knightsnewsonline.com Clear Falls High School October 2012 • Vol. 2 Num. 1 4380 Village Way • League City, TX 77573 Varsity Football Falls Short of a Victory Clear Falls Experiences First Homecoming By MEGHAN MISTRY The 2012 school year brought many firsts for Clear Falls: a first full school, a first senior class, the first year 5A and even a first home- coming. This year’s homecoming, which technically is a newcom- ing, kicked off the school year for CCISD’s newest high school. Although there are no alumni to return and make it an actual homecoming, the decision was made to call it “homecoming” so seniors would actually experience one at the school they graduate from their graduating school. “A lot of people don’t know what a newcoming is, and it’s not fair for the first king and queen to be a newcoming king and queen, they should be homecoming king and queen,” said Jenny Carlisle senior class sponsor and Student Coun- cil Coordinator. “Plus a lot of our teachers and staff graduated from CCISD so this would still make it a homecoming.” This homecoming was not only a first for the school, but also for all of its students. While seniors expe- rienced a homecoming their fresh- men year at either Creek or Lake, the rest of CFHS students have yet to ever see one. “I was so excited that Falls de- cided to have a homecoming this year,” said Falls student Olivia McAndrew. “It’s my junior year, and while there isn’t really anyone to come home, it was cool having one with the seniors I’ve grown up with. We’ve always had a newcom- ing, which, while fun, isn’t really the same. I loved all the spirit and the traditions. The school really came together.” Clear Falls’ first homecoming included traditions from the past two newcomings held as well as ones carried over from Clear Lake and Clear Creek. Former tradi- tions displayed by Falls include the annual carnival, evening pep- rally and dodgeball tournament. To spark more interest in Falls’ first homecoming, a flour fight and Madden/ Halo video game tourna- ment were organized. Senior girls sported jean overalls, decorated with sequins, rhine stones, fabric paint and various forms of fabric. Many members of the senior class wore crowns, proclaiming to all underclassmen that they truly are royalty. Despite tremendous efforts, the Varsity football team did fall short to the Dickinson Gators, who clenched a 28-21 win. “We didn’t come out super hot but during the fourth we started doing really well,” said Tyler Cor- tinas, a senior football player. “We almost made a late comeback but we didn’t have enough at the end. But we never stopped playing hard.” Ultimately, it was the spirit that brought together Clear Falls for its first homecoming. Students participated all week in various dress up days and stormed District Stadium to support the football team. HOMECOMING EDITION By MARISSA ADAMS Clear Falls had an amazing turn- out at its very first Homecom- ing football game. Although the first two quarters were mostly uneventful for the Knights, the fans remained ever supportive of the team they love. At halftime, it seemed the game was over and Dickinson would return home with an easy victory. In the second half, the Knights desperately tried anything at their disposal to score. Carson Muscat, 13, kicked three onside kicks, one of which Dickinson scored off of and the other two gaining posses- sion for Clear Falls. The Knights did not get on the score board until the fourth quar- ter but they managed to keep Dickinson’s points to 28. Brandon Hayward, 35, received a touchdown pass from quarter- back Alex Assar- ian, 4. This was the start of the Knights success- ful play. The fourth quarter was where the Knights finally stepped it up and started to make amazing plays. Alex As- sarian threw a Hail Mary pass to Lea- nard Hill, 5, who caught it for a touchdown. One more touchdown was made during the last quarter by Ke’Shaun Holmes who caught the ball in the endzone making the score 14 to 28. The stands were completely packed and there was an overwhelming amount of sup- port throughout the game. The tre- mendous volume of their cheering definitely impact- ed everyone at the game. Senior Maggy Mul- holland led one of the fans’ favor- ite cheers, “I believe that we will win,” even as they were down. Ka- tie Karlman, also a senior, led an- other favorite, the roller coaster cheer. With approximately one minute left in the game, the Knights were on the verge of their fourth touch- down to tie it up. Unfortunately, the ball was intercepted by Dickin- son and they kept possession until the end of the game. Even though this game is a loss on our team’s record, every fan is still extremely proud of this out- standing team. There was an indescribable amount of support for the Knights and everyone can say that they ended the game with the utmost dignity and pride. The Clear Falls defensive line sets up against Dickinson’s offense at the start of the game. Photo by Sarah Holden Number 24 Peter Halulous, a senior, rushes for a tackle. Photo by Sarah Holden Seniors Katie Karlman, Maggy Mulholland, and Tori Ruszkowski cheer throughout the football game, encouraging the team even as they were down. Photo by Sarah Holden
Clear Falls Experiences First HomecomingBy MEGHAN MISTRY
The 2012 school year brought many firsts for Clear Falls: a first full school, a first senior class, the first year 5A and even a first home-coming. This year’s homecoming, which technically is a newcom-ing, kicked off the school year for CCISD’s newest high school.
Although there are no alumni to return and make it an actual homecoming, the decision was made to call it “homecoming” so seniors would actually experience one at the school they graduate from their graduating school.
“A lot of people don’t know what a newcoming is, and it’s not fair for the first king and queen to be a newcoming king and queen, they should be homecoming king and queen,” said Jenny Carlisle senior class sponsor and Student Coun-cil Coordinator. “Plus a lot of our teachers and staff graduated from CCISD so this would still make it a homecoming.”
This homecoming was not only a first for the school, but also for all
of its students. While seniors expe-rienced a homecoming their fresh-men year at either Creek or Lake,
the rest of CFHS students have yet to ever see one.
“I was so excited that Falls de-cided to have a homecoming this year,” said Falls student Olivia McAndrew. “It’s my junior year, and while there isn’t really anyone to come home, it was cool having one with the seniors I’ve grown up with. We’ve always had a newcom-
ing, which, while fun, isn’t really the same. I loved all the spirit and the traditions. The school really
came together.”Clear Falls’ first homecoming
included traditions from the past two newcomings held as well as ones carried over from Clear Lake and Clear Creek. Former tradi-tions displayed by Falls include the annual carnival, evening pep-rally and dodgeball tournament. To spark more interest in Falls’
first homecoming, a flour fight and Madden/ Halo video game tourna-ment were organized. Senior girls sported jean overalls, decorated with sequins, rhine stones, fabric paint and various forms of fabric. Many members of the senior class wore crowns, proclaiming to all underclassmen that they truly are royalty.
Despite tremendous efforts, the Varsity football team did fall short to the Dickinson Gators, who clenched a 28-21 win.
“We didn’t come out super hot but during the fourth we started doing really well,” said Tyler Cor-tinas, a senior football player. “We almost made a late comeback but we didn’t have enough at the end. But we never stopped playing hard.”
Ultimately, it was the spirit that brought together Clear Falls for its first homecoming. Students participated all week in various dress up days and stormed District Stadium to support the football team.
HOM E COM I N GE D I T I O N
By MARISSA ADAMS
Clear Falls had an amazing turn-out at its very first Homecom-ing football game. Although the first two quarters were mostly uneventful for the Knights, the fans remained ever supportive of the team they love. At halftime, it seemed the game was over and Dickinson would return home with an easy victory.
In the second half, the Knights desperately tried anything at their disposal to score. Carson Muscat, 13, kicked three onside kicks, one of which Dickinson scored off of and the other two gaining posses-sion for Clear Falls.
The Knights did not get on the score board until the fourth quar-ter but they managed to keep Dickinson’s points to 28.
Brandon Hayward, 35, received a touchdown pass from quarter-back Alex Assar-ian, 4. This was the start of the Knights success-ful play.
The fourth quarter was where the Knights finally stepped it up and started to make amazing plays. Alex As-sarian threw a
Hail Mary pass to Lea-nard Hill, 5, who caught
it for a touchdown. One more touchdown was made during the last quarter by Ke’Shaun Holmes who caught the ball in the endzone making the score 14 to 28.
The stands were completely packed and there was an overwhelming amount of sup-port throughout the game. The tre-mendous volume of their cheering definitely impact-ed everyone at the game.
Senior Maggy Mul-holland led one of the fans’ favor-ite cheers, “I believe that we will win,” even as they were down. Ka-tie Karlman, also a senior, led an-other favorite, the roller coaster cheer.
With approximately one minute left in the game, the Knights were on the verge of their fourth touch-down to tie it up. Unfortunately,
the ball was intercepted by Dickin-son and they kept possession until the end of the game.
Even though this game is a loss on our team’s record, every fan is still extremely proud of this out-standing team.
There was an indescribable amount of support for the Knights and everyone can say that they ended the game with the utmost dignity and pride.
The Clear Falls defensive line sets up against Dickinson’s offense at the start of the game. Photo by Sarah Holden
Number 24 Peter Halulous, a senior, rushes for a tackle. Photo by Sarah Holden
Seniors Katie Karlman, Maggy Mulholland, and Tori Ruszkowski cheer throughout the football game, encouraging the team even as they were down. Photo by Sarah Holden
Just like at any other high school, Home-c o m -ing is an ex-c i t i ng f u n -f i l l e d w e e k where s t u -d e n t s s h o w how much school spirit they have by dressing up, going to the game, and dancing at the Homecoming dance. This year, dress up days included “Twin Day,” “Gator Hunt-ing Day,” “Decade Day,” “Spirit Day” and “Color Wars Day.”
Dress up week began on Monday, Sept. 24, with “Twin Day.” Stu-dents all around Clear Falls picked one or more stu-dents to dress like each other. An assortment of capes, homemade
shirts and tutus flooded the hall-ways of Clear Falls as they tried to confuse their opponent of the
week, Dickinson High School.
The next day, every-one got ready for “Ga-tor Hunting Day” by
sporting cam-ouflage shirts, pants, shorts and hats. Some students even wore ghillie suits
and made b a n d a n a s for the day.
“I got a black shirt and cut up camouflage b a n d a n a s to spell out ‘Knights’ on the front
and Homecoming on the back,” said senior Zaley Dougher. “Then I
wore a camouflage headband that said ‘Senior’ on it.”
Hippies, disco dancers and greasers walked into Clear Falls on Wednes-day for “Decade Day.” Students were allowed to dress up as any de-
cade they wanted. Peo-ple grouped together to
make the dress up day even bet-ter. Chandler Markovchik, Evan Atkinson, Chris Al-leman and Caleb Kerzee participat-ed in this event by dressing up as greasers from the 50s.
Thursday was the original “Spirit Day.” Knights wore as much green and black as they could as well as
cowbells, ribbons and even Christ-mas lights on mums and garters. This is a tradition that has been
going for years in o t h e r schools a n d C l e a r F a l l s c o u l d n o t leave it behind.
T h e last day for students to dress up was Friday with “Color Wars Day.” Freshman wore gray, sophomores wore green, juniors wore black and the first ever graduating class
of Clear Falls wore white.
Students Sport Outfits for Dress-Up Week
By MIRANDA CHANG
Throughout history our ancestors have celebrated events for many different reasons. Whether it be the ancient pagan societies cel-ebrating the summer solstice with bonfires and games, or the “pow-wow” of the Native Americans, honoring the traditions of their ancestors by dancing and singing, in every part of the world humans celebrated and continue to cel-ebrate.
Throughout the years each of these celebrations has undergone a sort of evolution, sometimes adding on new traditions to the old ones or even having the old ones replaced with new altogether. As we evolve, so do our traditions.
One of these traditions is home-coming. Homecoming is an event celebrated when past alumni come back to their alma maters from around the world to recon-nect with old friends and teachers, new students and favorite places. At first it was all about the game, football.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) credited Uni-versity of Missouri for the first ever homecoming event in 1911. The faceoff between the University of Missouri and the University of Kansas drew over 10,000 people and consisted of a full weekend of speeches, dances, rallies, parades and most importantly, the game.
The 1930s was when homecom-ing started to become more about the dresses and the dances and less about the big rival game. Around
this time a homecoming court started to appear. Originally the court was chosen based on his or her float in the parade. Now nomi-nees are chosen primarily based on their popularity.
As homecoming rolls around, there are three big things every high school student looks forward to.
First: witnessing the extremely energetic homecoming parade, which includes the homecoming court, a school’s marching band and a wide variety of colorful floats.
Second: participating in Spirit Week, the week of homecoming devoted to dressing up, having fun, and raising some serious team spirit. With a different themed day for each day of the week, your cre-ativity will know no bounds.
And third, the biggest thing there is to look forward to for many high school students in the southern United States, is the mums. Stu-dents spend immense amounts of time on these detailed garters and decorative corsages.
Falls senior Van Huynh said her favorite thing about making mums is “putting all the colors together and seeing how it all matches in the end.”
Huynh said people put so much effort into their mums because making mums is a “competition to see who has the most unique mum. You want to have the mum that people talk about, the mum that people will remember.”
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From Flower to FabricBy SANDA CAVALLARO
Homecoming is a special time for the entire campus. Everyone stands united in a week long ex-travaganza of school spirit. All the cliques come together and act like total goofballs to show support for our boys on the football field. (Is there any other reason why al-most 2000 teenagers would dress up like a random decade threw up on them while they got dressed in the morning, then go out in public and not be remotely embarrassed about doing so?)
And then there are all the tears, drama and burnt fingers that go into making truly spectacular mums and garters.
Sharing a high school with a sib-ling is, if nothing else, convenient. If you have any doubts about what the theme is for the next spirit day, or you try to leave the house decked out in head to toe leopard print on superhero day, your sib-ling can inform you of the true na-ture of the dress up day before you have to tell everyone you actually were going for the cat woman look.
If you lack craft skills for mums and garters and believe that the hot glue gun is actually a weapon of mass destruction, a crafty sib-ling can prevent or limit burnt/stapled fingers, misguided color schemes and potential emotional trauma.
During homecoming my little sis-ter is my link to all the activities and school spirit going on around campus. The homecoming extrava-ganza really is not my ‘thing,’ but
thanks to her, I’m not totally iso-lated from the week long shindig.
I had fun last year helping her pick her dress for the dance and listening to all her plans for spirit days, the carnival and the group dinner before the dance.
This year she is making her boy-friend a garter, and seeing my sis-ter sitting in the middle of a hur-ricane of shiny streamers, miles of green and black ribbon and bells armed with only a hot glue gun is rather frightening.
It’s probably a good thing she’s the one making the garter and not me. She actually has crafting abilities and won’t end up throw-ing the whole mess of garter mate-rial in the trash in a rage induced by burnt fingers from the hot glue gun.
Monday’s Twin Day provided sib-lings at Falls with a chance to have even more homecoming bonding. Some Knight siblings decided to make their family bonds closer by dressing as twins for the spirit day.
Senior Mason Degan and his little sister, Madeline, coordinated out-fits along with the O’Donel sib-lings. Actual identical twins Kelly and Wiley Masterson became Thing One and Thing Two from Dr. Suess’ The Cat in the Hat, complete with matching hair, tutus and tights. Exceptions to sibling pairs becom-ing twins for homecoming were the three Korenek sisters, who de-cided to be triplets.
Homecoming is a special time. Siblings are special people. When you combine them, you make memories that last forever.
School with a SiblingPhotos by, left to right, Chane Johnson, Stepha-nie Branch, Kendra Dix, Ann Carver, Kendra Dix
Whether students are playing in the football game or just enjoying the spirit that comes along with the busy week, homecoming is a memorable time for all students. It has something for everybody, in-cluding the always-exciting carni-val. Friday, Sept. 28 marked Clear Falls third annual carnival and its first homecoming.
The festivities commenced when the students were let out of class early and allowed into the court-yard and commons area where most of the carnival took place. The booths were scattered over the courtyard and surrounding hallways.
There were over 30 booths, rang-ing from prize-winning fun and games to the well-known carnival
food junk such as Baseballs snow cones and FFAs funnel cake.
Other booths included, DECA’s henna booth, Choir’s very popular karaoke, volleyball’s photo booth, Spanish Club’s bandanas and De-bate Club’s cake walk.
Preparations began very early and a lot of work went into making this the best carnival Clear Falls has seen.
“Our henna tattoo artists met this week to finalize designs and prices for our Carnival booth. DECA also sold chips and drinks to ac-company the many food options,” said DECA sponsor Libby Smith
Smith went on to mention her student’s diligent work not only on the carnival and the booths but with also with every other aspect of homecoming week.
“They are excited about the first event of the year,” said Smith.
Besides booths and games, there were also more action packed events at the carnival.
Student Council hosted the dodgeball tournament, FFA had their flour fight and basketball showed their love for the sport with 3-on-3 basketball games.
It was a great fundraiser overall as students enjoyed giving their support. Some of the profits ben-efitted the senior class for their prom and other fun events while other particular clubs’ funds went to their groups’ future events and competitions.
The carnival was a great end to homecoming week and a great unity tool for Clear Falls and the entire village. Besides a little rain towards the beginning, the event went off without any problems and most students were glad they didn’t have to stay behind and
clean up the mess.
Carnival Activities and Sports Show Spirit
By ZOE GAETJEN
The first dance of the year was held recently on Saturday, Sept. 29. This exciting experience had been building up since the begin-ning of the school year, though some students were more excited than others.
“I’ve been waiting for this all year,” sophomore William Walker-said.
Despite the dreary weather, there was an energetic vibe trav-eling through the students as they arrived to the school.
The students were presented with sparkling streamers, after walking through the long halls, and a nifty draw bridge decoration that lead into the cafeteria.
After handing the faculty mem-bers their tickets, students were presented with the long open tables of snacks and beverages, which were quickly eaten up, and round tables were set up off to the side for resting. The connect-ing walls then opened Bayside caf-eteria where the true dance took place.
Once the students filed in group after group, everyone started let-ting loose and dancing the night away. The mixture of music and friends ignited an expolsion of dancing and laughter throughout the cafeteria.
They seemed to be having a blast whether they came alone or in a couple. The most famous couple of the night was the king and queen,
Patrick Rodriguez and Lauren Gon-zalez who shared their first dance on this night.
The event as a whole was a memorable experience for sopho-
more Kristen Clevenger. “I wish we could be like this for-
ever,” said Clevenger.
Falls Cafeteria Transforms for Dance
Out with Newcoming and in with Homecoming
Senior class officers Hannah Korenek and Tori Ruszkowski sold churros outside the dodgeball tournament at the carnival. Photo by Sierra Ham
Olivia McAndrew, Hannah Goethe, Josh Burress, Emma Brant, Arman Alvarado, Kelly Jones, Leo Campise and Jessica Murgatroyd stop during the dance to document the night. Photo by staff.
By ERICA BERNAL
The sun goes down and the Knights come out. The cheering begins. The hype starts to spread. The Knights are ready to paint the town green.
Beginning the week with the annual Homecoming Parade. On Sept. 24, the once newcomers would have their first homecom-ing. The most anticipated event of the year was about to be at hand. The Clear Falls varsity football team had waited and worked for this game.
For the game to be glorious the Fall’s faculty planned to pump up the team’s spirits by march-ing around the campus cheering and chanting. Their fellow Knights from all sports and extracurricular activities would follow along side to help them prepare.
Once the students and staff had gathered together, the parade be-gan at 7:30 p.m. Teams with green face paint began their walk at the Mossman Elementary School park-
ing lot. They strutted and wore their school colors with pride as the event took place. With the homecoming court in lead, the rest of Falls would follow them to the end. Riding in fancy cars and glam-orous dresses and suits, the court waved to the crowd along the
sides. The rest of the participants threw candy and other goodies to their fans. Everyone screamed with joy and excitement, chanting their team’s cheers.
When the parade reached the high school football field, the sports teams and other programs sat in the grass waiting for the pep
rally to take place. The bleachers were filled with proud parents and admiring fans.
The band played with enthusi-asm to get everyone pumped up. The Knight’s band had been prac-ticing during hot afternoons just as the football team, ready to play on
the field. Each member was equal-ly eager to ready the school for a night of fun and achievement.
Then the cheerleaders put on their best routine. Flipping, danc-ing and stunting, the cheerleaders brought in an even peppier atmo-sphere.
Afterwards Coach Dave Ward
honored the other sports that have had high achievements. Swimmers and runners along with volleyball, tennis, basketball players all stood up and took their bows. With ev-eryone in unison the night was an instant success.
Finally the Emeralds dance team put on an unforgettable perfor-mance. The stadium went pitch black and everyone was filled with curiosity. Then all that was seen were glow sticks waving in fast, precise motions. Everyone was thrilled to see this light show. It was a flashing way to conclude the night.
Bringing smiles from ear to ear, and school spirit that would last throughout the week the parade and pep rally fulfilled its goal. This
was an event that will go in Clear Falls history. It gave the football team the spirit and support nec-essary to play a great homecom-ing game. It also showed that the Falls’ community is family-orient-ed and that the school will always be a good home to come back to.
Clear Falls students fill the field at the first-ever Clear Falls Homecoming Parade. Photo by Sarah Holden
