What`s Inside? - Woodbridge Senior High School

March 30, 2009
Volume 45, Issue 7
The
What’s
Inside?
Valkyrie
How to Find a Job
page 6
Josie Eats Breakfast
page 4
Woodbridge Senior High School
3001 Old Bridge Road
Woodbridge, VA 22192
Prom Tuxedo Rentals
page 9
Music Tech program receives $4,000 from Best Buy grant
Becky Brooks
Photo Editor
This year’s 2009 Best Buy
Teach Award has been awarded to
music tech teacher, Shannon Gunn.
The Best Buy Tech Award is a grant
given to teachers that use technology in their classrooms to teach their
students.
“We use technology in the
classroom every day”, says Gunn.
The Best Buy Teach Award has
been awarded since 2004 and has
awarded over 6,000 schools 17 million dollars. All a teacher has to do
is apply online for a grant and explain how his or her class can benefit from the grant money.
“We got a $4,000 grant”,
said Gunn, “I will be able to buy
more multi media equipment so we
can work with more things like videos and animation”.
Best Buy awarded 460
schools with grants this year. All of
the schools range from elementary
to high schools. The next sets of applications are due in July 2009.
“I really hope I can get some
of the equipment in this year so we
can start working with it, if not next
year I will have most of the new
equipment”, said Gunn.
One of Gunn’s wish list
items is a camcorder and a new laptop as well as newer hard drives.
“This newer technology will
really expand what we can do in
class”, said Gunn.
The newer equipment will
Seniors Ryan Moyer (left), and Francis Wilson (right), work hard on a music sample
during their 2nd period advanced class. Photo by Becky Brooks
also go towards helping the Polyphonix Record Label. The label
hopes the money will allow them
to release the tracks on iTunes this
year.
Mexican drug wars cause tourists to
search elsewhere for vacation
Michelle Morrisey
Staff Writer
have been lost in Mexico since June,
and the government says that there
are over 30% of Mexican adults unable to find full-time work. Some
experts say that unemployment is a
factor in joining the gang lifestyle,
because it is glamorized on television and in the media.
“People are scared, and they
drug-related violence in Mexico exceeded 6,000, more than double
the previous year, raising questions
about whether the Mexican government can overcome a brutal and
often better-armed enemy without
additional help from the U.S. government.
The U.S. state department
More than eighty percent
of Mexico’s tourism comes from
the United States, and this spring
break, if you were planning on
hitting the beach in Cabo or
Cancun, you may want to think
again. As violent drug wars
rage on in Mexico, college students and travelers are being
told to avoid the spring break
hot spot this year.
Mexican
authorities
say that over 800 federal and
local police are now stationed
to improve the security in and
around Mexico City’s international airport, as a result
of armed robberies against
tourists who exchange money
there. The U.S. State Department issued a warning about Mexican authorities, armed with automatic weapons, patrol the streets of Mexico, where vioa rush of murders and drug lence has claimed more lives this year than in Baghdad, Iraq. ( photo by Latimes.com)
related violence that is influencing have reason to be,” says Michael is advising spring break travelers to
people to stay home, or chose an- Shifter, a Latin America specialist stay in groups and to always have a
other vacation spot.
at Inter-American Dialogue. “The plan wherever you go. With spring
The bad economy in Mexico economic crisis is just going to ag- break right around the corner,
also contributes to the drug war, gravate the situation. It’s very hard many people will be checking into
and the economy will only continue to imagine how things will get bet- new destinations other than the
to suffer with lack of tourism this ter in the short term.”
previously popular Mexican hotspring. More than 329,000 jobs Last year the death toll from spots.
Watch for new things coming from the Music Tech program
and Congratulations to Ms. Gunn
and her students. Many top newspapers expect
to go broke
Mitchell Sulkess
News Editor
It seems as though every
week the global recession gobbles
up another industry, bank, or corporation that is on the brink of
financial collapse. But today in
America, our nation’s newspapers
are struggling to survive, and currently losing the fight against the
economy, and technology.
The Rocky Mountain News,
one of the oldest and most popular
mid-west papers, closed its doors
on Friday, February 27, due to a
lack of ad sales, and low reader circulation. The paper was in business for almost 150 years, (missing
its monumental birthday by only 55
days), making it older than the state
of Colorado, and most of the states
in which it has been in distributed. Many experts believe that
it was not only the recession that
caused the paper to fail, but also
the internet, and the way we as
21st Century Americans receive our
news. Bloggers and other “citizen
journalists”, who in part get their
information from the Associated
Press, and other news organizations, and post it online are win-
See Newspapers, Page 2
2
March 30, 2009
News
The Valkyrie
California state rep. introduces bill to legalize marijuana
Mitchell Sulkess
News Editor
With our country in the
midst of the deepest recession in
decades, some states are feeling
more pain than others. In California, the unemployment rate recently hit 10.1 percent, and some feel
that it will only get worse. California also cut 22,000 state employees from payroll in February, and
the state has asked for billions in
stimulus dollars from Congress and
the Obama Administration. With
the state so desperate for help, one
elected official believes that legalizing marijuana could generate large
amounts of profit, and boost the
state’s economy.
Assemblyman Tom Ammiano (D-San Francisco), has introduced the bill to the legislature,
arguing that the drug could generate over a billion dollars in revenue
from California tax payers. The
bill, which would make marijuana
available to all citizens 21 and older, would grant the troubled-state
the right to tax pot consumers 50
dollars per ounce, or “about one
dollar a joint”, according to a bill
sponsor.
“We know that California
itself is hurting,” said Ammiano,
“we also know that the marijuana
industry nets about 14 billion dollars a year that goes up in smoke…
literally”. The bill would put restrictions on the drug similar to those
of alcohol and tobacco, including
driving under the influence and
distributing to minors. According to the bill, other
revenue would be accumulated
from the slashing of the drug task
force designed to stake out grow
houses and marijuana fields, not
to mention the price that the state
pays to send marijuana abusers to
prison.
The Supporters also argue
that tourism to the state would increase tremendously, giving California extra revenue, and an economic boost in these hard times.
Supporters of the bill also
say the bill would take money out of
the hands of dangerous drug dealers, and the Mexican Cartel, who
recently have taken their country
hostage with kidnappings and public beheadings.
“It would probably reduce
the value of marijuana pretty significantly, so we’d probably see a
reduction if not a complete end to
the ancillary crime associated with
marijuana,” said Humboldt County
District Attorney Paul Gallegos, a
supporter of the bill.
But does the bill stand a
If passed, the bill would grant California the right to operate grow houses, like the
one above, that already exist illegally throughout the state (sptimes.com)
chance in the state legislature?
Many Californians say no, although
according to a Zogby Poll, 41% of
Americans believe that pot should
be legalized, taxed, and regulated
by the government.
So should marijuana be legalized just to help balance a troubled state’s budget? Some antidrug organizations believe that the
state would send a bad message to
teens, and to those in other states
Newspapers across the country file for bankruptcy; recession to blame
sion and online competitors. Some
papers have lowered circulation,
cut pages, and fired staff to keep
their organizations afloat.
“As traditional papers go
out of style, Americans will adapt to
miano will face an uphill battle as
he attempts to reform California’s
marijuana policies. The bill is the
first of its kind, and is likely to cause
a big debate, and controversy. The
White House has yet to comment
on the bill, as the Obama Administration looks to change some policies concerning the nation’s war
against drugs. No word yet on what
policies will be changed, only that
“necessary changes will occur”.
getting news online and not from a
printed press.” said Todd Kelly, the
Journalism 1 teacher, and supervisor for The Valkyrie.
As a result of the recent economic struggles, and online com-
petitors, the newspaper as we know
it might become extinct. Some worry that if this happens, the quality of
news will dwindle, and the integrity
of journalism will be questioned.
“If papers die off, it is a possibility the quality of the news will
go with it, especially if people do
not look to where the news is coming from”, added Kelly.
At the end of the day, it is all
about supply and demand. Right
now, the demand for quick summaries of articles posted on the internet
is up, and prolonged printed stories
are down. If newspapers plan to
survive this recession, financial experts agree that a big change needs
to be made, and made quickly.
the play is exciting and there is a
really interesting twist that I don’t
think most people will see coming”,
said Hutchinson. “The key is to just
keep having fun and working hard”,
he added. Senior Mike Bourquardez,
who will be in charge of the special
effects and make up, began teaching himself how to do zombie make
up in the sixth grade. Bourquardez
has been doing make up off and on
since then.
Although they have not
begun working on costumes yet,
Bourquardez said he “had some
plans and ideas” for Hutchinson’s
“gooped” up look.
At the end of our interview, Hutchinson added one last
comment. “I would love to see the
house packed every night. So come,
beware, and see Woodbridge’s production of ‘Zombie Prom’!”
continued from page 1
ning the war with the printed press
for readers and advertisers. This online activity has hurt
not only the Rocky Mountain News,
but newspapers all over the country. The Chicago Tribune filed for
bankruptcy in December, citing
similar problems with advertisers
and circulation. The LA Times,
New York Times, and Washington
Post are the three of the most popular papers in the country, but still
are losing revenue from the reces-
who could get involved with a substance that is illegal, and considered a gateway drug.
In the coming months Am-
CFPA Showcase: Zombie Prom
Becky Brooks & Cara DeCesare
CFPA Reporters
The spring musical this year
is Zombie Prom, written by Richard
Roland and directed by Terri Caretti. The curtain goes up April 17th &
18th at 7:30pm with a matinee on
the 19th at 2 pm. The cast stars seniors Katy Chumura, Krishilda Zabala and Andrew Bunning as well
as many theatre students, including junior Keith Hutchison. Zombie
Prom is being co-choreographed
by senior theatre student, Devon
Mueller.
“I really like the show; it has
been so much fun to choreograph,”
said Mueller, “The show is a cross
between Grease and Rocky Horror
Picture Show, and it’s completely
different than what we all have
done before.”
Zombie Prom is a 50’s inspired play that takes place at Enrico Fermi High. The school is under
the guidance of principle Delilah
Strict, played by Katy Chumura.
The play follows the ins and outs
of love with Toffee ( Zabala) and
Johnny (Hutchison).
“This is my first musical and I am so excited about it.
The character is nothing like I have
played before. I think the cast is really strong this year.”
Junior Keith Hutchison
also graces the stage once again this
spring in the lead role as Johnny.
This will be Keith’s second musical
and first time working with Director Terri Caretti. “I am having so much fun,
A&E
The Valkyrie
WMZQ Mega Ticket 2009
Chelsea Lawson
Staff Writer
As the school year winds
down, it is likely that students are
beginning to plan fun events for
their summer vacation. For all the
country music lovers, the 2009 Assurance Country Mega Ticket is
the perfect way to add six exciting
nights to your summer schedule.
“The reason I love having
a Mega Ticket is because country
concerts are a lot of fun, and it is
such an amazing deal to get all six
concert tickets on one as opposed
to buying each individually,” said
junior Bryn MacDonald.
The Mega Ticket is a six
show package of country concerts
that all take place at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA. Several different types of packages are available,
and tickets have already gone on
sale, which means it is possible to
purchase them before the tickets
for individual shows are available.
When purchasing the ticket,
there are four options: the platinum package, the gold package, the
silver package or the lawn package. Because it appears that the
platinum and gold package are out
of a high schooler’s price range, it
is recommended to purchase the
silver or lawn package. The silver
package is valued at $290 and it
includes tickets in the 300 section
of Nissan pavilion. The lawn package is definitely a steal, considering
it includes the six concerts for only
$170. The only down side to buying
this ticket is that the seats will not
be beneath a pavilion and if it rains
and you have to sit in the grass. It is
advised that you bring a lawn chair
or spread a blanket. Both these
packages include presale for 2010’s
Mega Ticket.
The Mega Ticket feature’s
some of this summer’s hottest
country tours. The package kicks
off with WMZQ fest, which is an
all day event. Rodney Atkins is the
headline of this show, but there will
be many more performers TBA. June 13 is the following concert,
with George Strait bringing that
classic country sound to the package. Opening for Strait are Blake
Shelton and Julianne Hough, who
previously performed on “Dancing
with the Stars” and is just beginning her country music career.
Next on the package is the
catchy music of Rascal Flatts, who
already toured at Nissan last year
with their “Bob that Head” tour. This year, they will be joined by
Darius Rucker, a former Hootie and
the Blowfish member. On July 25,
Brad Paisley will be in Bristow with
Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne,
which is a very impressive trio of
country boys.
On August 29, Kenny
Chesney returns to Nissan after
coming to the Verizon Center last
year. He will be joined by the “crazy ex-girlfriend” Miranda Lambert,
and the up and coming group “Lady
Antebellum.” The final show included on the Mega Ticket is Toby
Keith with Trace Adkins on Sep-
tember 12th.
The Mega Ticket creates
the perfect way to kick off and end
your summer. With all these great
performances for such a low price,
country music fans could not want
anything more.
Dead and Gone
T.I.’s Road to Redemption
Marian Brooks
Staff Writer
The federal government
managed to work out a plea
deal with Clifford Harris, better
known as rapper T.I., sentencing him to one year in prison
if he completed 1,000 hours of
community service for trying
to buy illegal machine guns instead of the 30 year maximum
sentence. With this in mind,
T.I decided to pitch a community service show to MTV called
“T.I.’s Road to Redemption: 45
Days to Go”, the 45 representing the number of days left, that
would count down, before his
incarceration.
According to Variety.com, T.I.
did not want a show like rapper Lil Kim’s “Countdown to
Lockdown” which just placed
cameras in her home and followed her around before her
incarceration. According to Variety.com, T.I. felt that a type of
show like that would have been
boring and meaningless and
decided to work with high-risk
kids to try and set them straight
on the right path.
All the shows start off with T.I.
sitting somewhere in the kids
house waiting for them to arrive
home and he takes over from there
with his effort to steer them clear
from the world of drugs and crime.
While airing the show, T.I. often
acknowledges his mistakes and
uses the situations he has been in
involving gangs, drugs, violence,
and even deaths of close friends as
an example to show these kids that
they do not want to live their lives
in and out of jail or in fear of losing their own life. He talks in depth
about his first drug deal, and why
he started hustling.
He also goes into detail
about the effect the 2006 shoot-out
and killing of his best friend and
bodyguard which made him paranoid and afraid for his life and his
family’s welfare.
According to the Los Angeles Times, T.I. says that the shootout is mainly what led him to purchase weapons illegally, ultimately
as a reason for protection. In an
attempt to shape these kids up, T.I.
chooses to handle each case differently by either placing the kid
in jail for a night, taking them to a
graveyard or mortuary, or letting
them roam the streets during the
night to see what exactly it is that
they are risking when they choose
to make decisions without thinking about the consequences first.
At the end of the show T.I. rewards
the kids with a gift of some type of
sentimental value so that they
will always remember to what
extent he went to in order to
show them how they need to
live in comparison to how they
were living before and where
they could end up if they do not
think before they act.
However, just because
T.I. is going to jail does not
mean that he will be completely
out of the music scene. His latest album “Paper Trail” went
platinum-plus and is doing well
and he just recently finished
shooting the video with Justin
Timberlake for the song “Dead
and Gone”. He also has plans
for a clothing line named Akoo
set to appear and hit the fashion scene soon and he plans to
open up a restaurant lounge in
Atlanta. In addition, T.I. has
been recording songs every
chance he gets and may have
enough material to release an
album either before he goes to
jail or while he is locked up.
According to the Los
Angeles Times, T.I’s advice and
thought on the situation is “I’m
going through it so you don’t
have to”; and despite his future plans and current success
throughout his ups and downs,
T.I. wants these kids to remember that hustling can only lead
to two things, jail and death.
March 30, 2009
CFPA Student
of the Month
Zack Brown
Theatre
Ashley Steptoe
Staff Writer
This month’s CFPA student of the month is junior Zack
Brown. Zack should be chosen as
CFPA student of the month CFPA
director Mr. Melvin Goodwin said,
“ Zack Brown represents the high
standards and artistic achievement
of the CFPA theater concentration.
He is very active in numerous productions and always seeks to do his
very best.”
How long have you been in
CFPA?
3 years
What program are you in CFPA
for?
I am in the theater program.
What is your favorite play?
My favorite play would definitely
have to be Bash Latter Day Plays by
Neil Labude.
Who is your favorite actor/actress?
My favorite actor is Gregory Peck.
Do you plan to continue theater in college?
Yes. I really want to go to Savanna
College of Arts and Design to study
theater.
What is your favorite thing
about acting and being on
stage?
I love being able to express myself
and tell a story to the audience.
How did you get started in acting?
One of my friends was in the school
play and told me they needed more
people so I auditioned to help him
out and ended up loving it and
eventually ended up in CFPA.
How many plays have you performed in?
20
What is your favorite production you have acted in so far?
The play “Working”. I had a small
part in it, but it was still amazing.
The play was really different and
unique.
A&E
The Valkyrie
Who is True
Prospeks?
Mary Gilbert
A&E Editor
On Saturday, March 7, I
walked into Eric Graham’s living room to listen in on a business
meeting. The business? True Prospeks.
You may have heard of
them. Last year, some 2008 seniors
put a long term plan into effect, and
started designing T-Shirts.
True Prospeks had just a few
original members. Noah El-Nagdy
(ODU), Eric Graham (ODU), Luis
Pola (NOVA), and Collin Smith
(Radford) were 2008 graduates of
WSHS. As their business grew, so
did their plans on how to expand.
Their group is diverse, with
members from high school and college, members of different races,
different lifestyles, and different
ideas. Tehron Porter, a senior at
WSHS, joined True Prospeks and
the members decided to become
not only a T-Shirt company, but a
collaboration of clothing and music. Their group has now expanded
to about 12 Prospeks, including Ben
Collins (WSHS), Brenton Nixon
(UVA), Farma Wesley, Evan Kalafa
(GMU), Pete Maher, and Erek Korgan (ODU).
The meeting began about
ten minutes after I walked in,
around 11:30 PM. Four members
came out a room off from the living
room, with a MacBook and speakers in hand. They told me that all
day, Tehron Porter and Ben Collins,
WSHS seniors, had been working
on a song. Everyone there went out to
the deck and sat around the speak-
ers. Tehron played what he had
been working on all day-“You Dreamin’”- and everyone stopped joking
around and initially the deck was
completely silent. I looked around,
and all of the Prospeks started
dancing around the deck. When
the song ended, all I could hear
was clapping and “Tehron, that was
sick!” After they discussed their
music plans, Noah El-Nagdy began talking about the updates for
the T-shirt plans. They have found
a company to use for their designs
and are in the process of planning
a debut party when the T-shirts are
available.
True Prospeks are becoming more widely known around
the area, and in the areas that the
members go to college such as Norfolk and Charlottesville.
You may have seen their
stickers- “Who is True Prospeks?” They are on the back of cars, on
people at parties, even on the
pumps at the gas stations. When I
visited Old Dominion University, I
even saw stickers on cars there.
They and their fans are putting their name out there, and marketing themselves extremely well. They have started a blog, www.
postonpurple.blogspot.com, and
regularly update it with news about
True Prospeks as well as music
links to other artists that may not
be well known on the music scene
yet. They want to put the word out
not only about themselves, but also about local celebrities- prospects
from NOVA, as well as on a larger
scale. Be on the lookout for True
Prospeks- they are going to be a
well known name. Buy a T-Shirt,
get a sticker, help them get their
name out.
A True Prospek sticker in the WSHS cafeteria.
Call 24 hours a day
7 days a week
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Florist, Inc.
Flowers, Gifts, & Cards
Mention this Ad & Get 10% OFF
703-494-2299
2253-B at Tackett’s Mill
Lake Ridge, VA 22192
OR visit www.lakeridgeflorist.com
March 30, 2009
Josie Eats Breakfast
Josie Zeman
Staff Writer
Who says that you can only
have breakfast for breakfast? What
about those restaurants who serve
breakfast all day long? This month,
I went to Ihop, Silver Diner, and
Denny’s to try their breakfast. I
went ahead and got the breakfast
platters that had a little bit of everything including eggs, sausage,
bacon, hash browns, and in some
cases, pancakes.
I
started off at
Denny’s, located off of
Dale Boulevard. Denny’s
offers breakfast, lunch,
and dinner
all day long
for
cheap
prices. One of
their best deals is the “Build Your
Own Grand Slam,” in which you
can pick any four items out of ten
choices for $5.99. The choices include eggs, bacon, pancakes, English muffin, oatmeal, hash browns,
buttermilk biscuit, toast, sausage
links, and creamy grits. I chose the
scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes,
and hash browns. Other than the
price, the hash browns were the
only thing that really impressed
me.
Next, I went to Ihop on
Smoketown Road with high expectations from previous experiences.
I ordered the Breakfast Sampler
which includes two eggs, two bacon strips, two pork sausage links,
two pieces of ham, hash browns,
and two buttermilk pancakes for
$8.59. My first thought was that
you get a lot more food here than at
Denny’s for just a little more money. Although, the customer service
was not as friendly here than it had
been at Denny’s and the bacon was
not as crisp as I prefer, the food was
absolutely delicious and I could not
help but want seconds.
Finally, I went to Silver
Diner on Smoketown Road a few
miles from Ihop by Potomac Mills.
Silver Diner has always been a personal favorite of mine since I was a
little kid. The hostess greeted me
with a smile
and sat me
down almost
immediately
when I walked
in. I normally
get the French
toast, but this
time I changed
it up a little bit
and
ordered
the
Hearty
Breakfast. For $8.99, it included
two eggs, three bacon strips, two
sausage links, home fries, and a buttermilk biscuit. I was disappointed
that it did not include pancakes or
hash browns and it cost more than
Denny’s or Ihop which included
both of those. I did enjoy the home
fries as a substitute for hash brown
but I think that I am going to stick
to getting French toast.
Overall, Ihop had the most
food for a good price while Denny’s
had the best deal available and Silver Diner had the best customer
service.
Have breakfast whenever
and wherever at one of these restaurants.
The Torpedo Factory
Audrey King
Sports Editor
The Torpedo Factory Art
Center on the waterfront in historic Old Towne Alexandria is three
floors of open studios and galleries
to observe artists and buy original
artwork. The building used to be
an actual torpedo factory until the
1970’s when local artists turned it
into an art studio.
Now the Torpedo Factory building is open to the public
from 10am to 6pm daily, excluding Thursdays when it is open until 9pm and the studio and gallery
times vary. The building includes
82 art studios, six galleries, The Art
League School, and Alexandria Archaeology Museum. The admission
is completely free. However, visitors are able to purchase original
artwork.
If money is not the issue,
and you are just really interested in
art, then The Torpedo Factory offers
several classes. They offer classes
from drawing to fibers to sculpture.
However, the tuition can be quite
pricey but well worth it if you are
dedicated to learning.
The 82 art studios are available for the public to watch real artists work on their art. In one space
the artist is able to create, display,
and sell his or her artwork. And, the
artists are open to talk about what
they are working on.
So if you are ever bored and
do not want to spend the money to
see a movie or go to lunch, then
The Torpedo Factory Art Center is
the place to go. Enjoy walking from
studio to studio and talking to real
artists. Or, just visiting the galleries
and possibly seeing a show.
The Valkyrie
sports
Teachers Can Play Sports?
Ashleigh Lanza
Staff writer
The truth is, many high
school students will never be
good enough to play a sport at the
collegiate level. Less than
four percent of all high
school athletes go on to
play in college.
Jason Ritenour, a
physical education teacher
at WSHS, played baseball
at Shepherd University
in Shepherdstown, West
Virginia. Ritenour was a pitcher
for the Shepherd Rams for four
years, and was even asked to tryout for the Texas Rangers.
Ritenour was a two year
All Conference Player in the
WVIAC (West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference). Ritenour conditioned year-round
with workouts and practices, and
played 45 games each spring season.
“I don’t feel like I missed
out on a college experience,” said
Ritenour. “A lot of people join
fraternities or sororities, I joined
baseball.”
Adam Daniels
and Andrew McCarthy, both WSHS teachers, earned division
one scholarships to
Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
McCarthy ran
the 110 high hurdles
and the 400 hurdles
for three years at Georgetown.
McCarthy did not pursue his track
career into his senior year because
he was busy double majoring academically, and if he could not put
100% of his efforts into track, he
did not want to do it. McCarthy’s
college career highlight was placing 10th at the I.C.4 east track invitational as a freshman.
“Track is the best sport because no matter what height, size,
or color, there is always an event
for you to excel in,” said McCarthy.
Daniels ran cross country
for four years. Daniels participated in the mile and steeple chase
for both indoor and outdoor
track. In 2001,
Daniels was 14th
in the nation in
the steeple hill,
and attended the
National Championships in Oregon.
“Track in
high school and
college are very
different,” said Daniels. “College
track is more of a business. We
are not there for social hour; we
are there for a job.”
Colleen Kersey, a social
studies teacher at WSHS, is a former Penn State University softball player. Kersey participated
in division one softball at Penn
State,
and
was a catcher
throughout
her four-year
career. Kersey
had
no
problem
balancing her
academics
and athletics, which she accredits to her time management and
organization skills, as well as the
many support systems that Penn
State had to help student-athletes
excel in the classroom.
“I wouldn’t say it was the
best experience[of playing in college], but I remember well the
night we played Florida in a preseason tournament,” said Kersey.
“We were losing in the bottom
of the last inning and Florida
walked the girl in front of me to
load the bases. I hit a grand slam
over the centerfield fence to win
the game.”
S a r a h
Wilkinson,
a
science teacher
at WSHS, received a scholarship to attend
George
Mason University. Wilkinson
played for four
years as GMU’s forward, and
led her team in goals and assists
throughout her four-year career.
Wilkinson endured three-hour
practices in the fall and spring,
which made it hard to stay
healthy While practicing so much
for so long, it is easy to get run
down and to get stress fractures.
Wilkinson was honored with 1st
team All CAA, All Region, and All
VA.
“Playing soccer was my
college experience. It really
wasn’t going to be anything else
for me,” said Wilkinson. “Playing soccer during college was my
dream, and not playing wasn’t an
option.”
Many other teachers played a sport during
college. Troy Washington and Mark Markiewicz both played soccer. Robert King played
baseball at Louisberg
College, and Brenda
Rowland played tennis.
Daniel Forgas played
football, and George Washington, Jacqueline Enders, and Chad
Anderson played basketball.
March 30, 2009
Practice Popping: Tennis Team
Dylan Taylor
Staff Writer
With this installment of
practice popping, I found myself
practicing with the Viking men’s
tennis team.
I made my way to the tennis courts to catch up on my serve.
Now, I consider myself a Rafel
Nadal caliber player, who is the
top tennis player in the world as
of right now. As Coach Courtney
Green shows up we start getting
ready for practice. So we started
practice with a short jog around
the court. After getting the blood
flowing a bit we started stretching
as a team.
As we started practice, we
line up on one side of court with
Green on the other side, hitting bad
balls at us. Bad balls are balls that
either hit the net or fall short and
you have to be able to hit the back.
It was a fun drill, because everyone
was falling all over the place to get
the balls.
As practice started to unfold
I quickly realized I was not a Rafel
Nadal caliber player. When I hit
the ball it either does not get over
the net, hits the fence behind the
court or I completely miss it. I was
pretty bad, but it only got worst.
After about 30 minutes of practicing we paired up and played singles
matches against other players.
Now I was paired with Greg
Hawrysko, who has been a good
friend since middle school. As the
game got started I realized that
Greg was one of the best players
in the district. I told him before
we started that I was not that good
and to take it easy. Well I guess he
thought it would funny to bring his
“A” game and totally embarrass me
because I brought my non existent
game to the court that day.
As the match got started he
let me serve first, so I toss the ball
up and give it a good hit across the
net and into the range of his racket.
Which I found out was a pretty bad
choice, because he hit it back at me
like a bullet. So I did the only reasonable thing to do, I dove onto to
the ground to avoid being killed. When I finally came to my
senses and regained some composer, I got up and all I see on the other side of the court is Greg laughing on the other side of the court.
As the game drew on I was getting
destroyed, I was losing by a lot. I
finally had to give up before it got
worst. He beat me 3 sets to none,
and in each set 15 to nothing.
Afterwards I caught up with
Coach Green, who was talking to
another promising player, sophomore Brandon Larsen. I found out
that Mrs. Green has been coaching here at Woodbridge for three
years. At the end I asked her what
her expectation were for the upcoming season and she exclaimed
that “this year is a rebuilding year
and as long as the players get better in the end, wins and loses don’t
not matter”.
Athlete of the month
Carey Fountain
Staff writer
Isaiah Simmons is a sophomore at WSHS. He just recently
won states for the shot put and will
qualify for the World Youth Championship trials in Michigan.
“If a human was ever a machine it would be Isaiah Simmons,”
said Coach Andrew
McCarthy “He is the
most coach able athlete I’ve ever had.”
1.5-2 hours of lifting”
What’s the hardest part?
“The 3 lap warm-up”
How heavy is the shotput?
“12 pounds”
What are you most proud of?
“Winning states”
Do you plan
on continuing
track in college?
“Yes, I want to
go to the University of Florida”
How long have you
been doing shot
put?
“3 years and I started
in Middle School”
What made you
want to do shot
put?
“Ms. Judy, a teacher
at my middle school
and coach of our track team, saw
my size and asked me to try it.”
What is a typical day of training?
“3 lap warm-up, 20 throws, and a
Who are your
influences?
“Reese Hoffa, a
pro thrower”
“56 ft. 10 inches”
What was your
state winning
throw?
What is your national rank?
“29th”
Break the Habit of
RESTAURANTS
Ashleigh Lanza
Staff Writer
Due to the recession it
seems as if jobs are impossible
to come across these days, especially for teens. According to the
Bureau of Labor Statistics, 32.6
percent of teens ages 16-19 were
employed, a historic low, down
from 45.2 percent in 2000. With
jobs very scarce in the area, it
seems as if teens are now competing with adults for the limited
amount of jobs that Woodbridge
has to offer.
The nation’s unemployment rate reached 7.6 percent
in January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The teen
unemployment rate remained
around 21 percent, the same
amount that it has been in previous months. This shows that
even though many teens have
been trying to get jobs, there has
been no luck and many are left
jobless. If you look hard enough,
there are still places with parttime jobs available for teens
MOVIE
THEATRES
MALL
With a name coming from
Jimmy Buffett’s famous song,
Cheeseburger in Paradise serves
house specialties in Caribbean
style. Along with many other
restaurants in the area, Cheeseburger in Paradise gives many
Woodbridge teens jobs. Teens
under the age of 18 can work as
hosts or bussers at many restaurants including Outback, Chili’s,
and Applebee’s. Seniors 18 and
older can apply to be a server.
PROS: Make a lot of money
from tips in a night.
CONS: Often have to deal with
rude customers.
“I like my job because on a good
weekend I can walk away with
$500, and it makes dealing with
difficult people worth it,” said
senior Mike Lott.
Potomac Mills Mall is one
of the biggest outlet malls in the
United States and features over
200 retail stores, as well as over
25 places to eat. The mall has
from 30-70% discount on all of
your favorite brand name merchandise, including: American
Eagle, Aeropostale, AbercromPROS: You get to watch movies bie and Fitch, Polo Ralph Laufor free, discounted food prices, ren, Off 5th, and more.
air conditioned.
CONS: Working at the conces- PROS: Employee discounts
sion stand can get dirty.
range from 25-50% off of already
With a new theatre, it
seems as if jobs at AMC theatres
in the Potomac Mills Mall would
be endless. AMC Theatres is currently accepting applications,
but may not hire until the beginning of summer.
“Everyone I work with, I
love. I almost always have fun
at work, even if it’s super busy,
which it almost always is,” said
employee Lauren Foley. “The
managers listen most of the
time, and we have a uniform
that really isn’t bad.”
reduced items.
CONS: Long hours, rude customers.
“I work at American Eagle,” said senior Amanda Hernandez. “I love the people I work
with, they’re all a lot of fun, and
I like getting my employee discount, which is usually 40%
off.”
Buying Your First Car
Caroline Strand
Editor-in-Chief
or the last couple days of the price.
Beware of “specials” in
Buying your first car is month in order try to find a a big decision. Whether you salesperson
the used car
are planning on purchasing a who has not
world. Accordused or new car there are some sold a car
ing to carbuykey things to keep in mind. all month.
ingtip.com,
First of all try to keep an open prices on the
mind. The car you have imag- While talkwindow are
ined yourself driving may not ing to the
usually highbe the car you end up buying. salesperson
er than the
It is important remember to be sure to
amount the
be knowledgeable about cars test drive
dealer really
you are interested in before
With
our economy going
www.newcartoronto.com
going to a dealership.
When you finally do de- the car you are interested in, wants for the vehicle. That is
cide to go to a dealership, re- ride with the radio off to listen a tactic that allows a little play
member to bring your license for irregular sounds. Be sure room for haggling. A “special
and a print out of the car you to try out all the windows and price” is often the full asking
want with the estimate price, mirrors. Examine the tires, price. If the car is not marked
or an ad that has a special the body and the interior on specifically avoid telling the
price. Car salesmen have a sight and look for possible salesperson how much you
reputation for being intimi- problems. When considering are willing to spend.
dating and pushy but they can the tires, look carefully for When I bought my
rips
and
slashes
and
demand
also be helpful. An important
used car, I did not look close
replacements
for
poor
tires
tip is to try to go to the dealenough at the body of the car.
ership in the first couple days or ask for a lower purchase It had been in an unreported
accident and the back panel
was dented and uneven. A few
dents or scratches will not affect the performance of the car
but a lot of them can indicate
the car has been in an accident even if the Carfax report
is clean. Be sure to look closely for rust along the bottom of
the doors and look carefully at
the cars history and the previous owners.
If you are unsure of
where to begin looking according to Autoextra.com, the
Top 10 cars under 10,000 that
are recommended for teen
drivers include:
2001-2002 Honda Civic/ Accord
2002-2004 Toyota Corolla
2003-2005 Hyundai Elantra
2001 Mercury Cougar
Being Broke. Get a Job!
BABYSITTING
Babysitting is one of the
most common jobs for a teenager to have. With many double
income families in the Woodbridge area, many parents are
looking for babysitters to watch
over their kids so they can relax
and go out on the weekends.
PROS: Get to play all day, go
on free field trips.
CONS: Babysitting little kids
for long hours can get exhausting.
“I think babysitting is the best
job a high school student can
have,” said junior Alyssa Andre. “You are your own boss
so you can set your own wage,
and working with kids is a lot
of fun.”
Money
Saving
Recipes
GROCERY
STORES
Since the opening of
the first Gold’s Gym more than
40 years ago, over 600 more
gyms have opened, making it
the largest co-ed gym chain in
the world. The closest Gold’s
Gym to WSHS is located in
Dillingham Square, right off
old Old Bridge Road. Teens
are allowed to work in the
PROS: Good pay, raise every child care nursery at the gym,
as well as the front desk.
six months.
CONS: Constant problems with
PROS: Free gym memberscheduling.
ship and product discounts.
“I work in the bakery at CONS: Only get paid miniWegmans,” said senior Briana mum wage if you work in
Simmons. “I get paid well and nursery.
Wegmans offers a lot of good
discounts for Verizon carriers “The reason I love working
and even sells employees re- at the gym is because I love
working with the kids in the
duced movie tickets.”
nursery. There’s never a dull
moment,” said junior Chelsea
Lawson.
Safeway, Giant, and Bloom are
not the only grocery stores in the
Woodbridge area anymore. Wegmans, a high-end grocery chain,
opened in 2008. Wegmans employs around 600 people, which
is hundreds more than Giant or
Safeway, who usually hires 150200 people.
Take out and flip over. Spoon about
a tablespoon of sauce onto muffin.
Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese
and top with pepperoni slices. Place
back in oven and broil briefly until
cheese is melted. Watch closely so
it does not burn. Take out of the
oven and enjoy.
2)
“Breakfast Casserole”- Instead of going to McDonald’s or
Dunkin Donuts and spending the
$4.00, try making this breakfast
casserole that is made from ingre
With our economy going dients you more than likely already
down hill recently the public needs have at your house and will get you
to find ways to scrape up all the ready for the day to come.
cash they can and save it. Most Ingredients:
of the time, a good amount of the 4 slices bread
public’s money goes towards food. 12 to 16 ounces bacon or sausage,
Instead of going out to eat. Here cooked and drained
are some easy home recipes that 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
will keep you from taking that trip 6 eggs, beaten
to McDonald’s or Burger King.
2 cups milk
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1)
“Muffin Pizzas”- these mini Directions:
pizzas will save you from spending Grease the bottom of a
the $15.00 on Dominoes or Pizza 9”x13” pan. Tear up 4 slices of
Hut pizza you like so much.
bread and place in the bottom of
Ingredients:
the pan. Sprinkle cooked crumOne English Muffin
bled bacon or sausage over bread
Pizza sauce
pieces. Sprinkle cheddar cheese
1/2 - 1 cup of Mozzarella Cheese
over the bacon or sausage. Mix
Pepperoni slices
eggs, milk and mustard together;
Directions:
pour over casserole.
Turn oven on to
broil. Split muffins into two halves
and place crust up on cookie sheet/
pan. Broil briefly until browned.
Chelsea Kite
OPED Editor
HEALTH
CENTERS
GOLF COURSES
Osprey’s Golf Club is one
of the most challenging golf
courses in Northern Virginia.
Overlooking the Occoquan River, Osprey’s is located about
15 minutes from Woodbridge
Senior High School, right off
of Route 1. Osprey’s also has a
dining hall, which can be used
for birthdays, banquets, or just
going out to eat. Osprey’s hires
teens to help golfers, as well as
to host at their dining hall.
PROS: You get to play golf for
free.
CONS: They have long hours,
and you have to work weekends.
“The people are really nice, and
they tip really well,” said junior
Nick Rogowski.
The Valkyrie
SPorts
Crew Team; ready for Spring
Season
Allison Mayberry
Staff Writer
made up of two people, no coxswain and two oars per person. Many people have the
misconception that rowers use
It’s spring time and their arms to row. 75% of the
Woodbridge crew is out on the sport comes from leg muscles. water. The spring season offi- It works all the major muscles
cially started on the 23 of Feb- in your legs, back, arms, and abruary. For weeks the crew team domen. has been practicing indoors for “It’s a really good work
their winter training. The winter out,” said senior J.C Fisher. “We
training has helped the rowers run to the boathouse everyday,
prepare for tough competition it’s a little more that two miles,
in the spring.
and then we get out on
T h e
the water for a couple
rowers prachours.”
tice everyday
Last year the
from 2:30 to
men’s varsity four and
5:00 in the afdouble took first place
ternoon, Monat States. The men’s
day through
four went on to place
Friday. Races
third at the Stoteswill start tobury Cup Regatta and
wards the end
Nationals. The coach
of the month. has high expectations
The regattas normally run from for the men this season to be
early in the morning until mid- stronger and faster.
day.
The girls’ team had a
“It’s a very time consum- disappointing season last year. ing sport,” said junior Kelly The varsity eight was successMitchell, “I come home from ful in the start of the season but
practice very tired and don’t when States came they did not
have much time to do home- qualify for Nationals. The coach
work.”
quickly split the boat and creat
There are four types of ed a varsity four to petition to go
boats Woodbridge rowers race to Nationals. The four went and
the 1500 meter course in. The made it to finals but unfortuseason usually starts in eights. nately did not medal. This year
An eight consists of eight people they hope to learn from previand one coxswain. A coxswain ous mistakes to make it a great
steers the boat and gives com- season.
mands during the race. “I really hope that this
The eight rowers each year we are smarter about boat
have one oar. Half of the boat is line-ups,” said junior rower
made up of ports and the other Katherine Changes. “I know we
half are starboards. Port row- could have medaled last year
ers oars go into the water on if we had stayed in the four all
the right side, starboard rowers’ season.”
oars go on the left side of the The crew team practices
boat.
and races on the Occoquan. You
A four consists of four can see them, along with many
rowers and one coxswain. A other teams, practicing out of
quad is made up of four people Oxford boathouse down in the
no coxswain and two oars per marina. Come check out the
person. This form of rowing races if you don’t have anything
is called sculling. A double is to do on Saturdays
March 30, 2009
8
March Madness: Road to the Final Four
Marian Brooks
Staff writer
March Madness did not
start with college basketball; it
traces back to the Illinois’ statewide high school basketball tournament that began in 1908, long
before college basketball reached
its current popularity. Henry V.
Porter, secretary of the Illinois
High School Association, coined
the term “March Madness” for
the 900 teams competing by the
late 1930’s for the championship.
March Madness usually
takes place between the third
Thursday in March through the
first week of April. Although
“March Madness” still refers to
the Illinois high school tournament, it is better known amongst
fans and sports broadcasters in
reference to the college tournament. It sends millions of fans
into a frenzy of chaos at the collegiate level. The series of college
games allows the fans to jump in
and enjoy the action each year
which is the type of “Madness”
the nickname refers to. Many fans
pay a lot of money to purchase
tickets and attend games, and
a significant portion of the fees
made are used to
fund scholarships
for Illinois high school boys and
girls.
Every college basketball
team’s goal is to make it to the
National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament and
win the national championship.
Throughout their long season
they must play hard, compete,
beat the tougher teams, and win
as many games as they can to secure their bid in the NCAA tournament.
The tournament consists
of 65 teams selected live on television on Selection Sunday by
the selection committee. This is
a group made up of certain university athletic directors and conference commissioners. Thirtyone teams automatically get an
invitation to the tournament for
winning their conference tournament.
For the rest of the teams some
are guaranteed a spot, others do
not even make the cut, and there
is a group of teams described as
the “bubble” teams that could go
both ways. Each school’s representative member cannot vote
for the school they represent and
eight votes are needed to secure
a teams spot in the tournament.
The committee also decides
where the teams will play.
The criteria they use as
their base to help determine
whether or not a team deserves
to receive a spot in the tournament are their Rating Percentage Index (RPI), ranking in national polls, conference record,
road record, wins versus ranked
opponents, and how the team
finished the regular season. The
committee’s decision is final, but
for those teams that do not make
it they could possibly be invited
to the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), which invites another 32 teams to play after the
season.
There are seeds and pods.
Seeds refer to the placement
of a team in one of the four regions. Pods refer to the method
of grouping the seeds at particular first-round and second-round
sites.
The 64 teams are divided
into four regions, with the best
team in the region being assigned
the number one seed. The highest seeds are the teams ranked
in spots one through eight. The
lower
seeds
are the teams
ranked in spots
nine through sixteen. The lower
seeds are where
the
“Cinderella” teams come
from. A “Cinderella team” is like
the underdog, a
team that unexpectedly succeeds and lasts a long
way through the tournament. The tournament is played
off a single-game elimination
which, as a result, starts off as the
“Big Dance” and while teams are
knocked off eventually leads to
the “Sweet 16”, the “Elite 8”, the
“Final Four”, and the championship game between the two teams
left at the end to play for the national title.
All teams want to experience the happiness of winning
and continuing on to play, but,
throughout the entire tournament many games will be decided
by making or missing the last-second shot or free-throw and some
teams will be sent home with the
agony of losing and their season
being over.
Once teams make the Final Four they must win two more
games to be called the national
champions. With that title comes
the opportunity to cut down the
basketball nets, receive a huge
trophy, different types of NCAA
championship apparel, and being
apart of the school’s history by
hanging a National Championship banner from the walls of its
arena.
Lifestyle
The Valkyrie
Wardrobe Makeover
Filson Abikar
Staff Writer
Times like these are hard
on our wallets as teenagers because
our needs are always mixed up with
our wants. The economy is failing
and money is tight; jobs we take
as teens are now cutting down on
hours and paychecks are looking
a bit miserable. We have bills to
pay and are just as stressed out
as adults and yet our income is
more restricted than theirs. Saving
money is crucial and the best way
to do this is looking fabulous while
still having some money in the
bank. Building the wardrobe of your
dreams on a limited budget is not
as hard as you think. By following
these tips, re-vamping your closet
will not only be within reach it will
also be within budget.
The most important question
one must ask before purchasing
anything is ‘do I want this, or do
I need this?’ People usually buy
impulsively, but if you are the type
of person that cannot quite get
their ‘look’ down, being yourself is
important. There are many choices
and places to shop, the key is to buy
what you know you will not hate in
the next three weeks because you
have now decided to change looks.
Your style is completely up to you
but beware; the constant change of
heart may lead to you breaking the
bank.
The
media
constantly
talks about ‘timeless’ pieces, like
an Armani suit for men, or that
gorgeous black Chloe tote. However,
that may not be the timeless pieces
you desire. Think of what you will
be wearing years from now like a
simple pair of dark Levis jeans, or
that rock star leather jacket that
never dies. The ultimate timeless
piece is up to you and what you
loved yesterday, love now, and will
love tomorrow.
Although money is tight,
investing in pieces may be the key to
long term savings. The harsh reality
is splurging is necessary when
looked at from a certain angle. Think
quality versus quantity. Try not to
feel like you must take advantage of
sales. Do not! It is a lie. Giving in to
them means you end up spending
more and in the long run you feel
like you have saved more, but you
have not. Have you ever walked by
a store in the mall that you know,
you would never shop in? That may
become your new favorite store.
Looking in places you least expect
opens your eyes to clothes and
accessories that do not usually fit
your style. Get out of your comfort
zone and search, search till your
little heart cannot search anymore.
Guaranteed, that trip will lead
to one new article of clothing – a
graphic tee or a vintage belt – that
will put a smile on any shopper’s
face.
Lastly make sure you keep
true to yourself. Sacrificing your
personal style to conform and look
like everyone else is not cool. Fad
and trends go in and out of style
with every sunrise. Instead, start
your own trend and have people
want to look like you. Remember,
this process cannot be rushed. Your
wardrobe will build up in time and
what is left is the new you. What has
emerged from this is what you want
same prices for their tuxedo rentals. The Men’s Warehouse website
(www.menswarehouse.com) shows
many different looks for Prom. The Woodbridge Senior High They offer a wide variety of tuxedos
School Prom will be held on April 24, from the classic black and white
2009 at the hotel in Crystal City. As look to much bolder looks, includthe most formal dance of the year, ing the all-white, Saturday Night
students will be dressing to match Fever variety. The prices vary as
the occasion. As girls begin their well. You can get a very basic tuxsearch for the perfect dress, most edo with just the jacket and pants
guys will be heading to local stores to for $59.99 but that price will not inbe measured for their tuxedo rentals. clude your shirt, tie, cummerbunds,
The guys don’t get off cheap though. suspenders, or shoes. A more complete look inTuxedo rental can be costly.
The two most popular places cluding all of the above, will cost
to rent your tuxedo in Woodbridge you from $109.99 to $159.99, deare the Men’s Warehouse, located on pending on style of tuxedo and the
Prince William Parkway next to Best quality of the fabric and finishes.
Buy, and After Hours Formalwear Most students spend somewhere
located at Potomac Festival in Oc- around $140.00, and many coorcoquan. As it turns out, After Hours dinate with the color of their date’s
and the Men’s Warehouse are part of dress, according to a salesman at
the same organization and charge the After Hours. 9
Prom Price
Reduction
people to see and notice. That is the
real point of the wardrobe of your
dreams; it is a clever way to make
you shine.
Nancy Lynch
Staff Writer
Prom is a very special
night that students want to
remember forever. However, it can add up to be pretty
expensive for a one night
event and many students
must pay for it themselves.
Use these tips to help cut
down the cost of your prom:
Tuxedo Rentals
Zach Szwed
Staff Writer
March 30, 2009
If you are willing to travel
to Alexandria, you can purchase a
“used” tuxedo and accessories for a
little over $100. Master’s Tuxedo
is closing down their rental businesses and selling off their inventory. You can purchase the coat
and pants for $69.00, a vest for
$15.00, ties for $2.50 for ties, cummerbunds for $5.00, and shoes for
$15.00. The store in Alexandria is
located in Kingstowne Towne Center.
If you decide to rent a tuxedo for Prom, you need to plan to
get measured in advance of the
date. The Men’s Warehouse requires measurements at least 14
days prior to the event. After Hours
recommends a full month before
the event and charges an extra $20
if you wait until 2 weeks before
Prom. 1.
Getting your nails
done could add up to being
around $60 and they only
last for a week. Instead of
getting them done professionally, do them at home.
Sally Hansen artificial nail
sets are about $20 and it
looks very similar to getting
them done at a salon.
2.
Instead of going to a
hair salon and spending $70
for an up-do, you can do
your hair on your own. You
can either curl your hair or
go for a simple straight look.
If you are incapable of curling your own hair, find a
friend that you can do each
other’s. This will save you a
lot of money and aggravation on a hairstyle that falls
out by the end of the night
anyways.
3.
When shopping for
your outfit, buy a pair of
shoes you will be able to
wear again or wear a pair
you already own. Most girls
take off their shoes when
they get to the dance anyways, there’s no point in
buying a new pair just to
take pictures in.
4.
When looking for
dresses, look for good sales
at department stores such
as Macy’s or Dillard’s. Their
dresses tend to run cheaper
than dress store’s prices such
as Group USA or Camille’s.
5.
Even though the guys
usually pay for dinner, you
can also save money by getting a group of friends and
cooking a dinner at home
instead of going to an expensive restaurant, in which
the guys must pay for both
of you.
Lifestyle
The Valkyrie
March 30, 2009
10
Super Foods: Powerful, Tasty, and Healthy
L. Elaine Cooper
Staff Writer
Imagine a food, not a drug,
powerful enough to help lower
cholesterol, reduce the risk of
heart disease and cancer, and, for
an added bonus, keep someone
in a better mood. Did I mention
there are no side effects? Almost
completely guilt-free. Guess what?
These life-altering superfoods are
already available right now in local supermarkets.
“The effect that diet can
have on how you feel today and
in the future is astounding,” says
nutritionist Elizabeth Somer,
author of Nutrition for a Healthy
Pregnancy, Food & Mood, and
The Essential Guide to Vitamins
and Minerals.
“Even people who are
healthy can make a few tweaks
and the impact will be amazing,”
Somer says. “I’d say that 50% to
70% of suffering could be eliminated by what people eat and how
they move: heart disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension can all
be impacted.”
A healthy diet incorporating a variety of the following
superfoods will help the consumers maintain their weight, fight
diseases, and live longer. One
aspect they all have in common: “Every superfood is going
to be a ‘real’ (unprocessed) food,”
Somer points out. “You don’t find
fortified potato chips in the superfood category.”
Blueberries -- Antioxidant Superfood
Packed with antioxidants
and phytoflavinoids, these berries
are also high in potassium and
vitamin C, making them the top
choice of doctors and nutritionists. Not only can they lower
your risk of heart disease and cancer, they also reduce inflammation.
Omega 3-Rich Fish -- Superfoods
for the Heart, Joints, and Memory
Omega-3s are most prevalent in
fatty, cold-water fish. Look for
wild (not farmed) salmon, herring,
sardines, and mackerel. Aim for
two-to-three servings a week. Other forms of omega 3s
are available in fortified eggs, flax
seed, and walnuts. These superfoods have the added benefit of being high in monounsaturated fats,
which can lower cholesterol.
Soy -- Superfood to
Lower Cholesterol
A study reported in The
Journal of the American Medical
Association (2003) showed that a
diet of soy fiber, protein from oats
and barley, almonds, and margarine from plant sterols lowered
cholesterol as much as statins,
which is the most widely prescribed cholesterol medicine. “Look for tofu, soy milk, or
edamame -- not soy powder,” says
Somer. “In other words, soy sauce
won’t do the trick. One caveat: If
you have a family history of breast
cancer it is not recommended that
you eat extra soy.”
Fiber -- Superfood Aids
Weight Loss and Checks Cholesterol
A diet high in fiber will help
maintain healthy cholesterol and
blood sugar levels. As a bonus,
because fiber helps people feel full
longer, it is a great tool in weight
management. Whole grains, beans,
fruit, and vegetables are all good
sources. “Try throwing some
beans in your salad”, recommends
Kulze. “Fresh, frozen, or dried are
the best. You can use canned, but
they tend to be higher in sodium,”
Kulze warns.
Tea -- Superfood for
Lowering Cholesterol and
Inhibiting Cancer
“The overall antioxidant
power of black tea is the same as
green tea,” says Kulze, “but green
tea does have ECGC, a powerful
antioxidant that we really do think
is quite special.”
A recent Japanese study
on green tea found that men who
drank green tea regularly had
lower cholesterol than those who
didn’t. Researchers in Spain and
the United Kingdom have also
shown that ECGC can inhibit
the growth of cancer cells. For a
double health whammy, replace
sugary sodas with tea.
Calcium
Everyone already knows
calcium helps build strong bones
and prevents osteoporosis. Look
for it in dairy products or supplements. Added bonus; some studies show that calcium helps with
weight loss. Here are the calcium
levels recommended for adults
by the USDA-- Age 9 to 18: 1,300
mg;19 to 50:1,000 mg; 51 and
over:1,200 mg.
And Finally, the Yummiest
Superfood Yet... Dark Chocolate
New research has shown that dark
chocolate is packed with antioxidants and can lower blood pressure. Kulze recommends looking
for chocolate with 60% or higher
cocoa content; the darker, the better. In addition, the darker it is, the
lower the fat and sugar content.
Now that’s our kind of health food!
Get Better Writing Skills Before May
Ryan King
Staff Writer
Beginning May 5, students
around the country will begin the
first administered AP exam. For
some students, the most intimidating portion of the exam is found in
the direct writing.
“I’m definitely most nervous about the essays,” said WSHS
sophomore Jacqueline Joslin.
“There is no spelling and grammar check like when I’m writing in
Microsoft Word.”
While there is no computer
program to help on the exam,
these quick and easy tips and tricks
can help any student improve their
grammar and writing.
1) Who verses Whom
him=whom
The words who and whom
are both pronouns, but it can be
hard to remember when to use
each. They are not interchangeable. Use who when you are referring to the subject of a clause and
whom when you are referring to
the object of a clause.
How do you remember the difference between an object and a
subject? Here’s my favorite mnemonic: If I say, “I love you,” you
are the object of my affection, and
you is also the object of the sentence. It’s like a Valentine’s Day
card and grammar mnemonic all
rolled into one.
Still too hard to remember? OK,
here’s the quick tip. Like
whom, the pronoun
him ends with m. When
you are trying to decide
whether to use who or
whom, ask yourself if the
answer to the question
would be he or him. That’s the trick: if you can
answer the question being
asked with him, then use whom,
and it’s easy to remember because
they both end with m. If you can’t
remember that you use whom
when you are referring to the object of the sentence, just remember
that him equals whom.
2) Semicolon verses
Comma
Small punctuation mark=smaller
words & bigger punctuation
big=bigger words
Semicolons separate two main
clauses that are closely related to
each other but that could stand
on their own as sentences if you
wanted them to.
Here’s an example: It was below
zero; Bonquiqui wondered if she
would freeze to death. The two
parts of that long sentence that are
separated by a semicolon could
be sentences on their own if you
put a period between them: It was
below zero. Bonquiqui
wondered if she would
freeze to death.
A semicolon can
only be used when each
part can still stand
alone when written as
two separate sentences.
So what’s the difference in using a semicolon over a comma when
joining two sentences? You never
use semicolons with coordinating
conjunctions such as and, or, and
but when you’re joining two main
clauses. Instead, if you’re joining
two main clauses with a coordinating conjunction, you use a comma.
For example, “It was zero, and
Bonquiqui wondered if she would
freeze to death.”
Finally, you use a semicolon when you use a conjunctive
adverb to join two main clauses.
Conjunctive adverbs are words
such as however, therefore, and indeed, and they usually show cause
and effect, sequence, contrast,
comparison, or other relationships.
For example, “The aardvark is on
vacation; therefore, Squiggly has to
carry the weight in this episode.
3) Teacher’s Choice:
Hanged verses Hung
English teacher Sarah
Heath said, “I often see students
misuse hanged. I try to tell them
that we aren’t in history class, so
there won’t be many people being
hanged in our stories.”
Heath’s grammar gripe is
an easy one to address. The quick
tip to remember is that people are
hanged, pictures are hung.
We hung pictures for the wedding.
The convicted felon was hanged on
Tuesday.
A person is bigger than a picture,
so it needs the bigger word.
A restrictive clause is just part of a
sentence that you can’t get rid
4) Affect verses Effect
Use affect with an a as a verb and
effect with an e as a noun. The
arrows affected the aardvark. The
effect was eye-popping.
With these tips in hand,
anybody can go into their exams
with confidence.
OP/ED
Hip Hop’s Unfortunate Transition
The Valkyrie
March 30, 2009
Mitch Sulkess
rap music to where it is today, and
with millions of fans, his influence
seems to be growing.
Kanye West; easily rap
Time seems to have a dra- music’s most ambitious lyricist,
matic change on all aspects of life. is one of the most popular artists
It is true of age, technology, enter- in hip hop today. West’s ability to
tainment, and even music. Chang- produce, make beats, and rap has
es in music can be positive and in- given him a spot in rap history, renovative, but at times damaging to cent stardom, and a prominent role
tradition. When speaking of the in hip hop‘s future. Other rappers
future of rap music, the songs we like T.I., Lupe Fiasco, Jay-Z and
hear today show how the genre is Ludacris also have a lot of influchanging for the worse.
ence on the public, and the future
Today’s world of hip hop is of rap music. a dictatorship, ruled of course by As these rappers change
the rapper on the tip of everyone’s their styles, and adopt new sounds,
tongue; Lil Wayne. “Tha Carter 3“, hip hop’s tradition is being forWayne’s last album, was the high- gotten. In today’s rap music, new
est selling rap album in 2008, and technology gives artists the opbecame an instant classic when it portunity to morph their voices,
dropped last June. With his boom- change tones, and pitches. It is
ing success, Lil Wayne has taken called “auto tune”, and it is killing
News Editor
11
hip hop.
is get back to where they were a
Kanye West and Lil Wayne few years ago. The days of College
have taken a liking to the synchro- Dropout, the Black Album, and The
nizing sounds of auto tune, and you Carter 2 have been forgotten, and
can see its effect on the industry. that needs to change. Lil Wayne
“Love Lockdown”, Kanye West’s is one of the greatest rappers of all
latest single, sounds more like an time, and he attracts more diverse
R&B hit than a
listeners to rap music, but
rap song. This
in the long run, the damages
is true of Lil
to tradition may be the first
Wayne’s “Prom
stages leading to the death
Queen”,
which
of hip hop. is an auto tune
In the end, a new
rock mix up of
face is needed on the rap
bad sounds and
scene; someone who can
unimpressive lyrface the changing winds
hiphoplead.com
ics. Rumor has it that Lil Wayne
of the time, and return
will be dropping a rap-rock album hip hop to its roots. Or if today’s
in the near future, showing that the artists wake up from the auto-tune
genre is morphing into something funk that has captivated the industhat would make Biggie Smalls roll try, we might be able to save hip
over in his grave. hop before rap music becomes a
What hip hop needs to do thing of the past.
Shorten the School Year
Zack Szwed
Staff Writer
In today’s economic environment, many states are struggling
financially. The state of California
is arguably in the worst financial
shape of any state. Early this year,
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
proposed cutting five days off the
2009/10 school year for California Public Schools as a way of cutting costs from the school system
budget. If passed, the proposal will
help California avoid more drastic
changes to its school system. The
cutting of five school days would
save the state $1.1 billion.
Here in Prince William
County, there are plans to cut
$94 million dollars from the budget, with an increase in class sizes,
decreases in faculty, increases in
parking pass prices, player fees for
playing on school sport teams, and
many other controversial changes
that will be impact students, teachers, school system employees, and
the quality of education in our
county. So why not look into cutting some days off our school year
to avoid some of these changes?
There are already eight states in the
country that have fewer than 180
days of school per year. If Prince
William County, and ultimately the
state of Virginia, were to cut a few
days off of the calendar, we would
not be alone in having a slightly
shorter school year.
It is a solution with much
less drama involved than the current Prince William County proposed budget for the 2009/10
school year. Chances are the cutting
of five school days in Prince William County would not cover the
$94 million, considering our public
school system is much smaller than
California’s. However, it would be a
start, and I know many who would
be much more satisfied with 175
school days as opposed to facing the
many changes that are currently in
the plans for the school system.
Every year the senior class
is released one week earlier than
the rest of students in the school. These are the five days that could
be cut. Instead of releasing the underclassmen all a week later all students could finish their exams one
week earlier all at the same time. This could be an easy way to cut five
days off the year and in the end save
money. It also seems like a much
less complicated way of saving as
opposed to the budget cuts Prince
William County is currently facing.
California has not passed
this proposal yet, and may not ever. Governor Schwarzenegger has a
battle in front of him to get the proposal passed as there are many opponents that believe cutting days off
the school year is not the answer. If
it were up to me though, 175 days of
school in Prince William County is
a much better solution to our fiscal
concerns than the current proposal
to save money next school year.
No Speaker at Graduation
Ashley Steptoe
Staff Writer
Graduation: the most exciting and important day of a teenager’s high school career always
includes a guest speaker from outside the Woodbridge High School
community. They deliver a speech
to the graduating class about their
years spent in high school and their
futures. This year however, the senior class of 2009 may not be so
lucky.
Currently, the senior class
does not have a definite guest
speaker. Andrea Sparks Brown,
one of the administrators here at
Woodbridge, might speak at this
year’s graduation. This decision is
not set in stone yet and if Sparks
Brown does not agree to speak this
year’s graduating class will simply
go without a speaker.
I think our class should be
able to have a
true guest speaker just like every
other graduating
class before us
has had. According to senior class
president, Holly
Gautier, the reason Sparks Brown
was chosen as our
potential
guest
speaker is because originally our
class was told we would not be
allowed to have a guest speaker
at graduation, then in February
we received the okay to go ahead
and find one. Usually graduation
speakers are booked by January at
the latest, so on such short notice
Sparks Brown was
asked because she
is a favorite among
many seniors here
at Woodbridge.
I feel our
class not having
a guest speaker is
unfair. No other
graduating
class
from Woodbridge
ecoliblog.com had ever not had a
guest speaker, so
why should our class not have one?
If the reason we could not book a
guest speaker originally was a lack
of money the senior class could
have easily come together to work
on a fundraiser or any other money
raising ideas. It was just a matter of
organizing this.
Not having a speaker for
graduation this year would make
our graduation feel less special.
Guest speakers motivate and inspire the graduating class to go out
into the real world and succeed in
life. If the graduating class of 2009
does not have a guest speaker it will
truly put a damper on graduation.
OP/ED
12 March 30, 2009
Octomom Attack
Chelsea Lawson
Staff Writer
Nadya Suleman is a 33-year old
unemployed mother…of fourteen. Suleman recently used
in vitro fertilization and got
pregnant with 8 babies, hence
her nickname from the media,
“octo-mom.” The most shocking part about the whole situation is that octo-mom is unemployed.
Although she loves to
claim that she is not “on welfare,” the government gives
her $490 per month in food
stamps and social security disability payments according to
The Orion Online. This was
what she received with only six
kids; imagine how much this
amount will rise with her new
set of octuplets.
Suleman appeared on
the “Today Show” probably
looking for sympathy and support, but all I see is exploitation
every day and populations are
of our government.
“All I wanted was chil- often way too high, so why is
dren. That’s all I wanted in my it still okay for just anyone to
use in vitro
life, I love
fertilization? children,”
It is time for
she said.
our govern
I f
ment to start
Suleman
being
careloves her
ful
with
how
children as
powerful scimuch
as
ence actually
she claims,
is. Before in
she should
vitro fertilizah a v e
Nadya Sulemana, or “octomom”
tion can take
thought
appeared on Dr. Phil to discuss her
place, doctors
about that family.
should be sure
b e f o r e
the parents are
bringing
them into a life where they are mentally and financially stable.
Raising a child is not an
most likely going to suffer. She is not even close to financially easy task. Raising them well
stable enough to provide for 14 with thirteen other siblings
children. She is most likely ex- when the parent has almost no
pecting major hand-outs from money is near impossible. Ferthe government which may be tilization centers should think
her reason for choosing fertil- twice before planting eggs in
delusional parents such as the
ization in the first place.
The world is constantly octo-mom.
being economically drained
The Valkyrie
2008-2009
Valkyrie Staff
Editor-in-Chief
Caroline Strand
News Editor
Mitchell Sulkess
A&E Editor
Mary Gilbert
Lifestyle Editor
Lauren Maddox
Sports Editor
Audrey King
Op/Ed Editor
Chelsea Kite
Photography
Editor
Rebecca Brooks
Business
Manager
Ashley Steptoe
Adviser: Todd D. Kelly
Goal: The Valkyrie hopes to provide the WSHS community with a quality high school newspaper that informs,
educates, entertains, and motivates readers.
Opinion: The Opinion/Editorial pages are designed to
provide a forum for the Valkyrie community. Signed/bylined stories and artwork do not necessarily reflect the
view of The Valkyrie staff, adviser, administration, or
PWCS board.
Distribution: The Valkyrie is published monthly, approximately 10 times a year by the Advanced Journalism
Class. It is available for purchase at WSHS for $.25.
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