33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405

The
moke
ignal
33
Stafford
Indian
Lane,
Falmouth,
www.shssmokesignal.com
Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
Odds
& Ends
VA
ELECTION . . .page 12
22405
Volume 64, Issue 3
Halloween fun. . .page 6-7
Homecoming cour t ‘08
What have
you been
downloading?
Music ...44
Videos...10
Games...7
Software...5
Other...7
JUNIORS: Spencer Bopp, Kimmy
Brown, Sydney Williams and Craig
Bennett
SENIORs: Cody Walker, Kathrine Pisciotta, Britny Paynter, Gordon Phillips,
Allison Skeer, Ben Howard . Not pictured, Molly Hatcher and Ryan Brown
SOPHOMORES: Kassandra
Baker, Allison Leake, Kelsey
Michalak, Chris Bornholtz.
Not pictured, Ben Trimmer
and David Brooks.
What do you
download?
Economic crisis tough on
teens, families, schools
iTunes...27
Limewire...29
CD’s...9
By Iksu Oh
Staff Reporter
What are you
listening to?
Pink...9
T.I...12
Rihanna...10
Kanye West...3
M.I.A...11
Other...7
Money doesn’t
grow on trees
By Leah Jennings
Staff Writer
An informational budget program
called “Funding a Place Called School”
was recently completed in Stafford
County. Citizens, particularly parents,
had the opportunity to attend meetings for five Thursdays from Sept. 11
through Oct. 15.
The meetings, organized by the
Education Department of the Stafford
County Public School System, were intended to help those in the community
understand the process of formulat-
Tiki Barber allowed Patrick
Krueger to take a picture with
him while FBLA took its field trip
to New York City. The club looks
forward to the annual trip to
New York City, but this time the
kids actually saw some
celebritie such as Tike Barber,
who played for the University of
Virginia along with his brother
Ronde Barber.. Both football
players were originally from the
Chesapeake area in high school.
Tike Barber played for the New
York Giants but retired early and
Ronde stills plays for Tampa Bay
Buccaneers. The students were
pleased with the trip for
education but also seeing the
sights of New York,
Index
Entertainment. . . . . . .2-3
Feature. . . . . . . . . 6-7, 12
News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1, 4
Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Sports.. . . . . . . . . . . 10-11
Student Life. . . . . . . . .8-9
FRESHMEN: Suzie Hastings,
Kasey Schooler, Misty
Galan. Not Pictured, Danny
Strock
Contest
succeeds
By Kathleen Gayle
Staff Writer
Each year in the fall, the Reflections contest is held to emphasize the
importance of the fine and performance arts. It is sponsored by the Parent Teacher Student Association
(PTSA).
ing and implementing budgeting for
the schools in our area.
“The purpose of the meetings was
to get the public engaged with the budget process,” said school board member Robert Belman. In addition to representing the Falmouth District,
Belman is a Century 21 Realtor and
assistant SHS JV/V football coach.
Now that the meetings are over, the
School Board hopes to get feedback
from the community about budgeting
issues.
The current economic crisis is not
only affecting the nation as a whole,
but the students inside this very
school.
Sophomore Kristen Lee, who plans
on driving in eight months, is already
worrying about the rising gas prices
due to the crumbling economy. “I play
sports every season,” said Lee, expecting to drive back and forth from school.
“I think it needs to be fixed quickly.”
Gas prices are rising as high as
$3.99 in the state of Virginia, so it is
not surprising to see student drivers
worried. “I can’t get money for these
insane gas prices,” said sophomore
Matthew Robinson. “It was a lot
cheaper before.”
Rising prices aren’t the only visible
effect of the economic crisis. While Lee
herself is still able to do normal activities, the current situation has affected her family members as well. “My
mom works for Verizon and there were
major pay cuts,” said Lee. “It’s probably due to the economy.”
Fortunately, the worsening
economy has yet to seriously impact
the students’ lives as it was expected
to.
“We cut back a little on things like
gas and milk,” said junior Richard
Chambers.
As a response to the crumbling
economy, the government recently
took various actions such as the 700
billion dollar bailout, which was
passed on Oct. 3. This ensures tax
breaks and allows businesses to buy
up bad debts.
“I feel that the bailout was needed,”
said Chambers. “Without key companies, we would fall apart. It might just
take awhile.”
There seems to be a split whether
the government is doing enough to
combat this economic crisis. “Once
the plan is passed, I think its going to
get better,” said Lee. “They just took
too long passing the bill.”
However, some students are not so
optimistic about the government. “I
think they’re trying, but not doing a
good job,” said Chambers. “They could
be working more like ensuring that
SEE CRISIS, PAGE 4
SEE BUDGET, PAGE 4
“The arts used to be a major part
in all school programs,” said PTSA
president Maureen Carden, “but now
they’ve gone away.”
The contest consists of categories
of all different types of art. literature,
musical compositions, choreography,
videography, photography, and art
can be entered in the competition.
For each contest, there is a theme,
and this year’s Reflections contest
theme is “Wow!” All entries should
encompass the idea of exciting things.
The deadline to turn in entries is Oct.
19.
In the contest, the creator has to
follow certain rules for every category.
All entries must be original and made
especially for the contest. Each has
rules, such as limitations, for works
of literature which showed 2000
words, or photography, where the size
of the paper the picture will be printed
on is a limitation.
“Each entry must be the original
work of one student only,” said Carden.
At the school level, the winners
will receive gift cards to stores chosen by the PTSA. Once the competition goes to the next level, the prizes
will get bigger and more valuable to
the student receiving it.
Photo by Paola Rivera-Milbon
Construction on the new movie theatre at the Mall progresses. Many new
stores are being added as well as the food court which has already opened.
Spotsy Towne Centre
almost completed
By Erin Gallivan
Staff Writer
Almost everyone at Stafford High
School has gone to Spotsylvania Mall
at some point. It is now known as the
Spotsylvania Towne Centre. As one can
see, the construction around the Centre is obvious.
The Spotsylvania Towne Centre is
getting a much needed upgrade and the
expansions and renovations are in
progress. The Centre has been in the
renovation stage for a couple of years
and is supposed to be finished in No-
vember. However, due to the ongoing
economic crisis, the due date has been
pushed back to February.
The Towne Centre is a very popular place for teens to hang out because
it is close and convenient.
“I’ve been to the mall over 100
times in my entire life,” said freshman
Ashley Moore. ”I usually go at least
three times a week.”
But with business being lost to
neighboring Central Park, the Towne
Centre’s owner, Cafro Co., knew they
SEE CONSTRUCTION, PAGE 4
2
ntertainment
The Smoke Signal
Stafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405
Oct. 22, 2008
Nic k & N or ah mo vie
pleases fans of book
By Lexi Morello
Page Editor
A wild night spent gallivanting
all over New York City started for
Nick and Norah with one simple
question, “Would you be my boyfriend for five minutes?”
The recent movie “Nick &
Norah’s Infinite Playlist” is based
on the book by the same name. The
movie follows the characters of
Nick (Michael Cera) and Norah
(Kat Dennings) who meet in a club
and pretend to be dating for five
minutes to fool Nick’s ex-girlfriend
and Norah’s enemy Tris. The rest
of the night they go on crazy adventures trying to find their favorite band and lost friend Caroline.
Overall the movie is enjoyable
and not the average teen movie.
However, it seemed as though it
couldn’t decide what type of movie
it was. It had elements of romance,
indie films, and gross out comedy
that didn’t seem to blend together
well. It would have been good to
remove all the unnecessary gross
out humor and stick to the main
story between Nick and Norah and
their blooming relationship.
Book to movie translations are
hard to accomplish successfully.
The movie does an adequate job
of capturing the essence of the
book and translating it to the
screen. As expected many things
were deleted, changed, or added
in the movie version.
The majority of the book, written by Rachel Cohn and David
Levithan, is the internal monologue of the two main characters.
Their thoughts and feelings are the
main focus of the book. There is a
minimal amount of actual dialogue
in the book. That may have been
why the movie version has so
many scenes that weren’t in the
book.
Another thing the movie version does is make certain characters unlikable, completely exaggerating their behaviors from the
book. The characters of Tris, Tal,
and Caroline are changed greatly
from how they were portrayed in
the book. If the filmmakers were
trying to make those characters as
obnoxious as possible, they succeeded greatly.
Also, Dev and Thom, Nick’s best
friends, play a much larger role in
the movie. However those changes
aren’t detrimental to the movie as
a whole.
“Nick & Norah’s Infinite
Playlist” is a movie about love, excitement, and music. It certainly
is a nice departure from the typical teen movie. Even though it is
atypical, it won’t be making the
greatest movie lists anytime soon.
That isn’t to say it isn’t an enjoyable film. The book is far greater
than the movies, as is to be expected. So if a person was to
choose between reading the book
or watching the movie, they should
pick up the book; it won’t disappoint.
‘Lakeview Terrace’ keeps
audiences on their toes
By Allison Brady
Page Editor
A rumor suggests that
“Lakeview Terrace” would beat out
“Titanic” in the box office as the
movies are in a close draw. Starring Samuel L. Jackson as Abel
Turner and Patrick Wilson as Chris
Mattson and Kerry Washington as
Lisa Mattson, this movie was filled
with suspense and laughter.
Director Neil LaBute created a
unique but catchy film that delivered a great production.
Lakeview Terrace came out in
theaters on Sept. 19 and so far has
made $6.9 million.
Jackson played the part of a
LAPD officer who showed his aggressive cop duties to his newlywed interracial neighbors, the
Mattersons. He revealed his opin-
Movie lover s should enjoy
unique thriller, ‘Eagle Eye’
By Morgan Iannazzo
Staff Writer
“We are everywhere, Jerry. Disobey and you die.” The flat, mysterious voice leads “Eagle Eye” into
an eerie plot. Two ordinary people
get framed into following and
obeying unknown phone calls in
order to survive and save their
families. Little do they know that
they are a part of a terrorist event
that threatens the government.
“Eagle Eye” keeps the audience
on edge, but at times the story plot
was a little far-fetched. Shia
LaBeouf as Jerry Shaw and
Michelle Monaghan as Rachel
Holloman create a suspenseful
thriller for all movie lovers to enjoy.
Fandago, an internet rating
website, lists “Eagle Eye” as num-
ber five of the hottest movie tickets to buy. Out of the 1,267 fan
reviews, the average rating is a GO!
Freshman, Jameson Howell
summarizes the movie as “Great,
amazing. I give it a 12 on a one to
ten rating.” Howell also sayid the
acting was “pretty good.” He recommends that everyone one
should go to see it.
“Eagle Eye” is for everyone,
young and old, to watch and be
entertained. As two separate lives
become entwined with this nightmare, compassion and friendship
depicts the outcome of the movie.
Even though “Eagle Eye” is
a great mystery movie, there were
moments where the plot becomes
far-fetched. As in every action
movie, there is a car chase.
“Eagle Eye” has a hold-yourbreath chase, as usual, where dra-
matic turns and high-speed dodging took place. The car was driven
as if a professional stunt driver
were driving the SUV. In actuality;
Michelle Monaghan played the
single mom.
Also, how could the explosives
and terrorist weapons get into his
apartment without any suspicion
over the amount of it all? “It was
horrible and dumb,” said sophomore Aaron Donley. “The story-line
wasn’t exciting. I would give it a
three out of ten.”
As a whole, “Eagle Eye” was a
unique film. The acting was not
phenomenal, but it was admirable.
Students at Stafford should definitely go to see it. Even though
some things weren’t as if they
would actually be accomplished,
“Eagle Eye” was intriguing and trilling.
ion on the Mattersons by getting
under their skin by throwing a
huge, loud party at the peak of
sleeping hours, and making comments about them being welcome
to the neighborhood, and by shinning his “security light” directly
into the Mattson’s bedroom window.
The movie started out with the
Mattsons moving into the neighborhood and meeting the challenges of being new homeowners.
Their not so easygoing neighbor
Abel was on their case immediately.
Abel and Mattson had their differences from the start but towards
the middle of the movie, Abel reveals a devastating past which he
said has triggered his aggression
towards the interracial couple and
his job.
Chris and Lisa struggle through
the movie trying to make “friends”
with their neighbor. The two also
face problems in their marriage
and have a baby on the way.
These events only lead to the
more important problems they
have to face like the forest fire
creeping up on their neighborhood.
Throughout the movie the
Mattsons and Abel fight and look
for ways to get back at the one another. When Chris finds out Abel
is a dirty cop, he tries to get the
other police get involved.
This movie will keep the audience on its toes even until the end,
which was kind of expected, but is
made up for by avoiding obvious
scenes.
3
New iPod nano features are wor th the money
ntertainment
Oct. 22, 2008
The Smoke Signal
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
IndianIndian
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
By Julia Colopy
Staff Writer
The fourth generation iPod
nano has been the hot item on the
market from Apple.
“I definitely prefer it to the
short one that came out last year,”
said sophomore LaRae Willis.
“The upgrades from the original model are the selling point,”
said sophomore Dillon Caldwell.
“It is definitely better than the previous ones I have had.”
The iPod nano is available
with 8GB or 16GB. The 8GB is $149,
and the 16GB is $199 at the Apple
Store.
“It is worth the money because
it has twice as much memory for
the same price, plus all the new
features,” said Caldwell.
The iPod nano comes in nine
colors, compared to the six colors
available in the third generation.
According to Willis, the wide vari-
www.shssmokesignal.com
ety of colors is fun because “instead of cases, I can pick out any
color I want and not be limited.”
New aspects of the iPod include the curved, all-aluminum
and glass shape and long, clear
screen. The screen is a 2-inch
widescreen display and has a
320x420 resolution, allowing for
movies, TV shows, and videos to
be viewed.
“The new screen gives it a better, wider, picture,” said Willis.
The many features also attract
customers such as the Genius application. The Genius takes the
song being played and with a click
of a button, creates a playlist of
songs related to it.
“The Genius makes it so much
easier to find all of my songs,” said
Willis. “All I have to do is hit a
couple buttons and I have the
songs that I want to listen to.”
The built-in accelerometer is
also a new feature on the iPod
nano. When listening to a song, a
shake of the iPod shuffles it to a
different song in the library.
“I like it because you don’t have
to press any buttons,” said
Caldwell. “It can be put on hold
also, so it won’t accidentally
shuffle.”
The accelerometer also detects
when the iPod is turned sideways,
changing the display to Cover
Flow, a way of browsing songs and
viewing album art.
It is also incorporated into the
new games such as Maze, a game
controlled by tilting and moving
the iPod. Many more games are
available at the iTunes store.
“It makes you interact with the
game, so you can really get into
it,” said Willis.
Clique Girlz album suprises lis
tener
listener
tenerss
By Suzanne Kincaid
Staff Writer
The Clique Girlz, a new pop girl
group, has recorded three songs
on their untitled debut album.
The members of the Clique Girlz
are 12-year-old Paris Quinn Monroe, 13-year-old Ariel Alexis
Moore, and 14-year-old Destinee
Rae Monroe.
The group surprises listeners
by their strong voices, which is unexpected because of the lyrics and
the impression they give from their
album cover.
Their song “Then I Woke Up,”
written by John Shanks and Kara
DioGuardi, discusses how the
group desperately wants to have
super stardom, but also how
they’re still stuck as young teenagers.
The song has similar qualities
to Aly & AJ and lyrics close to those
of Hannah Montana, but it has a
more manufactured sound with a
pop star theme. The song gives the
impression that these girls are
F amous ar
tis
ts inspire
artis
tists
students to be creative
By Suzanne Kincaid
Staff Writer
Artwork provides different
messages conveyed by the painters that inspire students in their
own artwork and technique.
Artists use many styles in their
paintings, such as Andy Warhol, a
famous pop artist.
“Andy Warhol’s use of color
and mediums to express messages
in society is really creative. His
work inspires me to try techniques
similar to his,” said sophomore
AnnMarie DeSando.
Another classic artist is
Leonardo Da Vinci, who is known
for his sketches and paintings
such as the Mona Lisa.
“Da Vinci’s sketches seemed to
make his sketches of the human
being look more beautiful than
people are in reality. It makes me
want to perfect my art and examine it more,” said freshman Evelyn
Chittum.
More modern artists such as
David Hockney, an important contributor to the pop art movement,
is another artist that holds some
influence over students.
becoming another “wannabe” girl
band and not another Disney radio starlet.
The two remaining songs on the
album are “The Difference in Me”
and “How Do You Like Me So Far.”
They do not have much instrumental difference from the first song.
The Clique Girlz continue to sing
about messages that appeal to
more pre-teens. The songs are very
bubble-gum pop-rock, but the public has to consider that the album
is well done for girls at the average age of 13.
Popular magazines
“David Hockney layers different pictures to make an image, and
I admire that because he is using
different techniques to explore
new things and the unknown,” said
DeSando.
Chuck Close is another admired artist for his massive scale
portraits and photography.
“He has the power to take an
image and break it down into
smaller images so that when you
walk away you get the full picture.
He plays with your mind in a
sense,” said teacher Linda Keefer.
Venus de Milo created by
Alexandro of Antioch, is an ancient
Greek statue and one of the most
famous works of ancient Greek
sculpture.
“Blows my mind how people
take marble and make it into a
beautiful sculpture. The detail that
is put into it just blows my mind,”
said Keefer.
Famous artists help student to
be more creative and show interest in art by exploring ideas and
concepts with their art, whether it
is in pop art, expressionism, realism, surrealism, or other any other
area of art.
Former ‘Idol’ contestant’s
new song domiates char
ts
charts
By Alexis Tinsley
Staff Writer
American Idol runner-up David
Archuleta finally breaks out by debuting
his new single “Crush.” “Crush” is dominating the charts. It debuted at number 2
on the “Hot 100 Singles” in late August.
During the first week of its release “Crush”
also dominated the
Billboard’s “Hot Digital
Songs” chart in the number 1 position.
Because Archuleta’s
mom was from Honduras, most of the music
he listened to as a child
was Latin-influenced.
Archuleta’s mother
would make him dance
to traditional music with his older sister.
According to Archuleta he would also listen to music from his father’s jazz collection. He was also influenced by gospel,
pop, rock, and “soulful music.”
He cites Natalie Cole, Stevie Wonder,
Kirk Franklin, and Bryan Adams as his
musical influences. He cited Natasha
Bedingfield, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, and Robbie Williams as his top pop
artists.
His song “Crush” has an awesome
beat and great vocals. Archuleta really
shows his singing abilities in
this song. It is a song that
people should be able to get up
and dance to at home or at the
club. Even though the subject of
the song is a crush, Archuleta
takes it to another level, making it appeal to all audiences.
Overall this is the kind of
song that people can play over
and over again without it getting old. Though Archuleta didn’t win
American Idol, he is a talented singer
whose dreams are coming true every day.
Information
provided
by
No matter where, students have fun
By Liza Contreras
Staff Writer
There are many different kinds
of entertainment in the world.
In America there are sports,
fashion, drama entertainment or
just hanging out with friends at the
mall, movies or the beach.
“Back in my country I didn’t do
any sports. I usually hung out with
my friends at the mall.” said French
foreign exchange student, Carine
Dedieu.
In France, fashion is everywhere. American and French styles
are alike and different in many
ways. France has a more mature
and formal design but just like
America they have tight skinny
jeans.
“We go to school everyday and
study, but for sports or activities
we go to the gym in town,” said
Norwegian foreign exchange student, Ingrid Skarpass.
American schools have more
activities after school for kids to
get together for than they do in
Norway. Norwegian teens entertainment revolves around boating, going to the movies, partying
with friends, or going skiing.
“Compared to our biggest mall
in my country, the Spotsylvania
mall is way bigger,” said German
foreign exchange student Svenja
Suhr.
In New York or Hollywood,
fashion shows are everywhere, but
fashion isn’t as big. Even though
the size may be small, the malls
are still that special place to hang
out with friends to have fun.
“There are activities after
school, but they aren’t school
teams. They are teams within the
town,” said German foreign exchange student, Katarina Leitner.
One of the well-known entertainments would be handball.
Handball is played with six people
on each team. The main thing is to
dribble the ball down the field into
the goal. Handball is like basketball and soccer combined.
“Here in this school, I’m not doing any sports yet,”said Hungarian
Anna Acs. “I might do tennis in the
spring, but I am not sure,” Americans love to watch football and
baseball, but in those foreign
countries they don’t exist. They are
entertained with soccer, water
polo, and handball.
America may have more entertainment, bigger malls and more
things to do, but there are still
many things to do in other countries.
4
The Smoke Signal
Stafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405
Oct. 22, 2008
Photos by Paola Rivera-Milbon
The buildings are coming right along at the expansion if the Towne Center. Many new stores will be added along
with the expanded Food Court which includes Cinna-Bon, Great Steak and Potato, Sbarro Pizza and Japanese Wok.
Towne Centre Remodeling
CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
needed to do something to get the business back. Especially after the loss of
the movie theater in the mall, people
were going to Central Park to see movies and shop while they are here.
Cafro Co. has been carefully planning of a new layout. The Towne Cen-
By Sara Meir
Staff Writer
tre has a brand new food court, and
they are creating colonial type architecture in the back of the mall, with
many little outlets for a different type
of shopping experience.
Freshmen Flo O’Reilly and Ashleigh
Powell both agree that they are just as
excited about the renovations.
“They could use the money for
charities and stuff but the mall is a
good thing.” said Powell.
The new renovations and expansions will cost about 12 million dollars to complete.
“I will also go there more because
I love the little outlets Central Park
has,” said Powell, “but now that it’s at
the mall, I’ll go there instead.”
“I like Central Park because it has
cheaper clothes,” said O’Reilly, “but I
go the mall because it has more vari-
ety and now that it is getting the expansions it will have a much better
atmosphere.”
The renovations and expansions
are winning people over. The Town Centre is closer than Central Park, and
they don’t have to fight as much traffic.
Sniper spree anniversar y
Most people are well aware of the sniping spree that occurred
for three terrorizing weeks in 2002 in Maryland and Virginia. The
anniversary is right around the corner and a lot of people have
forgotten about it.
Six years ago, ten people were killed, and three were wounded
in various locations throughout the D.C. metropolitan area and
along Interstate 95.
One of the men held responsible for this was John Allen Williams. He had joined the Black Nationalist Organization, the Nation of Islam, and changed his name in 2001. Williams was arrested at forty-one years of age as John Allen Muhammad.
The other was Jamaican immigrant Lee Boyd Malvo, who was
only 17 at the time of his arrest on Oct. 24.
“I was only in 6th grade, but back then it affected me because
I couldn’t play football and I couldn’t really go outside because
my mom was afraid something would happen,” said senior TJ Storm.
“I was also kind of sad because those people died and they didn’t
do anything wrong and I feel that the guys deserve the highest
penalty.”
Both were convicted on four counts: murder, terrorism, conspiracy, and illegal use of a weapon. They were well known as the
“Beltway snipers, DC snipers, Washington snipers, Serial snipers,
and Tarot Card killers.”
Both men were suspected of shootings and robberies in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Arizona, and Washington State. In
2004, Muhammad was sentenced to death and Malvo got several
life-imprisonment-without-parole-sentences in Virginia for several of the attacks.
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court decided to give Malvo the
death penalty as well.
“Well at first I didn’t realize how bad it was and then it scared
the life out of me because the first person I thought about was my
dad when I heard there had been a shooting,” said senior Amanda
King.
Before this had occurred, there were a couple of shootings
that occurred in Fredericksburg and were a huge scare. Most of
the schools went on lock-down and no one was allowed to enter
or leave the schools.
“It was very hard having to deal with the snipers and my father because at the time he was very ill. It didn’t really change my
daily activities. I was just more careful,” said administrative assistant Anna Ellis.
Crisis
CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
people are keeping their jobs.”
Other students say it‘s too soon to determine.
“One thing they can do is not make empty promises,” said Robinson. “It’s either going to make it
better or worse.”
By Brianna Aletras-Dunn
Staff Writer
The Renaissance Program is a
grade and attendance incentive program that is offered at Stafford County
High Schools. It is used to encourage
students to improve or continue to get
good grades and attendance.
This program helps achieve higher
standardized test scores. Most schools
that use the Renaissance Program have
noted better attendance records, fewer
disciplinary problems, and a decrease
in drop-out rates. The program offers
better rewards to the students with better grades.
The Renaissance cards are rewarded at the end of each quarter, and
they provide discounts and premiums
at several different businesses, including restaurants, salons, and music
stores. Also, they offer discounts for
carwashes, jewelry, class rings, and
school spirit wear. Cards are also
awarded for perfect attendance.
The Renaissance Program also offers a parking space. The space is in
the front of the school. The space is
next to the principal’s and the security guard’s space next to the flagpole.
It even has a sign that says “Renaissance Student of the Month.”
” It’s just easier for me to get out of
here everyday,” said senior Sydney
Monroe.
”Visitors may have gotten used to
parking in that spot,” said PTSA presi-
dent Maureen Carden, ”so students
need to report if someone is in their
space.”
Monroe also thinks that having a
space just for her is easier because
people get antsy trying to find a parking space. The parking space lasts for
a month.
For those who are interested in the
Renaissance Program, applications
are available in the office. In order to
qualify, students must have a signed
application (by a parent or guardian)
and a certain GPA or attendance
record.
Also, students will receive an application when the report cards come
out. The cards come out on Dec. 3. All
of the GPA requirements are listed on
the application.
Because of the cost of the prize
booklet, students may only receive one
copy. In case of a lost booklet, they
can be found on the school fusion
website.
Mr. Fargo Wells and the PTSA run
the Renaissance Program. They receive
the nominations and recommendations from teachers about which student will receive the parking space and
then decide on who should get it.
“The PTSA and myself are trying to
come up with other prizes and are trying to get donations from different
businesses,” said Wells.
If any students are interested, then
grab an application from the front office.
Budget ef fects students
CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE
“They want taxpayer input and
questions,” said English teacher
Suzanne Battista, who is the teacher
representative for the Stafford Education Association.
PTSA president Maureen Carden
attended the budget meetings. “The
ultimate goal is to educate people
about problems involved in funding
the school district,” said Carden.
Carden explained that one of the
things they discussed is why education is valuable not just to the individual, but to the community. According to the School Board, it is just as
important for citizens who aren’t parents to be informed about the school
budget as it is for citizens whose children attend Stafford County schools.
“Some people think that if someone has no kids, they shouldn’t have
any say in what happens with the budget,” said Belman. “But those citizens
elect board members whose decisions
will affect parents’ pocketbooks, and
they still pay taxes for school, so they
should definitely have a say in how
money is spent.”
At the meetings, Carden said facilitators explained that schools affect
the community in multiple ways.
“Fully funded schools increase
property values, attract businesses,
and lower crime rates,” said Carden.
The attendance at each of the meetings ranged between 10 and 20 people.
This number was less than the organizers had hoped, said Dr. David Sawyer, superintendent of Stafford
Schools, who oversaw the program.
The meetings were held at 7 p.m., which
Belman said, “may have been inconvenient for a lot of parents.”
“I would have liked to go,” said Lisa
Snow, a counselor at Conway Elementary School, “but I couldn’t find the
time.” Snow has four children ranging
from first grade up to tenth grade.
Battista said another possible explanation for the low attendance is
that people in the community may not
have heard about the meetings. “Advertising needed to be better,” said
Battista.
Dr. Sawyer said each meeting was
filmed and will be broadcast on the
Stafford County Schools TV Channel in
the coming weeks. “We expect to reach
a much broader audience that way,”
said Sawyer.
Belman suggested that maybe the
general public has enough faith in the
Education Department to believe they
will make the right decisions for the
good of the community.
“People know we’re going through
tough economic times,” said Belman.
“Budget changes will have to be made
because of that.”
Dr. Sawyer said one of the most
critical points that parents need to understand is that Stafford County is one
of six states that do not have an independent school board; the schools in
Stafford County are funded by the state
and local government.
“People move here from all over
the country, and they are used to having things operate differently,” said
Sawyer.
Belman said one concern many
adults share is how the budget decisions will affect students.
“We only have a certain amount of
money to work with, and we need to
make sure it’s spent wisely, in whatever way will benefit the students
most,” said Belman.
“It’s very important to make the
best decisions for kids’ educations,”
said Snow. She feels that despite any
changes caused by the budget, students should still have the same educational opportunities they do now.
“Stafford’s a great county, and we
have to be careful not to let that slip,”
said Snow.
pinion
The Smoke Signal
Oct. 22, 2008
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
IndianIndian
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
www.shssmokesignal.com
5
DRUM BEAT S
By Jennifer Oliver
Staff cartoonist
Photo by Jessica Byrd
A student leans over the counter to hand the lunch lady his money. The
new and more expensive prices irritate students because they often have
to hunt for extra money just to pay for their lunches. If they don’t come up
with some extra change, they won’t be able to buy lunch that day.
Lunch prices increase
because economy is bad
Announcements waste of
time or impor tant for kids
By Elizabeth McMillen
Staff Writer
Every day at the end of school, the announcements
come on to inform students of important things that
are going on in and around school. But many students don’t listen to the announcements because they
either don’t care enough about them or because they
are too busy talking to their friends.
Some of those that do listen are only doing it so
that they can find out if the after school activities
they particpate in have been cancelled.
“No [I don’t listen to the announcements], because
it’s dumb and stupid,” said freshman Courtney Bonner.
Some students feel that the announcements are a
waste of time and don’t bother to listen.
That’s unfortunate for the few people that actually
do try to listen to the end of the day announcements.
Classrooms and locker rooms are usually too loud
for the people who want to listen to make anything
out, so they lose out on valuable information.
“No [Idon’t usually listen to the announcements],
unless it’s something important,” said freshman
Camille Reid. “You usually can’t hear in locker rooms
A
A
and classrooms.”
Kids may not be listening to the announcements
because they have easy access to the school website
when they get home.
When compared with the world wide web, the announcements seem archaic.
The website has everything said on the announcements, along with announcements that may not have
made it down to the office at the end of the day.
Teachers have a hard time getting kids to listen to
the announcements. They try as hard as they can to get
kids to be quiet, but it never seems to work. Students
will still talk and mess around because they feel like
listening is pointless.
Students enjoy the precious few minutes they have
during school to joke around and have fun. As long as
announcements infringe upon that time, then they will
always talk during the end of the day.
Perhaps they should move the announcements to
the beginning of the seventh period so that students
would be forced to listen. The way things are now, they
won’t. And that means kids who are trying to hear what’s
going on after school won’t be able to.
Phone: 540-371-7200
Fax: 540-371-2389
www.shssmokesignal.com
www.stafford.high.schoolfusion.us
Newspaper Staff
Editors-in-Chief: Nate Carden, Kelsey Chestnut
Assistant Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Pan
Photography Editors: Nate Carden, Kyle Falkenstern
Online Editors: Francisco Gonzalez, Nina Gonzalez
Copy Editor: Dawnthea Price
Cartoonist: Ben Jennings
Business Manager: Wendy Cole
Section Editors: Ashley Bautista, Allison Brady, Lexi Morello
A+ Blood Drive
Varsity
Football
Power Outage
Even though it was dark in several classrooms,
administration still didn’t dismiss students from school.
F
SAT Testing
It’s that time of year again for juniors and seniors to sit
through the SATs.
the National School Lunch Program.
The poverty line is determined by
whether or not a family can afford
necessities for basic everyday living
like water, food, shelter, clothing, education, and medical care. The poverty
level ranges from 135 per cent to 185
per cent Students from families with
incomes at or below 130 per cent below the poverty level are eligible for
free lunches, those between 130 and
185 per cent above the poverty level
are eligible for reduced-priced meals,
which students can be charged no
more than 40 cents. Students from
families with an income of over 185
pr cent have to pay full price. With the
other expenses that students are required to pay, students feel that it is
just too much money.
“Some people can’t afford the
lunch because the economy is so bad.”
said freshman Maria Andrade.
School lunches must meet the Dietary Guidelines for Americans which
recommends that no more than 30 per
cent of a student’s calories come from
fat and 10 per cent from saturated
fat. Also, school lunches must provide
one-third of protein, such as Vitamins
A and C, iron, and calcium. Still, with
all of these recommendations and
standards, students don’t feel that the
food tastes any healthier than unhealthy food would.
“The food tastes awful.” Said junior, John Bratcher.
Stafford High School
33 Stafford Indian Lane
Falmouth, VA 22405
The football team gets an A for effort because of all
the hard work the players do during the game.
A
D
More than 3.5 million children got
their food each day through the National School Lunch Program in 2007.
Support from the USDA comes from
cash reimbursements for each meal
served. By law, schools receive food
starting at 15 cents for each meal that
is served.
Still some students feel that
they’re paying too much for the
amount and quality of food that they’re
given during lunch, along with the
other school expenses that they’re required to pay as a student.
“I think it’s pretty stupid because I
always bring $2 and I’m [always] short
ten cents,” said junior Andrew
Wheeler.
Each reimbursement for a free
lunch is $2.02, reduced lunch $1.62,
full price meals 19 cents, free snacks
55 cents, reduced priced snacks 27
cents, and full price snacks 5 cents.
This runs from July 1 to June 30. Along
with reimbursements, Team Nutrition,
an organizational branch from the
USDA, provides technical training and
assistance to schools to help prepare
healthy meals, and also teach children about the importance of nutrition. Every state selects entitled food
from a list of various foods provided
by the USDA such as fresh, canned,
frozen fruits or vegetables, and meat.
Any student that goes to a participating school may buy a lunch through
The Smoke Signal
Varsity Football
Football Team
A lot of students turned up at the blood drive ready to
help.
By Moriah Briscoe
Staff Writer
Staff: John Alberto, Brianna Aletras-Dunn, Michelle Amezquita, Brittany Bailey, Ashley Bautista, Moriah
Briscoe, Leland Brooks, Adam Brown, Jessica Byrd, Seth Casim, Jarred Chavez, Karri Chestnut, Nicole Clyde,
Julia Colopy, Liza Contreras, Matt Cornpropst, Connor Dunbar, Devon Dye, Hailey Eutsler, Kerstin Felton,
Tysean Ford, Erin Gallivan, Olivia Garner, Kathleen Gayle, Francisco Gonzalez, Brian Green, Emily Griffin,
Amber Howell, Emily Howsmon, Amber Huffman, Morgan Iannazzo, Leah Jennings, Victoria Jennings, Dom
Jones, Kelsie Judd, Muhamad Khalid, Suzanne Kincaid, Rachel Knick, Brandon Leatherland, Kathryn Lenox,
Candice Loudin, Donald Lucas, Michelle McConnell, Natalie McCullen, Elizabeth McMillen, Julian Rivas,
JJ Stout, Alexis Tinsley, Katrinia Zurasky.
Advisor: Sue Gill, CJE
The Smoke Signal is a cross-section of the news and opinions of the student body of Stafford High School. It is
published every two weeks. Editorials represent the views of the writer and are not necessarily the opinions of
Stafford High School, its administration, or staff. The Smoke Signal is an award winning newspaper that strives
to inform, educate and entertain the student body and community. Signed letters to the editor of 250 words or
fewer may be submitted to room W-206. or mailed to the school. The Smoke Signal reserves the right to edit
letters and to refuse advertisments.
B+ Physics Project
The physics project proves to be both challenging and fun
to students. Physics students have to make a boat out of
cardboard and duct tape.
SILVER
PLACE
FIRST PLACE
INTERNATIONAL
FIRST
PLACE
FIRST
PLACE
Stay saf
rick
-or
-treating
safee TTrick
rick-or
-or-treating
By Karri Chestnut
Staff Writer
Many people like to go trick-or-treating on Halloween. Some do it for candy,
some for the costumes, and some just for
fun. Whatever the reason, there are tips to
have a fun time. A very safe tip to use while
trick-or-treating is never to eat candy that
has been previously opened. One should
also not eat candy that has been not tightly
wrapped.
“I have
gotten a
piece of
candy that
w
a
s
opened,”
said freshman Britt a n y
Va s q u e z ,
“but
I
didn’t eat it
because I
d i d n ’ t
know who
opened it
and what
someone
has done to
it.”
While trick or treating, one should stay
in familiar neighborhoods and only go to
houses with their porch lights on. If one
goes to someone’s house when their lights
are off one could be disturbing them or they
could just not be home at the time.
When trick-or-treating there is a lot of
candy, but it shouldn’t be eaten in one night.
Before trick-or-treating, use the restrooms.
It would be really bad if the urge to use the
bathroom hit in the middle of trick-or-treating and there was nowhere to go.
One might think about asking someone
to use their bathroom, but it is Halloween
and a lot of pranks get pulled and someone
might not want a complete stranger coming
into their house to use the bathroom.
It gets really dark outside at night, especially on the streets. Carry a flashlight
when walking from house to house.
“Once when I was little I forgot to bring
a flashlight and it was so dark I could barely
see anything,” said freshman Gianna Catell.
“It was horrible.”
People that give out candy on Halloween must have to buy a lot of it for all the
children
that come
to their
homes. Before leaving
a house, remember to
be polite
and say
thank you.
Last
but
not
least, costumes and
s h o e s
should be
comfortable. Cost u m e s
Photo by Hailey Euslter
should fit
well and only shoes that are comfortable
should be worn.
“I made a big mistake and wore high
heels one year, and I regret it so much,” said
freshman Amber Hildebrand. “I could barely
walk and my mom had to drive me from
house to house.”
It is important to follow these tips and
have a good Halloween without getting sick,
getting blisters, or having to go to the bathroom.
Homemade costumes save money
By Mandy Sullivan
Staff Writer
Halloween season is approaching,
which means two things: crazy fun costumes and ten pounds of candy! But when
does money come into play?
Paying for costumes can be a set back
for many people. It can be the factor that
keeps someone from getting the perfect costume.
Such a situation calls for costumes that
can be made with materials found at home.
One can pick up items found and turn them
into a costume.
There are multiple homemade costume
ideas people can use to save money.
There is the classic ghost costume that
involves getting a white sheet and cutting
out holes for the eyes. One can also grab
some vibrant clothes decorated with markers and pom-poms, then apply lots of lipstick and blush to create a clown-like look.
Both of these are very simple and don’t
involve things that wouldn’t be found around
the house.
“Halloween costumes made
at home are always a fun idea,
especially if you do it with
friends,” said junior Tory
Babin.
One can also be a
soda can that deals with
using a round barrel, cutting out holes for arms
and legs, and then deco-
rating it with a similar, favorite soda label.
Static cling is another quick and easy
costume. This involves wearing a solid color
shirt and pinning socks and bounce sheets
to it. Spraying one’s hair to stick up would
also help create the right effect and will draw
attention and laughs.
“Making costumes without going
out and paying for one is a great
way to express your craftsmanship,” said senior Connor Alford.
“It also shows how creative you
are.”
People can also be their favorite animal, like a dog or a cat, using
things like fur and ears to look as
similar as they can. Making a shirt
with spots, for example, could repre-
Halloween through the ages
By Wendy Cole
Business Manager
sent a dog.
Another cheap and artistic idea is a
Rubik’s cube. It involves cutting out a cardboard box, cutting out arm holes, and painting five different color squares on it. This is
similar to being a die; one would just have to
paint the appropriate number of black circles
on each side.
“Homemade costumes are always a
good way to stand out,” said junior Mitchell
Young. “They save you a lot of money and
you can come up with a lot of cool ideas.”
Each of these costume ideas hardly cost
a thing! Compared to stores where one will
end up spending $20- $30, these suggestions only range from a few dollars. They
are possibilities for anyone to try, leaving
people with extra money for other things.
The origin of Halloween came from the
Celtic celebration of All Hallow’s Eve, a
ritual that celebrated the end of fall and the
beginning of the winter season. All Hallow’s
Eve celebrated all the saints of Heaven and
gave thanks.
Halloween came over to
America when the European
immigrants
brought their customs. The beliefs
of the Europeans
and the Indians
combined and
the result created the American version of
Halloween.
Starting out in
the
early
stages of Halloween, the
celebration of
Halloween was
most common in
Maryland and the
southern colonies.
The first type of celebration for Halloween
was “play parties.” They
were public events held to celebrate
the harvest, where neighbors
would share stories of the dead,
tell each others’ fortunes, dance,
and sing. The colonies celebrated Halloween with festivities including ghost stories
and
mischief-making.
Younger children and teenagers would run around the
town pulling pranks on the
townspeople and would
damage town property.
During the 1800’s annual
autumn festivals became
common, but Halloween
was not yet celebrated
everywhere in the
United States.
Halloween
didn’t become popular until
1846, when the Irish immigrants began coming to America to escape the potato famine.
The Irish and the English traditions
clashed and created the custom of dressing
up in costumes and going house to house.
Instead of asking for candy, they would ask
for food or money, which would later lead
to the tradition of trick-or-treating.
In the late 1800’s there was a movement to make Halloween more focused on
the community coming together to form a
sense of unity. Instead, it became
more about parties for children and adults,
which was the
most popular way to
celebrate.
The parties focused on
games,
fall-seasoned
foods,
and festive costumes.
In the
1900’s,
Halloween
lost most of its
superstitious and religious meaning. Parents
were encouraged by newspapers and community
members to take anything
frightening and grotesque
out of all Halloween celebrations.
During the late 1900’s,
Halloween became a day of
pranks for school children
and teenagers. The most
common pranks involved the
vandalism of houses and
public buildings. Halloween became a day for children to act out.
After the baby
boom following the end
of WWII, within a period of a couple years,
Halloween parties became celebrations that
took place at home and at
schools.
Halloween has evolved from an ancient
ritual, giving thanks for the harvest, to little
children dressing up in costumes, going
house to house asking for candy, while others do damaging acts.
Halloween movies to watch
By Matthew Cornpropst
Staff Writer
Most kids go trick-or-treating, but in
high school, most students are too old to
take part in those festivities. When there’s
no trick-or-treating, and no parties, what’s
a student to do?
Spend the night at home watching movies!
There are the classics such as “Dracula,”
“Frankenstein,” and “The Mummy.” These
three movies cover each stereotypical Halloween character: vampires, monsters, and
mummies. Each movie has been remade
many times, each time with something new
in the story.
“The newer ones are less corny; the effects in the older movies were terrible,” said
senior Mary Greeson.
“Dracula 2000,” one of the more recent
Dracula re-incarnations, is geared mostly toward teenagers. In the movie, Dracula has
been captured and is held until his nemesis,
Abraham Van Helsing, can find a way to
destroy him forever.
Dracula is then released by an unwitting thief and Van Helsing must venture out
to capture him again. The Dracula in this
movie is different from Bram Stoker’s that
has a weakness against silver.
The 1994 “Frankenstein” movie is also
popular and also one of the most faithful to
Mary Shelley’s novel. It stars Robert DeNiro
as the Frankenstein monster.
After Frankenstein has created his first
monster, the monster asks for a bride. However, just before Frankenstein brings the bride
to life, he changes his mind and destroys
her.
Then the
Frankenstein
monster takes it
upon himself to
breathe life into
his bride on his
own. Before he is
able to be with
his bride, she
catches fire and
burns to death.
F i n a l l y,
“The Mummy”
starring Brandon
Frasier
and
Rachel Weisz is
the beginning of
a series that is
also well-known.
R i c k
(Frasier) has
been jailed and
makes a deal
with Evelyn
(Weisz),
an
Egyptologist,
and Jonathan,
E v e l y n ’s
brother. Together
they
search Egypt for
the Book of the
Dead and inadvertently bring
Imhotep back to
life.
The group is pursued by Imhotep and
his mummies but they finally manage to
make Imhotep a mortal man again and kill
him.
“[The Mummy]” is a great adventure
film,” said senior Catherine Parrotte.
The first Mummy movie also started a
franchise that includes two sequels and a
cartoon series.
“I like the first two Mummy movies a
lot, but I think the third one was terrible,”
said senior Victoria Haynes.
If the classics don’t appeal, then there
is always a new slasher film ready to be
watched. Some other favorites of Parrotte
and Haynes include “Freddy vs. Jason,”
“Nightmare Before Christmas,” and “Friday the 13th.”
Remember, whatever movie is chosen
for the night, it’ll always be better with
friends!
Halloween celebr ated worldwide
By Kathryn Lenox
Staff Writer
People around the globe celebrate Halloween, from El Salvador
to Japan. For some, it is a time to honor the dead. For others, it is
just a day to go out and have a good time.
Either way, it is a day that people from all different places and
cultures have in common.
Some countries have different names for Halloween. In China it
is known as “Teng Chieh” and in Korea it is “Chusok.” The Thai
have a celebration a lot like Halloween called “Phi Ta Khon” which
means ghost festival.
Japan celebrates a holiday similar to Halloween referred to as
the “Obon Festival.”
In Mexico and other Spanish speaking countries, Halloween is
called “El Día de los Muertos” which translates into “the day of the
dead” or “Día de los Brujos,” which means “night of the witches.”
In these places, Halloween is a three-day celebration to honor loved
ones who have passed away.
The festivities start on Oct 31. and end on Nov 2. There,
people believe that the spirits of the deceased come back to their
homes. Many people make and decorate altars for the spirits. On
the last day of the celebration people picnic at the
graves of their loved ones.
“We didn’t do that kind
o f
superstitious stuff,” said
freshman
Keiry
Beltrán. “We just
dressed up and
went to show
people our costumes.”
Beltrán was
born in El Salvador
and lived there until
the age of seven.
Beltrán said that
people in El Salvador
didn’t get into the “honor
the dead” part of HallowPhoto Illustration by Kyle Falkenstern
een as did the people from
Mexico. They
simply dress up and go out to
show off their costumes.
“When we went out on Halloween in El Salvador,
people didn’t give out anything,”
said Beltrán. “I
think it was a waste of money to
buy a costume
and not get any candy.”
The Irish celebrate Halloween much like
Americans. Children in Ireland go trickor-treating and often attend
parties afterward.
Kids even pull pranks on their neighbors. They play a
game that is a lot like the American “ding-dong ditch,” where
they ring doorbells then run away before anyone has a chance
to see them. They call this game “knock-a-dolly.”
Adults make up treasure hunts and the prize is usually
candy. On Halloween, the Irish enjoy “barnbrack,” a fruitcake
with a treat inside. They believe that the treat helps predict their
futures.
Many countries have their own superstitions. In Belgium they
believe that black cats are unlucky, and in Germany knives, are put
away so they won’t be harmed by the returning spirits.
All in all, Halloween unites everyone no matter how it’s celebrated.
Halloween safety tips
By Jenny Pan
Assistant Editor in Chief
Alternatives to Halloween
By Ambree Papa
Staff Writer
A bit old for trick-or-treating, high
schoolers are on the hunt for chills and
thrills this Halloween.
“I’ll probably go trick-or-treating again
this year,” said sophomore Zoe Wuckovich.
“I have every other year. I’m not too old!”
Previously known as “FearFest,” “Halloween Haunt” is a Halloween-themed festival held at King’s Dominion every weekend. The event is rated PG-13 and is popular with teenagers and young adults looking
to get spooked.
Admission to Halloween Haunt is $32
on Friday nights and $55 on Saturdays and
Sundays. Those with season passes to
King’s Dominion get free admission.
“I have a season pass, so the price
didn’t really affect me” said junior Claudia
Pare. “But my friends had to pay, and they
said it was worth it.”
Other students lack the funds for a
King’s Dominion trip and have to find scary
entertainment nearby.
“I went to ‘Wicked Woods’ in
Spotsylvania this weekend,” said senior Liz
Cozzati. “It’s like a haunted [outdoor] maze
on this lady’s property.”
At only $15, admission to Wicked
Woods is much cheaper than a one-night
ticket to Halloween Haunt. There are several haunted houses and trails in Stafford
and the surrounding areas.
Every year, Jaycees’ sponsors a haunted
house in downtown Fredericksburg, open
from mid-October through early November.
With its close proximity, attractions in downtown Fredericksburg are commonly popular.
This year’s haunted house will be their
33rd annual and will be held at the
Fredericksburg Fairgrounds in the cattle
barn. Admission to Jaycee’s haunted house
is $10 for adults and $6 for children. The
haunted house will be open every Friday
and Saturday night starting at 7 p.m. until
Nov. 1. Closing times will vary, since
Jaycee’s has posted they will stay open
“until the crowd dies…down.”
Another event taking place on Halloween is Free Burrito Day. Simply by wearing
an article of tinfoil (a hat will do, but some
go for an entire costume) to participating
locations, participants can earn a free burrito.
Halloween is synonymous with candy.
Bags and bags full of Milk Duds, Hershey’s
Bars, Airheads, and if one is lucky, full size
Snickers and Almond Joys.
If one prefers to return victorious and
in one piece, the road to the overflowing
pillowcases consists of several steps.
Deputy Mike Christian is a veteran in
Halloween safety. He has patrolled the
Stafford County area for three years on Halloween.
Christian advises against wearing masks
that cover the face. Trick-or-treaters who
have their faces covered find it harder to
move around and see in the dark. Consequently, Spiderman and Batman are not the
best options. After choosing a costume, find a trickor-treating group. Exchanging cell phone
numbers is a good precaution if anyone gets
separated.
“Leave with groups and return with
groups,” said Christian. “Don’t leave anyone behind.”
Even a buddy system is safer than go-
ing trick-or-treating as an individual.
or-treating with my sister and me.”
Senior Brandi Welborn has come across
Trust instinct; houses without lights on
many suspicious houses while trick-or-treat- probably will not be happy when if their
ing. She was trick-or-treating with her sis- episode of Seinfeld is interrupted. Houses
ter and
that have long, dark driveways are
mother
not the best candidates for candy and
when
“BEWARE OF DOG” signs also
t h e y
mean just that.
a p As a precaution, every year the
proached
Sheriff’s Department sends out a
a “long,
“Halloween Patrol” until 10 pm, the
scary
standard cut-off time for trick-orsidetreating. The department dispatches
walk.”
as many officers as possible to keep
“The
tabs on suspicious behavior.
o l d
Dealing with candy can be a
woman
daunting task, but equally satisfyby the
ing when the safe pieces are weeded
door
out. Candy can easily be tampered
didn’t
with. Therefore, trick-or-treaters
s a y
must be conscious of any loosely
anywrapped pieces.
thing
If a piece looks suspicious, ask
Photo by Jenny Pan
when
a parent’s opinion.
w
e
In order to survive a night of
took the candy,” said Welborn. “Everything tricks and treats, the motto should be, “betwas fine though because my mom was trick- ter be safe than sorry.”
8
ports
The Smoke Signal
Stafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405
Competition Cheer
By Hannah Melkun
Staff Writer
The varsity competition
cheerleading team has been
practicing together since July.
Competition cheerleading is
made up of 20 members and
three alternates. They strive to
place well in Districts in order
to move up in the region and
possibly compete in the state
competition.
“ [ C o m p e t i t i o n
cheerleading] is when the team
competes against other
schools on a district, regional,
and state level,” said sophomore Kendall Rayha, who has
been on the team for two years.
“The top four from each level
move on to the next level.”
Like any other sport, the
cheerleaders work hard for
three hours, and they are constantly attempting to perfect
their routine.
“[We] do five full routines a
day,” said senior Alycia Shaffer.
“We work on stunting, tumbling, and dancing.”
The team must practice the
little things, such as smiling
and keeping their voices up. In
a routine that cannot be more
than three minutes, there is no
room for mistakes.
But what is the difference
between regular varsity and
competition varsity? Is there
really any difference at all?
“Competition cheerleading
is a lot different than sideline
cheerleading [regular varsity],”
said junior Tory Babin. “Regular varsity does chants for Friday night football games, and
competition varsity is a lot
Cheerleading at SHS
By Emily Smith, Kelsie Judd
Staff Writers
harder. We do more dancing
and stunting.”
There are still things that
the team needs to work on to
achieve perfection.
“We need to work on being
confident in ourselves,” said
Rayha.
Endurance and confidence
seem to be the key things that
the team needs to work on during practice.
“We need to work on keeping our voices up,” said freshman Sammy Krejdovsky.
The team’s goal is to beat
both Mountain View and North
Stafford.
“We only get one chance to
prove ourselves,” said Babin.
There are three freshmen on
the team, and they are shown
no mercy from the coaches during practice.
“It’s a lot of pressure, and
they are handling it with a good
attitude,” said Shaffer.
The varsity cheerleaders are
known throughout the school
for their bubbly attitudes and
bright bows, but underneath
their perfect smiles lie a competitor thriving to succeed.
All their hard work could
possibly pay off on Oct. 22 at
Colonial Forge, where they will
compete in the district competition.
“We hope to win both Districts and Regionals,” said
Rayha. “And of course, make it
to States!”
The team is striving to make
it to states this year because
last year they failed to do so,
and two years ago they placed
third at Regionals.
Photo by Chantell Pitt
The varsity, junior varsity,
and freshman cheerleading
teams have been working diligently to promote school spirit
at the football games.
Coaches Kristi Proudfoot,
Janet Barham, Melissa Rose,
and Heather Carafiol try to inspire the girls to do better and
teach them as much as possible. The coaches said they are
proud of the girls’ hard work
and determination on improving their skills.
“The coaches are really
nice and inspiring,” said sophomore Candace Tulloch. “They
encourage us to push ourselves
to get to the next level.”
Daily conditioning started
in August for all three teams.
The girls run laps and do other
things to build up their
stamina.
“The practices can get pretty
intense, like when we have to
run five laps around the parking lot,” said freshman cheerleader Heather Marshall.
“When we’re not conditioning
we work on our chants and
practice stunting.”
Some of the cheerleaders
like Marshall have done cheer
before, but the majority of them
are new to the sport. Some of
them have cheered at different
places but joined the school
team for fun and to get to know
the other girls.
“A lot of the freshman girls
are new to cheer, sophomore
Madeline Lovegrove, another
runnerso many of them are still
By Emily Howsmon
Staff Writer
Field hockey is a very intense sport; one has to be able
to cope with all the pressure
one is being put under. The
girls on the team have all the
passion, determination, and
drive needed to become the
best they can be. One who
stands out in particularly
would have to be junior
Michelle Fenwick.
Although this is Fenwick’s
first year on varsity, she has
been playing for about five
years now.
“Junior varsity is a more of
a preparation for varsity, and
varsity is a lot more serious.
Every practice, every run, every
single little thing is serious,”
said Fenwick. “There is absolutely no time at all to goof off
and play around if we want to
win games and make it to the
top.”
Varsity practices are on
Mondays, Wednesdays, and
Fridays from 2:45 PM to 5:30
PM. Every practice always consists of something different.
Most practices depend on what
the team needs to improve on
before the next game.
Fenwick’s biggest influence
is her older sister, Cara. Cara
played on the school field
hockey team, too, and Fenwick
has decided to follow in her
footsteps.
“I’ve been watching my sister play ever since she was in
the seventh grade,” said
Fenwick. “I just loved watching
it, and eventually fell into playing it.”
According to Fenwick the
learning,” said Carafiol. “We
work hard on tumbling, memorization, dances, and chants at
practice so we’ll do well at the
football games.”
All three teams are currently conditioning extra hard
and are working to come up
with a routine for the homecoming pep rally.
The cheerleaders agree that
Friday night football games are
fun and they like pumping the
crowds up. They also agree it’s
nice to see the support from
friends and families. “The junior varsity and freshman
cheerleading teams were surprised by how many people
come to see the games.
Tumbling and stunts are a
big part of the cheer teams. The
main goal of the freshman
cheerleaders is to tumble without a spot and get one leg
stunts, which they are very
close to making.
“I want to get my back handspring back and improve on my
jumps,” said Brittany Henry.
The girls on junior varsity
and varsity strive to get running, tumbling and more complicated stunts down.
The varsity coaches agree
that the girls have improved immensely from last year and the
skills and stunts have gotten
more complex and intricate, but
the girls are handling the new
challenges well.
Many of the cheerleaders
plan to continue cheering for
basketball season and hopefully again next year.
Var
sity volle
yball ssttays hot
arsity
volleyball
By Emily Smith, Rachael Knickgame.”
“This has been our best year
Staff Writers
Field hockey
Oct. 22, 2008
Phot by Sam Wright
team, as a whole, needs to work
on communication and working as a team the whole game.
“There are times we work very
well together, and we do great,”
said Fenwick. “We play so much
better and are capable of moving the ball around a lot easier.”
The team’s goals for this
season are to work as a team
and grow together as a team.
Overall, their biggest goal is to
make it to states. The field
hockey team has made it to
states for the past few years.
Even though Fenwick enjoys
playing hockey and loves it, she
is not sure whether or not she
will continue with field hockey
into college.
Fenwick says that her favorite part about field hockey
would have to be the people on
it. Fenwick loves that everyone
on the team clicks, and are extremely close.
This season has been one
of varsity volleyball’s best.
“This team has played at a
higher level than the teams I
h a v e
coached
here
at
Stafford,”
said coach
Demaris
Brown.
Brown
a l s o
coaches at
t
h
e
Fredericksburg
Junior Volleyball
Club and
tries to get
many of
the players
involved in
it.
“The
team has
made major improvements this
year. Our
defense
has definitely improved.
We are covering our hitters better and picking up more hard
driven balls than we have in the
past,” said Brown. “This team
is more resilient. If we loose a
game in a match, they are able
to move past the loss and work
towards a win in the next
so far because we are like a
family and work very hard together. Our teamwork has definitely improved,” said senior
Abby Reisenfeld.
One of the team’s biggest accomplishments this year was
defeating North Stafford, 3-1,
for the first time in four years.
This was also the team’s first
Commonwealth District win in
two years.
At the last home game,
Stafford played Colonial Forge
and lost 3-0. In the first set they
lost 25-6, in the second set they
lost 25-7, and in the last set they
lost 24-13.
During practice, the
t e a m
condit i o n s
a n d
practices basic skills
about 40
percent
of the
time.
T h e y
spend a
lot
of
t i m e
passing
and serving. The
rest of
the time
is split
between
offensive and
defens i v e
drills.
Photo by Molly Bond T h e y
work on
high intensity
drills and situations likely to
appear in games to prepare.
As long as the team keeps
working together and keeps
practicing, they will end the
season with victory.
Rookie runner Nicole Clyde im
pr
oss countr
ace
impr
prooves with each cr
cross
countryy rrace
By Rachael Knick
Staff Writer
Junior Nicole Clyde got involved with cross country this
year to keep in shape for the
strenuous soccer season during the fall and spring.
“Balancing school, cross
country and work is difficult at
some points,” said Clyde, “I’ve
learned to go without my desired eight hours of sleep some
nights. It definitely affects my
life with so many things going
on.”
During the weekends, Clyde
tries to balance working at Old
Navy, soccer and cross country
meets, but during the week her
time belongs to conditioning for
meets.
“On easy days, we run three
miles, but on average we run
five to eight miles a day, said
Clyde. “It’s a lot of hard work
and diligence but at the end of
the day it’s worth it.”
To get ready for the meets
she listens to her favorite
hardcore rock
songs in anticipation for the
run.
The races
can be long
and not focusing on how far
there is to go,
and who oneis
trying to beat
can be very difficult. Clyde
tries to focus
on things other
than running, like
soccer. “Pretty
much anything I’d
rather be doing.”
said Clyde. The last
meet she was at
Culpeper High
School,a 5k (3.1
miles) Clyde ran in
22:38 an impressive time for any
girl runner.
Clyde has been
commended by her teammates
for her qualities.
Sophomore
Madeline
Lovegrove,another runner, said
“Nicole is doing really well for
a first-year cross country runner. Even though her first love
is soccer, she has the potential
to do great things.”
The team only has a few
runners. Only a few people
choose cross country as a pastime. It takes a lot of hard work
and commitment to be a part of
any sport, but this one especially.
“I think just showing up and
doing my best at practice has
helped the team” said Clyde.
She is doing her best to be a
good cross country runner.
“Clyde is definitely one of our
top two runners,” said coach
Peter Augrom. “She always
does her best at practice and
does whatever she can to help
out.”
ports
Oct. 22, 2008
The Smoke Signal
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
IndianIndian
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
www.shssmokesignal.com
9
Gonzalez takes second
By Adam Brown
Staff Writer
Freshman football works hard
By Arianna Miller
Staff Writer
The freshmen football team
has been working hard to make
this a good season.
“The players have continued
to work hard both on the field
and in the classroom and we
[the coaches] are very pleased
with their efforts,” said coach
Joel Holland.
Over the summer many of
the boys went to weight training and football camps. One
camp was offered by the school
during June. It stressed the importance of teamwork and
taught the players various positions and gameplay. The
boys then started regular season practice on August 20 and
have been practicing everyday
for three hours since then.
“To get ready for the season I went to the weight lifting
sessions that were open twice
a week,” said freshman Brandon Murphy. Murphy plays offensive tackle and has been
playing football for two years.
Some of the freshmen, including Tyrone Clinton, went to
Stafford High School Summer
Football Camp to prepare for
try-outs and practices. Clinton
plays running back and has
played football for six years.
During practices the team
conditions and then breaks off
into different groups to work on
different plays.
“Practice is really about
getting set and ready for our
next game,” said freshman Matt
Yelverton. “We go over anything
that went wrong in the game before and try to correct that.”
Yelverton plays linebacker and
quarter back.
All of the boys’ hard work
at practice has paid off this
season. Their record is 4-1.
They lost only one game to
Mountain View.
“The Mountain View game
was tough,” said Yelverton, “but
I think in the long run it will
help the team. Middle school
and high school football is
pretty different and now we
know what to expect.”
Most of the freshmen on the
team agree that playing on a
high school team is very different from when they played for
their middle school team last
year. Clinton said that it is a
little more challenging and
freshmen Casey Schooler
added that the pace of the game
is a lot faster compared to the
pace of middle school football
games. Schooler plays defensive end and quarter back.
Although this is everyone’s
first year playing for a high
school team, all of the players
have seemed to adjust very well.
Boys Gold Team
heads to Regionals
in style, riding in a
limo. Unfortunately
only John Sullivan
had a good game
coming with a 77.
He lost the playoff
to end fifth when
only the top four
advance.
Left: Connor Alford,
Adam Brown, Jordan
Tackett and Ryan
Brown.
Right: Ryan Brown,
Adam Brown, Jordan
Tackett., John
Sullivan and Connor
Alford.
Phot by Jessica Byrd
“We have done very well
this season,” said freshman
Kyle Sullivan. ” We have a good
team with a good attitude and I
think that if we keep playing
this well then we can win the
rest of our district games.”
Sullivan plays nose guard and
has played football for five
years.
“My goals for the team are
to have each player get as much
playing time as possible and for
everyone on the team to show
good sportsmanship, have positive attitudes, and become confident as players,” said Holland. “I think that great things
can be accomplished by working towards these goals.”
Junior Nina Gonzalez has
definitely proved she should be
a part of the varsity golf team.
Shooting an average score of 45
and playing well in district
tournaments is the main focus
for Gonzalez.
“Nina has been working
very hard and is trying to
qualify for the State Championship,” said coach Dale Portner.
Gonzalez has been playing
the sport since age seven, but
started
playing
it regul a r l y
during
h e r
freshm e n
year.
“I
j u s t
started
playing
t h e
sport
for fun
a n d
t h e n
started
getting
better at it, so I decided to stick
with it,’ said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez’s favorite part of
the game is when she improves
her score by lowering her putting average. This is done by
taking fewer strokes to get the
ball in the hole.
Her ultimate goal this season is to qualify for states.
“It would be really exciting
for me to beat my score from
states last year,” said Gonzalez.
“I would really love to see all
three of the girls on the team go
to state.”
Gonzalez usually prepares
for matches using the same
routine. Normally, preparing
for a match just means practicing a lot and stretching.
Stretching is important so that
she is not stiff and is able to
swing smoothly.
Gonzalez has also learned
from her experience that the
best things to eat before a
match are Luna bars, and she
needs to drink water frequently
to stay hydrated.
Gonzalez has not only accomplished her goals, but has
also made many friends along
the way, and
has earned
respect from
her teammates.
“I really
look up to
Nina
because she
has a good
attitude
when she
plays,” said
sophomore
A s h l e y
Harding.
“She is definitely a good
role model.”
Other
teammates describe Gonzalez
as funny, good spirited, and
easy to talk to. So far, Gonzalez
has worked very hard this year.
She also runs for cross country
and is very involved in the
school.
“Balancing sports and academics isn’t all that bad.
People think it is, but it’s all
about how you approach it,”
said Gonzalez.
With the State Championship approaching, Gonzalez is
practicing harder than ever. She
has a chance because she took
second place in Northwest Regional qualifer this past week.
10
tudent
The Smoke Signal
ife
Stafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405
October 22, 2008
Photo by Nathan Carden
Senior Adam Brown prepares to have his blood drawn at the Key
Club sponosored Red Cross blood drive.
Key club hosts
blood drive
Ramadan ends in Eid celebration
By Muhamad Khlalid
Staff Writer
After fasting for 30 long
days for the holy month of
Ramadan, Muslims across
Stafford rejoiced in Eid celebrations. Wednesday, Oct. 1
marked the end of the holy
month giving way to three days
of feasts and celebrations.
Ramadan had an limpact on
students throughout the school.
It is stipulated for Muslims
to fast from dawn to dusk during the holy month of Ramadan.
The process consists of not eating or drinking anything in this
particular time.
They eat a large hearty
breakfast before the sun comes
up in order to prepare themselves, and when the sun finally
sets, they apprehensively eat a
substantial supply of food, reenergizing themselves and
bringing the smiles back to the
children’s faces.
“I always enjoy eating
samosas, rice, yogurt, and
plenty of water at the end of the
day” said sophomore Haris
Casim.
“Ramadan is a month of
spirituality, not just hunger,”
said Casim. “I fast in order help
clear any past sins”. Students
across the school claim many
different reasons for fasting.
“Fasting creates a sense of understanding of the needy” said
senior Isti Hasam. “It just
builds a greater sense of awareness of the world around us.”
Every year, Ramadan plays
a big part in the development
of the community. “Ramadan is
a vehicle used to bring the community together,” said Hilal
Shah, chair member of the Interfaith Community. “Daily dinners followed by night prayers
at the mosque really allow the
whole Muslim community to be
able to relate to each other.”
Shah also said that in addition to the Muslim community,
Ramadan affects everyone in
general. “Being part of the interfaith community, a society
dedicated to creating an interreligious understandingI invited several different members
from different religions to experience Ramadan with us at
the mosque.” said Shaw.
From Sept. 1, when Ramadan
began, students began
incorperating the holiday into
their daily routines. Coincidently, this year marked a special year for Muslims with
Ramadan beginning alongside
the first day of school. This was
greeted by several different student reactions. “Ramadan often
leaves me with a lot less energy
in class,” said Hasam. “It gets
kind of hard concentrating on
schoolwork when my mind
keeps wandering back to food”
But nevertheless, Hasam agrees
that it gets much easier when
you get used to it after the first
several days.
Furthermore, students like
Casim said that by the end of
Ramadan they even often forgot they were fasting and would
try to take a bite, only to remember again. Fasting remains difficult during lunch while seeing everyone eat. “I often go the
library during lunch to catch
up on my homework,” said
Casim. “It is much more difficult here than in Pakistan where
you would rarely see anyone
eating during Ramadan.”
Unlike Casim, many students such as Hasam prefer to
stay in the cafeteria rather than
the library. “I don’t really feel
any different from anyone else
at school” said Hasam. “I just
talk to my friends, and they
never really ask why I don’t eat.”
As Ramadan came to a
close, Muslims rejoiced in the
arrival of Eid, a time of happy
celebrations and feasts. According to The New York Times,
“Several years ago the Board of
Education recognized the first
and last days of Ramadan as
holy days and now allows children to take the days off. Despite
their joy for Eid, several students were saddened with the
finish of the holy month of
Ramadan. Thinking out loud,
Casim said that he is sorry
Ramadan is over, but is already
thinking about all the opportunities the next one will hold.
By Emily Griffin
Staff Writer
Oct. 2nd was Stafford’s Student and Faculty volunteer
blood dive. About 100 people,
mostly students, generously
donated, while 15 key club
members assisted. The drive
was open from 8:30 to 3:30 and
was held in the Gym lobby.0
“A lot of people who came
in to donate were really nervous, but then they were excited.” said Key Club president
Taylor Cummins. Cummins
started key club as a freshman
and has participated in the
blood drive every year.
Donating blood is a great
way to help out your community. As long as you’re healthy
and willing, you can donate. It
makes you feel good about
yourself, knowing you just
saved other peoples lives with
such a simple task.
“Some people were even
scared” said Kristen Wolf, student coordinator of the blood
drive. Wolf is currently a junior and has been in key club
since her freshman year. This
was her second with assisting
the drive though.
The Red Cross sponsored
the drive, as they do with most
local blood drives. Their goal
was 50 donors, which they
achieved and even doubled.
After asking students
whether they donated and why
or why not you would find that
a lot of people said no, they did
not donate. After all, 100 seems
pretty small next to 800. There
were multiple reasons why students and faculty did not donate. Some are just plain terrified of needles and giving blood
in general. Others might have
had a tattoo or donated within
the last six weeks.
“I really wish I could give,
but I do not want to get sick”
said Mr. Lloyd, Algebra teacher.
Some people like Lloyd have
cases where if the donate blood
at all they get very sick for days.
So it’s hard for them to donate.
Also many sophomores wanted
to give but were too young. Even
though the legal age was lowered to 16 last year, a lot of
underage students still wanted
to donate and said they were
definitely planning on donating
next year.
Senior s st ar t college
application pr ocess
By TTysean
ysean FFord
ord
Staff Writer
It’s the time of year for seniors to begin deciding on future goals and ambitions. Senior year will be packed with
new responsibilities, challenges and pressure from parents.
Every senior should start
deciding on what their plans
are after high school whether
its trade school, college or
straight to work.
“The Guidance office has
access to a Career Interest Inventory that can provide students with career options and
ideas,” said Guidance Counselor Sabrina Gladney. “We talk
to students to find a category
of interest and help them explore careers and occupations.”
For college bound students
now is the time to start preparing for the next four years.
Starting this fall everyone
should have a master plan and
a calendar that notes test dates
for the SAT & ACT, college applications due dates, and the
required financial aid applications (such as FASA application).
When it comes to transcripts each student should
submit a transcript request in
guidance which cost two or four
dollars. The transcript request
that is two dollars is just for
the single page transcript. The
four dollar transcript is the college package which includes
any and all application forms.
Examples of these are recommendations, secondary forms,
and financial forms.
“Select a college that provides a program or major to
pursue and then look at the location and the environment you
put yourself in,” said Gladney,
“whether if is has a large or
small student body and if it’s
rural or urban. The financial
aspect is very important on how
you are paying for college.”
As students start applying
to college, they will have to get
recommendations from people
like guidance counselors,
teachers or, employers. When
asking for recommendations
students can give a resume,
stamped envelope, and any
other required forms to the person writing it. It is best to sit
with the person while they are
writing the recommendation in
case if they have any questions
or concerns.
“When you are asking for
recommendations make sure
that the teacher you ask is a
teacher you get along with,”
said English Teacher Jim
Andrews. “The teacher that you
ask does not have to be one of
the teachers you have your senior year. Make sure the teacher
knows about all of your activities, whether they are in school
or out of school. Giving them a
resume can help too. The students with the best grades often do the most in school and
the people with the worst
grades do not participate as
much”
Every senior who applies to
college should make sure they
keep a copy of everything that
is sent to them, and make sure
after they finish applying that
they contact the schools to
make sure they received all information. When applying for
financial aid it is best thing to
apply early.
Applications are available
after Jan 1 online at http://
www.fafsa.ed.gov/. Letters of
acceptances should start rolling in and financial aid acceptance should start coming midApril.
The end of the school year
its time to choose that college
for the fall. Finally, in the summer your school will send your
final high school transcript to
the college.
Photo by Kendra Neal
Key club members collect money for UNICEF by trick or treating with boxes.
Key club member
memberss collect coins
for underprivileged children
By Allison Skeer
Staff Writer
One may have seen students
running around with bright orange boxes and asking for spare
change. These students are participating in Key Club’s UNICEF
challenge. Key Club partnered
with UNICEF for the fall service
project, “ Trick or Treat for
UNICEF”. Students collect
change in those famous orange
boxes, and the change goes to
help children in third world
countries such as Kazakhstan,
Lesotho, and Montenegro, to
name a few. This project is one
of Key Club’s most successful
projects, as of last year they
raised near $700, and the year
before was a record $1100.
“UNICEF is always really
successful, I love when we play
the video that shows the Key
Club members what exactly
UNIFCEF does,” said Key Club’s
vice president Senior Kristin
Wood, “It’s a great program,
and it helps a lot of people, I’m
happy we do it every year.”
UNICEF stands for “United
Nations
International
Children’s Emergency Fund”,
and through our spare change,
they help millions of children
survive hard times in countries
not as fortunate as America.
Their motto is that children
have a right to life. Over ten
million children die needlessly
every year, and UNICEF is trying to stop this. They provide
clean water and food, as well
as clothing, and they help rebuild shelters. They also set up
relief stations in countries
dealing with civil issues.
UNICEF provides teachers with
materials to successfully teach
their children, and prepares
them for the life challenges they
will soon face. UNICEF representatives permanently stay in
some countries to ensure that
children are not sexually ex-
ploited, or forced into the local
militia. UNICEF provides security for people who live in unstable countries. They also vaccinate families and have been
doing so for 60 years.
Other UNICEF projects include “Nothing but Nets,” which
provides mosquito nets for children and families where malaria is prominent. “The Heifer
Project” provides cows and
chickens for families, so that
they may provide milk and eggs
for themselves, and not have to
purchase them. They also pioneered “Days of Tranquility,”
which is a cease-fire during
times of war, so that they may
get children vaccinated and out
of the way of the war.
If any students would like
to help, get all change from
within the cars, couches and
rooms, and donate it to “Trick
or Treat for UNICEF.”
October 22
tudent
October 22 , 2008
The Smoke Signal
ife
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
Stafford
High School
33 Stafford
IndianIndian
Lane, Falmouth,
VA 22405
11
www.shssmokesignal.com
Clubs join forces to collect
cans for the food bank
By Andy TToler
oler
Staff Writer
As the school season and
fall get into full swing, it is accompanied by an important
need in the community. The
Fredericksburg Food Bank
which dstributes food to those
in need, is dangerously low on
canned and boxed, non-perishable foods.
The Food Bank is open to
anyone who is in need of food,
but doesn’t have the money to
get food at a grocery store. This
time of year is especially important to have a full food bank
for many reasons.
The recent state of the
economy has put some financially disadvantaged people
into even more difficult situations. Many other people are
having a difficult time paying
for their children’s school fees
and other expenses that come
between fall and winter.
In response to this need,
National Honor Society and
DECA are teaming together to
help promote the food drive at
Stafford.
“Mr. Robert Belman talked
to Mrs. Louis Simms about gathering food for the Food Bank,”
said guidance counselor Harry
Mack, sponsor of NHS involved
in coordinating the food drive.
In response to Supervisor
Robert Belman’s request, mar-
keting
teacher
a n d
DECA sponsor Simms and Mack
collaborated on the effort.
Simms and DECA are collecting food donations in
school, and Mack and NHS collect food at each sporting event.
So far, about eight to 10
boxes containing food have
been taken to the Food Bank.
“The response has been okay,
but there is still great need,”
said Mack.
In order to obtain the
needed food, NHS and DECA
are continuing their efforts to
promote student support of
the food drive. Announcements have been made every
morning and afternoon asking
students to do their part. Also,
posters in the stairwells and
hallways advertise bringing
cans and boxes in for the food
drive.
“We are going to have a
single food day to collect cans
and boxes,” said Mack. “The
date is still to be announced.”
According to Mack, SHS is a
very responsive school to the
needs of the community. Service clubs like NHS, DECA, and
others often shoulder the responsibility of bringing aid to
the community, but the food
drive requires more support
from the entire school population.
“We need to look at our
own circumstances,” said
Mack, “and bring in canned and
boxed goods for the Food Bank.”
Ecology class students row a boat into the pond to get to work on the clean-up. Photo by Devon Dye
Ecology club launches pond
renewal project
By Connor Dunbar
Staff Reporter
Everyone at Stafford high
School knows about the pond
right out the cafeteria, but do
they know at one time it was
actually clean?
Ms. Virginia King, a biology
and ecology teach, has decided
to make a project of cleaning
the pond. King would like to
help return the pond to its original state. The question is
though, how?
King and her seventh period
class which includes mostly
juniors and seniors and mostly
juniors, plan on doing such
things as building a dock and
gazebo, and maybe even draining the whole thing. They could
put things in the pond such as
plants and animals would help
keep the pond a clean and safe
environment for students and
other animals.
Before King’s seventh period class could even start, getting to work to help the schools
pond, they had to go through
several steps.
First, they had to get the
school’s assistant principle
Wes Bergazzi to approve them
as an “Ecology Club”. More and
more people are signing up to
Ecology Club, which meets on
the first and last Thursday of
every month. “It’s a good thing
that Ms.King and her students
are willing to help the environment.” said junior Mike Guidry.
This is the school’s first
Ecology Club and although it
was just approved several
weeks ago, it already has
roughly over 60 members, including King’s seventh period
class.
There are at least 40 students in the school willing to
help King and her class clean
up the pond. Now the question
is, can it be done? Only time
will be able to tell.
SPIRIT WEEK DAYS
Monday: Class Color Day
FFreshmen:
reshmen: R
ed
Red
Sophomores: Purple
Juniors: Green
Seniors: Pink
Tuesda
her
o Da
uesdayy : Super
Superher
hero
Dayy
Wednesda
win Da
ednesdayy : TTwin
Dayy
Thursday: Decade Day
FFreshmen:
reshmen: 90’s
Sophomores: 50’s
Juniors: 70’s
Seniors: 80’s
Photo by Dawnthea Price
Red team mentors Javan Ware and Cody Lloyd grab for candy at
the freshman seminar.
Frida
hool Spirit Da
ridayy : Sc
School
Dayy
Homecoming spirit
Ment
or
Mentor
orss help
freshmen at seminar
seminarss week 2008
By Kelsey Chestnut
Editor in Chief
Stafford High can be a scary
place, especially to new freshmen who are just catching on
to the high school scene.
There’s a big jump from middle
school to high school, and
sometimes it takes a while for
freshmen to catch up. Freshman seminars are held after
school every month to help
freshmen deal with the new
school change.
The seminars are run by a
guidance counselor, with many
other teachers there to survey
things. Student mentors go to
the seminars to help run the
sessions and interact with the
freshmen. They use their experience in high school to help
out the freshmen with any issues they may have.
The freshman seminars are
held after school in the cafeteria. They are usually expected
to last until five, but the first
one ended earlier. This gives
the freshmen around two hours
to learn tips to survive in high
school.
At the last session, freshmen were taught about how
important it is to use an
agenda. Agendas are a very
critical part of staying organized and getting good grades
because they help keep up with
assignments. Ms. Laura Bliss,
one of the guidance counselors,
stressed the importance of
keeping up with an agenda to
the freshmen.
The freshmen were split up
at several different tables, and
two or three student mentors
talked with them about high
school. The mentors took turns
talking to their freshmen about
regular high school life, and
taking them on a trip to organize their lockers.
The seminar ended after Ms.
Bliss gave the freshmen a tour
of the School Fusion website.
Many students weren’t aware
how to log on to the website or
how to use it. Freshmen were
able to change their log-in passwords so they could start to
regularly use their accounts.
“I thought that it was very
helpful to the freshmen to see a
tour of the school fusion page,”
said senior Rebecca Lansford.
Lansford was one of the student
mentors who stayed after to
help during the seminar.
Most importantly, the seminar made freshmen think about
their futures. After high school,
students are sent out to college
and then into the “real world.”
Freshmen were taught how they
need to plan out their high
school careers to be successful in life.
“The seminar let me plan out
my whole high school career on
a calendar,” said freshman
Ashleigh Dye. “It made me really think about what I want to
do with my life.”
The first seminar was a success, and gave the freshmen
several good tips to survive in
high school. There will be three
or four more seminars as the
school year goes on, giving
freshmen the chance to connect
with people who have much
more experience in high school.
So, if there are any freshmen out there who are struggling in their first month of high
school, check out the next
By Ashley Bautista
Page Editor
The results are in from the
SCA representatives’ choices
for spirit week days. Monday
of the week is going to be “class
color day.” The freshmen will
be red, the sophomores will be
purple, juniors will be green,
and seniors will be pink. Tuesday will be “superhero day”
which excludes all masks, facial coverings, or pajamas. Students will be allowed to wear
hats only if they are part of their
costumes. Wednesday will be
“twin day.” On this day, students will choose which friend
or group of friends they want
to dress like. Thursday will be
“decade’s day.” The freshmen
will be the ‘90s, the sophomores
will be the ‘50s, the juniors will
be the ‘70s, and the seniors will
be the ‘80s. Lastly, Friday will
be “blue and gold spirit day”
when the students and faculty
get decked out in their most
spirited Stafford outfits. Seniors will wear their senior
shirts on this day.
Students who plan to attend
the homecoming dance must
remember a few things. Tickets
may be purchased during all
lunch shifts at the small, round
table towards the outside doors
of the cafeteria. Tickets will be
$10 and students are reminded
to buy tickets for any guests
who do not attend Stafford High
School. Also, all guest forms
must be submitted to the appropriate alpha-secretary for all
students bringing a guest who
doesn’t attend Stafford High.
Students should also refer to
the formal wear guidelines on
the homecoming dance agreement form.
Throughout the week leading up to the homecoming game
and dance, there are many activities planned for the students
and staff. One of the activities
includes the traditional bonfire
gathering. This event will take
place on Thursday of homecoming week from 7 to 8 p.m. towards the back of the student
parking lot near the field
hockey field. Also, there will be
a small fire for students and
staff to roast marshmallows
around. The traditional activity of a supervised “car-bashing” of a donated, used car will
take place at the bonfire. The
students can pay to have a turn
to whack the car with a sledgehammer.
A major tradition is the
homecoming pep rally which
will be held during seventh period on Oct. 25. Students and
staff will walk over to the football stadium for an outdoor pep
rally. This is different from the
traditional location of the pep
rally in the gymnasium. The pep
rally is organized by the SCA officers and sponsor, Ms. Margaret Bridges. There will be a lot
of new games at the pep rally
this year and all students and
staff are encouraged to attend.
Of course, the most exciting
and important events of homecoming week and the reasons
for all the hype are the homecoming football game and
dance. The football game is on
Oct. 24 at 7:30 p.m. against the
Massaponax panthers and the
dance will be held in the gymnasium Oct. 25 at 8 p.m.
Open Hear
ger
Heartt Sur
Surger
geryy
By Kelsey Chestnut
Editor in Chief
Most students have no idea
that the human heart can be
covered in a layer of fat, how a
triple bypass surgery is done,
or what the saphenous vein is.
Going a step farther than that,
most people can’t say that
they’ve seen an actual human
heart, either.
On four separate days, Ms.
Felicia Russ took her four
Anatomy and Physiology
classes to see an open heart
surgery. The classes each traveled to Inova Fairfax Hospital
to see the procedure done, and
every student in the class got
to see an actual open heart surgery take place.
When the students arrived
at the hospital, a registered
nurse took them to a room and
explained several terms that
would help them understand
the open heart surgery. The
nurse also gave the students a
brief description of the patient’s
background, and gave them the
reasons why the person needed
the surgery.
When it was time for the
surgery to begin, the students
were led into The Dome, which
was an observation room in the
hospital.
Looking down
through the glass, the students
had a clear view of the patient
and the doctors. There were
also several TV screens to show
a closer view of the surgery.
Many students feared that
the open heart surgery would
be disgusting to watch. Some
students were nervous to see
the doctors cutting open a living and breathing human being
right in front of them. However,
after the procedure started,
most students found it very interesting to watch.
“I thought I would get
grossed out,” said senior Alycia
Shaffer. “As the surgery pro-
gressed, I was actually really
interested in it.”
Not every open heart surgery was the same. Each class
period got to see a different part
of the surgery, or watch the doctors use different procedures
for their patients. First period
got to see the end of the surgery
but not the beginning, and for
fourth period it was the opposite.
The doctors were doing the
same basic procedures in every surgery: They were cutting
out the saphenous vein in the
leg and cutting open the chest
to attach this vein to the heart.
This vein would provide the
heart a new passageway to
transport blood because of a
blood clot or blockage in the
heart.
“Every thing the doctor did
was risky, and the procedures
he used were, at times, surprising,” said Shaffer.
Students were able to see
the tools and procedures the
doctors and nurses used to
successfully complete the surgery. Open heart surgery can
be a very risky operation, and
every move the doctors and
nurses made counted.
Overall, the Anatomy and
Physiology students had
learned a lot. They were able
to see what an actual human
heart looked like, to learn several interesting facts about the
heart and open heart surgery,
and to view an actual open
heart surgery.
“My favorite part of the field
trip was when the doctor was
cranking the patient open,” said
junior Kelsey Binder. The surgery required a crank to pull the
chest open so the doctors could
have more room to get to the
heart.
“The field trip was a very
good learning experience,” said
junior Kiera Johnson. “I had a
12
lection 08’
The Smoke Signal
Stafford High School 33 Stafford Indian Lane, Falmouth, VA 22405
Obama pr omises
change in 2009
By Brandon Leatherland,
Matt Cornpropst
Staff Writers
The election is coming up
quickly. The democratic candidate is Illinois senator Barack
Obama. Obama’s running mate
is the Delaware senator Joe
Biden.
There are many issues in
America. Some of the major
topics are education, the economic meltdown, the war in
Iraq, and the energy crisis.
America is looking for another source of energy. Obama
wants to ensure that
10 percent of electricity comes
from renewable sources
by 2012,
and 25
per-
cent by
2025.
He plans to
put out one million hybrid cars
that can get high gas
mileage by 2015. The
cars will be manufactured
in
America.
The Alaska
Natural Gas
Pipeline,
a
high
energy
source, will have
construction done on it to preserve energy related jobs.
“I believe Obama is the
truth,” said senior Jory Williams. “He will bring this country what it needs and has been
looking for for eight years.”
According to Obama’s
website, the economy is also in
trouble. Obama wants to provide a $50 million jumpstart to
the economy to prevent Americans from losing their jobs and
their homes. There will be a
1000 dollar tax cut for the
middle class Americans. Income taxes for seniors making
less than 50,000 dollars will be
eliminated. This will provide
seniors with an average savings of 1,400 dollars.
Obama and Biden will create five million new green jobs,
jobs that help the earth, which
will improve the job market
while helping the green energy
programs. They will invest 150
million dollars into this program and have it continue over
ten years.
Obama’s goals for educa-
tion are mainly hiring more
teachers, paying them more, reducing dropout rates, improving after-school programs, and
making college more affordable
for students.
Obama plans to give teachers studying in college scholarships to encourage them to
continue with their education.
When they are hired, the new
teachers will be paired with experienced teachers to keep
them in their post.
Obama will develop new
pay systems to provide an incentive for teachers to remain in their positions.
To deal with
the drop out
rates, Obama
wants to crea t e
programs
that
will
prevent
s t u d e n t s
from considering dropping high school.
These programs will
try to encourage students to work with their
teachers rather than giving up.
For after-school programs, Obama
will double the
federal funding
given to schools
for those programs.
Finally, the most relevant
topic for high school students,
is the price of college. If Obama
is elected, he plans to give a
4,000 dollar tax credit to potential students in exchange for
100 hours of volunteer service.
He will also simplify the
process for applying for federal
student aid.
The Iraq War has lasted
longer than both World War I
and World War II. There have
been 4,000 American casualties and over 60,000
injured or wounded.
America has spent
2.7 trillion dollars on
the war and more in
the
aftermath.
Obama plans to
pull out the troops
from Iraq and remove all the United
States bases there.
“Voting
for
Obama is a vote for
change,” said senior
Ryan Malone. “Why
not vote for hope?”
Oct. 22, 2008
McCain puts
‘countr y f ir st”
By Amber Huffman
Ashley Reed
Staff Writers
Photo by Kyle Falkenstern
Many students at Stafford recently got the oppurtunity to
register to vote. The applications were due on Oct. 6.
Students ready to
vote in 2008 Election
by Nicole Clyde
Staff Writer
The upcoming election is
one of the most historic elections in this country’s history.
For the first time an African
American is running for president and a woman is running
for vice president for the second time.
The two candidates, John
McCain and Barack Obama,
could not have more different
political platforms for their
campaigns. Although, both are
promising change which is a
top priority for many voters after the current economic crisis
and the Iraqi War.
The problem is that only
about half of registered voters
actually vote and a small percentage of the American population is actually registered.
“Yes, I am [voting],” said senior Jacob Yeager. “It’s an important election and I want to
have a say in what is going on.”
It isn’t that difficult to vote.
Actually, getting registered to
vote is more accessible than
ever. Those eligible to vote can
even register online now.
A common question is
where one can register to vote.
In Virginia, voters have several
o p t i o n s , including local
voter registration
o f fices,
onn
il e,
state or local government offices, armed forces recruitment
offices, public libraries, DMV,
voter registration drives and
many more. Absentee ballots
are also a common option for
those who can’t make the polls
on Nov. 4.
The broadcasting of this
new convenience for registering
online has been all over the web
and the radio. Several celebrities, including singer/actor
Jesse McCartney, have endorsed registry to vote.
“It’s the future for our country and it hangs in the balance,”
said senior Sarah Pelham.
As history proves, presidential elections are the most popular elections voter wise. Local
and state elections typically
have a smaller voter count.
What Americans don’t realize is that each vote counts. The
United States has millions of
people, but voting and supporting personal beliefs and virtues
make all the difference.
For example, the 2000
Bush-Gore presidential race;
only a small margin separated
the victor from the loser. The
votes had to be recounted in
Florida in order to even determine a winner. One additional
vote could’ve made the difference.
The message to all the eligible voters at this school:
get up, go out, and vote
for this upcoming election. Let every voice be
heard.
and
John McCain, 72, is the senior United States senator from
Arizona and is the Republican
presidential candidate.
“I am running for president
because my country saved me,”
said McCain.
McCain, since he is a
former prisoner of the Vietnam
War, feels experience has showed him that the U.S. Military
must not fail.
“Obama does not lack experience,” said
McCain. “He
lacks judgm e n t .
Palin
h a s
judgment.”
Sar a h
Palin
is the
governor of
Alaska
a n d
t h e
first
woman
r u n ning for
Vice President
on the Republican ballot.
“McCain
and Palin rock
as a team,” said
freshman Ryan
Walker.
McCain’s stances on abortion vary mildly. He is pro-life
and doesn’t believe in forcing
women to have illegal operations.
On the other hand, he thinks
that abortion would be okay if
the woman was raped. He supports fetal tissue research and
is against
par-
tial-birth. Abortion is when a
baby is partially born before it
is aborted.
“McCain’s views are morally and religiously correct in
every way possible,” said
sophomore Stephen Bell.
McCain voted to prohibit
lawsuits against gun manufacturers. He agrees that guns
should be sold without trigger
locks, but he believes that guns
should have safety locks.
He supports the ban on certain assault weapons. He also
believes that firearms should
be allowed in National Parks.
“I don’t agree
with strong gun
control because
I
hunt ,”
s a i d
sophomore JD
Roberts.
“I don’t
want to
have to go
through so
much to
b e
able
t o
get a
gun.”
McCani
h a s
various
opinions on
Homeland Sec u r i t y.
He believes
t h a t
former
President Clinton and President Bush both missed opportunities to capture Osama Bin
Laden.
McCain disagrees with
Bush on certain aspects of the
war, but credits him with no
more terrorist attacks since
Sept. 11, 2001.
“McCain has a firm knowledge that is best for the United
States,” said sophomore Shawn
Alley.
With 125 electoral votes,
Senator McCain is behind
Senator Obama, who
has 177 electoral
votes.
Don Coker
Columbus LedgerEnquirer 2008
Young Democr
ats get
Democrats
involved in the community
By Amber Howell
Staff Writer
The Young Democrats
started up again last year after
about four years of no activity.
“There were only three
people at the first meeting last
year,” said vice president junior Nina Gonzalez.
Before last year there was a
strong lack of interest in the
club. Now Young Democrats
has about 30 active members.
“The club is based on service and helping the community,” said sophomore James
Adams.
Already this year the club
has participated in a
Rappahannock River clean-up.
Thirteen volunteers helped
picked up trash between the
Virginia Outdoor Center and
the Route 1 Bridge. Together
they filled five 50 gallon bags
with trash.
“[We] picked up everything
from old baby diapers to old
Coke bottles,” said club sponsor Mr. Bob Wallace. “If you can
throw it out, it was out there.”
Young Democrats members
also volunteer for a no-kill animal shelter in Orange County
called Rikki’s Refuge. When
working with the shelter last
year, the club members painted
storage trailers, fed the animals, and mended fences.
“The shelter needs a dollar
a day per animal, and they have
loads of cats,” said Adams. “So
they need some help.”
The club will volunteer
there again, and plan on working at the Fredericksburg Food
Bank.
“Volunteer work is a good
duty to give back to the community,” said Gonzalez.
With the 2008 elections
coming up soon, the Young
Democrats are getting involved
and helping out. Some members go door to door to gather
opinions.
Outside of school, other
members work at the Obama
Center off of Route 1, where they
volunteer their time to support
the Democratic candidate.
When Obama and Biden
came to Mary Washington University on Sept. 27, many members went to the rally to show
support.
“There were people that
came from all over,” said junior Claudia Pare. “They came
from everywhere like Washington and South Carolina. It was
basically the best thing that has
happened in Fredericksburg for
a while, so it was really good
that some of us were there.”
Young R
epublicans ttak
ak
Republicans
akee action
By John Alberto
Staff Writer
With the upcoming presidential election, the Young Republicans will be adding more
to their already busy agenda.
Apart from their usual activities, they are also campaigning
for the Republican Party.
Miss Julie Kelsey is the club
advisor for the Young Republicans this year.
“I like being the club advisor because it is great to see
students involved in the political process and taking an active interest in the world around
them,” said Kelsey.
At the meetings, the Young
Republicans discuss current
events. They try to discuss both
a conservative and a liberal
outlook to understand and argue the opposing perspectives.
“It’s basically like a political science course,” said senior
Basil Fedun, the president of
Young Republicans. Fedun has
been a Young Republican for
three years and has been the
club president for the past two
years.
“Our goal is to bring knowledge to students to argue or
defend cases from a conservative point of view,” said Fedun.
“We want to help bring forth a
new generation of conservatives.”
The Young Republicans are
also working hard to make sure
that the next President of the
United States is a Republican.
They volunteer at the Republican Center on Route 17 to
fundraise and campaign for
John McCain. Signs are put
along roads to endorse McCain
throughout the community.
“I’m encouraging the Young
Republicans to help out at the
Republican Headquarters in
Stafford,” said Kelsey.
The Young Republicans are
also trying to make McCain tshirts with slogans to sell to
students at school, and are
making posters and buttons to
distribute to aid the McCain /
Palin campaign.
“We’re trying to support
McCain and Palin without being disrespectful,” said Young
Republicans vice president, senior Allison Skeer. “It’s good to
get students involved in politics whether they support
McCain or Obama.”
When they are not busy
campaigning for a presidential
nominee, the Young Republicans discuss bills being passed
in Congress and the bill’s effect.
In the future, the Young Republicans are planning a trip
to the White House and a tour
of Washington D.C. They are
also planning to work with the
Young Democrats to collect
needed items for animals at
Rikki’s Refuge in Orange County.