By Echo Reporter:Paige Clare.

On November10th Charles Besthosted it’s annual as-sembly to honourthose who havefought for democracyand freedom.

Staff and stu-dents paid their re-spects by acknowledg-ing the brave soldierswho have given theirlives for freedom andwhom we often sadlytake it for granted.

The assemblywas a formal affair andthe audience was re-spectful. All studentswore poppies pur-chased with donationsfor the 268,110 veter-ans that still live today.The first poppies wereissued in 1921, andthey have been in circulationever since.

The Ceremony beganwith the honour guard, JaniseWoyotowich, DuncanWebster, Sebastian Fritz,Katherine Jewell and,Ms.Manolis all of whomshowed their respect and hon-our for the soldiers of war.

Mr. Case’s Drama 9 stu-dents then performed an inter-esting enactment of mono-logues entitled “Rememberand Forgive.”

The presentation was

about letters that were sentand received during war. Thestudents who had been work-ing on the presentation foronly three weeks preformedwonderfully. “It really cap-tured the emotions andTrauma experienced in war.”-Reza Driver

The choir preformed abeautiful rendition of “Whatthe World Needs Now”.Which included two short so-los that were exquisitely per-formed by Stephanie

Currasco and AmandaHoper. Every year the choirsurpasses the expectationsset by the previous year. Thisyear was no exception.

Mr. Cairney’s a powerpoint presentation left theaudience speechless. Theblend of photos from variouswars and the depressing mu-sic kept the crowd attentiveand interested. “It was sur-prising how a group of teen-agers could stay that longwith out talking” comments

Katie Christopher. “Thatshows how good thepower point was.”

“I was practicallycrying” agrees BrittniKidd.

Next, the Seniorband preformed “Aria” avery moving song thatstarts gracefully, but hasa very dramatic finish. Stu-dents agree that it was avery interesting song thatstarted slow but surprisedyou near the end. “It was

a good song toawknowledge thesoldiers,” statesLaura Macmillan.

All of Dr.Charles Best thenshared a moment ofsilence to rememberthe soldiers thathave fought anddied. and reflect onhow lucky peopleare to live in a freeand democratic na-tion. “Rememberwhat they did for us,for our country. I tryto think of the peo-ple that died and Ican’t even imag-ine…” says KatieChristopher of themoment of silence.

Taking twominutes out of ourlives is hardly any

price at all for those whodied so long ago, butwhose actions still impactour every day life.

Students, likeKaylee Soh, agree that theassembly went well: “TheAssembly felt short, but itwas well done, I enjoyedthe music and PowerPointpresentation.”

“It was really wellput together and thepowerpoint was reallygood”- Tanita Cherian

Issue 2November 25, 2005

Swim TSwim TSwim TSwim TSwim Team Makes a Splash eam Makes a Splash eam Makes a Splash eam Makes a Splash eam Makes a Splash At ProvincialsAt ProvincialsAt ProvincialsAt ProvincialsAt ProvincialsThe Charles Best Blue

Devils swim team madesome big waves at The B.C.School Swimming Provin-cial Championships on No-vember 19th and 20th.

After competing inthe Fraser Valley Regionalqualifying swim meet at theFleetwood pool in Surreyon November 11th, wherethere were 18 swimmersfrom Charles Best, 11 BlueDevils qualified for the 2005Provincials at theWatermania Aquatic Com-plex in Richmond.

Starting at 1:00 pm,considerably late for a swimmeet, the Charles Best swimteam arrived at Watermania,pumped and ready to warm upfor what was going to be along day.

Entering the fairly largecomplex, the halls, the stands,and the warm up pool werepacked full of anxious swim-

mers ready to show theirskills.

Charles Best demon-

strated class and style in theirmatching Blue Devilssweatshirts. The results ofthe swim meet show just howhard the team has been train-ing this season. Three of theSenior Boys relays placedsecond following only Van-couver’s St. Georges PrivateBoys School that has a pool

at its facility. The seniorgirls team came from havingthe last spot in the consola-

tion round to placing ninthoverall.

In individual swims,Mike Vieira placed fourthin Boys 200 metre IM.

Swim team sponsorMr. Dy was very pleasedwith the team’s success. Hestated, “It was an excellentshow at the provincials, es-

Rememberance Day : Lest WRememberance Day : Lest WRememberance Day : Lest WRememberance Day : Lest WRememberance Day : Lest We Forgete Forgete Forgete Forgete Forget

pecially for the seniorboys and I feel our girlson the team will continue

to show great outcomes inthe years to come.”

The athletes werealso proud of ending theseason on such a highnote. Grade 10 JuniorSwimmer, AndrewKamchiline said, “Thisyear we did well, next yearwe’ll dominate.”

By Echo Reporter, LauraShaw

Ms.Manolis, Duncan Webster, Katherine Jewell, Sebastian Fritz

Kamchiline is alsolooking forward to nextyear’s swim season be-

cause he will beto taking theplace of CharlesBest’s excep-tional swimcoach, SheldonDoswell. Hesaid, “ I’m look-ing forward tocoaching nextyear, and whenI’m a senior we’llbe able to domi-nate.”

A l o n gwith a great per-

formance in the pool, theswim team representedCharles Best very wellwith great behaviour andexcellent sportsmanship.Mr. Dy said, “I was veryproud of the entire team’scheering and support ofeach other during the Pro-vincial meet.”

Page 2

Cartoon by: Erin Norman

BFFLBFFLBFFLBFFLBFFLBy Echo Columnist Chris Tse

As much as we’d all like todisagree, the fact of life is thatthings change. Love is lost, racesare won, trends grow old, we growolder, we make friends, we losefriends. In my case, we lose a lot offriends. The undeniable truth is thatas we change, our interests change,and with these waning interests,the friendships that were born fromchange. When I was younger, Iloved hockey, it was my life. Now,I still love hockey, but other inter-ests have taken the place that wasonce occupied by one sole inter-est. So it is with everything else. Iused to play piano; now I’m a drum-mer. I used to shave my head; nowI have a mop.

When I first came to Best, I

didn’t know very many people.Most of the students in grade 9 camefrom Hillcrest or Maillard; I came fromBanting. The first few months, thoseof us who knew each other stucktogether. As we got to meet otherpeople, we opened up a little bit more,and new friendships developed.Now, I can probably name the faceof most of the students in my grade.But still, I remain about as familiarwith any of them as I was when Ifirst came to the school.

I find it hard to believe that aclose friendship can be formedwithin the four short years of highschool, but it isn’t impossible.Nontheless, true friendship requirestime. Breaking a friendship, however,can be quick, and it can happen with-out either party realizing it.BFFL…best friends for life? A nicethought, but one that rarely happensin high school. If time doesn’t breakyou up, a girl/guy will. Have I hadclose friendships throughout theyears? Yes, I have. Have I lost closefriends throughout the years? Yes, Ihave. Some say that a friend stickscloser than blood, but from my expe-rience, it hasn’t happened yet. In allfairness, if you are the type of per-son who can preserve a friendship,then you have my respect. The worldneeds more people like you.But, Ibelieve in high school, you are the

exception not the rule. If your friendship survives

and you can prove everythingthat I’ve said to be wrong, call meup in 40 years. I’ll treat you andyour buddy to a cup of coffee aswe reminisce about the good olddays. Then again, I have no ideawhere most of you will be in 40years. Some of you might be get-ting your number retired, whileone of you might win a NobelPrize. Some of you might be onBroadway, or in the NBA, or inthe news. Some of you might bedead. The one thing that I canguarantee is that no matter whereyou end up, you will have gottenthere with the help of friends.Whether those friends are thesame ones that you had from highschool remains to be seen. Don’tcount on it though, for as yourinterests and priorities change,expect your friends to change. Asyou move on- so will your friends.

Already three months intomy grade 11 year, I’ve got a littleless than two years left to make orbreak some friendships. The onesI haven’t broken are getting there.Take a lesson from life: thingschange. Love is lost, races arewon, trends grow old, we growolder, we make friends, we losefriends, but we don’t have to.

Monday, November 28th ,2005 EDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSEDITORIALSThe WThe WThe WThe WThe World as World as World as World as World as We See It:e See It:e See It:e See It:e See It:Pinky and the Brain LayPinky and the Brain LayPinky and the Brain LayPinky and the Brain LayPinky and the Brain LayDefeated at WDefeated at WDefeated at WDefeated at WDefeated at World Dominationorld Dominationorld Dominationorld Dominationorld Domination

Pinky and the Brain claimedto accept the challenge of takingover the world, but unfortunatelyfor these two mice, the humanspecies has already beaten themto it. Humans have been deter-mined to conquer, explore, andmultiply so willingly that ourpopulation has grown to over6,446,131,400. The world’s growthrate stands at 1.3% which repre-sents a doubling time of fifty-four

years. So by the time I retire at age sixty-five, the Earth’s population willhave reached an astounding twelve billion. How is our poor planetgoing to cope? Our world is already suffering, and continued growthwill only exasperate the serious problems that affect our generation.

Ironically, poor nations that will suffer the most from overpopula-tion are the most prolific. Poverty has engulfed several areas around theworld, areas which have been left untouched by the latest technology.These developing countries also suffer from illiteracy and a lack ofeducation to improve their lives. They also do not use any of thenumerous methods of birth control to help slow down their birth rates.It all boils down to cultural, social, religious, and personal beliefs. Oftebthe reason for people having more children in these nations is becauselarger families are beneficial; children help meet the parents’ needs andcontribute much to a household. People who live in poverty who don’treceive the education they need often do not qualify for post-second-ary education .This results in a limited ability to obtain higher-payingjobs to support their families. This unfortunate cycle continues to thenext generation where the birth rate continues to grow steadily higherand the poverty rate increases even more.

Even in industrial nations, overpopulation is a problem. Sinceour technology has greatly improved, we have discovered, diagnosed,and treated many of the diseases that sickened people for years, curingthem with minor pills or surgeries. More medical care is accessiblewhich has caused the death rate to decrease and increase our popula-tion.

The problem with such a massive population explosion is that isis robbing the planet of its natural resources because there are far toomany mouths to feed and too many throats to nourish with clean, freshwater. When asked about this problem, most people think that it won’taffect their lives. Individuals are naïve and egocentric and too focusedon what is right in front of them. We’re living in a disassociated nationthat is unaware of what’s happening in other countries around theworld. Frankly, it just doesn’t register in the minds of our citizens.Something drastic will have to be done to ensure that our planet is ableto support the next generation. If not, sooner or later, the world couldcollapse.

Poverty isn’t the only problem, more people driving cars meansmore pollution thus contributing to more damage in our O-Zone layercausing Global Warming. If proper action is not taken, our naturalresources could be limited and our developing countries would have agreater problem than they do now. Crisis management is not a sensiblesolution; it avoids effort and cost today, but makes solutions morecostly and difficult later. And worst yet, later may be too late.

We only get one planet to live on until Pinky and the Brain decideto conquer Mars and try to establish life there. Until then, we shouldstart taking care of Earth before it’s too late.

By Echo Columnist Amanda Taschner

Laura: School projects arenow underway. Some people pre-fer working in groups rather thanworking alone, but in my opinion,working as a team helps theproject get done more quickly andmore efficiently.

Kaitlin: I disagree.Whether you are with your friendsor in groups decided by the teach-ers, it is always hard to decide whohas what responsibilities. Too of-ten the group members are notequally motivated or knowledge-able, leading to uneven participa-tion and students taking advan-tage of others talents.

Laura: If people are notequally motivated or bright, thenbeing in a group with more intelli-gent or devoted students will helpbring out the best in them. On theother hand, stronger students cantake on more complicated roles andhelp their partners understand andcomplete the project in the bestway possible.

Kaitlin: Are you saying thatthe smarter students in the groupshould take it upon themselves toimprove the grades of their part-ners? It is not their responsibilityto look out for their peers. How-ever, in group projects this is oftenthe case, stronger students end up

doing all the work while their part-ners coast. This defeats the pointof a group project because it doesnot equally represent everyone’scapabilities.

Laura: I’m not encouraginglaziness.If there are members of agroup that are unwilling to do theirpart, then they should be firmlydealt with, but good communica-tion and cooperation creates bet-ter results then struggling to meeta deadline on your own. Workingtogether generates better ideasand much more interesting con-cepts.

Kaitlin: If you were to do aproject by yourself, without the

group, maybe it would be morechallenging but isn’t that whatschool is all about, challengingyourself? When you get into col-lege or the work place, you maynot always be able to rely on part-ners.

Laura: Group projects canchallenge you even more than in-dividual projects because there areother people who are relying onyou to get the work done. It en-courages responsibility, reliability,and most of all, it improves socialskills. Unless you’re a hermit, so-cializing is a vital part of life.

Kaitlin: I understand thatworking in a group and socializing

with your peers is a vital part ofschool but that is what lunch isfor. Group projects underminelearning and make it more diffi-cult for individual students toshine academically.

Laura: Obviously a mix ofindividual and group projects isessential to learning, but groupprojects can bring out the bestin every type of student.

Kaitlin: Occasionallyonce in a while a group activityis understandable, but if they areassigned too often marks will notreflect a student’s abilities accu-rately.

THE GREATHE GREATHE GREATHE GREATHE GREAT DEBAT DEBAT DEBAT DEBAT DEBATE: Individual Projects vs Group ProjectsTE: Individual Projects vs Group ProjectsTE: Individual Projects vs Group ProjectsTE: Individual Projects vs Group ProjectsTE: Individual Projects vs Group ProjectsBy Echo Columnists LauraShaw and Kaitlin Dalton

Throughout the school there arenumerous clubs and organizationsavailable for students to join. Groupslike student council, stagecraft andvarious sports teams are full of Beststudents eager to participate withinthe school.

Looking at all the support theseteams and clubs receive, it is ex-tremely disappointing to see thatthere are only a mere twelve peoplein Greendot (more widely known asthe Environment Club.)

Greendot is a club of concernedcitizens who wish to help the planet.They have ambitious goals: to pro-mote environmental issues and tofacilitate various projects that willhelp the earth.

The club is led by Grade 12 stu-dent, Hannah Carpendale. The mem-bers meet once a week in the libraryto discuss and plan ways they canmeet their objectives.

Grade 12 student Vanessa Evansspeaks for the club, “We want tochange people’s attitudes towardsthe environment and emphasize thechallenges that the environment willface in the future.”

So far the club has been do-ing an admirable job; they have al-ready raised environmental aware-ness within the school.

On November 4th the organiza-tion held their first “Earthchat.”Earthchat is a forum the club intendsto hold once every month. These are

special meetings they organize sothat students who may not want tojoin can still participate in informa-tive discussions about the environ-ment and hopefully learn somethingnew.

The members of the group werepleased with how their first Earthchatworked out: “We were really satis-fied with the turnout and we’re hop-ing over time, this is something morepeople will get involved with.” Thenext Earthchat will be held sometimenext month and the group will bediscussing as well as sampling earthfriendly foods.

Greendot has also plannedsome outstanding long-termprojects. Their largest project thisyear is to team up with the Vancou-ver Aquarium’s Aquatic Conserva-tion team.

They intend to clean up streamsas their first hands-on project. Theirsecond project is to paint a muralabout water conservation some-where in the community.

The Environment club hasbeen a part of Best for four yearsnow and this year’s ambitious mem-bers are doing more then ever be-fore.

This club would be extremelyworthwhile to join, as it is exceed-ingly informative and rewarding.

The club is always looking fornew members who are passionateabout helping the environment andwant to have a good time doing it.After all, we only get one world tolive in, so let’s not take it for granted.

Greendot strives toGreendot strives toGreendot strives toGreendot strives toGreendot strives tosave the planetsave the planetsave the planetsave the planetsave the planet

“Ashton Kutcher, because ourpersonalities match.” – SylvieBelanger, Grade 10.

“Fat Bastard, because I’m fat!”– Rand Abood, Grade 11.

“Samuel L. Jackson.” – Karl(Trap) Doering, Grade 12.

“Jet Li, because of his swiftkicking moves.” – Jamie Walker,Grade 12.

“Ciara and Jennifer Lopez.” –Chantel Prasad and PreciousOmoruyi, Grade 9,

“Jim Carrey, because our senseof humour is similar and we bothmake crazy faces!” – NevaCarson, Grade 10.

“Renée Zellweger, because Iloved her as Bridget Jones.” –Gabby Lopez, Grade 11.

“Cuzin It, ‘cause of his hair, andMini Me, ‘cause of his size.” –Daniela Samayoa, Grade 11.

“Wolverine!” – Alia Awan,Grade 10.

“Russell Crowe.” – RussellMayne, Grade 10.

Speak Out: “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”Speak Out: “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”Speak Out: “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”Speak Out: “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”Speak Out: “In the movie of your life, who would play you?”

On Wednesday, November 2nd,Shane Stole presented grade 10 and11 students with ahumorous yetcompelling dia-logue about drink-ing and driving.

Instead of theformal assemblystudents usuallyendure, we werepresented with acomedic presenta-tion on a seriousissue. Stole’s an-tics were witty anddelightful, yet inthe end the mes-sage about drivingwhile under the in-fluence of alcoholgot across to stu-dents.

FirstShane Stolebrought us into hisyouth by tellingstories of meeting new people athigh school. He recounted storiesof his drive across Saskatchewan.

One story in particular stood out,as it was hilarious and well pre-

Stole Impresses Stole Impresses Stole Impresses Stole Impresses Stole Impresses Audience atAudience atAudience atAudience atAudience atDrinking and Driving PresentationDrinking and Driving PresentationDrinking and Driving PresentationDrinking and Driving PresentationDrinking and Driving Presentation

By Echo ColumnistKatie Glover

By Echo ColumnistErin Norman

NEWS Page 3Page 3Page 3Page 3Page 3MondayMondayMondayMondayMonday, November 28, 2005, November 28, 2005, November 28, 2005, November 28, 2005, November 28, 2005

By Echo Columnists Sam Lee and Elizabeth The

sented. Stole was travelling acrossSaskatchewan when his car brokedown and he needed to get backhome.

Unfortunately it was a long driveback and searching for someone togive him a ride was difficult. Finallyhe found a man travelling with twoother women who was willing to give

him a ride.As they

drove down theroad, they acci-dentally hit adeer. Stole de-scribed thewomen scream-ing hystericallyat the top of theirlungs. One ofthe womenyelled, “Thedeer looked atme!” and natu-rally Stolethought thiswas absurd. Hereplied with,

“Well, what color were its eyes?”Outraged by his question, she

became even more upset, so Stolereplied, “I know; its eyes were blue;

one blew that way andthe other blew theother way.”

The audienceroared with laughterat his comedic tale, andthe laughs continued,until they suddenlycame to a halt whenStole became quite se-rious in telling thestory of his friendWormser who lapsedinto a coma after hegot into the driver’sseat drunk.

He told a story of agreat time in his lifewith his best friendWormser and how allbecause of a few peo-ple who thought it“was too far to sticktheir head out” to tellWormser not to drink

and drive, the good times camecrashing down when Wormsercrashed his car and fell into a coma.

The students listened to the trau-matic episode when Stole visitedhis friend in hospital. Stole claimedhe would never remember Wormserin the hospital, but only the goodtimes they had together.

When Stole’s stand up comedyended, the audience respondedwith loud and appreciative ap-plause. Students could relate to hisanecdotes and enjoyed thecomedic approach thoroughly.

Shane Stole was able toreach students on a level that madethem laugh yet also made themunderstand more about the conse-quences of letting a friend drivewhile drunk.

The Business Department in theschool, taught by Ms. Bazley,headed to Seattle, Washington No-vember 3rd for a day filled with fun.There were thirty eager studentswaiting in the foyer at 6 am. They allhopped on a big greyhound bus andheaded down to our neighbour, theUnited States. While there, the stu-dents visited two different businessinstitutes. First they headed to theArt institute of Seattle to be exposedto the education that is available.Some of the degrees and programsthis school offers are Fashion De-sign, Graphic Design, Fashion Mar-keting, Culinary Arts and the MediaArts. The tour at the school wasvery informative. The students wereable to see what a class was like andinteract with the students who wereattending the school. Some CharlesBest students ventured off and made

friends. “The students at the insti-tute were very nice and welcom-ing,” said Danielle Jordan. “I had anawesome time!” After a two-hourtour of the institute the Best stu-dents headed to the EMP (Experi-ence Music Project) Museum. ThisMuseum was great fun. “I loved the

Business Department heads to Seattle to experience the business worldBusiness Department heads to Seattle to experience the business worldBusiness Department heads to Seattle to experience the business worldBusiness Department heads to Seattle to experience the business worldBusiness Department heads to Seattle to experience the business world

This week’s special is....

Our Cafeteria has gone along way from just snacks,burgers and fries.

Considering everywhereyou go, restaurants and gro-cery stores are working on ahealthier choices part of themenu.

Charles Best is workingharder to have a better caf-eteria.

There are many new andhealthier choices on themenu, for breakfast, lunch orsnacks.

Not just Subway anymore,we have moved up.

The school now has fresh salads,daily soups and sandwiches. Youcan pick up your favourite fruit andyogurt from the fridges next to thesubway line up.

To get students to drink healthierthe cafeteria has started a ThirstCard. When you buy 5 of thehealthier selections you get the sixthdrink free. Some of these drinks are:Dasani water, Fruitopia, Nestea,Minute made or Five a live juice. Pickup your card today!

Breakfast is a very important mealof the day.

If you don’t have time to eat be-fore you get to school, grab a bagel,cereal or even a cooked breakfast onyour way to A block. The cafeteriahas almost anything you can thinkof and it’s good.

The cafeteria offers BestThe cafeteria offers BestThe cafeteria offers BestThe cafeteria offers BestThe cafeteria offers Beststudents healthier choicesstudents healthier choicesstudents healthier choicesstudents healthier choicesstudents healthier choices

By Echo reporterCarly Philip

IIIIInnnnn andandandandand

AAAAArrrrrooooouuuuunnnnnddddd

music museum, it rocked”, saidMs. Bazley. “I was also floored byhow well manned the studentswere.” The museum was an inter-active music tour that explainedthe business side of the musicindustry. Students learned aboutthe process of music production,

distribution, and promotion. Theygot to experience playing in an ac-tual band and being able to performin front of 10,000 screaming fans. Aswell the students were able to recorda CD or a Jingle in a real sound booth.“My friends and I recorded a jingleand it was so much fun”, said a very

happy Gordon Reimer. “Recordingthe jingle was an exhilarating experi-ence for me.” Both of these placesthey visited were lots of fun andvery educational. It opened thestudent’s eyes to jobs that are outthere for them. As much as it waseducational, it was also enjoyable.The students spent some of the dayshopping. Ms.Bazley, being theawesome teacher she is, let the grouphave an hour lunch break at the mall.Come on, you can’t go to Seattle andnot shop! After an hour most peoplewere shopped out and broke so itwas time to head home. It was a longdrive out of downtown Seattle, defi-nitely rush hour. Most of the stu-dents were wired from being at theEMP museum so the drive out wasn’tthat bad. After they all calmed downit got quiet. They were all prettyexhausted from being up since 4:30so the students slept most of theway home - but a successful day.

by Echo reporterAmber MacDonald

The cafeteria has new featuresand daily specials: Spaghetti,Quesadillas, Sandwiches, Salmon orChicken burgers Taco Salad andother types of fresh salads.

Most of the orders can come witha side salad of your choice, and areunder five dollars, a good price forstudents.

And don’t worry if you still loveyour junk food after that math test orScience test. The cafeteria still hasfresh baked goods.

There is also ice cream, hot drinks,and fast food available under theheaters by the pizza hut boxes.

Don’t forget the good old sooth-ing chocolate, all this available in theschool cafeteria.

A student studies in the halls. Front shot of the cafeteria. Students selling bakedgoods.

Members of band Five3selling tickets for their show.

NewsNewsNewsNewsNewsMonday, November 28, 2005Page 4

1. You wanted to make sure teachers don’t overload from too muchcorrecting.

2. You were just about to do it when aliens abducted you and took youto Pluto. By the time they finally beamed you back to earth it was alreadytime for school and you wouldn’t want to be late for school.

3. You called Miss Cleo and she predicted that you would be sick todayso you didn’t do it. What a waste of fifty bucks.

4. Its time you start giving other students a chance to shine, so youdecided not to show them up with your brilliant work.

5. Someone broke into your house last night; funny thing is the onlything they seemed to have taken was your homework. What a shame.

6. The teacher said to do the homework; they never said to bring it in.7. You’re allergic to paper.8. Your mom ate it, who knew how weird pregnancy cravings could get.9. Your imaginary friend died and you were too upset to concentrate.10. You’re testing homework excuses to find out which are the most

successful. To bring in your homework would defeat the whole purposeof your experiment.

Name: Laura ShawGrade: 12Plans for the future: Water polo

and university; journalismBest high school memory/ex-

perience so far: Winning the B.C.High School Water Polo Champi-onships in 2005

Favourite TV shows: SaturdayNight Live (before it got crappy),CSI and Desperate Housewives

Favourite Movie: Mean GirlsBest Friends: Merisha Shim,

Ronak Pahlevanlu, and StephanieMichaels (Quad Pod 4 life!)

Name: Kaitlin Dalton GibsonGrade: 12Plans for the futre: university;

teaching or marine biologyBest memory outside of school:

Going to Winnipeg for Water PoloNationals

Favourite Movie: Remember theTitans

Favourite Car: Red 1969 Mus-tang

Favourite Sports: Water polo,Basketball, Hockey (# 16 T.Linden)

Favorite Band: The Red Hot ChilliPeppers and Franz Ferdinand

Meet The Echo ReportersMeet The Echo ReportersMeet The Echo ReportersMeet The Echo ReportersMeet The Echo Reporters

NEWSNEWSNEWSNEWSNEWS Page 5

TTTTTop 10 excuses for notop 10 excuses for notop 10 excuses for notop 10 excuses for notop 10 excuses for not handing in homework handing in homework handing in homework handing in homework handing in homeworkBy Echo Reporter Alaysia Macpherson(...Not that you’ll ever need them!)

Everyone knows that CharlesBest has a concert band, a jazz bandand a choir; however, what mostpeople don’t know is that all of theseprograms aresupported by aMusic Council.

The musiccouncil is com-posed of musicstudents rangingfrom Grades 9 to12, some of themare only in one ofthe music pro-grams while oth-ers are in all three.The twenty mem-bers meet everyFriday at 8:00 in the morning.

“Music council’s goal is to make

the music program more fun and tomake our presence in the schoolmore known,” explained councilPresident Kelly Graves. During lastFriday’s meeting the council washard at work discussing ways they

could make this years ChristmasConcert even more successful than

previous ones.“We want to improve our con-

certs; they are getting repetitive,”says Vice President Chris Bevis.The Christmas concert will be heldon Wednesday, December 7 at

7pm. There will be no chargeand all students are wel-come to attend and supportthe band.

This year the band willalso be doing many otherexciting things, such asputting on numerous con-certs, and in March, theywill even be going on a tripto Edmonton.

If you’re interested in be-ing a part of any of theseprograms or if you simplywant to show support, the

music council would be thrilled tohave your help.

Many people don’t think ofstudents as passionate aboutschool. Bests’ thriving artists, how-ever, have their passions adorningthe walls for all to appreciate.

For the past two years, artists inthe school have gotten together andpainted two amazing murals aroundthe school. Mr. Scott is again theteacher in charge of this year’s MuralClub.

“The beauty of the mural commit-tee is that I just direct them and getthe supplies for the students.They’re the ones that discuss theirideas and put them all together andwork as a team to create a wonderfulproduct that showcases their tal-ents,” states Mr. Scott.

This year the Mural Committeeplans to continue its work.

“We want to do something a littlebit different this year,” Mr. Scottsaid. “The past two murals, theywere both paintings with just twodifferent ideas.This year we want touse photography, with painting”.

The last mural was completedusing technolog with things likeemail, computer windows and musicblended into one amazing painting.

Unlike the past two years whenthe mural committee started in termtwo, this year they have started interm one.

“With exams and the rush of eve-rything that happens in June, itmade sense to start this year in term

Band Council Deserves RecognitionBand Council Deserves RecognitionBand Council Deserves RecognitionBand Council Deserves RecognitionBand Council Deserves RecognitionBy Echo ReporterKatie Glover

Before After

Unique murals decorate Best’ Unique murals decorate Best’ Unique murals decorate Best’ Unique murals decorate Best’ Unique murals decorate Best’s hallwayss hallwayss hallwayss hallwayss hallways

Charles Best Players Present:Charles Best Players Present:Charles Best Players Present:Charles Best Players Present:Charles Best Players Present:

November 22,23,24,25 & 26.November 22,23,24,25 & 26.November 22,23,24,25 & 26.November 22,23,24,25 & 26.November 22,23,24,25 & 26.

Monday, November 28, 2005

band members practice

By Echo Reporter Kris Mohoruk

one so the crew doesn’t feel asrushed.”

The wall where they are going toput up the mural has yet to be cho-sen, but since the mural is on ply-

wood, it can easily be moved.Keep an eye out around the school

for these artists and their amazingwork.

EntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentpage 6 Monday, November 28th, 2005

“They come from miles around for the moment when the lights go down, and they scream.” Ohand you had better believe they screamed. Rascal Flatts hit the stage at GM Place on November 9th to9,000 screaming Canadian fans in cowboy hats and jeans. With opening act Keith Anderson singinghis hit “Picking Wildflowers” and country veteran Blake Shelton belting out such hits as “Austin” and“Some Beach”, GM Place was transformed from a hockey rink into one big honky-tonk. It was clearthat the night was going to be big the moment the boys of Rascal Flatts stepped on to the stage. Unlikeother country performances, the stage was tricked out with platforms, a huge set, tons of confetti anda hydraulic lift, which Gary, Jay, and Joe Don used to make their grand entrance. The boys entered infull force, singing their tour title ‘Here’s To You’ to an explosion of cheers and confetti. Fronted byGary LaVox, the boys blew the crowd away, singing such hits as “Fast Cars and Freedom”, “Mayberry”,“Sarah Beth”, “These Days”, “Bless the Broken Road” and “Feels Like Today”. Their upbeat tunesand tear jerking melodies made for an enjoyable night The band also showed their ability to change itup by playing “Let It Be” by the Beatles and the hard rock classic “You Give Love A Bad Name” by BonJovi. Vancouver was the only Canadian city they played on the tour, and it was clear that they enjoyednot only the crowd, but the Canadian beer and beautiful ladies. Gary was particularly jealous of thebeer, saying “It’s not like the watered down crap we have in the States... when I order a beer, I want abeer!” Well Rascal Flatts, feel free to come up here any time you want, as long as you give a perform-ance as amazing as this one.

Nickelback had won meover with their previous three al-bums and now we have “All theRight Reasons”.

I noticed on their C.D.cover, Chad Kroger is wearing aMustang Mach I shirt, so obvi-ously I had to give them a fewpoints for that. Inside the case sata disc that blew me away the sec-ond I heard it.

The first song that was onMuch Music and the radio was“Photograph”, an awesome songto remember your high schooldays.

This album features elevengreat songs that ranging fromslow, inspirational songs like,“Savin’ Me” and “Far Away” tofunny, hilarious songs like, “Ani-mals” that poke fun at parents toa good jab at society of how weview rock stars as gods in thetruthful confession like song,“Rock Star”.

Nickelback has a uniquesense of humour found in songslike, “Follow you Home”, whichtakes a comical approach to astalking case, or adding humorin the song about a highly-jeal-ous boyfriend of a stripper unveil-ing his fists on poor on-lookersfor laying their hands on his girl-friend in “Next Contestant”

This album is a good laugh,a good spa-treatment, an angryblast and a laid-back musical ver-sion of a kit-kat bar. Basicallyspeaking, it is good for any kindof mood that you are in.

This is definitely an albumI would give more than twothumbs up, but seeing as I onlyhave two I’ll just give them a pro-fessional rating of 9.9/10 (Theresimply should have been moresongs on this CD.)

By Echo reporterKaitlin Dalton-Gibson

by Echo reporter Kim Hession

By Echo reporterKaitlin Dalton-GibsonBy Echo reporter

Kaitlin Dalton-GIbson

Cd ReviewsCd ReviewsCd ReviewsCd ReviewsCd Reviews

Confessions ofConfessions ofConfessions ofConfessions ofConfessions ofa Dance Floora Dance Floora Dance Floora Dance Floora Dance Floor #1’#1’#1’#1’#1’sssss All the RightAll the RightAll the RightAll the RightAll the Right

ReasonsReasonsReasonsReasonsReasonsBe HereBe HereBe HereBe HereBe Here YYYYYou Couldou Couldou Couldou Couldou Could

Have it soHave it soHave it soHave it soHave it soMuch BetterMuch BetterMuch BetterMuch BetterMuch Better

Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts Rascal Flatts Astound Country Music Lovers in VAstound Country Music Lovers in VAstound Country Music Lovers in VAstound Country Music Lovers in VAstound Country Music Lovers in Vancouver!ancouver!ancouver!ancouver!ancouver!

Who said the only goodthing to come out of Scotland wasgolf? Franz Ferdinand can officiallybe added to that list. The fourScotsmen are back with a brand newalbum “You Could Have It So MuchBetter”, and it is simple amazing!The recently released single fromthe album, “Do You Want To”, al-though a little repetitive, is darncatchy. If you’re not a fan of thetypical rock pop single don’t let itsway your vote, there is a lot ofdepth on this disc. Franz Ferdinandshowcases their acoustic talents onsongs such as “Walk Away” and“Eleanor Put Your Boots On.” FranzFerdinand is not just another retrolovin’ UK band, they are like noth-ing else currently on the musicscene. Their new disc is filled withoriginal lyrics, focusing on every-thing from Hitler and Stalin inWorld War II to the environment.All the songs on the CD are amaz-ing but the first track “The Fallen”is outstanding. Built on strong gui-tar and percussion, accompaniedby quick verses it is bound to betheir next big hit, and definitely thebest song on the CD.

Other great songs include“Walk Away,” “This Boy” and “I’mYour Villain.” Franz Ferdinand’sdebut CD self titled “FranzFerdinand” was a success acrossthe board in 2004, and now in 2005they release “You Could Have It SoMuch Better.” Contrary to the title,you couldn’t get much better thanthis CD. Filled with original songsboth up beat and solemn it is an allaround triumph. I strongly encour-age you to check out FranzFerdinand’s “You Could Have It SoMuch Better”; it would be a greataddition to any CD collection. Aperfect 10/10.

Who doesn’t love Destiny’sChild? They support independentwomen and “don’t” use sex to selltheir albums. Just ask Beyonce, af-ter she dries off from swimmingaround in a giant champagne glass,but that isn’t the point.

“#1’s” brings together, forthe very first time, 13 of Destiny’sChild’s biggest selling and highestcharting hits, from old school clas-sics “Bills, Bills, Bills” and “Say MyName” to new hits such as “LoseMy Breath” and “Soldier.” Alongwith timeless Destiny’s Child sin-gles the newest disc includes newtracks like “Stand Up For Love,”the 2005 World Children’s Day an-them.

Not only do you receive afull disc of Destiny’s Child charttopping hits, you will recieve acomplimentary DVD, which in-cludes seven music videos, tons ofconcert footage and a premier trailerfor their upcoming “Live in At-lanta” concert DVD. All togetherthis disc is a solid last effort fromDestiny’s Child. “#1’s” capturesthe highlights of BeyonceKnowles, Kelly Rowlands andMichelle Williams’ careers. Unfor-tunately for all you Destiny’s Childfans out there, the band has takenan indefinite hiatus. Although thereis some light at the end of the tun-nel each singer looks to be startinga solo career.

While Beyonce seems tohave a steady lead with popularitypost DC, her other bandmates arenot far behind. If their solo careersprove to have anything close to thesuccesses they have had as a bandthe girls will continue on for years.Whether you are a full fledge Des-tiny’s Child Fan or they are a guiltypleasure, this CD is a great buy. Irate this CD, 7/10

How old is Madonna now?Besides Cher, very few artists canmake it in to there 40’s and still havewhat it takes to make a solid album.Madonna tries to go against theodds by putting out her 14th album,“Confessions on a Dance Floor.”Madonna’s music has lost its luster.She was known for stirring up con-troversy but it looks like this rebornKabbala worshiping, mother of twohas lost her shock factor. I don’tknow whether it is her new soccermom persona, but her creativeedge seems to be missing, and it isevident in her newest album.

Although the song “HungUp”, her latest single to hit theairwaves, is a mediocre dance sin-gle, that is about as good as it getsfor this album. Madonna was atrend setter, but her transforma-tions have appeared more calcu-lated as she has aged, as if she istrying to predict the next dominantstyle instead of confidently settingit. Instead of reinventing herself asshe has done in the past from al-bum to album, Madonna looks asthough she has run out of inspira-tion and is having to repeat pastsuccesses. The biggest dud on thisCD is, “I Love New York City.” Thelyrics in the song are absolutelyhorrible and Madonna should beashamed. “I don’t like cities but Ilike New York/ Other cities make mefeel like a dork.” It looks like Ma-donna’s song writing abilities aresorely lacking on this disc. Afterlistening to this CD, I have to ad-mit I feel like I have lost a valuablehour of my life, and by no meansdo I wish this upon anyone else. Irecommend if at all possible toavoid buying Confessions on aDance Floor. I admire Madonna’sefforts but not enough to boost thisCD’s rating higher than 4/10.

By Echo reporterAmanda Tascher

By Echo reporterAmanda Taschner

Recently I have been con-verted to country music and if youlike Hicksville and its lovely resi-dents, then a Keith Urban song isa must. He definitely proves thathe’s not about to set down hisguitar to tip cows in Tennesseebut instead amazes us with an-other album of good ol’ countrymusic.

The song, “Days Go By” isa happy-go-lucky-drive-down-the-highway-just-got-off-of-worktype of song that is relaxing aswell as rejuvenating. It’s definitelynot rock but is certainly a greattreat for your ears.

Songs like “Better Life” letsus all know that we won’t bestuck with a curfew all our livesand we’re bound to turn eighteensome day, and it’s certainly uplift-ing. It lets us know that there areothers who face the same ordealsand that someday things will be-gin to look up.

Urban has certainly mas-tered the chords and he canchoose to bend them any whichway he wants to make a songunique and tasteful. He’s got agood list of lovey-dovey songsranging from fast paced like, “ICould Fly” to slow ones like,“Making Memories of Us”, a bal-lad of remembering those that youhave loved and lost. These are fol-lowed by very emotional songssuch as, “Nobody Drinks Alone”- perfect for a rainy day. His Aussieaccent is riveting and his talentedguitar playing controls yourheartbeat to just the right beat.It’s truly a great investment.

This album is the first coun-try album I have ever bought andI’m pleased. There are somesongs I don’t listen to much;therefore, I rate it an 8/10.

EntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainmentEntertainment Page 7

Seekers Discover the GoldenSeekers Discover the GoldenSeekers Discover the GoldenSeekers Discover the GoldenSeekers Discover the GoldenSnitch of Harry Potter MoviesSnitch of Harry Potter MoviesSnitch of Harry Potter MoviesSnitch of Harry Potter MoviesSnitch of Harry Potter Movies

The fourth installment of thevastly popular “Harry Potter” serieshas been greatly anticipated sincethe third movie came out in July2004.

On opening night, eager fanswore costumes and lined up hoursbefore the moviewas set to hittheaters. At12:01am, loads ofpeople took theirseats all eagerly an-ticipating directorMike Newell’s por-trayal of what is per-haps the most popu-lar book in the se-ries.

There is noslow start to thismovie, only a jumpyone as Newelltakes the first 100pages of J.K.Rowling’s bookand dispensesthem into the first15-20 minutes, rely-ing on the audi-ence’s knowledgeof the book to helpunde r s t and ing .Forget about theDursleys or Mrs.Weasley, there isno time for that insuch an action filledmovie.

The elder Wealeys, Bill andCharlie are also edited from the scriptand in no time at all the audiencefinds themselves following Harry,Ron and Hermione to Hogwarts fortheir fourth year at the wizardingschool.

Once we get to this part in themovie, the plot line becomes mucheasier to follow for non-Harry Potterfans who only watch the movies.The action sequences flow from oneto the next, instead of awkwardlyjumping trying to provide to muchbackground.

The tournament scenes are fast

paced and exciting, especially thedramatic scene in which Harry isfighting the dragon. The other chal-lenges are brilliantly edited particu-larly the effects of the portkey thattakes Harry and Cedric to the grave-yard for the confrontation with Lord

Voldemort.The roles of numerous characters

are selectively cut. The Tri-Wizardparticipants have miniscule partsconsidering how essential they areto the plot of the novel. It might havesomething to do with the fact thatVictor Krum looks 30 and FleurDelacour looks like you could snapher in half. Rita Skeeter and herQuick Quotes Quill are reduced tosimply standing around and SiriusBlack’s role was severely dimin-ished. However, other than that andthe portrayal of the other schools,the movie is faithful to J.K Rowling’s

ful event that is fun andwhile the girls dream aboutthe event, the guys dreadthe dancing.

My only problem with theevents were that the girlsdress “robes” did not looklike robes to me, and themajority of the time theyoung students simply wear

jeans and a sweaters instead ofrobes.

Special effects steal the show dur-ing the two and a half hours. Whetherwe get to see a dragon scaling theside of a roof, or Victor Krum with asharks head trying to rescueHermione, the skill in which theseare done will simply astound you.

During this show I laughed, Ijumped, and I was entertained. Thismovie had all the makings of thebook: entertaining. I rate this movie7 ½ of 10 dropping points becauseof the mediocre acting from some ofthe younger actors and the fact thatit simply it isn’t the book.

by Echo Reporter: Jordyn Delville-Pratt

By Echo Reporter:Brandon Timko

Harry Potter, an epic tale ofrags to riches as one young boygoes from sleeping in a closet tothrowing golden balls and wav-ing his magic stick while soaringthrough the sky on his enchantedbroomstick. When I first heardthat they were making the HarryPotter book into a movie, Ithought to myself “I’ve alreadyseen this film”, it’s called “HowHigh”.

In case you’ve been in a comasince kindergarten, “Puff theMagic Dragon” was never abouta dragon and Harry Potter mostcertainly is not about magic. I’veseen Jay and Silent Bob films thatmake more sense than Harry Pot-ter. If you don’t believe me, thentell me the last time you’ve seena dragon, wizard or goblin. Haveyou ever seen a flying car? Howabout a talking tree or better yeta talking hat? If you answeredyes to any of these questionsthan you must have realised thetruth, Harry Potter is about a boyon drugs.

It’s no wonder J.K. Rowlingwas dirt poor; she’d spent all hermoney on “motivation”. She’snot the first famous writer to havedone this, just read “One flewOver the Cuckoo’s Nest” by aciddriven Ken Kesey or the popular“Alice in Wonderland” by LewisCarroll.

I must admit however that hercharacter names are quite crea-tive. Harry Potter could be de-rived from the drug affiliation“Pot”. Hermione is obviouslyderived from the wordhemorrhoid (Come on, like thatnever crossed your mind). I’mnot endorsing the idea of usingdrugs, but it certainly makes for

interesting novels.Why is it that on the cover of

every book, Harry is riding some-thing or the other? First it startsoff innocently with him on abroomstick, then it progresses toa car (P.S., if your car is flying,you need to pull over), then itstarts getting really weird. Wherein the world do you get a giganticbird like the one on the cover ofthe third book?

If this guys not on drugs thanI’ve got to find out where I canget me one of those bad boys.The fourth book presents the clas-sic fire breathing dragon. Whatimagination. J.K. I think you’vegot to reload on some of that“motivation” sister. Couldn’t youhave had him riding an elephantor a cloud?

Drug affiliation aside, there areother things that really grind mygears about Harry Potter, like howthis guy is always meddling inother peoples business, what awise-guy.

He’s clearly never learned torespect his elders. This Voldemortfellow, he must be at least fifty,yet Harry’s always trying to stirit up with him. Also, in the book“The Prisoner of Afghanistan”,he frees a guy from jail. HeyHarry, dude’s probably in therefor a reason.

He gets hit by lightening andsuddenly he thinks he’s TonySoprano. In real life this guywould have been taken out to thewood shed long ago, kaput. Still,I wouldn’t mess with Harry Pot-ter. He lives in a closet and hisparents were brutally murdered.This guy’s straight out ofCompton. On top of all that hehas a huge scar on his face (I’vedefinitely seen this movie before).

Despite the hidden drugreferences,the questionable char-acter names and the odd bookcovers, Harry Potter has becomeone of the most popular noveland movie series of all time.

The special effects in the mov-ies are incredible. I just wishthey’d cast Afro Man to play therole of Harry Potter.

Anti Harry Potter RantAnti Harry Potter RantAnti Harry Potter RantAnti Harry Potter RantAnti Harry Potter Rant

plot.The new characters such as Mad-

Eye Moody, were superbly cast.The comedic antics of the Weasleytwins and the petty tension betweenRon, Harry and Hermione were hi-lariously portrayed. Draco Malfoy

is, of course, back as Har-ry’s main nemesis, and thisyear we get to see him turnedinto a ferret, which is worth-while in itself.

Cho Chang, Harry’s loveinterest in the books, playsa miniscule role which isinteresting considering thelarge part she plays in thefifth book. Whether or notthey will write her back into the script for the fifthmovie is a mystery that isyet to be told. Besides that,she looks about twelve, adisappointing cast for thosewho pictured her as theglamourous sixth year thatshe is supposed to be.

The Yule Ball is a beauti-

Harry Potter and the HalfHarry Potter and the HalfHarry Potter and the HalfHarry Potter and the HalfHarry Potter and the HalfBlood PrinceBlood PrinceBlood PrinceBlood PrinceBlood Prince

“Harry Potter and the Half-BloodPrince” is full of twists and unex-pected turns as J.K.Rowling decides toshock readers withinthe first couple chap-ters of the latestHarry Potter instal-ment. In wha t I wouldsay is my favourite ofthe Harry Potter se-ries, Rowling bringsnew insight intoVoldemort’s charac-ter, helping you tounderstand why heis evil and how hewas able to stay alive when his cursebackfired on Harry.

A good character changes to eviland an evil one changes to good as

we lose one of the most belovedcharacters in the books.

A love match oc-curs, but staying trueto her style, it plays aminimal part in thebook, and allows read-ers to concentrate onthe parts that will set usup with anticipation inwaiting for the finalinstalment, which willhopefully be out soon.With the release of the4th movie, it is HarryPotter mania for manyfans as the excitement

stays alive on paper and on thescreen. The seventh book shouldbe amazing, and I for one cannotwait.

By Echo Reporter: Jordyn Delville-Pratt

WWWWWin a Free Sub!in a Free Sub!in a Free Sub!in a Free Sub!in a Free Sub!

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Name the title of the Harry Potter Book, write in the space provided, submit form to office and win a free sub!

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November 28, 2005

SPORTSPage 8Page 8Page 8Page 8Page 8 MondayMondayMondayMondayMonday, November 28th, 2005, November 28th, 2005, November 28th, 2005, November 28th, 2005, November 28th, 2005

Senior Girls VSenior Girls VSenior Girls VSenior Girls VSenior Girls Volleyball Tolleyball Tolleyball Tolleyball Tolleyball Team Goes for that Number One Spoteam Goes for that Number One Spoteam Goes for that Number One Spoteam Goes for that Number One Spoteam Goes for that Number One Spot

Sport ShortsSport ShortsSport ShortsSport ShortsSport Shorts

MVPs for NovemberMVPs for NovemberMVPs for NovemberMVPs for NovemberMVPs for November

By Echo ColumnistBrandon Timko

The senior girl’s volleyballteam came into the year with thehighest possible expectations. Ledby some of the most talented play-ers in B.C., they were initially rankednumber one in The Province news-paper. With this honour came re-spect, butalso a largebulls-eye ontheir backs.They re-ceived thebest effortfrom everyteam theyfaced andthey foundout how dif-ficult it canbe to sit atopthe volley-ball rankings.

S t i l l ,they finishedhigh in everytournamentthey played.Their worstfinish wasthird, withthe exception of one small lapse inthe UBC tournament. However,even after winning the KootenayClassic, they were unable to provethat they did indeed deserve theirposition atop the throne. That wasuntil they competed in the RedSerge tournament sponsored bythe Coquitlam R.C.M.P.

They competed hard, as theyalways do, and their efforts paid off.They won the Red Serge tourna-

ment, defeating every opponentwho crossed their path. Theyhandled each team they facedwith relative ease, losing only oneset to Gleneagle along the way.In round robin play they beatMt.Sentinel, Handsworth andSeaquam in two sets apiece aswell as downing Gleneagle in

three. In theplayoff roundthey once againtriumphed overGleneagle andHandsworth intwo sets along theway to meetingSeaquam in the fi-nal which theywent on to win inthree sets to claimtheir prize.

The trophycan be found sit-ting in the newtrophy case bythe office. Whenasked what thekey to successwas, head coachand physics mas-termind Mr.Raaberesponded jokingly

saying “Great coaching”.The real key to success for

this team, according to Mr.Raabe,has been “great work ethic andteam unity”. This team unity washelped immensely by a popularCharles Best Athletics travel spot,Hawaii. With a group of grade 12members notoriously known bytheir peers for being fun, a trip toHawaii would have certainly

The male MVP of themonth is Mike Vieira. After yearsof training with the CoquitlamSharks summer swim team andSFA, his hard work has payed off.He competed in the 2005 Cana-dian National swimming champi-onships this summer, but thispast month he’s been busy com-peting in the B.C. High SchoolSwimming Provincials, where hehelped his Senior Boys relayteams place second, along witha fourth place finish individually.He has a bright future ahead ofhim and we can look forward toseeing him accomplish more greatswims.One of the most successful teams at Best has always been the wrestling team. With

the exception of last year, Best has always been one of the Top 10 Boy’s teams inthe province when it comes to the BC High School Championships. The team hasalready started practicing this year, and the turnout from newcomers has beenextraordinary. Wrestling’s a tough sport though, so it remains to be seen if these“newbies” will last. This year we have 2004 Provincial Champion Jordan Galaughercoming back to help coach the team, which is led by senior wrestlers Ian Lee,Rebecca Innis, Jimmy Mahaffey and Chris Tse.

s t rength-ened teamunity. Theteam cur-rently sitsat secondin the pro-v i n c i a lrankings,one spotb e h i n dP i n e t r e eand ahead

of PrinceG e o r g e ,Semiahmoo,Handsworthand Riverside.

W i t htournamentsa n dvacationingaside, theteam is nowfocused onthe most im-portant por-

By Echo Columnist Brandon Timko

The junior girls vol-leyball team has played inthe shadows of their sen-ior counterparts the entireseason. These types ofthings happen when yourelders are the pre-seasonnumber one team in theprovince.

Despite little fan-fare they’ve experiencedan enormous amount ofsuccess makingDr.Charles Best the hot-bed for girl’s volleyball.

Thanks to previous tourna-ment results and an outstanding 1st

place finish in the district champi-onships, they qualified for the pro-vincial championships.

They finished sixth out of afield of 32 senior girls teams at theSFU tournament. A sixth place fin-

The female MVP for thismonth is Ali Joyce.She is an experienced member ofthe senior girl’s volleyball teamwho has played exceptionallywell.She mans the middle position forthe squad and recently earnedAll-Star recognition along withfellow team mate Karlee Diesingfor the Fraser Valleychampionships.She has shown excellent passingand blocking skills for theduration of the season. Nice workAli!

Special note this week goes out to Cam Braun (a.k.a Killer Cam).Killer is known mostly for his role as school bully, but it is a littleknown fact that he starred on the senior boy’s volleyball squad thispast season. He was the heart and soul of the team, as well as themuscle. He played hard every match and was an inspiration to histeam mates. Cam is currently a bachelor and can be found pumpingiron in the school’s sky gym.

Juniors Fly Under the RadarJuniors Fly Under the RadarJuniors Fly Under the RadarJuniors Fly Under the RadarJuniors Fly Under the Radar

ish would not normally be worthnoting, but considering that theteams they faced consisted of oldergirls, the finish was impressive.

They also won the Slocantournament, and achieved successwith strong second and third placefinishes in two other 16 team tour-

neys. Accordingto head coachMr.Jones the keyto success hasbeen “good pass-ing and excellentdefense”.

T h eteam warmed upfor the provincialsby competing inthe Fraser Valleychampionshipsthis past week.

U n f o r t u -nately, they weredowned in the

quarterfinals. They are now readyto bring their A game to theprovincials.

They depart for Ft. St. Johnson Thursday in search of the muchcoveted title, “ProvincialChampions”.Sooner or later thesegirls will be commanding attention.

tion of their season. They recentlycompeted in the District champion-ships, beating Riverside in the semi-finals and falling to Pinetree in thefinals. They then competed in theFraser Valleys and finished secondto reach the Provincial Champion-ships. There were 12 teams com-peting in the Fraser Valleys with 6going to provincials and a 7th thatearned a spot through a wild cardmatchup. With a hard workinggroup like this they are sure to makeus proud.

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