Patriot Press October 3, 2013

—THE—
Patriot Press
VOLUME 2
In the News Today:
ISSUE 2
OCTOBER 3
A 3rd Grade Trip of Learning and Fun
The sixth grade class is enjoying their trip to Ironwood. They
have the chance to grow in
their faith with God through
worship services and learn from
hands-on academic activities.
Points of Interest:
• Oct. 2-4 - 6th grade
camp to Ironwood
• Oct. 14 - No School
• Oct. 16– Half Day &
Parent Teacher
Conferences
• Oct. 16 - PSATs for 911th grade students
• Oct. 20 - HCS Sunday
at HCC; 9:30 am.
Inside This Issue:
•
•
•
•
•
Pg 2: Sports - Volleyball,
Cross Country
Pg 3: Editorial,
Student Poll
Pg 4: Musical Instruments,
Secondary Teachers
Pg 5: Short Story
Pg 6: Jobs in the
High Desert
The third grade students learn how to press apples and make apple cider
on their fieldtrip to Riley’s Farm.
By: Caleb Mineo
On Thursday, September
19, the third grade class took
an exciting trip to Riley’s
Farm. Riley’s Farm grows
produce such as apples,
pumpkins, and berries, but
they also open their doors to
children who want to learn
about early colonial settlements. The children get to
experience what happened
back then when people were
first settling. The people who
work there also show the kids
how to gold pan, shoot a bow
and arrow, cut wood, and
make apple cider. Cody New
says, “Gold panning and archery were the best part of the
trip.” The kids get to have fun
while learning about early
settlements. Jonathan Crummey says, “I learned archery
and was good at it.” The kids
also get food at Riley’s Farm,
the favorite being caramel
apples. Maddie Wade says, “I
ate caramel apples.” Many
kids enjoyed their time there
and got to appreciate early
settlement life. The kids
really enjoyed the archery
and how to use a bow. When
the kids were all done with
their activities, they got a
chance to shop and buy souvenirs. Jonathan Crummey
says, “I bought an archery
set.” This is a favorite tradition of the third grade class,
and they enjoyed another
educational and fun trip.
—PAGE 2—
The girls volleyball team dominated University Prep. They
are a close-knit team, and they
hope to glorify God while playing one of their favorite sports.
Girl’s Volleyball on Winning Streak
By: Faron Schroeder
The Patriots Varsity volleyball team is fired up for this
season. There are eleven
players led by Coach Kelli
Hodson. The players enjoy
the coach. She is just as
excited about the games as
the players are, and she
makes her instructions clear
so that the players know
how to improve. The coach
is also overjoyed when they
win the games. Currently,
they have finished playing
the preseason games, and
they have won six games
and lost zero games. The
league season started on
October 1st. Allison Bragg,
a junior, said, “I build
stronger relationships with
those I play with, and grow
closer to God.” The Patriots
Volleyball Team is focused
on victory and also victory
in Christ. Last year, Hesperia Christian had both a
Junior Varsity and a Varsity
team. This year, the school
has only a varsity team, but
the players explained that
they enjoy playing much
more. During the preseason,
they were focused on placing the ball in specific spots
on the court and on being
stronger. So far they have
been undefeated, and hopefully they will keep it that
way. They are very excited
for each game and are fighting to keep up the strong
reputation of previous Patriot teams. Half of the players are freshmen, which
makes an uncommonly
young team, but the team is
stronger than most of its
competition. We have a
strong, top notch team this
year, and the school is excited to cheer them on.
Running to Victory
Jared Hays and Masaki Ito participated in the Hesperia Days 5K to get
in shape and support the community.
By: Ricky Petty
The Cross Country team
is up and running. They
only have three runners this
year, but that does not stop
them from achieving victory. One of the runners is
Jared Hays who runs five
days a week, five miles a
day, and is very athletic.
His best mile is five minutes and 17 seconds, and his
goal is to be in the top five
of All League. The reason
he runs is to stay in shape
and do well in his races. On
September 14th at Mt. Sac
College, he placed 34 out of
133 runners. He ran two
miles with the time of 11:20
and got a medal. A new
runner to cross country is
Masaki Ito. Masaki likes to
run, and he does not really
care what he eats before a
practice or a race. He said
he could run it off if he ate
too much. His fastest mile
is seven minutes and 18
seconds. Masaki hurt his
calf while in practice, but
he said it feels alright now.
He said he was glad he
PATRIOT PRESS
joined the team. The last
runner is Elaina Hays
whose best mile is five minutes and 47 seconds. Her
goal is to become MVP in
All League. She practices
by running five miles a day
five days a week. Her last
race was also at Mt. Sac
College. She placed 29th,
her time was 14:30, and she
won a medal. Mrs. Hays,
the coach for the team said,
“I’m proud of what my runners have accomplished this
season so far, and I look
forward to what will come
this season.” The Cross
Country team at Hesperia
Christian School is running
their best, competing
against other runners and
their own record times.
Opinion: Should Sports be
Mandatory at HCS?
By: Jake Hooper
Our school has forever been an athletic
powerhouse in the High
Desert. Our athletic
students are strong,
talented, and spirited,
but it always help to
have more participants
in our sports. Now I
suppose that we could
solve this in several
ways, but I believe that
the most plausible and
effective way would be
to make sports mandatory. Each student, with
health permitting,
would have to play one
season of a sport a year
to attend. This would
help our sports program
tremendously and push
it into a new era of
domination. Now some
people may say that
athletics will severely
—PAGE 3—
will teach
“S ports
life lessons that
will stay with
players forever.
hurt one’s academics.
Some may suffer a
small decrease in their
grades, but athletes are
given tutoring options
if they desire it to keep
their grade as high as
possible. Coaches also
help keep players accountable, and the team
works together to encourage one another to
prioritize grades. If everyone participated in
sports, it would help our
school become closer
knit and help students
make bonds for a lifetime. Sports also gener-
ally keep
kids out of
trouble
and teach
life lessons that
will stay
with them
forever.
Sports have many upsides that can help a
person’s life. All in all,
sports will not become
mandatory at HCS anytime soon, but it is a
very plausible choice if
we ever get to the point
of needing more people
for sports.
The Jr. Varsity Boys football
team is off to a great start
with a record of 3-1.
Go Patriots!!!
Student Poll
How many text
messages do you
send a week?
The average text
messages sent at
HCS a week is
1,155 Thousand
PATRIOT PRESS
How many messages
do you send a week?
-Dimitri Andros:
3000+ a week
-Olivia Hough:
2100+ a week
-Stephen Worley:
6000+ a week
-Alison Johnson:
3000+ a week
-Spencer Hamm:
3500+ a week
—PAGE 4—
Music Fever
By Kat Svastits
Talented students at
HCS love to spark up their
mood with instruments that
they love to play! The most
common instrument played
is the piano. David, a senior
says, “It’s exciting. I’ve
been playing it for years
and my favorite song to
play is Psalm 123!” He has
such a passion for the piano
and the violin.
Dylan
Brower, a junior, loves to
play the flute. He says, “I
started playing the flute
because one day, my
teacher and I were messing
around and she gave me a
head to a flute, and I blew
in it and out came magic!
She told me I would be an
excellent flute player!” Dylan knows how to make a
flute sound astonishing!
Tessa, a freshman, has an
intense passion for her Chinese flute. Her mom chose
it and she ended up loving
it. She says, “I love it because it is so convenient
and light to bring anywhere.” She also plays the
piano. Her favorite music to
play on the piano is Mozart.
She is an excellent student
and an excellent musician.
There are two little ones
found in fifth grade that
play instruments not heard
of too many times. Bella, in
Mrs. Brown’s class, plays
the clarinet. She started
playing because, she says,
“It’s an instrument that a lot
of my family played.” It is
difficult for her, but she
finds a way to pull through
and make it sound great.
Troy, also in Mrs. Brown’s
class, plays the trumpet. His
favorite song to play is Hard
Rock Blues. He says, “I like
playing with the drums in it
too so that they can hear me
when there are breaks between the beats!” There are
amazingly talented students
at HCS.
David, Dylan, and Tessa are
three of the many talented
students at HCS.
New Secondary Teachers
Adam Moore helping Senior
Chris Cox in
Algebra 2.
By Spencer Hamm
This year Hesperia
Christian has two new
teachers on the secondary side. Adam
Moore has come to
the school to teach
various subjects in
math, and Laura Caylor is the new Theatre
Arts
and
choir
teacher.
Adam
Moore
teaches both at Victor
Valley College and at
the school. Mr.
Dupree, the school’s history
and economics teacher who
also teaches at V.V.C., referred Mr. Moore through
the mathematics department. Mr. Moore teaches all
sorts of subjects ranging
from Pre-Algebra in junior
high to A.P. Calculus for
the seniors, making seven
classes in all. He says that
he really enjoys his new job
of teaching at the high
school and junior high
level, but in college teaching, there is little classroom
management to think about.
Even in large, low level
classes, the students are
adults who are paying to be
in class, so they actually try
harder. The thing that he
likes better about the small
school is that, at Hesperia
Christian, everyone basically knows each other. It is
like a small community
where everyone is nice to
each other.
Laura Caylor says that
she loves her new job, and
the new drama team says
that Mrs. Caylor is an excellent teacher. In the last
PATRIOT PRESS
three years, the school has
had three different theatre
arts teachers. Hopefully,
Mrs. Caylor will be able to
stay for years to come. This
is her first year teaching
too. With their first drama
production coming up in
November, both Mrs. Caylor and the students have a
lot to prepare for. She says
that the drama productions
should be a sell out this
year.
Both of the new teachers
say that it was because of
God that they got their new
job. God has blessed the
school with these two
teachers and the students
seem to love them. We will
see if the students will bless
them back by paying attention in class!
—PAGE 5—
SHORT STORY: Part I
On a warm summer’s eve in
the hill country of England, seventeen
people, dressed in their most glamorous
apparel, briskly entered the grounds of
a sprawling traditional manor in groups.
At the loud ringing of the bell, the head
butler Alfred steadily went to the door
and opened it, first seeing two businessmen. The one, a short and stout man,
whose thinning hair revealed his age,
stepped in quickly while the other, a
young, dark-haired man with a sharp,
intuitive face paused at the doorway to
soak in the grandeur of the mansion. An
even younger woman, with red hair and
a pointed face, eagerly nudged the
young businessman until he stepped in
and out of the way. Once inside, she
looked up at the ceiling, turning around
in circles to take in the full view of the
front room. The walls were lined with
portraits of the family’s ancestors.
Large chandeliers hung from the high
ceilings. Hallways and staircases led to
innumerable rooms. Walking down the
main staircase ahead, a tall, middleaged man wearing a tailored black suit
walked confidently toward his three
guests.
“Archie, it’s been too long old
friend,” the host said in a bold voice,
extending his hand to the middle-aged
business man. “And you must be Thomas? I heard about your loss and offer
my consolations. Your father was a
good man.” The dark-haired business
man stiffened but smiled as he shook
his host’s hand.
“And Lucy!” The red-haired
woman whipped around, setting down
an ornate vase on the table next to her.
“I see you like my grandmother’s heirloom,” the host chuckled. “A bouquet
of flowers from your flower shop
would complete that old relic. How
goes your business?”
Before Lucy could answer, the
doorbell rang again and Alfred was
slowly opening the tall front door. This
time, eight guests came through the
door, all quickly advancing into the
Read below the first installment of a multi-part
short story. To learn what happens next, wait
for the October newspaper.
entry room. One woman, with a shrill
voice, wearing a glittering evening gown
said, “Those country roads are outrageous! The car bounced so much that my
hairdo was practically ruined! The city
would never allow such an atrocity. Ah,
Mr. Reed, I hope you didn’t bring me
here to sing for your little party. You
know you must contact my agent. I’m not
a charity, after all.”
The host, Mr. Reed, responded
smiling, “No, darling, you know I’d
never do such a thing. Tonight is a night
of celebration!”
“Is that what this is about, eh?”
another guest interjected. This man was
wearing a vomit green sweater with faded
grey dress pants. A peculiar stench clung
to him.
“Excuse me, have we met before?” Mr. Reed asked.
“Of course we have, chap. Tyler’s my name. So, where’s the food?”
Tyler walked forward looking into the
many rooms for the dining room.
“I like your spirit, Tyler,” Mr.
Reed said, deciding to not bother about
who Tyler actually was. “The dining
room is the fifth door on your right down
this hallway. Everyone is welcome to
head to the dining room. Dinner will begin shortly.”
“Now Mr. Reed, will you tell me
why you have brought this unruly group
of people all the way out here to this isolated manor,” asked a young man in a
fancy suit.
“Oh my! Yes, Jackson of course
I can, but that will come later, once all
my guests have become comfortable. For
now just enjoy your surroundings,” replied Mr. Reed.
As Mr. Reed turned from Jackson, a small skinny man with an elegant
mustached squeaked, “Monsieur, may I
ask of you one question?”
“Why yes Pierre, what would
you like to know?” said Mr. Reed.
“Would you point me towards
the nearest restroom please?” answered
Pierre.
PATRIOT PRESS
“It is the third door on the left
down this hallway my good man,” responded Mr. Reed.
“Damon, how I wished you
would show,” said Mr. Reed to a man in
a cheap suit that fit him poorly.
“Mr. Reed, I barely made it. I
imagine that Gavin will have a fit seeing
me here,” replied Damon walking away
quietly. As soon as he left the room another guest rushed out of the throng of
people and quickly pulled Mr. Reed
aside.
“Why is Damon here?” he furtively questioned.
“Gavin, Gavin, Gavin, you’re
always so worried. Relax. This is a
party! Remember, you basically run my
company. How do you think it looks
when you’re so tense? Enjoy yourself!”
“But sir, you fired that
wretched man last week. What is he doing at the unveiling of the new product?
He could ruin it all!”
“Gavin, I’m telling you, there is
nothing to worry about. I made the company as it is today, didn’t I? Now get to
enjoying yourself!”
The doorbell was barely heard
above the chatter as the final nine guests
entered the manor. After much roaming
and exchanging of pleasantries, all seventeen guests found their seat and dinner
began. Mr. Reed stood at the head of the
long table and excitedly addressed his
guests.
“I brought you all here tonight
to unveil my newest creation. For generations, my family has brought you the
sweetest candy of the highest quality.
These sweets are, literally, to die for.
And tonight, I am proud to present our
newest chocolate product! It is lusciously wonderful, with the most chocolate available in a bar today, buts still
with zero calories. It is the best of both
worlds, delicious and healthy all in one.
So without further adieu…..Gavin, present the… Gavin? Where’s Gavin?”
Student Poll
“I want to be like my dad,
teaching people about
Jesus.”
—Carter Kendall, 1st grade
—PAGE 6—
What do you want to be
when you grow up?
“I want to be a teacher.”
—Mackenzie Needham,
5th grade
“I want to be a missionary.”
—Evan Kendall, 3rd grade
“I want to be a dress
designer.”
—Madison Roney, 3rd grade
“I want to be a nurse.”
—Maria Teresa Eagleton,
4th grade
“I want to be a nurse.”
—Kaylene Ewing, 1st grade
“I want to be a doctor.”
—Kajal Bhangu, 5th grade
“I want to be a doctor.”
—Sara Lee, 4th grade
Possible High School Part-Time Jobs
By Alexis Rascon
Many high school students are
looking for a job that may help them
with their future career. The following
are available part-time jobs in the
High Desert that provide good experience for eventually starting a career.
Chef or Cook
Working at a restaurant has some
stages to it. You start out slow and you
work your way up. You start out as a
host or hostess, which is usually paid
about minimum wage. Then after doing that for a while, you go to the next
stage which is being a dishwasher,
which is usually paid slightly more
than minimum wage. After that, you
are eligible to become a server. Now
you can talk with the guests and you
earn a higher percentage of tips on top
of your regular minimum wage. The
last stage is cooking the food, and they
usually make about $15 to $50 an
hour, depending on the restaurant.
They seem to make pretty good
money, but you have to work hard and
it takes some time to get to it. It goes
to show that if you work hard, you can
accomplish anything.
Teacher
Not many people are qualified to become teachers. If you are someone who
enjoys working with kids, then teaching
is the job for you. There are a few jobs
for teens that can help you prepare for
your future career and allow you to save
up some money for the college. You can
possibly get a job as a tutor. Ask the
school or one of the teachers if they
know anyone in the class who may need
some extra help. You can decide when
you are available and how many hours
you are willing to work, and you and the
teacher or parent can decide how much
to charge the parents. Many tutors
charge between $10 to $20 an hour depending on their qualifications. If you
want to be an elementary teacher, you
can also get a babysitting job. That way,
you can get a feel of what working with
young kids are like. Many babysitters
charge $14 an hour, but you can also talk
with the parents and makes compromise.
PATRIOT PRESS
Nurse or Doctor
If you want to become a nurse or a
doctor, you can get a feel for the job by
doing some volunteer work. Although
there is no money because it is a volunteer job, it will give you a realistic idea
of what working in the hospital is like.
You can also volunteer in a convalescent
home or at a hospice in-home care service, and they might pay you if they are
willing. One person volunteered to work
in a hospice home, and the company
decided to give her $50 for all the good
work she was doing. You can work for
someone you know who works in a
medical office. You can help them with
the paper work, either copying or filing.
They might pay you, but it is up to them
if they will and how much. It is a good
way to get an idea of what the work will
be like.
Even as a high school student working a part-time job, you can start building your resume and get valuable work
experience to better understand your
career goals.