Jacket buzzSTARKVILLE HIGH SCHOOL

By Heather StevensAsst. Editor

As of June 30, Starkville High School principal Kathi Wilson will be leaving the school district to become an assistant superintendent for Hol-mes County schools.

“I’m not leaving for a better oppor-tunity,” Wilson said. “I’m leaving for another opportunity.”

When approached with the Holmes County job offer in February, Wilson made a difficult decision.

“I let the students know about it as soon as I knew,” Wilson said.

It is this kind of honesty and upfront frankness students have come to ap-preciate from Wilson, who has served in her current position since the begin-ning of the 2005-2006 school year.

When notified of her resignation in March, many students questioned and lamented her choice to leave Starkville High.

Although the student body will not have the leadership of Wilson in the future, it will certainly remember

her dedication to stability. Wilson is confident that she has

made an effective, positive impact on SHS.

“It’s a place where everyone – stu-dents, parents, and teachers – know what is going on and can depend on a steady routine,” Wilson said.

It is this consistency and stability of which Wilson is most proud, and she hopes it will continue at SHS despite her absence.

“It’s going to be a big change,” Stu-dent Government sponsor Amy Bare-

field said. “If she can bring the same level of integrity and excellence to her new position as she has to SHS, I’m certain Holmes County will be better for it.”

Wilson is excited at the prospect of making the schools in Holmes County just as much of a “comfortable place” as Starkville High.

When asked if she had any regrets about her time here, Wilson raised and shook her head proudly, saying, “I am proud of this school and where we’ve come in the past four years.”

Wilson resigns, headed to Holmes County

Fennell named new principalBy Heather Stevens

Asst. Editor

With more life experience comes more responsibility.

Such is true of the new principal of Starkville High School, Keith Fennell.

Fennell, having served as division principal at Madison Central High School for the last six years, was the most appropriate and qualified candidate for the position of principal.

“We were looking for a unifier,” superintendent Judy Couey said, “Someone with a vision, someone who is child-focused.”

Fennell, in appears, has met or exceeded those re-quirements.

“Starkville High School has always been an interest to me, even from a distance, for its commitment to excel-

lence,” Fennell said. Fennel, who earned a bach-

elor’s degree in physical edu-cation from Mississippi State University in 1993 and also hold a master’s degree in Education Administration and Supervision, says he is looking forward to taking advantage of the assets of the area.

“There are so many op-portunities and resources available in the Starkville community and Mississippi State to improve the lives of children,” Fennell said. “I in-tend to use these resources to develop a more positive atmosphere in the school, especially between the teach-ers and the administration.”

Fennell believes that, in turn, this strong relation-ship between the faculty and administration will re-sult in better student per-

formance overall. Other hopeful future im-

provements include making the school more competitive with regard to test scores and attendance.

“I certainly hope to help make SHS a level-five school,” Fennell said.

Fennell plans on making SHS parents a larger part of their education.

He feels that getting par-ents involved and clarifying parents’ and teachers’ ex-pectations of students will help foster a sense of “per-sonal responsibility” that will better-equip students for life after high school.

“A more comprehensive high school experience is also on my agenda,” Fennell said.

Hopefully, this emphasis will also serve to unite the students and create a sense

of pride within the school that transcends divides such as socio-economic, racial, and class differences.

“SHS should be a flagship

of the district and commu-nity,” Fennell said.

KeithFennellwillbeginhistenureasSHSprincipalon

July1.

ZachMitchellandTessLongcontributedtothisstory.

SHS Jacket BuzzNews

By Lammi MichaStaff Writer

The Starkville High School Band and Choir programs never stop work-ing, and their hard work has definitely paid off.

The SHS Band has been to many state competitions including the State Con-cert Festival, the March-ing Band Contest, and the Tenn-Tom Marching Con-test.

It received all superior ratings in Concert and sight-reading, and received an excellent in concert for the Symphonic Band at the State Concert Festival.

“Only fifteen bands re-ceived straight superiors,” head band director Shawn Sullivan said. “The accom-plishments these kids have

made in the two years I have been here are amaz-ing.”

Sullivan is already in the planning stages for next fall’s halftime show, The Sound of Philadelphia.

The choir has been just as successful in its area of the performing arts.

The four choirs and four ensembles received straight superior ratings in district, including a superior in sight reading, which is when mu-sicians must play or sing an unfamiliar piece of music.

SHS also had more stu-dents make it to the Missis-sippi All State Honor Choir than any other school.

Seventeen out of twenty-two students that tried out from Starkville High made it to the Honor Choir, and only about 120-125 stu-

dents from all over Missis-sippi make it.

The Honor Choir was given the opportunity to perform with Dr. David N. Childs, an international conductor from New Zea-land.

Choir director Regina Weeks, who was recently named Teacher of the Year for the Starkville School District, is also very proud of her students.

“I’m elated with what they have done this year,” Weeks said. “It speaks very highly of them. We are an icon all across the state in choral music now.”

The choir will wrap up the school year with its annual Spring Concert on Thurs-day, May 14 at 7 p.m. in the Starkville High School Theater.

By Tess LongContributing Writer

Starkville High School has been the proud host of many foreign exchange students for over ten years.

This year’s group is do-ing a wonderful job of keeping up the tradition of excellence.

This year foreign ex-change students hail from Norway, Japan, Germany, Brazil, Columbia, and Rus-sia.

Although one would think that it would be hard to adjust to a new home for a year, the students seem to be loving south-ern living.

But as with any big move, some things do take get-ting used to.

“At first I couldn’t under-stand people very well,” senior exchange student Giovanna Cino said. “It was especially hard under-standing the slang.”

However, understand-ing the language is rarely a problem for long.

“Language barriers aren’t usually a problem,” SHS math teacher Elise Dauzat said. “I’m sure if they did have one, we could find a way around it.”

Dauzat and softball coach Mimi Atkins spon-sor the Student Ambassa-dors, a club that helps new students adjust to SHS.

The Ambassadors help all new students, whether foreign or not, with any is-sues they might be having

that are school-related. Language is a standard

struggle for foreign ex-change students, but it isn’t the only thing they have to deal with, though.

With every new place there are new cultures to get used to, and Missis-sippi is known for it’s rich cultural heritage.

“It was especially dif-ferent with religion. It’s really strong here,” Cino said. “In Brazil it’s not as strong.”

One of the best things about living here?

“The chicken tenders,” Norwegian exchange stu-dent Jens Ilstad said.

Apparently the chicken tenders aren’t the only thing different in Missis-sippi.

According to Ilstad, the worst thing about living in Mississippi?

“The heat!” Ilstad said. “It’s so hot here. In Nor-way it doesn’t get above 75 degrees usually.”

Both Cino and Ilstad agreed that the best thing about living in Starkville is getting to meet new peo-ple and experiencing some good ‘ole southern hospi-tality.

“The people here are very friendly, very hospi-table,” Ilstad said.

In future years, SHS will continue to show its hospi-tality to exchange students from all over the globe.

No matter their country of origin, all students are welcome in the Jacket fam-ily.

Band and Choir programs

receive superiors at state

TheStarkvilleHighSchoolbandprogramreceivedstraightsuperiorsatstatecontest.

Exchange students

enjoy Starkville,

SHS experiences

By Heather StevensAsst. Editor

New books, clothes, and the anxiety of starting a new year of school…these are all things a student might have to deal with next Au-gust as they prepare for the first day of classes.

Now, imagine arriving at school to find that no one speaks English.

This is just one of the many excit-ing chal-lenges that S t a r k v i l l e High School sophomores Anna Follett and Laura Bridges will be facing when they travel over-seas next fall as part of the Rotary Internation-al exchange

program. Follett will spend one year

in Milan, Italy, and Bridges will reside in the small town of Billund, Denmark.

Many students would jump at the opportunity to become involved in pro-grams such as Rotary Inter-national, but are not aware of such groups.

Bridges actually heard about the program through Follett, whose grandmoth-er was a headmistress of a Swiss boarding school.

It was that idea that first got Follett interested in go-ing abroad for school.

When Follett’s family hosted an exchange student from Ecuador, Negrita Ca-

icado, Anna “fell in love with the idea of being an exchange student.”

Both girls are enthusiastic and ready to begin their re-spective years of studying abroad.

Follett was lucky in get-ting her first choice, Italy, but Bridges would have preferred England or Ger-many.

“But, I’m certainly not going to complain about going to Denmark,” Bridg-

es said. “Just being able to travel and see something other than America will be the most exciting part.”

As dictated by the Rotary program, both Bridges and Follett will stay with a local family in their respective towns.

They will attend local schools, obey local cus-toms, and assimilate as much as possible into the culture of the region.

For Bridges, the idea of

leaving behind friends and family for a whole year was a difficult thing to have to accept.

“It will be a challenge, to say the least,” Bridges said “I’m going to do my very best to stay in touch with them all.”

SHS Jacket Buzz News

Bridges and Follett to spend year in Europe

Follett

Bridges

JoinToday!

SeeCoachAlbritton

orMrs.Tilleryfor

moreinformation!

Milan, Italy

‐‐‐TheEnglishwordmillinery,referringtowomen’s

hats,isderivedfromthenameofthecitybecauseitis

consideredthefashioncapitaloftheEuropeanworld.

‐‐‐TheGreatPlagueofMilanin1629–31killedanesti‐

mated60,000peopleoutofapopulationof130,000.

‐‐‐In1919,BenitoMussoliniorganizedtheBlackshirts,

whoformedthecoreofItaly’sFascistmovement,in

Milan.

‐‐‐TheMilanmetropolitanareaispartoftheso‐called

BlueBanana,theareaofEuropewiththehighest

populationandindustrialdensity.

‐‐‐HomeoftheCatholicUniversityoftheSacred

Heart,foundedin1921byFatherAgostinoGemelli,is

currentlythebiggestCatholicuniversityintheworld

withalmost42,000enrolledstudents.

‐‐‐Billundisacompanytown,thehomeoftheLego

Groupheadquarters.

‐‐‐Acrosstheroadfromthecompany’sheadquarters

isthefirstoftheLegolandthemeparks,firstopenedin1968.

‐‐‐BillundAirportisDenmark’ssecondbusiestair‐

port,andwasopenedin1964.

AllfactscourtesyofWikipedia.com

Billund, Denmark

By Tess LongContributing Writer

250 students are served breakfast at Starkville High School.

850 students are served lunch. This makes a grand total of 5,500

students a week who purchase meals in the SHS cafeteria.

Now, take all those 5,500 meals and put them on a Styrofoam tray.

This means that 5,500 Styro-foam trays are thrown away every week to be taken to a landfill and dumped.

And that is a scary thought, con-sidering that it can take more than 1 million years for Styrofoam to decompose completely, according to researchers.

With five percent of the popula-tion in the world, the United States produces 40 percent of the world’s waste.

This is an issue that will never cross the minds of many busy Americans.

However, why can’t it be an issue

that is addressed here at our own school?

“We have a lot of waste in this school and I think it’s a great idea to use recyclable lunch trays,” SHS assistant principal Sean McDonald said. “However, I know one of the biggest reasons why we don’t is the cost.”

According to Beverly Lowery, who is in charge of the Starkville School District’s cafeterias, cost is the main reason why the our school doesn’t use eco-friendly trays.

“Right now there’s just nothing else we can afford,” Lowery said. “We have found some relatively en-vironmentally-friendly lunch trays, however they’re 60 cents more per tray.”

60 cents more per tray is a pretty

steep price, and many students just can’t part with the extra money at lunch. But does that mean that we as a student body should just forget about it?

What if some of SHS’s clubs host-ed two or three fundraisers a semes-ter?

As a proud SHS student myself, I have full confidence that the student body is more than capable of rais-ing enough money to cover the cost of environmentally-friendly lunch trays, with some left over.

And what about the little things like our aluminum cans and paper juice boxes that are repeatedly put in the trash? T

hese items are able to be recycled and all it would take is recycling box-es next to the exits in the cafeteria.

The teachers on lunch room duty could tell students to recycle their cans instead of tossing them in the trash. Simple.

Another reason why SHS uses Styrofoam trays is just because it’s easier.

And of course in the world we live in now everything has to be easy, right?

“This is a whole lot easier, but it doesn’t mean it’s the best thing to use,” Lisa Sellors said.

Sellors works in the SHS cafeteria and she definitely has the right idea. Just because it’s easier to do the same thing here that we’ve always done, it doesn’t mean it’s the best thing for the environment.

SHS needs some serious revitaliza-tion in its eco-awareness, and sure, some of this can be enforced by staff.

But if Starkville High is going to make a positive impact on the envi-ronment, it’s going to take the com-mitment and enthusiasm of us stu-dents to make a real difference.

SHS Jacket BuzzOpinion

The Jacket Buzz

This newspaper is produced by the

Journalism Department at Starkville High School.

Zach Mitchell, Editor-in-Chief

Heather Stevens, Assistant Editor

Volume 16, Issue 3

R.J. Morgan, Advisor

Please email any comments, questions,

or concerns to rjmorgan@starkville.k12.ms.us

Staff Writers

Lammi Micha, Ruth Brown, Kienan Grice, Whitney Peterson, Sarah Morse

Contributing Writers

Ty Ringo, Tess Long, Ebony Robinson

SHS cafeteria should “go green” with new trays

By Ruth BrownStaff Writer

Do teenagers have too much freedom? Should teen-agers themselves be answer-ing this question?

Well this question was ex-actly what several of Mrs. Debby Bland’s classes had to answer in a recent survey they took.

The survey dealt with teen-ager’s perception of their own amounts of freedom. After it was taken, the survey results were tallied and evaluated by Mrs. Bland’s 2nd block Statis-tics class.

“This project was for us to apply everything we learned this year in Statistics into a

real life circumstance,” senior Brock Hanson said.

One of the questions in the survey dealt with what teen-agers thought of how much freedom they had.

The other questions cho-sen for evaluation centered around the certain ages that teenagers should be allowed to drink, smoke, have sex, etc. Most of the teenagers that took the survey seemed to have a fairly reasonable grasp on reality.

No one said that teenagers should be having sex at twelve or drinking when they’re ten.

In fact, most of what the teenagers put down in the survey happens to be agreed with by many adults.

The drinking age, for one, really should be lowered to 18. Why not let teenagers drink and smoke at the same time? It would make more sense and cause many a wea-ry policeman less hassle to deal with.

It saddens me slightly that teenager’s views on the vot-ing age were not included in this survey. If anything, the drinking age should be low-ered to 18 and the voting age raised to 21.

This survey was an inter-esting way to find out what teenagers today are thinking about.

It seems to me that this generation isn’t in danger of drunk driving at thirteen.

Bland’s class survey tells much

Ways You Can Help the Environment

* Recycle paper and plastics

* Conserve energy by turning off lights

SHS Jacket Buzz Opinion

Political Cartoon

By Sarah MorseBy Whitney Peterson

Staff Writer

Memorial Day’s signifi-cance is highly underappre-ciated. It’s more than just some Monday in May or the day of the big sale at Macy’s (or any other department store, for that matter).

“It’s the day we celebrate and remember those who have served honorably in some branch of the armed forces,” Command Sergeant Major Carl Gardner, who has served in the armed forces for 24 years, said. “Only a small segment of the population takes time to remember those who have passed away,” said Gardner.

Our culture as a whole doesn’t fully acknowledge the dedication that has taken more than 40 years to establish. So why don’t

Americans take the time to consider the sacrifices made toward their freedom?

The vast majority of in-dustries see Memorial Day as a big day for business, a day to premiere movies and sales, rather than a time to uphold the sanctity of the day.

Some people observe Me-morial Day in a different, yet equally respectful, way.

“The reason people died was for freedom—to go to the beach or to watch the Indy 500,” Lieutenant Unit-ed States Navy, Naval Avia-tor, Ty Adair said. “I don’t feel guilty having a cookout as long as we remember people died to make it pos-sible.”

Since the beginning of the war in Iraq in 2003, Memo-rial Day has become more meaningful to me. Whenev-

er I see officers in uniform, I feel obliged to thank them for their devotion to the pa-triotic cause, not to mention those who have gone before them in their valiant efforts to uphold America’s ideals of “life, liberty, and the pur-suit of happiness.”

I commend the adminis-trators of Starkville High School for honoring citi-zens on Veteran’s Day. But let’s not forget the deceased on May 25, or any Memorial Day.

At a time when everyone is so busy, when time is so pre-cious, when personal agen-das are longer than one’s list of extra-curricular activities or acceptance letters, it is important to take a moment to reflect on the nation’s heritage, its pride, its char-acter, and thank those who helped to make it happen.

Memorializing Memorial Day

By Zach MitchellEditor-in-Chief

At orientation, students check with their friends about what classes they have together, where they and their friends will park, and where their locker is with respect to their friends’ lockers.

Everyone likes to have lockers by their friends, but time and time again stu-dents complain about hav-ing to carry a ton of books from class to class or their locker being all the way by the theater while most of their classes are upstairs.

I feel that giving students lockers according to their

schedule instead of by class would ease stress.

I’m the one mentioned above, with the locker by the theater.

I have to carry around three binders, two rather large textbooks, a spiral notebook, and a lunchbox from class to class every-day.

It’s a huge hassle to even attempt to get everything out of my locker.

It takes some serious ac-robatics to pull it off.

I can only go to my locker once after the beginning of school because my first two classes are upstairs, my next two are on the east wing, the next class is on the west

wing (which is when I can unload all of my stuff) and my final class is upstairs again.

I actually feel envious of students who only tote one textbook and one notebook to classes.

I’m guilty of having friends by my locker in the morning.

We’ve been dubbed “The Parasite” and we do crowd around my locker.

We leave eventually, but we crowd the halls a bit.

When everyone does this at once, it causes mass cha-os in the halls.

Moving lockers around would alleviate this prob-lem.

At orientation, people (myself included) stick by their friends in the line to receive a locker so that they can chat everyday.

I do realize that this is highly unfeasible and would take many hours and work on the administration’s part; but at the same time, this would prevent many gray hairs from sprouting on the incoming principal’s head.

With technology these days, a computer program could be created to match students up with a locker stationed at a critical point in their day.

A less-than-perfect op-tion would be to give stu-dents their schedules and

allow them to sign up for a locker.

On paper, this also seems like a good idea.

However, a number of people would still pursue a locker near their friends.

Freshman unfamiliar with the school’s hallways could unknowingly pick the wrong locker and be stuck with a locker in the wrong hallway, like myself.

These are only a few of the options to solve this long-standing problem.

From a student’s perspec-tive, this is a huge problem and something must be done, whether it be one of my solutions or an entirely new one.

Locker placement system needs revision

SHS Jacket BuzzSports

By Ty RingoContributing Writer

Starkville High School se-nior track star Tavaris Tate officially announced last Friday his plans to attend Mississippi State Univer-sity on a full track and field scholarship.

“I decided to go to State because it has a good facil-ity and I love the coaches,” Tate said.

Tate announced his deci-sion during a press confer-ence in the SHS library and signed his MSU scholarship papers with his coach, fam-ily, and friends standing by his side.

Tate has been a runner most of his life, starting at the age of six.

His dad took notice and started taking him to the track.

Though the runs on the track were inspiring, Mi-chael Johnson in the 1996 Olympics was what sealed the deal of Tate’s dedica-tion to running track and field.

“When I watched the Olympics, I saw Michael Johnson,” Tate said. “When I saw him, I said I wanted to be just like him.”

While most high school athletes just settle for a win in a game, a race, or match, Tate goes one step further.

He always tries to set a new record.

Tate is considered to be the best quarter-miler in the country, with a record of 47.04 in the 400-meter run.

The eighteen year-old senior has been under the

direction of track coach Cleveland Hudson for the past three years.

Hudson says Tate has im-proved significantly.

“Tavaris has gotten fast-er, stronger, and more ma-ture,” Hudson said. “He takes it very seriously be-cause he sees that this can be very important for his future.”

Tate has also seen chang-es in his running and in his career altogether.

“My support has definite-ly gotten broader,” Tate said. “I’ve been running since I was six and I’m eighteen now and I have a lot of fans. All in all, my life has changed.”

Teammate Kelsey Thom-as has known Tate for three years and has been his teammate for two.

Though he hates to admit it, Thomas has been able to see that Tate is a better runner than him.

Describing Tate in one word, Thomas said Tate is intimidating.

“I mean I guess Tavaris might be better than me,” Thomas said. “I never said that I wasn’t good though. I just said that he might be, just maybe, better than I am.”

Hudson and Thomas aren’t the only people who think Tate have talent.

Tate’s abilities have even reached ESPN: The Maga-zine.

In the magazine, a feature story on Tate compared Tate to the 2008 Olym-pic gold medalist Lashawn Merritt, who shocked the competition in Beijing with

his gold-medal win in the 400.

Standing at 5 feet 7 inch-es, Tavaris is sometimes shorter than his competi-tion, though he never lets his height stop him.

“A lot of people are amazed at my height,” Tate said. “Most people who run the races I do are at least six feet, and I’m only five-foot seven. I depend on my strength and my speed to win.”

Some of Tate’s goals in-

clude being successful in college and getting his de-gree in psychology., run-ning in the World Games in 2010.

Ultimately, Tate hopes to

be selected to run in the Olympic Games in London in 2012.

“With his talent, I hope to see Tavaris in the 2012 Olympics,” Hudson said.

Tate signs with Bulldogs

Above:SeniorTavaris

Tatesignsascholarship

offerfromMississippiState.

Right:Tatepracticesfor

theupcomingstatetrack

meet.

SHS Jacket Buzz Sports

By Whitney PetersonStaff Writer

Every year, the tennis team grows closer knit.

Martha Ruth Parvin, the head coach and a former teacher at SHS, has coached the team for nineteen years and is proud of the team’s progress.

This year the team fin-ished with an 8-7 record.

“All are different; each team is different,” she said. “You learn to go with the flow.”

Many of the players have been “flowing” together for several years, such as Mohammed Wahidi, who has been playing for 11 years, and they understand the importance of team-work.

“It takes a team to win,”

four-year player Lewis Maynard said.

The team had only two seniors, Sarah Morse and Claire Crawford, 10 under-classmen, and 13 sixth, sev-enth, and eighth graders.

Crawford, who has been playing tennis since the seventh grade, has learned several things about her-self and her teammates.

“I can really work with another person to succeed in a game,” Crawford said. “I could keep going and win a game when I didn’t think it was possible.”

Even with a young team, Parvin remains optimistic.

“I hope to be here next year because I have a young team,” Parvin said. “I want to continue to see them grow because I love them and I love tennis.”

By Lammi MichaStaff Writer

The Starkville High School boys bowl-ing team had a great season. They fared well against a majority of the schools but had challenges from a couple of schools according to sophomore bowler Stephen Gunter.

“Tupelo and Itawamba are the only two schools that we had a problem with, and they demolished us,” Gunter said.

The team lost all three matches to Tu-pelo, but they eventually rose to the chal-lenge in regionals.

According to junior bowler Emanuel Moore, Starkville High went to Paradise Lanes in Jackson to bowl in the regionals.

They came out of the first round in fourth place, but in the second round that evening, the points were added up and SHS ended up in sixth place, which barely knocked them out of the state competi-tion.

“Even though we didn’t make it to state, we hung in with the better teams at re-

gionals,” sophomore Andrew LaFrance said. “We made it through regionals and placed sixth.”

The boys fought hard, and only missed regionals by a hair, but the only reason the Lady Jacket bowlers didn’t go to state was because they were one girl short of the requirements for the minimum number of players.

The team qualified, but still ended up staying home.

“We made it to the top four teams at re-gionals, but we were one person short of going to state,” freshman Jeuel Catledge said.

The team consisted of only three girls in high school, and the rest of them were in middle school.

“I really hope we come out of the gate stronger next year,” Moore said.

“It was really disappointing that we didn’t get to go, but, next year more girls need to come out to bowl,” Catledge said. “Even if you don’t know how to bowl, you should try it because in bowling you have a chance.”

Despite losses, softball season a successBy Ty Ringo

Contributing Writer

As the new head coach of the Lady Jackets fast-pitch softball team, Mimi Atkins had to begin to build a new program, while, at the same time, shaping up an already-made team.

Though the Lady Jackets finished their season with only one win, Atkins still believes the team did better than the record shows.

“I can’t say the season was perfect, but they did improve,” Atkins said. “I knew we weren’t going to

win the championship, but I did want to see improve-ment, and I did.”

Kernisha Shelton, an out-fielder for the Lady Jackets, believes the season went better than last year’s, but could’ve gone a lot better.

“To help out, I could have thought more positively throughout the season,” Shelton said. “The team also could have used more practice.”

Atkins also believed she could have made the sea-son go better.

If she would have been more serious about her

rules and took care of a few things at the beginning of the season instead of the end, things would have gone better for the team.

As the season continued, the Lady Jackets began to see the light at the end of the tunnel, winning a dis-trict game against Colum-bus.

With the win tucked under their belts, the Lady Jackets were 1-0 in the district.

Ironically, the Jackets lost the second game played against Columbus, as the Falcons put the Jackets out of the playoffs.

The Jackets have three graduating seniors this year, leaving the Jackets without two starting infielders and a starting outfielder.

Atkins believes next year will go ok without them, though.

“Megan, Robin, and Doneshia will definitely be missed, but I think what we have right now will take care of what will be gone,” Atkins said.

Atkins believes in order for next year’s season to go better, that the team may need less players, more dedication and more heart.

Even though the team suffered losses, some play-ers stood out on defense and offense throughout the season.

“On defense, Tamara Bell really helped out when we needed her,” Atkins said. “On offense, Ty Ringo stepped up to the plate when we needed her, too.”

Even though the season didn’t go as smoothly as Atkins wanted it to go, she had no overall complaints.

“It didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but I’m proud of my girls,” Atkins said. “They worked really hard.”

Tennis finishes out season strong

Bowling teams miss regionals,

though for different reasons

SHS Jacket BuzzEntertainment

By Zach MitchellEditor-in-Chief

Starkville High School has had its share of creative minds, but one that really sticks out is amateur director Brock Hanson.

Hanson, a senior at SHS and co-president of the Film Club, has created a few well-respected and award-winning movies.

Brock has come a long way from making small, low bud-get projects with his circle of friends.

His very first project, “Bad Minton” was a film about a badminton tournament that turns into a spoof of the sports genre.

It’s on Youtube.com and it’s definitely worth the time to check out.

“I’ve learned that this is something that I’d really like to pursue later in life,” Han-son said. “Making movies

has shown me the intricacies of the movie making pro-cess, however tedious they may be.”

Recently, Brock, along with his usual lead actor, sound editor, and co-director Ben Bailey, have filmed two award-winning films, Alone With the Goldfish and Blur.

In Alone With the Goldfish, a high school student volun-teers to care for his neighbor’s pets while they are away, and strange occurrences force him to confront himself.

The film took about one hour to shoot and “a couple of hours” to edit, according to Hanson.

The film won Best Home-grown Film at Starkville’s own Magnolia Film Festival and a Silver Key at the State Film Festival.

Blur, on the other hand, is about a puzzled security guard who unwraps the se-cret to his own subconscious

when he realizes that he’s dealing with a highly experi-enced thief.

Blur took a full week to shoot and a few more weeks to edit.

Both films, as well as a brand new film by Hanson entitled Paint, are entered in the Tupelo Film Festival, which takes place May 14-16.

“Aspiring directors should create as much as possible,” Hanson said. “Don’t get discouraged by limited re-sources. If you want some-thing, go get it.”

Hanson’s films win numerous awards

PaintisenteredintheTupeloFilmFest,whichoccursonMay14th‐16th.Above:H.Windham,J.McWhorter,C.Anderton,B.Bailey,andT.Sato.

We would like to be your photographers for graduation photos this year!

Come and check out our huge selection and low prices!

(662) 323-6966

Call for your cap and gown portrait

appointment.

Packages start at only $15!

SHS Jacket Buzz Seniors

I, Noel Ball, in sound mind and body bequeath to Na-than Ball my ability to be such a wonderful sibling. I LOVE YOU!

I, Timothy L. Bush Jr., in sound mind and body be-queath to represent Starkville High with all of my abil-ity, except during anytime Starkville High students do anything stupid.

I, Isabelle Cottrell, in sound mind and body bequeath to Jalan Catledge my cello bow, to Colleen Read first chair (good luck), to The Jarheads my lasting abilities to party like a rock star, to Barunie Kim my Asian abilities and jokes, and to Cheyenne Un-derwood, Hannah Reynolds, Savannah Hobart, and Kim-berly Pearson my beloved corner.

I, Dorothy Damm, in sound

mind and bequeath body to Jenn Henderson my sneaky-ness.

I, Reed Dier, in sound mind and body bequeath to Wes-ley Montgomery my techno-logical expertise.

I, Brock Drumheller, in sound mind and body be-queath to Grace Drumheller my bad jokes and tendency to be late.

I, Asia Gardener, in sound mind and body bequeath to Audrianna Limpscomb, Brandon Gardener, Ashley Brown, and China McClen-ton my wisdom, knowledge, personality, and smile to car-ry on high school and their future ahead of them.

I, Caroline Gilbert, in sound

mind and body bequeath to Kelly Bartlett and Caitlin Maddox my Operation Co-bra Skills.

I, Tierra Gillespie, in sound mind and body bequeath to Jerrica Coats and Kriston Bishop my likable personal-ity beauty, high standards, and good grades.

I, Chad Hankins, in sound mind and body bequeath to Nate Pugh my endless knowledge of pointless sport facts.

I, Jessica Hearn, in sound mind and body bequeath to Savannah Hobart all of my advice and every dress in my closet.

I, Josh Horton, in sound

mind and body bequeath to Elizabeth Scott my social skills dealing with the oppo-site sex.

I, Maureen Hughes, in sound mind and body be-queath to Lauren Hughes my aptness and ability to shamelessly embarrass younger siblings with crazy antics.

I, Jeffery Jernagin, in sound mind and body bequeath to the great times I had at my only and favorite high school, Starkville High.

I, DyVoriah Jones, in sound mind and body bequeath to honor my school, student, and faculty body by remem-bering them in mind and spirit.

The Last Will and Testaments of the

Graduating Class of 2009

SHS Jacket BuzzSeniors

I, Ashley Kemp, in sound mind and body bequeath to Brittney Rogers my in-telligence, locker, and my promptness.

I, Cooper Kennard, in sound mind and body be-queath to Davis Richardson and Hal Sullivan my ability to coax Mrs. Mary into giv-ing me extra food for free and my love for the theatre world.

I, Sanquanette Lindsey, in sound mind and body be-queath to Ashley Brown, China McClenton, Aureana Lipscomb my cheer skills, leadership, and reputation.

I, Lindsay Linhares, in sound mind and body be-queath to Adrian Lewis my loving and determined spirit , Collin Whitten my role as advisor and friend, Kelly Bartlett and Caitlin Mad-dox my “if you seek Amy and Operation Cobra” stick-ers, and Abbie Cathcart and Tess Long my love of drama and having a good time.

I, Kathryn New, in sound mind and body bequeath to Zak Mayo my responsibility to take care of Ray New and my sarcasm which makes people mad.

I, Sasha Neumann, in sound mind and body be-queath to Hal Sullivan my “bananas and golf balls” boxers.. they were yours in the first place.

I, Antavious Odeal, in sound mind and body be-queath to leave my love to chuck tillery and my shoot-ing skills to Shay Bonner.

I, Kedesha Poe, in sound mind and body bequeath to leave my dreds to Coach G.

I, Farelon Randle, in sound mind and body bequeath to Tamara Shantrice Bell my great mind and talent to succeed her next year with all A’s.

I, William Rednour, in sound mind and body be-queath to Kyle Lacy my amazing golf skills.

I, Ralpheal D. Rodgers, being of sound mind and body bequeath my leader-ship to Trenell Scales and Larry Henley; to China Mc-Clenton, Jondia Weather-spoon, Audianna Lipscomb, and Toria Carter, I leave my personality and attitude; to Chris Crosby I leave my high academic achievement;

to Rebecca Myles I leave my numerous clubs and organi-zations; to the Chasity and Chelsee Swoopes I leave behind a tradition of excel-lence; to Pete West I leave my ability to stay out of trou-ble; to the class of 2010 and 2011 I leave the Yellow Jacket spirit; and to the SHS teach-ers, faculty, and staff I leave my memory of service, ded-ication, and achievement.

I, Zach Schurch, in sound mind and body bequeath to Blake “Zombie” Dawkins my beautiful handwriting and good magnet ability.

I, Precious Stallings, in sound mind and body be-queath to Janae Poe and Deanna Rieves my intelli-gence.

I, Heather “Jewy” Stevens, in a tad bit unstable mind and body bequeath to Zach Mitchell someone else to talk about awesome bands with; to Lammi Micha an-other red-headed Jew; to Kienan Grice that t-shirt; to Barunie Kim source of com-mentary and such; to Dan-ielle Grimes 6” of height; to Ruth Brown whatever she feels like taking; and to Nick Bell another heathen.

I, Tarvaris Tate, in sound mind and body bequeath to Quez Keys my little black book and my kappa stick.

I, Kelsey Thomas, in sound mind and body bequeath to my energy and my bad way and foolish actions.

I, Tillery Tomlinson, in sound mind and body be-queath to my brother, John Robert, my awesome danc-ing skills!

I, Zeric Townsel, in sound mind and body bequeath to Shavon, Diamond, Jimmie, and David my protégés who always wanted to be like me.

I, Sarah Wallace, in sound mind and body bequeath to Elizabeth Scott my clumsy and crazy personality.

I, Ben Watson, in sound mind and body bequeath to Zac Mayo, my stripping and dancing ability and to Ms. Mary, my soul.

I, Paige Watson, in sound mind and body bequeath to whoever whatever I have.

SHS Jacket Buzz Memorial

Julia Rose Tkach(March 28, 1991 - May 3, 2009)

tarkville High School is mourning the loss of one of its own.

Julia Tkach, an SHS senior who gradu-ated in December, was involved in a fatal one-car crash late Saturday night.

Tkach was taken to Northeast Missis-sippi Medical Center in Tupelo, where she died of head trauma the following morn-ing.

Tkach is mourned by her parents, Joe and Mary Tkach, her younger sister Emma, and countless other family and friends.

“I was never lucky enough to have a sis-ter, and Julia filled that space in my life,” former SHS student Kelsey Engelken said. “I can’t imagine not growing up with her. I loved her very much.”

Tkach, whose family owns City Bagel Cafe, was best known for her smile, atti-tude and sense of humor.

“Julia brought me bagels, and I loved them,” senior Paige Watson said.

Tkach’s free-spirited personality and passion for life were well-established.

“She was a rebel without a cause, defini-tion of living everyday to the fullest, and never worried about consequences to her actions,” senior Shelby Wiedrich said. “I admire her attitude on life and wish I had one more day with her. Miss her, love her, and will never forget her.”

The faculty, staff, and student body of SHS offer our deepest sympathies to the Tkach family.

S