THE CASTING CALL

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Irmo High School6671 St. Andrews Rd.

Cola, SC 29212(803) 476-3071STAFF The purpose of the Stinger is to in-

form the student body of Irmo High School about events aff ecting them, infl uence readers through responsible editorials, to entertain through features and to provide a medium for advertisers and consumers. These goals will be achieved through fair and accurate reporting.

The Stinger is published eight times a year, including a prom supplement published in February and March and a senior supplement, to commemorate the graduating class, in May, by Journalism II-IV newspaper students at Irmo High School.

Unbylined editorials refl ect the view of a majority of the Stinger senior editorial board. All bylined editorials, cartoons, and personal columns refl ect the opinion of the writer or artist.

The Stinger encourages letters to the editor as they constitute a constructive avenue for opinion. Letters to the editor must be signed by the writer to be considered for publication.

Letters may be brought to the Stinger room (room 149) or sent by e-mail.

T h e authenticity of the writer will be verifi ed before publication and letters may be edited for poor taste, libel, grammar, space, and style.

Special requests to withhold a name may be submit-ted if the topic is sensitive enough to warrant anonymity.

For advertising information or to request a subscrip-tion, please call (803) 476-3071.

School District 5 of Lexington and Richland Counties does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, creed, religion, sex, age, disability, or handicap in admission to, or access to, or treatment or employment in its programs or activities. Inquires should be directed to the Chief Offi cer of Human Resource Services (Title IX Coordinator) and the Director of Special Services (504/ADACoordinator) at P.O. Box 938, Ballentine, SC 29002, (803) 476-8110 www.lex5.k12.sc.us

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INDEX

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NEWSENTERTAINMENTFEATURESOPINIONSSPORTS

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Stafferof theMonth

Dearest Mallory,

We have to admit that you really surprised us this month with your mad design skills. You dove into Adobe Indesign with the right attitude, and you produced something rather spectacular. Thank you for being patient with us. Thank you for your persistence. Thank you for pulling your weight.

This paper would not be possible without you.

-Jeanna & Sam

Mallory Macgargle

jeannaCAMPBELLsamanthaEDWARDS

kaylaGROFF

malloryMACGARGLE

kristenPOLINSKI

anniePARHAM

rileyMCCULLOUGH

margoGOODALEmorganEDWARDSjoshBUTLER

e d i t o r s i n c h i e f

p r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r

b u s i n e s s m a n a g e rc i r c u l a t i o n m a n a g e r

c o p y e d i t o rsamanthaEDWARDSo p i n i o n s e d i t o r

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vanessaLINDOWERp h o t o g r a p h y e d i t o rs t a f f w r i t e r s

emmaMCWILLIAMSbritniSLONE

Cover art by Samantha Edwards

The Stinger02

Juniors take AP Physics

AP Physics is usually only a senior year course, but that has changed for next year. Now juniors are able to sign up for AP Physics without having to take Honors Physics first.

This change occurred because of the success that another school has had with this switch.

“Before, it used to be you would take Honors Physics your junior year then AP physics your senior year,” Clayton Smith, AP Physics teacher, said. “[If ] Dutch Fork High School has had some success with offering this course without Honors Physics as a prerequisite, we definitely can, too, because we have better, bright and handsomer kids at Irmo High School.”

The appeal that this class has for students is that instead of having it as a AP double-blocked class, it is a single-blocked class.

“[AP Physics] is single-blocked,” Smith said. “Where most AP courses have a lab or a seminar or are just plain double-blocked. Your schedule your junior year will be packed with these and perhaps AP Physics would fit.”

This causes the class to become a great deal faster.

“We will be going at a breakneck speed—very, very fast,” Smith said. “No one in their right mind would run it that way, but that is the way we decided to do it.”

Smith says that students must have a good work ethic to be successful in AP Physics, and it would be easier to have this work ethic your junior year. There are some

disadvantages to taking AP Physics your junior year, though.

“As far as taking AP Physics your junior year versus your senior year, I feel that you may be better prepared mathematically as a senior,” Smith said. “This is open for debate, but the course is very mathematical and having the proper tools leads to success in any endeavor.”

He also says that with taking AP Physics there are some disadvantages no matter what grade you are in.

“The AP Physics that is currently offered does not apply to engineering or science majors in some colleges,” Smith said. “It would definitely help students interested in these fields, or any other major, but at your better colleges, it does not count.”

It doesn’t matter what grade a student is in, AP Physics is a course that will help prepare a student for a job in the science field.

rileyMCCULLOUGHs t a f f w r i t e r

Irmo High School has been targeted to lose 28 teachers as Lexington-Richland District Five anticipates a district-wide total reduction of 100 teachers for the 2009-2010 school year.

School District Five recently announced that it must reduce its budget for the 2009-2010 school year by $8.5 million due to lower anticipated tax revenues. As 85 percent of the district’s budget is tied up in personnel costs, the district is eyeing teacher layoffs as a means to cut $5.2 million of that total. The District Five School Board has yet to decide where it will cut the remaining $3.3 million.

Every year, District Five makes enrollment projections to predict the number of students who will be attending schools across the district. Based on those numbers, the district hires teachers to maintain an average student-to-teacher ratio of 19:1. This year, the district employs more than 1,300 teachers.

“In the last two years, student projections have come in low,” said Buddy Price, director of community services for Lexington-Richland District Five. “[Now] we have identified about 100 positions district wide that need to be reduced.”

Although nothing is final yet, school principals across the district have been asked to make plans to lay off a total of 100 teachers. Price said it is expected that roughly 50 teachers will leave the district at the end of the year due to natural attrition. The district office has asked Irmo High School Principal Eddie Walker to plan to lay off an unprecedented 28 teachers from his school alone.

“This is a tough experience for me,” Walker said. “This is my thirtieth year in education, my twentieth as an administrator. This is the first time I’ve had to reduce staff because of budget cuts.”

There has been considerable discussion about the disproportionate number of teachers targeted to be cut from Irmo High School compared to other schools across the district.

“I may not like or even know all the teachers, but [cutting] 26 teachers is an incredible thing to do. Science classes are already too big to fit into the labs,” said Jason Spillers, sophomore.

So far, only two teachers from Irmo High School have indicated that they will voluntarily leave the school at the end of the year. Walker will make his decisions concerning the other 26 teachers to let go based on obligating contracts and the unique services and certifications that individual teachers provide for the school

“All of the elementary schools and both of the other high schools are getting more money that us with the bond referendum,” said Frederick Moore, senior. “Cutting funding as well as more teachers will most certainly make our high school fall into mediocrity.”

. Teachers in District Five have one of four different contracts with the school. Most teachers have a continuing contract, meaning that they have been teaching within the district for at least two years. These teachers have tenure, and by law they cannot be fired without cause. Other types of contracts include induction contracts for first-year teachers, annual contracts for second-year teachers, and letters of agreement for retirees. Teachers bound by those contracts do not have a legal right to tenure.

At Irmo, only 36 teachers are not on continuing contracts. It is from those 36 that Walker must develop his list of possible layoffs.

“My first consideration has to be the educational services we provide the kids,” Walker said. “We’ve got to provide the courses that kids need to graduate.”

Price said that in making these decisions, the district takes into consideration keeping certain teachers whose positions are generally the hardest to fill. These include teachers for students with special needs as well as teachers who teach calculus, physics and other higher-level subjects.

Although this sudden wave of expected layoffs is spurred by the sinking economy, Price said that the district had been planning to reduce the number of teachers any way

because there is an unnecessary surplus of staff across the district.

“The staffing reductions that are being made because of this shortfall would have been made regardless of the revenue reduction,” Price said. “[Under other economic circumstances] we might would have the luxury to do it in stages. The reason we’re doing it now is because of the budget.”

Irmo High School offers several programs that are not offered anywhere else in the district, including certain special education programs, International Baccalaureate, carpentry, cosmetology and auto body. Only specially trained teachers can teach these courses, a significant number of them on contracts other than continuing contracts. According to some students, losing these teachers would be losing some of the school’s greatest assets.

“I think the losses are going to outweigh the [monetary] gain on this issue,” said Juanita Hazel, junior. “The retirees are usually the most experienced and have made a solid foundation for many students and alumni.”

Price said the district is open to budget cut suggestions from the community. Aside from teacher layoffs, the district plans to reduce the salaries of other personnel, starting with employees at the top. Another option is to use teacher furloughs, which would require teachers to have a contract of 185 work days, rather than the 190 work days that the current legislative mandates require. However, teacher furloughs and other innovative options being discussed statewide would first have to meet legislative approval under a flexibility bill currently under consideration.

Among other things, the bill currently under consideration would allow for teachers to go unpaid for five days during the school year, a measure that could reduce the number of layoffs needed to balance the budget. It would also extend the deadline for renewing contracts from April 15 to May 15. As of February 18, 2009, A House subcommittee had agreed to send the legislation to the full Ways and Means Committee for consideration.*

Projections off, jobs cut district wideameliaMAU

f r e e l a n c e r e p o r t e r

Economic downturn results in budget cuts in education

News Ticker-In Cape Haze, Florida a 23-year-old man robbed a gas station, but was arrested after running out of gas.

-Richland County Sheriff department could not find enough evidence to charge Michael Phelps for using Marijuana.

-An infant boy got married to a neighbors dog in Bhubaneswar, India because the tribes people said it would ward off tiger attacks.

05February 200904

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Story last updated Feb. 20, 2009

Ask Mr. Walker

malloryMACGARGLE

b u s i n e s s m a n a g e r

Limits on teacher/student conduct

Some people wonder when to draw the line between teacher and student relationships and what is appropriate inside and outside of school.

Social networking websites like Facebook are used by both teachers and students, but there has been debate on whether it is appropriate for teachers and students to be “friends” on these websites.

Gene Williams, English teacher, says he has a facebook page. Williams has one to keep in contact with old friends but not students.

“It would be nice to have two separate ones,” Williams said. “One for students and one for my friends and family.”

Some rules regarding contact between teachers and students that are being enforced are things like, teachers cannot transport students in their personal vehicles without permission, no dating or physical contact between teachers and students and teachers can not have electronic contact with students unless it is for school-related. These rules are ment to be established as a basic structure for discipline and to ensure as an equal educational program.

Eddie Walker, principal, believes the “golden rule” is the key.

“I try to treat every student the way I would want my children to be treated,” Walker said. “I try to treat every staff member the way I would want to be treated.”

As mentioned in the school district policies, teachers and students having contact with each other about certain things non-related to school is unacceptable.

“When the student has a question concerning an academic matter in that teacher’s class then it would be alright.” Walker said.

Shelby Cook, junior, believes that as long as teacher and student do not cross the line, then there is no problem.

“I think it is completely harmless,” Cook said. “Teachers could also be a neighbor or family friend that you normally talk to every now and then.”

Even though students have their friends and parents to sometimes to confide in, some students might consider their teachers to be someone to confide in.

“You do not really want friendships between teachers and students, but I think that teachers are sort of like mentors and guides for their students,” Williams said. “Students should be comfortable to talk to their teachers.”

Get to know me

e

e

District Policies Regarding Staff Conduct with Students

The exchange in gifts between staff mem-•bers and students is discouraged.Staff members will not send students on •personal errands or ask or permit students to perform personal tasks.Dating between staff members and students •is prohibited and will result in dismissal.Staff members will use caution and good •judgement in posting personal information that may be accessible to students on social networking websites.Staff members will not sign students out of •class except for school-related reasons.

05February 200904

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We really appreciate students helping people who need help. Please don’t stop bring-ing canned goods for our food pantry. We have people who need the food. However students should not be given academic credit in any course with the possible exception of community service ser-

vice for bringing canned goods to school. Grades should reflect what you have learned in a course. That should be the purpose of grading. Bringing canned goods to school does not reflect what you have learned in math, science, social studies, English, etc.

?Why can’t we turn in canned goods for extra

credit any more?

07February 200906

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of theNancy Brock, Global Studies II Honors

teacher, was named Irmo High School’s Teacher of the Year for the 2009-2010 school year.

Th e Irmo staff selects nominees for Teacher of the Year. Th en, staff members take a vote that determines the winner.

Brock says she was completely surprised that she won. She didn’t even vote for herself. She says she never thought she was Teacher of the Year material.

“I knew I was nominated, but I’ve been nominated before,” Brock said. “I paid absolutely no attention. I didn’t even tell my husband I was nominated. It was not even on my radar screen that it would be a possibility.”

Brock has been teaching for a total of 39 years. She taught for a year in Massachusetts, 15 years in New Hampshire and has spent the last 23 years teaching at Irmo High School. Brock says she has stayed at Irmo so long because she likes the atmosphere.

Over the years, Brock says nothing has really changed except for her students.

“[Students today] have shorter attention spans,” Brock said. “Some movies that I show that kids used to love, they’re now bored by. It’s the times.”

She has taught many social studies classes. Th ese courses include Global Studies, US History, Sociology, Current Issues, Government and Civics, but she says the class she has enjoyed teaching the most is Global Studies.

“I just love world history,” Brock said. “I love art and all of the characters that you bump into. I love philosophy. Everything in life, basically, is in world history—everything, because it’s the history of everything.”

Brock says she started teaching to begin with because she wanted her summers off .

“I didn’t realize that I was going to really love it,” Brock said. “I just fell into it because it seemed like a good idea, and then I liked it.”

Brock says her favorite thing about teaching is that “kids are funny.” She says

anniePARHAMc o p y e d i t o r

they are more relaxed, have good senses of humor, and she knows that they will go on to do great things. One of the students she taught in New Hampshire went on to become a congressman.

Her least favorite thing about teaching is all of the paperwork that’s involved.

Her proudest moment as a teacher happened last year with a student whom she taught several years ago.

“I had a student who was a challenge,” Brock said. “He was tough. His mother and I were on a fi rst-name basis. He went on his honeymoon to Rome and sent me all of these pictures … He remembered all of the art lessons about Michelangelo and all of that. He sent me all of these pictures and told me how he taught his new wife all of this stuff . I thought ‘wow,’ because I didn’t think I made any impression on him.”

As for her approach to teaching, Brock says she wants to make sure that students

YearTeacher

The StingerThe Stinger

2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0

2009-2010are not just memorizing the content.

“I want everybody to understand and not memorize,” Brock said. “I try to make it a story they can identify with and retain without memorizing.”

Brock says one of the most important qualities of a good teacher is to work harder than their students. She off ered some advice to teachers who are just beginning their careers.

“In the fi rst few years, learn your content,” Brock said. “Work hard and expect the students to, and they will.”

Since being named Teacher of the Year, Brock has received a lot of attention, including students gathering outside her classroom to clap.

“Th at was the best part of [receiving this award],” Brock said. “Th e fact that the students seem to like the idea is the best part of it.”

2007-2008

2008-20092006-20072005-2006

2004-2005

07February 200906

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The Stinger

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of theNancy Brock, Global Studies II Honors

teacher, was named Irmo High School’s Teacher of the Year for the 2009-2010 school year.

Th e Irmo staff selects nominees for Teacher of the Year. Th en, staff members take a vote that determines the winner.

Brock says she was completely surprised that she won. She didn’t even vote for herself. She says she never thought she was Teacher of the Year material.

“I knew I was nominated, but I’ve been nominated before,” Brock said. “I paid absolutely no attention. I didn’t even tell my husband I was nominated. It was not even on my radar screen that it would be a possibility.”

Brock has been teaching for a total of 39 years. She taught for a year in Massachusetts, 15 years in New Hampshire and has spent the last 23 years teaching at Irmo High School. Brock says she has stayed at Irmo so long because she likes the atmosphere.

Over the years, Brock says nothing has really changed except for her students.

“[Students today] have shorter attention spans,” Brock said. “Some movies that I show that kids used to love, they’re now bored by. It’s the times.”

She has taught many social studies classes. Th ese courses include Global Studies, US History, Sociology, Current Issues, Government and Civics, but she says the class she has enjoyed teaching the most is Global Studies.

“I just love world history,” Brock said. “I love art and all of the characters that you bump into. I love philosophy. Everything in life, basically, is in world history—everything, because it’s the history of everything.”

Brock says she started teaching to begin with because she wanted her summers off .

“I didn’t realize that I was going to really love it,” Brock said. “I just fell into it because it seemed like a good idea, and then I liked it.”

Brock says her favorite thing about teaching is that “kids are funny.” She says

anniePARHAMc o p y e d i t o r

they are more relaxed, have good senses of humor, and she knows that they will go on to do great things. One of the students she taught in New Hampshire went on to become a congressman.

Her least favorite thing about teaching is all of the paperwork that’s involved.

Her proudest moment as a teacher happened last year with a student whom she taught several years ago.

“I had a student who was a challenge,” Brock said. “He was tough. His mother and I were on a fi rst-name basis. He went on his honeymoon to Rome and sent me all of these pictures … He remembered all of the art lessons about Michelangelo and all of that. He sent me all of these pictures and told me how he taught his new wife all of this stuff . I thought ‘wow,’ because I didn’t think I made any impression on him.”

As for her approach to teaching, Brock says she wants to make sure that students

YearTeacher 2 0 0 9 - 2 0 1 0

2009-2010

February 2009February 2009February 2009

are not just memorizing the content.“I want everybody to understand and not

memorize,” Brock said. “I try to make it a story they can identify with and retain without memorizing.”

Brock says one of the most important qualities of a good teacher is to work harder than their students. She off ered some advice to teachers who are just beginning their careers.

“In the fi rst few years, learn your content,” Brock said. “Work hard and expect the students to, and they will.”

Since being named Teacher of the Year, Brock has received a lot of attention, including students gathering outside her classroom to clap.

“Th at was the best part of [receiving this award],” Brock said. “Th e fact that the students seem to like the idea is the best part of it.”

2007-2008

2008-20092006-20072005-2006

2004-2005

Winter Jam, founded by the band Newsong, is a concert showcasing, this year, six Chris-tian artists. This year, Winter Jam was on Friday February 20th. I was lucky to attend.

After first hearing radio ads about the concert, my intern youth leader, Christy Lester, an-nounced that she was taking our youth group to the concert. I promptly told her that I would be attending.

Lester says she was excited to be able to go to Winter Jam.

“I used to go when I was younger, but I haven’t been in awhile,” Lester said.

On the day of the concert, everyone from my church at-tending the concert carpooled downtown to the Colonial Life Arena.

When we got there, peo-ple were lined up outside the doors. After about 10 minutes of waiting in the wind outside, we passed through the doors and entered the heated inside. Soon enough we were admitted through to the concert.

The arena was separated into 3 sections from top to bottom—the floor seats, the middle seats and the top seats (also known as the nosebleeds). We found seats on the top row of the middle section. My group was fortu-nate; the other groups from my church were positioned in the nosebleeds.

The pre show was held by pureNRG. They were enthu-siastically performing despite the audience frantically trying to find seats. At 7 p.m. Steve and Amy from Christian radio station 89.7 WMHK, who had been advertising Winter Jam, walked on.

They welcomed everyone graciously and introduced the first artist, Francesca Battis-telli. Battistelli gracefully held

ets were being passed across the rows, at the end of the row,they were almost overflowing. She then left and opened up the stage for Toby Mac.

Just as the audience began chanting his name, Mac ap-peared on stage with a group called the Diverse City Band. As if on cue, the whole audience stood-the whole audience. Mac and the Diverse City Band per-fected the art of choreographed freestyle. Complete with tram-polines, flips, jumps, and crowd surfing, Mac knew how to cap-tivate his audience.

“Toby Mac really had so much energy, he was all over the stage and got the crowd into it,” Lester said.

Winter Jam Tour Spectacu-lar 2009 was a hit. A total of 2,000 people dedicated their lives to Christ that night.

Many people felt inspired leaving the concert, “I felt re-newed and encouraged by see-ing all the Christians together there worshipping and praising God,” Hill said. Winter Jam definitely served its purpose in Columbia.

the audience’s attention, and, as quickly as she entered, she ex-ited.

Newsong then energized the audience. This year, Newsong hosted the concert and sur-prised me by only performing a few songs. They chose a differ-ent and refreshing style-by dis-playing the lyrics to their songs on big screens and encouraging the audience to sing along. Even when Matt Butler, the vocalist, was singing, the audience was still heard.

Brittnee Hill, sophomore, enjoyed Newsong’s performance style.

“It was awesome to hear ev-eryone sing along in the crowd,” Hill said.

After Newsong’s short run, one of the tour pastors took over. He asked everyone to commit to praying for all of America’s brave. He then led a prayer asking for the safety and well-being of our troops. He left the audience in thought and silence.

Hawk Nelson quickly changed that. The band came running onto the stage and, by watching the reaction of the crowd, they were definitely a crowd favorite. The change in tones was almost tangible, ev-eryone immediately stood up and began cheering.

At this time, everyone had finally entered the arena and I had just realized the enormity of the crowd. Looking around, I didn’t see one empty seat. The stadium was full from the floor seats to the nosebleeds. I was amazed.

“I didn’t expect to see that many people there, it was crazy,” Lester said.

After Hawk Nelson left the crowd animated and alert, Tony Nolan walked on. Nolan is a minister and began telling a sto-ry about his heart attack, adding a little comedy as he went along. He captured the audience’s at-

tention and had them hanging on every last word. With the appropriate pauses and voice inflections, Nolan talked about being spiritually prepared for death. When he was finished, the audience erupted into ap-plause and cheers.

During the 15 minute in-termission, most of the crowd flooded into the concession area. I wasn’t willing to get caught in the traffic and confusion and remained in my seat until the concert started back up.

As the audience started fil-ing in, Brandon Heath entered the stage. Heath’s songs were very well known among the crowd and inevitably the audi-ence joined in. I couldn’t help but be moved by the masses of people singing along and wav-ing their arms. All of them moved together; I couldn’t see people’s faces, just their hands swaying in unison with the person’s beside them. Heath left the united audience just as Stephanie Smith entered.

While she sang her song, an offering was being collected from the audience. White buck-

08 The Stinger

Winter Jam tour conquers ColumbiavanessaLINDOWER

p h o t o g r a p h y e d i t o r

Vanessa Lindower

09February 2009

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morganEDWARDSs t a f f w r i t e r

When it comes to TV, the ‘90s never leftThe days of “Rocket Power” and “Ren and Stimpy” are over, but

the memory remains. Some of our most valued lessons were learned from those shows, and our minds were being shaped at the young age when we spent most of our time in front of the TV.

According to the ratings, the most popular N i c k e l o d e o n show of the time was “Rugrats,” outlasting several other shows of the ‘90s and bringing in tons of revenue.

Ra’na Heidari, junior, says it was her favorite show.

“My TV idols were Phil and Lil from ‘Rugrats,’” Heridari said.

H e i d a r i also remembers Saturday morning cartoons fondly.

“I watched probably five or six hours of TV a week,” Heidari said. “Half an hour each day for ‘Rugrats’ and then Saturday morning cartoons and maybe a movie on the weekend.”

These days, however, television does not seem to do it for Heidari.

“Really now, I turn on Cartoon Network and lots of their stuff isn’t even appealing to look at, let alone funny,” Heidari said.

R o b e r t Hutchins, junior, had a long list of his favorite shows from his childhood.

“My favorite shows growing up were ‘Too Little Too Late’, ‘Full House,’ the original ‘StarTrek,’ ‘Lizzie McGuire,’ ‘Saved by the Bell,’ ‘Zoids,’ and ‘Ed, Edd, n Eddy,’” Hutchins said.

Hutchins even said his TV idol was Ed, from “Ed, Edd, n Eddy.”

“[I liked him]

because he was so dumb but deep in a strange way, and he reminded me of me at that age,” Hutchins said.

But television hasn’t really changed that much. Sure, the names and characters may have changed, but the main plot tends to be the same for most shows. Take, for e x a m p l e , “Dexter’s Laboratory.” Kids used to love

watching Dexter build a robot or fight with Dee Dee. Today’s youth get the same joy from a show called “Phineas and Ferb,” where two stepbrothers decide to spend their summer vacation doing

crazy and fantastic things, much to the dismay

of their sister, Candace. The same thing goes

for shows like “All That” and “Kenan & Kel.” These

days, “iCarly” takes the place of those. The kids put on skits that aren’t really all that funny, but you laugh anyway.

Shows like “Sabrina the Teenage

Witch” were so wildly popular that it’s only natural it would inspire shows like

Disney’s “Wizards of Waverly Place.” Both have

the magic factor in them, where kids learn everything from spells to potions while keeping their true identities a secret.

High schoolers don’t tend to watch cartoons anymore,

but some of our favorite shows got their inspiration from the ‘90s. Grey’s

Anatomy, for example, is incredibly similar to ER but gives the plot a fresh spin.

In the end, teens may miss the ‘90s, but they have never really left. Turn on any station and you’re likely to take a step back in time if you are paying attention.

KENA

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KEL

SABR

INA

THE

TEEN

AGE W

ITCH

DEXT

ER’S

LA

BORA

TORY

E.R.

WIZARDS OF

WAVERLY PLACE

iCARLYPHINEAS AND FERB

GREY’S ANATOMY

drawing by Riley McCullough graphic by Morgan Edwards

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Keep YourEars Open

For...

Th e Irmo Th eatre Company has been working hard this year to put on several productions. So far this school year they have put on two successful plays. Currently, they are working on their third, “Charley’s Aunt.”

“Th e play is set in 1895 in England,” Kayla McLauchlin, senior, said. “Th e play revolves around best friends Jack and Charley, who have one day to propose to their sweethearts. Th ey invite the girls over to their dorm room and plan to have Charley’s Aunt to come over and chaperone them, but when the gentlemen receive word that she won’t arrive, they start to panic. Th e boys come up with a plan to dress their friend up as Charley’s Aunt so the girls could come over.”

McLauchlin is the assistant director for this play.

Producing a play may not seem like much work, but the students spend about an hour and a half after school every day. Once it becomes closer to opening night, they spend about three hours

after school. “I think some people assume that drama is just for fun,” Martha

Suber, drama teacher, said. “If that was all it was, it wouldn’t be worth all the time people are willing to give it. It’s not just about the entertaining, although we do and that’s fun, but we do s o much more than that.”

Anyone can join the drama club, but Suber says she thinks there are certain qualities that students should have.

“Th e student would need to be well-rounded, interested in

everything and everybody,” Suber said. “I think they should join because the skills you get in drama help you with your whole life—with every job and every relationship.”

Opening night for “Charley’s Aunt” will be March 5 at 7:30 p.m.

in the drama room.Zachary Woods, junior, is playing Charley, one of the lead roles

of the play. “I hope everyone gets a good laugh out of this play and also an

appreciation of the Arts.” Woods said.

“Th e play is set in 1895 in England,” Kayla McLauchlin, senior, said. “Th e play revolves around best

the gentlemen receive word that she won’t arrive, they start to panic. Th e boys come up with a plan to dress their friend up as Charley’s Aunt so the girls could

McLauchlin is the assistant

Producing a play may not seem like much work, but the

s o much more than that.”Anyone can join the drama

club, but Suber says she thinks there are certain qualities that students should have.

“Th e student would need to be well-rounded, interested in

everything and everybody,” Suber said. “I think they should join because the skills you get in drama help you with your whole life—with every job and every relationship.”

Opening night for “Charley’s Aunt” will be March 5 at 7:30 p.m.

in the drama room.Zachary Woods, junior, is playing Charley, one of the lead roles

of the play.

britniSLONEs t a f f w r i t e r

Irmo Theatre Company’s next big productionSchool production of “Charley’s Aunt” premiers this March

Charleys Aun

t

March 5, 6, 7 7:30 p.m.

March 8 3 p.m.

Oklahoma

April 23, 24 7:30 p.m.

April 26 3 p.m.

$5$5

Growing up listening to gospel music, Jarvis Shaff er was inspired to pursue his own musical career. Originally, he planned to be a major basketball star, but music had a stronger calling to him.

Signed to So So Def back in 2004, Shaff er released his fi rst single, “Radio,” an amazing song with smooth, mellow lyrics. However, it didn’t receive as much success as hoped, and Shaff er was released from his contact.

Four years later, Shaff er returned with a brand new look, new music and a new record deal with Disturbing the Peace. His second single, “Pretty Girl,” was released in summer of 2008. Just

like his fi rst single, “Pretty Girl” didn’t receive much airplay.

In his music catalog, Shaff er has some amazing songs. His variety of music ranges from radio singles to underground music. From the smooth “Dream Girl,” written about how he can’t sleep at night because his dream girl appears to steal his heart, to the hard-hitting “I’m a Good Look,” where he lets all the females know that he’s a good man, Staff er is very versatile.

Even though he hasn’t released his fi rst album yet, Staff er is sure to continue to be an amazing music artist, hit records or not.

Jarvis Shaffer

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11February 200910

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week 1

The Breakdownm a r c hThe Breakdown is a week-by-week glance at the books, music

and dvds that will be released in the upcoming month.

week 2

week 3

week 4

week 5

“Everything is Fine” by Ann Dee Ellenb o o k

“Watchman”m o v i e

“The Boy in the Striped Pajamas”d v d

“All I Ever Wanted” by Kelly Clarksonm u s i c

“Knowing”m o v i e

d v d

“Monsters vs. Aliens”m o v i e

b o o k

m u s i c

“Twilight”

“Something, Maybe” by Elizabeth Scott

“Not Without a Fight” by New Found Glorym u s i c

“Back on my B.S.” by Busta Rhyme

compiled by Riley McCullough

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Chadwick L. Pressley, M.Ed.Guidance Counselor

Irmo High SchoolOffice# 803.476.3036Fax# 803.476.3022

Cpressle@lex5.k12.sc.us

MTV’s two time Emmy award winning series “MADE” is all about making dreams come true. We want to demonstrate that with hard work (and a little help from MTV) any goal is attainable.

There are numerous kids out there with unlimited potential. However, in their eyes, intimidating obstacles exist that keep them from pursuing their dreams. Perhaps they’re painfully shy or fall short on self-confidence. Maybe they don’t think they’re cool enough or lack the right look. Perhaps they’ve been told that they lack the skills’ and then there’s plain old fear.

We seek out the kids who are eager to overcome those obstacles! These kids want to be MADE.

Once MTV finds our “subjects,” we allow for at least one month of intensive training towards achieving their goals. This includes providing a mentor or life coach who will support them and plot out personalized training schedules. Such training could consist of counseling on confidence or attitude, personal training sessions, or specialized lessons in whatever task they’re trying to achiever.

Whether they succeed at their goal or not, we strive to give these kids a chance at a dream. Ideally, they learn valuable traits and lessons about themselves and others along the way. They ultimately realize that it takes hard work, persistence, and commitment to make one’s dreams come true.

For more information contact:

Compiled by Samantha Edwards

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MADE is all about making dreams come true. We want to prove that with hard work, and a little help from MTV, you can achieve your goals.

We are looking for your specific, individual goal or aspiration that is attainable in the next five months! We are not looking for a vague goal, like “I want to be a star” or “I want to be like Fergie.” We are also not looking for VJs or people trying to be “famous.”

Your goal should be something that you can attain with the help of our experts during the next five months. If your goal takes years and years of training, we can’t help you out this time, sorry!

Please share your story and dream with us! Answer the following questions the best that you can.

(Remember...we are looking for something original and something that you are passionate about. We are also looking for someone who has taken the time to read all of the above...so take a moment before you write. You can answer with one sentence if you like.)

1) What is your goal? Describe why you want to accomplish this goal. (Have you ever tried to reach this goal before? What steps have you taken to reach this goal in the past, if any?)

2) How long do you think it will take to reach your goal?

3) If there are tryouts for this goal, when are they?

4) Why do you need MTV’s help? Why can’t you accomplish the goal on your own?

5) How do other people at your school view you? What clique or group do you belong in?

6) What are your other interests and hobbies?

7) How would achieving this goal change your life?

8) Do you have any friends at school that inspire you and your MADE goal?

Do they share the same passion as you? Would they take a part in helping you achieve your dream?

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14 The Stinger

15February 2009

Entering high school can be a scary experience for rising freshmen. To help, Irmo High School offers a required course for its newcomers called Freshman Success. Formerly known as Goals, Freshman Success is designed to help students entering ninth grade deal with tough situations they may encounter during their high school career.

Up until two years ago, Goals was a mixed-gender class. Now the class is taught with boys and girls in separate classes. Ryan Hodge, Freshman Success teacher, teaches all boys.

“Mr. Walker made the decision to have the Freshman Success classes single gender,” Hodge said. “The reason is because sex

education is taught in the class.”Before last year, sex education was not

included in the curriculum of Freshman Success. However, students and teachers like the concept of having the single-gender classes.

“I like being in an all guy class, yeah,” Chris Fanguy, freshman, said.

Heather Hook, English and Freshman Success teacher, instructs the female classes for the program. She feels that gender separation should be done in all classes and that it would be more affective in students’ learning.

“It allows teachers to gear the class for gender learning styles and differences and also allows the class to be more focused,” Hook said. “Single gender classes allow girls to be girls and guys to be guys without having to put on a mask or impress others. In other words, in our class, we can talk about things that girls are more likely to understand, and we don’t have to worry about impressing the boys or fear that they will make fun of us.”

Hodge feels similar when it comes to teaching the single-gender classes in the program.

“I think the separation was a great idea,” Hodge said. “The boys are more willing to be themselves. They seem to answer questions more honestly and pay attention more often.”

Freshman Success is taught mainly by teachers involved in the English Department at Irmo. Though the program is single-gendered, students in the Sting Program at Irmo take Freshman Success with males and females in the class.

“ With the Sting Program, anywhere from 75 to 100 students are chosen out of the incoming ninth grade students, and these are typically students who have either had difficulty in middle school with subject matter or relationships with teachers in the school,” Mark

Lowell, Sting teacher, said. The students in the Sting program need

special attention with their core classes and, because of this, their English classes are combined with their Freshman Success classes in order to gain better understanding of how to be successful in high school and in life.

Whether students are in the single-gender classes or the Sting program,

Freshman Success helps them to not only succeed, but also to plan and decide what they would like to do in their futures.

“It helps you, like, plan what kind of career you want to pursue,” Jaime Sailer, freshman, said.

Some of the Freshman Success classes have taken field trips to help them explore different types of careers and get a better understanding of them.

“We did research in careers and watched advertisements to study them,” Sailer said. “We went to the hospital because we were studying what kind of careers we liked.”

Being separated by gender does not turn students off to learning, but it is a change. If the students show that they learn better this way, perhaps more than just sex education classes will be separated this way in the future.

kaylaGROFFp r o d u c t i o n m a n a g e r

Achieving success in single-gendered class

♀ Girls are not as assertive with their learning if boys are in the room♀ Comfortable asking questions in class♀ Thrive in a re-laxed environment♀ Work alone or in pairs

♂ Studies have shown that teachers wait lon-ger for boys to answer than girls ♂ Do better in com-petitive environments ♂ Prefer to wait with asking questions to avoid looking less smart ♂ Enjoy time-oriented tasks

Photo Illustration by Emily Fanguy

17February 200916

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The Stinger

F Building the bot, one piece at a time

ABOVE: The three pictures are close ups of ther robot D5 Robotics has created. They have completed building the robot and will be taking this one to competitions in the future.

Courtesy of Savannah Savage

The District 5 Robotics team is working to build a robot that can complete a task assigned by the D5 Robotics committee.

Students from Irmo High School on the team meet up a few times a week to plan, repair and put together their robot. Currently, it’s build season, and builders are working for more than 20 hours a week to get the robot to perfection. Stephen Orr, AP chemistry and physical science teacher at Irmo High School, is the lead mentor of D5 Robotics and helps schedule times for practices.

This robot is being built in an unmarked warehouse on 4068 B Fernandina Road. Meyer Moore, father of a senior on the team, donated this area to work through his business, Burcham International. The team’s first competition is in four weeks. These are the regionals and will take place in Clemson, S.C.

“There are about 16 regionals across the nation,” Ryan Brown, senior, said. “The winning three team alliances from each region go to nationals in Atlanta, Ga.”

The task robots have to complete changes each year. This year the task is for the robot to pick up a ball nine inches in diameter and have it make it into a goal of the opposing alliance.

As for the overall goal of D5 Robotics, it is the same as all the previous years.

“We have the goal to give our students the opportunity to work alongside professionals in industry to learn skills that directly relate to the skills they are looking for including design, fabrication, computer coding, marketing, finance, team work and the buzz words of For Inspiration and Recognition

in Science and Technology (FIRST) Robotics: ‘gracious professionalism’,” Orr said. “While the rest of the district is busy in rivalry of sports and entertainment, we are trying to get our members to realize that collaboration and relationships coupled with hard work and innovation can create an environment where you can build very advanced technology and do good work for your community.”

Builders, as well as the lead mentor, say building the robot and seeing it improve each day is rewarding. However, it is crucial that one realizes there will be obstacles in the process.

“It’s not so much that it is stressful, it is just very challenging, and it takes a lot of work and effort,” Brown said. “When you have six weeks to build a functioning robot, you generally spend 20 or so hours a week working on it.”

Orr gives a piece of advice for not only working for robotics, but also for life in general.

“In robotics, like in many other situations, you have to learn to deal with challenges as they arise,” Orr said. “You can plan and prepare, but inevitably you will always encounter barriers which have to be dealt with. If you understand that, and work knowing they can happen, then you’ll be more likely to make deadlines and produce the best product possible.”

There isn’t anything more important to the team this year than unity. The robot has a new symbol on it, a yin-yang.

“We had a lot of team strife last year and this year’s logo represents a new beginning,” Brown said. “We are kind of in rebuild mode.”

Most likely, the name of the robot will

be either Yin or Yang. In the past, some names have been Bob, R5D5 (for robot five, district five), Ockham’s Raizor, Chomp and Atlas.

Robotics isn’t for those who don’t like physical activity or those who mind getting their clothes and hands messed up.

“Usually after a long day my hands are greasy and bloody. Overall it’s a very rewarding team that is a lot of fun,” Brown said.

The parts for building the robot are generally provided by FIRST. Teams receive kits to work with. However, most of what they use to make the robot is custom-made for teams and shipped.

One bonus to the robotics team is that there is a time in the year where students will get to miss two days of school to compete. The competition lasts from Thursday through Saturday one week.

Most of the kids on the D5 Robotics team right now are juniors and seniors. This could be a problem in the future however. If freshmen and sophomores do not join the team, there will be no team left after the juniors and seniors graduate. They are always looking for new members who share an interest in robotics. There are about ten or twelve students from Irmo and Dutch Fork each, but there have been no students from Chapin to join robotics this year.

“We need very competent coders, some dedicated mechanics, people good with wiring electrical components and loops and people who have a mind for engineering to design,” Brown said.

If anyone is interested in joining D5 Robotics, just contact Mr. Orr about it and let him know. New members are welcomed by the current robotics team.

priyaPUROHITs t a f f w r i t e r

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F

In mid-February, Irmo High School’s teacher cadets began their fi eld experience in nearby elementary and middle schools. Since the teacher cadet program began in South Carolina 22 years ago by CERRA, over 42,000 students have participated in this honors level course and have earned three hours of college credit for free.

Much of fi rst semester was spent introducing students to courses they will take in college for an education degree.

“In most education courses you’re going to spend a semester in each,” Margaret Butler, teacher cadet instructor, said. “Th e teacher cadet program is giving a little sampling of all the courses students will take.”

Th e fi rst semester is also a time to prepare students for their teaching fi eld experience.

“We’ve had lots of activities and projects,” Andrew Rolfe, senior, said. “We’ve learned about the diff erent learning styles and have had guest speakers come in and talk to us.”

Students also spent time visiting Irmo’s feeder schools such as Irmo Elementary, and Irmo Middle.

Students participate in the course for many reasons. Some have strong passions to become teachers. Others, like Rolfe, do not plan on becoming elementary school teachers, but believe they will benefi t from the experience.

“Both of my parents are professors so I thought it would be interesting to see what teaching would be like,” Rolfe said. “Th e class also looked interesting.”

Whitney Wright, senior, plans on becoming a kindergarten, fi rst grade or special education teacher. She is looking forward to the hands on experience.

If you want to become a teacher, it helps you experience what it will be like,” Wright said. “Even if you don’t want to become a teacher you will still get college credit.”

Other students who have changed their mind about teaching since the start of the

course are waiting to see how the fi eld experience will impact them.

“I had thought about becoming a teacher, but I changed my mind,” Travis Teague, senior, said. “Th e fi eld experience might change my mind again.”

Butler believes that the fi eld experience can change a student’s mind about teaching in both ways – they will either love it or not.

“It’s better to fi nd out now than to go through four years of school and do your student teaching and say ‘I hate this!’” Butler said. “But then some, who didn’t want to teach before, loved it because they loved being with the kids. Th ey realized that’s what they want to do.”

Teacher Cadets get valuable fi eld experience

Reading Time: Erin Th omas, senior, reads to third graders at Nursery Road. Teacher Cadets spend a semester earning feild experience in nearby schools.

Morgan Edwards

kristenPOLINSKIc i r c u l a t i o n m a n a g e r

Once in their fi eld experience, students will be at the will of the teacher they are working with. For example, that teacher can ask the cadet to grade papers, tutor, assist with seatwork, and do one-on-one reading.

Both Rolfe and Wright are doing their fi eld experience at Nursery Road Elementary. Rolfe will most likely be helping students with math.

“Th e teacher I am going to shadow is one of my old math teachers, so that should be pretty

fun,” Rolfe said.W r i g h t

will have the opportunity to work with special education kids.

“I knew that Nursery Road had a big special education program, and I wanted to experience that,” Wright said.

Laura Conger, senior, plans on becoming a fi rst or second grade teacher. On her fi rst day of fi eld

training, she was able to help fi rst graders.

“I walked around the room to help the students with

their reading and writing skills,” Conger said. “Th ey are learning to use more exciting words like ‘shout’ instead of ‘said.’”

Conger hopes that she will get to know the children more and will continue to help them with reading and writing.

“I hope to gain a lot of knowledge about teaching fi rst grade and how to get [the students] excited about learning,” Conger said.

Each teacher cadet takes the course for diff erent reasons, but they have one goal in common: they all hope to gain valuable experiences in their fi eld work that will help them in college, future careers and even parenting. As Butler says, they will always be “consumers of education.”

Want to be a cadet?Requirements:

Minimum 3.2 GPA • Completed • applicationFive teacher •

recommendations

Some Perks:Earn dual credit• Scholarships• Teacher Cadet Day • (trip to Newberry College)Explore a career•

See Mrs. Butler in Rm. 117 or Ms. Casey in Rm. 255 for more information.

Lesson Plans:Whitney Wright • developed a les-son plan to help special ed stu-dents with the fi ve senses.Andrew Rolfe • created an edible solar system using candy to teach planet order.Travis Teague • taught his class how to write a poem.Laura Conger • used Dr. Seuss’s “Bartholomew and the Oobleck” to connect reading and math.

19February 200918

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Since when do 14 Olympic gold medals mean nothing just because of one bong?

That’s basically what Kellogg’s is saying. Michael Phelps, the famous swimmer who has won a record-breaking 14 gold medals, will officially be off Kellogg’s payroll by the

We always want what

we can’t have. Everyone knows that, and yet nobody seems to want to change it.

Currently, I’m suffering from something my friend and I refer to as “summer fever.” It’s cold and rainy (which I typically love), but I can’t stop wishing I could wear a T-shirt and a pair of Soffees and walk outside barefoot. Of course, I’m sure you can guess what I suffer from after it’s been about 90 degrees for a month straight (“winter fever”

end of February. According to a Kellogg’s spokesperson Phelps doesn’t go along with the “image of Kellogg’s.”

Are they scared people are going to stop eating cereal because Phelps smoked a bong?

All Kellogg’s has managed to do is bring more attention on themselves. Just days after their little announcement, Facebook was publicly making fun of them. “Weedies” and a picture of Phelps grace the cover of a fake cereal box that was one of the top bumper stickers sent among friends.

The point is that the guy is only 23 years old and, in case you missed it, he pretty much rocked at the Olympics. His dad is a cop, and his mom is a principal. Obviously the kid knows right from wrong,

he just wanted to live a little. Phelps reportedly apologized

to fans and said his actions were “youthful” and “inappropriate.” In my opinion, his private life is his own business, and this has been blown out of proportion. If he is good enough to smoke pot on the weekends and still break seven world records in swimming, then good for him. His only crime was being stupid enough to get caught. Give him a slap on the wrist and let him go back to his pool.

Let’s get realistic, though, the only reason this is such a big deal is because Phelps is such a good swimmer. If he had only won two medals or if he was just a college swimmer, no one would care. I can almost guarantee you that a large percentage of employees at

Weedies: The breakfast of championsmorganEDWARDS

s t a f f w r i t e r

in case you didn’t catch on).The weather is definitely not

the only thing that I want to be able to change, and I know that I’m also not the only one. Sometimes it’s little things and sometimes it’s more important things – well, important to my teenage life.

Although, I don’t need those things.

A girl in my biology class was talking about how badly she “needed” a new phone. She really didn’t, she just didn’t like the one she had. On the other hand, I’m pretty positive I actually do. Mine has decided to never turn on again.

Life is not simply about fancy things like iPods and cell phones and designer bags and the latest video games. Sure, it’s nice to have them, but do our lives have to always revolve around them? Yeah, yeah, I know our phones have all our friends’ numbers, our iPods contain our “only escape from reality” or whatever people describe music as being and our brand name clothing makes us look stylish or something. Let’s face it, though, we’re not going to be able to get all those at

any and every time we please.In eighth grade, I went

through a phase where I wanted most of my clothes to have that designer label on them, which meant they ended up costing way more than they should have. I didn’t think about how much of my parents’ money I was wasting, so when my mom told me that buying a shirt for $60 was a bit outrageous, I just shrugged my shoulders and wondered what the big deal was. I didn’t get the shirt, of course, and that led me to be pretty upset because it was just “really cute.”

This serves as a perfect example of how needy our world has become.

Fortunately, I have changed a lot over the last two years. Yeah, my interest in having a good taste in clothes has remained intact, but I go to more reasonable places. Just for the record, TJ Maxx has some of the cutest clothes ever, in case you’re wondering. You have to look hard, but they’re there. It’s pathetic looking back now thinking that something as petty as a shirt could bring

Don’t be fooled, you can’t buy happinesspriyaPUROHIT

s t a f f w r i t e r

my mood down so much. Our happiness should be

based on strong friendships and small gestures and we should be able to still find the excitement in shopping for new things. It shouldn’t be a habit of going out and getting whatever, whenever because then it’ll take bigger and more expensive things to make us happy after awhile.

It’s very hard to find a friend you know you can tell absolutely anything to and trust that they won’t tell anyone. I have been so incredibly lucky with finding people like that. The day I realized I knew three people like that, I felt like the luckiest girl in the world. I am truly happy knowing there are those few people I can go to. When life gets tough, we need our friends to rely on, not things that will quickly get old in our eyes like a new wardrobe or the latest iPod.

Garth Brooks, an American country music artist, once said “happiness isn’t getting what you want, it’s wanting what you got.”

I’m not going to hesitate to say, I completely agree.

Kellogg’s have smoked a joint or two in their day, so I really don’t see the justice. Remind me not to get too successful or else every mistake I make could mean weeks in the media spotlight and the loss of millions of dollars.

Phelps isn’t entirely screwed, though. Speedo, Visa and Omega are keeping their contracts with Phelps despite the unfortunate photos of his drug abuse and the fact that he publicly said he might not go to the 2012 Olympics. Oh, and just for an extra punch in the gut, he’s been suspended for three months from swimming with his team.

My favorite part of this whole ordeal? The pictures of Phelps were taken in good ol’ South Carolina. There’s another great representation of our beloved state.

19February 200918

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A lot can happen in 40 days.It’s the period of time that

marks about half of a summer vacation. The moon makes near one and a half revolutions around Earth in this time. I could watch the entire 10-season set of “Friends” four times in 40 days (and I probably have). Phileas Fog traveled halfway around the

Money has been tight for a lot of people during this economic downfall and many are trying to find ways to cut back on the not so necessary things. However, many, including my family, find it hard to give up on entertainment, especially movies, so we found an excellent way to cut back without being super affected.

At my house we have satellite TV. For years we paid for the package that included HBO, STARZ and about a million other movie channels. Did we watch them all? Nope. Besides the movie choice selection was mediocre (with a few exceptions), so usually we would end up watching

world, God flooded Earth and Noah rescued two of every animal on the planet, ultimately saving every species from extinction.

So, in comparison, it’s a little bit pathetic that I’ve never been able to last through the Lent season. In case you’re not familiar with it, Lent is a 40-day season in the Christian calendar. In those 40 days, people prepare for Easter by giving up things that are bad for them.

Unfortunately, I suck at this.Take last year for example. I

decided it would be a good idea to give up arguing—a bad habit, and I was going to drop it like third period French. I started strong on Ash Wednesday, no arguments all day long. However, within a week, I had failed. I blew it on a petty argument with my mom over how much money she owed me. To top it off, I didn’t even end up getting

any money at all. What a waste. Other times I get close, but I

end up bending the rules. One of the best parts of Lent is Sundays, or as I like to call them, “wimp days.” On Sunday you’re allowed to indulge in the thing you gave up.

For several years in a row, I gave up soda, and I followed the rules fairly closely. Six days out of seven, I wouldn’t drink it. Then came those times when I would want soda on a weekday. That’s when I decided that it didn’t matter what day I indulged, as long as it was only once a week. Yes, I am aware this is a pretty feeble excuse. I’m not proud of it.

Most of the time during Lent I just feel like the world is conspiring against me. When I

I am a failure when it comes to quittinganniePARHAM

c o p y e d i t o r

repeats of movies over and over. So to save an extra $40 a

month, we did away with all the major movie channels, but kept all the normal satellite channels and signed up for Netflix for a doable $9 a month. With our Netflix package we get one movie in the mail at a time but can watch unlimited movies on the computer. Netflix offers other packages, too, but we figured this would be the best one for us.

We were hesitant of Netflix at first because we wouldn’t have the movie right when we wanted it. We figured the movie would take a while to come in the mail, but we were assured by friends that Netflix was speedy. Sure enough, within two days of signing up for our account and choosing our movies, we received our first DVD, “Get Smart.” The main reason movies are delivered to customers in Columbia so quickly is because Netflix has one of their distribution centers located in our state.

The great thing about Netflix is that our movie entertainment isn’t strained by the bad economy. We are able to watch the movies we want at a decent price without late fees.

gave up chocolate, the next day someone brought brownies to school. When I gave up ice cream, thoughtless people would offer to take me out for ice cream. I’d never realized how much chocolate and ice cream were in the world until I couldn’t have them anymore.

So this year I need to give myself a real shot at success. I could (and I probably should) say that I’ll give up being late, but I know that won’t happen, so why bother? I could give up TV or texting or computer time or any of the other things my parents think I do too much of. Yeah, right. I could give up worrying about what I should give up for Lent.

Hey, maybe I’ll just give up Lent.

Get your fix onkristenPOLENSKI

c i r c u l a t i o n m a n a g e r

Volleyball is one of the few no contact sports there are, but I still always end up bruised, sore and scraped up. Even though I wear knee pads my knees are the most battered part of my body. Well, my knees and my elbows.

This happens because of the constant diving that goes along with volleyball. When a player has enough drive and urgency to win, they don’t care where the ball is on the court or how high off the ground it is, they will still sprawl across the floor to get it. When the player is six feet tall, this image can get really funny. Usually we end up stretched out our full body length trying to at least get a fingertip on the ball before it hits the ground.

Having this kind of determination has paid off for my team because we are

now champions of a gold division. This means that we beat all the respective teams that were at this tournament. One of the best feelings any athlete can have is playing in the championship game.—the do or die game that you have been fighting for all season or for the whole tournament.

When my team made it to the championship game we put it all on the line. None of us held anything back, and we put all of our trust into each other. I knew that my teammates would try their hardest to get every ball up and put all their effort into winning.

When a team does this it is darn near impossible to stop them. This kind of trust does not happen all the time, though, since ten girls are together for a long period of time so there can be some tension that builds up. With all the teenage hormones flying around a team can become prone to biting each other’s head off. On my old club team this problem would have prevented us from going far, but on my new club team our chemistry is great.

At the last tournament we all trusted each other to do their job and everything just ended up falling together for my team. We played flawlessly in the championship game and it paid off because we walked away the winners of the gold bracket.

rileyMcCULLOUGHs t a f f w r i t e r

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Special requests to withhold a name may be submitted if the topic is sensitive enough to warrant

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Letter to theE D I T O R

20

Flu and cold season has come and gone and many of us have found ourselves victims to sickness. I myself am one of those people.

While I was bed ridden, I had plenty of thinking time. While pondering the confusing components of the circle of life, one thing in particular baffled me-medicine.

I am not a believer in medicine. I have never liked taking medicine, vitamins, antibiotics, you name it and I’m against it. I do agree that some things call for intense medication, but the common cold does not need all the attention it receives from many parents.

All of this started when I was younger. I was tricked and forced into swallowing all sorts of medications. I felt like meds were against me.

I could never attribute the end of the sickness to the medicine. I always helped my health along by staying in bed, drinking fluids, sleeping, and taking medicine. It could be any of the factors that make me feel better. Thus, when it was up to me as to whether or not I consumed medications, I opted out of it.

This past week I started getting sick. Soon enough I could not stand up without being reminded of my knotted stomach and throbbing headache. My father noticed my distress and turned on his paternal instinct.

Before I knew it I was in bed with a humidifier steaming away with a glass of water in my hand and three pills sitting before me. My sickness pretty much continued like my childhood sicknesses had gone; I was completely helpless in deciding on my medications.

The first night I was sick, my dad forced me to take Nyquil to suppress my cough. Nyquil, if you’ve ever had it, is terrible. It is green and smells like cough drops mixed with gasoline and tastes even worse. It wouldn’t be so bad if you could wash away its disgusting taste, but you could drink 3 gallons of water and still have the taste of Nyquil in the back of your throat.

The next night, I refused to take Nyquil again, so my dad pulled out the children’s Nyquil. Willing to do anything to avoid that green stuff again, I measured the appropriate amount of children’s Nyquil into a medicine cup and threw it down my throat.

To my surprise, it wasn’t half bad. Children’s Nyquil is red and cherry flavored. Now of course it is the typical cherry medicine flavor, but after drinking the adult’s Nyquil, it tasted like heaven.

All of this got me wondering. If both adults and children have to take medicine, why not make it enjoyable for all ages? As if being sick isn’t torture enough, medicine just makes the whole experience worse.

It’s almost as if it is a punishment for adults to be sick, like medicine industries try to make adults more miserable by forcing them to take repulsive meds.

Even though children’s medicine flavors aren’t delicious, companies obviously spent more time formulating a flavor that tastes good for children, so why not take the time to do the same for adults?

With all of the gross adult medicines out there and all of the not-so-gross children’s medicines, I’m sticking with the kids’ flavors.

vanessaLINDOWERp h o t o g r a p h y e d i t o r

Nyquil nightmare

The Stinger

“Certain parts of the practice we just scrimmage seven on seven, or ten on ten,” Doyle said. “Other times we’ll do tactical drills to learn more about the sport and how it’s played.”

Unlike football, where the faster people score, rugby gives the opportunity for any player to score. Any player has an opportunity to touch the ball into the try zone.

The coaches and players say they believe that rugby is about brotherhood. Many find rugby to be their favorite sport, because it involves non-stop action and constant moving, like soccer.

“Fifteen guys come together as one entire team,” Knibbs said. “I’ve noticed more so with rugby than any other sport, that I’ve really bonded with the other forwards on the team. We all know each other, we all feel comfortable with each other and we hang out outside of rugby. It’s a real sort of union that you can’t find with many other sports.”

emmaMCWILLIAMS

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Rugby: the sport all about brotherhood

Players and coaches say they have high hopes for Irmo High School’s rugby team this year.

Head Coach Mike Artlip, also known as “Coach Redneck,” says that this year is a rebuilding year for the team with all of the new guys. There are also three new coaches.

“It is a tough thing to start over from the very beginning, from tackling to passing to rules to everything, every year,” Artlip said.

Chris Knibbs, junior, is captain of Irmo’s team. He and Michael Northington-Doyle, sophomore, co-captain, both say they believe the team will be good this year.

“I’m really optimistic about the team this year,” Knibbs said. “I think we’re going to do really good. It’s really a team sport, and you have to work as one so, as long as we can do that, I think we’ll be fine.”

To play a game of rugby, it takes two teams of 15 players, and Irmo’s team is composed of about 29 to 30 guys. Knibbs says this is the first team ever in South Carolina to have two full sets of forwards.

“[Forwards are composed of ] eight people, so you’ve got 16 big guys that can actually constitute as forwards,” Knibbs said. “That’s never happened before. I think we’re going to hit hard. I think we’re going to shock some people this year.”

Knibbs says there are much bigger guys on the team this year. The attire for the rugby team is light material. Doyle says he thinks that it’s really strong and not breakable. The striped socks the players wear are just to represent the yellow jackets.

“People make fun of it like the Quidditch socks from Harry Potter, but really it’s just a symbol that we are the Irmo Yellow Jackets,” Knibbs said.

The team practices every Monday and Wednesday from about 4 to 6 p.m. at Irmo Middle School. The players must condition, so they often run on hills to get in shape. They focus a lot on passing, because players must have to learn how to pass behind them, since that is one of the rules in rugby. They also work on tackling because there are penalties if a player tackles too high.

Photo illustration by Emma McWilliams

The rucking and mauling drill

helps the team get ready for games. Ruck-ing is used to m a i n t a i n

possession of the ball.

• Forward players come together and try to win possession of the ball.

• A way to maintain possession while a couple of guys step over them and hold the line of scrimmage.

LINE OUT:• The ball goes out of bounds and the other

team gets the ball and each team lifts up a specifiic player in the air. to try to catch the ball as it’s thrown in the air.

Terms and Facts• A group of people on their feet trying to push

each other.

• The person has to be behind you in order to pass it to them, and if they are in front of the person passing, it’s call a knock-on and is an automatic turn-over to the other team.

• Suggested to tackle at the hips. High tack-ling will count as a penalty.

PLAYING ROUGH:

Many new players join the team, starts the year off in a new light

• Rugby balls have always been oval. The boys at Rugby School used footballs made from inflated pigs bladders which are, themselves, oval in shape.

SCRUM:

RUCK:

MAUL:

LATERAL PASSING:

TACKLING:

FACT:

• Twickenham was the scene of the first ever streaker at a major sporting event, when Michael O’Brien ran across the pitch in 1974.

FACT:

21February 2009

Irmo soccer is just starting to kick off their season.

With a strong team and only a loss of two players last season, the Irmo soccer team is second on the pre-season ranking chart. However the players say they are confi dent that the number one spot will soon be theirs.

Coach Savitz, head coach of the soccer team, has been coaching soccer for 31 years. With plenty of coaching experience under his belt the team is headed in the right direction for claiming the number one spot, which is now held by Northwestern. With the achievement of being ranked number two, it didn’t come as a surprise to Savitz or Kyle Hubbard, captain.

“With the amount of returning players that Northwestern had, it didn’t really come as a surprise,” Savitz said.

Hubbard also had almost

the same viewing as Savitz; it didn’t come as a surprise to him either.

“We have a large returning roster and with the loss of only two players, I expected us to be up on top,” Hubbard said.

To reach the number two spot, the team worked hard,set a goal and went for it. In the end this landed them in a spot that any successful team would want to be in.

“When we lost in the upper state it was a close game,” Savitz said. “Th e amount of returning players that we have and all the talent that we have on the team is what earned us the spot.”

Despite their high ranking, Savitz continues practicing the way that he has in the past. However, the players feel the practices have been more intense because they are determined to be a winning team this season.

“Th e practices are more intense because we take practice as serious as a game so when we’re in a game situation we’re capable and comfortable at achieving victory,” Hubbard

said. Stephen Arneson,junior,

goalie, has the same opinion that Hubbard has with the way practices have been going.

“Our practices are more intense and as a team the intensity level is high because we want to do well,” Arneson said. “We encourage each other a lot too.”

Th is season Savitz is sharing advice with the team to keep them on the right track and give them the determination to be a winning team. Th ey are focused on being a winning team, and he doesn’t want them to lose that focus.

“We are just going to get better with each day. We are focused now on winning region mainly. We want to focus on the game that we are playing at the moment and not thinking about the next game until we have to,” Savitz said.

Th e player’s attitudes remain the same as before the rankings were revealed. Savitz says he hasn’t noticed a change in the attitudes. Th e determination level is still as high as before.

“Th e attitudes haven’t really changed,” Savitz said. “We play like champions, and if you play like a champion, in the end you will be a champion.”

Hubbard says he doesn’t think that the attitudes have really changed either.

“We base our attitudes on results, not rankings,” Hubbard said.

Th e players don’t think the pre season rank really means anything, and they try not to let it get to them since it’s from last season. Th ey care more about their rank at the end of the season.

Th e team is determined to take over the number one spot, and they say they are pretty confi dent that they will.

“It [claiming the number one spot] is very possible,” Savitz said. “With the hunger

Boy’s soccer highly rankedmargoGOODALE

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and passion to be there in the end it is possible. With our commitment level and our attitudes it is doable.”

Hubbard says he thinks that it is only a matter of time before they take over the number one spot. Arneson has the same opinion.

“We have a really good chance at taking over the number one spot we just have to keep working,” Arneson said.

Th e last time Irmo won State was in 2004, and the last time that the soccer team went to State was in 2005 when they were runners up. Th is year, the players are determined to return back to State and take it all.

Inside the Huddle

50 Sam McConkie

What is a quote you live by? I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed. -Michael Jordan

Why did you start playing basketball?I used to watch my brother play and I have always loved the game.

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Irmo High School 6071 St. Andrews Rd. Columbia SC, 29212 . .

COACH’S CORNERYarah Rose

Quote to live by: “Discipline is doing what has to be done, when it has to be done, as well as it can be done, and you do it that way everytime.” - Joe NewtonWhat do you enjoy most about coaching track? I love to build strong relationships adn an athlete’s confi dence in their abilities. Running is a mental sport.