September Issue

The Paw Print

Volume XXII, Issue I Bolton High School, Arlington, TN September 2011

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What’s inside?

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{the paw print }

Letter from the EditorFailure to Lunch

Silent BellsAIM Tutoring

QOM

New Teachers

Neckline HeadlineReviews

Friday Night FootballXC Jamboree

HOSA Fund-raisersThespians

Graduation is the objective of (most) every senior. It is on their minds, littering their conversations, and marked on their calendars. However, this fall, there was a problem. The halls of Bolton were rife with rumors and whisperings concerning graduation. The problem, it seemed, was that roughly four different dates had been circulated, in one way or another, officially or unofficially, among the senior class. Some were ecstatic about a May 2 graduation, others were waiting for May 7, more had heard of a May 18 date, and others still were put out by rumors of a May 24 graduation. Teachers and soon-to-be seniors alike were hoping, as far back as last May, for an early graduation date for the class of 2012. After watching the class of 2011 wait around for weeks, no one wanted a repeat performance. The first week of school, an e-mail was distributed by the guidance office to teachers concerning graduation. When students heard that graduation was officially occurring on May 24, discord broke out. Hopes of an earlier graduation were tossed into the flames of reality, going up in smoke in the face of a date some three weeks later than the earli-est anticipated walk date. At this point, especially among A.P. students, murmuring began to filter through the ranks; the most creative turned to a conspiracy stemming from administration. It was thought and passed along as fact that Principal Haddow, in a fit of malice, had volunteered BHS to graduate last, behind every other high school in the Shelby County Schools system. Apparently, as a teacher had

explained, the county is on a rotation system for gradua-tion dates. The high schools are placed in a lineup, and the year after one school graduates earliest, it will graduate its students last. The other schools follow suit in a predeter-mined and set pattern. According to this rumor, Haddow had given up Bolton’s first in line date two years in a row, citing “safety concerns” as his reason. As can be imagined, students were furious at this “news.” They felt slighted, and as one anonymous senior stated, “I’ve done my time and waited to graduate. Part of being a senior means that you get out of school a week or two before all of the other grades. And now I have to wait. We only get out two days before everyone else [according to rumors]! That’s not fair. I did my time.” This aggravation is to be expected. No one, especially not anyone afflicted with the dreaded se-nioritis, wants to be in school longer than necessary. In order to quell the conspiracy theorists, Haddow was confronted with the rumors and given a chance to state the official policy. As of August 30, 2011, BHS seniors will graduate May 24 at Bellevue Baptist Church, not a day sooner, not a day later. Haddow said that the reports of for-feited dates were “wrong, wrong information.” He further explained the rotation system, stating that BHS is where it is supposed to be in the rotation. Seniors will graduate second to last in the county this year, followed by Arlington High School. continued on pg. 3, Rumor

The rumor mill strikes again byMolly Yates

“While we are disappointed in the final outcome, we have to learn from our mis-takes and celebrate the positives in the loss to Houston. The positives being we blocked both a punt and a field goal at-tempt, were 2 out of 3 on 4th down con-versions, and had a big play on a reverse. We give Houston credit, as they won the battle up front at the line of scrimmage, which was the determining factor in the game. The fan presence and support was amazing, and very inspirational to both the player and coaches. We look forward to playing a very good Craigmont team this week, and expect it to be an exciting challenge.”

-Head Coach, T. Miller

BHS v. HHS

photo courtesy of Molly Yates

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Staff ReportersBritany RichAishia RicksKayla Harbin

John DawidowJennifer Turner

Brian LeaksNick Deatherage

Amy KnackKelsey Hawkins

Volume XXII Issue ISeptember 2011

Newspaper StaffEditor-in-Chief Molly Yates

Production Editor Blake McCollough

Layout & Photography EditorZachary Cyganek

News EditorHeath Bennett

AdvisorKelly Robinson

Sports EditorAshley Winston

Student Life EditorKendra Holcomb

Business ManagerJennifer Bailey

Asst. Business ManagerKristen Bradford

The Paw Print

The Paw Print is a publica-tion of a Bolton High School journalism class. The opin-ions expressed in signed articles, editorials, and letters to the editor do not neces-sarily represent those of the Bolton High school news-paper staff, administration, or student body. Letters to the editor are encouraged; however, The Paw Print re-serves the right to edit or refuse to publish any letter. The newspaper design is courtesy of Molly Yates and Zachary Cyganek. Shelby County Schools offer edu-cational and employment opportunities without regard to race, color, national origin,

religion, sex, or disability.

Ah, September... It’s time for fresh starts and football. Now that the back to school rush of August has abated, it is really time to fall into the daily grind of schedules and assignments, lockers and quizzes. The monotony of the day-to-day here at Bolton (aside from fights and gossip) will inevitably become boring and make most students want to turn in their textbooks and hop onto the next bus back to summer lazi-ness. However, this year, I challenge each of you to at least try to enjoy your classes. Think of them as life steroids. By succeeding and putting in some top notch effort, all of the “stuff you’ll never use again” will actually become useful. Even if you don’t think the material matters, the method does. Learning to per-severe and focus will help you in many, many ways, whether you start working immediately after gradu-ation or choose to go to college. By learning how to apply yourself now, you’ll be making the road ahead considerably smoother and be miles ahead of your counterparts later in life. Bolton is the perfect place to pump up your life skills. In case you haven’t noticed, the hallways of this school are replete with teachers bent on encouraging kids and pushing them towards future successes. Find a good one to mentor you. They’ll be more than willing to give scholarly advice and dole out con-structive criticisms. It’s what they’re paid to do. Let them do their job. I genuinely hope that all of my fellow Boltonians are enjoying their first quarter thus far, and also that no freshmen have been stuffed into trash cans or died of heat stroke in Wellness. Seniors, keep it up! With every day that you overcome senioritis and show up, you’re one day closer to fulfilling your dreams. (I couldn’t help but be cheesy.) To all of the guys in the middle, sophomores and juniors, all I have to say is that you should be thankful you’re no longer freshmen. Do your time as an underling, and you’ll make it to senior year. Trust me, it’s worth every homework-laden, exam-filled minute of it. And to the teach-ers, I bid you the best of luck. You should all know by now how, um, interestingly unique we BHS kids can be... Enjoy us while we’re here. The 2011-2012 year is already well on it’s way to May!

from the desk of the editor...

Calling It As I See Itby Blake McCollough

We were welcomed to the 2011-2012 school year by many changes. “Silent bells” were in-troduced. Modifications in detention and disci-pline were highlighted. We were also handed a “new and improved” lunch schedule. This new system was heralded as salvation from the in-equality of one long period each day and justice to those students who were deprived the full po-tential of education due to having a certain class less time than other students. Despite good intentions, the new lunch plan proved to be one soggy hash brown. The first week of school was filled with rescheduling and tweaking the new and improved system. Added to the normal stresses of registering new stu-dents, resolving scheduling issues, and getting acquainted with the new school year, the prob-lem of lunch quickly took center stage. The new system consisted of having two pe-riods to house lunch, one for upper classmen (fourth), and another for lower classmen (fifth). But this new plan had some unforeseen short-

comings. First, some students were scheduled for lunch twice. This was made possible by having a fourth period teacher with an upper classmen lunch and a fifth period teacher with a lower classmen lunch. Other students had no lunch due to the opposite scenario. Those issues, coupled with the fact that the cafeteria computers were down, multiplied the predicament. The lines were so extensive, it took the entire lunch period to get through them. This problem was “miraculously” resolved by making the lunches longer. What a great idea! Only one problem—the poor souls in A lunch went to lunch well before ten o’clock, before even McDonald’s begins serving lunch, a time deemed ideal for breakfast by most in our cul-ture. When all was said and done, the problem of lunch worked itself out. Though there is much uncertainty, one thing is sure. There will always be lunch, whether you have it once, twice or not at all, whether it’s at 9:30 or 1:30.

*Title courtesy of Heath Bennett

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The Paw Print

3 You know what really grinds my gears? � e new silent bells. Why are they called silent bells if you can hear them? When I asked Mr. Haddow about the new bell policy, he said, “We want to make stu-dents more responsible with managing time between bells, which will hopefully reduce detentions and enhance everyone’s instruc-tional time.” Hang on a second here. He said the intention was to reduce detentions. Has anyone seen the three-page-long detention list? Maybe that should be some kind of indicator. Haddow contin-ued, “We also wanted to make the school feel less institutional with the loud bell rings of last year.” Really? � e last time I checked, this was an institution of learning. Regardless of the reasons, the admin-istration chose to spice up the policy this school year. I think we can all say is that it is not working. Students get detention because they cannot hear the “silent” bells. Should they honestly be pun-ished? � at just adds more students to the list of those taking a part in our non-institutional a� ernoon detention. Please give us our bells back. It will bene� t us all in the end.

Have you ever felt that your schoolwork was becoming over-whelming? Bolton administrators saw that this was an increasing problem among freshmen, thus AIM Tutoring was created. AIM, Academic Intervention Models, is an enrichment program dur-ing school intended to raise student academic performance. Mr. Haddow, Mr. Blanchard, Mrs. Sisk, Mrs. Schmitt, Mrs. Baker, Mr. Mitchell, and Ms. D. Williams will be in charge of this program. � e tutors will consist of juniors, seniors, IB, and Pre-IB students. A normal Monday with AIM tutors starts with discussing the plans for the day. Once they pick up their scheduled students, they come back everyday for the week. � ey help the freshmen catch up on make-up work and missing assignments. � e tutors also do frequent locker checks to help the students stay organized according to their class schedule. Senior Naja Burchett stated, “It feels great to know that you’re the one helping them to be able to achieve their best.” Tutors took a learning style assessment to better match them with a student in need. Tutoring will be held both semesters during 4th and 5th period.

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Rumor, continued from pg. 1 He said that he is still deciding when the seniors’ last day of school will be. When making that decision, he said, he will be taking into account senior safety, as cited in the original rumor. “If I let you guys out too soon, I’m worried about things that you might do,” Haddow quipped during an interview and then continued in sincerity, “You know [concerning early senior release], I do worry about the kid who gets out earlier and drinks and parties and then gets in a terrible accident before graduation and then doesn’t get to graduate. � ere’s death. And that has happened at Bolton, but I can’t say that was because of an early graduation or release time. � at’s still bothersome, though. It’s terrible to have to go through that with a family.” A� er seeing the entire picture from an administrative stand-point, it is completely evident that Bolton is lucky enough to have a principal who cares about the well-being of each and every one of his students. He only wants to see seniors con-tinue to succeed, because a� er all, they have done so under his care long enough to graduate. Even though his intentions may have been vili� ed, it is clear that he has the best interest of the student body and community at heart and has not breached any board-determined protocol for graduation date rotation. To the seniors, Haddow says that senior year goes quickly and that it was good to see the class of 2012 pass through his school. Look for a visit from him in coming weeks during senior English classes. At that time, he will present more information concerning graduation. Until then, keep pushing! � ere are only 264 more days.

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What’s your Favorite

“Going to the beach!”-Kelsey Haines, 12th-

“Going out! No curfew!”

-Kim Rix, 12th--Kim Rix, 12th-

“Driving my friend’s (Jonathan Hayes’) work truck.”

-Kyle Ham, 12th-

“Going to Disney World with friends”

-Rachel Bond, 11th-

“Going to Universal World Wide Sports

Complex.”-Miles Hill 12th-

‘Going to the Hollywood Undead

Concert.’-Steven Hangis

9th-

Memory of the Summer?

*Compiled by Ashley Winston and design by Zachary Cyganek.

5The Paw Print

new kids on the block

Ms. Sutton

Mr. Longo

Mr. Byard

From VirginiaBrand new

to MemphisLived here for two months

Coaching Varsity

Football

Teaches U.S. History and

World Geography

Played football

in college

Is a huge Washington Redskins fan

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New to Tennessee

Taught general music in HoustonStrings

teacher

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Born in Memphis, TN

Spent most of

his childhood in

Mississippi

Worked at Gentlem

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Quarterly in N

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Been a designer here

for the last 7 years

Been marri

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BFA in Graphic De-sign from U of M

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Taught at Northside Innovative Academy

10th grade English

teacher

Co-teaches with

Mrs. Gay

Assistant Wrestling and Track and Field Coach

U of M graduate with a Bache-lor’s in Linguis-tics

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Avid swimmer and runner

Has a 2-year-old

German Shepherd

named Ozzy

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Mr. Mullinaxby Kristen Bradford

Designed by blake mccollough

Shane Harper, the possessor of many talents: singing, danc-ing, and acting. His debut CD, “Shane Harper,” has made girls swoon since he � rst sang on “Good Luck Char-lie” on Dis-ney Chan-nel with his song “One Step Closer.” Shane’s voice is just like Jason Mraz’s and has the music skills to prove it. Shane uses pop and acoustic sounds mixed into his songs. One can de� nitely dance

to almost all of his songs; his voice blends perfectly into his music. Like Jason, he mainly

uses his guitar, or any other instru-ment, to be heard more clearly. Jason Mraz and Shane Harper may have music in common,

but overall, Shane wins in a knock out with all his talents combined, including the guitar. � is album and singer get four out of four paws.

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Neckline Headline:

� is apocalyptic science � ction book by Michael Grant is one of the most exciting and well writ-ten books since Harry Potter. � e book starts o� with a bang and a mystery that leaves you think-ing from the very start. You just can’t put the book down as the story unfolds before you. Within is a story of struggles, survival, love, betrayal, and the pro-cess of self discovery. � e main character, Sam, must struggle with trying to lead a couple hundred kids a� er all the parents suddenly disappear. As ev-eryone parties and lives it up while the parents are gone, they soon realize that it isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. With food supplies running

low and bullies owning the streets doing whatever they want, sud-denly it’s a “fend for yourself or die” situation. Mutations start occurring

and people gain pow-ers they never knew possible. � is is certainly a book to pick up and read. With exciting action and excellent writing, this book will draw you in and won’t let you go until the very last word. � e psychological e� ects of children le� on their own to fend

for their very lives will leave you breathless. Michael Grant certainly outdid himself in Gone.

Gone, Baby, Goneby Britany Rich

Triple Threatby Kristen Bradford

Cla

ss

y or Tren

dy?

Classy Trendy

Cashmere will always be a classic.

}Scarves can even be professional.

}

Lace is forever.

Ruffles are classy and pencil skirts

will never

die

The wrap around is a vin-tage dress that doesn't have to

be trendy

bothLoose pencil skirts are an either or...

The floral pat-tern is trendy, but the dress design shows

major class.

Sweaters are classy but the loose knit type are currently major trends.

Prep sweaters fit the "trendy chic" or most urban women.

}

High school girls love the trend of

fluff skirts with pockets

Rompers are trends in the summer time and are also known as "jumpsuits."

High waisted skirts aren't just

for librarians and defense attorneys any

more!

Bold lines are totally "in" at the moment. Get some.

}

photos

courtesy�of

modclo

th.com

compiled and designed by Zac Cyganek

7The Paw Print

__________________________

Friday Night Lightsby Blake McCollough

Flat Panel LCD HDTVs

Qual i ty Brands and Var ious SizesCraig (901)867-9882

ccyganek1@bel lsouth.net

10 minutes from Bolton

They’re not road runners.they hit the hills instead.

photos courtesy of S. Fryman and M. Yates

� e Wildcat football team fought a hard � ght Friday(9/2). Despite much determination, the Wildcats just could not keep up with the in-credible speed of Craigmont. At the end of the night, Craigmont took home the victory with a score of 55 to 10. In an e-mail interview with coach Tommy Miller, he seemed expect-ant and excited for the potential of this year’s squad. He said, “� is year’s team is a very young and enthusiastic group that is committed to going to work and getting better each day.” With several new coaches and players, he expects this to be a successful season for Bolton foot-ball. Despite losing the � rst two games of the 2011 season, the Wildcats have shown some amazing resolve. According to Miller, “the team has shown they will � ght till the � nal whistle and will not give up.” � ough they have faced staggering de� cits, they have ceased to give in to their opponents. � ough there have been no victories, this season has been marked with many standout performances. Brandon Henderson, in the hard fought loss to Covington had nine carries for 161 yards including three touchdowns. In the game against Houston, Tavon Banks had an incredible night on special teams, blocking a � eld goal and a punt. Senior, Daniel McNatt hooked up with Desmond Collins for a touch-

down in that game. Garrett Copeland, also with a rushing touchdown. Despite these great performances, it is hard to deny the toughness of the opponent they were going to face Friday night. Craigmont, ranked 8th in the Commercial Appeal’s “Dandy Dozen,” has speed and size. � e game started going Craigmont’s way from the beginning. � ey scored within the � rst two minutes of the game, setting the tempo for the entire night. � e entire � rst half turned out to be all Craigmont, and a� er two quarters they had scored seven unanswered touchdowns. Coming in a� er hal� ime, the Wildcats seemed to have a revitalized spirit. Beginning with a Desmond Collins kick return into Craig-mont territory, the Wildcats seemed to have a chance at putting some points on the board, but that chance was soon over due to a Craigmont interception on that same drive. � ough the Wildcats kept Craigmont scoreless in the third quarter, they still failed to squeeze out a touch-down themselves. � ey did, however, get two safeties for a total of four points. � e fourth quarter continued the Wildcat streak with a touchdown early on, but the celebration was short lived as Craigmont scored another, making the score 55 to 10. In the end, the Wildcats could not keep up and lost a hard battle, but this is not the end of the world. � ere’s always next week.

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HOSA is doing fund-raisers all year. In their chal-lenge to raise money for different charitable events, they will be selling lollipops, cookie dough, donuts, and other products that will be beneficial to the charities. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Founda-tion (JDRF) has been chosen as a recipient charity for HOSA this year. JDRF is the charitable advocate of Type 1 diabetes research worldwide. Type 1 diabetes is a rare and fatal disease that many young Americans are having to endure due to inheritance or develop-ment over time. It is important to acknowledge this worthy life-sav-ing cause by participating in the Walk to Cure Dia-betes program, or if not that, and you still find this article the least worth the time and thought, consider this: one dollar, one donation could save and have an affect on someone’s life. Five hundred dollars will go directly to JDRF. The donation will be specifically for the tools, supplies, and medicine needed to help the patients with diabetes that are in need of aid to help pay for the health care. For more information visit www.jdrf.org/kidswalk or http://walk.jdrf.org.

The lights, the crowds, the music, the applause, the drama. The theatre is always pulsing with life and action. The past years for the theatre department have been chock-full of drama, each year as exciting as the last. From the plays to the lock-in at the beginning of the year, the theatre is al-ways working and producing stage worthy productions. The directors of the department are very excited for this year. They enjoy what they do and feel that the theatre depart-ment is like a family. Mr. White, one of the directors of the theatre department, said, “A new era of Stagelight begins! We are freaking excited to continue the magic of theatre!” The theatre year started off with the lock-in, where theatre students who raised enough money were able to participate in an overnighter in the theatre and play the-atre games. Recently, auditions were held for the fall show, “Father of the Bride.” Two months later will be the actual show. Then in January will be the much looked forward

to Thespian Conference. For thespian and president Lexie Mills, she said, “I’m looking forward to conference, like a lot!” Shortly following the conference will be the audi-tions for the spring musical, “The Drowsy Chaperone.” The theatre also hosts the talent show which takes place in the spring. The musical performances will wrap up the theatre year as the last performance,

until next fall that is. During all of this, there are of course all the various thespian parties that take place between each per-formance and work done in the theatre. The theatre depart-ment also has a new

president this year. Lexie Mills said, “I’m really excited about being the president and being able to lead something I’m so pas-sionate about.” The directors of the theatre are definitely excited for this 2011-2012 theatre year. The thespians are enthusiastic and this year is sure to bring another excellent year of drama and excitement.

Lending a handT

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a co

ntin

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by B

ritan

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“A new era of Stagelight

begins!”

Article and photos by Britany Rich

article by Aishia Ricks

phot

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of K

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Above, clockwise from left, are sucker-selling HOSA girls Cy-mone Jeans, Cequorie Marshall, Christian Moses, and Jeannette Thiaw. To the left and at top right are samplings of the lol-lipops available for purchase for $1.00 each or $2.00 for three. The proceeds from this fund-raiser will go toward the HOSA charities, including the JDRF.

Above, Thespian President Lexie Mills, a senior, and her sister, Ivey, a junior,

seem to be very surprised. Below, Stagelight actors get some perfor-

mance tips from Mr. White.