InsideThe Hub: Promposals, Page 5

Sports: Tennis tops in tourney, Page 6Westward: Students honored, Page 2Viewpoints: Great dividers, Page 3

WEST WORDApril 18, 2016 www.greeleyschools.org/westword Volume XLVIII No. 14

The new West Word website is up and running, updat-ing nearly each day with news around the school.

West Word File Photo

West Word heads onlineAdding to the plethora of changes at Greeley

West, the West Word wants to announce that they have officially gone digital. As the modern day focuses on technology, it is clear that the most effective way to get information to people is through the internet.

In previous years, the West Word has printed out paper issues of the newspaper every two weeks, each issue costs $140 to print. The goal is to also cut down on the cost to put out the news. For the

year of 2015-2016 it cost the paper $700 to create a website to publish the most recent news. After this year, the cost cuts down to being $300 each year after that. Of course the paper edition will also come in the following years, but instead of publishing every two weeks, the staff will be publishing paper editions of the newspaper each month.

With technology at our fingertips this was not only a financially smart decision, but also a great

By Kennedy SpittlerStaff Writer

ContinuedOnline, Page 8

To tux or not: that is questionBy Drew MendezStaff Writer

Prom season is always a big event for every upper-classmen in high school. It’s even more crazy for the under-classmen that get asked. One of the first things that comes to mind when you hear Prom is all the nice dresses and the guys dressed to the nine’s in their tuxedos and suits. It can be pretty stressful for students trying to find something specific though. The pants and jackets come in a variety of colors from pinstripes to all white, while the vest and bow ties or ties can come in any color and material to match their date’s dress colors.

While girls must buy their dresses, the guys have the option to either rent or buy their tuxedo/suit, but both of these options can be very pricey. Al’s Formal Wear has tuxedo rentals

ContinuedTuxes, Page 5

Juliet Cha/West Word

Junior class sponsor Ms. Lea Sanford instructs her officers - Marleen Plas-cencia, Diego Ruis and Emmy Coleman on the procedure for selling Prom tickets last week.

Downtown Prom night Dance caps special week

Greeley West was the first of the big Greeley schools to hold it’s Prom this past Saturday at Zoe’s Cafe. The Prom’s theme, Starry Night, seemed to fit perfectly with the night lights of downtown Greeley.

Some students made an entire night in downtown Greeley by staying in town to eat dinner. Others traveled to Fort Collins and even Denver for dinner.

Prom royalty was unavailable at press time, following a week of online voting.

This year, Prom week was celebrated with its own spirit week and a Snapchat filter.

After-prom featured a special screening of the The Force Awakens at the Kress Theater downtown.

By Staff Reports

WestwardPage 2 4.18.16

Students honored as leaders in communityTwo Greeley West Dream Team students

were awarded the National Youth Service Day Award last week at the District 6 Administration Building. Brayan Montes and Stephanie Saenz were nominated for their involvement both at Greeley West High School as well as within their extracurricular activities.

The National Youth Service Day Award recognizes the devotion of students who wish to give back to their community through hard work and determination in any way that they can.

Montes and Saenz both enjoy helping out their peers. Saenz has been involved in activities that have made her stand out as a leader through the

Link Crew program, the cheerleader team, the Dream Team program, as well as by taking charge of fundraisers for her track and cross country teams.

Montes was involved in and actively participates in face painting at football games, painting murals both in the weight room and hub at Greeley West High School, and he also participates in PACT, an anti-tobacco campaign.

Ms. Diana Johnson, the Dream Team supervisor who nominated the two students stated, “I’ve just been impressed with their attitudes towards pitching in and helping out even though they don’t

By Juliet ChaStaff Writer District 6

students pose for a picture after being honored for the National Youth Service Day Award.

Photo Courtesy of Diana Johnson

ContinuedYouth Service, Page 5

FCCLA students qualify for national competitionBrandi Allee, Alexia Soria, and Hailey Pasierb,

three of Greeley West High School’s juniors and members of FCCLA won first place at the Colorado State Competition on Friday, April 1.

Their winning presentation centered on positive body image for girls all around the nation. The inspiration for the presentation

was their experience growing up being self-conscious. They made T-shirts to wear that represented their project and showed that all body types are not only acceptable, but beautiful. The two judges they presented to loved their idea.

There were 3,000 students who competed at the Renaissance Denver Stapleton Hotel and the work was hard, with the group practicing all

Thursday, rehearsing what they would say and do.

The three students will be going to nationals in July; the competition will take place in San Diego, California and students from all over the country will be attending in the hopes of winning. As for Allee, Soria, and Pasierb, they hope to razzle and dazzle like they did on the April 1 – no joke.

By Madeline RodgersStaff Writer

PasierbAllee Soria

Viewpoints 4.18.16 Page 3

Spartan Pulse

“Make West great again” is a popular quote in our school. This is a quote that was made to promote Principal, Mr. Jeff Cranson while he was recently put into the position.

Although this may be a joke to some of the students, others are seeing this as an opportunity to actually make a change in the school. Recently Greeley West has made a few minor changes to the school by finally putting dividers in between the urinals in the boy’s bathroom. Although this may seem like a minor fix in the school to some people, it is a big deal to the boys. To the boys this means five extra

spots to use the bathroom. Before, most of the boys would just ignore the urinals because there was no privacy and they used the bathrooms stalls. You can look at this little problem that was solved two ways.

This may seem like nothing, and we can go on with our normal high school lives. Or we can look at this as an

opportunity to keep pushing to find other ways to “Make West great again.” This can cause a chain reaction to help the school become better.

This is this the start of creating a better school. What will you do next?

Daniel Guzman

Editorial

Greatness begins

The new dividers in the men’s restroom at Greeley West High School are one simple way that Mr. Jeff Cranson has made West great again.

Daniel Guzman/West Word

Schools should rethink dresscode enforcementThe weather is getting warmer and the clothes

are getting shorter, but I don’t understand the problem. As we move into summer, Greeley West High School will reinforce the dress code, and students will be penalized for their choice of clothing.

What you wear is a way to express and individualize yourself for who you are. I understand a dress code is a necessity to an extent, but going as far as making students cover up for showing their back and stomach goes a bit too far.

Dress codes are supposed to take the pressure

off girls to conform to modern trends to “dress sexually.” However, being a teen, I can assure you

girls’ intentions are not to dress for other people, but simply to stay in fashion. I believe dress codes in all schools assume the over-sexualization of clothing is the fault of the girl and not the person sexualizing her. Schools are not banning the clothes; they are banning the bodies and personalities.

School is a place where you should be able to express your diverse interests, skills, and outlook, the clothing you wear included. Students should not be hindered.

PeytonBook

Editorial

Teacher evals are great ideaMany, if not all staff members and students

take pride in our school and how we represent it. Athletes and club members are the best representatives for Greeley West and are under the watchful eye of their peers and members of the media. So why is it that we allow anyone who wants to participate to do so?

Greeley West cheerleaders are role models in this regard. Coach Subia requires letters of recommendation prior to tryouts. The way the teachers think about potential cheerleaders is

important because they are essentially the ones who represent our school spirit and pride at

assemblies and athletic events. I believe all sports and clubs need letters of recommendation before they are allowed to participate.

Allowing just anyone to show off West’s pride is not the best idea. Exemplary students that also behave in and out of the classroom are what we need to let everyone understand that

Greeley West not as bad of a school as people make it seem to be.

KenyaGrauberger

Editorial

The HubPage 4 4.18.16

Peyton BookJuliet Cha

Jana DatteriJacinda Flores

Kenya GraubergerDaniel GuzmanElise Johnson

Michaela JoyceDiego Martinez

Drew MendezAngela Pearson

Sylvia RizoMadeline RodgersClarissa Roman

Kaylee RothElexys Sheneman

Zach Streeter

WEST WORDEditor: Kennedy Spittler

Design Editors: TBAWeb Editor: Jordan Noland

West Word is a publication of the Greeley West newspaper production class. It is published bi-weekly. Letters to the edi-tor and story ideas are accepted in room 306. Letters must be 300 words or less. Opinions expressed on the Viewpoints page are those of the editorialist and are not those of the West Word, Greeley West High School, District 6, or its faculty and staff. Visit West Word online at www.greeleyschools.org/westword for bonus content and a color PDF edition viewable on your tablet.

Juliet Cha/West Word

“Let’s Get Quizzical” participates in the team chant competition at IB Trivia Night on Friday April 8.

Teachers on topHistory department wins IB Trivia Night

For the second year in a row, Ancient History, a team composed entirely of Greeley West social studies teachers, won IB Trivia Night. This year, they scored 61 points to defeat the eleven teams participating Friday night.

The 38th Parallel finished in second place while the Dank Memes @ thebomb.org tied for third place.

In addition to the trivia competition, teams performed a chant, competed for best spirit (won by Let’s Get Quizzical), and worked puzzles for free food and prizes.

IB game night was mainly organized by the International Baccalaureate Parent Organization’s (IBPO) fund committee including many of the parents of the children who partook in the games Friday. Pepper

Mueller, Allison Sedlacek, Amy Johnson, Arisbee Ramirez, and Jody Bobbitt were responsible for putting together this event with the help of Mrs. Amy Zulauf who acted as the MC through the duration of the night.

While the parents scampered from table to table to grade questions, Zulauf humored participants with jokes and zany wit.

Mueller was proud of how the event turned out, now in its second year. “This is just a fun event. Every year we try to encourage more and more teams to join because trivia night is open to the whole school even though we mostly get IB kids. We welcome anyone who wishes to participate,”

Mueller said.Lorenzo Balderrama, a junior and a member

of the IB Marvelous team said, “It was so much fun playing against our friends, and being able to try to beat our teachers.”

By Juliet ChaStaff Writer

Balderrama

With two more months of school left, International Baccalaureate students at Greeley West are facing at time crunch to get their Internal Assessments turned in. Every IB senior has to turn in an IA for all six subjects. IB teachers informed their students of the requirements for each project at the beginning of the year. Deadlines for the assessment vary, but most deadlines just recently

passed.According to Greeley West’s IB coordinator

Amy Zulauf, the IA’s are very important. “If a student does not turn in their internal assessment, the teacher is forced to put in an F in the gradebook. This means that the IB student will be unable to get their IB diploma because they didn’t complete the program,” Zulauf said.

Although this seems very intimidating, there are many benefits to completing these projects. Senior Jessica Cha stated, “The IAs definitely help you prepare for college because the IA is a college sized paper, so writing multiple at the same time really helps you. They make you be really wary of plagiarism and they taught me how to go in depth on a research paper.”

Zulauf believes that IAs are more beneficial than other year-end tests. Unlike an AP final, you have more control over your grade having to do the internal assessment within the actual class structure.

Students wrap class work with internal assessments

By Peyton BookStaff Writer

Zulauf

Cha

Test schedules late lunchIt’s state testing again at Greeley West.

For the past two weeks the schedule had been changed to where 5th block was before lunch. Also there were no block days for those two weeks. Many students were upset about this schedule change.

Most students dislike this schedule change because they have to wait 50 minutes longer for lunch.

The big problem is not having block days. Students like block days because they have off blocks or don’t have to go to all eight classes. Junior, McGwire Bledsoe, said, “ I like having block days because I have 8th

block off and now I only have 55 minutes to relax before practice rather than an hour and a half.”

For teachers teaching different classes it may be a struggle because they have to have each day planned for the next two weeks.

Block days are good for some teachers because they can have an activity that takes two days and use the block day to do the longer part of the activity on the block day.

Schedules will change again in the coming weeks for the PSAT test and the ACT test.

By Jordan NolandStaff Writer

Bledsoe

Ask Your Teachers

“To lovingly mock.” -Ms. Dent

“To scorn somebody verbally” -Mr, Krause

“You put something in the oven and heat it up.”

-Mrs. Zulauf

What does the phrase “roasted” mean?

4.18.16 Page 5

starting at $160. Buying a tux or suit requires you to have some money to spend though.

Senior AJ Lopez recently bought a suit from Express Men in Loveland for his senior Prom. “I wanted one because I’m probably gonna need it in the future for formal events, so it’s better than just renting it.” Lopez bought a full suit, shoes, vest, tie, jacket, pants, and undershirt. “I wanted a black one because it matches with everything and I think it looks slick.” Express Men also has a yearly sale that Lopez banked in on. “Yeah I got 40% off my

suit because of the sale so in total it costed $350.” On the other hand, the majority of students

rent their tuxes. Junior Elijah Flores rented a Tuxedo from Al’s Formal Wear, also in Loveland. “I decided to rent a tux this year because one it’s a lot cheaper and two I don’t plan on needing one in the future for anything.” Flores decided to go with an all murdered out black tux.

With Prom quickly creeping up on us, make sure all you

guys get your tuxedos and suits rented or bought here soon!

Lopez Flores

FromTuxes, Page 1

Promposals woo dates for dance

Greeley West junior Hailey

Pasierb poses for a photo at a recent boys

swimming meet after

asking senior Bryce

Fehringer to Prom.

Creative approaches to asking for a date have come to be

known as “Promposals.”

Elise Johnson/West Word

Having troubles asking that special someone to Prom?

There are plenty of ideas out there. Since Prom was this past weekend, lots of people were asked in a variety of ways: posters, songs and everything in between.

Most people struggle on how they are going to ask their date to prom but it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Find out what that special someone interests are and present them with something meaningful that’ll secure that “yes” moment. Most people are just happy to even be asked to

have the opportunity to go to prom with somebody so there isn’t really a “bad” way to ask someone.

“Girls just expect something cute with some thought put into it,” Ilse Montes explains. “But most girls are just glad to be asked.”

Because of social pressure, people think that they have to go above and beyond their date

expectations when they ask them to prom and the way society operates is big is always better but don’t over-do it.

The bottom line of this reality is that asking someone to prom doesn’t have to be that hard. Even if you just ask a friend or someone who you can be yourself around.

By Luke MjoenStaff Writer

Montes

necessarily get anything out of what they do for their peers.”

“Although not every student who gets nominated for the award is from the Dream Team, we strive to submit applications for outstanding students every year,” Johnson added.

Another Greeley West student – Abdirahman Noor – was recognized at the event as well. Noor was unavailable for comment at school on Wednesday.

The West students who accepted the award Tuesday at the reception were recognized for their efforts with a dinner and by meeting Greeley mayor Tom Norton.

FromYouth Service, Page 2

SportsPage 6 4.18.16

Kayla Hoskins begins her approach to the net against Horizon on Tuesday of last week at Hori-zon High School.Hoskins won her match 6-0, 6-0.

Sylvia Rizo/West Word

Tennis tops in tourneyHot streak continues against best teams

The girls tennis team competed in the third annual Greeley Invite this past weekend. The team played extremely well on top of individual performances.

As a team, they took first place overall at the invite. As for the seniors, Kayla Hoskins, Emily Hopwood and Kiley Cropper, they all made it to the finals in their brackets.

As for Hoskins, it has been a little different this year than the previous year. Last year she was used to playing with a partner by her side. But this year she decided just to play singles instead. Hoskins mentioned that transitioning from doubles to singles was difficult at first.

“Doubles is such a different game than singles. And pretty much everything that was programmed in me before or my muscle memory had to be changed,” stated Hoskins.

Even though this transition is tough at first, Hoskins feels as though that she is starting to pick up the feel for the game.

Now that Hoskins is starting to get used to her new role, she and the rest of the team look to plan ahead and start preparing for state.

In order to start getting ready for state, the team needs to stay focused and work on getting better everyday at practice. The tennis team looks to get some more wins under their belt this

next week against Horizon and Silver Creek.

By Diego MartinezStaff Writer

Soccer struggles continueThe girl’s soccer team had a rough patch this

week, falling to three very good opponents. The girls lost to Poudre 3-0 early in the week, and then traveled to Fort Collins where they would lose 5-1, and finally rounded up the week with a loss, to a top 5 team in girls soccer, at home against

Broomfield. Then they started last week

with a 7-0 loss to Boulder.The Spartans had a tough

stretch of games and losses, but there is still plenty of time for them to regroup, and edge out enough wins to earn a playoff spot.

When asking senior, Kiley Cropper, how confident she felt that the team could get it together, she responded by

saying, “I’m extremely confident! We played four very good teams, and most likely will not have this tough of a stretch of games for the rest of the season. Our chemistry is fine, we just played really good teams.”

Talking to a couple other seniors, there is no reason for worry. They are all still very confident and still have great potential to finish the season with a winning record.

“I had a pair of cleats which were bad luck,” Cropper joked after being asked what the issue was. “I’m getting a new pair this week, so that should fix some of our struggles.”

If it’s not the chemistry or just not playing good, then a new pair of cleats might be just what the Spartans need to get back on track.

The girls will play Legacy at home tonight and will visit Horizon on Thursday.

By Connor ThompsonStaff Writer

Cropper

Baseball hopes change on HorizonThe Greeley West baseball team has had a rocky

start to the 2016 season, but they are hoping to find some balance and steadiness as they head into the toughest part of the their season, conference play.

The team played Horizon High School last Saturday and won the game 8-7.

With fewer errors made and a ton of hits with runners in scoring position, the boys feel as though they are playing as a team.

“Everyone on the bench really stepped up to the plate and we were able to string some hits together, and chip away at grabbing the lead,” says junior Ryan Rojas.

“We were down 6-0 going into the fourth and we came all the way back to win which was great feeling.”

Despite the game going exceptionally well last Saturday, the team fell to Mountain Range 12-6, and struggled with some errors on the fields.

Rojas stated, “Even though we struggled, our team is getting closer than ever this season. After our trip to Grand Junction and winning our first league game of the season, we are really becoming a team.”

Baseball took on Boulder Fairview this past Saturday, but results were unavailable by press time. Their next opponents are Legacy on Tuesday, Fossil Ridge on Thursday, and Boulder Saturday.

By Kenya GraubergerStaff Writer

Rojas

Hoskins

4.18.16 Page 7

Since the start of the Greeley West high school’s boys swimming season, there have been multiple individual state qualifiers as well as qualifying times in all three relays.

In addition the boys have been chasing down some of Greeley West’s oldest records including the 400 freestyle relay which they came close to breaking multiple times earlier this season.

A few of West’s standout swimmers include seniors Severn Young, Bryce Fehringer, and Brody Lewis. Fehringer and Lewis have both qualified for state in multiple events, and Young is a state hopeful in the 100 butterfly.

This year the Spartans also welcomed some talented freshman swimmers including Nathan Kenigsberg and Baylor Cobb.

Both rookie swimmers will participate at state in May.

As of now the Spartan swimmers are ranked in the top ten over all in the state, and are hoping to perform well when they travel to the Colorado Springs Air Force Academy for state in May.

Senior Severn Young, top swims hard to the finish in the butterfly com-petition at the Greeley Recre-ation Center last week. Elan Muniz, below, com-petes in the 200 Individual Medley, perform-ing the breast stroke.

Elise Johnson/West Word

Swim success pleases Shaha

By Elise JohnsonStaff Writer

Shaha

Distances change, focus stays same for AntunaLevi Antuna has been running since his

middle school days. Miles and miles of running almost everyday is a way for Antuna to forget his surroundings and have time to think about whatever is on his mind.

He says that the alone time is enjoyable and relaxing. He began to take focus in cross country and track the summer going into his senior year. He said that through out the entire summer he missed five days of running and the reasons why were because he was climbing mountains and hiking.

Antuna excelled in cross country this year by improving his times nearly every meet. So when it came time for track season he knew that the distance runs were the events that he wanted to do. His event that he does is the 3200 meter, which is 8 laps or two miles.

The best time that he has gotten in this event this year is 10 minutes and 3 seconds. This time is a good time but his goal is to get under 10 minutes. When asked what it feels like to have so many eyes on you, he said, “that feeling is amazing. it sends chills down my spine to think that there are a thousand eyes on me which pushes me to do even better and run harder.”

Motivation is important in track because you’re racing so many different kids from other schools. Even though Antuna is great at both long races and shorter races, there is a different approach to both races.

He said that obviously the distances were different but also how many people watch you and the mindset needed to do both. Antuna is looking forward to hopefully state and if he can accomplish his personal goals.

By Zach StreeterStaff Writer

Antuna

Page 8 4.18.16

It’s all in the family for Daniels Fund winner

Sylvia Rizo/West Word

AJ Lopez shoots a free throw earlier this year in a Nebraska tournament. Lopez was Greeley West’s only Daniels Fund winner this year.

Last week, Greeley West High School senior AJ Lopez was awarded the Daniel’s Fund Scholarship. The Daniels Fund is a full ride scholarship that allows students to go to any college they want without paying for it. Over 200 students in the Western part of the United States win the scholarship. Lopez was West’s only finalist.

Lopez is an AVID and ETS student at Greeley West and was the quarterback for the football team. He also carries over a 4.0 GPA and is a volunteer for the Special Olympics.

The award doesn’t just come to these students without hard work. Lopez went through a long and hard process of writing nine essays and filling out questions on the application. He also had to go through an interview that was with three Daniel’s Fund committee members.

Lopez explained that he didn’t just go one

day and do an interview. He actually rehearsed three times in practice interviews. Two of those practice interviews were with teachers that work at Greeley West and the last practice interview

was held at Northridge High School.Before he found out that he received

the Daniels Fund, Lopez he was 70% sure he was going to the University of Colorado in Boulder. Now that he has this scholarship opportunity, Lopez will be attending CU no matter what.

Lopez’s oldest brother also got the Daniels Fund and went to CU because of the scholarships offer. “I did not want to think I was going to get it just in case I was to not get chosen, but after I was told

I got it I was very surprised,’ said Lopez.Lopez was very excited to have received this

scholarship and opportunity and had some advice for future applicants: “Definitely have a reliable teacher to help you with the essay questions. There is no way to do it on your own,” Lopez said.

By Jana DatteriStaff Writer

Lopez

way to get the community to be an active part of Greeley West. The website was established from donations as it is a self-funding newspaper. Next year the goal is to have the newspaper completely funded by ad sales both online and in print.

The West Word is eager to hear comments and encourage people to interact and give feedback about the website and stories that are published. In addition to commenting, any reader is welcome to participate in the poll charts that will be continually updated.

This is the day of technology and the West Word is doing all it can to become the quickest way to find out what’s going on at Greeley West High School. To get the quickest updates you can follow the West Word on Twitter at @GWWestword.

“The move to a digital format will hopefully get credible news out to the student body in a manner that is efficient and easy,” West Word advisor Mr. Dave Falter said.

“Twitter and Facebook are great social media sights that typically don’t provide accurate news. Our staff will work to be accountable for reporting real news and providing the student body a forum to discuss it,” Falter added.

FromOnline, Page 1 West tries new way to mentor personal project

MYP freshmen have been introduced to the personal project. For the first time in personal project history, the mentors are picking the MYP student based on the project itself and not on the student. The teachers picked the projects on a first come, first serve basis.

IB coordinator and assistant principal Mrs. Amy Zulauf stated, “We have more kids doing the personal project than we ever have and those kids

only know freshmen teachers. They will go run to those teachers to ask them if they’d be their projects mentor.” So how do the other teachers get kids to mentor? Well that’s where the idea of teachers picking the project came from.

Since it was a first come, first served, teachers had to sign on to SignUp Genius early so they had the most options on what projects they mentored. As of right now, teachers and students are getting

together for their first meeting. The issue though is that freshmen don’t know many teachers therefore the majority of them don’t even know who their mentors are.

Freshman Esikiel Quinones said, “I feel it would be better if the student got to pick the teacher but also a lot of students would pick the same teacher so I understand why they changed it.” Quinones does not know who his mentor is, and he couldn’t even name him/her.

By Sylvia RizoStaff Writer

Quinones

District sets time frame for new principal hiring

The community of Greeley is coming together to hire a new principal for the next year. Mr. Jeff Cranson is in the position right now on an interim basis, meaning District 6 will take applications

and interview for the position. To begin this process the district has released a survey that will use information from staff and the community on qualities they would like to see the next principal possess.

The superintendent of District 6, Dr. Deirdre Pilch met with the staff personally if they desire on April 11 from 3:15 p.m.-4:15 p.m. and the community from 5:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. on April 15. This process is slow on purpose, as Pilch is allowing the community to be hands on in the process.

“I think it is smart that the district is taking feedback from so many groups that are dependent on what the administrator does in that position. I think that the more open the process is, the better

fit they will find. They also must take their time to ensure that the position being filled will stay filled for years to come,” stated Greeley West teacher, Mark Jarnot.

In addition to this, applications have been created and can be found online to apply to be on the hiring committee. The hiring committee will discuss the attributes of each applicant and are hoping to find a perfect fit for Greeley West.

By Kennedy SpittlerStaff Writer