MUSTANG EXPRESS12.20.11 THEThe student publication of Sunrise Mountain High School Volume 16 Issue 3 http://mustangexpress.org

Students raise money for sixteen year old cancer patient Cancer is a disease that

affects everyone in some way, shape or form. Ka-tie Wagner, a sophomore at Boulder Creek High School , was shaken by cancer in a very drastic way.

“She has stage four bone cancer and she’s now going through chemo,” said Katie Mote, a sopho-more at Sunrise Mountain who is currently fundrais-ing to aid Wagner with the hospital expenses.

Senior Zach Paulson is also helping Wagner in

any way he can.“I’m just going around

collecting donations [and I’m] going to different clubs [to collect money],” Paulson said. “I’m plan-ning on setting up in front of stores just rais-ing awareness about Katie Wagner.”

Mote is doing her part by selling bracelets that help raise awareness about Wagner.

“We’re selling bracelets for five dollars each, so we got like five hundred dol-lars in one week,” Mote said.

Mote and Paulson are

just a few of the students raising money for Wag-ner.

“I know that a lot of people in Student Coun-cil are carrying around boxes like we do for other fundraisers; we just carry around a box and ask for donations,” Mote said.

There is also a website that provides more infor-mation about Wagner and her illness.

“[The website] has dif-ferent fundraisers that you can participate in,” Paulson said.

The website is www.welovekatie.com and

Emma MillerStaff Reporter

COOP kids sell candy canes, sales benefit needy familiesLaura JohnsonStaff Reporter

“Please buy a candy cane for fifty cents.” These are the words that every student hears as Christ-mas comes around.

That’s right the pre-schoolers from COOP sold candy canes around cam-pus from Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 to raise money for the food banks to buy food for needy families.

The candy cane sales are a very rewarding ex-perience for the COOP kids.

“They think that it is great,” COOP Teacher Ms. Jody Dowler said. “We read a book about filling buckets and they say they are filling the families’ buckets and their tum-mies. The kids think that the food they give them lasts forever.”

The COOP kids know

where the money is going and who it will help.

“The needy families might write a note say-ing thank you for the food and we can write a note saying you’re welcome,” COOP kid Liam O’Neal said. “[The people we give the food to] might live in dirt and we can bring in toys and Christmas pres-ents for them.”

“[The sales] are good for the needy families so they can get lots and lots of food,” COOP kid Ethan Jack said. “It filled my bucket.”

As of Nov. 30 Ms. Dowler was very confident that the sales would be as successful as always.

“[The sales] have gone really well,” Ms. Dowler said. “Most of the sales are in between classes but some teachers ask us to go into classrooms and that’s

when we sell the most. I expect to sell out; we al-ways do.”

COOP started helping food banks nine years ago. When they first started, the kids would actually go to the grocery stores and take baskets and put food in them. They can’t do that anymore because of different regulations but the candy cane sales are still going strong and con-tinue to help food banks during the holidays.

By helping others, the COOP kids are actually sacrificing something of their own.

“The kids give up a lot of their free time like re-cess,” Ms. Dowler said.

The sales were so suc-cessful that after only two days of selling candy canes all of the flavors were gone except cherry and peppermint.

Kindness Campaign spreads unity on campus

Kellie ReynoldsOnline Editor

The creative writing class created the Kindness Campaign to spread unity throughout the campus.

Junior Jaci Tino thought of the idea when remembering a past proj-ect of the creative writing class.

“Last year in this class,

we did a happiness proj-ect,” Tino said. “It kind of stemmed off of that.”

English teacher Eric Berge did not comment on what the class had planned because he “want[ed] it to be a surprise.”

“[Jaci] thought unity would be a good thing for our school to focus on, but we didn’t know how,”

Mr. Berge said. “We switched to kindness.”

Junior Shan-non Logan, who is also in creative writing this se-mester, was ex-cited to be a part of the Kindness Campaign.

“I felt like we could really make an improvement, a movement in the school,” Lo-gan said.

The class has so far put up posters promoting courtesy, and more proj-ects are underway. Logan thought reactions have been mostly positive for the campaign. Mr. Berge was not sure.

“I don’t know [how people are reacting],” Mr. Berge said. “I hope posi-tively. [The creative writ-

ing students’] reaction to it is that they enjoy doing it. I don’t know how we’d measure [the reactions].”

Logan believed the school was due for a change, as there was “too much hostility in school.” However, Tino’s goal for the project is more inter-nal.

“Within our class, it’s just supposed to change ourselves,” Tino said.

Berge, Shannon and Tino all agreed that the signs of kindness were important in daily life, however it was difficult to explain why.

“You never know what someone is going through was,” Logan said after a pause. “You never know what kind of battle they’re going through. Just the simple act of holding open a door can make a differ-ence.”

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provides dates and times for fundraiser events and photos from past events. There is also the Wag-ner Family Support page on Facebook that keeps people updated with important information about Wagner’s situation and ways that people can help.

Along with raising money, Mote believes that people should tell others about Wagner and her story.

“[People can help by] keeping her around and spreading the word about her,” Mote said.

Photo Illustration by Haylie Konakis

Photo by Haylie Konakis

Spotlight 12.20.1102Ireland exchange program allows students new memories

Look down at the rushing rivers, gaze up at the blue sky above, and stare at the lush green grasses that cover the land-scape. Ards, Northern Ireland, is this place, and students can receive a chance to travel there with three other students in the Peoria School District.

Students can stay with other par-ticipating students’ families in Ireland, while they will travel to Peoria.

“Four Peoria high school-aged youths and four Ards high school youths will participate in the summer exchange,” according to a Power Point provided by Julie Selbach. “Peoria ambassadors stay with a family in Ards, Northern Ireland, and Peoria ambassadors and their fami-lies host their Ards peer in their home. [And the] city of Peoria pays for the air-fare.”

The trip will last four weeks, and stu-dents have a chance to gain new memo-ries and learn about the culture of the Irish.

“I believe the thought [for the pro-gram] was that if young people had ex-

periences that helped them learn that people of different cultures have more things in common than those that are vastly different, the benefits would pay forward for years to come,” As-sistant to City Council Terri Smith replied during an e-mail interview.

Stereotyping is a huge issue that is spread throughout the world. One rea-son the exchange program was created was to put a stop to ste-reotyping.

“My guess is that the 32 Peoria youths that have ex-perienced this exchange are probably far better at looking at people for common-alities as well as an appreciation for new traits that are intriguing to learn more

about,” Smith said.Traveling can be a little scary, espe-

cially without your parents. Not to worry though, as the parents that will be taking

you in at Ards will be certified, and ready.

“Both com-munities do the best we can to assure families that the family they will share with meets ex-p e c t a t i o n s , ” Smith said. “Ex-tensive back-ground checks are done on the adults in homes both here and in Ards. We facili-

tate communication between families as soon as the pairings are made, and we encourage both the kids and their par-ents to ask all the questions they have and to share as much information as

they can.” The deadline to apply is Dec. 30, with

your health records, passport, as well as other items. Your parents have to their own requirements as well when you ap-ply for the program.

According to the Power Point given by Selbach, “[The student applying must] be a resident of Peoria, Arizona, be at least 15 years old at time of travel; not yet a high school senior, hold or be prepared to apply for a passport within the next two months. Also, [you must] be in good health, [have] proof of health insurance coverage, promote and support the pro-gram and talk about the experience, and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher.”

So why don’t you take the chance while you can, experience new memo-ries, and also create new memories for the lucky students in Ards, Northern Ire-land, so that all of you can have a fantas-tic experience?

To have this experience, you can find more information about the trip, talk to Mrs.. Selbach, or contact Terri Smith at terri.smith@peoriaaz.gov.

Marching band scores at Super State

Mueller starts job as new security guard

Marching band placed 8th at Super State In No-vember.

“It’s really good to place 8th,” marching band director Chris Vail, the marching band di-rector, said. “There were 30 bands at State so that means we scored higher than 22 bands.”

Their placement ac-tually went up one since State; at the regular state competition they scored

9th. State is everyone in

Arizona and Super State is the championship that leads after that.

“[The bands we wor-ried about were] Basha, Hamilton and Chandler.” said Mr. Vail.

Kassandra Furlong, the secretary of band, was personally worried about Deer Valley.

“But we beat Deer Val-ley,” Furlong said. “Which was pretty good because they beat us before.”

It was actually Sun-

rise’s first time making it to Super State. The band even claimed the highest score in the west valley.

The marching band performed a “Pass in Re-view” type concert to cel-ebrate their achievement on November 30th. The band played many songs that they usually perform during football games at half time.

“The performance was great and it was a good experience,” said Furlong. “We normally don’t do performances like that.”

MARCHING ON: Marching band performs in the morning for Channel 3 on September 23. Last month the band placed eighth in Super State.

As of November, Dan Mueller has re-placed George Woodman as a new secu-rity guard on campus.

Woodman left the position to pursue other careers.

Assistant Principal Clay Carpenter said that Woodman had been in the banking industry before getting the job of a security guard. The economy has been slow and he could not find a job until an opportunity recently opened up for him.

Mueller will be doing the same kind of duties as Woodman did as the new se-curity guard.

Mueller was hired through the normal process. Mr. Carpenter said that there

were a number of applicants who ap-plied to get the job. The applicants were narrowed down until the one who was best qualified for the job was chosen.

Just three words sum up Mueller’s impression of the new job.

“I love it,” Mueller said. Some people may have noticed that

there is also another new figure on cam-pus right now.

Jim Caruthers, who students know as the man who checks parking passes as students are driving into the parking lot, is out on medical leave after having sur-gery right now.

Terrie Riegel is the person who is fill-ing in for him and doing the duties of tending the sweep room and directing traffic after school.

Attendance rule keeps disease at bayCough! Sneeze! Cough! Everyone

has been sick at some point. When you are sick you enough chances are going to miss school. This can be a hassle for both the students and the teachers. How many days can you miss? What happens when you miss too many days?

“When you’re absent you need to call to verify the absence,” said the atten-dance secretary Heather Romero. “Once you hit five absences you’ll get a warning from your counselor and when you get to 10 absences, you could have a possible loss of credit.”

Losing a credit is a big deal. That could mean summer school or even a repeat of a year. It is not set in stone, though. You can appeal for credit.

“We check files and documentation while [the students] were absent. If they

don’t have anything in their file then they have to appeal,” Ms. Romero said. “A parent or student goes in front of an appeal committee and tries to let them know why they were absent. They’ll try to get their credits back.”

The school makes sure students are not caught off guard. When you get to three absences you have a note sent home and when you get to five you will have to get a warning paper signed by your parents. This makes it so the stu-dents aren’t suddenly told that they’re going to lose a credit.

Students find the rule fair and sup-port it.

“It gives you a chance to make up your work and time if you really are sick, but it doesn’t give enough time for stu-dents to abuse it,” Bryce Johnson, Sun-rise Mountain freshman who has missed multiple days while sick, said.

Sierra PritchardStaff Reporter

Laura JohnsonStaff Reporter

Ryan SampeyStaff Reporter

Katelyn ReyStaff Artist

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Which holiday song does sunrise like?

1 2 3 4 5

1: Mariah Carey- “All i wAnt for ChristmAs is you”2: WhaM- “lAst ChristmAs”3:MiChael JaCkson- “i sAw mommy Kissing sAntA ClAuse”4:Justin BieBer- “under the mistletoe” 5: elvis- “sAntA ClAuse is Coming to town”

The Spotlight12.20.11 03Students decide what is better: semester long classes, year long classes Anissa Saenz-OchoaEditor

At the end of each se-mester, Sunrise students start to feel the pressure of finals and the excitement of winter break approach-ing all at the same time. Due to the school’s block scheduling, students will return from winter break with brand new classes, a new variety of classmates and a new group of teach-ers. On the other hand, a handful of students are currently placed in year-long classes. This brings up the question: do stu-dents prefer their year-long classes over their semester-long classes? Or is it nice to come back from winter break with a change and fresh start?

The end of the semester becomes bittersweet for some students like fresh-

man Alyssa Santa Cruz whose least favorite part about block scheduling is saying goodbye to every-one halfway through the year.

“You meet all these people and then you nev-er see them again,” Santa Cruz said.

While saying farewell may be a downside to the end of the semester, sophomore Jacob Zim-belman has plenty to look forward to.

“It’s always nice to be done and get new stuff,” Zimbelman said.

Junior Nicole Podgur-ski agrees with Zimbel-man; she likes coming back from winter break with a fresh start. Howev-er, Podgurski prefers her year-long classes rather than her classes that are a semester long.

“I think year-long classes are better because you have more of a chance to learn more,” Podgurski said.

Zimbelman finds his semester-long classes to be more fun. He also thinks block scheduling allows students to dig deeper into their studies.

“I prefer semester-long classes,” Zimbelman said. “I like them more because you get longer class time so you get more in-depth in the material. You’re also able to focus more on your four subjects.”

Whether students like or dislike block schedul-ing and the end of the semester may vary, one thing students like Pod-gurski, Santa Cruz and Zimbelman can agree on is looking forward to win-ter break.

Sunrise students prepare for collegeAlex CurtisStaff Reporter

It’s that time of year again when se-niors begin planning, applying and re-searching what they want to do for col-lege. At Sunrise Mountain, seniors are given the opportunity of meeting rep-resentatives from in-state schools such as Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University and University of Arizona.

Senior Bailey Moses plans on attend-ing the U of A in Tucson next year and had to do a lot of pre-planning to get to that point.

“I had to fill out applications, go tour the campus and check out the city itself,” Moses said.

Being that Moses is going to be liv-ing on campus and won’t be in her home city, she needed to go check out the city to make sure it was the right environ-ment for her. It is very important that students who are planning on moving

away from home go and tour both the college itself and the surrounding area.

Moses is looking forward to college and knows the importance of going off to college and fending for one’s self.

“I’m excited for it! It’s a necessary step in growing up and living on your own,” Moses said.

Moses is right: going to college is not only important for the academic and ca-reer opportunities, but the life lessons that it teaches one along the way.

Many students say that they can’t go to a university or a big-name school of their dreams because of money. How-ever, right out of high school there are ways to have chunks of tuition paid for or sometimes even all of it through scholarships.

“I got a few small scholarships so far and I plan to keep applying for as many as I can,” Moses said.

Students can never start planning too early for college, whether it’s touring the campuses or applying for scholarships.

ACT test key to acceptance into collegeBraden Taylor Staff Reporter

Some high school students may won-der, “What is the ACT?” or “Why should I take it?” The ACT is a standardized test used to get into college. Most colleges accept either the ACT or the SAT, but the ACT is a nice alternate because it is a multiple choice test based on curricu-lum. The content of the ACT is not secret so testers that put time into studying will see scores improve.

There are four subjects in the test: English, Reading, Mathematics and Sci-ence. Testers can also take an optional 30 minute writing test. The test consists of 215 total questions which results in three and a half hours of testing; four hours if tester takes writing portion .

Each subject is graded individually and scored for the amount of correct answers in that section. Each correct answer is not counted against you; so guessing cannot hurt the tester’s score.

The ACT could be considered be-ing graded on a curve because the total number of a tester’s correct answers gets compared to all other testers who took that same test and then converted to a scale from 1-36, 36 being the highest score possible.

The ACT if offered six times a year and can be taken by a person of any age. Middle school students can take it and even adults looking to go back to college; there are no age restrictions. The test can also be taken as many times as the tes-ter would like and the tester can choose their best score to send to colleges.

Check with your local high school or the ACT website, www.actstudent.org for more information about where and when the ACT is offered.

Helpful hints and tips for scholarshipsNatalie Kurtz Staff Reporter

High school is a time to think about your future and plan out what you are going to do later in your life. Most stu-dents plan on going to college right after they are finished with high school, but college can be expensive. The best way to make college less expensive is to earn scholarships. Ms. Fair, who works in the career center, is very helpful at finding scholarships. Also, there are websites that can offer applications and require-ments for the scholarship that is best for an individual.

“There are so many scholarships [and] some students can get free ride,” Ms. Fair said.

Some seniors have received scholar-ships when they applied for college such as senior Adrienne Sebade.

“I applied for admission to [The American University of Rome] and they awarded me the scholarship,” Sebade said.

Scholarships can add up throughout the years of a student’s time at college.

“[I receive] 5,000 Euros ($6,694) a year and renew it each year,” Sebade said.

Helpful scHolarsHip websites

www.anycollege.com - for types of scholarships To prepare for college - www.collegeanswers.com

www.scholarshipexperts.com - for different schoolsFor other educational options - www.petersons.com

www.cappex.com - to keep in contact with colleges Bill Gates’ scholarship programs - www.gmsp.org

Playing Field 12.20.1104

St. Clair, Sechrest sign with college for next yearAlex AdamsStaff Reporter

Sunrise Mountain has produced many opportu-nities for students, both academically and athleti-cally.

Two seniors, Mcken-zie St. Clair and Melissa Sechrest, are going to be attending two out-of-state colleges on a full ride scholarship to play softball. St. Clair will be attending BYU (Brigham Young University) and Melissa Sechrest is at-tending Cal State Fuller-ton.

“I was offered the scholarship during my

freshman year,” St. Clair said. “I also committed that year.”

St. Clair was excited to be offered a scholar-ship, as was her family. Sechrest was offered her scholarship later on in her high school career.

“I was offered my schol-arship October of last year, [as a junior]”,Sechrest said. “I accepted the schol-arship a week later.”

Sechrest also says that she was glad to get offered the scholarship. Sechrest had always hoped to get offered a scholarship, as did St. Clair. St. Clair, however, was caught off guard by it.

(Front left to right): Melissa Sechrest, Mckenzie St. Clait, Brennen Smith, Courtney Geith all prepare for college. All four students signed with a school. Photo by Desi Ruiz

Swoosh: Senior Jared Turley plays basket ball for the school. Turley started playing bas-ketball as a young boy. Photo by Arianna Saenz-Ochoa

Jared Turley displays great attitude, skills on courtArianna Saenz-OchoaPage Designer

Senior Jared Turley is very familiar with the game of basketball. When he was a young boy he began to develop a love for basketball and still does to this day.

Now it is his senior year,which means his last and final year on the Mustang basketball team. For many senior ath-letes, it is sad when the final year of play-ing at Sunrise quickly approache. Turley has a different approach.

“It’s my senior year and I’ll try to make the most out of it,” Turley said.

Given that Turley was raised playing basketball and has been playing since he was six years old, he has accumulated and improved his skills over time. Coach Jason Pasinski has been able to see this happen over the years Turley has been in high school.

“He’s really come a long way and de-

veloped into a really solid varsity play-er,” Pasinski said.

Turley especially has a talent for scor-ing.

[What makes him stand out is] prob-ably the fact that he can score creative-ly,” Pasinski said. “He’s very active away from the ball and he moves. He can score a variety of ways; he’s a good shooter. “

The difficulty of juggling school and sports can cause an athlete’s day to be-come very busy. But to Turley, what makes it all worth it is the chance to be able to play the sport he enjoys the most.

“Every day there is always commit-ments but I’d rather do basketball than anything else,” Turley said.

Pasinski made it clear that Turley is not only an all around phenomenal player, but he’s also a basketball player that works hard and has a great attitude about everything.

Boy’s BasketBall so far...lost 45-43 to Copper Canyon

lost 67-37 to peoria

lost 63-40 to kellis

Swoosh! Another victory in the bag for Sunrise Mountain’s girls basketball team! The girls basketball team has been showing other schools what they’re re-ally made of with one win after another. As of December 13, they most recently played against Youngker and Agua Fria.

Being 3-2, playing against these teams only improved their record because, of course, they won. When playing against Youngker, Sunrise won 61-56. Against Agua Fria, Sunrise won 49-27. With past games to look it, it’s easy to see that the Sunrise girls basketball has no shortage of teamwork.

“A lot of us have played together since freshman year so we all know and trust each other pretty well,” Varsity girls bas-ketball player Idara Ekpoh said. “The team is looking good.”

Even though new people have joined the team, it seems they have fit in per-

“I was not expecting a scholarship that early, if anything,” St. Clair said. “That was surprising.”

Sechrest made getting a scholarship one of her goals and worked towards accomplishing it.

“I was expecting to get a scholarship,” Sechrest said. “I have been work-ing on it my whole life, so I was hoping for one, and I finally got it.”

Both seniors expect nothing less than to win; their goals for the season are to win.

“All the way,” St. Clair said. “Let’s go all the way.”

Sechrest said some-

Girls basketball season off to strong start

SLAM DUNK: Girls basketball conquers school from all over Arizona.Coach The team is currently 4-2 in league. Photo by Christian Parravano

We expect to get things going in a positive direction. We’ve improved in each game and will continue to do so. It’s just a matter of the guys finding their rhythm and playing together. We’ll get there,” Coach Jason Pasinski

fectly with the rest of the players. Their contribution to the team is just as much as any veteran player from the team.

“We’re a lot better than we were last year.” Ekpoh said. “Even though we have new players, we all communicate really well and we all love each other so it’s working out great.” Ekpoh said.

Continue showing all of your sup-port to the girls playing basketball for our school whenever needed. Their next game is a home game against Kellis on Tuesday, December 2nd.

Christian ParravanoStaff Reporter

thing very similar to that.“Win, we better win;

I hope to win,” Sechrest said. “We have a new

coach and it’s going to be a fun year.”

These two seniors have high hopes for the soft-

ball team this season, and they would like nothing more than to go out on a high note.

Girls BasketBall as of 12/13:“We are 4-2 in leaGue play and 5-4 overall (inCludinG tourna-ments),” CoaCh Jennifer kuBo “We are doinG Well so far,” CoaCh Jennifer kuBo

“

Playing Field 05

Boys Varsity soccer record as of

12/14:2 wins, 3 losses

1. GOAL: The JV soccer team matches up against their rivals the Liberty Li-ons. The game took place at the Liberty Lions’ field. 2. RUN IT: Boys on the JV soccer team race down the field. The boys played against Liberty on Dec. 6.

Boys varsity soccer displays optimismChristian ParravanoAdvertising Manager

Don your colors, Sun-rise, this year’s boys var-sity soccer team is ready to take the world head on.

The boys varsity soc-cer team has shown true optimism to the season by starting the year going 2-1, beating Shadow Mountain and losing to Greenway, then bouncing by beating Liberty.

Varsity player Nick Parrack believes that this team will be successful.

“This year will probably be the best,” Parrack says. “Last year we got to playoffs, but this year we will keep going. We might even get first or second [in state] and go further.”

This year, teamwork is at its best, and the players are ready to win.

“Quite a few people from this team have been go-ing for two or three years,” Parrack says. “Being with the same people for so long makes the games more comfortable. We’re able to pass more and rely on each other.”

The amount of confidence Parrack is placing on this year’s team is promising.

“This year we are just good,” Parrack said. “We just need to work on defense a little bit then we are all set.”

Boys soccer plays again on Jan.12 at Deer Valley.

Freshman Panacci plays varsity soccerAlex AdamsStaff Reporter

In her own words, freshman Alex Panacci finds it an “honor” to be a part of the varsity girls soccer team. Sophomore teammate Brylee Hawkins thinks Panacci is a great addition to the team.

“She fits in really well, she gets along with every-one and she’s just an all-around good person and player,” Hawkins said.

Panacci feels the same way.

“My teammates are re-ally accepting and they understand I am a fresh-man and I feel like I am

getting along,” Panacci said. “I love it.”

Hawkins says that it is a great opportunity for any freshman to play on varsity. Both Hawkins and Panacci describe what the one thing is that separates Panacci from other fresh-man.

“Heart: she loves the game and she just wants to be there all the time and do her best,” Hawkins said.

Panacci thinks her dedication and hard work help her stand out.

“I give my heart and I train really hard,” Panacci said. “I dedicate so much

time to soccer and I give it my all.”

Hawkins said that what she expects from Panacci is to help the team win, and Panacci said that she wants to improve as a player and succeed.

“I get to play a majority of the game and it is really rewarding,” Panacci said. “I hope that I continue to improve as a player and I want to win.”

Both players said that all they expect from this season is to improve from the last season, and they would like to prove that they cannot only compete in state, but win it as well.

KICK IT: Sophomore Te’Leigha Jones and the girls varsity soccer team faces Liberty. The girls lost their game. Photo by Sierra Pritchard

Wrestling team shows promising seasonChristian ParravanoAdvertising Manager

people this year,” Decker said. “Not everyone went out [for wrestling] again. But we are a little better. We’re doing well.”

The Sunrise Mountain wrestling team seems strong this year, so be prepared to see lots of victory coming our way. With each team member pulling his weight, there should be no shortage of victory in Sunrise’s record books.

“Individually, the team is really great,” Decker said. “But we we’re kind of iffy on duals.”

With more games ahead, the Sunrise stu-dents need to show their support so wrestling can do their best. The next wrestling game is on the December 29th against

This year, Sunrise Mountain’s wrestling team has started strong. Winning 31 of 40 matches on Wednesday, November 30, this year’s wrestling team is showing promise. When the team won these 31 matches, they were playing against Chapar-ral, Centennial, Fairfax and Brophy.

This year, the Sunrise wrestling team didn’t gather as many people as the year before, but that doesn’t seem to be stop-ping our wrestling team. With less people, varsity wrestler Tristen Decker speculates that the team even seems better this year.

“The team has less

Ironwood. Be sure to head over and show your support. Even after the school break resumes, show the other schools which school is best.

Football awardsAll Section Team Players:

1st Team:John Drago-DB

Devin Koivisto-DL Eric Keena-P

Ryan Hawkins-K Ryan Carney Ash-OL

Elijah Castro-RBHonorable Mention:

Scott Peterson-CMax Shepherd-QBDrew Johnson-OL All District Team:

Ryan Hawkins-Kicker2nd Team:

Elijah Castro-RBRyan Carney-OLDevin Koivisto-DL

Honorable Mention:Max Shepherd-QB Scott Peterson-CDrew Johnson-OL

Eric Keena-P Elijah Castro-Returner

John Drago-DB

1. PIN: Sophomore Ryan Call faces his opponent from Liberty. The matches were held here at SMHS.2. TAKE DOWN: Freshman Garret Weissinger wrestles during his match against LHS. These matches took place on Dec. 1. Photos by Haylie Konakis

Volleyball awards

All District Team:

1st team:Brianne Glidewell

2nd team:dina Buzimkic

Honorable mention:monica Fisher

Taylor Glidewell

If you want to know more about SunrISe

mountaIn SportS and athleteS vISIt

muStangexpreSS.org

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The Mustang Express Newspaper Staff

Advertising ManagerChristian Parravano

Reporters/Page DesignersAlex CurtisAlex Adams

Ryan SampeyNatalie Krutz

Brooke MeyersSierra PritchardBraden TaylorLaura JohnsonEmma Miller

Haylie KonakisArianna Saenz-Ochoa

Editor-In-ChiefNatasha Hossain

Online EditorKellie Reynolds

Section EditorsAnissa Saenz-OchoaEmily Bridgewater

The Sunrise Mountain High School Mustang Express is a student newspaper whose purpose is to inform the community of events that are rel-evant to SMHS and its surroundings, to interpret and analyze current events and to provide enter-tainment. The staff aims to be fair and impar-tial, accurate and responsible, and to adhere to the SPJ Code of Ethics. Letters to the Editor are printed at the discretion of the editorial staff and SMHS administrators. Opinions voiced in the letters do not necessarily represent those held by the staff or Sunrise Mountain High School. The staff reserves the right to edit all letters for gram-mar and content. Anonymous letters will not be published.

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Black Friday sees brutal buyersBlack Friday has

seemed to become some-what of a hazard.

Every year there is a slew of nutty stories about Black Friday shop-pers.

With this year’s Black Friday starting earlier

than ever before, it leaves even more time for crazed bargain shoppers to fight over discounted TVs, iPads and ZuZu pets.

Stories are surfacing of physical fights over products and even a woman think-ing it appropriate to spray pepper spray in fellow shoppers’ eyes.

Other incidents such as people fight-ing over two dollar waffle makers in Little Rock, Arkansas and two women were sent to a hospital after they were attacked while trying to buy a thirty-five dollar smart phone

Really human race? Is this what we have come too? Fighting over a ten dol-lar discounted video game?

Every new violent story published should be a disgrace to society. Yet it is used as entertainment and just for laughs.

The winter holidays are the best time of the year. People are happy, it’s chilly outside but all cozy in, gifts are being given and there are lights everywhere glittering in the chilly nights; it’s just a wonderful time.

Christmas has got to be my favorite holiday of the year. Any holiday that gives out so much happi-ness is a great one. It’s all about the joy of gift giving and celebrating. People are just in a happy mood in anticipation of yummy Christmas food and gifts.

Yeah, there is stress from shop-ping but personally I enjoy looking for gifts for my friends and family. As long as you don’t look for them out of an obligation it’s really fun to buy presents for people. You can find some crazy, random, befitting things if you look hard enough.

One thing I don’t really un-derstand is what all the hubbub is with hating Christmas mu-sic. I personally love it when things like Jingle Bells and Frosty the Snow Man come on in the stores. Christmas music is so joyful and fun, and you only get to hear it for a few months.

Though, I would like to know why it has to be after Thanksgiving for them to start playing holiday music. People get all in a tizzy when it plays be-fore then but it’s not like there’s a whole

Katelyn ReyStaff Artist

Brooke MeyersStaff Reporter

Students should respect the bathroomEvery day, I walk into

the girls bathroom pray-ing to high heaven that more than one stall is open. Girls are gross, yes high school ladies I am talking to you on be-half of many other girls

and the janitors. First of all, I do not want to walk into

a disgusting bathroom where toilet pa-per and other feminine hygiene prod-ucts are left on the floor. The metal box is there for a reason. Another thing girl, don’t flush those products. I am pretty sure that it will not go down. Actually I know that for a fact because it usually over flows the toilet and then it backs up a toilet for the whole day. Then that usually leaves one toilet out of commis-sion for the day. I am not the only who is disgusted, but what about the poor janitors?

Try; try to be civilized while using the washroom. Try not to get mess all over the bathrooms. Although it is the jani-tor’s job to clean the bathroom, it is not their job to pick up after you like your mothers. They are just in to tidy up the place, not be tortured by girl products and clogged toilets.

This brings me to my next issue, please flush the toilets. This isn’t your house and I cannot imagine that you would leave the bathroom with nasty

Photo taken by Emily Bridgewater

in the toilet. What would your mothers say? Just remember that this isn’t your house, your mommy isn’t here. I am sure your mom’s would be appalled at how you treat public toilets.

Look, I know that the toilets are faulty, like fine. But don’t go in there and use the stalls that are already clogged. That provokes more problems for the janitors and other girls. It is just common sense to not use a toilet that is broken. You wouldn’t use a broken mirror because it is messed up and unusable.

Although this is directed to girls, I hear through the grapevine that guys are just as bad. I wouldn’t know because obviously I don’t go in the guy’s bath-room.

Emily BridgewaterEditor

These incidents should be looked on as a lesson, not to be repeated, but every year the stories get worse.

Discounted items are not worth being harmed or harming someone.

Picture drawn by Katelyn Rey

lot of Thanksgiving music they can play over the radio. People need to calm down and just enjoy it.

Image courtesy of freefoto.com

Staff ArtistKatelyn Rey

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Have no holiday blues this year

The Scene12.20.11 07

Top tech gifts to buy this holiday Alex CurtisStaff Reporter

The end of 2011 is near, Winter break is right around the corner and holiday jingles are floating in the air; with the spirit of the holiday season in full fledge, consumers are buying the hottest gifts on the market. Experts have given their thoughts on the top gifts for the holiday season based on record breaking sales from Black Friday, Cyber Monday, as well as the latest trends.

According to Yahoo Shopping, The iPhone 4S is high on the list for top gifts. With a retail price ranging around $199-$873, depending on contract status it is a must have for the modern teenager. Also high on the list with Yahoo is the rising tablets. They are the new piece of gear that every tech enthusiast wants. Another hot gift according to Yahoo is gift cards. This year people are saving the time on lists and going straight for the gift cards because they are universal and can be used for anyone, instead of fighting for the latest gifts.

Google Shopping also laid down what the most popular gifts are of the season this year. The PlayStation 3 Move bun-dle is a top pick this year, being that the price has been cut in half from what it

was last year. Its competitor, the Xbox 360 Kinect bundle is right there with the PlayStation, also having been cut in half price wise since last holiday season, including bundled items such as games and movies.

The major retailer, Target, is pre-pared with the lists of gifts for giving. The Samsung 32” flat screen is on sale this year for only $329. That is a deal breaker considering that flat screen TVs are on Target’s top deals and gifts. More hot gifts given from Target are winter apparel items. Scarfs, sweaters, hats and mittens always make great holiday gifts for any age or gender.

There are many major retailers with holiday deals that are too good to pass up. Stores like Wal-Mart, K-Mart, Toys R Us, and Best Buy all have the tops gifts of the year and are slashing their pric-es this season to draw in the shopping crowd. Whether it is TV’s, phones or winter apparel, there is a store out there that has a deal out for it. Some stores even have shopping guideline sheets available at their front counters.

Shopping tip from Alex: Sure the deals are great now in the season, but after the new year they will be even better.

Vegans, vegetarians spice things up during the season

Katelyn ReyStaff Reporter

During the holiday season, many people look forward to seeing family, exchanging gifts and, most importantly, eating a wide variety of foods.

The holiday season is a the perfect excuse to get together with families and friends, and what better way to spend the time than en-joying numerous feasts. Tables all around the world are filled with delicious fruits, vegeta-bles, sauces, breads and meats, but for a select group of people options are much more limited for them.

For Thanksgiving, turkeys are a big hit, but for vegans and vegetar-ians their meals are a bit different.

“[On Thanksgiving]I ate Seitan turkey breast smothered in vegan “giblet” gravy, sun- dried cranberry-toasted wal-nut stuffing, gluten free roasted garlic mashed potatoes, sweet smoked paprika corn, brown “butter” asparagus and Brussels sprouts and salad,” guidance coun-selor Julie Selbach said. “All vegan.”

Mrs. Selbach has

been a vegetarian for two and a half years and a vegan for about two years. Her decision to choose this lifestyle was based on many different variables.

“It was partially for health reasons,” Mrs. Selbach said. “I had al-ways been interested in vegetarianism and have always preferred veg-etables. I just felt bet-ter and healthier when I ate that way. It was just the right thing for me. Later, as I educated my-self and learned more, I became interested in animal rights issues.”

Although eating op-tions are sometimes limited, Mrs. Selbach always finds ways to make it work.

“I have to be more conscientious about what I eat and I read la-bels and ask questions,” Mrs. Selbach said. “I have to plan ahead. It’s easy at home but restau-rants and other people’s homes are a bit more complicated. If I go to someone else’s house, I usually bring my own food and food to share.”

Nonetheless, every-one has their own tastes whether it be for health reasons or for their own choices.

Gluten free for the holidays Cartoon drawn by Katelyn Rey

Wheat is like poison to us gluten-free people and that can pose quite the issue during the holiday season.

The average holiday meal consists of turkey or ham, veggies, some sort of potatoes, stuffing, rolls, casserole, a delicious des-ert and maybe even some deviled eggs. Now, most of this stuff sounds, fair-ly, gluten-free but you’d be surprised by what sort of ingredients are in these seemingly innocent things.

For example many dressings that you would use for salads or pasta are not gluten free. Always do your research and check

Natasha HossainEditor-In-Chief

for any traces online. Turkey or ham isn’t

normally a big deal as long as it’s made without preservatives. Almost all preservatives are packed with wheat or flower but watch the sauce you put on it, just as you would for salad dressings. Certain barbeque sauces, gravies and glazes can contain traces of wheat.

Fresh veggies rather than canned or seasoned ones are always a great healthy alternative for your cooking needs. Corn on the cob, green beans, peas, broccoli; almost ev-ery vegetable that’s grown naturally is gluten free.

Try checking out a lo-cal health foods store like

Sprouts or Whole Foods.Now stuffing and roles

can be tricky. Udi’s (one of my favorite brands) makes some tasty gluten free bread that can be used for stuffing or buttered rolls. And if you want to do it old fashioned, and cook it in a bread maker, Whole Foods and Sprouts also offer gluten free bread mixes.

Same goes for cookie mix. Those two stores of-fer some really good cook-ie mixes. In my opinion any chocolate chip cookie mix is good. Chocolate helps to counteract that granny taste that many wheat free products have.

Look out for mixes you can cut out into shapes.

Those are actually quite hard to come by.

When you go organic food shopping check the back of the box for how the food is prepared. If the box of sugar cookie mix mentions refrigera-tion and the ability to be rolled out and cut to shape you’ve found that rare mix.

Most icings and sprin-kles are gluten free. Prac-tically, all that’s in them is sugar and food coloring but always check your la-bels just in case.

That’s the biggest thing to remember during shop-ping, check the labels. In doing that you should have the perfect gluten free holiday.

10. Free rider Skate cycle 9. Universal remote control pillow

3. Kindle Fire

8. Panasonic digital camera

5. Play Station Move

1. I-Phone 4S

7. SamSung 32” flat Screen tV

2. HTC- Droid impossible 2

4. XBoX 360 Kinect

6. iPod Touch 8Gb

The Scene12.20.11 08

Well known movies come back to spotlightSierra PritchardStaff Reporter

Several celebrated movies over the years have come back to the big screen to gain the spot-light once more. In Sep-tember, Disney’s The Lion King came to theatres in 3D. This created the new thought that classic mov-ies could come back to theatres, thus creating op-portunities for other well-known movies to show again and possibly gain even more fans.

“I’m king of the world!” We have all heard this quote one time or anoth-er. Titanic will be steam-ing back into theatres in April 2012, near the re-membrance of the tragic day the ship sank on April 15, 1912. Now one of the most beloved and roman-tic movies of all time can be seen in 3D. With all of the romance and action

that caught so many view-ers by the pure heart and soul. Here the steam hiss-ing and the ship engines pulsing throughout the theatre which can send a chill down your spine.

“You don’t know the power of the dark side!” Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker are two of the most famous film charac-ters in history, starring in the famous science fiction movie, Star Wars. Now the first Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace, will be coming out in 3D in 2012 to the joy of many fans. The Star Wars saga will continue to come out in theatres if the first movie is a success. See the light sabres slashing and the power of the force.

“All aboard!” The joy-ful Christmas classic, The Polar Express, will be showing in IMAX at selected theatres to yet again “wow” the audi-

ence with its innocence and beauty. This movie is back by popular demand and will begin showing on Dec. 12. Ride the train once more and see the beauty of Christmas.

Another Disney movie is set to come out Jan. 13. Following the suc-cess of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast will be showing in theatres in 3D as well. Disney lovers alike will crowd around to see the magic in 3D.

There can be many rea-sons why all of these mov-ies are coming back, while they are most likely show-ing for viewers’ atten-tion and for more money. Many studios want money so they can create more movies to grab the view-ers attention which equals more big bucks.

Many classic and cel-ebrated movies are strut-ting back into theatres to capture the viewers’

Take a chance on Greyson Chance

Braden TaylorStaff Reporter

Taking a chance on Greyson Chance’s new CD Hold On ‘til the Night is worth the risk. Some may say that seeing a young

teenage boy on the cover may turn potential listen-ers away; but do not let an image be the deciding factor whether you listen to this CD. Chance really surprised me when I heard the first song Waiting Out-side the Lines. Expecting to hear Justin Bieber 2.0, Chance shows that he has a slightly different genre and voice than Bieber. At 14 years old, Chance not only has great vocals but he plays the piano for his songs, too. He really

knows how to make mu-sic sound wonderful. He has the talent of making the music flow and blend his voice with the song. It will be interesting to see in his future as his voice matures and he grows to see if he will have to make changes to his music. As for right now, there is no reason not to listen and enjoy what Chance is cre-ating right now. Looks can be deceiving, so take a chance on Greyson Chance.

New Year’s Eve movie excites audiences Arianna Saenz-OchoaStaff Reporter

I spend my New Year’s Eve with my family and friends munching on ap-petizers, playing board games and waiting for that special moment on TV when the big ball drops in Times Square, New York City, declaring the beauty and hope of a new year. Some of you may have New Year’s Eve traditions, while others see it as another typical night.

New Year’s Eve gives audiences the chance to relate to and enjoy several ways people celebrate the night before the begin-ning of a new year. After you watch this lively mov-ie, you will leave the the-atre feeling hopeful and excited for 2012.

The movie is directed by Gary Marshall. Mar-shall first directed Valen-tine’s Day and he followed the success of this holi-day themed movie with New Year’s Eve. Just like Valentine’s Day, the cast of New Year’s Eve is full of familiar actors and ac-tresses of all ages.

The stars in the film in-clude: Zac Efron, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sarah Jessica Parker, Ashton Kutcher, Abigail Breslin, Robert De Niro, Lea Michele and Josh Duhamel, just to name a few.

With the several sto-ries in the movie, every emotion is covered. For

instance, there is the hu-morous story of two com-petitive couples awaiting the birth of their babies in the hopes of claiming a grand prize for having the first baby born in the new year. There is the heart tugging story of a terminally ill, elderly man wishing and wanting to experience his last new year on the hospital roof watching the ball drop in Times Square. Just like the elderly man previous-ly stated there is the story of a teenage girl wishing and wanting to receive her first kiss in Times Square at midnight. In the movie each character and story is related and is intertwined

one way or another. This movie is perfect for

all ages. The theatre seats were filled with teenagers, parents and/or elderly people. This is evident that the movie attracts an audience of all ages. In addition, New Year’s Eve was filled with exceptional music that had you danc-ing in your seat.

Throughout the mov-ie you will be laughing, smiling and shedding a tear. The movie shows the beauty of a magical experience of how one city comes together at one night to celebrate the hope for a better new year. This movie is worth seeing and will not disappoint.

hearts once more. So grab some popcorn and hit the theatres as the classics come out to theatres once more.

No need to worry though movie lovers be-cause there will always be new movies coming out to the lime light as well. For example, Sherlock Hol-mes; A game of shadows is coming out on Dec. 16, and Mission Impossible; Ghost Protocol is com-ing out on Dec. 21. Other anticipated movies for 2012 include, The Hunger Games, based on the best selling series by Suzanne Collins, will be coming out on March 23. The Aveng-ers will assemble on May 4, bringing together Mar-vel super heroes like Iron Man and Thor.

Enjoy the classics in theatres while they’re here, because viewers never know when they will show again.

Fanatics: “Edward Cullen is my husband<3”“I live for it...”Haters:“I hate it more than bubbles in the eye.”Easy go-ers and renters:“Forget twilight. Harry Potter all the way.”“I am a fan, just not obsessed and crazy.”

Twilight Controversy!

Anonomys quotes from students: