May 2007Vol. 19 : Issue 8The Voice of Midway

Feature Story

Vol. 20 : Issue 7

Feature Story

“Inside...Inside...Inside...Inside...Inside...

PANTHERPOST

April 2008April 2008April 2008April 2008April 2008The

Midway High School

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A MUSICAL PRESTIGENew group performs vocal, dance routines

SERVING THE COMPETITIONTennis dominates at district

Elizabeth WilliamsMarketing Manager

Andrew YarbroughAssocite Sports Editor

new ADphoto

The tennis team took first place inthe men’s and women’s team divisionsin the 2008 District 16-AAAA TennisTournament. “Our players have done a tremen-dous job preparing for the playoff runthis spring,” Head Coach TroySimonek said. “I am very excited forthem and the opportunities that theyhave given themselves as we movetoward regionals.” The Panthers dominated the doublesdivisions in District 16-AAAA,sweeping first and second place in themen’s, women’s and mixed doublesdivisions. “We take a lot of pride in ourdoubles preparation and play,”Simonek said. “Our players had a goalof sweeping these divisions and put ina tremendous amount of work to earn

InterestingNames

Pages 6-7

SportsPage 10

these spots.” The Panthersleading the wayin the 2008Spring DoublesDivisions were:Kolby Kilgo,Chris Fernandez,Ben Gilbert,Mitch Guerra,Saemmul Lee,Jessica Sawyer,Sara Curry,DanielZimmerman,Frankie Allinson,Lindsey Harrell,Hunter Harrelland Lindsey North. As of press time, the doubles teamswere set to travel to the Region IITennis Tournament April 22-24. “Our players are fired up about theregional tournament and playing for

Prestige, a newly founded musicalgroup, is made up of diverse students,group leader John Jackson, JamesMorris, Meagan Cox and KaylaO’Sullivan, and was formed bycampus Officer Dennis Taylor. “‘OT’ is the head of ‘In the Mixx’productions,” Jackson said. “In thepast he has produced several vocalgroups in south Texas, and thought itcould be a positive thing here atMidway.” The band’s name is defined as ahigh-standing achievement throughsuccess. “The group shows how Midwaystudents with different backgroundscan come together to do great things,”Taylor said. The group mostly does vocals and

dance for their shows,but did play instrumentsin their last show. “We are strong inR&B but try to pickmusic that fits thevenue,” Morris said. They have performedat the Mr. Midwaycompetition and a fund-raiser for the H.O.Tcheer camp. They alsoperformed at the FirstAnnual Black HeritageProgram on April 4 inthe auditorium. The group does not yethave a schedule ofupcoming performances. “We’re just in thestudio having fun,making new songs whichwe hope to perform real soon,” Taylorsaid.

The Midway Panther Tennis team wins first place in the 2008District 16-AAAA Tennis Tournament.

berths in the state tournament,”Simonek said. “I know they will takeadvantage of the next couple of weeksto make sure they are playing theirbest tennis of the season atRegionals.”

Group members James Morris, John Jackson, MeaganCox and Kayla O’Sullivan make up the group Prestige.

Photo by Dennis Taylor

The Panther PostMidway High School

8200 Mars Drive

Waco, Texas 76712

(254) 761-5650

www.midwayisd.org

Brad Lancaster, SuperintendentSharron Zachry, PrincipalJamie Beavers, Adviser

Panther Post StaffKatherine Burt, Senior……Editor-in-Chief

Ashley Thomas, Senior……Copy Chief

Scott Toliver, Senior……Associate Sports Editor

AJ Rodriguez, Senior…… Associate Sports Editor

Zach Doty, Senior…… Associate Sports Editor

Andrew Yarbrough, Senior…… Associate Sports Editor

Bekah Owens, Senior……Center Spread Editor

Megan Brunton, Senior……Feature Editor

Marissa Rose, Senior......Staff Writer

Jane Cha, Junior……Entertainment Editor

Jonathan Taylor, Junior……Art Editor

Emily Reeder, Sophomore……Opinion Editor

Raven Satchell, Sophomore……News Editor

Lauren Lemmon, Senior……Advertising Manager

Ashlee Wernette, Senior……Social Chairperson

Elizabeth Williams, Junior......Marketing Manager

The Panther Post is a student publication of Midway High School that informs, entertains and provides a forum for student expression. Views expresssed do not necessarily reflect those of the entire newspaper staff, the student body as awhole, administrators, or Midway ISD. This school district does not discriminate on the basis of sex, disability, race, color. age or national orgin in its educational programs, activities or employment as required by Title IX, Section 504 andTitle VI. The Panther Post is free for all students, with production costs offset by advertisements. Ads are available in business card, 1/4, 1/2 and full size page sizes. Call Jamie Beavers at 761-5650 for more information.

OPINION2CHANGES AHEAD?

New leader has big shoes to fill

Katherine BurtEditor In Chief

At the April 15 Board meeting,the Midway ISD Board of Trusteesapproved the recommendation tohire Christopher Allen as principal. Allen is currently the CurriculumCoordinator for the University ofTexas-University Charter School inAustin. There are 16 schools in thecharter school structure whichprovides education to students whoare in a variety of residential place-ment settings. As a Technical Assis-tance Team Member at the Univer-sity of Texas at Austin he helped schools who were rated “Unac-ceptable” by the TEA to become “Acceptable” within 12 months.He was the assistant principal at Colleyville Heritage HighSchool in the Grapevine-Colleyville ISD. Allen was also ateacher and coach at Birdville ISD. He is a member of the TexasAssociation of Secondary School Principals, Association forSupervision and Curriculum Development, Texas Association ofSchool Administrators, American Association of School Admin-istrators and the Texas Association of School BusinessOfficials. Allen was selected as the Teacher of the Year in 2003 andWho’s Who Among American Teachers. He graduated fromUniversity of Texas at Arlington with a Bachelor of Arts inHistory; a Master of Education in Educational Leadership andPolicies from the UT Arlington; and is working toward hisdoctoral degree in Cooperative Superintendency Program at theUniversity of Texas at Austin and will complete his degree inMay. Allen is married with two children. He will officially begin hisduties on July 1 but will spend some time in our district thisspring and early summer.

FOUND: NEW PRINCIPAL

Over the past four years I have seenplenty of changes made at this school.Many of the changes are based uponwhat our principal, Sharron Zachryand her administration, believe is in thestudents’ bestinterest. AfterZachry’s 10years at MidwayHigh, she isplanning to beprincipal of theproposed newelementaryschool. The administra-tion was facedwith looking for anew principalwho is qualified to take over Zachry’sjob, not an easy task. She has mademany influential changes throughouther years. One of them is developingthe smaller learning communities andadvisory programs. One of Zachry’sgoals was to join together the studentbody and have us be able to feel likepart of the whole. The new principal will be walkinginto a big job, but will learn the ropeswith the help of Zachry who will stayon about a year as an adviser. It is unknown what changes will bemade, but they are inevitable, espe-

cially since we’ve had the sameleader for so long (10 years is a rarity;the current average tenure for highschool principals is three to fouryears).

And few are asknowledged aboutthis school asZachry. As aMidway student(class of 1969) shewas on the statechampionshipbasketball team,homecoming queen,on the newspaperstaff and a “twirler”in band, just to namea few.

As an adult she was principal orassistant principal at several Midwaycampuses before the high school. All anyone can do is cross theirfingers and hope that it will turn out tobe a positive shift in new leadership.The new principal will have to gothrough a lot training to understandwhat makes this school work, a lessonin “The Midway Way.” Managing nearly 2,000 high schoolteenagers and a staff of about is notthe easiest task to sign on to. So thenew principal has a reason to berespected.

NEWSBRIEFLY

SPEAKING...

3N

EW

S

by Raven Satchell

“Anyone can show you a houseLet the homemaker find you a home.”

UIL One- Act Play ResultsUIL One-Act Play performed atRegionals April 10. While castmember Richard Hollenback receivedHonorable Mention All Star Cast andTyler Nystrom received All Star Cast,the play did not advance out ofregionals. Public performance of theplay is to be announced.

MHS WinterguardMHS WinterguardMHS WinterguardMHS WinterguardMHS WinterguardThe MHS Winterguard received 5thplace at the Regional A Champion-ships in Birdville.

Rotary Club Challenge TeamRotary Club Challenge TeamRotary Club Challenge TeamRotary Club Challenge TeamRotary Club Challenge TeamThe Rotary Club challenge team,consisting of Captain MeredithMillard, Duncan Widmann, JulietaCuellar, and Nethika Ariyasinghe,won a match against Waco HighSchool April 4. The team advancedto the “final four” match againstBelton High School.

German Exam High ScoresGerman Exam High ScoresGerman Exam High ScoresGerman Exam High ScoresGerman Exam High ScoresLevel 2 Exam:Michelle Hoover - Raw Score:98 / Percentile Ranking: 99Kyle Kay - Raw Score: 86 /Percentile Ranking: 84

08-09 Physicals08-09 Physicals08-09 Physicals08-09 Physicals08-09 PhysicalsAnnual physicals for the 2008-2009school year will be offered May 3from 8 am to noon in the arena. Thecost is $15 and is available to anyincoming 7th grade-12th gradestudent who is planning on participat-ing in Midway Athletics next year.

Luke Bussey - Raw Score: 82 /Percentile Ranking: 76Crystalee Aiello - Raw Score: 82 /Percentile Ranking: 76Cameron Moore - Raw Score: 81 /Percentile Ranking: 74Zack Collins - Raw Score: 80 /Percentile Ranking: 72 Level 3 Exam:Lance Armstrong - Raw Score: 83 /Percentile Ranking: 68 Level 4 Exam:Natalie Hoover - Raw Score: 95 /Percentile Ranking: 94

Michelle Hoover and Natalie Hooverwill be honored for their high scoresat TCU.

Taste of Midway ScholarshipTaste of Midway ScholarshipTaste of Midway ScholarshipTaste of Midway ScholarshipTaste of Midway ScholarshipSeniors that participated in Taste ofMidway can pick up scholarships inthe counseling center or on the HighSchool web page under scholarships.The deadline for this scholarship isMay 1.

JROTC ResultsJROTC ResultsJROTC ResultsJROTC ResultsJROTC ResultsThe Armed Exhibition Drill Teamtook 1st place overall; 2nd in thecategories of Inspection and Exhibi-tion Drill; 3rd in Regulation Drill.

The Unarmed Regulation Drill Teamtook 2nd place overall and was 2ndin Inspection and Regulation Drill. Inthe Color Guard Competition,Midway Color Guard Team #1 was2nd overall, with a 2nd place finish inperformance and a 3rd place finish ininspection and knowledge. Individual drill competition: CadetCaptain Sara MacAulay took 3rdplace overall.

Marksmanship: Midway Sporterrifle team finished 3rd place overall.

Academic: Cadet Corporal LucasMiller finished 2nd.

Voice of Democracy AudioVoice of Democracy AudioVoice of Democracy AudioVoice of Democracy AudioVoice of Democracy AudioEssay CompetitionEssay CompetitionEssay CompetitionEssay CompetitionEssay CompetitionMeredith Dibrell is the first placewinner in the Voice of DemocracyAudio Essay, winning a $300 cashaward. Jarrod Mathis was the secondplace winner of $200. KyleeJacobsen earned third place winning$100. All three students interviewedveterans of World War II for theiressay.

Teacher of the YearTeacher of the YearTeacher of the YearTeacher of the YearTeacher of the YearThe following will serve as teacher ofthe year for their campuses:Dale Hollis HSDema Moore HSDebbie Dunn MSLara Robertson MSAlicia Ross Int.Dana Gietzen Int.Brenda Niles WoodwayVirginia Bailey HewittEileen Storer SpeeglevillePeggy Pritchett Spring ValleyAmy McNamara South Bosque

Regional Science FairRegional Science FairRegional Science FairRegional Science FairRegional Science FairSandy Ren, Jessie Meyer, and IvonneSandoval placed first in the SeniorDivision at the Central Texas Scienceand Engineering Fair.

Wind EnsembleWind EnsembleWind EnsembleWind EnsembleWind EnsembleThe Wind Ensemble took the Sweep-stakes at the UIL Concert andSightreading Contest in CopperasCove. They received First Divisionratings from all judges in both Con-cert and Sightreading.The Honors Band received a SecondDivision in Concert and a FirstDivision in Sightreading. The Sym-phonic Band received Third Divisionsin both Concert and Sightreading.

FEATUREAPRIL 2008 4

Chas Williams, a Midway HighSchool freshman, has been playing thetrombone since sixth grade and iscurrently in the marching band. Williams wanted to play the trumpetwhen he started band, but his directortold him to try the trombone. He saidthat he has been happy with hisdecision and he enjoys being part ofthe band here. The only thing hewishes were different about it now isthe long, hot practices. “It’ s pretty good, we have fun at thegames,” Williams said. He was born on July 2, 1993, inTemple, Texas, but has lived in Wacoall his life. He says that his biggest role modelis Lance Armstrong, because ofeverything he has accomplisheddespite his obstacles in life. Also, hesaid his uncle is currently battlingcancer, and Armstrong’s success is aninspiration to his uncle and gives hiswhole family hope. On the weekends, Williams says hejust likes to hang out with friends, andwatch college football with his dad.His favorite team is Texas A&M. One of Williams’ biggest goals in lifeis to get into A&M after high school.He said he wants to either become anauthor or an architect. He said that his personality changesa lot depending on the situation andwho he is around. “I can be a little crazy sometimes,but hard working and loyal when Ineed to be,” Williams said. Williams lives with his motherBarbara, his father Chuck, one eight-year-old brother named Patrick, a catnamed Yoko, and a dog named China.He said his dad named the cat afterYoko Ono, and the dog was namedwhen they got it from Fuzzy Friends. Williams likes action and comedymovies, rock music, and his favoriteband is Pink Floyd. His favorite TVshow is the Simpsons. “I have all the seasons on DVD,”Williams said.

Everybody Has A Story

Kali Brem

Guest Writer

Matthew Stottlemyre

Guest Writer

Shannon Morrow

Guest Writer

Each month, a member of The Panther Post staff will randomly select a student for an in-depth profile for a column called “Everybody has a Story”or EHAS. It is based on a concept that every student at Midway has something unique about them. If you get a survey form for this, please return itto room 115. For this month’s issue, we chose to run four student “EHAS” profiles written by students in Journalism 1 as part of a class assignment.

Jenna Wixom Taylor Guest Chas Williams Brittani Hopper

Not everyone can say they havebeen to school in their underwear.Taylor Guest, a Midway High Schoolfreshman, has done just that. When hewas in first grade, his mother tried towake him up one morning for school,but he wouldn’t wake up. So, shepulled him out of bed, and took him toschool in his underwear. He sat in theprincipal’s office the entire day. Sitting in the principal’s office isn’tthe worst thing that has happened tohim. Whenever he was five, his dadpassed away from cancer. “It was really hard to get by,” Guestsaid. Later in life, his mother remarried.His step-dad is now the biggestinfluence in his life. Guest looks up tohim because even though he doesn’thave to, he came into his family’s lifeand filled the role of a father andhusband. His favorite subject in school isAlgebra. “My teacher makes it really fun,”Guest said. Riding four wheelers is one of thethings he likes to do on the weekends.He also likes to go places with hisfriends, run around, and ride his bike. “I can do a lot of tricks on a bikethat a lot of people can’t,” Guest said Guest was born on October 29,1992, in Viselia, California. He movedto Texas when he was only four yearsold. After he moved to Texas, he met hisfirst and best friend—Cory Castillo—in Kindergarten. Even though Cory is his best friend,he wouldn’t want him to be on adeserted island if he was on one.Instead, he would like to have: food,something to drink, and a girl, so hecould talk to her. But he would rather not be on adeserted island. His favorite place tobe would have to be his room. Whenever he turns 15, he would liketo find himself a job, even though hesays he doesn’t have any talents.

Rebecca Hearn

Guest Writer

Jenna Wixom, a Midway HighSchool senior, has lived in many citiesthroughout Texas. “It’ s made me more flexible tochange,” Wixom said. Wixom has lived in six cities, includ-ing Bay City, Round Rock, Clifton,Axle, North Austin and Waco, all ofwhich are located in Texas. Wixom’s dream job is to be either ananimator or a molecular biologist. “Because they interest me, it wouldnever be boring,” Wixom said. Before she can pursue one of herdream jobs, Wixom wants to move toAustin and attend Austin CommunityCollege. “It will give me a break after thestress of high school,” Wixom said. Wixom does not have a “real” job,however, she does freelance work. “I make T-shirt designs and stuff,”Wixom said. She is normally on time, but veryclose to being late. In her free time,Wixom enjoys music, drawing, reading,painting, sewing, art, her Theory ofKnowledge class, journalism, anddesigning shirts. She even says thather special talent is drawing. Wixom enjoys hanging out with herfriends Emily Weiskopf, Eric fromAustin, and ZJ. On weekends, sheloves to hang out with Weiskopf, draw,or work. She can not leave her housewithout clothes. Wixom loves her oldhoodie that she can not bring herself toget rid of. “Clothes are just something youcan’t leave the house without,” Wixomsaid. Wixom enjoys some forms ofentertainment but is not big into TV. “I don’t really watch TV, but I wouldprobably say cartoons,” Wixom said. Wixom’s favorite movie is “FactoryGirl” because it is interesting. She alsoenjoys all music, except for country.

Brittani Hopper, a Midway HighSchool sophomore, has many differenttalents. She likes to sing, to play thepiano, and to write. She has gottenawards in both music and writing. Another interesting thing aboutHopper is that she has moved arounda lot. She has lived in three differentstates, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas.Also, although she has never been outof the country, she has traveledthroughout the United States. Like most people, she has a coupleof pet peeves. “The bedroom door can’t be open, ithas to be closed,” Hopper said, “I alsohate static.” During her free time, such asweekends, Hopper likes to participatein the youth group at her church, gobowling and play volleyball. When she graduates from MidwayHigh School, she has a few goals forher future. “I would like to go to Mary-HardinBaylor in order to get a medicaldegree and become a surgeon,”Hopper said. Hopper says that her favoriteteacher in high school is MelissaHarrell, who teaches 10th grade worldhistory. She said that Harrell is a goodteacher and that she really makeswhat she is teaching come alive forher all of her students. Her favorite subject to study inschool is English because she loves towrite. On the other hand, her leastfavorite subject is geometry. When asked what her favorite flavorof ice cream was, she had a surprisinganswer. “I don’t like ice cream,” she said. Hopper has one pet, a cat with thevery “original” name of Kitty. She onlyhas one sister, Morgan Hopper, who is12 years old. She loves to eat atJalisco’s and to shop, spending most ofher money on clothes.

Edited by Megan Brunton

With Korea winning fourth place in2002 FIFA World Cup, people in theRepublic of Korea gained a suddenattachment to soccer. People startedwatching soccer instead of news oreven their favorite shows. My friendsin Korea would always enthusiasticallyexplain to me how crazy and bondedeveryone was for World Cup thatyear. Of course, I unfortunately missed allthat “fun” because I was not there.Not only that, I have never even seenone whole soccer game. Okay, Iadmit. Soccer isn’t the only one. The last time I have been out in thefields, as well as in the girls’ lockerroom, was in my freshman year, whenI took P.E. for the last time; the lasttime I played soccer was in third gradewith four or five friends of mine in

FEATUREAPRIL 2008 5

CHA ON THAT?CHA ON THAT?CHA ON THAT?CHA ON THAT?CHA ON THAT?

Junior is unique blend of China and U.S.

Non-athletic student ‘joins’ soccer team for practice

Emily ReederOpinion Editor

Jane ChaEntertainment Editor

church. All I remembered aboutsoccer was to use feet instead ofhands. My major activities being innewspaper and UIL academics, I wasactually quite intimidated by this“foreign” challenge I was about toface. Trying to be more excited thanthreatened, I boldly opened the girls’locker room doorand saw girlscrowded, changing,and chatting. Ientered, found acorner, andchanged as quicklyas I could, lookingat the wall as ifnobody could seeme if I couldn’t seethem. When wewere all dressed, I noticed that the JVgirls were wearing white shirts with“MIDWAY SOCCER” in blue print,soccer shorts, soccer socks, andsoccer shoes; I was wearing a blueMidway volleyball shirt, my one andonly gym pants, and running shoes. When I caught up with the girls up inthe fields, the girls were already

playing, divided into two teams – whiteshirt and yellow vest. I sort of blendedmyself into the white shirt team, andmy teammates told me to play de-fense. One of them reminded me thepoint of this game: use feet, not hands,and pass the ball to the girls with whiteshirts, not the ones with yellow vests. After a few minutes, I was absorbed

in the game. I wasnervous when theball was gettingcloser to our goal; Iwas happy whenmy team had theball but was disap-pointed when myopponents stole it;and I was im-pressed when thegirls passed the ball

far and accurately to their teammates. However, when the opponents rantoward me, I became so intimidatedthat I closed my eyes and let thempass by. But my teammates were niceabout my idiotic play, passing me theball some times. During the game, the girls encour-aged each other by repeating “Stay

with!” They also had nicknames thatthey used during the game. SophomoreJessi Riel told me that they try to calleach other in one or two syllable in thegame. The girls seemed to be tightwith such jargons and inside traditions. When the game ended with a tie of2-2, the girls surprised me by sayingthat they had been laid back andcouldn’t play all that seriously. For me,even when I did not run as much asany other girls, I was exhausted afterthe game to the extent of feeling dizzy.I wondered how hard these girls wouldhave to practice and how many gamesthey would have to play in order toplay a “laid-back” game and not gettired. Although the soccer game betweenthe white shirts and the yellow vestswas only a practice for the JV soccergirls, it was the most official game thatI have ever played in my life, and Idefinitely gained some interest insoccer due to this experience. Al-though I would probably neither joinnor make it into the soccer team nextyear, I might start watching soccergames from now on, cheering andyelling “Stay with!”

Photos by Zach DotyJunior Jane Cha plays defense in theGirls JV soccer practice.

Junior Shirley Feng calls herself an“ABC.” “I’m the first ABC in my family,”she explained, “American-BornChinese.” Feng’s dad, mom and sister were allborn in China. While she travels toChina every summer, Feng has neverlived in China and was born in KansasCity, Missouri. Feng moved to Midwaylast year from New Jersey. She’s alsolived in Utah, Colorado, New York,Washington, New Jersey, and nowWaco. “I’m in the Witness ProtectionProgram,” Feng joked. “Don’t tellanybody.” Due to her household’s unique blendof culture and frequent moves, Feng

has varied interests and speaks bothMandarin Chinese and English. HerEnglish skills have proven useful in hertrips to China. “Once I was hired as a translator forthis really prestigious music school,”Feng said. “I also have helped teachsome of myfriends English.I’m pretty muchthe bomb.” Feng is alsotrying to learnJapanese. “It’ s a reallycool language,”she said, “but it’s been really hard toteach myself.” At Midway, Feng is involved inseveral different student organizations,including Connect Club, UIL Academ-ics, and Mock Trial.

“Mock Trial is my favorite,” shesaid. “I can be mean and it is perfectlyokay. I want to make the other teamcry next year.” Feng was briefly involved in UILspeech for informative speaking. “I wasn’t very good,” she said, “but

I tried my best,sort of. I thinkmy UIL speechcareer is over.” Beside herinvolvement invarious extracur-ricular activities,Feng’s favorite

class is her Pre-AP Physics class withWes Evans. “Physics is so awesome,” she said.“Mr . Evans rocks my world. Heactually makes physics fun.” In her free time, Shirley loves to play

WWWWWiiiiiiiiii LOVE SHIRLEY LOVE SHIRLEY LOVE SHIRLEY LOVE SHIRLEY LOVE SHIRLEY

with her Nintendo Wii with friends. “Dude, I love holding Wii parties,”she said. “Everybody plays with it.Best fun of my life.”

Boys:

Andrew

Christopher

Daniel

Joshua

Michael

Girls:

Amanda

Ashley

Brittany

Jessica

SamanthaKatherine BurtEditor in Chief

Raven SatchellNews Editor

Megan BruntonFeature Editor

Ashley ThomasCopy Chief

Lauren LemmonMarketing Manager

“I like that [my name] is spelledone way but pronounced another

way, and gives people a hardtime.”

# At Midway

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# At Midway

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Wooju Byoun, 10th

Pronounciation: woo-joo bee-un

Meaning: Universe or pillar of

the house

Origin: Korean

“My father gave me this name, me

being the first born, to be the ‘pillar

of the house’.”

Obed Alvarado, 10th

Pronounciation: o-bed

Meaning: Worshipper

Origin: Hebrew

“One time, a substitute called me

Aw-bid.”

Nam Dinh, 10th

Pronounciation: nam

Meaning: Male

Origin: Vietnamese

“I think my name is one of the

special ones that my parents named

me. It is not nearly as common in

my country, but I love it.”

Nayaab Zindani, 9th

Pronounciation: naa-yaaab

Meaning: Precious, Rare, Priceless

Origin: Indian

“It is unique and I love the

meaning. It suits me!”

Capucine Morin, 10th

Pronounciation: ka-pu-seen

Meaning: Orange flower

Origin: France

“Every year I start a new class

and the teacher does roll call, they

freeze like they had just seen a

leprechaun dance on the table.

They are always scared that they

are going to butcher it.”

Nehmesis Laracuente, 11th

Pronounciation: neh-mi-sis

Meaning: The vengence godess’s

work to give justice

Origin: Greek

“In fourth grade, my science

teacher called me ‘Nehmesio’. It

was really embarrassing, but I’ve

gotten used to people

mispronouncing my name.”

Many people know theembarrasing feeling of mispro-nouncing someone’s name, but forthe students broadcast team who golive almost every weekday, it isn’t arare occurence. “I’ve had students come by andsay we’ve mispronounced theirnames,” Broadcast and CareerConncetions Teacher BeckyHodges said. “We try our best toget the names right and don’t wantto offend anyone.” To keep from offending everyone,the broadcast students try manydifferent ways to find the correctpronounciation. “We try to ask the (other broad-cast) students if they know how topronounce the names,” Hodgessaid. “Usually someone will knowthem.” To avoid any awkward stumblingover names, act like you know what

“ I once said ‘blow’ instead of ‘Beau.’

It was embarrassing.”

- Megan Gorgas, Senior

“We find out how to correctly pro-

nounce [names] and spell it out exactly

how you say it on the T0eleprompter.

Sometimes the names end up looking

pretty weird.”

- Emily Anne Moore, Senior

you’re talking about, Hodges suggests. “If you’ve done everything you can,just say it as if you’re right,” she said.“Say it with confidence.” Another good way to deal with difficultnames is just to ask, but do so politelty,according to theater eacher JillWilkinson. “Etiquette is to ask‘I’m not sure howto pronounce your name. Can you helpme out?’”she said.

“Too many moments to even think of

one. I am terrible with names.”

- Derrick Kyle, Senior

KMBT BLOOPERS

Ollaridria

Brown

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Pronunciation Guide

HowDo

YouSay ...?

Top

5

Names From

1989 - 1993

Top

5

Names From

1989 - 1993

Marissa RoseStaff Writer

Sydni HoneyShirCola

Haynes

Jorie

KuyKendall

Mickey

Barton

Ashlee WernetteSocial Chairperson

Zach DotyAssociate Sports Editor

Scott ToliverAssociate Sports Editor

“Once at a restau-rant, the lady who

was going to call outwhen my order wasready asked me if I

had another name togive her. I said ‘no’.”

Few people roam the halls of schoolwith the potential to be quoted from asong or a national symbol. SophomoreMickey Lynne Barton has both. “When I tell them my name, theyusually ask if it is a nickname or mymiddle name,” Barton said. Barton is routinely compared toAmerican trademarks, like MickeyMouse from Disney, or Major LeagueBaseball, a nod to her initials. Thefootball defensive position “middlelinebacker” is also common. However, the true story behind herunique namesake lies with Barton’sgreat grandmother, Mildred. “Everyone called her Mickey,” shesaid. “They even owned a store calledMickey’s.” Barton said she also commonly seesvarious misspellings of her unique name.Barton also has seen a wacky potentialfor her name, noting that her namerhymes with pop star Ricky Martin. “I like it because it’s different,” shesaid.

All her life Jorie Kuykendall hashad various reactions to her first andlast name. Some people think thatthey are unique while others thinkthat it’s difficult to pronounce. Shehas even been asked if she wasrelated to a private investigator oreven a football player. It is commonly misspelledKurkendahl or Kurkendahll, butmany people pronounce it likeKookendall. “It’ s unique and I only know of oneperson that has my first name,” shesaid. Kuykendall received her firstname in honor of her GrandmaMarjorie. “My parents actually fought overwhat to name me up until they leftthe hospital,” Kuykendall said. Her Aunt Gayle is the one whocalled her parents at the hospital andgave them the idea. Ever sinceKuykendall has had one of the mostunique names that she knows of.

Imagine you are sitting in your classand your teacher is calling roll. Shecalls out the name “Sydni PaigeHoney.” Immediately you think, “Isshe calling three different people? No,she’s calling Miss Sydni Honey. Most people find it hard to believethat such a cute name exists. “People usually think Honey is just anickname and they always have to say‘Sydni Honey’ real cutsie,” thesophomore said. Honey’s name is rarely spelt cor-rect. It’s commonly misspelled asSydney, Sidnie, Syndi, etc. “It doesn’t bother me [when peoplemisspell my name] anymore,” shesaid. “If I like them, I’ll correct it.” When her mother was in highschool, she had a best friend namedCyndi. Her mom liked it so she mixedup the letters and came up with Sydni. “It’ s kind of cliché, but cute on mymom’s part,” Honey said. Despite all the misspellings andmispronunciations, Honey loves hername. “I like that Mr. [Dale] Hollis gets tosay things like, ‘You really are aHoney-pie,’” she said.

Pepsi or Cola? Cola it is. ShirColaat that. Many people think she’skidding when she tells them her name,and often has to repeat it more thanonce. Don’t worry if you don’t get itright on the first try, you’re not theonly one. And this is probably not thefirst time she’s heard the cola joke. “My church misspells my name onevery program,” Haynes said, “andit’s a family church at that!” Keeping it in the family, Haynes isnamed after her grandmother, Shirley,and is very proud to continue thatlegacy. “I am very honored to be namedafter her.,” she said. “She is one ofthe strongest people I know, and I willhave to say that she is indeed awonderful grandmother.” Haynes is a fan of her name, andwouldn’t have it any other way. “I like my name because it’s sodifferent, like me,” she said. “I’venever really followed the crowd.Everyone knows my name even ifthey don’t really know me. I enjoypeople’s reactions when I tell themmy name.”

“At church, ourhead usher calls

me, ‘Lil’ Grill’,because she has

a real strongcountry accent.”

Brill

Stone

Julieta

Cuéllar

“[It rarely occurs to] those whoask if I was named for someone

that it might be Abraham.”

Lincoln

Crowder

HONDO’S OFFERS HOME-COOKIN’

ui

AN ALBUM TO ‘SLEEP’ TO

Ashley ThomasCopy Chief

Movies toMovies toMovies toMovies toMovies toWatch in...Watch in...Watch in...Watch in...Watch in...

AprilAprilAprilAprilAprilJane ChaEntertainment Editor

New in TheatersNew in TheatersNew in TheatersNew in TheatersNew in Theaters

FavoritesFavoritesFavoritesFavoritesFavorites

May 2ndMay 2ndMay 2ndMay 2ndMay 2nd

May 9thMay 9thMay 9thMay 9thMay 9th

Made of HonorMade of HonorMade of HonorMade of HonorMade of Honor

A reformed serial dater

(Patrick Dempsey) is

asked by his best

friend (Michelle

Monaghan) to be the

maid of honor at her

wedding, completely

unaware that he has

designs on her heart.

Speed RacerSpeed RacerSpeed RacerSpeed RacerSpeed Racer

Based on the classic

1960’s Japanese ani-

mated series, a young

racer named Speed

Racer (Emile Hirsch)

attempts to obtain

glory with the help of

his family and Mach 5,

an advanced car

created by his father.

Scoop (2006)Scoop (2006)Scoop (2006)Scoop (2006)Scoop (2006)

An American journalism

student (Scarlett

Johansson) in London

scoops a big story,

and begins an affair

with an aristocrat as

the incident unfurls.

Paycheck (2003)Paycheck (2003)Paycheck (2003)Paycheck (2003)Paycheck (2003)

What seemed like a

breezy idea for an

engineer (Ben Affleck)

to net him millions of

dollars leaves him on

the run for his life

and piecing together

why he’s being chased.

12-year-old Trevor

McKinney (Haley Joel

Osment) believes in

the goodness of human

nature. Like many

other kids, he is

determined to change

the world for the

better.

Pay It ForwardPay It ForwardPay It ForwardPay It ForwardPay It Forward

(2000)(2000)(2000)(2000)(2000)

Raven SatchellNews Editor

Jack Johnson releases fifth album

Sports Bar and Grill earns high ratings

ENTERTAINMENT8

When my mother and I walked intoHondo’s Sports Bar and Grill, weknew the business would be slow,considering the fact that it was 2:30on a Sunday afternoon. Surprisingly,the place was literally a ghost town,and no one was at the front to greetus. After about 30 seconds of awk-ward confusion, our waiter came andlet us be seated. While he took our drink orders, welooked over the menu to decide on anappetizer. I chose our waiter’ssuggestion of the fried mozzarellasticks for $5.95. They were broughtout, hot and fresh, in less than fiveminutes. Other appetizers includedchili cheese fries and onion strings,which were a neat skinny version ofthe normal onion rings everyone is

Jack Johnson has returned with anew CD titled Sleep Through theStatic. If you are expecting his newrecord to be finally pumped with fullenergy and loud music, then you willbe disappointed. The only good thing about this albumis that he hasn’t changed one bit fromhis first album Brushfire Fairytales.Now on his fifth album, he has laid outmore of the Zen-like lyrics andsoothing melodies that Jack Johnsonfans have fallen in love with. Sleep Through the Static starts offslow with a somber track “All AtOnce,” slightly hinting at things thataffect people and his own pasttroubles. The album begins to build toward “IfI Had Eyes,” which began to receivesome national airplay on the radio. The album dwindles down with“Losing Keys,” which has a relaxingmelody that sounds as sweet as honeyto the ears. As summer approaches, if you are

looking for a CD for while you’redriving around with the windowsdown, then this album is for you. Ifyou are a Jack Johnson fan, you won’tbe disappointed.

Sleep Through the Static can befound at Best Buy for about $15 withtax. This album deserves three out offive stars.

used to. I scanned the menu and found thatit was so broad with all kinds of itemsthat sounded delicious. Interestingchoices like Reuben sandwiches andPhilly Cheesesteaks graced Hondo’smenu. Also, there was a section withfour different kinds of salads for thosehealthy eaters out there. And the best things about the menuwere the numbers that followed thedollar signs. Everything was cheapand I couldn’t find anything that wasridiculously priced, which is unheardof in many restaurants. After looking for awhile, my eyeswandered to the burger section of themenu, which had types of burgersranging from the Bean Burger to aMushroom Swiss Burger. Although afew of the more “exciting” burgerslooked good, I decided to go with aplain-Jane Hondo’s Cheeseburger

with fries for only $6.45. Our waiterquickly brought it out about 15minutes later. I was glad I made that decisionbecause everything about the mealwas scrumptious, from the well-seasoned beef to the homemade fries. Hondo’s creates an experience withthe best of both worlds: good oldcomfort food in a modern setting.Nostalgic touches like the Pac-Manarcade contrast nicely with the manynew-age plasma televisions mountedthroughout the restaurant. Hondo’s Sports Bar and Grill islocated on 2101 Hewitt Drive Suite100. You can reach the restaurant at666-6119. It is open from 11 a.m. to2 a.m. the next morning, all weeklong. Hondo’s deserves four out of fivestars for its comforting food butmediocre service.

ENTERTAINMENTAPRIL 2008 9

In Texas, it is usually pretty hot allyear around which increases the needfor ice cream, snow cones or colddrinks. When the time comes forWacoans to beat the heat, they shouldgo to Keva Juice. Keva Juice is anupbeat smoothie shop that opened lastJune and is easily accessible on HewittDrive next to Starbucks. As I approached the door, I noticedthe outside tables for lounging werekept exceptionally clean and thewindows were spotless. When Ientered I was immediately greetedwith a warm “Hi, Welcome to KevaJuice.” As I waited at the counter, thetwo employees were busy makingsmoothies for customers who hadordered. One of the employees toldme they would be with me in minute.As I waited, I looked around at theroom and noticed it was very vibrantwith many eye-catching colors andcool paintings with a certain “Keva”touch. Within about 30 seconds, theemployee was ready to take my order.

She asked me if it was my first visitthere and gave me a quick break downof the menu. She also included that allthe smoothies were made with naturaljuices and non-fat sherbet. I purchaseda 24 oz. Keva Kolada with a vita-gizer,which is a free, tasteless supplement($4.28). I also purchased a one-ounceshot of wheatgrass, which providesyou with an equivalent of about oneand a half pounds of vegetables. Ittook about two minutes for them tomake my smoothie and wheatgrass,which was served with a chaser totake away the unpleasant taste. Whenmy items were complete, they calledmy name and my order out down tomy energy supplement. They made mefeel important! They provide custom-ers with a wide variety of smoothiessuch as Hawaiian Blends, BerryBlends, and Orchard Sensations; alltogether there are 23 different types. What separates Keva Juice from itsfellow competitors would be theirPower Blends, Red Bull Blends, andtheir Keva Tempters. They also sellfreshly-squeezed juices, vegan cook-ies, and muffins.

Mitch GuerraGuest Writer

Smoothly Refreshing

If anyone is looking for a classicMexican food to satisfy the tastebuds, then take a trip down to 220 S.3rd Street to Ninfa’s Tex-MexRestaurant. This restaurant serveseverything from Ranchera ShrimpQuesadillas to Spinach Enchiladas. My dinner companion and I arrivedon a Tuesday around 7:30 p.m., andwe didn’t even have to wait for atable. The atmosphere was loud andmainly filled with young couples andcollege students. The architecturehad beautiful murals and resembled avillage in a real Mexican town. Theyalso had pretty lighting effects thatset a romantic vibe. Our waiter gave us a basket ofchips and delicious green and red

sauces and refilled them wheneverwe needed them. My date ordered Taco al Carbon($10.99). I ordered two spinachenchiladas ($7.99) along with a glassof water. The wait for our food wasabout 10 to 15 minutes. My compan-ion said the tacos tasted fresh andwere seasoned to perfection. Myenchiladas were also seasoned rightand satisfied my mouth with theperfectly cooked spinach and mild-tasting sauce that layered over. The restaurant accepts cash, creditcards, and checks. Ninfa’s is open onthe weekdays from 11 a.m. to 10p.m. and on weekends from 11 a.m.to 11 p.m. Overall, the food seemed to be a bitoverpriced but it was definitely worthit. Ninfa’s deserves four out of fourstars.

N-JOY NINFA’SCallie Jean MartinGuest Writer

Keva Juice is open Monday throughSunday. Its hours are Monday throughThursday, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m., Friday andSaturday, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., and

Sunday 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Customerscan pay with cash, credit or debit card. It deserves four and a half out offive stars.

SPORTS10

BaseballVarsity

W 8-1 Midlothian HSPanthers had 16 hits, BlakeLandon pitched a completegame shutout.

W 20-0 University HSW 15-1 Killeen HS

W 12-7 Waxahacie HSPanther offense had 14 hits,

three home runs.

JVW 34-0 University HSW 6-2 Midlothian HSW 18-0 Killeen HS

W 12-2 Waxahachie HS

BasketballSenior Macy Wischmeier hasbeen offered a scholarship to

play basketball at MCC.

TrackVarsity Boys Regional quali-fiers from the District Meet1st PlaceJohn Cornish 400 meters1600 meter relay team ofHoward, Davis, Dixon andCornish 2nd PlaceMatt Upshaw 1600 metersLevi Norwood high jump3rd PlaceChris Pecina 800 metersMatt Upshaw 3200 metersMitchell Myers 1600 metersThe 800 meter relay team ofHoward, Dixon, Davis andFragaVarsity Girls won the DistricChampionship, the followingqualified for regionals:1st PlaceVal Cammon high jumpCokie Reed shot put

Lacey Gardell  long jumpLisa Chop pole vault400, 800 and 1600 meter relayteams of Katrina Turner, AubrePhillips, Amber Phillips, and ValCammonJordan Clements 300 meterhurdlesNethika Ariyasinghe 1600meters2nd PlaceAmanda Woolley pole vaultLacey Gardell long jumpNethika Ariyasinghe  800 meterJordan Clements 100 meterhurdles 3rd PlaceLindsey Low 1600 metersRida Aamir 300 meter hurdlesKayla Shillinglaw pole vaultJV District Track Meet Boys Results 1st PlaceAustin McDaniel 800 metersRobert London 400 meters 2nd PlaceBlake Sherman 800 metersJack Harris 300 meter hurdlesTyler Underwood 3200 metersPierce Miner 110 meter hurdles 3rd PlaceCory Ferguson 800 metersKevin Potts pole vault 4th PlaceXavier Bradford long jumpCory Ferguson triple jumpJordan Bell 3200 metersJack Harris 110 meter hurdlesDustin Bumgardner shot put800 meter relay team (BrillStone, Ryan Eckert, SamRajaratman, and XavierBradford)400 meter relay team (CoryFerguson, Robert London,Kevin Potts and Xavier

Bradford) 5th PlaceDrew Boles 3200 metersPierce Miner 300 meter hurdles Edward Cammon high jump JV Girls Results1st Place Alex Hensel 1st 3200 metersDenysha Taylor 100 and 300meter hurdlesRachell Blattman pole vaultSuzannah Sage long jump2nd PlaceDani Meyer 3200 metersCourtney Dawson 800 metersAbbey George 300 meterhurdlesKara McMurray triple jumpMercedes Calderon pole vaultRelay team of MercedesCalderon, Kara McMurray,Brandi Hanford, and HaileyCowan 800 meter relay 3rd PlaceOctavia Perry 100 meter dashKara McMurray long jumpBrandi Hanford pole vault4th PlaceAbbey George 100 meterhurdlesSuzannah Sage triple jumpBethany Sumbler shot put anddiscusKara McMurray 200 meter dashOctavia Perry long jumpRelay team of MercedesCalderon, Kara McMurray,Brandi Hanford, and HaileyCowan 400 meter relay 5th PlaceOctavia Perry 200 meter dashLindsey Halvorson shot putKayla Upshaw 800 meter run6th PlaceKayla Upshaw 3200 meters

Junior pitchers Bryce Dunks (top), andLizzy Kelly (above) prepare to deliverpitches in spring sports action.

Photos by: Zach Doty

SoftballW 5-0 Brownwood HS

W 17-0 Waco HSW 15-0 Killeen HS

W 15-0 University HS

By Zach DotyBy Zach DotyBy Zach DotyBy Zach DotyBy Zach Doty Assoc. Sports Editor

SPORTSAPRIL 2008 11

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Ashlee WernetteSocial Chairperson

Golf Spotlights

AJ RodriguezAssociate Sports Editor

Arena Football on the RiseArena Football League finally making the steps to legitimacy

The Arena Football League featuresa version of football that is on anindoor 50-yard field enclosed bypadded walls. The game is fast-paced,high scoring, and exciting. The leagueis in its 22nd season but still has nothad that burst in popularity to reach“big-league” status. Many see it as a niche sport, onethat will always be considered “minor-league” to the NFL despite having noaffiliation with it. The reality is thatthe AFL is its own sport. It is profes-sional in itself. This fact does notmean that the AFL is not a nichesport, but it certainly is a professionalleague. Despite this perception, the AFL isvery entertaining to watch. Manypeople do not give it a chance be-cause it is not traditional football. Thepart that is not understood is that it isnot supposed to be like the football we

know. The sport is played at the paceof basketball which makes arenafootball a sort of hybrid. The scoreslook like those of college basketballgames because defense is a muchsmaller factor than in the NFL. Thismakes the AFL even more unique,something that people should see as apositive rather than a reason not toenjoy it. The AFL also helps the community.Last year, ArenaBowl XXI wasplayed in the rebuilding city of NewOrleans, Louisiana. This movebrought an estimated $20 million tothe city which can use any assistanceit can get. This year’s ArenaBowlwill again be played in New Orleanson July 27. The league has started to take flightwith rising player salaries and fanattendance. The Arena FootballLeague has steadily drawn anaverage of more than 12,000 fans pergame over the last five seasons. This

is more than 2,000 fans per game thanthe 2002 average of just under 10,000fans per contest. AFL players are starting to getnoticed by the NFL, with names beingsigned such as Tennessee Titans kickerRob Bironas and Arizona Cardinalsquarterback Kurt Warner, who won theSuper Bowl XXXIV most valuableplayer award with the St. Louis Rams.Bironas now holds an NFL record witheight field goals kicked in one game, afeat he accomplished in the 2007 NFL

season against the Houston Texans. It might not be such a good thingthat the NFL is soaking up arenafootball talent, but it shows the talentthat the league is starting to gain. Assalaries increase, more players will optto stay put in the AFL, boosting itspopularity. So even though it is not asbig as the NFL, MLB, or even theNBA, the Arena Football League isgrowing bigger and should be given achance by those rejecting it for what itis not.

Twin Rivers Since I was a kid NoShaking spactically

while meeting the

peole I play with

It looked like fun

Ridgewood

Golf course grass is

fun barefoot and

golf carts

entinced me

Since I was 10

Last time I tried

to do what Tiger

does I almost

killed myself

No weird riuals

except I’ve noticed I

play best when I wear

a headband

Where is your

favorite

place to golf?

What made you

want to start

golfing?

How long have

you been golfing?

Can you bounce a ball

on the end of your club

like Tiger Woods in the

commercial?

Do you have any

weird rituals you do

before you golf?

Doral in

Denton

Well, softball

didn’t work out,

and golf looked fun

Since 7th grade Maybe for like a

split second

We always listen to

“fairy” music before

we tee off

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Katie

Vela

Megan

O’Brien

Hilary

Rambeau