CompassThe

ContentsThe Climb

By Dustin Hess

6

Flippin Out

By Yardley Thomack

13

By Alexa MoreyA Dream Deferred32

By Morgan DeshasierCooking with Care28

By Essence ReeceHorsin’ Around12

By Molly LongtonWakeboard Wonder8

By Hope WilliamsFun in the Sun37

By Zach BroadThe Book of Love17

By Taylor KehoeFlying 1st Class26

Contents

By Alexa Morey

Horsin’ Around

Fun in the Sun

Flying 1st Class

Tanner Dewalt: I am a tenth grader at

West Senior High and I enjoy playing sports. Last year I injured my knee in a football scrim-mage. I had surgery and I can’t play sports anymore. I plan to be

an orthodontist because they make a lot of money.

Dear Readers, If you’ve followed us in the past, you’ve noticed that our maga-zine has been growing and becoming a true publication from its already great layout and set-up in tri one of 2010-2011 school year. We’ve assembled a new layout and have introduced a thematic consistency in our ‘We Are West’ pages. The students have been taught about the basic elements of design, including contrast, repetition, alignment and proximity. The themed ‘We Are West’ pages create a feeling of familiarity in the magazine while still painting a picture of what we are all about here at West. I would also like to address you, as the reader, and thank you for being a faithful follower of the magazine. If this is the first edition of our magazine that you’ve read, I thank you for taking the time out of your busy life to stop and read up on our hard work. I encourage anyone to go back and read our previous editions at any point at their own pace. We are online now, and will stay that way for as long as possible. Welcome to your window into our world, we’re glad to have you here, and can’t wait to release our next issue.

Letter from the Editor

Other StaffZach BroadMorgan DeshasierDon DuPontDustin Hess

Kayla HowseZach JohnsonTaylor KehoeMolly Longton

Alexa MoryLuther MosleyDayton RistowMija Sheldon

Essence Reece: I'm a sophomore at West. I am an outdoors type of person that loves taking pictures. I like to try new stuff. I am very shy but I love to listen to stories. I hope to go far in life and achieve a lot.

Jordan Langley: I love to make people smile. Cheer-leading is one of my favorite things to do. I also love pho-tography, taking photo’s can tell stories and that’s why I love it. I want to be a lawyer when I’m older.

Hope Williams: I am a senior, and I will be attending col-lege next year. Photography is one of my many strengths. I am currently learning about journalism. Cheerleading and riding horses are my favorite sports.

Max Ebach: My interests are video games and sleeping. My plans for the future are to become a game designer to build virtual worlds and characters. I decided to take this class because I enjoy writing stories true or false.

Brian Bailey: I'm interested in jour-nalism so I figured this class would be the one to take. I ski and snowboard in the winter and I Aggres-sive Skate in the spring, summer and fall. I play guitar and have a gig in

Florida in the summer.

Kendall McItyre: Hi, My name is Kendall. I’m a Sophmore here at West this year and signed up to take this class because it sounded really interesting! I’m not particularly fond of writing too much but I do like photography and making

the layouts!

Kayla O’Shaughnessy: I am very outgoing, I love

to hang out with my friends and have a good time! My favorite place to go is down-town to the beach! I do cheerleading for the Tra-verse City West Titans be-cause I’m a cheerful person

and most of the time happy!

Yardley Thomack: I always try to stay posi-tive and love to have hang out with friends. I especially like latin dancing. I love animals and want to be a veterinarian but I also like to write. I swim downtown in my free time, but I also like

biking and walking because I love summer.

Jeff Thomack is a sweet, loving father but always strives for adventure. Whenhiskidswerefiveandsix,heheadedtofulfillhisdreamofclimbing Mount Rainier. “It was the hardest physical thing I had ever done besides rais-ing two kids,” Thomack said. He had to do rope work, be physically in shape, and study the routes, since they don’t just let anyone climb it. Thomack trained for two years and felt pretty prepared for the interview required for a permit. He was originally going with four people but two backed out at the last second. Jeff and his best friend Dave gave themselves ten days to climb it but did it in four. “It was not only physically challenging, it was dangerous,” Jeff said. There were high altitude, tra-verse over the glaciers, avalanches, and rock slides. “You could hear them rumble through the mountain but we avoided them,” Jeff said. The firstdaytheywenttohighcamp.Ittook them twelve hours with heavy backpacks.

The next day they rested because they were so exhausted. The third they woke up at one in the morning to head towards the summit. It took them eight hours to get through very tricky glaciers. Whentheyfinallyreachedthesum-mit, it was so snowy they could not see anything, but they could smell the sulfur from the volcanoes. “It was very emotional when you hit the summit because it was such an accomplishment,” Thomack said. Jeff only got to stay a few minutes on the summit because he had to go down before bad weather hit. Also the descending was even harder than climbing up because the snow is warmer during the day. IttookJeffandDaveanotherfivehours to get down to high camp. “When I got off the moun-tain I was so exhausted and had second degree burns from the sun and I had to go to the doctor because I picked up a parasite by drinkingunfilteredglacierwater,”Thomack said. He wouldn’t do itagainattheageoffiftyone,but decides raising kids is hard enough.

Top: Thomack climbstMount Ravier, leaving a foot trail behind him. Above: Stopping for a moment on the edge of a cliff, Thomack has his picture taken by his best friend and climbing partner, Dave. Bottom: One of the views of the tops of clouds taken from above during the climb of Mount Ranier, which is located in west-central Washington.

ClimbThe

By Yardley Thomack

Have you ever felt like you were chasing something that most people would not only not chase, but run away from? Conservation Officer Sean Kehoe has. In 2010, Traverse City had a rare sighting. A 250 pound black bear was running loose and wreaking havoc all over Traverse City. Kehoe got called out at 3 a.m. on a cold fall day. The police department had called him and asked him to come down and meet them because of a bear running loose. Officer Kehoe was both curious and hopeful that it would all turn out okay. When he arrived at the scene, he sized up the big furry black bear that stood in front of him. After three hours of watching and chasing down the bear, it ran off into what every-one thought was a swamp. But the bear had taken a detour. Everyone went home and got some well needed rest. The bear was gone and should not harm anyone anymore. When the phone rang again during Kehoe’s nap around 8:30, he learned that the bear had run all the way across town.

For the second time in five hours officer Kehoe pulled on his green and grey work uniform. He put on his heavy utility belt, laced up his big heavy black boots and climbed into his truck once again. He found the crowd of people and of course the same bear that he had seen that morning. As he chased the bear through back yards and fences, he finally treed the bear. He had to keep the bear in the tree until the tranquilizer team arrived. As the bear sat in the

tree breaking a few branches here and there, it looked out at the crowd of people watching. The bear tried to come down several times. The bear was five feet away staring into its mischievous eyes. When the tranquilizer team arrived, Kehoe had been trying to keep the bear in the tree for a couple hours. They shot the bear down but did not hurt it. It was just asleep for the drive up to its new home, where it could be set free and run free. Thay hauled the 2-year-old male 250 pound male black bear up to Missaukee County to set him free. The local news stations were on the story in minuets, covering it every hour and the news paper did a story about it. This was the first bear that Kehoe had ever dealt with and when he finally got home at around twoish he took a very llong nap. In 2011 Traverse City has had more than five bear sightings. Kehoe has been called to more and more each year. Bear populations are growing and the city is expand-ing into rural areas. The bears

BEARAn Un able Taskby Taylor Kehoe

7

WakeboardWonder

Standing just over five feet tall, Taylor Kehoe takes flight over the water. Fifteen year old Taylor moved to Traverse City with her parents and two siblings. With winter being her favorite season that was a good move for her sake. Ironically though, she is just another crazy water-loving girl. Constantly on the open water in the summer enjoying water skiing, Wake boarding, Surfing, and Tubing. “Wake boarding is my favorite,” Taylor said. She began wakeboard-ing and surfing two years ago.

“I was super-excited, but also kind of nervous all at the same time,” Taylor said. She said that adrena-line rushes through her body every time she gets up and rides. “It was easy. The first time I tried it I got right up,” Taylor said. Everyone is good at something, but you are not the best when you first start. “One time I fell and got the wind knocked out of me,” Taylor said. But getting the wind knocked out of her was no rea-

son to quit. Taylor said that the best time to go riding is be-tween seven and nine at night when the lake is calm, making it easier to ride. Choppier waves make it harder the get up and ride well. Lake Leelanau is Taylor’s nirvana. “When you reach down and feel the water its like no feeling you’ve ever felt because it’s so smooth,” Taylor said.“I’d rather not compete because I just like to do what I want,” Taylor said.

WakeboardWonderTaylor Wakeboarding

on lake Leelanau. Photo credit : Hunter Kehoe

by Molly Longton

WakeboardWonderWakeboardWonder

on tradition

Fishing can make some of the best memories in life, and fishing has always been a hobby of mine. This is why I have decided to write a story on fishing, telling youabout the man who has taught me every-thing I know: my step-father, Mike Gunderson. All through Gunderson’s life, he has had many passions. Football, basket-ball, and other sports. Fishing, however, has always been a hobby of his. When the opportunity seeks, he is out on the water. “I would live on the water if I could.” With fishing being his life long pas-sion, there are many great memories and stories to share, however, there is one in particular that has always stayed with him. It all started when Mike was only 13 years old. It was a cloudy day out. Windy, rough, cold, and Mike and his dad decided to go out on the water

so that his dad could teach him how to fish. They had been trolling for Walleye using a red and silver hot’n’tot for bait. After hours of fishing, Mike finally thought that he had gotten a fish. He was so excited to tell his dad, but his dad only thought that it was some weeds that got caught on his hook. As Mike was sitting there, trying hard to real this fish in to prove his dad wrong, all he can think was, “How proud dad is going to be of me,” and “How excited I feel because I am learning something from my dad and it is my first big fish.” It ended up not only being his first walleye ever to catch, but it was 20 inches. Now that is a story that is worth retelling. The big question is, what did he do with it after he caught the fish? The

guys ended up keeping it, and anoth-er father son experience was taught, how to gut a fish. That night, the two cleaned out and gutted the fish, and Mike’s mom cooked it up. “Ever since that day, Walleye is my favorite fish to keep and eat,” Gunderson said. “Ever since then, I want to fish more and more. Now Mike enjoys taking his young-est son out to teach him how to fish, just like Mike’s dad did. He is where I got all my excellent information from, which passed on his passion to me. I only wish I could be as passionate about something And I can’t wait until I can pass on every-thing I have learned to my children in the future.

Hooked

Left: Mike Gunderson (right) holds a string a fish with his father and stepson. Middle: Zach Johnson proudly holds his walleye, aided by his stepfather. Zach holds up his prize catch walleye.

9

WESTWE ARE

Kieran Hall, Lukas Blakken-Esser, Casey Voss, Stephanie Long, and Alex Wyant play their drums at activity night while everyone dances along. Photo Credit: The Odyssey Staff.

Ben Phillips, Alex Wyant, Malloy Kaysserian, James Wheelock, Jeff Linenger perform at the West V.S Central Pep Rally. Photo Credit: The Odyssey Staff

Christine Haight, Paul Sullivan, Bethany Molnar, Derek Pucciairello, Play there Cymballs after one of our home football games. Photo Credit: Cheryl Williams

WEST

Kieran Hall, Lukas Blakken-Esser, Casey Voss, Stephanie Long, and Alex Wyant play their drums at activity night while everyone dances along. Photo Credit: The Odyssey Staff.

Ben Phillips, Alex Wyant, Malloy Kaysserian, James Wheelock, Jeff Linenger perform at the West V.S Central Pep Rally. Photo Credit: The Odyssey Staff

Bethany Molnar, Derek Pucciariello, and Brandon Barth play their Cymbals after one of the home football games. Photo Credit: Cheryl Williams

Mallory Kaysserian, leads the Drumline through the hallways, getting everyone ready for the Home-coming Pep Rally. Photo Credit: The Odyssey Staff.

The Drumline marches through the Homecoming Parade to Thirlby Field for activity night.

By: Hope Williams

When Hope was just a little girl she loved riding horses, she still loves doing it to this day. When she grew older she thought that performing her horses in shows would be a great idea. Her favorite thing to do now is performing in a horse show, which is perfect for her, and the passion she has for horses. Hope loves performing in front of people. Horses are one of her favorite animals she says. She owns three that she keeps at her sisters house. Their names are Miss Mare, Sazar and Nova. She works with them in the shows that she goes to. She has been performing her horses in these shows for seven to eight years with the help of her family. Some of the shows are at the fair grounds in Traverse City and some in Lake Ann. She also performs in the “Fun horse shows” in Kalkaska and some twilight shows, most of them being speed shows. Hope has performed with her horses so many times it’s too much to count. She says she doesn't even know how many times she performed. “I find horse shows fun and relaxing,” she said. She is most proud of how far and how much she’s progressed in horse shows. Hope said that riding in shows is just one of the ways that she enjoys time with her horses. “When I started riding horses I thought it would be more fun to do activities with them.” Hope said. “I love performing in front of people,” she said. She has been performing with her horses ever since.

Horsin’Around

Main Photo: Hope’s horse eating his feed in the pasture. Left:Hope poses with one of her horses.

By Essence Reece

12

This winter, Reese Spaulding ’11, will become a movie star. Reese will be traveling to Norway and skiing for Epic Planks, his new spon-sor, for a skiing video. It won’t be his first visit to Norway, however. “Dropping in on Hafjell in Norway headed for 100-foot tabletop on my last run is the most hyped on skiing I’ve ever been,” said Reese. The Hafjell Alpine Center was built for the 1994 Olympic games in Lille-hammer. “The main reason I like skiing is because it gives me something to do and get better at all winter long,” said Reese. Reese has placed in 27 differ-ent freestyle competitions, including the 2010 USASA nationals, where he placed 17th. While the switch flatspin 720 is his favorite trick, he plans to add several more tricks this year, including a double flatspin, and a late cork 720. Last Febuary, Reese took first place in the Downtown Throwdown in Traverse City. His rewards included a new sponsor, a ski jacket, and any Nordic boots that he wanted, including those not in stores yet.

Scott Wethy

Flippin Out’

Photo: Ansel WootersPhoto: Scott Wethy

By Dustin Hess

Top Left: Reese doing a Lincon 540 at Crystal Mountain during a competi-tion. Top Right: Taking advantage of the rails at the former State Hospital,

Reese performs a Frontside Pretzel 270. Bottom Photo: Reese stomps a switch flatspin 720 on a table top at Crystal Mountain. Photo: Scott Wethy

Filmstrip Photos: Hunter Meyerson and Collin Diver edit their

project. Evan Kel-logg, Nick Kurtz, Zak

Squires, and Kaythryn Orwig set up the cam-era to determine the best angle for filming

through the mirror in the Library Media

Center. Reviewing her storyboard, Alexan-

dria Northup prepares for shooting a scene for her movie in the balcony overlooking the commons. Gath-

ered around the edit-ing screen, advanced

class members Charlie Pacer, Levi Mains,

Ryan Ellsworth, Graeme Placek, Joey Caraccio, Alex Burch, and Araon Klinefelter consider changes for their video project.

Caraccio’s video “Drivin’ on a Dream”

received first place in the Bill Marsh Video Scholarship contest,

winning a $2,000 prize. The video

followed a charac-ter falling asleep at

his computer and dreaming of driving

his dream car. Group members Zak Squires, Kaythryn Orwig, Dal-

ton Terpening, Alex Garvin, and Dylan

Kennedy discuss their project. Photos: Max

Ebach and Staff

We Are West

15

Photography is a great skill to have and to know. Many people take pictures of their friends or at a family event, but some people like to do actual photography, like working with the shutter speed, the aperture, and working with the rule of thirds. Dayton Ristow is one of those people. She loves to work with photography and takes amazing pictures. Dayton was a student here at West Senior High but she has recently moved back to Montana where she is from. She shows us that if you’re dedicated enough, anyone can do something they love. Dayton is a very creative person. She likes to draw, make collages and enjoys photography as well. Dayton’s creativity definitely overflows into her personality. Dayton said that she wants people to remember her by her “crazy, outgoing personality.” She also wants people to remember her by knowing that she does not care how other people see or judge her and that she won’t let other people tell her what she is or isn’t. She’ll never let other people push her around. Although her personality is great, Day-ton occasionally has a hard time staying focused on certain tasks and tends to procrastinate a little. She began taking photographs when she was seven years old. “I couldn’t stop taking my finger off [the shut-ter],” Dayton said. In the early days, she would build structures to take pictures of. “I would put things on top of objects and make them look weird,” Dayton said. To go along with her outgoing personality, she also has pretty strong opinions about the types of qualities that she isn’t too fond of in others. She really does not appreciate when other people act stuck up and rude to other people, or are just simply mean to others. She certainly has an extremely unique personality which is one of the things that makes her different from all of the rest. She is not afraid to be herself and speak her mind. Many admire the fact that she does not let other people’s opinions

Capturing The MomentBy: Kendall McIntyre

16

Stories about family can inspire understand-ing, remind someone of what matters most, and even teach some profound lessons along the way. Tamara Broad is reading a book called Her Mothers Hope by Francine Rivers, one of a series of Christian Romance novels Rivers has written starting in 1993. “The book talks about a girl, who talks about her family as a child, and she grows up to have a family of her own. The story transitions to one of her daughters who be-comes the new narrator, and tells about how she percieves her mother as she grows up,” said Broad. Broad said that the novel does more than just tell a good story, it also teaches lessons about life. “I’m learning about family dynamics, for-giveness, and grace. I am learning that your perception of the same situation, or family is different for each person. For example: the mother, based on her experience and perception, is saying and doing something for her daughter’s good. her daughter per-cieves her mother hating her, and being unfair, and mean. Ultimately the daughter feels like she never does anything good enough,” said Broad. The novel includes many situations that are relatable to contemporary audiences. “The mother never explains what she is trying to do, and that she is just trying to help the daughter,” said Broad. Broad said that the novel contains lessons for anyone who reads the book, especially lessons on caring, com-passion and love. “I think the author is trying to get the reader to see people beyond what they say, and do. So that we can develop grace, and compassion, and hopefully love each other just for who they are, not what they want them to be,” said Broad. Although Broad had not finished the novel at the time, she said she hoped to learn more about what the mother did and why she made those choices.

“This would be important,” she said, “so the daugh-ter knows that the mother loved her so much, and that when the daughter finds out, she can finally believe her mother because she spent so much time believing something else.” “I think that because the daughter didn’t feel like she was loved, that when she has kids she will try to make sure she shows them a lot of love,” said Broad. The novel could be relevant to high school students, too, said Broad. “I believe this should be a book that high school language classes should read, talk about, and dissect. It is so important to know that, parents and teachers do things for reasons you might not be able to see,” said Broad. As you can see this sounds like a very interesting book that clearly teaches us many lessons of love, and com-passion. I’m going to read this book, and I encourage you to also.

The book of

Tamara Broad reads “Her Mother’s Hope” at her home. The novel has been translated into over 20 languages, and enjoys best-seller status worldwide. Photo: Zach Broad.

Love

17

by Zach Broad.

Yummy fudge, fudge, fudge and more fudge. Wouldn’t it be cool to have your own fudge shop to go to everyday? You would have all the fudge you want. When you got older you wouldn’t have to look for a job. You would have one. Kayla Howse works in her family busi-ness called “Howse’s Fudge” in Harbor Springs, Michigan. People who have their own business can be set on a job even at a young age. “I started work-ing there when I was 12. It was not really work-ing though, more of just playing around and eating candy,” Kayla said. Since the majority of the people who work there are fam-ily they are very close but don’t always get along. “Sometimes, my older sisters fight and argue but it’s not too bad,” Kayla said. Being in the family busi-ness, Kayla said she does not have to have mean bosses or be afraid of getting fired. “Having my dad for a boss is really cool. I don’t really have to worry about getting fired either

which is a good thing,” Kayla said. Working with chocolate and cherries, the job itself is pretty sweet, too. “I pretty much dip stuff like pretzels and cherries in chocolate all day. It’s actually very fun and I get to eat stuff while I’m dippin’,” Kayla said Just because people work with their family doesn’t mean they can goof off the whole time, either. They still have to do their job and learn just as much as everybody else. “It is actually a great

experience. We get to learn a lot about businesses and a lot of dif-ferent life lessons and we really do have to work and not mess around,” Kayla said All the hard work has paid off for the family, who have had the shop for many years. “I love our fudge shop. It’s fun working there and I love that I can be there with my family.” Kayla said.

Kayla Howse, middle, turning fudge with the paddle, while her siblings also work to make fudge in the shop. Bottom: The entrance to Howse’s Fudge shop at 201 E. Main Street, Harbor Springs, Michigan. Photos by Mrs. Howse

Fudgiesin the Howseby Jordan Langley

“Basketball and Volleyball was a way for me to show how competitive I am,” Kellie Langley said. Kellie Langley was one of the best athletes at La Salle High School, in St. Ignace, Michigan, where she played basketball and volleyball. For her efforts and her skills on the volleyball court, Langley also received a partial scholarship to Nothern Michigan University. Not bad for someone who does not even like to play the game. “I never really liked volleyball,” Langley said. Langley started playing volleyball her freshman year and was starting on varsity. She also was starting on varsity for basketball as a freshman. She said the only reason she started playing Volleyball was to be “Athlete of the Year.” “I was only in volleyball so I could win Athlete Of The Year,” Langley said. During her sophomore, junior, and senior years, Langley was team captain and selected Most Valuable Player for volleyball. While team captain, she brought the team to win all conference. “Winning all the time was like waking up on Christmas morning. It was the best feeling ever,” Lang-ley said. Even having a different coach every year did not stop from winning. Every year in volleyball they had a different coach so they could never really get close to the coach which did not make being team cap-tain any easier Langley said. “It sucked. You couldn’t get used to the coach. It was hard having to be taught different ways to do stuff every year,” Langley said. Basketball was a different story. Langley loved basketball and was just as good. She was selected Most Valuable Player during both her junior and senior years. Langley was assistant captain her junior year and team captain for her senior year. “Basketball was my sport. I loved it so much even though before every game my nerves got the best of me and I puked,” Langley said. Langley was an all-around athlete. Finally, in her senior year, she won “Athlete Of The Year.” “Being Athlete of the Year was an amazing feel-ing all my hard work payed off in the end.”

Athleteof the

Year

Top, Kellie Russell-Langley poses for her team photo with a basketball Lang-ley’s St. Ignace SaintsBottom, Kellie Russell-Langley hits the volleyball in the perfect position that could be why she won MVP.

19

We arewest

Left: Zach Broad in BNC tournament at the end of the tennis season. top right: Nick Toolie practicing at West Senior High tennis courts. Middle right: Taylor Brown, and David Mather. lower right: Connor Linch at Big North Conference Tournament. All photos: Odyssey Yearbook

Top right: Andrew Hartman practicing at West Senior High tennis courts. Lower right: Luke Piotrowski working on his serves at West Senior High tennis courts. Top left: Jake Diss also working on his serves at west senior high tennis courts. Lower left: Andrew Baker practicing at West Senior High tennis courts. 21

-

Music is an outlook, a passion, and a lifestyle for some people. Music can bring a person up out of bad situations. It can change your whole mood. You can sing or play music alone to the car radio or behind closed doors. Unless you want to be part of some-thing bigger. In Joan Longton’s case, she decided to go the group route though choirs, Choral Aires, piano lessons, and musicals. “I had to choose between sports or choir, because my mom wouldn’t let me do both,” Longton said. The piano was the first big break in music for her. “I started piano lessons at the age of nine from Winnie Otte,” Longton said. She took piano lessons with Otte twice a week for a year, thus starting her music ca-reer. By age eleven she started joining as may choirs as possible. “Music pretty much took over my life for six years, ages eleven to seventeen,” Long-ton said. She traveled to many towns with her church choir one summer. The experience gave her an opportunity not only to see different parts of the state, but to have a sense of inde-pendence, too. “We stayed in lots of different peo-ple’s houses. It was really my first time away from home,” Longton said. An an accomplished singer Longton was invited to go to Michigan State University music camps, and received scholarships to at-tend the Interlochen Arts Academy. She also landed the lead to more than a few high school musicals. Her favorite mo-ment through all her experiences in choir was

at graduation, when she was up on stage sing-ing “America the Beautiful.” “It was a unique experience to be sur-rounded by so many voices and instruments. The energy and passion was unforgettable and uplifting,” Longton said. Longton said she wanted to pass on that love and those opportunities to her daughter. “I influenced my daughter Molly to join the Northern Michigan College Children’s Choir when she was in sixth grade,” Longton said. “She tried out with my old choir teacher Mr. Puchala, which was a really great feeling.” Although she didn’t stick with it be-cause Molly would rather sing her own music and not have a choir voice, Longton remained an influence. To influence one person in your life-time is a great goal to meet. “We still sing along to the radio but, I often harmonise and Molly doesn’t like it so she makes me stop. She’s no fun,” Longton said. Music remains an important part of Longton’s life. “As long as there is some sort of sing-ing and playing of the piano in my life I will be happy,” she said. Longton is also starting to get her two-year-old granddaughter into playing the piano so she will grow up with a musical background. Music is an outlook, a passion, and a lifestyle for some. It can bring people up out of bad situations, and it can change your whole mood. Even though Longton wasn’t in a bad situation it brought her whole life up in a good way. it will always be in her life, and it will always be a passion of hers. Living on, never to be forgotten.

Top photo: Joan, middle, and two other friends photographed learning new music at Traverse City High School. Above, Joan in the play Fin-ian’s rainbow in 1981 playing Sharon her eleventh grade year. Photo credit Traverse City High School, Pines Yearbook, 1983.

Musicsoothes

theSoul

by Molly Longton

22

truea

Hunter, fisher, manager, and father. These are just a few words that describe Micheal Ebach. Born December 19, 1969, Ebach lived in Saginaw, Michigan but moved to Traverse City where he currently lives with his wife Ra-chel and four sons Jack, Max, Ben, and Charlie. Ebach’s passion in life is anything outdoors. One of the reasons for this is because of his grandpa Frasier. “He taught me about a lot of the things I like to do outdoors and he taught me how to treat people,” Ebach said. One of his earliest memories also involves his grandpa Frasier of at the dock fishing with him. It’s his earli-est memory, “because I still love doing it to this day,” Ebach said. His hobbies are fishing, hunting, and hockey, “because I enjoy the outdoors and compe-tition,” Ebach said. Even his job involves things outdoors as manager of Gander Mountain here in Tra-verse City. He enjoys the job be-cause of all the outdoors things that is sold there.

But there are also things about his job that he dislikes. One of these things is that the people who decide what goes into the stores live in Minnesota. “A lot of decisions are not made in store and affect our customers directly,” Ebach said. This means that they don’t know what the people of Michigan want

in thier stores. “The people who chose what we have in store are not lo-cal, which means we don’t carry certain things customers need,” Ebach said.

He tries to do these things with his children but finds it hard to do all these things with them “be-cause they all like different things,” Ebach said. While some of his kids enjoy the same hobbies as he does, others don’t. His kids were also the big-gest transition in life as they meant that he must take on even more re-sponsibility in life. “You have someone else you must be responsible for,” Mike said.

Above: Mike Ebach knells down next to the buck he shot.

outdoorSman

Above: The drumline moves in a row and performs in front of a crowd at the pep assembly. Bottom: The clari-nets get ready to play in front of the football crowd.

The band plans on Thirlby Field in the Cental vs. West game. All photo crdits: the Odyssey.

Kevin Kaysserian waits with his drum to move onto the field and start playing.

We Are WEST

Kevin Kaysserian waits with his drum to move onto the field and start playing.

Above: Two drummers wait in line to march onto the field and start. Bot-tom: People with their instruments, wait in a group and get ready to start marching onto the field.

We Are WEST By: Essence Reece

She’s traveled all over the country for this and now she’s finally here. The crowds waiting along with the riders nervously for them to announce the places of the grand nationals BMX race. Molly sits there wondering how she will do. As she thought once again how she had been moved up an age group only a couple of weeks before Grand Nationals. This was not the first time either. this had happened a lot it seemed she was just to good to be kept in the same group as the kids her age.

When the announcer told the crowd that Molly Longton had won first for her race, they roared and Molly had a smile plastered across her face. The day ran on carrying even more exciting events for Molly. She took home a third place and a win. After the long days of racing Molly headed home to the only town she had ever lived in: Traverse City Michigan. The long dive home with her two brothers in the car is a circus.

By: Taylor Kehoe

Top: Molly Longton on left with fellow BMX racers Logan Neiheart and Mike Sixbey at Grand Traverse BMX Race

Way. Above: Molly in all green in sec-ond place at Grand Traverse BMX Race

Way. Below Molly in green at Grand Rapids. Bottom left corner: Molly rac-

ing at Grand Traverse BMX Race Way in 2010.

Flying 1st Class

By: Taylor Kehoe

Sadness in life can change the way people live or shows how they take a different perspective on life. The story of Brian Bailey’s dog, Abby, dy-ing has brought a lot of sorrow to his life. “It was a major lesson I learned”, Brian said. In the sum mer of 2007 Brian lost his pet that he had owned ever since his life began. “Spending one last night with Abby was tough,” Brian said. Getting in bed and going to sleep and constantly thinking this is the last night you can sleep with your friend makes it easy to stay awake. “I couldn’t keep my eyes shut for more then a second without keeping my mind off Abby,” he said. He sunk in his bed wide awake and stared at his best friend and remembered all the good moments they had over the last 11 years together. Petting her warm cozy fur brings memories on how she was there to keep you warm through the harsh winter and a pil-low to sleep on when you are tired. When

Brian finally comes back to reality he notices it’s morn-ing and it was now time to head down to the vet. “The car ride over was full of sorrows,” he said. Arriving at the vet was harsh and now it was time to say our final goodbyes. “This was very difficult and it felt like I would forget to say something,” he said. Abby and Brian just stared at each other, then Brian gave her a big hug and she reacted by giving Brian a big lick on my face. “I will never forget that moment,” Brian said. He knew that he was lucky to have such a good friend. Something or someone can make major impacts on you especially if they are with you through your child life. Abby died when Brian was only 11 years old. “I will never forget the moment and day she left,” Brian said. “Witnessing the vet put down Abby shows me the importance in life,” he said.

Brian, on right, thinks back to how much he misses his dog. He was very sad at the moment, but rememberedhow lucky he was.Photo Credit: Don DuPont

AMemoryournful

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Cooking with CareBy Morgan Deshasier

There’s a wornout ste-reotype about “lunch ladies,” the ones that Adam Sandler sang about, that they are all mean and serve terrible food to punish little kids. Nothing could be further from the truth about the people who work in the cafeteria at West, however. Students say that Trish Hackett exemplifies the kind, sweet, caring, and wonderful people here at West Senior High. Hackett became inter-ested in working at schools when her daughter started school. She didn’t want to have to worry about snow days and days off, so one of her friends suggested working at a school. She started working at Central High School and when West High School opened two years later, Hackett decided to come work here as a lunch lady. “I love my job because I love working with teens. They keep me young and they are all like my kids away from home,” Hackett said. The big question everyone is wondering is how she remem-bers everyone’s names. “I look at the names on the computer when they are pay-ing for their food, and I match up the names with faces, and I slowly catch on. I mostly get the same students in my line, so that always makes it easier too,” Hackett said. Trish’s daughter is now 23- years-old and Trish is still working at West. “I loved working at West so much that after my daughter graduated I didn’t want to stop working.” Trish has been work-ing here at West for 14 years and shes not planning to stop anytime soon.

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A former Offensive MVP as a football player in the Pop Warner league left his first sport and joined the ranks of the Traverse City West Titans lacrosse team last spring. After seven years of football, Zachary Johnson has made the switch to carry a lacrosse stick instead of a pigskin. As a football player, Zach played gaurd on offense and played nose gaurd, tackle, and linebacker on defense. When seeing number 67 or 50 that was Zach running down the field. After playing football for all of those years, Zack decided to take a challenge in doing somthing else. He loved football but he said it just wasn’t for him anymore. “I didnt like the coach and it just was not fun anymore,” Zach said. Instead of just quitting sports, however, Zach took up la-crosse last spring. In one of Zach’s first games as a lacrosse player, he experienced the kind of physical play that attracted him to football in the first place. Another player was running toward him, and Zach said that he laid him out on the ground with great force. “I like the feeling of over powering the other player and crush-ing him into the ground,” Zach said. After playing six months of lacrosse he found out he liked it more then football because it was more physically demanding. “Lacrosse is more enjoyable,” Zach said. The Titan Lacrosse team opens its 2012 season in the spring against Cadillac on April 7, with two meetings against Traverse City Central on April 14, April 21, and May 5.

to the Game

Top photo: Zack Johnson (57) charges

after the opposing player, attempting

to dislodge the ball from the other’s net.

Bottom left photo: Eyeblack smeared, but with a smile on

his face, Zack leaves the lacrosse field.

Bottom right photo: Zach delivers a blow

to his opponent.

Sticking

Top left: (left to right) Paul Soma Jimmy Seecamp,

Molly Davis,Cameron Sipple,

Jeannette Guba, and Josh Wheaton sing along to the Titan

fight song during the pep assembly on the

first day of school.Top right: Hunter

Lumsden, in one of the minute to win it games on the

first day school. Bot-tom left: Kaitlynn Whittaker with an

oreo on her head for one of the minute to win it games on the first day of school. Bottom right: Eric

Fegan singing ‘We are the Champions’

in the opening day assembly.

We are westTop Left: Christine Haight and Eryl Masters at the opening day as-sembly in the audito-rium. Top Right: Principal Joe Tibladi , Joey Vanderbosch, and marching band mem-bers lead the student body in a cheer. Bottom Left: Jacob Diss in one of the “Minute to Win It” games. Bottom Right: Choral-Aires perform “We Will Rock You” at the opening day assembly.

by: Morgan Deshaiser

The crowd was cheering. Every-thing was going well. Then Tanner Dewalt’s knee twisted, caught in the football field turf. Cracking as it turned, it shattered his chances to play football forever. Last year, Tanner DeWalt suffered a knee injury that will keep him sidelined from sports for the rest of his life. Tanner dislocated his kneecap from turning his cleat in the grass and it messed with his knee. Only 15 years old today, Tanner started playing football when he was 10. The injury stopped him cold. “I was just blocking someone and my cleat got stuck in the ground and my leg twisted,” Tanner said. This gnarly accident happened so fast, Tanner DeWalt could barely describe what had happened. Fortunately one of the teammates saw everything that had happened. “The play just got over and ev-eryone was getting back to their team’s huddle, and a pile ahead kind of formed of guys and he was on the bottom because he made the tackle. Everybody got up and he was holding his knee. No one thought it was a big deal at the time,” said Zach Broad. “So the coach comes over and immediately says, ‘Get me the trainer.’ The players ran over ... and his knee was out of place and there was a bone pushing against the skin so you could see it,” Zach said. Zach was frustrated that people were getting hurt in a scrimmage before the games even started. “It didn’t feel like it was real,” Tanner said. The injury was surprising to Tanner and his parents. He can still do everything that he used to be able to do, except play football. His injury is still not fully healed yet, but it should be in two more years. Coach DeWalt, left, talks to his son, Tanner, during Pop Warner football practice. Tanner played defensive end starting in fifth grade. Photo credit: Juli Luikart

DreamADeferredBy: Alexa Morey

Deferred on traditionBy: Zach Johnson

Fishing can make some of the best memories in life, and has always been a hobby of mine. This is why I have decided to write a story on fishing, telling about the man who has taught me every-thing I know: my step-father, Mike Gunderson. All through Gunderson’s life, he has had many passions, football, basketball, and other sports. Fishing, however, has always been a hobby of his. When the oppor-tunity seeks, he is out on the water. “I would live on the water if I could.” With fishing being his life long passion, there are many great memo-ries and stories to share, however, there is one in particular that has always stayed with him. It all started when Mike was only 13 years old. It was a cloudy day out. Windy, rough, cold, and Mike and his dad decided to go out on the wa-

ter so that his dad could teach him how to fish. They had been trolling for Walleye using a red and silver hot’n’tot for bait. After hours of fishing, Mike finally thought that he had gotten a fish. He was so excited to tell his dad, but his dad only thought that it was some weeds that got caught on his hook. As Mike was sitting there, trying hard to real this fish in to prove his dad wrong, all he can think was, “How proud dad is going to be of me,” and “How excited I feel because I am learning something from my dad and it is my first big fish.” It ended up not only being his first walleye ever to catch, but it was 20 inches long. Now that’s a story that’s worth retelling. The big question is, what did he do with it after he caught the fish?

The guys ended up keeping it, and another father son experience was taught, how to gut a fish. That night, the two cleaned out and gutted the fish, and Mike’s mom cooked it up. “Ever since that day, Walleye is my favorite fish to keep and eat,” Gunderson said. “Ever since then, I want to fish more and more. Now Mike enjoys taking his youngest son out to teach him how to fish, just like his dad did. He is where I got all my excellent information from, which passed on his passion to me. I only wish I could be as passionate about something and can’t wait until I can pass on everything I have learned to my children in the future.

Hooked

Left: Mike Gunderson (right) holds a string of fish with his father and stepson. Middle: Zach Johnson proudly holds his walleye, aided by his stepfather. Zach holds up his prize catch walleye.

27

WeWestAre

Top Center: Elly Maleski swimming the butterfly. Bottom Left Center: Darby Schworm from the Traverse City West swim team swimming the back stroke.

By: Kendall McIntyre

Bottom Left: Taylor Vadeboncoeur and Madison Thompson discussing their events.Top Left: Lily Bussineau getting ready to dive off the board.

West

Top Right: Katie Chung, Hayley Hushak, having fun at a meet.Bottom Right: A swim-mer stretches to begin her events.

Bottom Center Right: Alaina Chela, Brenna Argue, and Lily Bussineau watch as their teammates swim in their events.All Photo Credit: Odyssey Staff

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Cheerleading to most would be considered not a hardcore sport and some might think takes little talent. My mom’s life as a child was all about being the great cheerleader. At the small school of Pontiac Catholic, the young cheer star was entered high school with major expectations for cheer. Through the four years, she and her team won four state titles. Her sophomore year turned out to be their best run in nationals. In Ken-tucky, Rose and her team entered the arena in their second straight appear-ance in nationals. “There was nerves from the atmo-sphere, but our routine was planted in our minds so it didn’t get to us much,” she said. Stepping into a crowd of 3,000 plus, especially in the 80’s, was a packed house. They ran out to the stage and got psyched to show off all their hard work. The music began to jam and Rose and her team knew it was time. As Rose flew through the air she remembered “annoying the crap out of my brothers by cheering nonstop all the time,” she said. Rose landed after flight in perfect form. The other competitors per-formed their routine and it was now time to hear the judges final deci-sions. “Coming from a smaller school in the part of country not know for cheerleading we weren’t expecting greatness,” Rose said. On the overall group routine the judges gave Pontiac Catholic 1st place and the girls went ecstatic. Rose continued to cheer till senior year and after senior year she was of-fered to go with her coach to Michi-gan State, but she chose to resign from the sport. The serious news had just been announced that her Mom was seriously sick and turned out to have cancer. Rose spent the rest of the time in the hospital to be with her Mom before she had to go.

CheerthroughFear Rose, on top of the pyramid, finishes off their

perfect routine. The routine qualified the team to go to nationals. Photo Credit: Tony Pizza.

A student that’s just starting out her Sophomore year at West Senior High School goes to Florida with her family every other year. She has a little brother named Rilley that is three and a half years old, and she also has a sister who’s name is Tirarn which is eighteen years old. “My grandma, grandpa and cousins live down there, so we used to visit them every other year.” Essence said. Her favorite part was going to the Alligator farm. She thought it was an awe-some experience to see all of the different types of Alligators, and it was just a neat time to see them with her family. “I thought they were a cool animal to see. I don’t know why but I just liked it there a lot.” She said. Essence also went to Dis-ney World, and Universal Studios, she goes shopping at Flee Markets with her family. She said it’s a lot of fun in Florida. She really enjoys it and always has a great time.

SunFunin the

Top photo: Essence sliding down a water side at a water park in Florida. Lower left photo: Essence and her older sister get their picture taken by the Walt Disney Statue. Lower Right: Essence at Busch Gardens Florida, while holding a parrot. Photo Credit: Jenni Reece.

by Hope Williams

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Top Left Mikey Sixbey ‘13 at Grand Traverse BMX Raceway wiping out after someone mistakenly tail-wipped him off his bike.

Bottom left Joey Fewins ‘11, and Nicolas Recolette ‘11 at Great Lakes Bay Region BMX in Midland during the even finals. Joey pushed Nick over the burm and he hit the fence.

Right photo of Molly Longton ‘13 at Grand Traverse BMX Raceway manualing during a race.

Top left Bryton Basch ‘12, at Grand Traverse BMX Raceway racing into the burm.

Top right “Bubba” Litwiller ‘09, at Great Lakes Bay Region BMX in Midland racing with style.

Bottom main photo of Jordan Newstead ‘15 at Great Lakes Bay Region BMX in midland winning another state race.

Photo credit for all six photos goes to Mary Litwiller.

WE areWEST

by Molly Longton

WE

WE

Main Photo: Charles Rennie dem-onstrates use of a video camera during Video Production filming in West’s Library Media Center. Photo credit: Compass Staff. Bottom Left: Kristen Stuedemann leads her freshman students in playing Biology Bingo. Bottom Middle Left: Tom Brown using the whiteboard to teach his Math class. Bottom Middle Right: Matt Bocian helps a student work on his slide presentation dur-ing Academic Resource. Bottom Right: Ferris University Student Teacher Rachel Lindsmeir explains a concept during a lesson that requires students to clap beats in Band Class. Above Middle: Mellissa Clone demonstartes how to use a camera correctly in her Photogra-phy Class. Above Top: Mike Wilson helps a student understand a pro-cess in Math Class. Photo Credits: Alexa Morey

stare

AREWE

west

These students are in art class, creating Henna designs. Henna is an artform were one can draw a tattoo on their body and not have it permanent. Richard Farrar, however, was molding a bowl on the pottery wheel.Photo By: Mija SheldonTop left: Allyson Aobercht, 12 grade.Bottom left: Holly Tyler, 12 grade. Center: Richard Farrar, 12 grade.

Recording the history of the school in spray paint, “The Rock” is decorated by seniors, by sports teams, by class and neighborhood councils, and for special events like Home-coming and Prom. On this day, The Rock re-minded the community of the fundraiser for the Theater Department, a haunted hayride held at Black Star Farms near Suttons Bay. All of the ghosts, ghouls, and garish corpses were played by students from West.

“Legalized Vandalism”The Rock