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Girls soccer team takes it to state

By Kylee NielsonLANCERS have an opportunity to work with preschool kids here at Granger. The only requirements are to take Child Development and be either a junior or senior. “The preschool gives our school positive publicity to our commu-nity,” Ms. Mosher said. “It also gives high schoolers great hands-on experience with kids. Not only does it prepare them for the future, it gives you career experience,” she said. There are many careers that have to work with kids. Whether it’s a teacher in a preschool or an elementary teacher; it can be very helpful to have experience with children. “I love working with the kids.

It helps us Lancers get prepared someday for when we have kids,” Nikkole Pollard (12) said. Preschool can help for when adults have children in the future. It can also give Lancers an outlook on how to handle kids in different situations. Kids are a very big di-versity of so-ciety. Children need to de-velop appropriately. When it comes to education, health, and even more, a lot of television does not help children develop

appropriately. Snacks are a very important thing in a preschool, but the key is keeping the snacks healthy. “We get to interact with the

kids one on one,” Daja-nae Hamil-ton (12) said. Lancers get the opportu-nity to be a lead teacher plan lessons, and help kids one on one. “I like that you can in-

teract with them. You also get to help each of them,” she said. During the first day, they’re re-ally shy, and after the first few

days, they start opening up more and more each day,” Angela Franco (12) said. Children can have attachments to their parents and being away from them for even a few hours can be hard. After a few days they will warm up to the idea of Preschool. “I like working with the kids,” Rebecca Harris (11) said. Some Lancers took the class just to be able to interact with the kids, while other Lancers took it as a career they wanted to advance in. Little Lancers get to do different activities every day from creative arts to math. Not everyone likes math, but four-year-olds don’t have algebra. Granger Lancers are proud to have this opportunity to teach.

Little Lancers in preschool at Granger High

By Diana Perez AS MANY of the players have said, the girls soccer team had one of their best seasons this year. Many people are proud of their accomplishments. They got sec-ond in region and this is the first year that the girls soccer team has qualified for state in a long time. They played a Utah county team. The excitement of playing in re-gion for the first time was over-whelming, and it served as a good experience for them. Sadly they didn’t win, but that didn’t kill their spirits. Losing in the first round made them want to work harder. It’s all about skills. “All soccer players can improve their techni-cal skills,” Coach Okeson said. “Opie is just more focused on technical skills and teamwork,” Gabriela Pacheco (12) said. “My favorite drill was world cup. The entire team split into groups of three and played against each

other at once -- and all against Opie or the keeper.” “We also do this thing called the line of love. We look each other in the eyes, shake each others’ hands, and say ‘Trust!’ or some-thing like that,” Pacheco said. Principal Dunn is proud of the girls’ hard work. “They did an awesome job,” he said. “I just love how this year has turned out,” Ailyn Angel (12) said. “Opie has given us some re-ally great advice and tips with our control of the ball. He motivates us to do our very best no matter what we put our minds to, and he’s there to push us to our very best.” Assistant soccer coach, Mr. Eden, has also been a very big part of their success. “He knows what he is saying, and the way he says it helps you understand everything; he makes things eas-ier,” Angel said. She has very big hopes that the team is on a good

road. Although she is young, Lizbette Martinez (10) plays varsity, and she has worked very hard this year. She is a great player and friend. This year she was the one who knew that the team was go-ing to go far. Even if they had many people that thought they wouldn’t get very far. “You will not find a better group of girls to be leading the soccer team to vic-tory,” she said. When they played for coach Ber-rett, the girls soccer team didn’t go very far, but she was still very happy and supportive of them at their game against Cottonwood. “I was bouncing off the walls when I saw that they won,” Ms. Berrett said. She still loves the team and expects nothing but greatness in the years to come. “This season we have proved a lot of people wrong with how good we have played and how far we made it and also with how

well we have all improved as a team and as individuals,” Marti-nez said. When they would go out on the field, fans could see how much the girls loved playing by the way the whole team would cheer each other both on and off the field. No one is happier for the out-come of this season than soccer coach Hyrum Okeson (Opie). He had a great season with the boys last year, but this is the year he got the girls back from Ms. Ber-rett after she coached the soccer girls for three seasons. In Okeson’s opinion, the season could not have been better. “The girls have never worked this hard. They had a lot of work to do to get to where the boys are, but with time, they got there. I have never been happier. They have put so much effort into everything,” Mr. Okeson said. “I would not change a single thing. This this has been the best season ever,” he said.

The girls soccer team took second in region, and they made it to state, too. It’s their best performance on record.

It’s cold season at Granger High

Nikkole Pollard works with a little Lancer.

By Zayra Gonsalez MOST STUDENTS don’t really think about staying healthy dur-ing the cold season. “Having enough sleep can re-duce your chances of catching a cold. Therefore sleeping is healthy, so get enough sleep. Put away that phone -- it can wait for tomorrow -- go to sleep!” as stated on stayhealthyandwell.com website. “I stay healthy during the cold seasons by swimming, exercising and eating healthy food,” Vanes-sa Bustamante (11) said. Weight lifting and swimming 35 miles in winter keeps me fit. “But if you want to eat butter, eat but-ter,” she said. Many students believe that ex-ercising is the most important thing for staying healthy. Exercising can help someone’s immune system fight off a cold. Also in this cold season, use your own pens and school supplies. This will help stop the spread of germs. “Having a nice balance of ex-ercise can prevent a cold as well as drinking fruits smoothies, and tea,” Ewan Mitchell (10) said. All students should take care of themselves. One thing that most Lancers do is drink milk for breakfast. Milk has calcium, which helps the bones, and it has a lot of vi-tamins, which can prevent a cold this winter. “I personally stay healthy dur-ing the winter by my washing my hands and wearing warm cloth-ing. “I stay away from people, too,” Skyler Higginson (12) said. Staying healthy during the cold seasons brings its benefits. Eating healthy will keep kids in shape all through the winter. Students can also practically hibernate like bears, because sleeping is beautiful thing when it comes to preventing a cold. “I stay healthy during the winter by eating caldito de pollo, which is chicken soup in Spanish. And I stay away from sugar and eating out,” Jasmin Carillon (12) said. If students take care of them-selves, they can prevent colds this winter. Staying healthy is all a matter of following good advice from reli-able sources.

Vanessa’s not scared of getting sick.

November 2014, page 2

By Katie AveryMARIBEL Avila (12) thinks having a job in high school is im-portant. “It’s good because we need money to buy things like for graduation, sports, clothes, and to hang out with friends,” she said. Avila is “totes” stressing over graduation. “Some of our parents don’t have enough money, so if we didn’t work we wouldn’t have enough money to graduate,” she said. Avila would rather stay in school, graduate, and probably go to college for better job opportu-nities rather than drop out just to work. Many seniors and other students who have jobs agree with her. Seniors have mostly already hit reality, and they don’t really care what everyone looks like when they come to school. If they have a job, or if they don’t like them, it’s none of their concern. They have bigger things to worry about such as where they are headed or what their next step is, and most of them have to deal with things going on at home. Jobs have an upside as well. “It’s stressful having a job while you’re in school, because you need to manage your time,” Yani-cel Monico (12) said. She loves her job and likes her co-workers. It gets her away from school and home, which most teenagers like. Monico said she has no choice to graduate, but she wants to any-way so she can get a better job and have a brighter future. Monico’s best friend Yasmin Trujillo (12) mostly pointed out the negatives to having a job in high school. “It stresses you out! Some jobs you have to stay late at night and it’s hard to wake up early in the morning for school and you also have to keep up with school-work,” she said. Kids honestly have no clue what it’s like to have a job until they get jobs themselves, because they aren’t going to believe what other people say. They are teenagers; they need to experience things for themselves so they can learn. That’s just how it works. “Kids should work in high school because after high school no one is supporting them and they need to realize what it’s go-ing to be like for the rest of their lives,” Zachary Young (12) said. He wants to go to college to get better educated and maybe be-come an engineer. Most students start in fast food, sadly. It’s not a bad thing, but most of course want to get out of it eventually. They have learned a lot of real life skills from just having one job even if it’s just at Arby’s or McDonalds or Dunkin’ Donuts or Winder Dairy or whatever. Students will have brighter fu-tures because of education, but the lessons they learned at their first jobs will ony help them. Their first jobs help them to get some real world experience with things like making their own money, and having to work with people they may not like.

School + work =pressure

By Hillary DaoheuangHere’s what Granger High stu-dents have planned for Hallow-een this year -- from getting free candy to scary costumes that’ll scare the neighbors’ pants off. “Halloween this year is going to be a blast and lots of fun,” Wil-liam Olsen (11) said. He will be attending a costume party with his family. He recommend that everyone goes to a costume party “It’s lots of fun and you’ll have great time dressing up, enjoying all the creative Halloween design that was made into food,” he said. Olsen believes that he is too old to trick-or-treat. Derek Parksons (9) will be working at Castle of Chaos this Halloween. “All day, I won’t have time to celebrate Halloween,” he

said. He enjoy working there, because he works there in the dungeon as a torture master. That sounds pretty scary. Watch out for him in the dungeon. As a tradi-tion he hosts a Halloween party at his house where his friends play games, eat, bond with everyone, and just have a good time. Monyka Cheng (12) believes she isn’t too old for trick-or-treat-ing. “It’s a great opportunity for free candy,” she said. This year, Cheng will not be trick-or-treat-ing; she will be working. Cheng would rather watch movies than get candy. Her tradition for Hal-loween includes watching mov-ies and enjoying the Halloween marathon aired on television. “It’s the best to watch movies. It’s bet-ter than candy. It brings so many

Granger Lancers share their plans for Halloweenmemories,” she said. Brooklyn Tyree (11) plans to spend some quality time with her friends and family during Hallow-een. This year, she will be trick-or-treating with her friends and her little brother. Every year, her mother makes her costume. “I want to be some-thing scary,” she said. This year she hopes that she will party and hang out with her boyfriend. Cayden Den-ney (9) is very hyped to go to Fear Factory for

Popular clothing stores satisfy fashion cravingsBy Sendi TorresSPENDING money on clothing and shoes can be a good thing when shoppers don’t get carried away. Most students go shopping as soon as they get paid or whenever they have money. They all have favorite stores that they like to shop at because of their brands or their prices. They wear clothes that make them feel comfortable and that express who they are. To some, the clothing they wear matters, but others don’t care. Foot Locker, Tilly’s, and Pac-sun are Manuel Machado’s (12) favorite stores. “I love shopping there because they have cloth-ing that makes me look and feel fresh,” said Machado. He spends about $150 when he goes to those specific stores. $150 isn’t a lot -- it’s about the cost of a pair of Jordans from Foot Locker. “Zumiez, Journeys, and Forever 21 are some of my favorite stores. I like the brands and shirts that are sold there,” said Omar San-chez (11) He spends about $100, depend-

ing on his paycheck. Arlis Valenzuela (9) likes go-ing to Pacsun, Tilly’s, and Zumi-ez. He likes the backpacks from Pacsun, the shirts from Tilly’s, and the jeans from Zumiez. “I

spend about $400 in this stores, it depends whether or not I find things that I like,” said Valenzu-ela. A lot of them shop at the same stores, and that’s OK, but other

students shop at different stores. Some of them have heard of these stores, but others haven’t. Alexis Castro’s (12) favorite stores to shop at are Banana Re-public and Urban Outfitters. “I

love these stores because they sell unique clothing. I like to wear dif-ferent clothes because it’s a way that I can express myself,” Castro said. He spent about $300 when he gets paid.

Camila Rojas’s (12) favorite stores are T.J. Maxx, Buckle, and Aeropostale. She loves the styles of cloth-ing that are sold at T.J. Maxx and Buckle. The sweaters and sweats are her favorite clothing from Aeropostale. She spends most of her paycheck on clothing. Charlotte Rouse, Love Cul-ture, and Wet Seal are Yasmin Cenantes’s (12) favorite stores. “I like the type of clothing they sell, and I like how the prices are reasonable,” said Cenantes. She spends about $300 all together. It’s obvious that clothing plays a big role in students’ lives. They spend a lot of their money on clothing and shoes. Some of them buy clothing that they don’t even use or they wear it one time and never again. No matter where they go they can find the same styles of cloth-ing or something similar. It doesn’t matter where they go and buy their clothing; if they like it, they’re going to buy it. Students should wear what makes them happy, but they shouldn’t over exaggerate.

VOL. LVII Issue 2

most of the novice here, so I un-derstand the frustration and pain they’re going through, but there doing pretty good for what they have so far,” she said. The new de-b a t e r s i m p r e s s W i l k -e r s o n , but she is also p l e a s e d with the d e b a t e team in general. “I’m r e a l l y proud of the de-bate kids, because last year we were the building blocks of the debate sector in our school, and after 20 years of consecutively not going debate events, being able to be

one Granger’s first state champi-ons is an honor, and it gives our school a lot of pride. It makes me realize that I helped build that

f o u n d a -tion, and so did all of my other t e a m -mates and coaches.” Wilk-erson has a n o t h e r reason to be proud: J a s o n N g u y e n (with no d e b a t e e x p e r i -e n c e ) won first place in f o r e i g n extemp at

Saturday’s debate tournament at the Univer-sity of Utah. “ I felt surprised and then a deep relief in my chest,” Jason Nguy-

en(12) said.“I felt so good and always remem-ber life is good because you make it that way,” he said. In the weeks before the tournament Nguyen explained why he joined debate. “I wanted to focus more on my public speaking skills because I know that in the real world were going to do a lot of that so I’m hoping from debate I can get a good and powerful voice and be self confident, he said. Seemingly that’s how he is already filling his goals in debate already. But Nguyen isn’t the only who is having high expectations for the next tournament. “I feel nervous but yet confident at the same time.” Said Denise Perez (12). “There are a lot of people that are training through it all and tell-ing me what judges are going to be judging me on.They are also telling on what to do and what not to do, so yeah I feel pretty confident but still ner-vous,” Perez said. Lancers are trying hard to join together as one school to make Granger High successful.

By Andrea LomeliTHE MOTTO, “out with the old and in with the new,” seems to fit Granger pretty well the new building and improvements in atheletics. Decade-long dry streaks have finally been broken. Not only has Granger succeeded in athletics, but last year’s debate team went to the state tournament for the first time in 20 years. The wins still continue on as the new debaters from this year’s team strive to bring the trophies home. Although some of the new de-baters have never had experience speaking in public, the debaters from last year’s team try to pre-pare them for the upcoming tour-naments. “The newbies are cute and awe-some, but they seem really ner-vous,” Camie Wilkerson (12) said. She won fifth place last year at the state tournament.“ I have been mentoring them and helping them with impromptu. It’s been OK so far,” Wilkerson said. “I mean when I first started impromptu, I was worse than

New debate team excited for 2014-15 season

Halloween because this is the first year that he will be going to a haunted house. He usually goes out with his friends and trick-or-treats and has a good time.

Manuel Machado likes to look and feel fresh.

Jason hopes for some “real life” debate skills.

William Olsen is excited for Halloween this year.

November 2014, page 3VOL. LVII Issue 2

Volleyball gets aggressiveBy Sadiq Hamadi“PLAYING as a team is what makes me happy about volley-ball,” Aspen Chee (12) said. She is positioned on the court as an outside hitter. “My coach is a hard worker and focuses the prac-tices on change, not results,” she said. Granger volleyball is an ag-gressive sport, especially when it comes to teamwork and win-ning. “Seeing the girls compete and contribute with each other is what I love about volleyball. Coach Mills is a great coach because she believes in us and tells us that it’s really up to the players to develop a good team. I feel like we are going to take region this year, no doubt,” Lose Fonua (12) said. She plays right side and middle blocker. “Just having the opportunity to play with my teammates makes my day. Coach Mills is a good coach on and off the team, and I am glad she is our coach,” Sanita Tanufu (12) said. Tanufu has a strong feeling that they are going to take region, and she is positioned as an outside hitter. Tanufu is very intelligent and nothing can get in the way of

from achieving her goals. “What I enjoy about volley-ball is the feeling you get when all your hard work has paid off. My coach is awesome and is like a second mother to me. Going to region and winning region is one

of our biggest goals,” Nerissa Iloilo (12) said. She is the setter for the team. These girls are not just playing to win; they are doing what they love. “Volleyball brings me a lot of excitement when my team plays as a family. I like Ms. Mills; she pushes us to our highest potential and wants us to succeed,” Siale Samani (11) said. “Winning re-gion is a goal we need to check off our list,” She is a middle hitter

who doesn’t accept defeat. “I just love playing volleyball because I have been playing since I was young. My coach is a good example and not just as a coach, but as part of the team. I feel like we are definitely going to take re-

gion,” Bo-lynn Alex (12) said. Alex plays libero, which is a position that makes sure the ball doesn’t hit the ground. She was very excited about the Hunter vs. Granger game, and they won, of course. “The competition excites me and I am passionate for my team,” Melanie Faasou (12) said. She plays as middle blocker. “My coach is doing a bang-up job and her coaching has improved in time. We are

going to take region, but I have a feeling that state will be diffi-cult for us. We are going to do our best,” Faasou said. “Volleyball is fun. It’s the sport I like playing because it brings the enthusiasm out of me. Our coach is fantastic because she looks at our little mistakes and makes us improve. Going to region is a big goal of ours that we want to ac-complish, but we need to work hard,” Tina Tanufu (11) said. She is an outside carrier.

Physical fitness offers many benefits for kidsBy Antonio LoredoGRANGER Lancers are hooked on abs, biceps, and getting thin -- just getting physically fit in any possible way basically. People are always wondering what is the best way to gain muscle, lose fat, and get massive endurance. So many people worry about how they look, or how healthy they feel, or how it would look to have that slim, toned body. Physical fitness is important, and it can help with confidence, or energy, or even stress. Some people actually use exercise as a massive stress reliever in their lives, and other people do it to look good and get a self-esteem boost. “Yea, I would say that I am pretty physically fit,” Karol Pe-nate (10) said. “I try to go to the gym about twice a week, but I get a good workout from cheer-leading,” she said. “My advice to people who want to get fit is don’t do drugs, get the right amount of calories and drink a lot of water,” she said.

Penate is in great physical condition. She works out regu-larly, and she eats healthy food and drinks tons of water. “What I think physical fitness means to me is looking good and enjoying the hard work you put into your body,” Penate said. It is truly amazing how much people appreciate and work hard to achieve toned bodies; they put effort and tons of thought into their workouts and diets. Some people have a real passion for physical fitness: it could be a hobby, or even a full time job for people like gym instructors or di-etitians. “I think some people just work out to impress, but I usually work out to become the best,” Ailyn Angel (12) said.“Yea I’m pretty fit but I’m not the best yet, but soon I’ll be the fit-test,” Angel said. “I go to Gold’s Gym sometimes, but usually I work out at home or go for a run. I drink lots of water when I do work out,” Angel said. Angel is very dedicated to be-

coming a very physically fit per-son. She works hard to be fit. “There is always room for im-provement, but love your body and let it rest,” she said. Great examples of physical fit-ness would be athletes or body-builders or dietitians. They are al-ways discovering new workouts, diets, and bodily science. “Yes I’d like to think that I’m very active, I stay active by play-ing sports and I’m also on the drill team,” Gabriela Pacheco (12) said. “I’m not on any special diets, I just say that people should eat normal and don’t over eat, it’s all about calorie intake and out-take,” Pacheco said. Pacheco is on the soccer team and the drill team, so she stays very fit by working out and con-ditioning. “What physical fitness means to me is that you are able to run up the stairs or walk up the stairs without getting winded,” Pacheco said. Great physical fit-ness is achieved by working out right, eating healthy, and drinking tons of water as well.

EditorKaitlin Cluff

Junior Editor Briana Puga

Photo EditorIndigo HinojosPhotographer

Caitlin Rosenlof

Tri-Color Times Staff

Amy AlcantaraMa Denni Arns

Katie AveryAngellina Bernal

Alisha Chief Chastin ChristiansenHillary Daoheuang

Maid DervisevicRobbie DevenishJennifer DuongAngel FigueroaZayra Gonzalez

Scarlett GregorioKatie GutierrezSadiq Hamadi

Daniel HernandezTina HuynhClaudia IslasIsabel JacksonClaudia Leon

The Tri-Color Times serves as a student forum for student opinion and student expression.

The views expressed herein reflect neither the opinions of Adviser John Carlisle and Granger High School, nor those of Granite School District. The Tri-Color Times invites

and publishes letters to its editorial board; all letters will be edited for taste, length and legality.

Granger High School3580 South 3600 West

West Valley, UT 84119(385) 646-5320

Andrea LomeliAntonio Loredo

Steven LujanSamantha Mcclure

Evangelina MendozaKylee NielsonDaniela Olvera

Kat OlveraDiana PerezHailey PiperEdith Pizana

John QuezadaNaticha Retamar

Skye RouseAngelina Salazar

Ada StottSamuel SuaCesar TapiaSendi TorresPedro Vargas

Reporters Reporters

Siale Samani spikes against Hunter.

Music improves workoutsBy Tina HuynhRISE AND rock, Granger! Today’s the day to run another mile, pack on the extra weights, and make sure the entire body is sore tomorrow morning. Hearts beating a little faster, pores sweating a little more, and breaths coming quicker are the signs that a workout is doing the body right. Whether working out is for get-ting in shape, team practices, or self-improvment, it’s never as intense as it can be if there’s no music to work to. When heartbeats are matched with the bass beats and tiredness is running through the veins, the goal is to always make it through that last verse. Music is moti-vation for getting that last rep locked. “I love listening to Kanye West when I work out. My fa-vorites from him are ‘Stronger’, ‘Power’, ‘Can’t Tell Me Noth-ing’, and ‘H.A.M.’ with Jay-Z. Other than Kanye, I like ‘Noth-ing is Stopping You’ by Big Sean and ‘Dollar and a Dream’ by J. Cole,” Dylan Smith (12) said. Going all out to music while working out will make those drills worth a little more. “I mainly listen to rap when I work out. I like the meaning behind the songs and their fast beats. It makes me go harder and push myself more,” Smith said. Sometimes that explicit, rough playlist going through the speak-ers isn’t all that it’s said to be. Some Lancers’ workout mu-sic can go from rap to R&B real quick.

“I like listening to clean ver-sions of rap songs. But I like R&B, too because they curse less: like Bob Marley and Eddie Lovette. It makes me feel like I can do more,” Thesaly Lehauli (11) said. Harder music would probably mean a harder workout. No one would want to lift that extra weight to music that’s too tame Workout music differs from the regular songs usually listened to. Beating the person on the next mat requires a change of flavor. “I listen to heavy metal a lot. I love the sound of the bass and how heavy it is. It gives me mo-tivation. If I go along with the bass, I could do 40 to 50 pushups without even knowing it,” Louis Haverty (11) said. Some classic workout songs that everyone knows and has probably worked out to are always great. Everyone knows that ‘300 Vio-lin Orchestra’ and ‘Lose Yourself’ aren’t exactly going to calm the workout down. All of these motivational, pumped-up songs result in sorer, sweatier, more tired bodies. But that only means that the music is working. “I listen to ‘Stronger’ by Kanye West and ‘Summer’ by Calvin Harris when I work out. It’s really high energy and makes me go to the beat. I run faster when I listen to more upbeat music. When I lis-ten to slow, sad music, it’s makes me want to stop running. The mu-sic I listen to affects the way I feel and work out,” Karina Carrasco (10) said.

Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter deliver newsBy Chastin ChristiansenLANCERS get their news from many sources. “I get my news mostly from Twitter and Facebook. People post everything on Twitter the minute that it happens. Things that I see are the weather and things that are going around West Valley City and Granger High School things. I would never really use a newspaper. I think that the web is a more cur-rent and accurate way of news,” Samantha Larcade (11) said. The most-used places for teens to find news are Facebook and Twitter. Teens think they are good and reliable sources. “I get my news from Fox 13. The news that I get is world news

and wars etc. It’s a good source of news because they are accurate. I don’t think that I would ever read a newspaper because it’s not the same day, and it can change,” Jeremy Groff (11) said. The newspaper is not really where teens get their news. Not many teens like reading real newspapers; they are just filled with words and not any entertain-ment. Not all the news that students hear on social media is accurate. “The most actual news I get for things that include major events and ISIS -- the terrorist group that has been causing problems -- I hear from my history teacher and on the radio. Drama-wise is all gotten from social media includ-

ing Facebook, Instagram, and also Twitter. The radio is the best news, because it is very informa-tive; too bad I don’t listen to the radio often. I read the newspaper because my dad works for it, and we basically get them for free,” Mylan Chau (11) said. Getting free newspapers would be great; perhaps people would read it more often. “I get my news sources from Facebook, Instagram, radio, TV, Snapchat and Twitter. Facebook is the best source because I am always on it. I always see all these arguments and I think that is news. I would never read a real newspaper because I am never around them,” Siu Lauama (11) said.

October 2014, page 4 VOL. LVII Issue 2

struggle. Kierra Davis (12) can sing, dance and is flexible. She has been a dancer since she was seven years old. “It all came naturally, I didn’t have to be taught to do any of these things. One day I decided to just go for it and decided I was good at it, now I love be-ing able to do what I do,” Davis

said. Sadly she is the only one in her family who has any of these talents. “I love singing, dancing and cheering. It’s my passion,” she said. Davis has done a couple of dance recitals and hopes to do more in the future. Some students have talents in common and yet find ways to make it their own and truly amaz-ing like Davis’s best friend Bri-anna Price (9).

“I’ve been dancing and singing since I was four years old,” Price said. Her mother taught her ev-erything she knows. “I love danc-ing and singing; although I would never be able to perform in front of others. I have horrible stage fright, if I wasn’t so afraid I would perform every chance I got,” she said. Price loves to dance to hip-hop and will sing about anything. Not all of students use their complete body to work with their talent. Some students love to use smaller parts of their body to ex-press themselves. “I’ve been drawing for three months now. My little sister taught me how to do it. Although I’ve been dancing since I was eight years old. I love to dance, my favorite things to dance are ballet and Arabic dances,” Naida Al Saud (12) said. Al Saud isn’t the only person in her family to dance. Her big sister dances as well. Al Saud doesn’t think she would ever be able to perform in front of others. “Just standing in front of people I don’t know makes me nervous. I don’t think I would ever be able to perform in front of anyone else without passing out first. The only people I can perform in front of are my girls,” she said.

By Kat OlveraJOHN REN (11) has been sing-ing since the seventh grade. “I never really knew I could sing, until I just decided to sing one day,” he said. Ren comes from a family of singers like his father. He performed in the West Lake Jr. High talent show and goodbye assembly. Other students may not sing, but they are passionate about other things such as dancing. Shawn Rushton (11) has been dancing for the past four years. He isn’t the only dancer in his family, ei-ther. His sister dances, too. He has won medals in ballroom dancing. “I can dance basically any type of dance, but I refuse to do folk dancing,” Rushton said. He has been in a couple performances; he was on Dance Company at APA and is the only boy in the Dance 3 class at Granger, he was also in the play “Hairspray” at his old school. “I love performing, I love the feeling of being on stage and being in front of an audience,” he said. Some students in the school are very talented in fact others have more than one talent. It’s hard enough to find one student to open up to a complete stranger but when they do it is worth the

Singing/dancing Lancers everywhere TBT: teachers and datingBy Skye Rouse“I WAS ON a date when I was 17 years old. Me and a girl I re-ally liked went to the movies on a double date. We were in the car and we were goofing around, and I gave her a wedgie,” Mr. Locey said. It seems pretty obvious that it’s a bad idea to give a girl a wedgie on the first date, but at least he didn’t ask a girl to a dance with a jar full of raw eggs and other nasty stuff. “I wanted to go the dance with my friends, but all of my friends were going to the dance with Tay-lor’s friend. So I asked her to the dance, but I didn’t do it in a cute romantic way that girls like. I asked her out with a jar full of raw eggs, spoiled milk, and more. She said yes and we had a lot of fun, but it was probably very stupid of me to ask her out like that,” Mr. Beck said. Being tongue-tied…well…sounds like a missed opportunity. “I remember I was in sophomore English class, and a cheerleader I thought was cute asked me for some help. I turned around and tried to help her but words just didn’t come out. I was tongue-tied and missed that opportunity,” Mr. Gibbons said. Some blind dates work out well,

but here is some advice on what not to do. “My friend set me up on blind date. When we were talking she thought she was meeting a differ-ent guy for lunch. Not only was that the worst part of the date, when I bit into my hamburger I bit a bone and I broke my tooth,” Mr. Brocksome said. Being well matched on a date is about more than personalities. “I was set up on a date. When we went dancing, I had to stand a little bit further away because I’m so short that my face was in her chest. It was so awkward for me I don’t remember ever calling her again after that. I think she was glad to be honest,” Mr. Burton said. Many first date stories can be embarrassing or awkward, but there are cute stories to be told, too. “One of my funny first dates is when the guy I was seeing picked me up and blindfolded me. He put me in his car and we drove around forever it felt like, and then we came to a stop. He took me out his car and had me take off the blindfold. I looked up and there was a picnic on my front lawn. It was one of my favorite dates I have been on,” Ms. Rob-inson said.

Shawn Rushton enjoys performing.

By Isabel Jackson HIGH SCHOOL can have hard classes and high expectations. It is not easy to keep up with some classes. AP classes are the most common ones in which student have a hard time. The hardest thing about AP classes for these students is the work. “All the work is expected to be done on the due date or you can’t turn it in for the class,” La-tia Locklear (10) said. Although these are hard classes, it’s a lot harder to keep up with the work. “Who said I was caught up?” Caden Cousins (10) said. The teachers are said to be the easiest part of the class to work with. “Yes, the teachers are really great, they are nice and explain the subjects well,” Lorena San-doval (10) said.

All these students know that these classes will help them in the future to get a good career. “I know it will better prepare me for college, and it will help me be prepared for the challenges I run into in the future,” Sami Hills (10) said. These classes are not at all like regular classes. They have more rules, more homework, and more classwork. Students can’t just sit in the classes doing nothing; they actually have to participate. The important thing they need to remember is not to stress over all they have to do. They should stay organized in everything they do for school. Even if they have hard classes like AP or general classes, they should do what they can to not stress out, stay organized, and do what they can to not miss any

AP classes demand top academic performanceassignments. “I know these will help me in the future, that’s why I stay in these classes.” Luis Celis (10) said. These students know that later on in life it will help them, which is why they stay instead of give up. They know what they want in the future and develop the skills now so they don’t have such a problem later. Beyond AP classes, a challeng-ing class for sophomores can be Drivers Education. “I need to drive so I can steal my moms car in the middle of the night,” Lock-lear said. Drivers Ed has a lot of pack-ets to do every other week; there are very strict deadlines. Students have mandatory driving days. If they miss a drive day they signed up for with an instructor, they

cannot drive for 30 days, and they absolutely cannot have more than five absences. These students have good ways to keep up in class. They go to bed on time, have the homework

Caden Cousins feels pressure to perform well in AP classes.

done, take advantage of extra time in class, and they stay orga-nized. It can be more in the mind of how hard the classes are, they could just need to focus.

Drill takes up a lot of timeBy Alisha Chief“DRILL is awesome so far,” Emilia Flores (10) said. “What made me want to join is ever since I watched the Drill Team perform, I wanted to be just like them. With our region starting in either December or January, I really think that we are ready because our dances are looking great. With last year’s team we had a lot more seniors. The peo-ple from last year have improved more. With school I make sure that my school things are orga-nized and I finish my homework and try not get too stressed about school. I love the new members, I think I’ve bonded with most of them, and they’re great motiva-tors.” “Drill is very tiring and what you get out of it is cool, it’s a dif-ferent kind of dancing,” T’kaya Sanchez (10) said. “This is my first year on drill, I was in Dance Company first at Jefferson Jr. High and I tried out for drill here

at Granger. I found out I was bet-ter at drill than regular dancing. We just need to keep working to-gether choreography wise and as well as our timing. We practice about five hours each day. It’s not that hard. We have early practice on A-days and B-days we have afternoon practice, and after I can go home and do my thing.” “I joined drill because of the physical challenging experience and to also be involved and be well known through my high school year,” Daniela Rodri-guez (10) said. “Drill takes up most of my time. The only time I have for myself and friends are my weekends, and that’s if I still don’t have drill as well. It’s actually really hard keeping my grades up and having some time to spare. This is my second year on the team, and I think this will be my last, because I’m hoping to graduate early. I want one school year where I actually have time to myself.”