REDWOOD HIGH SCHOOL DECEMBER 9, 2011- JANUARY 9, 2011 PRINT ISSUE 1 VOLUME 57

PLEASE READ, RECYCLE, OR PASS THIS ON.

Finals are next week!Study! Study! Study!

Have a happy winter break!Enjoy the Holidays!

Have a happy New Year!

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TheFFAclubheldtheirannualGreenHandmeetingonFriday,December2ndintheAgbuilding.Therewereabout100peopleinattendanceandthemeeting was a definite success. TheannualFFAGreenHandmeetingisaformalmeetingtohonorandrecognizethenewfreshmencomingintothepro-gram,ormorewidelyknownasthe first years. Themeetingbeganwiththe FFA officers formally stat-ingtheirpositions.TheGreenHands (the first year ag mem-bers)thenstoodupandtookapledgetoalwayscontributetheirshareintheFFAprogram,tobeloyal,andtousetheirorganizationtobetterthemselvesandothers. Before school, the first yearsputonat-shirtwithagreenhandprintonthefront.Through-outthecourseoftheschoolday,theGreenHandswererequiredtogetasmanysignaturesastheycouldontheirshirttowinthecompetition.

KaylaMaine‘12said,“IrememberwhenIwasafresh-manandgottodotheGreenHandactivity.Itwasalotoffunbecauseyougettorunaroundlikecrazytogetsignatures.Itgetsyoumoreinvolvedandmakesyoulessner-vous.” ThisyearMr.Coonhastaken in fifty-six new first years. “Out of all the first years I have, onlyabouthalfofthemwillstickitoutuntiltheirSenioryear.Stu-dentsjustgetbusywithsports

andschoolwork,it’shardtostaymotivatedtosticktotheprogram.Theoneswhodropitusuallyaren’tasconnectedandin-volved. I’m excited thoughtoseewhostayswithitandwhodoesn’t,”saidCoonatthecloseoftheGreenHandmeeting. Themeet-ingcametoan

endwithAg’sfamoushobostew.Thisisanannualtraditionwhereeveryonebringsinacanofsomesort of soup and they all get mixed together.Thestudentsseemtolove it; it is definitely the most an-ticipatedpartofthemeeting.Jes-sicaKelly‘11said,“It’ssogood,youhavetotryit!”

-CorinneBigelow

Green Hands Join The FFA Family

“Someofthemostcreativestudents

showedupfromASBanddidareallygood

job.”

-CounselorMrs.Barba

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Inearly2011,theTulareCountyFarmBureauapproveda500dollargrantfortheRedwoodAgricultureandEnvironmentalSciencedepartmentstobuildaCaliforniaMissionsGardenundertheinstructionofMr.Olson,RHSEnvironmentalScienceteacher,andMr.Coon,RedwoodAg.Me-chanicsteacher. “ThevisionarybehindtheideaisclearlyMr.Olson.ItcametohimwhenhewaswalkingatMissionSanLuisObispo2yearsago.Hesharedtheideawithmeandwecombinedhisvisionwithmyabilitytoknowhowtocon-structit.”saidMr.Coon. EachMissionalongElCaminoRealhasagardenthatgrowsacertaintypeofplantna-tivetothatarea.Inthisway,theCaliforniaMissionsGardenatRedwoodwillhaveaminitrailsymbolizingElCaminoRealrun-ningthroughthegardenwithministopsalongthewayforeachMission,withafewplantsfromthatparticularmissionandasigndescribingitateachstop. Thequarter-acregardenwillconsistofover25differentspeciesofplantsin10-15groups. ThemajorityofCalifornia’s“nativeplants”aren’tactuallynative.Theyoriginatefromthemission’seraandthefoundingfathersoftheMissions.Thegar-denwillshowitsvisitorshoweach

plantcametobewhereitistoday. “Sixty kids from the A.P. classeswillrunthegardenandconducttours.ThebigideaistoteachtheyoungerkidsabouttheCaliforniaCropswhileatthetimebringingfutureRangersoncam-pus.”saidMr.Olson. Historically,thedonatedtimbersfromChevroletandVisaliaLumber are from the Sixties; yet anotherassettothegarden. ThetrailwillendunderanarborcoveredingrapevinesthatisbeingbuiltbyaAgMechanicsIIIstudents,aspartofBrandonEslick’s, ‘12 Eagle Scout Project. Thearborisasteppingstoneto

thecompletionofthegarden.

Brandonsaid,“Mr.CoonandMr.OlsonproposedtheideatomebackinApril.Itseemedlikeagoodthingtobeapartofinthebigschemeofeverything.” JarrettHaas,‘13,anotherAgMechanicsstudent,said,“Wemakethemetalandfabricatepiecesforthesignsandthear-bor,usingclasstime.Basicallywe[Ag&Mechanics]aredoingtheconstruction,andthey[Environ-mentalSciences]aredoingtheplanting.”

Continued on Page 2

Mission San Ranger TheannualChristmasTreeAuction,putonbytheVisaliaChamberofCommerce,washeldattheConventionCenteronFri-day,December1st.RedwoodASBwas one of sixteen organizations thatdecoratedatree. Thisyearthethemewas‘treeoftoys’andASB’sthirdyearofparticipation.ThetreeanddecorationsweresponsoredbyMissionCareGroupandRedwoodPTA. It was decorated with toys andboardgameswithateddybearontop.Thetreesoldfor$4500andwontheMayor’sFavor-iteaward. DelaneyFord,‘12,andCateFisher,‘12,co-chairs,workedwithAlyssaAguilar,‘12,TaylorMargo-sian,‘12,GabbySolis,‘14,ElenaMontemagni,‘15,HannahOlsen,‘13,CourtneyOwens,‘13,HollyMcKinzie,‘12,andShaylenneMartin, ‘12 to create the tree. PTA presidentMaureenFisherandmemberAlishaOlsenalsohelpeddecorate.InadditionStellaVac-caro’sfamilydonatedadinnerfortwoatLittleItalyandFord’sfatherdonatedabottleofwine. “ItwasreallyfunandIalwaysenjoydoingit,”saidFisher.“It’sagreatopportunitytogiveRedwoodyetanotherpositivein-fluence in the community.”

-BaileyLovern

Oh Christmas Tree

Rangers Say...

What final will you stay upthelateststudying

for?

“Physics because its a hard concept for me to under-

stand. Ill spend two to three hours to review concepts.”

-Ruby Tapia ‘12

“Calculus because its the most challenging class.”-Haden Hobbs ‘13

ManypeoplemayknowMr.Feehanasaforeignlan-guageteacheraroundcampus,butthisyearhehastakenoverastheyearbookadvisor.WhenDr.MarroquinaskedMr.Fee-hantoassumetheroleastheyearbookadvisor,Feehanwasupforthechallenge. “IlookedtoseeiftherewasanytrainingIcouldget,soIwenttoSanDiegoandwastrainedbyJostensonhowtobeayearbookadvisor,”saidFee-han.

Anewadvisorisnottheonlychangethatyouwillseeintheyearbookthisyear.“We’redoingalotofthingsdifferentlythisyear.Hopefullyitwillmaketheyearbookdifferentinagoodway.” Thewholeyearbookitselfhasactuallychanged;thisyearwewillhaveachronologicalbook,meaningeverythingisinthebookbywhenittookplace.Soratherthanhavingasportssecion,astudentlifesection,

andanacademicsection,ev-erythingblendstogether.” TheyearbookstaffcouldnotagreemorewithFeehan.Thesechangeswillimprovethe book and influence more studentstopurchaseit.Theirhopeisthatyearsfromnow,whenyouopenyouryearbookyouwillgetasenseofwhatRedwoodisreallyaboutandrealizeyouwerepartofsome-thinggreat.

-AriannaCastillo

Different, But In A Good Way ForChristmasbreak:snowdestinationor

tropicalvacation?Why?

“Tropical because it’s warm and has cuter clothes and [is] really pretty with all the trees

and flowers” -Sophia Stetson ‘15

RANGER FEATURES

The roles have been cast for this year’s all-school musi-cal, The Music Man, and there are many important groups and characters involved in making the musical special.

Marian Paroo Playing the sassy leading lady, Marian Paroo, is Megan Wright ,‘12. Marian is a character with a big attitude to match her bad reputation. Wright describes her character as “pretty much the girl in town no one likes … She supposedly had an affair with the man from the local library and when he died she got all his mon-ey. She acts very strange to every-body which makes people not like her very much.” Wright said she is excited for, “the singing because there’s a lot through the whole show and the cast is great. I know a lot of people from choir and there’s some new people I get to meet so that should be fun.” Marcellus Washburn Jeffery Webb, ‘15, has tak-en a lead role of Marcellus Wash-burn, the main character’s right hand man. Webb, who will make his debut on the Redwood stage with this role, has participated in many plays through TCOE and Green Acres Little theater.

“My character descrip-tion is fat and sweaty, which isn’t like me. The personality has good quality, smiles a lot, and likes to be the best at everything, which is very much like me,” he said. Barber Shop Quartet One group of actors are practicing to transform themselves into a classic 1950’s barber shop quartet.The four students that will be portraying these roles are Kyle Peterson, 12’, Garrett Moore, 14’, Daniel Townsend,13’, and Vincent Macereno, 15’. Macereno, playing Ewart Dunlap and singing baritone with Townsend, is mostly looking for-ward to not only hearing the great sound of the quartet, but also “looking forward to making it as entertaining as possible.”

Pickalittle Ladies One very important group to the musical is the ‘pickalittle la-dies’. “We’re pretty much the high society ladies of the town,” said Emily Whitson, ‘12. “We’re just kind of the gossip group,” added Celina Lim, ‘12. The pickalittle ladies “are there to spice it up and give it... a different kind of character,” said Whitson. Lim said that the hardest part of the character is going to be

“acting like an adult”. “The best part of my role is getting to be with all the other girls, and kind of just feed off their energies and their characters,” said Whitson.

Harold Hill Playing the music man himself is Steven Braswell, ‘12. Braswell’s character is a conman, ‘professor’ Harold Hill. He poses as a traveling salesman and convinc-es towns that their children need an after school music program. He charges them all for instruments and uniforms, and then leaves with all the money at the last minute. But in the town where the story takes place, River City, Iowa, there is a music teacher named Marian Paroo who sees through his character and causes prob-lems in his plan. “Something that is going to be hard is learning to twirl a baton. I’m practicing really hard to make it look good. Music Man’s gotta twirl a baton,” he said. “What I feel that is going to be fun this year is getting to work with a new kind of cast.”

-Anna AdaskaWant to read more about

The Music Man? www.redwoodgigantea.com

Meet The Characters Of The Music Man

RedwoodHighSchoolisaschoolofexcellenceinacademicsandsportswhichwasshowedinthesportoffootballthisyear.The2011seasonwasverysolidforourRedwoodRangerswhoendedwithanoverallrecordof6-6andaWestYosemiteLeaguerecordof3-3,aswellasmakingtheplayoffsunderCoachBall’sfirst season here at Redwood high school. Theirhardworkanddedicationearnedtheman8thseedplayoffspot.Theyfoughtextremelyhard,winninginthe first round against Sanger High in a stunningdoubleovertimegame.Fromtheretheytookonthe#1seedGarcesMe-morial in the quarter finals and gave them a good fight but came up short in the end . AllinalltheyhadanamazingrunandanunforgettableexperienceasbeingpartofCoach Ball’s first season here at Redwood highschool. Startingquarterback,RaulAlva-rez’13said,“Ourteamworkedhard,prac-ticedhardandplayedhardandintheenditpayedoffwiththefactthatwemadetheplayoffsaswellaswinningaplayoffgame.”Headded,“I’mlookingforwardtonextyear’sseason,manygreatthingsaretocome,sobereadyRedwood!” Startingseniorreceiver,ErvinYancymentioned,“Ihadagreattimewith

thefootballteam,itwasagreatexperi-ence,andmostimportantlyverymemo-rable.” Redwood’smostvaluableplayerandcaptain,JordanMorrison’12said,“Icouldn’thaveaskedforabetterwaytoendthisseason,wehadasolidyear,butmostimportantlywehadfunonandoffthe field.” Morrison not only lead the team intouchdownsbutalsowasateamleaderandagreatteammate.Helateradded,“Wewereallonebigfamily,whichhelpedusbecomeagoodsolidteam.” BrodieSurfus’14said,“Beingpartofthisyear’steamhelpedmematureasapersonandaplayerandcan’twaitforthenexttwoyearsoffootballhereatRedwood.” TwoyearvarsityplayerAaronAndrade,’13mentioned,“There’smorethanmeetstheeyetobeingafootballplayerhereatRedwood,whenoneputsona Redwood jersey, it signifies pride, honor, andrespect.” BenJonhston,’14said,“IlovebeingaRangerandlookforwardfortheupcomingseason.” Redwoodhadsomeverymemo-rablegamesthisseason,winningagainstcrosstownrivalstheGoldenWestTrail-

blazersandtheElDiamanteMinersaswellTulareWesternandHanfordWest.SeniorstartinglinemanBrianMartinez’12said,“OurgreatestvictorythisseasonwascrushingElDiamante,55-30;itwasagreat feeling to finally beat them.” Overallthe2011footballseasonwascomendablehereatRedwoodHighSchool, under coach Ball’s first season as aranger.Theylookforwardtoimprove

nextyearaswellassurpassit.Theirhopesarehighandanythingcanhappenwithgreatplayersandcoachingstaff,somakesureandstaytunetoRedwoodfootball!

-DannyCarrillo

Football Finishes With Promise

VarsityFootballplayers&CoachBalljoinintheNationalAnthem.Photo by Megan Geiger

Football is not just a sport; in high school, its a life-style. Every time I go to a game, I see the student section filled with all of the students’ blue bodies and tutus. I see the fans shout-ing, hoping the players will hear them, parents hoping for the win, and future Rangers enjoying the game with their friends. The atmosphere at a foot-ball game is different. Football games are in the Mineral King Bowl and bigger facility means more space, more fans, and more people to talk to. Playing on Fridays is a major advantage for students because they have little homework and can stay up later. It also gives a feeling of a social event, not just a game. At other games, you are in a gym or by a pool and the atmosphere changes. Since non-football sports games are played Tuesdays or Thursdays, it is less convenient for students to watch. Football is a highly attend-ed event and everybody knows it.

This draws even more fans to the game. In our bowl, there is rarely an empty seat. For other sports, kids hope at least 10 of their friends might come and watch, compared to the football players who are guaranteed over 1000 at football games. Football is the foundation of the Cowhide and Homecom-ing games which the students remember forever. These games are a great excuse to dress up totally wacky. If other sports had important games like Cowhide and Homecoming, the sport would be more important to student cul-ture. Intensity plays a ma-jor factor in football. Football is dangerous and risky. Everyone knows the coaches and the play-ers, so they come to see people they know. If they don’t come to watch a player, they might know someone in the band, in dance, in the color guard. People also like seeing the band play, the dancers dance, and color guard do their thing. Movies make football seem

like the heart of high school, which it is, and the media always praises foot-ball play-ers. Fa-mous Foot-ball players have jerseys for their fans to wear and show their love. Football is a major American pas-time, not just a high school sport. Football includes many aspects of high school. For Home-coming and Cowhide we have queens, escorts, spirit weeks, dress up days, lunch games, per-formances and assemblies. Cow-hide is a symbol of honor and

pride for our school. When we win Cowhide, there is no better feel-ing. Victory is what we want; every student wants it. There’s a reason Football season is at the beginning of the year. It brings the students together with a common desire, and it builds school spirit for the rest of the year. Football is more than tradition its the foundation of student culture.-Brettny Freitas

Football: The Heart Of High School

Redwoodbleedsblueandwhite.Photo by Tenney Rizzo

A.P. Environmental Scienc-es (APES), taught by Mr. Olson, studies and grows crops from all over California, including the ones that will be used in the garden. When 6th-8th graders come to Redwood for field trips, whether to see a performance in the L.J. William’s Theater, or for a tour, they might also stop by the Mis-sions Garden. Coon said, “The garden will show the students what happens in society. One person might have a dream, but somebody else might have the means to construct it. Things like this are a team effort.” The goal is to plant a seed, figuratively and literally. Each kid will plant an acorn in a pot and take one home that was planted by a child who visited he Garden months ago. Olson said, “I really like the idea of ‘pay it forward’. When a child takes home a tree that somebody else planted for him, he realizes that somebody he doesn’t know did something nice for him, and by planting an acorn in an-other pot, he’s doing the exact same thing. He may not be repay-ing that particular student, but hes doing something nice in re-turn; no matter who benefits.” Olson’s vision should begin to take shape by Christmas break this year, with the completion of the construction. Our own Cali-fornia Missions Garden should be finished by the spring of 2013.

-Stephanie Gates

Cont. Mission San Ranger

KEEPCALM

AND

CLICKON

WWW.REDWOODGIGANTEA.COM

teach other writers techniques he uses to improve his writing. Other than performing, Hernandez held a workshop in Ms. Link’s room during one of her Lit & Expression classes where he taught students the “Scream of Consciousness”. “Many writ-ers call it ‘Stream’ but this tech-nique is more emotional because you actually write nonstop for a few minutes and express not only what your thinking but what you’re feeling,” he said. Hernandez explains that growing up in the valley has taken a huge impact on his writing. “In Breathing, I take towns like Visa-lia, Dinuba and the surrounding farming areas and make them into a whole world that almost reflects this one,” he said, “I try to make it authentic enough that you could read a part of the book that takes place by the railroad tracks and know exactly what I’m talking about.”

-Michael Jasso

ARTS & ENTERTA INMENT From November 17-19 eight of Redwood’s students took part and performed in the 2011 ACDA Central Region Honor Choir at Clovis North High School. 180 students across the valley were selected out of over 300 students who auditioned in September. The group of musically talented Rangers that were accepted are Holly Mckinzie, ‘12, Kimi Gubler, ‘12, Steven Braswell, ‘12, Me-gan Wright, ‘12, Maren Payne, ‘12, Frances Bueno, ‘13, Daniel Townsend, ‘13, Garrett Moore,’14, and Lauren Adaska, ‘14. “Regional Honor Choir is a weekend where auditioned sing-ers all over the central valley are invited to work with a guest con-ductor,” said Steven Braswell ‘12, a two year veteran of Honor Choir. “It is a great honor to be selected for this and you meet a lot of tal-ented and dedicated people and get to experience a choral setting on an advanced level.” Before they were able to

participate in the weekend’s ac-tivities and performance, the stu-dents were asked to learn a num-ber of challenging choral songs on their own beforehand. “Learning the music on your own was chal-lenging because in choir here at school you go over it daily as a class,” said Kimi Gubler ‘12, a two year Honor Choir participant, “but in the end it’s fun and I feel like you grow a lot musically.” Bras-well added, “It was easier once we started practicing as a group and put it together.” Heading into a such a chal-lenging weekend can be nerve-racking for first year participants. Lauren Adaska, ‘14, who audi-tioned because she thought it would be fun to be in a really big choir of people who all loved to sing, said “ I was a little nervous going into it, especially the part testing,” (students are dismissed from the weekend if they come unprepared and don’t know their part), “but I was so excited to be a part of it.”

Once the part testing is done and the singers have made it past this stage, they move into hours and hours of practicing. The students are separated into two choirs, mixed and women’s. Guest conductors from universities and colleges across California are invited to come direct and work with one of these choirs for the weekend. Dr. Robert Istad from CSU Fullerton directed the Wom-en’s chorus, and Ms. Lori-Marie Rios from College of the Canyons directed the Mixed. “She was so much fun and she made us look at music differently,” said Frances Bueno ‘13 who was in mixed. “She would ask us what color a song was, and to sing it royal purple or blood red.” “We literally sang for 10 hours straight two days in a row. It was the longest 2 days of my life,” said Bueno. Adaska added, “But the trip was fun. I learned a lot more about music and per-forming,” -Megan Wright

The Creme De La Creme of Redwood’s Top Voices On Monday December 12th at 7pm, Ranger Choir is performing Schubert’s Mass in G at the First Presbyterian Church in Visalia. They will be accompanied not by piano, but by RHS Advanced Orchestra. The mass is close to half an hour long when sung all the way through. “I feel like it’s a hard enough piece for our group and it will challenge us to become more skilled singers so we’re able to sing even harder pieces in the future,” said Megan Richards, ‘12. The choir does a piece like this about every two years, but has never performed Mass in G before. The mass is composed of six parts: Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, all sung in Latin. “I feel as though our hard work is going to pay off,” said Holly McKinzie, ‘12. “It’s also a super cool opportunity to have our own school orchestra be able to perform it with us, and to be able to perform it in a nice church with great acoustics will be a wonderful experience for anyone who goes and sees it.” Some students are apprehensive about listening to choral music, like the Mass. But Choir Director Mr. Carrillo encourages them to broaden their horizons. He said, “Open your mind to different kinds of sounds - music you don’t hear on the radio.”

-Bailey Loverin

acting aspect of art. It was after my uncle passed that I began writ-ing because it was faster for me to express my thoughts.” Hernandez currently lives in Colorado and travels across the country performing poetry read-ings and conducting workshops to

Tim Hernandez Returns To Redwood Former Red-wood Ranger Tim Z. Hernandez, a pub-lished author, re-turned to Redwood for a lunchtime performance dur-ing (red)Woodstock hosted by Artist’s Cafe. “I’m glad to know that … the arts live on at Red-wood,” he said. Hernandez was a part of the graduating class of 1992 and since then has published works in multiple poetry anthologies,his own poetry book, Skin Tax, and a novel Breathing, In Dust. His publications have made him known nationally. He has won awards such as plac-ing 2nd in Fiction at the National Latino Book Awards, the El Premio Aztlan Literary Prize, and he re-cently received the New American Poets Honor earlier this year. “I wasn’t into writing while I was at school,” said Hernandez, “I was more into the painting and

With the all school musi-cal, The Music Man, opening in February, the cast has begun re-hearsals. “Monday nights we have vocal rehearsals, and so we learn new songs and we go over songs that we learned the past week, and then, Tuesdays we learn dancing, and then Thursdays we do blocking for drama,” said Kayla Ashburn, ‘13. “We are about a quarter of the way in. We’re learning chore-ography, the students are learning their vocals, we have a long way to go, but we’re in good shape. They’ve probably learned about half of their show already,” said Mrs. Galvan, director. This year, there is a new choreographer for the musical, Edgar Villegas. He started danc-ing in high school, and now works as a teacher at The Ruby Slipper Performing Arts Academy. “I like how you feel involved and you’re not just thrown in the corner to learn by yourself, and everyone helps you,” said Cassandra Castenada, ‘15.

“My favorite part of rehearsal is watching everyone grow as a cast,” said Townsend. Galvan said, “[For me] it’s that ‘ah-ha’ moment. You give them their blocking, you give them their vocal notes, you give them their choreography... and then

when we get in to running the whole show.. is when the light bulbs start coming on, because once they understand how it all comes together, they’re going to be more relaxed.”

-Anna Adaska

Mass In G

Music Man Takes The Stage

Hernandez reads his work at RHS. Photo by Haylee Baker

On Saturday Decem-ber 10, 2011 the Redwood High School band and color guard will journey to Disneyland to lead the character parade and dazzle thou-sands of people with their musical talents. RHS band director Dennis Bet-tencourt is excited about perform-ing in the parade and hearing their names announced over the loud speaker. “It’s great to see the kids get excited to perform. And the decorations look great.”,This refers to the Christmas decora-tions Disneyland has hung all over the park. Daisy Collins ‘15 said, “It feels great because it’s Disneyland! I’m excited about getting to actually go to Disneyland because I haven’t been there since I was five.” The fabulous trip has its mo-ments that are not as fabulous. Collins, ‘15 is worried “that we might mess up while playing.” Even though the band members are obviously a little nervous Bet-tencourt is the exact opposite. When asked if he was nervous his quick response was “No, I’ve been doing this too long,” followed by a smile and laugh. The difficult part for Mr.Bettencourt is, “managing that many people, more can go wrong.” The RHS band and color guard, around 130 students, will leave to there destination at 5:30 in the morning to hear their names on the loudspeaker and perform for a huge audience led by Drum Ma-jors & Bettencourt.

-Monir Ahmadi

Musical Mickey

The cast works on blocking during rehearsals. Photo by Anna Adaska

ARTS & ENTERTA INMENT

What is your favoritewinter accessory?

“Crazy Beanies” -Jacob Kelch ‘15

“Snowman earrings” -Paige Vailhauar ‘14

Want more on RHS Arts? www.redwoodgigantea.com

T H E S P O R T S D E S KGirls Water Polo Undefeated WYL Champions

For the first time in Redwood history, Varsity Girls Water Polo was undefeated in Western Yosemite League play. The team won WYL outright, and ended El Diamante’s 59 game streak of success by beating them 11-9, in what was con-sidered the game of the year. The team was 17-3 overall, 12-0 in WYL, and took seventh in Valley. Redwood Lady Rangers left a mark in Division 1. Alyssa Dyer was the MVP for the team. Her team mates believe she really stood out this season and played hard. She’s saved the team multiple times and was all around a key player for the team. The key to this team’s success was in the senior leaders, team bonding, and Coach Fuller.

Danielle Stevens, 14’, said, “I think this year went really well. Being one of the two sophomores on the team, the older girls really made me feel a part of the team. We were like a family. I really con-

Cross-Country Finishes Strong

The Cross Country team had some difficulties earlier in the season with losing some players to injuries, but finished through with the Girls placing second in WYL while the Boys placed fourth. Both teams competed in competi-tions across the state including the 64th annual Mt. Sac Invitational. The teams are coached by Joe Guerrero and the MVP’s were Emerolina Cantu ‘12, and Eric Molina ‘14. “It was a tough season for sure,” said Cantu, “But we have a young team and a lot of freshmen this year. So hope-fully they’ll keep coming out and be league champs next season.” Many runners on the team say that it takes more than just running to do Cross Country. It’s a mental sport as well because the runners push themselves to their limits and focus on nothing else but crossing the finish line. A Varsity level race can extend between 3 to 3.4 miles with an average of 50 to 100 athletes per race. “It takes confidence and guts to do what we do,” said Molina, “We had a good season this year, and we hope to have a better one next year.”

-Michael Jasso

Girls Tennisnected with my teammates and learned a lot from Mr. Fuller, helping me become a better water polo player.” Senior Alexa Johnson, 12’,

agreed, “We did really well because this year, Mr. Fuller was our coach. He helped us learned a lot of new things and made us improve a lot as a whole.” Taylor Peters, 12’, said, “This was the best year we’ve had. It was also the most fun year I’ve played. The seniors really stepped up and played hard.” Head coach, Mr. Fuller also said, “This team, made up mostly of seniors, made it a very enjoyable season. I was very proud of them for going undefeated.” -Mari Mora

Girls Golf WYL Champions

This season the girls golf team went undefeated, won WYL, had a victory at area and took fifth in valley. Not only did they win WYL, but they lead by 30 strokes. A successful season for the girls left them with high hopes and dreams for next season. Christina Trujillo, ‘11 said, “We had three freshmen that adapted well to the team and it was awesome getting to know them. I hear there are going to be more freshmen coming in next year, so we’ll see just exactly what they are made of.” The season started out in August two weeks before school started and the girls hit it off from the very start. Jade Hayes ‘11 said, “ We bonded from the get go. We all love each other and we were like a close knit family.” The season continued into No-vember until they took fifth place in Val-ley. The team met everyday of the week and practiced from four until six-thirty.Trujillo added, “Practice was focused ninety percent of the time, but you gotta have fun in there somewhere, or else it just gets boring. Many strange things hap-pened at practice but they allowed us to be closer than any other team that I have been on in the past.” This was Coach Bascatti’s first year as a coach at Redwood taught the team that winning wasn’t the most impor-tant thing. He encouraged them to not fo-cus on solely on winning, just to improve at each tournament.

-Corinne Bigelow

Redwood Varsity Boys Wa-ter Polo went into the season with high expectations. With a majority of the team being experienced upper classmen; they set a solid record of 17-10 overall, and 7-5 in Western Yosemite League (WYL). “We set a lot of goals at the begin-ning of the season, among them to be city champs, get a top three WYL finish, and have lots of camaraderie. All of which we accomplished.” said Mario Bravante, ‘14. “We met all the goals we set in the beginning of the year,” said Max Bricker ‘12. One of their biggest games of this season was against the undefeated Lem-oore Tigers. Striving to take their unde-feated name away, Redwood conquered. They were the only team in the central valley to have beaten them. The team went into a total of 5 over time games and won them all. They then went into playoffs, hosting one game against Yosemite. There were also individual ac-complishments made for some of the players. Max Bricker was named MVP, and was named to first team all league.

He scored the most goals in the WYL bracket. “He was an amazing player and we were lucky to have him on our team this year.” said Travis Jacobson, ‘12. Mario Bravante was named to second team all league, and accomplished his own personal goals of leading the team in assists and being more consistent in the game. Without a coach, there is no team. Coach Jacob Avila guided the team in the right direction and pushed them to play to the best of their ability. “Mr. Avila is easily the coolest coach I ever had.. I am closer to him than I am most of the guys on the team. He is all around an amazing person and coach. I can’t wait to see how next season turns out.” addedd Jacobson. “We did really good this season,” said goalie Daniel Armagost ‘12. Overall, this fall season went well for Varsity Boys Water Polo. They hope to surpass this year’s record and do even better next season.

-Amber Watson

Boys Waterpolo Exceeds Expectations

Coach Avila gives the team an inspirational speech. Photo by Megan Geiger

Although it may sometimes go unnoticed, vol-leyball is a great tradition here at Redwood. This year volleyball went 6-6 in league and had a pretty good season. This year they also had a very young team. Although their team was young they found a way to have a .500 season. Captain Ciara Wong ‘14, had a breakout season. When she was asked about what she learned from playing older teams she said, “They have a lot more experience so it made us play to the best of our abilities.” She added, “El Diamante was the best match for us because

they were so experienced.” When asked about what she looked forward do doing next year she said, “I want us to become stronger as players and come together as a team, we also need to work on our skill level but I believe we can win WYL.”

A highlight of their season was defeating El Diamante 3-2 at their own gym. Senior, and Captain Aracely Lo-zano, ‘12 said, “I had a really fun season and I have a lot of good memories with my girls.” She added, “I will miss my coaches, and I am sad I cant stay another year with my girls.” Captain and MVP Ashley Cer-vantes ‘14, said, “Our goals for next year is to get better and exceed more and most importantly win WYL and Valley.”

-Reece Newsome

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www.redwoodgigantea.com

Volleyball Leaves An Impression

Senior Taylor Peters maintains possession of the ball. Photo by Megan Geiger

With a history unlike any of the other sports here at Redwood, Varsity Girls Tennis always has huge expecta-tions. Once again, the team went above and beyond their opponents. Compiling an undefeated record in league, and cap-turing the WYL title. Captain Aubrey Buchanan,’12, said, “After every winning match, and the word undefeated started to float around, we all got very excited. It’s always a big deal to win the league championship. The team is coached by Rose-marie Lewis, who also coaches the boys tennis team at Golden West. After many years of dominating in Division 2, she moved her team into Division 1, the best of the best. During the season, she led her team to the California High School Tennis Classic title in division 4, beating schools like Clovis and Sacred Heart. A rivalry that has been one sided recently is that with El Diamante. Red-wood has defeated them each of the last eight years, and that continued this sea-son. Captain Sam Garcia, ‘12, said,”Beating El D always feels good. We all get prepared for that match, because a win against them is very gratifying.” The team made a run in valley playoffs, but were knocked off in the semi-finals. Another successful season for Ranger Tennis.

-Joey Hanf

Becky Cervantes & Ciara Wong play defense. Photo by Megan Geiger

What is your New Year’s Resolution?

“My new year’s resolution is to stop procrastinating and

get better grades” -Zac Tate ‘12

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OPINION & EDITORIAL During Cowhide week, a neat little thing called “The Ranger Movement” was starting to make its way through the stu-dent body. Posters were put up all around campus encouraging students to be a “Real Ranger” and 2,000 little blue papers were passed around the student body on the day of the assembly. They told the stu-dents to do things like never sitting down, singing the national anthem, and scream-ing at the top of their lungs. Mrs. Lewis, one of the founders of the movement said, “I wanted to help student remember how much fun it is to be Ranger.” I’lladmitwedefinitelyneededa Ranger Revolution. The contrast in school spirit at assemblies early this year from my freshman year is obvious. I remember wondering how 2,000 students could possibly make that much noise; even just the 500 in the senior section. Mr. Miller, RHS English teacher and one of the starters of the movement said, “The best decoration at an assembly is the crowd.” Although A.S.B. did an amazing job making the assembly unforgettable, no matter how hard they or the football team or the staff work, if the students don’t show they care, an assembly will fail.

Its the students that make an as-sembly, they can choose to make it great or awful. And obviously our Ranger Revolution made a difference since our 2011 Cowhide assembly got comments like: “In my 4 years as an RHS student and 5 years on staff, I have to say that was the stand out Cowhide assembly for me.” from Mr. White and, “Never before have I seen such enthusiasm and excitement at the Cow-hide rally and game. My compliments to all who made the rally such an amazing event!” from Mrs. Montemagni, and, “Hearing the majority of the stu-dent body singing the National Anthem, especially since it was the day before Veteran’s Day, was very inspiring,” from Mr. Rooney. Not one person sat down during the assembly, and there were very few moments the gym was silent. The energy from the student body at the assembly carried over to the game the next night. It was easy to see a differ-ence from Mt. Whitney’s student section and Redwood’s student section. But that’s because Redwood has always had incredible school spirit. Win or loose, our cheering never falters.

Britley Owens ‘13, RHS ASB Rally Commissioner said, “Our spirit hasdefinitelygottenalotbettersincethebeginning of the school year. Earlier it wasjustafewspecifickidsyellingatthegames and the assemblies. But at Cowhide [both game and assembly], it felt like we were all cheering as one.” Redwood’s spirit may have been ebbing for a few months this year, but now our colors are showing true. Our

school has always been about spirit; and we may not have the best academics, or the best athletes, or the most expensive technology, but Rangers love their school. The Rangers may have lost their Hide, but they won their spirit back.

-Stephanie Gates

Redwood sports are more than just an after school activity for students. Sports for us are a hobby, something we love to do. Sports are exciting and popu-lar, especially in high school. Redwood has so many different sports to offer, but why does it seem like coaches or teachers recommend us focus on one sport? Teachers, parents, administration, and even my older siblings always tell me to stay involved. If the advice given to students is to be involved in as much as possible, then why is it such a problem that we want to play multiple sports? I play volleyball which is a fall sport, but am planning on trying out for the soccer team as well.The volleyball season, like most fall sports, doesn’t end until after winter sports begin. If you play a fall sport and want to go out for a winter sport too, you usu-ally miss out on conditioning or important preseason activities. By missing these activities, athletes don’t get the chance to meet the coaches when everyone else does. Coaches say that as long as you are in a fall sport your “okay” and to be sure to come out to try outs. Although they tell me that, I am thinking inside my head that my chances of making the team aren’t as good and the girls who have come out for preseason. There is a huge contradiction between being involved and playing multiple sports. If they really want us to be involved in as much as possible, then why is it such a big deal? Redwood, like many other high schools has multi-sport athletes. Sports should be arranged in a way students won’t miss out on anything. Although the school wants to get started with the next sport as soon as one ends, they should leave a week or so gap in between for preparation, and let that small margin time be “preseason”. High school supposed to be a great time in our life. To stay involved and to get a full high school experience, play-ing more than one sport is the way to go for some students. We should be enjoy-ing every minute that we can doing what we like to do. For me, and many others, it is sports that will really top of these four years. For the students who aren’t just playing school sports for fun, the students who want to go pro or play college, and the ones who have real talent in the sport, they should be playing club. By being so serious about a sport in high school, it affects the kids who are playing just because they can.

-Kati Kochevar

As the transition from middle school to high school is now settling in and students are becoming more comfortable, many students are changing themselves and their friends along the way. Upperclassmen have already gone through this transition and know what to expect from others. As for us Freshman, we might have had the same group of friends sincethefirstgrade.Allthroughout elementary school we would talk the same way, play the same sports, and laugh at the same jokes. Over the years, I have stuck with this one group of friends, and now as I make new friends and discover new things in common with them, I sometimes want to hang out with them too. Now as we get older we start to develop individual beliefs, as our friends do. I don’t always agree with the choices and decisions that my friends have made, but then again they may not agree with my choices and decisions; so it goes both ways. Change is inevitable in High School; its all part of growing up. We change friends, beliefs, hobbies, favorite colors, fashion styles, but it is very pos-

sibletofightthetrend.Itsbeensaidthatyou can tell a lot about a person by the company that they keep. Here at Redwood it is very hard not to have friends, just because there are so many opportunities to make new friends. Your friends will change, and you will change and grow. In other words, just because you transition to a bigger school, and there is much more to do, does not mean that you have to change for the people around you. Change here at Redwood High School for the better and for yourself. Do what you want to do, and not what others

influenceyoutodo.Surround yourself with people that will encourage you to be successful and achieve your dreams. A true friend is someone who will not only encourage you to do what you want to do, but also some-body that will try and help you to get the most opportuni-ties as possible to reach this goal. I am proud to say that I surround myself with true friends and God willing it will always be this

way, but I am completely open for new changes and opportunities along the way, as high school is bound to give me. Just like every other high-school-er, I am not perfect, but I’m doing my best to be better, choose the right friends, and change for the right reasons. Everybody deserves to be loved by a good hearted friend, and it’s not all thathardtofindsomeonelikethathereatRedwood.

-Vanessa Casillas

High School 101

Once A Ranger, Always A Ranger

A Place For Competition,

And A Place For Pride

Battle For Grades Kids are not computers, un-fortunately though for students of the twenty first century, educators believe that they should act more like a fact spitting search engines than a breathing thinking human being. Due to this they force four very difficult subjects onto their students, from which they expect excellence. In a perfect world everyone would be great at every subject, there would be world peace, and roads would be paved in gold; but that’s just it. They aren’t reality. So instead of dreaming of A’s and a 4.6 GPA we should try to get down to the basics of why kids suffer in certain subjects. The search for the truth takes us to the focal point of the human mind, the brain. What most people do not know and what the education system fails to acknowledge is that everybody’s brain works differently. Some students may think with the right side of their brain which controls the understanding of English and history, while others may be

left side dominant which means they will be math and science lov-ers. The students’ many different wavelengths of thinking is what makes high school a unique expe-rience; because there’s never just one opinion, and unfortunately it also makes school a living hell for the kids who physically can not comprehend a subject. Perhaps instead of shoot-ing in the dark for the cure for the common F, the school board’s time, money, and resources would be put to better use if they actu-ally put the needs of the student before the school’s scores. Since all our brains learn and work dif-ferently then we should be taught differently. So if your a math person, then you shouldn’t have to take a poor grade in English; in-stead, you should be able to learn the subject in a way that reassem-bles a math class. This way all the children will understand the cur-riculum and not just the students that are miniature Einsteins. Students need this change. The voice of the student is get-

ting lost in the constant changes of learning methods and ways of enforcing the state standards. The educators forget that kids are only human and instead of wires they have hearts, but what they need to understand is that those hearts are getting crushed. Myself along with hundreds of other students have felt frustrated, angry, and upset after getting a test back. You try your hardest to do well but in the end your best just isn’t good enough and the teacher passes your test back with the familiar F and the look of disap-pointment. We take the bad grade thinking that it’s our fault and end up feeling helpless because there’s nothing else we can do to make the situation better. Don’t make us give up, give us the chance to learn for ourselves, not for a grade, and to embrace knowledge instead of sitting in the back of the class thinking to ourselves, “I can’t do it.”

-Cori Hoover