Northwest Christian High School4710 Park center Ave. NE Lacey,

WA 98516(360) 491-2966

http://nchs-olympia.org/

The NavigatorNovember 2010 Issue 1

This is it. The 2010-2011 regular seasons are winding down, but for the Men’s football team, it’s just starting up. For the first time in its five years as a program, the Navigators can taste the playoffs; the elusive pride that seemed to escape the many talented squads in years prior. Still, Coach Fulton has accomplished a record-setting season. He has led the senior laden Navigators to their first winning season in just five years. Last Friday they secured the fourth place spot in league, defeating Ocosta 32-0. The Navigators, who played without senior quar-terback Ben Connor due to discrepancies, found relief in their dynamic running game. Steven Dunn carried the ball 15 times for an impressive 143 yards and a fifty-five yard touchdown. On the other side of the ball, the Navi-gators were just as good; holding the Wildcats to only 71 yards of total offense to their 231. Safety Kevin Damitio, snagging two interceptions, led the defense to its second shutout this season, while Seniors Josh Hatfield, Steven Dunn, and Tyler Tracht racked up seven tackles a piece; one of which Tracht broke through the offensive line and brought the running back down for a touchdown saving tackle. “We were ready for this game, we worked hard all week and want this (playoff birth) a lot more than we have in the past,” said Tyler Tracht of the win.

Navigators Sail Past OcostaWritren by: Peter Morgan

Homecoming Court 2010 taken by: Emily Hamack

Final Score of Homecoming gamePhoto taken by: Emily Hamack

After a 32:0 win against Ocosta at the homecoming football game, two Ford Flexes pulled around the track. The princes escorted their princesses from the vehicles as the 2010 Homecoming Court was presented to the crowd. They all stood in a line before the stands as everyone eagerly awaited the announcement of King and Queen. “And this year’s Homecoming King and Queen are…” said Miss Briggs building anticipation, “Benjamin Connor and Brooke Bredeson!” The stands broke into cheering and the two seniors received their crowns. The night wound down with numerous photos, laughs, and girls talking about the night to come. This night that caused so much talk finally arrived along with the homecoming court, an abundance of NCHS students, and staff…on a boat. NCHS took to the water for the 2010 Homecoming Costa Rican Cruise complete with delicious treats, salsa dancing, and of course, the Washington rain. Not even the rain could ruin this night though thanks to the indoor rooms of the Ar-gosy ship, umbrellas, and gentleman giving up their jackets to their dates. Freshman homecoming princess, MacK-enzie Reeves said, “It was really exciting going to my first homecoming and getting to be the freshman princess. Aaron asked me in a pretty adorable and surprising way; I’m glad I got to share my first homecoming with him.” Since the cruise was in Seattle, many students took the opportunity to enjoy a day in the city. Senior princess, Courtney Wagner, commented on her group’s adventure, “We went to Gas Works Park to take pictures and some of us started throwing leaves in the air for some cool shots and then we went to take photos with the giant stone troll under a bridge before going to 13 Coins for dinner. The whole night was just a lot of fun!” Students and staff alike enjoyed the cruise around Lake Washington and it has since been agreed as a Homecoming to remember!

Rule the BoatWritten by: Emily Hamack

Navigator Football Season RecordW:5 L:4

Students Attending Homecoming150

SportsCross Country Writen by: Stephen Goff

The 2010 Navigator football sea-son has been a year of firsts. First season opener win, first time winning more than 3 games, and now the ‘Gator football team can add another first to their impres-sive 2010 stats. This year will be the first time the team will be go-ing to the playoffs. The ‘Gators defeated the Ocosta Wildcats 32 to 0 during the final home game of the year, securing their spot in the playoffs. Seniors Steven Dunn and Zach Thomas led the team with 185 yards rushing be-tween them. Each had a touch-down run, and Junior Trevor Magruder ran for 40 yards and had 2 touchdowns. “We are very excited about where this team can be,” says fifth year coach Pete Fulton. The team is currently 5-3 with 2 games left to play. “This year has been go-ing better than expected,” says Senior Linebacker Tyler Tracht. “But we need to stop looking at the playoffs and start tak-ing things one game at a time.”

Football Written by: Jordan Potis

Zack Thomas preparing for a pass.Photo taken by: Carl Chase

Cross Country at Kings invite.Photo taken by: Walt Dale

The 2010 Cross Country season is going very well. According to senior Joanna Sowers, “The (girls) team has been doing well, but could be doing better be-cause some people need to step it up.” Senior Tyson Heo has similar feelings about the men’s cross country season. Heo said, “I think we are doing very well. There is a lot of team competi-tion that is helping us get faster. I think the guys and girls have state, unless some of the guys don’t step it up and close the gap

November 1st, the Northwest Christian girls’ varsity volley-ball team played a game against Mossy Rock. The game was in-tense; there was a ton of diving and spiking. “That was the best game we have ever played,” said Dominique Jack. There were three rounds, all of which the Northwest girls won. That puts them at first place and they are now the new District Cham-pions of 2010. They played an incredible game, and we wish them luck as they continue to their next match, which will hopefully lead them to State.

VolleyballWritten by: Sarah Thibodeau

JV girls preping for their match.Photo taken by: Lori Bedwell

between the number 4 spot to the number 6 spot. If we don’t, then there could be a problem from Mossyrock.” Both the men and women are League champions eight years running. The girls scored 15 points, a perfect score, with North Beach in second with a score of 50. The men scored 26, taking first, with North Beach in second with a score of 64. On October 30th, both the men’s and women’s teams won districts. All of the men placed in the top 20, qualifying as individuals for

state, which is an enormous ac-complishment. The State cham-pionships are being run on Sat-urday, November 6th, which both teams are expected to win.

Come support our

NCHS Teams!

Around the SchoolTeacher Spotlight

Mrs. DowneyWritten by: Sarah Thibodeau

1. How long have you been going here? All four years.2. What is your favorite class or subject and why? Math because it makes me think rather than just copying notes.3. What is your favorite activity outside of school? Listening to music mostly. 4. What genre? Indie.5. What are your plans for after you graduate? I plan on going to UW in Ta-coma and getting my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science.6. What is your favorite food? Lasagna.7. If you could go anywhere in the world where would you go, and why? Italy. I like the food and the beautiful peninsulas.8. What are some of your talents? Well I am a good cook, and if you aren’t in choir with me then you probably don’t know that I can sing.9. Do you like cooking or baking better, and what do you most like to make? Baking, and I like to make cakes and other desserts.

1. What is your position? Director of International Stu-dents2. How long have you been with Northwest? Since June, but I have been subbing for the last 2 years. 3. What do you enjoy most about your job? The opportunity to make differences in the lives of the stu-dents. 4. What is the hardest aspect about your job? Teaching to a variety of Eng-lish levels. Not all students are at the same level of English when they come to the school.

This year the photography club will be meeting in November if enough people are interested. Mr. Camp is in charge of the club, and said, “Anyone with a camera can join, even if it’s just a camera on your cell phone.” They will meet once a week, plan on taking field trips to get quality pictures of downtown Olympia and the Capital, and oth-er scenic places in the community.

The Finer Things club definitely has a lot in store for this upcoming year. They are planning five to six big events, in which anyone can attend. Joey Corry is in charge of the club and planning all of these events, which will have to do with food, film, art, literature, or sometimes a combination of a few. In November, they plan on throwing a “World Thanksgiving” in which people are encouraged to bring different food dishes and stories from their own cultures to share with everyone else. They also plan to attend local art activities in Olympia, such as “The Nutcracker” ballet in December to watch Lauren Gordon perform, and the Arts Walk in springtime.

“Oh Snap!”

Written by: Kelsey Selstead

Senior Spotlight

Written by: Kelsey Selstead

Written by: Keyluh DavidsonJoey Corry

Enjoying the Finer Things

Photography Club...

Photos taken by: Emily Hamack

6. What do you enjoy doing out-side of school? Decorating and Remodel-ing. My husband and I are into serial remodeling. 7. What is your favourite movie? Tuck Everlasting8. Is there a Bible verse that is es-pecially important to you? Philippians 4:13 because it got me through college.9. What is your favorite sport? Basketball10. Is there a person who has been especially influential in your life? My husband. He has helped me not to take myself so seriously and to have fun.

Love has always been a word of deep emotional meaning, yet it is a word that no one fully un-derstands. People search for love in their own ways, in both others and in material things, hoping to find a way to fill that chasm in their hearts. Some don’t realize that love is not that at all and that love cannot be in your own way. I had this friend once who struggled with a simi-lar problem, trying to find the true meaning of love. She main-ly searched for love in relation-ships; wanting someone to be there for her, to catch her when she fell but she ended up hurt-ing herself multiple times all the while wounding the heart of the

Do you feel that you are often surrounded by cliques in the school and can’t get away from them or maybe people take the word clique too seri-ously? The definition for clique is a small, exclusive group of people; or coterie. Having a group of friends is most definitely fine, to build each other up and hang out to do hobbies that you have in common. The prob-lem with some people is they exclude people from their group and do not accept new friends easily. Groups of friends are great, but just hang-

The Heart of LoveWritten by: Lauren Gordan

one she was leaning on. What she came to realize was this, “We have come to know and have be-lieved the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.” -1 John 4:16 (NASB). Love is there for us, love so great that it does

not turn its face away from us. That love is Jesus, and once you find Him you can dare to hope and believe again because all your worries are with Him. Stay focused on God, He sees you as a treasure; you belong to Him and were made to love Him. His arms have always been open wide to you and He never stops knock-ing at the door of your heart. So what is love? God is love and His love is unfailing, unconditional, and encompassing. Now that is a divine love. Let it be your aim.

Picture taken by: Abbi thomas

Cliques too Cliche?Written by: Abbi Thomas

ing out with only them and never being able to acknowledge others to be established in your posse is ridiculous and uncalled for. The high school students at schools shouldn’t be so rude about embrac-ing new friendships with others. Some people do not feel welcomed in the school and we as a school body not only should be able to, but we have to fix this problem. Not only is this a recurring happening at all high schools, but it also isn’t a fond subject of most people. It is hard to accept others as friends, but I challenge you, along with myself, to help build each other up as a student body and be able to estab-lish sturdy friendships with those around you. This not only applies at school, but also for youth groups and any place with groups of people.

Picture created and taken by: Abbi Thomas

Student Corner

1 John 4:16