39.5 March 2012

Apple incorporates its own technology into the world of education.

PAGE 10

Girls tennis incorporates Zumba into their pre-season workouts.

PAGE 14

Mr. De dispels rumors of his retirement, extending his promise.

PAGE 3

COURIERCOLUMBINE HIGH SCHOOL

INNEWS

THE

INSPORTS

INCULTURE

LIFE IN THELIFE IN THE

SPOTLIGHT

BEING PREGNANT IN HIGH

YOUR LIFE ON A STAGE FOR

BEING PREGNANT IN HIGH SCHOOL MEANS LIVING

YOUR LIFE ON A STAGE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. TWO GIRLS TELL THEIR STORIES OF THE PRESSURES THEY

FACED AS PREGNANT TEENS.

see story on page 10

BEING PREGNANT IN HIGH SCHOOL MEANS LIVING

LIFE ON A STAGE FOR EVERYONE TO SEE. TWO GIRLS TELL THEIR STORIES OF THE PRESSURES THEY

FACED AS PREGNANT TEENS.

see story on page 10pictured: Sammy Nunez (12)

story by Danielle Sheehan, photo by Sevan Strait

Sex education classes warn teenage girls about becoming a statistic. But even as those statistics have fallen dramatically in the past ten years, a harsh stigma is still attached to teenage pregnancy that en-courages bullying and prejudice toward expecting teen mothers. According to “Time” magazine, more teenagers than ever seem to be cluing in to how their bodies work. Although the U.S. teenage pregnancy rate still towers above those in other countries, it has dropped to 34.3 births per 1,000 girls ages 15 to 19, down from a peak of 61.8 in 1991. But even though the number of teen pregnancies is decreasing, the pressures facing teen mothers are not. “The Pregnancy Project,” a recent Lifetime movie which premiered on January 28, discussed a true story about how high school student Gaby Rodriguez faked her baby bump in order to examine stereotypes of teen pregnancy. Rodri-guez’s main point in her project was to bring awareness to stereotypes about teen pregnancy and ways to deal with them for teens on both sides of the situation. “I wanted to do something that would impact my school and my community, and decided to start with something small, to

bring an awareness of teen pregnancy,” Rodriguez told Publisher’s Weekly. “At a time in their lives when teens are becoming sexually active, they need to realize how the decisions they make now will ultimately affect their lives,” Rodri-guez said. “And those teens who do be-come pregnant need to know that it’s not the end of the road. They can fi nd support for themselves and their child, and can move forward.” Like Rodriguez, some of Columbine’s students have experienced what it is like to feel like their life is on a stage for ev-eryone to see. Senior Taryn Fuchs, was a typical student who was involved at her church and getting ready for college, but then her life was altered when she learned she was pregnant last year. One of her greatest struggles was facing people at school. “Being pregnant in high school has got to be one of the most emotional situations to be in,” Fuchs said. “High school is hard enough with all the drama and gossip, but way harder when that gossip turns to be about you. The fi rst fi ve months of my pregnancy I was depressed about every part of the situation. I listened to every-one’s comments about me and believed them all.” Another senior, Sammy Nunez, has

been subject to similar comments. Since she is currently pregnant and has found people are open in sharing exactly what they think and how they feel about her condition. “People will be talking in front of me and pointing at [my stomach] and I’m right there,” Nunez said. “Then this other girl said to me, ‘Well, you cant expect other people to not talk about it because you’re still in high school,’ and I said, ‘Well, yeah, but I’m not the fi rst one to get pregnant either.” “The Pregnancy Project” also pressed issues about what happens to the father of the baby. Rodriguez told her boyfriend that it was just a project, even though oth-er people didn’t know, so he had to face the social pressures of being a teen father. Senior Matt Marchena, the father of Fuchs’ baby, said, “Being a father in high school is kind of hard. I have a lot of things go-ing on with sports, school, homework, and having time [with] my daughter. There is a lot of stress involved with being a father in school.” Not only is it hard for Marchena to make up time for everything in his life, but people at school didn’t make it any easier. “I feel like the kids at school look down on me just because people at school don’t have the courtesy anymore,” March-ena said. “I usually don’t let what people say get to me because I know that what they say isn’t true. I have heard people say that my life is ruined now and that I won’t be able to go to college for sports or even just to go [to college].” Trying to balance school, work and

NEWSMARCH 2012 2

Danielle Sheehan

Teenage pregnancy is often treated as an epidemic that is sweeping the nation and destroying the

lives of teen girls everywhere. But set against the background of a plummeting teen pregnancy rate, two girls tell the story of their pregnancies–how they have been treated, how they have coped and how they have survived.

Teen Prejudice Against Teen Pregnancy

What was your first reaction when you learned you were pregnant?

I called my best friend right when I found out I was pregnant and cried because I really didn't know what it meant for me now. I wasn't necessarily scared of having a baby. I was ter-rifi ed of the future and everything that was unknown.

When did you tell your parents? How did they react?

After I took 3 tests, my boyfriend came over and we told my parents within a couple days of knowing, because they defi nitely would have realized a mood change. I have never seen them look so disappointed and surprised. There wasn't much said between us that night, but that was when it really hit me that I was going to bring someone into the world. Everyone's emotions were so crazy from the news. There were many awful conversations between us that I will never

forget.

How hard was it every day while walking around with people staring at you?

I didn't start showing until the last month of school, which I am so thankful for. I didn’t even feel like people saw me walk-ing through the halls at school because I didn’t see many people’s eyes look at my face. Everyone looked directly at my stomach as if there was so much to see. It was hard know-ing everyone stared, and sometimes I’d stare back and then they’d look away. Eventually I got used to getting glared at everywhere I went, but it took about 6 months. My stomach gets stared at even more, which I never thought was pos-sible, now that I’m back at school, but it doesn’t annoy me anymore.

What did your parents say when they found out you were pregnant?

I hid it from my mom for a day because I didn’t know how I was going to tell her. The fi rst person out of my family that I told was my cousin, who’s like a sister to me. She said you need to tell your mom, so I told my mom on the day after. She was in shock. She’s like, “Oh my God, how did this happen?” and I kind of just looked at her and was like, well... (laughing). She said, “No, I know how it happened.” But she was very supportive of me.

Did you tell your boyfriend right away?

I told him right away. He wasn’t with me, but his phone had just turned off that day because he didn’t pay the bills, so getting a hold of him was really hard. When I did get a hold of him, I told him, “Well, it’s a positive.” He didn’t say anything except, “What?” And all I heard was a big bang because he broke something. All he said was, “How did this happen, how is this going to work?”

Is he going to stay around?

Yes, he is very supportive of it. We have already thought about it. If anything went wrong, then we would still stay civil through it. We don’t want to be those type of par-ents that don’t talk and act really rude and stupid in front of their child.

How hard is it getting your homework done?

In a way, it is normal. I get really tired and I take breaks, so it takes me a while, but I am on track for graduation so I will be walking, or I guess I will be waddling, across the stage. It was embarrassing having to talk to Balfour

In HER Own Words:Sammy Nunez

In HER Own Words:Taryn Fuchs

Seniors Taryn Fuchs and Matt Marchena pose with their daughter, Isa. Fuchs and March-ena have experienced the pressures of being teen parents. photo courtesy of Taryn Fuchs

continued on page 3

continued on page 5 continued on page 3

3MARCH 2012

NEWS

Every student at Columbine knows what happened in this school on April 20, 1999. They also know that our prin-cipal, Mr. DeAngelis, was here when the shootings happened. However, most students don’t know the details of the prom-ise he made to students follow-ing the tragedy. After the shootings, Mr. DeAngelis made a promise

to students ages 5 to 19, or every child who was going to the high school and any of its feeder schools in 1999, that he would remain principal of Columbine until each of them had graduated. The rumor grew to the idea that DeAngelis was planning on retiring after the preschool-ers of 1999 graduated from Columbine. Well, those pre-schoolers are now seniors here at Columbine.

So will DeAngelis “gradu-ate” from Columbine this year? The answer is no. “I am not planning on re-tiring after 2012,” DeAngelis said. “I’m not even sure when I’m going to retire. And I want to stay here as long as I feel that I’m effective.” The promise originated from DeAngelis’s statement saying he wanted everyone to come back to Columbine af-ter the shooting, and that he

would be here to support those people. “I promised them that I would be here until the last class graduated, which would be the freshman class of 2002,” DeAngelis said. Then in the summer of 2001, DeAngelis decided that he would stay at Columbine after the class of 2002 gradu-ated. “I made a decision that summer to come back, and as time went on I decided I would be here until every student in the Columbine articulation area on April 20, 1999, gradu-ated,” DeAngelis said. Therefore, the students of 2012, this year’s senior class, are the ones that the second promise was made for. Many people would have probably quit that day, but as we all know, Mr. DeAngelis is still the principal at Colum-bine, so he obviously didn’t go anywhere. “I couldn’t quit, it was a tragic, tragic event. The trag-edy happened on my watch and I found it important that I helped rebuild the community and rebuild this school.” Fortunately, DeAngelis had the support of the school board

so that he could make that promise to students. “I had the support of district leadership, school board members, super-intendent, community mem-bers, students and staff. They wanted me to lead them in a time of recovery and a time of healing,” DeAngelis said. It wasn’t easy for DeAn-gelis, however. He had to sac-rifi ce a lot to continue being Columbine’s principal. “Col-umbine did take its toll on me, I had some health problems and went through post dramat-ic stress disorder, so I had to look at my health and things of that nature but I knew that this was where I needed to be,” DeAngelis said. DeAngelis wasn’t the only person in the building who chose to stay at Colum-bine. Many teachers who had been present at the time of the shooting are still here. Some who had been attending school as students at the time also re-turned to be teachers. Social studies teacher Mr. Moore is one of those teach-ers who chose to remain here at Columbine. “It was easy, I stayed because I believed in the

school, and I believed in him (DeAngelis), and I believed in the community,” Moore said. “We weren’t going to let one single day destroy what this community had.” However, nobody was forced to come back to the school after that day. If the members of the school came back, it was because they wanted to. “All the teachers could have very easily gone to an-other school and taught, and a lot did,” Moore said. Many of the seniors weren’t aware that DeAngelis made this promise, and that he was potentially leaving this year. But this may be due to the fact that many seniors can’t imag-ine DeAngelis retiring. “I feel like he won’t be able to leave yet, this is his home,” A.J. Armstrong, senior, said. Senior Austin Parr agrees. “He is a truly dedicated human being, not only to every student who has ever had the privilege to have him as a principal but to the entire surrounding com-munity itself,” he said.

comments? [email protected]

Principal DeAngelis Keeps his Promise Mr. DeAngelis dispels the rumors of his retirement as the year 2012 comes to a close

Mr. DeAngelis makes a pinky promise to Senior Robb Adamski. DeAngelis made a promise after the shooting in 1999 to stay at Columbine until the preschoolers in the articulation area at the time had graduated. photo by Sevan Strait

extra curricular activities is a struggle for any high school student. Adding a baby into the mix makes it much, much harder. The student must work with his or her teacher to try and accommodate the situa-tion. Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Mrs. Letvin has students come to her fre-quently regarding teen preg-nancy. Since she teaches the class Child Development, her knowledge to teenage girls is very useful. “As for having pregnant students in class, I try to be as understanding as possible,” Letvin said. “I have had a wide variety of ways students han-dle the process, so the way that I approach it is always depen-dent upon the student

“I once had a girl who was pregnant and due at the begin-ning of May,” Letvin contin-ued. ”She was a senior and needed to graduate. After she had her baby, she was back in the classroom within four days so that she could get every-thing done. I was always really impressed with her dedication to fi nish school and then move forward with her life as a par-ent.” But then Mrs. Letvin said she’s had students who use their pregnancy as an excuse to not try and get really far behind in class. Ultimately, “I try to work as much with these students as I can, but I feel that ultimately it is their choice on how they want to handle the process,” Letvin said. Having one child already and expecting one in May, Mrs. Letvin has experience being pregnant, however she

would not want that for any young teen. “I am in my mid 30’s and have one child and one on the way and I think that parenting is the hardest, most challeng-ing thing that I have ever done. I love my kid and it is very re-warding, but it is hard,” Letvin said, “I can’t imagine trying to raise a child,” Letvin said, “not have a great job with a good income, a supportive spouse with a good income, trying to get my education completed, have my parents be freaking out that I am pregnant. It seems like a hard road for kids.” The hardest part for Mrs. Letvin is having to watch some teen girls have an extremely hard time with their parents. She had one student who de-cided to give the baby up for adoption because the family did not support her daughter

until the baby was being born. “I was so mad at her mom because all along she had been so rigid on not being able to do anything for her if she was go-ing to keep the baby and then changed her mind once the baby was here,“ Letvin said, “I think she made the choice and the situation so much harder than it needed to be.” In interviews with Fuchs and Nunez, both agreed that telling their parents was prob-ably the hardest part of the whole situation, but that hav-ing that support by their fami-lies made it that much easier to go along with the pregnancy. Gaby Rodriguez believes that, “sex-ed should be talked about in school, or that parents should be open with their kids and honest about the resources for them.”


about my graduation gown because I’m pregnant. I had to go up to the lady and say, “I don’t know what my weight and how wide I’m going to be then.” They said to just guess an amount and if it changes then they can alter it for me. They were real nice about it, so that was helpful.

How do you deal with people talking about you like that?

I’ve heard people say that I’m such a whore, and I think, “Well, how I am a whore? There are other girls who are having sex who don’t get pregnant.” You don’t call a 30-year old who is pregnant a whore, but since I’m 18, people think they can. A lot of girls have sex, but there isn’t proof of it like there is for me.

Have you thought about your future now that you are pregnant?

After I graduate I will. My due date June 30, but after that I’m going to go to school in 2013 during the spring to be a pharmacy technician at a community college.

Grace Reader

from page 2Pregnancy In HER Own Words:

Sammy Nunez

from page 2

On Wednesday, February 15, a panel of students, teachers and parents, under the name Stu-dents 4 Our Schools, gathered in the commons area of Jef-ferson County Open School. Headed by Alex Kacsh, a sophomore at Jeffco Open School, the group discussed topics ranging from problems and benefi ts with the current education system, standard-ized testing, and personal ex-periences with education in many of its forms. The organization is open to all students, statewide, who would like to make a dif-ference in their educations. This organization of students, started and directed by Kacsh, operates under the name Stu-dents 4 Our Schools (S4OS). Kacsh and another mem-ber of S4OS, Freshman Tyler Ogborn, testifi ed on Thursday, February 23, to pass House Bill 1091. The bill, proposed by Representative Judy Solano (D), would minimize standard-ized testing so as to not exceed national requirements. "When Ty and I went up to testify, we were told we only had three minutes, and when the alarm went off we were cut off. We left today with the feeling that they just denied the students’ voice in educa-tion,” Kacsh said. On Wednesday, Febru-ary 29, students from S4OS returned to fi nish their testi-mony. Unfortunately for the S4OS members who testifi ed, the bill was postponed indefi -nitely. This was a big blow to S4OS’s steam, but the organi-zation plans to continue their advocacy for better education. Kacsh founded S4OS on December 15, 2011, after Jef-fco Open School was threat-ened with closure. “I decided to look into the laws, and once I started to look what I found was a larger problem with our education system,” Kacsh said. What Kacsh found was that, according to state legis-lature, any school not rated at

a profi cient level by the year 2014 would be closed, some-thing that didn’t settle right with Kacsh. In an attempt to take matters into his own hands, Kacsh founded S4OS with the hope that the voices of students would be heard. “I believe that students can have the strongest voice in education because we are the ones involved with education everyday, we are the ones af-fected by this,” Kacsh said. So Kacsh started S4OS in collaboration with Colorado Options in Education Presi-dent Jennifer Wisniewski. “At Colorado Options' Board meeting in October, 2011, we decided we wanted to help establish a student branch of our organization,” Wis-niewski said. “Alex seemed like the perfect fi t and he was already beginning his work with S4OS, so it was a partner-ship that needed to happen.” Now, S4OS is well on its way to tackle education’s big-gest problems in an effort to preserve and encourage au-thentic education. “About a month ago we created a rough outline for our forums, which has really al-lowed for a lot of other ideas to come out and for a lot of communication with our mem-bers,” Kacsh said. “Right now, we are creating more ideas for events, videos, and actions that we can take.” S4OS has no offi cial home, so for the time being. They meet in the commons area of Jefferson County Open School, an alternative learning school about 30 minutes north

of Columbine. “Right now, we try to meet on a weekly basis. We will hopefully fi nd a central loca-tion for all members of the group so we can continue our actions,” Kacsh said. While S4OS is populated largely by students from alter-native learning backgrounds, from schools such as Jeffco Open School and The Patch-work School, the organiza-tion is meant to be a voice for all students in Colorado, and potentially the entire nation. Kacsh is urging students from all educational backgrounds to join his forum to discuss and delineate both the problems and successes of education, as well as its future. “We encourage students, parents, and teachers to take part in our actions. Anyone can join by simply contacting us, we love new members and people joining our organiza-tion,” Kasch said. “By partak-ing in our meetings and events and sharing thoughts and ideas, you can make a difference. The more people involved, the more profound an impact we can make in the legislation.”


visit the S4OS website for more information

NEWS MARCH 2012 4

Are lower insurance rates the only reason par-ents decide to put a camera in their teen’s car? With teen drivers being greatly distracted, some parents go as far as cameras and GPS and speed tracking devices for safety measures while some people see it as causing problems and being very intrusive on teens’ privacy. Insurance rates are based off of how likely a person is, statistically, to get in a car accident. The numbers are not on teenagers’ side. The risk for people between the ages of 16-19 is three times higher than people between the ages of 65-69 in the risk of a crash per mile driven according to American Family Insurance. Many insurance companies offer parents tech-nology to help keep track of their teen’s driving behavior. American Family Insurance provides differ-ent applications that let parents watch their teens’ driving habits. Insurance companies offer this option because it can provide discounts on insur-ance rates. “I had a camera in my car to lower my in-surance rates by 10 percent,” Senior Remington Reynolds said. SAFECO is a device that offers technology to help parents track teen driving behavior such as speed and location. A motion sensor device is in-stalled near the rear view mirror of the vehicle. It records sights and sounds inside and outside the vehicle when triggered by erratic vehicle move-ment, such as swerving, hard braking, and sud-den acceleration. When the device is triggered, images and sounds are sent to the Teen Safe Drive Center where professional driving coaches analyze the footage to provide tips. Parents log in weekly to the confi dential report which allows them to watch videos and an evaluation of their teen driv-ers’ performance compared with other teens. “I think that these apps could be a positive

teaching tool, but it really depends on how you are using the device,” parent and special needs teacher Mr. Ortiz said. Some devices come in the form of phone applications, such as iGuardianTeen for the An-droid phones. The monitor has 17 safety features, including the ability to monitor speed, braking, swerving and whether the driver was talking on the phone. The phone is mounted on the dash-board and can record continuous video of activi-ties in the car. It emails a driving report to the parents after every driving session. A danger of mounting a device like a phone or a camera in a car is that it can distract the driver from the road. “The bad part of a camera is that I tended to focus more on the camera then on my actual driv-ing,” Reynolds said. Another app for the iPhone is a GPS motion control that beeps when the driver goes too fast or drives out of control. A more expensive app is the Mobile Teen GPS. This tracking device costs $249. There is also a $29 monthly fee for the Super Spy Gizmo: it is hard-wired into the teen’s car and sends a text and email of their location, speed, and even a web map of the vehicle’s current location to their parents. This kind of technology has increased the amount of control parents have over not just how their teens drive, but where they go and what they do. “This technology has gotten to the point where it is almost crossing the line. There are some pri-vacy boundaries being broken,” Ortiz said. “The parents’ purpose is key. It could be used as a teaching tool that could be very helpful in the development of the teens’ driving skills. But if it is primarily just a spying tool then you have bigger problems, and possibly an unhealthy rela-tionship,” Ortiz said.


Car Cameras, Other Devices Track Teens’ Driving HabitsInsurance companies provide parents technology to track driving behaviors

Cassidy Cristofano

Senior Jenni Robinson prepares to back out of a parking space. Robinson has a camera on her review mirror that, when triggered, records her driving habits. photo by Sevan Strait

S4OS Fights for EducationCoalition of students from different Colorado schools work with government to improve state’s educational system

Trevor Ogborn

A group of students discuss current issues in education during a meeting of Students 4 Our Schools at Jeffco Open School. photo by Trevor Ogborn

5MARCH 2012 NEWSMARCH 2012

What if someone promised to pay half of the exam fee and $100 bonus to anyone took an AP class and passed the test? Would that convince you to take an AP class? That’s pre-cisely the goal of the Colorado Legacy Foundation (CLF)–to get attendance and, ultimately, test scores in Advanced Place-ment math, science and Eng-lish classes. “How you do on the AP test is a predictor of college success,” said Mr. Lentini, the counselor that has been work-ing with the CLF on the behalf of Columbine. According to a press re-lease from the CLF, student achievement requires “effec-tive leaders in every school,

effective teachers in every classroom and healthy and focused students who come to school ready to learn.” Columbine High School was chosen to be a part of the program in 2010, but the fund-ing that the CLF had planned on getting fell through. “Two years ago, the school heard about a proposal for the school to be in this program where they would give in-centives for students to take AP classes and get passing scores,” Lentini said. This year, though, the pro-gram received $10.5 million from the National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI). With the money in place, they plan to start the three-year grant in 10 schools in the com-ing 2012-13 school year, along with another 10 in 2013-14 and a fi nal 10 in 2014-15. The CLF’s goal is to en-courage AP enrollment, espe-cially among minority groups. “They want to increase underrepresented populations of students taking AP classes which is typically defi ned by minority groups like Hispanic and African American eth-nic groups,” Lentini said. “In most schools those kids don't normally participate in the AP program.” They are offering to pay half of the test fee and to give $100 to both the student and teacher if the student scores a

3 or higher (based on a 5-point scale) on the test. They are also offering to pay for teach-ers to go training to teach AP classes, and they are willing to sponsor Saturday study days to help students prepare for the test. “It’s based on a business model. Business is driven by the idea of profi t,” Lentini said. “If we offer kids a fi nan-cial incentive to take and pass the test, then more kids will take and pass the test. If we of-fer teachers a fi nancial incen-tive to get those kids to pass the test, then those teachers will probably do a better job of getting their kids to pass the test.” The reason that the founda-tion was not able to go through with the plan in 2010 was that the NMSI was unable to re-ceive the grant that they were waiting for from the Depart-ment of Education because of ineligibility. One of the requirements of the Investing in Innovation (i3) grant is that each applicant is required to raise from 5-15% of the grant money in matching, private funds, depending on the type of grant. In 2010, the NMSI was unable to complete that requirement, but this year they have raised the 10% of the $15 million dollars of the grant that they applied for. Now that the CLF has re-ceived a defi nite source of

funding, they are starting up the program again and are in the process of choosing 10 schools to receive the three-year grant. So far, 11 schools have applied including Col-umbine, who was invited by the CLF to apply. The CLF has set a goal for each school to try to achieve based on the number of stu-dents in AP classes in 2010. They have set a goal for Col-umbine High School of 274 passing scores on the tests. This is a 64% increase from the 167 passing scores that students received in 2010. Now there are two ways that Columbine could try to reach that goal. One way is to increase the percentage of students passing the test to nearly 100% from the average of about 75%. The other is to increase the number of stu-dents taking AP classes, which would, theoretically, make the number of passing scores go up as well. Either way, that is the goal for Columbine this fall. On February 27, Samantha Long, a representative from the CLF, came to Columbine to meet with Mr. Lentini, Mr. Asnicar and a few teachers. The CLF will review Colum-bine’s grant proposal and will announce the decision at the end of March of this year.


CLF QUALIFYING AP COURSES

AP English Language/Composition

AP English Literature/Composition

AP Calculus AB

AP Calculus BC

AP Statistics

AP Biology

AP Chemistry

AP Physics B

AP Physics C

Foundation offers incentives for APColorado Legacy Foundation provides a grant for schools to increase AP student enrollmentEmily Buschman

For the majority of students in Colorado, CSAP (Colorado Stu-dent Assessment Program) is just another fact of life. For the past 14 years, students have geared up in the spring to take the standardized tests which measure the effectiveness of teachers and schools in teaching math, science, writing, and reading to students. The test starts in third grade and goes until tenth grade with tests every spring. All students take the reading, writing, and math tests with students in fi fth, eighth, and tenth grade taking an additional science test. Last year, however, students took the last of the CSAP tests and are now getting ready for the TCAP (Transitional Student Assessment Program) this spring. The most noticeable change is, of course, in the name, but there are quite a few other changes in the scheduling and content of the TCAP exams.

“The biggest difference for students is that it’s only doing to be four days of testing instead of six like in the past,” Assistant Principal Mr. Christy said. Christy is the school administrator in charge of TCAP preparations. “It’s more testing in a day, but there are fewer days for test-ing,” Christy said. Testing will be on Tuesday, March 6 and 13, as well as Wednesday, March 7 and 14. The reason for the new test is a change in the standards that are going to be tested. A few years ago, all the content areas of Writing, Math, Science, and Reading revised the subjects to be tested, so now there is a new focus that incorporates modern ways of thinking. “It’s not just a list of topics anymore,” Earth Science teacher Mrs. Mosier said. Mosier was on the committee to update the science portion of the test. “There’s a lot more 21st century skills [on the test],” Mosier said.

This means that the testing system will have to be revised as well. Until the new test, which has yet to be named, is developed, the TCAP will be the testing used. TCAP tests only the content that is common to both the old and the new standards. “TCAP is for transitioning to the new assessment system over the next few years,” Mosier said. Another possibility in the future is computerizing the tests, but that requires more computers and money to introduce. “The goal of the state is to take that testing experience and, instead of paper and pencil with a booklet, move it to an online system,” Mosier said. TCAP and its successor are not going to be the last standard-ized tests. As curriculum changes, tests will change as well. “It’s like history–as more history happens, we have to change what is taught to accommodate,” Christy said.


Spring Cleaning: Out with CSAP, in with TCAPNew state assessment rolls out for this year’s freshman and sophomore classesEmily Buschman

Did you feel like you were treated dif-ferently? Do people still treat you differently?

I was defi nitely treated differently from people at school and random people. Kids at school would never say anything directly to me, but to my boyfriend and my friends. Most comments I heard were saying I was a slut. Many people said that I had ruined my boyfriend’s life, which was hard to get past, because for a long time I felt like I did. Random people would tell me I shouldn’t have considered having the baby, which was way out of line for someone I didn’t know, and there was the people that said my life was over. I am still treated way differ-ently, when I’m with my baby in public people stare and make comments about my age. It bothered me at fi rst, but I’m proud of my decision and love my baby girl.

What do your friends do? Do they treat you differently?

I lost my best friends when I was pregnant, which was very hard to come to terms with, because I needed peo-ple to talk to and didn’t have any. I didn’t have a good support system until I was about fi ve months pregnant. I spoke at my church and told them I was going to have a baby, and I’ve never felt more supported. Friends I had lost are now my best friends and are extremely support-ive. I never felt looked down upon at church, like I have in public. After my mom had thought through everything that was going on she became my best friend. I tell her everything and she and my dad help me so much with Isa. I wouldn’t have gotten through this without the sup-port of my parents.

Have you thought about your future? What are your plans after high school for you and your baby?

My future plans have changed from before I was preg-nant, but I will not change my life goals. I am planning to attend Red Rocks for two years after I graduate with my class and after those two years, I am hoping to attend a university close to home. I’m going to study Psychology in Criminal Justice. My parents have been very generous and are helping me fi nancially and even letting me live at home until I feel ready enough to be out on my own.

from page 2

In HER Own Words:Taryn Fuchs

OPINION MARCH 2012 6

COURIER STAFF

Editor-in-Chief:Abbey BorchersDesign Editor:Heidi RobertsNews Editor:

Danielle SheehanCulture Editor:Celeste Renn

Sports Editor:Jordyn VoegeleWebsite Editor:Trevor OgbornPhoto Editor:Sevan Strait

Staff Reporters:Jacob AndersonEmily Buschman

Cassidy CristofanoChristian Hutchins

Laura HuwaRegan Long

Gabby LopezVanna McCordChloe RobertsJane Selindh

Guest Astrologist:Emily Partida

Adviser:Mr. Friesen

POLICY

The Courier is theoffi cial student newspa-per of Columbine High

School. Expression made by students in The Courier

is not an expression of Jefferson County Public School’s Board Policy, and the school district and its employees are

immune from any civil or criminal action based on any expression made or published by students.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:

The Courier Letter Guide-lines: Please limit your

submission to 200 words. Letters may be edited for space and inaccuracies, and The Courier reserves

the right not to publish any letter. Please submit to the Publications Room, Mr. Eric Friesen’s mailbox

in the main offi ce, or e-mail to columbinehs.

[email protected]

As the Newspaper editors sat in a circle discussing what editorials should be written, Mr. Friesen’s fi ve-year old daughter Tori, who had joined us at work night, walked into our circle with something to say. She explained that her fa-vorite part of school that day was her dance party. Standing in the middle of a group of six high-school students, Tori burst into a song about dino-saurs, adding dance moves to the song as she went. When she was done and we all smiled and applauded en-thusiastically. As she returned to her computer game, we all began to talk about how none of us would be willing to get up in front of our peers and do what she had just done. In fact, we concluded, there were very few high-school students who would be will-ing to do anything like that. This was the exact mes-sage Craig Zablocki tried to convey to the Columbine

students at the Winter Formal Assembly. He spoke about how kids have a much dif-ferent mindset than teenag-ers. They are willing to be the center of attention and are completely unaware of the term “embarrassment.” When Zablocki asked Col-umbine students, “Who in this room can paint a picture?” only a few raised their hands–

most were involved in some type of art class. But when he had asked a group of fi rst graders the same question, all of the kids’ hands shot up. In reality, all of us can paint a picture. Some of us can paint incredible pictures, while others can only paint stick fi gures. But all of us can paint a picture. So why did only a few stu-

dents raise their hands when Zablocki posed this question? Because we all weighed the consequences of doing so in terms of what the people sit-ting next to us would think if we did. “If I raise my hand,” some people must have thought, “will my friend call me out because they know I’m not a good artist?” Others prob-

ably thought, “I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging if I raise my hand.” But Zablocki didn’t ask if we were good artists, and his question wasn’t a test of our modesty. All he wanted to know was who can paint a picture. But our responses weren’t dependent upon our ability to paint a picture–they were dependent upon what

other people would think of us. As we grow up we start to care more about what our peers think of us. We begin to conform to the way society says we should be. Those who don’t are immediately pegged as “different” or “weird.” The spotlight is where al-most every little kid wants to be. They love being the center of attention and making older people laugh. But as teenag-ers we make every effort to avoid just that, for fear of be-ing judged. Society tries to kick the “kid” in people out of them. As a result, we are afraid to be embarrassed by being the center of attention or doing something stupid and being judged because of it. Even the drama students would struggle walking into the middle of a group of stu-dents and begin singing and dancing to a song about dino-saurs like Tori did.

Remembering When We Were Young

Society tries to kick the “kid” in people out of them.

Misplaced Parking Lot Management

EDITORIAL BOARD

Celeste Renn

Danielle Sheehan

Jordyn Voegele

Abbey Borchers

As they were crossing the stu-dent parking lot at lunch one day recently, two of our staff-ers were almost hit by a car. They were walking along a row of cars when one began to back out. Having made eye contact with the driver, our staffers assumed she would stop and wait for them to pass, like any other driver would in this situation. But instead the driver backed up more quickly, nearly hitting the two staffers. Thankfully, they were able to jump out of the way in time. Then the girl drove away as her friends fl ipped them off. This near-accident raised several concerns among our staff, the greatest being that efforts toward parking lot regulation at Columbine are severely misplaced. During parking lot “rush hours” (the time as students are leaving at A lunch, B lunch, and after school), cer-tain students resort to highly

dangerous means to expe-dite their process of leaving. Some drivers with big trucks or four-wheel drive SUVs cut their wait time by driving over the median and forcing their way into the line. Some come within centimeters of hitting another car as they attempt to merge out of turn, and seeing

two cars play a dangerously close game of chicken as they vie for the next spot in line is not uncommon. Other drivers, like the girl who almost hit two of our staffers, abandon all regard for the safety of others and at-tempt to simply run over any-one who might slow their exit from the parking lot. These are all reckless,

dangerous driving behaviors which have the potential to cause serious injury to stu-dents, yet they don’t seem to concern campus supervisors or school resource offi cers as much as turn-lane laws and parking tickets. What confuses us is that those responsible for monitor-

ing the parking lot apparently have the time to pull over stu-dents and hand out $110 fi nes for not turning into the proper lane when exiting the park-ing lot, but they can’t spare 15 minutes at lunch and at the end of the day to sit out-side and make sure students are not putting others at risk. What confuses us is that those school offi cials seem to have

plenty of time to drive around the parking lot on a regular basis and slap tickets on cars without parking passes, yet can’t fi nd a few extra minutes during parking lot rush hours to make sure students aren’t driving over the median or at-tempting to hit pedestrians. We don’t deny that enforc-

ing the turn-lane law is impor-tant, or that giving out park-ing tickets is a consequence that should be administered to those who park illegally. That’s all fair and good. The problem is not that school offi -cials are enforcing these rules; it’s that they aren’t enforcing other rules. After our two staffers were nearly hit in the parking lot,

they approached an admin-istrator about this incident as well as about other threats to safety they saw in the park-ing lot. Their complaints were ignored, and two weeks later, nothing further has been done to regulate safety in the stu-dent parking lot. If just one school resource offi cer, campus supervisor, or administrator could spend about 15 minutes outside monitoring egress from the parking lot during rush hours, the student parking lot would be a much safer place. Even if school offi cials could do this just once or twice a week, the situation might improve. If students see a school offi cial standing outside, they will likely check their own behav-ior, and even if they don’t, regular visits to the parking lot would allow school offi cials to peg reckless, dangerous drivers and discipline them appropriately.

These reckless, dangerous driving behaviors don’t seem to concern

laws and parking tickets.

We live in a world where tech-nology is constantly changing. But what if we could put all the technology we have to good use in school. I’m talking about taking the iPads, Nooks, smart-phones, laptops and tablets that many students have already, and using them as a teaching device rather than a distraction device. Now imagine a school where there are no lockers because they aren’t needed. There are no books or papers to accumulate in folders and no need for notebooks in class. In fact, this school has no pens or pencils, notebooks, or even cal-culators. No, there are not di-nosaurs roaming right outside the window. This is a school in Mineola, New York, that is us-ing 21st century technology to provide an innovative type of learning environment. Each fi fth grader has been given an iPad which they use for all their school work. They can use them to do everything from emailing a teacher for help to turning in homework to accessing their entire lesson for the day. Each classroom is also equipped with Smart Boards that connect directly to the stu-dents’ iPads. Mineola isn’t the only school either. According to Apple, there are over 2,300 districts that are using iPad programs and over 1.5 million devices in use in those schools. There are more than 20,000 educational apps available on the iPad, as Apple has decided to “reinvent the textbook” by working with textbook compa-nies to create e-textbooks with interactive features designed for tablets. It seems like an ideal situa-tion. No paper or pencils helps reduce waste and stress on the environment while kids only have to carry their iPad, not 20 or more pounds of textbooks, papers, and other miscellaneous items throughout the day. Now, most people would

be concerned about how much iPads cost–$500 dollars or more–but if the average family spends about $95 each year on a single student’s supply lists, the iPad pays for itself, as long as it is treated well. I considered buying an iPad for high school and my parents offered to help me pay for it because it would help my education. With the recent in-vention of textbooks for iPad, I would have been able to buy my textbook for my AP his-tory class for much less than I ended up paying for it. I would also be able to carry it around more conveniently consider-ing that the iPad weighs about 1.3 pounds compared to the 3.5 or more pounds that a text-book often weighs. But in the

end, I found out that I was still required to use the paper text-books in class and could only use an iPad while at home or during my free time at school. Schools where students have been allowed to have more technology in the class-room have showed pretty con-sistent improvements in test scores and students willingness to learn. In one study, students who annotated text on their iP-ads scored 25% higher on ques-tions regarding the information in the text than those who read from the textbook. Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon have already be-gun working on creating apps that support learning for all ages. Apple has apps that could be helpful in nearly all classes. Another benefi t would be the ability to take notes straight

onto the iPad which is often faster than hand writing notes. Tablets could also allow stu-dents to access their textbooks more easily. In fact, Apple has already released certain textbooks for about $15 dollars each on av-erage. This is signifi cantly less than the hundred dollars or more that is common when purchas-ing textbooks for higher level classes. It also would mean that the textbooks for regular class-es would be updated every year instead of the four-eight year old textbooks that are common in classrooms. So why are we still banned from having any kind of lap-top, smart phone or tablet dur-ing class? Instead of banning devices like these because teachers are worried about distractions, we should put the technology we have today to good use. Many smartphones and iP-ods have applications like dic-tionaries and translators which could serve as easily accessible reference resources in class. Some also have the ability to record audio, so students could record lessons in addition to taking notes or record memos for themselves to keep track of homework they need to do. Laptops could benefi t stu-dents by allowing them to take notes more quickly and save them in organized fi les, or have access to supplemental materi-als on the Internet. In fact, at the college level, most students use their laptops in class–some college classes even require it. We have college-level courses at Columbine, so wouldn’t it make sense for students in those classes to reap the ben-efi ts of the use of this technol-ogy in the classroom too? If more students would in-form themselves on the educa-tional benefi ts of technology and then told administrators of their support, maybe there Col-umbine would begin welcom-ing the use of these technolo-gies in the classroom.


7MARCH 2012 OPINION

Teachers Don’t Want Apples at School

Emily Buschman

STAFF COMMENTARY

Instead of banning devices like these

because teachers are worried about dis-

tractions, we should put the technology we have today to good

use.

Who will be the next Nir-vana? When will there be an-other artist who is as raw and passionate as Kurt Cobain? Which band will come out of no where and take the music world by storm? But the question we should be asking is, will any of this even be possible? These are things that could happen again, but with the in-fl ux of illegally downloading songs, the music industry is changing–and not necessarily for the better. According to the Re-cord Industry Association of America (RIAA), 30 billion songs were downloaded ille-gally from 2004 to 2009. This takes place because of down-loading music from sites such

as Limewire or any other site similar to it. Taking these songs is the same stealing as CD right off the shelf of a store; the band does not make any money

from that “sale.” And if the band does not make money that means that their label is not making a profi t from hav-ing them. This could lead to the band not having the same oppor-

tunities as another artist be-cause the label is convinced that their sales are not as big, and in the worst case scenario the musician is dropped from the label completely. Sure, none of this would happen if you downloaded just one song, but the fact that there are 100 illegally downloaded songs for every one legally downloaded one does have an impact on people. You affect more than just the artist when you illegally download music. The band may be the person you hear, but don’t forget about all of the people who had to mix, record, and produce that al-bum or song. They are just as affected as the musician is when it comes to download-ing. Producers are also in the

Gabby Lopez

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STAFF COMMENTARYIllegally Downloading Music has Downfalls

Taking these songs is the same stealing as CD right off the shelf of a store; the band does not make any money from that

“sale.”

continued on page 8

MARCH 2012 8 OPINION

HEARD IN THE HALLS“Oh yeah, my dad smells like your dad.”

“I’m going to take your lotion, take the cap of it and fart in it!”

“Belly buttons are my life.”

“What if you were going to the bathroom during it?”

“You could have just died. It would have destroyed your life!”

“Everything in my fridge is spicy!”

“The muffins . . . they know!”

“Feel the breeze between your leg hairs!”

What do you think of when you hear someone mention “World of Warcraft”? Do you think to yourself, “What a nerd,” or do you express outward signs of disapproval through laughter at or avoid-ance of that person? Chances are you had a neg-ative response after overhear-ing this person talking about WoW, as they call it and, let’s be honest, probably classifi ed them as an outcast with abso-lutely no life away from his computer. This is the typical reaction to anyone who plays

this video game, which is widely considered the epitome of nerdom. But why? Among all of the hobbies and obsessions out there, who picks which ones are cool? Who gets the divine right to construct a hu-man hierarchy based on other people’s personal interests? So, if not video games (including but not limited to WoW), what else do high schoolers spend their free time doing? Well, after a investigative trip to Face-book, I felt a disturbance in the force–”Jersey Shore” (an unfortunately popular MTV show) has 16,069,031 “likes” on Facebook with a whopping 249,111 people talking about

it at the time. I wish to meet the per-son with the audacity to call me a nerd for liking Star Wars (with a mere 7,269,987

“likes”) while the degener-ates on Jersey Shore generate such popularity. If a “Jersey Shore” fan can muster up the mental capacity to call me a nerd, what keeps me from be-ing able to call them a binge-drinking tramp? If we are what we watch, and Star Wars

or video games are classifi ed as nerdy, there is no other way to describe the fi lth that is that sorry excuse for a TV show. Let’s follow up on this idea

of exploiting reality TV stars’ (usually superfi cial) suffering. Who has an excuse for “The Hills”? “The Bachelor”? And perhaps worst of all, “Jersey Shore”? Shows like this teach people to make absolute im-beciles of themselves. Believe it, or not, urinating in public

like Snookie doesn’t make you sexy in anyway. All it will do is earn you an indecent exposure ticket and a peculiar smell that will attract anything but members of the opposite sex. People who watch these ridiculous, superfi cial shows are accepted far more easily by our peers than those who watch “Star Wars” or play WoW. Why? Who gets to de-cide that your guilty pleasure is more socially acceptable than mine? All of these shows and video games are pastimes that people enjoy in their free time, but mine may place me at the bottom of the social ladder, while yours may place you at

the top. I know some of you really want to fi nd out what Snookie does tonight, but let me save you the time and just go with the generic answer: SOME-THING STUPID. So before you judge me (and my level 43 human warlock) for liking “Star Wars” or video games, take the time to realize how much time you spend watch-ing the fi lth on TV and what exactly you are watching. When you realize how absurd some of the stuff you watch is, maybe you’ll stop judging me and my galactic brethren for watching what we watch.


Hobbies Attract Unfair Stereotypes

Sevan Strait

STAFF COMMENTARY

line of fi re when layoffs come around. The RIAA says that more than 71,000 jobs have been lost because of downloading music illegally. We may not be able to hear those people when we listen to a song, but they play an important role and should not be jeopardized because some people think it’s cool to steal music. If there is nobody to produce the music then how will any new bands be able to blos-som? With the increase in illegal downloads it is more likely that record labels will focus more of their time and money on artists that have al-ready established themselves or on a singer or group that they know will be pleasing to their clients. Labels are less willing to take risks on

new bands over fear of losing money. Bands are forced to fi nd ways to get their music out to the public, even selling it directly online. There are not really any benefi ts from downloading illegally except for the fact that you get it for free. Most of the time the music is a much lower quality than what it would be if you had just gone out and bought the record. And when you decide to use a website for the music you are more prone to getting a virus on your computer. But you still get to save $9.99 on the CD, right? I believe that there are bands out there who have the potential to be like Nirvana, but they might not have the same opportunities be-cause of how the music industry has changed. So next time you want to download that song think about Kurt Cobain and how different music would have been without him.


Who gets the divine right to construct a human hierarchy based on other people’s personal

interests?

Enroll in our NEW

Associate of Applied Science degree

from page 7Downloading INTERESTED IN ADVERTISING IN THE COURIER?

WE HAVE A READERSHIP OF OVER 1,500 JUST WAITING TO SEE YOUR MESSAGE. Contact Courier Business Manager Jacob Anderson at [email protected] for more information.

9MARCH 2012

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10TopPisces

February 19 - March 20

Monthly Prediction: Top o’ the mornin’ to ye, me fellow Pisces! You were lucky enough to be born around St. Patrick’s day! However, this year is also a leap year, which will prove to be very unlucky for you. Whilst in the middle of celebrations on March 17, the thought will suddenly strike you that–because of the leap year–it should actually be March 18. You will try to tell people this philosophical conclusion, but the confetti and the green everywhere will become too confusing for you, resulting in you babbling like Mr. Thomas and potentially seiz-ing on the ground. Your episode will be recorded by various people and put on YouTube, eventually gaining over 100,000,000,000 views. Finally, your lifelong dream of being famous will be realized, just not in the way you had imagined.

Where You’ll Be in 10 Years: It’s time to drop the ham-mer–in ten years, you will be friendless, because the YouTube sensa-tion will have rendered you the laughingstock of the whole world. Fortunately for you, your multiple cats will always think you’re the cats’ pajamas.

Horo

scope

Rebel Yell: Only 14 days until “The Hunger Games” movie hits theaters!

Rebel Hell: Being a person with the audacity not to have read “The Hunger Games” yet.

Cinema Secrets: It’s all about the simple things in Hollywood; Best Picture films no longer require color, a script or actors with good diction, and the make-up artists who transformed hundreds of actors into the magical creatures of the world of Harry Potter just don’t stack up to the make-up artist who made Meryl Streep look like an old woman.

What are you most looking forward to about spring?K: So many choices! Lacrosse season, talent show, driving the vans

with T on Prom night, Graduation!T: The spring play, our girls soccer team taking state and “The Hobbit”

finally being made into a movie.

What’s the longest you’ve ever waited in line? For what?T: It was probably only a few minutes, but waiting in line for the

bathroom at Lakewood Memorial Stadium after eating Good Times and drinking a bedwetter-sized Mountain Dew felt like a lifetime.

If you could live in any home on a TV series (past or present), whose would it be?

K: Wayne Manor!T: I would live in that house on “Jersey Shore” just long enough to

introduce myself as “The Solution.”

If you could be a guest star on any show what would it be?T: Have you seen my truck? I would want to be on “Pimp my Ride.”

If you were to write a book, what would it be about?K: It would be a touching story about the healing power of love.

What’s one movie you watch over and over again?K: “Say Anything”–at least once a year.T: I watch “Tommy Boy” if I need a good laugh, “The Notebook” if I need

a good cry, and “Twilight” if I need to induce vomiting.

10. The Bermuda Triangle- “I went to the Bermuda triangle and it just sucked in my homework!”

9. North Korea- “I love dictatorships! But maybe that’s just me...”

8. Aldarrean (“Star Wars”)- “To Aldarrean you go, if nerdiness you seek.”

7. The Seattle Gum Wall- “Bring a pack of apple-pie flavored gum and wow the wall!”

6. Nebraska (or similarly boring states) - “As much as I love going crazy to the point my friends are abundances of corn...”

5. Panem (“Hunger Games”)- “It would be a GO TO if Tonelli was in the arena with Thomas.”

4. The 4 Corners (it’s in the wrong place) - “It’s so worth paying to stand in one state!”

3. Juarez, Mexico- “Why go to Juarez when you can just hit up Clement park?”

2. Titanic 3D- “The steamy car scene would be even freakier in 3D!”

And the number one place not to go over Spring Break:

1. The girls’ bathroom- “‘‘Nuf said.”

Places not to go over Spring Break...

adical

Ever since the Apple products fi rst came out, they have served as a distraction for students and an annoyance for teachers. Whether kids are using their iPhones and iPods to listen to music, play games, or communicate with friends, students are often distract-ed from school by some sort of Apple technology. However, with the recent development of iBooks and iTextbooks, teachers may now use the technology that was once a distraction as a strategy

for teaching. Apple is beginning to include more educational tools in its product line to allow students to have easier access to books and programs. On January 19 of this year, Apple announced iBooks 2 for iPad, featuring iBooks textbooks. According to Apple’s website, the Apple textbook is supposed to be “an entirely new kind of textbook that’s dynamic, engaging and truly interactive.”Popular education companies such as Houghton Miffl in Har-

court, McGraw-Hill, and Pearson will be selling education ser-vices like textbooks on the iBookstore. Most of these books will be priced at $14.99 or less. This could save schools a lot of money, as textbooks cost any-where from $80 to $100 for new book. Textbooks also have a cost to maintain and rebind. However, schools would have to pay a yearly fee for the publisher’s rights to the iPad version, instead of paying for a fl at fee for a textbook that lasts fi ve years or more. But, hard copy text books could contain outdated infor-mation, while the Apple textbooks are updated every year. Apple’s new-found focus in education is making it easier for teachers to incorporate electronics into education, and Apple iP-ads have become more popular for teachers to use as educational instruments. “Lakewood High School has iPads they use like our laptops, and they have iPad carts,” English teacher Mr. Webb said. Webb’s wife works at Lakewood High School. Webb went on to say that the students at Lakewood do not use laptop computers as much as iPads. Senior Ben Norton has two siblings that attend Front Range Christian School who both need Apple iPads in order to complete schoolwork. “They are in seventh and eighth grade and use a lot of apps for their classes and have textbooks [on their iPads],” Norton said. Speech and language Pathologist Ms. Becker, who works in the ESS department at Columbine, has iPads that are used spe-cifi cally as educational tools. Becker said that she has just started using the iPads this semester, but has wanted to use iPads for educational purposes since they fi rst came out. “iPads have benefi ted my teaching in many ways,” Becker said. “There are so many apps out there for topics I want to work on with my students, and this allows me to not have to reinvent the wheel every time. Also, it is amazing to see how engaged the students become when they are the ones using the technology.” However, even though the Apple iPads have increasingly found their way into education, Becker added that she has no other plans at the moment to incorporate more Apple products, but hopes to add more iPads “so every student in the class could use the technology.”


CULTUREMARCH 2012 10

Apple Seeks to Reinvent Textbooks and Education

Senior Amanda Augustini takes notes on her iPad during AP English Literature. IPads, along with other kinds of Apple technology, have found their way into classrooms as educational tools. photo by Sevan Strait

Computer giant takes steps toward integrating their technology into classrooms

Celeste Renn

This year’s musical, “The Music Man,” was performed on February 22, 23, and 24. It was the culmination of months of hard work and preparation by the cast and crew. The musical was about a con man who comes to a town to get money by starting up a marching band class for boys. The main character, Harold Hill, was played by Senior

Zach Lubline in Cast A. “I had to deal with the act-ing, singing and dancing side of the show,” Lubline said. “During the last couple weeks before the show, I had to be at rehearsal from at least 6 p.m. to around 10 p.m. every day.” The rest of the cast put in a lot of rehearsal time as well. “Students had to work for four months on the musical,” said Mrs. Schwartz, one of the three directors of the musical.

A pit orchestra made up of students provides the music for the play. “Pit spends 10 hours

working on the music itself, and 15 hours to be in tune with the cast,” Mr. O’Neil, director

of the pit orchestra, said. “I’m proud that all of our hard work led to a great fi nal

product,” Lubline said.


“The Music Man” a Hit on the Columbine Stage

Months of hard work come together on the Columbine stage for production of the musical

Christian Hutchins & Abbey Borchers

Cast A marches on stage to take a bow following their performance of “The Music Man” on Friday, February 24. The musical was performed by two casts on the evenings of February 22 through 25. photo by Danielle Sheehan

11

CULTUREMARCH 2012

It was a frigid Thursday night in February when I interviewed Red Fox Run at the cozy Marquis Theatre. We walked down the stairs and towards the green room; it smelled faintly of cigarettes and dust, and they gathered on to the couches and table. It was then that I realized how radical these guys really were. The fact that they were taking time out from their night to do an interview for a high school paper blew me away. It was this act that showed how much they care about their music, but also their fans. On stage there is never a dull moment. From the constant foot stamping of bassist Matt Moss-berg to the haunting, yet alluring, voice of the lead singer Daniel Rondeau, the entire show is a ball of energy. Red Fox Run is just as good on their new CD “Take Control,” as they are live. The band has so much energy and passion for what they are doing that it radiates off the stage and into the crowd. The melodies and choruses of every song will have the audience singing along. The band is infl uenced by Radiohead, The Foo Fighters, and The Beatles. All of these sounds come through in their powerful bass and drum beats. The great amount of emotion put into the live performance goes to show that these guys really do care about the music and more importantly, their fans. Guitarist Josh Hester describes their unique sound as “Weezer trying to be Radiohead.” Those are some pretty big shoes to fi ll, but

they execute it fl awlessly. All of these bands are relevant in their unique sound. The infl uence on them is a good one–all of these artists come together to form Red Fox Run. Their sound is classic rock, but with a hint of that independent fl air people love to hear. “We want to make music we like to hear. It is for other people’s enjoyment, but it is also for our enjoyment,” Hester said. Music is more than just a pastime for the band–it is their passion. They aim to make mu-sic that they enjoy and want to listen to, rather

than making something that will get them on the radio. That is true commitment to art. Each band member has a unique reason as to why they wanted to play music. “I learned to play guitar so that I could sing,” Roneau, lead singer, said. Drum-mer Tristan Ringering said he was most drawn into it because of the

feeling he gets when all eyes are on him. Guitar-ist and keys player, Lucas Hendrson, was part of a musical family, much like bassist Matt Moss-berg. Whatever the force behind their interest in music, the passion is there and that shows from the way that they play. Even though the music industry has changed from what it was 10 years ago, that does not mean local bands will not make it big. “Red Fox Run is going all the way,” Ron-deau said. With that much passion and confi -dence in their sound, Red Fox Run has what it takes to become the next big name in the Indie-Rock world.


With their catchy hooks and melodies, Red Fox Run is the next big thing

Red Fox Run takes Stage in

Indie Music Scene

Members of Red Fox Run perform at the Marquis Theatre. Red Fox Run is an up-and-coming Indie band with their roots in Colo-rado. photos by Gabby Lopez

IN THEATERS:

Dr. Suess’ The Lorax

Project X

John Carter

A Thousand Words

ON DVD:

The Adventures of Tin Tin

Happy Feet Two

The Descendants

Young Adult

My Week with Marilyn

The Three Musketeers

ON CD:

“Wrecking Ball” - Bruce Springsteen

“Letters from Burmingham” - Ruben Studdard

“Giants” - The Stranglers

IN CONCERT:

Red Hot Chili Peppers on March 4 at the Pepsi Center

Leftover Salmon on March 7 at the Fox Theater

Radiohead on March 13 at the First Bank Center

OUTWEEKTHIS

NEW

REL

EASE

S 3

/02

- 3/1

3Gabby Lopez

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MARCH 2012

CULTURE12

Two unique dances were held this year between Homecoming and Prom. On Saturday, December 10, Student Sen-ate put on Columbine’s fi rst-ever casual dance, called the Flip Dance. It was marketed as a dance that required no dressing up, no dates, no dinner plans, no stress. With a 50/50 chance of having to pay to get in, it was a very popular

event. The Winter Formal dance followed on Sat-urday, February 11. It was a more formal event than the Flip Dance, and was unique because of its girls-ask-guys style. Several students expressed their opinions on the Flip Dance, the Winter Formal, and how the two compared.


Flip Dance and Winter Formal Go

Anna Mutz (9)“I thought it [Flip Dance] was fun, but I feel like it would have been more fun if more people had gone, because for a while even after like half an hour or longer no one was really dancing so it was that awk-ward stage.”

Ava Ruppert (9)“The Flip Dance was a fun night. I liked how you could get a 50-50 chance of getting in free. And I had a great time with my friends.”

Pat Fontana (10)“The difference between the Flip Dance and the Win-ter Formal is that the Flip Dance was casual, and the Winter Formal was formal.”

Head-to-Head

Kiera McKee (11)“I went to the Winter Formal and it was a very good time.”

Grant Smallwood (11)“I defi nitely liked the Winter Formal because I look good when I am dressed up.”

Jordan Visser (11) “Flip Dance because it was more relaxed and just fun and Winter Formal was still fun but there was no stress for dresses and stuff.”

Robyn Thomas (11) “Both [dances] were a lot of fun and they were fo-cused on music and friends; they just had different feels. Winter Formal has that traditional aspect that a lot people like about dances, whereas the December Dance was very laid back and it wasn't a hassle.”

Mandy Guevara (11)“The Flip Dance was Columbine’s fi rst ever casual dance. The Junior Senate thought it would be great to have a dance without all the drama and work of dates and dinner. Winter Formal was just following tradition as the usual spring dance. This year we de-cided to try out a Sadie’s style dance. With that, the girls asked the boys, just to mix it up a bit.”

Chloe Roberts

Top left: Seniors Becci Miller (far left), Sarah Welton, Kaitlyn Breece and Robb Adamski have fun at the Winter Formal. Bottom right: students enjoy the Flip Dance while Senior Austin Pawelka DJs. photo courtesy of Rebelations.

Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and StumbleUpon now have some new competition on-line, as well as on iPods and iPhones. You can now “pin” your interests with the website and app, Pinterest. Pinterest was started in December 2009, and was a full, up-and-running website in March 2010, so this March marks Pinterest’s two year anniversary. But what is Pinterest? Pinterest organizes what users want to see by basic categories, such as funny pictures, reci-pes, or quotes. All any-one has to do is sign in, make some folders, and pin whatever they want in those folders. Fold-ers can be compilations of anything users want, with names like “My Wedding,” “Places I want to Travel” or “Cute Outfi ts.” “I pin all sorts of things but mostly pictures of clothes,” Junior Lillie Pettibone said. “You can get all sorts of outfi t ideas and look at all the clothes you wish you could afford.” Some of the freedom in-volved with Pinterest is that users can pin whatever they want. “I pin things like dresses

and shoes. Some of them are super pretty,” Freshman Brit-tany Crimmel said. One of the features that attracts people to Pinterest is all of the options available for things to pin. There is some-thing for everyone when you have a personalized account, which allows users to select their interests from different categories. Then, unlimited

results relating to those inter-ests pop up. “I love all the cool things on it! I love looking at stuff and getting cute ideas,” Junior Emily Gilbert said. Even though Pinterest is extremely popular and still growing in numbers, not ev-eryone likes it. Freshman Ol-ivia Greenwood isn’t a fan of Pinterest. “It is such a waste of

time. It isn’t very organized,” Greenwood said. “Also, all it is is pictures. And if that’s all it is, what is Facebook for?” Despite this, Pinterest has been immensely popular within the fi rst two years of its existence. From September to December 2011, the monthly count of different people who visited the site grew 429%. Since the beginning of 2012,

the number of daily us-ers has grown 145%. Pinterest seems to be a self-perpetuating phe-nomenon, as its popular-ity continues to grow by word of mouth. “I joined Pinter-est cause all my friends kept talking about how cool it was so I decided to see what it was,” Gil-bert said. “I joined Pinterest because my older sister showed it to me and I

have been addicted since,” Pettibone said. Even though anyone can sign up for Pinterest, it is still a female-dominated website. About 97% of American Pin-terest users are females. But, interestingly enough, 56% of men in the United Kingdom use Pinterest, as opposed to America’s 3%.


Pin Your Interests with Pinterest

Chloe Roberts

Pinterest has 11 MILLION users.

97% of Pinterest users are female.

Pinterest is 2 to 3 times more popular than Twitter was in the same stage.

Most Pinterest users live in Central America.

Pinterest’s monthly unique visitor users have grown 429% from September 2011.

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15MARCH 2012

SPORTS MARCH 2012 14

The boys’ basketball team isn’t the only basketball team that has done well this season. The unifi ed basketball team has won several of its games this season, including a game against rival Chatfi eld on Fri-day, February 17. Unifi ed basketball is a program Columbine has that many other schools do not. It brings together challenge pro-gram students and gives them a chance to play a sport they love. “It gives the students in the challenge program a chance to interact with their peers and to be the center of attention,” Coach Clark of the unifi ed basketball team said. Unifi ed basketball is essen-tially the same as traditional basketball except for a few key

differences. There is often not very much dribbling, and for some students there is a basket lower to the ground to make it easier for them to make a shot. Sometimes players might also get three chances to make a shot. These adaptations make it more fun for the players by accommodating special needs. Many other schools don’t offer their special needs stu-dents the opportunity to play sports like this, so Colum-bine’s program that they share with area schools is unique. “There are approximately 20 programs in the state, but we will only be playing 12 of them,” Clark said. For some students with special needs it can be hard to fi t in, and being able to partici-pate in a sport helps them ac-complish this particular goal. “It’s really nice because the

kids get to participate on be-half of the school,” Challenge teacher Mr. Ortiz said. “And it helps them to build camara-derie amongst them and their team.” The unifi ed basketball experience doesn’t just ben-efi t the special needs students on the team, it is also a great learning experience for the students that offer to volunteer to help the team out. Student volunteers pass the ball to the unifi ed players and guide them in playing the game. “I did it last year and it’s just a fun thing to be a part of and you are around a lot of re-ally good people all the time,” Junior Michael Burns said. “Also the players are awe-some and it is very humbling and happy.” According to Coach Clark, there are usually good turn

outs for games. “At home we usually have a lot of people that come. The

only time we don’t is when we are at a different school. Then it’s usually around 15 to 30

people,” Clark said.


Ian Scena

Like any team, the girls tennis team puts in extra time to get in shape for the regular season. But their pre-season workouts are not just running and lifting. They contain dancing, fun, and a workout of all their muscles. “I thought Zumba would be more fun than the pre-season

speed and agility camp we did last year and be just as benefi -cial for conditioning, footwork, and team bonding,” assistant tennis coach Gail Dillon said. “It's a great way to forget about everything and just have fun. I think it will help with footwork and movement on the court.” The tennis team does Zum-ba once a week. They started

this workout routine in January and continued through Febru-ary until the beginning of ten-nis season. “I thought it would be a fun and exciting new way to get the girls conditioned before the season begins,” head coach Dawn Selindh said. “I really think it is a great all over work-out and really gets the girls feet

moving.” Zumba has become the world’s largest and most suc-cessful dance and fi tness pro-gram. It tones and strengthens all parts of the body, improving agility, balance, and fl exibility. “Since we started the camp I would say that I have more balance and fl exibility because that is something that the dance moves really target,” Senior tennis player Sarah Welton said.Zumba mixes cardio interval training and resistance in one workout. This strengthens the muscles and burns fat all at once. “It is a good aerobic exer-cise because it really gets you moving and working out in a different way than running does. After each workout we tend to be out of breath which really emphasizes the point that it is a good workout for your body,” Welton said. Zumba is also known to re-lieve stress which can be use-

ful for any athlete. Anxiety can obstruct players’ physical skills during a game, but Zumba can relieve stress so they are calm and relaxed. “After Zumba I would say I defi nitely am always in a better mood. There is just something about being crazy and mak-ing a fool of yourself that just makes you less stressed out,” Welton said. Good fl exibility, balance, aerobic health, and strength are important for playing ten-nis. The muscles used most in tennis are biceps, triceps, quads, hamstrings, calves, back muscles, deltoids, and abs and core. “All that dancing really gives your calves a burn!” Se-nior Ashley Williams said. During their workouts, the girls usually dance for an hour. “I feel Zumba can help me in tennis because it can help move my feet more to go for balls and more strength in my

shots,” Junior Jordan Sturgell said. Zumba is Latin dance steps with different dance styles that goes along with upbeat music that’s not always playing on the radio. “Samba is my favorite be-cause you get to watch Breezy Coyne go crazy!” Williams said. All the Zumba moves are simple and easy, but they get the heart rate up and burn 400-700 calories. It is a fi tness program for weight loss, but it focuses on all the main things needed in tennis. Plus, it gives the girls a bit of fun at the end of the day. “Zumba is something that could help my tennis because it makes you move and really just be active. When you play tennis you always have to be ready to move and the dances really mirror that concept,” Welton said.


Laura Huwa

The tennis team does zumba as an exercise for part of their pre-season work out. Zumba is a dance workout program designed to have fun while getting in shape. photo by Jane Selindh

Columbine unifi ed basketball players take part in the unifi ed game on February 24t Unifi ed basketball is a great way for the chal-lenge students to get involved in sports. photo by Grace Reader

15MARCH 2012 SPORTS

Being a freshman in high school can be intimidating, but being a freshman trying out for sports is even more terrifying. There were six freshmen that made varsity for winter sports this year. Bridget Snow was one of those freshmen. “At the begin-ning of the season, I was re-ally intimidated because there were seven seniors and only two underclassmen.” Twelve freshmen tried out for girls basketball this year and two made varsity. Being an underclass-men, she hadn’t played for the school before and did not know everyone who played. Like other freshman that expe-rience this feeling, Snow did not know what to expect from the upperclassmen. “They were all really nice! As a team we have grown

closer over the season,” Snow said. Some upperclassmen are understanding of the idea of having freshmen play at the varsity level. “I am fi ne with [fresh-men playing] if they deserve to be on the team, play well, and perform,” Junior baseball player Nate Andrews said. Some athletes are not as ac-cepting of freshman playing above them. Sophomore Alexis Parr cheered last year as a freshman on the junior varsity squad. This year, she made JV again as a sophomore while some freshmen made varsity. “It was frustrating because I have been cheering longer,” Parr said. Much of the time, coaches are open to having freshmen play on varsity. “In order for freshmen to play on varsity they have to be above everybody else and they

have to be mature about it,” Football coach Coach Lowry said. Coach Lowry also talked about how Dusty Hoffsch-neider, who graduated in 2001, started 50 varsity football games, meaning he started in every varsity game including those in his freshman year. Lo-gan Wright, who graduated in 2005, became a varsity starter after 4 games on lower teams, and Danny Spond, who gradu-ated in 2010, ended up playing varsity his freshman year. Once the athletes adjust to the idea of having freshmen play, the team starts to bond. “The freshmen that I have played with this year have bonded really well with the team. They fi t right in and the whole team likes having them around,” Senior Emma Petti-bone said.


Talent Trumps SeniorityFreshmen athletes capture varsity spots, with mixed reactions

Concussions, neck injuries, tearing of tendons, breaking bones, becoming paralyzed. All sports

come with risks but kids still live for them. The catastrophic injury research center at University of Northern Colorado declared these fi ve sports the most dangerous sports in high school.

The fi fth most dangerous high school sport is men’s wrestling. When the boys end up in an awkward positions, it puts stress on their head and spinal cord. Several wrestlers have had permanent brain and spinal cord injuries. “I wrestle because it is an opportunity to test who is the better man out of you and your opponent–which one is quicker, faster, and stronger,” Junior Brian Mayberry said. “Sure, injury is a risk, but getting your hand raised after beating the other kid, you know it was worth sacrifi cing every-thing.”

5Men’s lacrosse comes in at number four. Severe injuries have occurred from the striking of the head and neck in the game. New rules have come out to help prevent some of the injuries. “Lacrosse is a great way to build new relationships and grow old ones,” Junior Adam Jenson said. “I’m not scared of injury even though lacrosse is a dangerous sport. We have protection and know how to best avoid possible injury.”

4UNC ranks women’s gymnastics as the third most dangerous sport. Perform-ing fl ips and fl ying on the uneven bars, gymnasts risk landing incorrectly with every trick they do. Girls have had back injuries or become paralyzed as a result of landing on their heads. Regular injuries are breakage of bones or tears in the Achilles tendon. “At times learning new skills can be scary,” Junior Kellie Sorenson said, “but you learn to push yourself further than you thought you could. Knowing you accomplished it drives you to push even further.”

3The second most dangerous high school sport is football. Head injuries are a major concern. There have been several cases of head trauma leading to death. Even though players wear pads and helmets, the injuries can still be potentially fatal. “Despite football being a very injury-prone sport, if you put in the neces-sary work towards being the best, it will pay off greatly,” Senior Hank Ham-mond said, “It is the one place where I felt I had a true brotherhood with all the men on the team, and I have made friends that I know will always be there for me. And that is worth any sacrifi ce.”

2The most dangerous sport is men’s hockey because the players skate on top of blades, and because of their speed, collisions can cause major damage. “It challenges me, it keeps me in shape and its a really fun sport,” Senior Tyler Connor said, “It’s not really that dangerous at all if you’re smart.”1

Sports and DangersColumbine athletes tell why sports are worth the risk

Regan Long

Laura Huwa

Freshman Tucker Holden warms up for the basketball game against Mullen High School. Holden, like few other students, made the varsity team as a freshman. photo by Sevan Strait

SEENBESEENADVERTISE IN THE COURIER


16 SPORTS MARCH 2012

As spring rolls around, that also means it is time for spring sports to begin. Tryouts be-gan February 27 and ended by March 2. The spring season actually starts on March 5. Spring sports consist of baseball, girls golf, girls soc-cer, track and fi eld, boys swim and dive, girls lacrosse, boys lacrosse and girls tennis. Most of the teams are preparing for their fi rst game, and some have already competed in their fi rst. “I am super excited for ten-nis because it is really fun,” Sophomore Katie Morell said. “I think this season will go well with all of the new girls that are joining the team and all of the returning girls be-

cause we are ready to get back into it.” “I am looking forward to the season because it gives me a chance to compete with good runners and push myself to see what I can really do,” Senior Grant Woodley, fi rst time track runner, said. The season for spring sports is shorter than the sea-sons for winter and fall sports. For this reason, it is especially important that teams put in ex-tra practice time in pre-season workouts before the regular season starts. Girls tennis, for example, did Zumba once a week as part of their pre-season condition-ing. Track runners participated in winter track, which consist-ed of several indoor practices a week during the winter months

to prepare for the spring sea-son. Also, girls lacrosse play-ers could be seen practicing passing and cradling in the halls in the weeks leading up to the start of the season. Tryouts took place the week of February 27. Coaches expected hard work from ev-eryone who tried out, and ex-pect this work ethic to carry over into the regular season. “I want the athletes to work hard and improve every day,” girls lacrosse coach Mr. Visser said. Some coaches are hoping to make it to the playoffs and advance further, hopefully to state. “We are going to go com-pete for the Jeffco league title and hope to advance further than we have in the last few

years,” girls soccer coach Mr. Todd said. Track and fi eld has high hopes for their season as well.

“We have a lot of returning tal-ent that should make it to the state meet and we also have a lot of new talent that we look

forward to developing over the season,” Coach Reyes said.


Spring Sports Gear Up for New SeasonRegan Long

The boys swim team listens to their coach before practice. The swim team and all spring sports have just begun their seasons. photo by Sevan Strait

The boys basketball team ended their season with a re-cord 21-5 overall, following their loss to Chaparral High School on Friday, March 2. The boys soared easily into the playoffs. Their play-off run began with Mullen which came down to a nail-biting win with Columbine coming out victorious at 40-37. The second round Columbine drew Fruita Monu-ment and won 61-41. The Rebels made it to the Great Eight at Denver Cole-sium on March 2 against the number one seed, Chaparral High School. They went into the playoffs ranked as the number 2 seed and number 8 in the state. Unfortunately, Columbine’s small comeback in the fourth quarter was not enough to overcome the defi cit. They lost 76-61. “This basketball season was great because its the last year I get to play with my friends from ten years ago,” Team captain Senior Nick Carpinello said. “It’s nice to have a successful season and teammates you’ve always known.” Carpinello was 7 for 13 in Friday’s game. Despite the season-ending loss, the Columbine boys created a huge following of students this year. At almost every game the boys pulled a crowd to cheer for them. “It’s always fun when the crowd gets pumped, and this game in particular was exciting due to the atmo-sphere and how far the team got,” Senior Gabby Pfi efer said.


Abigail Roelfson - University of Sioux Falls

Dylan Baker- Augustana College

Danielle Aronoff - Garden City Community College

Noah Thompson - Western State

Ember Albertson - Fort Hays State

Jake Fuller - Seward County

Cameron McDondle - CSU Pueblo

Joshua Croy - CSU Pueblo

Katelyn Phillips - Long Island University

Paige Amme - Mesa

Danielle Kaufman - Air Force Academy

Justin Brown - Augustana College

Following successful season, Rebels lose in Great Eight round to Chaparral

Boys Basketball Ends Playoff Run

Jordyn Voegele

Ashley Horodyski - University of Iowa

2012College Commitments


39.5 March 2012

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Transcript of 39.5 March 2012