Volume 2 | Issue 2 Ken Cox, Interim Principal October 2013

Coming up just short with a second place finish last year, West senior and UK commit Grace Rose’s high school golf career culminated in an individual state championship.

“It was truly incredible winning state this year,” Rose says “Last year, I wasn’t as experienced or prepared. It was awesome finishing off my senior year with a win.”

Shooting a combined 142 over two days of competition, Rose secured her victory by a three-shot margin in front of over 100 other competitors.

As a verbal commit to the University of Kentucky, Rose will have to step on campus next year as a greenhorn to competitive SEC play.

In a celebratory assembly held at the high school, West High principal Ken Cox deemed West Jessamine “the high school golf capital of Kentucky.”

Under the leadership of Rose, the West girls’ golf team came up just short at the regional tournament this year to making it to the team state championship. Coming only three shots short, the young but talented squad just couldn’t seem to make the cut. However, preceding the runner-up performance at the regional tournament came a highly successful season.

Coached by West High teacher Jen Brown, the team, including sophomores

The senior class has the opportunity to go to New York City from April 23 to April 27. The final price of the trip is $850 not including fundraising. $850 may seem like a lot of money, but it gets paid in four separate payments, so it’s not all at once. The trip will have lots of different activities including a dinner cruise, Broadway musical, bus tour of Manhattan and admission to the Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall and St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Meals are also included with an exception of one lunch. Any extra information needed can be found in the front office.

Boys’ Golf: The boys’ golf team took the State Championship led this year, once again, by “the five” – Fred Allen Meyer, Byron Speach, Austen Swentzel, Conner Haas, and Landon Adkins. It was no surprise that they brought home the title as the dominant team in the state throughout the year. Meyer took home the individual state title for the second year in a row as well; he is only the fifth ever to do so and the first since 2006. It was a great way to send of a senior-laden team that will have to start from scratch next year outside of junior Conner Haas.

Under par: West’s Rose takes state individual title By Josh Preston

Give my regards to Broadway: Senior trip 2014 By Amanda Mayberry and Emily Jarrard

October fall sports update By Noah Hayden

Katelyn Gleason, Judianne Speech and Sydney Howard, along with senior Grace Rose, finished with three third place finishes in the tournaments they participated in this year. Rose says that she feels the season “went well” as a team and is excited to see what the future holds for the talented group of girls.

With talented young players of both girls’ and boys’ teams ready to fill in the role of departing seniors, the future looks bright for the West Jessamine golf program. The program hopes to maintain their reign of dominance over high school golf and to retain the title of “the high school golf capital of Kentucky” for years to come.

Sports Update continued on page 8

Byron Speech, Conner Haas, Austen Swen-tzel and Fred Allen Meyer at the golf pep rally

Colt Nation Page 2 October 2013

QuestBridge continued on page 7

$1,113,189.42. That was the amount of money raised last

year by the University of Kentucky’s Dance Blue event. Dance Blue is a 24-hour dance marathon run completely by students to raise money for the Kentucky Children’s Hospital and the Golden Matrix Fund. Both of these go to benefit pediatric cancer research and the countless families affected by childhood cancer throughout Kentucky. Jarrett Mynear, a former Jessamine County student, founded the Golden Matrix Fund.

Since 2005, Dance Blue has raised over 5.1 million dollars and is continuing to grow throughout the Commonwealth by smaller events run by high schools called mini-marathons. All fundraising goes directly to UK’s Dance Blue fund to add to their total donation at the end of the year. For the past few years, schools like Lexington Catholic and Woodford County have held their own mini-marathons, pushing total donations past $75,000.

On March 8, 2014, West Jessamine will have a mini-marathon. The event will be a non-stop, 7-hour dance marathon, raising money for Mynear’s Golden Matrix Fund. Students will dance to a new music theme every hour and also learn Dance Blue’s own dance. Along with food and drinks, the event will have t-shirts made and handed out the day of the marathon.

Dancer fees are $40 (the dancer is welcome to give beyond the $40 as well), with a portion going to the t-shirt and the rest going straight to the fund. Donations can be brought in any amount, at any time, as long as it is by February 21, 2014. $40 definitely isn’t a small donation, but West’s Dance Blue committee will be doing school-wide fundraisers (bake sales, penny wars, ribbon sales, restaurant nights, etc.) to help offset dancer costs. There is a limited amount of spots, however, so the event will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The entire mini-marathon will be built around dance teams. Individual dancers will sign up for a team and give their donations to become a member under the name of the respective team. There will be teams for school organizations like NHS, Beta, tennis and drama where dancers will not only be able to dance with, but also compete against each other leading up to the marathon. There will be three pre-marathon competitions for each team: most money raised, most dancers in one team and most participation in pre-marathon fundraising (more information coming soon). The winner of each competition will be awarded with a trophy right before the “big check” is revealed at the end of the event. For students who don’t have a specific team they’d like to join, the Dance Blue Committee will be having their

own team in which they will compete just like any other team would.

The whole idea behind this event is to help the Kentucky Children’s Hospital and Jarrett’s Golden Matrix Fund. The organization is centered on the idea that students can make a massive impact on children suffering through such an awful disease, and that is what Dance Blue is, an impact. It’s all For The Kids. FTK!

Look forward to an assembly regarding the event soon.

For more information: follow @WJDanceBlue on twitter, visit our website @ wjdanceblue.wordpress.com, email WestJessDanceBlue@gmail.com, or visit the official Dance Blue website (danceblue.org)

The best students should go to the best colleges and universities, right? Thanks to the non-profit organization QuestBridge, bright, motivated students with a strong work ethic can go to some of the nation’s best colleges, which they normally would not be able to afford.

QuestBridge has 35 top-ranked partner colleges, giving students many options and enabling them to attend the college of their dreams, which before would seem financially out of reach.

High school seniors can apply to the National College Match, which has incredible opportunities and benefits for outstanding students to attend the nation’s best (and most expensive) colleges and universities. Students may be able to receive full four-year scholarships with no loans. This is an amazing opportunity because, let’s face it, college is expensive.

Though the deadline for seniors has passed for this year, there is a junior program that is due in March 2014. The online application is free and opens mid-February. The junior program, which is the College Prep Scholarship program, has many benefits.

On average, over 120 American women develop breast cancer each year, and over 21 of them will die. Though it is uncommon, men can get breast cancer as well. For every 100,000 American men, two will develop breast cancer, but less than half will die from the disease.

West Jessamine students are here to help with the awareness and get others to support these men and women. Most people don’t understand how serious this is. Others should stand up and help make a change. The QR code below will bring you to a very resourceful website that can help you get more involved in programs dealing with this situation. The website has apps, numbers, statics, people and groups you can contact to donate money, volunteer and even sponsor someone who has breast cancer or honor someone who died from it.

Dance Blue comes to West By Gentry Fitch

Can’t afford Yale or Princeton? QuestBridge is the solution! By Olivia Mohr

October is breast cancer awareness month By Keriane Johnson and Cody Perez

Through the College Prep Scholarship program, about 40 junior applicants will receive full scholarships to top-notch college summer programs where they can take college-level courses while staying in a dormitory. They can get a taste of college and see what life is like beyond high school.

The College Prep program also offers individualized college admissions counseling to 60 juniors who will be paired with a member of QuestBridge’s staff or a current Quest Scholar college student. They will be

Colt Nation Page 3 October 2013

Journalism is dying. You know it. We know it. Journalism

professors know it. Last summer, the Chicago Sun-Times fired every single photographer, including a Pulitzer Prize winner. Print journalism is dying and online news outlets are turning into a competition for who can get the most sensational news out the fastest, no matter how accurate (think CNN’s Boston Marathon and Washington D.C. Navy yard debacles.)

Now is not the time for newspapers. Now is not the time for frivolous publications such as Colt Nation.

Yet here we are.True, it was mostly for the donuts. But

also because we enjoy what we do. Being a part of the media gives life an interesting twist. Photo passes rock. The feeling of flipping through an inky newspaper is unparalleled by anything else in the world. And Mia needed to do something with her satires.

Being a high schooler is terrible. It becomes easy to detach from the rest of

the world when you’re taking multiple AP classes and are studying for the next ACT. But being connected with your school, community, country and world gives you a different kind of education: one without grades, one that is more relevant to life in general, no matter where you end up.

Yes, you can pick up any newspaper and read all about national news. But where else can you read about school news, more specifically your news?

This is unique media.“The fundamental difference between

major publications and their student counterparts is student newspapers provide unparalleled and irreplaceable information,”

Forrest Lewis, former Arcada High School newspaper editor, said in a TedxTalk last December. “They [students] seek something different… Students want to see their own everyday heroes.”

We hope you agree.

Just a little more college-centered advice for you guys as we head into the fall semester (since I know you just don’t get enough at school anyways…)

Freshmen and sophomores – Start taking standardized tests early. All of the math you need for the ACT is through Algebra II, and many of you are already there. The more practice you get, the better you will do on standardized tests. If you start now, you can chill out by junior or senior year while the rest of your friends are freaking out about

In defense of student journalism: A letter from the editors By Josh Preston and Mia Zanzucchi

College Corner: October By Catherine Graham

their scores for the first time. Juniors – Pick up a Governor’s Scholars

Program and/or Governor’s School for the Arts application from the guidance office. These are both time-consuming and in-depth, so even though they aren’t due until January (for GSP) ad February (for GSA), you need to start now.

Seniors – The perfect way to learn more about a college with no commitment is… a college fair! So head to local events hosted by almost any university you could possibly

want to attend. Fairs and meet-and-greets are all over Lexington and Louisville; everywhere from UK and WKU to Yale and Harvard have representatives in town at some point and they host informational sessions that let you get to know their schools without ever having to visit. This can be really helpful for out-of-state universities. Some of these events are pretty fun too, with t-shirts and the occasional free dinner. If there’s a school you’re really interested in, go to their website and see when they’ll be in our area.

BriefsSweeny TOdd TICKeTS are on sale during all lunches.

They’re $5 for children, $7 for adults and free with a student activity card in advance. At the door, tickets are $7 for children and $10 for adults.

The student performance is on 10/30 during the first two blocks of the day.

Public performances:10/31 – 8 p.m.11/1 – 8 p.m.11/2 – 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.

yearbOOK IS haVIng a baKe Sale on Thursday, Oct. 31 during all three lunches. Prices go up to $2.

beTa Club IS hOSTIng a TrICK-Or-TreaT Canned fOOd drIVe in the Hawthorn and Lone Oak subdivisions starting at 5 p.m. on Halloween night. All proceeds go to Wilmore First Christian Church.

fOOTball, marChIng band, danCe and CheerleadIng SenIOr nIghT will be at the Friday, Nov. 1 game against Garrard County, starting at 7:30.

JCTC Club day will be on Wednesday, Nov. 6 during fifth block.

If yOu are InTereSTed In wrITIng fOr The nOVember ISSue Of COlT naTIOn, there will be a writer’s meeting Wednesday, Oct. 30 at 8 a.m. in Ms. Landon’s room.

Colt Nation Page 4 October 2013

I almost put off writing this article until next month. However, I was convinced it’d be worth it to take twenty minutes and get it done now instead of taking the easy way out and writing about FCCLA.

It’s an awesome club, by the way. You should join.But let’s not get off track. Procrastination. It’s safe to say that most

high school students are affected by such a terrible curse. It affects me every day. For example, I should probably be studying economics right now.

Because of sophomore Zach Reiff’s struggle with procrastination, his failing grades might get him kicked out of Sweeney Todd. Caleb Bol says that he “puts the pro in procrastination” – corny, but accurate. I asked my classmate Clayton Collins if he had any struggles with procrastination, and he said he’d let me know next block. He never did.

“Procrastination is a disease,” sophomore Jackson Lee says. “I never wrote my essay for world history. The football game came on, and I had to watch it. So Microsoft Word was left blank.”

It’s true though. Procrastination is a disease. It kills slowly, gradually destroying the lives of everyone, especially teenagers. It causes failing grades. It leads to stress that can only be cured by sleep or food—which only creates more procrastination. It prohibits you from working to the best of your ability and then crushes dreams, leaving you feeling worthless.

So how do we stay away from this life-destroying, stressful, dream-crushing virus?

1) Put your phone away. Let’s face it: Instagram and Twitter are addicting, but they’re also time-consuming. Get your work done, then reward yourself with the hours you can spend scrolling

through selfies and reading about who just went to Keeneland and how much money they lost.

2) Get sleep. I’m a teenager too, and I like to stay up half the night, believe it or not. But the more sleep you get, the more motivation you’ll have to get work done instead of laying there, too lazy to move.

3) Don’t put off assignments until the last minute. We all stay up late Sunday nights studying for Monday tests, or don’t stay up at all and choose to wing it and retake it later. But by getting your work done ahead of time, you’ll have more time to relax, and you’ll enjoy it.

4) Stop reading this article. I know these tips on how to avoid procrastination are cheesy and annoying. So yes, I’m telling you to stop reading about procrastination and go do something productive.

Satire (n): The art of sarcasm typically directed from events that take place in the world; much like a caricature of the human race. Usually it is done through comedy. Example: This article.

Urban Dictionary defines college as “an expensive daycare.”

But for many high school seniors, juniors and even sophomores and freshmen, college will become their life. They’ll live in campus, make friends, suffer through required courses, thoroughly enjoy courses in their respective majors and one day join a network of successful alumni.

With that being said, choosing the right college for you can be overwhelming, stressful and irritating. Here are the four most important aspects of college life, shaped after endlessly researching and talking with some of the top universities in the country including Princeton, Yale, Columbia and Dartmouth, to remember when searching for the best college.

Name: I mean you could go to boring old University of Kentucky. Or you could go somewhere magical like Swarthmore or Bastyr or Villanova.

“What school do you go to?”“I go to Walla Walla University.”“I’m overwhelmed by your collegiate

swagger. Let me offer you a job, buy you a Mercedes and cook you a gourmet diner.”

Mascot: This is probably the most important criterion for your college search. If you really want to stand out and/or show your inner hipster, you’ll pick a college with a really weird mascot.

Delta State University fighting okras? Winner.

The UK wildcats? Boring.The UC Santa Cruz banana slugs? Yes.Georgetown College Tigers? Lame.The Stanford University trees? Sign me up. Asbury University Eagles? Overused. Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops? I’ll be

there. School Colors: It’s crucial that your

college’s colors be your favorite colors. My favorite color is purple. That’s why I’m not applying to UK. It would be financially inefficient to purchase everything I own in purple (which is everything) again in blue.

Sports Teams: I cannot stress how important it is that your future college has killer football and basketball teams. High ranked baseball, soccer and hockey if you go up north are also a plus. It’s really hard to have school pride if you go to Harvard and don’t have a good football team. You’d actually be a disappointment to your family.

Read this later By Judianne Speech

Colt Onionation Report: A contemporary guide to selecting the perfect college By Mia Zanzucchi

A good, respectable mascot like the Stanford tree makes college way better. Photo: http://cdn03.cdn.gofugyourself.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/stanfordtree.jpg

Colt Nation Page 5 October 2013

The Standards Based Grading (SBG) system has been implemented in many classrooms this year and will be school wide by next year. The system has spread like wildfire through other schools and states. To get a grasp of the student body’s opinion on it, a poll was conducted with some interesting results. Roughly 60% of the students who took the survey didn’t approve of SBG. But of those students, very few gave logical reasoning for why they disapproved, some opting out of the response, many stating they simply didn’t like the change, one comparing it to communism and communism, and one going so far as to use language deemed too inappropriate for this publication when describing how much it sucked.

So why do people really hate it? Many say they don’t like the whole idea of retaking tests. But the school is here to give us an education, and if a student does all the work but doesn’t totally grasp all of the standards and wants to retake it, why should we say no? Granted, we shouldn’t reward students with poor work ethic, but the system doesn’t allow those kids retakes while still helping the ones who truly need the retake.

“Some students, myself included, have really bad test anxiety,” one student response said. “Therefore, tests aren’t necessarily a very accurate way to judge a student’s knowledge.”

This is exactly what SBG is fighting for. One can argue some of the material we learn in school can be used in the real world, but no one will ever be able to say taking tests prepares us for anything. Sure, you get tested in the real world, but not like you do in school. Tests are unnecessary, inaccurate and stressful ways of assessing students. SBG, simply put, wants every kid who wants to learn material and get good grades to be able to achieve that.

When researching for this, I came across an article written by a teacher that explains how helpful SBG is for teachers. They stated how, when looking in the grade book, you really couldn’t tell how well a student was doing. One may have zeros on all assignments but 100’s on all tests or vice versa. Look at the sample grade book below and see which one you think helps a teacher more:

Since all students are assessed on a 1-4 scale that can be translated into phrases like proficient and partial proficient, a teacher can see exactly which student needs help where.

Choosing a college is arguably one of the most important decisions any of us make – it really does determine how the rest of your life will turn out. Therefore, we should probably be taking it pretty seriously. Sorry for all of you out there who wanted to pick your school based on its winning sports teams or super cute colors! Now, you may be wondering what a real reason to commit to a college is. It definitely varies by person, but some reasons are pretty universal, so here are a few, in no particular order, for your careful consideration:

A school’s reputation – You want to go somewhere that you can get a respectable degree. Look for a college that specializes in something you’re interested in career-wise. For example, if you want to be a doctor or a nurse, and then consider a bigger university like a state school versus a small, liberal arts college since a bigger school is more likely to have a large, up-to-date hospital and lab facilities on campus. Or maybe even consider a more prestigious school, like an Ivy League, for grad school. A Harvard PhD sounds pretty impressive, and the connections you make at these fancy universities can send you straight from the classroom to Wall Street.

Affordability – Sorry to get practical here, but cost should be one of the first things you consider in picking a school. Look for places where you can get big scholarships without taking loans out. So if you play a sport but maybe aren’t Division-1, consider a Division-2 or 3 school where they’ll pay your way through four years to play for them. A walk-on basketball player at a major university like UK could be a full-ride, star player at a smaller school like Georgetown College. Maybe even consider a work-study school like Berea so you can help pay your own way through school and not be stuck with student debts for the next decade.

Location – College “shopping” is kind of like real estate in the fact that location can really be key. You need to think long and hard about whether or not you really want a seven-hour plane ride when you want to come home. Location is the difference between seeing your family and friends every other weekend or once a year at Christmas. Also, in-state schools will have cheaper rated than public out-of-state schools, so that may factor in to your choice as well. Remember, if you plan to go on past a 4-year degree anyways, an in-state undergrad degree can save you a lot of money to put toward grad school. Plus, you can get that “far away” experience through study-abroad for a less committed, more exotic approach to picking your college location. If you love being that far away, maybe transfer out of state )or even out of the country) then or choose a foreign grad program.

Standards based grading, the hero we need By Joe Bandy

For your consideration… By Catherine Graham

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Colt Nation Page 6 October 2013

Halloween: How did it get started? Who started it? Questions that may or may not have crossed your mind. Interestingly enough, it didn’t start with witches and monsters; it started with the change of seasons.

The ancient Celtic festival of Samhain is where it started. Villagers would light a ceremonial bon fire, perform animal sacrifices and wear costumes, mostly animal skin and fur. The Irish celebrated their New Year in honor of the end of the harvest season and the beginning of the cold, dark winters ahead on Nov. 1. Many believed that the day before New Years, Oct. 31st, was a day where the line between the living and the dead became blurred. The ghost would come back to earth on this day and would give priests the ability to see the future, but would also cause mischief like animals going missing and homes mysteriously catching fire. After the Romans took over in 43 A.D., they kept all of the Irish traditions the same except celebrated Pomera, the goddess of fruit and trees. Hence, the tradition of

bobbing for apples. Also, the name

“Halloween” came from the Christians in 100 A.D. Pope Boniface IV made a second day called “All Souls Day” to honor the spirits’ departure after the New Year. Later, it was called “All Hallows Eve” and eventually became “Halloween” and was combined with the Celtic holiday on October 31st.

America, new at the time in 1504, was skeptical of the idea of Halloween due to Protestant influence. Later, they would start to accept the idea of a harvest festival. Halloween officially kicked off in America when millions of Irish immigrated during the infamous potato famine.

According to a 2011 study, Americans now spend over $6 billion a year on Halloween.

The movie “Gravity” is the work of Oscar nominee Alfonso Cuarón and stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The movie itself is an intense, mysterious, science fiction thriller and definitely a movie that

has you up on the edge of your seat the whole time. If you like action and science fiction, this is a movie to see because it takes place in mysterious space. This gripping film has more action than any other film I’ve seen in a while and, at the same time, has tear-jerking moments that stuck through the whole movie. Cuarón went from directing low-rated “Great Expectations” to possible award winning science fiction thrill film about an emergency space fix on the space shuttle that goes terribly wrong. Cuarón captures every intense moment carefully, yet dramatically well.

“Gravity’s” main characters were Dr. Ryan Stone (Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (Clooney), and it described their adventure

of being stranded in space and using every bit of their energy to get back home to mother Earth. Bullock and Clooney are Oscar winning actors who have played in many other dramatic and heart-felt movies. Clooney has been in high-rated movies such as “Radioman,” “Batman and Robin” (1997), “Three Kings” and his highest rated film “Fail Safe.” Sandra Bullock is famous for the true story film “The Blind Side” and also “The Proposal.” These two work well together in “Gravity” and seems to take the aspects of their characters into thought. The characters portrayed by these two actors are anything but typical, they are in space for once, and they are complete opposites of each other trying to work together to survive.

In my opinion, “Gravity” is compelled by action, drama, mystery and fear of the unknown. Never knowing what was going to happen next, I felt like I was in the movie with Dr. Ryan, feeling the terror that she was seeing and trying to fight against. It was an inner-self conflict that at one time almost won her over but was overcome by her confidence and bravery to get home, taking any risks it took to get there. It seems like a short film, but watching it will have you on the edge of your chair, wanting something good to come from the tragedy of being stranded in a place with no oxygen then giving every last ounce of energy to return home.

This gripping film got 98 out of 100 stars

on the online review site: Rotten Tomatoes and I feel it would be safe to give it a 4 ½ to 5 out of five stars.

The history of Halloween

By Emily Malone

Out of this world: Gravity movie review By Hailee Stantz

Colt Nation Page 7 October 2013

When you think of a career, what comes to mind?

I personally think of doctors, lawyers, bankers, small business owners and chefs. When I took a statewide career test and was told my number one career option was professional magician, I was shocked. I never even contemplated that outside of David Blaine and Houdini, people could be professional magicians. After confiding with family and friends, I completely forgot about the test and never really worried about it until I started communicating with the radio show “This American Life.”

“This American Life” is a Chicago-based radio show that gives an inside look at the lives of everyday Americans through rich reporting and storytelling. Ira Glass, head producer and host, sent out a call for story ideas for one of his shows, and the career test immediately came to mind. I then sent him an email explaining the test and the results that my peers and I received. After a few weeks, I heard back from producer Lisa Pollak. She had picked up my story and was going to start working on it with me. Over the course of many summer weeks, we researched and took the test, analyzed results

and interviewed my friends and myself. The whole process was truly eye opening and really showed me the ins and outs of federal and state funds.

Look for the show to come out sometime in November.

If you are reading this paper, it is most likely that you are a student at this school. In our millennial generation, it is also very likely that you have heard of, or once were, or still are a fanatic of the Pokémon cartoon series. Pokémon has aired around 700 episodes to date (and counting) in 14 seasons.

We grew up with Pokémon. We know the song: “I wanna be the very best, like no one else was…” As we hail these as elements of our precious childhood, are we submitting to the thought that we have to “be the very best like no one ever was?” We consistently complain about how stressful school is, but did we bit impose the very same stress to “be the very best” when we were merely children? Also, if we are as stressed as we say we are, why does no one fight this status quo that is so oppressing us? It should not be a surprise that with this early introduction and saturation to a world where one has to “be the very best,” everyone wants to “be the very best.”

However, this is not to say that competition is bad. In moderation, competition motivates people to do more and to be more than what is “ok.” Without competition, people would

be satisfied to be doing what is comfortable and lack motivation to pursue greater goals. However, if we consistently push for all to “be the very best,” there is potential to put society in an utterly dog-eat-dog situation. Also, consistent and unfaltering pushes for dominance cause a lot of stress! We have quite enough of that, thank you very much.

The best remembered line in the entire song is, “Gotta catch ‘em all!” No, it is never enough to have six, ten or even a hundred Pokémon Ash can never quit on his quest because e never seems to have them ALL. This endless (and seemingly aimless) search for more can often be seen in our lives. It is also seen in a recent advertisement where a little girl declares, “If you really like something, you’ll want more of it. We want more, we want more, like, you really like it, ya want more.”

Although, if we stop to think, what more do we want? Does Ash really need to be ten forever in order to fill his backpack of 99 Pokéballs with Pokémon? When can we look beyond “more” and move on to being content? These are not rhetorical questions, but neither do they have easy answers.

We pursue more and we struggle to be the best, and in this struggle, we often forget why we started the chase. What is the evil in slowing down and re-evaluating the purpose of our own actions? It might not be such a bad idea, would it? Perhaps we should, but to each their own.

All tests considered: Working on a nationally syndicated radio show By Meredith Crockett

Being “the very best” and “catching ‘em all” By Young Koh

provided with personalized college admissions counseling through phone and e-mail.

Yet another possible benefit of this program is its college admissions conferences. Over 2,000 students will be invited to one of these QuestBridge conferences where participants will attend workshops on how to apply successfully to leading colleges and on the college application process.

For more information on QuestBridge and its programs, visit QuestBridge.org!

QuestBridge continued from page 2

Colt Nation Page 8 October 2013

Dance teams across the nation have been a part of school spirit for as long as I can remember. Being on the dance team has given me a greater understanding of what school spirit is all about. With practice twice a week and football games every Friday night, I guess you can say my whole life revolves around this wonderful team. The 2013-2014 West Jessamine High school dance team includes Jillian Jones, Madison Gentry, Madison Preston, Alexis Davis, Haley Miller, Abby Foster, Courtni Humphries, our coach Morgan Miller and me.

It takes many things to be a part of the West Jessamine dance team: hard work, dedication and of course, all things dance. On this team, you must give your all not only during the routines but in conditioning as well. Besides dancing, we laugh and act silly but always make sure to give it our all.

We are much more than a team. We are a family. Even though we laugh and make fun of each other, coach included, we love each other a lot. When it comes to learning choreography, our couch is the most important member of our team. She does everything from teaching us dances to watching us perform or even just hanging out. She’s much more than a coach – she is a role model and a friend.

Being a small team makes us vulnerable in competition, but we know that our hard work will pay off. We have a “kick butt” routine with amazing music and choreography. We are ready for anything that the judges throw at us. We will be at every football and basketball home game, so come out and support the West Jessamine High school dance team.

fOOTball: The Colts have been steadily improving under head coach Yancey Marcum and hold a 3-5 record going into the bye week. With two very winnable games down the stretch [Woodford Co. and senior night against Garrard Co.], the Colts are once again looking to make the playoffs after a disappointing first round exit last season. Devin Taylor is leading the Colts as well as the state in rushing with 1885 yards and 21 TD’s. First year quarterback Jackson Pearce has also come in to make some key throws and taken over nicely in his first year starting.West boys took on Mercer County on Sept. 6.

CrOSS COunTry: The Colt Stampede continues their dominance in their

conference and have their sights set on the regional tournament. The Stampede, led by senior Gavin Davis, has reeled in several meet wins so far this year. With confidence and high hopes, the team looks to take home a regional championship. They’re ranked third in their region, so a regional crown is a realistic goal for the Stampede.

Colt Stampede led by Gavin Davis (far right).Photo: Jeni Weast

VOlleyball: The historic season rolls on for the Colts; their dominance of the district abides. This year is the second season in a row the Colts went undefeated at home, as well as in district play. As they head into the district and regional tournament, they are heavy favorites to win both. The state-ranked colts boast a 31-3 record that is one of the top in the state. This season has been one of, if not the best, in school history – surely one to remember.

Dancing fools By Hallie Pinkston

October Fall Sports Update By Noah Hayden

Dance team at the Homecoming game on Sept. 27.