ters certainly arent going to answer my questions. I end up spending more timesearching around the internet for answersand explanations than I do watching the video lessons.

Of course, I wish the school system weremore exible, but I would never want totrade quality teaching and instruction for

exibility. Having a teacher in a classroom

can never be underestimated. Teachersmake learning easier not just by answer-ing questions, but by getting to know theirstudents and catering their lessons to themanners of instruction that best suit theirstudents. This doesnt happen with onlineclasses.

For those that continue to hail onlineclasses as the future of education, I sug-gest they spend some time taking onlineclasses. They are not only frustrating, butserve little purpose, as we learn very littlefrom these ridiculous, babbling cartooncharacters.

Online Classes

Yvette Ybarra Staff writer

Our generation cannot live withoutmusic. Any place you nd teens, youllalso nd iPods in their hands andheadphones in their ears. One thing you see often, though, is that musicoften creates groups that people feelthey need to t into, based on the wide variety of genres people enjoy.

For example, kids that listen to bands such as Bullet For My Val-entine, Disturbed, or Metallica of-ten get put into groups labeled asemo, gothic and can even be seenas troublemakers. This is similarto kids who listen to artists such as

Toby Keith, Tim McGraw, or Brooks& Dunn. Being labeled as country orredneck, these kids are imagined to be with boots, a lasso, and a cowboy hat, but thats not always the case.

If you were talking to someone onthe phone or on the Internet, andthey told you they listen to a speci ckind of music, most assume a stereo-typical version of that person.

Just because someone listens to aconsiderable amount of rap music,doesnt mean they have a gangsterattitude. Seeing others based on themusic they listen to gives a false per-ception of who these people really are.

I know because Ive been there.During my 8th grade year, I had

found the musical styles of Slipknotand fell in love. As I listened to theirmusic, I began to notice my suddeninterests in darker clothes, scariermake-up and the color black.

One day at school, I was jammingto Spit It Out when a boy came upto me and asked if I wanted to skipschool with him to go smoke. I wasshocked at his question. When I toldhim I didnt smoke, he was surprised.

As he walked away, I heard him say,Well, you just looked like the type.I froze in my seat.

Later, I walked into the girls bath -

room and took a good look in themirror. I didnt even recognize my -self. Even though my outward ap -pearance had changed, I was still thesame person I had always been.

Music is a way people expressthemselves, but music also expressesitself through us. We judge people by their music because the music canchange them, but this experiencealso showed me that it doesnt haveto. Its been awhile since Ive dressedin all black and wore the scary make-up, but one thing hasnt changed:Pulse Of the Maggots is still my fa -

vorite song from Slipknot.

Unfounded musical stereotypes

8/3/2019 Volume 41 Number 4

3/3

News & events at Bryan High SchoolFeast of Carols

The Choir Department will be hosting their annual Feast of Carols concert and meal duringthe rst weekend of December.

Tickets can be purchasedthrough the Choir of ce by call -ing (979) 209-2626.

Athletic Fall Sports BanquetThe fall sports banquet will

take place on Monday, Dec. 5

from 6:00 to 10:00 in the BlueCafeteria and Large Auditorium.

Orchestra Christmas ConcertThe Orchestra will perform

their Christmas concert onTuesday, Dec. 6 at 7:00 p.m. inthe blue Auditorium.

Vikingoteo PerformanceVikingoteo members will

perform during the KBTX

broadcast of the Food for Fami-lies Food Drive on Wed., Dec. 7from 7:30-8:00.

The 16th Annual Food forFamilies Food Drive will takeplace at the Brazos Center from5:30 a.m. to 10:35 p.m.

Some great donation ideas

include: diapers, paper towels, beans (canned or dried), ce -real, coffee, peanut butter, rice,canned fruit, pasta, soups or

other non-perishables.

Viking Theatre PerformanceThe theatre department will

showcase their next perfor-mance on Thursday, Dec. 8 at7:00 p.m. in the Black Box The -atre.

Admission is free.

Winter Guard Show The Winter Guard will per-

form on Saturday, Dec. 17 at7:00 p.m. at the auditorium atRudder High School.

Tickets for the show can bepurchased starting Dec. 3 and

will be $3 in advance and $5 atthe door.

Members will perform solos

to Christmas music.The will also be selling Christ-mas concessions during theperformance.

Around Campus

Regina Flores Staff writer If a small child asked What is a lunch lady?, the ini -tial response would probably be, theyre the ones that

serve people food in cafeterias.However, this is only one of the many tasks they do.So much more goes on behind the scenes that studentsdont think about.

Aside from serving food at lunch-time, these ladies wash, clean,cook, and keep a kitchen runningfor more than 1700 students.

We have to order and put away thousands of dollars worth of gro-ceries each month, manager Con -

nie Reed said. We have to washthe dishes because we do not havean automatic dishwasher, clean, and everything has to

be kept spic and span.Keeping the kitchen clean is essential.We go above and beyond since we serve children, a

more susceptible population. We must be extra care -ful, Reed said. We have strict HACCP criteria whichmust be followed.

HACCP stands for Hazardous Analyses of CriticalControl Points. This was developed for NASA so as -tronauts wouldnt get sick from the food they ate inouter space.

This is a big responsibility to have on your shoul -ders, and it all begins bright and early each morning.

We get here at 6 a.m. and start breakfast, and thenlunch starts a little bit after that, Reed said. Westart getting things warmed up and getting thingsprepped.

This is only the beginning, as Reed doesnt nish hertasks until 2:30 in the afternoon.

I personally must count money and check all cus -tomer deposits, Reed said. We must count any serv -

ings leftoverfrom serviceand record

those for paperwork which we have daily. The few items we reuse must be refrigerated or frozen, and allareas of the kitchen are cleaned and made ready forthe next day.

Reed said that the job can be very stressful some -times with all the requirements mandated by the stateand keeping both adults and students happy.

I have to train my employees to give thecorrect portions away because everything is based on calories andfat, Reed said. Youcant over serve it be -cause then it wontequal what its sup -posed to equal. All

of our recipes and products are measuredagainst government requirements.

Within the 13 years that Reed has beenhere, there have been signi cant changesin the food served.

The rst couple [of years that Ive beenhere] we actually served a small foun -tain drink, as well as milk, with the meal,Reed said. The amount of fat grams permeal has decreased as time has gone by.Things have become stricter as years havepassed.

Although Reed enjoys the food they serve, she admits new items really helpthe menu.

By the end of the year it starts to getold, Reed said, but we have this new Caesar chicken salad that I like.

Reeds favorite part of her job, though,is working with the kids.

I used to cut hair, so this is a lot differ -

ent, Reed said. I think its more rewarding because,even though the kids dont necessarily say anything,they appreciate it.

With 67 percent of students on free or reducedlunches, it makes Reed happy that she is able to servethese kids in need.There is, of course, with most jobs, a good bit of stress, Reed said, but at the end of the day knowingthat we did help out and tried to provide the most nu-tritious and still tasty meal is very ful lling.

Like clockwork: Cafeteria Personnel

Maurissa Ramirez Staff writer

Custodians are responsible for much more than just clean-ing up after lunch or emptying the trash; they are constantly making sure things are clean and clear in the halls and their workdays are much longer than the typical school day.

Everyone on the custodial staff works hard, head custodi -an Lupe Alvarado said. Keeping things clean around campusis very important, not just to us, but also to students, teachersand the administration.

Around campus, each of the custodians have different jobsto attend to like cleaning restrooms, sweeping the halls, vacu -uming the classrooms, and cleaning up before, during and af -ter lunch.

Principals assistant Maria Field is constantly working withthe custodial staff.

What dont the custodians do around here? Field said.Theyre busy, theyre the ones behind the scenes that are con -stantly either cleaning or picking up or creating new areas forus to be able to be proud of our school.

When there is a function on campus, the custodians mustcome early, stay after to clean-up and lock-up and are respon -sible for unlocking and locking the doors.

They are the Bryan High School family, Field said, andtheyre an entity that we couldnt function without. They get usready for the next day. Theyre always ready for the followingday, cleaning and picking-up, and opening the doors and beready for another day of school.

Custodial Personnel