Tuesday mornings in second pe-riod, the constant announcement of teachers needing to take atten-dance fills students’ ears. Many stu-dents wonder what significance the attendance counts hold.

“The attendance counts are dates that are set up by the state of Geor-gia, and it goes through to deter-mine the enrollment, actual live body count, for every high school in Georgia, it’s not just a Gwinnett thing. Based upon those numbers, it determines what classification you are for sports, but more im-portantly, it determines how many teachers we get to have,” Assistant Principal Paul Waters said.

The attendance counts directly affected the Mountain View com-munity. The number of teach-ers employed at Mountain View directly correlates to the number of students present the first four weeks.

“Gwinnett County projects out how many students are going to be in school the next year based upon graduates, the number of people coming in from eighth grade, movement, that kind of thing. So we hire in the spring, prior to the fall of teachers we think we are go-ing to need. That’s based upon our enrollment. If we don’t make the enrollment - the number that the county has projected for us - then we could possibly wind up losing teachers, which also means that schedules could be changed,” Wa-ters said.

Although the rule removes the teachers from the Mountain View cluster, they still maintain employ-ment in Gwinnett County Schools.

“That teacher still has a job in the Gwinnett County school system, they just don’t have it at Moun-tain View High School because

there will be other schools that will be over projections, and there’s at least two high schools we’re aware of, Mill Creek and Discovery High School, that had more kids show up than they originally thought,” Waters said.

After the final attendance count taken Sept. 8, social studies Jolyn deMeritte was the teacher that had to leave Mountain View.

“We try to minimize the impact. For two of Ms. deMeritte’s classes, it’s no change at all, other than the fact that they’ll have a different teacher for their class. Two of her other classes, it’s a little bit more difficult. I had to disperse those students out to other World His-tory teachers, which also impacts their other classes as well. It was not that Mountain View High School was out to get rid of a par-ticular teacher. We, administrative-ly, and as a school, would love to have kept Ms. deMeritte and not had to have made any changes at all, but we had bigger rules that we had to follow,” Waters said.

The students aren’t the only ones who had to make a change. Ms. de-Meritte did, as well.

“It’s bittersweet because on one hand, I’m excited to be going to a new place because the place where I’m going, Discovery High School, has a new program - the career coach program. The kids, along with their academic content in ca-reer academics, are pursuing things that interest them beyond school, so I think that’s going to be a really cool feature. I’m very sad because I love my kids here, love my depart-ment here. I’ve been here since the school opened, but I have a phi-losophy, a new beginning cannot begin until you have an ending, so one door has got to shut for an-other to open.”

She understands that this is

something that happens within the Gwinnett County School system.

“Of course I’m sad to see our counts down because we are such good school, and I wish more peo-ple really knew about that, but it’s a cyclical thing. I mean it happens, and when you don’t coach, you know that that’s a risk you take. If displacements or transfers have to happen, then you’re most likely go-ing to be the one that happens to go. It doesn’t matter if you are the best teacher around, if you’re not coaching in a high school, that’s the risk that you take. which is why almost everybody in social studies coaches,” said deMeritte.

DeMeritte maintained a positive attitude, despite the change.

“I like start ups. You could mold it to fit the way you want it. You can build something, and that’s what I’m excited about. You know, I helped to build Mountain View, and now I’m going to go help build Discovery. It’s actually very exciting because it’s brand new, and it’s new for the kids and for the faculty. It’s new for the com-munity. I’ve learned a lot here at Mountain View, so I can take what I’ve learned and bring it to another place, so that makes it really good, too,” deMeritte said.

This beloved teacher will be missed by the whole Bear family.

Junior Santiago Escobar is no stranger to doing the work it takes to bring positive effects to his com-munity. Escobar has co-hosted stu-dent council conventions, dedicat-ed time to peer leading, and helped tutor students at his job at Kumon.

It wasn’t until last November that he, along with 2015 gradu-ate Amy Lee, saw a need for a new school-wide initiative: Bear Board. The Bear Board is the long chart hanging above Bear Necessities in the commons, and starting Sept. 21, students and faculty will hope-fully experience how one of the school’s first student legacy projects

can make its mark. “Amy and I just thought the

Bear Board was a neat and unique idea. We also believed that starting the Bear Board at Mountain View could improve the school culture. Everyone loves a little friendly competition between classes,” Es-cobar said.

The Bear Board is a forum for healthy class competition founded in the B.E.A.R.S clause: benevo-lent, engaged, accountable, and respectful. Service-oriented is in-corporated with service projects. Each of the four words represents a few opportunities for winning points. For example, in the en-gaged area, the opportunities are athletic events, fine arts events, and

extracurricular attendance. Student council will work along-

side Escobar in following through with counting points. Attendance counts will be made at ticket ta-bles— a ticket collector for each grade level.

“I think that in order for Bear Board to be successful, it has to be promoted to the student body. There are still students who do not know what that giant board hang-ing in the commons is. My goal is that eventually everyone at Moun-tain View will know what the Bear Board is and that they will want to take part in it,” said Escobar.

The uniqueness of the Bear Board initiative is what makes it appealing. Synonymous with this

year’s original theme; the board is a reminder that this school is what students and educators make of it.

With the support and resources

of student council, Escobar will add to this school’s culture, making these four walls feel like Mountain View.

News OpinionsFeaturesLeft & right brainAcademicsStudent lifeEntertainmentReviewsSports

2-34-56-78-910111213

14-16

Assistant principal Wendy Rhodes and testing administrator Heather Brindle hosted the annual Advanced Placement celebration last Thursday. The duo was accompanied by the rest of the administra-tors as well as the principals from the rest of the cluster schools. Paul Waters emceed the event, and there was a surprise appearance from teacher of the year Lisa Carnes.

AP after-party success

Attendance counts affect teacher employment

Bear Board, class competition kicks off this week

Prepping for Questival begins

JORDAN STALLWORTH ‘16

Bear board Follow @MVbearboard on Twitter for updates. Also, Bear Board information will be promoted on My eClass and the school website. At the 6 and 12 week checks, prizes are awarded to the grade level with the most points on the board.

A New Discovery Above. Mrs. DeMeritte stands in her classroom on her last day at Mountain View. “In my entire career life, I have always been with start ups, and that’s one of the patterns that I recognize, is that I was really very good in going into new places,and getting them up and running. and it seems like once I get them up and running, then I’m usu-ally either transferred out or I leave for that new adventure,” DeMeritte said.

PHOTO BY GERI CHARLES

PHOTO BY JORDAN STALLWORTH

Volume 4, Issue 1 Mountain View High School September 2015Lawrenceville, Georgia

the Grizzly Gazette

ASHLEY MONTGOMERY ‘16 GERI CHARLES ‘17 It has taken weeks of prepa-

ration, but it’s finally here. The countdown to Questival has begun This is a new event created in hopes of unifying and increasing spirit in the community. Lucy Mason and the peer leading team are leading this new event with persistency and excitement. This new event is where teams of 5-15 students have two months to complete a list of two hundred challenges in the community. The team with the most points wins a prize.

“The excitement is already buzz-ing. My peer leaders were very good at marketing over the sum-mer and creating the suspense of Questival. Even some teachers are creating teams and joining in on the fun,” Mason said.

The idea to host this event was first brought up by Nathan Jen-kins. Since then, peer leading has been working rigorously to spread word of the new event around school, yet somehow keeping most of it a mystery.

“They did a really good job spreading it out through twitter through the signs, it kept me on my toes,” Aya Mansour said.

The peer leading team hopes that this new event will create a positive and unified community.

(continued on page 2)

SABRINA LUONG ‘17HERMELLA WOLDITSADIK ‘18

“““ “

Analyzing news locally and globally

CountyGwinnett officer makes fake ar-rest while filming ‘COPS’

StateTwo reports of sexual assaults are filed at Kennesaw State University

NationalReporter and cameraman shot to death during a live TV interview

World Venezuela’s economy is in trouble

A Gwinnett County police officer al-legedly planted cocaine on a woman to peak viewers’ interests. The cocaine turned out to not be the actual con-trolled substance. Officer Tremblay, a ten year veteran, kept his position on the police force, and has not had to be put through an internal investigation.

“It makes the police force look bad, not just Gwinnett County’s police force, but policemen all over Georgia and the U.S. as well. They are sort of getting a bad reputation now, so they need a lot of support, and they need to make sure that the cops that do break the law are punished for their crimes because that’s the point.”

“I feel as though they should take the money used for tu-ition to pay for security cam-eras. [These assaults] would affect my choice [to attend Kennesaw state]. If this was a school I really wanted to attend to, I wouldn’t go there because there would be a lot of sexual assaults, and I don’t want to get touched like that.”

“It was really sad the way that they died, I wish someone would have saw it, but I know when you’re a news reporter, you’re really focused on what you’re doing in your interview. Then to have their murders broadcast on social media is disrespectful to them. I think he was trying to be the center of attention by broadcasting it.”

“What’s happening in Ven-ezuela is impacting the United States’ economy and their companies because we are getting our oil from Venezuela, and if Venezuela cannot pro-vide this oil that we need to be sustained in the United States, we are going to have to get it from somewhere else or we have to spend our resources to pay more to get it.”

A woman reported that she was raped on campus at her apartment by a known man. Two weeks prior, another woman publicized that she was groped by a 6” man. The university sent out safety alerts to students soon after the incidents happened, and are working to educate students about campus safety. Both cases remain under investigation.

Tiara Wright

Sophomore

LukeAkandeSenior

TosinOyewoleFreshman

EliGrimesJunior

TV staff were filming a live interview at an outdoor mall when a gunman killed, recorded, and posted the video online. The camera caught a view of the gun-man, and identified him as a journalist who was fired from the station in 2013. The journalist was later found to have a self inflicted gunshot wound. He died at the hospital the following Wednesday.

The supermarket is evidence of the monetary downfall in Venezuela, with shelves depleted of commonly used items. The issue in Venezuela impacts major U.S. companies who have re-sources stationed there. Some of these large companies, including General Mo-tors and Merck & Co., have valuables in Venezuela worth around $11 billion.

IN THE KNOWBY ASHLEY MONTGOMERY

Lunch takes a new turn due to administrative changesCHRISTINE BUSHART ‘18

Lunch procedures dif-fer from those of last year. A new hour long lunch period has been implemented, and new once a week advisements based on choice leave the stud-net body wanting to ask, why?

Assistant Principal Todd Salo said that the new changes were employed because the school ad-ministration was thinking of mak-ing the usual study time of the past a more interest-based experience.

Adding on to the new chang-es, the school had to buy more lunch tables to accomadate the sheer amount of students that are in the lunch room at a given time. The administration opened

the lunch patio to all grade lev-els this year for the same reason.

“Seniors don’t seem to mind that the patio is open to other grades. I think the main reason is that you’d be surprised how little it was used last year,” Salo said.

Salo believes, based on what he has seen, that the new lunch procedures are affecting both students and teachers in a good way. Salo said that not only has lunch attendance gone up greatly, but student-teacher rela-tionships are benefitted as well.

“The other nice thing about this is, we’ve got teachers out there, and their duty is almost every other week. But I’ve re-ally enjoyed hearing and watch-ing the teachers go and sit down

and talk to their students. It’s nice to create a relationship outside the classroom. And I think Mountain View is a bet-ter place when we have bet-ter relationships,” Salo said.

The new advisement will be a 15-minute period during each Wednesday of the week. The new advisements are based off interests filled in from an online survey. A different bell schedule takes a few minutes off of every period will be employed on Wednesdays, tenta-tively beginning September 23.

“We’re just creating our own kind of traditions,” Salo said. “We’re only six years old, and I think we’re re-ally trying to create the way that Mountain View does it.”

(continued from page 1)

“We are hoping Questival will increase school spirit and unity among students. In addition, we hope that Questival will bring together students from different grade levels, cliques, sports teams and clubs,” Mason said.

This event is expected to be car-ried on by the bear family for years to come. Questival’s purpose is to not only bring the school, but the community together. This allows students to branch out and be in-volved in a much larger group, rather than being limited to one school.

Along with unifying the school and community, wining is every group’s goal. However, there will only be one Questival champion.

“We have a variety of person-alities. We have athletics, we have intelligence, we have social people. So the variety of personalities really makes us the perfect team,” Esco-bar said.

“It’s nice to create a relationship outside the classroom. And I think Mountain View is a better place when we have better relationships.”AP TODD SALO

Basketball. In Duluth’s preseason league, the Lady Bears won 2-0 against Grayson, Shiloh Sept. 12.

Band. The Lake Lanier Tournament of Bands competition will be held Oct. 3 from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m. 18 bands from all over the Southeast will compete for number one. MV will perform tenta-tively around 2:45 p.m. at Chestatee.

Beta Club. “The Ruby Shoe” project is directed towards collecting nice dress shoes for girls until Oct. 15. They are collecting sizes 5-13 and any style of dress shoes except flip flops in order to give the girls a variety of styles and range of sizes.

Chorus. The first chorus concert of the year is Sept. 29, in the Performing Arts Center. The tickets will be $5.

Counseling college visit dates.Sept. 25 - Valdosta State Den visit 7th; Sept. 28 - Brown University.

Dance Team. UGA Day was Sept. 5. The dance team performed during half time at the first UGA Game. It will have its first competition Nov. 1.

DECA. Interested in marketing, management, or entrepreneurship? If so join DECA, it is not too late. Dues are $35 on mypaymentsplus.com and get you a MVHS DECA T-Shirt, snacks at monthly meetings, a subscription to DECA Direct magazine, and other goodies throughout the year. Meetings are on the first Wednesday of every month after school from 2:20 to 3:00 p.m. in room 1.306. For more informa-tion contact Mrs. Andrea Barrett or visit www.gadeca.org or www.deca.org.

Engineering. Coach Colley and the Engineering club have obtained a 3D printer and are offering 3D prints for a cost. Their minimum cost is $10 which rounds up to about $2 a quarter inch. The designs and prints can be custom made or will be designed by them, objects include phone cases and other electronic cases.

FCCLA. The Dyer Fall Festival will be Sept 16. The Greek festival will be Sept. 17-18, and Trunk or Treat will be Sept. 29. See Mrs.Hesson for details.

NEWS BRIEFS

NEWS2 Volume 4, Issue 1

The Buzz surrounding Questival

3NEWSSeptember 2015

Assisistant Principal provides clarity on the revised dress code

ORNER

ALCULATIONC

2,082Total number of students at Mountain View High School

8September the eighth was the final at-tendance count that determined the number of teachers. 50

mor

e st

uden

ts a

re n

eede

d to

kee

p th

e sa

me

num

ber

of

teac

hers

.

3Mountain View is the third small-est normal high school in Gwinnett County

21special educa-tion teachers at Mountain View

85regular educa-tion teachers at Mountain View

Dos & Don’ts of Dress Code

Do

Don’t

-Have pants at the

waist at all times

-Have bottom and

front area covered

when wearing leg-

gings, jeggings or

yoga pants

-Wear appropriate

shoes

-Wear sleep wear of

any kind

-Wear pants with

holes or rips

-Wear tops that

expose the shoulders

or underarms

-Wear clothing that

displays sex, drugs,

alcohol or violence

“We are a better school when we have a dress code and that dress code is enforced.”

DR. PHILLIPS

Dressed to impress Left & Above. The shirt and sweat pants student must wear after violating the dress code.

UZOCHI ENWOROM ‘16

FCCLA. Congrats to the officers, Co-presidents Paria Emazeelzadeh & Becky Lockwook; VPs of Membership Meredith Brown & Ayana Phillips; VPs of Community Service Niyah Johnson & Katylnn Reece; VPs of PR Clara Sulek, Madi Irby & Raine Harkness;VPs of fundraising Savannah Wade & Leo Rosado, VP of events Sally Smith.

GSLT began its Bear Leadership Train-ing calendar year with an improved curriculum. The GSLT wants to include more students who hope to make a positive difference at MV through lead-ership. Official meetings will be held monthly during lunch, the first being Oct. 21. See Dr. Phillips in attendance for an application (required).

HOPE. There’s a HOPE meeting Sept. 29 at 2:30 p.m. in Colley’s room.

JCL has an initiation party Sept. 19, and a fall forum Oct. 10.

Language Arts. LA classes will be at-tending Eurydice put on by the theater classes in November for an in-school field trip. Tickets are on sale now on My Payments Plus for $3.

Math is incorporating stem projects into its classes. Every month acceler-ated classes will be doing projects that involve engineering and math. It allows students to be hands on and incorporate real life scenarios.

Model UN is currently preparing for its upcoming competition at Georgia Tech Oct. 12-13. A total of 40 students from MV will be participating. They will be representing New Zealand and Chile.

Orchestra. All Orchestras have a concert Sept. 24, starting at 7 p.m. First All State auditions take place Oct. 17 at Brookwood High School.

P.E. Dept. is having a Lift-a-Thon to raise money to improve the field house weight room. Student athletes are asking for pledges (per pound) for the total amount of weight they can lift in bench press, squat, and deadlift. Lifts will happen Oct. 5-9. All collected money is due Oct. 23 to MVHS.

Peer Leading. The Questival chal-lenges will be released, and theofficial start of the competition will run until Nov. 20.

Relay for Life will be holding its first meeting Sept. 29 after school and Sept. 30 before school.

Spanish Honor Society. Now through Oct. 15 is Hispanic Heritage Month. We recognize the contributions made and the important presence of Hispan-ic and Latino Americans to the US and celebrate their heritage and culture. Happy Hispanic Heritage Month to all our Hispanic students and faculty.

Testing. Redesigned PSAT that prepares students for the restructured SAT starting in January is being administered Oct. 14. This test is free for sophomores, but juniors who wish to take it must pay $15.

Theatre. “These Shining Lights” will be held in the Performing Arts Center. The play will be available to all students to come watch before they bring it to the competitions at the Georgia Theatre Conference Oct. 15-17 and Region One Act Oct. 21.

Writing Club changed meeting days to the first and third Wednesdays of each month. See Mr. Schneider for details.

NEWS BRIEFS

from page 1Attendance counts

article

BY ASHLEY MONTGOMERY & GERI CHARLES

In the wake of a new school year, a revised dress code has come into play, and the con-troversy surrounding it has increased.

The updates in dress code was a combined decision made amongst different members of the Mountain View community in order to view the issue from all sides.

“Dress code was reviewed by a committee of Mountain View parents, students and faculty,” Assistant Principal Dr. Daundria Phillips said.

The most notable change in the dress code was the change in the permittance of ripped jeans to absolutely none at all.

“When the committee re-viewed the dress code, there were no big changes, except for the rips in jeans. The committee re-viewed that, and we decided no rips. It used to be that you could have rips below the knee, but students began to take it too far. The commit-tee reviewed it and decided no rips at all,” Phillips said.

Female students allege that the dress code in its previous and current form has been directed towards female students.

“I feel like girls are targeted [more than guys] because for some reason, people like to over-sexualize teenage girls,” senior Taylor

Moore said.However, the dress code has

limitations for male and female students alike - a new and popu-lar rule emphasizing that being no chubbies.

“I’m happy that guys can’t wear chubbies anymore because girls can’t can’t even show that much leg,” Moore said.

The administration takes the dress code and inequality within the dress code very seriously. Both male and female students are required to wear a school is-sued uniform after violating the dress code.

“Female students are not tar-geted more than male students. We have a good mix of male and female administrators, so males bring in male students and females bring in female students. So all students are held account-able,” Phillips said.

Even though the dress code has stirred up controversy, there are no plans to scale back the rules or change them.

“We are a better school when we have a dress code and that dress code is enforced,” Phillips said.

The dress code is here to stay for the foreseeable future, and for now, students should con-tinue to follow the set rules.

OPINIONS4 Volume 4, Issue 1

A move in the right, student-led direction

Student organizations need to be student led. It is imperative to train and guide student leaders to be prepared for their important role among their peers, and GSLT is starting its new initiative to do just that. GSLT has revamped BLT, which is a great starting point for moving in a more student-empow-ered direction among organiza-tions.

Despite the need for student leadership, advisors are a vital piece to the puzzle that makes organiza-tions a complete picture. But their presence should not overshadow the students’ vision.

“The decisions advisors make are more about appropriateness. Is it doable, and is it plausible. We are there to make them think those de-cisions through,” student council advisor Casey Emmanuel said.

There is a factor of liability that comes into play when giving a stu-dent the responsibility of making heavy decisions.

“All the responsibility from whatever team sport or organi-zation falls back on the adult in charge,” Principal Keith Chaney said. “If there’s a problem with the baseball team, I’m going to the coach. If there’s a problem with a club, I’m going to the advisor. For them to have that kind of respon-sibility means they get to make the most crucial decisions.”

However, if students have

enough power to make the most fundamental decisions, then they should also be the ones to take the responsibility when something goes awry.

“I think we need to put faith in our student leaders that things will go successfully enough to where you don’t have to contact a spon-sor, and if you do, that sponsor can say it was a student-led initiative because that’s what it should be,” Santiago Escobar said.

To not allow students to have the final say on important deci-sions and be denied their final vi-sion is a problem because it implies teenagers are unable to sufficiently make choices that will impact their organizations.

“It may end up being that some adults have to change because adults still think of some kids as being kids and not being capable of making their own choice. If you try to change the mind-set of the adult to try and look at teenagers as young adults, then that will be the best step in the right direction,” student leadership team advisor Dr. Richard Martin said.

Student leadership is vital in sports as well as in clubs.

“Leadership on the field is re-ally important. The coach can only help us out so much because they can’t physically come out there and play with us,” said varsity soccer goalie Hunter Buchanan.

The BLT initiative is a huge step in the right direction.

“The goal of our GSLT group is to find the potential in students throughout our school through BLT. We are trying to find leaders that may be overlooked, and we are trying to incorporate them into BLT to help them become leaders in the community. We are trying to continue to promote school spirit, become servant leaders, and rep-resent Mountain View within the world,” junior Zachary Miles said.

GSLT starts much-needed initiative promoting leadership

ALL IN FAVOR ChatterThe

On the left side of Twin Riv-ers Middle School, established in 2009, construction workers have been expanding the building in the past six months. The additional classroom space to the Mountain View cluster’s only feeding middle school shows that the cluster is growing once more as it did before with Woodward Mill Elementary, one of the high school’s three feed-ing elementary schools.

This is uplifting news, and this is what Paul Waters, the assistant principal in charge of schedules and consequently school attendance, enjoys hearing. “We have gained full support from [Twin Rivers]. [Now], if you went to Twin Rivers, it’s highly likely that you will go to Mountain View,” Waters said.

Many of the programs, sports specifically, struggle to meet re-spectable participation numbers. While it’s not fair or logical to com-pare to Mill Creek High School’s six elementary and two middle schools to our three and one or to mention the fact that Duluth, the second smallest high school in the area after us, has 700 more students enrolled, sundry parent and students within the cluster do expect Mountain View to be more than what it is.

While the number of students attending could be higher, num-bers have improved. With 2,122 students enrolled, nearly 400 stu-dents under capacity, enrollment is not a problem here, unless in the case of letting go teachers, such as Ms. deMeritte. The real problem lies in the unsettling fact that the schools of the cluster do not work together. Imagine if colleges or the marine corps never visited high schools during lunch. It is a lack of communication and presence, not a lack of feeder programs that pre-vents Mountain View from flour-ishing into the excellent school it has the potential to be.

There are factors both in and out of cluster’s control that could help elevate Mountain View’s status. In-stead of focusing on how the lines were drawn, it’s time to focus on us, the head of the cluster, doing our part in establishing a culture seven and eight-year-olds want to grow up and experience.

All advisors, coaches, and ad-ministrators take your extracurric-ular groups, student-athletes, and faculty to the elementary schools. Parents should volunteer to coach recreation leagues or get involved in other areas of the community. If we show ourselves in the world of our youth, they’ll grow wanting to be a part of ours.

JORDAN STALLWORTH

Feeder programs liven high school

GrizzlyGazettethe

Mountain View High School2351 Sunny Hill RoadLawrenceville, GA 30043678.406.7600 | www.mtnviewhs.com

2015-2016 Volume 4

The Grizzly Gazette is a student produced newspaper, published six times a year. This publication’s mission is to unify the student body, advocate its interests, and establish a culture of trust while striving to uphold the highest journalistic standards. The opinions in this newspaper are those of the individual authors, and do not reflect those of the publication staff, students, faculty, or administration.

EDITORIAL BOARDJordan Stallworth, Editor-in-chiefUzochi Enworom, Opinions editorAshley Montgomery, Features editorKaiden Smith, Sports editor

STAFF WRITERSChristine Bushart, Geri Charles, Nia-Simone Eccleston, Brittany Johnson, Cheryl Kwapon, Sabrina Luong, Jayla McCray, Zion Smith, Caroline Wirl, Hermella Wolditsadik

ADVISERJennifer Ortman

Please follow us on Twitter and Instagram for live news updates and interactive content @MVHSnews, or email us at MVHSGrizzlyGazette@gmail.com with responses to or sug-gestions for content.

NATIONAL & STATE AFFILIATIONSNational Scholastic Press AssociationSouthern Interscholastic Press As-sociationGeorgia Scholastic Press Association

ADVERTISINGThe Grizzly Gazette is able to be published solely through the ad revenue acquired from supportive busi-nesses and organizations like the ones featured throughout this paper. If you are interested in advertising with us, please email GrizzlyGazetteAds@gmail.com for more information.

CHERYL KWAPONG ‘17

Tamara Jordan, 11SLT member

Tracey Fisherteacher & sponsor

Abby Viar, 12 yearbook editor

Stan Carpentercoach

“The best way to strengthen advisor to student relationships is communica-tion. Both people need to tell their visions and make sure they are on the same page because at the end of the day, we all want to achieve the same goal of making this school a better place through all organizations.”

“It’s important on so many levels that high school students lead their clubs and organizations. Students need to grow their skills to manage, organize, plan and facilitate, and execute club organization business. Nurturing their leadership is a part of nurturing their independence and personal responsi-bility. We want them to become great leaders here so that they can take those skills with them to college and use them effectively as young adults.”

“With a good balance, the students themselves gain more leadership experi-ence, but also have the guidance of an adult who already has that experi-ence, so they’re able to teach you the ins and outs, but you are personally learning the ropes yourself. The result of organizations being studen led, like in yearbook with our final product we produce, it fosters a sense of self-worth knowing what you created as a student team impacted in a positive way.”

“The players should follow the lead of the coach because if too many people try to make decisions, it’s like a dragon with too many heads that doesn’t know where to go. One leader, one team, one goal, with players play-ing as hard as they can will give the best results.”

Views from the Viewon the importance of student-led organizations

“I think student organizations should be stu-dent led and adult guided. That means stu-dents come up with all the fac-tors, and adults are just there as the voice of reason.”SANTIAGO ESCOBAR

5OPINIONSSeptember 2015

More than 10,000 dogs go to slaughter every year to provide food for a Chinese festival in the city of Yulin. While the event signifies the culture of this city, these dog-based meals anger many Chinese and people all across the globe.

The abuse and consumption of the dogs in Yulin makes Americans wonder what would drive any hu-man to consider man’s best friend as a meal. But the treatment of slaughter house animals in most of the United States large-scale facto-ries does not prove just either.

“The biggest thing is how you treat animals. Nothing should be treated cruelly or fed obscenely,” Cole Nolan said, a local butcher of the Wilkes Tradition in Suwanee.

Four meat companies monopo-lize 85 percent of the beef industry alone: Tyson Foods, JBS, Cargrill Meat Solutions, and Smithfield food. Their widespread control makes it harder for locally owned businesses such as Wilkes Tradition to be successful.

With only four companies dominating the meat industry in the entire country , the standard by which animals are treated blurs under centralized control.

In August, Mercy for Animals, an animal rights organization, sued Tyson for stabbing, clubbing, and and crushing chickens to death.

Dogs should not be exploited in Yulin, likewise, major meat companies should refrain from ex-ploiting farm animals here.

“A lot of places look down upon us for cultivating and raising cattle

to eat and slaughter. How would it be any different for me to say, ‘No you can’t eat that, but I can eat this animal,’” Nolan said.

Dogs play a sentimental and loy-al role in American society and so-cieties across the globe. Even still, our emotions toward dogs does not justify the bias Americans have to-wards these animals. If putting one animal to slaughter manifests as unjust, that compassion should be

transferred to the animals Ameri-cans eat.

“Obviously, I’m not going to support [the Yulin Festival], but I am also not going to tell them they can’t do that; it’s their culture. Life and death is nature,” sophomore Anja Conlon said, a meat-eater who owns an Australian Shepherd named Maverick.

“[In terms of animal cruelty], people should be reined in, but we

are going to eat animals here, so I figure as long as we are not be-ing cruel to the animals and we’re not eating much excess. As long as we are staying within our limits of what we can provide for ourselves, and not go outside of those bound-aries [we are fine],” Nolan said.

If people educate themselves on animal abuse in Yulin with dogs, they should also research the cir-cumstances of the process by which

their food gets to their plates. “You can’t point the finger at

someone for eating their type of protein as you sit down to eat a chicken or eat a cow. That’s not for anyone to say, that’s completely hypocritical,” Nolan said.

For more information on the treatment of animals watch Food, Inc. or Eathlings on Netflix.

Contact the Humane society by going on www.humanesociety.org

Recent research refutes unjustimage of Hispanic immigrants

“[Mexico is] not sending their best. They’re sending people with lots of problems. They’re bring-ing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapist. And some, I assume, are good people,” Donald Trump said during his presidential an-nouncement speech in July 2015.

When this moment in Trump’s speech arises in conversation, a sigh and comment about his racism ac-companies its quick dismissal. People, though, feel this way about Mexican immigrants, especially if a presidential candidate feels justi-fied in such views. In America, and smaller school communities, these opinions are unjustly believed from little education and involvement.

Supporters of this view look at the media, at the Mexican drug cartels and the clips of border pa-trol chasing people back across the Rio Grande, and claim that Trump has a point. He does not.

While El Chapo and Los Zetas exist and contribute to crime rates in both the U.S. and Mexico, on a large scale, Mexican immigration has little influence on the U.S.’s crime rate. Studies show that im-migrant young adults have the

lowest delinquency rate among their age group (Estevez Forbes). Also, Mexican immigration came to zero population growth in 2010, and Mexican emigration begins to trend. (Estevez Forbes).

Lack of education about immi-grants correlates with lack of inter-est in Spanish culture.

More students take Spanish than any other foreign language at school. Clubs like Spanish Honor Society exercise constant apprecia-tion for it, but attendance is mini-mal compared to students taking Spanish classes.

“People [in native Spanish class-es] were more enthusiastic about learning the language because it was their own language, and I felt like [in Spanish 4] it was more of a ‘I have to learn this language be-cause I have to go to college.” presi-dent of Spanish Honor Society So-fia Garcia said.

Change is a necessity to a diverse school. This problem requires im-mediate attention as the Hispanic student population grows. Clari-fication about immigrants and Spanish culture appreciation can change the school and country’s unjust bias of an underappreciated people.

ZION SMITH ‘18

Scholarship disparities between Caucasians and minorities

Large scale scholarships such as the Gates Millennium have misled students to believe that minorities in general have a higher chance in receiving them over Caucasians. However, it has been statistically shown Caucasian students are 40% more likely to receive schol-arships than minorities according to finaid.org.

It is time to realize being a mi-nority does not guarantee admis-sion or scholarships. However, being Caucasian gives a student a higher chance and advantage over minorities. “Of course it’s difficult to get a

scholarship. But if you dedicate yourself and put in all that you’ve got towards the scholarship you want to your dream school, you can do it,” junior Jillian Walker said.

Scholarships for Caucasian students like RWUCR White Scholarship Award, United White Persons College funded, United Caucasian College fund (UNC-CF), and more have been increas-ing over the country.

“I think that’s dumb. I know there are some people out there who might need it. But it doesn’t seem right, and it doesn’t seem fair

because white people have natu-rally more opportunities in the US,” senior Luke Akande said.

In general, it is difficult to earn scholarships. Even if a student is in the top ranks, students are competing against strong scholars all across the country. Since there are more than 85,000 schools nationwide, that means there is over 85,000 valedictorians and salutatorians per year, respectively. This increases harsh competition.

“When people complain about their race being the reason as to not getting a scholarship, a part of

me thinks that they’re just making excuses or complaining because applying for scholarships is very competitive and takes up a lot of time. Thousands of students can apply to one scholarship, but only a couple will actually get it,” senior Aya Mansour said.

Minorities represent about a third of scholarship applicants; however, Caucasian students receive more than 76% of all institutional merit based scholar-ship recipients and grant funding, despite the fact that they represent less than 66% of the student ap-plicants, according to finaid.org.

“There are some white people who struggle and don’t live the greatest or wealthiest lives, but most of them do have good lives, so I don’t think it’s necessarily the fairest thing, but it is what it is, and that’s white privilege,” Akande said.

Despite the disadvantages minorities have compared to Caucasians, with hard work and tenacity there are still opportunites to receive scholarships.

“I believe that anyone can get a scholarship as long as they put in the hard work in what they wish to achieve. Whether you’re a minority or not, everyone deserves the equal opportunity at getting a scholarship,” Walker said.

Vegans and meat-eaters agree: All animals should be treated the same

SABRINA LUONG ‘17

“I believe that anyone can get a scholarship as long as they put in the hard work in what they wish to achieve. Whether you’re a mi-nority or not, every-one deserves the equal opportunity at getting a scholarship.”JILLIAN WALKER, 11

NIA ECCLESTON ‘18

ILLUSTRATION BY GRACE ROUNTREE

FEATURES6 Volume 4, Issue 1

CAROLINE WIRL ‘18 With more than 1,000 people

attending the conference in their home of Ghana in April 2014, J-Force isn’t new to the Kwapong family. Eric Kwapong, Sr. set out to change the community.

J-Force is a group full of people looking to further their Christian journey by following two pillars: moral and ethical transformational leadership and personal faith in Je-sus Christ.

Kwapong Sr., the founder of a new and growing group of Chris-tians called J-Force, came up with the idea after reading about the “compelling story of Josiah” and saw how his leadership became prominent at such a young age. According to the Bible, Josiah was crowned King of Judah at age 8 af-ter the assassination of his father.

“Of course, Christ is the ultimate model, but Josiah, since he showed he could be a king before most kids go to third grade, is a big model, too,” Kwapong’s son Mountain View senior Eric Kwapong said.

“My father told me about J-Force last year, and he wanted me to make it big in America, but when my mom died, I lost my fo-cus.”

Kwapong’s mom passed away in her sleep very close to the time he found out about J-Force, but ac-cording to Kwapong, it strength-ened his relationship with Christ.

In April, Kwapong picked the

project up again and began recruit-ing people, watching the number of people involved grow to 72 in only nine days.

“We started with under 100 students at the start of summer, but now, by the grace of God, we have 400 members and counting,” Kwapong said.

Of these hundreds of students, many of them call Mountain View their home. Noah Rubin, a sopho-more, joined J-Force after seeing Kwapong doing these things and wanted to help.

“J-Force has made me real-ize how important it is to create Christian leaders at the youth level. I work hard every day to become one of them,” Rubin said.

With hopes to begin grow-ing exponentially, Kwapong prays to reach one million people by the end of this year. According to Kwapong, “the ultimate end goal is to challenge young people from every part of God’s kingdom to engage His manifest presence in the worship experience, to deepen moral and ethical capacity and foundation, and to build Godly leadership.”

“It is possible. Why? Because the Bible that I read is the same Bible that we all read, and that Bible says ‘We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us,’” he said. Once J-Force launch-es, monthly meetings will be put on calendars and plans to meet in larger areas are in place.

The Quest program provides a way for students like junior Aman-da Keller to impact the communi-ty, while working towards learning more about possible jobs.

“I feel that the Quest Internship program will help better my un-derstanding about what is needed of me for these career paths and give me some background before I enter college and have to decide on a major,” Keller said.

The motivation behind Keller’s decision to help elementary school classes as her Quest internship was unlike most.

“I chose elementary school education as my internship, since growing up around teachers and school because of my mom and her career, I’ve always been inter-ested in education. I’m currently interning with kindergarteners, first graders, and speech language pathology,” Keller said.

While most chose something to intern with medicine, Keller chose to help at Freeman’s Mill Elemen-tary School.

“The first day, I went in with very high expectations but also a few nerves that the students wouldn’t respond to me and be scared of me, but as soon as I stepped foot into the classrooms, at least two stu-

dents hugged me and took me in and treated me like their teachers that they adore,” Keller said.

Although Keller has always been surrounded by kids, the internship isn’t always easy.

“The internship is a little nerve - wracking at times when I am given such a large leadership role over 30 students in each classroom, but I have managed and enjoy every sec-ond I am with the students in all three classrooms,” Keller said.

Through this opportunity, Keller is rewarded by being up close and interactive with what she hopes is her future vocation.

“I am used as the ‘right hand man’ in all three of the classroom settings I’m in. I have been put with certain groups of kids that need a little extra help with math and reading, and I do various ver-bal assessments with them. I also am given the opportunity to lead lessons in the first grade classroom, and I am able to lead the game - oriented lessons with the speech students in helping them with their sounds and pronunciations,” said Keller.

Keller is making an impact on the students and teachers around her and furthering her own success by doing the Quest Internship.

PHOTO BY CAROLINE WIRL

Taking the school by force Noah Rubin, Eric Kwapong, and Tori Martin are all a part of J-Force within Mountain View. The group is currently at 423 members spanning all across the south in 10 states from Texas and Florida all the way to Arizona and Michigan. The main platform of J-Force is social media. Follow them @JFORCEOFFICIAL, and sign up to join the movement at tinyurl.com/jforceapply.

J-Force reintroduced, taking the South by storm

Quest benefits local youth in the cluster and student involved

QUEST for future vocations Amanda Keller is supported by her mom, as she interns at the same school where her mother teaches. “My mom has been very supportive of the internship and agrees this is great for me to be open to see the different fields of study offered in elementary education,” Keller said.

GERI CHARLES ‘17

7FEATURESSeptember 2015

“Peak” into the life ofELIZABETH RAMOS

BY CHERYL KWAPONG

CAN YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF FOR ME IN TWO WORDS?Flexible and smart. WHY WOULD YOU USE THOSE WORDS?Because physically I am flexible, and I think I can be flexible with my life. I’m also smart academi-cally and smart in other parts of my everyday life, too. I have a very bendable schedule, and I always think ahead and plan ahead. DO YOU PLAY A SPORT THAT CAUSES YOU TO BE FLEXIBLE?I was in gymnastics for a few years when I was younger, and I did competition cheerleading. WHY DON’T YOU DO THAT ANYMORE?I got too big to continue to stunt. YOU HAVE TO BE A CERTAIN SIZE?[Gymnastics] is usually for short people, and I just got too tall. WHAT SPORT DO YOU PLAY NOW?I’m on the freshman volleyball

team here. I really like it. I’m tall, which is good for the sport, and I like to jump high and hit the ball, and this is a sport where it’s good to be big, unlike gymnastics. It gives me something to do and helps me priori-tize my time after school because if I have a game or practice, I have to know when I can do my homework. SO WHAT THE MOST IMPORTANT THING TO YOU IN YOUR LIFE?My family is the most important thing to me in my life. I have a lot of family. I have five uncles, three aunts, and 13 cous-ins. Some of them live next to me, and I live really close to most of them. I also have an older brother who is 24. They’re always going to be there for me no matter what I do, and I’ve known them for the longest.

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR BROTHER.Two years ago, he was in a really bad motorcycle accident, and he was in a coma two to three weeks. It was a Sunday morning, and my cousin called me saying that my brother got in an accident. It was really sad, and he was in a hospital

for three months. He broke his head and had to get some of it replaced. It’s hard for

him because he still can’t drive. He just took his drivers test, but the results haven’t come in. He can’t hear out of one ear, and he lost the right side of his peripheral view. He’s working a little bit at Goodwill, but they’re still running tests to see if he’s OK.

HOW DID THAT AFFECT YOU?Well, my mom wasn’t home most of those three months, and she paid most of her attention towards him, and it was really sad. It was a hit and run, so we don’t know who the person who hit him is. My uncle made it into a really big deal and tried to find the guy, but they closed the case. HOW DOES THAT IMPACT YOUR LIFE NOW?He still can’t drive yet, so it makes me feel bad for him, but my brother isn’t upset at the person who hit him because he said it’s all a part of God’s plan for his life.

IT SEEMS LIKE YOUR FAITH WAS A BIG THING THAT HELPED YOU GET THROUGH THIS TIME.Faith is a big part of my life. When all this was going on, my family turned to God, and He helped us get through it all. I go to church every Sunday with my family.

IS THERE ANYTHING ANYONE WOULD BE SURPRISED TO HEAR

ABOUT YOU?

“I have a really bad Netflix addiction, worse

than normal people. I watched the whole

third season of ‘Orange is the New Black’

in one night.”

Stepping through the double doors of a brand new school triggers an anxious feeling and a swarm of butterflies. Hectic hallways, new faces, comforting voices, and loud bells set the scene for the first day of school to the new kid.

“I’ve changed high schools my whole life. I’ve been to five dif-ferent high schools. I’ve never felt like I could have a stable environ-ment of friends. My mom didn’t

understand she was affecting me by migrating from place to place. I got used to it. I got used to not having friends for a long period of time. I got used to not always see-ing the same people around, it just became a habit,” junior Stephanie Del Solar said.

Despite Del Solar’s struggles, she found her own personal silver lining to moving to her fifth school.

“At first, I was nervous yet excited to meet new people and teachers. When I first walked into Mountain View, I felt very

welcomed. Everyone seemed to be so helpful by showing me where all my classes were, and by the end of the day, I could sincerely say it went a lot better than I thought it was going to go,” Del Solar said. Being the new kid does not shy Del Solar away from her purpose here. She has a plan as to how she is going to leave behind her legacy.

“I plan to leave my mark here by letting people know that they can achieve anything they want to if they put their minds to it. I plan on doing that by always support-ing my peers and being willing to

help with whatever they need to be successful in life,” she said. New beginnings are not only relevant to new students, but also new teachers.

Student teacher Cameron Crawford, on the other hand, de-cided his purpose here is to create a better learning environment for his students.

“I plan on making my mark here by creating good relation-ships with the students. If you have a good relationship with the students, they tend to pay more attention and be more involved in

class rather than the students you do not have a good relationship with,” Crawford said.

The aftermath of a new change inevitably brings a different state of mind.

“As of right now, I have nobody but my boyfriend. He supports me with whatever I need. Even though I don’t have my mom or dad to count on, I know that I can be anything I wanna be. I just need to make the correct choices in life and mainly just believe in myself. I need to think what’s best for me,” Del Solar said.

New student makes fifth high school a home

New Beginnings. “Dress code is definitely the only thing that is very different here compared to where I came from. I think the dress code all depends on everybody’s way of dressing, but me, personally, I had to buy new clothes because all my clothes break the dress code,” Del Solar said.

PHOTO BY BRITTANY JOHNSON

BRITTANY JOHNSON ‘17

1880 Braselton Hwy Suite 118Lawrenceville, GA 30043678.926.8432

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Two brains,

Meeting of the mindsWhole-brain learning tactics make academic strides.

The left side of things; explore the mindSABRINA LUONG ‘17 HERMELLA WOLDITSADIK ‘18

According to oecd.org, each side of the brain functions in different levels of thinking. The left-brain is said to be more analytical, logical, and objective compared to the right brain. Stu-dents prefer taking engineering and advanced classes such as Cal-culus BC, physics, and academic based clubs consider themselves left -sided.

“Sometimes it’s good to be re-ally, really creative, but when it comes to engineering, you have to get things right. There’s not a lot of flexibility. A lot of math, a lot of planning, a lot of design-ing, before you actually implicate the part,” engineering teacher Darryl Colley said.

Being left brained often creates an easier transition into certain career paths that involve critical thinking and anaylzing.

“I’m hopefully going into en-gineering in the future, which is a field that requires lots of prob-lem solving and logic. Being left brained, I should be set,” senior Selen Krgo said.

However, people who favor-left side brains do have their disadvantages. Often it is said that they cannot creatively think through or process non-logical situations.

“When you’re too logical, you overthink things and some-one who’s really creative can just come up with a really cool concept that works, but most people who are very logical think through a process, and it takes a

really long time. It can be kind of slow,” Colley said.

Usually projects that include creativity and improvising are not strong suits for left brianed people.

“I sometimes struggle in lan-guage arts. Especially during es-says because thinking more emo-tionally and deeply can be hard for me at times,” Kergo said.

Despite the disadvantages, a lot of people who are left brained would never choose to process things differently.

“Being left sided, opens up many more opportunities to me in the future,” sophomore Amal Ramzi said.

Both sides have their advan-tages; however, in the end, peo-ple generally are satisfied with the way they think.

Left Brained. Left. Senior George Puha creates a replica of his cell phone using a 3D printer. At a estimated cost of $20,000, students are able to experience advanced engineering training. This type of technology is used in huge engineering companies. Right. Math teacher Lucie Ausburn reviews with her AP Calculus BC class for its upcoming test.

Whole brain learning, a new research based system that focuses on teaching through utilizing both hemispheres of the brain, and in-turn keeps students more engaged through activity than the standard lecture then test procedure, exists in many classrooms today. More and more teachers work to implement this teaching style as research points to it being a superior method for teaching students.

“People have more analytical thinking in one side of the brain, and more creative thinking in the other, and so you try to marry the two together. It’s trying to create a universal nature of learning,” social studies teacher Richard Martin said.

Whole brain learning allows students from dif-ferent walks of life to achieve a common level of comprehension in the classroom through multiple activities.

With this learning technique, both analytical and artistic students have opportunities to learn in the ways they feel most comfortable. Imaginative students have hand-crafted projects with vibrant colors to help them learn, while methodical learn-ers thrive on structured, interactive notes.

“I find this tactic helpful in sciences, like the chemistry and AP Environmental science courses that I am taking now because it would emphasize the importance of discovery and engagement rath-er than grades. Whole-brain learning fosters learn-ing rather than memorizing or cramming for tests in order to get the grades you want,”sophomore Kaitlyn Catapano said.

This type of learning also helps outside of high school. In college, professors are known for teach-ing one way, and mostly hands-off, and so stu-dents that experience learning for both sides of the brain adapt in any classroom setting.

In a workplace, the needs of right and left brains are not equally catered to, and students must be able to learn and prosper in this environment, whether or not they are using their stronger side.

“I think it’s essential in high school for us to be able to train your mind to be comfortable in both settings.” Martin said.

Over the years, teachers have migrated away from traditional, one-sided brain learning and em-braced more techniques to increase the reception of lessons among their students.

In classes where a teacher only instructs using one-sided techniques, students have a harder time learning because they have grown accustomed to exercising their brain both ways. In whole-brain classes, students develop a better relationship with the teacher and have an easier time learning mate-rial.

This innovative technique, though, does not work for everyone. Some students may not be able to thrive in a structure that does not emphasize the grading scale as a measure of one’s intelligence. Also, students that already struggle learning with the stronger side of their brain might find it dif-ficult to utilize both parts successfully.

“Whole-brain learning most likely would not help all students. For independent learners, this could be helpful, but some people need a greater focus on grades in order to keep them account-able,” Catapano said.

Because of a seven-percentage-point increase in AP U.S. History Enterprises test scores within one year and teachers’ praises, whole brain learning re-mains a presence in classrooms. More and more teachers adapt to this way of learning in hopes of achieving the same reception that teachers across America have had.

ASHLEY MONTGOMERY ‘16 ZION SMITH ‘18

CHARACTERISTICS OF LEFT BRAIN:- You’re rational and logical- You’re organized- You process things sequentially - You plan things before doing them- Your feelings do not get in the way when making decisions- You like to read directions before starting a task- You prefer to read realistic stories and to write non-fiction- You tend to remember words and dates, names rather than faces

TIPS/ADVICE FOR LEFT BRAIN STUDENTS:- Join a debate team or academic competition- Take more risks, don’t be afraid to be creative- Work alone when you have the choice to prevent frustration with other

who “clown around”- Since you’re good at organizing, make sure to organize your notes well- Try not to argue with the teacher too often- If given the choice, choose factual assignments, as opposed to open-

ended assignments

LEFT BRAIN, RIGHT BRAIN8 Volume 4, Issue 1

one [student] body

Meeting of the mindsWhole-brain learning tactics make academic strides.

Students use their creative freedom to define themselvesNIA ECCLESTON ‘18 CAROLINE WIRL ‘18

In a workplace, the needs of right and left brains are not equally catered to, and students must be able to learn and prosper in this environment, whether or not they are using their stronger side.

“I think it’s essential in high school for us to be able to train your mind to be comfortable in both settings.” Martin said.

Over the years, teachers have migrated away from traditional, one-sided brain learning and em-braced more techniques to increase the reception of lessons among their students.

In classes where a teacher only instructs using one-sided techniques, students have a harder time learning because they have grown accustomed to exercising their brain both ways. In whole-brain classes, students develop a better relationship with the teacher and have an easier time learning mate-rial.

This innovative technique, though, does not work for everyone. Some students may not be able to thrive in a structure that does not emphasize the grading scale as a measure of one’s intelligence. Also, students that already struggle learning with the stronger side of their brain might find it dif-ficult to utilize both parts successfully.

“Whole-brain learning most likely would not help all students. For independent learners, this could be helpful, but some people need a greater focus on grades in order to keep them account-able,” Catapano said.

Because of a seven-percentage-point increase in AP U.S. History Enterprises test scores within one year and teachers’ praises, whole brain learning re-mains a presence in classrooms. More and more teachers adapt to this way of learning in hopes of achieving the same reception that teachers across America have had.

While each individual person has aspects of both sides of the brain, three musically and ar-tistically inclined students lean towards the right side. Senior Lauren Schuster takes AP Studio 2D Design and said she has al-ways had an interest in art and drawing.

“I like to do a lot of realism, so a lot of drawing with graph-ite and a lot of portraits. I also love to paint with acrylics and oils, particularly landscapes,” she said.

Schuster has been working on a picture of Cara Delevingne, which has taken two months so far and is not yet complete.

“It is looking really good so far, and that’s probably one of my favorites.”

Art student Abbigail Kelley, a junior in Sculpture I, has been involved in the world of art and creativity for four years.

“[My art] is weird because I make things that don’t seem very socially normal,” Kelley said.

According to Kelley, creative freedom allows people to get in her head and know how she feels.

“There are just some things that will make people curious about why I made [my sculp-tures], or people will completely avoid it all together because they don’t like the way it looks, but I like the way that it looks, so it doesn’t matter,” Kelley said.

Right brain activities are not solely limited to sculpting and painting, as proved by Bryan Gyenes, sophomore and an alto saxophone player in the march-ing band.

“[Music is] an expression of not only your mind but also how you feel, and it just sounds good,” Gyenes said.

Schuster uses this creative ex-pression to develop herself and her work. She has drawing since five years old, and she still thinks she can improve.

“[Art] is process that you can always get better at, so every sin-gle portrait I do, I can see where I need to fix things and where I’m getter better. I just love see-ing that progression and taking the time to do it,” Schuster said.

Art at its best Left. Bryan Gyenes, sophomore and alto saxophone player, has been playing the alto saxo-phone for five years. He decided to join band because he was inspired by his older brother Kyle Gyenes.Above. Lauren Schuster, senior student and artist, decided to take AP Studio 2D design because of the amount of freedom she has when it comes to her paintings.

CHARACTERISTICS OF RIGHT BRAIN:- You have a tendency to ignore directions - You’re interested in the mysterious or unexplained - You prefer rock music, and can do homework to music or television- You get tasks done randomly and in parts- You prefer to learn by doing- You like to take risks- You have a tendency to procrastinate - You prefer group work as opposed to solo assignments

TIPS/ADVICE FOR RIGHT BRAIN STUDENTS:- Gather all supplies before a study session to avoid interuption of focus- You’re a visual learner, so utilize a white board while studying- You have a tendency to focus on the ‘now’, buy a calendar to avoid

surprises in the future- Sometimes focus on the big picture, be sure to check the little things- You often daydream in class, make sure to stay focused- You don’t always finish what you start, so stick to your homework

once you start it

PHOTOS BY CAROLINE WIRL

ILLUSTRATION BY LAUREN SCHUSTER

9LEFT BRAIN, RIGHT BRAINSeptember 2015

“[My art] is weird because I make things that don’t seem very socially normal.”ABBIGAIL KELLEY

ACADEMICS10 Volume 4, Issue 1

Mountain View’s library is no longer called the Media Center; the name has been changed to the Learning Hub. The definition of a hub is the effective center of an ac-tivity, region, or network.

“The name Media Center is out-dated. I wanted to think of this as a factual place of learning,” media specialist Carla Youmans said.

The focus of the library this year is to get more classes involved, use technology more, improve reading levels, and get students to think outside of the box.

Reading can increase a student’s standard test scores 14 percent.

Schools get judged by CCRPI (Col-lege, Career, Ready, Performance, and Index) based on their reading scores. The goal is to achieve a Lex-ile measure greater than or equal to 1,275 on their Georgia Milestone American Literature Test.

In 14 days of August, a total of 2,643 students visited the Learning Hub before school, during lunch and after school. There have been times during lunch that there were no seats available in the library.

Teachers have booked the Learn-ing Hub all year. So far teachers have booked the Learning Hub for 131 class periods. The average class size has 35 students, which adds another 4,585 students who were

able to benefit from the library.“I almost died. It was exhausting

I had eighteen classes in one day, three classes each period. I went home and collapsed,” Youmans said.

The Learning Hub has a new staff team; students work in the li-brary and earn a language arts elec-tive credit called Library Science. Just like any other class, they get graded, have access to eClass, take quizzes, and have assignments.

Parent volunteers are welcomed to help.

“I am passionate about what’s best for kids. I’m not afraid to ask questions and not afraid to try. Why just be where things are com-

fortable? I want to be where the magic happens,” Youmans said.

The Learning Hub is open Mon-day-Friday from 6:45 a.m. to 2:50

p.m. During lunch, students can visit the Hub the first or second half, and also have the option to stay the whole lunch period.

Welcome to the Learning HubSchool library gets an upgrade

5

View the Hub: 1. Enter. 2. A side room that includes poster paper and letter cut-outs for club signs. 3. Four chairs and ottomans offer a spot to relax or read. 4. The main book stack of the Hub holds your favorite fiction authors. 5. Beyond the bookshelves is the Collaboration Corner. Here, qui-etly study or work in large groups. 6. Tables, near the non-fiction books, provide space to spread out notes or worksheets. 7. Four columns mark laptop stations; each holds about six laptops. 8. In front of the large window are four personal study areas fit for one or two. 9. The Hub’s computer lab is adjacent to the rest of non-fiction. 10. The sign in and check out/ re-turn desk. 11. Office supplies and the printing payment desk. 12. The Hub has a color and black/white printer.

JAYLA MCCRAY ‘17

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Sunday - 12pm- 6pm

National Junior Classical League

“Tu ne cede malis, sed contra audentior ito”~Virgil

“Yield not to misfortunes, but advance all the more boldly against them.”

JCL is the largest Classical organization in the world. Its purpose is to encourage an interest in and an appreciation of the language, litera-ture, and culture of ancient Greece and Rome and to impart an understanding of the debt of our own culture to that of Classical antiquity.

How has the Classics influenced your life?

Scan to visit the JCL website!mvjcl.weebly.

com

11STUDENT LIFESeptember 2015

Since big names in entertain-

ment like Jared Leto and Harry Styles began wearing their hair in buns, a new wave of manly top knots has flooded the school halls.

Last year a student named Sawyer Soucie was well-known for his own man bun, and it seems that he inspired more stu-dents to wear the man bun.

“Only Sawyer pulls it off,” sophomore Maya Murphy said.

The well-liked hairstyle, though, is the subject of con-troversy because of its feminine roots. The man bun is trendy among men and attractive to many women, though it seems in a recent poll, it is disliked here.

“I think they’re overrated. It’s becoming more of a show of status,” sophomore Amberly

Plummer said after voting no in the poll.

“People who think they can rock a man bun think it makes them hipster,” sophomore Anna Steinocher said.

Dislike for man buns led the recent poll by almost ten percent.

“It makes guys look like cave-men,” senior Rachel Rountree said.

While many disliked the hairstyle, others were vocal about why man buns should be ac-cepted.

“My dad has a man bun. I think it’s pretty cool,” junior Al-lie Shead said.

“Man buns are life,” sopho-more Aaron Sawyer said after voting yes in the poll.

Some students were in favor of the man bun, claiming it evokes a feminine quality. The hairstyle does break down the gender

norm of men having short hair and women having long hair, giving men a chance to embrace longer locks.

“I’m all about gender equality. So if a guy wants to do some-thing that girls normally do, it’s fine because girls like to do things that guys normally do,” sophomore Shania Kalladanthyil said.

Even male students pulled on the strings of gender equality.

“Tons of people preach gender equality, but snub men when they wear a traditionally femi-nine hairstyle. It doesn’t make sense to me,” sophomore Chris Acosta said.

Though a majority of students oppose the trend, only time will tell if the man bun will be a short-lived trend or a style for the ages. The style will live on the heads of male students all across the halls.

Students comment on the controversial man bun hairstyle’s rise in popularity

41

.3%

...

No 35%..Yes

23.7%Neutral

80s 90s 00s 10s Now

Man buns, Shaved sides, orShaved designs

Man bun mania sweeps school

CHRISTINE BUSHART ‘18

Bun is Life Sophomore Paul Jenosa rocks a man bun in his seventh period language arts class.

PHOTO BY CHRISTINE BUSHART

Ha i rs t y l es of the

Male

AGESJustin Beiber swoop

Gelled and spiky or shaggy

MulletsBusiness in the front... Party in the back

Long, gelled hair with a middle part; also, bowl cuts

out of 200 s t u d e n t s

Student of the issue

Youthful awakenings

Senior Peyton Weber joined the gifted program in kindergarten. In third grade, she had a class project and researched cognitive learning for a month. At the end of the month, a professional neurologist came in with a real human brain to let the kids hold and examine it. This is when Peyton knew she wanted to be a neurologist. When Weber thought about colleges, she wanted to attend one with a great neuroscience major; Harvard heads the list for best global universities for neuroscience and behavior.

Harvard also offers a chance for Weber to study abroad. Weber’s interest in anime and magna be-gan when she was just three years old. An anime show is spoken in Japanese with English subtitles, so after hearing the language so of-ten, she began linguistic research. She hopes to study abroad in east Asia, probably Japan.

Bringing out the bots

Weber most enjoys taking AP Biology and AP Statistics because she wants to be able to analyze her future research in the neuroscience field. Though interested more in cognitive neuroscience, Weber chooses to focus on preventing the effects of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Her current plan utilizes nano-biotechnology. Weber explained the term saying, “[Envision] extremely tiny bots that could be injected by syringe into the bloodstream, then travel to the brain where the healing hormones, or chemicals, could be released to prevent neural damage.”

Harvard

“[Harvard] was really beautiful. Even the air is better,” Weber said of her dream school. While Weber did a summer program with MIT, her group went out to go visit the places around Boston and one of them was Harvard. “It was really nice; I took a picture with the Mr. Harvard statue and talked to some of the students,” Weber said. “I got my Harvard sweatshirt at the Coop [the Harvard-MIT store]. I saw that sweatshirt, and it was the cheapest thing there because everything is expensive, so I got it. Even though, technically speaking, it’s bad luck to buy from colleges, I did it as a motivation just for any kind of Ivy League school. I wear it on days when I have a lot of stuff going on to keep my mind focused,” Weber said.

Peyton Weber

Wise Words from Weber

“I’d tell anyone who’s thinking about going to a prestigious college and is scared about it, to do it. You never know if you’re going to get in. Even if you don’t think you have the grades or the money, it’s not as expensive as you think, and you’d be surprised where you can get if you just apply yourself. Start as early as you can. Incoming freshman year, I started taking standardized tests. I started looking at colleges. I got contacted by colleges —fly in pro-grams, scholarships. Whatever you can get your hands on that relates to colleges and what you want to do with your future is something you should start as soon as possible. Once you’re a senior, you have half a year until it’s done,” Weber said.

“I keep a note above my desk at home. It reads: Take a deep breath, don’t give up, you’ll succeed.”PEYTON WEBER

PHOTO BY JORDAN STALLWORTH

• Violinist since 6th grade• Secretary, historian of

Tri-Music• Anime club, SLT, student

council, & Mu Alpha Theta member

• Applying to Harvard, MIT, Princeton, Stanford, and Yale University

ARTICLE BY JAYLA MCCRAY ‘17 & JORDAN STALLWORTH ‘16

Society is heavily dominated by modern technology that is fast and gives consumers easy access to whatever they need. Consum-ers can reach the internet, social media, and music on a multitude of devices.

Thanks to Netflix, movies and television shows can also be added to the list. Netflix is extremely popular in today’s culture and seems to have capabilities that normal television cannot offer.

Netflix allows users to access a wide variety of shows and mov-ies wherever and whenever they please. Whether at home or on the go, television can be watched any-where, and consumers are pleased.

“They have a whole bunch of movies and shows on there. It is on demand, easy, and you can watch whenever you want,” sophomore Kenneth Evans said.

Cable television may not have all the features Netflix has to offer, but many think television will not be replaced by Netflix. TV still provides up-to-date information that is essential to society.

“TV is necessary for the news

and important subjects that we should be on,” sophomore Kam-eron Gutierrez said.

While some may think TV can-not be lived without, some have already began living this lifestyle. Teacher Patrick Bates has given up cable television and has chosen to use Netflix instead in his home for his family.

“For me, it’s being able to watch a shown on my time and not having to worry. Even with a cable company or a satellite company, you have the ability to get a DVR function to record the shows to watch on your time, but you’re gonna have to pay for that func-tion. Netflix, that’s how it oper-ates. You watch a show when you want to watch it, pause it where you wanna watch it, and it picks up where you left off when you load it up again,” said Bates.

Also for Bates, the cost of cable television compared to Netflix played a large role in his deci-sion. With Netflix starting at $8 per month versus cable providers asking for hundreds per year, the prices do not come close and are astonishing.

“It was over $850 a year we were saving when you did the

cost differences between the two,” Bates said.

With advantages in availability and cost, Netflix has become very popular in the United States. According to recent data from Nielsen, Netflix and similar servic-es such as Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime are subscribed to in 40% of U.S. households. And it seems like this number will only increase as Netflix continues to gain promi-nence and stay reliable.

“So many people use it, you really don’t need to go on TV to find something, and then if your TV service is down, you can just go to Netflix,” junior Niyah John-son said.

Some may believe that TV has an edge on Netflix because of its access to new TV series. All the newer television can only be found on cable or TV.

“Netflix has old shows, and TV has new shows. You can watch shows that have already started and they have old seasons [on Netflix],” junior Zykeria Holmes said.However, Netflix has created its own original TV shows

that can only be accessed on Netflix. Shows like “Orange is the New Black”, “House of Cards”, and “Daredevil” are just a few of the many Netflix original series that have received high ratings.

“‘Orange is the New Black’ shows how people survive in an all women’s prison. It’s very interest-ing, and I love it,” senior Andie Brock said.

It is clear that there are benefits

from both cable television and Netflix. While Netflix is trending and seems to have a clear advan-tage at times, television is neces-sary. Television provides important information to viewers that is valued and needed in society. However, Netflix is beloved by its users. As Netflix continues to grow its following, maybe one day in the distant future it could potentially replace television.

KAIDEN SMITH ‘16

Television made obsolete by instant streaming In a world of modern technology, consumers lean towards Netflix over cable

ENTERTAINMENT12 Volume 4, Issue 1

“Straight Outta Compton” is among the most potent rags-to-riches showbiz movies ever made. Every emotion is experienced from laughter to grief. In all the 2 hours and 30 minutes time span, there was never a dull moment.

Produced by former N.W.A. members Ice Cube and Dr. Dre and directed by F. Gary Gray, who previously worked with Cube in his movie “Friday”, brought the struggles of the careers that gener-ated even more controversy than almost any other rap group of their generation.

“Straight Outta Compton” shows what a serious impression

N.W.A. had on media, culture and the younger generation. Often times, music groups get glamor-ized; however, this movie showed the human realities behind a kind of music that led law enforcement and conservantives of that time to give a bad rep to rap music. Cube, Dre, O’Shea Jackson Jr. and Corey Hawkins are teenagers trying to be the best at the rap game and start a movement that shaped the future of rap music in the process.

It’s safe to say all the actors play-ing each role were almost spitting images of the original members of N.W.A. Although a doppelganger of his father, Jackson had to fairly audition for the part of his father Cube. He prepared for a year to

properly exemplify who Cube was as an individual. Jackson wasn’t the only spitting image; Marcc Rose was one of the best Tupac impersonators the screen has ever seen.

Despite the fact that the movie consisted of vulgarity and cursing, it only added to the authentic ex-perience and culture of Compton. Without that aspect, the movie could not have effectively been real. The best part about “Straight Outta Compton” is how it directly put the viewers in that time period and allowed them to experience all the moments of N.W.A through their lenses. This movie is a definite go-to that can easily be watched over and over again.

‘Straight Outta Compton’ shoots straight to the top of the chart

HEA

DLI

NER

S

Concerts

Albums

Movies

The WeekendDec. 15 at 7:30pm

Phillips Arena

Luke BryanOct.17 at 7:00pm

Irvine Center

DrakeViews From the 6

Set 24

Legend Oct 2

Steve JobsOct 9

CHERYL KWAPONG

Number of yogurt flavors: 18 Number of Toppings: 42Price per ounce: $0.51Special Deals: $5 blue cup: Customers can fill the blue cup up as much as they want and pay no more than $5 for it.

Venue: Seating area is equipped with multiple “Connect 4” and “Simon” memory games, which makes Swirlz an entertaining hangoutCustomer Service Rating: 4/5 (Friendly employees)

Swirlz2815 Buford Dr NE #107, Buford, GA 30519

Number of yogurt flavors: 14Number of Toppings: 44Price per ounce: $0.53 Special Deals: Bring in spoon from last visit to receive 10% discount.Like them on Face-book to receive 10% discount, monthly giveaways, New Flavor: Pan (The Flavor of Neverland), Mondays:

Fill your cup for $5 dayVenue: Vibrant wall decor and ample seat-ing make it an inviting sceneCustomer Service Rating: 5/5 **Man-ager extremely friendly and informative, offered reviewers ad-ditional information for review

Menchies2463 Hamilton Mill Pkwy, Suite #200 Dacula, GA 30019

Number of flavors: 16Number of toppings: 112Price per ounce: $0.49Special Deals: Text ‘Sweetmonkey’ to 24587 for a chance to win FREE yogurt or cupcakes for a yearVenue: Spacious in-terior aids in it selling

multiple items- both frozen yogurt and desserts such as cup-cakes. There is also a drive-thru around the exterior. Customer Service Rating: 3/5

Sweet Monkey

3590 Hamilton Mill Rd, Buford, GA 30519

SIDEBAR BY ASHLEY MONTGOMERY

13REVIEWSSeptember 2015

Fro-yo information

Senior AnnouncementsSenior portrait make upsIf you missed your senior portrait session this summer,

Magic Moment is holding a make up session this Thurs., Sept. 24, in the Learning Hub. Sign up for an appointment on Mrs. Ortman’s door 1.480 in the FL pod. $40 sitting fee applies.

Senior ads in the 2016 yearbookSenior recognition ads are on sale now until Oct. 30.

Forms were mailed home this week, and you can access the form on the MVHS website under “Parents & Students” by clicking Yearbook.

Yearbook salesThe Summit yearbook sells out every year, so make sure

you reserve your copy before time runs out. The earlier you purchase, the less expensive it will be. To buy online, visit www.YearbookOrderCenter.com. We are school #10600. Yearbooks are $70, but prices will go up soon. Get yours today.

2015-2016Teacher of the Year

CONGRATULATIONS,MS. LISA CARNES!

SPORTS14 Volume 4, Issue 1

122

.225

125

KILLS

HITTING PERCENTAGE

SERVES WITHIN 37 GAMES

Cameron Hankins, 12

Dylan Hill, 11

Jaron Stallworth, 10

Eats candy before every game and has the same at bat routine when hitting.

“I need to have at least a bag of candy before a game. The extra sugar keeps me focused and calm. And I

have to tap the plate three times and look at my bat for reassurance to

how my at bat will go.”

Listens to the same music and eats a banana before

every game.

“Bannanas help with cramps, and I have to listen to hype music or else I feel

unprepared.”

Eats spaghetti then takes a nap before every game and listens to calm, fun music.

“I eat before I sleep, so I can sleep off the food and have a light stomach.

Plus around the third quarter, it fuels me because I get hungrier as

the game goes on, making me more aggressive.”

The world of sports is heavily followed and adored by many fans. The big games and insane plays are what are predominantly seen, but the routines and quirky superstitions of players also play an important role. When Lebron James does his signature powder toss before games, all eyes are on him. It is moments like this where fans feel a true connection with players.

But it does not just stop at routines. Many athletes have superstitions that they must follow in order to play well according to them. Whether it is eating a certain food or listening to certain music, athletes will do whatever it takes to make themselves feel confident going into a game.

“Before the game I listen to Disney songs, ‘Watch Me’, Neyo, and the ‘Star Spangled Banner’ to calm me down and have fun. The popular trap music gets me angry and tense, so I don’t listen to it. I also warm up my spaghetti and take a nap,“ sophomore basketball player Jaron Stallworth said.

NBA legend Michael Jordan

was known to wear his college basketball shorts under his NBA shorts every game for good luck. It is things like this that not just big name athletes do, but athletes here as well.

“I walk back and forth and bounce when I warm up. Then I shadow wrestle myself to get my mind right,” junior wrestler Leon Jarda said.

While many outsiders find en-tertainment in these superstitions, the big question is why. Why do athletes partake in these strange rituals?

“I think athletes will do any-thing they can to get an advan-tage, and if they find something that helps them, they will keep doing it for good luck,” junior football player Dylan Hill said.

While every athletes’ reason is different, pre-game rituals or su-perstitions do seem to affect how athletes perform. What may seem silly to fans is important to play-ers. Athletes’ preparation is pivotal to how they perform and whatever they need to do personally to get ready for a game will be done. Just ask one.

KAIDEN SMITH ‘16

Superstitous sportsAthletes’ rituals affect their game

PHOTO BY JOSH

GIL

BERT

PHOTO BY DAVID

WELKER

PHOTO COURTESY

OF VARSIT

Y VIE

WS

24SEPTEMBER

VARSITY SOFTBALL

@ North Gwinnett5:55 p.m.

29SEPTEMBER

VARSITY SOFTBALL

@ Home vs. Norcross5:55 p.m.

03OCTOBER

JV VOLLEYBALL

Home Tournament7 p.m.

09OCTOBER

VARSITY FOOTBALL

@ Home vs. Mill Creek7 p.m.

26SEPTEMBER

COMPETITION CHEER

@ Grayson12 p.m.

01OCTOBER

JV SOFTBALL

@ Collins Hill5 p.m.

08OCTOBER

JV FOOTBALL

@ Meadowcreek7 p.m.

17OCTOBER

CROSS COUNTRY

Meet @ Mill Creek8 a.m.

25SEPTEMBER

VARSITY FOOTBALL

@ Home vs. Peachtree Ridge

30SEPTEMBER

9TH VOLLEYBALL

@ North Gwinnett 5 p.m.

06OCTOBER

CROSS COUNTRY

Meet @ Hebron5:20 p.m.

15OCTOBER

9TH FOOTBALL

@ North Gwinnett6 p.m.

26SEPTEMBER

JV VOLLEYBALL

@ Mill Creek5 p.m.

02OCTOBER

VARSITY FOOTBALL

@ Collins Hill7 p.m.

09OCTOBER

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL

@ Home vs. Mill Creek6 p.m.

VOLLEYBALL PIONEER COMMITS TO DREAM KAYLA WHITNER | SENIOR | VOLLEYBALL | RECORD 20-11

“[Coach Ed Allen] said, ‘You let me know when you’ve made your decision’. I said, ‘It’s not even a decision to make - it’s done.” Whitner said.

When Whitner graduates, the legacy she leaves will continue to resonate in the Mountain View Volleyball community. With two state appearances, an All-Star team MVP award, and a seasoned squad making waves in the region, she is unforgettable, even when she trades in her black and gold for crimson and white. Although college sits on the horizon, Whitner has state this season on her mind.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR

COACH’S BLESSINGS

Whitner brings defensive specialism, contagious positivity, and a near-un-returnable swing. She is shorter than the average Crimson Tide player, standing at five-foot-seven on a team of girls towering at least six feet. The Southeastern Conference has a reputation of powerful teams, and Alabama has big names like Georgia and Texas A&M to play. Still, Whit-ner is not intimidated by the thought of filling big shoes.

“She’s an intense player, always wanting to win.”STAN CARPENTERVARSITY HEAD COACH

There were [other schools], but I had an

opportunity to go to my dream school, so every-thing else was kind of a blur to me. I was dead set.”

BY ZION SMITH

12: Varsity Softball @ Home vs. Chestatee (W 10-3)13: Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Peachtree Ridge (W 2-0) & Starrs Mill (W 2-0); Varsity Softball vs. Lanier (L 6-7) & Woodstock (L 1-5)14: Varsity Softball @ Lanier vs. Effingham (L 4-5)15: Varsity Volleyball vs. Chatta-hoochee (W 2-1), Blessed Trinity (L 1-2), Woodward Academy (W 2-1), & Wesleyan (W 2-0)

17: Junior Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Mill Creek (W 2-0)

& Lanier (W 2-0); 9th Volleyball vs. Mill Creek (L 0-2) & Lanier (L 0-2)18: Varsity Volleyball vs. North Gwinnett (L 0-2) & Johnson (W 2-0)19: 9th Volleyball @ Hebron (L 0-2)20: Varsity Volleyball @ Hebron vs. Hebron (W 2-0) & Winder-Barrow (W 2-0); Varsity Softball @ Mill Creek (L 1-6)

21: Varsity Football @ South Forsyth (L 14-45)22: Varsity Volleyball @ Brook-wood vs. Lambert (W 2-1), George Walton Academy (W 2-0), Allatoona (W 2-1), & Parkview (W 2-1); Cross Country Sandy Creek XC Kickoff @ Sandy Creek24: Varsity Softball vs. Lanier (W 2-0); Junior Varsity Volleyball @ Home vs. Norcross (L 0-2) & Collins Hill (L 0-2); 9th Volleyball @ Home vs. Norcross (L 0-2) & Collins Hill (L 0-2)

26: Varsity Softball @ Dacula (L 2-8)27: Varsity Volleyball @ Buford vs. Brookwood (W 2-1) & Buford (L 0-2); Varsity Softball @ Home vs. North Gwinnett (L 0-5); JV Vol-leyball @ Buford vs. Brookwood (W 2-0) & Buford (L 0-2)28: Varsity Football vs. Parkview (L 27-33)29: Varsity Volleyball @ Centen-nial vs. Wesleyan (W 2-1), South Paulding (W 2-0), Centennial (L 1-2), & Winder-Barrow (W 2-0)

AUGUST SCORES

15SPORTSSeptember 2015

PerspectivePlayer’s

If you ask former professional or collegiate athletes what they miss most about their respective sports, most will tell you the locker room camaraderie and being around their teammates. Unfortunately, hazing has become a prominent yet overlooked part of sports teams and locker rooms for years now.

From physical to verbal, almost all athletes are aware of the “fresh-man” or “rookie” treatment doled out to players.

A recent example of hazing gone too far happened within the coun-ty involving members of Parkview High School’s baseball team.

Over the summer, members of Parkview’s baseball team broke national news in a negative way. Six players were accused of alleg-edly wrestling and inappropriately touching younger players which could potentially be ruled to be sexual battery.

The players were suspended for a semester to a full year because of the incident, and Aug. 24, the Gwinnett County Board of Educa-tion elected not to reduce the sus-pensions in a closed-door meeting.

The situation does shed light on the major problem of hazing. The playful type of hazing that does not cross any major lines is acceptable and even bonds teammates.

Acts like a rookie baseball player getting no excitement from his team after his first home run is common in MLB and makes for a good laugh when the players finally congratulate the rookie in the dug-out. This is easy-going hazing that does not harm anyone and should be encouraged in sports.

On the other hand, any activi-ties that involves physical or verbal abuse should not be tolerated, and coaches and players need to take firm action in preventing these acts from happening.

Players who fall victim to hazing need to talk to an authority imme-diately after the offense happens regardless of them possibly being discouraged by teammates. Then, it is in the hands of the coaches to recognize and address the team that hazing will not be tolerated.

If these steps are combined with proper punishment, then the sports community will see a signifi-cant decline in hazing. The suspen-sions handed down to the Parkview players were necessary not only to discipline the players, but also to set an example of how future haz-ing should be handled.

GCPS set the standard on haz-ing, and if other organizations fol-low suit, hazing will see a major re-duction benefitting the team itself and its individual members.

KAIDENSMITH

Hazing in high school sports

Straight from summer train-ing and football camps, this year’s team is determined on starting off this season with the right foot. The team’s head coach Nick Bach is back, and he has set his goal to improve the team’s physical preperation and mentality.

“He’s really big on energy.He always wants us to perform higher than we do. He has high expectations for us,” senior Jonathan Thompson said.

Bach has coached three high schools and four univer-

sities in his 15 years of experi-ence. Having coached now professional football players Khalil Mack and Steven Means, he believes he can turn the team around and help them grow as players.

“I’m very excited. We have a very talented senior group. The first game didn’t really go the way we wanted, but I’m sure the guys have the ability to turn it around,” Bach said.

Bach has got the team focus-

ing on film review to look back and see what it can improve on. Also, with shorter practices compared to last season, the team feels that with the new coaching staff, it’s getting more work in.

“We joked around a lot last year, but the new coaching staff has gotten us more focused and about business,” senior quarter-back Alex Scott said.

Throughout the team, some players put more of their focus into practice.

“We have to practice harder so we can play harder,” Thomp-son said.

While some focus on practice, others direct their attention to precision and making the most of what happens on the field.

“We can’t give up. We have to learn to take that time [in the game] and execute,” senior Richie Ramos said.

Both the team and coach have placed their faith in each other.

“If they put their hearts into it, they can beat anybody on any given Friday night,” Bach said.

This was reflected at the most recent game against Kennesaw Mountain with a 32-29 win.

Head football coach is Bach

Practice makes perfect During practice, Coach Bach huddles players around him to go over the plays, and also improve their performance.

PHOTOS BY HERMELLA WOLDITSADIK

HERMELLA WOLDITSADIK ‘18

“We have to start off and finish strong to get the win.The way we can to do that is to keep our energy up.”AYSHA AVERY

The Big Picture Top. Senior captains Aysha Avery (2) and Kayla Whitner (5) along with sophomore Bailey Carpenter (3) prepare for the serve. Carpenter is one of only two sophomores on varsity. Her father Stan Carpenter has recently coached the Lady Bears to three top three finishes (2014, 2013, 2011) in the 8-AAAAAA tournament. Bottom. In a tough rally against the GAC Spartans, the team takes time during the third set to regroup and remotivate. “Get it back,” “you got it,” and “stay active” are phrases the team said often while battling with the Spartans on Sept. 10.

Varsity volleyball begins region play, hosts Area

PHOTOS BY JORDAN STALLWORTH

The Lady Bears approach the thick of their season this week. With last Thursday’s and Saturday’s Gwin-nett County Championship behind them, the team sets up for a dominating run in region.

On Sept. 15, the team impressively handled victo-ries against Peachtree Ridge, Mill Creek, and Collins Hill, continuing their program’s tradition of being one of region eight’s most respected teams.

Last year’s team finished third in the area, which the girls are specially motivated to improve since they will be hosting the area tournament in October. By “work-ing as a team, mending together, and having fun,” the Bears look prepared for a successful postseason.

“It’s a way for us to be remember, we have to beat that team that came before us,” Avery said.

The girls’ varsity volleyball team has started off the year united and motivated. Before the team fell to GAC 1-3 on Sept. 10, all five seniors, five juniors, and two sophomores sat down for interview.

Senior captain Aysha Avery as well as senior cap-tain Kayla Whitner and senior Lauren Briggman have played all four years with varsity. They seriously under-stand the uncertainty accompanied with region games.

“Honestly, it could be anybody,” Avery said of who will win area, “North Gwinnett, Norcross. It’s whoever plays their best.”

So what makes the Lady Bears ready to dominate? Like the many set-ups between setter Avery and hitter Whitner or the one-two blocks between Briggman and fellow senior Soulette Page, there are two big factors to the Lady Bears’ domination. One, they are just begin-ning to play their best game. “I would say to my team-mates to give it their all and go after the ball, [have] en-ergy. When we have energy, we do good,” Avery said.

Two, they are determined to progress, to improve saying that their plan for measuring success is “to be the best we can be.”

Senior night is on Oct. 1. The team will play distant opponents, Centennial and West Forsyth.

JORDAN STALLWORTH ‘16

BEAR FALL PREVIEW

The new season is in full swing with a whole new freshman team and long, intense practices. “[Practice] is going great. Everyone on the team is working and playing really hard, just doing what we need to do,” freshman Thomas Stewart said. By implementing a new program that allows the younger players to practice with the varsity team, “it’s a way to make us stronger in a sense and to see what everyone’s got this year,” Stewart said. There is also a new level of expectation for the new freshmen. “[Our goal is] to go undefeated. We’re going out every day with a great attitude and working as hard as we can just to get the job done,” Stewart said.

Freshman Football

Thomas StewartWide Receiver

Freshman“The class of 2019 has stepped up their game this season. We have three freshmen on varsity, which is unusual because last year it was juniors and seniors,” junior Alexis Carter said. Hoping to make it to state this year, the cross country team began condition-ing in May to prepare. “Our team is such a great family, and we know how to race with each other now,” Carter said. Teamwork is part of any group’s success, and that’s no different for this year’s runners. “Not only are we trying to get our times down and place more in the race, but we’re all pushing each other to make that happen,” Carter said.

Cross Country

Alexis CarterRunnerJunior

With new stunts featuring liberties, a flyer specialty, and pyramids, this fall’s football cheer squad is ready for Friday night lights. “We have a lot of clinics so we can work on our stunts and stuff like that, and we have a new dance to ‘Uptown Funk’ which is really cool,” sophomore cheerleader Katie Hays said. A lot of new dances and pyramids will be displayed in the upcoming season ac-cording to Hays, and the addition of libs for the kickoff will start the game off right. So far, Hays said she is enjoying the season and is optimistic about the future of the squad.

Spirit Cheerleading

Katie HaysBase

SophomoreThe Mountain View Bears dream of state in the future and hope to get some more wins on the record. “This year we have worked harder than any other year, and it’s definitely shown out on the field,” senior varsity player Jake Adams said. “We’re trying to raise up some of the JV kids, so once they get to varsity, we can keep this tradition alive and get to the play-offs,” Adams said. Putting in work over the summer is what helped prepare the team according to Adams, and the team and coaches are all working better as a unit now.

Football

Jake AdamsLinebacker

Senior “I think the guys are putting in a lot of effort this year. We’ve got a lot of fast upperclassman guys. Of course we have Tyler Barber, number two in the state and hopefully number one this year,” senior Andrew Turner said. The boys’ team, who made it to state last year, is hoping to go back and run again. “My role is a motivator, and I just re-ally want to see my team-mates and brothers do the best they possibly can.” They have increased the pace of the season, mak-ing it tougher and hoping they’ll see improvements. “The workouts are a lot harder, a lot faster this year. It seems like we’ve just jumped right into it,” Turner said.

Cross Country

Andrew TurnerRunnerSenior

“New people are being added every day, and with all the new freshman coming on too, we’ll just have to see how the com-petitions go,” sophomore competition cheerleader Hayley Goldsmith said. This year, the squad’s main goal is to make top 16 at state, making it even further than they did last year at section-als. “We’re working our hardest to get to where we were last year, even though we don’t have the same people,” Goldsmith said. The new additions can pose some challenges, but they’re trying their hardest to take it to the next level according to Goldsmith.

Competition Cheer

Hayley GoldsmithFlyer

Sophomore “So far, we haven’t won any [games], but in our hearts, we feel that as the games have gone on, we have improved. To work together really well, teamwork, that’s our goal,” freshman volleyball player Morgan Fur-ness said. According to Furness, the team plans to develop teamwork skills by putting in more work at practice that will help it win games in the future. “The more effort we put into practice, the better our games end up looking, even if we may not win,” Furness said. Coach Booker expects the best out of her players, and Furness acknowledges this even through the discipline of practice.

Volleyball

Morgan FurnessMiddle Hitter

Freshman

Stepping up to bat, the softball team is looking to make it to state this year accord-ing to two varsity players, senior Shae Balzer and junior Madolyn “Mooch” Packer. “We could be doing a lot better right now. [This season] isn’t going as expected,” pitcher and outfielder Balzer said.

With a record of 3-7, the ladies are hoping to finish the season with a winning record.

“We’re going to become a better team as a whole and hopefully end up higher in our region than we are right now,” Balzer said.

“Well, [the season] is going. We just have to click. It was like that last year when we started out, kind of rough, but we got together and went on a winning streak, so hopefully that happens again,” shortstop and outfielder Madolyn Packer said.

Teamwork and team bonding are a big part of working together out on the field according to Packer, who said the team was hanging out a lot to try and help achieve their goals of the state playoffs.

BY NIA-SIMONE ECCLESTON & CAROLINE WIRL

SOFTBALLShae Balzer & Madolyn Packer

PHOTOS BY CAROLINE WIRL

PHOTO BY MAGIC MOMENT PHOTO BY K. OLIVIER

SPORTS16 Volume 4, Issue 1