BY HUNTER CARRANZA T he 2012 AHS Dance Show, Dance Revolution, took place on May 12 at 7 p.m. at the Atascadero Junior High. The show featured students from the dance classes at AHS, and there were many different genres of dance performed, along with group and solo performances. Alan Pietsch is the dance teacher and was the producer and director for the show. The dance classes did not start working on the show until late this year; they did not decide to do a dance show until March. Mr. Pietsch hired Desire Brush to teach the Advance dance class a hip-hop dance. Mr. Pietsch commented, “We re- hearsed mostly in our class, but the student choreographers Kayla Morrow, Star Santi- ago, Olga Siebrass, Stephanie Dever, Alyssa Mackey, David Ramos, Alyssa Brown, Matisse Swanson, Karin Corria and Marissa Rush rehearsed completely on their own time, mostly weekends, after school, and holidays.” Choreographers volunteered to help with the dance show. Next year, there will be auditions for the choreographers and they will be chosen by a panel of judges. It was not mandatory for all of the students in the dance classes to perform in the show, although it has been in the past. A group of 15 dancers performed the first piece, titled “Ooh-La-la,” with music by Vishal Shekar. It was wonderfully cho- reographed and was a unique dance be- cause of the Indian beat and melody. Another performance that stood out due to the choreography was “Invasion de Gaga”. It was choreographed by Star San- tiago and performed by Alyssa Brown, Alicia Clark, Amina Irvin, Ari Lago- marsino, Star Santiago, and Olga Siebress. The music was a compilation of Lady Gaga songs and the choreography featured balancing on chairs and raising stunts. The finale was performed by all of the com- pany dancers, dancing to “Rock this Party” by Bob Sinclair. The dance show is one of the main performing arts shows that AHS features throughout the year that is composed of al- most all student work. The dance show is annual, although they had a Flash Mob last fall. Next year, Mr. Pietsch hopes to add more shows in other school districts and at community events. Over 50 years of excellence in student journalism | Issue 80 Volume 9 | June 8, 2012 Atascadero High School Student Journalism Published by Atascadero News Editor: Brianna Yancheson HILLTOP NEWS Dance Revolution was a stunning blend of AHS student dancers Photo by Lauren Austin Kayla Morrow leaps over Joseph Burkett during the triumphant return of the annual AHS dance show.
Transcript
BY HUNTER CARRANZA
The 2012 AHS Dance Show, DanceRevolution, took place on May 12at 7 p.m. at the Atascadero Junior
High. The show featured students fromthe dance classes at AHS, and there weremany different genres of dance performed,along with group and solo performances.Alan Pietsch is the dance teacher and wasthe producer and director for the show.The dance classes did not start working on
the show until late this year; they did notdecide to do a dance show until March.Mr. Pietsch hired Desire Brush to teachthe Advance dance class a hip-hop dance.
Mr. Pietsch commented, “We re-hearsed mostly in our class, but the studentchoreographers Kayla Morrow, Star Santi-ago, Olga Siebrass, Stephanie Dever,Alyssa Mackey, David Ramos, AlyssaBrown, Matisse Swanson, Karin Corriaand Marissa Rush rehearsed completelyon their own time, mostly weekends, after
school, and holidays.”Choreographers volunteered to help
with the dance show. Next year, there willbe auditions for the choreographers andthey will be chosen by a panel of judges. Itwas not mandatory for all of the studentsin the dance classes to perform in theshow, although it has been in the past.
A group of 15 dancers performed thefirst piece, titled “Ooh-La-la,” with musicbyVishal Shekar. It was wonderfully cho-reographed and was a unique dance be-cause of the Indian beat and melody.
Another performance that stood outdue to the choreography was “Invasion deGaga”. It was choreographed by Star San-tiago and performed by Alyssa Brown,
Alicia Clark, Amina Irvin, Ari Lago-marsino, Star Santiago, and Olga Siebress.The music was a compilation of LadyGaga songs and the choreography featuredbalancing on chairs and raising stunts. Thefinale was performed by all of the com-pany dancers, dancing to “Rock this Party”by Bob Sinclair.
The dance show is one of the mainperforming arts shows that AHS featuresthroughout the year that is composed of al-most all student work. The dance show isannual, although they had a Flash Mob lastfall. Next year, Mr. Pietsch hopes to addmore shows in other school districts and atcommunity events.
Over 50 years of excellence in student journalism | Issue 80 Volume 9 | June 8, 2012
Atascadero High SchoolStudent Journalism
Published byAtascadero News
Editor: BriannaYancheson
HILLTOP NEWSDance Revolution was a stunning blend of
AHS student dancers
Photo by Lauren Austin
Kayla Morrow leaps over Joseph Burkett during the triumphant return of the annual AHSdance show.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 2 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
BY OLIVIA DOBBS
On Thursday, May 24,Atascadero High Schoolheld their annual schol-
arship night in the gym at 6:30p.m. Parents and students arrivedto receive their awards afterbeing invited to the event. Manyof the students did not knowwhich scholarships they wouldbe awarded. During the event,parents sat in the bleachers whilestudents sat on the floor in chairs,in front of the stage where Mr.Rossi, the master of ceremoniesof the night, introduced the peo-ple giving out the awards and thestudents that were receivingthem. Overall, 99 different stu-dents were awarded 173 differentscholarships, andAtascadero stu-dents made over $140,000 intotal. The community is very in-volved in the high school’sscholarship night, and the Atas-cadero branches of the Kiwanisand Rotary Clubs, as well as theLeverenz foundation, gave themost money to students. Kiwanisgave $11,000, Rotary gave$22,575, and Leverenz gave$23,000 dollars to different de-serving students.
About 63 different organi-
zations or people of the commu-nity helped in funding the schol-arships, while AHS Boostersalso supported the kids. Each or-
ganization of boosters for band,choir, drama, and FFA gave dif-ferent amounts to different stu-dents for their involvement and
achievement in their organiza-tions throughout the years.Some of the most high-earningstudents of the night were
Hunter Scroggins, Ryan De-Busk, and Ellen Davis for theirinvolvement in different organi-zations, as well as their highachievement in school, whichmade them perfect candidates.The Atascadero Land Preserva-tion Society (ALPS) and Atas-cadero Native Tree Association(ANTA) gave scholarships toHaley Trengove and StephanieTonegato for their commitmentto the environment and theirpromises to further their educa-tion in environmental studies.
Davis Cracknell wasawarded a scholarship for foot-ball and received a football thatwas used during a professionalgame along with his scholarship.Grace Pappas was awarded theGreyhound spirit scholarship forher commitment to the schooland being a cheerleader as wellas participating in leadership fora number of years. Jessie Huf-stetler and Logan Sprouse closedout the night being awarded theathlete of the year scholarshipbased on amount of letters re-ceived for different sports as wellas achievement in those sports.Each student was a three-sportathlete for most or their entirehigh school career.
BY JENNIFER BELCHER
Recently, the AtascaderoHigh School’s seniorswent on a senior-only
field trip to Cuesta CommunityCollege. The trip took place onWednesday, May 23, which wasorganized by the counselors andprincipal Mr. Rossi. Each seniorwas given the task to fill out anonline orientation with an oppor-tunity to sign up to attend thetrip, which lasted from 9 a.m. to12:30 p.m.
Once there, the seniors weredivided up into three differentgroups: those who wanted anAAdegree (two years), those whowanted to transfer to a CSU, andthose who wanted to transfer to aUC or private college afterCuesta.
Counselors from CuestaCollege helped the students setuptheir schedules for this upcomingfall semester, as well as givehelpful tips and tricks on gettingin and out of Cuesta fast. Somestudents were a little over-
whelmed with the new knowl-edge that they were now fully re-sponsible for their own lives.They also pointed out to the sen-iors that as individuals, they werethe ones attending Cuesta, nottheir parents.
Senior Denise Carigo ex-plained her dilemma on pickingher classes, “It’s really frustrat-ing when you want to have cer-tain classes with your friends,then when you try to add otherclasses you realize that yourschedule starts to clash.”
Counselors stressed that stu-dents needed to always checkwith the office, check theirCuesta emails, and ask them anyquestions they needed to makesure they stayed on top of things.Advisors stated that they as sen-iors were here at this workshopto make a schedule as close toperfect as possible.
Another senior, TimmiMcCall, added, “The coun-selors were very helpful whileI made my schedule as I no-ticed that some classes I really
needed to take ended andstarted five minutes apart andwere across campus. They sug-gested which classes were bet-ter for morning and whichclasses I needed to take beforepicking up another.”
Although the fall term forCuesta starts Aug. 20, there isalso still time for seniors to signup for the summer term if theychoose. Students can talk to theircounselors or call the CuestaCollege Office for more infor-mation or to ask any questions.
Scholarship Night awards over $140,000to AHS seniors
Cuesta field trip helps seniors prepare for future
Photo by Olivia Dobbs
Seniors David Mulder, Katie Nisbet, Amber Harbottle, Erin Morey, and Roberto Orozco accept local scholar-ships.
Thursday, May 18, the Top 30 sen-iors of AHS were honored with aceremony in the AHS gym. The
ceremony lasted from 6:30 p.m. to almost10 p.m., and the seniors and families wereable to enjoy delicious cupcakes through-out the night.At the ceremony, the Englishteachers Ms. Hayes and Ms. Corey, andhistory teacher Mr. Cabrera, talked aboutthe top 30 seniors’many accomplishmentsand future goals. To earn a Top 30 spot, theseniors had to not only achieve academi-cally, but also had to have communityservice experience, letters of recommen-dation, and known for service to theirschool.
Many of the parents were sentimentalas their sons or daughters were called tostand up in front of the room to be hon-ored. Madison Long commented on beingone of the Top 30 seniors, “It’s a totalhonor and feels really cool to get all myfour years of hard work and accomplish-ments recognized.”
Every student had somethinguniquely special about them, and all the
teachers did a fantastic job of fitting somany accomplishments into a short butmeaningful speech. The students also re-ceived a medal, certificate, and a copy ofthe speech that was given about them.Students were called in random order,and many students admitted they werenervous or anxious about when theirtime would come to approach thepodium. As the speech was given abouteach of the Top 30 seniors, a slideshowplayed in the background of variousphotographs that the students or theirparents submitted.
The Top 30 students of AHS areOlivia Dobbs, Stephanie Tonegato, OliviaHolt, Catherine Gayaldo, MatthewDucasse, Madison Long, Matthew Rus-sell, Kelly Boicourt, Ilona Istenes, JuliaFranco, Taylor Sturtevant, MichelleTarango, Allen Bailey, Andrew Bergdorf,Shelby Hendrickson, Lauryn Cooper,Brenda Garcia, Samanatha Simonini,Grace Pappas, Rhiannon Dudley, DanyeleRampone, Lisa Ferguson, KatherineSt.Clair, Jordan Sligh, Madison Sills,Kieran Beccia, Ryan Debusk, Caleb Mott,Samuel Rabellino, and Ellen Davis.
Top 30 night honorsvariety of seniors
Photo by Jackie Fleming
Top 30 senior Caleb Mott receives his medal and certificate from Principal Rossi.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 4 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
editorials
EDITORIAL BYJACKIE FLEMING
High school is an interesting periodin one’s life. Throughout my per-sonal experience, I’ve been fortu-
nate enough to have wonderful teachersand classes at AHS. Although I would notpredict high school to be the best time inmy life, it has been a good run, and I feelas if my experience was that of the aver-age teenager. There are some things I wishI knew coming into high school thoughthat I feel would have helped me through-out the journey.
First of all, I really wish I understoodhow important grades and study habitswere as an underclassman. I knew theywere an essential part of getting into agood college and keeping my parents offmy back, but I don’t think I truly graspedjust how vital they are. We all only get to
experience high school once; one shot, andone chance to get it right. Studying hard inhigh school should be something a gradu-ate can look back on and be proud of. Astudent should not only pass in highschool, they should achieve.
The second thing I wish I knew com-ing into high school was that bad thingsthat happen in high school are not the endof the world. To all those freshmen andsophomore girls out there: life will go on.So many times throughout my high schoolexperience I would blow the tiniest prob-lem out of proportion to where it seemedmy world was just going to end right thereand then. I don’t think I understood thathigh school is only four years in a person’slife, not a very long time in the long run.Eventually the problem a person has inhigh school will soon become just a mem-ory as they get older, until it is not eventhat, but a faint remembrance at the back
of a person’s brain. I’ve found that I oftenlook back on my experiences as a fresh-men or sophomore and laugh at howridiculously dramatic I was about a certainsituation. I would think that because I did-n’t wear the right shoes with the right shirt,I looked like an idiot. Now I look back andthink, “Who really cares, no one probablyeven noticed, and certainly no one re-members now.”
The third and final piece of knowledgeI would pass on to underclassmen is to sim-ply have fun throughout the high school ex-perience. People only get to do it once, sothey should make sure to do it right. Getgood grades, and very importantly treasureeach and every friend you make. Enjoythose painfully awkward situations andlaugh about them, because before youknow it you will be graduating and you’llwant to have those fun high school memo-ries to look back and smile on.
EDITORIALBY OLIVIA DOBBS
Atthis point in time, most seniorsin high school are all thinkingthe same thing: “We’re finally
graduating.” Most seniors are excited forthe next steps in their lives, as I am. I amgoing to UC Santa Cruz next fall andcan’t wait to meet new people, experi-ence new things, and even just live in anew place. But what most seniors avoidthinking about is what else is going tohappen when we leave and I think thequote that signifies what no one wants toaccept yet is, “Moving on is simple. It’swhat we leave behind that’s hard.”
We’re not only leaving behind ourfamilies, but also the friends most of ushave known our whole lives, as well asour comfort zones and the knowledge ofa safety net. It’s no doubt that in highschool most students really only have toworry about school a little bit, andmaybe extracurricular activities. But alot of time is spent just enjoying being akid, because our parents are there to takecare of us and make sure we have mini-mal things to worry about. All these as-surances disappear when we head off tocollege.
I think that no matter what happensin this next step, we really aren’t leavingeverything behind. We have our memo-ries and friends and families to supportus. But creating new memories is just asimportant as remembering the old. So,to this years’ senior class I say, “Goodluck and have the time of your life!”
An AHS senior reflects andgives advice to underclassmen
AHSsenior
commentson thenext stepafter highschool
EDITORIAL BYVALENTINE SOTO
Recently I have learned that CampKEEP (Kern Environmental Edu-cation Program) has banned per-
sons under the age of 18 from beingcounselors for the sixth graders that attend.I was absolutely outraged when I heardthis; there is so much that can be learned atCamp KEEP, both for high school-agedand younger students.
Last year, my sophomore year, I wasselected after an interviewing process toaccompany Monterey Road ElementarySchool as a high school counselor. I ac-quired relationships with the younger stu-dents that could not be matched; theylooked up to me and believed I could shareknowledge with them that none othercould. It was a learning experience that ul-timately helped me acquire my first job.
It’s also a very impressive volunteer serv-ice that can go on any application, includ-ing those for colleges.
Originally, it seemed as if Mr. Rossi,the AHS principal, and the AtascaderoHigh School Administration was keepingtheir students from attending; however,Mr. Rossi cleared things up and stated,“It’s not our decision, the superintendentof Camp KEEP has made it a rule that stu-dents under the age of 18 must still be ac-companied by an adult. So, that just meansthat if we were to send a student, then wewould also have to include an adult chap-erone.”
By making this a rule there is a con-nection that is completely lost; sixthgraders look up to adults like parents, butthey look up to a high school student likewe are omniscient; I know this specificallyfrom experience. The students look at thisopportunity as a vacation, so they naturally
want to slack off and pay less attention tothe scientific lectures about the environ-ment. When an adult punishes the kids fornot paying attention, but then also doesn’tpay attention themselves, the students takethat as a free opportunity to pay evenLESS attention. The difference is thatwhen a high school student is paying at-tention, the younger students find it moreappealing for themselves.
Then there is the level of connectionthat the counselors and younger studentsmake. I met a kid last year that had similarinterests to those I had when I was his age.We spent as much time as we could talkingabout stuff we liked, and at the end of thetrip the kid asked me if we could playvideogames together someday. So I gavehim my contact information and said mygoodbyes to him. It was an amazing expe-rience and the deprivation will be dullynoted as the last week of school goes by.
As is tradition at Atas-cadero High, the seniorswill take all their course
finals a week ahead of the under-classmen to give them a week todo senior-related year-end activ-ities.
Senior’s first and third pe-riod finals are started Tuesday,Jun. 5, and finals continued
throughout the week until Friday,June 8, the last academic day forseniors. Monday of that weekwill be seniors’ last regular evenday, which is their sign out day.
One of the more fun end-of-the-year activities the seniors getto participate in is the annualBaccalaureate, which is an inter-faith commencement ceremonyfor the Class of 2012. Aslideshow will be presented
along with many other activities.The Baccalaureate will be heldin the Atascadero Bible Churchat 7p.m. on Sunday, June 10, andwill have no entry fee.
Monday, June 11, seniorshave the option to attend theSenior Luau, which will be heldat the AHS upper practice fieldand will start at 4p.m. The stu-dents are encouraged to wearHawaiian attire and to bring a
towel and beach chair. The eventis sure to be fun, and seniorswho would like to participate inwater events are urged to bring abathing suit.
The following day after theLuau, on Tuesday June 8, sen-iors were invited to the annualsenior breakfast at the AHSsnack bar, which started at 8:30in the morning. The breakfastwas sponsored by Atascadero
Kiwanis Club and was served tothe students prior to graduationrehearsal. Graduation rehearsalis mandatory and will last from9:30 a.m. after breakfast untilnoon.
The graduation ceremonyfor the Class of 2012 is sched-uled for Wednesday, June 13 at4 p.m. seniors will need to meetan hour before at 3 p.m. in theEwing Gym.
Seniors will experience special year-end activities
BY DYLAN CHAMBLESS
Atascadero High School’sAP Statis-tics and Interactive Mathematicsclasses held a statistics fair on
Monday, May 21 during study hall andTuesday, May 22 during all periods. Thestudents used the statistical analysis tech-niques that they had learned throughout theyear and applied them to a research ques-tion of their choice. Some students chose totest marketing claims or gender preferencesof colors, skills, and flavors. According toMs. White, the AP Statistics teacher, “Thisproject helps enhance students’ self-aware-
ness of their own learning.”During study hall and certain
classes, random students would come toparticipate in the stats fair. Some of theexperiments tested included: if peoplepreferred store bought cookies vs. home-made cookies, the overall most populartype of music among students, as well asa variety of gender surveys, taste tests,and activities. “I am humbled and thank-ful for the willingness of my colleaguesto bring their classes to participate,” saidMs. White. All in all, the AP Statisticsfair was a great success and also pro-vided answers to many questions amongstudents.
AP Statistics Fair was agreat learning experience
BY VALENTINE SOTO
There is a new program starting thissummer known asYouth Ride Free.This program allows students K-12
to ride transit vehicles all summer long ab-solutely free; the students need simply to
present their student ID to the driver.The free transportation vehicles in-
volved include: RTA, South County Tran-sit, SLO Transit, Atascadero Transit, andMorro Bay Transit FIXED routes. Moreinformation can be found at TakeTran-sit.org.
Youth has free pass ontransit all summer
Photo by Lauren Austin
Statistician Bailey Taunt gathers date from a Stats Fair participant.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 6 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
BY GRACE SANDERS
May is National Bike Month, andon May 9 in a family-orientedevent, riders were encouraged to
cycle to visit downtown locations. The cy-clists started at the Community Center onTraffic Way and finished at Galaxy The-ater on El Camino Real. The main organ-izer of the event was Tom O’ Malley,former Atascadero mayor. There was alsoa bike valet service provided by San LuisObispo Bike Coalition for the participat-ing cyclists once the ride was finished.
After the ride was finished, the cy-clists joined together inside Galaxy The-ater for free pizza and root beer along witha free movie. The cyclists began their rideat 3:30p.m. and ended at 4:45p.m., whichwas when the movie began. Celebrating
Bike Month is an exciting event for SanLuis Obispo County. May is not over yet,so there are still plenty of opportunities toget involved in this fun event.
Also, on May 29, the AHS Bike Clubhad their year-long drawing for the grandprize: a mountain bike Mr. Cabrera gener-ously donated along with other prizes do-nated by the community. All year theAHSBike Club members got one drawing ticketfor each club meeting they attended andthree tickets for each club bike ride theyparticipated in. The winners of the draw-ing were: Chad Lagomarsino, who wonthe mountain bike, Heidi Huntington, whowon a bike light, along withAline DeLucaand Sierra Kindel, who each won a waterbottle cage for their bicycles. Ms. Derycongratulated all the winners and partici-pants.
Bike to Bites promotesfun way to celebrate
Bike Month
Photo submitted
Winner Chad Lagomarsino and Mr. Cabrera, who donated the mountain bike.
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FromFriday, May 18 to Monday, May21, a handful of astronomy studentsat AHS went on a weekend field trip
to view the solar eclipse. On the first day ofthe trip, the students had the privilege ofvisiting the California Academy of the Sci-ences (Natural Science Museum and Plane-tarium), and the Golden Gate Bridge in SanFrancisco. Saturday, the students and Mr.Hollis, the astronomy teacher, drove downto a campground near Lassen Volcano Parkin anticipation of the solar eclipse.
Sunday, the day of the solar eclipse, thestudents stood in a meadow surrounded bya forest, and listened to jams like JohnnyCash’s “Ring of Fire,” as they awaited thesight of the eclipse.Viewing the eclipse wasdescribed as an “amazing and electrifying”experience. Mr. Hollis commented, “It wasespecially spectacular because we all hadeclipse glasses and a telescope with a solarfilter.”
One of the highlights of the viewing ofthe solar eclipse was the ring of fire, which
is the bright ring and light of the sun thatforms around the dark shape of the moon.Another highlight of the trip was the MakerFaire, which was a collection of things forsale made by inventors and craftspeople.The students had a fun time looking aroundat all the electronic and scientific inven-tions, numerous crafts, and even some greentechnology.
A solar eclipse, which only happenson average between two to five times ayear, is a phenomenal, natural event, andsomething astronomy students had longanticipated. Mr. Hollis commented, “Theannual eclipse will not be seen by most ofthe world and we needed to have an ad-venture to see it. On the way we experi-enced new landscapes, had newexperiences, and developed closer friend-ships. It is these types of adventures thatgive students a passion to learn and expe-rience and bring them closer to under-standing the natural world around them. Ithelps promote enthusiasm for the gift oflife.”
Astronomy students travel to experience spectacularsolar eclipse
BY BRIANNA YANCHESON
Ms.Accord’s interior design andsewing classes recently createda fun way to help out the Atas-
cadero community. Students formedgroups and designed and created quilts tobe given to charities and organizations thatincluded Social Services, North CountyWomen’s Shelter, Camp Reach for theStars, and El Camino Homeless Associa-tion. The quilts were made in stepsthroughout several months during secondsemester and about 50 quilts were created.This is the first year that the classes un-dertook this project, which was funded bythe Committee for Atascadero PublicSchools (CAPS).
During class from May 29 to Jun. 1,the groups of students were scheduled toread about different charities and select theone they wanted to give their quilt to andthe approximate age and gender of the re-cipient. The finished quilts were then dis-
played in the library on Jun. 1 for staff,CAPS members, and various communitymembers to view, who then voted on theirfavorite quilts during a staff meeting. Thetop three viewer’s choice winners receivedprizes; the first place group prize was$100, second place prize was $75, andthird place prize was $50. The quilts werethen distributed by the Almond CountryQuilt Guild, which greatly supported theproject and provided much of the fabricused for the quilts.
The community service quilt projecttaught the sewing and interior design stu-dents the complex process of creatingquilts while also providing an opportunityto bring a little joy to fellow communitymembers in need. Ms.Accord commented,“It’s really amazing to see all the diversityof designs. Students were really creativewith color and created an array of quiltsthat will become treasured and loved heir-looms for those who receive them.”
Interior design, sewing classes create happinessin folds of fabric
Photo submitted
Armed with special glasses, students from Mr. Hollis’s Astronomy class view the raresolar eclipse.
Photo by Brianna Yancheson
Sienna Shahan and Melody Ayers work on their quilt, which was judged last week anddonated to a local charity.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 8 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
Photo by Catherine Gayaldo
Senior Ilona Istenes, founder of the new Feminist Club, addresses members during alunchtime meeting.
Devastating disease befalls former AHS math teacher
Feminist Club new to AHS
BY VALENTINE SOTO
Former Atascadero HighSchool teacher, Ms.French, felt the love and
support of her Atascadero com-munity family. At the walk forALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Scle-rosis), also known as LouGehrig’s Disease, Team Frenchraised over $11,000 to help sup-port Ms. French in her fight.
Mrs. French was anAP Sta-tistics and Algebra 2 teacher;however, last school year shewas offered a job as a math pro-fessor at Cal Poly. She currentlycontinues to teach, but she hasbeen reduced to a walker; lastfall she was her healthy, ram-bunctious self. Mrs. French wasa true inspiration inside and out-side of the classroom; from run-ning marathons to guaranteeinga learning experience in herclass, she touched more peoplethan any one person could
imagine.On May 30 from 3:30 to
7:00 at the Fire Station on Traf-ficWay, theAtascadero Fire De-partment had a “drive-through”BBQ to help raise money tocover costs for a wheelchair andother medical needs.
There is still more that canbe done to help; there is an ac-count at SESLOC FederalCredit Union in Atascaderowhere donations can be placed.Checks should be made out toeither Christy French or GeorgeO. French with the accountnumber 366471. Contributionswill be accepted at any SES-LOC branch; the French familyis looking for any and all dona-tions to help purchase necessi-ties that may be needed in thevery near future. Such necessi-ties include, but are not limitedto: ramps, lifts, special beds,adapted showers, and powerchairs.
BY CATHERINE GAYALDO
Atascadero High School has a newclub on campus; the FeministClub now meets every Wednes-
day in H-4. The club was founded onApr. 20, and aims to educate the campusabout feminist goals and theories. Theidea for the club came from senior andfounder Ilona Istenes, who got the idea tostart this club from her brother, an AHSalumnus.
The club hopes to foster positiveconnections with other clubs on campusas well as with off-campus organizations.Founders of the club Ilona Istenes andMikeala Raphael were interviewed byJenny Adams on the 920 KVEC radioshow. On the show, they talked abouttheir motives for starting the FeministClub and their goals and aspirations forthe organization. On Wednesday, May30, the class officers for the 2012-2013school year were elected. The FeministClub has just under fifteen students, both
male and female, and hopes to gain morewithin the years to come. Over the sum-mer, the Feminist Club plans to read thebook The Purity Myth, by JessicaValenti.
The presidents are Mikeala Raphaeland Aubrey Rossi, the vice president isJessica Wilkins, the treasurer is GiannaAlessi, the event planner is RichardToohey, the secretary is Camille High-land, and the publicist is Delaney Scott.Although the club is new, they are al-ready making plans for next year: help-ing the women's shelter, invitingspeakers, promoting open discussionsabout the ideals of feminism, andfundraising for the National Organizationfor Women.
Junior Richard Toohey spoke on be-half of the club, saying, “We want equal-ity.We want women to have the ability tochoose what kind of lifestyle they wantto live. Whether they want to be a stay athome mom or an independent woman,we support their choice, and above all weare not men-haters.”
Photo submitted
Former math teacher Christie French is surrounded by Team French at a benefit walk.
Love Out Loud Campaign inspireshope for AHS students
BY CATHERINE GAYALDO
Lastmonth,Atascadero High Schoolpeer mentoring class put on theLove Out Loud Campaign to pro-
mote awareness about depression, suicide,and self-injury. The tagline of the eventwas “Hope is real, Help is real, your storyis important.” This is the second year thatAtascadero High School put on this event.The Atascadero High School peer classspent many months planning and organiz-ing this campaign.Although each year hasa different color scheme and tagline, themessage is always the same: to help stu-dents develop a greater understanding ofmental illness and learn how to help them-selves and their friends,
The event was during the week ofMay 14-18. May 14, the band Callista per-formed, May 15 and 16 desserts were soldand members of the peer class wrote pos-itive encouragement on the arms of stu-dents, statistics about mental illness wereread, and students anonymously wrotedown their stories of hope and hurt. Thestories that were written down then werehung on a string for others to read and un-derstand they are not alone. Friday, May18, students expressed their artistic capa-bility by drawing with chalk in the bowland cupcakes were given away. T- shirtsdisplaying the Love Out Loud tagline werealso sold for $10 during the event. MariahGasch said, “Having love written on my
arm was a reminder of how valuable mylife is.”
Leader of the Love Out Loud Cam-paign, Sam Simonini said, “Our goal is re-
ally to stop the stigma that comes alongwith mental illness; we want the studentsto know they are valued, loved, and thathelp is real.”
Photo by Valentine Soto
Juniors Thomas Arndt and Sam Jacobs set up for lunchtime Love Out Loud activitiespromoting emotional health.
REVIEW BY SIERRA SIMMONS
The Jun. 2 Choir Showcase, “TVTime,” was a wonderful perform-ance filled with exciting and ener-
getic numbers. However, I’m forced towonder how such selections as “GirlsRock the 80’s,” “Vogue,” “Bon Jovi Med-ley,” and the senior song “Good Riddance”by Green Day are TV-themed. They wereall wonderfully performed, and the seniorsong was touching, but where in televisioncan one them other than MTV?
It was a very good show and one thatI would enjoy seeing again and again. Iwas thrilled at the wonderful choreogra-phy of both Show Choir, choreographedby Sam Fierro, Nicole Huffman, and LuluMack, and Advanced Women’s Choir,choreographed by Jayde Forzetting, EmilyIngram, and April Pandosh. “Rumor HasIt,” which was featured in an episode ofGlee, was very strong both vocally and inattitude, and as always the Irish blessing atthe end was truly touching. With all thisgreat talent, I greatly look forward to fu-ture choir performances.
‘TV Time’showcasedtalented
AHS singers,dancers
Atascadero’s writing students win at county levelBY JACKIE FLEMING
Atascadero High had four firstplace winners in the San LuisObispo Writing contest, which
takes the best writing submissions fromall the county schools and judges themaccording to their categories and gradelevel.
Every public high school in SLOCounty participated in the writing con-test, so it is extremely impressive to winat the county level. In the poetry cate-gory, AHS sophomore Dylan Chamblesswon first place for her outstanding poem,“I am From a Place Called NewMexico.”Also in the poetry category, sophomore
Carla Cary won first place for her poem,“The Piñata.” The winners attended anaward ceremony at Laguna MiddleSchool in the gym on May 21. Winnersreceived a medal and a certificate, andsome students were asked to recite theirwork at the assembly. 4.000 studentsfrom first to twelfth grade entered thewriting contest, and the best, most cre-ative pieces were chosen.
Freshmen Albina Hartlein also tookfirst place in the poetry category for herpoem entitled “What am I?” In the writ-ing categoryAtascadero senior StephanieTonegato took first place with her ex-traordinary expository entry on the Key-stone Pipeline.
Atascadero High also had many hon-orable mentioned (runners-up) within thecounty writing contest. SophomoreDavid Bravo was noticed for his poem,“The Place.”
Honorable mentioned writing win-ners included: sophomore Karla An-guiano for her expository piece titled,“Dystopian Words”; sophomore UrielJimenez, in the personal experience cate-gory for her paper, “Destiny to USA”;junior Robert Kaye in the personal expe-rience category for his piece called,“Why Me Why Not”; and senior JackieFleming in the personal experience cate-gory for her essay titled, “Father.”
Photo by Dillon Chambless
Sophomore Carla Cary accepts herCounty Writing Contest first place award.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 10 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
Ryan Cowan createsthriving greenhouse project
at AHSBY HUNTER CARRANZA
Senior Ryan Cowan has more on hismind than senior pranks and GradNite. Cowan has a senior project that
he has been working hard on all schoolyear. He grows and harvests vegetables ina greenhouse and in a vegetable patch hereon campus near the H-building.
His aide, Cecilia Viscarra, introducedhim to growing plants and vegetables.“My aide taught me how to grow all of thevegetables. It’s a fun project that we’vebeen working on a lot,” Ryan said happilywhile showing off his prospering plants.
Mr. Weatherly helped Cowan startgrowing and making the project reallyhappen. Their project has been running offof donations of plants, vegetables, andmoney. Currently, Cowan andViscarra are
growing a variety of things like snow peas,tomatoes, bell peppers, and lettuce.
Cowan is putting on a fundraiser toraise money to purchase more plants, soil,and supplies for the classes of next year.Not only are they raising money for thegreen house and the vegetable patch butalso for the agriculture classroom. Cowanis concerned about the classroom due tothe budget cuts, and he wants the nextyears’ classes to have supplies to keep thegrowing going.
Not only does Cowan grow and har-vest his own vegetables, he also makesrabbit cages for the campus. He has a jobat Miners in a harvesting program as well.He hopes to save up money from workingso he can move out after graduating.Cowan hopes to leave AHS with a legacyof keeping vegetable-growing alive.
Photo by Sidney Waymire
Senior Ryan Cowan shows off his greenhouse project.
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Atthe Edward Jones Dome in St.Louis, Missouri, 30,000 peopleconsisting of participants, fans,
families, educators, and industry leaderscelebrated students’ engineering and ro-botics prowess at the annual FIRST (ForInspiration and Recognition of Scienceand Technology) Championship. Ac-complished inventor Dean Kamenfounded FIRST in 1989 to inspire an ap-preciation of science and technology inyoung people. FIRST designs accessible,innovative programs to build self-confi-dence, knowledge, and life skills whilemotivating young people to pursue op-portunities in science, technology, andengineering.With the support from threeout of every five Fortune 500 companiesand nearly $15 million in college schol-arships, the non-profit organization hostsmultiple competitions that welcomecompetitors from the age of six to highschool level. The FIRST Robotics Com-petition is the noted level for high schoolstudents.
This year marked the 21st season ofthe FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC)high-school-level program. FRC com-bines sports excitement with the rigorsof science and technology. Under strictrules, limited resources, and time limits,teams are challenged to fundraise, designa brand, exercise teamwork, and buildand program robots to perform tasksagainst competitors. In its initial compe-tition year, FIRST hosted an FRC pro-gram with 28 teams in a New Hampshirehigh school gym; this year, 2,343 FIRSTteams in 12 countries participated in 52Regional events, 15 District Competi-tions, and two Regional Championships.This year’s FRC challenge was “Re-bound Rumble,” where matches areplayed between twoAlliances comprisedof three teams each. EachAlliance com-petes by trying to score as many basket-balls into the hoops as possible duringthe two-minute and 15-second match.Balls scored in hoops that are raisedhigher then others score more points.
Pop superstar, will.i.am, was onhand this year to kick off the week-longevent, meet teams, and take part in a cer-emony and new innovation competition.
Major awards were presented by seniorofficials from the U.S. Air Force, U.S.Army, U.S. Department of Energy, andNASA; executives fromAutodesk, Boe-ing, General Motors, PTC, Microsoft,Google, and Rockwell Automation werealso present.
Three teams won the final show-down and earned the coveted FIRST Ro-botics Competition ChampionshipWinning Alliance. Although the Grey-hound Revolutionary Robotics team did-n’t win the championship, they wereawarded honors for design excellence.
Lisa Ferguson, a senior from Atas-cadero High School and member of theGreyhound Revolutionary Roboticsteam, commented on her feelings aboutreceiving such an award, “It was a hugehonor. I am proud to be part of a teamthat is deemed the engineering standardfor all other teams to follow. I am gladthat all of our hard work throughout theseason was recognized in such an amaz-ing way.”
Robotics competition in St. Louis Missouriwelcomes AHS robotics team
In “green elective” at AHS, the classgiven to freshmen Greenhounds, stu-dents have been studying ways to be
sustainable in their households and as acommunity. Recently a group of Biologyteachers and AP Biology students fromLos Osos High School conducted a pres-entation of a “green trailer” sitting in TheBowl. All green hounds classes visited thegreen trailer, took a guided tour of it, andlearned ways to gain sustainable habits.Greenhounds also learned about eco-friendly materials they could use when
constructing a house or building.The trailer also had a game outside of
it for the waiting students. All the studentshad to do was pick up a piece of the pro-vided material, surrounding the center ofthe game-board, and guess what sustain-able material it matched up to. FreshmanEmily Kidd said, “I think it was awesomefor students to learn about how to be moresustainable.”
The green trailer did well in teachingstudents about how to protect the environ-ment they live in, and proved beneficial forall students and staff that participated.
Photo submitted
Greybots Oliver Curry and Chanel Crespin are at the controls of their robot during the recent world championship competition.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 12 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
Career fair at AHS inspiresstudents for the future
BY VALENTINE SOTO
On Wednesday, May 23, Atas-cadero High School hosted a ca-reer fair from the beginning of
lunch to the end of the day. This event is inalignment with many items involved inWASC, which is the school credibility ad-ministration. The career fair helps kidsprepare for their post high school achieve-ments.
There were plenty of things to dis-cover for kids who are still unsure of their
future; things to discover included: I Face-book for a Living; “The Party”Workshop;Who Drives a Boat to Work; Dress 4 Suc-cess Workshop; Practice Applications;Raffle Prizes, CoolVehicles; Freebies; andMy Co-Worker is a Dog with Insurance.The students could then browse the 16 ca-reer pathways, which included:Ag & Nat-ural Resources; Arts, Media &Entertainment; Building Trades & Con-struction; Education & Family Services;Energy & Utilities; Engineering & Design;Finance & Business; Health & Medical;Hospitality, Tourism & Recreation; Infor-mation Technology; Manufacturing &Product Development; Marketing, Sales &Service; Public Safety &Armed Services;Public Services; Science Based Technolo-gies; Transportation &Automotive.
Jordan Lindsay, a junior here atAtas-cadero High School, stated, “One of thecoolest things about this is the CHP andprobably the State Rangers; also they havefree cookies!”
Senior Brittany Cason said, “I haven’tbeen looking for very long yet, but themedical field is pretty interesting to me.”
Both Ryan Holloway and TurnerKraus were just browsing and checkingout the options. Turner proclaimed, “Thisis a really fun and easy opportunity to ex-plore the careers out there.”
Optimist club holdsantismoking event in
The Bowl
BY JENNIFER BELCHER
The Atascadero High School’sJunior Optimist Club held an an-tismoking event in The Bowl on
Apr. 27. The group originally plannedthis event forApr. 20, which would haveemphasized the importance of beingdrug-free on nationwide “get high” day.
Optimist had a representative fromthe San Luis Obispo County TobaccoControl Center present demonstrations,pamphlets, key chains, stickers, etc., allcentered on smoking prevention.
Optimist is sponsored by the Atas-cadero Optimist Club (for adults). JerryOuyang, a member of the AtascaderoJunior Optimist Club, said the anti-
smoking event “went really well,” andthat he was pleased with the results.
Club president Shelby Warren said,“We have had many fun events this year,and it’s all winding down as we nearJun. 15, but we have a few more events,such as next years elections, coming up.”
Optimist meets in H-8, Mr. Smith’sroom, at lunch on Fridays, and their ad-visor is Jerry Tanimoto.
Any students interested in beingpart of Tobacco Ship Compliance, “To-bacco Stings,” please contact MelissaPeters at [email protected], or callher office number from the County ofSLO Public Health Department at (805)781-1561.
Photo by Lauren Austin
A state park official shares career information withTessa Varia and Clio Bruns duringAHS’s first Career Fair.
Photo by Lauren Austin
Delaney Scott participates in an anti-smoking game to earn a cupcake.
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Little Hounds preschool gives child developmentstudents valuable experience
BY HUNTER CARRANZA
OnMar. 2, the Child Developmentclass on campus started the annualpreschool, Little Hounds Pre-
school. Ten children from ages three tofive attend the preschool every other day,depending on if it’s an even or odd dayschedule. The high school students inthese classes are responsible for planningthe activities for the day and taking care ofthe kids. Some past activities include anEaster egg hunt, paper mache animalmasks, story time, and obstacle courses.The preschool lasts for two periods in theday. Preschool students eat snack and
lunch in the classroom while high schoolstudents watch and get to know the kids.
In the first months of the year beforethe preschool starts, the high school stu-dents study the stages of child develop-ment. This is crucial so that they knowhow to deal with a situation if a problemarises at the daycare.
The teacher and supervisor of the highschool students is Ms. Tingley. She helpsin the classroom so that she can be a guidein case one of the high school students hasa question about how to handle a situationwith the kids.
The preschool ends in May. The finalproject for the high school students is to
display a portfolio of the lessons thegroups have taught the little kids. The highschool groups also create a newsletter ex-plaining to the parents how each child hasgrown through the last couple months.
Taking care of small children is not a
small task, and the Child Developmentstudents should feel a sense of accom-plishment when the year is over. They willhave learned a skill that they worked hardto obtain and leave with an experience ofhaving fun with children.
Photo by Lauren Austin
Child Development students work with local youngsters who attend the AHS preschoolprogram.
Greenhounds build a“green city”
BY SIDNEY WAYMIRE
Atascadero High School’s Green-hound Academy is currentlybuilding a “green city”. In all
Greenhounds classes, the teachers are hav-ing the students participate in building sec-tions of the city. The green city issupposed to represent a healthier and moresustainable way to run a city. The studentsare separated into groups and then make afloor plan of what their building is going to
look like. Next, they start building withmaterials given to them by the teachers.
Once the students in all the Green-hounds classes finish building, all thebuildings and farms will be placed in thebowl to be examined by all the classes.The point of the green city is to bringawareness to people everywhere abouthow to be more sustainable and give peo-ple more ideas for building materials thatare less environmentally harsh then others.
Photo by Sidney Waymire
Greenhound students consult about how to build a model of a green community.
STUDENT JOURNALISMPAGE 14 | HILLTOP NEWS JUNE 8, 2012
BY DYLAN CHAMBLESS
Athletes from five spring sportsqualified to compete in this sea-son’s CIF (California Inter-
scholastic Federation). These sportsincluded track, softball, swimming, tennis,and golf.
Track sent a large number of athletesto the CIF prelims, and all four relay teamsqualified. The girls 4x400m relay teamconsisted of Angelica Cussworth, MiriamOrozco-Ramirez, Brittany Cason, andAnaiis De Los Santos; they finished sixth.The boy’s 4x400m relay team includedRobert Hixson, Deonte Barnes, Cole Thekand Travis Hiatt. The girl’s 4x100m relay
team included Cussworth, Cason, De LosSantos, and Rachael Andrade. The boy’s4x100m relay team included Robert Hix-son, Ty Robb, Ryan Lombardi and DeonteBarnes. Crissy Carr and Joe Arndt quali-fied for pole vault. Dominic Chance qual-ified for the 110 hurtles and long jumpalong with Angelica Cussworth that wasentered in the 100 and 300 hurdles. RobertHixson qualified for the 200m and 400malong with Ty Robb with the 100m, as didDe Los Santos with the 100m and 200m.Savannah McCarthy qualified for the longjump in the prelims. The girls’ 4x400mrelay team advanced to the CIF finals, butdue to injuries could not compete. Alsomoving on to the finals were Carr for pole
vault and Cussworth for the 300 hurdles.Winning eight out of their last ten
games during their regular season lead theGreyhound softball team to the PAC 7championship. Having not won a CIFplayoff game since 2005, the team was ec-static to make it to the third round. In thesecond round the team beat Paramount ina cliffhanger ending with Jessie Hufstetlerbringing in a three run walk off home runto win 5-2. Riding high, the team enteredtheir second playoff game, but lost.
AHS had a successful swim seasonthis year when five varsity swimmers qual-ified for CIF. Dustin Bolt qualified for the500 in which he placed 2nd and 200 free inwhich he placed eighth. Claire Leong
swam the 100 breaststroke and placedninth. Other simmers such as Kylie Ferree,Rachel Donati andAnna Beraud also qual-ified for CIF.
In CIF competition, the Atascaderoboys tennis team won third in league finalsfor doubles with players Elias Jordan andAustin Alexander. The team finishedfourth in PAC 7, and knocked out the third,fourth and fifth seats on their way to thetop.
The Greyhounds golf team tookfourth in league and Brandon Vail wasnamed league runner-up. He went on tocompete in the individual CIF tournament.Vail missed qualifying for finals by twostrokes.
Five spring sports send athletes to CIF
Photo by Catherine Gayaldo
Freshman Angelica Cussworth sprints for thefinish after a perfect handoff.
Photo by Valentine Soto
Louie Thek prepares to hand the baton off to Deonte Barnes for the final leg ofthe 4x400m relay.
Photo by Brianna Yancheson
Jessie Hufstetler pitches her way into CIFcompetition.
The Atascadero HighSchool Boys’ VarsityTennis team had a new
look this season; after four yearsof being led by the Barber twinbrothers, Devin and Kyle, TheGreyhounds established a newidentity and found new teamleaders. Head coach ConnieBaird had six players from lastyear’s squad that continued onthis year to keep a concrete levelof competition. They finishedfourth in the PAC 7 conference.Coach Baird indicated that thisyear is one of transition and onein which she counted heavily onthe development of her threesophomores: Elias Jordan,Jacob Hass, and Ross Schaefer.
"It is really up to them tomake the necessary commit-
ment to tennis and lead thissquad. Our conference has someexcellent tennis players in it andif our players are to be success-ful they must learn to work ontheir game year round."
Senior Austin Alexanderplayed at the number one sin-gles position. Coach Baird com-mented on Alexander, “He hasmatured and it shows in hisplay. I think the biggest thrillwas at League Finals, whereAustinAlexander and Elias Jor-dan teamed up for doubles andplaced third in League Finals,achieving an All League status.They knocked out the third,fourth, and fifth seeds along theway. It was so awesome.”
Senior Jake Reilly and jun-ior Jacob Pomi played competi-tively in doubles, as did seniorMichael Liang, who is an ex-
change student from China, andjunior Greg Griffin. Then seniorEmerey Philippsen saw somesingles play along with sopho-more Andrew Sedley. JuniorMichael Kolland, who is an ex-change student from Austria,and junior Sam Jacobs also sawsome play time.
Austin Alexander wasMVP for the Hounds, Elias Jor-dan was Most Improved, andJake Reilly received theCoach’s Award.
Greyhound tennis takes fourth place inPAC 7 conference
Photo by Catherine Gayaldo
Ross Schaefer keeps a closeeye on the ball as he prepares
to return the shot.
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