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4 9 10Diving to daunting depthsTeacher of the Year How to be Santa Claus

VOLUME 24ISSUE 3DECEMBER 2012 sidekick

COPPELL HIGH SCHOOL � 185 W PARKWAY BLVD � COPPELL, TEXAS 75019WWW.COPPELLSTUDENTMEDIA.COM

Volleyball champions serve up second state victory

Artists exhibit winning works

SAMMY ROBBENSports Editor

Senior Laura Beaty and Alex Silver, junior, celebrate after the !nal state championship volleyball match against the New Braunfels Lady Unicorns.

Photo by Rowan Khazendar

Seniors Austin Cariker, Jayson Kim and Lauren Ussery quali!ed for the prestigious Young Masters art competition.

Photo by Lauren Ussery

see Young on pg. 3

MICHELLE PITCHEREditor-in-Chief

!ree new pieces will join the 24,000 timeless works on display at the Dallas Mu-seum of Art this December, each with a familiar name un-der the title.

Seniors Austin Cariker, Jayson Kim and Lauren Ussery have been named Young Mas-ters by the O’Donnell Foun-dation, which sponsors the Advanced Placement Strategy Grant for Art. CHS is one of 10 high schools in DFW that is a part of this grant, allowing AP Studio Art students to en-ter this competition.

“Each student is able to represent themselves with one piece of artwork,” AP art teacher Tamera Westervelt said. “!ey have to look at everything they’ve done and narrow it down to their best work.”

Of the more than 450 pieces submitted to the com-petition, 41 came from CHS. Each piece was reviewed

digitally, and approximately 100 works made it through the preliminary round. Eight CHS students made it to this prelimi-nary round, where the physical works had to be sent in for fur-ther review and examination.

“For this particular com-petition, they are really looking for students who exemplify the characteristics they look for in an AP student,” Westervelt said. “!ey’re looking for students

who are technically sound but also have great ideas, concepts and application. !ey look for things like risk-taking and ex-perimentation because that’s what we hope to create in our AP students.”

!e 43 pieces chosen for display at the DMA can be viewed in the rotunda free of charge from Dec. 22 to Feb. 17.

osing was not an option. “Last year it was kind of

all new to us and we didn’t re-ally know what to expect,” senior middle blocker Chiaka Ogbogu said. “Going into the season from day one, July 30, we kind of knew that we wouldn’t be satis"ed with anything less than a state champi-onship.”

Friday Nov. 16, the Cowgirls went up against the Clear Lake Lady Falcons in their state semi-"nals match. Despite the Falcons reputation as a comeback team, the Cowgirls defeated them 3-0 with impressive set scores of 25-17, 25-5, 25-14. !is three set win means that the Cowgirls had swept their ninth team in a row and had not given up a set in play-o#s.

“We had to play hard the whole time because we knew they were a "ve game team, and they could come back at anytime,” ju-nior middle blocker Mary-Kate Marshall said. “We also knew that at the state tournament no one has swept a match except us right now. We knew that they could come back and we had a goal to get to 25 and we just kept driving toward it.”

L

As the Coppell student section cheered, “it’s too easy” the Cowgirls proved it. Known as an o#ensive team for their strong hitting, the Cowgirls

stepped up their defense as well with consistent blocking and passing. Senior right side Erica Bohannon, Ogbogu and outside hitter Cassidy Pickrell led the

o#ense, while Marhsall led the team in blocks.

Coppell coach Julie Green credits more than just the Cow-girls physical capabilities for

their success on the court.see Cowgirls on pg. 12-13

To see more stories go to Coppellstudentmedia.com

Fluorescent white lights twist and interlace into the tree’s branches; festive red and gold ribbons dance down the side of the tree. Lightweight and deli-cate red and green paper orna-ments dangle from the limbs, each one symbolizing a child in need of a smile.

!ere are 347 tags on the

Give reasons to smileCORRINA TAYLORSta! Writer

tree this year: 347 children with families unable to a#ord a pres-ent this year. Not many people expect residents of Coppell to have "nancial di$culties, but the truth is there are many peo-ple unable to provide gi%s for their children every year.

Every year the administra-tive support assistant Scarlett Hovland sets up the tree and determines the families repre-

see CISD on pg. 2

Photo by Rinu Daniel

Colored pages line the desk in the Secretary’s o"ce in the City Coun-cil building to promote the “Make A Child Smile” program.

City Council organizes gift service

2 news DECEMBER 2012Economic debate provides life experience for students

JULIANNE CAULEYNews Editor

Senior Nick Moolenijzer and junior Amir Javeri never imagined they would be sitting at a dinner with a former ambas-sador and a president.

The George W. Bush Insti-tute partnered with St. Mark’s School of Texas and the Dal-las Urban Debate Alliance as it hosted the George W. Bush Economic Debates at the Westin Park Central hotel. On the week-end of Oct. 20, three Coppell High School debate students, seniors Moolenijzer and Steph-anie Emerson along with Javeri, competed against other students from around the country.

Moolenijzer and Javeri, under the direction of Coppell debate coach Glenda Ferguson, advanced to the top 10, making Coppell the only school that had more than one student repre-sented in the top 10.

“It really shows how many opportunities we get and how great of a coach we have,” Mool-enijzer said. “If we hadn’t had so many opportunities in the past to debate, we would not have

had the experience necessary to do well.”

Moolenijzer and Amir attended an honorary dinner hosted by Bush that evening. Along with the 43rd presi-dent, the top 10 students were joined by the judges, Roberto Salinas-León from the Mexico Business Forum, and 10 other professional economists and businesspeople.

“The dinner was just like one of those dinners you see in the movies – rented out ball-room, round tables, people you do not know and free food,” Javeri said. “The atmosphere of the dinner was enjoyable; the talk over the dinner table was not about the economy or the Bush Institute; it was about whatever we liked: Cold War era politics, being a professor at a university, why the blueberry was named the blueberry de-spite the interior being green; it was just a bunch of nerds talking about the world as we saw it.”

The three students were se-lected to participate because of their participation on the varsity debate squad and were all inter-ested in economic issues. They

qualified to go because Coppell participated in the St. Mark’s Heart of Texas debate tourna-ment earlier that week.

Lasting more than 150 rounds, the debates hosted more than 140 high school students from all around the country. Ambassador Mark Langdale, Harriet Miers and Judge Edith Jones were the guest judges present.

The debates focused on the role private property rights have in a successful growing economy. They also shed light on the irresolute idea of wheth-er or not increased government investment in infrastructure would be crucial to a thriving economy.

“We did not know what topic we would be debating about was until about 45 min-utes before the debates so there was not much we could do top-ic based to prepare [ahead of time,]” Emerson said. “The style of debating was what I expected but the topic was not. It was very affirmative biased, as it is diffi-cult to argue that property rights are not a good thing.”

Despite the challenges the students faced during the de-

bates, the experience has given them the experience they need to pursue debate in college and future careers. They learned how well debate teaches one to adapt.

“The purpose of the eco-nomic debates was to encourage young people to come together and talk about how the world functions with what tools we have metaphysically carved out

for ourselves in the back of the library or in the middle of a book- the facts and ideologies that govern the world we live in, and the economic debates did just that,” Javeri said. “I am defi-nitely considering pursuing de-bate in the future, hopefully in the form of law practice or anal-ysis; the next year of debate will shape my final decisions about the matter.”

CISD looks to make a child smile this holiday seasonsented by a paper ornament on the tree. !e families listed on the tags are found through the schools and are going through some tough times.

Each tag consists of the child’s age, gender and their cloth-ing size. !e person who picks up a tag is responsible for purchasing the child an item of clothing and a gi" of their choice so every child will have clothing and a present on Christmas morning.

!is year the tags were picked up remarkably fast, leav-ing only a couple of ornaments le" on the tree a"er !anksgiv-ing. !is was partially due to the ability to have the ornaments emailed to each individual, that way they would not have to drop by the Town Center and could just receive the tag through their email.

Each present should be wrapped with the tag attached and dropped o# to the Town Cen-ter by Dec. 10, and on Dec. 18 the employees will deliver the pres-ents to the families

“Any employee in any de-partment can volunteer to deliv-er,” Hovland said. “A lot of our gi"s are delivered on the $re trucks, which really excites the kids, be-cause it’s almost like Santa coming on his

sleigh to see a $re truck pull up in their neighborhood.”

Make a Child Smile has at-tracted the attention of di#erent groups and organizations in Cop-pell such as the Women’s Club, which has taken on this program as an annual charity event coor-dinated by the service chair Lynn Miller.

!e Woman’s Club is a non-pro$t organization that dedicates its time to fundraisers such as Make a Child Smile. !is year they took on 50 ornaments within the group of women. !is association is a proud supporter of volunteer work, and it shows through their community services.

“We greet the troops at the airport, we do a fundraiser for the food pantry at the high school, we collect for CCA, we have adopted a strip on sandy lake [adopt a lo-cation] and we do things for the USO,” Miller said. “We try to do things within Coppell, city wide and nationwide so that we are hit-ting all aspects.”

Some other the volunteers include City Council member Billy Faught who has taken part of this charity event for at least ten years. Not

only does Faught participate in the delivery, but he also is the liai-son for the local Coppell compa-ny Robertson Pools.

!is year Faught brought 36 ornaments to the company for fellow employees to partake in the charity event of the season. As a City Council member, Faught is actively involved in the commu-nity and is a big believer in giving back to the community through programs such as Make a Child Smile.

“Anytime you involve your-self in a service type activity you get more than you give through the appreciation of those you are helping,” Faught said. “!e re-alization of your blessings and the feeling that you have helped somebody or pro-vided something, wheth-er it is material goods or service or it’s just a hug and a hello, you provid-ed them with something they might not of had if you hadn’t crossed paths with them.”

Faught has person-ally witnessed the grati-$cation of helping others on a particular delivery when he was presenting a donated bike to a fam-ily. A woman answered

the door and found a bike j u s t

for her son. She was $lled with emotion and tears cascaded down her face.

To her it was a Christmas miracle; it was the exact same bike her son had so desperately wanted but she could not a#ord.

Financial di%culty can hit anyone and is especially hard during the holiday season. No kid deserves to wake up on Christmas morning with nothing under the tree. All the families on the tree are in Coppell and are in need of some Christmas spirit; it is com-pletely anonymous

Anyone can face economic hardship; it could be an acquain-tance, employee at

a shop, neighbor or even a close friend. !is holiday season could be the one to change a child’s life when they wake up and rush to the tree to $nd a present waiting for them. A present gi"ed from a generous citizen of Coppell.

“It makes you feel a pro-found deep satisfaction that you’ve touched someone’s life,” Miller said. “You can’t buy it. You can only do it by acting upon it. I’m a huge believer in kindness and passing it along as a way of saying thank you for all the kind things that people have done in

your own life who you might not get to thank.”

continued from pg.1

Amir Javeri, Stephanie Emerson and Nick Moolenijzer participated in the George W. Bush economic debates on Oct. 20. Moolenijzer and Javeri placed in the top ten and attended an honorary dinner with the former president.

Photos by Rinu

Daniel

Photo Illustration Julianne Cauley

3newsDECEMBER 2012

Senior Jayson Kim sits with his headphones in, eyes !xed on his etching. "e piece he is creating is something entirely new to him, something inspired by the Coppell community. Kim’s piece, entitled “Hon-or” exhibit his knowledge of technique and clarity. For Kim, this piece is all about the message.

"e print depicts a group of people with their heads bowed. "ere is subtle symbolism throughout the piece alluding to the tragedy that inspired the greater feeling of community exhibited in the piece.

“I wanted to honor both Jacob Logan and the Coppell community because the day he went missing, people gathered on the football !eld for a vigil,” Kim said. “"at really inspired me. I was amazed by how strong the Coppell community is and how it’s similar to a huge family.”

Kim decided to take a risk with this entry, com-pleting in !ve days what normally takes two to three weeks to complete.

“"is medium was experimental for me,” Kim said. “It’s a printmaking process; I had to etch on a plate using a very sharp object, and eventually I got a print. I wanted to create some sort of ambiance. "e etching brings out the drastic contrast between the dark and the light. "at’s what I wanted to convey.”

Kim, an AP 2D Art student does his best to be de-liberate in everything he does. “He really understands the purpose behind having an intention for every piece,” Westervelt said. “Before he begins, he has an idea and he tries to bloom that idea into something that commu-nicates with the viewers.”

Kim discovered his love for art in third grade. It was then that he began doodling whenever he could !nd time, which was usually during class. It wasn’t until he entered middle school that Kim enrolled in a formal art class and began to develop his skills and learn about technique.

“I always enjoyed art as a hobby, and it was a great creative outlet for me,” Kim said.

What began as a hobby has become a gateway to the future; Kim plans to major in architecture in college.

Although architecture will force Kim to become much more technical in his artistry, he will continue to develop his skills in his favorite media.

“My favorite media are oil paint and graphite,” Kim said. “Graphite is what you start out using, and I love the clarity it produces. Oil paint is fast and colorful, so it’s always fun to use.”

K i m hopes this experience w i l l help him pursue a

career as an archi-tect.

“It really is a blessing,” Kim said. “I’m very grateful that my artwork was

chosen. It’s a very

c o m -p e t -i t i v e p r o -

cess.”

Standing in her bathtub with a bucket of blue paint suspended over her head, senior Lauren Ussery had a moment of hesitation. So much could go wrong – she could get paint on her 5D Mark II camera, permanently clog the shower drain and have blue hair for weeks. But the artist inside urged her on, and she tipped the bucket.

"is summer, Ussery wanted to further re!ne her newly developed passion for photography, so she took on a massive project. She decided to take a creative portrait each day, a task that would bring about more rewards than she expected.

One day, when searching for inspiration, Ussery stumbled upon the bucket of paint she used to paint the walls of her bedroom. She then remembered a photo by one of her favorite photographers in which he captured the paint in midair, and she wanted to see if she could do something to the same e#ect.

“I thought it would be cool to use the blue paint in the shower to represent water,” Ussery said. “I set up my tripod and put my remote in a bag. It was really di$cult because the paint was all over my face, so I had no idea what the pictures looked like when I was taking them.”

Ussery’s passion for photography is relatively new; she did not know about her gi% until she took AP 2D De-sign her junior year and was forced to complete summer photography assignments.

“It suddenly became what I wanted to do with my life,” Ussery said.

Her love of photography led her to do her own research on the subject. Over the past year and a half, Ussery has developed quite the knowledge base about cameras, technique, equipment and photo-editing.

“Lauren’s love of photography and experimenta-tion is exempli!ed in this piece,” Westervelt said. “She’s a risk-taker. She knows about cameras, photography, light-ing – she has skills that she has learned on her own that far surpass anything I’ve ever exposed her to in class. You can tell that this is her passion.”

Ussery did not take a formal art class until her sophomore year. Since then, she has decided to pursue a double major in photography and advertising or mar-keting in the hopes that she can apply her skills in a com-mercial setting.

With her experimental nature, she tends to prefer artistic photography to unedited work.

“I like surrealism, so usually with my photography I focus on heavily Photoshopping things to make them the style I like,” Ussery said. “I like really bright lighting and making things that seem like they should be creepy or ugly into something pretty.”

As a student in 3D AP Art this year, Ussery is proud of everything she has accomplished in such a short time.

"e people who got it were always people I admired, so it’s really nice to !nally be on that lev-el,” Ussery said.

As his teacher lectured him about not using school property as his own personal sketchpad, senior Austin Cariker gazed down at the artful smudges created by his ballpoint pen on the desktop. If only he could !nd a way to recreate this e#ect, he felt he may be on the brink of a brand new medium.

Cariker was inspired to create this piece a%er taking a look at a trend in pop culture. He noticed a wide array of movies has been released in recent years that depict war and violence in a way that distances the viewer from the reality of the con&ict. "is e#ect can especially be seen in younger generations who have never lived through the brutal reality of war.

“I usually think really hard before I start a piece to try to !nd a really strong meaning that can connect with people,” Cariker said. “I tend to lean toward war because that’s such a fascinating issue. We don’t really think about it, but we like con&ict, and we’re used to it. It’s kind of strange that we’re fascinated by something that ends lives. I wanted to show that with this piece.”

"e piece, entitled “Destitute Love” was the !rst work Cariker attempted in his newly-discovered style. "e work itself was done in three layers, with the basic outlines on top, the intricate smudging, details and tex-ture in the middle and the watercolor paper on bottom.

“I would put some ink on the acetate then smear it with my !ngers,” Cariker said. “"en I’d let it dry and repeat the process with more ink to get a full picture with the di#erent shadows and lining and everything. "is was my !rst project using this medium.”

Cariker began his formal art training when he was in Kindergarten. At around age 5, he began attending J’s Art Studio and continued going there every Monday night until his eighth grade year.

Cariker hopes to pursue art in college at either Ringling College of Art and Design or Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD).

“I want to keep pursuing di#erent mediums be-cause I love mixed-media and experimentation,” Cariker said. “I want to try to hit this new type of !eld that has emerged for mixed-media called Motion Media Design. It deals with integrating animation and !lm and Photo-shop and digital graphics and 3D imaging in the same thing. It’s really hot on the market right now because a lot of !lmmakers and advertisers want that stu# because it appeals to the younger generations.”

Westervelt has no doubt that Cariker will excel in his desire to continue experimenting with his art.

““Honestly, I told him that I didn’t think [his Young Masters piece] would work, but he made it work,” Wester-velt said. “"at’s kind of how he operates. We’re all kind of in awe. It looks like he’s making a disaster, but out of the chaos comes this wonder- ful order and !nished product.”

Cariker’s a$nity for experimentation has al-lowed him to achieve this.

I didn’t know it was the biggest competition we do all year,” Carik-er said. “It was one of my two goals this year to be a Young Master. Now that I’ve a c h i e v e d that, I’m very hap-py.”

of their craftYoung Masters

Austin CarikerLauren UsseryJayson Kim

continued from pg.1

Photos by Lauren Ussery and Coppell ISD

Young honored recently with Teacher of the Year 4 news DECEMBER 2012

CAROLINE CARTERSta! Writer

Greeted by the drum line, fellow teachers, administrators and a bouquet of !owers, one well deserving teacher was rec-ognized as the 2012 Teacher of the Year.

With over 240 teachers and faculty members at Coppell High School, there is no doubt that each greatly contributes to stu-dents’ learning. But every year, there are a few standouts that go above and beyond.

A"er being nominated by other teachers and then further evaluated by a committee of three people including a representative of the district, a member of the Site Base committee and assis-tant principal Kayla Brown, Kelly Young was named the 2012-13 Teacher of the Year for Coppell High School. Young is an AP Hu-man Geography teacher and JV cheer coach.

“It is a huge honor to be named Teacher of the Year,” Young said. “It is quite a process for a teacher to take the time to do this for another colleague, so it means a lot. Just at #anksgiv-ing when everyone talked about what they were thankful for, I said my job. I love teaching be-cause of my kids, and I look for-ward to coming to work every day.”

#e other nominees includ-ed Laronna Doggett, a biology and aquatic science teacher, Julie Stralow, the drill team director and dance teacher, and Janine Kay, a Spanish teacher. A"er teaching in Austin and San An-tonio, Young began teaching at CHS in 2010. #is year Young began to incorporate the Blended Learning program in her classes.

Blended Learning com-bines traditional learning in the classroom with virtual or online learning. For half of the school week, students are in the Blend-ed Learning Lab completing on-line assignments relating to the current unit they are studying. #e rest of the week is spent in the classroom with the teacher leading class lectures and discus-sions.

“#rough this, students collaborate through Schoology, Google Apps and other various online tools,” Young said. “I am

taking away the standard lecture style of teaching and getting kids to take responsibility for their own learning. #ey learn how to ask questions, problem solve, and think on their own without always having to rely on a teacher to feed them answers.”

With the Blended Learn-ing style implemented into the course, Young believes that it is a great program for her fresh-man students to get a taste of the more di$cult courses o%ered at the high school and even college.

“For freshmen, the Blended classes are a great way to get their feet wet for high school and even college,” Young said. “I’m cur-rently pursing my Master’s de-gree at Amberton University and a lot of things are going online and there are more group discus-sions. Although it is de&nitely an adjustment for both me and the students, it is highly bene&cial.”

Principal Mike Jasso also &nds the Blended Learning pro-gram that Young has taken on has been a great success thus far.

“I am very proud of Young for taking on the challenge of having a Blended class,” Jasso said. “It is still relatively new in school, and she stepped up and accepted the challenge. She was already a great teacher to begin with, and now she has learned how to make use of technology in the curriculum. Young has done a dynamite job of e%ective-ly using technology not just as a toy but as a learning tool. She has also served as a leader for other teachers when helping them un-derstand how to do this.”

Many of Young’s students &nd that her teaching style is very useful and makes some of the material easier to under-stand. #e daily use of technolo-gy also adds a di%erent element to the class.

“Her class is really interac-tive and incorporates technology which I like,” freshman Prasant Moturu said. “She lets us have a lot of freedom in what we do, and we learn a lot in her class. We are able to do things more inde-pendently, but she still guides us through the material when nec-essary. Every day is an adventure in her class.”

In addition to teaching, Young is also the JV cheer coach.

“I really enjoy being the cheer coach because I teach

freshmen, but then I still get to be with the di%erent grades through cheerleading,” Young said. “I get to go to a lot of the sporting events, and I love seeing the kids’ camaraderie and school spirit.”

Many greatly appreciate the contributions that Young has made to CHS in the three years that she has been teaching here. From spending extra time help-ing prepare students for tests to supporting athletic teams, Young goes above and beyond in all that she does.

“Young is great with kids,” Jasso said. “Students !ock to her, and she has a very calm and easy demeanor. She is very approach-able, and kids of great relation-ships with her and put a tremen-dous amount of trust in her. #e higher the trust kids have with their teachers it is more likely that everyone will be successful.”

Former students are also

Photos by Rinu Daniel

thankful for the help that Young gave them when preparing for the AP exam. Sophomore Tania Damle, who took the AP Human Geography exam last year, said Young helped cover all the neces-sary material for the exam while making the class interesting.

“The environment that Young created in her classroom allowed us to be able to learn in an interactive way, and she did a very good job of preparing us for the AP exam,” Damle said. “She would do whatever it took to help us fully understand the ma-terial. Mrs. Young is a very sweet lady, and she always did what she thinks is best for us which I’m sure many people including my-self appreciated.”

Young credits much of her love for her job and students to the district. With the support of fellow teachers, administrators and superintendents, Young will continue to find new and creative ways to teach as well as help her students.

“I truly love my job, and I believe that the district that I am in has made me love it so much,” Young said. “There are so many opportunities, great leadership and forward thinking that con-tribute to our education system’s success. The students here want to learn, and they always surpass my expectations. You can tell that the value of education is here in Coppell, which makes any teach-er’s job enjoyable.”

“Mrs. Young is a very sweet lady, and she

always does what she thinks is best for us which

I’m sure many people, including myself, appre-

ciate.”-Tania Damle,

sophomore

She went to

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San Marcos

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majored in

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Kelly Young is handed a bouquet by her husband who waited for her to come and be awarded with many of her students and co-workers.

Young is described by many of her students and co-workers as a wonderful teacher who truly loves teaching.

YoungMrs.

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5opinionsDECEMBER 2012

Drugs. The word has a negative connotation that is derived from the established morality in society over time. After years of teaching genera-tion after generation of kids this negative connotation, it does not seem right to reverse the implication.

Within the last few months, there has been great debate in many different areas of the Unit-ed States over whether or not to legalize the recreational use of marijuana. While 18 states have

laws s t a t i n g

the medical use of mari-

juana is legal, Colorado and

Washington have recently become

the first and only two states to legalize the

recreational use of mari-juana.

During the times of this breakthrough, the state

of Texas has remained hesitant towards the issue. Texas legisla-tors have proved unwilling to endorse the cause for legaliza-tion of the drug with good rea-son. Even so, if action was tak-en, most would ultimately vote against the idea in response to the morality in which they have been raised. Making an attempt to legalize the drug would de-file the very concepts that are preached as soapbox subjects to citizens from young ages.

Think of the school sys-tem; at an elementary age, schools have great affect on the moral developments of chil-dren. The government tells the schools what to teach, and that is what the children learn. That being said, the government can-not promote anything generally un-favored by the public, such as the usage of drugs, and has

heavy i n f l u e n c e on the de-velopment of the idea that drugs are bad which is delivered over and over again by the school system.

Even with restrictions on marijuana, users still !nd ways to obtain it for recreational use. Unfortunately, a good portion of these recreational users sits among the age range of CHS stu-dents. Recent statistics from le-galizationofmarijuana.com show that 73 percent of tenth graders and 85 percent of twel"h graders have admitted to giving the drug at least one try, and said that it is fairly easy to obtain.

High percentages of users on an illegal product will only use if it is legalized. Even with the strict anti-drug education enforced in local schools, kids seem to see past the conse-quences and defy the law any-ways. Smoking marijuana not only negatively affects short-term memory, but also leads to possible trial of other, more dangerous substances. None of the consequences are worth suf-fering at such a young age.

The legalization of mari-juana will lead us right back into the past when there was a higher moral favor for marijuana. The drug was once much more fa-vored among the public, but its popularity fell as correlations

There has been a push for the legalization of the recre-ational use of marijuana since the federal prohibition of the drug began in the 1920s. With billions of dollars poured into a never-ending drug war, over-crowded prisons and a several trillion-dollar deficit, a lift on the federal restriction on mari-juana is more relevant and nec-essary than ever.

Many who are against the legalization of marijuana think it is a gateway drug; that is, peo-ple who start using marijuana will eventually move on to more serious and dangerous drugs.

This is not always true; in fact, the majority of the time it’s not. As a senior in high school, I have known many students who have used the drug, and not one of them has ever moved on to more serious drugs.

The fact that the drug is, has been and always will be present in high schools is one testament to the fact that the drug’s legal status will not pre-vent individuals who want to use

the drug from doing so.

T h i s translates to a

larger scale: the do-mestic and international drug wars. The fight against marijua-na, its production and transpor-tation has no end. It only pro-duces ridiculously wealthy and dangerous cartel leaders. For as long as there is demand for the drug, people are going to pro-duce it, sell it and use it, regard-less of its legal status.

#e truth is the drug is just as dangerous, if not less, than the two largest legal recreational drugs: alcohol and tobacco. Mar-ijuana cannot be feasibly over-dosed on, and has similar long term use a$ects as tobacco. Stud-ies show that its infrequent use in moderation has very few adverse a$ects. While I do not use nor condone the use of these drugs, I believe adult Americans over the age of 21 should have the right to make the choice for themselves.

Older drug laws made serious criminals out of non-seri-ous o$end-ers. #ere are still many

husbands and fa-thers in our country’s pris-ons who committed what

used to be a much more seri-ous o$ense: having a personal use amount of marijuana in their possession. Our legal sys-tem placed them with hardened criminals in our largest prisons, taking them away from their families and jobs.

Billions of dollars are spent keeping marijuana users and dealers in jails and prisons, in at-torneys and court cases, and in law enforcement trying to !nd the o$enders on the front lines. #is %ow of cash can be complete-ly reversed with a legalization and taxation on the production, trans-portation and purchase of recre-ational marijuana.

#e overcrowding of pris-ons will be reversed, daily users will be decriminalized, drug deal-ers and cartel leaders will be de-throned and billions of dollars in tax revenue will be generated.

#e decision on wheth-er or not the recre-

Burke and Cowlishaw stir the pot on

the issue of marijuana legalizationTO PUT IT BLUNTLY

b e -tween heavy users

and less success in life be-came more evident. From this rose the anti-drug moral that society is based off of today.

Legalizing something that has been outlawed for several generations could cause culture shock for the younger genera-tions. More people rather than just current users would feel obliged to give the drug a try with the mentality that if people say it is OK then it must be. That is not the message that we want to send to future generations.

Children tend to associate bad choices with what the law says; legalizing marijuana will flip the switch in their minds that if the law approves then the drug must be safe to use. Marijuana may not be the most powerful drug available, but it is still addicting and serves as a gateway drug leading to more destructive decisions as time goes on.

Marijuana has been illegal for decades with good inten-tions. Despite its medical re-lief, it is still labeled a drug that should not be underestimated. Legalizing a drug of any kind could lead to a period of time where drug usage spikes and spirals out of control, which

would not ul-timately be good for our society.

ational use of marijuana is be le-gal and taxed should come down to a states’ right decision. #e federal bans need to be li"ed, leaving the decision on whether to light or !ght marijuana to be on a state-by-state basis.

The war on marijuana is expensive and never end-ing. Outdated regulations have turned users into criminals, clogging up prisons and drain-ing tax dollars. Instead of fight-ing the drug, accepting its use in mainstream society and imple-menting taxes and regulations is the best and most progressive plan for a for-ward-moving nation.

HASH IT OUT

Don KempTrack Coach

James TaborSenior

“[Marijuana] should probably not be legalized because we have enough abuse of drugs and alcohol as it is, and if there are more drugs added to that, there would just be more opportunities to abuse drugs.”

Luis CarrenoSenior

“I believe that marijuana should be not be legalized because of its negative e!ects on the human body, and the use of drugs are detrimental to society as a whole.”

Davis DeloachSenior

“I think marijuana should be legalized, one because it would take money away from drug cartels, two we wouldn’t have so many people a!ected by the drug wars, and three, alcohol and tobacco kill more people than marijuana.”

“I believe in states’ rights when it comes to the legalization of drugs and things like that, so I think the legalization of marijuana should be left up to the individual states, it’s not a federal government issue.”

Ben CowlishawOpinions Editor

Christina BurkeFeatures Editor

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6 opinions DECEMBER 2012

News coming out of sci-enti!c endeavors is one of the most important, exciting and in-triguing parts of today’s media. "e discovery of new species, archaeological !nds and new understanding of our physical world always creates medium for thought and discussion.

But one !nd, which will perhaps be the greatest in human history, will rework and repur-pose humanity from the inside-out: the discovery of extraterres-trial life.

NASA’s Curiosity rover landed on Mars this summer in hopes of !nding microscopic life, or at the very least evidence that it once existed on the Red Planet. "ese “Martians,” if found, are not the little wide-eyed green men we like to think of.

"ey will, however, prove that life is not nearly as rare and hard to come by as we thought; if two planets in one solar system can harbor it, there could be bil-lions of other planetary bodies with life as well.

"e discovery of any life forms on Mars will send shock waves through nearly every !eld of science, global politics and religion.

We will have to ask ourselves if we evolved here ourselves, or if life was brought to Earth from an-other body. "e con!rmation that we are not alone will be thrilling and haunting at the same time: how far should we go in search of more intelligent life? Should we wait for them to come to us? How might life have evolved dif-ferently on planets with di#erent conditions?

Whole new !elds of scien-ti!c research and study will open up. "e push to go into space will be far greater than its peak in the 1960s. "e scienti!c community will be forever changed altogeth-er. Science will no longer be the study of everything natural to us; it will be the study of all things natural to everyone.

"e e#ects do not stop there – not even close. "e reli-gious implications will be some of the greatest. Abrahamic reli-gions believe that “God created the heavens and the Earth” and “God created man in his image.”

"eological philosophers will ask if the discovery of life outside of our Earth renders the Old Testament – one of the most globally sacred texts – complete-ly moot, or if perhaps God still

created everything, while allow-ing man to discover his extra-terrestrial creations on his own. But could these other worldly beings possibly be in God’s im-age as well?

Or could the notion “God’s image” not be something conceiv-able by the senses of man at all? "ese questions cannot and will not ever be answered by man, sci-entist or anyone. It will only add to the mystery of our creation and purpose here on Earth.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the potential for political uni!cation. If we dis-cover that, while we !ght wars over our di#erences, we could be so relatively similar to each other compared to life elsewhere, that we should no longer be at war with each other altogether.

"is could bring about waves of global cooperation, unity and eventually peace as we come to the realization that we are all hu-man, and we are not alone. While it may be relatively unlikely that this discovery could lead to full-on world peace, many political agendas, foreign and domestic, will be put on the back burner.

"ere is such an incredibly vast amount of evidence that would suggest Earth is not the only place in the universe ca-pable of creating and sustaining life; the next and only step now is to simply !nd where else it is hiding. Be it on Mars, a satellite of another planet or in another galaxy altogether, when we !-nally know that we are not alone, it will change the story of the hu-man experience.

The Sidekick is the o!cial student newspaper for Coppell High School. Its purpose is to in-form, entertain and provide an educational resource for its read-ers. This newspaper is a public forum for student expression and thus student editors make all content decisions.

The Sidekick is a member of ILPC, NSPA and JEA. The Sidekick was named Best Newspaper by The Dallas Morning News in 2012 and 2011 and Best Website in 2011 and 2009.

NSPA recognized Coppell Student Media as an Online Pace-maker "nalist in 2012 and the ILPC recognized the website with a Gold Star Award in 2012, 2011 and 2010. ILPC also recognized the newspaper with Silver Star Award in 2012 and Bronze Star

Awards in 2011, 2010 and 2009.The editorials and columns

presented in this paper re#ect the views of their writers.

Advertisements are sold as full, 1/2 page, 1/4 page and 1/8 page sizes in black and white or color.

For more information you may reach the adviser in his class-room (D115) or by phone at (214) 496-6239.

To read more stories by The Sidekick sta$ members, and also to "nd videos and photos, you can visit coppellstudentmedia.com.

The Sidekick welcomes all letters to the editor, but letters must be signed before consider-ation for publication. Send letters to cwo$ord@coppellisd.com or bring them by D115.

A$er tragedy strikes, the pat-tern is clear. Every day, a new per-son is to blame, someone whose actions inarguably contributed to the tragedy’s occurrence and whose culpability gives meaning to tragedies we cannot otherwise fathom.

It is never long before the blame settles with the messenger.

A$er the recent elemen-tary school shooting in Newtown, Conn., the typical series of reac-tions ensued. As soon as he was identi!ed, the gunman was con-demned by everyone as a psycho-path looking for attention. "e next day, the blame seamlessly shi$ed to those who support the civilian right to bear arms. "en, on the third day, it was Sensation-alist Media that was saddled with the blame.

"e lengths people will go to in order to !nd patterns in the chaos are amazing. People will go so far as to vilify the already-dwin-dling number of legitimate news outlets without whom accurate in-formation of such tragedies would not spread.

It is an intrinsic human de-sire to look for a scapegoat, but it is a dangerous game. American culture at large sensationalizes vio-lence. War simulation videogames, superhero movies, post-apocalyp-tic books about savagery and mur-der – these forms of entertainment gross millions of dollars each year in the United States. But as soon as a newspaper mentions a real-life gunman’s name, it is a cheap ploy to increase readership and prey on the emotions of those a#ected.

Not to say media outlets do not consider which stories will sell. Just like any other industry, print and online media follow the rules of supply and demand, and when tragedy strikes, the demand for information is at an all-time high.

News organizations would no longer be be valuable if they ignored the bad and only reported feel-good pieces.

Speaking from experience, it is a tough battle to !ght when you have to write about delicate subjects. If I write about an event, am I unintentionally “sensation-alizing” it? Where is the line

between telling people what they need to know and telling them what they don’t want to know?

"ere are reporters who, in the course of doing their job, may do something that seems out of line. But while the major-ity of Americans are sitting on their couches watching the TV news reports or refreshing CNN’s homepage for the most recent up-dates, these reporters have to put themselves in terrible situations all in the name of delivering the news to the people who are desperate to know.

"e truth of the matter is that news outlets will never stop investigation murders, conspira-cies and disasters. I, for one, do not want the !rst dra$ of my genera-tion’s history to come in the form of grammatically-incorrect tweets.

I want to continue to have faith in professional

reporters and respect the burden they bear.

EditorialImminent scientific discovery to rock humanity

Media not to blame for violenceGraphic by Lauren Ussery

Michelle PitcherEditor-in-Chief

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7opinionsDECEMBER 2012

Texas intended to be Lone Star State, not country

Concerns for future keep teens from truly ‘living’In the movies, we always see

high school students having the time of their lives without a care in the world, as if they have so much time on their hands. I envy these people. How can they have time to “live?” I keep telling myself that these movie characters are "cti-tious and that it is not possible for high school students to “live” so much. 

 So what do I mean by “liv-ing?”  Students constantly  think about college, graduate school or their future careers at least once a day. However,  some students - like me - think about these things 24/7. 

 Usually when people think of teenagers, they picture the row-

dy kids, the troublesome kids and the kids  who  are always up to no good, but that is de"nitely not the case today.  Not all teens are  wild and free and we do not have time to be rowdy, get in trouble or be up to no good. Many of us are cramped up in our rooms studying for our next test. I am pretty sure we are ac-tually “up to good.”  

 I have been told since fresh-man year that I need to calm down and live a little. I never really un-derstood what this meant. Just be-cause I tend to check the grade por-tal  every waking moment, already knew what college I wanted to go to when I was 10 and refuse to sleep because of my six AP classes doesn’t mean I can’t have fun.  

  I am so preoccupied with thinking about the future; I some-times believe that having fun  can be  irrelevant, which makes my score on the “teen-living” scale very low. I  cannot  remember the last time  I ever “lived,” and I envy the people in the movies that act like they have their  whole lives ahead of them. But wait, they  do  have their whole lives ahead of them. So why can I not be like them? 

 Sometimes I feel like I am 30. #ere is always something that I am constantly thinking about, making me believe that there is no use in “living” as a teen; it is the future that matters, not the present. 

 “Who cares if you cannot go to the football game?” I would

think, “You can do something better in that time. Go study for the SAT.” 

 #e funny thing is, I always give myself false hope that I will “live”  in college, but I know that probably won’t happen.  

  “Who cares if you  can-not hang out with your friends to-night?” #e future me would say, “#e MCAT is just around the cor-ner!”  

 #en what? If I go to medical school, I will be stressed nonstop. I’ll have to "nd a job, pay my bills, and settle down. It is not that I do not want to be a doctor, I just feel that I already know how my life is going to be planned out, and I am only 16. 

  Word of advice CHS, try not to think about your future too much; the future will take care of itself. I am still trying to take my own advice,  by being more in-volved in more extracurricular activities, by trying to spend more time at the "gure skating rink than at my desk during the weekends and breaks. #inking and worrying about what lies ahead has become

a habit of mine that I will have to live with for the rest of my life. 

 

Want to leave the country this weekend and visit Oklahoma? Some Texans do.

Yes, Oklahoma is only a few hours away from Coppell, but if Texas petitioners get their way, you might have to look into obtaining a passport in order to cross the Red River.

Texas and the United States have typically had a good re-lationship, but recently radical Texans want to repeat 1861 and divorce the Union. While there are some who are very seriously considering the idea of becoming their own nation, many others around the country are laughing at the prospect of the Republic of Texas.

A$er the results of the recent presidential election, Republicans from all over the nation have been bitter, lamenting Mitt Romney’s loss and Barack Obama’s re-elec-tion. Some bitter Republicans went immediately to the extreme in a spur of the moment decision to try to go back to their native Texan roots, when Texas was its own nation.

While it seems extreme, some citizens are taking the idea seriously to the point of petition-ing it on the “We the People” on-line petition tool. Around 120,000 people have signed a petition for the secession of Texas as of when. According to the tool’s policy, any petitions with over 25,000 signa-tures must be addressed and re-sponded to by the White House, putting the administration in the uncomfortable situation of re-sponding within thirty days to Texas’ wish to secede.

Not only are Texans peti-tioning for secession from the US, but several other states have

also started movements for seces-sion. States such as Georgia, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, Mis-souri, Tennessee, North Carolina, Alabama, Oklahoma and Ohio are also receiving attention due to their petitions having over 25,000 signatures.

In total, almost one million Americans across the country have signed a petition in an attempt to secede from the Union.

Some intense Texans have created create organizations such as Texas Secede, bumper stickers or, in cases, even changed their middle name such as Republican politician Larry Kilgore who is attempting to change his middle name to “Secede.”

Although the idea of se-cession makes many reasonable Americans cringe, these radical Texans have some support for their argument.

#e petition itself shares the fact that Texas alone has the, “15th largest economy in the world,” and, “maintains a balanced bud-get.” According to this informa-tion, some believe that secession is a practical solution to the re-cent election results. #e petition also argues that seceding from the United States would protect the standard of living for Texas citizens as well as “re-secure their rights and liberties in accordance with the original ideas and beliefs of our founding fathers which are no longer being re%ected by the federal government.”

While these radical think-ers have some sort of substance to their argument, seceding from the nation is not the most stable solution to their “problem.” #is issue starts with the “problem” it-self and the fact that it’s not truly a problem; instead, the problem

is more of a con%ict in beliefs or views.

Rather than this being an is-sue of losing their rights, the issue is more about o&ended Republi-cans reacting poorly to their loss in the presidential election, similar to a child throwing a "t a$er not getting their way.

Yes, it is feasible for Texas to become its own nation, but does the majority of the state really want to go o& on its own? Instead, this select group of bitter Tex-ans should analyze other options that are available – many of them expressed the desire to move to Canada a$er the election, another act that would do very little to dis-tance them from liberalism.

Even though some Amer-icans are completely serious when discussing secession from the Union over the election, others laugh at the

idea, such as those now petition-ing to have the U.S. citizenship of those who signed the pro-seces-sion petition stripped. Others are even petitioning Obama to do the hokey-pokey as a jab at serious pro-secessionists.

Some of the main issues with the idea of seceding from the Union are the fact that the state will lose all the federal dollars that are used for various projects such as "xing roads, universi-ty student loans, defense on the border from illegal immigrants and much more. Not only that, but more importantly, the United States is going through a di'cult time. More than anything else, the country needs to continue being, “one nation under God, in-divisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Sure, Texas is a great state with the potential to be a solid na-tion, but is the thought of secession really the best idea? To those truly considering secession, I ask you to check your history textbooks and read about why Texas as a nation did not work the "rst time. #e only time in history Texas seceded along with numerous other states resulted in the Civil War, an event that some radicals are forgetting and an incident nobody wants to experience again.

Many incidents in history are not meant to be

repeated, and Texas becom-ing its own na-tion is de"nitely one of them.

Graphic by Sophie Nauyokas

TO-DO LIST

Tolu SalakoSta! Writer

Jordan BickhamSta! Writer

8 opinions DECEMBER 2012

Fox News falls short of ethical journalism standards

Ben CowlishawOpinions Editor

I am just as much a student journalist as someone else is a student athlete. We walk the walk and talk the talk while still learn-ing and mastering our skills. A key to learning the ropes of being a

journalist is not being a

quality writer

Social media’s value in tragedyIt is no secret that older gen-

erations will o!en criticize the ones following, but some of those criticisms go too far, especially on the social media obsessions of the current one.

With constant updates on music choice, current mood, the latest boy drama and community hating accounts, Twitter, Face-book and Instagram are constant-ly bombarded with the lives and situations of teenagers. Although this seems to be of little impor-tance, social media can be one of the most helpful and healthy in-novations for students when trag-edies strike.

Although negative uses of Twitter and Facebook are com-monly reported in today’s news with the idea that our genera-tion’s intellectual abilities are on the decline because of our social obsession, people tend to forget the good that comes from these inventions.

When the news of the deaths of two beloved Coppell High School students was spread on Twitter, it made up a majority of the feed for a week. It became more than just condolences, but an outlet to channel our grief and mourn with each other.

Mabry CulpSta! Writer

Comforting religious vers-es, old pictures, and funny facts about those that were being re-membered spread over all sites faster than ever. Not only is this comforting for the families, to see what an impact their child made on the rest of the student body, it created a unity through out the student body. Being a part of this experience changed Coppell as a whole.

I can personally vouch for what a comforting experience it is being on the receiving end of the encouragement. When my father passed away unexpectedly the same week that CHS lost two students, the support was one of the only things I could cling to and "nd peace in.

When people I had never even heard of began to tweet at me that they were praying for me and my brothers, it was hard not to smile and be thankful for this community. Endless messages poured into my Facebook inbox, Twitter private messages and not to mention my cell phone.

While some were long and detailed, others were just quick blurbs letting me know the Culps were in their thoughts. Receiving even the smallest messages meant

more to me than any size compar-ison I could make.

#is is exactly why social media needs to catch a break from older generations. It does have its cons, but no one focuses on what a blessing it can be during the worst times. Just like during the tragedies Coppell experienced, people everywhere connect with each other over these sites and "nd a little bit of community with people across the nation.

Coppell isn’t the only place that has experienced the social media love. When Superstorm Sandy hit the East coast, Ameri-ca made sure her voice was heard on the Internet via these sites. Citizens sent out their thoughts and feelings towards those who were a$ected by the storm and found out ways they could donate or help with clean up and resto-ration.

Social media has become the medium for human hearts to express their feelings when physi-cal presence isn’t possible.

It is said that social media takes away the personal aspect from face to face contact and that it all together erases the connec-tion felt from person to person. I agree that intrapersonal social skills are on the decline, but to say that connection is being lost is quite a stretch. People are just connecting in a new way.

Times have changed and so has technology, but people have not. Emotions are still the same and the relationship from person to person is still there, the fact that it is just on the Internet has

only made it a dif-ferent way to communicate it.

or reporter; it’s ethics and morality. #at cannot be taught out of

a textbook, but only through time and exposure to the media of the real world.

At Fox News, their right-wing bias gets in the way of reporting the news in an ethical manner. #eir obsessive attempts at spinning ev-ery story in favor of the Republican Party or against President Obama are beginning to grow ludicrous.

I am not blindly attacking Fox News, I see both sides of po-litical bias in media. I would be ly-

ing if I said I didn’t get a good laugh out of MSNBC’s Ra-

chel Maddow panicking to respond to Romney’s strong showing at the

"rst presidential debate. But I still believe there

is no news organiza-tion that is tainting

Graphic by Haley Madigan

journalism more than Fox News.Before the election, the Bu-

reau of Labor Statistics released new jobs numbers, putting the country’s unemployment rate at 7.8 percent – the lowest it has been since President Obama took o%ce in 2009. #e “pundits” at Fox News could not make this a moment of bipartisan celebration, of rejoice and triumph for a country where so many are hurting.

Since when is positive news for a country and its sitting presi-dent not worth celebrating across the board? It is borderline o$ensive that these “journalists” refuse to report positivity because of party labels. Instead of congratulating the president on his and this country’s achievements, they spun it in one of the most creatively perverse ways yet.

#eir panelists suggested a suspicious “coincidence” that un-employment numbers had dropped so close to the election, implying that the White House had in&u-enced the numbers in their favor. Fox News has no more ethical stan-dards than a tabloid magazine.

To turn on the rumor mill and report complete and utter garbage for such an obviously not-partisan issue cannot even be described as just being irresponsible. It is an out

of control and downright lack of care or concern for ethical journal-ism.

Just for your information, Fox News, the Bureau of Labor Sta-tistics is probably more indepen-dent from the White House than you thought possible.

In fact, there are criminal punishments for any interaction or collaboration between the two. #is, if you are unfamiliar with the concept, is an organization that re-ports facts and in an ethical man-ner.

#e night of the election, when most news networks declared the election in Obama’s favor, one held out: Fox News. Many with-in the organization had projected a landslide victory for Governor Romney, labeling polls as having ridiculously strong liberal biases and predicted Obama would lose the popularity he had with young voters in 2008.

#ey are a “news” organiza-tion unfazed by facts and statistics, and have instead become a facet of the Republican Party itself. Fox News reports whatever Republi-cans want to hear and want to be-lieve, with no regard or concern with the validity of their state-ments.

#e First Amend-

ment of the constitution gives, among other things, the Freedom of the Press – a law that the gov-ernment cannot interfere with or inhibit journalism and media. In being a$orded that right, however, there is also an a$orded responsi-bility to investigate and report with legitimacy and the intention to re-port the truth.

#e fact that Fox News has the temerity to place the banner “Fair & Balanced” next to their outrageously biased reporting al-most comes across as facetious, but that gives too much credit to the organization. To juxtapose “Fair & Balanced” against their own work is nothing more than arrogance.

If the people at Fox News are journalists, then I am not. I cannot learn ethics and morality from the example set forth by this organiza-

tion. In fact, I could probably teach them a thing or two on what it means to be a journalist.

Junior sta! writer Mabry Culp stands with her brothers and her fa-ther, who died unexpectedly in October. Many utilized social media to o!er her their condolences as she dealt with the trying time.

Photo courtesy Mabry Culp

PHOTOSof theDAY

Photo by Regan Sullivan

Photo by Rinu Daniel

Photo by Regan Sullivan

Dec. 3, In celebration of the holiday season, Coppell High School decorated the horseshoe with wreaths, bows and Christmas lights.

Dec. 4, Students in Jodie Deinhammer’s fourth period anatomy class dissect a cow’s eye to identify its di!erent parts.

Dec. 4, Main Street in downtown Grapevine is all lit up in spirit of the holiday season.

Luttmer dives into preparation for dream job at sea9featuresDECEMBER 2012

NIKKI DABNEYSta! Writer

If you have spent any time on a boat, whether it was on a fishing trip or a cruise vacation, you have probably experienced seasickness. Senior Megan Lutt-mer suffers from a different ail-ment - land sickness.

Luttmer has spent three weeks of her last two summers on a boat, sailing the seas of the British Virgin Islands. She at-tends a camp called Sail Carib-bean, the leader in teen sailing, scuba diving and community service adventures.

“We were a bit apprehen-sive since the camp was so far away and outside of the U.S., but we were also excited about the opportunity that she had to experience all that Sail Caribbe-an had to offer,” Megan’s mother Kelly Luttmer said.

She lives on a sailboat with 15 people her age, a captain who is a sailing expert and one mate who is usually a marine biology major.

“Living on a boat with 15 people for three weeks can be really stressful,” Megan said. “At first you don’t know any-body, but we become a family really fast. We fight. We laugh. We cook together. We clean to-gether. By the end, we

love each other.” The campers sail on a 50-

60 foot sailboat with a kitchen, table and chairs and four bed-

rooms. Unless it is raining, they

sleep on d e c k .

Food, usually consisting of fish and meat, is provisioned to the sailors and they have to make it last.

“The food is tasty, but you can’t eat constantly,” Megan said. “It’s hard to adjust, especially for the boys. If we overeat, we will run out of food.”

When they dock on shore, the campers participate in beach cleanups. A different beach is chosen each year. They pick up all the trash on the shore to help keep it a pretty place and to avoid pollution.

“We have found some pretty interesting stuff,” Me-gan said. “One time we found a toy tractor.”

Megan and the other divers can clean up areas most people do not think about: the ocean. They scuba and snor-

kel to search for pollutants that are carried by the ocean. Toys, apple cores and plastic tubing are among the items they have found. There are some things they cannot remove though be-cause they have become a home for the wildlife.

“Megan always kept us excited everyday whether it was sailing, scuba diving, or just relaxing,” fellow camper Maddie Harmon said. “She was helpful to anyone who needed

help when sailing or scuba div-ing, and she was a confident leader.”

Besides the community service, Megan’s camp is a learn-ing experience. She has learned how to tag sea turtles and calcu-late their population. When she or one of her sail mates catches a turtle, they place a metal plate in the flipper. It contains statis-tics such as the animal’s weight, if it’s lost any limbs and where it was captured. Sometimes they use satellite tags in order to mark and recapture and estimate the sea turtle popu-lation.

Megan has been a swim-mer for as long as she can re-member. She has had an indi-vidual coach since she was three years old and competed on a club team until the middle of her junior year.

“I love to be in the ocean because I’ve always been inter-ested in marine biology, and I like seeing the unknown,” Me-gan said.

Megan learned to scuba dive the summer of her soph-omore year. When she first

learned, she received her open water and advance open water certification. This past summer she got certified as a rescue div-er, so she can dive up to 150 feet by herself. Luttmer’s favorite dives are night and wreck dives, where she is allowed to pene-trate and look inside a sunken boat.

“Night dives are my ulti-mate favorite,” Megan said. “On the sur-face they freak me out beyond belief because I just have a flashlight and can only see di-rectly in front of myself. Ev-erything else

is pitch black. I can see all the creatures that only come out at night.”

Luttmer wants to major in photojournalism, and her dream job is to be an underwa-ter photographer for National Geographic.

“My dream job combines everything I love - traveling, photography and marine biol-ogy,” Luttmer said. “I want to show the world what is going on through photos and tell my story.”

“I love to be in the ocean because I’ve

always been interested in marine biology,

and I like seeing the unknown.”

-Megan Luttmer, senior

Photos courtesy Armando Jenkins

Graphic by Sophie Nauyokas.

Photo courtesy Megan Luttmer

Luttmer and her friends were able to scuba dive underwater in an e!ort to clean up the pollution and make the waters clean. She spent two summers at a camp called Sail Caribbean, the leader in teen sailing, scuba diving, and service.

Senior Megan Luttmer spent three weeks over the summer at sea diving and cleaning up the beaches of the British Virgin Islands.

Luttmer lived on a boat with 15 other people that sailed around the British Virgin Islands. The group was given a limited supply of food and slept on the deck of the boat to take in the scene.

10 features DECEMBER 2012

Coppell’s very own Santa Claus keeps spirit aliveSanta Claus is coming

to town, more speci!cally 603 Havencrest Lane.

Coppell resident Danny Vrla has played a unique role in the holiday season in Coppell for many years. His Christmas spirit is undeniable as well as his gener-osity to the community.

For 25 years, Vrla has dressed up as Santa Claus for chil-dren and adults to visit and tell him their Christmas wishes.

“I started doing this in 1988 when my son was 7 years old,” Vrla said. “I did it because I thought it would be a good way to give back to the community since at the time my son was in kinder-garten at Austin Elementary. I knew it would be a fun thing to do for his class, and then it grew into a much bigger thing than I ever expected.”

With a painted sled he built himself and a furry red suit and hat, Vrla assumes the role of the beloved character a little over a week before Christmas day. Around 80 children visit him nightly eager to tell him what is on their list this year.

“"e most that ever came was about 230 people,” Vrla said. “I know this because I give out a peppermint candy to each child as they leave and then count to see how many are le#over. "e best thing that I get to do is see the kids’ faces. Sometimes it might be the !rst time they have seen Santa. "e 2 year olds cry, or then the ones that are a little bit older are timid at !rst. You do not want children to be afraid of Santa, so I try my best to be warm and welcoming.”  

Because Vrla has had 25 years of experience, there have been many memorable visitors that I have come to see him.

“One time a little boy came up to me and was at !rst very qui-et,” Vrla said. “When I asked him what he wanted, he only whis-pered to me. Later his parents came up asking what he wanted so they would know what to get him. His parents ended up getting him this gi#, and then next year he came back and said, ‘You must be the real Santa because you brought me something that I only told you about.’”

Many of Vrla’s neighbors have been going to see Santa since their children were little. Alicia McGurk, mom of sophomore Carson Mc-Gurk, has many mem-ories of the times when her children were younger and visited Vrla.

“When they were younger, they would probably go ev-ery night to see him,” McGurk said. “"e two

would just go and talk to him like he was their own personal Santa. Now that they have gotten older, we still go and visit to continue the tradition.”

"e neighborhood also par-ticipates in the holiday spirit by setting up alternating Christmas lights down the street in red and green.

“"e neighbors love to get our red and green lights out to support him and make our street look good,” McGurk said. “It is so much fun to see lines of people waiting to talk to him. Young kids and families come and start new holiday traditions.”

Although the majority of the time there is a festive atmosphere, some of the requests Vrla hears are unattainable for children.

“"ere are always a few sad times when a kid asks to see his mommy or daddy, when they might have died or are !ghting in the war,” Vrla said. “It is always a tear jerker. It is very hard to tell a child a right answer or explain why it can’t happen especially since they are so young.”  

Vrla says that he has even had parents who lost a child re-turn to him saying how much they appreciate his yearly gi#. Others give cookies or small gi#s to show their thanks.

“"ere was one woman who would paint me something every year,” Vrla said. “Another family brought me a Christmas bell from the movie !e Polar Express with a note saying how I made the hol-iday a joyful experience.”

Many of Vrla’s visitors who have visited him since they were little are now parents themselves and bring their chil-dren to pass on the tradition.

“I am now start-ing to see a second generation of families which is rea l ly

special,” Vrla said. “"ey enjoyed it as a kid, and now they want to pass on this legacy to their kids. Hopefully I’ll be around to even do their kids. It’s fun to see them growing up.”

Like his mom, Carson Mc-Gurk has many memories of vis-iting Vrla.

“I still love to go see him [Vrla] even though I am older,” Carson said. “My family told friends about it, and now they go and see him with their fam-ily. It is really nice thing that he does. I’m sure that he has created many family traditions for people across Coppell.”

Visiting Santa is not a tra-dition that only children par-ticipate in. Even though Kacey Hutchins, a neighbor of Vrla, is now a senior, she still visits him every year and looks forward to the tradition.

“My brother and I would al-ways look out our house window waiting for him to go outside,” Hutchins said. “I remember going almost every night and being the !rst ones in line. I know a lot of little kids enjoy going to go see him since he is always very friend-ly and always has the Christmas spirit. We still go and take a pic-ture with him every year, and my brother still goes even though he is 21.”

Christmas is a big part of Vrla’s life. With hopefully many more years to come, Vrla will continue to bring the Christmas spirit to Coppell.

CAROLINE CARTERSta" Writer

HOW TO BESANTAGET A GOOD COSTUMESanta Claus would not be complete without his red hat, red suit and %u&y, white beard.

GET THE RIGHT ATTITUDETo be Santa, one will always be around kids. One must remember to stay friendly and welcoming and to al-ways smile.

PICK A GOOD

TIMESince kids will be Santa’s biggest audience, it is im-portant not to visit too late. Santa’s appearances should, however, be in the evening as Christmas lights are on.

BELIEVELike anything relating to Christmas, believing in Santa Claus makes all the di&erence - it keeps the magic and spirit of Christ-mas alive.

Photos by Rowan Khazendar

Graphics by Addy Buigas-Lopez

11featuresDECEMBER 2012

Social a!liations in"uence academic performanceKIMBERLY DEL ANGELEntertainment Editor

Senior Tracy Nix* slides into her desk in second period AP Statistics. !e teacher begins class by passing out last week’s quiz. She glances at the top right corner of the page to "nd a bold 68 staring back.

Swi# glimpses of her friends’ papers around her reveal that she is one of the few unable to grasp the concept; she quickly shoves the grim paper into her book bag before anyone takes enough notice of the score to judge her intellectually. Instead of discussing the errors on the quiz, Nix agrees to go bowling with the group that night al-though there is a test tomorrow.

“In high school people don’t really know who they are, or what they want to do; they re-ally don’t need to know as much at this level, but they rely on the opinions of others to give them their self worth and self esteem,” Coppell High School math teach-er Ian VanderShee said. “If other people like them, then they must be likable, if other people think they are smart, then they must be smart— rather than just know-ing in their own mind, their own heart that they are worth some-thing.”

Peer relationships can be a positive or negative in$uence on the lives of adolescents. Nat-ural observations of adolescents reveal that they discuss options with their friends before reach-ing a decision about what to do. !ese groups are an important developmental point of reference for adolescents, especially at the

high school level, because it al-lows them to gain understand-ing of the world outside of their families and formulate goals and aspirations academically and so-cially.

“High school is kind of like your formative years—who you hang out with and who you talk to a%ects how you think about yourself and how you think about the world,” sophomore Kelly Hall said. “Everyone has their opinion on something and you have to base your opinion on your experi-ences and what people tell you, and a lot of your experiences and what people tell you comes from your peer group, so if they are telling you things, and you believe them—and they might be true, they might be untrue—then that’s going to in$uence what you want to do in life.”

However, one look around an average American high school such as CHS produces questions about the extent of peer in$u-ence: to what extent is such in$u-ence altering the role of academ-ics and future ambitions? Have students driven each other into textbooks or parties?

“Humans are creatures of community: we need other peo-ple, we need to talk about every-thing, ideas, and people in$uence us and give us ideas or discourage us,” senior Mallory Osigian said. “Peer pressure is there regardless of how many times people try to

deny it and that lasts when you grow up; how the in$uence im-pacts you depends on the person, depends on their mental stamina to stand up for what they think, their ability to think and develop their own opinions. If you have a spine, then your friends’ in$u-ences can help you thrive.”

Some individuals, on the other hand, have not been so fortunate enough to mold such a concrete ‘spine’ like Osigian has.

“ L o o k i n g back at my fresh-man year before I made my way into a ‘group,’ I used to work dil-igently and turn in my work on time; however, the more peo-ple I met my se-nior and junior year, the more I began to slack o%,” senior Amy

Vega said. “It didn’t matter any-more because you start seeing that having fun is more fun than homework and studying. Espe-cially now that all my friends have gotten a job, and they say, ‘well the only day we can hang out is Tuesday,’ and although you may have a project due the next day, you’ll push that aside to go.”

Adolescents typically choose friends who have characteristics or talents that they admire, moti-vating them to achieve and act as their friends do. Friends have the ability to encourage them to think more creatively and positively af-fect adolescents’ satisfaction with school, educational expectations, report-card grades and standard-ized testing.

“You "nd a group you get along well with, and sometimes the main focus of that group can be your focus too. So if people in that group are pretty high achiev-ers, then chances are you’re going to follow along; but also the re-verse is true, and if maybe you are a high achiever, you "nd oth-ers that are too,” CHS counselor John Crook said. “I’m not sure how much peer in$uence chang-es the level of performance of the student, rather than the level of performance of the student may a%ect who they choose to be their friends. “

Senior Harrison Holzer, varsity football player and mem-ber of the Vivace! show choir at CHS, has had the opportunity to di%erentiate the various types of pressure that friends can let o%, but he has one initial thought on why it is that high school stu-dents cling to the ideals of their friends.

“!e people in your social group really have a way of in$u-ence on you because you’re sur-rounded with people you want to be like and who are like you, so you become that person within your friend group,” Holzer said. “So if they want to be something that you want to do, then you be-come what your friends want to do, which is what you want to do. It’s kind of an awkward circle, but you are to your friends as they are to you.”

!e pressures to be accept-ed among the student body help strike healthy academic competi-tion and allow students to open their minds, and this is when the bene"ts come into hand. !ey don’t want to be the one person who gets that 68; they want to be

the 87 among the class average of an 86—just slightly better than average, just right.

“Your friends really are what push you because you don’t want to be the only one that doesn’t succeed if everyone is succeeding,” Vega said. “You al-ways want to ‘beat’ your friends, and you always want to be a step ahead of them in that manner.”

Past the competition in the classroom, peer in$uence makes an imprint on the future of the individual as well.

“I have a lot of friends who want to do well in life and have really academic based goals,” Hall said. “I do as well—and I don’t know if that’s a result of having friends that do or I just person-ally want to do, but my friends’ academic success has pushed me to think ‘oh I want to be able to do that well also.”

Friends, school, fun - the in"nite triangle of every student’s high school career. It seems as if regardless of the age or the era, students will continue to be swayed by their social in$uences.

“Depending on who your friends are, they can facilitate your learning if they are also en-gaged, and they are people that you like to hang out with and talk to, so you can talk to them about issues that are coming up, class-es or help with homework,” Hall said. “But they can also distract you by having more fun than you should. !ey can go both ways; they can distract you from your academic goals, but they can also help you learn better.”

*Name has been changed for privacy.

“Humans are creatures of community: we need other people, we need

to talk about every-thing, ideas and people in!uence us and give us ideas or discourage us.”

-Mallory Osigian,senior

Graphic by Sophie Nauyokas

“I’m always work-ing on homework

or projects or hanging out with

my friends. But in the end, every-

thing goes back to academics.”

- Maggie Boreham, senior

“Sometimes my schoolwork over-

takes my social life and I don’t have

enough time to bal-ance them equally.”- Paulina Gonzalez,

sophomore

“Since I’m a fresh-man, my life has

been compounded by academics so I don’t really have

time for a social life.”- Mukund Kuntimad,

freshman

12 in-depth

Erica Bohannon, senior

“!ey are super smart kids, which makes the scouting report actually valuable because they take that information and they really study it,” Coach Julie Green said. “!ey know who those kids are and they know what their tendencies are and I think that is a big advan-tage when we step on the court be-cause our kids are so court smart.”

!is was the Cowgirls’ second trip to the state "nals, as they were 2011 5A state champions. For many of the returning team members re-membering how they felt just one year ago pushed them to do it again.

“It is just a really great experi-ence to know that we came out on top for my senior year,” Bohannon said. “It’s great to win it as a junior but winning it as a senior is just a whole new level because it is your last chance and you’ve worked so hard for four years. It all just pays o#.”

A$er defeating the New Braunfels Lady Unicorns 3-2 (25-14, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10) Saturday Nov. 17 they can say they have done it again.

!e match was challeng-ing for the Cowgirls who had not dropped a set in nine matches, six of which were playo# matches. Af-ter being consistently up in the "rst two games the Cowgirls fell short in the third and fourth. !e Lady Unicorns ran a slide play repeatedly that hurt the Cowgirls defense. De-spite these losses, and being down four points in the last game, the Cowgirls fought their way out and took home the gold.

“!ey are great players,” Green said. “!ey are smart and competitive and they know what they have to do. You take a timeout just to catch your breath and then you come out here and just say ‘hey we are going to take it one ball at a time. We are going to play this ball for this point and then we are go-ing to let it go. Good or bad.’ You have to get to 15, so you can’t put the whole game on ball. You have to chip and put and get yourself back up there.”

Parts of the match became a test of defense for the Cowgirls as the Lady Unicorns, known for their strong defense, returned nearly ev-ery ball.

“I thought we played defense well because the slide is tough and that got us, but in the end we had some crazy rallies,” Green said. “We are typically known more for our o#ense than our defense, but I thought our defense carried their own tonight.”

!e Cowgirls are known for their incredibly strong o#ense that can be a challenge for even the best defensive teams. Just the opposite, the Lady Unicorns are known for their defense, and as these two tal-ented teams clashed, it was clear the match was more than a test of skill but of want. !e Cowgirls knew what it was like to win, and they didn’t want to know anything dif-ferent.

“We won last year and we remembered the feeling, and espe-cially the seniors didn’t want to go out losing on our last game ever,” senior outside hitter Cassidy Pick-rell said. “We just kicked into gear and got each other up o# of our butts and "xed all of the little things that we were doing. We got right back on and we won it.”

But this was not the Cowgirls’ only motivation; this year they had

more than a trophy to play for. !ey were playing for Jacob Logan, the CHS senior football star who drowned in October. As the stu-dents in the stands cheered “state for J”, the Cowgirls knew what they had to do.

“We realized that we came here for one goal and for one pur-pose and to play for one person,” Ogbogu said. “We reminded each other that once Jacob passed away we knew that we were going to dedicate this season to him, and we knew the only way we could do that was if we won state. We ac-complished it.”

Right side Erica Bohannon was also a major asset to the Cow-girls. !e 6-1 hitter is also one of the Cowgirls’ best servers, most consistent passers and a reliable back up setter. In the state "nals alone Bohannon had 21 kills, 19 digs and 10 assists. It is her ability to play so well all the way around that made her the recipient of the 2012 5A state most valuable player.

“I really cannot put it into words,” Bohannon said. “You work so hard for four years and sometim es it doesn’t all seem worth it, but

winning MVP just proved that all the time and practice and energy I have put into this has paid o#. I just wanted to help my team in any way possible so that we could come out on top, but winning this is such an honor and I am so thankful.”

For Green, it is Bohannon’s talent and drive that made her de-serving of this award.

“She would’ve gotten my vote,” Green said. “She is just sol-id. She is just a competitor and she gets back here and serves, she plays six rotations, and she plays defense. When it comes down to it she wants the ball in her hands and we want the ball in her hands because she can handle it. When it came down to it she made some big plays for us that made a di#er-ence.”

Along with Bohannon, the Cowgirls have four very strong and experienced seniors includ-ing Pickrell, Ogbogu and senior setter Laura Beaty. For many of the younger members of the team these girls were their lead-ers. !ough they are losing four of their best players, the Cowgirls are con"dent they can do it again.

“We have key players leav-ing with all four of the seniors leaving, but we have enough on our court and on our bench that we will definitely be ready for next year,” sophomore setter Kylie Pickrell said. “We will defi-nitely know what to do when the time comes for playoffs again.”

The Cowgirls play with an undeniable passion that has con-tinued to pay off. They don’t play for individual glory, but that of their team, and that is why they are champions.

“No matter how big you are or how hard you play, anyone can go out and win state,” sophomore outside hitter Cathryn Cheek said. “It doesn’t really matter who you are or what name is on the back of your jersey as long as you go out and play with your heart.”

Throughout their entire journey the Cowgirls were con-fident and ready to bring home another state title to CHS.

“What we talked about is it is ours if we want it, and every-thing else is just an obstacle to get there,” Ogbogu said.

Cowgirls triumph in state championship, continue tradition

Kylie Pickrell, sophomore

“During the !rst round

of district, we struggled with a loss to

Hebron, which snapped us into gear getting us to realize that we needed to work as hard as we could every day because there was no time for breaks.”

Alex Silver, junior

Monday Oct. 29

at Byron Nelson High School

COPPELL v GRAPEVINE

Friday Nov. 2

at Burlison High School

COPPELL v MIDLOTHIAN

Tuesday Nov. 6

at Lewisville High School

COPPELL v HEBRON

Friday Nov. 9

at Glenrose ISD Tiger Arena

COPPELL v ARLINGTON

Saturday Nov. 10

at Glenrose ISD Tiger Arena

COPPELL v COLLEYVILLEHERITAGE

Friday Nov. 16

at Curtis Culwell Center

COPPELL v HOUSTON CLEAR LAKE

Saturday Nov. 17

at Curtis Culwell Center

COPPELL v NEW BRAUNFELS

continued from pg. 1

13in-depth

The Cowgirls ROAD TO STATE

Photos by Rowan Khazendar

By Sammy Robben

“We were not playing

to our full potential, and it started showing

when we played through district. We were just doing anything to get by until we were down two sets to Aledo;

that is really when we knew we had to play to survive in

playo"s and would get no more freebees.”

“As we overcame all

of our unexpected injuries in games and

all the unfortunate events that happened during our season, we become closer as a team and realized that in order to get to state we

had to dig deep and !nd something to keep us

going.”

After the !nal point, the Cowgirls celebrate a second con-secutive state champtionship by piling up on the court.

Mary-Kate Marshall serves the ball cleanly over the net. She had 32 ace serves throughout the season.

Senior Chiaka Ogbogu and junior Lindsay Stivers embrace following the state victory on Nov. 13.

The Cowgirls pose with their medals, #ashing the number 21 in memory of late senior Jacob Logan.

(25-7, 25-6, 25-9)

(25-13, 25-9, 25-10)

(25-22, 25-23, 25-22)

(25-22, 25-12, 25-19)

(25-17,27-25,27-25)

(25-17, 25-5, 25-14)

(25-14, 25-17, 23-25, 22-25, 15-10)

“I think it was easy in the

beginning. It was fun and new until our struggle

through district. Right before playo"s we were down against Aledo and that is when it snapped. We realized we had no more second chances and never looked back.”

Julie Green, coach

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49 3wins losses

Block leader...............Chiaka Ogbogu (144)Kill leader..................Chiaka Ogbogu (486)Assist leader...............Kylie Pickrell (1,390)Dig leader.........................Alex Silver (534)Ace leader.......................Kylie Pickrell (50)

LEADERBOARD

14 features DECEMBER 2012

CORRINA TAYLORSta! Writer

Community adopts dog park as newest addition

Drawing, painting and writing are just a few ways stu-dents show o! their creativity and individuality. While most think a canvas or piece of pa-per is needed to engage in these activities, a new medium has emerged.

A simple pair of shoes has become a popular canvas for stu-dents who want to express them-selves. Art teacher Elsa Reynolds views the shoes as works of art that do not have to hang on a wall.

“It is really original,” Reyn-olds said. “Usually we think of art as something that has to be on a wall, canvas or paper, but it

does not have to be something that stays in a room. By decorat-ing their shoes it is like making a statement they can take with them.”

Reynolds values the shoes as a medium for self-expression. She sees an importance in stu-dents having a creative outlet.

“It is important for students to express themselves so they are able to show their individuality and points of view. "ey do not need to feel like they are just one more student in the big mass,” Reynolds said. “It is cool that it can be something wearable that they can go out in every day.”

"e shoes are decorated using a variety of tools rang-ing from Sharpies to paint, each pair as unique as the student wearing them. Junior Christian

Reyna chose to

use a straight edge, Sharpies and the album art for a band called Skrillex to decorate his pair of gray TOMS.

“I felt like they were miss-ing something,” Reyna said. “I decided to put the logo from one of my favorite artists on them to make them look cooler.”

Reyna uses his Skrillex themed TOMS to make a state-ment about his personality and his interests.

“My shoes show that I am di!erent,” Reyna said. “I wear a brand of shoes that most guys in Coppell will not wear, and I lis-ten to music that not many peo-ple enjoy.”

Sophomore Emily Shul-tz uses acrylic paint rather than Sharpies to decorate her shoes, but they still show her individu-ality.

Shoes used as new medium ofELIZABETH SIMSSta! Writer

“My shoe designs show that I am creative,” Shultz said. “I can make a simple design into something a little more.”

While Shultz enjoys creat-ing her shoes in her free time, she does not keep her designs to herself. She actually sells custom painted shoes to anyone who asks for a pair and deco-rates them based on the cus-tomer’s individual requests.

“I just like making things for my friends,” Shultz said. “I find original ideas to put on the shoes so I can make sure that no two pairs are the same.”

With more and more spe-cially decorated shoes popping up around school, it seems the trend is catching on among stu-dents. Reynolds believes this is a result of the students’ drive to be unique, and the fact that

these shoes are cheaper than those purchased at exclusive stores.

“Nowadays, people do not like to wear the same shoes or shirts as other people. They want to be an individual,” Reynolds said. “By being able to decorate shoes, which are ac-cessible and inexpensive to stu-dents, they can have something original without investing a lot of money in it.”

Regardless of the reasons, decorated shoes have been gaining popularity. Students have found another way to turn a simple medium of self-ex-pression into an art form. In-stead of hanging this art on a wall or taking a picture, all they have to do is slide the shoes on their feet and go.

Photo by Elizabeth Sims

artistic expression

The City Council room was adorned with seats filled with Coppell citizens wearing grey shirts with green paw prints, ea-ger for the meeting to start. The glass walls peer out into a finely polished waiting room.

The council took their seats at the front of the room; their crescent shaped desk cap-tured the attention of the room. Mayor Karen Hunt sat in the middle just below the Coppell emblem.

Many were gathered to ral-ly their support for a Coppell dog park; they eagerly waited in their seats for the opportunity to voice their opinions. The deci-sion was made during the work-ing session in which Parks and Recreations director Brad Reid gave his presentation on the ef-

fort for a dog park.Reid gave his presentation

about the dog park and the ben-efits and possible difficulties they would have with it. The feedback from the council was generally positive as they asked questions of how it would be arranged and what all would be needed.

Right now the designated spot for the park is at MacAr-thur Park in an empty lot right next to Church of the Apostles and MacArthur Park. It is ex-pected to be a little over three acres of space for the dogs to roam without leashes. They are looking into other possibilities such as outdoor lighting, a dog park club and designated areas for dogs of certain sizes.

The official Park Board recommendation included the approval of designating the area at MacArthur park, the citizens would be required to have a

501c, a corporation to generate 20 percent of construction costs, and to enter into a license and use agreement with the city.

Hunt especially seemed enthusiastic about the process, stating she was in favor of the park and believed the citizens group should be allowed to raise money for amenities for the park if the city doesn’t pay for all of it. The council agreed to continue on with the project for the time being and will meet by January to discuss it again.

Over the past couple of months Reid has been working with Coppell resident Tracey Allard, the woman behind the effort. She first appeared in a City Council meeting last May to ask why there was not a dog park.

She then followed up with the council who directed her to the parks board, there she first met Reid and he invited her to speak at a Park Board meeting. She accepted this offer and be-gan her research.

“I’ve facilitated her in go-ing through the process and talking to the park board and developing some recommenda-tions to give to the park board,” Reid said. “I have been looking around at different facilities and different communities around the region and getting examples of the way other communities are doing theirs [operating their dog parks] and facilitating that discussion with the board.”

She took on this project, and at the first park board meet-ing in August was able to pres-ent her budgetary estimate. She

found that it would cost about $250,000 to build the park that is if they got help from the city.

In September, she went back to the park board to pres-ent information about sur-rounding cities and their dog parks. She found that every dog park surrounding Coppell was funded by the city, and only one required a maintenance fee for each year.

Then she met again in October to discuss their future plans to present this at the No-vember city council meeting.

Allard has been dedicated to this issue from the beginning; she understands the nuisance it is to drive all the way to South-lake or Dallas just to go to a dog park. She understands the im-portance of a dog park.

“A dog park isn’t just for dogs; it’s for citizens who have something in a common, cit-izens who have dogs,” Allard said. “There are a lot of benefits: dogs are happy and less of nui-sance in city, and it gives a sense of community. A dog park gives people who have a common in-terest a chance to meet and talk with people.”

Citizens were allowed to speak at the City Council meet-ing for a total of three minutes during the regular session. Five citizens stood to talk about this issue that was of huge impor-tance to them. The people that talked included disabled Citizen Bill Dugan, realtor Eva Bauer and concerned citizen Julie Mc-Can.

Dugan talked about the importance of having a dog park

so his dog could get the exer-cise he could not provide since he cannot move around the same way he used to. There are numerous sports facilities and parks with trails for people to use, but it is not beneficial for those too old or disabled to walk and play sports. This is another reason to bring a dog park, so people can get out and exercise with their dogs in a secure area. A dog park is accessible for ev-ery age and ability level.

Bauer revealed many cli-ents inquire about dog parks to be disappointed Coppell does not have one, also that dog parks can raise property values. It would be another asset to Cop-pell that its citizens could take advantage of. McCan believed in the significance of connecting with her community.

“I feel like 95 percent of everything I do is within the Coppell city limits, but I have to drive 15 minutes to get to a dog park,” McCan said. “My dog loves it and I think it really ben-efits them. Other communities are doing it and it makes the city an even more attractive place to live and raise families.”

The public has shown its support and it will be hard for the city council to ignore the 560 signatures on a paper peti-tion, 259 signatures on the on-line petition and 723 likes on the Facebook page.

Dog owners are feeling positive and it is just a matter of months before they find out once and for all if Coppell will be graced with the prescience of a dog park.

Dog owner Tracey Allard petitioned for a dog part in Coppell, and with over a thousand signatures, a park is in sight.

Photo by Rinu Daniel

15 features DECEMBER 2012

Farrell proves to have more than an ear for musicTOLU SOLAKOSta! Writer

Her designs are widely cre-ative and inspired by some of her other passions. Bailey is involved in various activities including Tae-kwondo, Madrigals, and Fame.

“[!ese activities] have an in"uence on my designs.” Farrell said. “I’ll sometimes put music notes on my shirts and dresses, and some of my friends from these activities give me some inspiration and contribute ideas.”

Despite her driven passion for designing clothes, Farrell does not plan to pursue this fashion in full force and is leaning towards studying criminology in universi-ty.

“Fashion will always be a part of me, but I just want to have a stable job when I am older,” Far-rell said. “If an opportunity for an internship comes up, I will take it. But designing will never be my only job, probably a hobby that I will always have.”

If anyone sees Farrell in the

halls of CHS, they will automati-cally notice her quite creative style. She is always bringing something new to the table. Farrell incorpo-rates designs from all di#erent styles from the past and makes it her own.

“I would say that I have two creative processes,” Farrell said. “Sometimes I will see something in a magazine or TV and I will try to $nd a way to make it my own or just remake it. Other times, I’ll go to a thri% store and rip the dress apart an just start from scratch.”

Bailey’s mother, Roda Farrell is an avid designer herself. She has helped both of her daughters, Bai-ley and Elisa, with creativity and has always given advice in making designs.

“I started sewing clothes in sixth grade,” Roda said. “My mom taught me, and her mom taught her, so it’s an activity we pass on to each generation. I try to help [my daughters] with choosing the correct fabrics and express their creativity with color, texture and structure.”

Even some of Farrell’s friends have witnessed the creative aspects of Farrell’s life. Senior Rachel Gra-ham is a true fan of Farrell’s cre-ativity and style.

“Bailey’s style is so unique,” Graham said. “I always love every-thing that she wears and her talent is phenomenal.”

Unlike other at-home de-signers, Farrell has never sold any of her styles, even though she re-ceives many compliments on her clothes.

“I haven’t sold anything. No one really asks to buy

anything,” Farrell said. “Usual-

ly I’ll sew some things for my friends, but if I would sell stu# if anyone asked for something in particular.”

Bailey reiterates that throughout her high school ca-

reer, fashion has helped her ma-ture as a person and discover a more creative side of herself. Fashion is something Bailey will cherish forever and has helped her de$ne who she is.

Most girls love fashion; they enjoy going to the mall with their friends and buying the cutest clothes at stores such as Anthro-pologie, Forever 21 and Urban Out$tters. Not many have thought of turning their love for fashion into a true hobby, but Coppell High School senior Bailey Farrell has.

Farrell has always enjoyed fashion and she managed to make her love of shopping into a hobby of designing and making her own clothes. With the help of her moth-er, Roda Farrell, Bailey has worked on perfecting her art.

“I started designing clothes the summer before my freshman year,” senior Bailey Farrell said. “My mom always made clothes, and I always liked watching her to do it, so I just picked it up.”

Photos by Rinu Daniel

Senior Bailey Farrell smiles as her unique fashion designing talents are recognized.

Senior Bailey Farrell sings along with the Madrigals during a rehears-al for the Madrigals Feast.

16 entertainment DECEMBER 2012

Coppell High School’s favorite

movies

2

3 45

7

68

9

10

1

“My favorite is Christmas Vacation

because it is probably the funniest Christmas

movie out there.”- Christian Meyer,

sophomore

“It’s a Wonderful Life because in the Christmas

season it is easy to get caught up in to-do lists. It reminds you of the true

meaning.”- Clara Caussey, English teacher

“My favorite movie is !e Polar Express

because of the cool graphics and art.”- Creigh Blodgett,

junior

“My favorite Christmas movie is Elf. We watch it every year. It is a newer movie so my wife and I decided to make it our

Christmas tradition. It is a funny movie.”- Zach Sherman,English teacher

“My favorite Christmas movies are the Home

Alone movies because he makes his own Christ-

mas holiday even though his family le! him.”

- Jaidyn Phillips,junior

“My favorite Christmas movie is How the Grinch

Stole Christmas [cartoon] because

it is a classic.”- Kevin Brimage,chemistry teacher

"My favorite Christmas movie is a tie

between !e Grinch, because it is classic, or A Christmas Story, because it shows how when you

grow up you always have family.”

- Takevia Bolton,junior

Graphics by Addy Buigas-Lopez

For more information on !e Sidekick’s favorites, check out Annie Wen’s story at

www.coppellstudentmedia.com

17entertainmentDECEMBER 2012

Texas Ballet Academy takes a crack at The Nutcracker

Sophomores shooting for success as photographers

ERICA ROHDESta! Writer

SHIVANI BURRASta! Writer

When the time comes and the curtain drops, the pitter-patter of feet stops. Last minute touches and “good lucks” rise among the whis-pers backstage.

!e Land of the Snow is ready for its queen. She meets the audi-ence with a smiling face, and the au-dience is taken aback by her splen-dor. When Courtlyn Hanson hits the stage, her nerves "are. However, she gracefully dances her way into the tale - royalty in the land of the snow, a beacon of beauty and hope.

!e homeschooled 16-year-old ballet dancer has performed in the Ballet Ensemble of Texas at the Texas Ballet Academy as an angel, clown, mouse, candy cane, party girl, Hungarian, Chinese and Clara in her past years and #nally the Snow Queen and waltz soloist at this year’s production.

“I loved the role [of Snow Queen] because it was easy for me to get into character,” Hanson said. “!ere was not a lot of acting; you just had to look really elegant and regal.”

To prepare for her role, Han-son nurtured her abilities by com-ing into the school during both the mornings and nights, as well as spending every Saturday at the school from around 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. along with the other students for rehearsal.

“It was a lot of partnering,” Hanson said. “!e partner that I had was actually hired and he could only come in on Tuesdays, so I had to do a lot of work on my own and make sure that I was doing every-thing I could to help him out.”

!e pair rehearsed every Tuesday night from 6 - 9:30 p.m. Meanwhile Hanson felt pressure when working with the professional.

“I just felt like he was so amaz-ing and I wasn’t as good as him,” Hanson said. “But he was support-ive and it was a great experience.”

Hanson also received support from her friends backstage.

“We are so close,” Hanson said. “Even if I was going to a public school I would much rather hang out with my dance friends.”

Passion for dance creates close ties and lifelong friendships, includ-ing the possibility of a friendship between polar opposite characters - the beloved Snow Queen and an abominable Mouse King, Micheal Garcia, a 14-year-old attending Coppell Middle School North.

!e young dancer rehearsed with the same amount of rigor as Hanson. For the both of them, their experiences and stress for their parts were similar.

“It really depends on the re-hearsal if it was fun or stressful,” Garcia said. “Sometimes our di-rector would get a little stressed and critique us more than we were used to and you start to stress out more than you used to. It is fun if you real-ly know what you’re doing and you get out there and perform.”

For this year’s production, Garcia also played a lead in the Spanish and the Russian dance. But to perform as Mouse King, theatri-cal tactics were involved.

“I wasn’t supposed to stand up straight the entire time,” Garcia said. “You have to change your pos-ture and your attitude even though you cannot see your face. You have to act.”

Before the Battle Scene, Gar-cia clears his mind.

“If I know a part as well as I knew the Mouse King, I just don’t think about it,” Garcia said. “Occa-sionally I will get really nervous.”

Nerves or no nerves, Garcia has a family behind him.

“Because of the Nutcracker

gle said. “You dump the thousand piece puzzle on the table. You start looking for the corner pieces and you slowly start putting it together.

!at’s the best way to de-scribe it.”

be involved can be. We know our students; we know what they are capable of. !e only thing I try to do as a director, if possible, is make sure everybody involved gets to do something new.”

Slagle #rmly be-lieves that the only com-petitiveness is with each dancer them-selves.

“They are compet-itive enough w i t h t h e m -s e l v e s ,” S l a g l e said. “!e last thing I would do is to put them against one another. It is like be-ing a part of a sports team. !ey need that same encour-agement and cama-raderie. !ey are all important and they all have a role to play.”

When the cast list is set, it adds up to around 200 students. With such a big pro-duction, mishaps will happen.

“!is year went pretty smoothly,” Slagle said. “Other years we have dealt with more injuries and this year we didn’t have too many of those or illnesses. !e Irving Arts Center Crew and theatre had such a nice fa-cility for us so there is usually never any problem technically down there.”

Overall, it takes a rigorous amount of time and e$ort to put the Nutcracker together. It is all worth it.

“How do you put togeth-er such a big production?” Sla-

if anything I have gotten closer to more of the younger kids,” Garcia said. “I formed better relationships by knowing most of the people.”

Garcia’s experiences with his friends and his passion for dancing have inspired his personal goals.

Behind the inspiration is di-rector Lisa Slagle, who is dedicated to encouraging her students to per-form their best, do what they love and challenge themselves.

Slagle opened the Ballet Academy of Texas in 1999. Ever since then, there has always been a Nutcracker show.

“We used to also perform in Coppell on !anksgiving weekend at Coppell High School and we did that for many years,” Slagle said. “But it was so hard to tear down and set up the sets and rehearse all of the kids in di$erent venues.”

A beloved classic, families in Coppell look forward to the Nut-cracker. If the tradition were to end, dancers and Coppell families would be disappointed.

“It’s a very popular tradition that we started,” Slagle said. “A lot of the students in the school look forward to grow into new roles each year. It keeps them inspired to keep dancing.”

With one production each year, Slagle has a set plan for how it will always be organized.

“!is was my 21st one to direct so it is kind of in a routine in a way,” Slagle said. “My o%ce manager is an amazing help too as far as organiz-ing the details. As far as organizing the rehearsal schedule I look at what has worked in the past.”

Part of the plan is a non-audi-tion process, the only requirement being that the student is in ballet and at a certain age and level.

“We #nd a part for them,” Sla-gle said. “If we have to make more costumes, double cast it, we make sure that everybody who wants to

Many people use activities such as music and dance to ex-press their feelings, but for soph-omores Leah Witham and Sydney Von Strohe photography serves as a creative outlet to ultimately freeze a moment and capture feel-ings of joy, sadness and serendipi-ty in a single picture to be forever treasured.

Witham’s interest in photog-raphy was incited at a young age, although she began to take it seri-ously about a year and a half ago when she bought her own camera. As she developed into the bud-ding photographer she is today, she started by practicing her skills on family and friends through personal photo shoots. Witham, however, believes it takes more than a few picture sessions to be-come a real photographer.

“Someone who is a photog-rapher really needs to have a true passion for [their photography], and a drive to pursue it,” Witham said. “I have taken photography classes to learn all the functions behind each button on a camera and have invested my time to im-prove certain skills, rather than just play around with my camera. But to be a true photographer, one needs to think outside the box and be original with poses or angles.”

her passion into a business.“When you take pictures of

people you have to incorporate their personality in them,” With-am said. “Pictures describe the words that are unsaid; it is always fun to look back at old ones when you grow up. !e feeling of know-ing I made someone else happy using my photography skills is just something that you cannot get through anything else.”

Von Strohe has likewise de-veloped a personal business for her photography.

Determined to #ne tune her skills and improve her photogra-phy techniques, Witham has en-joyed using her position on the yearbook sta$ as a bene#cial learn-ing tool to pursue her passion.

“Leah shows enthusiasm in everything she undertakes,” Round-Up adviser Sallyanne Buckley said. “She has passion for photography and when she has passion for something she pur-sues it with gusto.”

In discovering her love for photography, Witham has turned

For Von Strohe, her busi-ness began with the help of New Tech High @ Coppell facilitator Melissa Flanagan. When Flana-gan asked Von Strohe to help out with her personal business, she began to drop hints about starting her own business because of the skill she saw in her.

“I feel like anyone can buy the equipment and have the best camera, but to be a great photog-rapher, you have to apply your-self,” Von Strohe said. “You need to connect with and understand

the person or thing you are tak-ing a picture of. It takes a special person to capture personalities in photos, and those photos are the best.”

Taking Flanagan’s advice, Von Strohe started her business by making a Facebook page for the pictures and telling friends and family about it.

In regards to a future ca-reer, Witham sees photography as a future driving force in her life. Witham wants to minor in pho-tography in college and have her own studio a&er graduating. She hopes to run it from her house so she can use her own backdrops and props.

Although Von Strohe is pas-sionate about photography, she sees it more as a hobby than as her main job. Instead, she wants to pursue a career in special edu-cation or interior design, keeping her interest in photography active on the side.

Just like any hobby, activity or business, to succeed you must have a passion like that of Von Strohe and Witham. For these girls photography is more than snapping a shot at the right mo-ment; it is capturing the emotions, environment and atmosphere in the pictures that will preserve the moment for years to come. !ey prove that regardless of how old you are, if you have passion and dreams, anything is possible.Sophomores Sydney Von Strohe and Leah Witham experiment with a camera for their photography business.

Photo by Rinu Daniel

18 entertainment DECEMBER 2012

Frost to begin ‘New Life’ through musical endeavors

KIMBERLY DEL ANGELEntertainment Editor

It’s the winter of 1998 and longtime Coppell resident and fa-ther Jon Frost swi!ly slips into the car in e"ort to escape frosty De-cember winds. He joins his wife Cheryl and 2-year-old daughter Alyssa; completely dumbfounded by the sweet, gentle harmony that greets him within, in perfect pitch and unison with both the Christ-mas music playing on the radio and his wife.

“#e $rst time I heard [Alys-sa] sing, I really had to turn around and look at her because she was in the car seat,” Frost said. “I was stunned, totally surprised—when her and my wife, who has a great singing voice, were singing in har-mony in the car.”

Ten years later, Alyssa re-ceived her $rst guitar. #e sim-ple hunk of mahogany stained oak and intricately woven nylon strings along with a piano, paper and a pen would ultimately help her begin composing music and lyrics, a natural talent that she has never had to wrestle with.

“Alyssa and I have been best friends since we were 5, and I feel because I’ve known her for so long, I’ve watched her grow up maturity wise—her voice de$-nitely, because she’s always been interested in the arts and she’s incredibly good at it,” junior Ra-chael Wooldridge said. “She’s put a lot of e"ort into it, because it’s her passion, it’s what she loves to do; it calms her down and it gets her into this place of serenity, and I can see that in her—I can see that she’s relaxed and in her ele-ment when she’s singing or play-ing guitar. Like if she’s really super stressed out about something and she’s playing guitar, I can see the stress melting away—it’s just what she loves to do.”

Soon a!er the purchase of her guitar, Alyssa joined Septien Entertainment group in Addison (training home of Demi Lovato, Jessica Simpson and Selena Go-mez) and began taking guitar and songwriting lessons. Septien has served as an outlet of exposure and

promotion, providing informa-tional workshops on competitions such as American Idol and point-ers on how to live and survive in the entertainment industry.

#is past month, Alyssa concluded work on an indepen-dent $lm entitled “Faith,” written and directed by Jennifer Besser. She was cast as Jewel, a troubled teen on a desperate search to $nd a glimmer of hope a!er her father abandoned her as a child.

“My character is a song-writer, and everything bad hap-pens to her, so she feels like there is no hope. And so [Jennifer] told me to write a song about $nding hope,” Alyssa said. “And I had this poem I had written about what it means to follow Christ and re-newal, and how you leave your old life behind: a new life, and that’s what my song is called. Pretty much it’s through my characters eyes, but I think anyone can relate about $nding hope in something, feeling like nothing good is hap-pening in your life.”

A!er the production of the song alongside her guitar teacher Jonathan Comacho, who wrote the music for the track, Alyssa initiated the process of copyright-ing the song and distributing it to publication companies such as iTunes, Spotify and Radio Airplay. #e single was released on Nov. 14 on Spotify, and was available to purchase on iTunes Dec. 4; it has had much success therea!er.

“She’s on this other site called Radio Airplay, and they play her song as part of the pub-lishing deal we got; the song is played a!er a certain group of art-ists we select, like Casting Crowns or the contemporary Chris-tian genre, so what they’ll do is they’ll play an Amy Grant song, then they’ll play [Alyssa’s] song,” Mr. Frost said. “#e last time I checked it’s been played 700 times in about two weeks worldwide.”

This song is symbolic to what Alyssa has accomplished in her own life, and what it means to have faith and believe. The emotional aspect reflected in the lyrics, set the song apart and have helped her overcome an obstacle through her music and thrive.

“Last year I was going through a phase, kind of like a ‘dark time’ for me, and I would get these random urges to write poet-ry,” Alyssa said. “I was just think-ing about it and I just poured out how I felt, and how I really just needed something to hold on to and look forward to, and then I kind of just le! that aside, didn’t really think about it—got over all that, then [Jennifer] saw the poem and she said, ‘this is perfect.’”

Many have been able to recognize the success re%ected through lyrics.

“#e way the song was writ-ten is very good for her voice, it made her sound amazing—she has a beautiful voice and I think that song just highlights her tal-ent,” Wooldrige said. “I think in a way it’s relatable more to her passion and her talent than it is to anything else, because when I listen to that song, I think about how it makes a statement that she’s reached her goal, and that she $nally has a song out there on iTunes.”

Alyssa is taking a di"erent approach to her music by going for an indie, acoustic feel that will allow listeners to connect with the tune. She believes this is the key to success.

“I think that one of the things that sets my music aside, is the fact that I’m extremely honest; I’m an idealist when it comes to my views, and I am very blunt,” Alyssa said. “I don’t sugar-coat anything, so I think that will be interesting, I’m not going to make everything like bubblegum pop, I want it to be something like, ‘yeah, this is what I’m going through, and it sucks, but that’s OK’ kind of thing.”

So what’s next now? “Next year I want to produce

a miniature EP, $ve or six songs, and that would be me on acoustics and I want to eventually do a full production, a full album,” Alyssa said. “I guess wherever it takes me whatever happens will happen. I mean I have aspi-rations to create lots of al-bums and be very success-ful, but if that’s not what I’m supposed to be doing then that’s OK with me.”

Following release of single, junior pursuing career as indie, acoustic artist

Photos by M

ia Ford

Photo

cour

tesy A

lyssa

Frost

FROST

spotlightunder the

19 entertainment DECEMBER 2012

Coppell graduate continues to discover love of artCORRINA TAYLORSta! Writer

The sun beats down on the small backyard of Andy Scott; he busily stirs the black paint and dips his brush in his paint can to accumulate the cool dark substance. He turns back to his yard to face an empty canvas sprawled on the grass.

With a smile he begins to fling the paint at the canvas from all angles. He lets his imag-ination loose as the splatter be-gins to form on his canvas.

Scott is a 2012 Coppell High School graduate who has worked under art teacher Tam-era Westervelt’s wing for four years; during his high school ca-reer he discovered his love and talent for art. It was during this time that he realized he wanted to study art in college, more spe-cifically study to become an art teacher.

His journey as an artist started freshman year when he entered Advanced Art I, at this point in Scott’s life his focus was on friends and not on think-ing four years ahead of time. In this class he learned more about techniques and started to prog-ress as an artist.

Once he reached his junior year he was hooked, he had been continuously exposed to art and had become to embrace it. It was in this time he found his talent and found he could have fun with art as well.

“I encourage [my stu-dents] to become experimental,” Westervelt’s said. “One of the assignments I gave them was to take paint and a piece of pa-per and start pouring it on the surface, then they had to start drawing on top of the surface and for him that looseness and freedom of just doing that pro-cess really opened him up to a lot of possibilities.”

With the newfound free-dom of an AP art class, he had 12 assignments on different themes to complete in any way he want-ed to. He was now able to allow his personal ideas to manipulate his art in whatever what he saw fit. He flourished and began to rise as an art student and looked for more challenges.

“In high school I would use [my classmates] for competition if they had a lot of skill to drive me and them to be better,” Scott said. “It’s hard to put all your ef-fort into something when you’re already going to get a better re-sult, so competition helps.”

Fellow classmate and close friend senior Austin Huens wit-nessed firsthand the competitive nature of Scott and worked with him for three years as they de-veloped as friends and competi-tors. Huens watched Scott grow as an artist through the years and was not surprised when he finally decided to study art.

While visiting the Univer-sity of North Texas, Scott was discouraged by the art program and ventured over to Texas Woman’s University and imme-diately found a connection with the school. When he attended, he was opened up to a whole new world of college life and art. Luckily, due to the extensive teaching methods of Westervelt he was beyond prepared.

“Mrs. Westervelt taught us too well,” Scott said. “Westervelt over prepared us, we’re set. I’m not competing with undergrads. I’m competing with graduate students”

Scott’s work has even been invited to an exposition on TWU, an opportunity reserved mostly for upperclassmen. He presented a painting of his and made it his goal to make it to competition at least once a year.

“He has surpassed what I ever thought what I thought he would be willing to put effort in,” Westervelt said.

After being at school for a couple of weeks Scott wanted to take the next step and better prepare himself for a career as a teacher by getting hands on ex-perience. He came to Westervelt and they agreed he could visit CHS on Fridays and help out in the classroom.

During his time at CHS he helps Westervelt prepare for lessons and anything else that needs done and has even had the chance to teach a lesson that uses assignments from college to help demonstrate ideas. He also works personally with some of the students by helping with

their assignments.“He Gives [the students]

a more variety in the teaching style, shows them another point of view on the lessons,” Huens said. “Andy has the unique po-sition of having Mrs. Westervelt as teacher which helps them. He is very friendly and is much closer to their age which makes it easier to learn from him.”

Having this experience under his belt, along with the 17 college hours he already has Scott is ahead of the game. With this new experience with

“Mainstream music” is commercialized music that is extremely popular among the masses – usually teenagers. It is the music that plays on the radio nonstop and consists of

songs with light-heart meanings and a great beat to dance to.

“I took the liberty one day to listen to my daughter’s play-list and I was quite surprised,” Coppell mother Andrea Visos-ki. “I was surprised to actually be listening to music that I en-joyed. Even I am starting to like this whole ‘indie phase.”

Years ago, if one looked at

the iTunes top 1 0 0 , every song were all from main-stream artists or bands such as Ke$ha, Britney Spears and Eminem. Today, however, the indie genre has gained some popularity and has broken the “mainstream wall” and has earned its spots on the top 100

Indie music becomes more mainstream, popularTOLU SOLAKOSta! Writer

charts. Some of these artists include The Kooks, Kimbra, Washed Out, Foster The Peo-ple and Sondre Lerche.

“Indie music has al-ways been associated with hipsters, but I have to admit that even I get defen-sive when some-one knows my favor-

i te i n d i e

a r t i s t , ” junior Kailey Visoski said. “I guess it’s the hipster in me, but I always have that lingering feeling that if my favorite band becomes popular, it might even become mainstream, and no one really wants that. I don’t want to be the kid that only listens to mainstream music.”

For quite a long time, many Indie artists have tested the waters of the mainstream pool and many fans were not too happy about this concept.

teaching and his own artistic background he is sure to hit the ground running after he gradu-ates college.

“I think it’d be really cool for him to start off teaching at a high school,” Huens said. “Later I know he could go beyond that and could open private teaching studio or teach at a college lev-el.”

Just like the splatter paint-ing, Scott has let his creativity and determination drive him closer to his dream and is sure to be a success in the art world.

“There are times that being exposed to

t h e m a i n s t r e a m

world can be a good thing for indie artists,” ju-

nior Lilly Balsamo said. “Take Kimbra for instance, she’s a great artist and her music career took off once she featured in, Gotye’s single, ‘Somebody that I used to know.’ Kimbra really didn’t change her sound since then, and she still has kept her ‘indie roots’ despite her main-stream popularity.”

Not only has Kimbra asso-ciated herself with mainstream artists and gained “mainstream success,” other artists such as Kerli is an example that a stu-dent used of a person who is greatly influenced by the main-stream world in a negative way, making dedicated fans very dis-appointed.

Andy Scott’s unique tattoo re!ects his thoughts on creativity and artistic expression.

CHS graduate Andy Scott helps students at the high school use their artistic talent to express themselves.

Photos by Lauren Ussery

Graphic by Kimberly DelAngel

“I have to say that Ker-li was a lot better before she became popular,” junior Mary Claire Phillips said. “[Kerli’s] music used to be dark and dif-ferent, but since last year, her singles sound like any other thing you would hear on 106.1 and it’s no longer original. “

Unlike Phillips, other students have had some good experience with their favorite bands, being exposed to the mainstream world.

“The best example that I can think of would probably be Ed Sheeran,” senior Taylor Crumpton said. “Even though most would consider him mainstream right now, he actu-ally started off as an Indie art-ist. Once his hit single, ‘A team’ became popular, I feel that his music has actually gotten better regardless of his mainstream success.”

Various people with dif-ferent and interesting music tastes have enjoyed Indie music for quite sometime. The main-stream music realm is growing larger everyday and has thus influenced some Indie bands in both negative and positive ways.

20 sports DECEMBER 2012

Area football team’s tweets spark unusual alliancesYears ago, high school foot-

ball stayed on the !eld, but now it has spread to a whole new world: Twitter. Whether it is trash talk or praise, it is no longer isolated to the cheering section.

Coppell High School ath-letics is known for its presence on the !eld, but now CHS athletes are showing their presence online as well. It is not uncommon for a rude tweet to be thrown around on Twitter before a big game, but recently before the Cowboys last playo" game against DeSoto, Coppell did more than just a little trash talk.

#e tweets shared between the two schools were more than just about a playful rivalry, but used sensitive issues such as race and the recent losses at Coppell to attack both sides. One Coppell student tweeted a racially insen-sitive comment while DeSoto students retaliated with a tweet that read “Sorry for the lost at

Coppell #JLO… buh it’s gone take WAY more than that Satur-day…trust me”.

From a Coppell stand point it is embarrassing to think that our students are setting this kind of precedent for our school. Stu-dents will always be tweeting about Coppell or trash talking another team, but a word of advice for all those overactive tweeters, there is a di"erence be-tween being con!dent and sup-portive and being disrespectful and rude.

#ough it is nearly impos-sible to control, many coaches encourage their players and stu-dents to avoid trash talking on social media. Following tweets between Coppell and DeSo-to, coach Joe McBride tweeted “Coppell football players…Be humble! No social media trash talking” and even called out a student saying “please don’t make remarks and trash talk on Cop-

DeSoto. Y’all are a great team. It was an honor to play you. Go win state.” Multiple Coppell football players had tweets from other school complimenting them on their talent, incredible season and perseverance through hard times.

And later Twitter brought these two rival teams together again. A$er Allen High School students used Twitter and In-stagram to post disrespectful comments towards Coppell stu-dents about Jacob Logan, DeSoto fought back in support of Cop-pell, and Coppell students be-gan to support DeSoto tweeting “Coppell+DeSoto=one big fami-ly. #loveyouall” and “dear DeSo-to, Beat Allen, sincerely Every kid from Coppell.”

#ough it started as trash talk, this side of students on Twitter was di"erent from any-thing anyone had ever seen. It wasn’t just two teams; it was two

pell’s behalf about DeSoto game. I appreciate your support”.

DeSoto coaches were do-ing the same as a DeSoto student tweeted “Coach Mathis (DeSo-to football coach) said every-one from DeSoto please don’t tweet bad about Coppell jus let the game play out Saturday. No talking.”

Despite being a source of trash talk, Twitter also serves as a way to bring teams together and share praise between players.

Following the loss of two Coppell seniors earlier this year, Twitter served as a way for stu-dents to show their support tweeting #prayforCoppell and countless other words of comfort to the Coppell community.

Even a$er the Cowboys sea-son ended in a devastating loss to DeSoto, the players used Twitter to praise the DeSoto players for a good game. Junior Solomon #omas tweeted “Shoutout to

rival teams that had just spent week’s trash talking each other. It was one team that knocked the other one o" of their road to state. #ese teams had no reason to like each other, but they do.

#is revealed the e"ect that a few students can have on the reputation of an entire school. It is a lesson for any school that has a presence on Twitter. Choose your words wisely and think about the e"ect it could have.

One Coppell student said it best when they tweeted “people worry about technology’s e"ect on our genera- tion but tell me if two fami-lies could have come together like this before # D e S o t o U #Coppell.”

Sammy RobbenSports Editor

C ppell on twitter

Pin it to win itFriday Nov. 30 at Coppell High School in the large gym, girl wres-tlers from all over the district came to wrestle and compete. #e Coppell Cowgirls wrestling team showed their strength, winning the majority of their matches. Photos by Mia Ford.

Cowgirl wrestlers in Knockout Sportswear Meet

Kim Tran

Heli Dave

Coppell Cowgirls

Erika Lozano

Cara

Romeike

21sportsDECEMBER 2012

Arriving on Oct. 25, the Coppell varsity team began preparation for the regional tournament in Abilene. At the regional tournament, the rules change. Rather than playing the standard 19 matches, matches are played until a team wins 10. !e "rst team to do so advances.

In the "rst round of playo#s, the Cowboys took on Duncanville where they only lost one match, continuing to the quarter"nals to play Grapevine. Against Grapevine the dominance continued as the newly seeded team did not allow a single match, taking ten matches to none.

As they continued to advance to the semi"nals, for the "rst time in Cowboy tennis history a highly competitive Cowboy team took on Lubbock Coronado. Against the Lubbock team the Cowboys started with a struggle, with Lub-bock eventually leading the Cowboys nine matches to three, meaning Lubbock only needed one more match to win. However in the midst of near loss, the Cowboys made an extremely impressive comeback, winning seven straight matches to put away Lubbock Coronado in very clutch fashion, 10 matches to nine.

For the "rst time, the Cowboys had made it to the regional "nals where they faced o# with El Paso Coronado, who, at the time was ranked No. 5 in the state, whereas Coppell was ranked 12th. In the end, the Cowboys fell in a very hard fought battle, 10 matches to three.

!e Coppell tennis team "nished the season ranked "$h in Class 5A, the highest in the program’s history, a$er winning district and regional champonships.

In front of a sold out crowd at Buddy Echols Field, the Coppell Cowboys remained undefeated, winning a nail biter in overtime against the top ranked Allen Eagles, 27-24, in overtime.

!e opening drive, Coppell drove the "eld behind the legs of junior running back Gavin McDaniel. !e drive ended in a 35-yard "eld goal by junior kicker Adam Centers.!eir next drive for Coppell led to 39 yard "eld goal for Centers.

Following a 28-yard pass from Coppell senior quarterback Colby Mahon to senior wide receiver Cameron Smith, Mahon punched in a one yard touchdown run on their next possession. A$er the extra point, Coppell took a 13-0 lead over the Eagles.

Late into the second quarter, Coppell fumbled and Allen "nally got onto the board a$er a three-yard burst from senior quarterback, wide receiver and running back Oliver Pierce.At the end of the third quarter, Allen sophomore quarterback Kyler Murray led a drive for the Eagles that ended a four yard touchdown run by Murray himself.  Allen took the lead 14-13 over Coppell going into the fourth quarter. !en the next Allen possession ended with a 49-yard score by Murray, giving the Eagles a 21-13 lead

Coppell responded with Mahon who threw a 35-yard bullet to Smith for a Cowboys touchdown, a$er being set up by a McDaniel 20-yard run. Coppell went for a two-point conversion in which Luke Jenner trotted into the endzone to convert the two points. !e score stood at 21 apiece with "ve minutes le$ in the fourth quarter, and eventually forced overtime.

“I do not even know, it was crazy, I was like ‘Oh my gosh we are here, we can do this. !is is our time”, Jenner said.Coppell won the coin toss in overtime and chose to play defense "rst.Coppell junior defensive end Solomon !omas and the defensive unit stu#ed the Eagles on the "rst two plays. A$er an Allen penalty that moved

them back "ve yards, Murray’s pass was caught in the end-zone, but a$er one of the most suspenseful moments in the game, it was ruled incomplete. Allen kicked a "eld goal to take a 24-21 lead over the Cowboys.

Coppell took over at the 25 yard line and it took just the second play for Mahon to connect with Smith for the second time that night, for a 23-yard score.

Coppell VS. Allen

Just like the Cowgirls volleyball team, 2012 graduate Sam Rice brough a state championship back to Coppell.“[CHS wrestling coach Chip Lowery] used my loss at regionals to motivate me to do better this year,” Rice said. “Look how

that worked out for me.”Rice also played football as an o#ensive tackle for the Cowboys and signed a letter of intent in February to play at SMU.

Because of his size, he thought wrestling would be a good sport to get into.“I was big and strong so wrestling just seemed like a natural "t for me,” Rice said.In the moment of his "nal match, Lowery had a feeling that Rice would win.“In his "nals, I was con"dent that Sam would win once he scored the "rst points,” Lowery said. “He is very di&cult to score

on, so I knew we had the advantage.”A$er Rice’s last pin for the match point, much congratulation was in order.“When Sam won, I said ‘there you go’ to coach Kirk McBride,” Lowery said. “!en I went out and held out my hand and Sam

slapped me "ve. It stung a little bit.”Starting as a freshman, Rice impressed all of the coaches with his size and strength, including Lowery.“!ere were de"nitely times were I was nervous that my streak was going to be broken,” Rice said. “But I pulled through

all of that adversity and "nished unbeaten. I completed all of my goals. I was undefeated, I am a state champion, but it is also kind of sad because I won’t be wrestling again.”

Top 5 sports stories of 2012Tennis in regional

!nals

After defeating the New Braunfels Lady Unicorns 3-2 (25-14, 25-17, 22-25, 23-25, 15-10) on Nov. 17, the Coppell Cowgirls can say they are state champions again.

The match was challenging for the Cowgirls who had not dropped a set in nine matches, six of which were playoff matches. After being consistently up in the first two games the Cowgirls fell short in the third and fourth. The Lady Unicorns ran a slide play repeatedly that hurt the Cowgirls defense. Despite these loss-es, and being down four points in the last game, the Cowgirls fought their way out and took home the gold.

“They are great player,” Coppell coach Julie Green said. “They are smart and competitive and they know what they have to do. You take a timeout just to catch your breath and then you come out here and just say ‘hey we are going to take it one ball at a time. We are going to play this ball for this point and then we are going to let it go. Good or bad.’ You have to get to 15 so you can’t put the whole game on ball. You have to chip and put and get yourself back up there.”

See pages 12-13 for more information.

Sam Rice 2012 StateChampion

Coppell VS. DeSoto

Back-to-back volleyball state championship

2/21

!e DeSoto Eagles were just too quick to take down for the Coppell Cowboys, as the Eagles put 42 points on the scoreboard in a convincing 42-14 victory in the Class 5A area playo#s.

DeSoto running back Dontre Wilson, a University of Oregon commit, scored on the "rst Eagle possession to pull out in front for a 8-0 lead.

!e Cowboys took the ball and started to work, but mistakes would halt the o#ense’s progress. Four costly penalties, totaling 25 yards, forced a Coppell punt early in the "rst period of play.

“We just started nervous,” head coach Joe McBride said. “You cannot have miscues, like we started with, against a great team. Give DeSoto a lot of credit.”

Coppell senior quarterback Colby Mahon had a tough time "nding his receivers early, though he threw a pass to senior Cameron Smith from 13 yards out to make the score 14-7.

Wilson found the endzone a third time on a 71 yard run to push score to 20-7 to end the "rst quarter of play. !e scoring would not stop for DeSoto. Wilson trotted in on a 46-yard pass from junior quarterback Desmon White to

increase the lead to 28-7 at hal$ime.“!e Lord put me here, and he knew what he was doing when he put me here,” Mahon said. “[!e game]

did not turn out how we wanted it to, but to God be the glory every single time, no matter what the outcome.”!rough the season’s ups and downs, the Coppell team has had to battle adversity from the start.

By Alex Nicoll, John Loop, Tanner McCord

and Sammy Robben

9 / 28

10 / 27

11 / 24

11 / 17Photos by Rachel

Bush, Rinu Daniel, Rowan Khazendar

and Mia Ford

Photo Illustration byJulianne Cauley

22 sports DECEMBER 2012

Ne! joins girls basketball as experienced head coachSTEPHANIE GROSSSports Writer

Freshman skates to the top, stars on varsity hockeyALEX NICOLLSports Writer

Usually athletes in high school rise through a program starting at the freshman level and winding their way up, but some-times you get that rare athlete that jumps all the way to the varsity level.

Meet Rasmus Raikaa, or Raz as he prefers to be called, a young con!dent freshman at Coppell High School, and one piece of the formidable front line of the CHS hockey team.

Raikaa, a le" wing, plays along with sophomores Lucas Mendes and Matt Lasky. #eir line is responsible for 44 of the team’s 152 points this season and Raikaa is one of the top scorers on the team with seven goals.

“We are considered one of the top-scoring lines in the state,” Mendes said.

It has been a long path for Raikaa to be a starter on the varsity line. His love for the game began way back at the age of two in Fin-land. It all started with just skating on ice.

“When I was 2 years old, my dad took me out to skate on the ice and pretty much loved skating,” Raikaa said. “It then went to meet skating with a stick and then a"er that I started to play hockey.”

His family then le" Finland to come to America because of his dad’s new job at Nokia.

Now hockey is not what you would say a well-broadcasted sport in America compared to Finland, and the style of play is di$erent, so Raikaa had to adjust to the new environment. Hockey in Finland is much more competitive as well.

“Most people there [Fin-land] are into hockey and watch it, so I would go to a lot of games. I also played on a team, but they were better than me. I did not like it when they were better than me so it made me want to get better,” Raikaa said

He had no problem !tting in already joined with one hockey team, the Alliance Bulldogs travel team, and making friends with the hockey upper classman at CHS.

“Our team is really young,” Mendes said. “#e majority of us are sophomores, and we have a few juniors along with seniors so they were !ne with it especially since Raz and I play on an older team with guys like Hank (Howard) so he was comfortable with playing with them.”

However, this is not to say that he never gets hazed or messed with by the team.

“Before games he gets pumped up by listening to dub-step and the whole team messes around with him because every-body hates dub-step,” Mendes said. “So whenever a dub-step song comes up in the locker room, we all yell ‘Raz!”

So much in fact that they were not surprised when they learned Raikaa made his way to the varsity team. Most have seen him play before and knew his skill and style of play.

“We are on the same line so it is really fun because we play select together so that way our line dom-inates,” Mendes said. “He brings talent tour team and is a good goal scorer.”

Raikaa was not even sur-prised. He was con!dent in his abilities to play.

“I was not really surprised. I was happy that I was on varsity but at the same time I was not that surprised,” Raikaa said.

#is style of play, he says, has helped him dominate at this level. Since he is more skilled-based than based in brute strength, he is better equipped to score and get assists as he can weave through de-fenders because of his quickness.

#e size and strength of American hockey players was something he had to overcome when he got to the States. Raikaa said he relied more on his experi-ence and speed to avoid defenders that, as he put it, “looking to take your head o$.”

“Raz and I go way back. I played with him my !rst year ever playing hockey. We are the same age so we have been playing select and high school hockey together,” Mendes said.

Surprisingly, Raikaa thinks of himself as a passer and less of a scorer

“I do look to score on my own, but I do not have the hardest shot because I am still one of the youngest guys out there. My team-mates are usually already at the net so I look to pass it to them because I know that they can score just as good as I can,” Raikaa said. “I trust my teammates and give them the puck when they have the opportu-nity.”

But his teammates have dif-ferent inclinations.

“He usually gets more goals than assist and he can bury the puck, so usually I want to !nd him so that he can score goals,” Mendes said.

Raikaa has seven goals and only four assists, so his teammates seem to be right in this situation, but that does not stop him from producing points on his front line.

“#ey move the puck really well and always !nd each other in the right spots,” Howard said.

He owes much of his good fortune to the head coach Ty Hennes and his coaching sta$.

“He should trust me because I will not let him down,” Raikaa said. “I work hard and practice hard when I am out there. I will always do the best I can.”

Raikaa has been a major factor for the Coppell Cowboys varsity team helping them to an 10-2 record and second place in the Varsity West MHSHL stand-ings, and his teammates know it.

“Raz’s work ethic is intense and he is going to do what it takes to win,” Howard said.

“I am really looking forward to going to state because I know we are a good team and should not have lost the few games we have lost,” Raikaa said. “We will and can beat many of the teams we have played so far, and we should be able to beat every team in the state.”

He does not hope to stop just with a state championship. His goals are set even higher to achieve the ultimate goal of all athletes. Raikaa would like to play college hockey at Boston College or at a school in Alaska. Right now though he is more focused on the season.

“I am really looking forward to going to state because I know we are a good team and should not have lost the few games we have lost,” Raikaa said. “We will and can beat many of the teams we have played so far, and we should be able to beat every team

in the state.”

Rasmus Raikaa, number 44, is the only freshman on the Coppell High School varsity hockey team.

Photo by Regan Sullivan

With the new 2012-13 bas-ketball season comes a highly ex-perienced head coach. A"er be-ing a head coach for the past nine years, coach Ami Ne$ tackles her !rst year as head coach at CHS.

Prior to coming to Coppell, Ne$ served as head coach at both Humble High School and El Paso High School.

Ne$ got started in bas-ketball when she was in second grade, and she has been involved ever since. Ne$ honed her bas-

ketball skills by competing in Amateur Athletic Union leagues in middle school and high school. Ne$ then went on to play college basketball at New Mexico Junior College and Oklahoma Panhandle State University.

Ne$ ’s main goal as coach of the girls’ basketball team is to build the girls basketball program. She wants to ensure the success of the high school program for years to come.

“My sta$ and I are going be-yond our campus and reaching out to coaches and our younger bas-ketball players at our three respec-tive middle schools,” Ne$ said.

Her goal is for the three middle school teams to develop into competitive squads that will enable the girls to compete for a district title when they reach the high school level.

When Ne$ !rst came to Coppell, her intentions were to make the girls team the absolute best that it could be.

“I thought Coppell was a great community,” Ne$ said. “It is very supportive of its high school, and I thought coming here to coach was a great opportunity to build a girls basketball team.”

So far, Ne$ has been work-ing on building not only the var-

sity team but the freshman and JV teams as well. Ne$ noted the var-sity team is made up of mainly ju-niors, and is learning how to play at a highly competitive and suc-cessful level under Ne$.

“I am very excited about Coach Ne$ and what she plans to do for our girls program,” Cop-pell ISD Athletics Director John Crawford said. “We realize that we have a lot of work to do with the program. Our girls varsity team is improving and doing well as our JV and freshman teams are doing very well too.”

“Our varsity squad is still rel-atively young, and they are learn-ing what it takes to win at the var-sity level,” Ne$ said.

#e girls basketball program also has very strong players who are developing on the freshman and junior varsity squads who will help the program in the upcoming years.

Ne$ is the third head coach for the Cowgirls in three seasons. Coach Nicole Collins was only head coach for the 2011-12 season, fol-lowed by Ne$ for her !rst

year at CHS for the 2012-13 sea-son.

“Anytime there is a head coaching change for the team, it takes a period of time for the ath-letes to adjust,” Crawford said.

Although the coaching carousel has continued to spin

for the Cowgirls, the girls are

sure that Ne$ is here to stay.

Coach Hodges, Coach Ne!, and Coach McKinney smile with good hopes for the girls’ basketball team. Photo by Rowan Khazendar

Photo by Rinu Daniel

Coach Ami Ne!

Graphic by Haley Madigan

23sportsDECEMBER 2012

In a basketball season that seems to be full of new begin-nings for the Coppell Cowboys, junior point guard Landon Goes-ling !ts right in.

He, his Baylor-bound sister and his parents moved to Coppell from Bakers!eld, Calif. last year.

Goesling, a two-year varsity starter for Garces Memorial High School in Bakers!eld, still knows that Texas will be nothing like what he had in the Golden State.

“It was very hard to leave my teammates,” Goesling said. “I had a close relationship with all of them. It was a hard decision, but I feel like it was the right one.”

Goesling stepped right into the gym as a newcomer this sea-son and earned the Cowboys’ starting point guard spot.

Like Goesling, Coppell coach Kit Pehl knows it is not easy to play in a new gym. When former coach, Brad Chasteen, retired from coaching at Cop-pell High a"er last season, Pehl le" Keller Central High School to coach the Cowboys.

“Transferring to Coppell at the time that he did, it was new for everybody,” Pehl said. “I think the transition has been easier for him, especially because everything has been new to ev-

erybody, as opposed to the Cow-boy basketball system just being new to Landon.”

Initially, Pehl’s new system was a little overwhelming for Goesling, but the junior settled down a"er he began learning the intricacies of the o#ensive and de-fensive sets.

“$e system back in Califor-nia was more of a controlled system, you know, a ‘you have to do this, have to do that’ [system],” Goes-ling said. “Here, if you see it, do it. $ere is a lot more freedom here.”

With eleven games having come and gone, the junior’s scor-ing average sits at 12.9 points per game.

B u t the stat that counts the most as a point guard is the pass-ing record, and Goes-ling has had his share.

“ T h a t has been my role since

I was a kid,” Goesling said. “All the point guards I watched grow-ing up, I liked what they did. But I always enjoyed the pass, the nice pass. Scoring is always good too, but I think that [passing] has al-ways been my role, and I hope to continue it.”

Goesling’s teammates em-brace the fact that he can make the right pass when it counts.

“When you think you are not open, he can !nd

a way to get you the ball to where it looks like you are open,” junior guard Ike Obialo said.

$e process that en-velops the point guard po-

sition involves watching the example of others.

In Goesling’s case, the player of his af-

fection is Boston Celtics point guard Rajon Rondo.

“ H e [Rondo] can

completely dom-inate a game with-

out even scoring,” Goesling said. “He makes his team-mates better, and I try to model my

game a little bit like him.”

Apparently think-ing like a pro has paid

Goesling shoots for, scores point guard positionJOHN LOOPSports Writer

o#. Pehl has al-ready seen steady improvement in Goesling’s deci-sion making, al-though there is always room for more.

“I think at times, and this a compliment to a degree as well, Landon wants to share the ball so much to the point that the guy that he is going to share it with doesn’t know, and it will end up be-ing a turnover,” Pehl said. “His turnover-to-assist ratio is a little high on the turnover side at the mo-ment, but I think it is a role that he is growing into.”

Pehl also sees an inkling of his old playmaker, 2011 Keller Central graduate Warren Sledge Jr., in Goesling.

“I think both of them, when the ball is in their hands, it doesn’t occur to them that some-thing might not work out,” Pehl said. “$ey play without fear, and they just play the game. $ey are almost surprised when something does not work out.”

With Goesling at the helm on the court, and Pehl in the driver’s seat on the sideline, the Cowboys, along with their new-est member, could be poised to make a deep playo# run.

“I feel like I have grown as a player [through three years of varsity basketball],” Goesling said. “I have become more ma-ture of a player, grown as a team-mate, [and] grown as a leader. It has been a great journey.”

Barden takes court as leader of fresh varsity team

Junior Landon Goesling looks to make a pass dur-ing the game against Duncanville.

Photo by Jessica Rivera

Photo by Lauren Ussery

TANNER McCORDSports Writer

For some athletes, especially those who are younger, choosing one sport and sticking with it can be quite the process. Even Michael Jordan retired from basketball to play baseball in midst of his leg-endary NBA career.

However, for others, a"er all the little league and middle school days are over, high school is the beginning of student athletes’ sin-gle sport focus.

For senior forward Patrick Barden, basketball has been his sport of choice since day one. Barden grew up with a basketball

in%uence, as he has a father who played college basketball for a small Division III school in New York called St. John Fisher. Barden does not quite know if college bas-ketball is in his future, however it is de!nitely an option.

“If the opportunity is there and it is the right situation for me, then I would think about playing in college,” Barden said.

For now, however, Barden will maintain his role as a forward for the Coppell Cowboys. As a senior, Barden has moved up to take a leadership role amongst the players. $is year’s team is a very young team, and with !rst year coach Kit Pehl and overall change of the program, a sense of leader-

ship is a necessity. Especially with the graduation of last year’s senior class which was one of the stron-gest classes to pass through Cop-pell in years.

“Last year we graduated a very strong class,” junior guard Brandon Watson said. “Patrick and the rest of the seniors have stepped up to !ll that position.”

Barden agrees, as he feels that although the last group of seniors was a very strong group, the 2012-13 seniors know what it means to be leaders, and even some of the younger players have been stepping up to take on the vital roles needed for a successful team. $e team as a whole agrees that Barden in particular has stepped up for the squad, as he re-ceived the most votes in the run-ning to become a team captain.

Not to mention the new coach that has stepped in to take over this varsity basketball team. Pehl took the head coaching job a"er long time coach Brad Chas-teen decided to leave the Cow-boys. Pehl’s new strategy and overall theory has brought great change to the Cowboy program and although every team needs some time to adjust to a new coaching style, the team seems to be picking up the program nicely.

“Not only is he capable of telling guys what he wants them to be, from his own standpoint he’s never short of giving every-thing he’s got,” Pehl said. “Its easy to jump in when things are going well, but [Barden] is a guy who’s voice is heard even at a point of adversity.”

Although it is still early on in the season and there are still a few kinks here and there, Barden has a positive outlook on the fu-ture of this 2012-13 basketball squad.

“I think we got o# to a bit of a rocky start with a new coach and basically a whole new team,” Barden said. “But we’re turning things around and I can see things getting a lot better for us as the season moves on and we continue to learn from each other.”

Senior Patrick Barden leads the varsity Cowboys basketball team this season. (Left) He stays open to intercept a pass from South Grand Prairie on Dec. 11. At the same game, Barden scores a two point layup.

Photo by Jessica Rivera

Photo by Lauren Ussery

! e Sidekick Presents

24 the sidekick DECEMBER 2012

SIDEKICK VIDEO NETWORK

Scan for video podcasts!

How to scan QR codes1. Download an

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such as QR Reader.

2. Position your device above the

code.

3. Click “scan”. The code will link

to the website!

Coppell’s

mostmemorable moments

of

2012

Photo by Rachel Bush

Loss of seniors Jacob Logan and Jonah Blackwell

Oct. 14 Oct. 16

To read more about 2012’s most memorable moments, visit coppellstudentmedia.comJan. 20

CHS hosts Souper Bowl of Caring and nationally televised pep rally.

2010 graduate Sharon Mathai joins NBC’s The Voice as a contestant.

MarchPhoto courtesy NBC

Photo by Rachel Bush

Hail storm strikes North Texas, damaging many vehicles and homes.

Apr. 3

Sept. 28

Coppell Cowboys football beats the Allen Eagles and !nishes with undefeated season.

Coppell Cowgirls volleyball wins second consecutive state championship.

Nov. 17

Marching band advances to the state competition, claiming 5th place.

Nov. 6

Sept. 12

Photo by Rinu Danial

Photo by Lauren UsseryPhoto courtesy Kiley Bratton

Photo by Lauren Ussery

Photo by Rowan Khazendar

A record of 21 seniors qualify for National Merit Semi!nalist based on PSAT scores.

Sta! photo