Compiled by Gabby Pirrie

PattonvilleBriefs

Cardinals Season Outlook

!e ground-breaking cer-emony for the new athletic facilities at Pat-tonville will be May 31 at 6:30 p.m. on the 50-yard line of the high school stadium.

In the 2010-2011 school year, Pattonville High School has seen the least amount of tardies since

data started getting collected in the 2007-2008 school year. !rough April, there have been 3,802 tardies recorded compared to 8,880 in the 2007-2008 school year.

According to Assistant Principal Luke Lammers, that stark di"erence may be attributed to this year’s newly implemented policy ‘Walk and Talk.’

“From day one we have bombarded students and sta" with ‘Walk and Talk’ and ‘Stay to the Right,’” Lam-mers said.

When compared to the 2007-2008 school year, the year with the most recorded tardies, student tardies have dropped by 5,072 in 2010-2011.

In 2010-2011, Pattonville began the Pirate Code designed to use data to identify student behaviors that needed improvement. Students were taught how to avoid tardies by

“walking and talking” and “staying to the right.” Students were recognized and rewarded for exhibiting positive behaviors related to getting to class on time.

When data was #rst collected by Pattonville High School, teachers kept track of tardies and wrote referrals when students reached four tardies or more.

Tardies began to decrease in the 2008-2009 school year when princi-pals became responsible of tracking tardies. According to data released by Pattonville High School, “In 2008-2009, principals began screening for tardies and assigning disciplinary consequences once students reached four tardies to a given class.”

!at policy continued in the 2009-2010 school year. In 2009-2010, only 211 less tardies occurred.

In an e"ort to reduce tardies even more, ‘Walk and Talk’ was created.

!e committee for Positive Be-havior Interventions and Support (PBIS) focuses on teaching what is right before o"enses happen instead of disciplining students after they do wrong.

By Brendan Everson

Seniors Samantha Twyman and Alexandra Dalton quali#ed for the National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tourna-ment in Dallas, Texas, as a public forum debate team. Pattonville is the only school in the East-ern Missouri District to qualify for nation-als every year since its creation.

Seniors Hannah Johnson and Geri Farrell quali#ed for the State track and #eld meet to be held in Je"erson City May 27-28. Johnson #nished third in the 1-mile run at Section-als with a time of 5:31.51 placing her #fth on the Patton-ville all-time leaders list. Farrell quali#ed in the 2-mile run by #nishing in fourth place.

By Lexi Kendall

Varsity baseball ends season unsatis!ed

Varsity soccer wins third consecutive district title

pg 4-5pg 3 pg 3

!e world did not end on May 21, 2011.

75th Anniversary

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By Andrew Tyahla

As the school year draws to a close, many seniors are look-ing forward to graduation.

However, in order for this to happen, students need 24 credits and 50 hours of community service. Some seniors are still short of meeting these benchmarks, which will delay their graduation.

!ese students, referred to as being ‘on the bubble,’ are actually few in number. On average, there are 8 out of 400 seniors who fail to graduate each year. Most of the time, seniors end up on the bubble because they did not have enough credit going into Grading Period 6.

“!ere is no exact percentage avail-able because things change too much to take an accurate #gure,” counselor Carolyn Niederkorn said. “A student that looks like he or she will fail is often able to turn it around thanks to end-of-the-year projects that are

worth a lot of points.”Naturally, there are several conse-

quences to being on the bubble. !e most obvious one is being unable to walk at the graduation ceremony.

“Also, students will have to go to summer school or come back for an-other semester,” Principal Sara Keene said. “No matter what, they will have to delay their future endeavors.”

It has been di$cult to meet the requirements for graduation at Pat-tonville for some students due to earning all of their necessary credits.

In fact, there are “required elec-tives” that tend to mess with students schedules. Students are required to take Personal Finance, either Debate or Oral Communication, either Child Development or Parenting, and Health.

“Starting freshman year, I wanted to take #ve core classes, along with French and band,” said senior Khalil Gri$n. “In order to meet graduation requirements, I was forced to drop band and French this year to take my required electives.”

In addition, senior Casey Dial had her schedule disrupted when she was an exchange student in Germany. “As a result, I had to have my schedule changed after I got back,” said Dial.

Once a teacher knows that a student is on the bubble, they will do everything they can to help students get caught up.

“After spring break, we email coun-selors lists of all students who are at risk of failing,” English teacher Gay Ryan said.

Usually the process involves the student’s parents. If the student is a Special School District student, their case managers are also contacted.

“In addition, I always put an em-phasis on #nal projects,” Ryan said. “!ey are often worth more points than other assignments in the se-mester, so they can bring grades from failing up to a D at least.”

Bubble seniors have little time left to be able to graduate. !eir best remaining chance at passing is to do well on the #nal exams which begin May 24.

By Armand Hayes

“For the most part the focus has been very, very speci#c,” Sandra Bahr, a member of the PBIS commit-tee, said. “Students came to us with speci#c concerns about congestion, safety, and general hallway behavior.”

With the ‘Walk and Talk’ policy, several changes have been made around the school.

New digi-tal clocks have been put up in most hall-ways along with signs reminding students to ‘Walk and Talk’ and ‘Stay to the Right.’

Teach-ers also began handing out tickets that the recipient puts in a drawing during lunch. If the student’s ticket gets drawn, the teacher that gave the student the ticket and the student receives a prize. Gas gift cards valuing $5 have been given out along with STUCO credit and co"ee mugs for teachers.

!e incentives the school o"ers for complying with the new policies do cost money. With a little math, it is apparent in a span of a month

approximately $200 is spent on the incentives.

Although all of that reduces tardies, Lammers thinks the biggest factor in reducing tardies has been the overall message.

However junior Jeremiah Wilkins said not much is di"erent. “It hasn’t changed anything,” Wilkins said.

“!e hallways are still congested and nobody follows the rules.”

However, sophomore Allison Anth has seen change. “I feel like everyone has been on time” Anth said. “It helps people not be in the way of [other] people and it’s more organized than it was freshman year.”

With tardies on the decline, Lam-mers is con#dent in the policy.

“‘Walk and Talk’ won’t go away,” Lammers said. “We will continue to add on to the policy based on current data and areas of interest.”

News

The varsity girls’ soccer team might

have thought it was greatly a"ected after

graduating seven girls and losing two starters from last year.

But on May 17, the girls played the #rst round of Districts against Hazelwood Central. One goal the team accomplished for itself is winning the District title for the third year in a row. Head coach Tom I"rig and the team set many goals at the beginning of the season and are working to accomplish them.

“We wanted to win conference, which we already have, win Dis-trict champions and then make it back to the Final 4,” I"rig said.

Many of the girls who have returned this season bring their previous experience to the #eld which includes a State runner-up title in 2010.

“!e beginning of the season was a little rough for us. We’ve been losing games that we shouldn’t have been losing,” sopho-more Erin Collier said.

After losing so many key players, many of the girls had to step up this season.

Juniors Kailey Utley and Mikala McGhee are two of the four team captains. “Kailey really helps us when we want our goals

and when Mi-kala does her throw-ins she gets the ball where it needs to be,” Collier said. McGhee is known as a strong motiva-tor. “Mikala is always giving everyone tips during the game and keeps every-

one upbeat and energetic,” junior Kacie Hulse said.

!e team has a strong bond. One of their greatest advan-tages is their communication with each other.

“!ose girls get along really well. !eir to-getherness and team bonding is what stands out and it’s very useful going into playo"s,” I"rig said.

!e girls started the season o" with two wins, preceded by three consecutive losses.

“It’s like a rollercoaster ride, it goes up and down. !ey play good at times and they play poorly at times,” I"rig said.

!e team next plays Incarnate Word Academcy on May 24 in the Sectionals. !e game will be held at Incarnate Word Academy at 4 p.m.

Pattonville varsity baseball #nished the year with a record of 18-6 and was Sub-

urban North Conference champs. With the title on the line, the Pi-

rates had to win the game on May 5. “We had to win against Hazelwood

Central to win in our conference,” senior Brad Ridings said. “!at was a huge win for us.”

!is is the 17th Suburban North Conference title for Pattonville and the 8th championship since 2000.

!e season this year was a success with 14 seniors on the team and all players playing a huge part in making the season what it was.

“!e team worked well with each other,” head varsity baseball coach Mark Hahn said. “!ere were 14 seniors on the team that knew what it took to win games. All the players supported each other and pushed one another to succeed.”

!e win over Hazelwood Central put Pattonville in the District tourna-ment.

“!e #rst District game [against Parkway Central] was my favorite game this year,” senior Jimmy Ben-oist said. “We won after 11 innings with a score of 3-2.”

After winning its #rst game, the Pirates advanced to the next round to play Francis Howell North.

After a di$cult and intense game, the boys ended up losing 4-2.

“!e team never gave up. !ey worked hard until they very end,” Hahn said.

!is was a good year for the Pat-tonville baseball organization.

Next year, the team returns four

players from the varsity squad. Junior Justin Dertinger said he

hopes next season will be as good if not better than this season.

“All jobs are open,” Hahn said. “We almost have to replace the whole team.”

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By Jacqueline Neil

Sports

After a season full of many injuries, varsity boys’ vol-leyball did not do as well as

it hoped. !e team pulled through until the end with its positive mind-set though.

“Dan Johnson was always encour-aging,” senior Chris Guzdial said. “Even if we were down he still stayed positive to push us and bring us up.”

Health was an issue for the vol-leyball team.

During the season, “our team was pretty banged up. Most of the team got hurt in some way,” senior Dan Johnson said.

But they did not let this a"ect their playing.

Most of the athletes played through their injuries. Johnson and Guzdial both rolled their ankles.

Senior Billy Schultz and junior Mark Bozada also had injuries throughout the season.

!is gave students like junior Quincy Usry a chance to step up and play on varsity during Districts.

“I got to play a lot and I got along well with everyone, so it was pretty fun,” Usry said.

!is helped him determine a lot of what he needed to work on for next season.

“I need to work on passing for sure,” Usry said.

Usry is not the only one who is looking to improve for next season.

“We need to start working better together as a team,” Guzdial said.

!e players all enjoyed playing with each other, but when it came to being on the court, they did not communi-cate very well.

“!e team has got to learn how to play till the end of the game, we can’t

just quit after 15 points,” Johnson said.

Players will need to #ll the voids left by this season’s leaders which include senior Max Browne and Johnson,

Underclass-men Bozada and junior Sam Decker will take their roles next year and be the voice of the team.

“Both Sam and Mark are very talkative and good at communicating with the team,” Johnson said.

!e boys are ready for the next season already.

“Next season everyone is com-pletely ready to play and to win.” Usry said.

By Gabby Pirrie

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Pattonville HS ad-4x4_Layout 1 3/8/11 4:06 PM Page 1

Pattonville School District has a rich history and its journalism program is no dif-ferent. Starting with the Schola 75 years ago, the paper changed to the Chatter Box Newsletter, and then came back to the Schola. Eventually the title of the newspa-per settled on !e Pirate Press, a name the paper still faithfully uses decades later.

By Geri Farrell, Elise Moser, Jessica Brunts, Hannah Johnson and Jacob Sharp

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Soul Surfer, which premiered on April 8, is a movie based on

the true story of a girl named Bethany Hamilton.

Hamilton started sur#ng when she was 3 years old and entered her #rst surf competi-tion at age eight winning both the short and long board divi-sions.

On Halloween morning in 2003, Hamilton, 13, was bitten

by a 14-foot tiger shark when she was sur#ng with her friends near Tunnels Beach.

With immediate medical as-sistance, her life was saved after losing more than 60 percent of her blood but she lost her left arm.

Since sur#ng was her passion, Hamilton had the motivation to get back in the water quickly. Just one month after the attack, she was back to sur#ng.

Her goal was to become a professional surfer with only one arm and to win competi-tions.

Just one year after the ac-

cident, Hamilton won her #rst National Title and turned pro in 2007.

!roughout the whole movie, especially when Hamilton (Anna Sophia Robb) was recov-ering in the hospital, her family displays a very spiritual connec-tion with God.

!e plot is very emotional but predictable at speci#c times.

!e actors portray the story well starring Helen Hunt and Dennis Quaid as Hamilton’s parents and Carrie Underwood as her church counselor.

!e background music also provided a dramatic setting for the movie.

Soul Sufer is rated PG for some material that may not be suitable for children.

It features an intense sequence during Hamilton’s accident and some thematic material.

In my opinion, the movie deserves a 9.5 out of a 10-point rating system

!e only main problem of the movie is that the plot is only suspenseful during the moment the shark bites Hamilton’s left arm.

Other than that, the movie is great and portrays Hamilton’s life story very accurately.

So swim and surf into the summer season with Soul Surfer.

Warped Tour. To some, it’s just another day in the humid St. Louis weather. But to others it is the focal point of

our teen years. !ey brave heat, sunburn, and the fury of a thousand mosh-pits to see a show they hope to never forget. But, when your Warped schedule has a few holes in it, here are a few bands you should keep your eye out for.

Put on your slip-ons and stretch out a little bit, because Big D and the Kids Table is exactly who you want to see if you are a diehard ska junkie. For those who aren’t familiar with the art of ska, it is a genre that consists mainly of upbeat guitar and horn sections. Big D and the Kids Table have mastered this delicate art, and deliver explosive shows and a vibe that remains unmatched by any ska band to this date. For the ska scene in St. Louis, this is heaven considering last year Big D and the Kids Table were on the Warped lineup, but simply didn’t play at St. Louis with a large portion of other ska bands following the same footsteps.

Being a man of the ska scene, I feel obligated to introduce one of my personal favorites on the lineup: Less !an Jake. Now, what separates Less !an Jake from Big D and the Kids Table is pretty

simple. Less !an Jake has an explosive way of getting the kids to have fun. Instead of Big D and the Kids Table’s oft political lyrics and more seri-ous lyrics, Less !an Jake provides quality music that you just have fun listening to. An example of this is the TV/EP, which includes covers of every-thing from the Scooby Doo theme song, the Toys R Us Kids song, to those catchy Freecreditreport.com commercial jingles! I’ve personally seen Less !an Jake on multiple occasions, and I believe it is safe to say that this is one band you want to go out of your way to see.

If ska isn’t your groove, and maybe you’re feeling a little bit of hip-hop, then check out MC Lars with Weerd Science. Now, MC Lars isn’t your typical rap artist. !e factor that sets him apart from most rap artists is that he studied English at Stanford Univer-sity and Oxford University. He later would move on to join the “nerd-core rap” scene with others such as MC Chris and MC Frontalot.

MC Lars’ music is often sophisti-cated, humorous, and pretty catchy if you give it the shot it deserves.

Remember, you can always view

the Warped Tour lineup at vanswarpedtour.com. !ere will be tons of bands, merchandise tables, and good times to occupy your day. Don’t forget the sun-screen though, the only thing more pow-erful than the music is the unforgiving sun.

Entertainment

By Joey Schneider

By Chris Babb

One of the biggest concerns next year is our student support at football games.

With November’s passing of Prop-osition K, a new football stadium will be built along with a natatorium on the campus of Pattonville High School. !e construction will begin this summer with a groundbreaking scheduled for May 31 at 6:30 p.m.

When all the football games are away, students will not feel comfort-able at “home” games. !ose games are not exactly at our home #eld. It is the little things that make Patton-

ville Pirate Nation. Another problem students will

have with “home” football games is the distance required to travel. Every student has their route to the high school that is perfectly timed, and they know when exactly to leave from their initial location.

!e problem with moving home games is no one wants to drive where they are not welcomed. !e atmosphere at every away stadium is di"erent.

Football players have adapted to the askew football #eld, along with its many ditches.

Behind one of the goal posts is the track where future Pirates are found socializing and supporting the team. Getting told by the school resource o$cers and administrators to evacu-

ate the walking paths is somewhat of a right of passage to these students.

Students remember pep rallies, football games and other events hosted at the stadium. !ey remem-ber the cheering and the booing. It’s not just a place where games are held. It is a place that generations of Pirates have made memories.

It has already been established that Homecoming 2011 will not be at Pattonville and that has already been discussed between administra-tors, but one thing that students are concerned about is Spirit Week.

Usually, the Homecoming assem-bly is held at the football stadium. Next year, the assembly will be in the gym. !is means the events usually held for students, like pie eating, will be changed.

Another use of the football stadium is the track. !e Pattonville track and #eld team warms up as an entire team at every practice. !e track team will have to move their practices o" the track and perhaps be practicing at a middle school.

!e completion date of the stadi-um is set for August 2012 which will mean that no events will be hosted at the stadium during the 2011-2012 school year.

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!e Pirate Press is the open forum news-paper of the Pattonville High School.

!e opinions published are of the publication and are open to criticism. As the members of the 2010-2011 sta", we

dedicate ourselves to the accurate and objective dissemination of informa-

tion to all readers. We will protect and exercise our First Amendment rights.

!e viewpoints of all sta" members are to be regarded as being seperate from those of our administration, faculty,

peers and adviser.

By Courtney McNesse

Before I leave this school, I feel I should address some-thing that is still an issue,

even though it shouldn’t be. !e goal is that I accomplish this without sounding like a Pirate Code video.

High School is a unique and deep-ly transformative experience in the lives of almost all American teens. It takes a bunch of moody insecure human beings from all di"erent walks of life, all of which are trying to #gure out where they belong, and tosses them all into a con#ned building for hours on end, day after day. It sounds like a sick and twisted psychology experiment, and often that’s what it feels like. In some ways it’s fantastic for us. America is a melting pot and going to high school with a diverse and interest-ing population of kids is an amazing experience, one that makes most of us more accepting of others. Yet high school leads to an indulgence of one of the strongest human instincts - the forming of distinct, exclusive group identities. !e band kids, the

sporty kids, the partiers, the art kids, the gifted kids, the anime kids; the list is an in#nite one. Teenagers, and humans for that matter, have an unstoppable need to label themselves and others.

When I was much younger, my best friend was my mom’s best friend’s son. !at was back in the day, where that sweet wool of child-hood innocence was over our eyes and we saw the world in a more pure way. We didn’t judge anyone - they were just another kid on the playground. Christopher Osbourne and I were close for years, until we were around 15 or 16. We lived a fair distance away, attended di"erent schools, had vastly di"erent groups of friends. Socially, we each ended up developing wildly di"erent lifestyles. We slowly grew apart, as a lot of friends do. But we didn’t have to, and that’s what eats away at me the most. I judged him for his long hair and his gothic clothes and chains, he judged me for my preppy attire and the way I acted, even though both of us hadn’t really changed underneath.

!e fact that I haven’t talked to Chris since I was 16 and won’t ever get another chance to is something I will never get over.

Last October, I got a call from my mom when I was on my way home from work. At #rst nothing she said really registered. !e truck came on so fast. He didn’t feel a thing. Chris was dead, sitting passenger in a car that no longer had a passenger side.

!e feeling was a strange hodge-podge of regret and loss and sadness and anger at myself with a nice mix of numbness to top it o". !e worst part was we grew apart because neither of us were mature enough to look past the groups we identi#ed with and now neither of us could say goodbye.

!e memorial was held the next night at a house I was unfamiliar with and #lled with people I’d never met in my life. It struck me that Chris had a whole life, a whole family of friends that loved him. I felt out of place, an imposter. What right did I have to be there? None of his

friends had ever met me. I didn’t dress like them and I didn’t act like them. How could I claim to care about Chris Osbourne?

Chris and his friends were what a lot of people would call social outcasts, yet at the memorial, I was the outcast. !ey were the kids most kids judge and make fun of to feel better about themselves. !is was a group of kids who cared deeply for each other, and I realized that this was rare for Pattonville. At our high school, there tends to be a lot of fake relationships based on labels and super#cial groups.

I made my way to the bon#re in the back, where everyone began to circle. !ey had all written letters to Chris that they read aloud and tossed into the #re. As each of these kids threw their letters in the #re, I began to see each of these quirky teens as a unique human with memories and feelings, and I found myself casting away the judgment I had had when I #rst met them. I didn’t bring a let-ter, but I said what I wanted to. Af-terward, I got to know Chris’ friends,

and they got to know me. I saw something that night that

changed the way I looked at every-one, especially at Pattonville. In his death, Chris taught me a lesson that I’ll never forget, and in the end he was a better friend than me for it.

So whether it’s the kid rapping at the top of his lungs as he slowly swags down the hallway, or it’s the freshman with the backpack with the wheels who sprints down the hallway like a frightened squir-rel, don’t be quick to judge. Laugh about it, befriend them; turn on the part of your brain that tries to relate, to understand. !ey’ve gone through a lot of what you have, and no doubt have some interest-ing stories to tell. You’re spending four years in this high school with all these strange people, and trust me, you’re better o" spending it appreciating your peers than judging them. It’ll make people more like you, and you’ll be happier for it.

By Jacob Sharp

Opinion

Sta! Editorial

Toward the end of second semester, speci#cally the last few weeks of school,

everyone gets agitated. Students are done, teachers are done, and everyone just wants school to be over.

Naturally, people are going to get snippy with each other. I completely understand, I feel the same way. How-ever, there is a #ne line that shouldn’t be crossed. !is line is being crossed increasingly. Teachers need to stop riding students.

At the end of the year, I’d expect students to be annoying each other. !is time around though, it is the teachers that are badgering the students.

I have noticed that a lot of teachers are nagging on students. Teachers go on and on about how seniors are graduating and moving on to post-secondary education but when teach-ers start talking about how a student is failing and will not graduate during class, it is not right. Teachers need to be supporting and encouraging students to achieve passing grades; not embarrassing them in front of their peers.

And the rumor-drama is worse than High School Musical. Students talking about other students is

whatever, but teachers talking about students in front of other students is not cool.

At this time of year, students need more encouragement to help them get by. Seniors, especially, need help as ‘senioritis’ is in full swing.

Every day I am infuriated by teach-ers that are not supportive. It’s one thing to joke and use sarcasm with students, but when humor is not involved, it’s childish.

Many teachers are always dead serious. !ere aren’t any underlying winks or chuckles to indicate a joke. No, these teachers bite hard and don’t let go until they taste blood.

Many underclass students are catching an early case of ‘senioritis’ around this time of the year, which is normal. However, these students need encouragement as well.

Teachers are riding students about working harder and not slacking o". !is is not the right approach.

I understand tough love, but there’s a time for it, and now is not that time.

Right now, students need to know that they can count on their teachers to help them make it. To me, it’s get-ting harder and harder to #nd those teachers.

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