Press206 W. Second Street, Cortez, CO 81321

PantherOctober 2011

Volume #12: Issue #2

What lies within...

Outdated school

Page 4

Music Reviews

Page 11Page 10The voice of Montezuma-Cortez High School

Pinktober: the struggle to end breast cancer Aubrey Lopez

Staff Reporter

Terror in toylandLacey Lukas Managing Editor

Breast Cancer Awareness Month occurs every year in the month of October, to pull all effort into curing breast cancer. Roughly one in eight women in the United States will get breast cancer. Next to skin cancer, breast cancer is the most common kind of cancer in women. Thou-sands and thousands of women pass away each year due to this horrible disease. Family members, f r i e n d s , and grand-p a r e n t s can all be a f f e c t e d by some-one that has breast cancer. Women of all ages are capable of getting breast cancer, but approximately 77% of breast cancer occurs in women over fifty years of age.

Most people know that October isn’t just the month to celebrate Hal-loween; it is also the month to wear pink in honor to support those who have lost their battle or survived breast cancer. Sophomore Krista Wynes stated “I put pink hair ex-tensions and pink dye in my hair to support breast cancer and because the money goes to help find a cure.”

M r s . T h e i l , a staff m e m -ber at M-CHS, h a d b r e a s t c a n c e r in 1994.

She said, “It’s hard to lose some of your body, and luckily none of it spread."

Halloween is one of the few holi-days that doesn’t have a large em-phasis on spending time with fam-ily and getting gifts. Halloween is a time when people get to dress in out-of-the-ordinary costumes. Teens of-ten take this time to hang out with friends, while younger children go around the neighborhood to gather their goodies. Here at M-CHS, the drama department puts on a haunt-ed house and a carnival every year. This year Vice President of the drama department Mariah Kingery, Secretary of the drama depart-ment Lacey Lukas, and Mr. Sand-ner are responsible for the haunted house and carnival. Mr. Sandner said “Even though I am new to the haunted house, it should still be a lot of fun.” The theme is Terror in Toyland; the haunted house will in-

clude deformed and demented toys, along with a new look on the toys that young children play with. Last year’s theme was Dead Circus; this included dead clowns, a fortune teller, and other aspects of a circus. Attendants can expect elaborate stage make-up and costumes, as well as a maze of creepy creatures and toys. It is not recommended to take fairly young children inside the haunted house. However, there will be a carnival, on a less scary level, for younger children. There will be games and other activities with small prizes awared. The haunted house is three dollars at the door; the entrance will be located at the outside theater doors. If you are looking for a good scare or a fun ac-tivity for your little ones, then the M-CHS haunted house and carnival is the place for you.

Haunted House CarnivalOctober 28-30 from 7:00pm-10:00pm October 28-31 from 3:00pm-6:00pmOctober 31 from 8:00pm-10:00pm October 31 from 5:00pm-7:00pm

See page 6 for Alamosa game

The homecoming game had two very different outcomes, one of great success and the other of sad defeat. The Panthers had their best start to a game yet. In the first quar-ter, on the first play, the Alamosa Mean Moose had the ball, and the Panthers caused a fumble and re-covered. Two plays later, Panther number 44, Trenton Gustafson, ran an almost untouched 12 yard touch-down. During the second and third quarters, the Panthers did every-thing they could to keep up with Al-amosa. In the fourth quarter, how-ever, Alamosa scored 18 points, and the Panthers were feeling the pres-sure. During the game, Alamosa used mostly running plays right up the middle to gain yardage for their touchdowns. One highlight of this game was when the Cortez Panthers showed

The game of a promising startDominic Brendle

Staff Reporter

superb defensive effort in the first quarter. Stephen Candelaria, a se-nior who just came back from hav-ing a concussion, played tremen-dously. In the first quarter, Alamosa had run forward 70 yards in 14 plays and was ready to score inside the ten yard line, but the front line of the Panther defense was up to the challenge with Tam Phan, Stephen Candelaria, and Chaz Thompson teaming up to stop Alamosa’s at-tempt to score from the one yard line on third down. On fourth down and about four inches, Candelaria and the defensive line acted like a wall to stop Alamosa from getting a touchdown, which caused a turn-over on the one yard line. The suc-cess was short-lived, however; the next play Tam Phan was tackled in the Alamosa end-zone to cause a safety and two points for Alamosa.

Band is one of the most popular electives on campus. Mr. Ritthaler has been the band director for M-CHS since 1981. “We’re mak-ing progress; the kids are working hard. Each day we make a little more progress, and I just can’t ask for more, so hopefully by the end of everything we’ll be at our maxi-mum potential,” said Ritthaler. The M-CHS band has won

Marching band prepares for StateLevi Downing, Staff Reporter many awards since 1981, includ-

ing several from going to the State Marching Band Championships hosted by the Colorado Bandmas-ters Association. One reason for the band’s phenomenal success is the huge amount of time mem-bers devote to rehearsal. The band gathers diligently for practice on a regular basis, Monday through Friday, from 6:30 AM to 9:00 AM.

4-H hits high school

The band performs a run-through of all their music during an early morning practice in the band room.

See page 2 for Pink October

See page 10 for Marching band

0 2Panther Press Features

OctOber 2011

Hall Talkthings we hear around our halls

“I will kick you in the teeth!”

“Lez-be-honest.”

“Do you have your frequent flyer miles?”

“They fit your butt and everything!”“I have the biggest fish in the ocean.”

“Bananas and pickles!”

“I’m gonna book slap you!”“Ouch ! I just stabbed myself.”

“What the egg?”

“I slammed my toe!”

“I’m on hallway patrol!”

“I keep it fresh!...it’s a combover.”

“Watch it, kid. I do what I want.”

“I just saved yo life!”

“Yeah, right. You have no friends!”

S t a f f S p o t l i g h tAlexis Brandenburg

Staff Reporter

From page 1.

M-CHS staff member Officer Diane Fox has been diagnosed with breast cancer. This heartbreaking news hit administration, students, parents and friends very hard. Thursday October 13, the students of Montezuma-Cor-tez High School had the opportunity to participate in showing support for Diane Fox by wearing pink. During Career Pathways everyone who was involved was asked to go to the Main Gym so that a picture could be taken and sent to Diane to show she is in our thoughts and prayers. Wearing pink is not just a trend; it’s a movement dedicated to fighting a hor-rible disease. It is real, and people need to support it, not just because their best friends are doing it, but because they want to show their support.

Pink October

Mr. Ed Rice does a lot from his mod-est desk in the Career Center. Although he has been a valued mem-ber of the M-CHS faculty since 2000, he still remains a mystery to some at M-CHS. Mr. Rice was born in Bill-ings, Montana. He went to school in Littleton, Colora-do and graduated from Lit-tleton High School. In high school, he wrestled, played drums, and was involved in rodeo. He farmed two hun-dred acres of dry wheat. As soon as Mr. Rice graduated from high school, he joined the Marine Corps. When he finished his commitment, he attended Otero Junior Col-lege in La Junta and then transferred to Colorado State University. Mr. Rice majored in Agriculture Edu-cation with an emphasis in production agriculture. He went back to college in 2005 and completed his Master’s in Educational Leadership. Mr. Rice had many role models on his path to

becoming a teacher, but his biggest in-fluence, he says, was his high school math teacher, Mrs. Jones. “She was the worst teacher I’ve ever had. She turned me away from math, which was my career plan,” says Mr. Rice. That is what actually inspired him. “I never wanted to be like her,” he says. When

he went to college at CSU, Dr. Cross, one of his pro-fessors, showed Mr. Rice the positive side of being a teacher. “A college profes-sor is a different setting then a high school teacher. Dr. Cross demonstrated what a great teacher needed to do every day,” states Mr. Rice. Mr. Ed Rice is now the director of Career and Tech-nical Education (CTE). His job is to secure state and federal funding for the CTE program. That includes Agriculture, Fire Science, EMT, FACS, ACE, Visual Design, and Multi-media. “I feed off the enthusiasm

and excitement students bring every day. Watching them grow and work to-wards their own plans gives me a lot of satisfaction.”

Photographer, Thomas McDonell

For more information

on National

Breast Cancer Awareness

Month visit: • www.nbcam.org• www.nationalbreast-

cancer.org

03Panther Press EntErtainmEnt

News/sports04 Panther PressOctOber 2011

The staff and administration of M-CHS have different ideas about the condition of their building. “I feel the school is worn out because it is chal-lenging to keep up with all the tech-

nological changes. We have to make a lot of changes to keep up,” said Mr. Gordon Shepherd, M-CHS principal. The school is overused, needs to be upgraded, and the campus needs more space to accommodate our present number of 660 students. Our campus is only 11 acres, and a campus for a high school with our numbers is supposed to be 30-40 acres. All of the M-CHS staff agrees that the school’s facility is out of date. In this aging building are inad-equate repairs such as faulty plumbing, roof leaks, dysfunctional doors, and a malfunctioning H.V.A.C. system, all of which make the school environment uncomfortable for students and staff. The school district applied for a grant for 80 million dollars to update build-ing facilities last year, but was denied. An alternative plan is in review by the board of directors. The school may also be outdated not because of the state of disrepair, but be-

cause of what most other schools have that M-CHS doesn’t. For instance, most schools like M-CHS have projec-tors, smart boards, and computers, but at the same time there are schools out there that give every students their own personal laptops for school, and some even give the students their own iPads to use for school. Despite being at the pack back of the pack technologically, M-CHS is up to date with most other schools and is do-ing well to keep it that way. The build-ing is not as new as most others, but it is pretty well maintained and kept in shape. Most people have heard on the news and from other sources that other districts are building new high schools, but the difference between their school districts and the Montezuma-Cortez School District is that they are most likely better funded, are in bigger cit-ies, and have adequate space. Even though M-CHS is not the best facility-wise, it keeps up the best it can to sup-port all the new technological changes.

School building bluesDominic BrendleStaff Reporter

This fall M-CHS instituted a new math grading scaling where anything below a 70% is an F. Tests are worth an overall 70% of the grade and if a student does not get a C, which is a 75%, or better, on the final, regardless of what their grade is before, they do not pass the class and must retake it to receive credit. Teachers in the math department agree with this new system. The math teachers feel that the previous system did not truly evaluate the students’ skills. This will affect the students later on, especially in college where most of the grade is based on tests. M-CHS math teachers are more than willing to incorporate the new grading scale. Mrs. Wisenbaker said, “What I am see-ing in my upper level math classes are students who have not mastered the skills taught in previous classes and are struggling at the next level.” Students used to be able to slide by with a D and receive credit. This new system is truly testing students’ knowledge, “Too many students memorize to pass a test but don’t retain the knowledge,” said Shelley Curtis, who is a new teacher to M-CHS.

Grade scale changed for math classesLacey Lukas, Managing Editor

Maintenance staff for the school district work to repair a basketball hoop mechanism in the main gym on Tuesday, October 18.

While this system makes it more dif-ficult for the students, it truly is helping them prepare for the next step in their life. Whether they choose to go to col-lege, trade school, the military, or any other avenue, math will play a role. This grading scale is forcing students to go above the bar that was previously set for them. Brendon Gordon asked the question, “Would students work harder in school, study more, and take tests more seriously if they knew they had to pass it to graduate from high school?” It seems that the answer is yes. While there are still students who don’t care if they pass the class, other students who barely passed last year are working harder this year to do bet-ter and understand the material.

This grading scale is forcing students to go above the bar that was previously set for them.

M-CHS girls’ softball season has gone by fast, and these girls have been dedicated since day one. The team has been working out every day at 6:30 in the morning to build their strength as individuals. The M-CHS softball team is coached by Heath Elliott, Julie Hen-son, and Brett Martin. “The softball team’s win/loss re-cord does not reflect the talent that is assembled on this team. I believe this team is one of the most talented soft-ball teams in recent school history,” Julie Henson said. The ladies attended a softball camp at Colorado Mesa Uni-versity, which Henson believed helped their base running and fielding tremen-dously. Some players really stood out to Henson throughout the season. Zoey Young was a senior stand-out. “Young has changed positions many times this year and has always given her all. Zoey often frightens opponents on the base-path. She has hit many homeruns again this year,” said Julie. She also stated that “everything was working togeth-er like a finely oiled machine” at the games against Eagle Valley. The team won 26 to 5 and 24 to 1. Charley Stew-

art, a senior at M-CHS said, “When we played Fruita we played well and kept our spirit up, but even though we lost, we didn’t let it get to us.” Julie also made comments about individuals. “Without Swazy Baker’s golden glove, many plays would not have been made. Baker and Randy El-liott made a great combination for plays and putouts. She will be sorely missed next year, as she will be graduating this year.” She also had good things to say

about junior Sadee Threlkeld: “Sadee has held her own as the starting pitch-er. The season has been long and hard with no closer pitcher at the present time. She has won four games so far this season.” As the softball season has flown by, the coaches and community can be proud of the ladies’ hard work and per-formance this year. Without commit-ment the softball team would not have made it as far as they did.

An end to a tough softball seasonAubrey Lopez, Staff Reporter

Photographer, Jimmie Lankford

05Panther Press OpiniOn

OctOber 2011

Panther

Press

Panther Press 2011-2012 Staff & Information

Editor in ChiefMack Carter

Assistant PublisherChristina Stevens

Managing EditorLacy Lukas

Business ManagersWyatt Yates

Thomas McDonell

Staff RepoRteRS

Alexis BrandenburgDominic BrendleSara (Craig) ChristianAnthony HodgeAubrey LopezTyler McKinneyScott SandersLevi Downing

Matthew WarrenBraxton WhitemanTanner WrightShihonna VigilMahalia WattsReshaun BadbackReiana Jones Charles Warren

Want to adveRtiSe With the pantheR pReSS?

Call ouR BuSineSS ManageRS at (970) 565 - 3722 ext. 148

pRefeRaBly BetWeen 10aM and 11:30aM Monday thRough thuRSday

ContaCt uS at: MontezuMa-CoRtez high SChool

attn: pantheR pReSS (deB MCviCkeR) 206 W. 7th St., CoRtez, Co 81321

the M-ChS pantheR pReSS iS an open foRuM WhiCh opeRateS undeR Re-1 diStRiCt poliCy. the Re-1 SChool diStRiCt, BoaRd, and Staff aRe not ReSponSiBle foR the

infoRMation and opinionS expReSSed in the pantheR pReSS.

The Panther Press invites your letters, comments, and questions. Letters will be edited on the basis of content and

conciseness.

pantherpress @cortez.k12.co.us

dmcvicker@cortez.k12.co.us

970-565-3722x148

Eighth grade awesome to second class of the underclass: 2015 takes the plunge

Teach me something I can useMack Carter, Editor-in-Chief The lines of battle have been drawn, the bugles have sounded, and the troops stare each other down in the tense moments of silence before they are commanded to look death straight in the eye and fire a musket into that same eye. It’s the American Civil War, and everyone who has taken Ms. Love’s US History class can attest to the gut-wrenching anxiety of being on the front lines of battle. Of course the bullets are only tidbits of information about the war, and no one ever actually gets hurt, although the “Hand of Fate” (Ms. Love) does get pretty brutal in her descriptions of the deaths of the lazy conscripts who forgot their “ammunition,” or notes. In my own US History class, back in the winter of my sophomore year, I was a force to be reckoned with on those fields of glory. My twenty-three stars and rank of General in the Union Army were earned by helping my own soldiers with the intricacies of firing a musket, Ms. Love style, and by wounding or killing the opposing Johnny Rebs, whose missteps on the field made them vulnerable to the hailstorm of miniés and musket balls controlled by the Hand of Fate. My desire to do well in the war, both for the

Union and for my own personal glory, compelled me to use every aspect of Ms. Love’s complex system for “fighting”, which rewarded those who listened carefully to students while they were firing their muskets (giving information), so that I could kill the enemy and save my own side. However, while I thought I was having fun playing a game, I was actually absorbing a ridiculous amount of information about the Civil War. Ms. Love’s method of teaching us with a game that rewarded careful listening and note-taking was highly effective in motivating us to learn about a long-past historical occurrence that many would find boring. It is this method of giving students an outlet for their gained knowledge and of rewarding them for successfully usage that is sorely lacking in some schools today. Teachers lecture for hours upon hours, assign mountains of homework, and then assess their charges on information that is neither interesting nor relevant to everyday life. This gets students nowhere. When students have no desire to learn for learning’s own sake, they often waste away in class, sitting and twiddling their thumbs while teachers try

fruitlessly to force information that they know will be useful in the long-term into their heads. It follows, then, that teachers must devise a way to make information relevant and useful. This can be done though the provision of a realistic outlet for this knowledge, which may be impractical in some subjects, or through a made-up game that rewards the memorization or study of facts, theories, or rules. One example of a real-life situation used by a teacher that I have personally experienced and learned from is when in last year’s AP Calculus class, Mrs. Wisenbaker handed each of us an 8 ½” by 11” piece of white office paper and instructed us to cut one square from each corner to construct a five-sided box with the highest volume possible. Some students tried to reason it out, others, myself included, applied a strange mixture of logic, algebra, and geometry, while a small fraction of the class actually used calculus and the method of optimization that we had been learning in class. That small fraction made the biggest boxes and received “A”s on the assignment. The other students constructed inferior, often uglier boxes that were

worth far less points. I, by using the wrong method for finding the volume and by making several elementary mistakes in my math, made the smallest box and got an “F.” Needless to say, we all learned our lesson. I now always use the best applicable tool in my mental arsenal when solving problems. It’s obvious that most students, once given the proper motivation, are capable of learning vast amounts of information in short periods. The only problem is finding that motivation. If teachers can find a way for their students to productively or creatively use their learned knowledge, then the whole process of education can become a whole lot easier and more fun for both the teacher and the student. So, teachers, it is my humble request to you that you give us a way to use our knowledge. Teach us something we can use.

Going from being the biggest fish in the tank to the bottom of the food chain is something that all freshmen experience when crossing that bridge into high school. The new position comes with a wide range of experiences both familiar and alien, from the intimidation of the older students to the responsibilities that come with the freedoms of being a high school student. One of the main things that fresh-man high school students enjoy is the responsibility of being able to

leave at lunch and have the open campus experience. That was def-initely something I enjoyed when I became a high school student, and not much has changed. The fact that middle school students are on a strictly enforced schedule and are not allowed to leave cam-pus at all makes the new freshmen truly appreciate the privilege of an open campus during lunch. This, I think, is a major improvement as evidenced by the steady roll of complaints about being forced to eat school food throughout the years. The male members of the fresh-man class seem to have made the t r a n s i -tion into r e l a t i v e f r e e d o m p r e t t y

smoothly, although the fear of be-ing stepped on by a senior three times their sized can occasionally put a bit of a damper on their nor-mally buoyant moods. It seems that the difficulty of core classes and trying to make it to class on time with the two minute break in-between classes leading to the full-fledged sprint from 100 hall to 600 hall also challenges an elect group of them as well. However, the girls seem to be taking it a little bit harder with adjustments between intimida-tion from the older girls and some pressure from an opportunistic le-gion of high school boys.

Overall however, the transition appears not to have been too dif-ficult for them besides just getting acquainted with a new school in general. I haven’t seen any crying freshmen running down a hallway or a random desk flying through a window, so it can’t be all that bad. It seems that the new freshmen are managing their new line of re-sponsibilities fairly well.

Scott Sanders, Staff Reporter

06Panther Press Feature

OctOber 2011 07Panther Press Feature

M-CHS Homecoming Events !S p i r i t W e e k T h e P a r a d e

A l a m o s a g a m e

Cheyenn Heal and Brandi Borgen dress up for 50s day in poodle skirts made by Mrs. Borgen.

Students dress up for spirit day. Top (L-R): Sherrie Williams, Macaela Martinez, Katia Chavez, Wyatt Yates, Imari Black, Bridger BrennerBottom: Chantell Ford, Leanne Brennamen, Zoe Nutt, Dominic Brendle, and Raudy Castillo

The Montezuma- Cortez High School Panther Football Team

Sophomore Attendants: Jordan Miller and Keegan Ralstin

Another high point was the last-ditch offensive effort by the Panthers in the fourth quarter. Losing 17-7 and with no gain on running plays, the team turned to their freshman quarterback Jonathan Walck to get the pass plays going. He threw a spectacular touchdown pass to Chaz Thompson, bringing the score up to 17-14. Af-ter that touchdown, Alamosa stopped the Panthers and kept them from scoring or gaining yards. If that wasn’t enough, Alamosa added another 18 points, and the Pan-thers were unable to come back to the Alamosa 35-14

Continued from page 1lead. Later on the one yard line, Jonathan Walck gave the Panthers one last touchdown to move the score to 35-20. In the end, the first quarter for Alamosa was a story of failed runs, but for the Panthers it was a story of great effort and success. The second and third quarter for both teams was an exercise of frustration, with hard work and little reward. In the fourth quarter Alamosa found runaway success, but the Panthers, despite their tremendous effort, found only sad defeat.

Montezuma-Cortez High School Boys Soccer

Krista Wynes, Zoe Nutt, and Imari Black exemplify 60s fashion. Sarah Harris walks her minature horse through the homecoming parade on Friday, October 7th.

The CMS band battles through the rain to play for this year’s Homecoming Parade.

06Panther Press Feature

OctOber 2011 07Panther Press Feature

M-CHS Homecoming Events !S p i r i t W e e k T h e P a r a d e

A l a m o s a g a m e

Cheyenn Heal and Brandi Borgen dress up for 50s day in poodle skirts made by Mrs. Borgen.

Students dress up for spirit day. Top (L-R): Sherrie Williams, Macaela Martinez, Katia Chavez, Wyatt Yates, Imari Black, Bridger BrennerBottom: Chantell Ford, Leanne Brennamen, Zoe Nutt, Dominic Brendle, and Raudy Castillo

The Montezuma- Cortez High School Panther Football Team

Sophomore Attendants: Jordan Miller and Keegan Ralstin

Another high point was the last-ditch offensive effort by the Panthers in the fourth quarter. Losing 17-7 and with no gain on running plays, the team turned to their freshman quarterback Jonathan Walck to get the pass plays going. He threw a spectacular touchdown pass to Chaz Thompson, bringing the score up to 17-14. Af-ter that touchdown, Alamosa stopped the Panthers and kept them from scoring or gaining yards. If that wasn’t enough, Alamosa added another 18 points, and the Pan-thers were unable to come back to the Alamosa 35-14

Continued from page 1lead. Later on the one yard line, Jonathan Walck gave the Panthers one last touchdown to move the score to 35-20. In the end, the first quarter for Alamosa was a story of failed runs, but for the Panthers it was a story of great effort and success. The second and third quarter for both teams was an exercise of frustration, with hard work and little reward. In the fourth quarter Alamosa found runaway success, but the Panthers, despite their tremendous effort, found only sad defeat.

Montezuma-Cortez High School Boys Soccer

Krista Wynes, Zoe Nutt, and Imari Black exemplify 60s fashion. Sarah Harris walks her minature horse through the homecoming parade on Friday, October 7th.

The CMS band battles through the rain to play for this year’s Homecoming Parade.

08Panther Press A&E

OctOber 2011

We are Panther fans!Proud supporters of the Panthers

for over 50 years.

2258 East Main • Cortez, CO 81321(970) 565-3781 • www.fnbcortez.com

The M-CHS theatre program pro-vides unique opportunities for stu-dents and interesting entertainment for the community. The director of the theatre group is Mr. Sandner. He is a teacher of freshman English, speech, technical the-atre, and acting. There are many different types of plays that are coming to M-CHS. Suessi-cal the Musical, The Foreigner, the one act plays, and also the haunted house Terror in Toyland are all com-ing to M-CHS this year. The cast and crew do a lot of hard work to get ready for the opening night of the play. The crew has to make it so that all the structures are complete without any hazards that could endanger the cast during the plays. The cast has many respon-sibilities that they have to do dur-ing the plays. One of the responsi-bilities is that they cannot break the fourth wall. The fourth wall is an imaginary wall that is in front of the audience and the cast. The first play the department is putting on is Suessical the Musical. It is about a collection of Dr. Seuss stories. The set will include a five foot high platform and an eight foot platform which will represent a jun-

gle. There are many more set pieces made by Mr. Sander’s technical the-atre class such as a bird nest, a box, and different flats that the class has done. This play will open the first

week of Novem-ber. “Legit is a Brit-ish word t h a t m e a n s a play is not a

musical,” stated Mr. Sandner. “What the play is called is The Foreigner.” The Foreigner will come out later on in this spring. The Foreigner was written by Larry Shue. The Foreigner is about how people per-cieve one another, their society, and themselves. It also includes themes of a fantasy of good and evil, where good triumphs over evil. The haunted house theme is Terror in Toy-land. It will be scheduled the weekend of Halloween. The haunted house is a fun way to get scared. The haunted house

Theatrical adventures in room 605Matthew Warren, Staff Reporter

will be at M-CHS in the auditorium. For more information, go to page 1. One act plays will come out in the spring after The Foreigner. One act plays are plays that students get to direct on their own. It is where upperclassmen get to learn what directing is all about. Sonny Stone, the President of the Drama Depart-ment, as well as Mr. Sandner, have to approve all the one act plays for the year. It is also a great chance for people who have not acted or have acted very little to be in a play that

is not on a big scale but still gives a feel for what a full show will be like. The drama department works hard all year to provide entertainment to the community, their shows and productions are unique and worth seeing.

09Panther Press SportS

The Montezuma-Cortez High School golf team had great success when defending their 4A Western Slope League Regional title at Rifle Creek Golf Course for the second time. Winning Regional two years in a row and appearing for State is a first in M-CHS boys’ golf history. Last season the boys took second in State. Preparing for State and working hard for the championship can be challenging. Dedication and de-termination is a huge factor. Keith Hawkins, a junior at M-CHS who also competed with the team for State said “We prepared for State by doing short game drills.” The boys’ State competition was on Monday and Tuesday, October

Panther golf wins regionals and places fourth at StateAubrey Lopez, Staff Reporter

3 and 4 at Pelican Lakes Golf Club in Windsor, Colorado. Panther golf players represented M-CHS well. In individual competition, Chris Aiken placed 11th with a total score of 147. Jacob Rudosky placed 25thwith a total score of 154. Keith Hawkins placed 36th with a score of 158. Lastly, Hayden Plewe placed 53rd with a score of 162. All of these were two day scores. This year the boys’ team won fourth at State. School administration, family members, and friends are all very proud of the Panther golf team. The boys worked hard this season to get to State and win Regional, but even though they placed fourth at state and not second like last year, they still achieved a huge goal.

Football is an aggressive sport. Any-thing can happen on the field of play: just ask Eric Lopez. On Friday Sep-tember 16, the Panthers were facing off with the Farmington Scorpions. After a play, Eric was grasping at his leg as if he hurt it somehow. “I took a helmet to the leg, then Soren Jorgenson rolled on top of my leg, and I felt it pop at least five times.” said Eric, an M-CHS senior. Sadly, his season may be over due to an ACL (Anterior Cruciate Lig-ament) tear. Stephen Candelaria, another M-CHS senior, was out of action until the Alamosa game on the 7th of October; which was the Homecoming game for the Panthers. Stephen had a concussion that ruined two games of his last sea-son here at M-CHS. “I’m excited to get back to practice on September 26th, 2011.” There are several people on the team that are suffering from concus-sions; it’s been a major issue for the Panthers this year. The M-CHS Panthers have also lost their starting quarterback Tallon Rals-tin, an M-CHS junior, for at least six weeks with a broken collarbone. De-spite earlier hopes of a return at Buena Vista, Tallon’s prognosis is doubtful: “I’m done for the rest of this season, but plan on returning next year.” This year some players who normally would be lucky to get on the field are starting on Varsity due to the multi-tude of injuries. It’s also due to seven people quitting at the beginning of the season. The freshmen that are starting

began getting the hang of things while playing with these upperclassmen. #4 Randy Haley (Middle Line Backer), #9 Jonathan Walck (Left Outside Line Backer), #70 Tyler Hageman (Right Outside Line Backer), are some fresh-men that are starting these next few games. Will the Varsity Football team do well with freshmen starting this sea-son? The administration said they will do well with the number of freshmen on the team, and the coaches agreed. Among the many players on the team, they were split in their feelings on how freshmen will contribute this year be-cause they weren’t sure how going up against upperclassmen would work out. “I was nervous at the beginning of the game, but then I started to feel nor-mal,” said starting freshman Outside Line Backer Alex Fernandez. How-ever, when the freshman players step on the field on Friday nights, they can always count on a huge burst of excite-ment from the crowd. These injuries are affecting the team physically and emotionally because they lost two starting seniors and a ju-nior. For the few weeks Stephen was on the injury reserve list, #44 Trenton Gustafson (Defensive End), #54 Soren Jorgenson (Defensive Tackle), and #51 Kody Deavers (starting Center/Defensive End) were holding the team together as leaders. Hopefully, the Pan-ther players with injuries can make a quick recovery so that they may return to the field and their teammates.

Varsity football team takes a hitTJ Mckinney and Charles Warren

Staff Reporters

10Panther Press A&E

OctOber 2011

“4-H is a great program that teach-es kids about responsibility,” stated Raena Conklin (‘12), a member of the program for 11 years. Conklin was a member of the 4-H students who went to the Citizenship Washington Focus in Washington D.C. On this trip they went sightseeing, made bills, and worked as a part of the legislative branch. “I think that rather than going to see the important parts of our coun-try, it was more to learn about leader-ship. I learned about making a bill and other important legal things that our country goes through.” said Raena. 4-H is a national program for youth that is dedicated to providing educa-tional opportunities in the real world. Members are exposed to a multitude of subjects, and many put their knowl-edge to use in practical situations and in competitions and expositions. Most 4-H clubs in Montezuma County strongly encourage their members to showcase their skills and knowledge in the Montezuma County Fair. The county fair is usually held the last week of July into the first week of August. At the fair, students have a variety of things to do, whether it’s participat-ing in the shows or spending time with their friends. In Montezuma County, livestock can be anything from alpac-as to lambs, horses to dogs. Anything that strikes up an interest with the lo-cal community is most likely available at the fair. One perk of doing livestock is that students can sell their animals

by the pound. If that’s not interesting enough, there are some exhibits such as Outdoor Cooking to learn to cook using cast iron skillets and maybe an open fire. In particular, Decorate Your Duds is an exhibit that allows youth aged 18 and under to design their own clothing. Revolution of Responsibility is new this year to 4-H. “To me it means ex-actly what the title says. In 4-H you learn almost everything that you need to know about responsibility, and by learning all of this you will be success-ful in your adult career,” commented Ryan Daves, an M-CHS junior. There are also many opportunities to receive scholarships in 4-H. Such scholarships are the Stakeholder’s, which a student can receive by participating in four years of livestock, and the National 4-H Foundation scholarship. Students in 4-H also participate in activities such as the demolition derby, dances, paintball wars, and monthly club meet-ings. These are just a few reasons to join this fast-growing and fun program. Students can be a part of 4-H from the ages of 8 to 18 as of January 1. Enrollment for 4-H starts October 1, 2011 and goes through December 31, 2011. There is a fee of 20 dollars and that includes one project, and an extra 10 dollars to do another project. 4-H is growing every day; in 2011 the enrollment was up 20 percent. For more information visit Tonya Yates at the Montezuma County Ex-tension Office or call 970-565-3123.

4-H provides opportunities for youthWyatt Yates, Business Manager

When it comes to art, people usu-ally think about creating sculptures, drawings, and paintings. The National Art Honor Society (NAHS) promotes some of those activities. The former sponsor behind the society was Mrs. Harriman; however, there is a new sponsor for the club this year. She is a new teacher here at M-CHS, and her name is Ms. Bane. “There won’t be too many differences this year with me rather than Mrs. Harriman.” Ms. Bane said. “The Art Honor Society is basically a student-run club, so the members are the determining factor in what goes on.” They take trips to art museums and go through gallery tours and have competitions. They still meet every Monday at lunch. The National Art Honor Society is

also dedicated to improving the com-munity through acts of service and by providing opportunities to learn about art. “We have been painting faces at the football games; also we plan on hav-ing a fall art sale.” Ms. Bane stated. “We also do projects within the com-munity.” This year, there are 16 to 20 people in the National Art Honor Society. Mem-bers who are not artists are usually avid art enthusiasts, due to the fact that most of the NAHS activities are art-related. The people who want to join must also carry at least a B average in their art classes. The only supply needed for the Na-tional Art Honor Society is a pencil, a passion for admiring artwork, and the desire to create something beautiful.

W h a t i s t h e N A H S ?TJ McKinney, Staff Reporter

All that practicing has helped the band to do very well at State in the past. The Marching Panthers have placed in the top three at Finals for the State Cham-pionship for the past six years in a row. This year the band looks to become even better. “They have improved tre-mendously. From the first day of band camp to today, things are going much better,” said Mr. Ritthaler. The M-CHS band also has several section leaders that help to keep the players in line. From helping their sec-tion memorize music to helping them memorize marching patterns, section leaders have many responsibilities. All of them are highly skilled instru-mentalists and marchers, and they all are deeply committed to the program. Deanna Atkins, the section leader for the flutes, has been in band since she was a freshman. Mack Carter, the bari-

Marching band has high hopes for StateContinued from page 1.

tone section leader has also been in the M-CHS band since he was a freshman. “We are doing well, but it’s hard hav-ing only six people in the section,” he said of this year's baritone section. The marching band has nine baritones most years, but due to a slump in interest, this year's numbers are down. This is very difficult for a section that, along with the tubas, forms the backbone of the band. Color guard captain Kait Doolen, who assists color guard coach Melanie Sitton in leading the color guard, commented “The color guard team is doing very well.”

Competing can be very stressful, no matter what you’re competing in. Rob-ert Kautz, an alto saxophone player for the M-CHS band said “Competition is like practice, but it is more stress-ful.” Preparing for the State competi-tion takes a lot of early morning prac-tice sessions. The M-CHS band also has several rivals in Windsor, Pueblo County, and Woodland Park, whom they hope to beat at State. The band's field show for this year includes music from Antonin Dvorak's "New World Symphony" and features solos by Kyle Baacke and a duet by Eli Flores and Mack Carter. The mu-sic was arranged by Scott Hickey, and the drill was designed by Jack Cham-bers. Robert Kautz said he liked the field show this year, and so far judges at competition have agreed with him. The M-CHS Marching Panthers won their category at the Colorado West Marching Invitational on October 8 and placed second overall. They also won their division at the Western Slope Regional, which took place in Grand

Junction on October 13. They scored a 70.25 out of 100, putting them in second place in the state going into the State Championships. The Wind-sor High School Marching Band leads them by a margin of 2.1 points. The two bands will compete for the title of State Champion along with nine oth-er 3A bands on Monday, October 24 at Douglas County School District's Sports Authority Stadium in Parker, Colorado.

The drumline waits for instruction during a rare moment of quiet and serenity.

11Panther Press Reviews

Thomas McDonell, Business Manager

After the success and rise of Hundredth’s first album “When Will We Surrender” and a sched-ule full of touring, they entered the studio and recorded their second full-length album “Let Go," and it does not disappoint. “Let Go” is definitely a step up from “When Will We Surren-der” musically, and as a whole it simply flows better. The album follows an underlying theme of positivity, focusing on having something to believe and find hope in. It’s also a step ahead with the vocals; from start to finish you can feel the passion through vocalist Chadwick Johnson’s voice and the lyrics. “Let Go” doesn’t break the mold of hardcore music, but explores new grounds with a pop-punk feel using an excellent instrumental song and catchy gang-vocals in the background. Hundredth didn’t try to reinvent the wheel with “Let Go,” but they sure took it to a new level. There is no doubt that this album will help maintain their rise in the music industry.Tracks To Download: Let Go & Remain and Sustain

Music Reviews

In late September, up-and-coming band Miracle At St. Anna released their debut album “Shadow Country”. This album is very impressive for a first al-bum; it’s filled with strong vo-cals as far as screaming goes, mixing highs and lows with ease. It also incorporates catchy gui-tar riffs and mosh-ready break-downs throughout. However, the singing in the album is less than impressive, and with the album at only 28 minutes long, it seems like once it starts it’s over. But those are just minor flaws com-pared to how good it really is. Miracle At St. Anna’s “Shadow Country” is a solid album from start to finish and deserves to be listened to.

Tracks To Download: Moses In Agony & On The Reg

Hundredth “Let Go”

Miracle at St. Anna“Shadow Country”

In 1996 in San Diego, Cali-fornia, brothers John and Tim Foreman started a band now known as Switchfoot. After many successful releases and countless awards over the years, they have gone to the studio and recorded their 8th full length album-- “Vice Vers-es”. This album is definitely another great installment to the Switchfoot discography for many reasons. “Vice Verses” isn’t “experimental,” but it is a lot different from what they’ve done in the past and opens new doors for them. It’s a lot softer than past work and carries a constant indie vibe, but it is still totally Switchfoot. “Vice Verses” is also filled with a lot of catchy sing-along parts, smart guitar riffs, extremely strong vocals, and multiple radio-ready tunes that deserve to be listened to. Switchfoot’s “Vice Verses” has yet to become another hit, but if people are open to a bit of change, there is no doubt that it will be.

Switchfoot “Vice Verses”

Track Lists: “Let Go”1. Let Go2. Weathered Town3. Live Tody4. We Can Take Them

All5. Carry On6. Humane7. Remain and Sustain 8. Monumental, pt. 19. Monumental, pt. 210. I Hold the Key11. Restless12. Soul13. Hurt

“Shadow Country”1. On the Reg2. The Hypnotizer3. Shot At the Tiger

4. Brokeback Fountain5. These Boots Were Made

for Pimpin’6. @MASABand Young &

Naive7. Moses In Agony8. Jake Pushed the Button 9. Drink a Beer, Kill a Deer10. Drive Me to Cookout

“Vice Verses”1. The Wars Inside2. Afterlife3. The Blinding Light4. Education5. Fading West6. Selling the News7. Restless8. The Original9. Rise Above It10. Against the Voices11. Thrive12. Vice Verses

12Panther Press News

OcOtOber 2011

Montezuma-Cortez High School 2011-2012 School Calendar (Tentative)

Fre Staff Days, 152 + PLC Hours (24) = 155 Days / Elementary Student Days 140 / Secondary Student Days 144 Last Revision Date 8/3/11DR

***FRESHMEN ACADEMY 2011 – June 20th- 23rd, 8AM-12PM *** Instructional Days: Qtr. 1- 35, Qtr. 2 - 32, Qtr. 3 – 38 (includes CSAP), Qtr. 4 – 39 (includes ACT & Checkout)

4 Independence Day 18 11 Month Contracts Return Office Open 7AM-4PM Mon. - Thurs. (12PM-1PM Closed For Lunch)

JULY 2011 M T W Th F

1

4 5 6 7 8

11 12 13 14 15

18 19 20 21 22

25 26 27 28 29

August 2011 M T W Th F

1 2 3 4 5

8 9 10 11 12

15 16 17 18 19

22 23 24 25 26

29 30 31

1 10 Month Contracts Return 8 9.5 Month Contracts Return /Golf Starts 8-11 New Student Registration 8AM-3PM Daily (12-1PM Closed For Lunch) 15 All Staff Report Fall Sports Begins 22 Secondary Students Return 1st day of Qtr. 1 29 Elementary Students Return

5 Labor Day/ No School 13 PLC 15 Parent/Teacher Conf. 4:00-7:30PM 16 Parent/Teacher Conf. 8:00-11:30AM 27 PLC 26-29 College Week 28 College Fair 9–10:30AM Aux Gym

SEPTEMBER 2011 M T W Th F

1 2

5 6 7 8 9

12 13 14 15 16

19 20 21 22 23

26 27 28 29 30

OCTOBER 2011 M T W Th F

3 4 5 6 7

10 11 12 13 14

17 18 19 20 21

24 25 26 27 28

31

3-8 Homecoming Week (Wed. Peach Fuzz 7PM, Thurs. Powder Puff at 7PM w/ Bonfire to follow, Fri. Parade 1PM & Football Game 7PM, Sat. Dance 8-11PM) 11 PLC 12 PSAT Test 18-19 Qtr. Class Finals 20 1st Quarter Ends (2nd starts 24) 23 11:59PM Qtr Grades Deadline 21 Prof. Dev./ Work day 25 PLC

8 PLC 11 Veterans Day / Winter Sports Begins 21-22 Staff Furlough Days - No School 23-24 Thanksgiving Break 29 PLC

NOVEMBER 2011 M T W Th F

1 2 3 4

7 8 9 10 11

14 15 16 17 18

21 22 23 24 25

28 29 30

DECEMBER 2011 M T W Th F

1 2

5 6 7 8 9

12 13 14 15 16

19 20 21 22 23

26 27 28 29 30

13 PLC 21-22 Qtr. & Semester Finals 22 End of 2nd Qtr/Semester 1 26-29 Winter Break

2-5 Winter Break 9 Prof. Dev./ Work Day No School 11:59PM Grades Deadline 10 Students Return/3rd Qtr. Starts PLC 16 M.L. King Jr. Day/School in Session 24 PLC

January 2012 M T W Th F

2 3 4 5 6

9 10 11 12 13

16 17 18 19 20

23 24 25 26 27

30 31

February 2012 M T W Th F 1 2 3

6 7 8 9 10

13 14 15 16 17

20 21 22 23 24

27 28 29

7 PLC 9 Parent/Teacher Conf. 4:00-7:30PM 10 Parent/Teacher Conf. 8:00-11:30AM 20 Presidents Day/No school 21 PLC 27 Spring Sports Begins

6 PLC 7-8 Qtr. Class Finals 13-15 9th & 10th CSAP Testing 11th ACT Prep 12th Community Service 15 3rd Qtr. Ends(4th starts 19th) 18 12PM Qtr. Grades Deadline 20 PLC

March 2012 M T W Th F

1 2

5 6 7 8 9

12 13 14 15 16

19 20 21 22 23

26 27 28 29 30

April 2012 M T W Th F

2 3 4 5 6

9 10 11 12 13

16 17 18 19 20

23 24 25 26 27

30

2-5 Spring Break 10 PLC 14 Prom 8PM Grand March & 9-12PM Dance 24 11th Grade State ACT TEST – 8AM-12:30PM No School for 9th, 10th & 12th Grades PLC

8 PLC /ACT Make Up day 22-23 Senior Finals 24 Seniors Last Day 25 Snow Day Makeup 28 Memorial Day/No School 29 Senior Grades Due 8AM / 6:30PM Awards Night in Aud. 29-30 Qtr. & Semester Finals 30 6:30PM Baccalaureate In Aud. 31 4th Qtr Ends/Last Day of School/Checkout 6:30PM Graduation at Panther Field

May 2012 M T W Th F

1 2 3 4

7 8 9 10 11

14 15 16 17 18

21 22 23 24 25

28 29 30 31

JUNE 2012 M T W Th F

1

4 5 6 7 8

11 12 13 14 15

18 19 20 21 22

25 26 27 28 29

4 Qtr. & Semester Grades due 8AM No School or Altered Schedule PLC Tuesdays (90 Minutes After School) Family or Students Events

Quarter start / end dates

U p c o m i n g E v e n t sThursday, October 20All Day M-CHS Mini Cheer Camp in the commonsAll Day Romas and McComb with FFA Out to National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, INAll Day Last Day of 1st Quarter8:30AM Rice out to Chamber of Commerce Meeting11:36 AM - 12:06 PM FCCLA Meeting in room 31011:36 AM - 12:20 PM Knowledge Bowl prac-tice in room 110At 12:00 PM Student of the Week Nomina-tions Due to the Activities Office7 PM - 9:00 PM M-CHS-CMS Choir Concert in the M-CHS Auditorium6:00 PM - 7:30 PM Foreign Lang. Club Din-ner at Fiesta Mexicana6:30 PM - 7:30 PM Girls’ Open Gym Basket-ball in the M-CHS Main Gym

Friday, October 21All Day Ramos and McComb with FFA out to National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, IN / WisenbakerAll Day HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mike Ptaszyn-ski!All Day NO SCHOOL / Professional Devel-opment - Workday for Staff

All Day Wisenbaker OutM-CHS Mini Cheer Camp in the Commons4:30 PM / 6 PM Montezuma-Cortez High School Girls JV/V Volleyball vs. Central High School (GJ), Home7:00 PM - 9:00 PM Montezuma-Cortez High School Boys Varsity Football vs. Bayfield High School, HomeHalftime: M-CHS Marching Panthers Perfor-mance and Mini Cheer Camp Performance

Saturday, October 22All Day Ramos and McComb with FFA Out to National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, INAll Day Band leaves for DenverAll Day Discover Rocky Mountain College of Art & DesignAll Day Tufts University Women in Engineer-ing Program10:00 AM/11:30AM Montezuma-Cortez High School Girls JV/V Volleyball vs. Montrose High School, Home

Monday, October 24All Day Volt Survey Begins and goes on for two weeksAll Day Ramos and McComb with FFA Out to National FFA Convention in Indianapolis, INAll Day 2nd Qtr. BeginsAll Day B. Gordon OutAll Day Ciccia out of District Wood out of buildingAll Day Marching Band to CBA State, DenverAll Day Wisenbaker Out9:20 AM – 9:50 AM Make-up Sophomore Class Meeting

At 10:00 AM Athlete of the Week Nomina-tions Due to the Activities Office11:55 AM – 12:20 PM National Art Honor Society Meeting during lunch in room 6094PM JV Football vs. Bayfield at Home5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Girls Fall Soccer Open Field at Parque De Vida

Tuesday, October 25 All Day Band returning home from DenverAll Day Ciccia out of District /Wood out of buildingAt 8:00 AM Deadline for Teacher Grade Ex-port for Eligibility11:36 AM – 12:21 PM Student Government Meeting in room 31011:50 AM – 12:20 PM French and Spanish Club Meeting in room 2064:00 PM – 5:30 PM PLC for Staff6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Girls’ Open Gym Basket-ball in the M-CHS Main Gym

Wednesday, October 26All Day HAPPY BIRTHDAY Britany Mason!8:00 AM – 11:00 AM ASVAB test in the li-brary for all sophomores through seniors11:36 AM – 12:06 PM NASA – Native Ameri-can Society of Academics Meeting during lunch in Room #10711:36 AM – 12:21 PM Power Lunch Today!!!3:45 PM – 4:15 PM Recycling Day - Leave your Blue Bucket Out!3:55 PM – 4:55 PM Leadership Team in the Library5:30 PM – 7:00 PM Girls Fall Soccer Open Field at Parque De Vida

6:00 PM – 7:00 PM Band Community Appre-ciation Concert / Chili Dinner at Panther Field

Thursday, October 27All Day Band leaves for St. George, UtahAll Day Ciccia out of district / Brewer and Rightley OutAll Day Happy Birthday Gordon Shepherd!All Day M-CHS Drama Patron Reservations tickets - Last Day11:36 AM – 12:06 PM FCCLA Meeting in room 31011:36 AM – 12:20 PM Knowledge Bowl prac-tice in room 110At 12:00 PM Student of the Week Nomina-tions Due to the Activities Office5:00 PM – 7:00 PM Montezuma-Cortez High School JV Football vs. Kirtland High School, Home6:30 PM – 7:30 PM Girls’ Open Gym Basket-ball in the M-CHS Main Gym

Friday, October 28All Day Marching Band to Red Rocks March-ing Invitational, St. George, Utah3:45 PM 4 Corners Character Council Contest topic for October is “Dependability” and they are looking for song lyrics - DEADLINE3:00 – 6 PM Drama Club Halloween Carnival in the Auditorium and Commons7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Montezuma-Cortez High School Boys Varsity Football vs. Buena Vista High School, Home7:00 – 10 PM Drama Club Halloween Haunt-ed House in the Commons and Auditorium

Saturday, October 293:00 - 6 PM Drama Club Halloween Carnival in the Auditorium and Commons7:00 - 10 PM Drama Club Halloween Haunted House in the Commons and AuditoriumAll Day HAPPY BIRTHDAY Phil Gallegos!All Day Marching Band to BOA Regional Event, St. George, UtahAll Day Skidmore’s Dance and Studio Art Open HouseTBA Montezuma-Cortez High School Coed Varsity Cross Country to STATE, AwayAll Day Tufts University Engineering Open House

Come SupportM-CHSPanther Activities