Creek students are selected to attend Girls State

In June 2011, Clear Creek High School seniors Anna Rigby and Kelly Bosworth were selected as delegates to represent Creek in the American Legion Auxiliary’s Girls State. With this selection comes the opportunity of winning a $20,000 scholar-ship awarded by the American Legion Aux-iliary to someone that exhibits outstand-ing citizenship throughout the program.

During the week of June 13th, over 485 girls between their junior and senior year of high school came together to par-ticipate in a one-week mock-government at the Texas Lutheran University cam-pus. To meet the stringent qualifications necessary to be involved in this program, each of the girls must be able to demon-strate outstanding leadership, character, and citizenship. Teachers vote on the most qualified candidates for the honor.

“I didn’t really know about it until I was nominated, but it sounded interesting,” said Rigby.

According to girls-state.org, this program, called Bluebonnet Girls State, began in 1937 with the goals of edu-cating young women in the responsi-bilities and privileges of being a citizen.

Girls State provides the opportu-nity for these girls to learn about the problems facing today’s government and work together to come up with re-

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alistic solutions for the future. Some programs offer scholarships or college admission preference for participants.

“I was just expecting to learn about gov-ernment in Texas, but it was so much better than I could have ever imagined,” said Rigby.

Upon arrival at Texas Lutheran, the “citizens” were organized into “cit-ies,” each encompassing 30-50 of the girls. Bosworth was a citizen of the City G Guppies, and Rigby a citizen of the City F Fireworks. They were then pre-sented the challenge of writing their own charter and selecting city officials.

Three days into the program, Girls State citizens held elections for the state govern-ment and approved legislature, establish-ing the sessions of the Texas Legislature. Bosworth ran for General Land Commis-sioner, and Rigby was elected Presiding Judge of the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Among the many activities that the Girls State senators and representa-tives were part of was the annual trip to the capitol, where the girls held a mock-legislative session and became ac-quainted with their real-life counterparts.

“I met the real Judge on the Court of Criminal Appeals, Judge Keasler, and he was the sweetest old man,” said Rigby.

The week ended with a talent show and festivities held by the citi-zens in each group. Rigby was one of twelve “Outstanding Citizens of 2011” chosen by the citizens of each city.

“It was really cool be-cause I met so many in-teresting and intelligent people and learned a lot about political issues and processes,” said Bosworth.

Girls Nation, held in July 2011 in Washington D.C., was essentially Girls State on a national level. Rigby was chosen to at-tend, but was unable to participate, sending an al-ternate in her place. The chosen girls came together for a week-long event and were split into different communities. They held elections for local and na-tional government, debate bills and resolutions, and visit national monuments.

Rigby is now wait-ing in anticipation for this year’s Girls State, since she was chosen to be a counselor for the delegates.

Creek’s nomina-tions for the 2012 Girls State are juniors Hanna Cardinal, Claire Mitch-ell and Stephanie Ding.

Wildcat athletes sign to play sports for universitiesIt has been a scene that has been drilled

into the heads of young children aspiring to continue the athletic career at a college. The table with hats of various schools, a stack of paper work that will bind them into a contract, and parents and friends showing their love and support for a person that they h a v e rooted for their entire l i f e . Four more students at C l e a r Creek have had the

opportunity to p u r s u e

their dreams and continue on to the next level. Seniors Kristi Leonard, Austin Smith,

Brent Wagner and Cory Zunker join Tanner Griggs, Sam Lera and Jake Cosart as Creek athletes who have signed their letter of intent to join their new universities and teams.

Leonard has committed to play soccer for the Texas A&M Lady Aggies, a top-25 team in the Nation. She has graced Creek with her extraordinary soccer skills that

have sent them to playoff appea rances . Leonard was on the 24-5A

A l l - D i s t r i c t team in her

freshman, sophomore, and junior years. She also plays for Space City FC, a highly successful club soccer team. Scouts have rated her as 4-star athlete: they praised her height, speed and her deadly left foot that makes her a natural left side player. Aggie soccer blogs have raved about her skills that she brings to an already deep signing class.

Smith committed to play football at Texas A&M-Commerce, a Division II school in the Lone Star Conference. Smith has a unique situation to his choice of life after high school. He is a three-sport letterman with two years of varsity football, two years of varsity basketball and an upcoming third season of varsity baseball. The only way out of his letter of intent will be if a professional baseball team drafts him. Smith took the reigns as the quarterback for the Wildcats in his senior season. He led Creek to a 6-4 regular season record and a playoff appearance against Fort Bend Bush. Smith was a quarterback with many tools at his disposal: he had the arm, the vision, the feet and the mind to know exactly who to throw to a win. He led many comeback victories and commanding drives down the field and made Creek a deadly opponent in the district.

Wagner committed to play for

Southeastern Louisiana, a part of the NCAA Division 1 Football Champion Series and a member of the Southland Conference. Wagner was the only player for the Wildcats to start over 40 games during his career at Clear Creek. Brent shifted from the right guard position to center this year in order to prepare him for college football. His size and strength has impressed many football coaches and scouts through out the district, awarding him with first team all district and county as well as second team all district. Wagner received multiple offers from schools, including one from Columbia, an Ivy League school in New York.

Zunker, the 6 foot 3 inch, 295-pound lineman, was the biggest player in this year’s football team and has both power and speed. He played left tackle this season and was the most consistent player on the entire line, grading out the highest in multiple times. Zunker committed to Southern Arkansas University, a member of the Great American Conference. He was selected as a first team all-district as well as first team all county.

The signing season is still not over with baseball, softball and water polo seasons starting. Many more athletes will have a chance to shine.

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

2305 East Main StreetLeague City, TX 77573

Anna Rigby and Kelly Bosworth in front of the Capitol building in Austin, TX. Photo courtesy of Kelly Bosworth.

L to R: Zunker, Leonard, Wagner and Smith. Photo by Shelby Surface.

2 OpinionWhat was your favorite childhood movie?

2011-2012

Principal: Scott Bockart Advisor: Wynette Jameson Executive Editor: Jan O’Neil Editors-in-Chief: Ashley Farmer Ellen Gaudet Jacob Mancini Features Editor: Madison Williams News Editor: Stephanie Johnson Teen Interest Editor: Madison Borowitz Sports Editor: Jacob Arredondo Around Creek Editor: Hannah Brinsko Creek Speaks Editor: Valerie Hellinghausen Advertising Manager: Clarissa Melendez Photo Editors: Jacob Arredondo Madison Williams Staff:

Published at Mirror Publishers in Texas CityEmail us at: creekhilife@gmail.com

Visit us at: http://clearcreekhighschool.ihigh.comFor ad rates call: (281)284-1889 Fax: (281)332-9079

HiLife Staff

Arlen AddisonGreg Brotzman Dane Chronister

Rachel Duncavage

Dylan HillSierra Kemper

Kristina KoonceKara Loewenthal Clarissa Melendez

Christal ScarboroughHalle Scott

Tedy WarrenRegina Wiley

Seniors

“I liked The Lion King because whenever the lions would roar, I would roar!”

-Kelly Thomas

“Mulan, because it taught me how to be a man, as tranquil as a forest.”

-Shawn Ling

“UP, because a movie that can cause that much emotion in a scene without words

is amazing.” -Amie Geistman

“The Lion King! I watched it so much the VHS tape broke.” -Sam Creech

“Beauty and the Beast, because I AM Belle.” -Lacey Lehrmann

“The Parent Trap, because they were smart to bring their parents together.”

-Lily Soto

“Spiderman, because as a kid I enjoyed super heroes.” -Allen Dunham

“A Bug’s Life. It’s the first movie I remember seeing in the theaters.”

-Collin Freeman

“My favorite movie was The Bourne Identity because it was action packed and

thrilling.” -Chris Sickler

“I’ve always liked The Wizard of Oz because of the fantasy, color, and amazing

songs throughout the movie.” -Kirana Bercich

“Free Willy, because it was the first movie to ever make me cry.”

-Malique Farmer

JUNIORS

SOPHOMORES

“The Little Mermaid, because of the underwater singers.” -Isabel Surface

“Jurassic Park because of the suspense and the cool effects.”

-Umair Ahmad

“Madeleine, because she had catchy, cute songs.” -Abbey Prangle

“Bambi because of the talking animals.” -Austin Matthews

“Aladdin, because I love Raj the tiger!” -Evey Shanks

“Stuart Little, because the mouse talks.” -Jose Valladares

“The Lion King, because I like the motto and I have no worries the rest of my

days.” -Thomas Taylor

“Toy Story, because I always thought it would be fun if my toys talked to me.”

-Miguel Ponce

“Cinderella, because it is a sweet story and I always wanted a poofy dress!”

-Devin Zamka

“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, because they ate a lot of pizza.”

-Jonathan Monterrubio

“The Land Before Time, because it combined song and dinosaurs!”

-Taylor Sieling

“Mulan, because we are both strong Asian women.” -Tammy Nguyen

“Beauty and the Beast because it teaches us not to judge.” -Megan Bartlett

freshmen

3Editorial

As the last few months of my high school career have been passing by, I have realized just how many “lasts” this year has encompassed. It is really scary to think that this is my final year to live at home with my family, to be with many of my best friends, and to be in my comfortable, familiar situation in League City. Besides all of that, this is also my last year to be dancing, something that has been one of the most important aspects of my life ever since I can remember.

My interest in dance began when I was 6 years old, and I found that I liked being able to adopt a new personality in each piece of choreography. I soon realized that dance was my best way to express myself, and my parents got front row couch seats to all of my little performances in my living room. I really believed that I was a balle-rina and that I would be one for the rest of my life.

I continued dancing for fun throughout elementary school, and when I showed tal-ent and promise in my 5th grade year, I was accepted into a more professional wing of the studio— the Vaganova program. I was warned that this style of teaching would be much different than what I was used to, and that I would have to endure a lot of stress and hard work. However, since I wanted to take my dancing more seriously and become a better dancer, I accepted the challenge.

I soon discovered exactly why profes-sional ballerinas were so rare. My teacher was an intense Russian man named Miro-slav Misha Birmancevic Bart, with color coordinated sweat suits and piercing eyes that saw every imperfection. He had ac-tually trained at the prestigious Vaganova Ballet Academy in St. Petersburg, Russia, and brought the same strict way of teach-ing to our classes. There were days that I begged my parents to let me quit, because of the constant reprimands and seemingly cruel tactics that Mr. Misha employed to shape us into professional ballet dancers. Some days he would kick us out of class for forgetting ballet steps, and would make us repeat combinations until we cried from fatigue and pain. I had no idea that bal-let, such a graceful and beautiful art form, required so much physical and mental strength.

I continued to train with Mr. Misha through five levels of the Vaganova pro-gram. Our class continued to get smaller as some students could not handle the strain and dedication it took to stay, but eventu-ally I overcame the shock of his style of teaching. When I began improving dra-matically, being able to lift my legs up higher and being able to dance en pointe easily, I realized that Mr. Misha’s teach-ing method produced quality results. At only 12 years old, when most girls my age

were just learning how to dance in pointe shoes, my class performed a 12-minute ballet dance complete with partnering with boys and solos throughout. This was a feat that would usually only be expected of the highest-level ballet class at our studio, the ones filled with high school seniors who had many more years of dance training un-der their belts. I really felt like I could call myself a true ballet dancer.

Dance has always been such a release for me. Performing allows me to forget about any problems I have, because I have to become something outside of myself, like a different character or emotion. Danc-ing also led me to my very best friends, and I am so much closer to them than to my friends at school because we spend almost all of our time together in rehearsals and classes. We all endure the same trials and triumphs and will forever have a special bond.

Training seriously in ballet toughened me mentally and physically, and I have many bruised toenails, blisters, and callus-es to prove it. I actually love the fact that ballet looks so easy to audiences, because it shows that dancers are great at what they do. The hours of exhausting rehearsals and classes all culminate in effortless perfor-mances, when prepared for correctly. Ballet dancers are extremely underrated athletes, because our strength cannot come out as forceful or masculine, but the complete op-posite, with graceful movements. If I fall onstage or mess up a piece of choreogra-phy, I cannot just lie there and wait for a penalty flag to be thrown or apologize to the audience for my mistakes and ask for a re-do. I must get right back up and con-tinue performing as if that one mistake was purposeful and please my viewers with my next steps.

Now in my 12th year of studying bal-let, I am a Principal dancer with Bay Area Houston Ballet and Theatre, a pre-profes-sional dance company in the Clear Lake area. The “dancer” side of my personality pushes me to be resilient and determined to succeed in everything I do. Since I have been so dedicated to dance for such a long time, it is hard to say that I still love it as much as I used to. Such commitment to the same discipline for most of my life makes me want some change, and leaving my bal-let company at the end of the semester and going to college will be exciting and sad at the same time. My plans to become a pro-fessional dancer have changed, but I have a love of ballet that will continue throughout my life, even if I cannot be the one on stage performing.

By Ellen GaudetEditor-in-Chief

By Valerie HellinghausenGet Involved Editor

While summer vacation seems to be eons away now that we are submerged in the post-winter break lull, my week at the George N. Parks Drum Major Academy from last summer is still burned into my mind. When I go to summer camp, I do not usually envision waking up at 7 a.m., studying for tests or experiencing some of the greatest inspiration of my life in a sin-gle week. Regardless of what I expected, the George N. Parks Drum Major Acad-emy, DMA for short, guided me through some of my first leadership roles as an up-perclassman in any environment.

When I first arrived at DMA, I felt overwhelmed by the number of people with higher leadership titles than I had. As a woodwind captain and not a drum major for the Clear Creek Wildcat Band, I felt extremely out of place. I had never learned how to conduct, had never stood in front of my peers with any sense of au-thority, and had never even heard of what a woodwind captain was expected to do in a marching band. But before I could calm these thoughts in my head, I was wel-comed by and introduced to nearly 100 people from across the country in about an hour. The energy in the small ballroom we were crowded into was unbelievable and it never seemed to fade away. In fact, as the week progressed, the energy and enthusi-asm only seemed to grow as we formed new friendships, new passions, and new goals.

Not to discredit any of the incredible people I met in that week, but the one per-son that stood out the most is the one per-son I never got to meet. George N. Parks founded DMA and its curriculum in 1977. DMA has now been the leading authority on the art of drum majoring for over 35 years. After his death in 2010, Mr. Parks’ work continues to inspire students from across the nation in only five days. While not all of the drum majoring instruction can translate into other facets of leader-ship, the “starred thoughts,” or mini-mis-sion statements, and the attitudes I was en-couraged to develop are what I have tried to apply in my day to day life.

All talk and no substance makes you a fluff-ball. As I take on leadership roles, I have to put my ego aside and real-ize that a title and position does not give me direct authority. The legacies I leave behind will directly correlate with the de-cisions I make and action I take in these positions. While some seniors were under the impression that second semester is a time to kick back and relax and drop all of their hardest classes, underclassmen are taking mental notes of your actions. If I decide to only tell my fellow underclass-men that the third year of high school is nothing but stress, homework, and rigor-ous classes, that is exactly what they will

expect it to be. If I plan to lead future class-es with a legacy of a lazy second-semester and negative approach to the second-half of the high school experience, then I have to accept that when I graduate in 2013 I might realize I set the bar too low and gave the younger Creek generations the wrong impression. After all, how can I expect the underclassmen to respect me if that is all I give them to look up to?

If you act like something long enough, it becomes a part of you. The teenage years are filled with change, and some of that change can be self-imposed. Some say high school is the time to find out who you are, but in reality high school is really about creating yourself. The classes I take, the people I hang out with, and the person I want to be are all individual choices. They may not all be easy choices to make, but if I act like something long enough, it becomes a real part of who I am. When I first got to DMA, my confidence level was pretty low, and I was miles outside my comfort zone. When I walked into a room full of mostly strangers I had two choices: sit with the people I have always known or introduce myself to someone new. By choosing the latter option and practicing this false con-fidence all marching season long, it started to translate into true confidence. If I put in the effort to make a change, changes will be made.

Eagles do not flock. Whether I am leading at the front of the group or on top of a drum major podium, sometimes be-ing a leader means standing alone. While I have friends and other supporters, no one can fill my shoes but me. Whether I am leading a sectional warm-up or trying to decide on a college, no one can call the shots for me. Being a leader means stand-ing apart from the group and sometimes going against what my best friends or pre-vious leaders are doing. Being a leader re-quires that I forget my ego and give every member that I lead my best every day and at all times. I have had bad days, I have had a million and one things to do, and I have had my own interests at heart. How-ever, being a leader is not about me and my ego, it is about pushing my own buttons to give my best for others because no one will push them for me.

There are dozens of other starred thoughts I could share that I learned at DMA, but I have found that leadership is both something that can be taught by oth-ers yet still something I have to interpret on my own. As I get older and start making decisions that greatly affect my own life, I have to remember that my actions will reflect on those around me as well. Gradu-ation and summer are both a long way away, but every moment between now and the day I cross the stage and receive my di-ploma in 2013, I am still leading the under-classmen and the classes that will follow after me, and still making my own legacy here at Clear Creek.

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” —President John

Quincy Adams

“Ballet is not technique, but a way of expression that comes

more closely to the inner language of man

than any other.”—George Borodin

Ellen’s Epiphanies Valerie’s Voice

Photos by Jacob Arredondo and Emily Cruz

News4After a delay in December of last

year due to the holidays, the City Council unanimously agreed at a meeting on January 24, 2012 that residents will vote on the 2012 ballot whether or not League City will continue to use red light cameras.

“I just think when you have an issue like this that truly affects every one of our 83,000 people, it is something that those guys should be the ones to decide,” said councilman Mike Lee at a workshop in late December 2011.

Red light cameras were first introduced back in 2009 when City Council signed a five-year contract with Redflex Traffic Systems. These cameras are currently located at three major intersections along FM 518: Marina Bay Drive, Interstate 45, and State Highway 3.

As of right now, if the red light cameras catch a driver running a red light, the owner of the vehicle will have to pay a $75 penalty. According to the Texas Department of Transportation, these red light cameras

have effectively reduced the overall number of accidents along with the number of injuries and rear end crashes.

Due to the topic’s controversial nature, councilmen have been debating back and forth on how to put this issue on the ballot for the 2012 election. The current contract requires League City to pay a hefty maintenance fee of $38,960 per month.

If residents vote to end the contract with Redflex before the contract is up in October of 2014, the city will have to pay a $1.3 million fee according to city spokeswoman Kristi Wyatt.

While some residents want to see the red light camera system come down as soon as possible, City Council is not convinced on taxing residents to pay the fee to end the contract early.

“I appreciate that this is a very

The Los Angeles, California, Police Commission has voted to kill the city’s controversial red-light camera

program, rejecting claims that the system makes streets safer while costing the city nothing. (Glenn Koenig/Los

Angeles Times/MCT)

Citizens decide continued use of red light camerasBy Valerie HellinghausenGet Involved Editor

contentious issue… Generally, when this goes to the voters it’s very, very tight,” said councilman Mick Phalen in a report by the Galveston Daily News.

Regardless of the increased safety and reduced incidents, the city has resolved to ask voters on the May 2012 election ballot whether or not to remove the red light cameras after the contract ends in 2014. Some councilmen, like Byron Schirmbeck, who led the fight against red light cameras in Baytown, feel that the city should end the contract now and settle the fees in court in order to avoid any corporate lobbying to keep the red light cameras in place.

However, the council as a whole does not think taxing League City residents without hearing their opinions first is fair.

By including this issue on the council’s agenda and the 2012 election ballot, the city hopes to fully gauge residents’ feelings towards the red light cameras before making any decisions or paying any fees.

5News

Influential leader Nelson Mandela in the hospitalBy Madison WilliamsFeatures Editor

On February 25, Nelson Mandela was admitted to the hospital for abdominal pain. As he entered the hospital, all of South Africa held their breath for their beloved 93-year-old former leader. Although Mandela is no longer on the political front, he still plays an influential role in the lives of the South African people.

Mandela rose to fame with his fight against racial segregation, apartheid, in South Africa. He was imprisoned on Robben Island for 27 years for his opposition to apartheid. During his imprisonment he came to represent the struggle of oppressed people around the world.

According to www.southafrica.info, he promoted the principles of nation-building and cooperative governance.

Mandela was an amazing negotiator and known by world leaders for carrying “an indubitable moral authority and gently but firm sense of fairness.” In 1993, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Mandela shared the award with former South African president F.W. de Klerk.

In 1994, Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected president. As president, Mandela chose to tackle the challenge of uniting the country’s racial divisions and a

fragmented public service whose services greatly favored the white population.

Mandela is also known for his strong stance against giant world powers, especially in defense of Africa. He embraced South Africa’s former ally in the African National Congress, such as Libya’s Muammar Gaddafi and Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat.

Mandela did not back down from these alliances in spite of severe criticism from the United States. This position helped with relations with both Russia and China, former communist allies of the African National Congress.

In 1999, Mandela went on to campaign for global peace but still focused his energies into increasingly empowering disadvantaged children and fighting against HIV/AIDS.

According to CNN, Nelson Mandela is said to be suffering from a form of senile dementia. He is easily agitated and upset, so his family is forced to protect him from the details of everyday life.

With the silence of Mandela, the people of South Africa are concerned that under President Jacob Zuma, South Africa is straying away from Mandela’s intended path. Zuma’s government is finding it hard to embrace Mandela’s dedication to free press, and is instead imposing new laws like the Protection of Information Bill.

Despite many contradictions, South Africa is still a thriving democratic nation. The people worry that when the day finally

comes that Mandela is no longer in the world, the country will lose its democratic anchor.

Large solar storm intensifies the Northern LightsBy Arlen AddisonReporter

A large solar flare erupting on the surface of the Sun on January 22 intensified the Northern Lights over the Northern Hemisphere, allowing them to be visible hundreds of miles south of their normal locations, as far South as New England. The solar flare, which hit Earth, was actually only one of three solar flares on the surface of the sun to erupt in the month of January.

This string of solar flares was the largest solar storm in years, the last of the three being the largest single flare since 2005, being rated an X1.7. Solar flares are rated by X, M, and C classes, X rating indicating the strongest, C the smallest, and M being in- between, and then they are sub-divided into 1-10.

The C class has little noticeable effect on Earth, and the M class is able to cause brief radio blackouts and minor damage to satellites, while the X class is capable of

causing total blackouts, severely damaging satellites, and posing a serious threat to any planes flying at high altitudes in near the poles. Luckily the third X1.7 flare was not aimed at Earth, and the flare that did hit fell short of an X class, being a M9.

The M9 flare, which erupted on Sunday, January 22, traveled the 93-million-mile distance from the Sun to the Earth faster than most flares, taking only about 48 hours to hit Earth around 11 p.m. on the night of January 24. When it did hit, it sparked the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, to amaze millions of those who would never have otherwise seen it across Northern America and Northern Europe.

“Suddenly it was this gigantic display of dancing lights and Technicolor,” said Michele Cahill, an Irish psychologist who was touring Northern Sweden at the time. “It was an absolutely awesome display. It went on for over an hour. Literally one would have to lie on the ground to capture it all.”

The lights could been seen in Northern England and Ireland, and the Tan Hill Inn, a small pub in Northern England, normally a quite place, exploded with sky gazers in early hours of the morning to watch the lights. All the people at his pub shocked the 49-year-old pub keeper, Peter Richardson.

“I just thought ‘Oh my God, this is just absolutely amazing.’ You get a lot of spectacular skyline out here, but that was just something out of the ordinary,” said Richardson.

The recent solar flare activity means the Sun is coming to the end of its 11-year solar cycle and is coming upon its Solar Maximum, the time with the most solar activity and the beginning of its new cycle. In the Solar Maximum the Sun will have an increasing

number of solar flares erupting on the Sun’s surface. The Sun is exiting its period of quiet, the Solar Minimum, where there were few solar flares. The Sun is expected to peak its Solar Maximum in January 2013.

Graphic explains how solar flares affect the

Earth’s magnetic field; explosion on sun’s sur-

face has triggered largest solar radiation storm

since 2005. MCT 2012

U.S. closes its embassy in Syria to pressure AssadBy Stephanie JohnsonNews Editor

On February 6, the United States closed its embassy in Syria as a means of placing pressure on Syrian President Bashar Assad to give up power.

“We have been relentless in sending a message that it is time for Assad to go,” President Barack Obama said during an interview with NBC. “This is not going to be a matter of if, it’s going to be a matter of when.”

The U.S. began evacuating its diplomats as Syrian forces intensified the bombing of the recalcitrant city of Homs. This offensive began on Saturday, February 4, the same day Syria’s allies, Russia and China, vetoed a Western and Arab

supported resolution directed at ending the brutal Syrian response to its peoples’ dissent and disapproval. U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice stated that Russia and China now face the same sort of international isolation as President Assad because of the fact that they vetoed the resolution.

According to the U.N., it is estimated that more than 5,400 people have been killed since the uprising began in March 2011. The recent assault on the city of Homs has buttressed fears that President Assad will continue to use brutality to crush dissent, especially now that it appears Russia and China will squash any U.N.-sanctioned endeavors to help the people of Syria.

Having closed the embassy, the U.S. has increased its pressures on President Assad

to relinquish power, however, President Obama has stated that a “negotiated solution in Syria” should not be achieved through foreign military intervention.

Additionally, Britain has recalled its ambassador to Damascus and is using multiple channels to express its repugnance at the violence utilized by the Syrian regime.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said, “This is a doomed regime as well as a murdering regime. There is no way it can recover its credibility internationally.”

The Arab League chief, Nabil Elaraby, has also expressed his aversion to Syria’s reaction to public dissent. He was quoted as saying that he was “extremely alarmed and concerned at the use of weapons by regime forces.” The Arab League has

been important in the past for promoting diplomacy, and it was this league that proposed a Syrian transition to democracy that was the foundation for the U.N. proposal China and Russia hampered February 4.

The bombing of Homs has escalated to include medicinal clinics and residential areas. It is reported that on the third day alone, an estimated 23 people were killed with another 10 reported as being killed elsewhere. The Syrian government has denied its involvement in the bombing, stating that “armed terrorist groups” are responsible for attacking civilians. However, as Syria has blocked independent reporters’ access to trouble spots in the country, it is impossible to verify the various information and accounting.

Around Creek6Mr. Clear Creek pageant returnsBy Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

Clear Creek’s senior male pageant, Mr. Clear Creek, returned once again to the school on February 24 in the auditorium. The contestants were pushed to the limit, immersed in the high intensity world of pageantry. Contestants were showcased in three different categories of dress: beach wear, Creek wear, and formal wear. There was a talent portion as well.

This year’s contestants were seniors Calvin Picou, Brent Wagner, Antonio Alvarado, Dane Chronister, Austin Gaona, Thomas Trusky, Cory Zunker, Jacob Arredondo, James Zaro, Michael Fontana and Brandon Wortham.

Last year the show was cancelled due to the lack of participant interest. Since the school assembly on January 27 announced the return of the senior pageant.

“The seniors this year have really stepped up and showed off their tremendous school spirit,” said Picou, the student body class president.

The show started with Creek Wear, a section in which the men in the pageant were introduced, highlighting various activities they are involved in at school and where they where asked about their favorite moment at Creek. The fashion choice of the men in this category in the past has been a standard letterman, uniforms, or simply maroon clothes. This year we had contestants in Roman style togas and formal tuxedos that matched their teacher escort.

Next was the beach wear portion of the contest. Contestants could not appear with their shirts off, so they have traditionally worn board shorts and cut off t-shirts to

cruise through this category, but there have been boys who have decided to kick it up a notch this year and put on an inflatable tube with a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of flip-flops for a comedic effect.

“I liked hanging out with guys from

d i f f e r e n t c l i q u e s , since we all

came together to show off our talents. The beach wear part was fun,” said Alvarado.

After the boys showed off their look, a hula-hoop contest took place. Some boys lasted a few seconds, while Wortham and Trusky went at it for a while, with Trusky winning the competition.

The talent portion of the Mr. Clear Creek pageant was an opportunity for the men in the contest to show the student body what makes them special.

The new talent portion of the Mr.

Clear Creek pageant was an opportunity for the men in the contest to show the student body what made them special.

Wortham chugged two liters of soda while lifting weights; Picou sang “Ordinary People” by John Legend; Arredondo showed magic tricks; Fontana juggled while eating an apple; Zaro sang “My Heart Will Go On” by Celine Dion; Zunker danced to dubstep music; Wagner benchpressed 115 pounds; Gaona sang “Defying Gravity” from the musical Wicked; Chronister danced the “Evolution of Dance” combination from YouTube; Trusky performed the song “Angel” by Jack Johnson. This portion showcased the contestants’ charismatic attitudes and showmanship to the judges.

“I was excited to show off my talent,” said Trusky. “It’s something that many people don’t know about me.”

To wrap the show up, the formal wear portion featured the contestants being escorted by their moms or other female family members, in a nice tux that the school provided by Men’s Wearhouse. This is where the charm of each contestant was exemplified and the majestic aura of the pageant came to life.

“My mom was very excited to escort me down the stage during the formal wear section,” said Wagner. “It was a nice moment.”

After the formal section, Mr. Clear Creek was crowned. For what felt like forever, the contestants waited anxiously waiting for the climatic finale. When the votes were tallied, Chronister was crowned as Mr. Clear Creek. Wortham was first runner-up, Picou was second runner-up, and Trusky was third runner-up.

Mr. Clear Creek, along with many other end-of-the-year events, all raise money for the senior prom. This year’s event earned over $5,000 for senior class of 2012.

Sign language club hosts silent dinnersBy Clarissa MelendezReporter

The Clear Creek American Sign Language Club is doing big things for the deaf community, as well as the Creek community.

About 4000-5000 babies are born deaf every year and many others become deaf later in life due to serious illness or injuries. There are about 18,000 words in the English language and 10,000 signs, leaving 17,000 words left to be conversed through fingerspelling.

According to the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorder, “American Sign Language (ASL) is a complete, complex language that employs signs made by moving the hands combined with facial expressions and postures of the body.”

All of the CCISD high schools’ ASL clubs come together on Tuesday nights at Fuddruckers, from 5-7 p.m. Both hearing and deaf teenagers attend, as sign classes and sign clubs. An average of

75 people attend each week. The proceeds during that night go to one of the designated CCISD high school’s sign programs. There is one rule though: No talking.

Katelyn Brooks, president of Creeks ASL Club says, “If you don’t know a word in sign you just finger spell it.”

She also says that everyone who attends is “really friendly and there’s no judging.”

To be in Creek’s ASL club you do not need to know how to sign. The meetings usually take place on Wednesday at 2:45

in E-127, and food is always available. Club members sport shirts that read “Only Cool Cats Sign”.

The goal of the ASL club is to “educate more people on the

culture of American sign language.”

The ASL club is about to take a field trip to a nearby middle school to promote the club, and to let others know that taking sign as a language

is not an easy thing to do. They want to make more people interested in

taking sign language and joining the club. The ASL club will soon be having a

“Switched at Birth” first season marathon. “Switched at Birth” is a television show on ABC Family about two girls that are accidentally given to the wrong families at the hospital after birth- one grew up with a wealthy family while the other lives with her single mother and lost her hearing when she was little. The show gives insight to the deaf community.

“Being in the deaf society is also being a part of a culture,” said Brooks

According to Brooks, once you are in the American sign language club, “you become part of a little, loving family.”

HOSA goes to stateBy Hannah BrinskoAround Creek Editor

Creek’s chapter of the Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) competed in a regional competition January 28, 2011. Six students qualified for the state competition in three different events.

The trio of Julie Geiger (12th), Alayna Pena-Mendez (11th), and Kate Richter (10th) competed in Emergency Preparedness.

“Normally for emergency preparedness, you are supposed to give a presentation on how you would help the public prepare for a disaster scenario, like a hurricane, but for this competition our theme was the Zombie Apocalypses,” said Richter. “We made a PowerPoint presentation and a skit over preparing for and preventing a zombie apocalypses. We even dressed up Alayna like a zombie to strengthen our presentation.”

The team received the first place prize for their work.

Zach Leal (11th) and Marcos Garcia (11th) also performed well at the competition, placing second in First Aid/ CPR. In the First Aid portion, teams of two are given different emergencies situations which they most respond to in an appropriate manner. Then they must correctly perform CPR on dummies.

Clear Creek’s HOSA club president, Gabby Rabosa (12th), received first place in Physical Therapy. In that round, students are given realistic situations regarding physical therapy. They then have to perform the tasks and explain their process to a panel of judges. Students also have a written examination over physical therapy.

Many members of HOSA are also members of the district Certified Nursing Assistant program at Clear View or are in Health Science Technology II (HST II) that visits the hospital weekly.

HOSA volunteers with many organizations when not competing. They help organize three blood drives Creek has each year, and additionally volunteer to help protect the local environment through programs like Clear Creek Clean-up.

“I really like being involved with HOSA. The students and events are always really fun, and now after placing in Emergency Preparedness I can earn my letterman in HOSA,” said Richter.

The team will spend the next month preparing for the next round of the competition, the state competition, held in late March in San Antonio. If the team places at state they will then have the chance to go to Nationals in Orlando, Florida, typically at Walt Disney World.

A student signs the National Anthem at a pep rally. Photo by Courtney McSwain.

Dane Chronister is crowned Mr. Clear Creek 2012.

Photo by Sierra Kemper.

7Around CreekCreek PALs travel to Austin for state conferenceBy Dane ChronisterReporter

Trooper School takes field trip to Moody GardensBy Clarissa MelendezReporter

Cavaliers begin competition season with successesBy Madison WilliamsFeatures Editor

On February 1, Trooper School went to Moody Gardens in Galveston to take the children to the Aquarium. During the week, the children were taught about things under the sea. They made fish out of water bottles and out of their own hands and the teachers even brought in a pet fish into the classroom. To give the children more insight on the deep blue, the Aquarium became a destination. On the way there, the children’s faces were plastered on the window as they enjoyed the freedom of riding in a vehicle without a car seat.

According to Moody Garden’s website, the Aquarium has “1.5 million gallons of water and more than 10,000 marine animals.” It is divided into 4 different regions that represent an area of the “oceanic world.” The Aquarium has the Caribbean, the South Atlantic, the North

Pacific, and the South Pacific exhibits. During the Troopers’ visit, the “Sharks

in Depth” exhibit was featured. In the Sharks in Depth exhibit, students could

feel the types of skin of different sharks, learn about stingrays, see what different sharks eat, see a

replica of the jaw of Megladon, and see what sharks have eaten.

The Aquarium’s power was out due to a horrible rain storm outside, but that did not stop the Troopers from having fun. With all sorts of underwater creatures and stations that allowed the children to touch starfishes, the children did not seem to notice. The underwater creatures were kept comfortable with the back up power source.

One of the favorite events of the trip was seeing the King,

C h i n s t r a p , Rockhopper, Gentoo, and M a c a r o n i p e n g u i n s . M o s t pengu ins w o u l d stand with

t h e i r

wings wide opened, but some penguins swam right up to the glass to get some close ups.

In the North Pacific exhibit, there were harbor seals, and one of the seals was a new born named Riley.

Walking through the wrap-around aquarium, there were three scuba divers in the tank. The class was walked under the diver’s. One scuba diver wrote the kids a note while she was feeding the fish. One trooper could not wait to grow up and become a scuba diver.

Leaving the Aquarium was a bit of a challenge. The storm caught the Troopers as they were heading toward the bus. Fortunately, the children were covered, but most teachers loaded the bus dripping with water.

Once back at school, the Troopers’ parents were waiting for them and many of the teachers had to wake up the children from their long and fun day at the Aquarium.

The Peer Assistance and Leadership program is designed for high school lead-ers at their school to instill the same apti-tude and skills in the younger generations.

Each PAL student is assigned up to three “PALees” that go to one of the inter-mediate and or elementary schools around the district. The PALs assist the children in developing through grade levels into skill-ful leaders with outstanding dependability.

As PAL students, high school ju-niors and seniors are required to devote at least 30 minutes to an hour, Tuesday through Thursday, with their PALees to help build a healthy relationship with the younger children they have been assigned.

On February 3 and 4, the Clear Creek PAL program went to the annual Peer Assis-tance and Leadership conference at Akins High School in Austin, Texas. Here they went to several different workshops that the PAL students could choose from in order to

obtain more ideas and activities the students could do with their younger PALees that are enrolled in kindergarten through 8th grade.

“At the conference we got to bond with other PALs around the area, as well as our own. It to me was a great learning experi-ence, and from it, I am going to take a lot of the different and fun techniques we were taught and use them the next time I go to see my PALees and when I interact with oth-ers,” said Kelcie Holloway, a senior PAL.

“The PAL Conference provides a ritual for the students involved and it helps to create a sense of commu-nity among the PAL students,” said Mr. Galleher, Creek’s PALs sponsor.

The PAL program has always tried to inspire young adults in the commu-nity to get out into the community and help others with needs and concerns.

Seniors Ashley Hildreth and Clarissa Melendez with a Trooper School student. Photo courtesy of Clarissa Melendez.

The Clear Creek Cavaliers have be-gun their competition season with an amazing start. They took home many awards, including Kate Gallagher (12th) winning first place with her solo to “Devil’s Thunder” by Rachel Cantu.

Gallagher’s solo blew the audience and judges away as gasps and looks of awe passed over their faces during the dance. Her flexibility and fluidity of her movements makes Gallagher a joy to watch, always leaving the audience

wanting more. Other soloists that finaled included Erin Owen (11th), Allie John-son (10th), and Sherri Gonzales (10th).

Along with taking home solo tro-phies, the Cavaliers also took home many team trophies. Their officer line, Casey Dervay (11th), Gallagher, Nata-lie Paul (12th), Alysha Archuleta (12th), and Hanna Cardinal (11th) won first place overall for their hard work in their contemporary, lyrical, and jazz dances.

Dervay, when asked about competition season said, “I am really excited for the rest of our competitions. I feel like we have gotten off to a good start and can’t wait to see what

we will do in our next two competitions.” The Cavalier Jazz Company won second

place with their dance to “Drumming Song” by Florence and the Machine. The team dances, Modern, Jazz, Kick, and Pom, won numerous awards for their unique choreog-raphy, costumes, and over all performance.

When asked what traditions occur at competitions, Kelly Thomas (11th) said, “Before awards, everyone gets decked out in Clear Creek clothes with the seniors wearing their overalls. When they are an-nouncing awards we all sit in a circle on the gym floor. We clap for every team that wins an award then when we win an award

Jordan Cooley (11th), Jennifer Siller (12th), and Catalina Olano (12th) show off

Their “Incredi-Pals” shirts. Photo by Dane Chronister.

the whole team stands up and cheers. After competition we go back to the school but all new-news and some old members are required to take the trophies home and then bring them back the following Monday.”

With their numerous awards the Cavaliers are well on their way to a great competition season as they con-tinue to win under the guidance of their director Ms. Kristin Juengle.

Features8CCISD may alter attendance zones for 12-13 yearBy Kristina KoonceReporter

Once again, the Clear Creek Independent School District wants to adjust the schools’ attendance zones. While the meetings about these changes are currently going on, the School Boundary Advisory Committee would like it if the public would also voice their opinions about the attendance zones changing again. The changing of the attendance zones, if approved, will take place for the 2012-13 school year.

The School Boundary Advisory Committee has much to think about and decide as to whether it is right to change school boundaries. There could be upset parents and students; especially those who

have been at their school two or more years can finish their final year at the school where they began. The potential line changes will affect more than the students who have to switch schools. It also will affect parents, transportation, and perhaps even students who are not even changing schools.

The proposal of these changes started with the presenting of the idea of changing the boundaries to the public and the staff of the seven CCISD elementary schools. Along with the presentation, the School Boundary Advisory Committee wanted to hear feedback from the community.

After the proposal of the idea the School Boundary Advisory committee considered to meet up again and revise

the maps that they originally proposed. The committee presented the maps to the Board of Trustees in February.

At first the 25 member committee was originally given the task of looking at the elementary and middle schools attendance zones and figuring out what needed to be shifted to fix any problems the school may have with the amount of students. They were also asked to accommodate for the growth of the student populations at the school for the next year to come.

While in the process of trying to change the lines, the Board of Trustees made a decision to approve of a creation of a second middle school. This middle school would be a school for the gifted and talented.

With the creation of this new school, it will reduce the crowding at Westbrook Intermediate, which houses the WAVE Program. The new school will eliminated the need to change middle school attendance zones.

Now that the changing of lines for middle schools are no longer affected, high schools, such as Creek, are not affected by this change.

The Board of Trustees’ main focus is to try to decrease the crowding of elementary schools, such as Brookwood, League City, Ward, and Ferguson. More elementary schools are also up for the possible line changes.

The members of the Joint POW-MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) work tirelessly to put names to the remains of Americans who went missing during war or military action. Based at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii, the team is dedicated to recovering and identifying missing service members.

According to CNN International, Hickam Air Force Base, the site of the Pearl Harbor attacks, has the world’s largest skeletal identification laboratory with more than 30 forensic anthropologists, archaeologists, and dentists working vigorously for JPAC.

These members of staff come from all branches of the United States

Missing service members identified at Hickam AFBBy Stephanie JohnsonNews Editor

military, and many are civilian scientists. Their task is to bring back all 84,000 missing military service members.

A unit of JPAC researches war records, battle and aircraft crash sites, traveling to remote locations around the world. The remains recovered are then brought back to JPAC’s Central Identification Laboratory to be identified and returned to families.

“I’ve been all over the world from Korea to South Africa, East Asia to South America and then, of course, in Iraq. My job is to defeat the enemy. I am proud of that,” Lt. Colonel Raul Gonzalez of JPAC told CNN International. “This job, though, has been one of the more healing jobs in a sense that instead of doing what I am normally planning on doing and training to do, I’m bringing people back together,

bringing families back together, bringing closure and it is truly, deep down inside, one of the most rewarding experiences.”

Tips can come anywhere from a veteran remembering where he witnessed a fellow soldier fall to a civilian finding remains while digging in his or her yard. Mostly, however, a mission begins with a researcher or historian who searches military records such as Individual Deceased Personal Files.

These files include everything from where a service member went missing to how that person may have possibly died. The researcher or historian then decides if there is enough evidence to search any particular site.

If a site is approved, an investigation team interviews possible witnesses and does a preliminary search of the

grounds. If the team believes remains may be present, a recovery team is sent to the site to begin digging.

This process, however, can be fatiguing, as wars are fought far from the comforts of home, and the recovery process can sometimes take up to 60 days.

Forensic anthropologist and head of the forensic science academy, Dr. Robert Mann told CNN, “The task is daunting. It’s incredibly complicated. It goes to the peaks of the Himalayas, it goes to the jungles of Southeast Asia. It goes to the oceans of the Pacific. So from the highest point to the lowest point on the earth, we’re looking for missing Americans.”

Pink Bow Classic gives class of 2012 another winFor 48 minutes, the upperclassmen

girls of Clear Creek High School traded in their dresses and make up for flags and eye black in the second annual Pink Bow Classic on February 29, the Powder Puff football game between the seniors and juniors.

The senior girls were the returning champions of the first Pink Bow Classic when they defeated last year’s senior class as juniors. The girls in the Class of 2012 were looking forward to becoming the first class in the last six years to win both games as juniors and seniors.

The entire event was simply about having fun and maintaining the underlying sense of pride more than actually wanting to win the game. Both seniors and juniors practiced for days preparing for the Powder Puff game, each with ringers that gave them slight advantages. Past and present football players coached both teams, implementing strategies and plays learned from their time on the football field. The senior coaches even dressed up in khakis, visors, and headsets, emulating their football coaches.

All eyes were on the senior team for a repeat performance of last year’s smack down, but the juniors were excited to show the seniors and the entire school what their class was made of.

The game kicked off at Veterans Memorial Stadium, with all of the ticket

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

proceeds supporting the senior class for the upcoming prom. Along with admissions generating funds for the senior class were the PALs selling drinks and snacks to raise money and a raffle for 3

guaranteed parking spots for Graduation Day. All proceeds went towards Project Graduation.

From the start of the game, both teams were playing as fast and physical as they could within the strict and absolute rules explained before the game. While the main concern for the juniors was their ability to

contain Kristi Leonard, the seniors’ main offensive weapon, they also needed to contain the quarterback plays of Rachel Bennett and defensive specialties of Alexis Robson. The junior players also

had many weapons like Meredith Seale, the

speedy running back, Ariel Arredondo, a sure-handed wide receiver, Shannon Ischy, a defensive specialist, and Annie Rickman, a stellar safety on defense.

The senior girls were the first to strike when Bennett unleashed a 40-yard

quarterback keeper for a score. Leonard scored the two-point conversion on the ensuing play. Bennett scored again for the seniors, marching down the field with runs by Leonard and passes to set her up

for another score. Leonard punched in another two-point conversion and put the seniors up 16-0. Offensively, the juniors were shut down the entire first half. The juniors finally scored near the end of the half when Rickman intercepted a pass from Bennett and took it all the way back for a 75-yard touchdown.

At halftime, the “Swagaliers” entertained the crowd with their newly choreographed routine that featured the boys in kick lines and other popular dances like “The Wobble” and “The Flex.”

“It was great and amazing for my talents to be showcased in front of the whole student body,” said Cal Moore, a senior officer of the Swagaliers.

In the second half, the juniors tried to mount a comeback with a score by Seale midway in the half, but the two-point attempt failed and the seniors were still up 16-12. With less than 10 minutes

left in the game, the seniors sealed the game with a touchdown by Leonard.

“I am happy to say that I am retiring from Powder Puff football,” said Leonard. “It feels good to end my football career on top.”

The seniors won the game with a score of 22-12 and the class of 2012 is undefeated in the Pink Bow Classic.

Senior players at the Powderpuff game.Photo by Sierra Kemper.

Features 9

On January 23rd, the Chinese New Year came roaring in, as 2012 brought the powerful attributes of the Dragon, a lucky zodiac that will follow through the months to come. A 15-day, traditional Chinese cele-bration, the New Year is considered the most important day of the year in Asian cultures.

Classically, the Dragon is seen to bring good luck, success, power, and happiness and is honored during every new year, re-gardless of what animal the year is based on.

The calendar established by the Shang Dynasty follows the teachings of Buddha.

Chinese New Year brings the year of the dragonBy Madi BorowitzTeen Interest Editor According to legend, when Buddha asked

all of the animals to meet him on the break of the new year, only twelve came. The rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig met Buddha and were each given a year to represent, and they began to follow a 12-year cycle.

2012 (the 4710th year on the stan-dard Chinese lunar calendar) was cel-ebrated all over the world, not China ex-clusively. Every year, huge festivals, and parades fill the streets of Hong Kong, Be-jing, and other Chinese metropolis’s, as well as California, Sydney, and Chicago.

Red hues overlay buildings, floats,

clothing, lanterns, play money, and fireworks, as the scarlet color is be-lieved to burn away bad luck like “fire.”

Families gather annually for the cele-bration as kinship is honored, as well as the home. Feasting on long noodles, for lon-gevity, nian gao, a sticky rice said to help one prosper, and tangerines for wealth, every household keeps their table full of foods that will bring a positive new year. Dressing in red clothing, families also like to present themselves to set a positive tone.

Smoke billows from a dragon’s nose as part of the China Airlines’ entry in the 123rd Rose Parade in

Pasadena, California, on Monday, January 2, 2012. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times/MCT)

Cura Orphanage needs more funding for education By Madi BorowitzTeen Interest Editor

Cura Orphanage is a home in Ke-nya, Africa, for children whose parents have died of AIDS or HIV and have been orphaned. Currently the residency is housing 150 chil-dren between the ages 4-13. Cura is founded on the goal to provide the children with health, a new family, and an education. Funded by Ro-tary clubs in Kenya, the UK, and the United States, and Creative Vi-sions, the Cura Home gives the children a place in their community.

Running the show at Cura is a group of inspiring and worldly activists, including Evelyn Mun-gai, a leader for women’s eco-nomic empowerment, Mike Eldon, a Kenyan rotary member, Hayden Bixby, International coordinator, Amy Eldon, director of Dying to Tell the Story and sister of journal-ist Dan Eldon, many other humani-tarians, and conscience citizens.

There are many ways to support Cura Orphanage and the children in housing. Most of the children still need an annual sponsor. By giving $725 a year, a child at Cura will have food, clothing, and

schooling materials, which is less than $3 a day. Donations will also be taken, as education at Cura could always im-

proved, as well as living accommoda-tions and farming and medical supplies.

Recently Creative Visions held a musical event, Safari Nights,

Last year, the HiLife Newspa-

per raised $1,000 for Cura, which spon-

sored Grace and Joseph, who live and

go to school at the residence. Addition-ally, the staff sent hand made art work to the children, and to decorate the homes.

For those interested in getting involved on a more personal level there is an opportunity to become a Cura Pen Pal. As school is in ses-sion, students can use pen pal mes-saging as an opportunity to practice their English, and learn more about us. What is more rewarding to them and their American Pen Pals is the friendships developed through e-mail exchange. Bixby, who coordi-nated the pen pal program, is seek-ing those interested in participating. In 2011, Bixby recruited many pals from the HiLife Newspaper.

Many of the children love re-ceiving emails from their pals, and hearing about life in America, and sharing their experiences in the Cura school. Anyone interested in creating a friendship with a Cura orphan can come to room D136, or e-mail hayden4cura@yahoo.com.

An orphaned child sits outside of the Cura Orphan-age in Kenya, Africa. Photo by Jennifer Huxta.

Get Involved12 Get InvolvedBy Clarissa MelendezReporter

The Clear Creek Debate team continues to achieve in all their competitive debate meets this year. Debate offers more than most people are aware of. It is not just an argument, and there are many events that students compete in at a debate tournament.

There are different types of events, like interpretive events, public speaking, and debating a topic.

Interpretation is one of the most challenging. Students must take a piece of literature or monologue and act it out, without using props, and are only given a “little box” to move around. The student must really know the piece; they have to use different voices for different characters, show many emotions and strong inflection,

and use a great deal of body language. Foreign extemporaneous speaking

is another event in which students have 30 minutes to gather evidence from newspapers and other reliable sources to talk about one of the topic events given for 7 and half minutes, memorized.

James Zaro, a senior member of the team, believes debate gives students a “sense of what’s going on in the world and teaches you how to dress… And it gives people a voice, which is important.”

Ms. Hernandez, the debate teacher and head coach, is very proud of her team. She was a debater herself in high school for four years. She came from La Marque High School, where they did not even have a Debate class. She feels very fortunate to be

able take a team onto the state level this year.Hernandez also said she wants kids

to gain confidence in speaking publicly and to speak properly when doing so. She added that in debate you have to get your point across in a knowledgeable way to judges who may have doctorate degrees or who are from an older generation. One must really get to know their audience and avoid losing them.

For those looking to join, there are some advantages to joining the Creek debate team. The team travels to many different schools, some outside of CCISD, like Katy and Rosenburg High School. The debate team also meets many new people in

By Jessica SielingJournalism 1 Reporter

National Science Honor Society launches project

The Science National Honor Society (SNHS) members, with the help of their sponsor, Mrs. Morris, have created and planned a volunteer project that will improve the environment and the community.

The project will include a recycling mission to collect as many bottle and cans from Creek students as possible. The volunteer project began the first week in February and will continue throughout this year and hopefully years to come.

The process of the project is simple. SNHS members will collect all the bottles and cans from the recycling bins placed throughout the school. Students can find them near the trashcans in both the main and the auxiliary cafeterias and outside the C100’s and E100’s.

Each week, the Honor Society students will separate the cans and the bottles into different bags. The weight of each bag will be calculated and scanned into a computer database that will keep track of the cans and bottles that have been recycled.

‘‘I am really excited because we are going to help save the planet,’’ said Taylor Sieling, secretary of SNHS. “If we can spread the word, hopefully we will get everyone recycling.’’

However, the society members

are not the only ones who are enthusiastic about the way Creek is looking to help out the community.

‘‘I am proud of the school and how the students of Creek are trying to help the environment,’’ Laura Bedini, a freshman, said after being informed of the project.

In fact, many Creek kids have already agreed to contribute to the project, such as senior Bobby Hewitt who said, “I plan on participating in the project. Go green!”

An aluminum can, on average, takes about 400 years to naturally break down. By recycling, the amount of aluminum used can be reduced, which in return saves energy. In fact, the energy that is saved from making just one aluminum can is enough to run a television for three whole hours. Beverage companies alone can use up to 350,000 cans per minute.

In fact, in 2004, U.S. citizens recycled enough aluminum to build 13 aircraft carriers. This information, along with other facts about recycling, can be found at www.professorshouse.com. By recycling cans from the two cafeterias at CCHS, the Creek community can help the earth too.

In order to continue gaining support for the project, the SNHS members will be spreading the word to save the planet. Members will be making and posting flyers around the school, as well

Photo of a Debate trophy by Ashley Farmer

the tournaments and friendships are created.“Once you enter the debate world, you

don’t ever want to leave,” Hernandez said.All 5A CCISD high schools will

be advancing to the state tournament in Amarillo from March 1 to March 4. This is Creek’s second year to go to state, and this year Creek has brought home a trophy from each of their tournaments.

Clear Creek wishes seniors Jessica Studer and James Zaro as well as sophomore Lucca Timmerman and all of the debate team good luck in all of their upcoming state events.

Photo of the Debate team by Leslie Hernandez

as showing a video in advisory. SNHS also created a Facebook group, Clear Creek Recycles, for anyone who wants

more information on the project and who may want to be apart of the experience.

Clear Creek Debate members advance to state

Get Involved Get Involved 13By Valerie HellinghausenGet Involved Editor

Creek is successful at UIL Academics InvitationalOn Saturday, February 4, students

from around the district met at Clear Springs High School for a UIL Academics invitational meet. Clear Creek High School competitors brought back 14 individual medals and 2 team medals in multiple categories and events.

The UIL Academics competition’s main purpose is to challenge students at the high school and intermediate levels to use their comprehensive knowledge from inside the classroom in a competitive environment. Students from around the district meet at invitational practice meets before going on to district, area, and state wide competitions.

Each year more than half a million students compete in the 22 high school and 18 intermediate UIL Academics events in various individual events. In Journalism, the competition includes four events: News writing, Feature writing, Editorial writing, and Headline writing. UIL Speaking events include Team Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Persuasive Speaking, Informative Speaking, Poetry Interpretation, and Prose Interpretation. Academic

events include Accounting, Calculator Applications, Computer Applications, Computer Science, Current Events and Issues, Literary Criticism, Mathematics, Number Sense, Ready Writing, Science, Social Studies, Spelling & Vocabulary, and Use of Laptops. While all of these events may sound like class work, others have found that the competition justifies the hard work they put into the classes that prepare them for UIL Academics.

“I actually really enjoyed it. I felt like a nerd, but it was so much fun. I was surprised I could actually spell some of these words,” first time Spelling event competitor, Rachel Petitti (11th) said after competing at the Clear Springs Invitational Meet.

For every event, there are six medalists, as well as overall team medals awarded in the four main categories: Journalism, Literary Criticism, Debate, and Academics. In Computer Applications, William Mount (11th) medaled 5th. In Mathematics, Kevin Chase (11th) placed 6th. On the Journalism team, Jacob Mancini (12th) placed 4th in Headlines, Clarissa Melendez (12th) placed 5th in News and 4th in Features and 5th in Editorials, Madison Williams (11th)

placed 2nd in Features, and Hannah Brinsko (11th) placed 2nd in Editorials and 5th in Features. Clear Creek’s Journalism team also placed 1st overall in the team competition. Clear Creek’s Literary Criticism team placed 1st in the team competition, and received 3 medals in the individual competition. In these individual Literary Criticism events, Rachel Lietz (12th) placed 1st followed by Stephanie Ding (11th) who placed 2nd and Kevin Chase (11th) who placed 4th.

“After the invitational, I found that I actually want to do well and try to go on past the district meet,” Petitti said.

These Creek UIL Academics competitors along with many others will proceed to the regional competition on March 23 and 24 to compete at Clear Brook High School for advancing spots in the area

and statewide competitions.

If any other students would like to get involved in this competition or receive more information and practice materials, they can talk to Mr. Fontenot, the Creek UIL Academics coordinator, in room D107, or go online to www.uiltexas.org.

League City to celebrate 50th Anniversary in MarchBy Rachel DuncavageReporter

League City will host a Golden Anniversary Gala with the theme “50 Years Strong” on March 10 at the South Shore Harbour Resort and Conference Center.

It is limited to 400 seats and the tickets are $75 a piece. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to local non-profit organizations serving the League City and Galveston county area. It includes a fine meal and to end the night they will have a silent auction.

Residents of League City were asked to share stories and photographs of the city, and a time capsule will also be filled with memories from attendees.

“The events are there for the people,”

The history behind famous Mardi Gras traditionsBy Halle ScottReporter

Mardi Gras is a yearly tradition celebrated especially in Louisiana and Texas. Most know that it consists of throwing beads and partying with lots of creative face masks, but do not know the true meaning behind the traditions of this holiday.

The Mardi Gras celebration was held many years before Europeans came to the world. Some time in the Second Century, during mid- February, Ancient Romans would observe what they called the Lupercalia, a circus type festival, which represented Mardi Gras in many ways. This festival honored the Roman deity, Lupercus, a pastoral God associated with Fanus or the Satyr.

In French, Mardi Gras means “Fat Tuesday.” Mardi Gras got its name because it falls on the day before Ash Wednesday, the last day prior to Lent a forty day. There are lots of traditions and customs that come along with Mardi Gras, such as the colors, the King Cake, the beads, and huge parades.

Organizations called “krewes” put on a parade or a ball during the Mardi Gras season. The Mistick Krewe of Comus,

formed in the late 1800’s, o r i g i n a l l y coined the term “krewe.” Each krewe has a captain who leads the planning of parades and building of he floats. They wear masks in order to meet in secret.

These masks also play a large role in Mardi Gras tradition, but many are not aware of their s i g n i f i c a n c e . This tradition is mainly for the krewe members. The masks are worn in order for members of each krewe to keep

their anonymity. Masks are

always the same because each krewe has its own traditional mask, and is to be worn on and off the floats at parades. The masks often make many banks and convenience stores close on Fat Tuesday or require patrons to remove the mask before or upon entering.

Many of us know the traditional colors that are usually worn on Mardi Gras, but may not know how

they came about or what they stand for.

The traditional Mardi Gras colors, purple, green and gold, are said to have been chosen by Grand Duke Alexei of Russia during his visit to New Orleans in 1872. The colors each have a specific meaning. Purple represents “justice,” gold stands for “power,” and green represents “faith.”

The King Cake is also a major tradition, which is a cinnamon roll style of cake with icing on the top. During the Mardi Gras season, the icing is colored and sprinkled with in traditional Mardi Gras colors: green, purple, and gold.

The cake was named after the three biblical kings. During the Carnival season, many groups will throw weekly king cake parties. The cakes are traditionally fried and filled with anything from cream cheese to praline. As a tradition, many cakes came with a small plastic baby inside. Whoever got the piece of cake with the baby inside had to buy the next cake for the next party.

While Mardi Gras celebrators may not think about where king cake originally came from as they take a bite or what history lies behind the colorful Mardi Gras masks, it is still important to remember our history and to not forget how these traditions came about.

Chris Mallios, a resident of League City, told the Galveston Daily News. “They are not there for anything else than for everyone to enjoy and to celebrate our city.”

Mallios is collecting and sharing the city’s history by highlighting an aspect of the community every month for the rest of the year. His guest column will be featured in the Galveston Daily News.

In 1962 League City was born, but it was not always called by the same name. In 1893, J.C. League and his close friend Mike Crowley decided to change the name of the town from “Clear Creek” to “League City.”

However, because of the division of the city by the railroad, the postal service demanded a change and so did the people on the west side. They decided that

every thing on the west of the railroad would become “Clear Creek” again, so the east would stay “League City.”

In 1896 “Clear Creek” and “League City” merged to forever stay “League City.” They decided that it was easier not to divide the closely related towns.

Clear Creek High School is named after Clear Creek and not League City to honor the name of the town before it was changed. Many of the buildings have been named after the original people of League City.

The huge oaks in old League City are said to be planted by J.C. League, making them an official landmark of League City. He wanted them to be planted around the Butler Ranch, owned by G.W. Butler. This is the reason why Creek’s

original gym is named Butler Gym. The school is just a reminder of the historical facts of League City and Clear Creek.

The city also held a 50th Anniversary party in the park on Saturday, March 3 from noon to 4 p.m. The celebration included local vendors and entertainment for all citizens of League City.

The party included a Chili Cook-off, rides, artists, speeches, and music. Latonia Wilson, owner of Gulf Coast Public Affairs, said businesses donated 3,000 cupcakes and 4,000 servings of ice cream, according to the Galveston Daily News.

You can bake the traditional king cake, a rich, sweet yeast bread similar to a brioche and decorated in the holiday colors of purple, green and yellow,

or you can buy one online or locally, along with traditional masks and other accouterments. (Thu Hoang Ly/San Jose Mercury News/MCT)

The HiLife also won Best Journalism Team in 2006.

Photo by Jacob Arredondo

14 Teen interestTeen Interest

Temple Run craze sweeps across the Apple world

Imangi Studios is filling people’s spare minutes with a run for their lives in their latest endless 3D runner, Temple Run.

An app that has seen over 20 million downloads, Temple Run has made a trend of itself with its simple yet incredibly catchy game play.

Players take on the role of “Guy Dangerous,” a swashbuckling adventurer who steals the idol from an ancient temple and is trying to escape the deranged monkeys protecting it. Tearing down the temple walls, jumping breaks in the trail and sheer cliffs, sliding under spewing flamethrowers and fatal ledges, and taking sharp, 90 degree turns, all while collecting gold coins, has players addicted to the daring getaway à la Indiana Jones.

“In pretty much every treasure hunting adventure movie there’s one specific scene in which the plucky hero finally gets his hands on the treasure but then has to navigate a maze of booby traps in order to get out alive,” SlideToPlay.com said in an app review. “Temple Run is this scene and nothing else. And it’s amazing.”

The application was originally released costing 99 cents, but as long as it had a price tag it was not picking up speed. Even the most addicting diversions normally debut for free, but Temple Run worked backward. In September 2011 it became free for download in Apple’s App Store, beginning its category-killing rule in the world of multi-touch gaming.

Imangi co-founder Natalia Luckyanova revealed that Temple Run has become the top grossing iPhone game in the United States because it became free fun, according to Pocket Gamer. When players were not required to pay, the game’s downloads caught fire and its revenue more than quadrupled.

Temple Run currently has an impressive clock-in of around 7 million users per day. Because Twitter is integrated into every player’s score ledger, proud runners who have covered thousands of meters on foot and scored millions of points have tweeted about their impressive feats, successfully tooting their own horns and bringing Temple Run to the social media via word-of-mouth.

“I got 1,513,172 points while escaping from demon monkeys in Temple Run. Beat that!” Filipina actress Valerie Concepcion tweeted on January 30, according to ABS-CBN News.

Power ups are available for purchase in the store inside the game including Mega Coin, C o i n Magnet ,

Invisibility, Boost, and coin value upgrades. Utilities such as Resurrection and Mega Boosts are also available in the store, as well as other game characters to play and Temple Run wallpapers. The tender for the game’s store is the gold coins that can be hoarded during the run. Coin packages can also be bought with actual dollars in the app for the enthusiasts who need more gold than they can already get their hands on.

One nuance of the game that is often uncredited is the fact that collecting c o i n s while on the run adds many

points to the score ticker. Although the gold is

usually poised in risky sections

of the

track, the reward for grabbing them could be the few extra points needed to top a high score.

Braggers have dubbed terms like the “millionaire club” to describe those fortunate enough to last so long in the escape, and it has even become somewhat of a social ubiquity among the home screens of iPhones and Android devices.

Some say that Temple Run is the next Angry Birds and some do not care for endless running midways, but with hundreds of thousands of apps at the fingertips of gamers everywhere, Temple Run has undoubtedly taken the gold for now.

Student plays Temple Run on his phonePhoto by Madison Borowitz

By Jacob ManciniEditor-in-Chief

Coldplay is one of the most well-known bands of the decade. Coldplay secured a permanent position in Britain’s musical elite by writing beautiful, simple songs that gently pulled at the heartstrings of a nation.

The members of the band consist of Chris Martin, Jonny Buckland, Guy Berryman, and Will Champion.

It all began when the members of Coldplay first met in 1996, and they attended the University College of London. The band started out with the name Starfish, but later adopted the title Coldplay, after a children’s book.

The band ventured into soulful, haunting, intelligent songs, most of which face an inevitable sadness and yearning to get to a better place where the truth held firm in pure emotion is pivotal. Songs like the remorseful “Trouble,” with its memorable piano-line, the lonely “Spies,” and mega-hit single “Yellow” reveal a hybrid of lyrics that can only be described as joy and remorse, all wrapped into one.

“We just want the songs to reflect reality,” said lead singer, Martin.

In 1998, Coldplay was performing small club gigs for local Camden promoters. Wanting more creative freedom, Martin recruited fellow student and childhood friend Phil Harvey to act as band manager. Harvey helped the band raise money needed to record a demo.

On May 18, 1998, the band released 500 copies of Safety EP. Most of the discs were given to record companies and friends; only 50 copies remained for sale to the public.

Their music is a fantastic blend of alternate rock music, but they are not living the stereotypical lifestyle of rock stars. Lead singer/songwriter Martin once labeled the band’s music as “limestone rock.”

The band’s music style is best called “meditative” and “blue romantic.” Martin’s lyrical wordplay has been called feminist,

similar to Andrew Montgomery of Geneva.“Our sound will change, but all we care

about is melody and emotion,” said Martin.Coldplay released their newest album,

Mylo Xyloto, in October 2011. In this album, the band takes

a more electronic feel that verges on a techno vibe. With this new avenue, Coldplay has seemed to take a profoundly adventurous leap, diving into a rather impossible act by trying to expand their repertoire and trying to keep their main focus as a band.

Mylo Xyloto, as the band intended, has no true definition.

According to Martin, “Something about it feels quite fresh. The title doesn’t

have any other meaning. I think we’re a band with a lot of history now so it’s nice to come up with something that doesn’t have any history at all.”

Even with the rather electronic tone, the tracks on the album seem to still present an awe-inspiring appeal to the senses. From songs like “Charlie Brown,” supposedly the best track on the album according to many reviewers, to others with a more alternative feel, like “Major Minus,” the band exhibits many musical talents all across the board.

Pop star Rihanna is featured in the song “Princess of China,” a surprise duet that many Coldplay fans were weary of, since her R&B vibe is very different from Coldplay’s alternative sound. Surprisingly, Martin’s duet with her is very catchy, considering that the lyrics are about heartbreak.

One of the best tracks, “Paradise,” has been featured on many television commercials and was a radio single, along with “Every Teardrop is a Waterfall.”

The soundtrack is one of the greatest that Coldplay has yet to produce. I would give the Mylo Xyloto album an overall grade of an A.

Coldplay’s Chris Martin singing in Chicago. Photo courtesy of MCT Campus.

Coldplay’s new album Mylo Xyloto takes electro vibeBy Dane ChronisterReporter

Teen interest 15The newest website and easiest way

to lose track of time is called Pinterest, an online network of pin boards filled with everything for craft lovers, food addicts, and fashionistas. Facebook may be an especially addictive website for teenagers now, but Pinterest.com is quickly catching on with people of all ages.

The concept of Pinterest is simple. By creating a virtual pin board, users can organize pictures, recipes, and ideas into categories, such as “Recipes to Try” or “Dream Closet.” Users can then follow other members of the website and can pin things directly from websites using the “pin-it” bookmarklet or re-pin items they like on other people’s boards. These “pins” are actually links to blogs and online stores.

Quite fittingly, the name Pinterest is actually a combination of the words “pin” and “interest.” When browsing the site, members can sort pins based on their interests, which include design, women’s apparel, humor, travel, food, pets, and more. Pinterest also comes in handy for teachers, with a special section dedicated to education ideas.

“I love Pinterest,” said Mrs. Radicioni, a teacher at Creek. “It is an amazing site that gives me and my Teacher Education Training kids ideas for class. It is a fabulous resource.”

The most popular boards are wedding themed, filled with constant re-pins of wedding dresses, cakes, and anything covered in lace and rhinestones. Those members who are actually in the process of planning a wedding can find everything

they need in one place, instead of searching all over the internet or in magazines.

In their own words, Pinterest’s goal is “to connect everyone in the world through the ‘things’ they find interesting. We think that a favorite book, toy, or recipe can reveal a common link between two people. With millions of new pins added every week, Pinterest is connecting people all over the world based on shared tastes and interests.”

While the website is full of incredible ideas and pictures, it also comes with a few flaws. People can join Pinterest for free, but only by invite, and sometimes the official invitation to become a member can take weeks to come in. The only way to be invited is to know someone who is already a member, who can then send an invite via Facebook, Twitter, or email.

The iPhone Pinterest app is known to freeze frequently, with slow navigation and momentary glitches while viewing other pins. The content is also very focused on DIY crafts, fashion, and home design more than anything else, and seems to be geared more towards young women. However, there is the occasional male member of the site, pinning sports-related or humorous items.

Pinterest is not an entirely new concept, with websites like Tumblr and StumbleUpon having similar features, but the website seems to be more visually stunning since every pin shows up as a large picture. The magazine-like layout allows users to easily find things to click on and read more about, providing constant, up-to-date inspiration for just about anyone interested.

Pinterest creates net buzzBy Ellen GaudetEditor-in-Chief

With a powerful voice and booming melodies, Florence and the Machine, led by singer Florence Welch, emerged full force in the UK music scene two years ago, debuting with her first hit, “Dog Days are Over.” Topping charts and rallying fans with her dreamy harp, and passionate lyrics that leave listeners feeling as though they are on the verge of emotional combustion.

The first album, Lungs, traces the complicated matters of the heart and transcendental ideas that draw on the throws of life all of which are intensified with her powerful tribal drum beats. Songs from this album like “I’m Not Calling You a Liar,” “Rabbit Heart,” and “Cosmic Love” develop from her glittery, floating harp strums. More powerful tracks like “You’ve Got the Love” and the “Drumming Song” are immersed in dark, interesting rhythms.

The new album, Ceremonials, released last Halloween, is full of intense and captivating acoustics that place listeners in the middle of a gale-force wind of powerful choral lines and gripping beats. With a bit of a dark gothic undertone, Welch has created these tracks that tend to all passionate emotions. From inspiration, nostalgia, anxiety, lust, and ambiance, her anthems reflect her unique style as well as relate to anyone who has been caught up in humanity.

The most uplifting song, “Shake It Out,” begins with spirited tambourines and beautiful vocals backed up with resonating drumbeats and orchestral strings. Motivating and soul stirring, it is easy to

see why fans put this track on top. Another euphoric anthem, “Heartlines,” develops with tribal chanting and her trademark drums backing up her bewitching lyrics.

The more ambient and “bluesy” songs, “What the Water Gave Me,” “Breaking Down,” and “Seven Devils,” are all delved in their own form of nostalgia and gloom. However, “Seven Devils,” immersed in eerie subdued discordant sounds, is the most provocative and dark. Restless and profound, “Spectrum” is a demanding melody of passion.

Just as love and heartbreak place themselves prominently in Welch’s life, her music is full of romance and attachment, creating a full spectrum. “No Light, No Light” narrates a booming, tribal toned explosion of heartache and anxious devotion. “Never Let Me Go,” another howling measure, heightens with soft echoing piano backed up by forceful drum lines and vocals. However, “Lover to Lover” is her most enchanting love song on the album. With a powerful piano backbone, and a fun bouncy rhythm, this song is full of spirit.

Since Welch released this 12 track CD, fans are beginning to see her in a new light. Coming from the dreary streets of London, her musical niche has helped her to transcend her home and land among the stars.

With a powerful style that makes you feel as though you will be blown from your seat, Welch’s unique indie-rock music is continuing to reach new heights. With parallels to Kate Bush, Tom Waits, and even Bjork, Welch has found her authentic self in a pop culture all too demanding.

Ceremonials album releasesBy Madi BorowitzTeen Interest Editor

300 dpi Rick Nease illustration of note being pinned to a cork-board computer screen; can be used with stories about website

pinterest.com. Detroit Free Press 2012.

Vocalist Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine performs at the Greek Theatre on Sunday, June 12, 2011 in Berkeley, California. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Contra Costa Times/MCT)

Diversions Diversions16

Diversions 17Congratulations to Creek’s art students advancing to the State

Visual Art Scholastic Event (VASE) Competition!

Lacey Leonard

Madison Doeckel

Scott Quinn

Meredith Morrison

Madison Borowitz

Sydney Tippet

Jessy White

Colin Freeman

Andrea Lopez-LealElizabeth Meyers

Andrea Lopez-Leal, Bryn Ray, Courtney Hassmann, Colin Freeman, Elizabeth Meyers, Hannah Carroll, Jessy White, Jessica Coco, Kennedy Pillow, Lacey Leonard, Madison Borowitz,

Madison Doeckel, Meredith Morrison, Morgan Barras, Scott Quinn, Sydney Tippet, and Zac Spears

Art not pictured: Bryn Ray, Courtney Hassmann, Hannah Carroll, Jessica Coco, Kennedy Pillow,

Morgan Barras, and Zac Spears

Sports18Creek Baseball starts pre-season, preps district play

Clear Creek Wildcats dominate on the golf course

By Greg BrotzmanReporter

By Rachel DuncavageReporter

Seniors Jake Cosart, Tanner Griggs, and Austin Smith. Photo by Aimee Sierra.

The Clear Creek Wildcats baseball season began Friday, January 27, a sea-son that has a very promising outlook.

The Wildcats have 7 returning play-ers and 3 returning starters from a team that finished 5th in the district last year and only missed out on the playoffs by a game. The Wildcats must also deal with the loss of major important play-ers like C.J. McElroy, who led the team in many offensive categories.

The Wildcats are lead by two Division one college commits, Jake Cosart (Duke), and Tanner Griggs (Texas A&M- Corpus Christi). The Wildcats are also lead offen-sively by Austin Smith, who was 2nd on the team last year in home runs and RBI’s.

The Wildcats started their season with scrimmages against Baytown Lee, Deer Park, and Beaumont Westbrook. These scrimmages will be followed by non-district games and pre-season tour-naments, before district games start.

Many people have counted out the Wildcats to not be the power that they usu-ally are in district 24-5A, which can give the Wildcats the role of a sleeper team coming into this season. The team had high expectations going into last season too, but got off to a slow start and were not able to recover. The Wildcats will have to rely on different things this year. Last year the Wildcats were lead by players

like C.J. Mcelroy, Zach Gibson, and Chris Morales. This year the Wildcats will rely on team chemistry and work ethic to gain the success that they are hoping to achieve.

With baseball power houses Brazos-wood and Pearland also playing in District 24-5A, many people consider this district to be one of the hardest in the state of Texas.

“The district is certainly always competitive,” Houston 5A baseball writer, Randy Byers, says. “It’s rare to not see at least one of these teams make a run deep into the playoffs.”

In fact, the defending state champi-ons, the Brazoswood Bucs, will return 4 of their starters and are considered the favorite. All of these things going against the Wildcats have not led to any thoughts of not being able to contend.

“We are very excited about the up-coming baseball season here at Clear Creek,” Head coach Brent Kunefke stated.

Many of the players on the team also have the confidence that their team can get the job done. One of the main things Coach Kunefke has been em-phasizing to his players is to “focus on the journey not the destination.”

If the Wildcats can live up to the potential they have throughout the program and follow Coach Kunefke’s advice, a very promising season is a possible outcome for this team.

In the Paralympics there are many events made for the disabled, but one that has recently gotten a lot of press in the vol-leyball community is the U.S. Women’s Sit-ting Volleyball team. They were featured on the February issue of U.S. Volleyball mag-azine. This added interest by the magazine has shed some light on the remarkable ath-letes playing for the U.S. in the Paralympics.

The Paralympics divided volleyball into two categories, sitting and standing. The standing volleyball team was added to the program in 1976, and the sitting volleyball team was later added in 1980. In a special case the 2004 Paralympics held in Athens, Greece only allowed the sitting volleyball teams to compete. In

this Paralympics the U.S. women’s team left Athens with a bronze metal in hand.

There are some modifications to the court and rules in sitting volleyball. The net is 3.5 feet high and the court is 10 by 6 meters, verses the 7.4 feet high net and the 9 by 18 meters in the traditional stand-ing volleyball. The players are allowed to block a serve, unlike traditional stand-ing volleyball, but they must keep part of their bottom on the floor at all times.

For many reasons there are different rules for sitting volleyball compared to standing, but the basics still stay the same. For example the ball may not be touch twice in a row by the same player, and players cannot lift or throw the ball. The rules of sitting volleyball are further ex-plained in the rule books but in many ways sitting volleyball is more complex because

of the many more rules and regulations. The U.S. team will be going to the

2012 Paralympics in London, England. The qualifier tournament in Colorado Springs, Colorado allowed the U.S. wom-en’s team to qualify. They came out with a big bang, scoring 3-0 against the Cana-dian hosts. Coach Bill Hamiter made is starting line up at this tournament Lora Webster, Katie Holloway, Heather Erick-son, Allison Aldrich, Nichole Millage, Alex Gouldie, and libero Karli Miller. The other members include Kendra Lan-caster, Gina McWilliams, Hope Lewellen, SuGui Kriss, and Michelle Gerlosky.

The players showed that they could work well as a team to defeat Canada. The Women on the team showed to the volleyball community that sitting vol-leyball is just as serious and difficult as

normal standing volleyball. These Para-lympians want the honor and the glory for their country to bring home a medal in the Sitting Volleyball Paralympics.

The U.S. women’s sitting volleyball team is much like the standing team. These women prove and give hope to people who have lost limps or are handicap that there is always hope and that hard work will never go unnoticed. They have rigor-ous work outs, practices, they have to eat healthy, and train hard. They have to work hard on passing, hitting, blocking, and set-ting like the standing team. Although the rules can be different they girls all want the same thing, a chance to play volley-ball for the United States of America.

Paralympic sitting volleyball team sets for LondonBy Rachel DuncavageReporter

Creek’s girls’ golf team season is al-most up, but they have got something to show for it. The team is able to send its top 13 golfers to the District tourna-ment. The team is hopeful to get as many girls as they can to go to Regionals.

They have three more meets before District, and Creek will host only one more tournament. The girls will have a month of practice and three tourna-ments before they have to compete for a spot to go to Regionals. This will re-quire the girls to work hard and the sup-port of the school, coaches, and parents.

The JV and the Varsity team consist of Senior Captain Amanda Mire, Junior Cap-tain Anna Hamilton, Laura Paige Bright-well (11th), Kelsea Hansen (12th), Melinda

Ramos (12th), Holly Boyes (10th), Natalie Paravala (10th), Sarah Kaplan (10th), Bai-ley Clelland (10th), Claire Berlinger (9th), Tori Turner (9th), and Emily Hayes (9th).

The team’s motto is “SFT: See it, Feel it, Touch it.” These words are the motivation in the back of their minds that pushes them farther.

The girls say that all of the seniors bring a lot of motivation and a positive attitude to the team. They really appreci-ate the helpful hand that the seniors bring.

“We are where we are today be-cause of our great coaches and mo-tivational captains,” said Clelland.

The girls are very excited for the next three golf tournaments coming up in March at Memorial High School, Creek, and Friendswood High School. They know that these tournaments and extra preparation for the District meet from

April 2-3 will be what gets the girls to Regionals and to place well in District.

The hard work and dedication of the team will take them far but the teamwork will take them all the way. The girls’ golf

team has taken on very tough competi-tion and they have always shone through. Support your lady golfers by encourag-ing them in the hallway or by coming to one of their upcoming tournaments.

Sports 19Track season starts for the Lady Cats

Lady Wildcats attack softball diamond

Clear Creek girls’ track season has started off well. The coaches and players are pleased with the prog-ress they have made so far. Like any other team or sport they have room for improvement and they know they must practice and go hard in order to meet the standards they have set.

Coach Sanders hopes that “more girls qualify for Regionals and we do better in district than the year before.”

She knows that the girls must practice hard to meet this goal, but she knows that they are capable.

Her one word to describe the team is “dedication.” The girls are dedicated in almost everything they do wheth-er it is on the track, on the field, in the weight room, or in the class room. They work hard and go the distance.

Both Coach Eans and Coach Sand-

ers are happy with the meets so far. The coaches think that at this rate the girls will definitely do better than last year.

The one word Coach Eans had for the team is “encouraging.” The girls are en-couraging of their teammates whenever it is needed, and it does not matter whether

you are JV or Varsity, a freshman or a senior. The girls try to help each other because even though they know that you can not run the race for someone, you can still cheer them on until the very end. Encouragement and team-work is what wins at the meets and the Creek girls have got that down.

The girls have proved their hard work in dedication in years past but this year they are ready to go above and beyond. They are very positive that they will not fall short of victory. The team cannot only involve the members but they also involve the

support of coaches, parents, and friends. From the throwers to the runners it

is obvious the commitment it takes to be on the team. Girls’ track is ready to go, they will not give up and they will stride to the very end. Their goal to make it to Regionals should not seem too far off, and they are most certainly on the right path.

By Rachel DuncavageReporter

The softball team is back on the dia-mond after a 10-16-2 season and is ready for a season where they can showcase their skills and earn a shot in playoffs.

Last season was a rebuilding year for the softball team. A season ending injury to the only returning senior

s t a r t e r forced the softball roster to change and play girls at different positions. There was also a surge of freshman talent last season that placed many girls on the var-sity level, at some points they would even field all freshman some times in games.

While their district record was five games under .500, it did not deter any of the girls play on the field. Three girls re-ceived honors last year for their perfor-mance throughout the season: Madison Wadyka for 2nd Team 24-5A and All-County Honorable Mention, Brittany Crowley for All-County Honorable Men-tion and 24-5A Honorable Mention, and Kaitlyn Bertot for 24-5A Honorable Men-tion. These three girls were only fresh-man last season and now are ready for their second season of varsity softball.

“We are out on the field every day trying to improve on our game,” said Bertot. She along with many of the girls have been practicing since Christmas on the field, as well as going through an off-season program that was designed to get them in top shape for the up coming sea-

son. Girls often stay after practice work-ing on their batting and general field play.

The will be joined by upperclassman talent such as seniors Breanna Ziesemer and Savannah Deleon, both have been apart of the varsity team since sophomore year and plan to bring experience to a very young team. The junior duo of Ariel Arredondo and Lauren Lyes rounds out the upper-classman with both girls adding a dynamic

of leadership and overall solid softball play to the softball team. The upperclassmen know what it feels like to win in district as well as the playoffs. The seniors were apart of the team that went all the regional finals in their freshman year and the ju-niors were with the team when they were a district contender their freshman year.

The tradition of winning has been prevalent since Coach Andrea Cash took the team over. She has led the Lady Wild-cats to great district record and keeps them as a district contender each year. She also has multiple playoff appear-ances as well as playoff wins under her belt that solidifies her place as one of the best coaches on the schools campus.

The Lady Wildcats did participate in their first official game on February 14. The defending 4A state champions Santa Fe Lady Indians hosted Creek to kick off the new season. Creek jumped out to an

early 1-0 lead in the first ending but the Lady Indians scored 7 runs in the sec-ond, third and fourth innings to regain the lead. Creek added two more runs their total but it wasn’t enough as the deficit was too much. Creek lost the game 7-3. Wadyka went 2 for 4 on the day and stole two bases and scored two runs. Bertot went one for four and batted in two runs.

Creek’s first district game is on March 7 against Clear Springs, but the season has started since February. The softball team will play in multiple tournaments and non-district games to get ready for the competi-tion from District 24-5A. Their first major tournament will be in Brenham, Texas and pit them against competition from all over the state. After that tournament, Clear Creek along with the other CCISD schools will host the annual CCISD Softball Tournament.

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

By Jacob ArredondoSports Editor

Taylor Longley

Brentney Branch

The Creek softball team. Photo by Jacob Arredondo.

Athletes of the Month

Rachel Duncavage and the girls’ track team at practice. Photo by Kara Loewenthal.

Taylor Longley is one part of the Lady Wildcats basketball team that went three rounds into the playoffs. Longley has played on varsity since her fresh-man season and is an essential part of the 3-round run into the playoffs. She averages double digits in her scoring along with a high average of rebounds and assists. She is also top prospect with many schools.

“Winning in the playoffs was a huge moment for the team, it’s some-thing I want every year,” Longley said.

Brentney Branch is a three-year var-sity letterman with the girls’ basketball team. She leads the Lady Wildcats in points and assists, and is a key player in many games. Branch is considered an elite prospect in the state of Texas and is being recruited by Big-12 and other major teams in the Nation. She still has one more year with the Lady Wildcats and is excited to return to playoffs next season to lead them to another historic run in the playoffs.

Photos by Jacob Arredondo