We’re not just a team, we’re a family

Cheerleading!

By: Kyleen Craner

Nothing puts your adrenaline to the test like a performance in front of hundreds of peo-ple. For cheerleaders, it’s a piece of cake. This is what they do!

Not only is keeping the crowd entertained and involved at games tough work, but at the same time cheerleaders are working on perfecting one or more competition routines.

For many people getting nervous means weak muscles, feeling sick, or going blank. For cheerleaders, this is not an option! If they feel weak, they push through and lift up the stunts anyways. If they’re going to be sick, they throw up with a smile on their face and keep dancing. And going blank just cannot happen!

Months of work goes into one routine, and they have one chance to show its perfec-tion. This means pulling off every single stunt, being completely in sink, and doing every movement with facials and smiles.

Games are fun, but they are basically just a chance to practice things for competition.

“I love every aspect of cheer! This year my favorite part of our routines has become the tumbling,” says senior cheerleader, Memi Saravia.

Many people say cheerleading is easy, and that’s because that is the way they make it look. It’s not like it is so impossibly hard, but cheerleaders work hard and they should get the credit they deserve.

The cheer coach is constantly telling her girls, “Facials! Smile! Make the stunt look smooth and easy!”

The cheer program at JHS has grown so much the past two years. Coach Sharp is so dedi-cated and always going out of her way to make the cheerleaders go above and beyond. She has a good relationship with every one of her girls. All of the cheerleaders say they could talk to her about anything! It’s important to have trust for a coach, especially a cheer coach who is asking you to do life endangering stunts. Coach Sharp has definitely succeeded in gaining those close relationships with her cheerleaders.

Senior, Lina Zettner said, “Coach Anne is great. She is hard on us, but it’s a good thing. It gets us where we need to be.”

Though this season is over for cheerleading, next season is right around the corner. Try-outs are soon and joining cheerleading could be one of the best things you do in high school. If you’re interested in being involved, this is your sport!

“yeah,” was the text message that nineteen-year-old Ashley Umscheid was reading when she flipped her car and died on impact.

All it takes is one text message, or one mo-ment, to end a life.

Texting while driving is a common occurrence in today’s society. It causes a twenty-three times greater risk in the chance of being in-volved in an automobile collision, according to The New York Times.

It not only occurs in cars, but in other mo-tor vehicles as well. On September 12, 2008, the 2008 Chatsworth train collision killed twenty-five people. The operator was send-ing text messages while operating the train, which caused the collision.

Texting While Driving

By: Jessalynn Garnett

While texting, drivers usually take their eyes off the road for around five seconds. In this amount of time, a vehicle traveling at highway speeds can travel more than the length of a football field. Even with all the risks involved with texting and driving, only fourteen states have banned it.

Idaho has not made a law against texting while driving, but some counties are taking action themselves. The Twin Falls City Coun-cil voted on a ban against texting that went into effect October 1, 2010. When caught tex-ting while driving there is a 50 dollar dis-tracted driving fine. Idaho is expected to soon have a law banning texting while driv-ing.

When asked whether or not there should be a statewide law banning texting while driv-ing, Freshman Colton Anderson said, “No, peo-ple will still do it (text while driving) if there is a law. I don’t think it is safe though.”

On the other hand, when asked whether there should be law banning texting while driving, Freshman Jessica Reynoso said, “Yes, because if there isn’t a law there are more car acci-dents and less eyes focusing on the road.”

Going out with a BANG! By: Katanna Pilkenton

Elmer Musgrave, head coach of the girls track team, will be passing the baton to his son Corey Musgrave next year.

Coach Musgrave has been coaching for thirty-two years now and this will be his last. This will be his 12th year being the head coach of the girls track team. He also was an assistant coach for ten years.

Terry Waitley, the girls throwing coach said, “I have been coaching with Mr. Musgrave for 13 years. I am very said to see Coach Musgrave retire yet also happy for him to be able to move on to a new adventure in his life. The reason I hate to see him go is he is so good for the students and the athletes that he has contact with. He has helped many athletes and students in his time as a coach and a teacher at Jerome. I have learned very much from him about how to be a good teacher and coach. Jerome Girls Track is known throughout that state as one of the best and a lot of that is because of all that he has done. We will miss him very much.”

Musgrave has led the girls to many wins and will be missed when gone.

Stacy Burnham, the relay coach, has been coaching with Musgrave for five years.

When asked how she felt about Musgrave’s leaving, Burnham said, “I’m sad this is the last year I get to work with him, but I’m happy he gets to start the next chapter of his life. Which I’m sure will be spent fishing! I’m grateful for the opportunity I had to coach with him. He taught me a lot and I appreciate him. He will be greatly missed!”

Musgrave coached in Montana and California before coming to Idaho.

Musgrave has also coached wrestling, football, and basketball.

Musgrave says he is lucky to have had great athletes throughout his years of coaching at Jerome High School.

The school has won 19 conference/region titles and five state championships in Musgrave’s 21 years of being here.

“I am excited about retiring and have had a great time this year and every year that I have been here. My wonderful wife Kathy and I have a great plan to move to Corvallis, Oregon, build a new home, go fishing, and find some new adventures,” Musgrave said.

The athletic director, Ty Jones, said that Coach Musgrave is about as good as it gets. Jones said Musgrave helps motivate kids to go out for sports even if they would have never seen them-selves do it in the first place.

Jones also said he knows Musgrave is the main reason for all of Jerome’s wins aside from the talented athletes

Musgrave said, “There are a lot of things I will miss about Jerome; especially coaching track and working with the students.”

Dirt Bikes by: Thadeus McCaugheyIs the Yamaha Yz250f dirt bike a good bike? This bike was purposely built to compete in the motocross. It was a huge im-provement from the yz250 2 stroke. The yz250f is replacing the 2 strokes rather quickly.The four strokes have lower end torque. It does not have the high end torque like the 2 strokes do. These bikes are a com-plete race bike.When Jordan Leak was asked if it was a good bike, he said, “The bike was a great bike; I liked how light it was with just enough power. I didn’t like how hard it was to start after riding it hard.”One person at thumpertalk.com said, “I just got a ‘01 250F as my first bike. I LOVE it!!! When I went to get it, it was out in the guy’s shed and it was really cold. He tried for like an hour to get it started for me. After a night in the heated shop, it start-ed on the second kick! A little mixture adjustment she ran just fine! This bike has been a great bike.”When asked what he thinks of the 2001 yz250f, Dee Perry, owner of five 2001 yz250f dirt bikes, said that the bike is a great bike it handles excellent. he said, “It always has the power to do whatever I need it to do.”Perry said, “I ride my bike every week, my bikes have been very reliable every day I use them. They have never quit on me and I ride them as hard as I can and I have never had to rebuild

Color Guard By: Lexie Colson

It’s that time again Tigers! Marching season for the band is coming back into action. At football games, it’ all about the players, the fans, the cheerleaders, the amazing food, and of course the band. When the band steps onto the grass, it’s all about performance. There’s one important factor that people seem to always forget; the color guard!

“I love spending time with my daughter, Casey, and getting to know the kids. It’s time consuming but it makes me proud when we march in pa-rades and I hear compliments about them knowing I had a small part in their performance. I feel honored they let me into their world,” said guard mom, Kim Clark.

Even though people think guard is not a sport, think again! Guard takes a lot of strength just to “throw a pole around.”

“I love how synchronized they are! It’s also cool to watch them per-form,” said Julia Colson.

Students can be in clubs, sports, outside school activities, Drivers Ed even; guard can make it work. Guard member sophomore Amanda Trigloff has Type 1 diabetes, but it doesn’t affect her love for guard.

“My diabetes doesn’t affect me doing guard in anyway. If I get low blood sugar, I just sit out and drink a soda or eat something,” said Trigloff.

Guard is held every Wednesday from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. in the school audi-torium. Wednesday, March 30 was the first practice of the season.

So students, don’t forget about the guard. They help the band make the football half time fun.

Foods Production/FCCLABy: Makayla DalosThe smell of delicious, hot chocolate chip cookies floats through the hallways at JHS, Have you ever wondered where that smell came from? The answer is, Mrs. Kester’s room!The Foods Production class, taught by Mrs. Sharon Kester, stays really busy during a class period. The students in class make everything from chocolate chip cookies, muffins, bread, and brownies, to lasagna, salmon, and even jambalaya.There are 18 students involved in the Foods Production class this year. All students that are in the class are also involved in FCCLA. (Family Career and Community Leaders of America)For FCCLA the students are extremely involved in the commu-nity. For Christmas the members of the club were each given a child from the angel tree program. They bought clothes and toys for children with incarcerated parents. Some of the stu-dents were even so involved that they asked Mrs. Kester if they could deliver the gifts themselves.The students in Foods Pro class include: Jessica Fontes, Bren-da Villa, Rubi Perez, Crystal Ramirez, Jennifer Vergara, Jes-sica Ramirez, Makayla Dalos, Rosa Hernandez, Nicolette Gos-nell, Nicole Ridgeway, Larissa Boguslawski, Rachell Twitchell, Gordy Gerrard, Tate Patterson, Aimee Hiebert, Nathan Lind, Meliton Hernandez, and Gabriel Borrayo.Six of the students went to District competition where they were divided into two teams. One team took 2nd place and the other took 3rd place . Jennifer Vergara one of the State final-ist said, “The competition was a good experience and I had the chance to feel the pressure like I was on a TV. show, but it was a good kind of pressure.” Another competitor, Jessica Ramirez said that the compitition wasnt very hard but it was because no one knew where anything was in the kitchen.The students in Foods Pro will always remember the experi-ence and the skills that they learned. All they can say is “Foods Pro 2012, GOOD LUCK!”

Summer jobs By: Trevor Farnes

Getting a summer job can be difficult depending on where you look.

many high school students that need summer jobs. There are also many places to look for jobs as a high school student. people em-ploy students that just graduated to help pay for college tuition or just to help start them off. Senior Zack Bennett says “ he wants to work for the hillures over the summer cause they pay well”. Most students don’t want to work with food or work on a farm because they think it makes them look bad. If you at least have a job you’re just getting that much closer to being a successful person. There are also personally owned businesses that might pay well if you’re a family friend or they don’t get many applications because people haven’t heard of them.

Family work is also an option for some students. Students can ask family if they need help doing something around their house like painting mowing the lawn or caring for their gardens or pets while they’re gone.

Great jobs for the summer are jobs that are where you’re moving around outside. For example being a life guard some farm work and mowing lawns. A summer job is a very important part of a high school student’s life. Many students need cars and gas money. Summer jobs can pay for all that you also have more time to work over the summer before you get involved in school and sports.

Summer jobs can also keep people out of trouble by staying away from parties and drugs. There are also jobs that can help your body stay fit or you can just be around something you love to do.

Teen Pregnancy by: Sadie Proctor

Jerome is the highest in Teen Pregnancy. Kind of sounds im-possible, doesn’t it? Well, according to Times-News, Jerome and Minidoka rank the highest in teen pregnancy for the whole state.

“I was mad and thought she ruined her life,” said Valerie Her-zog when asked her first thought about her daughter, Allison, being pregnant. Allison was only 16 at the time.

At first she cared about what people might think and then she realized it doesn’t matter about them just her and her family. She was very supportive from the beginning because she knew Allison wanted to keep the baby.

Then her second oldest daughter, Sharon, got pregnant at only 15. She was even more disappointed in Sharon because she saw what her older sister Allison went through. She gave this baby up for adoption because she was too young. Then at 19 Sharon got pregnant again, but this time she decided to keep the baby girl.

Being a teen mom doesn’t just affect you, it also affects the people around you: parents, friends, and family. The stressed teen, stresses everyone else around them. This puts strain on parent relationship to: so, it isn’t just the teen that it af-fects.

“Allison wouldn’t be who she is today if she didn’t get preg-nant but if Sharon didn’t get pregnant then she would have been better off,” said Herzog.

Having a child changes one’s life no matter what age they are. Sometimes it is for the better and sometimes it is for the worst. But when a teenager gets pregnant it is harder be-cause they are not stable.

“As teens we rely on a parents for everything, it is better to wait. I wish I would have,” said Sharon.

Spring ISATSBy Madison Cook

Spring is finally here and many Jerome High School students are preparing for the upcoming ISAT’s.

ISAT stands for Idaho Standards Achievement Test.

The ISAT is a test that most students hate thinking about and don’t realize that the rest of their high school classes will be based on the scores they got on the ISATs. If freshmen take the ISATS and pass they are not allowed to bank their scores until their sophomore year.

Mr. Muck will be having students in his room for the first time tak-ing ISATs. “I don’t think students prepare themselves enough for the ISATs. It’s crazy that the freshman can’t bank their scores if they pass, that they have to take it again as a sophomore. It is good practice for the stu-dents though, so they are ready to pass and bank their scores next time,” said Muck.

Tuesday, April 12, all the sophomores will be taking their ISATs, and those who failed it last time.

“I remember when I had to take ISATs as a sophomore,” said senior Joe Carey. “I remember how long and tedious it was. I don’t miss ISATs at all. Preparing for ISATs wasn’t horrible because you only need to study the subjects you’re not comfortable with. ISATs can really affect what classes you have to take your next years in high school.”

Is wrestling over?By: Eric Ayala

High school wrestling has concluded and it’s that time of year for Greco-Roman wrestling and Freestyle wrestling. Many people may not know the rules for any of these types of wrestling. All different styles of wrestling have been around for many years, they also have their specific rules for each style.

In Greco-Roman wrestling it’s forbidden to grab below the waist. This style of wrestling mainly focuses on upper body strength and throws. There are many ways in which contestants could score points either by a takedown, near fall, or escapes. Many grapplers from the other two styles try to do Greco-Roman, but say it’s difficult. In order to be good at any style of wrestling con-testants must have good technique.

Brandon Hall a sophomore at JHS said, he likes freestyle more, it has throws, slams and much more air based moves.

Freestyle is the more favorite of different styles of wrestling. Freestyle contestants can lock hands, grab below the waist, and slam their opponents on the mat. There are many different free-style throws that vary from points. And the higher the slam or throw the more the points. In freestyle to win the match one of the two contestants must win two of the periods.

JHS Coach Wardle said,”I like collegiate wrestling more, because it has a combination of Greco and freestyle, but there’s also some moves you can’t do.”

In High School wrestling there are certain moves which are for-bidden. In High School wrestling contestants cannot lock hands when their opponents are flat on the mat. Also contestants can’t slam their opponents or take them high in the air.

Andrew Ayala an upcoming 2011-2012 wrestling freshmen said, “Freestyle and Greco takes a lot of skill, which on the other hand high school wrestling is much easier.”

Many grapplers from all three different styles think high school is the easiest. There are many different types of wrestling and dif-ferent styles. So next time you see a match remeber what type you like the most.

Bye Bye Birdie

By: Lupe Antonio

“You gotta be sincere! You gotta be sincere! You gotta feel it here, ‘Cause if you feel it here, Well, then you’re gonna be hon-estly sincere!” These are the some of the lyrics to America Que-sada’s favorite song from “Bye Bye Birdie”

This year’s school musical is “Bye Bye Birdie” by Michael Stew-art, lyrics by Lee Adams, and music by Charles Strouse. “Bye Bye Birdie” is a play that takes place in the 50’s about Con-rad Birdie who is suddenly drafted into the army. His agent decides to do one final mini concert and Conrad’s “One Last Kiss”. Kim MacAfee from Sweet Apple, Ohio is the lucky girl who wins Conrad’s last goodbye kiss. As things start to go way Kim’s boyfriend Hugo starts to get jealous of Kim’s kiss with Conrad that will be aired on national TV. During the kiss Hugo punches Conrad causing Conrad to admit that he is tired of show business. After a wild party Conrad is sent to jail; mak-ing him come back to show business. The show then ends with two proposals.

Andrea Moreno is playing Ursula Merkle who happens to be Conrad Birdie’s biggest fan and best friends with Kim Ma-cAfee. Moreno’s said “My favorite song is ‘One Boy’, because I don’t have to sing in a high pitch voice. She also said that the best part for her is dancing and acting crazy.

America Quesada is in the Teen trio. As mentioned her favor-ite song is Honestly Sincere because it’s fun with lots of move-ments. Quesada said, “We’re one big happy family just hav-ing fun.”

The school play is set for April 27, 28, and 29 in the school’s auditorium. Ashley Dowdy said this year’s school play looks pretty cool.

April MadnessBy: Tim Mullowney

Who would want a chance to win a Wii, an X-Box 360, or a basketball hoop? The answer is everyone. Employees at Ridley’s Family Market are making this chance a possibility.

At Ridley’s Family Market, they are having their first annual April Madness. This year’s April Madness's theme will be basketball. The tournament is going to be at Ridley's beginning at 10am and end-ing at 5pm depending on what time you were scheduled. The times the competitions are held up inside of the store.Each group will have 32 members; the 32 members will be drawn. There will be three teams according to age and the first age group will be 7-10, than 11-13, and 14-18. Those who are not drawn will be en-tered into a raffle for an X-Box 360Winnings will be counted up by the best 5 out of 5 free throws. If there is a tie, the two players will go into sudden death.Sophomore Connie Morales said, “I am pretty excited but mostly ner-vous. Hopefully I do good and most importantly have fun doing it.”

The three winners if the groups will go home with the basketball hoop they are competing on, plus the winners get entered for a Wii gaming system. Although you might have missed out this year, you could have a chance for next year.Junior Jasmine Branch said, “If I had known about this ahead of time, I would have totally done it.”Robert Bingham a Head manager for the local Jerome Ridley’s said “We have spent a lot of time working on our first April Madness , It should be really fun for the teens”.

Video GamesBy: Mickey Martin

Few kids would say video games aren’t fun. The games some play are exciting and keep their attention when they’re bore. Some games even teach people how to read.

Some parents have said that video games promote violence. They say that some kids can’t decipher reality from fantasy. The gaming industry set age limits on what games people should play. It is the parent’s responsibility to follow these lines and stop allowing their kids to buy M rated games which is for 17+ or allowing them to get some of the T rated games because some are 14+.

There are games which are set for little kids or younger ones that are rated E so there are ways around just buying the high gore or bloody games. The guidelines on these games are located on the bottom right on the back of all games; it explains what is in the game like violence or blood and gore.

Video games have the ability to teach people consequences to their outcomes in the games, meaning if one chooses a decision on the long run it may come back to haunt them in this game or it may bless them with a great reward.

The gaming world is just recognizing this new way of making your decisions really count. This shows kids decision that are good and bad and can have a lot better reality to it than other games that have no consequences.

The video game industry even helps make kids games. They have games that are education to the younger group so they may learn how to read, write, and even count. There are also family games that could bring families together. The Wii is a good example because they have many of the singing games as to the Ps3 or Xbox360 which don’t have as many.