THE LYNXserving West Broward since 2008

VOL. 7 NO. 2 5OO NW 2O9th AVE. PEMBROKE PINES FL. 33O29 JANUARY 2015

around the world page 11 employee of the year page 2 wrestling page 14

Buttell exemplifies educational excellence

HISTORY BUFF: United States History teacher Mr. Jeffery Buttell begins a lecture in front of a class. Buttell was awarded the coveted Teacher of the Year award. Photo By Ben Tuschman

Mr. Jeffrey Buttell has been a Bobcat since day one. With several staff changes and the in-troduction of a new curriculum at the beginning of the year, But-tell remains one of the school’s most constant and exceptional educators. And that, in addi-tion to an Advanced Placement United States History exam passing rate 20 percent above the national average, earned him Teacher of The Year honors for the 2014-2015 school year.

“It feels wonderful,” But-tell said. “I’ve been nominated before and hadn’t won, so it was surprising to win, and I still feel very humbled and thank-ful for those who voted for me.”

Mr. Buttell holds the title of Social Studies Department Head at West Broward, and with that comes a great deal of responsibil-ity, and a strong relationship with other educators in the department. As a department head, Buttell must lead by example and supervise other teachers in his department.

“He is extremely organized and intelligent,” World His-tory teacher Mr. Marc Ramsey said. “He’s also a great leader, and very easy to get along with. He loves teaching so much, and that really helps him in his job.”

One of the biggest parts of any job is pleasing your super-visor. West Broward Principal Teresa Hall has a set of guide-lines that all Bobcat teach-ers should strive to achieve.

“I look for someone who has the content knowledge, and someone who can work well in a team because all my teachers work together.” Hall said. “I need someone who thinks about my kids first, because at the end of the day, that’s what’s important, the kids and educating the kids.”

Strong qualities and attri-butes are not the only things that make up a good teacher and col-league. Teachers like Buttell also put in a bunch of extra hours to truly excel, and Ramsey has said that the time Buttell dedicates to teaching, coaching, and being the department head is astounding.

“He puts his job as his top pri-ority and takes his work very seri-ously,” Ramsey said. “He’s will-ing to put in more work than almost everyone. He doesn’t just do what is expected, but he goes way be-yond that. Most teachers don’t.”

Like many other teachers and people in other fields, Mr. Buttell received his inspiration to choose his career path from someone that made an impact in his life. Like young basketball players emulate LeBron James, Buttell decided to pursue a teaching career from watching a true professional.

“I had a fantastic history pro-fessor in college and that was

the catalyst for myself becoming a teacher,” Buttell said. “He in-stilled a love of history and teach-ing in me, and I decided that this was the path I wanted to go down.”

While Mr. Buttell is an edu-cator for kids first and foremost, he can also help other teach-ers looking for some tips on how to keep their students in-terested in the material, which can be one of the most difficult tasks in the modern classroom.

“You have to make sure that the hour and a half that they’re in here has a variety of dif-ferent things,” Buttell said.

Isaiah Taylor runs his way into UM

Isaiah Taylor is one of West Broward’s finest athletes, and the University of Miami has taken notice, offering Taylor a full scholarship in order to fur-ther his career in track and field.

“We’re a very young squad,” Adrain Mann, U.M. coach of men’s sprints and hurdles, said. “These guys are going to be able to grow together, and go through the good and the bad together. [Tay-lor] is going to be great piece of the program that we are creating.”

A senior at West Broward, Taylor is a veteran of the track and field program, and has the plaudits to show for it. He has a personal best time of 10.48 seconds in the 100-meter race. To put that into perspective, Us-ain Bolt, the fastest man ever on human record, has a 100-me-ter time of 9.58 seconds, only .9 seconds less than Taylor.

The University of Miami is in the process of reconstruct-ing their track team, and hand-picking young stars to shape their program for years to come. ALL SMILES: Senior Isaiah Taylor discusses his scholarship from

UM during signing day at West Broward. Photo By Ben Tuschman

Bobcatsview whole spectrum at Color Run

As an internationally ac-claimed event and the first of its kind, the Color Run took Miami by storm late November. The course is a simple 5k (3.1 miles), but comes with a colorful twist: at every kilometer, runners garbed in white are doused with color. West Broward students have an obvi-ous affinity for the run, as there are several that attend every year.

“I did the Color Run be-cause I love to run and thought it would be a cool experi-ence,” senior Ariel Fethiere said. “I heard about it through my friend who ran it last year.”

Founded in March of 2011, the run started out small but quickly tripled its growth. It is now present in over 30 countries, hosting more than 170 events. It’s purpose is to bring a com-munity together for a celebration of “healthiness, happiness, and individuality.” As an untimed race, it attracts people of any age, gender, and physical ability. It is not uncommon to see ath-letes running the course for time as much as it is to see an elderly person in a wheelchair in the run.

The event starts early in the morning, with thousands lining up to pick up their white shirt, headband, bracelet, and race bib. There is only one rule to follow to participate in the Color Run, and that is to run the course in white clothing. This is not only to match with the other runners, but to get the most color on their clothing as possible. Large, color-ful balloon arcs signal each kilo-meter the runners must reach to get color thrown at them. Each arc is a different color, represent-ing the color powder the run-ners will be blasted with as they pass through. The color pow-der is one hundred percent food grade cornstarch, but that makes it no less difficult to wash off; it isn’t uncommon for runners to have dyed skin for a few days.

“I didn’t wash off all the color because I wanted to remember the run,” freshman Alyra Logvin said. “I was blue for days.”

Ben TuschmanStaff Writer

Isabella CarrascoOpinion Editor

Ben TuschmanStaff Writer

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CONTINUED ON PAGE 16 CONTINUED ON PAGE 10

JANUARY 20152news NEWS EDITOR: TEA PIRO

“Whether it’s the usual lecture, reading documents, or watching clips from movies, or even in-fusing music. It’s not something you can do every single day, because we’re not here to enter-tain, we’re here to make educa-tion interesting to the students.”

Sometimes a teacher can be a great educator while losing admiration from their students, though this does not apply to Mr. Buttell. Using an interest-ing and informative approach, he drills the material while maintaining a light atmosphere.

“He makes the material easy and fun to learn,” junior Grego-ry Nelson said. “Obviously, it’s still a pretty difficult class, but if you put the work in, and pay attention in class, then he’ll re-ally help you get a good grade.”

Along with many other edu-cators at West Broward, Mr. Buttell has emphasized the im-portance of student cooperation in order to succeed in his class.

“I have a very high bar for my students, and I expect them to meet that bar,” Buttell said. “You still do have good days and bad days, but you have to try and make the best of what you have.”

Of course, a high bar may leave a good portion of students behind. However, Mr. Buttell accumu-lated passing rates of 76% and 69% in his AP classes in the last

Secretary Ann Wingett has been awarded for her dedication and service to West Broward High School by being named Employee of the Year. Wingett, who has been working at West Broward for four years in the front office, has helped teach-ers, staff members, parents, and students in order to make other’s lives a little bit easier.

“There are a lot of other very qualified people who have been here longer than I have and de-serve it more than I,” Wingett said. “I feel like it’s an honor to have had my name thrown in the hat with them, but to have actual-ly been picked was phenomenal.”

As secretary, Wingett has responsibilities that include as-sisting as substitute coordina-tor, signing students in and out of school, helping parents, and answering phones, just to name a few. Through these acts, Wingett has had the op-portunity to meet and work with a variety of different people.

“[My most favorite thing is] the different people I work with,” Wingett said. “[The of-fice staff is] very different and work in different ways.”

Before working at West Bro-ward, Wingett was a secretary at Stranahan High School for 10 years and in 2007-2008, was named Employee of the

Year there as well. In 2010, for-mer Principal Daniel Traeger reached out to Wingett as he was looking for secretaries, no-ticed her ability, and hired her.

According to USNews, Stra-nahan High School, located in South Fort Lauderdale, has a to-tal makeup of 76% economically disadvantaged students while West Broward has a makeup of 24%. The total percent of stu-dents proficient in math at Strana-han is also about half of that of West Broward; Wingett worked hand-in-hand with some students, learning about their struggles.

“I had never been in an inner-city school or been exposed to anything like that before. It was

a huge eye-opener for me,” Win-gett said. “Working with some of the students at Stranahan made me proud of what I do.”

Wingett has put in an abun-dance of time and effort into West Broward through the years she has been here, and loves her job and the people she works with everyday.

“I’ve just had to learn as I go,” Wingett said. “Some situ-ations aren’t always easy for me to deal with on my own, but there’s always somebody that can handle a situation or person better than I can. In the school setting, you learn as you go and everyone is willing to help you learn, so I enjoy every bit of it, and am forever grateful.”

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Wingett shines as Employee of the YearButtell wins Teacher of the YearYolany PazStaff Writer

EOC exams added to coursesTea Piro

News Editor

Since 2011, various EOC As-sessments have been introduced to Florida schools each year, but normally only to core classes. However, as the testing season approaches for West Broward, students in both core classes, and specific elective classes, will need to prepare for mul-tiple new, computer-based tests.

“The purpose of EOC exams is to see how well the students have absorbed the information provided through the course,” Principal Ms. Theresa Hall said. “In a way it resembles a final exam, but the content is more focused on the state mandated guidelines for each course.”

Students already have fi-nal exams, so the addition of another standardized test only adds to the course work.

“I think it would benefit them [the students] because then

Bobcat Raiders makes their way to states

HARD WORK: Female Silver team dominates rope bridge to win first place in a competition at EHS. Photo By Isabella Carrasco

After an arduous five months, the West Broward Bobcat Raiders brought the season to a close at the State Championship in Lake Wales, Florida. Starting with five teams at their first competition at Everglades High School, to mov-ing onto the County Champion-ships, they succeeded in securing first place in the county for the fourth consecutive time. Thus the Male, Female, and Mixed teams, competed at the state level to de-fend their title as State Champions.

“The most difficult part of competition itself was the pres-sure that we had on us to succeed,” West Broward Male Blue Team Commander and senior Jonathan Munoz said. “West Broward is the defending county champs for four years in a row. We are ex-pected to win, and nothing less.”

There are a total of four events: Team Run, Fitness Test, Litter Carry, and Rope Bridge. The first event required teams composed of ten cadets to run a course of 2.4 miles. The Fit-ness Test had teams move 30-45 pound sandbags from one area to another, three times before pass-ing to the next team member. The Litter Carry was composed of a mile run where the team car-ries an 80-120 pound stretcher and three 30-35 pound rucks, or backpacks. According to a ma-jority of the Raiders that com-peted, it was the hardest event. The Rope Bridge, the final event, had teams transport eight cadets across a bridge of rope wrapped around two trees. Though it is considered the easiest to accom-plish physically, is one of the hardest to succeed in mentally.

“The most difficult part of competition is the mental mis-

takes that could happen,” West Broward Overall Commander and four-year Raider Michael Pinzon said. “The physical part is the easy part. There are so many chances where you can make a simple mistake and go from first to last.”

To train for competitions, the teams had practice after school four times a week, early morn-ing runs on weekends and even before school. Raiders were also expected to have optimal diet and hydration at all times.

“A Raider is the most physical-ly fit, disciplined, committed ca-det in the program,” First Sergeant and coach of the West Broward Raider Team, Ernest Sosa said.

West Broward entered five teams into Everglades competi-tion and County Competition. Male Blue, Male Silver, Fe-male Blue, Female Silver, and Mixed. Their placement, as first place, qualified Female Silver, Male Blue, and Mixed to the State Level. At States, the Mixed Team placed third overall, with the Female team placing first in the 5k run. Due to injuries to three members of the Female Team, they were unable to fin-ish the competition, though had they finished, they would’ve re-ceived second place in the state.

“State Competition was defi-nitely the most difficult com-petition of the season,” Munoz said. “We had to push harder than we ever had. I don’t think our placement as a whole re-flected how hard we worked, but I know the future is bright for the youngest Raiders on the team.”

Isabella CarrascoOpinion Editor

ALL SMILES: Employee of the Year, Ms. Ann Wingett, spends her days working on records. Photo By Yolany Paz

there would be an incentive for them to pay more attention in class,” JROTC Senior Army In-structor LTC. Kenneth Merkel said. “If they know that they have an end of the year exam, they will be more careful when studying and paying attention.”

First and second year JROTC students are just some of the West Broward students added to the EOC testing line-up. Introduction to Journalism students will also need to partake in one of the as-sessments later on in the spring.

Along with the new EOC tests being added to the spring schedule, past exams such as Algebra I, Biology I, Geometry, and U.S. History will continue to be tested on. Despite the fact that all students within these core classes will be tested, some of the new exams, such as JROTC, will only assess certain students.

“The state decided that they’re not going to have all the exams written in time, so for this year in Broward County, the JROTC exam is only for first and sec-ond year students,” Merkel said.

EOC Assessments are be-lieved to become one of the top state standardized tests with-in Florida. Although students might not see it fair that elec-tive courses taken for enjoy-ment must be tested on, this new state-wide decision is only going to increase throughout schools.

“Since 2011 when the Algebra I EOC was first introduced, more and more tests have been added each year, and this trend seems to only be increasing,” Hall said.

“If they know that they have an end of the year exam, they will be more careful when studying and paying attention,”

-JROTC Senior Army Instructor LTC. Kenneth Merkel

two years, compared to the na-tional averages of 54% and 52%.

“It’s not surprising that he has such a high pass rate,” Nelson said. “He doesn’t just make the class only fun and carefree like some teachers do, or just bor-

ing and strict like other teachers do. He knows the material so well, and knows the right bal-ance between fun and teach-ing, which makes it easy to pay attention and learn in class.”

Teaching can be one of the most difficult jobs, especially if someone doesn’t love what he or she is doing. Fortunately, Teacher of the Year Buttell has not encountered that problem.

“This is my twelfth year teach-ing,” Buttell said. “I’m going to continue doing what I love, which is educating children. See-ing students learn and progress is one of the greatest rewards of being a teacher, and one of my favorite parts about what I do. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”

“He knows the material so well and knows the right balance between fun and teaching, which makes it

easy to pay attention and learn in class,”

- Mr. Jeffrey Buttell

JANUARY 20153 news NEWS EDITOR: TEA PIRO

DECA struts down the catwalkMariana Chinchilla

Staff Writer

West Broward’s DECA has been preparing for their fourth annual fashion show to raise money for state competitions. Under the supervision of DECA Advisor Mr. Tony Shaw, this year’s theme “Stepped into dark-ness,” is inspired by American Horror Story: Freak Show, and will take place in the auditorium.

“We decided to choose this theme because we wanted it to appeal to the students,” Se-nior Vice President Michael Velez said. “We were inspired by the television show, to make it a dark yet elegant theme.”

The clothing modeled at this year‘s show will come from Wyn-wood Boutiques, and will be a black and white color scheme.

“Last year we chose the theme which was “Vogue City Streets”

NEHS spreads cheer to nursing home

Sue TapanesStaff Writer

West Broward has reached out and given a hand to the people in need this past holiday. Ambition to create a better more connected community is what West Bro-ward’s NEHS (National English Honors Society) is doing. Through acts of community service, NEHS makes visits to Hillcrest Nursing Home and drops off donations of socks, lotions, and blankets.

“It feels good to give back to the community and know that you made a difference in someone’s life sometime along the way,” se-nior Virginia Roa said. “It fills me with joy to see these elderly people

happy knowing that they may not have someone to come visit them.”

Club sponsor Ms. Angela Mc-Cann has been involved in visits to nursing homes for 10 years before West Broward adopted the program. The NEHS nursing home mission is something done every two months to show sup-port for those in nursing homes who are less fortunate. Not only are these students going out and donating items, but also they are taking the time to sit down and enjoy the company of those they’re helping. Many individu-als in nursing homes may not have family that come to visit or spend time with them. Giving back to the community and touch-

ing one heart at a time is the ul-timate goal of the NEHS mission.

“We do it because it’s reward-ing to help others, especially those who don’t have family or friends to visit them so often,” sopho-more Morgan Goldwich said.

As an addition to this past visit in December, NEHS students found themselves singing Christ-mas carols to the elderly in hopes of raising their spirits for the oc-casion of Christmas. The students that have joined NEHS on the visits to the nursing home, espe-cially during the holiday season, have found that the impacts on the residents have been extremely rewarding and positive. The reac-tions from the men and women visited by NEHS at Hillcrest are exactly the reason the students in the English Honor Society look forward to returning every two months. West Broward’s next visit is near Valentines Day in hopes of spreading more love and happiness throughout the lives of the resi-dents at Hillcrest Nursing Home.

“Its sad to think that some el-derly don’t have anyone to spend the holidays with because that’s a time to share with people you love the most,” sophomore Sa-brina Callahan said. “Our plan is to touch the hearts of many as we help the community.”

West Broward Thespians compete at DistrictsTea Piro

News Editor

In preparation for the upcom-ing Florida State Thespian Fes-tival, West Broward Thespian Troupe 7336 participated at the first competition of the season, representing District 13. The pieces taken to the District com-petition were judged, evaluated, and scored in order to see if they qualified for the State Festival.

“They did the best they have ever done, and I think the only improvement we could have had would have been picking dif-ferent things [pieces to do],” Troupe Sponsor Ms. Elizabeth Hart said. “I don’t know how we could have improved oth-erwise, but I feel that we per-formed better than we ever had.”

The District competition con-sists of a multitude of individual events such as duet acting, pan-tomime, musical theatre, and various stagecraft events that stu-dents may enter and be judged on. After scores are tallied, they are either awarded Poor, Fair, Good, Excellent, or Superior, de-pending on the combination of

LIFE IS A CABARET: Small Group, Gorfinkel and Company, performing a piece from the Broadway musical Cabaret on the main stage during District competition. Photo Submitted By Amy Coisnard

SPREADING LOVE: Senior Virgina Roa embraces one of the Hill-crest Nursing Home residents during the holiday trip. Photo By Sue Tapanes

each individual judge’s score.If a score of a Superior is

earned, the piece automatically qualifies for the State Festival, which is held during March, and is then evaluated again against the top performances in Florida. Nor-mally, a school may take one or two pieces that received an Excel-lent at districts, to the state compe-tition, however, a new rule has for-bid any “Excellent” pieces from competing at the state level, which may drastically lower a school’s

chances of attending States.“I think the judges were harsh-

er with scoring in order to raise the standard for what a Superior should stand for, which is a good thing,” senior Thespian Cristina Trabada said. “I understand that the show-biz world is cut-throat, and having these harsh critiques may be ben-eficial, but the new rule against Excellent’s from going to states really upsets me. It doesn’t give us another chance to improve.”

In comparison to the results

from last year’s District compe-tition, West Broward’s Troupe did not bring home as many Su-perior awarded pieces this year, but instead quite a few Excel-lents. Superiors were awarded to Kyle Christensen, Kelsey Ramon, and Kimberley Lucas.

“I strongly disagree with the way judging was handled because district competition is a way to get a learning experience, but they nearly robbed us of the lessons we could take from the critiques and

shot us down,” junior Thespian Sarah Gorfinkel said. “The judging didn’t feel consistent with the pre-vious years, but I do plan on com-peting again next year to finally get a superior on my musical solo.”

Due to the incredible amount of leftover Superior trophies at Districts, the judge’s evalu-ations have been questioned by many Troupe advisors and District representatives.

“Next year we need to make sure that the judges understand that these are high school students, and need to be critiqued in that manner, not as professionals,” Hart said.

Although the judge’s scores did not live up to the expecta-tions and desires of Thespian Troupe 7336, as a whole they all believe that this was an ex-perience to grow and improve from, and that the performances were a step-up from last year.

“I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to give your-self enough time to be prepared. I was definitely more prepared last year in comparison to this year, and I hope next year’s competitors will learn from this year’s mistakes,” Trabada said.

which had more vibrant col-ors, but this year we want to go with black and white and dark-er colors,” Senior and DECA Treasurer Jordan Cross said.

Returning models are impressed with the theme, for it definitely brings a new style to the show. This is also the first theme that has been inspired by a television show.

“I have been volunteering for the fashion show since I was a freshman and am excited to see how this year’s theme plays out,” junior Savannah Buckley said.

For many models this will be the last show they will be partici-pating in. Senior models describe the experience as “fun, exciting, and an unforgettable journey.”

“It’s sad to think that this is the last fashion show that I will be doing. I have been participat-ing since I was a sophomore and am excited to be part of the show because I find the theme really cool,” senior Jessica Jereza said.

DECA will continue plan-ning the event until the date of the fashion show event which showcases on January 22.

“The Fashion show is usually a big success all around because a lot of people come to watch the show and we always have more than enough staff and models vol-unteering at the event,” Shaw said.

“The fashion show is usually a big success all

around,”

-Mr. Tony Shaw

JANUARY 20154 news NEWS EDITOR: TEA PIRO

Young Debate Team enjoys continuous success

With a tournament nearly ev-ery weekend, West Broward’s Speech and Debate Team novices have come home with numerous wins since the start of the season. Debate teacher and club sponsor Mrs. Diane Harrison is extremely proud of her 45 brand new mem-bers who have placed in every single Novice Tournament as well as several varsity tournaments.

“The novices have been doing so well, and the Sun-Sentinel is going to be coming to do a sto-ry about it, too,” Harrison said. “They’re impressed with how our school just starting this year and has jumped in full swing.”

When it comes to competi-tion, first time debaters com-pete in Novice Competitions. Novices can also compete at the varsity level, and each competition increases the stu-dent’s ranking. Harrison’s nov-ices have been doing extremely well, with, according to Harri-son, “too may awards to count.”

“If I sat there and counted up every first place it would be a lot,” Harrison says. “You might get second place for a particular tour-nament, but you may have had four first places and one second place, while someone else had five first places and one second.”

While every category is com-posed of a certain amount of rounds, there are approximately

10-12 different events, with duo interpretations and Lincoln-Douglas debates being the novic-es’ most successful of categories.

Duo interpretations, or duos, are composed of either a humor-

ous, dramatic, or original inter-pretation by two people who have a rehearsed and memo-rized script that they perform based on a piece of literature.

Freshmen Joshua Vogel and

GETTING PREPARED: West Broward Debate Novice Competitors prepare their arguments for upcom-ing rounds. Photo Submitted By Mrs. Diane Harrison

Bobcat Games displays teamwork

PORT ARMS: Foxtrot Forearms Ca-dets compete against each other in 15 Count Manuak Arms. Photo By Isabella Carrasco

West Broward’s JROTC’s yearly tradi-tion of hosting a series of competitive events for all its cadets went off without a hitch this year. Bobcat Games includes all six classes, or companies, in JROTC. Cadets compete against each other for the title of Honor Com-pany, which includes an orange cord to wear on their uniform and indisputable bragging rights. The Bobcat Battalion Staff organized the entire day, from the events to the awards.

“The purpose of Bobcat Games is to raise battalion morale and to promote JROTC,” Battalion S-3 Jonathan Mu-noz said. “My favorite part is watch-ing it all come together so that the cadets have an enjoyable experience that they can talk about for the rest of the year.”

Notable events included an obstacle course requiring cadets to balance a golf ball on a spoon in their mouths, pass-ing a hula hoop through an entire circle of interlocked cadets, and the traditional 15 count manual arms, where the best first year cadet will compete against the

best upperclassman and staff member.“The best event was definitely the

Spongebob relay,” said LET 1 ca-det Bianca Mogros. “It was fun be-cause everyone was getting wet and we were cracking jokes the whole time.”

The games lasted the whole day, as stu-dents arrived to the basketball courts early in the morning to join their companies. Each company, headed by a first sergeant, orga-nized themselves by color, a nickname, and a special motto created by the cadets. Alpha Company, for instance, were called Alpha American Avengers and sported red, white, and blue on their shirts. Golf Golfers of Golf Company took first place as Honor Compa-ny by scoring the most points in the events.

“[Honor Company] is being considered the most distinguished company,” said Mu-noz. “It would contain the best leadership and the most spirited and skilled cadets.”

The day took weeks of preparation. Bat-talion Staff members, composed of over 15 cadets, spent hours of their own time to plan. They also arrived early that morning to set up all the courses, particularly the ball bal-ancing event, which consisted of foam ob-stacles and a bar for the cadets to go under.

“We started out with confirming events,” said Battalion Executive Officer Marina Youssef. “Then getting the date out to the companies, getting the companies excited, and planning out the dance competition.”

The day ended with the dance compe-tition, an event where each company cho-reographed their own dance to a song of their choice. Golf and Bravo went head to head in the event, ending in a tie. The Staff, who also served as the judges of the Games, decided Golf as the winner, and thus the overall winner of the Games.

“Bobcat Games is a time for compa-nies to come together and form a fam-ily bond,” said Youssef. “I definitely think that we accomplished that this year.”

Kimberley LucasFeature Editor

Isabella CarrascoOpinion Editor

Pranay Anumulapally have re-ceived first place for their duo at every novice competition they have performed in. The piece of literature that Vogel and Anumu-lapally perform is The Lion King.

“The duo teams have been do-ing very well,” Harrison said. “The Lion King Group went to a varsi-ty event and out of fourteen duos they tied for seventh, so they did really well by having only missed hitting the stage by one place.”

Besides duo teams, the other successful category for the nov-ices is the Lincoln-Douglas De-bate [LD], which is a one-on-one debate formatted around logic, ethical values, and philosophy. Freshman Victoria King’s statis-tics show that she was 3-0 in her first novice and 5-0 in her second. On Dec. 8, King performed at the Falcon Invitational and came

in first place with a 5-0 record.“It’s been an amazing expe-

rience,” King said. “This class takes a lot of dedication but it’s something I love to do.”

Because of the success of her students, Harrison has decided to take the Debate Team to two edu-cational and competitive trips to Emory and Harvard University. The Debate Team is to embark to Emory on Jan. 10, where 10 students will complete a tour of the campus, compete in tourna-ments of six rounds, as well as partake in four workshop tutori-als. The Harvard trip will be tak-ing another 10 students to com-pete in junior varsity and varsity.

“Both competitions will be tak-ing the duo novices and varsities,” Harrison said. “The exposure that they’re going to get is something they can bring back to the others.”

Since this is Harrison’s first year doing debate en-tirely, she gives much credit to her varsity students who have helped her along the way.

“Basically I really have my small handful of varsities to re-ally thank for the help,” Harrison said. “They’ve been instrumental in helping all of those interested because they are so passionate.”

Each student is required to at-tend two tournaments per quarter, but attending more improves their ranking and number of points, which give way to multiple schol-arship opportunities. According to Harrison, 40% of students that are in debate have a higher per-centage rate of getting into col-lege. Not only this, but also 60% of students in debate who have a leadership role have a higher per-centage of getting into college.

Harrison hopes to expand the debate class and team even more until her classes are entirely for Debate. Until then, with the help of upperclassmen leadership, the team looks forward to more competitions and tournaments.

“I love seeing the students out of the school, out of the class-room, and just out there,” read-ing teacher and debate judge Mrs. Lili DiStefano said. “When you go to these things, these students look like they’re in the middle of Manhattan. Everyone is all dressed up and very pro-fessional, and I love them being out with real-world experiences.”

“The novices have been doing so well, and the Sun-Sentinel is going to be coming to do a story about

it, too,”

-Mrs. Diane Harrison

January 20155opinion

Editor-in-Chief: Scott GelmanCopy Editor: Taylor Crehan

News Editor: Tea PiroFeatures Editor: Kimberley Lucas

Life & Arts Editor: Kaitlynn RamirezSports Editor: Nicholas DeRosa

Opinion Editor: Isabella CarrascoClubs Editor: Juliette Robayna

Web Design Editor: Sarah Gonzalez Advisor: Gary Dolhon

The Lynx Disclaimer:The Lynx is West Broward High School’s student newspaper. All opinions are not

necessarily that of the school. The Lynx is requesting that students submit letters to the editor addressing any appropriate subjects. The final draft of the letter should be no

longer than 300 words. All letters will undergo editing. Students can submit letters

to Mr. Dolhon in room 723 or e-mail to lynxnewspaper@gmail.com

Staff:Maile Wobb, Sarah Gonzalez, Yolany Paz, Suliet Tapanes, Hailey Shirley, Benjamin Tuschman, Mariana Chinchilla, Lauren

Sakowitz

OPINION EDITOR: ISABELLA CARRASCO

As society becomes more in-fatuated with the outer layers of a person, rather than what lies be-neath their skin, more and more stereotypes evolve and shape the way people see people. This is especially true regarding weight, body type, body proportions, and the horrific struggles of eat-ing disorders that plague today’s generations and cause signifi-cant changes to the way a person may view themselves in regards to others. The common impres-sion that if someone is thinner than average, then they definitely suffer from anorexia, is not only completely and utterly false, but it is also ignorant and offensive to those with body types that may be perceived as “unhealthy.”

Being a dancer, as well as having a weight-to-height ratio, or Body Mass Index (BMI) that is on the lower side, it is not un-common that I’m questioned, “Do you eat? Are you starving yourself to be skinny? You’re a dancer, so do you have an eating disorder?” Yes I eat, no I’m not starving myself, and I’ve never

been diagnosed with an eating disorder of any kind. The fact that people feel it is appropriate and necessary to ask me these ques-tions, is actually quite sickening. Regardless of stereotypes, not all dancers, nor athletes, watch their weight to the point where it becomes detrimental to their health. Of course it is important for all people, not just athletes to watch their weight in order to keep their health at a prime level for stamina and other obvi-ous reasons, that doesn’t mean it is always at an obsessive level.

Although the National Asso-ciation of Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD) states that there is a higher per-centage of eating disorders found within female athletes (20%) than the general female statistic (9%), not every athlete suffers from an eating disorder or distorted body perception. This stigma probably stems from the stereotype that it is indeed possible to distinguish whether someone has an eating disorder by simply looking at their body, which, is of course not true.

According to The Center for Eating Disorders at Sheppard Pratt, not all those who suffer

from anorexia or other disorders appear intensely underweight or gaunt. Eating disorders, es-pecially bulimia, or binge eat-ing disorders, can actually result in weight gain due to the effects of a slower metabolic rate, and in some cases, rapid and exces-sive food consumption. How-ever, it is uncommon that a man or woman who appears to be of a normal weight, or even over-weight, will be approached with questions regarding whether they have an eating disorder, for it is not considered to be a stereotype.

Inaccurate disorder stereotypes foster more issues Another incorrect stereotype

is that eating disorders are only found in women, when in real-ity, 10-15% of the people suffer-ing from anorexia or bulimia are male, according to ANAD. Ce-lebrities such as Elton John, Ash-ley Hamilton and Dennis Quaid are just a few of the men who have struggled with eating dis-orders or body dysmorphia. The trend that seems to be occurring within these men is that their dis-orders actually surfaced from ex-cessive comparison between male body types, which is something

Tea Piro News Editor

Common Core eliminates ‘teachable moments’

The purpose of the Common Core Standards was to ensure that students, after graduating from high school, were either college or career ready. The standards were put into place to create na-tional educational unity, a goal that will take time to evaluate but one that appears justifiable on its surface. The new strate-gies have changed curriculums across the nation and come with national assessments, and in Florida’s case, an abundance of End-of-Course Exams. But with the new standards comes the in-ability of teachers to take advan-tage of “teachable moments.”

Common Core relies heavily on skill development and places an extreme amount of emphasis on standardized assessments. In the context of English, works of literature studied are getting more complex at earlier grade levels, and students as freshman are be-ing asked to analyze a work for diction or theme, typically first introduced to junior Advanced Placement students. Mathemat-

Scott GelmanEditor in Chief

ics is becoming increasingly reading based, with students ex-pected to learn more at younger ages. And Science and Social Studies are becoming notably generalized, with more emphasis on defending an idea or forming a claim and supporting it with textual or fact-based evidence.

With the tests carrying such weight, teachers are unable to take advantage of teachable mo-ments, defined by The Huffington Post as moments that “engage students in learning, introduce them to fundamental content con-cepts, and promote the develop-ment of literacy skills,”and more often than not do not have time to respond to the moment and have class discussions or debates about things students would find most relevant. Ebola and the Novem-ber midterm elections are perhaps the two most recent examples of relevant news that unfortunately cannot be tied into curriculums because they will not be appli-cable to standard-based exams. Both are recent examples of teachable moments that can be ap-plied throughout various subjects but are not discussed extensively

because of the weight placed on standardized test results.

In Science classes, teachers can use Ebola as an example of a national epidemic. In English classrooms, educators can iden-tify leaders in works of litera-ture or refer to famous historical speeches, such as those of Mar-tin Luther King Junior, Abraham

Lincoln, Susan B. Anthony, Win-ston Churchill, and Ronald Rea-gan, to explain how the ability to persuade helps global leaders.

In Math, students can have the opportunity to graph popu-lation-based data, and examine the effects of such a disease. Mathematical concepts can also be applied to evaluate election results, allowing students to

draw conclusions, identify trends, and predict future results. And in Social Studies, students can determine if it is the obligation of Western nations to aid those that aren’t fully developed, and can identify the impact of vot-ing or not voting in an election.

Both students and educators should cherish teachable mo-ments. They reinforce general concepts taught in class, but also introduce students to scenarios that they will be living with af-ter graduation. They might set classes behind, and while some classes, such as Geography, for instance, can include current events, others simply do not have time. The time put into project-based learning is expected to al-low students to take advantage of real world applications, how-ever strict curriculums tend to al-low for minimal flexibility. With Common Core comes the tests, and while the standards have pos-itive intentions, teachers, espe-cially those of EOC classes, have already found themselves having fewer debates, conducting fewer experiments, and limiting class discussion to the material sched-

females are also surrounded with when it comes to eating disorders.

The uncultured stereotypes shaping how society sees the spectrum of those suffering from eating disorders could also be the reason as to why people, espe-cially men such as Hamilton, are scared to reach out for help. The ANAD states, “men are less like-ly to seek treatment for eating dis-orders because of the perception that they are ‘woman’s diseases.’” The fact that the views of society have caused those suffering from disorders with a combined 13.1% mortality rate to refuse to seek guidance and support is prob-ably one of the foulest “accom-plishments” of this generation.

As much as it might seem ac-ceptable to question someone about a body that is solely theirs, based on uncultured and stereo-types, it isn’t. As much as it might seem acceptable to ignore or not believe a person’s claim of pain and suffering due to their physi-cal appearance or gender, it isn’t. Today’s society shouldn’t be liv-ing a life based off of a stigma, but instead researching how their comments, beliefs, and mindsets impact the people around them.

uled to be presented that day. The standards bring key limi-

tations to electives, too, espe-cially those which involve real world experiences. On a per-sonal level, journalism is such an example. Both newspaper and yearbook classes enable stu-dents to cover important topics through writing stories and taking pictures, improving their writ-ing, communication, and team-work skills. But if a test will be administered at the end of the year, publication quality would likely decrease, with test content becoming the class’s new focus.

Students have taken notice of the brief current event discus-sions, with one junior notably remaking they would “make class more interesting.” If students are interested, they will listen, and if they listen, they will likely learn. Students should be discussing relevant news, and formulat-ing research-based opinions. But with so much emphasis be-ing placed on assessments and curriculums, there is little time for such activity, which could ultimately create an uninterest-ed and restricted student body.

“But with the new standards comes the inability of teachers

to take advantage of ‘teachable moments’.”

New curriculum restricts creativity in the classroom

JANUARY 20156feature FEATURE EDITOR: KIMBERLEY LUCAS

Becoming a Silver Knight is one of the most prestigious awards that can be rewarded to a South Florida student, and as such it takes a unique and spe-cial community service proj-ect to help candidates stand out from the rest. Mareena Kashif, a West Broward senior in the running for the Award, is us-ing her project for a purpose of-ten overlooked in our society: helping others complete their U.S. Citizenship applications.

“For those of us that never had to do it, filling out a citizen-ship application probably seems like no big deal,” Kashif said. “But some people, for one rea-son or another, have difficulties completing theirs, and I think it’s important that we help them with something that they view as very important and significant.”

Kashif chose this project idea in order to help those people who are often forced to shy away from completing their citizenship ap-plications because of monetary or foreign language problems. As a result, she hopes to point

Project Broward: Student helps future U.S. citizensNick DeRosaTaylor Crehan

these people in the right direction by providing them with differ-ent local outlets in which to seek help overcoming these issues.

“I thought that it would be a valuable project because many people have been living in this country for years, yet cannot par-ticipate in our democracy as citi-zens,” Kashif said. “This project will help those who are citizens by heart to take the first step neces-sary to be able to engage and par-ticipate in civic duties as citizens.”

The event, which was located in Miami Gardens, will provide applicants with financial or lan-guage barriers with ways to seek help. Other bilingual students from West Broward’s National Honor Society (NHS) chapter will be on hand to offer their as-sistance in that regard, and the Florida Muslim Bar Association will give help with the legal as-pects of the application process.

“It’s such a great idea for her project, and I was happy to help her in any way I could,” Sharon Yu, a fellow NHS officer and bi-lingual student, said. “I speak Ko-rean and have been taking Span-ish for a few years, so between the two languages I hope that I’ll be

GOOD CITIZENSHIP: National Honor Society President and senior Mareena Kashif, along with NHS member senior Celine Rodriguez, assist a woman filling out a form for the US citizen application. Photo submitted by Mareena Kashif

Cabrera’s film wins big

In the summer of 2014, junior Francisco Cabrera, third year stu-dent of West Broward’s TV pro-duction program, directed, and edited a film with friends and en-tered it into the nationwide Stu-dent Television Network (STN) Summer Film Challenge. Re-cently, judges announced that Ca-brera’s film, “Endless Summer,” was assessed to be the best fiction film in the entire competition.

“It was very hard and stress-ful,” Cabrera said. “But if you have people who know what they’re doing and care about the project as much as you do, then it’s not as bad.”

In the STN Summer Film con-test, students were given a sum-mer theme and had to start and finish the entire film at 7 A.M. and submit by 11 P.M. With only 16 hours to write, shoot, and edit, Cabrera and his team of eight worked non-stop and eventually made a film worthy of first prize.

Cabrera has now racked up honors in 11 other film com-petitions, including first place in the nation for movie trailer, and second place in the nation for spring Fantasy Short Film.

“He’s one of the most deco-rated students we’ve ever had in the program,” TV Production instructor Mr. Rivera said. “He’s willing to listen to people, even if he doesn’t agree with them. That’s what makes him different, especially for a kid of his age.”

Cabrera has represented the West Broward TV production team well, whether at school or abroad. However, his path to suc-cess had a large and intimidating roadblock he had to overcome.

“I came to this country about five years ago,” Cabrera said. “And I didn’t know any Eng-lish. So I started to watch films, and the stories in them taught me about life and English as well.”

The success of Cabrera has not gone unnoticed by his col-leagues and friends, who have been inspired by him overcom-ing such a huge disadvantage.

“After freshman year,” sopho-more Steven LeBoeuf said. “I realized I wanted to pursue a ca-reer in cinematography, and Fran-cisco was a big part of that. I saw tons of his films, and I wanted to work alongside him and learn to make films as well as he did.”

Cabrera is not only participat-ing in the TV production to con-tinue the expansion of his film career and education, but also to teach others what he has learned and help them with their projects.

“Now, he has reached a point where he is not only taking [the education] with him, but he is giving it back.” Rivera said. “He gets pleasure from giving back, working with younger kids, and by showing them what he knows, because he wants the program to get better for the coming years.”

Cabrera has written and di-rected a new project, titled “Plus One”, coming out on January 15th. With all the support and encouragement Cabrera receives from friends and peers, students in the TV production program are confident that Cabrera will succeed outside of Bobcat walls.

“I feel he can do really big things,” LeBoeuf said. “I’ve seen him make all types of films, and all of them are great. He can win competitions outside high school and start making mov-ies like he’s been dreaming of.”

Ben TuschmanStaff Writer

Teenage suicide is a wide-spread problem that affects many people on a daily basis. West Broward’s DECA chapter de-cided to raise awareness towards this issue through their first an-nual student-teacher dodge ball tournament, as well as by part-nering with the Jason Anthony Mendez (J.A.M.) Foundation, one of the country’s leaders in teenage suicide prevention.

“It was such a great cause and such a great opportunity for us,” DECA president Luis Lopez said. “The game was really successful in promoting our DECA chap-ter, and in bringing awareness to our cause by teaching teens in our community how to get help with some of these issues.”

The purpose of the J.A.M. Foundation is to encourage to-day’s youth to find an outlet to talk about their problems with

instead of keeping them bottled up inside and eventually push-ing themselves over the edge. The Foundation was started by 15 year old Justin Mendez in 2010, after his 13 year old brother Ja-son Anthony Mendez, where the Foundation gets the initials in its name, committed suicide. Since then, the organization has strived to provide help and education to teenagers, as well as their families.

“We chose the J.A.M. Foun-dation because it was relatively new and local to South Florida and our community,” Lopez said. “They are also one of the few or-ganizations that go out to schools and speak to inform students, which is why the J.A.M. Foun-dation was the perfect choice.”

In all, DECA raised over $1300 through their dodgeball tournament, and it will all be do-nated to the J.A.M. Foundation, but Lopez and the rest of his fel-low chapter members are equally as satisfied with the information

DECA dodges balls for a cause

Nick DeRosaSports Editor

BALL IS LIFE: Senior Antonio Smith throws a dodgeball during DE-CA’s Student-Teacher Dodgeball game. Photo by Nicholas DeRosa

able to help people who are still in the process of learning English.”

Originally created in 1959 and awarded by the Miami Herald, the Silver Knight Award aims to reward students who strive both academically and in their com-munity. The Award has 15 dif-ferent categories, including Ath-letics, Social Sciences, Art, and General Service, and each high school in Broward or Miami-Dade is allowed one candidate per category. As one of West Bro-ward’s candidates for the Award, Kashif has impressed with dedication to her unique cause.

“When Mareena told us that she was running for the Silver Knight, I was not surprised in the least,” NHS sponsor Sarah Zorn said. “She is the NHS Presi-dent this year, and her dedica-tion to community service has been made clear through her work so far this year for our chapter. What she is doing for this award is just as great.”

While winning the Silver Knight Award would be nice in it’s own right, Kashif is more concerned with making sure her event is a success. As President of the NHS chapter, a club that

predominantly focuses on com-munity service, she is aware of how important the help she pro-vides will be to some people, and is looking forward to help-ing them as much as she can.

“I take pride in the fact that I have been a part of so many service projects that have been able to help people, and that’s my main goal here,” Kashif said. “Obviously, winning an award as

prestigious as the Silver Knight would be incredible, but my thoughts are first and foremost to help people be able to fill out their applications and be able to enjoy the same benefits that we have grown accustomed to.”

Kashif will continue to assist future US citizens by holding similar events throughout Janu-ary. However, possible candidates must schedule an appointment.

they were able to provide to all of those who participated and were in attendance about what is often considered to be a taboo topic.

“Teen suicide is a huge issue today, and DECA really did a great thing by bringing attention to it,” student player David Vanderbilt said. “It was a fun, competitive environment that brought atten-tion to the issue while providing us all with a great experience.”

The dodgeball tournament itself was an important part of the event, and the games, as well as intermission performances by H.A.N.D.S. and other stu-dent singers were just as crucial to giving those in attendance a memorable time. With a total of 16 teams and 80 players, the tour-nament was such a success that some are already asking for an-other to take place in the spring.

“It was a very fun event, and the students did a great job of putting it together,” teacher player Carey Lamanna said. “Even though I was out in the first round, I al-ready asked them if they are go-ing to do another tournament this year. It would be even more suc-cessful the second time around.”

The event had been under planning since the start of the school year, and Lopez is hope-ful that in the years to come, those who follow in his foot-steps will continue to lead West Broward’s DECA chapter in new and innovative directions.

“I loved being able to see the students and teachers come to-gether and enjoy themselves,” Lopez said. “We raised a lot of money and awareness for J.A.M. and their cause, and I hope that the chapter is able to continue these types of new student-teacher events in the future.”

feature Feature Editor: Kimberley Lucas

1 - 8 0 0 - 3 3 4 - 5 1 3 4w w w. f l o r i d a s t u c c o . c o m

Eduardo Marquez excels at the Special Olympics

Participating in gymnastics at Flor-ida’s Special Olympics in November, Eduardo Marquez placed second in Floor Routine, second in Men’s Vault, and third in Men’s Pull-Up Bars. Being a hardworking student both on and off the mat, Marquez trained and competed in his first ever gymnastics competition.

“[Eduardo] is determined, he is a good athlete and very helpful,” ESE teacher Debra Stocking said. “He supports other people such as his classmates by cheering them on and he has great sportsmanship.”

For over 40 years the state of Florida has held an annual Special Olympics for students with special needs to compete in athletic games. Not only does the Special Olympics committee provide an opportu-nity for students to participate in compe-titions, participants also can receive free health screening. The main overall goal of the committee is to “raise awareness of the abilities of people with intellectual difficul-ties.” Their hope is to overcome the stereo-types associated with mental disabilities.

“Through the power of sports, people with intellectual disabilities discover new strengths and abilities, skills and success,” according to specialolympics.org. “Our athletes find joy, confidence and fulfillment – on the playing field and in life. They also inspire people in their communities and elsewhere to open their hearts to a wider world of human talents and potential.”

Marquez is an eleventh grader at West Broward and is in the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) program. A

well-rounded student in the classroom, Eduardo is also an accomplished athlete. This is his first time competing in gym-nastics and he was successful, winning two bronze medals, and one silver medal. Marquez has also competed in soccer and basketball in previous Olympic games.

“I had never done gymnastics be-fore and I thought it would be cool to start doing it.” Marquez said.

To be able to place in the Special Olym-pics, Eduardo spent time with a coach train-ing for different events such as gymnastics floor routines. Coaches volunteer with the Special Olympics organization to spend time training and developing students.

“The Special Olympics is commit-ted to Coaching Excellence -- because it benefits both coaches and athletes at the same time,” according to specialolympics.org. “In a supportive learning environ-ment, coaches work to enhance athletes’ sport techniques, tactics and fitness.”

Even though the Special Olympics are not a part of West Broward, students practiced at the school as well, doing various activities. Stocking also feels Marquez did very well this competition and had minimal obstacles to overcome.

“The Special Olympics is held sepa-rate from the school but they do practice a little bit here for that, doing different activates,” Stocking said. “He does very well and did not encounter many obsta-cles preparing for the Special Olympics.”

While Mrs. Stocking recalled that he didn’t have many obstacles during the prep-aration for the games, Eduardo feels one of his greatest challenges was his floor routine.

“I trained during the summer prac-

ticing different routines,” Marquez said. “To remember the floor, it was lots of training and it was hard to do.”

Not only did Eduardo enjoy participat-ing in the the Olympics, but also Stock-ing feels it is beneficial for the students to participate in. She believes it helps stu-dents to progress and develop. Eduardo proves her theory by improving every year and winning more medals. In Stocking’s opinion, he has become a great athlete.

“Some of them understand that they are not at the same level with the rest of the students, so the Special Olym-pics helps them feel better about them-selves,” said Stocking. “It also gets them out doing some exercising, which many people aren’t doing these days, and Ed-

die is very athletic. He is winning more medals, and he is participating more.”

Marquez is looking forward to upcom-ing Special Olympics events to compete in other sports. On December 11, Mar-quez competed in a regional Special Olympic competition at Cypress Bay, in the categories of Softball Throw, Shotput and the 100-yard Dash where he placed second, and next year in May, Marquez is competing in gymnastics and soccer.

“It makes them feel like they are doing the same stuff that the regular kids are doing,” Stocking said. “They can’t participate in the sports most of the other children get to do, so at least this is something they can participate in and get a feeling of self-esteem.”

Softball Champ: Junior Eduardo Marquez participates in the Shotput competition at the Special Olympics. Photo Submitted by Debra Stocking

Maile WobbStaff Writer

JANUARY 20157

Signing day SendS Six BoBcatS to the next level

BoBcat athletic programS gaining national attention

This past November, six of West Broward’s student ath-letes took the next steps in their athletic careers by formally announcing which colleges they would be attending on Na-tional Signing Day. Baseball players Chayce Hay-Eldon, Christian Dearman, Justin Martinez and Michael Schappell, swim captain Melissa Marinheiro, and track star Isaiah Tay-lor all made their college decisions in one of West Broward’s most athletically diverse groups to participate in Signing Day.

“Our coaches have put these kids in positions to succeed and gain exposure, and this class of athletes truly shows that,” Ath-letic Director James Darr said. “Our players’ skill levels, along with help from the coaches, have really helped scouts take no-tice of athletics at West Broward, and it’s starting to show.”

Chayce Hay-Eldon, Nova Southeastern UniversityHay-Eldon, starting second baseman and captain of the Bob-

cats’ baseball team, will attend Nova Southeastern University and join a perennially strong Sharks team. Hay-Eldon was a key member for the Bobcats, as he has spent time at both sec-ond base and shortstop throughout his high school career. He will join a program that has seen a lot of success in recent years, and hopes to add to the strong tradition being built by Nova.

“Being able to compete at a high level program that has seen so much progress is really exciting,” Hay-Eldon said. “Being able to play close to home in front of my friends and family on top of that is such a great opportunity.”

Michael Schappell, Jacksonville UniversitySchappell will head to upstate Florida in the fall to join

the Jacksonville University Dolphins. Schappell, one of the Bobcats’ starting pitchers, was highly regarded in the baseball community in South Florida, winning many ac-colades and first-team nominations before deciding to take his talents to Jacksonville to play in the green and white.

“I have loved every minute of playing at West Broward, and even thought the daily grind of training was tough, it’s all worth it now,” Schappell said. “Jacksonville is a place where I can see myself succeeding and what lured me there was the idea of being able to succeed as an individual and as a team.”

Justin Martinez, Belmont Abbey CollegeWhile Hay-Eldon and Schappell are staying in-state, Mar-

tinez and Dearman will take their games to the Carolinas this fall. Martinez, another member of the Bobcats’ pitching rota-tion, will be attending Belmont Abbey College in North Caro-lina and join the Crusaders, who are just a few years removed from playing in the NCAA Division II World Series in 2009.

“Playing with West Broward has been a great experience, and these guys are like family to me,” Martinez said. “I’m glad to have the ability to play at the next level and work towards my ultimate of goal of someday playing in the big leagues.”

Christian Dearman, Anderson UniversityDearman, on the other hand, will travel to South Caro-

lina to play with the Anderson University Trojans. The third pitcher from the Bobcats’ rotation to sign his let-ter of intent, Dearman is looking to build off of his 5-1 record as a starter during his junior season to eventu-ally help a Trojans team that has struggled in recent years.

“I have loved every moment of going out on that field, and even though there were times where I wanted to quit, I haven’t given up and did everything I could to achieve this great accomplishment,” Dearman said. “I’m excited to have the chance to become a huge asset to the team and get one step closer to becoming a Major League Baseball player.”

Melissa Marinheiro, Florida Gulf Coast UniversityMarinheiro, meanwhile, will make the short trip to Fort

Myers in order to become a member of the Florida Gulf Coast University swim team. Earning multiple accolades throughout her high school swimming career, including be-ing named to the 2014 All-County team, Marinheiro is excited about the opportunity to continue swimming with the Eagles.

“The fact that I found such a wonderful team close to home excites me,” Marinheiro said. “The environ-ment is perfect, and my older sister is a member of the swim team as well, so I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Isaiah Taylor, University of MiamiTo top it all off, Taylor will be attending the University of

Miami as a member of the University’s track team. A dual sport athlete, Taylor was also a running back and return specialist for the Bobcats’ football team this year, but his 100 meter time of 10.48 seconds was what drew the attention of the Hurricanes.

“Miami is obviously a great school, and I feel privi-leged to have been offered a scholarship there,” Taylor said. “It lets me know that my work is paying off, and I know they are the right people to help me continue pushing on.”

Athletic Director James Darr did not have to wor-ry about planning a formal signing day ceremony in 2007, as first-year athletic programs did not yield any scholarships for prospective collegiate athletes. In the school’s second full season, a golfer was the lone student-athlete to make a commitment in February.

But six Bobcat athletes signed National Let-ters of Intent in November, punctuated by track and football athlete Isaiah Taylor’s commitment to the University of Miami. Darr expects several more athletes to sign this spring, reflecting growth throughout West Broward’s youthful programs.

“It speaks volumes of where we have gone as a school,” Darr said of the number of athletic signees. “What these coaches are accomplishing and what the kids we have here are producing is amazing. A couple of years ago we were recognized for hav-

ing one of the most improved athletic programs. This is just another step forward for us as a school.”

Baseball players Chayce-Hay Eldon, Jor-dan Martinez, Christian Dearman, and Mi-chael Schappell, and swimmer Melissa Marin-heiro all complemented Taylor, marking the largest number of students who have signed prior to the official February day in school history.

Head football coach Reyna Thompson, who has used his National Football League experience to help kids become familiar with the process of being recruited, believes the amount of exposure the school has received over the past few seasons is a result of a successful relationship between the school’s coaches, administration, and parents.

“There has been a pipeline developed,” Thomp-son said. “These programs are moving in the right direction. The key point is that kids getting the scholarships are performing both in the class-room and on the field. We’re developing the type of kids that understand this union between both academics and athletics and they are performing on both levels, which is what is required of them. “

In addition to emphasizing the fact that the ath-letes’ development is a reflection of the coaching staff, Darr stressed the importance of the coaches creating connections at the collegiate level in or-der for their entire roster to gain exposure. Miami Assistant Track Coach Adrian Mann noted that it was the connection he made with the school as a whole that first introduced him to Taylor.

“I was just looking for an opportunity to meet ev-ery coach in the community,” Mann said. “Even if there weren’t guys we were targeting. Those relation-ships are important and that is how we found Isaiah.”

While Thompson uses his familiarity with the recruiting process to help his athletes, Baseball Manager Sergio Ambros holds showcases in order to introduce scouts to the program. He most notably plans a summer circuit, allowing athletes at both the junior varsity and varsity levels to be recognized.

“We take pride in West Broward athletes, espe-cially baseball players, being represented throughout

Isaiah TaylorUniversity of Miami

Track“Miami is obviously a great school, and I feel

privileged to have been offered a scholarship. It lets me know that their work is paying off, and I know they are the right people to help

me push on.”

Scott gelmanEditor-in-chiEf

nicholaS deroSaSportS Editor

Signing day SendS Six BoBcatS to the next level

BoBcat athletic programS gaining national attentioning one of the most improved athletic programs. This is just another step forward for us as a school.”

Baseball players Chayce-Hay Eldon, Jor-dan Martinez, Christian Dearman, and Mi-chael Schappell, and swimmer Melissa Marin-heiro all complemented Taylor, marking the largest number of students who have signed prior to the official February day in school history.

Head football coach Reyna Thompson, who has used his National Football League experience to help kids become familiar with the process of being recruited, believes the amount of exposure the school has received over the past few seasons is a result of a successful relationship between the school’s coaches, administration, and parents.

“There has been a pipeline developed,” Thomp-son said. “These programs are moving in the right direction. The key point is that kids getting the scholarships are performing both in the class-room and on the field. We’re developing the type of kids that understand this union between both academics and athletics and they are performing on both levels, which is what is required of them. “

In addition to emphasizing the fact that the ath-letes’ development is a reflection of the coaching staff, Darr stressed the importance of the coaches creating connections at the collegiate level in or-der for their entire roster to gain exposure. Miami Assistant Track Coach Adrian Mann noted that it was the connection he made with the school as a whole that first introduced him to Taylor.

“I was just looking for an opportunity to meet ev-ery coach in the community,” Mann said. “Even if there weren’t guys we were targeting. Those relation-ships are important and that is how we found Isaiah.”

While Thompson uses his familiarity with the recruiting process to help his athletes, Baseball Manager Sergio Ambros holds showcases in order to introduce scouts to the program. He most notably plans a summer circuit, allowing athletes at both the junior varsity and varsity levels to be recognized.

“We take pride in West Broward athletes, espe-cially baseball players, being represented throughout

the country,” Ambros said. “The increasing number of signees reveals more about the players’ develop-ment and their commitment to improving. Players come in as ninth graders and leave as committed se-niors. The coaching staff is just there for assistance.”

Despite the fact that Ambros will begin his fourth season as head coach this spring, several other pro-grams have had difficulty retaining a leader. Thomp-son just completed his first season, with golf, boys’ and girls’ basketball, and boys’ and girls’ soccer all re-ceiving new coaches to begin their 2014 campaigns.

“The coaching turnover hurts because college coaches make connections with our coaches,” Thompson said. “Every time we change coaches we lose connections. Other schools are in a situ-ation where they have developed it more than we have but we are in the process of doing it.”

Former Bobcat and current Bryant University Wide Receiver Keenan Thompson believes that with Cypress Bay, and private schools such as St. Thomas Aquinas and Archbishop McCarthy in the area, “West Broward is not really looked at, and as a result higher caliber athletes go elsewhere.”

Coach Thompson emphasized the impor-tance of a long-term plan, with the goal of creat-ing an opportunity for kids who want to play a sport at the collegiate level after three years.

“Every program has a three year plan,” Thompson said. “At the end of the three years, for any kid who wants to play at the next lev-el, you want to have created an opportunity for them to earn a scholarship at the next level.”

Darr does not have a set goal for the num-ber of athletes he would like to see play-ing at the next level, and believes that while the school’s age may be a disadvantage, the exposure should increase moving forward.

“It is tough to get kids to that next level,” Darr said. “To get even one scholarship is fan-tastic. The goal here is building programs first. Once we can build a program, we will be able to keep talented kids. We will continue to focus on building the programs and finding success.”

Melissa MarinheiroFlorida Gulf Coast University

Swimming“The fact that I found such a won-

derful team close to home excites me. The environment is perfect.”

Justin MartinezBelmont Abbey College

Baseball

“I’m glad to have the ability to play at the next level and work towards my ultimate of

goal of someday playing in the big leagues.”

Michael SchappellJacksonville University

Baseball“Jacksonville is a place where I can see my-

self and my future teammates succeeding and what lured me there was the idea of being to

succeed as an individual and as a team.”

Chayce Hay-EldonNova Southeastern University

Baseball

“Being able to play close to home in front of my friends and family on top of that is such a

great opportunity.”

Christian DearmanAnderson University

Baseball

“I’m excited to have the chance to become a huge asset to the team and get one step closer

to becoming a Major League Baseball player.”

JANUARY 201510 feature FEATURE EDITOR: KIMBERLEY LUCAS

Snapchat, a popular photo messaging application, has re-vealed a new feature that goes beyond pictures and socializing. Through a partnership with the online payment company, Square, Snapchat now allows Android us-ers to send payments to one an-other through the chat function. This “faster and more fun” way to exchange money, according to Snapchat, has been dubbed Snap-cash; however, this feature has students wary and hesitant to hand over their personal information.

“They make it sound as though banking is so hard, so you have to send money through Snapchat,” junior Brandon Dash said. “I went to try it, but as soon as they asked me for my card information, I canceled the message. Someone can just grab your phone and send a bunch of money to whoever they want.”

The purpose of Snapcash is to provide an easy way to send money electronically. A group of friends may use this application to split the cost of a gift by send-ing their share of the expense to whomever bought the present.

Debate president places second at National Tournament

In order to do so, all you have to do is type in a dollar sign and the amount you want to send, and the customary yellow send but-ton will transform into the new green Snapcash button. Once the button is pressed, the transaction is submitted and there is no way to cancel or refund the money.

“It’s important for [students] to manage all of their money wisely,“ marketing teacher Tony Shaw said. “As you get older, you need to know how to balance checkbooks, you need to under-stand how much money is going in and out [of your accounts].”

Square handles all debit card information, and nothing is kept on Snapchat’s servers, though Snapchat updated their privacy

This past November, West Broward High Debate Team Pres-ident and senior Jasmin Ouseph found herself at the same tour-nament that the team ever com-peted in when they commenced two years before: the Titan In-vitational. This time, however, Ouseph came in second at the na-tionally recognized tournament.

“It was great to be there, be-cause the Titan Invitational two years ago was the first tournament anyone from West Broward ever participated in,” Ouseph said. “For it to be the first tournament anyone from West Broward breaks in was rather poetic and really memorable for me in my last year of debate.”

The National Speech and De-bate Association [NSDA], for-mally the National Forensics League [NFL], strives to improve

student speech and debate talents to develop a student’s “essential life skills and values.” With their being many events that students participate at in tournaments, the Titan Invitational included Policy Debate, Public Forum Debate, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Dra-matic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation, Duo Interpreta-tion, Original Oratory, Interna-tional Extemporaneous Speak-ing, and Congressional Debate.

Ouseph competes in Lincoln-Douglas debates, named after the historical 1855 debates between Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. In her event, Ouseph automatically qualified past into quarterfinals after succeeding in several different rounds. She fin-ished in her event with five wins and one loss, as determined by judges. Winning her quarterfinal round, Ouseph broke to semifi-nals where she came out on top, finally reaching the final round of LD. In this final round, Ouseph achieved her second place victory.

“I honestly was not expect-ing to be this successful at all,” Ouseph said. “After Friday, being 3-0 was a happy shock, but then in my quarterfinal round when all three judges voted for me, my jaw literally fell open. I thought

Students hesitant over “Snapcash”

that only happened in books.”West Broward’s Debate team

is still young since its commenc-ing three years ago. This is the second year that there has been a debate class, and the third year for the team. Ouseph started the club as a sophomore, but was the only one at competitions. Now, the team is proud to boast its 50 members and growing numbers.

“This is my first year as the team’s coach,” Mrs. Diane Har-rison said. “Our team is made up of varsity students from last year and students from my Debate 1 and 2 classes. I’m very impressed with our students’ performances at the tournaments thus far. Jas-min did so well at the Titan In-vitational, and I’m very proud.”

Being the president of the De-bate Team, Ouseph has notably contributed to bringing the team where it is today. Ouseph helps coach new debaters in specific categories such as LD to ensure underclassmen can carry the event once the seniors graduate.

Only one other debater, novice Braden Alvarez, placed at the tour-nament. Alvarez also competed in LD and was helped by Ouseph. Alvarez finished with a record of three wins and three losses, which according to Ouseph is a “very

Sarah GonzalezStaff Writer

Kimberley LucasFeature Editor

The most popular part of the event, the Color Festival, is af-ter the race and attracts hun-dreds. After a runner finishes the course, they are given a packet of their own color powder. At the Color Festival, there is music, contests, giveaways, and every fifteen minutes or so, a count-down for everyone in the crowd to throw the color in the air.

“I wanted to participate in something that had a great cause and the Color Run seemed very enjoyable,” sophomore No-emi Sanchez said. “The fin-ish line was my favorite be-

WB spotted at Color Run

impressive feat for a beginner.”“Since there are other mem-

bers on the team this year, I have more of a responsibil-ity as a leader, so I can’t just fo-cus on myself,” Ouseph said.

Several years ago, the Titan Invitational was the very first tour-nament the West Broward High Debate Team ever competed in. After this most recent achieve-ment, Ouseph is pleased to see how much she as an individual has grown as well as the debate team and program as a whole.

“It’s so funny because that first tournament was probably one of the most embarrassing and difficult experiences ever,” Ouseph said. “I know I’ve defi-nitely grown, and it’s not just the trophy that’s evidence of it.”

From here the team moves forward to more tournaments, including those for both novices and varsity. Ouseph hopes for the team to not only grow in number, but also in skill and determination.

“I’ve become pretty aware of how established the debate pro-grams at many schools are. Nova is the highest ranked debate team in the country, and schools even flew in for this tournament. It was an honor to do so well and I look forward to the future of the team.”

Suit up: Color Runners dress in all white to maximize the amount of color they will be splashed in during the 5k. Photo By Isabella Carrasco

cause everyone was throwing confetti and jumping around.”

As a “for profit” organization, the Color Run donates to several different charities, some of which including the Boys and Girls Club, J.A.M Foundation, and Big Broth-ers Big Sisters. Since its founding, the Color Run has donated over three million dollars for chari-ties in many communities. Its fo-cus is to raise awareness on sev-eral topics and increase activism.

“I thought the Color Run was a great way for all types of peo-ple to come together,” Logvin said. “It was definitely an ex-perience I will never forget.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

DON’t HAtE, DEBAtE: Debate President Jasmin Ouseph (right) stands with her now 45 members+. Photo Submitted By Mrs. Diane Harrison

“Snapcash might become the next big thing, but right now, it’s too new and too risky, especially since a regular bank can do the exact same thing,”

-Senior Luis Lopez

policy. No proof of identifica-tion is necessary unless the user exceeds the weekly sending limit of $250 or the monthly re-ceiving limit of $1000. Proof of identification includes the user’s full name, birth date, and social security number. For security purposes, there is an option to input the debit card security code upon every transaction. Some students do not believe these safety measures are enough.

“Anyone can steal someone’s card and easily hook it up to their Snapchat account before they re-turn it. All you have to do is set up another account with your card information and wire yourself money,” senior Luis Lopez said.

The security system at Square monitors possible abuse of the system and unusual patterns. Square has had no history with fraud or security issues, though some may be unfamiliar with the company and its reputation.

“It’s hard to trust a company I have never heard of with all of my banking information,” Lo-pez said. “Snapcash might be-come the next big thing, but right now, it’s too new and too risky, especially since a regular bank can do the exact same thing.”

11 JANUARY 2015 Clubs Editor: Juliette Robaynaclubs

West Broward’s culinary club will commence under the ad-visory of a new sponsor Chef Ray Willey. Chef Willey, a former chef and first time culi-nary teacher, has offered to be in charge of the club this year. The club officially started on December 9th and welcomed students from all grade levels.

Chef Willey has owned restau-rants and even taught adult cook-ing classes that can assist with competitions. The club previously focused on fundraising and sell-ing baked goods, however they have never participated in cook-ing competitions. They are also considering getting uniforms that they will bring to these events.

“When I first arrived at the school I noticed that West Bro-ward does not have any trophies for their culinary department and I hope that this year the club can participate in competitions and be able to win some awards for the school,” Willey said.

Culinary still needs to fund-raise to cover competition costs; Chef Wiley is planning to partner with the other programs here at West Broward. They will partner with the vet program by mak-ing dog treats which they plan to package and sell in the near future.

“I want the members to learn how to plan events and how to come up with ideas that will make the club expand and become more successful,” Chef Willey said. “I am excited to see what the club will come up with and how they will execute their ideas.”

Along with partnering up with the Vet program, Chef Willey plans to give the students an op-portunity to cook by having them prepare lunches for the teachers. These new ideas have prospec-tive club members anxiously waiting for the club to start.

“I am excited because we will be doing things that the club has never been able to do before and I think I will be able to learn new things, maybe even inspired to look at this as a career option for the future,” junior Monay Miles said.

The upperclassmen are not the only ones excited for the fu-ture events and competitions that the club will participate in; many freshman are eager to join to ex-press their love of cooking with other members. Freshman that are joining the program say that they look forward to the club being an enjoyable experience

“I can’t wait to start because I really like cooking and I plan to gain new experience by par-ticipating with the club,” fresh-man Kennedy Cadichon said.

The culinary department in previous years has hosted lun-cheons and cooked for spe-cial events. Providing them the means to grow impressively along with their new ideas.

“I truly believe that once this program starts it has a chance of becoming one of the top programs at this school, ” Principal Hall said.

Mariana ChinchillaStaff Writer

Yolany Paz

Drama joins South Florida Cappies

The Cappies, a theatre award and writing program, has made its way to West Broward High school. Providing students in-volved in journalism and the theatre department the opportu-nity to discuss and learn about theatre productions by taking the role of a critic. Being West Bro-ward’s first year participating in The Cappies program, student actors now have the opportunity to experience something they’ve never come across before.

“My passions are writing and theatre so to me this was a perfect opportunity to do both,” senior Pa-tricia Pimentel said. “The more I can integrate the things I enjoy the

more I can understand, appreciate, and ultimately improve them.”

In the fall, each school partic-ipating in the program fabricates a group that consists of three to nine student critics and two adult volunteers. Each school’s the-atre department chooses one of their renditions to be attended and evaluated by students from other schools, as well as choose and attend other performances to leave their own reviews, all finally leading up to The Cap-pies Gala, an award show.

The youth of today are taught to be expert writers, leaders, and critical thinkers. The Cappies pro-vides the possibility for students to journey to other schools and learn about the “do’s and don’ts” of stage performances. Every aspect

of a show is examined, whether it’s technician incidents or acting failure, student actors and jour-nalists master the art of critiquing.

“I usually write in my free time and I was looking for things to put on my college transcript and The Cappies looked like a re-ally good option so I signed up,” senior Kyle Christensen said.

Within a time frame of 48 to 72 hours after the performance, the 20 to 90 student critics pres-ent at the shows submit a 300 to 600-word analysis of the show through a computer information system (CIS). The program di-rector determines the best-writ-ten reviews to be distributed to local press outlets. The perform-ing school also receives all the reviews back to read and under-stand how other schools viewed their shows. The articles that are chosen to be published are sent to floridatheateronstage.com.

Through The Cappies, high school plays and musicals re-ceive gain prominence within the theatre community. There are a total of fifteen Cappies Chap-ters across the United States and Canada, and each chapter is made up of ten to sixty schools. Drama programs everywhere are adapting this program to get pub-licity. Newspapers allow critic’s reviews to be published, thus making access to reviews easier.

“Hopefully The Cappies team starts getting our reviews published out of the four that get picked for every play,” se-

nior Kyle Christensen said. At the end of the year The

Cappies Galas is held to honor all the hard work displayed through-out the program. This is the night appreciation is shown for the arts and students involved in the fine arts program come to support the event. The Cappies Gala is pre-sented only to the critic teams and mentors at a chosen host school to talk about the show before, dur-ing intermission, and afterwards. The school presenting is required to record the technical categories, props, costumes, lights, sound, make-up, marketing and public-ity, and sets to display their work and present progress. A category will be disqualified if a student did not put in the effort. Crit-ics gather through central com-puter labs, using CIS to deter-mine which students and schools should be acknowledge for their brilliance. The election method CIS uses is a mathematical scor-ing equation that is depended on critic averages in each category. The vote is not appointed by the amount of shows a student viewed or the quantity of students at a show. The voting is strictly based on numbers and arithmetic.

“I’m very excited for The Cappies Gala,” senior Patricia Pimentel said. “It’s going to be held at the West Broward Cen-ter and is supposedly conducted much like the tony awards are, honoring participants from all schools that have. It’s a great way for to reward the hard work.”

Sue Tapanes Staff Writer

Staff Writer

Around The World Festival is hosted by the National Spanish Honors Society; the sixth annual festival was hosted on December 10th at West Broward. It was the most successful festival yet be-cause of hard work from the mem-bers of the Spanish Honors Soci-ety, club participation from the school, attendance from students and parents, and performances done from different music groups.

“[The Spanish Festival is made] to celebrate His-panic Heritage,” Torraca said.

Hosting 22 clubs, including DECA, Do Something Club, and Key Club, the event had more club participation than ever before.

“This is the year that we had the most club participation,” Tor-raca said. “This is a great oppor-tunity to do fundraising for your club. [They sold] pretzels, French fries, cotton candy, pie, pizza, Italian ice, hot chocolate, snow cones, brownies, and pastelitos.”

Many people attended the festival and saw the perfor-mances from the West Broward Choir, Soul Purpose, the Silver Trail Jazz Band, and other mu-sical performances and danc-es. Darien Deiros and Valeria Vega were hosts for this event.

Most of the money raised at the event comes from club and

vendor booths ranging from $20 to $30, brochure advertisement at $50, Banner advertisement at $100, and video advertisement at $150. They were also asked if they wanted to make a dona-tion to Children’s Harbor. The Spanish Honors Society gives all the money raised at Around The World to Children’s Harbor, a local orphanage that works to create a safe and healthy envi-ronment for children in the foster system in Southwest Ranches.

“We have been with Har-bor House for four years,” Tor-raca said. “With the money that we raised, we came up with a field day near Valentine’s day.”

Over the years, the festival has become more elaborate and, through experience, the Spanish Honors Society has improved it. Last year’s festival was held

on a Saturday and attendance was low; therefore, this year they decided to host it after school which improved atten-dance and club participation.

“The first year we wanted to reach out to the community, so I wanted to have a charity that we could consider home base,” Torraca said. “We started with

His House. That wasn’t a good experience because they have big sponsors, like the Miami Heat.”

The festival was a big success in bringing people together to en-joy a good time. People were able to dance and sing with friends and family and meet new people from the community, as well as raise money for Children’s Harbor.

DRAW IT: Senior Stefanie Prieto draws a traditional henna on Hawkes Bluff student Sarah Wolf during the Around World Festival. Photo By Taylor Crehan

ZUMBA ON: Students, parents, and teachers Zumba with Judith Chocolate at Around the World. Photo By Yolany Paz

CHECK IT: Senior and Cappies participant Patricia Pimentel reads her latest critique, found on page 13, to fellow drama student Jorge Amador. Photo By Kim Lucas

Culinary starts from scratch

NSHS host annual Around the Wortld festival

JANUARY 201512 clubs CLUBS EDITOR: JULIETTE ROBAYNA

Thespians perform a Cup of Show Yolany Paz

Staff Writer

Angel Tree Drive

Lauren Sakowitz Staff Writer

Holiday spirit is more than just presents and peppermints; it is also about giving back. West Broward’s National Honor Society (NHS) is hosting the Salvation Army’s Angel Tree Drive to donate items to chil-dren whose parents are incarcer-ated or have been in the past.

“The drive for the salvation army is a project that Broward County endorses every year,” senior Mareena Kashif said. “The unique thing is that in ad-

dition to running the collection at school, our members go to the mall during the holidays to get mall shoppers to hopefully want to donate toys that they can pick up at the mall for the cause.”

For the past two years, NHS has asked students to donate toys and games into bins found in teachers’ classrooms across the school. Previously, they have found success, especially last year when West Broward’s student body donated over 148 toys to the Salvation Army.

“I believe that all children deserve a happy holiday, with no cares or worries, regardless of their family situations,” NHS advisor Sarah Zorn said. “If a few toys to these children brings smiles to their faces, and a little bit of relief to their families, I feel like I did something good.”

From December 1st to the 15th, Salvation Army offi-cers as well as NHS members will also be collecting gifts at the Pembroke Lakes mall off of Pines. The gifts contributed from the school as well as the mall are then given to parents a few days before Christmas so they surprise their kids with presents from “Santa Clause.”

“I donated because I think it is important to give back to people who aren’t as fortunate as I am,” junior Kristen Abreu said. “I think the fact that the Salvation Army does this just for the lives of others is a really great thing.”

HOLY HELPING: Junior Mila-gros Pilipiak donates a Barbie Doll into an angel tree box that will send all donated presents to children in need. Photo By Lauren Sakowitz

Thespians Honor Society is one of the two performance hon-ors societies at West Broward, and on November 24th they presented their District competition show-case, Cup of Show. Each year at Districts the Thespians compete in front of experienced judges who determine if they advance to States. Therefore, to mimic this experi-ence, at Cup of show they are also judged and can observe the audi-ence’s reactions to their acting.

“The purpose of [Cup of Show] is to showcase the differ-ent individual acts being taken to districts by the Thespian So-ciety,” performer Patty Pimen-

tel said. “People are competing with things, such as solo musical pieces, duet musical pieces, duet acting scenes, ensemble acting pantomimes, and then there are technical categories, such as cos-tume construction and publicity.”

Cup of Show not only gave parents and close friends a chance to see performances, but also gave the participants an op-portunity to see the strong and weak elements in their acts.

“This [event] prepares me by getting feedback from my peers and our Thespian presidents,” Pi-mentel said. “It helps you figure out what you need to work on before you actually go to competition and compete in front of judges. You figure out where your strengths are, and it just ultimately helps to make you a better performer.”

Friends and family mem-bers are invited to have a “cup of Joe,” eat some confections, and enjoy the performances.

“[I enjoyed] the diversity of the talent,” parent Joy Conisnard said. “The difference in the sing-ers and how some people are comfortable during one thing and not others. They’re all really talented and this is the first time I’ve come to Cup of Show and it’s nice to see what they are go-ing to be presenting at districts.”

The event included Thespian Honor Society Advisor Elizabeth Hart, Thespian Honor Society President Kimberley Lucas, and

West Broward Drama Alumna Amanda Holt as judges. The in-tention of the judges was to make the actors feel as if they were at districts being judged. There are five types of ratings partici-pants can receive: superior, ex-cellent, good, fair, and poor. To move onto states, the performer would have to receive a superior in the category they exceeded in.

“It gives me a head start on what I should work on, how I should act for when I actually do it, and how the crowd will react to what I say to where I can work on how I say certain things lat-er,” performer Colin Miller said.

Over the years, the Thespi-ans have improved their act-ing skills and have refined their talents. They have grown with each play and each experience over the years. Last year many of the participants acquired su-perior and excellent ratings, and hope to do the same this year.

“I’ve been coming to Cup of Show for the last three years and I enjoy watching how the kids have progressed throughout the years,” parent Diane Lucas said. “Many of them have started since they were in the ninth and tenth grade and watching them get bet-ter and better and better each year is really a pleasure. They’ve all become much more confident on the stage, their voices and stage presence have grown, and they’re much more relaxed [on stage].”

ACTION: Junior Sarah Gorfin-kel hosted Thespian Honor So-ciety’s Cup of Show on Monday, November 24. Photo By Taylor Crehan

13 January 2015 Life&arts Editor: Kaitlynn Ramirezlife&artsA Midsummer Night’s Dream enchants West Broward

Maile WobbStaff Writer

After long hours of practice and rehearsal, West Broward’s thespian community put on their performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with a special showing where the cast performed for seniors, selling 400 tickets for that performance alone. Taking on such a difficult piece defi-nitely had its downfalls, but over-all the actors and actresses put on an entertaining performance.

The play opens up to a simple white scene with actresses posing as statues. One of the citizens of Athens insists that his daughter, Hermia (Katelyn Izzo), marry Demetrius (Kyle Valencia) or be killed, but she refuses be-cause she’s in love with Lysander

(Remington Laguerre). While Demetrius shares Lysander’s love for Hermia, she doesn’t feel the same way; instead, Helena (Kim-berly Lucas) is obsessed with De-metrius. After the stage clears, the statues are revealed to be fairies, and Puck (Taylor Crehan/Alex Juffre) introduces the audience to a whole other world in the for-est. Puck uses a magical flower on several characters in the play that causes a person to fall in love with the next living thing they see, causing many humorous problems to arise. While this is going on a whole different, poor-ly written play within the play is being created by an amateur acting company that unwitting-ly ends up finding itself caught in the middle of Puck’s antics.

The director’s artistic choice

of adding modern music helped viewers keep up with what was happening in the play by using the music to convey feelings and actions of the characters that the audience could relate to. Within the play, there were actors that surpassed the expectations of a high school thespian. Lucas’s performance as Helena showed her noticeable talent for acting. Even though she was only per-forming in her high school au-ditorium to friends and family, her passion and energy during the performance is not typical of many young actors. Also standing out in the production was Jorge Amador as Bottom/Pyramus. Al-though he was not one of the four main characters, Amador put a lot of effort into his performance and really highlighted a charac-ter that normally wouldn’t have been given as much attention as the more prominent characters. He had a gift for stealing the spot-light during his scenes, and draw-ing attention towards his lines.

A Midsummer Night’s Dream, however, had various downfalls that detracted from the over-all performance. At the start of the play the microphones were not working, causing a delay, and throughout the performance there were times that the actors could not be heard. With a com-plex play like A Midsummer Night’s Dream, it is important to be able to hear all the lines the

actors are saying to keep from getting lost amidst the compli-cated Shakespearean language. On the night of the second per-formance, Hart even coura-geously stopped the play and re-started because of sound issues.

A consistent strong point throughout the play was the multifunctional set design. The sets were well constructed, and it was obvious how much time went into designing them. Even though they were simplistic, they allowed for minimal time for scene changes while still giving the audience a sense of the set-ting. Another exceptionality in the play was the costumes. The all white worn by the citizens heavily contrasted with the neon and black worn by the fairies,

UNWANTED ADVANCES: Helena tries to fend off the romantic advances of Demetrius and Lysander with a jealous Hermia looking on. Photo Submitted By Rene Pimentel

whose bright, vibrant colors added to the modern aspect of the forest. These two outfits also contrasted with the various colors worn by the acting company within the play. The costume choices helped the audience differentiate between the three groups within the play.

West Broward’s thespian com-munity put on an impressive per-formance at the end of November; however, it was a bold choice for sponsor and director Mrs. Eliza-beth Hart to choose such an in-tense piece stylistically. That choice did have its repercussions. Despite this, the production was enjoyable to watch, and if it is any indication of their upcoming musi-cal production of Legally Blonde, the West Broward Drama Program is only destined for great things.

COLD SHOULDER: Oberon and Titania argue about making a young Indian Prince a knight. Photo Submitted By Rene Pimentel

Disney ventures into the woodsKaitlynn RamirezLife & Arts Editor

Based on the award win-ning Broadway musical of the same name, Into the Woods was brought to life on the sil-ver screen just in time for the holidays. The film did nothing if not entertain its audience, particularly with its haunting forest setting that really took the audience “into the woods.”

The film centers around the story of a baker (James Corden) and his wife (Emily Blunt) who want to have a child but are un-able to due to the curse set on the baker’s family by the Witch (Meryl Streep). In order to have the curse lifted, the couple must acquire four items for the Witch by the next blue moon in three days. They are aided on their quest by Little Red Riding Hood (Lilla Crawford), a poor boy named Jack (Daniel Huttlestone), Cinderella (Anna Kendrick), and Rapunzel (Mackenzie Mauzy).

There were several amaz-ing performances throughout the film, such as Blunt’s role as the dedicated wife of the baker and Kendrick’s performance as the kind and gentle Cinder-ella. However, Meryl Streep stole the show for every minute she was on screen. Her perfor-mance as the conniving Witch is excellently eerie. However, her acting is not the only as-pect of her performance worth commending. Streep’s voice soared and enraptured the audi-ence. Her solo song, “Last Mid-

night,” was chilling and one of the best songs in the entire film.

Into the Woods is undoubtedly entertaining, but it is not without its faults. It is usually hard to criti-cize Johnny Depp’s acting, yet his performance as the Wolf is weak, and he does not seem as interested in his character as usual. Further-more, the character of the Wolf is creepy. Despite his brief appear-ance, his song “Hello, Little Girl”

highlights how dangerous strang-ers can be with hints about how “delectable” he finds Little Red to be, causing the audience’s skin to crawl. The film was advertised as being kid-friendly, yet scenes such as this one lead that initial assessment to be questionable.

While Into the Woods has its ups and downs like any film, it is a magical tale that was worth being brought to the big screen. It may not be the best movie of 2014, but it is an engaging and come-dic film to ring in the new year.

Cappies composed of more than a few good menWest Broward’s Drama

Club has become part of the an-nual theatre award and writing competition program, known as the Cappies. Students from drama programs at different schools are able to attend enjoy and critique each other’s plays.

Senior Patricia Pimentel at-tended Archbishop McCarthy High’s rendition of the play A Few Good Men on November 1, and members of the Drama Club are still scheduled to at-tend Western High’s Dark of the Moon on January 30, Boca Raton Community High’s The Drowsy Chaperone on February 28, and West Boca High’s The Ad-dams Family Musical on March 13. This is Pimental’s review:

Unit. Corps. God. Country. These are the themes preva-lent in “A Few Good Men,” brought to the court (and to the stage) by Archbishop McCarthy.

Written by Aaron Sorkin, A Few Good Men follows the trial of two U.S. Marines accused of murdering a fellow officer. The military lawyers, in the process of building a defense for their clients, are forced to question morality, loyalty, and ultimate-ly, what constitutes the truth. The play first opened on Broad-way in 1989, and was adapted into a successful film in 1992.

Lt. Cmdr. Joanne Galloway (Rachel O’Hara) is an immedi-ate source of vitality in the pro-duction. Her spunky, undaunted attitude pours forth from her first moments onstage. Galloway’s drive in her mission to defend

the young Marines radiates from O’Hara’s expressions and body language. O’Hara’s performance is energetic and wholly pres-ent, and she meets her match when Galloway is introduced to Lt. J.G. Daniel A. Kaffee (Eric Maltz). Maltz builds Kaffee’s character throughout the course of the show with incredible skill; starting off as carefree and indif-ferent toward the case he’s been assigned, he rises to the occasion and takes to the courtroom in an unforgettable fervor. Through-out the production, O’Hara and Maltz create a dynamic con-

nection, using humorous ban-ter and high-stakes moments to develop a relationship between their characters—not only as professionals, but as people.

The content of the show in itself makes it difficult to pull off at a high school level, one of the reasons being that many characters have life experience and authority that most teenag-ers do not. That said, Matthew Salas made it easy to forget all of that in his portrayal of Lt. Col. Nathan Jessep. His presence is commanding and condescend-ing, clearly comfortable in a po-sition of manipulating people like

pawns in a military chess game. Jessep’s ego is as enormous as Salas’ commitment, and where character and actor meet, there is a powerful performance on both the comedic and dramatic fronts.

Other notable performances came from Cmdr. Walter Stone (Kevin Veloz), who created a genuine portrait of a man caught between morality and self-pres-ervation; Lt. J.G. Sam Wein-berg (Kevin Fitzpatrick), whose comedic timing was surpassed only by his sincere connection to character; PFC. William T. Santiago (Juan Arcila), whose brief time onstage captured the honest desperation of a scared young man; and Capt. Matthew A. Markinson (Nicholas Pala-zzo), whose monologues con-tained potent strength mixed with raw human vulnerability.

The show was technically ex-cellent, especially provided the fact that the stage crew consisted of the actors themselves. The transitions between scenes were seamless, well-coordinated, and never distracting. Aside from the occasional fumble over a line or unclear delivery, the performers were overall articulate and had masterful control over their vol-ume. The live music underscor-ing scenes and set changes also lened itself to the story, adding greater depth to the conflict and emotional undertones of the play.

Archbishop McCarthy has pulled off its production of A Few Good Men with a level of skill, dedication, and truth that very few can handle.

The military lawyers, in the process of building a de-fense for their clients, are forced to question moral-ity, loyalty, and ultimately, what constitutes the truth.

Photo Provided By Disney

January 201514sports

Sports Editor: nicholas derosa

Bobcat wrestling builds champions

The West Broward High Bob-cats are back on the mat for the 2014-15 winter season, and they hold a winning record of 9-1.

“I always expect more [from the team], but I see a lot of potential and hard work coming from them,” senior Erik Schmidt (126 lb.) said.

With two new assistant coach-es this year, Jonah Schropp and Justin Ochoa, who help train the team at every practice, the Bob-cats’ morale is on the rise. Mem-bers of the team and head coach Juan Villar have noticed the ben-efits that they have had with their lighter weight wrestlers this year. At the first meet of the season on Dec. 2, the team dominated the Boyd Anderson Cobras 66-12, the Flanagan Falcons 49-27, and the Stoneman Douglas Eagles 40-39.

Senior Philip Jackson (195/220 lb.) had a strong match against his Flanagan opponent.

Jackson wasted no time in the second round of the match, and within 25 seconds of the referee’s whistle blowing, Jackson had his opponent pinned for the win. Se-nior Julian Yepez (195/220 lb.) remained headstrong as well. When faced with his Stoneman Douglas opponent, Yepez kept his footing and won his pin with seven seconds left on the clock.

“I think [the team] has de-veloped a lot better [this year] thanks to the coaches,” Yepez said. “We’ve been do-ing a lot better with technique and practicing every day.”

Although there is still work to be done, Yepez is correct about the team’s development. Two days after the first meet, the Bob-cats faced the South Plantation Paladins, Coconut Creek Cou-gars, and Fort Lauderdale Fly-ing L’s on Dec. 4. Just like two nights earlier, the team defeated all three of their opponents, main-taining their undefeated record.

“This is what we train for

GettinG it riGht: [Left] Coaches Hill and O’Connell go over game strategies during a short break in the team’s game against Flanagan. [Right] Coach Hill helps power forward Alexis Hanson with a new drill during one of the team’s practices. Photos By Hailey Shirley

West Broward girls’ basketball is under new instruction, with coaches Jim Hill and assistant Bill O’Connell eager to aid the team in a successful season despite the loss of many vital senior starters.

“Coaching a team isn’t for everyone,” O’Connell said. “It takes patience and deter-mination to train these girls to develop them into athletes.”

Starting the school year off with only one returning player, the team has been reconstructed from the ground up this season. Both coaches intend on improving the team’s skills and connection with each other on the court. The girls

don’t only plan to strive for great-ness during the fall league, but also tackle the summer league and train hard during the off-season.

“Some of the girls haven’t drib-bled a ball before the season start-ed,” Coach Hill said. “I’ve been watching them run up and down the court putting in so much effort and you can already tell they’re going to dominate this year.”

One of the many objectives Coach Hill is focusing on is to have the more experienced girls support and assist the new play-ers and make them feel comfort-able and ready to conquer this season. The team has lost many seniors and is now recovering by training freshmen to meet the high standards they left for West

Broward. Coach Hill plans on using particular strategies and intense conditioning in order to get the players ready for districts.

“Playing lacrosse most of my life, I decided to change it up and start playing basketball,” ju-nior Juliette Cusano said. “This year I decided to bring more than half of the team with me.”

Having 15 new girls on the team, this year will be full of sur-prises. This year Coach Hill has planned a new approach with the girls to have an overall better season. The season started with a win over Hollywood Hills, but with only one more victory under their belts, the team has shown that work still needs to be done.

Coach Bill has years of ex-

WinninG the Pin: Senior Brandon Diaz (160 lb.) taking his Flana-gan opponent down and attempting to earn a pin. Photo By Kaitlynn Ramirez

every single day,” senior Mo-hammad Dayem (132 lb.) said. “Our coaches prepared us, and the hard work paid off.”

Dayem showed how far the team has come in his first match against Coconut Creek. Dayem not only finished 11-2, but also pinned his opponent in 25 sec-onds during the second round. Senior Hunter Lang, who had been struggling for his first few matches after a strong sea-son last year, came out for his third match of the night against Fort Lauderdale, and within 17 seconds, he earned his pin.

The Bobcats defended their ti-tle once again on Dec. 10 against the Northeast High Vikings when the team defeated their opposition 48-24. Schmidt, who has been undefeated all season, tore his labrum during his match. Despite this shoulder injury, Schmidt took his opponent down for the pin.

Jan. 6 brought yet another vic-tory for the Bobcats as well as their first loss; the team defeated

the Stranahan Dragons 42-21, but lost to the JP Taravella Trojans in a close meet that ended 30-31. Senior John Alvarez (120 lb.) helped keep the Bobcats’ score on the rise. Alvarez finished his match against Stranahan of 11-5 and got his score against his Tara-vella opponent up to 11-1 before going in for the pin. The team also took to the mat on Jan. 9 against Piper High School for senior night and defeated the Bengals 60-12.

After starting the season strong, the Bobcats are eager to make it to the regional competi-tion. They will be facing Stone-man Douglass, Plantation, and Deerfield High Schools on Jan. 14. In the meantime, the team will continue building champions.

“I’d like for at least half of the team to get into districts,” Vil-lar said. “I think they’ve earned that, and I think they’ve worked hard over the past three years, and I think it’s very possible for them to do it. It’s just a matter of if they show up to do it or not.”

tAKe hiM DOWn: Senior Erik Schmidt (126 lb.) getting his Flana-gan opponent in a headlock as he takes him down to the mat. Photo By Kaitlynn Ramirez

perience with most of the girls already, because he is also cur-rently the coach for the girl’s lacrosse team and knows their strengths and weaknesses. These coaches have years of experi-ence and know exactly how to teach new techniques and how to approach issues that come along during the season. Being an ambitious team with such a strong desire for success, Coach Hill believes they will continue the success of previous years.

“At the end of the day we’re still a family with a lot of room for improvement,” Varsity player Nicole Chandler said. “But as a team, we all believe they will lead us into the right direction and have us bring home a district title.”

Kaitlynn RamirezLife and Arts Editor

Hailey ShirleyStaff Writer

New basketball coaches look to continue success

Hootie hoo. That is all sev-eral Sayreville War Memorial High School un-d e r c l a s s m a n football play-

ers heard as veteran athletes en-tered their New Jersey locker room, flickering the lights while punching and kicking the young-er students. In the latest case of locker room hazing, seven play-ers were arrested, the coaching staff was suspended, and the football season was cancelled.

Sayreville has one of the top-ranked programs in Jersey, but is not the only school to be plagued by locker room vio-lence this season. Students from Milton High in Georgia recently admitted to hazing. In October, Eldred Central School in upstate New York cancelled its foot-ball season because of alleged hazing. And Long Island’s Wy-andanch High and Pennsylva-nia’s Central Buck West High both suspended several athletes.

Hazing has evolved as a con-sistent problem in football locker rooms nationwide and at various levels, but the response is per-haps what is most troublesome. Take the Sayreville case, for ex-ample. A victim told the New York Times the interaction “made me want to shoot myself.” But the other two anonymous vic-tims told the Times the alterca-tion was “not a big deal” because it was “a part of team bonding.”

In several incidents over the past few years, hazing has re-sulted in the suspension of key athletes, the decline of top foot-ball programs, and end of lengthy coaching careers. But regardless of the details, hazing should not be considered a ritual or ordi-nary locker room behavior, es-pecially at the high school level. At both the high school and col-lege levels, students are just that-observers of the game, trying to improve both on and off the field. Hazing is an unnecessary distrac-tion which proves to be another obstacle athletes are faced with.

Younger athletes are notably susceptible. An Alfred Univer-sity study of hazing and bul-lying in high schools revealed nearly half of the 1600 students interviewed were subjected to hazing in some context, with 43 percent describing it as humiliat-ing. Students who identified as members of a sports team were three times as likely to be hazed.

While hazing is evident throughout high school and col-lege programs, it could be the dis-play of such activity on a profes-sional scale that led to it becoming an issue at the lower levels. Haz-ing should not be considered a portion of locker room culture. Locker rooms have become more accepting, but hazing involves excessive violence and unneces-sary contact, and is wrongfully defined as an act of team bonding.

Editor-in-Chief

Scott Gelman

Hazing not acceptable locker room behavior

Girls’ basketball develops youth

JANUARY 201515 Sports Editor: nicholas derosasports

Girls soccer overcomes early season struggles

After losing to Cypress Bay in the regional quarterfinals last January, the girls varsity soc-cer team entered the 2014-2015 season determined to make it farther. However, when they began their season facing chal-lenging opponents, they dropped two of their first six games.

“I am really excited for this season and how far I think we can go as a team,” sophomore Valerie Wyrick said. “We do need to im-prove on some things of course, especially working together.”

Even though the team had success last season with former head coach Diego Phillips, the school hired Carlos Ortega to take the helm of the squad and lead the girls to their first regional finals in the past several years.

“So far I’m happy with the team’s hard work and dedica-tion,” head coach Carlos Ortega said. “We have a strong, com-pacted defense and a powerful offense. We started off disorga-nized, but we have formed into

a solid team, especially when the players started recommend-ing certain formations to me.”

Since struggling at the begin-ning of the season, dropping two of the first three games, the girls went 4-0 against district teams. The team (12-3-2) lost their first game of the season in an an-ticipated match up against Pines Charter, after losing the game last year 2-1. With a score of 4-0, the Jaguars played well offen-sively and defensively against the Bobcats, handing the team their first shut out loss of the season.

Following the Pines Charter loss, the girls mercy ruled Piper in an 8-0 win, but then took on Flanagan and suffered another early-season loss in their first dis-trict game on the schedule. Junior Danielle Antieau scored a goal to tie the game at 1-1, but Flanagan went on to score the winning goal.

The Bobcats have since bounced back, going undefeated in their last four games and win-ning them by large margins. In a 9-1 victory against Dr. Krop, An-tieau scored three goals, and soph-omore Tori Colleso added two more. The team then routed North

Miami in another 8-0 mercy rule win, before going on to beat Hia-leah Gardens 4-0, with Antieau scoring a goal. Alexandra Graeff, who leads the Bobcats in assists with ten, added an assist as well.

“Beating teams by a lot during the games gives the underclass-men a chance to play more often and improve,” Graeff said. “But since they aren’t such a big com-petition, it doesn’t really prepare us for the tougher games ahead.”

In the girls’ last November game of the season, the team

lost a 4-0 lead to district rival Flanagan. After Antieau scored three of the four goals, Ortega put her on the sidelines, confi-dent that the team would protect the lead. However, undefeated Flanagan scored four goals to tie the score and end the game.

“We were up 4-0 because our team found Flanagan’s weak-nesses after the first game,” Ortega said. “We got a little bit too comfortable with our lead because we thought we had the win, but we shouldn’t do that.”

Lauren Sakowitz

Staff Writer

The girls’ final games before break both ended in victories against Everglades and Mira-mar, two teams the girls have defeated several times since the schools have been in the same district. In the team’s first game back from break, they faced Western and suffered their third loss on the season by a score of 4-3. Goalie Renee Bronson had given up only 14 goals prior to the game, but with the additional four the Wildcats had scored, that makes 18 on the season.

All of these games are leading up to the much-awaited match up against Cypress Bay, who has ended the Bobcats season two years in a row. With returning Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald All-County players in Antieau, who leads the team with 28 goals scored, and senior Sabrina Ama-dor, who also has nine assists and seven goals, the team is expecting to put up a tough fight against the defending regional 8A champions.

“We are hoping to win in the district finals for the second year in a row,” Antieau said. “I am hop-ing to help by giving it my all ev-ery time I step out onto the field.”

Chase it down: Sophomore Valerie Wyrick passes the ball in a 4-0 win against rival Everglades. Photo By Lauren Sakowitz

The Behavior Stationwith Tiffany N. KilbyMS BCBA

kilbytiffany@gmail.com (954) 394-8096 TheBehaviorStation.com facebook.com/TheBehaviorStation

Boys’ basketball eyeing district title for 2016

First-year head coach Roger Reader refuses to use coaching in-consistencies as an excuse for his squad’s slow start. Reader became the third coach in three seasons to coach the young team when he ac-cepted the job in May, but is con-fident a core led by junior Point Guard Garrett Gray will turn things around after posting just three wins to this point in 2015.

“This is a very competitive group, and you have seen the expectations raise as the sea-son progresses,” Reader said. “These [players] are work-ing under a new system and the new expectations that I have.”

While the Bobcats’ (3-15, 0-6) goal is to advance to the district championship game, an early 83-64 loss to rival McArthur placed the Bobcats at the bot-tom of the District 8A-13 stand-ings. Gray posted 20 points and Guard Justin Shuyler led the team with ten points, but the Bobcats had difficulty driving the ball inside against a tall and disci-plined Mustangs starting five.

“[McArthur] wasn’t getting

a lot of open looks in the first half and we were playing well defensively,” Forward Jaime Bahamon said. “Our offense has not been consistent and our defense has just been bad.”

Two of the squad’s wins came in the form of a 60-56 vic-tory over Coral Glades and 44-34 win over Hollywood Hills, and Gray is looking for the offense to become consistent to start the second half of the season.

“The offense has just been off,” Gray said. “We have a few things we have to work on. It is a new team, most-

ly juniors. I’m not worried.”Reader wants to build around

a core of juniors led by Gray, and is not expecting immediate results. He wants to utilize the team’s speed and transition away from a zone defense while em-phasizing patience and discipline on the offensive side of the ball.

“This has not been a great re-bounding team in the past, and even though we don’t always have a height advantage we have to fix that,” Reader said. “Results will come, but we have to be-come less selfish and anxious first for improvement from day one.”

Scott Gelman

Editor-in-Chief

Nicholas DeRosa

Sports Editor

advanCe the ball: Junior point guard Garrett Gray drives to the basket in a game against McArthur. Photo By Scott Gelman

Under first year head coach Jim Hill, the Bobcats girls basketball team (3-12, 2-4) have struggled with youth and inexperience, which has led to a lack of consistency on both ends of the floor.

“If you look at us now, we are a young team that has a ways to go,” Hill said. “Most of our girls had never played basketball before this year, so it has been a ma-jor learning curve for them.”

The team has only one re-turning starter from a squad that

made it to the second round of the district playoffs last season, which has contributed to their slow start.

Before the team’s most recent win, a 44-36 victory over district foe McArthur, the team suffered an eight game losing streak, in which they gave up more than 38 points in every game during that span.

With district games against Mi-ramar, Everglades, and Flanagan on the horizon, Hill is looking for the girls to build off of the McArthur win and finish the season strong.

“I think that we have started to pick up our play recently,” Hill said. “I expect the girls to build off of that and win some of these last few games.”

Keeping it Close: Shooting guard Jaliah Willis prepares to block a shot in a game against Flanagan. Photo By Nicholas DeRosa

JANUARY 201516 Sports Editor: NicholAS dERoSAsports

Track star Isaiah Taylor signs with Miami for fall

U.M. sees Taylor as one of the key components to their success.

“It said a lot to me when he visited twice,” Mann said. “He was hungry and dedicated and really wanted to be a part of our program. I met with him in person and his family and talked about his goals and aspirations. We’re definitely adding the Taylor fam-ily to the Hurricane family.”

Taylor did not achieve his athletic prestige simply by rest-ing on his laurels, but went the extra mile in each and every practice, and seized every op-portunity he had to advance

his career in track and field.“Isaiah is one of my top run-

ners because he practices above and beyond,” Track and Field coach Ben Hodgers said. “He is always looking to improve, and he’s stepped up his game in the last couple years, and that’s why he’s such a hot prospect.”

Isaiah discovered the thrill of competition in his early years, and his innate speed helped him prosper.

“I’d always been pretty fast,” Taylor said. “My friends and family encouraged me to play sports at a young age, and I loved the competition. Eventu-ally, I found myself on the track, and I’m thankful that I did.”

Taylor has accrued many

honors in his field, including district champion and region-al runner-up in the 100-me-ter race. He also claimed first in the 100m and second in the 200m at the AAU Club Cham-pionships, and beat the previous meet record of 10.61 seconds. Taylor’s 100m time ranks ninth among all seniors in the nation.

“I’m just trying to do the best that I can do,” Taylor said. “I go into every meet hoping to make a statement and prove my-self. If I can accomplish that, then I can sleep a bit easier.”

Taylor has not only dedi-cated his time to track, but also to football, TV production, and other extra-curricular ac-tivities. With speed being a very

important factor on the grid-iron, Taylor was able to excel.

“He was hands-down the team’s best kick returner,” sophomore and football team member Justin Freeman said. “He scored two touchdowns during his time on the team. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone run as fast as he did.”

However, raw talent cannot be refined without a sharp and steady force to smooth out the edges. For Taylor, his drive to succeed and willingness to put in the extra hours pushed him on to triumph.

“Isaiah has a great attitude on and off the track,” Hodgers said. “His attitude is something everyone can learn from. I think everybody should always strive

to better themselves, and Isa-iah is one of the best at that.”

Taylor’s attitude does not only show on the track, but could also be found in just about everything he does. For football players, that strong spirit can be a bit contagious.

“He was a really good influence on the team,” Freeman said. “He didn’t really take up an assigned leadership role, but he did lead by example. He put in a ton of effort in practices, and we fed off that.”

With all his athletic prom-ise and sheer determination, Taylor seeks to become one of the best sprinters in the world. His teammates and friends would expect no less from him.

“There’s not a doubt in my mind he’ll go far,” Freeman said. “When you combine his work ethic with his raw speed, you get a special athlete. There’s a rea-son U.M. wants him so badly.”

One of the largest sporting events in the world, the Olym-pics, is a stage in which only a handful of athletes can ever hope to compete in. Hodgers believes Taylor has the potential to be-come one of those lucky few.

“I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if I see him in the Olympics one day,” Hodg-ers said. “Of course, it’s one of the hardest things to achieve, and something all runners dream of, but if he continues to push and apply himself, that dream could become a reality.”

Benjamin TuschmanStaff Writer

NEED FOR SPEED: [Left] Taylor rushes the ball up the field in a game against the Stoneman Douglas Eagles. [Right] Isaiah Taylor bursts ahead to the front of the pack in the 100-meter race at the AAU Club National Championships. Photos Submitted By Isaiah Taylor

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