Upcoming EventsSept. 28: College & Career Expo at SSCOct. 13-15: Snowball RetreatOct. 21: End of Quarter 1Oct. 27-29: School Play: Horror High

15203 S. Pulaski Rd. Midlothian, Illinois 60445 Volume 58, Issue 1 September 26, 2011

Center helps with post-high school plans

by Hope LiddellEcho reporter

This school year, our very own Bremen High School has found another way to help students take that next step into planning their future. On September 25, there will be a new organization in the IMC available to students in need of assistance with any questions or uncertainties pertaining to col-lege and careers. This new establishment is known as the College Career Center. The College Career Cen-ter is a place where students can go during their study hall and re-ceive information that will help them get a start on planning for college. Students should take the time to stop by the center and see what it potentially has to offer. Although some students may not have an interest in col-lege, the Career Center is willing to change students’ perceptions in hopes of possibly reconsider-ing the idea of enrolling college once they’ve graduated from high school. Exactly how was this orga-nization created? The response to the number of students enrolling into college from Bremen was not quite what the counselors, or any of the administration, had hoped for. “There weren’t a lot of stu-dents that wanted to enroll in col-lege, so we did this in response to see more students enrolling” says

school counselor, Jennifer Bylut. The district administration decided to add a College Career Center in all four of the schools within District 228 because they want-ed each school to have more students willing to go to college to pursue a career in some field. Moreover, this organization can help students by preparing them for college. There will be monthly workshops held to discuss topics pertaining to post-high school decisions. Students can choose to learn more about college, such as scholarships, essay writings, letters of recommendation, etc. by going to the College and Career Center. There are also various resources stu-dents may receive at the Center such as books related to college, desktop computers for re-

search, and touch screen interest inventory tests to guide them in the right direction. The center can help eliminate students requesting for time with their counselor to help them. Instead, students can go to the Career Center and receive all the help they want by re-searching their career independently. In addition, the College Career Center is an organization to show students the resources are there for them. The center is very easy to use and can decrease the fear in students that they might have about going to college. “We can help more students more easily, but most importantly students can help them-selves” explains school counselor, Mrs. Bone-brake. Overall, the purpose is for students to access this organization on their own.

Bremen remembers 9/11

photo courtesy of Bremen Publicity

Sophomore Jemilyn Hernandez and junior Brigitte Jimenez reflect on the events of 9/11 as they look at a piece of a steel beam from the World Trade Center. In addition to the beam, a Flag of Heroes, bearing the names of all of those lost on 9/11, was hung in the lobby.

Speak out! Write a letter

to the editor and voice

your opinion. Submit all

letters to

bremenecho@yahoo.com

Bremen High School15203 S. Pulaski

Midlothian, IL 60445(708) 371-3600

ext. 3240 bremenecho@yahoo.com

StaffLauren BrownMike BurbattTamar CarterAriel Chavez

Tia DavisLaura GonzalezOmar GordilloCuoy HarmonHope Liddell

Jayneisha MarshallDarrien Moore

Jose RamosNick Stossle

AdvisersMs. Jen IntiharMs. Jen Dwyer

Editor PolicyThe opinions expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the faculty, staff, or administration of Bremen Community High School. Letters to the editor can be emailed to bremenecho@yahoo.com and are subject to editing for length.

Page 2 News Bremen High School

SIP days benefit students’ learning

by Tamar CarterEcho reporter

Throughout the school year, there are shortened school days called School Improve-ment Days, also known as SIP Days. Have you ever wondered what exactly happens on these days? If your answer is yes, then keep reading to find out. Dr. Kibelkis, Bremen’s principal, explains that SIP Days are “used to pull teachers together to develop our school goals.” Some of the goals that have already been accomplished include the Freshmen Learning Center and academic assistance programs. On SIP Days all of the teachers and administrators meet to discuss what methods are working and which methods are not. Also, teachers share techniques that help students learn better. All who are involved meet to “gain insight into what’s going on and attack our goals,” says Kibelkis. Moreover, not only does the faculty talk about ways to help students progress, but im-provement of the staff is also a topic. Kibelkis believes, “if they [the staff] continue to im-prove, you will reach goals to-gether as a school.” The ultimate mission is to “ensure success for all stu-dents... and discover new ways to motivate students,” states Kibelkis. So when you are excited to get out of school early, be grateful that the administrators and teachers are focusing on strategies to aid in our achieve-ment. According to Dr. K., “the students’ success makes us happy.”

Pass/Fail a good option for many

by Tia DavisEcho reporter

Most people don’t know about the pass/fail option forms can be filled out by eligible stu-dents during the first two weeks of school. The pass/fail forms are there to help people’s GPA by giving either a P or an F instead of a grade. By doing so, when the grades come in, if the stu-dent has a C or above there will be a P standing for pass. But if you get a D or be-low there will be an F there and you would have to take that one class over again, but your GPA won’t be affected. All you have to do is get the sheet that say “Pass/Fail,” fill out the sheet, and get it signed by a parent. MIA teacher Mr. Fla-herty thinks students should consider how the the Pass/Fail option could help them. “I think it’s a good op-

tion,” he said. “Pass/Fail can enhance [a student’s] GPA.” He went on to say that while it’s available for many elective courses, many student don’t take advantage of this op-tion. “I think a lot of students don’t know about it,” Mr. Fla-herty explained. Although some students don’t know about it, some stu-dents who are aware think that it can be a crutch for those who don’t want to do all of their work. “I think it’s an excuse to not do all of the work,” sopho-more Timothy Torres said. “Why would you take a class that you picked out, if you don’t want to do all the work. You can’t get a Pass.Fail in real life, so why would you take it for a class?” Either way, students should consider how the Pass/Fail option might benefit them and their GPA.

2010-2011September 26, 2011 Page 3

Honors With Distinction

Class of 2012Melissa Bullard

Jane GrossKaila Milham-Cassin

Shaanelle MooreMakina Moses

Malachi RhodenAalliah Robinson

Class of 2013Noemi Aguirre

Marielisa AvalosTamar Carter

Vanessa CortezZachary Crim

Jamie DuckwallJuan Garciavalle

Cheyenne HushkaKhadijah Ibrahim

Hope LiddellBria Marley

Allison MilenMariana OrozcoKara O’SullivanKelly Rampage

Kelly ReganAndrea Salcedo

Arielle Tyus

Class of 2014Aurora AguilarKarina Barban

Jesus Benitez-GorostietaMichelle Borgman

Angel GarciaBenjamin Loza

Jonathan MayorosRamon Mosqueda

Hanah NelsonPedro Perez

Jasmine SilvaKaylie StandfieldJacob Zarobsky

High Honors

Class of 2012Jesus Ahumada

Deandreale BaileyChristina BravoTracy Bulthuis

Kelley CohnAlexis Dee

Emily DillmanMolly Feil

Samantha GageTaylor GalvinDaisy Gamez

Georgina GramontYahaira Guerrero

Sarah KrygowskiKorey Little

Magdalena MunizDamien Murillo

Nora PerezKelly Pilny

Alexis ProvancalSarah SkelleyRobert Smith

Jessica ValenzuelaFatima Vargas

Ayuanna WashingtonZakia WilliamsDeanna Young

Agnieszka Zawadzka

Class of 2013Jesus AguilarMaria AguilarLindsey BakerTerry BeretaCaitlin Christ

Ludibina DelarosaJennifer Escobedo

Ariel FeregrinoMario Garcia

Elizabeth GonzalezElizabeth Gunaka

Quinn JohnsonJayneisha Marshall

Jacob MatthysBenjamin Mickley

Rushhil PatelElliot Peralta

Mikaela PikorzStefanie PoschAlina Rivera

Brayer SerratosMatthew Sessions

Jasmine Sparrock-CookJacqueline TieriViviana Villegas

Asia Winters

Class of 2014Kaitlin AltonAlexis Alzona

Tyler BanovichMark Barr

Latiana BellTiara Brazier

Emily CastanedaJeravon CottenFatima Delarosa

Luis Delgadillo-SilvaElizabeth Deyoung

Lindsey DudekAngelica Figueroa

Emanuel Gelfo SanchezEmily Gerhardt

Sean GrantJeremy Green

Morgan Hampton

Khayla HargisMarco Kirkwood

Marisa LittleDaisy Lozano

Brandon LuongAlliyah MasonKenneth Moore

Luis PachecoJuan PantojaMichael PilnyDaniele PoschSarah PowersKarla QuirogaNicole QuitmanJesus Reynoso

Cecilia SandovalNicholas Scarpinato

Wuraola SosinaNoemi Vaca

Melanie VazquezLorena VillanuevaJacob Widstrom

Jacqueline Zuniga

Honors

Class of 2012Jonathan Allen

Alejandra AraizaFernando Avalos

Arianna BellLaymondt Blakemore

Paige BoulaisBrian BravoRyan Carr

Maria CarrilloStephanie CarterCedric Clemons

Alexandrea CookKasheia Cook

Fred DiryawishMegan Doran

Amanda DornerAngela EubanksJonqis Fillyaw

Juan FloresOmar Gordillo

Madeline GouldingJeffrey Green

Araceli GuevaraDiana GutierrezCuoy Harmon

Robin HawkinsTeresa Herrera

Sonia IturbeNyesha Jenkins

Jose JimenezMichael Knight

Kelly LendiAna Magana

Emmanuel MaldonadoSeth McClerklinKalin McKean

Class of 2014Eduardo Aceves

Thomas AlvaRosaura Amezcua

Isabel AraizaJason ArvanitesMegan BanasiakBrittney BlackNelly Campos

Bernardino CarreraAlexis Cerrito

Karis Jamal ConnerJohnathan Crim

Tia DavisEmerald Dee

Amanda DemarioDavid EstradaJada FigginsDarius GaryIsaac Gary

Katherine GarzaBridget Hayes

Francisco HerreraPeter Herrera

Alexander HumekDanijah Johnson

Devon JonesThomas Kaniewski

Keith KendrickKaitlin LovrichRaquel Magana

Magdalena MartinezMatthew MartinezMichael Martino

Gavriel McClerklinYesenia MejiaSonia Melchor

Alejandro MendezAlex Mendez

Latrice MontgomeryAriana Neiheisel

Montell Nelson-SillerAlicia Olik-Egner

Kishan PatelKaitlyn PfeifferDaniel PowersRaul RamosTakia Reese

Luis RodriguezAlex Savala

Juan SepulvedaChristyle Smith

Joseph StackJeremy TaylorMariah TaylorTimothy Torres

Isaiah TrellaYolanda ValadezNicholas WatkinsTatyana Whittler

John Winnie

Christopher MeziereBrandon Ochoa

Asia OgletreeLuis ParraEmily Petty

Jamicka PriceAnalis RamirezDavid SanchezNoel SandersOlivia SartinDanica SmithDavid SmithJuan Tapia

Armando VillanuevaBrian WaddellYvette Zuniga

Class of 2013Kelseanna Barnes

Michael BeretaShelby Bodie

Kaylia Brown-JacksonDarren CabreraEduardo CerdaBryan Costello

Courtney CurtisLeah Dandurand

Karly DanielJermone DanielsDonald DreherJessie Fiedler

Ariana GallardoDominique Guzzonato

Margaret HayesAngelica Hernandez

Michael HolmesMarcus HubbardAlexis Jannotta

Jason JonesKevin Lorz

Kristopher MarroquinMercury MillerPatricia Mora

Martin Moreno JrBriana MorganDaniel MunozParis Myers

Johnathan OldhamRicky Olson

Gina PusateriVictor RamirezNicolas Ramos

Selena SandovalSavannah Schofield

Julia SchultzJoceline Silva

Raven StandfieldKarltrell Taylor

Jael VegaBerenice Villagomez

Eric WestKiarra WilliamsMaria Zambrano

2nd Semester Honor Roll

Page 4 Activities Bremen High School

Student Council plans to bring new ideas, events to students

by Tamar CarterEcho reporter

The school year is now in full swing and so is the Bremen’s Student Council. The student council is a huge contributor to events that take place at Bremen. As the governing student body, it is the responsibility of the coun-cil members to ensure that every school year is more fun than the one before. The student council is off to a wonderful start! The dedi-cated members worked extreme-ly hard to make the Homecom-ing dance a success and the plans for Turnabout are beginning to form. “I am looking forward to planning events, decorating for dances and overall, being a part of social events at school,” said junior Vanessa Cortez, a first-year student council member. In addition to new mem-bers, student council also found

a new adviser for this school year in Mr. Peter Matushek, who’s working hard to put on great events for students and staff. “[Former assistant prin-cipal] Mr. Sikora convinced me to take the job. He convinced me that I would be good at it. It was a rough start, but everything seems to be going well,” Matush-ek said. He said he is most excited about some new possibilities for student involvement. “I was really into mu-sic growing up, and I still am so I want to bring a Battle of the Bands to Bremen High School: Punk vs. Metal,” he said. Mr. Joseph Simone, Bre-men’s new assistant principal, also is excited about the events that the student council has planned for this school year. The student council is planning to make the dances “more monumental and they are changing things up to get more

students involved”, says Sim-one. Additionally, there are some new and interesting ideas for this year. In order to find out what these great plans are, Simone stresses, “there are a lot of great things going on at Bremen and students should utilize the school calendar and website” to know what is happening at our school. On another note, this is Simone’s first year at Bremen and he received a fantastic wel-come. “I was very impressed within the first two to three days here,” states Simone. The members of the stu-dent council introduced them-selves to the new Brave and made an excellent first impression. Simone believes that the student council is “really living up to the responsibility by reach-ing out to get the set goals ac-complished.”

NHS upholds responsibility of strong leadership

by Omar GordilloEcho reporter

Bremen High School is a school that believes strongly in community. Within our commu-nity, their exists an elite group of students that give back by spending their time aiding in community af-fairs. Their reward? Pride. National Honor Society is a group of juniors and seniors that take pride and honor in servicing the school by aiding in events that support the school’s community.The duty as a NHS members is to fulfill 20 hours of service per year, maintain a high GPA, and be a role model and ideal student. Service hours range from attending and helping out in a com-munity events to working a shift in the group’s annual food drive. As tedious as it may seem to some, the National Honor Soci-ety works tirelessly as an organiza-tion to take pride in assisting the community. Last year they hosted a book drive where all the donated books went to the children at St. Jude Research Hospital, an organi-zation that works to advance cures and a means of prevention for cata-strophic diseases through research and treatment. The National Honors So-ciety selection process starts with the juniors of BHS. Only a few are selected to complete an application and accompanying essay. The essay is to be written about one of the four pillars that make up the foundation of NHS. The possible future NHS members may write about one of the four topics: scholarship, leader-ship, service, and character. Applications and essays are then taken in to review. Those individuals who are chosen are in-vited to attend the NHS induction ceremony. All NHS members eventu-ally learn that, as complicated as it may seem, the work itself is reward-ing. Whether it may be helping in the food drive or blood drive, or the other vast amounts of opportunities, this type of leadership and good cit-izenship truly pays off in the hearts of the community members and the NHS members alike.

photo courtesy of Bremen Publicity

Students dressed in their best animal prints pose for a picture during Homecoming week fes-tivities. This year’s Homecoming introduced some new theme days, such as Twin Day, Dress Like a Nerd Day, and Animal Print Day, which went along with the overall theme for the week of “Born to be Wild.”

NewsSeptember 26, 2011 Page 5

Band marches to the beat of some new tunes for 2011 show

by Jayneisha MarshallEcho reporter

This is a new year for Marching Band and Color Guard. This year’s performance will include the music of the famous broadway play “Les Miserable.” The music consists of the fol-lowing songs: “Work Song/At the End of the Day,” “I Dreamed A Dream,” “Master of the House” and “On My Own/Do You Hear the People Sing.” Christina Bravo, band member, is the drum major and plays a big role in how the band sounds and looks. ”Band and color guard are doing great this year; it seemed to start off rough, but it is evident that we are getting better each day!” Band director, Mr. Ben Salgado, has re-ally helped to kick off an excellent year and has helped to enforce some of the major changes for the group. Band has been a huge part in Mr. Salgados’ life, and he loves every moment of it. “There is so much that has changed this year for the marching band and color guard, and it’s been great. I truly believe band and color guard are going to be successful this year!” Mr. Salgado exclaimed. This has also been a revolutionary year for the Color Guard; they now are under the di-rection of Ms. Jen Intihar, and the guard is better then ever before. Guard member Emily Petty says. “Color guard is awesome this year! We’ve added flips this year in our routines.” Petty enjoys the time spent to prepare for the show. This year the band and color guard met before school even started which proves they mean business! All of the extra practices have truly helped to build comraderie among the BHS Marching Band and Color Guard mem-bers. “We have teamwork and togetherness, and with this type of teamwork, we are more united than ever,” Petty said. Another guard member Hanah Nelson says, “color guard is fun, and one of the great things about it is the friendships we develop that seem as if they will last forever.” Many participants really like Color Guard as it is different than the usual sports team or activity organization. “Color Guard: it’s like a sport and activity in one,” Emily Petty says. Look for the band and guard at home football games and competitions. If you can’t find pride in any other team; you can and always will find it in the Bremen High School Marching Band for sure! The band is looking promising and hopes to do well at their upcoming contests; keep an eye out for the Marching Braves as they are a true treat in 2011!

Character education centers on improving school community

by Laura GonzalezEcho reporter

Character education is the key in this club! We learn how to build self esteem by motivating students to do their personal best. This helps to build a positive and strong school community. In this club, students are inspired to achieve their goals and to believe in them-selves. What club, you say? Why the “Code of the Braves,” of course! For the 2011-2012 school year, the Code of the Braves are working harder than ever before to improve on so much within the group. Many club members are excited to have new members in Code of the Braves this year. These new additions will help to make a positive change in our school community. One way the Code of the Braves mem-bers can help with the school morale is by making regular character education announce-ments. These announcements are based on character traits that are covered every month at the Code of the Braves meetings; the an-

nouncements are generally about respect, work ethic and family . Besides regularly scheduled announce-ments, the Code of the Braves also hosts char-acter education breakfasts to recognize kind students whom are chosen at random and in-vited to a free breakfast. The students chosen have acted in a manner that portrays excellent

character and are notified about this at the breakfast to reward them for their actions. This club also tries to raise money. The Code of the Braves candy sale is com-ing soon; this group will sell

candy for $1.00. In addition, the organization raises money by an annual yard sale. This sale bene-fits the school, and the community, as donated items are sold at a very affordable price! Where would Bremen be without an organization such as Code of the Braves? It seems as if this club is one of the most impor-tant clubs in the school as it teaches charac-ter education by helping to build character in each and every Bremen student.

Code of the Braves

The Bremen Theater presents...ZOMBIE HIGH SCHOOL

WHERE? Bremen High School

WHEN? Saturday, Oct. 22

TIME? 6:00pm - 9:30pm

HOW MUCH? $2/person

HAUNTED

HOUSE

Page 6 Entertainment Bremen High School

by Cuoy HarmonEcho reporter

Lil Wayne is back to release his long await-ed and long promised ninth album, Tha Carter IV. He was set to release the album date in May 2011, but Wayne is famous for pushing his al-bums back to perfect the craft; he did just that and pushed the album back to August 29, 2011. After dropping the mix tape, Sorry 4 Tha Wait, and appearing at the MTV VMA awards, fans have cried out for the self-proclaimed “Best Rapper Alive” to give them what they’ve been waiting for. In turn, he gave us Tha Carter IV. As soon as you play the album. you can see that Wayne wastes no time and goes right to work. He prepares to drop bombs on his enemies as one can hear movie setting as the tune starts flowing. He ends the song, let his fans, haters, and the legal system know that “Mr. Carter’s Home!” The second song is the first true song, and lets the word know that he’s been gone too long and he’s ready to take the world back on. He gets his braggadocios swag back on for the ones who thought he really fell off. The next song “MegaMan” samples the video game “Mega Man” for the game heads out there. This song claims that “rap depends on him like a bungee cord.” The fourth song and first single of the al-bum, “6 Foot, 7 Foot” features his own artist, Cory Gunz. When this song was released, the people from Young Money called it “A Milli on steroids.” After settling a financial dispute between him and Shondrae “Bangladesh” Crawford, they got back together to make another banger for his fans. The next song entitled “Nightmares of the Bottom” was first performed on “Lil Wayne: Unplugged” on MTV, as his special choice song from Tha Carter IV. The listeners must respect his decision on why he chose it, as it describes some of the experiences he has been through in the last year. The song proves that he is hoping that his sons choose a better lifestyle than him. Another song is a humorous song if you ask me. “How to Hate” was originally written and recorded for T-Pain’s upcoming album “Revolv-eR” but when he was recording the song, Wayne was recording “How to Love”, so they spoke and eventually ended up for Wayne. The next song is an interlude that has no ap-pearance from Tune himself, but from Tech N9ne and André 3000 (who is unaccredited for some rea-son). Tech takes off as soon as Wayne stops talking and shows the world his worldwide chopper skills. After his turn is done, André appears showing the world Three Stacks, the rapper they’ve been miss-ing for a minute. After a famous lyrical outburst, Wayne brings it back on “John” with Rick Ross. After landing on Earth from Mars, Wayne starts speaking to the world in his Martian translator and tries to take over the world. Rozay teams up with the alien to show the world that he’s not a star. The song samples the intro from Rick Ross’ “Teflon Don” album, “I’m Not a Star.” Wayne slows it down a bit on this next song. “So Special” features G.O.O.D. Music art-ist, John Legend, as Wayne takes his time to cater to the women on the CD. The next song would be his second big-

gest pop song since “Lollipop” in 2008. “How to Love” is a spin off from the earlier track “How to Hate.” On this song, he speaks directly to a woman who is going through a difficult time in her life. It’s one of the deepest songs on the album. On this song, he speaks through the eyes of his role as a CEO for his company and President for his parent-company. He even takes the presidential oath, as said by former President Jimmy Carter. After rapping for 14 songs, the next song is the outro, which as the interlude, doesn’t have Wayne on it. However, Tune enlists in Bun B, Nas, Shyne, and Busta Rhymes for one of the biggest posse cuts on any album as of 2011. Now Bun came in a put it down, but Nas destroys the compe-tition. Shyne, tries to get his Rozay on, until Busta, puts that to silences with his vast lyrical flow, end-ing the song and the album. Just when you think Wayne is done, he puts three extra songs on the deluxe edition of the album. The first bonus song is called “I Like the View.” He tells how he sees the world from his own view out his window, and telling us that he wants to do better than good. The next bonus song, which is already No. 16 on Billboard Hot 100, is “Mirror” featuring Bruno Mars. As Tune tells the world some of his

own troubles, he prepares himself by speaking in the mirror to face the crowd. Bruno is the mirror speaking back to him. Although he tried to end the album, he couldn’t. He placed a bonus song on the iTunes version and two on the Target version, but I prefer the iTunes better, so the name of that song is “Up Up and Away.” On this song, Tune gets on his feet and continues to keep going up, and looking down on his competition. Throughout the rough year of 2010, Wayne easily overcame the tough times and came through once again for his fans. Before his album was released and leaked on April 24th, Billboards claimed that Wayne’s first week expectations would be between 700 and 850 thousand. Well as high as that sounded, Wayne see good, so he settled for better and sold 964,000 his first week and by week two he had sold a million copies, earning him the status of Platinum. In the first four days, he broke the iTunes record for most digital downloads at 300,000, which defeated Kanye West and Jay-Z’s “Watch The Throne” at 270,000. “Tha Carter IV” is currently No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 200. So for those who assume that Wayne’s career would be over, or that Hip-Hop is dead, both statements are completely false.

Lil Wayne album worth the wait for loyal fans

Angry Mana series by Mike Burbatt

I’m a superhero & I’m

going to fly!!

AAAAAAH!!!

TV lied to

me!

NewsSeptember 26, 2011 Page 7

by Cuoy HarmonEcho reporter

Who would have ever thought that two of the best rappers in the game would ever get together to put out and album? Apparently there are no limits for what Jay-Z and Kanye West can do, because they both take the limit to new heights for other artists. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, a legend who wrote ‘the blueprint’ for the game, and Kanye West, a Chicago producer-rapper who got his first break because of Jay, decided to take over the game with their new album, “Watch The Throne.” When you first put in the CD, the album is introduced by “No Church in the Wild” fea-turing singer Frank Ocean. On this song, Frank breaks down the roles/weaknesses of “Humans to a Mob, a Mob to a king, a king to a God, and a God to a non-believer.” “Lift Off”, is compiled with Hov’s wife Beyoncé. On this song, both artists show how big their superstardom is as they take it to the “moon and stars.” Towards the end of the song, their too high to come back down. In the fourth song, “Otis” samples a vo-cal from the late Otis Redding. The special thing about this song is how Ye and Jay share it back to back. It starts with Jay rapping about his swag and how he invented it. Then Yeezy comes in

and tells all the “stuntman rappers to stop talk-ing recklace” and how he adopted the game like Phillip Drummond. “New Day” has both of the rappers, speaking to their futuristic sons. Ye wants his son to beloved by everyone, as his dad is hated by everyone, while Hov just wants to be there for his son, as his dad wasn’t there for him. The next song, “Welcome To The Jun-gle” features vocals from the producer, Swizz Beatz. On this song, both of them take the world through the hardships of where they both come from, both home and in the entertainment world. “Who Gon Stop Me” is a run over track to ask a rhetorical question to the world. The song after this “Murder to Excel-lence” is two songs merged together, on “Mur-der” they Hov kills his enemies lyrically on an African made beat. Kanye attempts to be con-cerned with the crime rate of Chicago. The song after, “Made in America” brings back Frank Ocean to pay homage to the great black leaders of our nation. Ye explains how he got his start from No I.D. to Jay and from there how the magic happened. Jay explains how he came up from the streets to the rap game. The last song on the album “Why I Love You” shows how the game has changed the hearts of many of the friends that they once had. This song belongs to Jay with a few selections

by Mr. West. Hov explains how he tried to make his friends and artists kings, but they turned their backs and stepped on his heart and left him to pick up the pieces. At the end of the song, both he and Ye pray to God, for their enemies “know not what they do.” Just when you thought the album was finished, they save the best for last. The deluxe edition contains four extra songs. One bonus song “Primetime” gets the crowd ready for the game as they give them that Jordan/Rose flow. The last bonus song is a leftover track from “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” called “The Joy.” Produced by Pete Rock, fea-turing vocals from Charlie Wilson and Kid Cudi as well as a sample from the late Curtis May-field, the song takes the slow approach and lays it down nice and smooth for the crowd as Kanye used to do it back in the day. More than likely, most people expected nothing but the best from both artists and that’s what you will get if you listen to this album. At the time, it was the best hip-hop album for the week: selling 456,000 the first week, Selling 270,000 downloads on iTunes, breaking a new record, and becoming No. 1 on the Billboard’s Hot 200 (until brought down by Game’s “The R.E.D. Album.”)

Dance does not disappointby Lauren Brown

Echo reporter

Homecoming was wildly amazing this year. There were great decorations; the music was on point! Many students comment-ed on the awesome decorations. Carmen Twombly, junior, stated “the safari and jungle decorations rocked!” Snacks, such as cook-ies and lemonade were provided and many students seemed to be thrilled with the outcome of the whole dance. Alejandra Barney, senior, said “the DJ played great songs for everyone; it seems that even all ethnicities were represented when it came to the music played.” Fashion seemed to be a big hit at the dance, too. Most people dressed up in animal print dresses while others decided to come as they were. In addition, there was a great report about the dance as far as behavior goes. There were hardly any disciplinary or behav-ioral issues. Everyone seemed to keep their cool and enjoy them-selves. At the 2011 Homecoming

dance, the Homecoming Court pa-raded into the gym as their names were called. This royal group got a chance to show off their royal escorts. The senior court included the following: girls- Danica and Danqua Smith, Alexis Provan-cal, Tahirih Nsonguila, Chanille Woods and Aalliah Robinson; boys-Charles Jideonwo, Brian Bravo, Tanner Gazdziak, Niko Garofalo, and Dion Starnes. The junior and sopho-

by Laura GonzalezEcho reporter

The Circle Book Club is back! It is a place where students get together to choose good books to read. In particular, the Circle members like young adult novels that include romance, danger, dra-ma, mystery and adventure. Along with reading books, this club also fundraises. This year, the Circle Trading Post, Bremen’s school store that provides students with necessary school supplies for a small fee, will operate every morn-ing before 2nd period outside of room 111A . Another fundraiser the group is looking forward to is the annual read-a-thon. The Circle has planned for the annual read-a-thon to take place in November to raise money to buy books. The Circle’s Read-a-thon is a fund raiser where Circle mem-bers collect pledges for the amount of time that they read. This event will be from 3pm- 7pm and will be housed in the Bremen IMC. Club members will read individual novels for 4 hours.

more court included the follow-ing: Lavell Vallery and Nailah Carney(juniors), King Assaf and Tatianna Lester. Overall, students had an awesome time at this year’s dance. “It was an amazing and exciting time!” stated junior, Oce-anist Stewart. Besides the music, snacks, and attire, the most important thing is that everyone enjoyed themselves and was safe.

Circle book club more than just reading

Jay-Z, Kanye collaborate for latest album

photo by Sarah KrygowskiSeniors Lexie Provancal and Brian Bravo are crowned Home-coming King and Queen at the Sept. 10 dance.

Braves football continues winning streak to 5-0

by Omar GordilloEcho reporter

The idea of running is difficult to some. Numerous people say that they find the sport boring and pointless. Perhaps this philosophy is only held by those that can’t complete the rigor of the this type of sport. It’s safe to say that that belief is truly NOT shared with the Bremen’s Cross Country Teams. In cross country, every race is three miles, however, the practices and weekly mile-age rate is so much more! Currently, the prac-tices average about five miles. Every mile run is a step closer to a personal best. That’s the ideology behind the sport; running and drop-ping times. Through many aches and pains, it’s the sense of accomplishment that really does it for many of the runners. It’s a positive sport that encourages all members to earn the philoso-phy of taking where they are at, and improv-ing with each attempt. The boys coach, Coach Bill Griffin, stresses the need for unity and teamwork. When some runners are in absence, upon their return he always reiterates the importance of group running and how imperative it is they keep running as a team Coach Renee Rybak, the girls cross country coach, agrees and pushes the fact that attendance is an absolute must. “Every day is a challenge, but I have loved learning about this sport. I played team sports my entire life and it is exciting to share my experiences as well as create new ones,” Coach Rybak states. Both teams have seen their fair share of new runners. For the boys, it’s particularly a challenge to stick with the program and run the demanding terrains. Last year, the boys had 72 cross country participants come out to the first day of practice, but the numbers later slimmed down to about 40. As for the girls Coach Rybak says,” We have many new faces, but also a lot of return-ers. Taylor Galvin and Jennifer Martinez are the leaders of the team and show their com-mitment through hard work and dedication.” Whether rain or shine, expect to see Bremen’s cross country teams out running and bettering their times.

by Hope LiddellEcho reporter

This year, the Bremen Braves football team brought more than just their uniforms and helmets onto the field. The Braves kicked off their season winning their first game against Comer Prep H.S. with an astounding score of 59-0. The team then faced Perspective Char-ter/Calumet H.S. which led them to another win with a score of 40-6, but the heat did not stop there, either. During the week of Homecoming, the Braves played against the Hillcrest Hawks. The game was exceptionally close handing the Braves another victory with a score of 14-12. Going into the 4th week, the Braves played their true rivals, the Oak Forest Bengals. The excitement for this team just kept getting greater as the Braves ended up beating OF in overtime! The BHS football team now holds a leading record of 4-0! The Braves are off to a fantastic start this season, but what exactly is it that has the team performing so well? “I think our guys put in the time and ef-fort a lot this year” says head coach, Stell.

The varsity football team definitely shocked some people with their incredible performance on the field. Not only is there a ton of athleti-cism, but hard work and dedication is stored within the minds of these players as well. More-over, the team utilizes their strength and endur-ance to the fullest, reaching their utmost poten-tial as athletes. The seniors have done a remarkable job going into what will be their last season of foot-ball. They have put so much of their time and effort into what they want to fulfill, not only as athletes, but as leaders. The Braves have surpassed so much this year already, even this early in the season. The reason for doing so well is because of the players’ chemistry and bond they share with one another. Each of the players possess an extreme confidence within themselves they use to help build the progress they are trying to make. “We can expect an extremely fast squad that hustles hard and plays fast” says coach Stell. The players attribute their success to their dedicated coaches. “[They’re] tough and demand a lot, but they’re putting out our best potential,” senior Malachi Rhoden said. “They’re great coaches.”

Dedication, teamwork define Cross Country

photo by Lauren Brown

The Braves Varsity Football team competes against TF South in Friday’s game. Win-ning 21-8, the Braves improved their record to 5-0, winning key games against district schools Oak Forest and Hillcrest. The Braves’ next game is Sept. 30 against Lemont.