DECA replaces BPA 3 Santiago breaks records 5 Gun Violence 11

Volume 80 Issue 01 November 9-13, 2015www.thesfhscrier.com 3325 Bridge Street St. Francis, MN 55070FREE

3325 Bridge Street, St. Francis, MN 55070 email: sfhscrier@gmail.com • 763-213-1633

SFHS MEDIA STAFF

Editor-in-Chief Print: Maki KoepProducer SFHS Today: Brittany CoopSFHS MEDIA Staff: 3rd Hour - Mason Abraham, Lauren Bjorngjeld, Anna Burdorf, Reisch Fahland, Emily Hewitt, Elsie Johnson, Dylan Lauseng, Aarilee Lorenzen, River Pehrson-Alley, Ethan Skogquist, Keegan Sonnenfeld, Brooklyn Staubs, Sade Sunderland, Kevin Vang, Natalie Wasche, Timothy Wetenkamp, Brianna Whited4th Hour - Bo Blanske, Olivia Delmore, Danielle Deusen-bery, Brianna Duerr, Tyler Edstrom, Alisa Franchino, Han-nah Hassel, Elizabeth Johnson, Misty Knudson, Matthew Olson, KC Parnell, Jordan Paulus, Raina Pegors, Lucas Phelps, Melanie Tveit, Chue Cheng Yang

News Page Editor:Hannah Beckman, Chimeng Vue, Sophia Kortemeier

Sports Page Editor:Caitlin Christensen and Ben Hylen

Center Spread Page Editor:Maki Koep and Eva Lindberg

Variety Page Editor:Laura Wyatt and Abby Young

Opinion Page Editor:Sydney Sanow and Emily Lawrence

Photo Feature Editor:Brittany Coop and Makki Koep

Adviser:Glenn Morehouse Olson

Follow us on Twitter: @sfhsmedia

Like us on Facebook:St. Francis Crier Newspaper

The Crier and SFHS Media are an open forum for student expression. Opinion stories represent the opinion of the by-lined author. These opinions do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the staff, faculty, administration, school board or student body of St. Francis ISD 15. No material, opinion or otherwise will be printed which is libelous, irresponsible, or advocates illegal activity. The newspaper attempts to inform and entertain its audience in a broad, fair and accurate manner on all subjects that affect readers.

Letters to the editor are accepted from everyone. All letters received will not be edited and must meet the laws and standards regarding libel, defamation, obscenity, incitement and copyright rules. Letters can be dropped off in Room D238 and will become the property of the newspaper. No unsigned letters will be published. The Crier will verify authorship of all letters. In case of multiple signatures, only the first three will be printed.

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What’s Inside...

2 www.thesfhscrier.com November 9-13, 2015

News Page 3DECA replaces BPANew Speech Coach

Page 4 New Ceramics Teacher New Equipment

SportsPage 5SantiagoGirls SoccerSport Shorts

Center Spread80 years of ChangesPage 6 - 7

VarietyPage 8 - Nickel and DimedScary Movies

Page 9 Little Mermaid ReviewRay GorenKpop Band

OpinionPage 10 German Exchange PerspectiveEditorial CartoonGun Violence Editorial

Page 11 Courage RetreatExcused AbsencesSchool ParkingPoint/Counterpoint Oregon Shooting

Photo FeaturePage 12 Fall Fashion Feature

Cover Graphicby Tessa Loe

On October 28th, the St. Francis Varsity Volleyball Team went up against Princeton in their quarter finals.

Martin(left) and Helena(middle), two German exchange students, joined the SFHS Media Staff with Tessa Loe(right) and staff.

SFHS Media policies

submitted photo

submitted photo

submitted photoMadrigal Singers participated in the Anoka Halloween parade to publicize their performances that will be held November 19- 22.

Quick Pics

News

November 9-13 The Crier 3

The business department took a big hit this past year with the retirement of Leslie Sworsky and the departures of Andy Forbort and Becky Allard. One concern was who would become the new adviser for Business Professionals of America (also known as BPA). Tom Houle, a new SFHS business teacher was willing to step up to the challenge, but limited student registration put a hold those plans. “Because there wasn’t enough people interested in BPA, the club was cancelled. Now DECA is being brought back,” said senior Brooke Imm. Houle was an accountant for 3 years and is going into his ninth year of teaching (his first at SFHS). He was a BPA chaperone and also ran a DECA club for one year. “BPA is a good program because it offers students the opportunity to learn outside of the classroom for students who might not have room in their schedule for a business elective,” said Houle. “It is also hands down preparation for the future.” This trimester he is teaching the computer skills portion of future’s prep and multimedia. His vision for BPA this year

was to get more kids involved and raise awareness for kids to join. The same holds true now that the shift has been made. Imm enjoys learning and practicing business skills and going to competitions and bonding with her fellow DECA members. “They (the competitions) are mostly in St. Cloud at a large mall with one or two judges depending on your category,” said Imm. “Some (participants) take it a little more seriously, others just do it for fun,” said Imm. “DECA gives you important life skills such as public speaking, critical thinking, and problem solving.” Shanel Galea, a 2014 graduate, competed in DECA and went to state with Imm during her SFHS career and said, “(It was a) good opportunity to make connections with business leaders for my future.” Imm competed at the state level last three years and has high hopes for this competitive season. “As an individual this year I’d like to make it to regionals, because it would be a great experience to go into college with,” she said. “ As a team it would be nice to send more people to state.”

Lack of interest cancels clubDECA reinstates chapter to replace Business Professionals of America Laura Wyatt Variety Editor

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News Briefs-Madrigal Dinner tickets on saleMadrigals performs November 19-21 at 7 p.m. and November 22nd at 4 p.m. Order tickets before they sell out online at www.seatyourself.biz/stfrancishs

-Fall One Act Play- All the BasesMonday, November 23 at 7 p.m.Tickets at the door-A Christmas CarolMonday, December 21 at 7 p.m.www.seatyourself.biz/stfrancishs

-YearbookYearbook prices are $75 now. Prices go up February 19.

-Grad AdsSenior grad ads are now on sale and must be submitted by December 31. Beginning this year, all grad ads will be submitted electronically through www.jostenadservice.com

-Ski/Snowboard Club registration now open (grades 9-12)Registration closes Monday, November 16 at 5:00 p.m. Register online at www.stfrancis.k12.mn.us

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Young ladies ages 16-21 - Come and enjoy the fun this Spring! Candidate Season starts April, 2016.

This is a great activity to learn more about your community, improve on your speech skills, build on your resume skills and having a lot of fun with your peers!

For more information check out our Facebook Page, website www.sfambassadors.com or Contact Jacquie Goedel, Program Coordinator 612-282-7226This is a great scholarship opportunity for the young ladies chosen.

When she attended SFHS 30 some years ago, Madonna Arnold found her place on the speech team. After high school, Arnold contin-ued to participate with speech in college; three years at Anoka Ramsey, and one year at Moorhead State. “Speech in high school for me is what brought me out of my shell,” said Ar-nold. During that time, she got the chance to coach at the college level and later on accepted an assistant speech coaching job at SFHS for 15 years. After having kids, she decided to take a chunk of time off from coaching so she could be there for her chil-dren. When former head coach Mark Thul left at the end of last year, there was a job opening for a new speech coach. Arnold did not hesitate to apply for that position. “I did not want this program to go away,” said Arnold. “These kids needed an outlet.” Senior Sarah Wyatt, one of the

speech team captains at SFHS, started speech last year. She has learned how speech can impact her life, as well as others. “Speech is important for any job you will have in your life. You’re always go-ing to have to convey what you want to say to people effectively,” said Wyatt. “Speech gives you the tools to do that, and to get that process rolling.” Senior Kendra Krebsbach, another captain of the speech team, thinks speech is interesting and fun. She is looking forward to being a leader this year. “We have to work a little bit, but it’s not that bad. I enjoy being able to talk to everybody more, and have everyone come to me for help. I want to be able to help the others,” said Krebsbach. Looking forward to this speech sea-son, Arnold has many goals for her team. “I just want everybody to feel con-fident on what they can do. I want them to have fun,” said Arnold. “I want them to be able to stand tall, and go ‘Yes, I can do this.’ I want them to be proud of themselves.”

New Coach leads speech teamMadonna Arnold found her voice in high school activitySophia Kortemeier News Editor

Photo by Sophia Kortemeier

Current Ambassadors: (Left to Right) Little Miss Haley Mau, Miss Brittany Coop, and Little Miss Alyssa Kamman

Speech is important for any job you will have in

your life. Your always going to have to convey what you

want to say effectively.- Sarah Wyatt

News

Updates enhance facilitiesBrooke Imm Business ManagerActivities and athletics benefit from new equipment Over the summer, facilities staff worked to install brand new goalposts, score-boards, wrestling mats, floor and painted walls; many students will be impacted by the improvements made to SFHS. Students participating in certain sports or who have a gym class will see and use these improvements. Sports such as bas-ketball, football, soccer and wrestling have updates to the facilities they use for practice. Additions also took place outside such as new goal posts, score boards and mats were added to replace outdated ones.

“The new pro-style field goalposts also give the football field a neat added el-ement to the game,” said athlete Robbie Whitney. The new gym floor is the biggest update that is the most obvious. The floor has not been done in over a decade; there-fore, it was ineffective for sports and appeal. Redoing the floor helps give St. Francis a better look and will help the volleyball and basketball teams. “The basketball court is really nice to play on. Grippy so you don’t just slip and

fall everywhere,” said Whitney. The floor will make a difference for the players and help keep them up with the competition; furthermore, other additions to the fields help make the games seem more collegiate. Positive feedback would show that the budget was spent wisely in the eyes of many people. Financial approval for funds came from different areas explained Principal Doug Austin. Some approval came from the District level and superintendent. “Also, Mr. Fink for the activities

side and then my side for the high school is my approval,” he said. Athletics had resources through last year’s revenue, money given by the dis-trict, and from the booster clubs. The updates chosen for this past summer were to increase aesthetic qualities and boost user experience. Trying to make St. Francis more of a community through sports and music was the main goal for these improvements. The choir also purchased a brand new piano to replace the old one.

Fall Choir ConcertMason Abraham Writer

Music Notes

4 www.thesfhscrier.com November 9-13, 2015

Photo by Abby Young

New addition to the art department after retirement When ceramics teacher Sue Red-field retired last year after many years of teaching with the district, the hunt for someone to fill the position began. It was hard to find someone with the same passion about art as Redfield, but SFHS found an excellent addition: Debra Paquay. For the last seven years, Paquay has been teaching at the public schools in St. Paul. She was teaching a variety of mediums including drawing, painting, and sculpting to middle schoolers. When teaching at the middle school, she loved getting to know all of her students. Paquay considered all her students her children since she does not have any of her own. “You get so connected to your kids” said Paquay. “It was just a really beau-tiful day saying goodbye to the kids, you know moving on and knowing that they are going to be ok.” As the first few weeks of school passed, Paquay shared her thoughts and her students’ first assignments they are working on in class. “First few weeks have been fantas-tic actually. I told my classes this is one of the nicest groups of kids I have ever taught.” said Paquay. “We are making masks in ce-ramics one, and we are making tikis in ce-

ramics two, and they are turning out really well.” Since Paquay’s arrival, her stu-dents have expressed a great liking of her teaching style and attitude towards art. “She said at the beginning of our class, if you don’t want to do the thing she wants you to do you can do your own proj-ect if you talk to her about it,” said ceramics two student, Riley Kelly. Ceramics one student, Kyle Keehr, agreed with Kelly. “She is very approach-able,” said Keehr. Besides the change for the stu-dents, it has also been a positive change for Jennifer Close, the other faculty member in the art department. “The biggest thing is being able to bounce ideas of somebody who is new to the district,” said Close. Paquay is very excited for the upcoming year getting to know all the St. Francis students and teaching her main pas-sion: ceramics. She really wants her students to get some great art experience and be cre-ative gave by her continuity. “I want them to have a real experi-ence making a real piece of art,” said Paquay, “not a project – creating it to be the best possible thing they can do at that time.”

SFHS Hires Ceramics TeacherAbby Young | Variety Editor

New ceramics teacher, Debra Paquay, wants students to have real world expe-riences in creating their artwork.

Five curricular choirs performed on October 11th to two packed houses of friends family and members of the commu-nity at 6pm and 8pm in their fall concert. Over 400 students performing in all of the choirs which include; Concert Choir, Madrigals, Freshman Choir, Mixed Choir, and Bel Canto. “We had a wonderful attendance and sold about 850 tickets,” said head choir teacher Lukas Warren. “All of the choirs sang very well it was a great way to start the year.” Even though Warren was pleased with all of the performances of his choirs he will continue to push his students to grow and develop further in their musical abili-ties. “Last night was a good stepping stone towards our holiday concert which is in 9 weeks,” said Warren. “So yes, we defi-nitely have lots of work to do but it was a good first step.” The next choir concert will be held on December 19.

Jazz Band Concert, Friday, December 4 in PAC at 7 p.m.

Holiday Band Concert, Thursday, December 10 in PAC at 7 p.m.

“My goal is to have people who come here think, ‘Hey, St. Francis has good facilities,’” said Athletic Director, Jeff Fink.

“Trying to make St. Francis more of a

community through sports and music was the main goal

for these improvements.”8060 VIKING BLVD • NOWTHEN MN 55330

www.FLEETWOODCOLLISION.COM

Sports

Even after an extremely tough loss to Blaine, the Varsity girl’s soccer team still has high hopes for next season. It all started with 17 girls and two coaches. Though the team was optimistic, they never thought they could make it this far. They ended the season seeded first in the section with a record of 13-3-1 and broke previous school records. In addition, head coach Joan Johnson won the Section Coach AA and assistant coach Josh Jones won Section AA Assistant Coach of the Year. It was the first time for these two coaches to ever win these titles. Coach John-son’s favorite moment of the season was when they beat Andover to make it to the

section championship for the first time. “The girls play at a high, competi-tive level and they never quit,” said Coach Johnson. One of the returning captains, Se-nior Sam mie Zgutowicz, was very proud about scoring her goal against Andover in the Semi-Section final game and making the only penalty kick against Blaine in the Sec-tion final game. “We just all had more motivation this year every single practice, but still had fun. We believed we were a very good team and could have the potential to be a top team, which we were,” said Zgutowicz. Even though she’s graduating this year, she’s going to miss playing as a Saint

and being with the girls everyday. “They are my other family,” said Zgutowicz. The other captain of the soccer team and Sammie’s long-time friend, Senior Cassidy Day was able to finish her senior season after recovering from a torn ACL. Day will miss having the connec-tion with her teammates and she’s very sad that after six years of high school soccer it finally has to come to an end. “It was a honor to play with all these very talented athletes and having the opportunity to be coached by all these amaz-ing coaches,” said Day. “I have so many memorable moments with my teammates that will carry with me the rest of my life.”

SportsShorts

Soccer girls score with record-breaking season

Tyler Edstrom and Melanie Tveit Staff Writers

Photo by Alisa Franchino

Casey Parnell Staff Writer

Football“We had a good start to our sea-son, but had a tough two tough losses. The team finished the season strong getting the top seed in our section.”-Hunter Trautman

GIrls Tennis“We’ve had an ok season, and have made improvements along the way.”-Shelby Larson

Boys Soccer“Tough season pulling through some injuries, but a good experi-ence building the program.”-Sade Sunderland

Girls Soccer“It was a really successful, winning season.” -Cassidy Day

Volleyball“Our season has been alright. It took a while to come together, but when we played together we were good. In sections we just didn’t connect.”-Amelia Johnson

Cross Country“The team has had runners that have been working really hard and make some personal records.”-Emily Daniels

SFDT“There has been a lot of new girls, but they have done a good job keeping up with the veterans. We’ve had some fun competitions and made some good memories.”-Danielle Nordling

John Santiago, former running back from St.Francis High School, is doing big things since leaving home for a college football career at University of North Dakota. In Santiago’s opening game against Wyoming, he was called in to sub and play due to a teammate’s injury. He stepped up to fulfill his role and ran two touchdowns (one 52 yards), which helped lead UND to its 24-13 win. Since then, he has broken UND’s Division I single-season rushing mark with 1,162 yards, having six 100 yard rushing games in a row. St. Francis’ head coach, Chris Lindquist, stated that sta-tistically speaking, he had one of the best freshman debuts in col-lege football and was even on ESPN’s highlight reel. Lindquist also received a text after Santiago’s first game from an unknown number that said, “Thank you for John Santiago.” Lindquist assumed this was from one of UND’s coaching staff. Santiago seems to be a favorite on and off the field. Stu-dents and teachers from his hometown had nothing but good things to say about him: he is friendly, humble, and works hard at everything he does. “It was nice because I was used to that position since I played it in high school,” said Santiago. Santiago said that his first touchdown was crazy. “I mean it always feels good to make the opposing crowd

go quiet in high school, but in college it’s even better because there’s a crowd of 23,000,” said Santiago. He also gave a little insight on how college football differs from high school. “The game is a lot faster, man. People are a lot bigger and plays are much more complicated. You gotta know what the guy next to you is doing before you can get your job done, but it’s a lot more fun because of the environment you have to play in.” Some call him John Santiago, others call him Johnny Football. Either way, Santiago will definitely be a player to watch throughout his college football career.

Former Saint breaks out in collegiate footballReisch Fahland Staff Writer

Photo by Nick Nelson courtesy of dakotastudent.com

November 9-13, 2015 The Crier 5

Center Spread6 www.thesfhscrier.com November 9-13, 2015

Matt Olson WriterChanging with the time

This year marks the 80th anniversary of The Crier Newspaper in St. Francis High School. The staff had a lot of fun going through archives to see how the newspaper and the school has changed over the years. We found clubs and activities like Cheerleading and Junior Future Homemakers of America, as well as stories of sports victories and upsets throughout school history.

Clubs

Here’s a blast from the past with some old clubs. They no longer exist but new groups and organizations have taken their place. St. Francis dance team has taken the place of cheerleading and Super Fans are now appoint-ed in place of Pep Club.

1985

1988

2002

2010

2011

2011

With the rich history of SFHS, clubs run by students and teachers have been a big part of its past, present-and future.Whether it is official clubs like Hosa, BPA, NHS, Speech, and Youth-teaching-Youth, or student run clubs, there’s always some-thing to do at SFHS. If there isn’t something offered that a group of students wants to do, there are ways to start a new club or ac-tivity. Activities Director, Jeff Fink, said that the number of clubs at the school changes with people adding clubs each year and other clubs fading away. However, sports offerings have kept the same sports

for the most part, with some new ones be-ing added. One would wonder how far back clubs go in Saint Francis history. Fink doesn’t seem to know the oldest club at the school, partly due to all of the clubs morphing and changing over the years.Fink has a document with the process for adding clubs/activities, sports, or lettering that explains the process. He said that per-sonally he would like someone who want-ed to add robotics as an activity. With the document and the process done, a student could then join a club or activity as long as it has an advisor.

Center Spread November 9-13, 2015 The Crier 7

1986 was a big year - the debate team took third in nationals and SFHS got a brand new fryer to make delicious french fries.

In a twist of irony, we found an ar-ticle about the speech team when Madonna Faulk, now Arnold, was in college and came back to coach the freshmen team. This year, Arnold - after years of teaching in the district - became head speech coach.

Celebrating 21 years - 1957

Celebrating 75 year - 2010

2013

1986-87

2013 1969

“Once the club has an advisor, has a purpose, and gets approved then anybody can join the club. You would need to speak with the advisor in charge of the club, or if the club is student led then you would talk to the two students,” said Fink. All of this is meaningless, however, if a student can’t access the information. Fink responded that the information is up on their website, but at the time of the in-terview it was taken down so they could update it. One can access the information on gosaintfrancissaints.com. If one has in-terest in starting a club, they can also speak with Fink to see if the club has a chance

and go from there.Those who may be less interested in sports and activities, may be wondering why to join a club. Fink has said that it’s a great way to get involved in the school and brings peo-ple with similar interests together like go-ing green, faith, card games, etc. These are run by student interest and can look good on a college or work resume. With the num-ber of students at SFHS, there are bound to be students that have different interests than what the clubs offer. Starting clubs can help make you feel less alone.

VarietyKevin’s Top Five Scary

Movies

Earlier this September, students filled the Performing Arts Center with sto-ries of their lives as they auditioned for the latest round of fall plays. Each year Glenn Morehouse Ol-son directs a different full-length fall play and a few years ago added a fall one act play in order to allow more students a chance to perform. This year’s main play, Nickel and Dimed, was performed November 5-7 and was a documentary style piece, which hasn’t been done before at SFHS. The one act is called All the Bases and will be performed at the end of first trimester on November 23. “I like to give my students lots of experiences, so a documentary style isn’t something they’ve done before,” said More-house Olson. “Last year we performed a classic comedy from the 1930’s and the year before that, students performed in a murder mystery.”

Over 50 students auditioned, and many others signed up to participate on technical crews. “There were lots of newcomers this year,” said Morehouse Olson. Morehouse Olson directed Nickel and Dimed, and she brought Barb Hynes-Tomczyk in to direct All the Bases. “I consider her a great mentor. She ran the theatre program here before I did and she still directs in local theatres,” said Morehouse Olson. “The students who work with her are in for a really great experience.”After casting the shows, there are lots of oth-er things that go into making a play happen. Maija Luckow, who won a Spot-light Award for costuming in Footloose, leads the costume crew. “The one act show, All the Bases,has lots of colorful t-shirts and hard hats,” said Luckow. Nickel and Dimed is about people

trying to make a living with minimum wage jobs, so expect to see waitresses, busboys, cleaning ladies, and the all-famous “Mall Mart” blue vests. Luckow attends most rehearsals,

Alisa Franchino Staff Writer

A cent-sational play about making a living off of minimum wage jobs

Nickel and DimedKevin Vang Staff Writer|

1. SawWhy is it on the list? “All the gore in the movie,” said Selena Blumb, 11th grade.

2. The RingWhat’s your favorite part?“The part when the girl come out of the well,” said Zane Bixby, 11th grade.

3. Paranormal SeriesWhat’s the best ending?“The ending with the one possessed,” said Jack Scheel, 12th grade.

4. Wrong TurnWhat’s it about?“A bunch of cannibals eating people,” said Josh Midkiff, 12th grade.

5. The OrphanWhat makes it creepy?“Because she is a 30 year old woman acting as a young girl,” said Hailey Meeks, 12th grade.

“I like to give my students lots of experiences, so a

documentary style isn’t something they’ve

done before.” - Director, Glenn Morehouse Olson

even though she never appears on stage. “Maija and the other crew mem-bers make everything you see on stage pos-sible,” said Morehouse Olson. Senior Clayton Baker is in the play Nickel and Dimed. “I like the idea, I feel like it will speak to the audience because so many peo-ple are working minimum wage jobs,” said Baker, “I’m excited to bring a piece like this to the audience and to just have fun with this play.”

Photo by Jolie Olson

Poster Artwork by Pat Johnson

In honor of everyone’s favorite October holiday, The Crier brings you the results of our lunchtime survey - Top 5

Scariest Movies of all time.

8 www.thesfhscriercom November 9-13, 2015

I had high expectations for Disney’s The Little Mermaid when I walked into the Orpheum Theater on Tuesday evening. The actors did an amazing job of bringing the classic Disney tale to life for audiences of all ages. However, as I watched and laughed at the cheesy fish puns, I noticed some significant holes (or “bubbles,” if you will) in the plot that I couldn’t seem to get over. Even with the lacking plot, the actors seemed to shine. The cast made the illusion that they were underwater with body rolls and wheeled shoes. If not done properly, it can take away from the performance, but not this time. There were also several occasions of characters suspended from ropes, and they still sang well. Sebastian (Melvin Abston) stole the show with his believable Jamaican accent and perfectly placed humor. Flounder (Adam Garst) was an innocent little fish wanting to be with the little mermaid. Anyone that paints their hair blue and yellow every night has to be

committed to their role, and he pulled through. Of course the lead roles of Price Eric (Eric Kunze) and Ariel (Alison Woods) were worth pointing out. Their stage chemistry had me fooled The seagulls just bothered me. Squawking and telling Ariel lies about the real world? That’s just rude. “Under the Sea” was exciting, but the “fish” dancing around in morphsuits made it a little weird. Other musical numbers went well, but “Les Poissons” seemed so random. I understood the concept, it being that they were having fish for dinner when Ariel was present, but the entire song could’ve been cut down to a few sentences of dialogue. It was okay, but some things were just plain overdone. While it is a classic, some things just don’t make sense. When Ursula gave Ariel legs, she couldn’t have given her some decent clothes? Why would Prince Eric just take a random stranger that doesn’t talk to his castle? Disney assumes too much coincidence. It just so happened that Eric was taking a stroll on

the beach when Ariel shows up on shore. Furthermore, she deserts her family to do it. Without a simple “hey dad, I’m going to be human for a few days,” she takes off after Eric. As a member of high school band, the first thing I was anxious to hear was the beginning overture from the orchestra. After listening to it for a long time on a recording, I couldn’t wait to hear it live. They didn’t disappoint. The local musicians played the overture, as well as the other songs, fabulously, and added greatly to the theme of the show. Overall, Mermaid gets one thumb-up from me, The actors did their best in bringing a show with little plot development and nothing that makes logical sense in the “world above” to life. It’s a great experience for lovers of the storyline, but Ariel shouldn’t be trying to change herself so much for a man. Sorry Ariel, but Elsa has you beat on the maturity front.

Variety

Laura Wyatt | Variety Editor

Kevin Vang | Staff Writer

The Little MermaidDisney presents the little plotline at the Orpheum

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Hennipen Theater Trust

Number 1: BTSBTS, also known as Bangtan Boys or Bul-letproof Boys, is a very special group that

has unique looks, out-fits and above all their out of this world dance. They debuted in 2013. This 7 member

kpop group ia very geeky and nerdy. In music videos, they

pull off a lot of bad boy looks, great dances, rappers, and they bring out their geeky in-ner selves.

Number 2: BIGBANG

Probably considered the best veteran group in kpop history, started in 2006. Back then

it was about pop music, but Bigbang was unique and started out as a hip hop group. They then had a comeback with the sin-gle “Lies” in the pop genre written by G Dragon, the leader of Big Bang. It instan-taneously topped the charts and since then, they have been known throughout all South Korea and other countries. Their comeback album in 2012, “Still Alive” had their hit single “Fantastic Baby” which has just under 180 million views and was named the most iconic song in kpop in history.

Number 3: SHINEESHINEE is a very well-known group that became famous by their amazing fashion

and outstanding dances. They can put any outfit on and can still look good. They de-buted with the song “Replay” in 2008, and

later on in 2011 de-buted in Japan. They also have a very fash-i o n a b l e trend called the “Shinee T r e n d ” .

They are the most popular Kpop group in England and Russia.

Top 3 Kpop Bands

Photo Courtesy of BTS Website Photo Courtesy of Big BangWebsite

Photo Courtesy of Shinee Website

Ray Goren is a multi-instrumen-talist and singer who performed in the high school’s PAC on Friday, Oct, 23rd during early and late academic times. “I’ve worked with a ton of great and legendary musicians in my career and Ray is one of the most gifted artists I’ve ever witnessed,” said Steve Jordan, Ray’s producer.

Goren has recently released his debut EP Songs For You which was recorded by grammy award-winning producer Jordan. Jordan has worked with many famous musicians including Be-yonce, Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys and many others. Goren’s EP includes four origi-nal tracks and one cover. According to the press release, the lead single, Light My Fire, is a bouncing, piano driven tune inspired by Goren’s view of the world today. He is touring around the country to promote his newest release and is visit-ing high schools to let them hear his music and answer questions about the industry. “The fact that he is so good, at his age, just blows my mind,” said Jordan.

Ray Goren plays for SFHSstudents

Photo by Eva Lindberg

Photo by Eva Lindberg

Pictured: (L to R) Chue Yang, Ray

Goren, and Helena Berger

November 9-13, 2015 The Crier 9

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Editorial:Lock down drillsHendrik Turner | Guest Columnist

Editor’s Note: An editorial is an unsigned opinion. It reflects the opinion of the Editorial Board.

Raised in the United States all of our lives, hosting German exchange students for three weeks and other foreign exchange students this year has given us a different perspective. American school districts have some safety precautions that Germany doesn’t, such as lockdown drills. The foreign exchange students experienced something they considered one of the scariest moments in their lives. Over the intercom we heard, “Staff and students, this is a practice lock-down. Please get in the nearest room if you’re not in a classroom.” It was a startling reality that had never crossed the minds of these foreign students. When you really think about it, how did America’s gun con-trol issues lead to this second-natured action of going into a defenseless state? The fact that these strict regulations are necessary is the appalling and frightening part of this problem. Having to explain such a strange precaution to a handful of confused German students was a reality check to some of our staff and students. From a young age, students in America are desensitized to this issue. By the time we were in the third grade, getting prepared for an armed intruder seemed like a routine thing and was never questioned. Changes need to be made about how the American society deals with situations like this one. When these precautions legislated, we should really take a good long look at the issue and try to fix it. Whether it is stricter gun laws or higher security, when a school shooting is such a viable scenario that we do these drills, something has to be done.

10 www.thesfhscrier.com November 9 - 13, 2015

Opinion

The USA has been a country of immi-grants since its foundation. From Pilgrims in the 1600s escaping religious persecution, to Irish im-migrants in the 1840s who left Ireland to escape famine, many different cultures live right next to each other. In Germany, on the other hand, immi-gration started during The Economic Miracle in the 1950s, so immigration hasn’t always been an issue like in the U.S. Looking to today’s refugee problems, the U.S. is facing refugees who come from Latin America because of financial, but also social re-lated issues. So how does the USA react to that today? The answer: not very welcoming. Ac-cording to the German newspaper Der Spiegel, potential immigrants from Latin America can ap-ply to become a resident in the U.S. This doesn’t mean they get a green card. It just says that they are allowed to work and live for a period of time in the USA. This process takes 18 to 24 months and most of the applicants aren’t accepted because of the immigration limit of 70,000 immigrants a year. For refugees who don’t want to wait that long, the only way to get into the USA is by illegally crossing of the border, mostly from Mexico. Those immigrants aren’t accepted in the USA, just a couple of “lucky” ones can stay; the rest have to leave the country. For protecting the US from those illegal refugees, the government built a 750 mile long fence along the Mexican border with 21,000 border patrol agents, and he-licopters and drones. These measures have shown an effect so far: The number of illegal immigrants decreased. In Germany the problems with the refu-gees has increased in the past few years. Immi-grants are mostly coming from the Balkan States and the Middle Eastern countries like Syria and Iraq. Forty percent of all refugees are the so-called “economic refugees” from the Balkan Peninsula,

in contrast to the USA, these people are allowed to cross the border, but they must apply for asy-lum otherwise, they are illegal. However, almost every economic refu-gee must leave the country. According to Die Zeit there will be 320,000 refugees from the Bal-kan Peninsula in 2015. Moreover, there will be 500,000 to 700,000 war refugees from Syria and Iraq. Those refugees are treated very differently in Germany, despite giant coordination problems. The German government tries to take as many refugees escaping from the war as possible. That’s why Germany took 184,000 refugees in this Sep-tember and 774,000 since 2011. Even most of the other EU-States don’t follow the German ex-ample. The German government still believes the problem can be handled (according to Die Welt). Even though the USA is so far away from Syria, a lot of countries, especially from Europe, want the U.S. to take some Middle-Eastern refu-gees. So far, the U.S. has taken 1,500 people. In 2016 they plan to take 5,000 to 10,000 more. The overall view on the refugees may have similarities within the USA and Germany. Both countries have citizens who think refugees bring terrorism, take local jobs, and increase ex-penditure. There are some in Germany who set refugee camps in flames to show their dissatisfac-tion. In contrast, there are those who are trying to help the refugees as best as they can in both countries. I think it’s hard to compare how the two governments are welcoming the refugees, because of the difference in the treatment between war and economic refugees. Although the Germans try to help the Syrians and Iraqis, Balkans aren’t accepted at all. The USA doesn’t separate immigrants like that; they just take an amount of 70,000 refugees a year no matter whether they are Syrian or Mexi-can. Because Germany is taking so many more refugees right now, it seems that Germany is more welcoming.

German Exchange Student gives perspective on immigration issue

A Gallup survey asks the global public if they think immigrants mostly take jobs that citizens in the country do not want (e.g., low-paying or not prestigious jobs), or mostly take jobs that citizens in the country want

Mostly take jobs that citizensin this country do not want

Mostly take jobs that citizens in this country want

Both

Don’t know

Source: GallupGraphic: Tribune News Service

*Resident income levels of survey participants

High LowUpper middle

Lowermiddle

58% 19% 20% 23%

17% 28% 34% 35%

18% 19% 17% 23%

26% 35% 29% 19%

Migrant workers

Income level*

Cartoon Corner

From a young age, students in America are desensitized to this issue. By the time we were in the third grade, getting prepared for an armed intruder seemed like a routine thing and was never questioned.

Eva Lindberg Staff Writer

Man on the Street Issue: School Parking “They are overpriced, but we’re lucky we at least have somewhere to park” said Kal-lie Geer

“My parents pay for the pass my sister uses, but they are pricey.” said Noelle Myers.

“I can’t even imagine having to pay for passes myself with all the stuff I’m juggling now,” said senior Gunner Dupont.

Courage retreat builds bridgesBrightening the future one ripple at a timeBrooke Imm Business Manager

Anna Burdorf Writer

Photos by Emily Lawrence

November 9-13, 2015 The Crier 11

Opinion

“I don’t think the prices are higher than other places. They’re about the same price, if not cheaper than places around us,” said Principal Doug Austin.

“Anoka parking passes were $30 per tri,” said junior Brett Norton. “If you get a parking ticket it’s only $5.”

For the past 11 years St. Francis High School and Middle School have joined

together with Youth Frontiers to host a courage retreat for the 7th grade students. These retreats are used to teach kids about self-im-ages, peer pressure, bullying, and how their decisions impact them. Twenty-fifteen was my second year as a volunteer, which I was a small group leader, and got to watch as these young kids grew as a class. Being at the re-treat made me think back and remember to when I went on the retreat five years ago; however, the similarities and differences were very prominent.

Throughout all these years the retreat itself has not changed very much with the games, activities, and intention. Games and activities help the kids let loose and get out their energy after talking about some tough subjects. Topics such as bullying, fitting-in, making mis-takes and drugs are confronted by different speakers and then further divulged in small groups. I witnessed students slowly come out of their shells as they realize they all have fears and come to-gether as a class. The long day ends with an activity that always leads to tears, the Pebble in the Pond. Challenging these young kids to follow the motto “Respect, Take Risks, and Be Real,” the leaders gather the kids in a tight circle with an open center. The kids are silent, lights are dimmed, and calm music is played to keep a calm environment. Next, the speaker says something that terrifies every kid, “Come up here and share your act of courage.” The kids all look down with big eyes at the vow they have written on their card. This vow is an act of

courage striving to change their school and themselves. A mo-ment of silence follows for 10 long, painful seconds until one brave student stands up, walks to the center, grabs a pebble to toss into the bowl of water, and be-gins to share their vow. Looking into the bowl, the brave speaker can see how this one small act of courage can have a ripple effect on their life. I remember watching my classmates go up on by one and say how they want to change, but now I realize we did become those changes. Never realizing it, the courage retreat left a ripple ef-fect that changed all of our lives and ended bullying almost for good in our grade. It’s crazy how the problems these groups of kids faced seemed like mine all those years ago. The Courage Retreat is an important life changing event for the kids in our community. However, I feel like it should happen more than once in their educational career or be longer than one day. This would create a longer lasting impact and allow more issues to be addressed.

This year Saint Francis High School has a new rule concerning unexcused absences. Last school year when a student was absent, a guardian had five school days to call it in. The year before that, it was ten days. This year the policy has changed and only allows two school days to excuse an absence. I do not agree with this change be-cause parents tend to be too busy and not call in absences. “Sometimes I can be forgetful when calling in absences so I don’t really like this

change,” my mom admitted, “but it’s not going to cause a big problem.” Most of the time students have unex-cused absences for good reasons like illness or family issues. “I don’t really like this change, I think we should have more time to get our absences excused,” said senior Kylie Amundson. Although some students aren’t a fan of the new policy, others don’t think it will have an impact on them. “I don’t really mind the change. My

mom is usually good about calling me in right away,” said senior Ana Gilbert. Most parents work during the day and don’t get the chance to call in; therefore, they should get as much time as they need to call in their child’s absence. I don’t think they should have cut the time frame for calling in by three days this year. They should consider going back to a five day limit so it doesn’t cause any further absence is-sues for students.

Students have even less time for absence call-ins

POINT/COUNTERPOINT Laura Wyatt Variety EditorWhen people in Minnesota think about guns, most think about hunting. It is entirely different for those affected by a school shooting. In response to another school shooting, President Barack Obama called upon Americans for stronger gun control. He men-tioned surveys taken by gun own-ers in the country, and the results are against common thought. Responsible gun owners believe we need stronger legisla-tion to keep everyone from getting a gun. We need to stop these mass shootings. Obama is not trying to take away everyone’s guns, he’s call-ing upon people to make it safer. In other countries when this happens, legislation is passed almost imme-diately. Lockdown drills are not practiced in other countries like the UK. Most people opposed to gun control are acting out of fear - fear of their firearms being taken away. Responsible gun owners will not be hurt when we pass these needed laws. How many more kids have to die before America wakes up? The right to bear arms should not be held higher than the right to feel safe at school.

I think we have an issue. The number of shootings in America’s schools is a problem, along with the way our president is handling it. When seconds matter, the police are minutes away. The first law enforcement arrived 6 minutes after the initial 911 call. in the latest shooting. The gun-man killed 9 people in that time. Imagine how many people could have been saved if there was a legal gunowner in the building. More gun laws are going to make more criminals. Making it harder for the everyday law abid-ing Americans isn’t going to stop the people that are going into the schools and killing. They are crim-inals for a reason, they don’t follow the law. We need to put people with guns in to protect our schools. If people are against giving that right to teachers, then give it to a retired Marine or Navy Seal. The likelyhood of someone coming into the school knowing there are armed forces is much lower. Obama’s responses have become routine. I don’t agree with his politics, but if he’s going to do something he should do it.

Bri Duerr Writer

Man on the Street Issue: School Parking “They are overpriced, but we’re lucky we at least have somewhere to park” said Kal-lie Geer

“My parents pay for the pass my sister uses, but they are pricey.” said Noelle Myers.

“I can’t even imagine having to pay for passes myself with all the stuff I’m juggling now,” said senior Gunner Dupont.

Courage retreat builds bridgesBrightening the future one ripple at a timeBrooke Imm Business Manager

Anna Burdorf Writer

Photos by Emily Lawrence

November 9-13, 2015 The Crier 11

Opinion

“I don’t think the prices are higher than other places. They’re about the same price, if not cheaper than places around us,” said Principal Doug Austin.

“Anoka parking passes were $30 per tri,” said junior Brett Norton. “If you get a parking ticket it’s only $5.”

For the past 11 years St. Francis High School and Middle School have joined

together with Youth Frontiers to host a courage retreat for the 7th grade students. These retreats are used to teach kids about self-im-ages, peer pressure, bullying, and how their decisions impact them. Twenty-fifteen was my second year as a volunteer, which I was a small group leader, and got to watch as these young kids grew as a class. Being at the re-treat made me think back and remember to when I went on the retreat five years ago; however, the similarities and differences were very prominent.

Throughout all these years the retreat itself has not changed very much with the games, activities, and intention. Games and activities help the kids let loose and get out their energy after talking about some tough subjects. Topics such as bullying, fitting-in, making mis-takes and drugs are confronted by different speakers and then further divulged in small groups. I witnessed students slowly come out of their shells as they realize they all have fears and come to-gether as a class. The long day ends with an activity that always leads to tears, the Pebble in the Pond. Challenging these young kids to follow the motto “Respect, Take Risks, and Be Real,” the leaders gather the kids in a tight circle with an open center. The kids are silent, lights are dimmed, and calm music is played to keep a calm environment. Next, the speaker says something that terrifies every kid, “Come up here and share your act of courage.” The kids all look down with big eyes at the vow they have written on their card. This vow is an act of

courage striving to change their school and themselves. A mo-ment of silence follows for 10 long, painful seconds until one brave student stands up, walks to the center, grabs a pebble to toss into the bowl of water, and be-gins to share their vow. Looking into the bowl, the brave speaker can see how this one small act of courage can have a ripple effect on their life. I remember watching my classmates go up on by one and say how they want to change, but now I realize we did become those changes. Never realizing it, the courage retreat left a ripple ef-fect that changed all of our lives and ended bullying almost for good in our grade. It’s crazy how the problems these groups of kids faced seemed like mine all those years ago. The Courage Retreat is an important life changing event for the kids in our community. However, I feel like it should happen more than once in their educational career or be longer than one day. This would create a longer lasting impact and allow more issues to be addressed.

This year Saint Francis High School has a new rule concerning unexcused absences. Last school year when a student was absent, a guardian had five school days to call it in. The year before that, it was ten days. This year the policy has changed and only allows two school days to excuse an absence. I do not agree with this change be-cause parents tend to be too busy and not call in absences. “Sometimes I can be forgetful when calling in absences so I don’t really like this

change,” my mom admitted, “but it’s not going to cause a big problem.” Most of the time students have unex-cused absences for good reasons like illness or family issues. “I don’t really like this change, I think we should have more time to get our absences excused,” said senior Kylie Amundson. Although some students aren’t a fan of the new policy, others don’t think it will have an impact on them. “I don’t really mind the change. My

mom is usually good about calling me in right away,” said senior Ana Gilbert. Most parents work during the day and don’t get the chance to call in; therefore, they should get as much time as they need to call in their child’s absence. I don’t think they should have cut the time frame for calling in by three days this year. They should consider going back to a five day limit so it doesn’t cause any further absence is-sues for students.

Students have even less time for absence call-ins

POINT/COUNTERPOINT Laura Wyatt Variety EditorWhen people in Minnesota think about guns, most think about hunting. It is entirely different for those affected by a school shooting. In response to another school shooting, President Barack Obama called upon Americans for stronger gun control. He men-tioned surveys taken by gun own-ers in the country, and the results are against common thought. Responsible gun owners believe we need stronger legisla-tion to keep everyone from getting a gun. We need to stop these mass shootings. Obama is not trying to take away everyone’s guns, he’s call-ing upon people to make it safer. In other countries when this happens, legislation is passed almost imme-diately. Lockdown drills are not practiced in other countries like the UK. Most people opposed to gun control are acting out of fear - fear of their firearms being taken away. Responsible gun owners will not be hurt when we pass these needed laws. How many more kids have to die before America wakes up? The right to bear arms should not be held higher than the right to feel safe at school.

I think we have an issue. The number of shootings in America’s schools is a problem, along with the way our president is handling it. When seconds matter, the police are minutes away. The first law enforcement arrived 6 minutes after the initial 911 call. in the latest shooting. The gun-man killed 9 people in that time. Imagine how many people could have been saved if there was a legal gunowner in the building. More gun laws are going to make more criminals. Making it harder for the everyday law abid-ing Americans isn’t going to stop the people that are going into the schools and killing. They are crim-inals for a reason, they don’t follow the law. We need to put people with guns in to protect our schools. If people are against giving that right to teachers, then give it to a retired Marine or Navy Seal. The likelyhood of someone coming into the school knowing there are armed forces is much lower. Obama’s responses have become routine. I don’t agree with his politics, but if he’s going to do something he should do it.

Bri Duerr Writer

12 www.thesfhscrier.com February 9-13, 2015

Photo Feature

Fall Fashion Photos Taken by: Hannah Beckman

2. Riding Boots1. High Tops

4. Cute Flats3. Suede Boots

Best fashion tips for the season

Hannah Beckman News Editor

Fall Fashion Feature

As the temperature begins to shift, the days be-gin to get shorter. We experience the change from sunshine everyday to overcast and rain showers. We see that as this change happens,

our wardrobe choices shift from shorts and tanks to sweaters and scarves. The entire fashion world changes its focus. The “Now” for June, July, and August become the “Then”. Stores switch out their inventory to accommo-date customers scrambling to get the (A) comfiest sweat-ers, (B)fuzziest scarves, and (C) classic flannel. The color pallet changes completely, as we move from bright eye catching colors, to deeper more soulful colors. The color white becomes scarce, and the (D)browns, tans, and (E)burgundies take main stage.

Shoes to Choose

(A) comfy sweaters (B) fuzzy scarves (C) classic flannel(C) classic flannel (D)browns, tans(E) burgundies