By Joey Schneider

By Brendan Everson

Beginning with the 2012-2013 school year, every high

school student will be given a MacBook Air.

!e o"cial decision was made on Feb. 14 by the School Board and is designed speci#cally for educational purposes.

“I think it’s great,” said sophomore Justin D’Auria, a participant of the iLearn pilot group. “Students won’t have to carry books around and everything needed will be on the computer.”

Teachers will all use Moodle, an online learn-ing management system, to share course materials with students.

!e district has 4,900 stu-dent computers in use across the district. More than half are due for replacement this summer.

“For years, we’ve had a lot

of computers that stay here,” technology specialist Jamie Richter said. “We almost have a computer for every kid (in the school). So this is the #rst time ever that we’ll provide students with a resource like this.”

According to Richter, there are many additional oppor-tunities that come with the MacBook Air.

Obviously it will help teachers educate the stu-dents, but he also believes it will increase out-of-class work tremendously.

Richter believes the Mac-Book Airs will be bene#cial for the school because they will provide digital learn-ing environments for the students.

!is has been tested through using the Moodle.

“It’s like giving the stu-dents a book. !is educa-tional tool will be a really nice crockpot device, which

can help students store all of their information and learn.”

In addition, the device comes with many of the same programs the school o$ers.

!e Microsoft O"ce, Apple iWork and Apple iLife suites will all be installed on the provided computers.

!ere will be programs with textbooks, homework practice and assignments, and documents for improved projects.

Most importantly, each de-partment will need di$erent programs for their particular learning environment.

Some classes may only use the Moodle, but departments met during the Professional Development day on Jan. 13 to decide what other programs and applications would need to be installed on the laptop computers in order to successfully teach their courses.

“I think the math depart-

ment will use Pages, Keynote, and Numbers mainly,” said geometry teacher Tammy Hasheider, an iLearn pilot teacher participant. “Anyone who teaches geometry will want Geometer Sketchpad and MathType would be help-ful, too.”

Each program can help educate students in speci#c ways.

Hasheider considers MathType as the “icing on the cake document” because it will help students type complicated math equations, symbols and data.

“I think using di$erent programs will help stu-dents show knowledge in a more professional way and investigate more,” Hasheider said. “Being able to organize work on a computer, it will also teach students how to be more organized electroni-cally.”

!e MacBook Air was

chosen over the iPad through student and sta$ feedback from surveys and focus groups.

Parents will be able to sign a permission form to enable their child to receive the laptop for use at school and at home.

Families will also have the option to purchase insur-ance to help cover the cost of theft, loss or accidental damage.

A content #ltering system will be in place both at school and at home and students will be expected to adhere to Pattonville’s electronic com-munications policy regardless of where the computer is being used.

“Eventually, students will have to learn how to be func-tional globally,” Hasheider said, “so I think learning how to use the MacBook Airs will help students prepare for their future.”

Lambs: Mr. and Mrs. Lamb met at a #rst day teacher’s meeting in 2005. !eir #rst date was for pizza at Balducci’s and then a movie. “I was not expecting a date,” said Mrs. Lamb. She said their #rst “real” date was to the Art Museum and dinner at Puck’s. !ey have been married for 4 years-and-one month and just recently had their #rst child. Gnarls Bar-kley’s “Crazy” is one of their special songs. “Not because we wanted it to be, but when we were dating, it was on the radio all of the time,” said Mrs. Lamb.

Heyman and Waldrop: Mr. Heyman and Ms. Waldrop met while both teaching summer school in 2010. !eir #rst date is up for debate. “I think it was when we went to play golf, but Ms. Waldrop thinks it was when we went to see “Beauty and the Beast” at the Muny,” said Hey-man. !ey have been dating for over a year and a half; Heyman and Waldrop are planning a wedding after hav-ing been engaged since May 2011. According to Heyman, the song that reminds them of one another is “Stuck like Glue” by Sugarland.

Grimshaws: Like the rest of the teacher couples at Pattonville High School, the Grimshaws met at school. For their #rst date, they went to Gian-Tony’s on !e Hill. !ey have been married for 2 and a half years. Wanting to make their wedding dance more special than just sway-ing back and forth, they went to dance lessons before the big day. !eir wedding song was Moondance. Together they have a 15-month old named Audrey and a baby boy expected in April. !ey also have another girl named Elise; she is 3 years old.

Hauser and Wynn: Ms. Hauser and Mr. Wynn have been dating a little over a year; they met while teaching at Pattonville. !eir #rst date was to Stone Cottage Soup. !ey are now engaged and busy planning a wedding.

Hahns: !e Hahns are certainly the longest relation-ship here at Pattonville; they will have their 22nd anniversary in August. After almost 22 years, they have a daughter, Emily, and a son, Matt. Although they went to high school together at Pattonville, they did not start dating until they both became teachers. On their #rst date, Mr. Hahn taught Mrs. Hahn how to golf.

Schwendemanns: Mr. and Mrs. Schwendemann met at school. Mrs. Schwendemann said, “He came around my room all of the time!” !eir #rst date was right before the graduation of the Class of 2003. Mr. Schwendemann picked Mrs. Schwendemann up in his corvette. !ey have been married for 7-and-a-half years and have two children, their daughter Taylor is 6 and their son Carter is 4.

On the night of May 31, there will be another

senior class graduating from the halls of Pattonville. It will be an end to a long four years of high school for many students and the gradu-ates deserve a party in their honor.

On graduation night, there will be a safe option spon-sored by the high school with the Senior All-Night Party.

Assistant Principal Luke Lammers describes it as a lot of fun. According to him, there will be many exciting

events for students to participate in.Some of the events include in%at-

able rides, video games and karaoke. Along with the variety of activi-

ties, there are also many di$erent prizes. Lammers said, “Everyone comes out with at least a goodie bag that covers the cost of the ticket and T-shirt.”

Lammers said that he will need between $22,000 and $25,000 every year to host the event. He raises that money through senior hoodie sales, long sleeve T-shirt sales, trivia nights, the adult dance, ticket sales, and a spring donation campaign.

As of right now, Lammers has ap-proximately $7,000 with his biggest money maker, the spring donation

campaign, yet to come. Lammers may be in a bind this

year, though. “Since the economy is low, instead of money, we are get-ting items,” Lammers said. “I can’t pay the magician in decks of cards.”

Last year, there were exactly 300 seniors at the party. If 300 people attended this year, that would be about 87 percent of the senior population.

Although Lammers does the bulk of the work for the party, he said he couldn’t do it without all the parent help. !ere were about 20 parents that helped with the adult dance.

Senior class president Audrey Masek would love to see her fellow seniors attend. She said “it’s a good way to start summer. It’s de#nitely going to be a lot of fun.”

By Taylor Dumas

The Future Educators As-sociation (FEA) held its 23rd annual conference

from Feb. 17-19 in Baltimore, Md., and senior Christian Johnson was elected as the International FEA Vice President.

!e conference o$ers a network for FEA students to convene and campaign for national roles.

Johnson, current Missouri State FEA President, ran for the vice president position at the national level.

Before the conference, she had to #ll out a huge packet in order to get her name on the ballot.

!e packet requires signatures from administrators and teachers, transcripts, completion of a #nan-cial sheet and letters of recommen-dation.

!e process was something simi-lar to what college-bound juniors and seniors are, or should be, doing.

“It’s pretty much like a huge scholarship,” Johnson said.

Although this procedure seems extensive, it is not all that was required of Johnson.

Candidates were able to start campaigning Friday at the confer-ence.

Part of what made Johnson decide to run in the #rst place had a lot to do with her already being a successful member of FEA.

Not only Pattonville’s FEA president, but she is currently the Missouri State FEA President.

Even with this accomplishment, Johnson wanted to do more to make her name known.

“I have a lot of good ideas that I want others to use, not just me,” Johnson said.

Johnson approached the cam-paign with a very grounded, realistic outlook.

Instead of running for president, she chose to campaign for the vice presidency because she wanted to set practical, obtainable goals.

Johnson said, “I’d rather accom-plish all the goals I set than be let down.”

Seniors Kristen Dehner, Kelly Gall, Allison Lamb and LeAnn Bu-cheit also attended the conference.

Sophomore Joe Johnson, Chris-tian Johnson’s brother, joined the

group as future Missouri State FEA President.

FEA sponsor Pam Tesson and Coach Doug McGhee led the group trip to Baltimore.

She and the newly elected presi-dent will be working together this year with government o"cials to receive training and will speak at other state meetings.

For years, Pattonville High School has par-ticipated in a state-wide

program known as the A+ Schol-arship Program, which is an easy and convenient way for students to plan for life after high school. It helps students get a chance to earn two free years of commu-nity college or public technical school.

“In addition, it can make some students eligible for some four-year colleges scholarship money.” Rebecca Krohn, director of the A+ Scholarship Program at Pattonville, added.

!is program is most bene#-cial to the students that want to stay close to home or are not looking for a university to attend.

To become eligible, certain requirements must be met. Students must graduate with an overall grade point average of 2.5 or higher on a 4.0 scale, have at least 95% attendance record

overall for grades 9-12, and per-form at least 50 hours of unpaid tutoring or mentoring.

Pattonville provides a class for students titled Students as Mentors, for students who are unable to get in their tutoring hours outside of school.

!is class gives students the chance to tutor elementary kids

during their seventh hour period and will go toward their tutoring hours for the A+ requirement.

Enrolling isn’t hard, either. “To enroll, you just need to

come up to the A+ o"ce and get an A+ agreement and sign it,” Krohn said. “Have your parents sign it and then bring it back to my o"ce.”

By Elizabeth Ferguson

From college choices to career choices, many teen-agers feel overwhelmed.

!ere are many expectations high school students feel they must live up to.

One way to decrease the stress and plan more e$ectively for future career options is by job shadowing.

Senior Kimberly Hamilton said, “I decided to job shadow because I want to become a RN. When you shadow, you get to see how things really are.”

Teenagers often times think if they go shadow and #nd the career is not all they thought it would be, then the trip was a waste of time. !is will actually save time and money when going to college.

An upward of 50 percent of col-lege students change their major sometime within four years. If more students take the opportunity to job shadow, those people can more e$ectively choose a major. !e aver-age time of completion for a bach-elor’s degree is now #ve and a half years; students who come in with motivation and a plan should be

able to graduate in just four years. It would be worth job shadowing if a college student could actually decrease their amount of debt and money spent on college.

Aside from saving time and money, job shadowing can also reas-sure students that this is in fact the right career.

Junior Asia Allen wants to be a physical therapist and athletic trainer.

Allen said, “I wanted to actually be hands-on and not just spend time reading about it.”

After leaving her job shadow, she was much more con#dent and reassured.

Allen said, “I was told things that made me uncertain at #rst, but after I went, everything got cleared up and now I know for sure that is what I want to do.”

Hamilton felt similar once she was done shadowing established nurses. She felt a sense of excite-ment and a newfound desire.

Hamilton said, “My job shadow gave me motivation and reassured me that nursing is what I really want to do.”

By Kristen Hanna

l l News

When the economy collapsed in 2008, there was a set back

in funding for public schools. Recently, Pattonville has been re-evaluating its budget process.

Funding for public schools primarily come from taxes. Pat-tonville, on the other hand, is 85 to 90 percent funded from the businesses in its community.

Another portion of the funds comes from property taxes on houses and apartments.

“We don’t receive a lot of state money and we receive very little from the federal government,” Superintendent Dr. Mike Fulton said.

So what does this mean for students?

!e essential goal is to cut $3

million from its budget, without harming classrooms. Schools across the nation have been forced to cut teaching jobs.

“For example, some schools are cutting Spanish and other foreign languages at the middle school level from their cur-riculums,” Fulton said. If these classes are being cut, then the teachers will be too.

Why should Pattonville make these budget cuts if we’re spending money on construction and MacBook Airs?

Recently, Pattonville’s Proposition K was passed. Prop K’s essential goal is to maintain/repair aging building, enhance safety, and provide facilities that support

lifetime #tness. !e funding for assets is

separate from Pattonville’s budget. “!e bond issue can-not be used for our everyday run. It can only be used for improvement,” Board of Edu-cation Director Cindy Candler said.

How do budget cuts af-fect our students?

Teaching positions across the nation have been cut due to lack of funding. With the $3 mil-lion cut, Pattonville authorities are trying to keep the academic achievement rate up by keep-ing the classroom changes to a minimum. “Our test scores are generally pro#cient and we want to protect our learning environ-ment,” Fulton said.

By Jacqueline Neil

LET’S HOOK UP.Fun. Smart. Attractive. Lives in the area.

umslday.com888-GO-2-UMSLadmissions@umsl.edu

That’s right. The University of Missouri– St. Louis is a real hotty, and we’d love to get to know you better March 3 at our UMSL Day information session. It’s a chance for you to meet our nationally ranked faculty, tour our 350-acre campus and get to know our student body.

Register at umslday.com. See ya March 3.

By Joey Schneider

On Feb. 9, Pattonville High School invited students from multiple middle

schools within the district to attend the Eighth Grade Interest Day.

!is is one of many ways that Pattonville equips incoming fresh-man to the new environment. !e eighth graders came curious, ready to explore what high school held for them on this #eld trip.

“Before I went to the high school, I was really nervous that people and teachers would be mean and unlikable,” said Remington eighth grader Samantha Wright. “But while I was there, they were the complete opposite. !ey were so inviting and comforting.”

A wide variety of high school teams, groups and clubs attended to inform the middle schoolers on what their club is generally about.

!e clubs set up stands in the multi-purpose room, and many of them passed out %yers to promote information.

“I became interested in STUCO, newspaper, soccer, basketball and softball through the event,” Wright said.

Many school-sponsored organi-zations such as the Spanish National Honor Society, bowling club and student council found success in gaining the interest of these incom-ing freshmen.

“We brought attention to our stand by putting out food and setting up a bunch of the material for the classes,” Spanish National Honor Society sophomore Alex

Break#eld said.Students from Holman visited

the stands around 12:30 p.m. for approximately half an hour. !en all students from the middle schools gathered in the main gym to hear speeches, get involved in a few games and watch performances.

During this assembly, Assistant Principal Cara Hiripitiyage informed students on living up to the expecta-tions of the Pirate Code. Activities Director Bob Hebrank talked about eligibility for sports and clubs. A few seniors also gave tips for making the high school experience easier and enjoyable for the new students.

“!e best part was the student speeches,” Wright explained. “!ey shared real-life experiences, which helped me learn that everyone goes through things in high school. !ey really helped me look at high school in a better way.”

!e assembly ended around 2:15 p.m., and the eighth graders not en-rolled at Holman got to walk around and view all of the clubs’ stands in the multi-purpose room. Due to the assembly running over time, this part of the #eld trip was shortened.

“Overall, it went really well,” said sophomore Heather Dubman. “A lot of kids were interested in the bowl-ing club, and I think we will have more members next season because of it.”

Year after year, a new class of freshmen enter Pattonville looking for opportunities to get involved. !is event provided the chance to get started before even taking their #rst day of classes.

CORRECTION: In the article ‘A day in the life of a POS student’, we incorrectly identi#ed the school counselor. Her name is actually Jenni Eagan. We apolo-gize for the mistake.

Pattonville High School science teacher Rob Lamb was named a Peabody Logos Leader in Education for the 2011-12 school year, a press release stated. Award organizers surprised Lamb and pre-sented him with a $1,000 check “for his compassion and commitment to stu-dents.”

Pattonville students Danielle Siegel, War-ren Li, and Madison Farrar placed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in the Optimist Oratorical Speech Contest, which included speeches from all of the partici-pants. !e top two will go on to compete for scholarship opportunities at the regional compe-tition in March.

!e Robotics Club advanced to the state com-petition after #nishing the St. Louis qualifying tourna-ment. Team 2866 took sec-ond place in the competi-tion. Team 2867 took third place and won the PTC Design Award. !e team was also a #nalist for the !ink and Inspire Awards !e teams are sponsored by Lori Cole with the help of mentors Jonathan Cole and Brian Bateman.

!e following PHS students earned the following medals for the annual Special Olympics Bowling Tournament held at Bruinswick Lanes in Valley Park on Jan. 27: Gold - Zachary Concialdi, Justin Emch, Brittany Cockrell, Scarlett Hayes, and Alexis Keller. Silver: Austin Reynolds, Emily Lindsay, Christain Spicer, and Donna Buus.

!e Patton-ville Education Foundation will host its annual Diner/Dance/Auc-tion on Saturday, March 3. !e event will feature a “Candyland” theme, accord-ing to Pattonville School District.

PattonvilleBriefs

Compiled by Gabby Pirrie

Newsl l

!e Varsity Hock-ey Cheerleaders placed 1st in Chant and 2nd in Cheer at the Mid-States Hockey Cheer-leading competition held at Fort Zumwalt East High School.

By Joey Schneider

The varsity cheerleaders this year have made improve-ments to their squad.

!is year, the cheer team com-peted at the St. Louis Classic com-petition. Junior Sierra Plume said, “We did really well. Even though we got second place, [our routine] was clean and well put together.”

Freshman Lydia Hale said, “I was nervous because I am a %yer and didn’t want to fall.”

!e team received second place in their division. Along with compet-ing at new competitions, the team added boys into the mix.

Senior Tyler Stevenson said, “We are like a family. We have gone through things that only a team can go through.”

!e boys have added momentum to the team.

Brown said, “!e boys have become male cheerleaders. !ey have allowed us to throw %yers higher and have put us in a di$erent division.”

!e varsity cheerleaders have overall become more of a competi-tive team.

Senior Jerica Macon said, “We practice more and have bought new

mats for more stunts. We also took a tumble class over the summer.”

Brown says that the team overall has “upped their skill level.”

Also new this year is the amount of underclassmen on the team said senior Natalie Beck.

Freshman Jessica Burgess said, “You have to mature and you can’t be nervous. It kind of makes talking to older people easier.”

!e varsity girls have been doing more to get themselves known throughout the school. On Feb. 10, they teamed up with Hazelwood West to do a routine together. !ey also cheered at the varsity girl’s Pink Game which was also their senior night on Feb. 23.

Brown said, “We are working hard to be involved with school and the community overall. We are doing the pink game, teaming up with Ha-zelwood West for the Red Out game and having more of a presence.”

After the winter season is over,

the girls will look toward next season and will look for new boys to take the place of the graduating seniors.

Brown said, “I think (more boys will try out) because we have a higher level of performance.”

Cheerleading tryouts will be held on April 16-19 for those wanting to cheer for the 2012-2013 season.

By Taylor Dumas

By Lexi Kendall

Perfection. On Feb. 12, ju-nior Sean Glankler bowled a perfect game at Crest

Bowl. “I was shaking and I was so

excited,” Glankler said. “It was an amazing feeling because it was the highest [score] I ever got.”

A 300 is accomplished by bowling a strike in every frame for a total of 12 strikes.

Before his 300, the bowling team was in second place overall in the standings, but with the help of the league’s new high game bowled by Glankler, the team jumped over Ha-zelwood Central and into #rst place.

“300 is the highest I ever got,” Glanker said. “My bowling average was a 189, and now it is a 195.”

Glankler is very excited that

he got the bowling team into #rst place.

“!eir high score was a 260 and we almost lost, but my 300 put us back up,” Glanker said.

Pattonville has had at least one perfect game each year since the team was established three years ago. !e other two belong to current Pattonville senior Dylan Dorey.

Glankler hopes to keep up his success, along with the other bowl-ers representing Pattonville, until the season ends in April.

Sophomore Heather Dubman is one out of the three girls on the co-ed bowling team.

“I’ve bowled since 2004,” Dub-man said. “I started at Bruinswick Zone and my average is 180.”

!e team competes almost every Sunday in either league or a tourna-ment at a variety of bowling alleys.

Pattonville didn’t always have a bowling team though. Glankler, one of the team’s captain, is also one of its founders.

“I was in my freshman year and Tommy Graven was trying to get a bowling team together,” Glankler said. “I was helping him #nd a spon-sor and then we asked Mr. Dalton and he agreed. Coach Dalton is the best coach ever.”

!e bowling team practices every Wednesday from 3:30 to 5 p.m. at Kingpin Lanes. Dalton, Eng-lish teacher, and Art Hurt are the coaches of the team.

By Kristen Dehner

For the 24th time, Pat-tonville’s Varsity Drill Team traveled to Orlando,

Florida for the National Dance Team Championship.

Out of the 17 categories of com-petition, Pattonville’s VDT danced in Large Hip-Hop and Large Varsity Pom and brought home a 10th place trophy for their Large Varsity Hip-Hop routine.

Pattonville has a long, good-standing history at Nationals. !is is the third straight year that the Varsity Drill Team placed in the top 10 at the competition.

Pattonville English teacher Katie Funderburk has coached the girls for the past four years.

Having been a Pattonville graduate in 2003 and a VDT alumae, Funderburk is familiar with the competition and has particular expectations for the girls this year, such as walking o$ the %oor with no regrets and sticking to their theme of “One goal, one team, one time.”

Funderburk said she and the girls were “really looking for that one time to make an impression.”

!e girls certainly did make an impression.

Senior and co-captain Kelsey Koenig said “the competition was really hard. !ere were a lot of good teams down there.”

An immense amount of e$ort and time is required of the members of the Varsity Drill Team.

Choreographer Toya Ambrose teaches the dance in September.

In October, the girls prepare by practicing and making changes and adjustments to the dance as they see #t.

!e overall preparation time the

girls receive before Nationals is just over 4 months.

When at Nationals, the girls got to spend a day at Disney World as a reward for all their hard work.

As tradition, families accompany the girls to support them through-out their competitive weekend.

Some of Pattonville’s family joins the team as well, including English teacher Beth Moritz, Pattonville alum of 1989.

Moritz was a member of the Varsity Drill Team and coached for a while when she became a teacher at the school. In addition, junior varsity coaches Shannon Hicks and Julie Crites traveled with the team to cheer on the girls.

To watch video of Pattonville’s VDT National UDA performance, scan this code with your phone.

By Gabby Pirrie

l l Entertainment

The Pattonville theatre crew took the stage once again in its annual spring

musical; this year’s musical was “!e Music Man.”

Year after year, the cast and crew proves how hard work and deter-mination can turn in to something great. !e audience always get to enjoy the #nished product, but they never get to see what happens “behind the scenes.”

Not only doe the cast have to spend many days after school re-

hearsing, but the crew does as well. !ese students help with costume design, the making of props, the lighting and many other things.

“We spend a lot of time in the costume closet looking for cos-tumes,” costume crew lead Ana Cruz, 11, said. “If they’re not there, we either order them or go to thrift stores.”

Although students stay busy memorizing lines, #nding costumes, and locating props, they still make time to have a little fun together.

“Starting the Monday before

the musical, someone will bring speakers backstage and we’ll have music playing for those who aren’t on stage at the time,” said senior Nate Bassman, who plays the role of Marcellus Washburn.

Students also have fun participat-ing in rap battles and small pranks said senior Meagan Galluzzo.

!e theatre crew exempli#es how even though the musical can be hard work they can still have fun togeth-er. “It’s on the down-low, but one of the cast members tee-peed the set the other day,” Bassman said.

YouTube has been a source of entertainment around the world since the founders

launched the video-sharing site in 2005.

Just like Twitter and Tumblr use tags to track certain topics, a user may tag their video and classify it under its respected categories.

!at’s exactly what an unsuspect-ing and talented Julia Nunes did in 2008 by uploading her cover of “Bye Bye Bye” by N’Sync.

Nunes is seen in her videos prominently playing ukulele, playing guitar, and singing. She then uses random everyday objects as means of percussion.

Little did Nunes know, her ukulele-playing would go viral on the Internet, catching online fre-quenters’ attention and o$ering her opportunities, such as performing with Ben Folds and Greg Holden.

Feb. 28 marks the release of Nunes’ #fth album, Settle Down. !e album features 18 tracks, six of which already appear on previous albums, and 12 new songs.

“Balloons” and “Comatose” are

two of my favorite songs, and I was a little reluctant to hear the remakes on the new album.

After listening to a preview of each, however, I was far from disap-pointed. Nunes adds a little twist to each of the two tracks that are anything but unimpressive.

So far, the most popular song on the album is “Stay Awake.” With its catchy sound and relatable lyrics, “Stay Awake” is an album-opener that creates a feel-good vibe and accurately sets the mood for the rest of the album. !e song has received so much good feedback that Nunes performed it live on Conan O’Brien’s talk show on Jan. 24.

To avoid taking out loans to produce another album, Nunes established a Kickstarter to help fund “Settle Down.” Kickstarter is an online community that allows artists, writers, and musicians alike to set out a virtual piggy bank in which their fans can donate to help fund whatever project the artist is working on.

Nunes originally asked for $10,000 from her fans to help pro-duce “Settle Down.” By the end of the collection, proceeds for Nunes’ album totaled a whopping $77,888.

Overall, Nunes’ new album embodies her growth as a musician and as a person. It exhibits a more mature sound compared to her once amateur, casual YouTube videos that ultimately helped build her success to what it is today.

Check out Nunes’ YouTube videos here:

By Taylor Dumas

By Jacqueline Neil

!e Pirate Press is the open forum news-paper of the Pattonville High School. !e opinions published are of the publication

and are open to criticism. As the mem-bers of the 2011-2012 sta$, we dedicate ourselves to the accurate and objective

dissemination of information to all readers. We will protect and exercise our First Amendment rights. !e viewpoints of all sta$ members are to be regarded as being separate from those of our admin-

istration, faculty, peers and adviser.

!ese past few months, several school improvement teams have discussed the lack of motivation students have to show school spirit.

One side will argue that the student leaders are to blame. And that side will claim that it is not 100 per-cent their fault that students do not have school spirit.

!is past October was one of the most remarkable Homecoming weeks in school history. All of the usual Homecoming activities took place indoors due to stadium construction, and making that transition was nothing but a hassle.

Class competitions changed and the whole school was initially upset. But by the end of the week, the gymnasium’s atmosphere was full of students ready to battle it out for class competitions.

Student leaders were thanked for making that week a huge success by rejuvenating their classes, and in return, those individuals thanked the student body.

Students who lead the school are obligated to set good examples for the rest of the school. It is on them to take on that responsibility and encourage everyone around them to be involved and get school spirited.

At meetings, some would say it is not the responsibil-ity of the leaders in the school and that there is only so much a few people can do to spread the spirit.

A student can jump around cheering. But school spirit becomes a success when an entire group of people are cheering. It starts o$ with one, who is eventually ac-companied by others.

A person does not need to be an o"cial leader to spread the spirit. Doing something crazy and spontane-ous will get a person noticed. And if people like what they see or perceive it as “cool,” they will follow the leader and school spirit will spread to everyone.

It is the opinion of the Pirate Press that students need to get more involved and increase their school spirit.

By Sara Berkbiegler

Animal cruelty is some-

thing that is overlooked in society today, and that is not OK. !e government should pass laws regarding

cruelty to animals.I could make it real simple and

say, “People should have a license to have pets.” Even then though, there’s no guarantee the cruelty will end because people are cruel to animals that aren’t even theirs.

Just the other day, I read a

story about a dog named Athena in Spring#eld, Mo., whose fam-ily left to get groceries and when they came back, they found her in the backyard skinned and with her heart removed.

Athena’s death should not be in vain. What she went through should teach us all a lesson. She isn’t the only animal to go through something so awful, and we need to prevent things like this from hap-pening ever again.

Sarah McLachlan’s commercial about abused animals in the shelters is overlooked because people think, “!is is sad, change the channel” or “!ey just want us to feel bad and

give them money.” Well, it is sad, and they don’t just

want money, they want help. !ey need help.

So think, if you could take just a little time out of your day to help an animal or just give a little money out of your pocket to donate to a humane society, or even donate old pet toys, you could make a di$er-ence for an abused animal.

Animals are just like children, they need to be raised with food, water, shelter, and most important-ly, love. If there are laws regarding child abuse, there should be laws re-garding animal abuse. People should feel compassion toward animals.

l lOpinion

Have you ever noticed that the nurses at PHS, Ms. Lanham and Ms.

Guetschow (known to all as Heidi and Valerie) are always so welcom-ing?

!ey are happy and create a relaxed, casual atmosphere, yet are completely professional and e"cient.

Both sta$ and students stop in for health needs, jovial conversa-tion and a variety of informational tidbits, such as shopping, hairstyles, news, etc.

If you, too, have noticed the con-stant revolving door in the nurses’ o"ce and feel inclined to lean in and hear more, share a bit, get a quick remedy or receive a smile or wave, join us in thanking them for making all feel welcome, cared for, and important.

Kudos, pats on the back, high-#ves and rounds of applause to Heidi and Val!

-!e Counseling Department

By Kristen Dehner

When we were grow-

ing up, the word “acceptance” was thrown around a lot. Making sure you included other

kids in your game or allowing them to join your lunch table was some-thing that adults made sure you did.

Today, we don’t accept others as we should. We make fun of people who are di$erent from us or who don’t #t in with our group. We shun those who don’t #t in with the typi-cal stereotype.

We don’t let others join us be-cause we think that it would make us look uncool. We strive to keep this image of ourselves when we should be giving everyone a chance.

If Rachel’s Challenge has taught us anything, it would be to give ev-eryone a chance. People can surprise you by what they can do or what they know.

Seeing people after the assembly, you could tell that many people

embraced it. !ere were tears and hugs exchanged after. Many people began to change their views upon people and opened themselves up to the idea of making new friends and being nicer. !ere are more smiles exchanged in the hallways and there is more willingness to cooperate with others.

!e people who surprise you the most are the ones that you would least expect. Just by talking to someone new, you can #nd out you have more in common with them than you thought.

Opening up your heart and letting your guard down will allow you to let others feel comfortable around you.

We have to look for the best in people before you start judging them. It might take some time to look beyond our di$erences, but we have to try and make everyone feel welcomed.

Everyone has their di$erences and once we learn to appreciate and accept what others bring to the table, we can truly start to change the atmosphere of our school.

By Taylor Dumas

As decades pass, words and

their proper use seem to diminish.

Today, I often hear girls rave about how at-

tractive it is when guys have great grammar. Not that there’s anything wrong with this, but I’d really like to know when the use of proper English switched from a given to a desirable attribute.

Maybe I was born in the wrong time period, or maybe I’m just not “with it,” but last time I checked, “swagger” meant to strut one’s stu$.

You know, there are days when you wear a new out#t, or someone you’ve got a huge crush on shoots you a smile in the hall. After which, you tend to walk with a bit of a boost.

Today’s de#nition of “swagger” is how one carries or presents oneself.

Sure, I’m open to evolution and a bit of change, but not to blatant ignorance. So no, just because you just sharpened your pencil, it doesn’t mean you all of a sudden

have “swag.”!en there are the infamous

Twitter hashtags. Such a tweet may read: “LOL!

Just made a sandwich. Guess I got that #HungrySwag.”

Although I’m still debating whether or not I just formatted that fake tweet correctly, I am secure in the fact that I know there’s no such thing as a “hungry swag.”

Back when swag had some dignity to its name, there weren’t several types of it. Also, there was no obnoxious declaration of it.

Let’s apply today’s meaning of the word to some of the classics.

Would you assume every time Ray Charles #nished a brilliant, chill-inducing song, he and his band would yell “swag”?

Do you believe every time Marilyn Monroe blew a kiss to the president, she belt out a “SWAG”?

If you think that any time James Dean made a girl swoon, he felt inclined to scream, “SWAAAAG”?

!en you are sorely mistaken. !ere was no need to say it. Genuine swagger was and is pres-

ent in the people who possess it. By Jacqueline Neil

It’s become that time of the year

where senioritis takes its toll and every other person in grades 9-11

are playing catch up as advisers slowly begin evaluating them. It’s out with the old and in with the new. Application packets are being distributed and interviews are tak-ing place to see who has “the best #t.” Pretty soon campaigns will begin and the students who are the most passionate about the future of Pattonville will occupy the halls with their “Vote for me” signs. And the question unanswered to the student

body remains why?To some people, student elections

are about popularity. Sometimes, people will run for o"ce to make themselves feel or look popular and are blinded from the responsibility a leader has. People forget that having a title comes with a large responsi-bility of leading.

But from the angle of someone who has gone through it, running for o"ce should not be about popu-larity, nor about power.

Having a title and a renowned name is simply about bettering the school.

!ere are three types of people who run for o"ce: 1. People who do it for the title; 2. People who take

advantage of a title; and 3. People who are true leaders.

Running for o"ce, or even taking on the responsibility of having a title in any club or activity, is not about being popular and having power. It’s about having the ability to lead.

With a title, one can do great things. Student leaders have greater opportunities to be heard because they are representing a part of the student body.

Some students will cast their vote because they know a candidate more than the other.

But when you are given the chance to vote for who is in o"ce, consider their potential to lead.

On Jan. 23, students at Pattonville accepted Rachel’s Challenge and were encouraged to start a “Chain of Kindness.”

“Dave [Gamache’s] message was very powerful and emotion-al,” said Rick Lehman, one of the faculty sponsors of SPEAK, about the presenter at the school-wide assembly.

“It had an immediate impact on many of our students. In order not to lose the momentum of Dave’s presentation, that very same day, SPEAK started constructing a ‘Chain of Kind-ness.’ !e faculty sponsors of SPEAK, PALS, STUCO, and Pirate Code met with the administration to plan and coordinate upcoming events related to Rachel’s Challenge. !e goal is not let Dave’s message and its impact die out.”

Having the chance to have Gamache come to Pattonville and talk about Rachel Scott, the tragedy at Columbine High School and Rachel’s dream to make a di$erence in the world made an impact on many students at Pattonville High School.

Although, Rachel’s brother, Craig Scott, and her father, Dar-rell Scott, didn’t get the chance to join students and teachers at Pattonville, Gamache made a di$erence at Pattonville.

He informed students about the terrible day Columbine High School experienced on April 20, 1999, along with Rachel’s Challenge.

!e Columbine High School massacre took the lives of not only Rachel, but also 11 other students and one teacher.

!e tragedy is considered one of the deadliest high school shootings in United States history.

!ere were a lot of emotions all over the school as Gamache was speaking. Students were silent and tears everywhere were

coming down their cheeks. Having that intense moment changed those in attendance

in a matter of minutes.“Every single last one of us had emotions during the video,”

said senior Taylor Jackson, member of SPEAK. “To my knowledge, none us thankfully, have been out in

such a situation. So we couldn’t identify with that aspect. How-ever, we all identi#ed.”

Before Rachel passed away she had a mission, and her mis-sion was to make a di$erence and change the world.

Pattonville’s SPEAK, played a big part on Rachel’s Challenge and made it possible for Gamache to come in and talk.

“I feel that the school as a whole can be supportive,” said senior Spencer Powell, a member of SPEAK.

“!e main thing that would help that speci#c goal is just having a place where they can go and be comfortable. !e people in our school just need to understand that everyone has a story and that just accepting someone is the best thing you can do.”

Rachel was not a perfect girl; she was just an ordinary teen-age girl in high school.

She made mistakes, but never put anyone down. She was the kind of girl that helped people out and was known for be-ing a really nice person.

She even saved someone’s life. A boy with special needs was being bullied at her school and

had thoughts about taking his own life, but she stood up for him and from that day on met up with him for few minutes and asked him how his day was going.

Rachel was making a di$erence even when she was here and

was planning to pass that on to people all around the world.“Rachel’s Challenge has reminded me that every action I

make in a day has it consequences for not only me, but those around me,” said senior David Lindsay.

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By Jessica Vargas

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