Coronado Explorer Thanksgiving Edition 2008 - 2009

In This Issue:News.....................................2 - AIDS - “Quick:” Be Aware - SCC Ad - Coronado Explorer ContactOpinionation.........................3 - Jingle all 365 days? - Tell Me How You Feel - Get over it. - AJ/Zolly/Goat/Biscuit PollNuestra Voz Latina...............4 - La Copa de la Vida - Latinas - Who Said You Can’t...? - Encuestra NestoraClubs.....................................5 - CHS Club Beats - Get Involved!Academia..........................6-7 - Academia Beats - Career Central - Melissa De La Cruz - College Fair - November ESPCampus Happenings..........8-9 - Music in the Halls - Curious kitten made her... - Thanksgiving at Home - What are you most Thank.. - Thanksgiving Survival... - Thanksgiving RecipesSports.............................10-11 - Coronado Gripped by... - Sports Beats - Don Fanatic - Scenes from the Pep RallyDontastic Creations.............12 - Spotlight On... KC - The Glazin’ - For Those With a Poetic...The Funny Page..................13 - In the Middle - Stickman - South Scottsdale... - Attention Coronado...Entertainment......................14 - Goodbye TRL - Warcraft: Lord of the Clans - Songs of Higher Frequency - Little Big Planet - Get a Life! Almost Back Page..............15 - The Lyricist - The Conspiracy Theorist - Find the Differences

The Back Page..The Back Page - We forbid you from read-ing this page. Don’t turn to it!

“For the Coronado High School community”Thanksgiving Edition

Cost: Pricelesswww.coronadoexplorer.com

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Each day Mr. Ramy Abdin can be heard saying “good morning,” to everyone with a bright smile on his face. Many know him as the “700 building cowboy,” a term coined from the location of Coronado’s old 700 building. We see him setting up orange cones in the student lot and greeting arriving students. Few, however, know that Ramy has just conquered cancer. Recently chosen to receive the Exemplar Award for November, during the day Abdin works diligently and during evenings he can be seen at athletic events cheering on the Dons. A “DIEHARD DON,” in the literal and figurative sense, Rami is also a Coronado alumnus, class of 1997. After working at Chapparal, Saguaro, and Arcadia for a combination of eight years, he returned

A True

to Coronado last year. “Coronado is fun to work [at]…it feels at home… [it is my] new home,” said Abdin. When asked what about Coronado he thought was different than the other schools he responded, “The students are nicer and friendlier,” which suits him perfectly. Adrienne Miller (12) noted, like many, that Rami makes campus much more positive. “It’s always nice to see a smiling face.” Not only does he come to work every day with a smile, Abdin has done so, without complaint, amid his life-threatening battle with cancer. In April of 2008, still in his 20’s, he was diagnosed with stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma disease. According to www.mayoclinic.com “In Hodgkin’s disease, cells in the lymphatic system grow abnormally and may spread beyond

the lymphatic system. As Hodgkin’s disease progresses, it compromises your body’s ability to fight infection… Advances in diagnosis, staging and treatment of Hodgkin’s disease have helped to make this once uniformly fatal disease highly treatable with the potential for full recovery.” Since diagnosis, Rami has been receiving chemo therapy. He is now in remission en route to being cancer free and will return for a February check-up to confirm he is rid of the disease. Coworkers and students aware of Abdin’s cancer have often asked, what made Ramy come to work even though he was struggling with cancer? According to Rami, being [at Coronado] and being with the students made me forget that anything was wrong.” Since his diagnosis

By Erick Beltran

Coronado staff and administration have been very supportive as Service Learning and other well wishers have given him cards. In honor of his morning parking lot duties, Abdin even received two traffic cones signed by staff members. In typical fashion, Rami was “in

shock” with a smile. Students and staff at Coronado are happy that Ramy is still with us as security guard, as a Don, and as a friend. Said senior Jake Palumbo, “he gives the campus a feeling of easy-goingness. He’s nice. ‘nough said.”

Wake up before 7:00am Saturday morning, get charged, and get ready to walk. Every year around 8:00am the annual breast cancer walk receives companies who come together to help raise awareness and sponsor the program with community support. Traffic was cut off this past November 8th near Scottsdale and McKellips as runners took control of the right side of the road. Numerous spectators, as well as Coronado community members, attended the event. This year the color was green, and the shirts also came with the traditional pink ribbon, an insignia for breast cancer support. Free water and fruit were offered around the track at checkpoints along

Breast Cancer walk November 8th

the run. Several helpers were also ready to dish out the free chips as people ended the walk. Although some ran, everyone put forth the effort, an excellent way to burn extra calories. Former Coronado Senior, class of 2008, Elle Hall says it was an “exciting experience.” The entire event was a good use of a Saturday morning and is always held at the same place. The exercise is healthy, and socializing with other supporters is a great way to meet other active people in the community. It only takes at most two hours to complete the walk, so remember to register for next years meet and to wake up on time.

By Sean Essary

DIE HARD DON

A smiling Ramy with his trademark cowboy hat, shades, and boots greets hundreds of students in the student parking lot every morning and just as many in the halls daily despite his sickness.

Breast Team Ever

This bundle of fur, believe it or not, was actually stuck in the engine of the car you see pictured on the left and transported from a shopping

plaza to Coronado where she was finally rescued.To read more about how the cat was freed, turn to

Campus Happenings, Page 8.

She Purrs!How one cat survived a trip to Coronado, making one car engine

literally purr

NewsPg. 2

THE CORONADO EXPLORERThe Coronado Explorer is published by students for the Coronado High School community in south Scottsdale, Arizona. Views in this newspaper are not necessarily those of the C.H.S. Administration, faculty, staff or student body.

Editorial Staff ReportersAdvisor: Mr. Gerchick....................................................wgerchick@susd.org Jawan BurtonEditor-in-Chief: Amber Erickson....................................journalisticladydon@gmail.com Robert Pizzi Business Manager: Mr. [email protected] Melissa Shaw Layout Editor: Amber Erickson......................................journalisticladydon@gmail.com AJ Steward News Editor: Amber Erickson........................................journalisticladydon@gmail.com Nuestra Voz Latina Editor: Maryza [email protected] Outside ContributorsOpinionation Editor: Qori Krog......................................journalismchik@hotmail.com James BurkhardtCampus Happenings Editor: Hannah [email protected] Matt HenricksThematic Section Editor: Hannah [email protected] Chris KloskinClubs Editor: Madi Cooper.............................................musicjunki778@bresnan.net Jason KurttiAcademia Editor: Nicolle [email protected] Justin SloverSports Editor: TJ Kittle...................................................tkittlepoo@aol.com Gabriela CardenasDontastic Creations Editor: Carol [email protected] Onome UwhubaEntertainment Editor: Qori Krog....................................journalismchik@hotmail.com Almost Back Page Editor: Erick [email protected] Back Page Editor: Erick Beltran....................................erickbeltran@gmail.com Staff Photographer: Erick Beltran...................................erickbeltran@gmail.comStaff Cartoonist: Nestor Martinez...................................nmartinez712@yahoo.comStaff Cartoonist: Tori [email protected]

TO REACH USAlthough the Coronado Explorer has been published since 1961, this year’s staff is working hard to provide our community with a quality newspaper that embraces journalistic integrity. If you have any questions, comments or complaints about this or future issue content, please e-mail them to [email protected]. Any story or advertising inquiries should be sought out through the appropriate channels below.

We’re looking to release our next issue, our W I N T E R E D I T I O N, in the middle of December. So please make all inquiries as soon as possible.

Mail: Coronado High School Journalism Room: B224 Attn: Billy Gerchick Telephone: (480) 484-6800 2501 N. 74th St. Scottsdale, AZ 85257 Story Ideas: E-mail the appropriate section editor, [email protected], or [email protected] inquiries: E-mail [email protected]

Amber [email protected]

IT’s TIme To Dream BIg!Earn an associatE’s dEgrEE at scc classes start January 17, 2009and bE halfway to Earning your bachElor’s! www.scottsdalecc.edu/dream

forensic science…the film school…nursing…interior design…audio Production…architecture…Education…computer technology…theatre arts…science & Math…culinary arts…world languages…Justice studies…and more!

At birth, our families already have plans for our lives. What we will become and how we will get there. Of course no one thinks about the parents dying. No, it’s unthinkable. And then the doctor says, ‘Your child has AIDS, he got it from both of you, his parents’. In Sub-Saharan Africa, twelve million children are orphaned. All for one reason, their parents have died of HIV/AIDS. They now have to live on their own, with no one to fend for them, they are alone in the world, all for a disease they had no control over. Of course, some of them have the disease, and they die, but either way, they have fates worse than what anyone cares to imagine. World AIDS Day is December 1st, and on that day, we all can do our best to give those with AIDS a second chance at life. I am writing this article as an American high school student, who is part of a movement of young people fighting to end global poverty. I am a Global Citizen Corps leader. Communities suffering high incidence of HIV/AIDS have a harder time lifting themselves out of poverty. In Asia, HIV/AIDS is likely to force six million more people into poverty by 2015 without increased world response. Less than 20 percent of people living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries have access to life-saving antiretroviral medications. Young people under the age of 25 are estimated to account for half of all new HIV infections worldwide. Those are people like us, you and I. I believe that we all have a responsibility to use the opportunities we are given to lift others out of the blight of our generation. Whatever we do today, will help us secure our futures tomorrow. No matter how much we learn about an issue, it will always remain an issue if we don’t DO something about it. The Global Citizens Club will be having a Movie viewing on AIDS, on World AIDS day, December 1st, after school at 3:15pm in the Lecture Hall. We will also be selling the red AIDS ribbon, and we will have donation cups in teachers’ classrooms, for donations. Also, to recognize World AIDS day we ask that everyone in school wear red shirts. The funds raised will be sent to the United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), to contribute to the United Nations efforts against AIDS. Also, please take time and read the informational flyers around school, and tell others. The more people get aware, the more they are willing to contribute to the cause. There is a plague in our generation, and with the little we give, we can join the world, to help find an end to AIDS.

By Onome Uwhuba

AIDS:What can we do to end the scourge?

Above: With early morning impromptu pep as-semblies, teams and clubs gather, despite the cool morning air to help raise spirits before the football game that night. Here our DefSlamaz hype up the Coronado student body.

There is a very scary thing going on in the schools right now that we all need

to be aware of.

There is a type of crystal meth going around that looks like strawberry pop rocks (the candy that sizzles and ‘pops’

in your mouth). It smells like strawberry and it is being handed out to kids in

school yards. They are calling it straw-berry meth or strawberry “quick.”

Kids are ingesting this thinking that it is candy and being rushed off to the

hospital in dire condition. It also comes in chocolate, peanut butter, cola, cherry,

grape and orange.

Please be aware of what is out there. Watch out for you; watch out for your younger siblings; watch out for all of

your friends.

“Quick” Be Aware!

Opinionation Pg. 3Qori [email protected]

The AJ/Zollinger/Goat/Biscuit PollBy A.J. Steward

Jingle all 365 days?

By Qori Krog

Tell Me How You FeelBy Nicolle Brent

Has anyone related to you had cancer?

39%

29%

32%

Y esno, friendno, no-one

What do you think "SMALL lab" is?

34%

46%

20%

video gam eA s m all labLab s torage

One more tree and I swear…I was walking in to Wal*Mart Supercenter and the first thing I see is a gigan-tic Christmas tree. *Heavy sigh coupled with eye roll.* My dad looked at me exasperated, as if accusing me of my crabby mood. “What?” he says. I was, now that I had just entered a winter wonderland in November. Am I the only one that feels Christmas is being worn out? According to business.timesonline.co, this year is going to be the “grimmest festive period in 30 years.” This is the reason why retailers across America had the lights and icicles out in early October. Honestly though, I thought there were two holidays immediately before Christmas? The “Festive Period” included Halloween and Thanksgiving, right? Wasn’t that the whole point? Having holidays three months in a row to get you into the spirit? On BBC News’ Talking Point, people from the UK, USA, and even England shared their thoughts on Christ-mas starting too early. Some stated that they simply stopped celebrating the holiday because the true spirit was shattered while others seemed to be floating on cloud nine with the idea. But even they feel the joy slipping away. On Talking Point, Doreen Milder from Germany states, “Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year…” she went on to add, “but when I go into shops and see ginger-bread at the beginning of September, I could lose the joy for Christmas!” Is Christmas about commerce as many believe nowa-days? According to Dailypress.com “local shoppers were loud and clear when they said they don’t like the idea of Christmas before Halloween.” It also mentioned that just because the decorations are on the shelves earlier than ever this year, doesn’t mean the customers will be empty-ing their pockets. Dons also gave their input on “Christmas in October.” While freshman Andrew Hagglund “can’t go into a store without seeing one stupid tree,” others are more optimis-tic about the early start to Christmas. Take Senior Erika Davis who alludes to the movie The Nightmare before Christmas by saying “If Jack can do it, I think we all should!” In simpler terms, sophomore Alyssa Kotol says, “I love Christmas, so the sooner the better.” Is our instant gratification generation forgetting what makes this holiday so special? (Maybe because it’s supposed to come once a year? In December?) Regard-less of the Christmas carols, decorations, and predicted doom that is facing us this season, the holidays are a time to live in the now, and anticipate the future with fond memories to share. When I feel bombarded by retail ads, cinnamon whiffs, and a green and red October, I can’t help but feel like Scrooge. By the time December 25th actually gets here, I’ll annoyingly be singing “Jingle all 365 days.”

Public Displays of Affection unnecessary?

Picture this: you and your friends are aimlessly wander-ing the hallways between class periods when you stumble upon some random guy and girl all over each other like gravy on taters. Sick, right? I’m not sure about all of you but I personally think there is a place to full on “swap spit” and a place for a little “see you later” smooch. To most this is known as PDA (public display of affection), others may know it as “sexy time”. Trust me, I’ve been there. It’s all about how your boy or girl makes you feel, but do you want the whole school to know how they really make you feel? Isn’t that something you’d rather do on your own time without an audience. Given, people don’t usually stand there and admire in awe your tech-niques and “tongue twisters” but regardless we all know it’s inappropriate. My intentions for this article are not to preach to any-body, just some things you should think about… do’s and don’ts of PDA situations, if you will. First off, I go to this school too and I’m fully aware that hugs are just about the greatest thing ever. Your biggest crush gives you a hug and it totally makes your day; I get it. But is it necessary to grope each other while hugging? Probably not. Second, a small kiss on the lips is one thing but when your peers can clearly tell you’re playing an intense game of “tonsil hockey” it’s probably not an es-sential to your school day. And finally, there are areas of your body that don’t need to be kissed or much less nibbled on school grounds. For instance, maybe it’s not as important as you thought for your boyfriend/girlfriend to be treating your neck like a lollipop and your ears like any other yummy treats. Again, something for your own time. I guarantee that if Coronado didn’t have as much student PDA or “sexy time” as it currently does, there’s a chance more students would get to class on time. Or maybe our hallways wouldn’t be such a frustrating traffic jam. Obviously this isn’t the only reason for the irritating hallway commotion but if we have the chance to reduce the situations shouldn’t we? Maybe I’m wrong, maybe I’m right. Just give it some consideration. And maybe next time you’re standing outside your class waiting for the bell to ring you and your “baby” can have a pleasant conversation instead of a make out session. Just a thought.

Get over it; the feeling of knowing that the person you hate the most is going to awkwardly be in the same hall-way as you and you’re going to have to bite your tongue, hold your head up high, and just look the other way. The pointless fighting and hating is found everywhere and is occurring for every reason imaginable. There are constant disagreements between students and problems escalate fast when tempers are flaring from both sides. Who started it in the first place? Who wins in the end? Victory is claimed by the cruelest of heart and who has caused the greater amount of pain towards their rival. It is strange that breaking down one of your fellow class mates is fulfilling. It shows conflict over a certain issue with the only conclusion being negative. Teenagers everywhere, both boys and girls go through the variety of problems with different people. They can start from conflicts with girlfriends, boy-friends, best friends, team mates, class mates, or even random people you’ve never even spoken to. We have all had our fair share of hating someone and wanting to intentionally hurt them or seeking revenge for something they have put us through. It can start from something so small and turn into the most pointless mess you’ve ever been in. Maybe the rea-son the fight started over wasn’t even true to begin with. Or maybe it was true and the wrong person found out. At the same time there are mouths streaming gossip and annoying rumors being started everywhere. Seeing girls delicately wipe away tears from their weary faces from fights with their boyfriend or conflict from other girls shows the differentiation in high school drama. Watching boys push each other violently trying to pro-voke one another will most likely never come to an end and will probably always be apart of human nature. The best we can do to have the least amount of drama in our lives is by being true to ourselves and avoid lying. With the time we spend at school quickly fading as the days roll by, ask yourself when you hear a rumor being spread about you or when you are provoked to engage in a fight… is the drama really worth it?

Get over it. By Melissa Shaw

How do you view thanksgiving?

50%

39%

4%7%

Fam ily t im eeat ing t im eA has s leDon't c elebrate

What do you think of Christmas in October?

26%

67%

2%

5%

Let 's do itS erious ly ?Nex t y earNo way

“A time for family-In Ohio we used to go to my Grandmother’s house way early then leave around midnight.” Natalia Aranda (10)“Thanksgiving is fancy word for stuff yourself.” Marley Albright (10)

“I love love Looove X-Mas! We should do it every month.” Kaya Cortese (11)“ I don’t think it’s right or ethical to mix Halloween and Christ-mas together in the same month, that’s bogus. “ Malee Polk (11)

“My grandpa, my aunt and uncle.” Tara Mccarty (10)“My mom had Breast Cancer, she’s alright now.” Clayton Jones (11)“My mother had cervical cancer.” Clinton Martinez (12)“My grandma had to have 30 straight days of kemo last month.” Thayne Brown (11)

“Uh something for science?!” Jodi Estep (12)“Wow, I’m in Chemistry and I don’t even know.” Lyndsie Kreiger (10) “It says in big letters ‘SMALL lab’” Santiago Lopez (9)

SAVE TREES!Reduce pollution

Recycleyour Explorer!!

Drama is everywhere. Do you avoid it or are you a “Class A” Drama Queen?

Nuestra Voz LatinaPg. 4 Maryza [email protected]

La Copa De La VidaEscrito por: Maryza M. Diaz

“Un deporte jugado en un rectángulo en donde un gol esta puesto en cada lado en el cual 11 jugadores de cada equipo están tratando de meter un gol” es la definición que nos da ask.com del fútbol. Pero es mucho más que solo eso para muchos de los estudiantes en Coronado. “Es algo qué llevó en mi sangre desde que era un niño,” dijo Pedro Hernández, un estudiante de Coronado. Pero lo que muchos no saben del fútbol es que en sus etapas tempranas fue jugado en China durante el segundo y tercer siglos antes de la era común. El fútbol que nosotros conocemos ahora no fue reinventado hasta 1830 después que fue prohibido jugarlo en 1365 ya que el deporte se había vuelto muy violento. El deporte agarró popularidad ya que era una forma de que los niños no se metieran en problemas y para que sacaran todo su coraje en el juego, como también muchos de nuestros

estudiantes hacen. Jessica Hernández, un “Senior” en Coronado, explico que “Sin el futbol no podría dejar todos mis problemas y olvidar todo en el campo.” El primer juego de la FIFA fue jugado el 21 de mayo de 1904 en Paris. Desde entonces el mundo entero ha estado de pies mirando el deporté. Pero desde que hay fútbol también hay rivales. Los doce equipos mas conocidos son, “Las Chivas,” y “Las Américas” y han sido rivales desde su existencia. Las razones de su rivalidad es que estos dos equipos son parte de las doce ciudades más grandes de México. Pero también es que el equipo de las Chivas esta hecho de puros jugadores nacidos en México mientras que el equipo de las Américas también esta mezclado con jugadores extranjeros. “Siempre están tratando de ser un buen equipo al igual por su buen rendimiento,” es la razón que Sahariana Espíritu da por que la Chivas es su

equipo favorito. Estos doce equipos se enfrentaron uno a uno el 26 de Octubre, el juego tuvo a todos en punta de sus pies. Durante casi todo el juego estaba empatado 1-1 pero todo eso cambio en los últimos 5 minutos la Chivas metieron el ultimo gol, ganando el juego. Sahariana nos explico que “ya han ganado once campeonatos y espero que sean muchos mas.” En Coronado se puede decir que la mayoría de

los estudiantes van a las Chivas. Ya que en la encuesta demuestra que 72 por ciento va a las Chivas. Cada sábado es sagrado para estos estudiantes, casi nunca perdiéndose un juego. Jessica Hernández nos dejo saber que “en [su] casa es puro futbol las 24 horas al día y que nunca lo [dejan] de verlo en la tele.” Para muchos sino lo están viendo lo están jugando. Este deporte requiere de mucha resistencia. Tienes

que aguantar correr mucho tiempo ya que este juego es de estar al pendiente de la pelota. ¿Pero de donde es que muchos estudiantes sacan la fuerza para hacer esto? “Soy una fanática de el fútbol por que así me crío mi familia,” explico Jessica “si no tienes una camiseta que tiene manchas del pasto, el sudor corriendo por tu cara o si nunca has jugado sin parar hasta que tus piernas ya no aguanten, entonces no es tu deporte,” termino Jessica. ¿Pero que necesitas para estar en un equipo de fútbol? “La habilidad de saber jugar, echarle todas tus ganas y tener química en el equipo” son unas de las cosas cuales miro Mr. Schmitz, el entrenador del equipo de futbol de niñas. También agrego que este año “quiere hacerlo mas divertido para las muchachas, [quiere] que sean mas que un equipo, si no una familia.” Muchos recuerdan la primera vez que tocaron la pelota jugando su primer

juego con su abuelito. El es más que un deporte que nosotros jugamos, es algo que siempre ha sido parte de nuestra cultura. Casi es tradición que cuando hay un buen juego de fútbol casi siempre hay una carne asada. Es algo que toda la familia le gusta jugar y es algo que como familia los une más a todos. “[El fútbol] es dar todo por el todo, de hacer lo mejor no importa donde te encuentres, y si no sabes como jugarlo muy bien échale ganas y veras los resultados, agrego Sahariana. Para el mundo entero el futbol cambio sus vidas, el fútbol fue la causa que el football americano y otros deportes fueron creados pero para muchos en Coronado el fútbol poco a poco se fue asiendo no parte de sus vidas sino su vida. “Es mi vida y mi pasión. Y es mi empeño de no solamente ser una mejor jugadora,” concluyo Sahariana,” si no también ser una mejor persona cada día.”

Who Said You Can’t Dream?

By: Maryza M. Diaz These are just some of the many scholarships that are out there that do not require you to be a U.S. citizen, so don’t let money be the cause keeping you away from your dream.

Hispanic Scholarship Fundwww.hfs.net Award amount: $1000-$2500 Deadline: February 15 Requirements: Be of Hispanic Heritage and have a GPA of 27 on a 4.0 scale or a 3.7 on a 5.0 scale

National Association of Hispanic Nurseswww.thehispanicnurses.org Award Amount: $500-$2500 Deadline: Varies Requirements: Have interest in nursing or other professions.

National Peace Essay Contest www.usip.org Award Amount: $10,000 Deadline: January 23 Requirements: Must be attending any U.S. high school

Mike Corona Foundation: Kaw Enforcement Scholarship

www.nhra.com Award Amount: $1000 Deadline: varies Requirement: High school senior must have a 2.0 and plan to attend a 2 year or 4 year college or trade/ technical school

For more scholarship information you can also go to Fastweb.com or hsf.net.

On Friday, November 14, I began a small life-changing trip. My destination was an empowerment camping retreat for young latinas in Prescott, Arizona. There were two buses filled with about 80 other girls just like me. Some were older and some younger, but we all had one thing in common: we were all latina. I’m sure we were all looking forward to what would happen next. We had our fears and hopes and we were all anxious to get to the campgrounds. On our arrival we were met by a group of older latinas, they introduced

themselves and began separating us into our “familias” for the weekend. Each “familia” consisted of a nina, a mama, a tía, and us the participants. After a brief introduction to one another we began our “embodiment.” From the first afternoon until the last day there, we participated in a series of workshops and activities that were meant to help us understand the prestige of being a latina. It was a great experience. As a young latina, growing up surrounded by the chaos of immigration issues and prejudice towards Latinos, it

was nice to be assured that there is nothing wrong with me. It opened my eyes to the fact that I am very lucky to be Mexican. To come from such a strong family oriented culture, where women for many years were the “wise men” and leaders of our communities. Also, with the guidance of mi familia at the camp, I learned that latinas should be regarded as more than just housewives and mothers. We are strong women, who for some reason feel the necessity to provide love, protection and wisdom to everyone.

Chivas72%

pum as16%

c ruz az ul 6%

A m eric a6%

Chivaspum asc ruz az ul A m eric a

Encuestra Nestora By: Maryza M. Diaz

Rosemary Hernadez a great example of a powerful Latina that started her own program (Aguila) that helps young col-lege bound Latino students get into college while also helping them receive scholarships. Photo courtesy of: www.asu.edu/.../fellows_ybarra_hernan-dez.jpg

- “A mi me gustan las Chivas porque a mis amigos les gustan. Tengo muchos amigos de Guadalajara.“ - Melissa Romero (12) - “I love the Chivas players, they are so hot!” - Genesis Garcia (9) - “Chivas el mejor de México!” - Jose Camarena (12) - “No hay nadien como el America! Chivitas son envidiosos!” - Tony Sanchez(11)

By Nicole VilchisLatinas

Photo courtecy of images.chron.com. Brazil’s Ronaldo, center, shoots past teammate to score his second goal against Germany during the 2002 World Cup final.

RECICL

A TU EX

PLORAD

ORA!

SENIOR AD DEADLINE:DECEMBER 8th [color]JANUARY 10th [black/

white]Contact Mr. Nelson in Room B137 for more information.

Clubs Pg. 5Madi [email protected]

GETINVOLVED!

Join A Coronado Club! There are many to choose from to fit your interests.

A.C.E. - BrauerA.D.L. - Kunitzer

Ambassadors - MackB.A.C.H. - Bennet

Best Buddies - HughesC.A.S.E. - Brauer C.D.C. - GriffinCheer - Mack

CHSazz - GriffinCoronado Explorer - Gerchick

Def Slamaz - WallenDon News - Carey

Girls for Change - off-campus advisorGlobal Citizens - ConradyInternational Club - Pasek

J.A.G. - MortensonJ.A.M. - Farreta

Key Club - FerwaltLibrary Club - Hibbert

Marching Band - BennetN.H.S. - Willis

Ping Pong - GerchickService Learning- Weisneck

Science Club- MillsS.O.H.A. - KnappStuGo - Winget

Thespians - CareyVoice of 2009/2010 - Winget

Yearbook- Nelson

A.C.E.By Madi Cooper

Science ClubByErick Beltran

Science club is currently studying for the upcoming State Science Olympiad where they will represent Coronado in the Science field. T-Shirt and sweater orders still have to be sent. Any science club members that have not purchased theirs still can, just pay at the bookstore and bring the receipt to Mrs. Stephan in room D122. Science club is held on Mondays during lunch A in Mrs. Stephan’s room and during lunch B in Mrs. Mills room D128. All are invited to join!

Def SlamazBy Madi Cooper

Every week from 3-4:30 after school on Monday and Wednesday, a group of talented, hardworking, dedicated Coronado students who participate in the club Def Slamaz, a hip-hop dance team, meet to work on the dances they put together. The club started back in 2006 and has kept going this entire time. Many of the students in this club are cheerleaders, involved in student government or sports and they have part time jobs, but they still manage to meet twice a week. They plan and choreograph their own dances. The students of this group are required to have a great deal of coordination, flexibility, and rhythm. They must also hold fundraisers for uniforms and other club expenses. One of their fundraisers is selling doughnuts in the student store every Friday after school. Mrs. Kathleen Wallin, the club sponsor, says, “I am extremely pleased with the group. They all seem to be wonderful, hard working individuals.” On November 20, the group performed at a Scholarship Show in the auditorium. They also dance at most of the school and Coronado Community events. “[In the future,] I hope the group continues through the years and remain part of what makes Coronado so special,” says Mrs. Wallin.

N.H.S.By Qori Krog

On Saturday November 15, fifty NHS members walked 5K around Tempe Town Lake and raised over $250.00. Next on the agenda for NHS is Crockett on December 5th, and for those of you who don’t know what that is, they go to Crockett Elementary and bring gifts for the children there. Members participating in this event will be gone periods one through four. The next meeting will be on December 4th, and a reminder from Mrs. Willis that hour logs are due December 12th but encourages members to turn them in before.

StuGo

By Tori Sullivan

Our student government has been working behind the scenes to make our school run smoothly all year long and while they may not always get the recognition they deserve, they are an extremely important asset to our school. They set up all of our pep assemblies, the school parades, and pretty much every other event at the school. They’re even helping out the choir students on the 25th during the District Honors Choir event.

Marching BandBy Tori Sullivan

Marching season is finally over and the Coronado Marching Dons came out with another fantastic season. They started off well from the very beginning, being the only band to get a Superior at their first competition in Arizona at Mountain Point High School. They continued doing fantastic, getting an Excellent at the A.S.U. Band Day and another Superior at Barry Goldwater High School. They finally finished their competitions at Mesa High School where the Arizona State Band Competition was held and they succeeded in receiving one more Superior. Even though their season is over, the football season is still going smoothly, so the Marching Band will still be there, performing at the playoff games and supporting their school’s team.

Library ClubBy Madi Cooper

Mrs. Hibbert, the librarian, has been working very hard along with the Library Club to keep the library up and running. They try to keep up with all of the latest books; they actually already have two books written by President Barack Obama. They also plan saw the “Twilight” premier. They’ve selected certain teachers to take pictures with “read” signs and some students too. They’ll be hanging these signs up around the school to promote reading. Melissa de la Cruz, author of “Blue Bloods” premiered her new book, “Revelations” in the library on November 7 at 7:30 pm. On lunch that day, people dressed up as their favorite “Blue Bloods” characters. Mrs. Hibbert even handed out free candy in the library!

A.D.L.By Carol Toll

AmbassadorsBy Carol Toll

ThespiansBy Jawan Burton

Thespians just had a big event on November 6th. The District Dance Show! There were lots of rehearsals and setting up for the dance. They had to control the lights, sound, curtains, and so on. While the dancers were getting ready for the big night, the Thespians had to put out monitors, cables, and also lots of trails and error. The people who were in control were Cassidy Griffith (vice-president) and Eric Miranda (president). The Tech Crew and the Dancers were under the direction of Mr. Carey and Ms. Griffin. The only thing left to say is job well done.

J.A.M.

By Madi Cooper

The PTO is very busy during this time of the year. They have finished helping out with the AIMS testing by providing the students food and water and they are helping Student Government, also known as StuGo, with the student store. When they help sell, they get 50 percent of the sell and StuGo gets the other 50 percent. They put a motion through StuGo to host a spring carnival and it was approved. With their next meeting coming up on November 18th, they will be discussing the CHS Project Grad. They are still looking for people to come join PTO. So if you are interested, go ahead and talk to Mark Peterson, the president or the front office.

Service LearningBy Erick Beltran

CFFFBy Carol Toll

CFFF (Coronado Foundation for the Future) is a small group of committed Coronado alumni and parents of CHS students that works for the benefit of Coronado students. This group works to support the many challenges the community faces. CFFF values the potential of every student, lifelong learning, public education and the Coronado community. Their mission for this group is to expand the educational opportunities of Coronado High School and to provide grants to benefit the students.

P.T.O.By Carol Toll

S.O.H.A.By Tori Sullivan

The ADL group finished their mentoring program with the freshmen in November. Carol Toll, T.J. Brown and Lauran White, the leaders in the club, taught the freshmen about how racial jokes affect people’s lives. They also teach that it makes others feel horrible. The leaders of the club are waiting for next month to come around when they are going to the freshmen classes and to do activities with the students about race and their background.

“Famines teeth, famines claws, on the sands of Africa,” sings Coronado’s advanced choir, ACE, as they prepare for the District Honors Choir on Tuesday the 25th of November. A while ago, Dr. Sammy Brauer handed out the Honors Choir music to the students that were selected to participate. Elementary, middle, and high schools all over the district had their best students here at Coronado for this event. It started around 8 in the morning and ended around 9 that night. The choir is also getting ready for the upcoming musical, “Once Upon A Mattress.” Auditions are on December 2 ,4, 5. Soon after the musical, the choir is participating in Regional’s, which are the first step to All State Choir.

The Ambassadors just finished selling Halloween candy grahams. Right now they are planning on selling winter grahams. These are just like the Halloween ones, but they have a small message for the winter holidays. If you want to give one to someone special but cannot afford any-thing big, the Ambassadors have the answer. They will be selling them during lunch the week before finals. The Ambassadors will also start a mentoring program in the 3rd quarter. If you are freshmen you will be partnered up with a mentor and have activities planned.

While the economy is down, Service Learning (SL) is helping the community. SL collected food for families that are not doing so great financially right now. The food that was collected has been and will be delivered on November 24 to November 26. Service learning will also be volunteering at McCormick Stillman Railroad park for Holiday Lights which is an event run by the City of Scottsdale where McCormick park is decorated with over 100,000 lights. “Thanks to all of the hard work of SL [students] who make a difference on lives of needy families” says Service Learning teacher Ms. Weisneck.

Right now S.O.H.A. is getting prepared to go to Scott-sdale Community College to sell bowls for charity. The bowls are made by Mr. Knapp and Ms. Riccio’s art class-es. S.O.H.A. will be taking them on December 3 in hopes to sell them and donate the money for world hunger.

The weekly art contests in J.A.M. are coming off to a great start. Each week members are prompted with a word, phrase, or even a number. Over the course of the week before the next meeting members draw out what-ever they think best suits the contents of the prompt. The winner of the week gets some sort of Japanese treat, whether it’s candy, cookies, or sometimes even a drink.

Congratulations to every

ExtraSpecia

lPers

onnominated!

College FairWednesday, December 3rd

8:15-11:30

27 different schools

*Only for Juniors and Seniors*Only during one class period

*Designated teachers will escort

“We encourage students to take an active interest in their futures.”

http://susd.coronado.schoolfusion.us/

Academia Nicolle [email protected]. 6

By AJ Steward

On November 07, 2008, author of the popular vampire series Blue Bloods, Melissa de la Cruz, came to our school during both lunches and answered questions, I had the opportunity to go to lunch with her at AZ88 and ask a few questions of my own.GC: Could you give a short summary of your series Blue Bloods?

MC: It’s a story about a group of teenagers in New York who go to the elite private school and who discover that they are part of a secret race of vampires, and the story kind of follows three of them as they discover their vampire ancestry and discover there is something praying on the vampires.

GC: What inspired you to write about vampires?

MC: I’ve always been a big vampire fan. I really love Stephan King’s Salem’s Lot, and Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles. I love the Lestat…The Vampire Lestat I think was the first book that I read of her, I’ve never read Interview until I read Lestat and it was always in the back of my mind you know, their so cool, and my editor asked me for a horror fantasy book and if I had any ideas in that genre and I pictured Blue Bloods. I love vampires, tragic, beautiful, immortal, what’s not to love?

GC: What’s your inspiration to write, or who is?

MC: I just love books, I grew up just loving books, my parents love books, I read so many books and think when I was really little reading Little Women, you know, Joe March and her book, that was a big inspiration, and just reading all the Stephan King books, Lord of the Rings, and I just love them so much. TV shows, and movies you don’t love as much as you love books. With books you really want to participate.

GC: Do you use real life facts based on true stories?

MC: Real life facts…I mean I do a lot of research. I did some historical research for Blue Bloods, but you know with a fiction book you are able to twist the facts. If a fact doesn’t fit my story then it goes out the window.

GC: When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?

MC: I really like naming the characters; I really had to get them right. With Schuyler, it’s kind of an old New York name. With Oliver, I had a book called Mrs. *500 and I would just king of sweep through, look for names. And Madeline, Mimi Force, I always liked the name Mimi; it’s kind of really flighty. And I like the name Jack, I had a friend whose name is Benjamin, but everybody called him Jam, and its kind of too goofy…so yeah, a lot of thought goes into it; the names have to be absolutely right.

GC: How did you like coming to Coronado High School?

MC: It was great, people when really, really energized, lot of questions, you know, its really nice to meet all these young people who are so interested in writing and just caring about books, I had a really fun time.

Melissa De La CruzBy Gabriela Cardenas

November ESP

Mrs. Faretta continues teaching students how to create 3D animations, and they just finished Photoshop and windows movie maker, all in the “cool stuff technology” class. Students have already put images of themselves into whatever background they please.. Her Web Design students have started “Pod casting” on their web sites, and they’re finally complete. Now they’re able to visit they’re sites, and since it’s owned by the students, they’re able to update and manage the sites on they’re own time.In Mr. Smith’s “Electronic writing center”, his students

TechnologyAt Coronado

C.O.R.EBy Nicolle Brent

We’re at the end of the beginning of our second quarter Mr. Beracy’s English class is going to finish up on studying censorship especially when it comes to offensive music. They will also be focusing on grammar and all the “thrilling” stuff that goes along with expository writing and summary writing. Evidently they will also be studying skills for becoming a music video producer. Mr. Sweeney’s C.O.R.E. science class is going to continue volcanoes and minerals’ getting more in depth as time goes by. Finishing up Mr. Schmidt’s class learns more techniques for graphing, slopes, and equations.

In Mrs. Richardson’s French classes, students will be going under an intense study in the past tense and grammar tech-niques. Also, students will be studying French history and applying the art of conversation. On the other hand, Mrs. Montana’s Spanish I classes will be undergoing projects that conclude social political and economical issues in Latin American countries. Spanish III will also step foot inside social political issues such as immigration by persuasive essays. Span-ish IV however, will be finishing the book “La Ciudad De Las Bestias” and enjoying the company of a Mexican mask maker. Dr. Pasek’s Spanish I students will be examining the Latin American countries of Argentina and Colombia, while in the flip side, Spanish II will be reviewing extreme sports, foods, and Spanglish. Mrs. Woods Latin class will be presenting their presentations about Roman literature. Presentations must be 30 minutes to a full class hour and will be consisting of visual, and hands on activities. Also, Latin will be going over how the Ro-man senate functions and the history behind it.

By Nestor MartinezForeign Languages

are picking up on everyday basic computer writing skills. They’re using thinking maps to help them construct organized paragraphs also known as sentence fluency.In Computer repair, taught by Mrs. Muller, their “Fry’s electronics” field trip has been postponed until further notice. The trip was intended to help students grasp a perspective on how much it would cost to repair real world computers while running a business. On the contrary, her students are still repairing computers. They’ll watch a training video on certain computer repair, such as fixing hard drives, replacing memory ports, etc.

Some of our Juniors hard at work in their Technology classes.

Anthem College

Arizona Culinary Institute

Arizona State University

Art Institute of Phoenix

The Bryman School

Collins College

Colorado State University

FIDM

Gateway Community College

IIA

Johnson & Wales University

Kohler Academy

Lamson College

Maricopa Community Colleges

Mesa Community College

New Mexico Highlands University

Northern Arizona University

Paradise Valley Community College

Paul Mitchell The School

Rio Salado Community College

University of Arizona

University of Phoenix

Westwind School of Aeronautics

Wyotech Technical School

Irlanda Abarca GarciaDalia Azrag

Jamie BarrettBryce BeaubienDeven Carney

Chris CruzAlex Dugie

Lizeth FigueroaNancy FloresOmar Garcia

Enrique GomezVictor Gomez

Dominique HarrisJuan Carlos Hernandez

Minh HuynhMatt Johnson

Samuel JuradoShawn MartinMarki Matus

Mohamud MohamudNayeli Nolasco

Jesus ParraDanishia Ridgway

Vianca RogersAngelica Romero

Lindsey ScottSpencer SimmonsPatrick ThomasRoberto VargasDavid Vasquez

Andy Ward

Academia TooNicolle [email protected] Pg. 7

Career CentralBy Nicolle Brent

The First FeastBy Hannah Collins

The first Thanksgiving was held in the little town of ___________________ on November ____, (Proper noun/place) (#)______________. Celebrating this harvest was the people of ________________ who just arrived to (date/year) (proper noun/country)America on the ______________. Having a ______________ time settling down, the people grew weary (noun) (adjective)and got sick with diseases like _______________ and couldn’t thrive like they did in (noun)__________________. Then one _________________ day, the people came across a Native (proper noun/country) (adjective)American tribe who called themselves the ___________________. After getting to understand the Native (plural noun)Americans, the people of the town wanted to have a __________________ feast but didn’t have any (adjective)___________________ to offer. So instead the Native Americans showed them how to grow (plural noun)___________________, _____________________, and to catch _____________________. After doing (vegetable/noun) (fruit/noun) (noun)so, they all sat around a _______________________ _____________________ and had the first (adjective) (kitchen accessory/noun)Thanksgiving.

Arizona Rock Products Association High School “Essay” Contest ($1,000 scholarship; additional $2,000 to $5,000 scholarship to national winner—see contest rules for details.) Due: December 1, 2008Criteria: Students ages 16-18 at the beginning of the school term. Visit the Higher Ed. Center to obtain an entry form and essay contest rules.

Boston University Merit Scholarships (Four-year, full-tuition scholarships): Trustee Scholarship Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ScholarshipAlexander Graham Bell ScholarshipDue: December 1, 2008 Criteria: The above scholarships are awarded to students with the most noteworthy academic accomplishments, who have graduated at the top of their classes, and demonstrated outstanding leadership ability. Details on these and other university merit awards are available at www.bu.edu/admissions/scholarships. Scholarships vary in their eligibility requirements and award amounts.

SAE Engineering Scholarships (Awards vary by scholarship)Due: December 1, 2008Criteria: High school seniors who are interested in the study of engineering and related sciences. To view the variety of scholarships offered and their respective eligibility requirements, visit www.sae.org/students/engschlr.htm.

2009 ACLU Youth Activist Scholarship (16 recipients will receive $12,500 each to be used toward their first year of college.)Due: December 5, 2008Criteria: Seniors who have demonstrated a strong commitment to civil liberties through some form of student activism, plan to attend an accredited college/university as a FT degree-seeking student, and have attained a cum. GPA of 3.0 at the time of graduation. Further details available at www.acluaz.org/standup/misc/activists.html.

2008-2009 First Credit Union “Imagine the Possibilities” College Scholarship (Six $500 scholarships to be awarded)Due: December 10, 2008Criteria: Graduating AZ seniors who enroll in a FT course of study at an accredited 2- or 4-year college, university or vocational school in AZ. Must be a First Credit Union member when application is submitted. Applications are available in the Higher Ed. Center.

AAA Arizona Si Se Puede! Scholarship (One-time awards of $1,000 each will be awarded to five students.) Due: December 15, 2008Criteria: Students who are Hispanic or of Hispanic descent, and are U.S. citizens and AZ residents. Must be or plan to be enrolled FT as an undergraduate student in an Arizona accredited college or university for the upcoming academic year. Must have earned and maintain a cum. GPA of no less than 3.0 on a 4.0 scale. Visit www. Math

By Melissa Shaw Teachers’ minds have finally settled and students’ brains have a brief rest now that the first AIMS retake day is over. Mr. Schmidtz is teaching his Algebra I class how to do proportions while he is teaching his Algebra basics class how to work with percentages and similar figures. Deductive reasoning is a continuous topic in Mrs. Cassetti’s class and the trigonometry students in Mr. Bertrand’s class have been keeping busy with slopes, twelve functions, and graphs. Our ambitious AIMS math teacher, Mr. Kettlewell is teaching his Algebra basics students how to solve equations and also teaching his AIMS math students about inscribed angles and central angles. Dr. Hayes is keeping his geometry honors class busy teaching not only quadrilaterals but polygons and area formulas as well. Complimentary and supplementary angles are filling the minds of Mr. Replogle’s classes while just across the hall, Mr. Chrisman’s Algebra I classes are learning proportions and ratios. Learning how to limit spending amounts with credit cards, how to balance check-books, and learning about taxes are all very useful skills to have that Mr. Tsorin is teaching his business math students.

CHS ScienceBy AJ Steward

By Sean Essary Religion is usually a challenging subject to cover in school. Mr. Fernwalt’s classes have been able to review Hindu, Buddhist, Jews, Christian and Islam. Guest speaker, Mrs. Azra Hussein came into the class to talk about Islam. The annual American History tournament is beginning this quarter with Troutman’s class facing off against Mr. Conrady’s History class. Last year resulted in a tie as the score was indeterminate, hopefully this year both classes will prepare to win for their class. Mr. Conrady’s class will also be focusing on Civil War and the reconstruction era involved in settling the West,

Social Studies

Fine ArtsByCarol Toll

English With AIMS being over, our English classes are slowing down a bit. Ms. Rogers English classes will be writing and presenting persuasive speeches based on the non-fiction outside reasoning. Anderson’s seniors are working really hard to finish up their senior papers. She wants her students to make sure for their paper, “… Extremely important to ask questions and keep up with the process, especially in these final stages.” English IV for living classes are working on literary analysis and early British literature. Mrs. Saddler’s class is reading the Odyssey while completing their own personal versions.

Basketball, Basketball! That is what’s on every freshman P.E student’s minds this month. Now that basketball season has started up, the PE department is taking timeliness to incorporate this sport in their daily sports play. As the introduction of basketball in PE has become just a memory, the student’s now don’t mind the excessive running as much. Maybe, playing basketball was just a diversion to run students more? No matter what the reason, students still look at their PE class in a totally new perspective. First there was running then there was running and basketball, BIG difference! The search for a student that doesn’t have fun during this amount of time is still under investigation. It has been whispered through the coaching staff that there is a student out there that indeed does not enjoy basketball. How could this be? Isn’t basketball just a game where you get to play hard but still be around friends? At least that is what it’s known to be. So to that lonesome student please do not ruin the fun of basketball for the rest of your class. Everyone deserves some free time run around and play right? Who knows, you may have a different perspective after this precious time of basketball runs out.

Basketballing or, some of the students’

favorite activities in the P.E. Department

By TJ Kittle

By Carol Toll

including Arizona. They are also beginning to look at branches of government beginning with the executive branch, focusing on the presidency. Games have taken over Ms. Kemp’s class. It is hard to think of a better way to study how a bill becomes a law other than playing a board game. Students have gathered into groups of three or four to make games for other students to play. The presidential elections are over and government classes are continuing with their regular study of a bill, including the “bill sitting on Capitol Hill” song. Continue reading in upcoming issues for any changes to Academia.

Mr. Carey’s English IV class quietly studying and practicing vocabulary.

Both Mr. Knapp and Mrs. Riccio’s first art classes are finishing up their empty bowl projects. They plan on selling them at S.C.C. for a food charity. With the art one class, the 3-D classes of Mr. Knapp is also doing those. Going back to Mrs. Riccio’s class, they are beginning color wheels. Each side of the wheel is going to represent the value of the color. They are also starting to paint. Mr. Knapp’s art class too is doing water colors. His art three class is starting oil paintings. Mr. Knapp’s last class of art is working on group of work. They each do their own style of work each quarter. Mrs. Griffin dance classes are just working on their shows. They are not doing anything other than practice. Practice makes perfect everyone should know that! Mr. Carey’s theater class is just working on acting out, and working on scenes. His Tec class is just keeping our auditorium up and running, so we can have performances in there.

In Mr. Colling’s earth and space science, his students are studying the famous Mt. Saint Helens, and also building models of the volcano before and after the eruption. In Human physiology and anatomy, taught by Mrs. McKallor the students have been getting better at understanding both the human muscular and skeletal systems. Mrs. McKallor also teaches healthcare and biology. Her healthcare class is also studying the muscular system, but her biology class is engaging in the cycles of evolution and natural selection. Mrs. Mills’s chemistry class is learning about chemical bonding. She also teaches earth science and physics. Her earth science class is learning about food production, while her physics class works on projectiles. Honors biology with Mrs. Stephen is studying DNA and genetics, and will also be isolating their own DNA. Mrs. Stephen also teaches Zoology and Botany. Her Botany class will be studying arthropods and echinoderms, while her lucky student zoologists will dissent a star fish. Bill Nye’s got nothing on this.

Pg. 8 Campus HappeningsMusic in the Halls

“Any tool is a weapon if you hold it right” a quote from Grammy Award win-ning singer-songwriter Ani Difranco. Weapons are not allowed in school, but students can be seen walk-ing around with axes made of mahogany or teak wood. When used correctly, they can attract a crowd. Have you seen the guitarists playing around campus? An axe is an allegory for a guitar. Pink Floyd extends this metaphor on the B- side of their single “Point Me at the Sky” on “Careful With That Axe Engine”. Ben Zamora is a guitarist on campus who also dou-bles as a beginner guitar teacher to receive credit for his advanced guitar class with Dr. Brauer. Following last year’s first annual gui-tar ensemble concert, this December 2nd at 6:00pm in the lecture hall, free of charge, Ben’s students will be preparing to play “Wish

By Sean Essary

Hannah [email protected]

You Were Here” from side two of Pink Floyd’s Wish You Were Here album. The concert will also be accepting canned food donations for St. Mary’s Food Bank. Influences for the guitar on campus include bands such as Nirvana and Alice in Chains. More people should join these students in an effort to bring music to Coronado. Respect from upperclassmen also encourages others to pick up their instruments to start practicing. Senior Kyle Lane (12) says that the guitarists “bring a positive attitude to the campus”. The average student car-ries a backpack or binder. No one can a can separate a true musician from his instrument. It is one thing to carry a guitar, teaching someone how to use it is an entirely different pro-cess. Currently the guitar class is “overfull” com-

ments Dr. Brauer. There are a total of “40 students in all”; thanks to all of the “advanced students [who] are able to teach beginning students” it is possible to help all of the aspiring guitarists. Including Ben’s teaching, she feels, “It’s great to have this mix of ability and this large of interest in guitar playing.” Coronado Dons are putting the effort forward to bring the music to you, so why not open your mind to it? Stress from school and outside in life need to have their releases to make room for more problems that may come up. Ben says he plays the gui-tar to, “escape from the drama [found at school]”. Despite his hobby students still put him down. Some students have set their standards too high; every guitarist has some talent, let them speak their minds. Nothing impacts a musician more negatively

than telling them to stop playing because they suck or aren’t playing a favorite. Imagine if Jimi Hendrix or Jimmy Page had been told to put down their guitar. Appreciate the talent found around campus. A healthy music community should have flyers spill-ing onto the floor looking for new drummers or bass players for a new band. People enjoy going to con-certs, start a band to play at the AMF bowling alley, like Ben’s band ‘Atrishan’

Thanksgiving at HomeBy AJ Steward

with Davis (11) and Jacob (11) might be doing next month. There is no better way to make cash either, and if, as some people are, in lack of any talent, then support Coronado guitar-ists whenever possible by going to shows and praising a stainless scratch free guitar. Look out for guitarists around the hall and the other musicians who work hard everyday hoping to get attention for their music.

If you’re to ask any-one, “What brings family together on thanksgiving?” The answers you’ll most likely get is, food, fam-ily, or tradition. However for some people it’s about getting it out of the way as fast as you can and forget-ting about it. The first Thanksgiving was on September 8th, 1565, in Saint Augustine, Florida. President Lincoln naturalized the holiday in 1863. Alexander Hamilton proclaimed “no citizen shall refrain from turkey on Thanksgiving Day”,

however, this Thanksgiv-ing for some will either be a hassle, a tradition, or just another normal day. There has been specula-tion around campus that Thanksgiving is viewed more as a burden than a time honored tradition. Not only on campus though, around your neighborhood. People used to rush to a grocery store days in ad-vance to acquire the proper Thanksgiving criteria, including a turkey, ham and mashed potatoes. These days, people are having Thanksgiving in

advance to shop less in our most recent economic condition, or stay scarce of their “in law” they just can’t stand to look at or even speak to. I sat and wondered how Thanksgiving could become such a quandary, and why people seem to be celebrating less and less. I could only get my answer one way, and it was inves-tigating other perspectives of this new found ques-tion: “is Thanksgiving is a burden?” I asked Mr. Crawford, a student teacher here at

CHS, what he thought brings people together on Thanksgiving and he sim-ply replied “tradition”. I then thought of typical causes that could make Thanksgiving into a rat race, rather than a full course meal. I then asked Mr. Crawford if he thought the view of Thanksgiv-ing has gone from time honored tradition to family burden and Mr. Crawford eagerly replied, “It can be. The holidays are the most dangerous time of the year to travel.” Mr. Crawford did not state if he person-

ally thought Thanksgiving was more of a burden than tradition. I then asked Mr. Crawford to reflect on his best thanksgiving mem-ory. He replied with his usual grin “When I lived in North Dakota, I could go snowmobiling with my family.” Ana Perez (11) was asked the same questions, she replied in a gasp, and stated “Thanksgiving is not a burden! I mean, it’s not everyday you get to see your family! In my family, it’s less of a traditional thingy and more of a get

together.” Then she asked what her best Thanksgiv-ing memory was and she replied “Back in New York, we fit the whole building in one apartment and partied all night!” Still, I searched and found what used to be a family tradition actually has become a burden for most from so many differ-ent experiences involving this occasion, hoping to find more who still value our beloved turkey day, and simply could not. At least no one will be thinking about burdens while they’re eating.

Curious kitten made her way to CHSA small, stranded kitten was found this month inside of a senior’s engine and survived

By Qori Krog

As if saving a cat from a tree or a fence isn’t already out of the norm for most people, but assistant librarian, Lisa Drollinger “will do anything to rescue some-thing.” Ms. Drollinger got the call from parent Lorna Rodriguez on Wednesday November 12th, of a kitten that crawled into varsity football player senior An-drew Chinesaz’s engine. The kitten had gotten under the hood of a Jamba Juice customer’s car, and eventually made its way into the tire of a Jamba Juice employee’s car. That employee happened to be Ami Olsen who comes to our school every Wednes-

day to sell Go-Go’s. Ms. Olsen drove to Coronado with the kitten in her tire and was scared from the ride escaped and found refuge in #80’s engine. Mr. Olsen, Mrs. Sheffield, an officer, a security guard, junior David Vasquez and I were at the scene of the event as Ms. Drollinger reached her hands down into the engine to attempt saving the kitten from future injury. It was dif-ficult for her to maneuver through the parts inside the hood of the car, and grab hold of her. After about a half hour of struggle be-tween Ms. Drollinger and Vasquez, she pulled the fluff ball out as it howled

in fright. Ms. Drollinger insists that she did get scratches but from the car not from the kitten. Chinesaz claimed that “A lot of people didn’t believe me that there was a live cat in my engine

Coronado guitarist poses mid-strum with his electric guitar.

and wanted to see it.” Although he didn’t get to see the cat either, many re-ferred to him as a cat killer, but for clarification the kitten is very much alive, and is resting in the abode of social studies teacher,

Mrs. Brodison. She plans on adopting the kitten with the given name Andy, since her cat of 13 years ran away and refuses to return home. When asked about the characteristics of the kitten now that it has settled into its new home Mrs. Brodi-son replied, “It’s really playful, friendly, sweet, and it purrs really loudly and eats A LOT!” While this kitten rescue was out of the ordinary for many involved, for animal lover Lisa Drollinger it was another part of her day. She humbly states, “I couldn’t have done it with-out David Vasquez.”

Left: Ms. Drollinger takes a look under the hood of senior Andrew Chinesaz’s car to see if she could rescue the poor kitten that got trapped there earlier that afternoon. Right: Ms. Drollinger poses with the newly rescued kitty, who both seem to be happy that Andy the cat is safe and sound out of the engine.

Here are some helpful hints on how to man-age the hectic family, friends, foods and fun that take place during

your Thanksgiving

By Hannah Collins

1) If you have to celebrate multiple Thanksgivings due to unfriendly family ties, then suggest hav-ing one Thanksgiving on Thursday and the other on Friday. This way both sides will be able to enjoy themselves and what’s bet-ter than eating a huge meal two days in a row?!

2) Undecided whether to spend the feasting day with friends or family? Well eat dinner with your family first and then when things start winding down, go out with friends and have fun!

3) Annoying relatives fly-ing in for the big feast that you just can’t stand? Well if that’s the case just avoid all contact...if possible. If not just say your “hi, how are yous” and go about your business. Or maybe get a lock for your door.

4) If your family left it up to you to make the dinner, then try and trick some of your younger cousins or siblings into helping you out. Tell them “it will be super fun” and they’ll totally go for it.

5) At dinner if your afraid you’ll find NOTHING appetizing, then eat before you go or bring a snack with you. This way when only the fruit salad is ed-ible you won’t be stuck only eating apples and oranges on Thanksgiving.

declassifiedThanksgiving survival

guide

THANKSGIVINGThanksgiving

Recipes

Pg. 9Hannah [email protected]

What are you most thankful for?“I am thankful for my family and friends that is in my life and I am thankful for the second chance I

got to live a good life and I am really grateful for everything in my life.” -Tara Owens (12)“I am most thankful for my family and health. Moreover I am thankful to have a career that can

help others.” -Mr. Kettlemen “I am most thankful for the people who enrich my life, including my loved ones, my students and

my bands.” -Mrs. Anderson“My parent’s and friends.” -Courtney Alexa Zimmerman (9)

“I am most thankful for my friends because they are always there for me.” -Emily Leitz (9) “I am most thankful for my family because they have always been there for me and helped me.”

-Steve Zepeda (9)“I am thankful for having my parents being there when I really needed them. They’ve helped me with the toughest things I’ve been in. Also I am thankful for having awesome friends.” -Lisa Marie

Tello (9)“I am grateful for my friends and family that love and care about me!!” -Rebecca Meddock (9)

“The thing that I am most thankful for is my family always there for me and my friends!” -Janelle Ashley Moore (9)

“I am most thankful for my family, and friends! And all of the people that have been in my life!” -Brittany Stoneburner (9)

“I am thankful for my family and friend and that god gave me a loving family.” -Ashley Pfeifer (10)“I’m thankful that everybody in my family is okay and has a good job.” -Antonio de Jesus Gonza-

lez (10)“I am most thankful for my family and friends they have helped me through so much. I love them

all!” -Haley Ohlinger (10)“Family cause it was the most important” -Sean Melemore (11)

“I am thankful for all my friends, family and my 3 pets.” -Cody Andy Flores (11)“I am thankful for having good friends and having a good family. Plus food” -Kristopher Cave (11)

“Poland” -Cole Schelske (11)“I’m thankful for family, friend, GIRLS!” -Andres Anaya Escobar (11)

“I am thankful for my daughter, my wonderful family and my life.” -Rayna Hall (11)“I most thankful for my family and friends.” -Juan Cardenas (11)

“I am most thankful for my family for bringing me to this world and giving me love.” -Victor Morales (11)

“I am thankful for my family and friends. They are the people that help me stay on me feet! I love them all.” -Kayla Sutiff (11)

“My family supporting me, and showing that they care.”-Scott Michaels (11)“I am thankful my family for putting me on this earth for meeting my high school sweetheart Al-lyson Suzie Watchman she the most amazing thing that ever happened to me.” -Cory Mendoza

(11)“I am mostly thankful for my two sisters and mother who is always there for me and help me

whenever I need it. Happy Thanksgiving!” -Priscilla Romao (11)“I am most thankful for the best math teacher in one school, Mr. Tsorin.” -Gabriel Nava (11)

“I am thankful for J.J. Castillo because I love him. I am also thankful for my parents and my dog.” -Analleli Gomez (11)

“I am thankful for the strong ties and bonds I share with the seniors of 09’ and the rest of the Coronado community. It’s nice to spend my days in my home away from home with the mentors

and siblings I never quite had.”-Jake Palumbo (12)“I am thankful for my grandma. I am because she raise me all my life, supported me and was their

for me through everything.” -Taylor Wade (12)“I am thankful for all of my awesome and amazing friends, I am also thankful for my family who

support me in anything I do.” -KC Klippert (12)“I am most thankful for a fantastic senior year, including the amazing people I’ve known or met. A great football and volleyball season, the teachers and staff. These people shared the most memo-

rable experience in my entire life.” -Colin Johnson (12)“The NFL, NBA, and life.” -Chris Huntsman (12)

“The thing I am most thankful for are most definitely the people I surround myself with.” -Briana Pitts (12)

“I am most thankful for my true friends, and all that we have been through together.” -Richard Breese (12)

“I am thankful for having such a great family and friends. Also I am thankful for all the great op-portunities that life offers.” -Veronika Stoimenova (12)

“I am thankful for my family and friends.” -Elvis Rivera (12)“I am most thankful for everything in my life.” -Chris Munoz (12)

“I am thankful for my family and friends, and I am especially thankful for my ... relationship with my boyfriend who is currently in Ohio.” -Andrea Dressing (12)

“I am most thankful for all the people who have helped me get where I am today. This includes my parents, my family, my friends, and especially my teachers.” -Adrienne Miller (12)

“Since my birthday is on Thanksgiving this year, it seems fitting to give thanks to my mom. If I wasn’t for her, I would not be here today. She has been through so much for me and always made sure I was okay no matter the strife she was going through to make it that way. I am thankful for

her.” -Erika Davis (12)“I am thankful that I am who I am, for the friends that I have for my family and for my house and

my bed.” -Nina Porter (12)“I am most thankful for my family and friends. I am thankful for our military and the job they do to protect all of us. I am thankful for the opportunity to volunteer in capacity that benefits parents,

teachers and students.” -Mr. Peterson“I am most thankful for my kids, my friends and my health.” -Mrs.McKallor

“My family!” -Carissa Moorhead (12) “My…friends. They always help me when I need it and are just as goofy as me.”-Lynn Vogan (12)

1 (18 pound) whole turkey, neck and giblets removed 2 cups kosher salt 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 large onions, peeled and chopped

DIRECTIONS1. Rub the turkey inside and out with the kosher salt.

Place the bird in a large stock pot, and cover with cold water. Place in the refrigerator, and allow the turkey to soak in the salt and water mixture 12 hours, or over-night.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Thor-oughly rinse the turkey, and discard the brine mixture.

3. Brush the turkey with 1/2 the melted butter. Place breast side down on a roasting rack in a shallow roasting pan. Stuff the turkey cavity with 1 onion, 1/2 the carrots, 1/2 the celery, 1 sprig of thyme, and the bay leaf. Scatter the remaining vegetables and thyme around the bottom of the roasting pan, and cover with the white wine.

4. Roast uncovered 3 1/2 to 4 hours in the preheated oven, until the internal temperature of the thigh reaches 180 degrees F (85 degrees C). Carefully turn the turkey breast side up about 2/3 through the roasting time, and brush with the remaining butter. Allow the bird to stand about 30 minutes before carving.

4 carrots, peeled and chopped 4 stalks celery, chopped 2 sprigs fresh thyme 1 bay leaf 1 cup dry white wine

INGREDIENTS

Classic “Perfect” Turkey

1 (6 oz) can French fried onions 1 (10.75 oz) can condensed cream of mushroom soup

DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).2. Place green beans and soup in a large microwave-safe

bowl. Mix well and heat in the microwave on HIGH until warm (3 to 5 minutes). Stir in 1/2 cup of cheese and heat mixture for another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer green bean mixture to a casserole dish and sprinkle with French fried onions and remaining cheese.

3.Bake in a preheated 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until the cheese melts and the onions just begin to brown.

2 (14.5 oz) cans green beans, drained 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

INGREDIENTS

“Best” Green Bean Casserole

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin 1 (14 oz) can Sweetened Condensed Milk 2 large eggs 1 teaspoon ground cin-namon

DIRECTIONS1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Whisk pumpkin, sweet-

ened condensed milk, eggs, spices and salt in medium bowl until smooth. Pour into crust. Bake 15 minutes.

2Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F and continue baking 35 to 40 minutes or until knife inserted 1 inch from crust comes out clean. Cool. Garnish as desired. Store leftovers covered in refrigerator.

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 (9 in) unbaked pie crust

INGREDIENTS

“Perfect” Pumpkin Pie

Sports T.J [email protected]. 10

New Year, New Everything

by James Burkhardt

Last year’s varsity boys basketball team consisted of twelve players. Two were sophomores, two were juniors and the remainder walked across the stage on the football field last May. It is very difficult to have a successful season when only four players played on the team the previous season. That’s not to say it can’t be done. Former Coach Windler decided to “move up” to Chaparral and is now the head coach there. Coronado will be coached by Bill Guthrie this season. As a side note, there is a chance Coronado could play Chaparral in a tournament during winter break at Cactus Shadows High School. Those returning from last year’s squad include Seniors John Belak and Tony Ochoa and Juniors

Shane Harney and most likely Sergio Archoa, but he is still playing football, so we don’t know for sure. As for the schedule, it’s very similar to last year if not easier. The East Sky Region isn’t known to be an overly difficult basketball region. Besides that, Arcadia lost ‘ol Charlie Ward to graduation, who was the all-region player of the year for the past two seasons. Seniors Michael Fox and David Carroll will be ones to…well they’re on the team again. Seton Catholic truly should be the team to beat in region this season. They had a solid foundation and were a tough team to play last season. The Dons open the season at home on December 5th against Dysart. Coronado lost to Dysart two out oof

three games last year, but all in close games. In all probability, the dons should come out with an opening victory. Coronado will have four non-region games against Dysart, Independence, Perry and Cortez before entering region play. With any sort of a mediocre team, Coronado should go into region with a 3-1 or 4-0 record. On a darker note, Junior Adam Dickerson was injured last week playing basketball, and was released from the hospital last Tuesday. It is unknown home long he will be out. This year should prove to be interesting with so few returning members as well as a new coach, but with a soft schedule and a strong JV team last season, Coronado should be able to make another appearance in the playoffs.

At press time, the second-ranked Dons varsity football team is preparing for a second round matchup against rival Arcadia. While this article may get read or trashed, pending the game’s outcome, one reality will last: football fever has captured this campus’s imagination. Headed by a balanced attack and East Sky Region Coach of the Year B.J. Pasquel, this is a focused group. Coach Pasquel commented on the effect the community has had on him, he remarked, “they’ve done a great job. It’s been great and I hope it only gets better.” Senior Bryan Dunlavey was asked his opinion on Pasquel earning this honor and replied “[Pasquel

Coronado Gripped by Football Fever by James Burkhardt

winning the award] proves that our football program is amongst the best in the state even though it wasn’t expected”. Junior TJ Brown was asked the same and he stated “I think it’s great for him because he is finally being recognized

for the hard work he puts in for us and how far he’s taken us”. In the 4A-II playoff first round, on the opening kickoff junior Kwame Webster fumbled the return leading to a Bradshaw touchdown. On the

Buya! Quarterback Alex Buya drops back to pass in a win over Tempe on homecoming night. Aided by a balanced offensive attack and a coaching staff recognized , at press time Buya has led Coronado to a second round 4A-II playoff matchup against Arcadia.

Varsity Football comes out on top this season and captivates the Coronado community

following possession, Coronado scored to tie the game at six, and within fifteen seconds, scored again to go up by six. The Dons recovered the next kickoff and scored again, and from there, never looked back. Going into halftime, the score was 18-12 in favor of Coronado. The Dons turned on the heat in the second half, putting away “Da Bears” 40-19. With running back Kaylin Ashley still not at full strength, fellow senior J.J. Castillo picked up the slack rushing for 122 yards and two touchdowns on eight carries. Ashley also earned 97 yards and a touchdown on 22 attempts. Sophomore Alex Buya also connected for 92 yards on nine pass attempts.

Regarding Friday night’s matchup, the game’s winner will play the winner of the Palo Verde vs. Santa Rita game on November 28th at a neutral site, most likely in the Scottsdale area. But whether Coronado continues to state, Dons everywhere are proud of our team. Well known is that other rival schools claim that our Coronado football isn’t up to “standards”, but this season many of CHS’s athletes have proved them wrong. Junior Amanda Pixley can always be seen at Coronado’s games and knows of comments made by other schools, so she has a message for other schools: “Don’t judge a book by it’s cover and don’t go by what you

hear because look where it got you... below the ‘underdogs’ I am really proud of them and have a lot of respect for coming as far as they have”. Devoted supporter sophomore Jesse Barber added saying that rivals should “look at our record and watch out for the Dons because we’re coming!” Of course our students are supportive of the team but so are our players. Dunlavey commented on coming as far as the Dons have saying “It shows we can compete with the top schools and come out on top. It shows the heart and hard work that our school has”. As far as being doubted as a school, Brown added one final word, “Let them keep doubting, and we will continue to prove them wrong”.

The ever progressing varsity Lady Dons basketball are here again this year ready to show their improved skills and defeat their biggest rivals. The girls have mostly agreed on who they are looking forward to play against this season. With much anticipation juniors Kaicee Horn, forward Shelby Landolt, power forward Ashley Capp and sophomore Amber Webster are all waiting for the chance to dominate Arcadia. Horn stated “Arcadia is going down this year”! But for forward Rachel Murray (11) she’s “definitely looking forward to playing Seton [Catholic] this year because they killed us last year and it’d be nice to redeem ourselves with a win from them”. And for Captain

Fast-Footed Girls Aim High

By Hannah Collins

Varsity Girls Basketball sets high standards

Cheryl Ralph (11) she is looking forward to “Tempe and Queen Creek”. As far as practicing goes, Ralph said the team is practicing her “favorite is full court drills and Penn State drills”. They are also working on weave drills, lay-up drills and are scrimmaging as well. One of the team’s biggest goals is to be faster. “We do a lot of running drills to be faster than the other teams”, stated Webster. “I think we are going to be a fast team this season. We’re going to get up and down the court quick”, added Horn. Lastly Landolt said “We are a running team. We’re faster than a lot of teams, but there’s always room for improvement”.Capp continued saying that

“This will be a big year for Katie Wimer (12), her leadership and skill will help us get far this season”. When Wimer was asked how she felt being selected as one of the captains, she replied “I feel confident I can lead this team to victory”. “I’m looking forward to this season to win, I think we have a better chance at winning than any other year I’ve played,” Wimer continued, “we’re also going to try to not be the ‘fouling team’ and to be faster this year”. Being Wimer’s last year on basketball, the team is hoping under Wimer, Ralph and Coach Sharp’s leadership they can make this season a victorious one.

After completing a competitive season the Varsity Volleyball team finished with a 12-11 season. The girls didn’t go as far as they had hoped, losing

Final Serve

The Explorer and Coach Willis look back at Var-sity Volleyball’s special

season

There is no doubt that one of the main focused for the girls this season was not only to work as a team but as a family. “We worked our problems as a family and we made our season about volleyball and the joy of the sport,” Coach Willis added. Coach Willis also stated that some of the girls had to step out of their comfort zone and step up to a new position. One of her examples was Merry Berhe, a senior and captain of the volleyball team.

She explained that Merry could have stood out in the region as a libero, a back row defensive specialist, and would have probably made an all region team but instead she gave up her position to provide leadership in their setting position. “[This] is just [an] example of the level of commitment on this team,” Coach Willis added. For girls who are interested in joining next years team Coach Willis pointed out that she is looking for team

chemistry, be in good physical condition and you must be able to sacrifice your own personal success for the teams. “I would like to thank all the students, faculty, administration, parents and fans for their support this season … all of the words of encouragement meant a lot to the team and me,” Coach Willis added. Coach Willis also wanted to thank her seventh hour for being so mature and responsible when she needed to leave as well as

Ms. Cassetti for watching over them. As for the Lady Dons Coach Willis also has a special message for you: “I will never, ever forget this season and this group of girls that made it so memorable. I am so honored to have been their coach.” By Maryza Diaz

to Raymond Kellis High School the ending scores being 16-25, 22-25, and 20-25. Despite their early play off exit they girls came out with a confident team and a successful program. Coach Willis was named East Sky Retion Coach of the Year. “It was an honor to be named coach of the year but “team of the year” should go to the Lady Dons,” said Coach Willis. “They were the ones that put last season behind them and played their hearts out every night.”

Sports TooT.J [email protected] Pg. 11

Finally HereVarsity Boys Soccer looks to go deeper into playoffs

It’s finally here. The season we have all been waiting for: Boys Varsity Soccer. This season the team looks as strong as ever. This team is well equipped with speed, power, confidence, and team chemistry. This team has known each other for years and has been playing along side each other since they were children. There is only one new player to the soccer team that hasn’t played with the others as long as the rest of the team. The solitary player is Jeffrey Alcocer who is a sophomore here at Coro-nado. Although he hasn’t played with the others as long as the rest of the team, the team only looks at him as another posi-tive reinforcement to their team. When asked about the team’s past and hopes Al-cocer said, “The team has been to the playoffs in pre-vious years and we won’t break tradition this year. Also, the team is steadily improving, but through everything we won’t disap-point anyone this year.” Alcocer also told the Coronado Explorer that, “we had a foreign ex-change student on the team but due to the times of

practice the player could not attend practice, so one day he quit.” The team is lead by head coach Mr. Tsorin who believes that the team not only has a great chance of going into the playoffs, but maybe even have a perfect season. With this all-star team it would be hard to argue with such a state-ment. The only concern that the team has is weather. Al-though players don’t have to play in the burning Ari-zona sun, the cold might have an effect. If too much of this cold weather gets to the player’s field, the grass will be just one big pile of dew. This though has little effect on the players, their response; “we have dealt with it before, we’ll deal with it again.” Overall the team is ex-cited not only to play, but also to play with a sense of “Don Pride” backing them up. The team hopes that soon they can prove to themselves once again to the soccer world just as they did in the past. Now the Dons look toward the season as a small obstacle that can and will be over-come. The only thing that we as spectators can do is wait till that expected first game.

Playoff Bound?Varsity Girls Soccer has high expectations

Under the shadows and fresh from the soccer gods, the Girls Varsity Soccer season has arrived. The long awaited awaited season for the lady Dons is here and they are ready for anything. Unlike the Boys Var-sity Soccer team, the girls do not receive as much attention. As for the skill though, the girls are just as well ranked as the boys. The girls think that this year is the year they will be playoff champions. The team is coached by Mr. Schmitz. According to Mr. Schmitz, the girls “have improved since last year and look toward the playoffs very early in their season.” Mr. Schmitz added the girls “just have to stay focused and con-tinue towards their goal in the playoffs, if they do that then they should have no problem during the regular season.” Speaking for their players, team captains Janet Granillo and Shayla

Hernandez said, “even though it seems like for-ever since the last season, this season we are going to lead everyone into victory. Also, the team chemistry already seems better than last year’s team. This will only make us better.” The team as a whole looks forward to their first game, but especially the game against Arcadia. The team says this is because, “we’ve beat them before, and also so we can prove to them whose the real competition.” As Dons, we need to come out and cheer for all of our sports, especially the soccer teams. This year could be the year of suc-cess for all of Coronado’s sports as the teams predict-ed. As the conquistadors before them, the Dons start their season in confidence, chemistry, and aggressive-ness. The only difference: the much-waited playoffs, and the perfect season that all the spectators and coaches expect.

Jessica Adair, Don Fanatic

How many people do you know have a strong enough love for their school to get a tattoo rep-resenting their graduation year and school initial’s? Well Jessica Adair has exactly this, permanently sporting her love for Coronado. She displays her school spirit on her lower hip with the letters CHS and 2010 written in bold black ink. In many ways Jessica is making an obvi-ous statement that loving your school and taking pride in being a Don is perfectly acceptable She is currently involved in cheer, track, basketball, and the Def Slamaz. Her enjoyment of being able to cheer on the variety of sports teams here at Coro-nado has influenced her to remain on the cheer team. She wears her uniform for cheer every Friday and loves being apart of after school activities. Jessica stated that “Good grades

have always been very im-portant to me and I enjoy being very involved with my school”. Her favorite coaches are Mrs. K, Coach Carpenter, Coach Pasquel, and Mrs. Kemp. They have all taught her something helpful and she takes with her, something different from all of them. Jessica has many friends that are involved with the same sports as she is and a large portion of her friends have been consistently involved with school.’’ I already feel the excitement of knowing I’m going to be a senior next year and very close to graduating from Coronado, but at the same time I feel like I can wait and enjoy my time being a junior and experiencing the fun and memories I will take with me when I am finished with high school” is a com-mon feeling that Jessica stated found in many of the minds here at Coronado.

By Melissa ShawBy TJ Kittle By TJ Kittle

Scenes from the November 14th Pep Rally...

This year wrestling is looking forward to a chal-lenging season. With the January 29th meet against city rivals Desert Mountain looming, wrestlers hope their pre-season and summer train-ing will pay off. Practice begins after seventh period and ends when Coach Beracy feels his Dons have put in their effort for the day. Six days a week, the wrestlers practice every day except for Sundays on their day of rest. The next competition for the team will be Thursday December 4th against

Chaparral. Expect every-one to be pushing hard for priority spots on the team. Ben Peterson, a two time state contender and Var-sity Team Captain stated, “wrestling is intense … but it will all pay off at the end of the season.” With hydration tests passed and physicals complete, the wrestlers have their shoes cracked for competition. Start supporting the team now and with the right motiva-tion, Coronado could see wrestlers challenge Mingus before season’s end.

“Wrestling is Intense”By Sean Essary

Advertise in the Coronado Explorer!

Instead of wasting your time reading this pointless black box covering up unused space, you could be reading an ad

for your local business, group, or organization.

Visit our website for more info at coronadoexplorer.com

...unless you like wasting your time reading nothing?

Dontastic Creations Carol [email protected]

Pg. 12

Spotlight On.. KC KlippertBy Carol Toll

T.J. Brown: Words of Life

This edition for Thanksgiving, we choose a senior that has drawing for a great hobby but her other hobby is poetry. We ask her what she wanted to do for the newspaper and she showed her poetry. Spotlight on is KC Klippert. She lent to us her poems to share with everyone and told us about her life as a poet. When asked when she started to write poetry KC responded “I started writing in sixth grade,” she also added “but I really got into poetry and writing poetry in eighth grade.” Generally people write poetry around a concentration. Klippert’s concentration was she responded, “I just write what comes to mind, I don’t really have a specific subject. However most of my poetry is more dark than happy.” When asked why she prefers dark poetry than happy poetry she put down, “I prefer darker poetry because to me it just sounds better and just seems to flow better than happy poetry.” Artists in our world have people who inspire them. Klippert said, “I don’t really have some one who inspires me to write. I just love doing it. Although

I do admire Edgar Allen Poe’s poetry, I am not sure if he would be considered as someone who inspires me.” We also found out her favorite work of poetry from Poe. “I would have to say my favorite piece of Poe would definitely have to be The Raven with out a doubt.” She also put down, “I’m not sure why The Raven is my favorite, just out of all of his work that I’ve read, that one is the on that I enjoyed reading the most. That and when I think of Poe lines from The Raven always fills my head.” Sometimes people do poetry for hobbies or they have a reason. “When I originally started it was to help me deal with my great grandma’s death. But now it is just a hobby that I really enjoy doing.” Klippert commented on her favorite poetry style, “I would say I almost always use rhyming in my poetry whether it is every

line or every other line it is usually in it. Other than [rhyming] I do free-style poetry.” She also added, “Well I wouldn’t say I pick

the rhyme scheme for poetry it just seems to be the one that is used when I do poetry. I just start writing and they just end up rhyming most of the time, I

guess it’s my natural way of writing poetry.” Artists use their emotions to write their poetry. Klippert adds happily,

“Always, most of the time when I write my poems they correspond with my mood. So if I am angry I might write a poem that has an angry or hateful tone to it, same goes with if I am sad. However none of my poems have a happy tone, normally because I prefer to write darker poetry.” With following that question, I ask her do you ever write happy poetry, or just dark poetry. “No, I never write happy poetry I always write dark. I just can’t get into writing happy well at least not when it comes to poetry anyways.” Ending the interview, Klippert added as general info for anyone, “Poetry can be really fun and relaxing and you get to express yourself in a creative way.”

What Happiness Mean to Me By TJ Brown (11)

Happiness is expressing, letters woven intimately across the page. No skies for dead birds here. Haunting reflections of self hatred deflected.. Now beautiful like springs of joy, with sun rays bouncing off shimmering waves. Potential fulfilled in all shapes and forms. Imagine a place of success earned only by the hard-working, giving back to my community, which gave birth to my influence. Guiding the lost and serving justice when needed… Who else will commit to doing right when we all are in the wrong? Yet no one is perfect, but you are only worth what you consider yourself to be. I plant serenity like apple seeds. Not now will it grow, but with time it will achieve strength. Standing strong in a human-filled wasteland. Let happiness prevail not only for me but for every human with a soul. My meaning cannot be defined by a dictionary. Before opening the Book, try opening your mind… Deep… Like meditating in the graves of unknown soldiers, thinking about what has been achieved through firearms, wars of chaos and so on. Too many downs and not enough ups. Happiness to me defies such carnage, yet I write of what I see and feel. Maybe one day there will be a day where we coexist, together as one. Until then… May I bless you…

Life Stories By TJ Brown (11)

Stories twisted amongst eyelids of men who have witnessed the death of their own children. One question I asked myself: Where was I when the one who brought me into this world chose drugs over their own reflection? Life was simple and plain, falling into the doctor’s hands only to later be snatched by the arms of society. Alley attics perish with needles, dying a much slower fate than we all expected. I need a blade that can cut negativity and decapitate a seven headed beast. I’m searching to find fortune in misfortune, but times are still hard. I often think about the Hell on Earth people have to go through just to receive Heaven: The wars. The raping. The carnage. The insanity… The PAIN! I wonder, is it all worth it in the end? My crippled gestures will soon tell you… Til’ then, speak only of what will set you free, for I have to save myself.

Klippert reviewing her favorites of Poe. Once upon a midnight dreary,I awoke, my eyes were teary.For while I slept, I had a dream.The terrible feeling I can’t explain,My stomach turned and throbbed with pain, “I could not reach where it was kept,”My eyes began to stream.“If I could only have that scrumptious donut,Its center filled with cream!”I was struck with an idea like a laser beam.

The next morning I awoke,Only to find that I was broke.“How can I buy my glazed friend?”Impossible it would seem,This donut’s haunting must be a crime,I’ll search this house ‘till I find a dime.This awful hunger I will mend, Unlike my evil, eerie dream,Tomorrow when I find some money,I’ll visit that donut making team.I think I’ll get one in the morning with the sun’s first gleam.”

When I entered the donut shop, I looked around for a “donut dunking” cop.Quickly I entered the thinning line,And spotted the last Krispy Kreme.The lady ahead of me got it first,My eyes welled up and then they burst!The tears hit the ground with a gentle plop,My embarrassment was extreme.One worker told me not to worry,Though I was low on self-esteem,He said, “Come back in the morning with the sun’s first gleam.”Vowing not to leave empty handed,A glazed donut’s what I demanded. Patiently I waited ‘till my name was called,My jaw dropped in amazement when I saw my donut steam.When I bit into its core,I just wanted more, more, more. Its amazing taste left me appalled,The donut was supreme.I cannot even describe it,It made me want to swim upstream!In fact, “I think I’ll swim tomorrow with the sun’s first gleam.”So after days of trying,My donut left me crying,Leaving me wanting more,And wishing I could scream.My stomach finally felt content,I no longer longed to smell the scent,Of my precious donut store,Nor was I haunted by my dream.I no longer know what I desire,I’m happy it would seem.

The Glazin’

Editorial note: For Mr. Gerchick’s English III and III Honors classes, students wrote parodies of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.” Some submissions were serious in tone while the below submission, by Adam Dickerson (11), were satirical. In no way is this poem meant to be an accurate commentary on the

eating habits of any single profession.

A “Raven” parody by Adam Dickerson

And as the rain fades awayI see what comes is a new dayWith everything now changingAs if it was the words someone was singingBut dreams never lastAnd always go by too fastI once again feel the pain insideThat I tried so hard to hideRealize what exactly I was fearingAs these dreams are disappearingBut I know that for meDreaming comes so easily

An Untitled Poem from the Notebook of KC Klippert:

The Funny Page Pg. 13Erick [email protected]

By Nestor MartinezSouth Scottsdale Adventures

STICKMAN BY JASON KURTTI

ATTENTION CORONADO GENIUSES!!Are you talented with writing? How about drawing? Or maybe painting? Perhaps photography? Or is it sculpting?

Do you identify yourself as an artist?

Are you interested in seeing your work in the Coronado Explorer?

If so, contact Section Editor Carol Toll via email at [email protected], Mr. Gerchick at [email protected], or stop by room B244 with any SCHOOL APPROPRIATE submissions by December 10th to see them in

the next edition of the Explorer.

In the MiddleBy Tori Lynn Sullivan

EntertainmentPg. 14 Qori [email protected]

Get A Life!

LittleBigPlanet (a.k.a LBP) is a puzzle plat former and user generated content video game for the Playstation 3 that was released on October 28, 2008. The main focus on the game is the players control over “Sackboys,” “Sackgirls,” or “Sack per-son.” little characters that look like knit dolls. Play-ers begin inside their own “pod”, a personal space from which they can ac-cess the three modes of game play, and decorate the room with stickers and decorations. Once completing the tutorial, the player is free to roam and play any part

LittleBigPlanet

As many may not know, this month MTV lovers said farewell to one of the Music Television’s most prized shows Total Request Live, also known as TRL. Former hosts Carson Daly and Damien Fahey hosted their final TRL show on Sunday, November 11 with a two hour block with famous guest stars such as Justin Timberlake, Travis Barker and Christina Aguilera. The show first aired in 1999 and has had a 10 year run on MTV. Dave Sirulnick, TRL producer, stated “10 is the number that ` TRL’ counted down every single day for 10 years, and we hit this 10th (anniversary) and we thought, `You know what? This feels like the right time and let’s celebrate it and let’s reward it”. TRL has helped many music and movie celebrities hit the charts and rock out new singles for years, and for some the TRL finale was sad. But MTV may already have a new music based pro-gram called FNMTV hosted by Pete Wentz of Fall Out Boy ready to replace the infamous Total Request Live.

Goodbye TRLBy Hannah Collins-Lewis

Songs of a Higher Frequency

In Flames has contrib-uted a rock solid CD. The instrumentation is recorded to deliver sounds that push the mind back and forth. Daniel Bergstrand has come a long way from his homeland Scandinavia. Mastering the drum track and accompanied by Lisa Miskovsky on the vocals in “Dead End”, lyrics “we’re too numb to feel” burn themselves into perma-nence. The album is labeled Come Clarity, as well as one of the most ground-breaking tracks on the record. These musicians are not new; they have the experience and should be appreciated by any fan of metal, amplification, or growling.

Cleansed In Flames

By Sean Essary

If you like Kanye West, then Lupe Fiasco is for sure up your alley. I recently listened to Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor, and I have to say that the material is “hip-hop to its best” this album is surrounded by powerful lyrics about today’s time and it also shares personal experiences from the artist him self. So, if you like to hear different perspectives of the world and at the same time listen to some hard beats, then Lupe Fiasco’s Food and Liquor is what you need to dump in your iPod.

Lupe Fiasco

By Nestor Martinez

Game announced in 2007 finally comes out

of the game. Although there are pre-built levels that are actually based off of real-world environments, players are also encour-aged to create their own levels, and can share and play them online as a part of the LittleBigPlanet community. Players may also access the character’s menu, known as the Popit, at any time. This menu allows players to select from a number of cus-tomization options, such as selecting materials and outfits for their Sackboy, as well as choosing stick-ers from a large selec-tion, which can then be plastered onto any surface in the game world. Stickers may also be created from photos taken using the PlayStation Eye and after an upcoming patch, users will be able to import images from their console’s hard drive. All throughout the game there isn’t a set solution for anything. You live and play LittleBigPlanet however you want to.

By Tori Lynn Sullivan

11/21-5/31-‘Chihuly: The Nature of Glass’ @ Desert Botanical Garden 1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Papago Park, Phoenix. $7.50-$18

11/26 - Coldplay @ Jobing.com Arena 9400 W. Maryland Ave. Glendale,Az $49.50 – $97.50

11/27-Tempe Thanksgiving Block Party@ Tempe Sports Complex 8401 S. Hardy Drive,Tempe, 85284 , Free with canned food donation

11/28-11/29-Glendale Glitters Spectacular Weekend@ Downtown Glendale59th and Glendale avenues,Glendale, 85301, free

11/28-12/23-Las Noches de las Luminarias@ Desert Botanical Garden1201 N. Galvin Parkway, Phoenix, 85008, $10-$25

11/29 – Harley Davidson Parade @ Desert Foothill Park 1010 Sw. Marketplace Way. Phx,Az (Free Event)

12/05- 12/06 – Gingerbread Nights @ Downtown Glendale 59th Ave & GlendaleAve. Glendale,Az (Free Event)

12/05-Phooson@ Cricket Wireless Pavilion, 2121 N. 83rd Ave., Phoenix, 85035, $15-$81

12/06/2 – Celine Dion @ Jobing.com Arena 9400 W. Maryland Ave. Glendale,Az $44.95 - $150

12/10 - ACDC @ U.S. Airways Center 201 E. Jefferson St. Phx,Az $96.93

12/13- Fantasy of Lights Boat Parade @ Tempe Beach Park 80 W. Rio Salado Tempe,Az (Free Event)

HEYYOU!

Do you have some killer concert pics? Or

maybe wanna share what’s in your iPod? If so the Coronado Explorer is looking for students who are willing to share their

creative entertainment ideas and events, and share their thoughts

on music. If you have ideas email Qori Krog

at [email protected]. We

would love to hear form you!!!

Warcraft: Lord of the

ClansThrall, rage, and a really big hammer

I don’t believe I’ve met a single person in my entire life that doesn’t enjoy reading about a large, an-gry green giant who wields an enormous hammer and conjures lightning and earthquakes because he’s angry. I therefore assume that you, dearest reader, would enjoy Christie Gold-en’s Lord of the Clans. Follow our beloved Thrall on a journey from slave to gladiator to supreme overlord over the course of two-hun-dred and seventy eight pages of blood, sweat, and tears. Accompanying Thrall is a big guy with a big hammer: Orgrim Doomhammer, and Grom Hellscream, who has a PHD in rage and is renowned for breaking things in half with his lovely battle shouts.

Unfortunately, there’s also a love interest thrown in where it really has no business. It’s heartwarm-ing to know that a ber-serker has a soft spot for a decent human being, but why the heck did they waste page space writing about something that isn’t smashing and bashing? Oh well; the book is great any-ways, and they do manage to tie everything in rather nicely. If you’re a fan of the Warcraft games, give the book a shot. The worst you can do is learn more about everyone’s favorite leader of the Horde. As far as newcomers to the series are concerned, read it if you enjoy a bit of violence or are a sucker for orcs.

By Robert Pizzi

The Almost Back Page Pg. 15Erick [email protected]

By Chris Kloskin

The Conspiracy Theorist

The Conspiracy Theorist

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The LyricistBy James Burkhardt

As the holiday season is now upon us, I have chosen a lighthearted reflection of how the spirit of Thanksgiving has devolved from pilgrims and Native Americans to what we have now. For this issue, we will divulge into the deeper meanings of Adam Sandler’s “The Thanksgiving Song”…sort of. To meet ethical and school censorship requirements, I’ve toned down the lyrics to a more PG version. Regardless, feel free to argue with my deep, oh so inspirational meaning for this apparently simple song:

Love to eat turkey Love to eat turkey

Contrary to obvious belief, this statement shows a deep internal conflict within Sandler. Reasonably speaking, Sandler feels the need to repeat himself in order to convince his mind of truly liking the Thanksgiving delicacy. After all, it would be difficult to write a song praising the holiday if the writer doesn’t even have respect for it.

Love to eat turkey ‘Cause it’s good

Love to eat turkey Like a good boy should ‘Cause it’s turkey to eat

So good

Again with the self examination… As Sandler is attempting to convince himself of having a taste for the fall foul, he uses simple adjectives such as “good” to describe the mouth-watering poultry. Sandler cites that he “love(s) to eat turkey like a good boy should.” This proves the point of his actual distaste for turkey. Since Sandler’s fans adore him, he can associate himself with a “good boy” and they will easily believe that he also likes turkey, just like the good boy, anyway…

Turkey for me Turkey for you

Let’s eat the turkey In my big brown shoe Love to eat the turkey

At the table I once saw a movie With Betty Grable

Eat that turkey All night long

Fifty million Elvis fans Can’t be wrong

Turkey lurkey doo and Turkey lurkey dap I eat that turkey

Then I take a nap

Now Sandler wants to pawn his turkey on me? Come on, it’s not that bad! Plus, I hear your feet smell bad… Sandler goes on to attempt to distract the listener from his discontent by recalling a past love that has obviously not faded far from his mind in Betty Grable. Turkey Lurkey is a character in “The Sky is Falling.” Sandler could possibly be hinting at a world ending event, death symbolized as “a nap.”

Thanksgiving is a special night Jimmy Walker used to say Dynomite

That’s right Turkey with gravy and cranberry

Can’t believe the Mets traded Darryl Strawberry

There isn’t too much to say here, but I don’t blame the Mets at all. What team would want someone who spends more days in the court room and in jail than on the baseball field on their team? That’s right, the Yankees picked him up.

White meat, dark meat

You just can’t lose I fell off my moped And I got a bruise Turkey in the oven

And the buns in the toaster I’ll never take down

My Cheryl Tiegs poster Turkey and sweet potato pie

Sammy Davis Jr. Only had one eye

By now, even Sandler is getting bored. Notice how less than half of the lines in this stanza even pertain to Thanksgiving. It’s very apparent now the true meaning of this song. It’s not just about Thanksgiving, but an escape for Sandler to let out his feelings and recap his childhood. Obviously his pains over turkey distaste brought back a few pains of his youth. It’s not every day someone remembers falling off a moped…

Turkey for the girls and

Turkey for the boys My favorite kind of pants

Are corduroys Gobble gobble goo and Gobble gobble gickel

I wish turkey Only cost a nickel

Oh I love turkey on Thanksgiving

Who doesn’t wish turkey cost a nickel? Well that about wraps in up for this “inside” look at one of America’s favorite actor/songwriters. From myself, The Explorer and Adam Sandler (I guess), have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Adam Sandler and his new wife, Jackie Titone on June 24 2003. *photo credits to: from www.theage.com

Adolf Hitler was one of the most powerful dictators that the world has ever seen. He nearly took over all of Europe and Africa. He was loved by his Nazi followers. In fact, the Nazis had such a sense of Nationalism that one could say their supreme loyalty was a major factor in them conquering almost all of Europe. However, not all of the Nazis were happy with Hitler. One in particular, Colonel Henning von Tresckow planned and nearly completed an assassination attempt on Hitler. Tresckow was never happy with the way the Jews and Russian POWs were treated. He became more and more hateful of Hitler as time went on. Not to mention that by 1943 Germany was beginning to lose the war, and Hitler showed no signs of giving up. Tresckow was scared for himself and Germany. He knew that when Germany lost the war he would be put on trial and most likely executed and Germany would never be the same. He eventually came to the conclusion that it would be worse to let Hitler continue living than kill him. So he came up with a plan that would protect him and Germany from dying. He planned to kill Hitler. This was no easy task. Hitler was extremely well guarded. He eventually came to the conclusion that Hitler must die even if he has to take his own life. However, he needed to plan for the aftermath of Hitler’s death, because if Hitler was killed the country would be chaotic, he needed something that would keep the country under control. This was Operation Valkyrie. Operation Valkyrie was a plan that would keep Germany in order if the allied forces were to break the eastern and western fronts and attacked Germany. However, Tressckow saw this as a way to control Germany after the war. Tresckow enlisted the help of Count Claus von Stauffenberg, one of Hitler’s trusted officers. The plan was to put a bomb in Stauffenberg’s briefcase that would be detonated while in one of Hitler’s military conferences. Amazingly, Stauffenberg was not searched and he was able to get into the conference with the bomb. The conference was held in a bunker called the Wolf’s Lair, which Hitler spent most of his time. Before entering the conference Stauffenberg set the primer so that the bomb would detonate in 10 minutes. After about 9 minutes he made an excuse and left the room. Then the bomb went off. However, Hitler was not killed, he wasn’t even injured. This was because that right before the bomb went off one of Hitler’s officers moved the briefcase because he bumped his foot into it. He put the briefcase on the other side of the table it was on and unknowingly saved Hitler’s life. Stauffenberg assumed the plan was successful upon hearing the explosion. He then managed to get through several checkpoints and escape. He took a plane to Berlin and called the other conspirators that the plan was a success. Unfortunately, Strauffenberg was quickly arrested along with several other conspirators and were put to death the next day. Tresckow could not face the failure and he killed himself with a grenade. Hitler was furious at the assassination attempt and he had anyone who could have been involved in it rounded up and arrested. In the end 5,000 were arrested and 200 were executed. Hitler managed to escape death but not for long for he would be dead in another year.

Picture of Adolf Hitler and a briefcase.*photo credits to: mediastudies.com and carbonfibergear.com

Find the DifferencesBy Jawan Burton

To the left is the original picture that we had some fun with before we photoshop’d it...

...And to the right is the “fun” picture that we photoshop’d to give you a bit of entertainment.

Can you spot all the differences?

In leui of the Sleuther this issue (unfortunately, the trademarked Matthew Henricks was ill on deadline) we have these pictures for you. Whoever can turn in the most creative way to connect these pictures (no, not by drawing lines on the paper, by a storyline) by December 4th to room B244, Mr. Gerchick’s room, will win a special prize.

Random PicturesThe Back Page Erick Beltran

[email protected]

By Justin Slover

The Slovereign In the ever-evolving world of academia, teachers and administrators are always searching for new, innovative techniques centered on engaging students in their classes. This could be a history teacher who parallels a current event to something that happened a century ago in order to make the previous event seem more immediate. It could be an English teacher who, instead of lecturing the class on the technical aspects of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, watches the film version and has the class act out key scenes from the play. But our district has recently taken an entirely new approach geared towards making school an interactive atmosphere both in the classroom and online. Several new Myspaceesque features have been added to our school’s website in hopes of reaching out to our techno-savvy generation. But what exactly has been added, and are these features actually useful? Let’s explore why my computer keeps referring to me as “Fern Ferret.” This is The Slovereign… In the olden days of our school website, you could look up information about the school and check your grades, so long as your baby boomer teachers were smart enough to know how to update them. It was a helpful system that gave students at least a vague idea of how they were doing in their classes (although if you’re failing a class, you are probably either actively aware of it or are in a state of denial that goes far beyond the limited aid your computer can offer you). The new school website, however, features a completely re-configured system complete with a multitude of new features to better serve your academic needs. The school website now features an “AfterClass” program that serves as an extension to each teacher’s website. Through this program, you can discuss teacher’s Blog posts and Podcasts with fellow students. I have only question for this kind of feature: why? First of all, how many teachers would actually use this kind of program? With the exception of Mrs. Muller and a few technologentsia, our classes aren’t exactly run by the tech-savvy. The thought of someone like Mr. Troutman sending a Podcast is a ridiculously funny premise. Most teachers have a hard enough time figuring out how to work those goofy projector contraptions on the ceilings. I lost count of how many teachers I saw in the library at the beginning of the school being taught to use the new website. But this isn’t the only problem with a program like this. The biggest problem with a program like “AfterClass” is that students won’t use it. Can you honestly picture a high school kid hopping on the computer so he can chat with his buddies about Mr. Fernwalt’s latest Blog entry? Why the district ever thought that we as teenagers would think this is fun and cool is beyond me. Bless their hearts, but the district has taken this new interactive system a step further. Like with cyber-geek standards such AOL Instant Message or MySpace, you now have the ability to chat and leave comments for other students and administrators to respond to. How do you accomplish this, you may be wondering? The school assigns you a color/animal combination code name that serves as your identity on the website. Once you’ve been given your code name, you can change it any time by simply selecting a new animal and color. This new feature allows students to engage in constructive discussion about school-related topics as well as aid each other by commenting on classes. Even better is the fact that you accumulate participation points and earn trophies for being actively involved in the site. For those XBox 360 out there, think of these as achievements and gamer points. Now I, Fern Ferret, can have healthy discussions with Aquamarine Armadillo about our government homework while earning the “Insightful” plaque. Ya, we’ll get right on that. While I can commend the school district for trying to make their website more welcoming to students, no teenager in their right mind is going to use this service. They already have several outlets for getting in touch with fellow students, whether it is Myspace or Facebook or some new blogger site thing that I’m not cool enough to know about. The point is, things like this exist already, and the non-school sponsored sites offer far greater freedoms than anything the school district can legally muster. Now if you could post fun pictures from last week’s party on the school website, that would be a different story entirely. This whole school website renovation boils down to one thing: the school district is trying to be something it’s not. While it’s a nice gesture for them to try to bridge the gap between the classroom and the internet, the idea of students actually using these features is laughable. The district should stick to figuring out its budget and leave the Blog network to professionals who have nothing better to do.

Horoscopes * credits to: www.cosmogirl.com

By Erick Beltran

Issue Statistics with AbsolutelyNo “Journalistic” Value

Number of Computers that decided to fail in the lab while trying to convert to a Master Document: 4Hours spent in the lab trying to get this baby to press: HA!

Staff absent on Deadline Day: 3Number of Random Watermarks:

Number of Days Advisor campaigned for “that one,” in Denver, CO: 5 (and that was during Deadline too)Number of Missed Deadlines between Final Products: NO. COMMENT. (says Editor-in-Chief)

Number of Hours of Sleep, Collectively as a Staff: it’s a guesstamate, but we’re going with less than 50 this weekWord of the Issue: Gravy

Times it was Used: not many... We forgot. ;)

“Be the change you wish to see in the World” -Gandhi

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Aries 3/21-4/20 You’re torn between some-thing that looks fun and a promise you made to your parents or siblings. You know you’ll end up doing right by them, but that doesn’t mean you can’t work in a little resentment first. Taurus 4/21-5/21 What’s on your mind? Get it out there in the world, either through your con-nections with friends and family, or your blog -- or maybe something more esoteric like writing an epic poem. Gemini 5/22-6/21 Try not to worry too much about whether or not you’re thinking clearly about your new crush or problem -- you’re not. Sometimes it’s best to go through a period of deep confusion before moving on. Cancer 6/22-7/22 Does it feel as if someone’s following you -- only not so creepy? That’s because your not-so-evil twin is much more real today. Tune in -- it might give you a little lift whenever you need it. Leo 7/23-8/21 Try not to make a huge scene. But, if there’s al-ready a drama in progress, feel free to play your part.

You’re a big peacemaker right now, or at least you want to be. Try your best and see what happens. Virgo 8/22-9/23 You and your friends are pitching in to help some-one who needs something big. It might not be a for-mal arrangement -- some folks might not even real-ize they’re earning good karma. Libra 9/23-10/23 Forget about life’s troubles for now -- you should focus on the small stuff that means so much to you. If you do, you can make what would ordinarily be a pretty blah day into some-thing sweet

Scorpio 10/24-11/22 You’re longing to see more of the world, so you should find that your family is slightly more amenable to your ideas about travel. It might not be exactly when or where you want, but it’ll happen. Sagittarius 11/23-12/22 You and a friend or sweetie are on the outs right now -- but it’s temporary (or as temporary as you want it to be). Try not to say anything you’ll regret later, and just endure their weirdness. Capricorn 12/23-1/20 People say all kinds of things they don’t mean to-day -- try not to take them personally. If you can let

all the odd comments just roll off your back, people should eventually realize that you’re right. Aquarius 1/21-2/19 It’s a day of action. Make sure you’re jumping from task to task and activity to activity like a monkey in the zoo, not thinking or worrying too much about any one thing. Pisces 2/20-3/20 Express yourself from the heart today. You have plenty to say, so you should be able to say it in a way that almost everyone but your most rigid friends and family members can understand.

“SUSD: Bridging the Gap”